Chương 261: Watch And Learn

"She's quite powerful… Those people backed by the assembly don't stand a chance. They are just being maimed and humiliated" After informing Maya of the presence of challengers for her position, Johnpol Jimeni had rushed over to the viewing area to watch the resulting duels. The woman hired to train the Unwanted Presences was one who was difficult to read–In several definitions of the word. The archmage still remembered the words that had been conveyed to him by the powerful spectral presence.

If Johnpol were to trust what had been told to him, then the Silent Knightess was but a false identity used to cover for a monstrosity currently researched for extermination due to being the mother of the Nightmare Plague. However, as alluring as the deal that had been offered to him, the old mage was uncertain of the veracity of what the ghostly presence had told him.

He had tried to gather evidence, but the Silent Knightess showed no sign of supposed monstrosity at a glance, and the archmage worried that a direct attempt at probing using his mana sense would only result in alerting Maya. He didn't have a full grasp of her strength, and judging by how she was playing with her food in these duels… It seemed like she was purposefully not showing her full deck. He knew that she wielded an unusual kind of energy.

A kind of energy that Johnpol didn't have much experience with, so he felt that it was too likely that a direct attempt at extending his mana sense over to her would only serve to inform her that she should be wary of him.

"What a conundrum… If she wielded mana, I would be confident that I could bypass her attention…" The archmage had also attempted to check the private quarters of the knightess, but there was always someone else inside them, and she had requested her quarters to be a confidential place, so the walls around the quarters were actually resistant to mana sense. … Johnpol Jimeni did not understand why this spirit would show itself and make such a dire promise if the words it had written were entirely false.

There was something special and most bizarre about this ghost. It wasn't a normal spectre.

"Even if I do find out that she is a monster, how am I supposed to know that she's the one responsible for the Nightmare Plague? She could just be a monster pretending to be human for plenty of reasons…" The mage muttered to himself, and without realising it, he had been standing there for a while. Maya was just finishing pummelling the last challenger, leaving the ground littered with the poor fool's bloodied teeth.

"What was the assembly even thinking…?" None of the 'replacements' they had sent and sponsored was all that impressive. All this accomplished was show how weak they truly were and how feeble their reach and influence had become. The truth was that truly talented warriors and the like were unwilling to work in close relation with Aesther. Even Aestherian patriots no longer recognised the assembly and other leaders as individuals worthy of respect.

In fact, the only two people who still had some backing were Johnpol Jimeni and Tanaya Uolip. Both of them had tried to mitigate or stop the poor decision-making of both the assembly and Ganiel Kalersky to the best of their abilities, but also… Johnpol knew that the prime minister was speaking with a group seeking to overthrow the republic and put back the royal bloodline at the helm. As such, it was no wonder that her popularity wasn't anywhere near as low as the rest. As for the archmage…

The position he occupied was a vestige of the monarchy, back when tangible power and might were considered of dire importance. Back when all mages were scholars instead of just glorified craftsmen who did nothing but enchant weaponry. The elder sighed. He watched as Maya began teaching the Unwanted Presences by using examples from the duels that had just taken place. He didn't linger on for long, however. He walked away and returned to his own private quarters.

Once she was done with her lesson, it would be his turn to teach the three Unwanteds. They were an unusual batch. Johnpol Jimeni had never personally summoned otherworlders before those three, but he had read extensively on the subject. He was thus able to notice the unusual nature of those three. Typically, Unwanteds gain their power through a close connection with the Universal System, but those three were akin to the regular person.

They basically had no access whatsoever to the mostly useless information the Universal System had to show. They instead possessed tremendous magical talent. Johnpol had not yet reported on his findings to anyone, but all three had the basic qualifications to become great mages. But that wasn't it. Their bodies had seemingly been reforged when they were summoned. Their skin, muscles, bones, and the like all bore an incredible affinity for the energies of this world.

Many warriors practise a form of physical training where they nourish their body with either their own inner energy or ambient energy to temper and permanently reinforce it–Those three had great dispositions to perform incredibly well in this area. The summoning was an utter success. It was a rarity, but the ritual turned out to be absolutely worth it. If those three could be properly forged into assets for the Aestherian Republic, then perhaps the nation was not doomed.

The archmage wasn't going to share the full extent of what he knew, however. He was in agreement with Tanaya Uolip and thus did not wish to allow Kalersky to make use of the Unwanted Presences. They shall be assets of the Aestherian Monarchy, not of a failing, rotten republic.

"... I can sense your presence" Johnpol Jimeni turned around and, with a snap of his fingers, illuminated his private quarters, revealing a figure of darkness held together by dark crimson ropes of energy sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The entity wore a cracked, white mask. It was slowly tapping its fingers against the armrests of the chair, staring in the mage's general direction, but not directly at him.

YOU ARE HESITATING.

"Of course, I am! How am I supposed to know whether you are telling the truth? I would rather not create an unnecessary conflict with anyone. Can you certify that she won't notice if I attempt to use my mana sense on her?" SHE WILL NOT NOTICE.

"Is that so?" BUT THE OTHER ONE WILL. SHE IS NOT ALONE.

"You didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me about this when we first conversed? Speaking of which, do you have to communicate by writing stuff all over the place? Our discussion would be much more fluid if you just spoke words like a normal person" The spectre acknowledged none of the archmage's questions and instead. SHE IS SURROUNDED BY MONSTERS UNDER HER TOTAL CONTROL, AND MANIPULATES THE RESTLESS SPIRITS OF INNOCENTS. SHE MUST BE STOPPED. YOU MUST HELP ME. HELP ME TRAP IN HELL.

"You already told me all of this. Just show evidence, damn it! If she is truly dangerous, then I can assure you that I will do my best to deal with her. I can not allow something as you describe near the Unwanted Ones, or inside this building, for that matter" The dark spirit tilted its head and suddenly rose from its seat, walking uncomfortably close to the archmage, but the elder did not budge, staring directly into the nothingness of the entity's mask. The next words appeared directly upon the blank mask.

VERY WELL, ARCHMAGE. DO YOU FEEL CONFIDENT IN RESISTING BEING CURSED? Johnpol Jimeni tapped one of the many rings adorning his fingers.

"This one is linked to a curse dimension. It sucks up all curses thrown my way. It's the only one of its kind, and it has never failed me. It helped me a lot when I was still a soft-faced mage, and I had to deal with… Ah, yes, his name was Argantis…" VERY WELL. THEN WATCH AND LISTEN. C L O S E L Y. The spectre stepped back and swiftly manifested a piece of mechanistry.

The old mage wasn't very familiar with machines and the like, but he knew about it, considering that it was a bit of a sensation amongst mages these days. What the spirit manifested was a television properly equipped to play what he brought out next. It wasn't a tape. It was a circular, reflective item with a hole in the middle. It inserted the circular item where it belonged, and something soon began playing on the television.

"No wonder you asked about getting cursed. It's one of those damned things that spread the Nightmare Plague…" Things were a bit different from how he had been described, however. The video showed very little corruption, and it went straight to the point, whereas the reports he had read very often mentioned that something seemingly unrelated would happen at the start. The video started with a still shot of a dark room… It was a classroom, a very nice-looking one. It was definitely a school for the wealthy.

Sitting anxiously on a desk was a young man whose face was obscured due to the lack of any proper light source. The only glow visible looked blueish, presumably being the shine of the moon peering through gaps in the closed curtains. A door eventually happened, and the young man perked up, jumping off the desk and turning around.

"Ah, here you–Who are you?" His enthusiasm quickly faded away. It seemed like the visitor was not the one he had expected. The other person seemed to respond, but their voice was completely corrupted, and so was their face. It wasn't just covered by shadows. There was a black square covering it completely.

"W-What? Get the hell away from me!" The young man ran for the other door, but found it locked tight. He looked back to see the visitor taking slow steps toward him. He banged on the door.

"SOMEBODY! HELP ME, PLEASE!" He screamed with all of his might, but it seemed like all was deserted. It was only him and the mystery individual. … He struggled with all of his might, but the attacker was clearly way stronger than him. His head was grabbed in a hold, and the sick scrunch of bone soon resounded. He turned limp like a broken puppet, and his body was carried out of the room, prompting the video to go black. The spectre expressed itself once more. SHE IS TWISTED.

THE ONLY CRIME OF HER VICTIM WAS A SINGLE INSTANCE OF MOCKING HER BROTHER. IT IS ALL SHE NEEDS TO KILL.

"A brother?" KEEP WATCHING. THERE IS MUCH MORE TO SEE. The next video took place at an archery range. A lone girl was busy clearing the mess left after a day of training. She eventually noticed something on the ground, prompting her to go over to a closet, but immediately upon opening it, she was ambushed by the same unknown figure as the young man. She was pinned to the ground, hands constricting her throat, before the dull sound of her neck being crushed resounded. Her corpse was also taken away.

The next video was captured on a street outside, rain was pouring, and the distant rumble of thunder could be heard at times. A silhouette was walking through the rain, judging by the way this person walked, they were intoxicated. This fact did not matter much, however. Just as they passed near an alley, they were ambushed.

The unknown figure was wielding a digging bar and struck the victim's knee with it before proceeding to beat them on the ground for a full minute–Even though the person probably died during the first twenty seconds. This time, instead of taking the body away, the figure rummaged through their victim's belongings, stealing several things before walking away from the crime scene with an off-putting calmness. Many more videos played afterwards.

Either the victim would have their neck destroyed and then their body taken away, or they would be brutally attacked with some kind of weapon… Though never an actual weapon, only tools that had their functions diverted. Axes, kitchen knives, farming tools… And even a piano string. The last video was especially horrific. The unknown figure shattered a window with their fist and then proceeded to slam and drag their victim across the sharp fragments of broken glass. …

In general, the brutality of each video was wildly varying. Some of the victims must have made the killer mad. There was no other logical reason for the dark silhouette to do this to them and not others… YOU HAVE SEEN HOW SHE WAS AS A HUMAN. DO YOU SEE ANY RESEMBLANCE WITH HOW SHE FOUGHT THOSE CHALLENGERS? Johnpol Jimeni got what the spectre was getting at. It was… Rather troubling.