Chapter 405: Meeting Jabberwocky
Upon returning to Militopolis, Alvey wanted to return to his office, but he stopped for a moment and thought about the fact that McEnda was probably there.
Wanting to avoid the Archdemon, he decided to go to his private residence instead.
The man flew over to the mansion and landed in the middle of the courtyard, making sure none of the servants detected him.
Taking a deep breath, the man walked into the hallway and started heading for his room, only for a door on his left to open up as a servant exited the room.
"Oh, Lord Sargon."
The instant the servant spoke, Alvey felt three more pairs of eyes settle on him, and he turned to the side and saw the three people he had wanted to avoid by not going to his office.
McEnda, Arthur and Sigesi.
"...what are you doing in my house?"
The man facepalmed as he asked this, and Arthur who was holding up a newspaper, shrugged and replied.
"McEnda and I had this really cool idea, and we were waiting for you to come back but he said that you had some really nice wine here so we came over."
Alvey turned his glare towards McEnda who still held the bottle of wine in his hands but the Archdemon only shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.
"What? I wanted a drink."
"You have a house, and last I checked it’s in the Southwestern part of Gledea...on the opposite side of the Continent.
How about you go there to drink and never come back?"
The Greater Demon was genuinely annoyed with McEnda right now, as the wine the man was drinking was a Limited Edition wine he had been keeping to use and celebrate the day he surpassed Transcendence.
He walked up to him and grabbed the bottle, before covering it and returning it to the shelf. He then ran a check to know just what else McEnda had touched, and his annoyance only increased the more missing bottles he noticed.
"You son of a-"
"You Reek, Alvey."
"..."
Arthur’s sudden words stopped Alvey from continuing his words, and the man turned towards Arthur with an incredulous look on his face.
The boy set down the newspaper he was holding and leaned forward, narrowing his gaze at Alvey as the room’s atmosphere suddenly turned tense.
"Dude...even if he actually did. That’s not the way to tell him.
Also, where the hell did all your magic power go, Alvey?"
McEnda broke the silence with his words to Arthur and a question to Alvey, but neither party replied to him and just kept on looking at each other.
Just when McEnda was about to get depressed from being ignored, Arthur spoke up.
"I am not talking about his physical smell.
What I meant—"
Arthur blinked in front of Alvey and scanned the man with his gaze before continuing.
"—was that you reek of Cosmic Energy."
Question marks floated above McEnda and Sigesi’s heads, but Alvey’s expression was one of light surprise and not confusion like the other two.
"You have so much residual cosmic energy on you...which is abnormal as you do not have it on default, neither are you Cosmically Superior."
Arthur’s gaze lingered around Alvey’s right hand, where he sensed the greatest residues and feeling his gaze, Alvey’s eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, Lostvayne materialized beside Arthur and flew towards Alvey before poking the back of the man’s palm. The sword then returned to Arthur’s side and started waving around.
"Celestia."
Arthur summoned Celestia to act as a Translator for whatever Lostvayne was trying to say, but when the Sword manifested, she already had an answer.
[I don’t need you to figure out what that is.
The reason he reeks, Master, is because he just used a Rule Breaker.]
Celestia causally spilt the beans, without regard for the fact that Alvey may have been trying to hide it or not. The Sword cared more about Arthur using her as a translator than that.
Lostvayne flew in front of her and seemed to be telling her something but she suddenly snacked the other sword’s hilt with her blade and told it to shut up.
Meanwhile, Arthur was looking at Celestial with a side glance, wondering exactly why Celestia was able to know that what Alvey had used was a Rule Breaker just like Lostvayne.
A conjecture bloomed in his mind but he hadn’t gotten enough proof in the form of Celestia’s Fragments so he put it aside for now.
"So, you have a Rule Breaker, huh?"
Seeing how confidently Arthur spoke and knowing about the boy’s ’Unique’ weapons, Alvey just sighed and questioned with a bit of exasperation in his tone.
"What kind of nosy weapons do you have?
Sorry to burst your bubble but I do not own a Rule Breaker."
[But you just used one. It’s clear as day.
Are you perhaps in possession of a Rule Breaker that does not acknowledge you? Damn, that’s rough.]
Lostvayne waved its blade up and down as if nodding in affirmation to Celestia’s words and Arthur found the sight a bit funny.
He then turned to Alvey and patted the man’s shoulder before speaking.
"Sure, Rule Breakers are powerful and all but if what she said is really the case; my personal advice is that it’s not worth the stress."
"I’d take it to heart."
Arthur shrugged and returned to his seat, before picking up the newspaper he was reading and turning the front page towards Alvey.
"Have you heard about this?"
Alvey’s gaze moved to the headline on the paper that stated ’SERIAL KILLER CLAIMS FOURTH VICTIM’, a light frown appearing on his face when he read it.
"Serial Killings are within the police force’s jurisdiction, not the army."
"Yeah, but this whole case seemed strange to me, with how they hadn’t been able to catch sight of the culprit even after arriving a mere minute after the crime took place."
"Hmm..."
Even though it wasn’t the Army’s jurisdiction, Militopolis was still a city Alvey ruled. The man certainly did not like the fact that Serial Killings were going on in his city, and most importantly, the four victims so far were all Demons.
"I’d look into this."
Arthur put down the newspaper after Alvey declared his intent to investigate, and right after, the door to the lounge they were in opened up and a butler walked in before closing it behind him.
"Get the Police Chief to my office by 4 pm."
"Yes, Lord Alvey."
When the butler spoke, Arthur felt that the man’s voice sounded familiar while McEnda and Sigesi were wondering just how close the butler was to Alvey.
After all, the man had not knocked and asked for permission before entering the room where his Lord and his guests were, and more importantly, the Butler had called Alvey by his first name and not his last name like the other servants.
’Wait up...this guy’s a Transcendent!’
Arthur made that realisation a beat late because of how ’fuzzy’ the man’s aura felt. It felt like there was a veil that blanketed him and interfered with Arthur’s perception.
"Get me the details about Plomux and then the Triton Ark."
"Here they are."
The butler activated an inventory skill and retrieved several files and memory stones which he placed on the table in front of where Alvey had sat down.
Hearing his voice again, Arthur finally remembered where he had heard it before.
"You...You’re the guy who I spoke with in Duskhand."
When he heard Arthur say this, the man turned towards Arthur and bowed lightly before speaking.
"It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Arthur. You may address me as ’Jabberwocky’."
"?!"
Sigesi raised a brow when he informed them of his name, and after knowing the woman, Arthur could tell that was her expressing her surprise.
As for McEnda;
"You’re the ’Jabberwocky’?! That means you’re the one who’s always mimicking Alvey all the time!"
He seemed to have finally found the missing piece to a puzzle he had been on for a number of years now.
Arthur turned towards the man and used his partial Appraisal on him, getting limited pieces of information like always.
|Name-’Jabberwocky’
Race-Mimic Demon
Gender-Male
Age- 50
Existence Realm- Transcendent (Intermediate)
Titles: Myriad Transformer, THE ’Jabberwocky’, High-Rank Demon, Shadow Guard, Lord of Subterfuge, Commander of the Triton’s Ark, Fake Aramisian [...] |
’Looks like my partial Appraisal is not enough to see his actual name...’
Such was the thought that came to Arthur’s mind at first, but when he saw the other titles the man had, he shook his head lightly.
’I doubt I’d be able to see anything even if I had ’Perfect’ Appraisal.’
Arthur was genuinely curious about what the man did to be considered a ’Fake Aramisian’, but first, he had to respond to his greeting.
"Nice to meet you too.
I take it that this is not your real appearance."
The man before him possessed a striking appearance with light blue hair elegantly slicked back, creating a polished and refined look, and eyes that mirrored the same hue.
"You are correct. It is just one I favour, as such, I keep it up as my ’default’."
