Zeuxis was eventually healed too, and he stood up. “No, it wasn’t a tie.”

He lifted Lovushka from the ground. Ronin had no intention to heal him, so the light does not do so. He would remain in that state.

“He won.” Zeuxis said. “I was no match to a former god. If it weren’t for you both, I would have had my head cut off by his claws.”

Lovushka giggled from being carried like this again. He doesn’t dislike it at all, as he loved playing the damsel.

But what he liked the most was the one lifting him does not see him as a damsel to be saved at all that’s why he carried him.

Zeuxis see him the same way he does with his former master, the Marquis Saico. With equal amounts of hatred and respect.

“You want to be at my level, yet you are already doing well as of now. You put up a good fight, I won’t deny that.” Lovushka said.

“And I would like to fight you again one day. So you should stay here and get healed.”

Lovushka smiled. “I seek to fight Ronin, you seek to fight me. I’m the one in between, the challenged and the challenger.”

“In a way, that’s enticing. Sandwiched between two men.”

“You always know how to make things sound more perverse than they are, huh?” Zeuxis smiled back.

You wouldn’t guess at all in his face that he despised this man. But he really does, very, very much.

That’s why he could smile and laugh with him, give him a potion to restore him to his health in order to fight for another day.

Hatred and revenge for the two brothers seem to mean a very special bond compared to everything else.

Ronin turned to his own ‘Lovushka’, the one he swore to kill one day. Due to his sacrifice and his performance in fighting two gods so far, he too had gained a respect for Cermin.

He still disliked him for his ignorance and naivete though. His male Mary Sue quality.

Ronin turned to the prince who was more focused on him than he was to the two that came out of the amulet just now.

“We should leave Scirocco as soon as possible.” Ronin said.

Cermin frowned. “Why….. Oh, right.”

“Yes. Now we have both gods and daemons to worry about.” Ronin told him. “I was only waiting for both of you, but it’s better to take our leave now.”

“Where must we go?” Cermin asked.

Ronin knew exactly where.

“If you want to defeat the Lord of Darkness, you must find his weapon. The Whip of Malice.” Ronin said.

Cermin’s eyes went to the whip he was holding. The one that healed him just now.

Of course it was a whip because Ronin was the Lord of Darkness’ vessel, so he must have the same weapon too.

“I see…. Where is it?”

Ronin shook his head. “I am still not sure. However, I have places of interest that could be the one where it was hidden. The god Aurion hides it, and we must get it from him.”

“We can ask for it from him.” Cermin offered. “He probably won’t mind if it gets to save people, I always felt Aurion to be a god that actually cares about humans.”

“He was.” Ronin said, with a bit of a softness in his tone.

That softness felt like a bit of….. fondness.

Cermin noticed this, and asked. “Did you read it from your books?”

“Yes.” Ronin then cleared his throat.

That was really strange, it was very much unlike him. It must be Fausforus’ influence bleeding through.

“Well then, the places would be the Cave of Solitude in Welkins, the Island of Ogygia floating alone a few miles away from the coast of Sephyrine, and…”

“The Heart of Thorns in the Abyssal Realm.”

Cermin gulped. “The Abyssal Realm….. That’s really dangerous. That’s Fausforus’ turf, why would Aurion be there?”

“The heart of thorns was called that because the large black thorns started to converge at one point forming almost the shape of a heart with veins flowing through it. It stands as big as a cave.”

“No one had gone inside yet nor could theorize why it was formed… But it would have to be hiding something.”

Cermin considered it, but this was their best shot. The gods won’t help them, and it’s up to them to save mankind on their own.

Maybe if he found Aurion, he could convince him to help and…..

Finally set Ronin free from the influence of the Lord of Darkness.

So they settled for this plan, and told Zeuxis as well. The next day, they left the infirmary with new bags containing rations and other helpful supplies.

The doctors too had ‘generously’ given them potions for free after Ronin ‘asked’ for them.

Before they left….

Zeuxis looked back at the resting Lovushka, and said in a farewell.

“I will come for your head next time. Mark my words.”

Lovushka smiled. “I will wait for that day then, my ‘hero’.”

Cermin was still a little unnerved by their interactions with each other, as it fell out of character for ‘Zeriav’.

But he waved it off, and was simply happy to be traveling with his friends again. All of them are alive and in perfect condition.

“Shall we go to Welkins first? It’s just beside Scirocco if we keep going east.” Cermin asked.

Ronin agreed. “Yes, that’s where I planned to go first.”

“That would be your hometown, right, Zeriav?”

Zeuxis did not know this, but nodded. “Yes, it is.”

He had never been to Welkins before, nor knew anything about the place. Zeriav also barely told him about his background before he died.

Ronin tugged at his sleeves. “If you don’t know the answer to what he asks, just don’t. I’ll find a way to answer for you.”

“Alright, prune.”

“And do act more like a proper priest or I’ll cut off your head myself.”

“Alright, prune.”

It would have been easier if they could communicate to each other telepathically through Espinella. But Pavone was still neutralizing his Mage Focus, and he can’t even communicate to Ronin right now.

As they went off to the landscape of Welkins, it was noticeable how bleak and cold it was, even when it was not really snowing.

It seemed to be always raining here, all the time. The people were also not as lively as other kingdoms they visited so far.

Everyone just minded their own business. There were carriages here and there, but the place felt…..

Desolate.

Ronin heard Zeuxis think to himself:

(No wonder Brother Milky was the way he was. Everyone feels like snobs here. Way worse than Sephyrine, at least their sociable snobs.)

“Maybe we can stay at your house for a while before visiting this Cave of Solitude.” Cermin said.

Zeuxis blinked. “Hm. Well, I don’t know about that, Cermin…”

He sighed and made up something on the spot. “My family and I have not had close relations with each other for a long time now.”

Ronin wanted to smack his own forehead. This idiot elder brother of his, he just told him to stay quiet when he doesn’t know something!

Cermin then continued to ask. “Why are you no longer close? Did you have a fight with each other?”

“You could say that. They don’t really approve of my dreams of being a priest to Demetri.”

‘Idiot! Zeriav come from a whole family dedicated to being astrologers and serving Demetri!’ Ronin said in his mind, but unluckily, Zeuxis couldn’t hear him.

“That’s really sad.” Cermin frowned. “I never knew that and you never told me anything. Well, I suppose this means staying at an inn again—”

“Young Master Zeriav! Young Master Zeriav, is that really you!”

A little boy holding a basket with a few loaves of bread ran up to him, waving his hands. He seemed to be the only cheerful person in this gloomy street.

“Young Master, the Lord and Lady Mondstein had waited so long for your correspondence! They were wondering if you had been able to sought out the Daemons you were searching for!”

Zeuxis suddenly went quiet now, realizing that he had simply and utterly fucked up.

“They were asking for Zeriav to reply?” Cermin asked.

“Yes! They had been sending messages through doves trained to follow Young Master Zeriav’s scent.” The little boy said. “But the doves had not returned so far.”

Cermin rubbed his chin. “That’s strange. We haven’t encountered any letter-carrying doves. And also…”

“Zeriav, I thought you said your parents were no longer close with you because they don’t approve of you being a priest.”

The boy blinked. “He did? But it was Lord and Lady Mondstein that had trained Young Master Zeriav to be a priest of Demetri since he was young.”

“They were the one always pushing him to do his best, and were very displeased that he almost lost his priesthood when he got expelled from the Academy!”

The story doesn’t add up, and even to someone as naive as Cermin…

It was undoubtedly suspicious.