The Jester of Apocalypse

Chapter 110: Owners of Life

A block of shattered obsidian lay scattered around the room as the intruder failed to get up.

Marven panicked, “That won’t be enough, Neave!”

Before the old cultivator could say anything else, Neave had already teleported on top of the enemy and wrapped his snaky limbs around the intruder’s.

The assassin groaned as Neave’s limbs tightened with extreme force, and now he found himself restrained and incapable of doing virtually anything. Although he could perhaps beat Neave in strength, his limbs were now at a horribly awkward angle, and he could not exert any force.

He barely opened his mouth and said, “Kill me, you demons!”

Neave’s face lit up like a candle, “No!”

“You won’t get anything out of me if you torture me.”

“Bahahaha, that's what they all say! You were sent here by Astrador, right? What’s your name?”

The intruder’s eyes widened, and he refused to speak further. His face grew resolute, and it was clear that he had accepted death.

The others panicked and kept trying to say something, but they weren’t sure what should be done. Should the intruder be killed? Interrogated? Held as a prisoner?

Before they could settle on a suggestion, they heard the sound of bones cracking, and the intruder screamed in agony. His limbs were bent at odd angles, and his neck was broken, but he wasn’t dead.

However, moving was out of the option now.

Neave uncoiled himself and got up, “I rate the assassination attempt a nine out of ten. It would have been a ten out of ten if you had killed me!” He clapped, “Good job!”

The resigned look on the intruder’s face was still there.

“So, uh… I’ll be taking that nasty saber you brought.” Neave picked it up and examined it, feeling the intense strain on his spirit, “Ew, merely holding this feels gross. Uwah, I wanna barf.”

Neave threw the diamond-rank saber to the side haphazardly and spoke to the assassin, “So, what’s your name?”

He stayed silent.

“Tsk, aight, whatever. So, the next time you come here, I suggest you prepare for a more open combat type of assassination. I mean, I don’t really dislike what you did here, but it’s not very fun.”

The others opened their mouths, and Harel was the first to speak, “Neave, don’t tell me you’re going to release him! He’s an enemy!”

Neave snapped his fingers and pointed them at Harel, “Exactly! He is also quite a powerful enemy! We need those. Hell, that’s the only reason we’re here! Why would I let him go to waste?”

There was a sort of logic to Neave’s reasoning that wasn’t wrong per se, but absolutely nobody would accept such an argument.

Marven stepped up after shooting the assassin a glance, “Look, Neave, I understand your reasoning, but he appeared out of nowhere and even cut you into pieces. You said it yourself. He was likely sent here by Astrador. This means he will probably return, and tell him the details of what we’re doing here. This isn’t a mere challenge. This is a threat to our plans!”

Neave nodded sagely, “Indeed. But you forget one thing.” He pointed at the assassin on the floor, “Where the fuck did he come from? I don’t fucking know, you don’t fucking know, I’m pretty sure not even he fucking knows. The thing with Astrador is that he is a fucky dude. A real fuckily fucker of fucking fucks. I don’t know what he is doing, but I can tell you this won’t be the last of his plans.” Neave turned to the adolescent lying on the ground and added, “Also, what if he is, like, rigged to explode when killed?”

Everyone, including the intruder, opened their eyes wide at that. It seemed like a ridiculous proposition, but it wasn’t impossible.

After a confirmative nod, Neave added, “Think about it. This dude came at us with a damn near-perfect plan. Do you think this kid came up with it? Hell no, that was Astrador’s doing. And knowing that bastard, he must have accounted for the possibility of failure. So if we kill him, I’d say there is a solid seventy percent chance he will explode, and we will all die. Or he will release poison gas or something, I don’t know.”

Marven bit his lip slightly at that. If Neave was so confident that Astrador would do that, what kind of monster were they facing here? He couldn’t help but wonder whether they were really safe, even while in this realm. However, he wasn’t ready to fully agree with Neave’s decision yet, “That doesn’t mean that releasing him is the best course of action. Perhaps keeping him prisoner…”

“You want to keep a potential bomb as a prisoner?”

“We can restrain him far from where we are.”

“Which will probably allow Astrador to free him anyway. Look, Dad, I will be honest with you. I don’t really care about any of that in the first place. I just want him alive and ready to attack us again.”

“That is too dangerous!”

“It’s appropriately dangerous. What do you think is waiting for us when we leave? Hosolar is much more dangerous than this kid, and I will bet he has access to even scarier methods of taking us out. Also, look at him.”

For the first time, Marven turned to the mangled kid lying on the ground and saw… A mangled kid lying on the ground. There was panic, resolve, fear, a cocktail of emotions and expressions.

Neave grinned at him, “I’d bet whatever you want that this kid doesn’t exist outside of this realm.”

Everyone turned to Neave with a look of shock, and he continued, “I brought a slime in here, and when I left, so did the slime. But! When it multiplied, its offspring stayed inside. None of the monsters in here exist out of here, and I theorize that if a man and a woman… You know. Do the thing. Their kid would probably not exist outside of this realm either.” Neave’s grin widened, and he continued, “I would also bet this kid was promised a way out if he killed us.”

That got a rather violent reaction from their assailant, but it was quickly restrained.

Laughter echoed through the chamber, and Neave slithered closer to the panicking adolescent, “That tells me two things. Either Astrador is telling the truth, or he is lying. If he is telling the truth…” His grin widened, “That must mean that it’s possible to take things from inside the realm to the outside. And if he is lying…” He turned to the others with a villainous look on his face, “Then this poor kid deserves to know the truth, don’t you all think?”

Neave lifted his arm and placed it on the kid’s shoulder. He remembered the unusual feeling of making a soul oath, and after a bit of fiddling, he spoke, grin widening yet again, “I swear by soul oath that Astrador can make a soul oath, too”

The intruder shivered and felt deep in his soul that Neave was telling the truth.

Lifting his arm back up, he continued, “Soul oaths, when made, allow you to instantly know whether someone is telling the truth. Because it is impossible to lie under soul oath. Now… If you want to know whether Astrador was really being truthful… It’s simple. You will just have to ask.”

Cackling like a demon, Neave picked up the distressed intruder and rushed outside. Once on the surface, he flung the assassin’s body roughly in the direction of the chamber where Astrador was. The force of the swing sent the kid flying through the air, and Neave nodded in satisfaction.

He quickly returned to their chamber and grabbed the saber as well. Seeing its inscriptions, Neave wasn’t willing to take any chances with the weapon. While the material was fantastic, it wasn’t worth the risk.

It also didn't seem to be metallic but rather crystalline in nature. This reduced the number of theoretical uses drastically. Not worth the risk at all.

Back up on the surface, he threw the saber into the air, then struck it with the hammer, knocking it out into the sky, likely off the planet entirely. Where it would end up, or whether it would even end up anywhere, Neave didn’t know. It went away, for now, at least. If it were going to blow up, it would do it at a safe distance from them.

Once back in the chamber again, the others looked… Uncomfortable.

Dukean stepped up, “Are you sure that was the right thing to do? I can’t help but think it’s a little needlessly cruel.”

To Dukean’s and everyone else’s surprise, Neave turned severe upon hearing that, “Astrador is willing to be extremely cruel to others for the slightest of reasons. Undoubtedly, the way he has reached his level of power was achieved through dishonorable, cruel methods. We have to be ready to face people who have been lied to or otherwise manipulated. We can’t take responsibility for our enemy's cruelty. Yet, I do not wish to sink to his level, either. However, even past all that, I am simply unwilling to compromise.”

After a while of silence, Marven spoke up, “Neave… Why let him go?”

“It’s simple. Whenever any of my enemies choose to use unsavory methods, I will look for a way to force them to take responsibility for their actions. If I can’t, I will respond in a way that favors my goals. Whether Astrador was telling the truth or lying, and whether he chooses to kill that kid or not, that will merely be an extension of his decisions.”

Dukean frowned, “Isn’t that simply allowing him to keep being cruel?”

“No. It’s not. And it’s not because I can’t stop him. If I choose to take responsibility for his cruelty, then cruelty becomes yet another tool he will use against us. And he will use any tool he can to achieve his goals.”

That left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. As he felt the mood swinging in the wrong direction, Neave wanted to simplify the matters but found himself short on ways to fix the problem. He was the last person qualified to deal with moral subjects like this.

However, it wasn’t long until Marven stepped forward and turned to the others, “We are facing what is likely one of the most powerful beings in existence. One doesn’t achieve that type of power without compromise.” Then he turned to Neave, “You said you were unwilling to compromise?”

Neave nodded, and Marven returned the gesture, “I think what you did was right. Demonic sects often employ methods that force their opponents into doing horrible things, such as sending young children or slaves to the front lines. That is not and can not be the fault of those attacked.”

Dukean added, “I heard my father say something similar once. Owners of life own the death. If your blade beheads a slave, the master’s tongue holds the blame.”

“Sick rhymes, Dukey boy. Either way, I get it. This whole situation is complicated. I did what I did to fuck with Astrador and get some info. I won’t sit around and contemplate morality all day. The ultimate answer is simple. We are here looking for power. The more we contemplate morality, the more we…” Neave paused, “Son of a fucking bitch! I think he did this on purpose!”

The others raised an eyebrow at that.

“No, no, wait, he… Hmm… I’m not sure, but he might have intentionally done this to mess with us or sabotage our cooperation. Or did he? Arrgh!” Neave scratched his head and turned to the others, “Look, it’s Astrador. I'm sure he will do more shitty stuff to piss us off. So! Let’s agree that we will do our best not to be as shitty as he is and keep seeking power.”

That simplified the situation, and there wasn’t much else to do but agree.

Before anybody could continue the moral argument, the glass puppet floated before them and began doing its usual charade routine.

Gabrias’ eyes widened, “What!? How many!?”