Chapter 735 Curtains Rise
"You imbeciles! Why haven't you been picking your calls despite how many times I tried to reach you!"
This next question shocked them just as much as the first.
"C-Calls…?" They both looked at each other with stunned expressions on their faces.
The moment they felt a vibrating feeling, they picked the device immediately. Neither of them would even dream of ignoring the call of their Master, which was what made them too stunned to even speak.
They were beyond confused.
"Master… we did as you instructed us."
"We also picked your call as soon as we—"
"SAVE YOUR EXCUSES!" The rage-filled voice of the Lord frightened the two girls, almost to the point of tears.
They were silently sobbing and trembling without even realizing what they did wrong.
"You've ruined everything! Even after I trusted you… after I told you the importance of the plan… even after I raised you to be obedient and perfect, you still messed this up! Why? Why did you do this? Why now? Why me…?"
This was the very first time they had heard their master being this pathetic. Yes, she was incredibly furious, and she didn't hide that fact, but… there was something else. She was frightened, horrified, and downright anxious.
She seemed just as scared as they were.
"W-what did we do, Master? Why are you speaking like this?" Shai'ya cried out loud, her tears flowing now.
Kat'erin still tried to maintain her composure, but the more immature girl was already sobbing very loudly in her confused state.
"Are you crazy? Playing dumb at a period like this… what ungrateful and idiotic bitches you are! I regret ever taking you in! You've ruined me… ahh… you've destroyed me!"
Those words stung them to their core.
The two Generals felt like shattering to pieces the moment they heard their everything hurl such hurtful words at them. However, before they could even properly process what was said, and perhaps give a response to their Master, they received another shock.
"You broke the Emperor's rules! I WARNED you! I TOLD you! Yet… Yet… YOU FOOLS!"
Kat'erin and Shai'ya exchanged puzzled glances once again. Their confusion reached another height since they never did any such thing.
They followed the instructions they received to the letter, so this made no sense.
… No sense at all.
"You've ruined me! Curse you both! Curse y—!"
~ZZZTZZZZ!~
All of a sudden, the line got disconnected. It didn't seem like either side ended the call, but the effect was most likely due to some kind of interference. However, how possible was that?
The device they used was a very secure and sophisticated one. The only ones who could probably interfere with such an Item would be fellow Lords, or perhaps…
"MASTER!" Fear gripped the heart of the two girls as soon as they heard the line get disconnected. Despite the mean words they received from her, their feelings towards her hadn't changed one bit.
In fact, they blamed themselves and hated themselves for her sake.Their Master couldn't be wrong, which meant they had messed up somewhere. But… what exactly did they do wrong?
"W-why did Master say those—?" Right as Shai'ya was breaking the dreadful silence between the two of them, they heard a round of applause from a single a single person.
The claps rang loudly, but something about them was hollow.
The two girls instantly turned in the direction of the applause, right behind them, and found a man standing there, both palms smashing against each other to generate the sound.
He had beautiful red hair that matched his eyes. His ebony skin glowed immaculately, blending perfectly with his black suit. With a charming face, and a somewhat unsettling smile, he rested his gaze on the girls who watched him with complicated emotions.
"W-who is he…?"
"I-I don't… I don't know…"
They didn't know what was worse—the fact that they didn't sense him until he clapped, or the sense of affinity they had towards him despite resembling a human.
None of it made any sense, but before they could express their confusion, they noticed the pile of corpses that lay at his feet.
All six of them… dead Dragon Generals.
He had killed them all within such a short span of time, and without even drawing their attention. Even at that, he didn't look fazed or scathed.
He wasn't even out of breath.
His eyes were calm, and his smile was perfectly genuine.
The blood of their comrades still clung to his hands, making it evident that he was the one responsible for their demise. After he got their attention, though, he brought a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly cleaned the crimson blood from his palm.
All while maintaining eye contact with the girls.
For a moment, they were all silent. No one spoke, either due to some unspoken tension or confusion, but right as Kat'erin was about to open her lips, Ater raised a finger to his lips and commanded silence.
Before she could even offer any resistance, the world around her became distorted and reality came crashing down on her.
The environment that she stood on was completely altered, and it reflected something that nearly drove her and her partner mad.
"We… are still in the Capital…?"
"N-no way…"
It was impossible, yet they could see the walls and buildings, and everything around them—all reminiscent of the city that they had just recently seen from afar.
Was this teleportation? An illusion? No… it was neither of those things.
"A-ahh…" Kat'erin's eyes were wide as she spotted the bodies of several people that littered the ground a small distance from them. They resemble the ones she and Shai'ya killed—the ones who were trying to escape from the burning city.
What were doing inside the Capital? Why? What was happening?!
"You appear quite confused, and that is only natural." Ater smiled, finally done with wiping his hand clean of the blood.
He disposed of the handkerchief, and it instantly faded into the wind almost as if it never existed, to begin with.
"It's about time for you to learn the truth."