Chapter 322 A Fair Reward For Betrayal [Part 1]
Immediately the voice was heard, a stark coldness appeared on the man's face.
Slowly, he turned, only to see a white-haired boy, looking to be in his teens, standing between him and Raven with hands folded.
The man's eyes closed and twitched as he made out a sweet smile.
"Ayyyaaa, what is this? You didn't die?"
The man stated the obvious, slightly turning his head to Cal—who was the most shocked of them all.
It made no sense to him that Northern was alive. He felt the way his blade slashed across Northern's neck, he saw the blood and his deduction… it was correct.
With breaking, trembling eyes and voice, the despairing words rang out, "How? How did you do it?"
Northern looked at Cal with contempt but averted his gaze with no response. Right now, he was insignificant and undeserving of his response, not that he wouldn't give Cal his fair reward for deceiving him, but he had to deal with the bigger fish first.
He rested his gaze calmly on the man.
"I presume you are Sura?"
Sura, with his eyes still closed, tilted his head to one side.
"And whoever you are, I am uninterested. You stole my powers."
Northern tilted his head a little bit and said, his tone dripping with mockery,
"Oh? Are you holding a grudge because of a little thing I stole from you?"
Sura stared at him for a while, his expression blank and unreadable.
'Is this really the guy that smokes from a volcano? To me he looks…'
Gentle, sweet and kind.
Sura didn't look the part of all that Cal had said of him. Or maybe, Cal was lying all along.
Northern looked to Cal as he welcomed the notion.
"I don't do well with thieves, you can ask Caladhel. He tried to steal my baby girl and now he has eternity to pay for it. You…" He breathed steadily, "you stole a portion of my powers. It was a parting gift to my brother, you bullied him and took it from him!!"
Sura's voice grew fierce, mixed with anger and self-control. The moment he was done talking he breathed in and out several times then smiled at Northern again.
"I will overlook it okay, we can start afresh and find a likely path towards a shared goal. Because when we share a goal, we can comfortably share secrets and when secrets are shared, true friendships are made. So, which means, a secret shared is a friendship made."
He winked at the end of his words.
Northern stared at him in disgust, a bitter taste was left in his mouth by those cringey words.
He didn't know what to say to the strange man at first, Sura was not looking like how he had thought he would look.
And for that reason, Northern was finding it quite difficult to move forward with any sort of conversation.
However, he knew what he came here for and their reason for being in this gate.
He looked towards Ulzred.
He was unsure if they could pull it off, just he and Raven but how would he know unless he tried.
Sura followed his eyes and smiled.
"Did you really believe all that Caladhel and my brother told you?"
A frown creased Northern's brows.
"Well, part of it is true. But did you actually believe? Seeing how Caladhel had failed to get you, that meant you didn't trust him, so it's kind of surprising you believed."
Northern's frown only got darker. He didn't believe completely but they made some sense so yes he believed to an extent.
Moreover, he didn't want to believe anything that was coming from Sura's mouth.
And… Something else bothered him… right now, however, he didn't know how he would ask the question. So, he decided to bury it.
"Well. It's whatever, what do you want to do now. I'm not going to let you take my daughter."
Northern's face became horrid.
He was silent for a couple of seconds, then he sighed and said:
"I guess we are off onto a dreadful start of our friendship."
Sura laughed for a bit, "I like this one. He knows sarcasm."
"Do I though?" Northern cocked his head a little bit.
But Sura's expression contorted with a frightful austerity. He said nothing and turned away, then flashed towards the sky in a wake of purple glittering lights.
Leaving Caladhel, who trembled and slowly walked back.
Northern turned at him with a vicious light dancing in his eyes.
"Tell me Cal, were you ever for us, or when did you decide to betray us? Judging by the fact that he said, when I kill his brother."
Northern looked away for a moment as he continued, "He must have passed a message to you after then, which probably means your story was true but you got an offer from him. I guess he promised you something, maybe a way home? That's what you want desperately, it's the only reason you could be so foolish for."
Cal was speechless, his eyes trembled slightly but overall, he was still managing to hold an arrogant composure as Northern confronted him.
Raven was behind Northern, silently watching from behind. And particularly looking forward to what Northern's decision in this situation would be.
Northern outstretched his hand, summoning Soul Taker.
"So, you and I have scores to settle don't we? Judging by the look in your eyes, you have prepared yourself for this much right?"
Caladhel's eyes carried heaviness, tired lines formed beneath them, his brows were furrowed, and a gloomy stare was emanating from his eyes.
He slowly pulled out Stainless and extended her low.
"I'm sorry North."
"DO NOT CALL MY NAME!" Northern yelled.
He wasn't pained by the betrayal. He just hated the fact that he thought he could be wrong about Cal…even if it was for a moment.
And he was glad Cal did this, he was glad Cal betrayed him.
At least now his conscience wouldn't try to talk him into trusting anyone anymore.
Northern raised his head and said to his opponent.
"Come at me with your best, let's make this quick…" Simultaneously, in his mind, he commanded:
'Equip name, Ignis Dominus'
[Your True Name is Ignis Dominus]
A ghastly blue flame covered Soul Taker, flowing like a cloak.