𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 | ᵇˡᵃᶜᵏ ᶜˡᵒᵛᵉʳ

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

RYUKO STOOD NEXT to Yami, staring at William. His eyes were soft but his hands were clenched tightly. It was clear that something was bothering him.

"Man... your world tree magic's awesome just like always," Yami complimented.

"No, it's all thanks to the strength of my enemy's magic power and Lady Miyuki's teachings," William replied.

"You're still a Crazy Lady fanboy, aren'tcha?"

"Lady Miyuki deserves all the praise in the world, Yami. As some who trained under her, you would no,"

"Yeah, yeah. So you're a world tree magic-user... right?"

"Indeed... what are you trying to say, Yami?"

"I'm the kind of guy who listens to his guts, see," Yami said. "Vangence, think you can take off that mask for me?"

"Yami! I thought we agreed not to be so blunt!" Ryuko shouted.

"Yeah, I lied," Yami confessed.

"Yami!"

"It isn't... the sort of face people would want to see," William told them, making the two look at him.

"Huh? What's that? You super ugly or something?" Yami asked. "It's fine, it's fine. I won't laugh. Hah ha ha ha,"

"But he's laughing..." Hikaru muttered.

"Just leave it," Ryuko said.

"I know what it is, Yami, Ryuko... the two of you suspect that I may be the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Ryuko said, crossing his arms. "We can't help but notice similarities between the two of you. The sound of your voice, your builds... for me, it's your heartbeat and scent that's exactly the same,"

"It's been what, about ten years since I first met you? Longer for this guy. We met on the battlefield, then we learned we had the same teacher. After that, every so often, we would fight together on the battlefield," Yami said.

"We did become captains together as well," Ryuko pointed out.

"Yeah, Nozel's braid shook like crazy when that happened," Yami laughed.

"Oh god, don't remind me of that," Ryuko sulked.

"Anyway, you and Ryuko are pretty close but we're not... but we've known each other for quite some time, right?" Yami said. "So, let me see your face,"

"That kinda sounds like proposal," Ryuko teased.

Yami tried to stab him but he missed with Ryuko smiling happily.

"Fine," William said. He slowly took off his mask. When he did, Yami and Ryuko were both equally shocked.

The top half of his face had a strange purple hue to it with darker patches coming from his forehead and down.

"That's one heck of a scar," Yami said. "Did you get it in battle?"

"It's a curse, isn't it?" Ryuko asked.

"Yes, you're correct as always, Ryuko," William said. "I was born with it. They called me a curse child,"

"Humans... always assuming shit..." Ryuko sighed heavily.

"Even magic couldn't fix this scar, you see. The people around me thought it was creepy and were afraid of me. I was the illegitimate child of a certain noble. Until eight, I lived in the Forsaken Realm, however..."

William paused and stared at his mask.

"When the noble lost his heir, I was taken in as an aristocrat. Fortunately, I had great magical power, and my world tree magic was viewed as a curiosity. However, even there they loathed my face. In addition, the noble's lawful wife, my foster mother, badly abused me. It was a hellish,"