The Duke's Passion



838 The strings of life and death

It was always a mystery to Claude how Alphonse could travel from one place to another. After all, what was known to him was that Alphonse could just appear as a shadow as long as there was a shade. Not that Claude really cared back then; he was just a child when Alphonse died at the hands of Samael. Therefore, they all moved on because of the countless obstacles and problems they needed to solve.

Claude had almost forgotten about Alphonse's existence. This uncle of his didn't even cross his mind, having more things to think about because of the reversal of time. But now that Alphonse had appeared and his body was standing still beside him, Claude finally got the answer he didn't think he would even need.

"What a convenient ability" murmured Claude, staring at the person standing beside him. "I'd take this over mine, to be honest. I wonder what's the catch?"

His brow arched, eyes at Alphonse's figure. Claude narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips into a thin line. He could still hear everyone's echoing huffs as they approached the land and the big splashes caused by the battle between the Kraken and Stefan.

"I wonder..." Claude swiftly swung his arm, pointing his sharp nails at Alphonse's throat. ... so that's the catch, huh?"

He retrieved his hand ever so slowly, allowing his long nails to return to their original length. He rocked his head in understanding, telling himself this shouldn't be an opportunity he should take advantage of.

"We have a common enemy," he whispered to himself, shaking his head to shrug off the wicked idea that suddenly crossed his mind. "I will deal with him later. For now, I need to be mature."

A glint flickered across his eyes while the corner of his lips curled up into a smirk. He couldn't kill or harm Alphonse as the latter might be doing something beneficial to their side. However, that doesn't mean he couldn't do anything to quench his annoyance for being forced into the passivity of the situation.

Claude snapped his eyes ahead, obviously catching the scene which he had been staring at previously. The knights were still rowing their boats in sync while others were swimming. Most of them got rid of their metal armor to swim faster.

The battle between Stefan and the Kraken was still raging on. Stefan was holding his ground, so Claude didn't need to dwell in the fight. He would only help Stefan if the latter needed it. For now, Claude had to conserve even the tiniest energy knowing this fight wouldn't stop when they reach the land. If anything, the battle would only start once the soldiers from the I leart's Kingdom reach the land.

Considering Claude had so much time to spare while resting, he marched towards the end of the fort. He squatted down, dipping his hand into the water only to scoop a handful of water to the concrete ground. He then made a mess, making mud out of the dirt on the ground and the

water.

When the dirt turned muddy, the corner of his lips stretched from car to car. Mischief shone in his cycs, looking back in Alphonse's direction.

"Sorry, but not sorry" Claude marched back to Alphonse, standing before the latter with his dirty hand.

Like any mischievous young person, Claude stretched his arm and painted on Alphonse's face, giving him a mustache. He drew circles around his uncle's eyes, horns on his temple, and even whiskers. Satisfaction grew clearer on Claude's face the more he added 'art' to Alphone's face. "I wonder what would be his reaction -"

Claude drew his hand away and hid it behind him when Alphonse suddenly opened his eyes and gasped. His brows rose, smiling politely as if he wasn't doing anything mischievous one second ago.

"You have an awesome ability," mused Claude while Alphonse was trying to catch his breath. 'I would love to have that ability instead of what I have. My abilities were tiring; sometimes, it is also unstable. I guess if one's ability has something to do with time like mine or uncle Stefan's or anything that associates with the natural order, we're bound to make a dangerous decision." "Uncle Stefan even lost his mind peeking into the future," he continued, shrugging, "No wonder he stopped peeking into the future since it can be misunderstood -"

"I'll get him out of there! Claude was cut off mid-sentence when Alphonse spoke after recovering his breathing. "Once all the knights reach the coast, I'll get him out of there!" "Pardon?" Claude blinked, confused at the sense of urgency in Alphonse's voice. "What happened? Why do you sound like your brother will die soon?"

"Because he will," Alphonse's response was firm and quick, setting his eyes back to the shore. He glanced at the people in the boat, nodding in approval as the knights were almost close. That was quick of them, but this wasn't the time to commend these knights.

Alphonse lifted his eyes, only to catch Stefan flying upward with his sword thrust forward. Stefan also had done a great job in holding his ground.

"I checked the Kraken's foundation and what I found is that the one we are seeing is simply a small part of it," said Alphonse sternly, eyer burning as if what he said wasn't enough to give justice to what he found. "And to make it worse, I think the Kraken was already dead.

"What?"

"Necromancy," Alphonse whispered to himself. "I would say it was something like that, considering the undead running wild in the land."

"You've been here since the beginning?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"I've been here even before you, Samael, and everyone with you arrived." Alphonse faced Claude with a stern expression, not knowing what sort of silly art he had on his face. "But that isn't the point. The point here is that Quentin's ability was to control the dead and the alive. Ile simply preferred controlling the dead to confuse his enemy and make them assume it was necromancy"

"How are you sure of this?"

"I've seen it. Underwater. Attached to the Kraken's head." Alphonse peeled his eyes away from his nephew to look ahead, seeing that the knights were almost there. "The strings of life... and death."

His expression darkened as he had another conclusion in his head. "I wish I was wrong, but I think Quentin got a hold of a demon."

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