Garden Of The Abyss

As the maledictions left his smile-plastered lips, an ominous wave of darkness echoed through the tattered room. Before the nobleman could even process what was happening, the intangible wave echoed throughout his body.

"What did you do to me?" Althaus asked as desperation masked his voice, checking his hands.

"It is a less...brutish way to experience the natural elegance of red," Rouge answered, slowly stepping towards the noble.

Before the man could say another word, crimson liquid began to seep out from his hands, then his arms. It began to leave his body rapidly, feeling the warm, yet chilling sensation of blood leaking from his pores directly under his clothing, traveling down his legs before staining the floor below. His mouth was no exception, tasting the copper of his own thick, runny blood before his own sight began tinted with red. There was nothing he could do to fight the spell woven by Rouge, his skin fading to a deathly pale as all strength left his body. An attempt to scream out caused a fountain of his own arterial fluid to escape his throat.

"Beautiful, isn't it? It's quite a lovely spell indeed--it forces your blood to leave your body as if it's so desperate to meet me. Against novices like you, it works in full potency--Ah, thank you for giving me this opportunity to see such a vibrant shade of red," Rouge kneeled down in front of the gasping nobleman.

Each utterance that left the crimson-soaked nobleman was blocked by the rapid flow of blood clogging his throat, allowing only gurgles to escape. The single, simple malediction shifted the proud noble into a puddle of crimson, powerless to the hexes of the Argonaut.

"Still, I have to give you credit, Althaus. I didn't expect you all of people to sacrifice yourself for someone else--let alone an otherworlder. Quite noble, quite noble indeed. I mean, it won't amount to much, that clumsy fool is still within this manor," Rouge smiled.

The crimson-obsessed man ran his gloved finger over the forehead of his victim, rubbing his fingers together as if testing the texture of the man's blood.

"Huh, I can't say there is much of a difference between the blood of a peasant and that of a noble. That's not an insult, mind you, it's all beautiful, nonetheless," Rouge stood back up, "well then...I suppose I had my fun. Time to finish my job."

A slight smile was left on the face of the noble, perturbing even the Argonaut as he averted his gaze. He bowed his head to the noble who now laid upon the threshold of death before stepping over his body, making his way onward.

He set his hand on the door handle, opening the door to leave--or so he thought. A chill ran down his spine, then the next second, a violent eruption of mana emanated from behind him--from where the so-thought defeated noble laid.

"You said my blood was no different from a peasant's own? A mockery."

The Argonaut spun himself around, completely on guard as he faced the source of the sudden spike in mana. It was as if watching a dead man crawl from his own grave, Althaus slowly stood himself up, nearly sticking to the floor with his own rapids of blood puddling below.

"How are you...How are you standing--? How?" Rouge yelled out in fright.

"If you want to kill one who has inherited the secret magic of the Althaus line, you'd better remove my head from my shoulders," Althaus's voice came out hoarsely.

"I thought the magic of the Althaus' family was wasser? This is--" Rouge's eyes trembled at the sight.

"It wouldn't be much of a secret if it was that well known. That's the thing about us magus, we're awfully paranoid, and paranoia leads to cautiousness," Althaus stated, a vibrant blue aura emanating from him as he faced his enemy.

Even in a world full of magic, seeing a man stand up, talking so casually after all of the blood had been expelled from his body--it was a sight of bewilderment. Not a minute after his rise from his fallen state, The butler smiled, setting the tray down on the desk.

besides the sea of red that dyed his attire, the nobleman was back to one-hundred percent.

"I see...it makes sense now. This is the magic of the Althaus family--you have completed it, haven't you? You have perfected immortality magic!" Rouge shouted out in joy, letting his mind wander from battle out of pure astonishment, "listen--if you bring this magic to the King, you will be pardoned--No, you will be a hero!"

"The magic passed down to me--entrusted to me, is not something that will follow into the hands of any besides those who bear the name "Althaus", don't mock me!" Althaus shouted, wiping a glob of blood from his hair.

In the blink of an eye, Rouge's entire demeanor dropped once again at the noble's stubborn rejection. A low sigh let his lips before he straightened his thick coat.

"Tell me, how many lives do you have?" Rouge asked, his calm voice coming out sharply, "you aren't fooling anyone, Althaus. You may be able to negate aging with that secret magic, but you haven't defeated death. I'm sure if I stick enough blades in you, you won't be able to get back up."

A fatal mistake one might commit, under the false pretense of so-called "immortality". Althaus knew the man before him had the right idea--his inherited magic granted him a vastly extensive lifespan, matching even the elven races. No doubt, however, such powerful magic didn't have any room to make him truly unkillable, each death through unnatural means meant spending an exuberant amount of his lifespan. Through his long life, he had acted in brazen due to this lack of the most innate fear of all humans, resulting in an expenditure of his own stock of lives, and now--he had met the blade to his rope.

"If you were as smart as you thought you were, you would have taken my offer. What difference does defying death but a few times make with our difference in power? What did you hope to accomplish? You should've at least laid there and pretended to be dead while I tended to the otherworlder," Rouge sighed.

"If I were a coward, then you're right, that would've been the best choice. I disagree with you, though, my choice was the smartest one to make," Althaus stroked his blood-painted beard.

"How do you suppose?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"That otherworlder...I'm gambling on him, one day, he will crush you--he'll crush this corrupt government soon enough," The nobleman beamed, displaying his crimson-tinted teeth.

The room fell silent for a moment before the Argonaut released a fit of laughter, rearing his head back as he held none of his cackling within himself.

"I don't suppose you find the irony in a nobleman spouting about a corrupt government, no? It was quite a funny thing to hear. I won't deny you that I am a sick, twisted bastard, I can admit as much. However, you seem to have forgotten why otherworlders are persecuted in the first place, and why we need devils such as myself to hunt other devils," Rouge's perfectly shaped round-hair bounced as he spoke, "need I remind you of the brutalities of the "Five Heroes of Eldrum"?"