The Duke's Passion

837 A dead fish

"Uncle Alphonse?"Nêww chapters will be fully updated at wuxiahere.com

Claude's pupils went wide, trying to confirm the face under the shade of the person's hood. When the latter pulled his hood down, Claude's jaw nearly fell.

"What are you..." he trailed off when Alphonse flashed him a short smile, making Claude take a step back.

"I know you and I had so many things to discuss -

"We need no discussion." Claude shook his head in dismay, pulling an aura on him as if to tell Alphonse he wouldn't hesitate to wield his sword at any moment.

"I know." Alphonse breathed out, ignoring the hostility coming from his nephew as he shifted his attention to the battle between the Kraken and Stefan. "I understand you despised me more than anyone - more than Stefan for taking your parents' lives. No words of apology would ever quench that hatred. However, I believe we are currently in a situation where our personal issues should be put aside."

Alphonse carefully set his eyes back to Claude. "I came here because Stefan told me to assist him. If you and I are still alive after this, we can settle any score"

Silence dawned on them for a moment, staring at each other. After several seconds, Claude let out a weak yet deep huff, relaxing his tense shoulders.

"I can't stop the time from that distance," said Claude, answering his uncle's previous query whilst keeping his eyes on him. "But I can slow it down. I don't know if that is enough since I can only do it for five seconds. I don't want to force myself more than that."

It would be too dangerous for Claude to stop the time longer than a few seconds. After all, he had been using his divine weapon, Auron, since marching the warriors out of the Colosseum. Morcover, he didn't want to lose control over it. Therefore, Claude was careful in using his ability to not make the same mistake as the reversal of time.

The La Crox had this habit of hiding the real nature of their abilities, after all. Just like Samael, whom everyone thought was gifted, only for him to admit that his real ability was to steal other people's abilities.

Claude took one careful step toward Alphonse, calling him with a quiet voice to see what was going on. Ilis steps became more and more careful until he was standing beside Alphonse. Claude tilted his upper body to the side to see Alphonse's front.

"What are you...?" he trailed off, seeing that Alphonse's eyes were nothing but white. The latter wasn't moving and just standing on the same spot, but Claude was certain Alphonse was currently unconscious.

"Unconscious..." Claude whispered as deep lines appeared in between his brows. "... no, you weren't unconscious. You're just not here, are you?"

Just then, Claude realized something and got a good grasp of Alphonse's real abilities. As soon as he did, Claude's mouth fell open in amusement.

"How... did I miss it?"

********

Meanwhile, under the ocean, a dead fish that was floating down deep in the ocean opened its eyes. The fish gazed around, catching the dark element that i deemed as the body of the Kraken. Most of its tentacles were still underwater. In other words, those above the sea were simply a portion of it.

'It won't be an exaggeration to say this Kraken had a size of a town, thought the fish, swimming deeper to see how deep the Kraken's body was. As it swam deeper, a thought crossed the fish. 'I should've told him to look after my body. But then again, he might kill me if he knew I was

vulnerable in that state.

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