Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 214: Unmasked

Thank you to my beta reader and editor, GlassThreads!

Seris Vritra

My eyes widened slowly as Toren's words registered with me. The Legacy.

Agrona's secret project; his quiet endgame to disrupt the status quo of this world. I knew precious little about his end goal and motivations regarding the Legacy; the sources afforded to me were slim and indistinct. The High Sovereign regularly worked at cross-purpose to himself, confounding and confusing all who could not see his same vision.

And none were more shrouded than this otherworld entity, known only by a title. I had managed to get some information from Nico Sever in regards to what exactly I could expect, but beyond that...

"I know the name," I admitted to Toren, feeling my mind shift into a more analytical framework. "But I do not know their purpose or what... he might accomplish should he be successful."

Toren nodded slowly, the candles spread across the room seeming to dim all at once as he inhaled. "The Legacy was a being of supreme power in Nico and Grey's previous world," he said, wringing his hands. "They bore the unique ability of control–not of themself, but of all others. Imagine a mage that with a bare taste of your mana could dominate every single speck of that energy. The world itself would bend to their whims, and not even the greatest mages–be they asura or mortal–would have a say in their own fate. For no matter how much you cultivated your control, you would be subject to their touch."

As Toren spoke, I allowed myself to imagine the picture he painted. And I found myself shuddering. If Agrona could simply deprive the greatest powers in this world of their very source of life...

It could very well spell the end of Epheotus itself.

I allowed myself to exhale slightly through my nose. "And I assume you aim to... influence this being's descent?" I asked, careful with my wording.

Toren shifted slightly so that he faced me more fully on the sofa. "Agrona brought two souls to this world from across the barrier of worlds, utilizing arts torn from the minds of the Asclepius phoenixes. And the souls he brought were not just any, no. For something as great, as monumental as the Legacy, you need supports. Points with which to anchor the soul. Like lighthouses that guide a ship to its dock."

I took a gulp of the wine once more, feeling as the liquid trailed down my throat like a sweet fire. My fingers might have trembled.

"Nico Sever," I said slowly, grasping the breadth of Toren's implications immediately. "And Arthur Leywin."

Toren reached a hand out toward me, no doubt sensing the mess that my emotions had become. Yet his hand halted, then curled back toward his knees.

Unfortunate, I thought bleakly. The warmth this wine brings my stomach cannot banish the chill his words cast me into. Perhaps his touch would calm me.

"So that was why you sought out Arthur Leywin," I said somberly. "To deprive him of one of his anchors, thus preventing this being's descent?"

Toren shifted nervously, averting his eyes from mine. For the first time, I noticed the slight blush on his cheeks, barely visible in the low light. Perhaps he was more affected by his glass of wine than he let on.

"Not exactly, Seris," the last son of Named Blood Daen said. "I will kill an anchor, that much I have sworn. But in this instance... I sought to deprive the High Sovereign of not his anchors, but his Vessel."

I tilted my head, my hair shifting as I observed Toren. I meticulously filtered each new bit of information I received into their proper places within my mind, cataloging and marking them as needed. While I had begun to feel a slight buzz from the effect of the drink in my hands, I would not allow my thinking to be impeded.