Chapter 27: The Mask opened
"Eh? Of course, I don't have the right to call what's wrong or right, but when wrong has been done to me, I know it's wrong, and I know the right thing to do." Temur said.
The Captain shook his head, his voice threaded with low anger. "You know when wrong has been done to you? What about me? You killed my mother!"
Jael gasped and looked at Temur who looked just as surprised and very confused.
"Your mother? I don't know what you are talking about. I don't know you or your mother." Temur said slowly as if that would help.
"Oh, you don't?" Then the Captain shrunk, he cowered, and then spoke again. "Ahahah...wh..what about now? Do you know me?" The voice had changed to a small tone that ended in a whine.
Jael stared in shock. "Mopi?!"
"Mopi?" Temur demanded. What is the actual green grass sea is going on? Mopi is part of the chaos Cult?
He yanked away his mask. His small eyes glinted with anger. "Oh, now you remember me! You bloody killer. How are you any different from me when you killed my mother? Do you know how much I want to strangle you with my hands but instead smile everytime I was with you guys?"
Temur was still baffled. It's as if his view of the world has been flipped once again; it has been happening frequently this day since he came to the Tower. Unlike back home, friends are not friends. "But...why?"
"Why? After you people killed my mother? Her lifeless body is lying cold there, and I couldn't give her a proper burial because before I return, the GUV has taken her body away!"
Jael connected the dots, with everything Mopi was saying. It's making sense now. "Your mother is the Priestess?"
Temur looked at Jael in confusion. "The Priestess that tried to kill us back in the cave? But..we saved Mopi then! How can he be the son of the Priestess?"
Mopi laughed but there's no humor there. "Yes, she's my mother. I was already in the pit waiting for sacrifices to be lowered and then I started to see the body of the Acolyte flying down and the sound of fighting. So I hid. I tied myself up."
Silence met his words as Temur and Jael tried to process what they just heard. They thought Mopi was this awkward guy who likes sneaking on people but now...
"But why don't you attack us immediately? Why wait if you are so set on vengeance?" Jael asked.
"Because you fools are always together. And admittedly you are strong even separately. I need to come with my squad to do it. And here, far from any interference. I will have my revenge and send your souls to Chaos." He summoned his Codex, and instead of the blurry ord it was before, what now hovered before him was a deck of cards.
"Your Codex changed." Jael had never seen such a thing before.
He grappled the Codex and flipped the cards. "My abilities are based on luck. One of the cards I drew that day was that of illusion. Let's see; I need something strong to kill you, hmm....something good."
"But we are not to kill that one, the High Priest said so." One of the warriors said.
Mopi sneered. "We'll just tell him the monster he summoned killed him already. He just wanted his chaos Devourer anyway."
"So you knew about the monsters that suddenly appeared in the zone? Someone summoned it you say? You are part of the people that hurt Litha," Temur gestured and he began to walk forward himself. "Where I come from. We ride for our friends and we trample our enemies. Prepare yourself!"
Before Jael knew what was happening, Temur already blurred like a released arrow. He was in front of Mopi swinging his sword down with all the strength of a charging elephant.
Mopi danced back, but Temur was anticipating that, and he shot forward, his sword uncoiling from him like a whip and woosh. It caught Mopi in the chest, biting deep and drawing blood.
It all happened so fast that by the time the other paladin reacted, Temur had stepped back. He shook his sword. "The next one will be your head."
Mopi stared at his blood in surprise. How long has it been since he has seen his blood outside like this? He channeled his anger and shuffled his cards quickly.
Finally, he drew one, and when he checked it, he smiled. "Lucky me. It's the king of swords." He slapped the card on his chest, and his body filled with energy; his eyes changed; it shone silver; he called a thin sword from his ring.
Temur shifted on his feet. "The king of sword you say? Let me tell you there's only one sw....." He brought his sword up in a guard position quickly, as Mopi's own slammed into his with a clang. He grunted, not expecting that kind of strength from the smaller body.
Mopi laughed, a crazy carefree laughter, and slashed again, horizontally. Temur thought he was prepared this time, and he parried; the sword met, and he was driven back, his hand stinging with pain. 'Impossible! How did Mopi get that kind of strength? And the way he's moving his sword! That's not an amateur move!'
He thought it was something he would finish without using any power but now. He held his sword with two hands, and then the last of his aura bathed it in light, the whole of the blade turned to molten metal. His Codex hung above him, his master looking at the whole thing with a disapproving look.
Temur grinned. "The only Sword King is my master. My Codex and one day. I will claim the title. Come now, Mopi. Let's our sword do the talking."
The paladins and Jael watched as if they were witnesses to what was happening.
The two met, and their sword sparked; they parried and blocked, dodging and slashing.
If it was from the view of a master swordsman watching, then they'd say– Mopi fought like an artist as if the sword is a brush and his opponent the drawing, while Temur is like a boy trying out the clothes of his father, it covers him, but he's still not there.
Temur thrust his sword forward and Mopi stopped it with a block close to his neck. It was exactly what he was waiting for. He released the aura stored in the sword, and the aura extended, cutting Mopi's head from his neck.