Chapter 526 Partners

"Sirius…why did you come?" Emilia asked faintly.

Despite the dreadful situation, he put on a small smile as he looked at her with his confident, never-faltering magentas.

"Why? You're my partner. I'm not leaving you behind," he told her, "but…tell me–what happened, Emilia?"

Emilia seemed hesitant to answer as her hair seemed ruffled up and one of her cheeks was bruised, but eventually she spoke.

"...I didn't believe you at first. This "dream" stuff…but, I fell into it as well. I was led here…and…he…captured me."

"Who's "he", Emilia?" Sirius asked.

Though before he could receive an answer, footsteps became audible–it was two pairs, coming from the door that was located at the back of the basement.

There was little he could do to defend himself in any way to prepare to face the mysterious capturers of his as the nullification field made him utterly defenseless.

A moment later, the door opened, with one man walking through first that he instantly recognized.

That's him! He thought.

A pale face, so white as if wearing makeup, and colorful, rainbow-like hair that paired itself with a mischievous, dark smile.

"Greetings, Sirius Federov," the man greeted him, walking in with a lavish cane, though he didn't seem to need it.

He remained silent, looking behind the clown-looking man as another walked through the same door.

The other man was tall with dead, tired eyes and silver, messy hair, wearing a long, baggy, black coat. He didn't look much older than his mid-twenties, but his most noticeable attribute were his knuckles that seemed to have had their skin pulled back, revealing a metallic bone.

These guys are with Belmon, no doubt, he thought.

"No response? I am very sad to hear that, or rather–hear nothing!" The pale-faced man laughed with little sense of sanity.

Removing the over-the-top top hat from his head, the clown-faced, fancily-dressed man bowed himself, tucking one leg behind the other, "I am Caeruleus, a humble servant of the immaculate kingdom of Belmon!"

He didn't expect to have it confirmed so easily, being taken aback by the introduction from the eccentric man.

…I guess it's no use trying to apply logic or reason to Belmon cultists–they operate on a completely different realm from the rest of us, he thought.

The silver-haired man standing behind Caeruleus didn't introduce himself, seeming bored of the conversation itself.

While he was still trying to figure a way out of this mess, he opted to buy time by talking, though he wanted some questions answered nonetheless, "Hey, Clown-Face."

"Would you happen to be referring to me?" Caeruleus asked with a mischievous smile as he flipped his top hat back onto the summit of his head.

The eccentric, pale-faced man wore a dark-blue, tailcoat jacket with black, stitched trousers, carrying his gilded, swirled cane with each movement he made.

"Are you the one responsible for these dreams?" He asked, ignoring the man's question.

Caeruleus stared at him for a moment as his wild, heterochromic eyes shifted to a more serious look–the left eye being gold, and the other red.

"That would indeed be my creation, yes," Caeruleus answered, stepping closer to the barrier that contained the man, "Do tell me, did you find the world of dreams to be an alluring one?"

The question dug beneath his skin as he knew that the man intentionally made him kill the Defenders, but he suppressed his anger.

"...It was you," he said.

"It is me," Caeruleus corrected him with a smirk before replacing his expression with a frivolous one, "anywho, this plan truly worked out well, didn't it, Vainglory?"

The clown-faced man asked his question to the silver-haired man standing behind him, who held a small, reserved smile.

"I can't deny that," Vainglory answered, "The original plan would've been to subdue him with force. We were ready to sacrifice a few, powerful pieces to do so, but you managed to ensnare him without a hitch. Good job, Caeruleus."

A blush took over the pale-faced man's face as he was praised, almost letting out a moan as he kept his knees tucked together, "Oh! I'm so very glad I did well!"

Sirius could only stand there with a confused, disgusted expression as he watched the eccentric capturors speak.

"You're making it sound like this was the entire plan," Sirius said in a serious tone, "I know I'm a big-shot and everything, but what's the point of capturing me?"

Caeruleus grinned at the question, seeming overjoyed at the prospect of answering it, but it was Vainglory who stepped forward, putting his hand on Caeruleus' shoulder to move him back.

"I'm sure you'd like to know," Vainglory told him, "We have a long ride back home, so I'll be glad to talk to you then."

"Home?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vainglory snapped his fingers, suddenly manifested black-steel chains that protruded from the ground, wrapping around Sirius as he was defenseless without his magic.

"What the hell is this…?!" Sirius let out, attempting to resist the chains, but they only seemed to tighten as he pushed against them.

Caeruleus spoke up, noticing the amber-haired woman once again as he skipped towards her, caressing her bloodied cheek, "And what about the girly here? She's awfully…intriguing."

The silver-haired man seemed to completely ignore Sirius as he glanced back at the eccentric, clown-faced man, "Do what you want with the girl. I just came here for the Outlander."

As Vainglory told this to Caeruleus, he placed a pouch of rustling coins into the fancily-dressed man's hand.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Sirius yelled out, still attempting to wrestle against the chains as he saw Caeruleus' lecherous grin as the man stood near Emilia.

They seemed to ignore him again as Vainglory turned to the clown, "Disable the field, would you?"

"Oh, my apologies!" Caeruleus said with a smile before clapping his hands together, "Dispel!"

At the call of the one who summoned the nullification field, it disappeared, powering down as Sirius was left puzzled for a moment, now being free of the magic-sealing barrier.

However, as he attempted to manifest his magical energy, it still didn't respond to his will.

What? He thought.

Vainglory smiled, "You don't really think we're that stupid, do you? My chains nullify magic as well, friend."

After bestowing onto that information, Vainglory walked past him, grabbing hold of a loose chain and forcing him to follow him through the backdoor.

"Hold on! Stop it!...Emilia!" He yelled out.