Hector just watched as Horatio kept questioning Ibai and receiving no further answers. The aberration was fumbling over his words now, repeating himself when not merely looking confused. Hector kept expecting Ibai to flee, but the man never did, and Hector wondered what was stopping him.
More Rainlords arrived--all Sebolts and Delagunas. And Hector was surprised yet again when a fight did not immediately break out. Instead, they simply escorted the Blackburns out of the room, leaving a group behind to secure the scene.
Hector noticed the group of Sebolts eyeing him and Garovel, and sure enough, it wasn’t long before they ventured over. Hector braced himself for interrogation.
“Lord Goffe,” said the foremost gentleman, “are you well? Might we ask you to assist us in our investigation?”
Hector’s expression only flickered, but it required all of his composure in order to prevent his own mouth from just hanging open. And as usual, he let Garovel do the talking.
‘It would be our honor,’ the reaper said. ‘But I’m surprised that you would ask outsiders like us for help.’
“In this instance, we believe an outsider’s perspective might prove advantageous,” said the same gentleman. By the look of him, he had to be at least twice Hector’s age. “You were also among the first on scene. But you are correct. If you were total outsiders, we would not ask this of you. I think, however, we can all agree that you are not total outsiders.” He offered Hector a handshake.
Hesitant, Hector took it.
“My name is Carlos Sebolt,” the man said. “This is my reaper, Olijas.”
‘Call me Ollie.’
“H-hello,” said Hector.
Carlos proceeded to introduce the rest of their group. Jesenia, Nico, and Perla Sebolt, along with Manuel and Lorenzo Delaguna. Those last two had been Ibai’s bodyguards and therefore also witnesses, just like Hector. And of course, everyone had reapers of their own, but there was no way that Hector was going to keep all those weird names straight.
Carlos eventually got around to asking about what Hector and Garovel each saw, but then Asad and Qorvass arrived, and the conversation shifted over to them as explanations were demanded.
Garovel, however, did not seem interested in listening to what he already knew. Hector saw him drifting over the crime scene to inspect the body and the accompanying trail of blood.
Hector followed him.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Welcome back, Mr. Frost!
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a great point to start up from again, super pumped for the rest of this investigation arc now!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Frost. I hope you enjoyed the vacation
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Frost. Hope you can keep on writing this awesome story!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, I wasn't aware teleporting into a corpse you didn't know was there was considered manslaughter. I must have missed when that law got changed.
ReplyDeleteHe can see souls during a jump, he doesn't hit them. Certainly not by accident.
ReplyDeleteHey, Frost, is there any other servant that uses iron materialization? Or even Transfiguration, for that matter. Will he appear in the story and interact with the main guys?
ReplyDeleteAnother questions about the abilities wielders: What are the top users for each ability? We know Gohvis is the most powerful(or at least the most famous) Mutation user, but what about Alteration or the others abilities?
Well, the Crystal Titan is almost certainly a mass type, and from his nicknames I wager Jackson is alteration, possibly a light-wielder. I wouldn't lay money on it, but I think Dozer is a destruction user. And of course we've met Sanko, who uses integration and is described as being fairly unique.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I think Michael misunderstood that the guy was all ready dead. Otherwise Ibai would have been able to see his soul.
ReplyDeleteIbai didn't kill the dude, not even on accident. He was already dead. Besides, even if he had killed him, I seriously doubt he would have teleported into the body on purpose.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Mr. Frost. I really hope you had a nice break and found some peace and quiet (or
ReplyDeleteexcitement) during the last week. I hope you'll find a rhythm that works
for you again. If it's a page a week, so be it.
Oh, and happy (belated) two year anniversary. Kind of hard to believe it's been that long, actually. I just looked up the date I first bookmarked TZK. Turns out I have been reading since (at least) June 2013. Thanks a lot for the time and effort you put into this story.
---
Typo:
"Hector['s] expression only flickered"
If Ibai teleported into him by accident then why was he lying down face up in the kitchen? I don't buy it, even given that the additional damage could have been him trying to free his foot.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I would want here is a mutation user to sniff out the blood trail. May even identify who was in the room by the smell left. It's a pity everyone is all over the crime scene.
Wow, that page was really good! :) Certainly worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. I hope the break gave you back your energy or at least was enjoyable. As I said, we will be around. ;)
Wow, you found me super early on. Thanks for sticking with the story for so long. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for the catch.
<3
ReplyDeleteThanks. <3
ReplyDeleteA little time basking in the 9th circle was all I needed. Thanks for that, by the way. Your rates were sinfully cheap.
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteI can agree with your point, and I actually think Sermung is Transfiguration rather than Materialization. Don't know about Jackson though. Maybe he mastered nuclear fusion with a mass ability? And if he has an alteration ability, what kind of force could he apply is what I'm wondering.
ReplyDeleteLet's see Garovel will become Sherlock Holmes and Hector will be the assistant.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, nukes seem too clumsy for a Vanguardian. Yes, it would be devastating, but good guys are supposed to be protecting people, not just killing Abolishers who would probably kill more people than they do.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would guess that Sermung is materialization, Ghovis is the strongest mutator, Sanko is likely the strongest integrator and I would guess that Dozer is the strongest destructor. I'm guessing either Morgunov, Jackson, or maybe Damien (we don't know how powerful he is, only that he is very). I don't really have any clue where Sai-Hee or any of the Independent generals fit in, and Dunhouser and a few others (no longer including Ivan or Gunther) might top other generals on the list. So we've basically got 3 semi-definite.
He teleported to a spot he knew was empty from seeing the room before, and when in the void he didn't see a soul, because the guy was already dead. I think the dramatic way that his corpse was found was likely by accident on the real murderer's part, but it does make for a nice distraction while he kills more people.
ReplyDeleteYou might know this already, but the funny thing is that the ninth circle is actually a nice place to live, the punishment is simply that you could have done a bit better and gotten into actual heaven.
ReplyDeleteSeconded!
ReplyDeleteIf you hadn't just vacationed here, you'd definitely be going to hell for that pun lmao
ReplyDelete1.
ReplyDelete1.1. It's rather cloudy a situation to say the Vanguards are the "good guys"; and, also, no offense intended, it would be just idiotic to have something that awesome and not use it given the correct situation.
1.1.1. I mean, seriously, maybe the guy ends up killing lots of people, but he may make up for it with the death of lots of powerful Abolishers.
1.1.2. Let's assume Jackson has that kind ability( the immense destruction power and collateral damage kind). So, he ends a war between two nations and kills two of the strongest generals in Abolish. That kinda makes it up, seriously.
1.1.3.Also, with the way abilities work, a Servant with such an ability might have enough control over it to avoid that kind of situation.
2.
2.1. Sermung is definitely mass- whether Materialization or Transfiguration remains to be seen. Sanko is almost certainly the strongest Integrator. There's nothing even pointing towards the assumption that Dozer is a Destructor. And I really doubt that Damian is that old.
2.2. There seems to be a misunderstanding in regards to my question. See, what I asked was not "who are the strongest guys" but "which are the strongest guys in the six abilities we know of".
I demonstrated the desired explanation model with an example: Gohvis. The strongest, or possibly the most famous Mutation user. I had the wish to understand what were the possibilities those at the top had achieved with their own powers in order to gain a understanding of the way each piece in the board stood, as well as to acquire material to think about while I waited for the next chapter of this wonderful independent digital publication.
Not really here yet, but picked up this yesterday and already addicted,great work.
ReplyDelete=)
Nah: this is CSI. Garovel is snarky and level-headed enough to play a convincing Grissom. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know what they say: it's not a good Stay if either you feel like you ripped the establishment off... Or, feel they managed to rip you off in some way. ;)
ReplyDeleteAfter season 5, I dont think Ollie will ever earn his peace with me.
ReplyDelete