Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave and all of his companions returned to the mortal realm, Hause’s court in tow. Their point of arrival was the place they had first entered from—namely, in the heart of the Ebon Cult’s territory. That was quickly remedied, as the Alchemist cast [Worldstrider] once more, taking them back to Blackgard. Argrave felt as though he was doing something wrong whenever he saw or heard something, and so he quickly disclosed what he’d seen to the Alchemist—namely, Erlebnis’ curse.

Naturally, it was a matter that demanded some attention. Argrave separated from everyone else, using Elenore as a conduit to speak to the others as the Alchemist examined him. He inquired about the results of the battle.

Despite the great length of time that they’d been absent, the fight still raged—though perhaps ‘raged’ was the wrong word. It was a constant probing skirmish, where Ebon Cult spellcasters tried their defenses and retreated when no opening could be found. Sieges could last weeks, even months, and they occupied the defensive position. The Ebon Cult seemed reluctant to assault fully without Mozzahr’s aid. Still, it would need to be wrapped up with as little bloodshed as possible, ideally.

But just as the heist, this battle was largely a success. It would take a miracle for the Ebon Cult to regain the advantage without Mozzahr. That was the failing of a cult—without the one person holding it all together, it crumbled.

With that matter shelved for now, Argrave focused on the curse that Erlebnis had levied. They were in the Alchemist’s temporary obsidian abode atop the mountain, entirely sealed off from the world. Argrave sat on a cold obsidian table, feeling like he was at the doctor’s once more. The Alchemist stood over Argrave, reviewing the books he’d composed when the monstrous figure had first examined his body completely. He hoped they would be of some use.

“…so, what will you do now that Hause’s back?” Argrave questioned.

“She doesn’t know me,” the Alchemist said coldly. “That’s a question for you to answer. She can be a very valuable tool, and she owes you. Make good use of her. She can change the tide of everything, including our struggle against Gerechtigkeit.”

“She doesn’t know you?” Argrave repeated.

“She was present in my life for less than one percent of its existence,” he looked down at Argrave. “Yes. She doesn’t know me.”

Argrave grew silent as he tried to divine how old the Alchemist was from that information. His head started to hurt, and he instead thought back on other things.

“So, Anneliese said that your—"

“You’ve just been told that someone hears everything you hear, and yet you won’t shut up,” the Alchemist leaned over Argrave menacingly. “Wait. For. Me. To. Finish.”

Argrave knew he was babbling so much only because he was nervous, but the ever-constant disdain that the Alchemist showed grounded him for a moment. He waited there, trying to think of anything that might distract him from things. But nothing came.

“This cloak…” the Alchemist touched it, rubbing it between his fingers. “It drew out large quantities of Erlebnis’ power from the Blessing of Supersession, yes?”

“It did,” Argrave confirmed.

enact something like this. And just as the

Argrave scoffed. “Enhanced?”

The Alchemist shut the book, and Argrave realized after a few moments he was talking about Ingo. “You can use the Blessing of Supersession whenever you want. But when you do, I

the implications of this. After a time, he refocused. “I watched you disassemble and reassemble me like I was a toy soldier,” Argrave pointed at him. “Tell me you

the Alchemist said, shaking his

lowered his

book aside. “The curse is just needlessly complex. And it’s entwined with your soul—an undying soul. A rare thing, but I kept you ignorant about it because it can be used

nodded, excited now that there was hope. “I’ve

your soul to anchor your blood echoes. Erlebnis used those conduits to support his curse. That’s why it’s annoying. I don’t know how someone as slow-witted as you managed to do something so… genius, but your A-rank ascension is very impressive. That you didn’t die on your attempt is astounding. If you failed, you’d vomit blood, bleed from eyes, et cetera. You’ve done that before, but practice doesn’t perfect everything. It is… an impressive

to completely ignore to mention the fact he’d used the elven realms to circumvent that

my

it all out, with the other blessing you bear alongside it. You would lose all progress. As compensation,

“Not a chance. I went through

would attempt to assassinate you. I can avoid that by

using it as a last resort rather than something that he would rely upon as heavily as he did in the past. As it turned out, that hadn’t been a fruitless thing—it was to be removed. It nonetheless was discouraging to have that emergency measure

are we talking?”

would barely be able to make that meeting

a month?” Argrave said in

given all of that up for this gambit of yours following a lead that amounts to ‘what if.’ The Keeper did not speak with such confidence for no reason. Under ordinary circumstances, it could never work. No one can do what I can. And

stared on and said, “I won’t act like you haven’t spent a lot. But don’t act

point,” the Alchemist conceded. “I imagine you’ll be going with the

I will,”

to settle,” the Alchemist finished. “You have forty-eight hours to return, or I will leave you to your fate. While I treat you, I will be examining the information I collected, trying to piece together a coherent theory of attack against

thought that things weren’t turning out so bad, but it turned out Erlebnis’ punishment was far greater than he imagined. He would be trapped with the Alchemist, alone, for an entire month. He wouldn’t be able to speak with anyone besides the giant genocidal Raven

magic while I’m there?” Argrave asked

the Alchemist

have something you need to get,” Argrave smiled. ”It’s far in the north… and we only