Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Basically, Lucius was doomed from the start. However, it was a good test of his skills. He was happy with his performance, though he also realized that he needed to find a way to counter Magma Magic. Though it was about as rare as Thunder Magic, it was a perfect counter to him when used correctly.

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None of that mattered at that moment, though. What was more important were the three men tied to chairs in the safehouse the King\'s Shadow set up in the Arcadian capital.

What was more interesting was in the men\'s belongings were pins that indicated they were affiliated with the Church of Celestia. Lucius had not had the displeasure of interacting with many of their members. It was the dominant religion on the continent, but since he was a Marked One, their most devout, as well as their priesthood and nunnery, avoided him like the plague.

Their higher-level clergy interacted very regularly with nobility to obtain large donations from their wealthier adherents. Now that he was a recognized noble, they were forced to interact with him in the future.

"You," Lucius said while slapping one of the men awake. "Why did you follow my subordinate."

The man spit onto Lucius\'s black mask in defiance and remained silent. Such behavior earned him a punch to the gut. Painful, but not enough to cause injury.

"If that\'s how we wish to do it." He said, "Once more, why did you follow…"

Before he could finish the question, the man began to prepare to spit again. However, Lucius would not stand for that behavior. Right as the man puckered his lips to aim the strike, Lucius\'s blade slashed across his neck as fast as his Thunder Magic spells.

A wet thud woke the other two men, who turned and saw their now headless partner. One of them screamed and fainted while the other stared in silent horror.

"Alright, since you\'re awake. You tell me what he wouldn\'t. Why did you follow my subordinate." He pushed a little mana into his voice, causing a faint rumble inside the house that rattled the furniture and caused much of the dishware to click together.

"We were ordered to keep an eye on you and your servants. A Marked One of nobility was something our leaders could not tolerate. They wanted us to ensure that you were not lying about your heritage."

"How were you going to deduce that by following Kalliope?"

"It was our thought that if we caught her doing something illicit, then we could petition the king to launch a formal inquiry into your background." The man said, his voice quivering with fear. "That was all we were told to do. Follow your subordinates and then report everything they did."

Lucius nodded in understanding and began to pace the room, thinking. The logic simply was not there. Launching a formal inquiry would not do much because his noble house was from another country. It would be on Eroa to perform the inquiry. Even then, it would not do anything. It was King Verdayl himself who inaugurated him into House Kane.

Even if he was not blood-related to Kalivas, he was given the name of Kane, so by all rights, he was a noble.

That meant whoever issued orders to these men lied to them. They were after something else. That much was clear already.

"What else do you know?"

"The church refuses to accept a Marked One as a noble."

"Good for them. I\'m a noble of a country that does not have a large church presence, so do what you will with that. Anything else?"

"Are you going to let me go?"

"No."

Lucius put his hand on the man\'s head as he started to shout and beg for him to be released. No matter how hard he twisted, kicked, bucked, or moved, Lucius\'s hand maintained a solid connection with his face. Lucius activated his magic and sent a constant flow of electricity into the man\'s body, forcing him to convulse uncontrollably.

After a few seconds, the convulsing slowed, and soon, it became clear that the body was only reacting to the electricity and no longer contained life. The smell of burnt flesh and boiled eyes filled the air.

Kalliope puckered her nose in disgust while Lucius simply looked at the two dead bodies. "Hey, Kalliope, do you think the beheading is better or the electrocution? I heard a head stays active for a few seconds… but I\'m not really sure…"

"If you\'re going to do it in an enclosed space, go with the beheading. Burnt flesh is disgusting." She complained. "Also, with how well-behaved you\'ve been lately, I almost forgot how…"

"How what, Kalliope?" He interrupted. His eyes flashed momentarily.

"Forget it." She sighed.

Lucius figured the third person did not know much else, so while he was still passed out from fear, he swiftly separated the man\'s head from his body. Maybe Kalliope had a point. This was better from a smell standpoint, at least.

"Monitor the church\'s movements. Keep an eye out for any more of their spies. They\'ll likely have similar pins as these fools. It\'s like their badges. If anyone has to engage them, do so quickly and quietly. I would rather not interrupt Rena\'s school life by having to return to Eroa due to one of my subordinates misbehaving." He ordered.

"She\'s coming with?"

"She\'s my wife, Kalliope."

"What about me, though? You\'ll be taking me next, right?"

Lucius sighed. "A discussion for a later time. Have the men clean this up. Burn the bodies and dispose of them…hmmm…"

He walked over to where the pins they collected were. After picking them up and thumbing them in his hand for a bit, he walked over to the bodies and dipped them in the blood pooling on the ground.

"Place these on the steps of the grand cathedral at night as a warning."