The manticore cub was brought to their box after the auction was over, fully secured and ready to hand off.  Anna was particularly excited for its arrival, but her enthusiasm was mildly dampened when the cub was handed over by the host personally, accompanied by a few of his private attendants, rather than Eirene, who’d apparently been the primary caretaker of the cub since its capture.

Regardless, the handoff went smoothly, with Leon only having to stomach a few minutes of idle chit-chat with the host before the host departed to see to the other auction attendees.

Leon had to admit that the auction had been fairly fun.  He’d enjoyed the back-and-forth with Narses the Black, despite knowing that he’d likely grossly overpaid for the manticore cub.  Still, there were a few things that were priceless, and pride was one of them.  Narses had deliberately provoked him, and Leon rather disliked that.

As fun as it was, Leon’s anger and irritation from Narses’ interference came to the fore.  However, as Leon cast his gaze over at the man’s box, he saw that it was empty; the man had left sometime while the host had been occupying Leon’s attention.

“Anyone see when Narses left?” he asked his retainers.

None had, apparently, their attentions having largely been taken up by the new manticore cub.  Leon blamed himself for that; he hadn’t given any orders, implied or otherwise, to keep an eye on the man.

But as Anna was tending to her newest war beast, she paused and straightened up, casting her gaze over at Narses’ box.

“I think I know him.  Narses, I mean,” she said, her tone hesitant and unsure.

“How so?” Leon asked.

“I… can’t say.  I’ve heard his name once or twice, but it’s never struck a chord with me.  His face, on the other hand…”

“Hmm,” Leon hummed in thought.

Gaius was the first to ask, “Should we look into him, Leon?”

Leon smiled at his initiative.  Over the past few years, especially since Gaius had made it known to him that he’d been feeling restless and purposeless, Leon had gotten him some work as one of his personal agents.  At this point, he trusted Gaius enough to let him act with some autonomy, usually acting in place of Leon when multiple things came up at the same time that needed his personal attention.  Gaius was behind only Talal and Elise when it came to possessing knowledge of Leon’s affairs as Chief of Magical Research and Development.

“Not… officially, at any rate,” Leon murmured.  “He was deliberately poking at me, and I didn’t appreciate it.  Not knowing why concerns me.”

Either his words, something in his tone, or a combination of both had his retainers straightening themselves out and flexing their auras, to his deep appreciation.  Five years of relative peace hadn’t dulled their senses or their killing intent—if anything, Leon had made sure to keep them sharp and as ready as they could be for any unforeseen violence.

“I don’t think we’ll come to blows,” Leon continued.  “Let’s wait to make any judgments until he gets into contact with me.”

“You’re sure he’s going to try and contact you?” Alix asked.  “Were I your enemy, I wouldn’t call attention to myself and attack without you even knowing I was around.”

“He’s already called attention to himself,” Marcus muttered.  “His competition was designed to get Leon’s attention, I should think.”

“We can speculate all we want,” Leon said, “but we won’t know without more information.  For now, let’s head back to the villa and make sure this little one gets the care he needs.”

Anna held the manticore cub close to her chest and grinned as she stroked the cub’s pale gold fur.  The cub seemed rather content with its situation, not struggling or thrashing about at all.  It soon took up everyone’s attention as they made their way back to Leon’s villa, with Alix especially peppering Anna with questions.  It was in this way that Leon learned the cub was male, healthy, and probably about two months old—slightly younger than what the auctioneer had claimed, he noted with some slight bitterness.

As they piled into his large personal hovering carriage, Anna took advantage of a slight lull in the manticore admiration to ask him quite the important question, “Leon, could I ask you a favor?”

“You can certainly ask,” Leon cheekily replied.

“Would it… be all right if, uh…”  She trailed off a bit, getting the shy and bashful look that Leon had only ever seen when discussing one person: Eirene.

Leon waited patiently for her to get her words straight, despite already guessing at what she was going to ask.  He briefly glanced out of the window, noting that, despite the lateness of the hour—it was about an hour and a half after midnight—there seemed to be a fairly large number of carriages on the road around them.  They were still close to the theater, though, so Leon chalked it up to those who attended still leaving.  There were only so many roads they could take to leave the private venue, after all.

As these thoughts flitted through his mind, Anna finally got what she wanted to say organized in her mind and gave them voice.  “Would you be willing to hire Eirene as a beastmaster?”

Leon looked back at her, her question exactly what he’d thought it would be.  “Is she good?” he asked, though he wasn’t expecting a particularly objective answer from Anna.

“The best,” she replied.  “I don’t want you to think that I’m just shilling for my girl, Leon.  She’s very good at what she does.  It’s a large part of what attracted me in the first place.  But I have to say that the job of taking care of even the three beasts we’ve already acquired is beyond me.”

“That’s why I’ve been having Heaven’s Eye beastmasters helping out,” Leon pointed out.

“Yes, but I would recommend that taking care of private war beasts should be done by private beastmasters.  We don’t want to rely entirely on your connections to take care of war beasts in your retinue, do we?”

Leon smiled, recognizing her logic, even if it was, at least in part, self-serving.

“All right,” he said.  “You’ve convinced me.  Bring the matter up with Elise and let her know that what I think.”

“Will do!” Anna exclaimed.

Leon’s smile grew shallower as silence descended upon his carriage once more and his eyes turned back outside.  Elise was the one who was most in charge of their personal affairs, since he had neither the time nor inclination to see to their staff and private businesses.  If she also agreed to hire Eirene—probably after a fairly rigorous interview, as even with Anna’s recommendation, she wasn’t getting in that easily—then Eirene wouldn’t be in Leon’s retinue, she’d be a part of his household staff.

He would’ve continued ruminating on the matter for a while longer, but he realized that even after traveling a fair distance away from the theater the other carriages around them hadn’t dispersed.  There were three in front of them, two more behind, and they were boxed in on both sides by more carriages.  None of them were particularly fancy, though all were at least wheelless and horseless.

Not too much further ahead, Leon realized that they were going to pass through a fairly secluded part of Occulara, with closed businesses to the north and a public park to the south—hardly anyone around, of note or otherwise, at this time of night.

As he glared suspiciously at the nearest carriage, he noticed that its windows were closed, though he could’ve sworn he saw someone staring back at him through the crack in the twin wooden covers.  He couldn’t feel even the slightest aura seeping from the carriage, let alone a hint of killing intent, but he was still disturbed.

With a frown spreading across his face, he hammered the driver’s compartment behind him with his fist and opened the tiny window connecting it with the passenger cabin.

“My Lord?” his middle-aged, second-tier driver diligently said.

“Take the next turn.  Get us away from those around us.”

“On it,” the driver responded, and Leon closed the window.  Then, he shut the window next to his seat and ordered his retainers to do the same.

“What’s wrong?” Gaius asked, his demeanor one of the utmost seriousness.

“Hopefully nothing,” Leon replied.  “Maybe something.  Carriages have been on us since we left the auction.  I don’t like it.”

He glared back at the closed window, now blocking all visual light from entering or leaving.  Leon had wanted some enchanted one-way glass for his carriage, but decided instead to reinforce the thing as much as possible.  As a result, the carriage was steel he personally forged and enchanted, with a wooden finish to give it a more stately—and less threatening—look.  However, with his enchantments running through carriage, he thought that it could take direct hits from a Bull Kingdom Flame Lance and not be overly damaged.  It would take an eighth-tier mage at least to try to break in with any kind of confidence.

But those were just the defenses.  ‘If these are hostiles, then they’ll not even have the opportunity to try…’ Leon thought with anticipation.  He could still keep track of everyone around his carriage thanks to the enchantments allowing his magic senses out, but preventing anyone from spying on the interior in a similar way.  Like that, he could use his carriage’s weapon enchantments quite easily.

The carriage slowed down as his driver began making signs to merge to the lane to their right, preparing to turn toward a slightly busier section of Occulara.  However, the carriage to their right didn’t budge, keeping pace and forcing them to either stay in their lane or risk a crash.  Likewise, the carriages directly in front of and behind them didn’t move, either.

Leon opened the window to his driver again.  “Stop here.  Don’t get out, no matter what.”

To his credit, his driver didn’t even blink before acknowledging his order.

To his retainers, he said, “Prepare for combat.  Secure that manticore.”

The entire atmosphere in the carriage changed completely as all of his retainers donned their armor instantly, pulling it from their magic senses.  Everyone but Anna then armed themselves as Anna put the manticore cub into a carrying cage that she’d brought with them for just this purpose.  Then, she sat back and nodded to Leon.

Gaius and Marcus both wielded swords, though Gaius’ was longer—too long for a mortal to use with only one hand, though no mortal would even be able to lift Gaius’ weapon, let alone wield it.  Marcus’ was the size of an arming sword, though Leon knew he also had a thunder wood bow that he frequently practiced with.

Alix, too, had a sword, one that was almost identical to Leon’s own.  Given that she practiced both lightning magic and his family’s fighting style, Leon had forged for her a longsword to match his, that she could exploit her fighting style to the hilt.

Anna was the odd one out as her weapon was a long spear, one damn near pike length and certainly too long to fit in their carriage without risking putting out someone’s eye.  Leon didn’t begrudge her at all for not drawing her weapon yet, knowing that she was ready to do so whenever.

All of their weapons had been heat-dyed and glowed with magical light.  They were all weapons Leon had personally forged for them, and he knew full-well the power they possessed in his retainers’ hands.  This, however, would be the first time they were ever going to be tested in a real battle.

And it was looking like it was going to be a real battle, as the carriages surrounding them stopped with them.  Once they came to a stop, about two dozen men exited, each of them a powerful mage with tiers ranging from fifth to seventh.

‘Powerful, but not enough for us…’ Leon thought, a grin replacing his frown.  He projected his magic out through the carriage walls and into the air, seizing control of the fairly overcast sky with such ease that he entertained the thought that it had already been his, and had merely been waiting for his guiding hand.

The leader—or the man Leon assumed was in charge, given he was the only eighth-tier mage among them—stepped forward and shouted, “Come out of that carriage, Leon Raime!  Right now!  Do so, and no one else will be harmed!”

Leon snorted, but then he took a good long look at the man.  He was tall and gaunt, with dreadfully pale skin and pitch-black hair.  He radiated confidence, and Leon could feel a hint of demonic power in his aura, leading him to conclude that he was dealing with vampires.  Indeed, as he took a closer look at the other mages, he noted that each of them were pale and gaunt, too, and one fifth-tier mage was even snarling at their carriage like an animal, revealing sharp fangs where his canines should’ve been.

Without hesitation, Leon gave them his answer: a bolt of brilliant golden lightning fell from the sky without any warning, striking the snarling fifth-tier vampire and vaporizing him instantly.  The thunder and magical wash that spilled off the strike nearly shattered the nearest carriage, had windows for what sounded like miles breaking, and shook the earth beneath them.  All of the fifth and sixth-tier mages outside of their carriage were stunned by the pressure of the thunder, and several even started bleeding from the ears.

With a dismissive look, Leon glanced up at his carriage’s roof.  It was thick and loaded with weapons, but after this opening strike, he doubted he’d need any of them.

He turned his attention back to his retainers and asked, “Anyone feel like having some fun?”

His retainers flanked outside as their assailants scrambled for cover, and the handful of seventh-tier mages began arranging themselves in a circle around the carriage, creating some kind of magical formation that would amplify the power of whatever it was they were planning.

However, Leon simply sat there for a moment, waiting for their response, a carefree smile on his face.

“Let’s go!” Alix shouted with a wicked smile.

“I’m in,” Marcus added almost dismissively.

“Aye,” Gaius added.

“Let’s fuck them up,” Anna growled, her expression promising horrific violence for the first of their assailants she saw.

Leon didn’t hesitate then to lead the way out the door, his three retainers right on his tail.

As soon as he showed himself, he exerted his aura a bit, and all of their fifth-tier opponents hit the floor, the pressure of his aura too much for them to bear.  The sixth-tier vampires withstood it better, but he could tell that their knees shook.  The few seventh and one eighth-tier mage couldn’t pale any further, but Leon relished their looks of panic as he showed himself.

“Well,” he said as he stood opposite them, his retainers on his flanks, “I’m here now; you have my attention.  Was there something you needed?”  Leon locked eyes with the eighth-tier vampire, silently daring him to make a move.

Unfortunately, Leon didn’t get an answer, much to his disappointment—though, he supposed this was for the best.  He didn’t want to let his guard down, or get too used to stroking his ego when enemies made their presence known.  He was ninth-tier, and thus stronger than them, but he wasn’t invincible.

So, Leon snapped his fingers, and a handful of lightning bolts fell, striking all of the fifth-tier vampires, annihilating them instantly.  All of the sixth-tier mages, too, dropped dead under the tremendous force that spilled off of Leon’s attack, the accompanying thunder obliterating the street beneath their feet and shaking the buildings around enough to crack their stone facades.

“Let’s go,” Leon said to his retainers, and they sprang into action.  The vampires had brought a spectacular amount of power—far more than Leon had thought them capable of after their excising from Heaven’s Eye—but they still only had one seventh-tier vampire for each of his retainers.  Leon himself glared at the eighth-tier, locking him down with the weight of his anger alone as his retainers chose their opponents.

Anna was the only one with an explicit advantage, being one tier higher than the vampire she went up against.  It was hardly a surprise when she appeared before him in a flash of light, drawing her spear from her soul realm in the same breath, and ran it right through the vampire’s chest.  Leon’s enchantments within the weapon activated, incinerating the vamp from the inside out.

Gaius’ opponent took a little more work, but he was still on the back foot from the word go as Gaius charged, his longsword glowing with magic power.  Gaius pressed the vampire hard, but the vampire still let off a few blasts of potent demonfire.  Unfortunately for the vamp, Gaius was wearing his armor, and the vampire’s fire attacks only left him vulnerable to Gaius’ counterattack.  The first fire blast Gaius only dodged, but the second he answered by almost dismissively seizing control of the ground beneath his opponents feet and opening it up like a set of stone jaws.  Gaius charged at the same time, preventing the vampire from leaping away and instead forcing him down into the spiky pit, where he was quickly impaled and killed.

Marcus’ vampire went down even easier.  At first, it didn’t seem like he had the advantage, but as he bobbed and wove around the vampire’s sword swings and fire blasts, Leon realized that Marcus had his situation well in hand.  Indeed, not even half a minute had passed since their duel began before Marcus’ sword flashed with white light, conjuring a blade of light twenty feet long, and sliced clean through the vampire before the vamp could even blink, putting his speed as a light mage on full display.

Alix was the most surprising, despite having ascended to the seventh-tier most recently among all of Leon’s retainers.  She employed her lightning magic not so much as a direct attack, but instead using it to dramatically increase her speed and increase the damage her sword did.  With every swing, her blade crackled and sparked with golden lightning, and even before Marcus and Gaius killed their opponents, Alix had run hers through and filled his body with lightning, frying him quite spectacularly.

“Well,” Leon said as the last of the eighth-tier’s fellows hit the ground, “looks like your people were ill-served by their bestowed power.  Either that of they just didn’t know how to use it well.  Now, are you going to surrender, or are we going to find out if you’re the same?”

The eight-tier vampire glared daggers at him, his hand shaking and his body language defensive.  He cocked his head as if listening to something, and then snarled.  But he restrained his aura and seemed to relax slightly as if he really were about to surrender, but before he could, a massive crossbow bolt exploded out from his chest.  At the same time, his body detonated in a conflagration of demonfire.  Fortunately, none of Leon’s people were harmed, though they had to jump backward to remain safe.

When the fires died down, Leon noticed the last few embers forming the shape of eyes; eyes that were trained directly on him.

He didn’t leave himself to contemplate that for too long before he spun around in the direction the crossbow bolt had come from and noticed Narses the Black standing on a nearby roof, five mages at his shoulders, a massive heavy crossbow in his hand.

“Leon!” he called out with a good-natured tone, though Leon noticed Anna freeze up as his voice echoed around the shattered street.  “Hope you don’t mind me backing you up!”

Narses jumped down from the rooftop, but as he approached, Anna turned to Leon and whispered, “I know him!”

From behind her visor, Leon could see her eyes wide with fear, anger, and hatred.  However, before he could ask any questions, Narses joined them next to his carriage.

“That was exciting, wasn’t it?” he said.

—-

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