The Arks

"Cheeky darling."

The Marquess stretched out his hand to playfully pinch the Valkyrie"s cheeks, earning a slight giggle from Mavislin. Minwoo was surprised as he saw the Valkyrie in a way he"d never seen before. Smiling, wholesomely.

"That"s the first time I"ve seen a truthful laugh from you, darling."

"Don"t expect it too often," ordered Mavislin.

The Valkyrie glared at the Marquess, her usual serious complexion returning.

"With all the fun aside, shall we discuss at the matters on hand? I know you lot have been keeping secrets from the Arks."

Mavislin gave off a terrifying smirk as she placed her hand under her chin. The sinister smile that the Valkyrie gave off sent shivers down the Marquess" spine.

"If you are asking, Baldwin sold you out," said Mavislin, waving her hand about.

"That d.a.m.ned shadow... And whose not to say that he was the one who brought in the Umbras..."

The moment the complaint came out from his mouth, the Valkyrie"s Aura changed. This caused the room"s air to feel heavy, and the Valkyrie to attack the Marquess with her whip.

"Talk about Baldwin like that and I"ll have your head, human," warned Mavislin through gritted teeth.

Minwoo grabbed onto the whip with ease, yanking it out from the girl"s hand. Mavislin landed skillfully on the corner of the ceiling before striking the Marquess one more time. The Marquess dodged it, landing on the table.

The Valkyrie calmed down and looked up towards the Marquess.

"Baldwin has no a.s.sociation with the Umbras. Remain on his good side and most probably he"ll help us," explained Mavislin, extending a hand to help the Marquess to get down.

"So, shall we have a proper, civilized discussion? I know I"m eager to have one, Marquess Dalles."

The smirk from the Valkyrie was almost haunting as she used her whip to pull out a chair for Minwoo to sit. Like a sly imp, a mischievous child looking for prey to torment. The Marquess, visibly shaken, tried to sit on the chair.

"Now I know why you are one of the founders of the Arks. With your tenacity, you are fit to lead the attacking ace of the Arks."

"Now that we"ve established that, kindly inform me all that you know about the Umbras. And what has happened to the underworld because of it," order Mavislin, looking right into Minwoo"s soul.

The Marquess sighed as he knew no way out of this predicament. Time to come up front with the founder of the Barren Pillars.

"From my internal sources, it started when a girl complained about being haunted by a shadow. We thought it was just a minor issue of stalking," explained Minwoo, taking out a map of the world.

He then placed a wooden peg onto where his domain was on it.

"It became a large issue when the so-called "shadow" managed to touch her."

"There"s no follow-up?" asked Mavislin, raising her eyebrow.

"There isn"t a case if the person never existed before. The Umbras take away the day that the victim was born, stealing their birthday. The only reason why we have the "starting report" is that all of the reports are the same."

"So, the first case is based on the pattern of all the cases?" asked Mavislin, earning a nod from the Marquess.

"We"d no choice. And gathering further information was tough since people wouldn"t have a clue who we were talking about."

"And how about the descriptions of the victims? Those victims had tried to flee from the Umbras. I presume, from reports that you were sifting through earlier?" asked Mavislin, pointing to the corridor outside.

"You"d noticed such minute details?"

"It is a nasty habit of mine."

"Be careful, darling. It might get you into trouble," warned the Marquess, wagging a finger in front of Mavislin"s.

"There isn"t a need to worry. I"m able to get out of trouble if I"d wish to," said Mavislin, waving her hand.

"Well, the gruesome details were from the bystanders, family or friends reporting about the victim. Apparently, there are two types of killing. The first being to take away the victim"s birthday. And the second is to mutilate the entire human body," said Minwoo, crushing the wooden peg.

"If you"d try estimating, how many victims have the Umbras taken?"

"Over a thousand cases, combined."

"Combined?" asked Mavislin, seemingly surprised.

"Some of the reports earlier have been the other Kings informing me about their situations at each of the domains," explained Marquess.

"So, it"s inclusive of all the Kings" victim reports?"

The Marquess nodded, as he started pinning the wooden pegs to the other domains. The Briton and South Albion domains had a peg, while the Teuton domain remained untouched. Both the Campania and the Urnsfield domain had two pegs, confusing Mavislin.