Chapter 950: Whomst

There was a very short pause.

Kyyle stood as still as a rock, frozen midway through clutching at his his injured hand, staring at the shadowy form as the last of the shadows fell away to reveal the Executioner standing before him. Neither of them moved. It was hard to tell if the Executioner had even registered the fact that he’d been punched.

“That really wasn’t smart, Kyle,” Revin drawled. “If you’re angry, take it out on the right person. I’m right here. We can talk like men. Or women. Rodents, if you prefer. I’m open-minded. That said, you really shouldn’t go around punching people when you get grumpy. Especially not that one.”

The anger in Kyyle’s features evaporated. He took a step back as his face went pale. “I — hold on. I wasn’t—.”

The Executioner shifted. Noah could have sworn that he was reaching for his sword. But, before his hand had even made it up to the hilt, a deep thrum drove into Noah’s eardrums. It felt like the entire force of a hurricane condensed into a single instant.

Noah stumbled back. Many of the partygoers around them were send skidding across the floor.

Kyyle vanished.

Noah caught the briefest glimpse of his wide-eyed expression accelerating into the air. Then he was gone, a blur streaking across the room. A second passed before a distant crunch echoed through the room. Noah probably wouldn’t have even registered it over the din of the crowd if he hadn’t been paying attention.

He blinked.

Holy shit. What just happened? I barely saw anyone move.

The Executioner’s head tilted slightly. Everyone in the crowd that had been looking in their direction suddenly found a considerably more interesting topic for their attention and turned away.

“Hm,” Revin said. He scratched the back of his neck. “You know, I’ve never seen a coat rack do that before. Always thought they were a bit stuffy. Like, don’t you just have a closet? Or a chair? Just toss the damn thing on the floor. But if all my coat racks did that, they’d be a lot more cool. Maybe I should get one.”

The Executioner said nothing. He just stood there, perfectly still.

Noah’s eye twitched. A part of him wanted to send Emily off into the crowd, but the other Apostles might have been in the area as well. He couldn’t risk it right now. Then again, the thought of sticking around felt nearly as bad. There really didn’t seem to be a winning move right now.

“Revin,” Noah said finally, pulling his eyes away from the Executioner. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know,” Revin said lazily, waving a hand around. “The uze.”

“The what?” Noah asked.

“Uze,” Revin repeated. He let out an exasperated sigh. “Usual. It’s slang, you crotchety old bastard. You really need to keep up with the kids. The only way one gets truly old is when they let their spirit age and lose its youth. And I have to say, spiritually speaking, you’re giving off very ancient energy.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. Despite Revin’s obviously idiotic tone, there was no missing the meaning that he’d buried just a few inches beneath the dirt of his words.

“What do you want?” Noah asked. “And why are you carting the Executioner around?”

“Well, he wasn’t exactly protesting,” Revin said. He nodded to the Executioner. The man was still standing perfectly still. “Seems like someone has managed to convince him to become a coat rack. He takes his job very seriously. Impressive. An absolutely ridiculous idea. I have no idea what kind of moron could come up with it. But I do have to admit, he makes a good one.”

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“You still haven’t answered the first question,” Emily said, her eyes narrow. “We don’t need your help, Revin. And James definitely doesn’t. He wants nothing to do with you.”

“Your words wound me,” Revin said, pressing a hand to his chest. “You think I’d come all this way just to check in on my beloved godson? I have far better things to do with my time. It’s not cool to run scampering after someone who wants nothing to do with you.”

“Good,” Emily said flatly. “Because he doesn’t. Stay away from him.”

“Are you certain?” Revin asked. He cleared his throat. “It’s not cool to be an absent father either. Perhaps he just didn’t make his desires entirely clear. Who wouldn’t want to meet with me? I’m a rather incredible person. There’s really no reason for him to—”

“He doesn’t want to see you,” Emily said flatly. “And he’s said that in about a hundred different ways. What did you do with your new toy? Is she dead?”

“Dead?” Revin exclaimed, aghast. “Now you genuinely do wound me. I have never killed an apprentice. Eline is doing perfectly well. She most certainly isn’t ready for a tournament like this, though. Only a madman would let his apprentices participate in a deadly fight where the whole purpose is to get a new mentor. Seems quite counter-intuitive.”

Noah didn’t miss the very pointed look that Revin shot him, but he ignored the bait. The other man was trying to change the subject. And no matter how stupid Revin liked acting, Noah didn’t buy it in the slightest.

Revin was dangerous.

“Enough,” Noah said. “I appreciate you bailing us out, Revin. I do. But what the fuck are you doing here?”

Revin let out an annoyed sigh. “You’re completely ruining this for me. I hope you know that. And given that I just saved you from a very unfortunate fight, I’d think you could be at least a little more appreciative.”

Noah’s lips thinned. Then he inclined his head slightly.

“Thank you. I will admit that you had very good timing.”

“I know,” Revin said with a smug grin. “I always do.”

“Now, answers?” Noah asked.

“The Apostles are here,” Revin said with a shake of his head. “That’s generally answer enough. It isn’t often that they move in a group. I came to see what it was they were up to. Then I found the Executioner standing around in wait and decided to put him to use. That was really about it.”

“So you’re participating in the tournament?” Emily asked, squinting at Revin. “Or are you a sponsor?”

Revin let out a snort of amusement. “Absolutely not. Why would I ever do either of those things? I am no puppet dancing on someone else’s strings. My prospective apprentices come running to me, begging to be trained. I have no shortage of them.”

“You literally kidnapped your last apprentice,” Emily said.

“Technically, I saved her,” Revin said. He tapped a foot on the ground. “It was just a forced saving. Or are you really implying that being stuck as Evergreen’s errand girl would have been a preferable fate to being basked in my incredible skill? I know you couldn’t be, as if she was still with Evergreen, I do believe Eline would have become a rock.”

“I think this is a moot point,” Noah said. He paused for a moment. A part of him had expected Kyyle to come back and try to attack them. The Apostle didn’t strike Noah as the type to accept a blow and just do nothing about it. “We really shouldn’t stick around here for long. The Apostles could come back.”

“The first part I can agree with. The Apostles won’t come back, though. Not without the Prophet,” Revin said with a shake of his head. “They’re all too aware that they stand no chance in a direct fight against me.”

More like they don’t want to draw a ton of attention from you being an unhinged idiot. You’re likely to somehow get Vivian’s attention and ruin literally everything that they’re working on. Not to mention you dragged the Executioner over here to make him fight Kyyle like a fucking Pokémon.

This guy is just too much of a loose cannon. I’ll need to figure out what the hell I tell Kyyle to weasel my way out of somehow knowing him… but that’s a problem for later. One way or another… he actually managed to somehow bail us out.

“Right,” Noah said. He glanced at the Executioner. “That’s why Kyyle ran away.”

“Exactly,” Revin said with a knowing nod. “But, believe it or not, there’s actually a different reason I was taking a ride in Kyyle’s shadow. Would you believe that? Though I’m not sure if you had any interest in hearing what brought us together today.”

It took everything Noah had to keep his features straight. Even with his mask, something told him that Revin could tell exactly what he was thinking.

“I’d say I have a slight passing one,” Noah said dryly. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“If you’re sure.” Revin nodded. “See, it actually involves a mutual acquaintance of ours. I’ve been hunting for her a little while. She owes me a favor, but I haven’t been able to cash it in. That’s a problem. And given her association with some others at Aqua Terra, I surmised that there was a good chance she’d be here.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Who, Revin?”

“Garina,” Revin replied. His tone turned serious. “She’s gone missing, and I have good reason to believe the other Apostles have something to do with it.”