Item: The Coin of Misfortune.

  Micah rubbed the charred bck coin between his right hand's fingers. The coin's two faces were unrecognizable; it mattered not which side the coin nded on when tossed.

  This thing is far too powerful for its own good. It's fortuitous to have fallen into my possession.

  The handwritten note attached to the coin expined the artifact's effects and repercussions.

  Description: This charred bck coin, seemingly forged in the depths of ill fate, is an artifact of dread. The Coin of Misfortune radiates an aura of ominous energy and, upon a toss, nullifies the influence of luck-bestowing artifacts. It is an excellent item when pying cards against suspiciously lucky opponents who are cheating their way to victory. A single toss of the coin is all that's needed to nullify the artifact of choice for a total of two hours. Note that the effects are limited to a singur item, and a maximum of three tosses are allowed daily.

  Warning: Extended usage of this coin will result in an increasing accumution of misfortune. The more powerful the luck-emitting artifact being nullified, the higher the repercussions. Users are advised to monitor their surroundings and interactions closely, as the dark energy emitted can attract camities, ultimately resulting in one's death.

  Note: Please return within five days.

  Micah paid little heed to this final warning. After all, his demise was something he fully expected to expedite in this Round—that was the price of his actions.

  His cold gaze swept over the pale, lifeless body lying on the table within Frey Manor's dungeon.

  Cude Noire, the leader of the Spiders Syndicate.

  Now, he was but a sb of meat that Micah's subordinates were undressing to reveal the extent of his tattoos. Micah stood by one of the cold stone walls, overseeing the meticulous process.

  "Master, it would be safest to wait outside until the inspection is complete," Seymour whispered. "He may be dead, but he might have a trick or two still up his sleeves."

  Micah nodded thoughtfully. "I don't like how easily he was captured."

  Seymour raised a questioning brow, but he refrained from voicing his thoughts.

  It was far from an easy feat. The price was not low either. Micah had sacrificed over seventy percent of his syndicate's members to capture Cude, who was heavily guarded, including being protected by the continent's second most powerful ice mage. Ridley's mage squad was obliterated, taking her down in the process.

  However, they succeeded. Miraculously, they captured Cude without so much as a scratch to his body. Micah had given strict orders not to harm Cude's body, avoiding any disfigurement of the intricate tattoos. However, that leniency did not extend to Cude's head, which now sat neatly severed from his body on a table a little distance away. His long bck hair cascaded beyond the table's edge, and his face appeared eerily serene.

  Micah frowned, gncing again toward the body before leaving the room.

  "He is dead, isn't he?" he asked Seymour.

  The question might have seemed baffling given how the man in question no longer had a head. However, there was something off. Micah couldn't put a finger on just what it was that unnerved him.

  Perhaps the effects of the Coin of Misfortune are finally catching up to me?

  "Yes, of course. We confirmed it with two separate tests," Seymour replied.

  Micah nodded slowly. "Call me as soon as the inspection is complete."

  The bck mana-stone-embedded doors locked behind him, and Micah inhaled the air of the celr.

  * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

  Ah, god-fucking damn it.

  Cude Noire, despite being the leader of one of the most powerful and dangerous syndicates on the continent, appeared to have never been harmed. His skin cked any signs of battle or even youthful scuffles. There were no scars or blemishes.

  The tale spun was that Cude Noire was untouchable. The syndicate and the people protecting him were too powerful. It was a convincing tale that prevented most from attempting their luck against him.

  However, that tale was somewhat of a farce, and reality cast its own long shadow.

  Did they carry my head upside down or something?

  Cude tasted the bitterness of his own blood pooled up inside his mouth. A faint hum echoed in his mind, audible only to him.

  At least they didn't pull out any of my teeth. Regrowing them would have been a pain.

  One eye already partially open, Cude surveyed his surroundings. His gaze fell upon the headless, naked body of himself.

  Tch.

  Cude Noire's mother had bestowed upon him two gifts. The first one manifested itself as the intricate tattoo of past futures. The other was the gift of Vital Reformation. Or, as Cude liked to call it, the ability to py possum. He could survive just about anything as long as his brain was intact.

  Survival at any cost, however, came with a price. Truthfully, Cude detested this ability. Having his head chopped off was incomparable to the pain of having to reattach his limbs together. Thus, given the chance, he preferred to allow his opponents to "kill" him quickly and easily rather than struggle and make a mess of things, thereby creating more painful work for himself.

  But to think Micah Frey would go this far? It's been a year since the st time anyone attempted to capture me. And why now?

  "Is this all that was found on him?" Micah Frey's voice sounded nearby, but Cude refrained from looking to avoid giving himself away.

  "Yes, everything in his possession is on this table," another man's raspy voice responded.

  "There wasn't a golden coin?" Micah pressed.

  Is that useless thing what this is all about?

  Cude had acquired the lucky coin from Chase Dayn, using his runic tattoos' knowledge, but its benefits were unsatisfactory. Most of the time, it fell on its edge, offering no insight, or it nded on tails, suggesting less-than-desirable fortunes.

  "None that we found," the raspy man replied.

  "Could he have swallowed it?" Micah specuted.

  Cude sighed internally.

  Is he going to cut me open, too?

  Cude had his stomach opened up once before, and it was a most unpleasant experience merging his guts back together.

  The other man suggested as such, to Cude's displeasure.

  "No, that won't be necessary," Micah replied, sparing Cude from further intrusion. "Besides, the coin isn't our priority."

  Micah walked around Cude's body, inspecting the tattoos.

  "Have Leo come down," Micah ordered. "I want these deciphered and reverse-engineered."

  Ah. So that's what this is about. But if it's the tattoo he's after, I can't be pying possum any longer.

  Cude had wondered why Micah Frey had taken such sudden and extreme action and thus had allowed himself to be captured to comprehend the situation for himself.

  Micah's attack was illogical. Cude had always held his reservations regarding Micah Frey's ambition and the rapid expansion of his family's influence. His tattoos did not mention the Frey family in the future, but today's Micah was a formidable force. Yet, the attack on him now came entirely out of nowhere and made little sense compared to the long-term ambition that Adovoria's future king-to-be held.

  Micah Frey, if anything else, could be counted upon to be calcutive and maniputive. Even what appeared as bursts of emotionally driven actions could be broken down into coldly calcuted end results. One prime example was what happened with the first prince of the Dayn Dynasty.

  Belestris, have the Circle of Death activated.

  The hum in Cude's mind paused, and a woman's voice sounded.

  Understood.

  * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

  "Young master Luca!"

  I sprang out of the carriage before it came to a complete stop, and Remlend, the ever-perfect attendant, secured my descent by grabbing my hand and softening my nding.

  "I heard my brother is in danger—what's the current situation?" I inquired, hastening toward the manor's entrance.

  "Peep!"

  Leona fluttered after me, perching herself comfortably on one of my shoulders.

  She had conveyed that Cude had taken Micah hostage, but her understanding of the situation was limited. For all I knew, it all might have been resolved by the time I had returned to the manor by carriage.

  However, judging by the anxious expressions of the guards and staff I passed, the situation had not improved.

  "I do not know the full details, but Cude Noire is holding Micah hostage, threatening to kill him if he is not allowed safe passage out," Remlend expined, walking briskly beside me. "He has activated a runic field around himself. Anyone that enters his orb of influence is killed."

  My eyes narrowed on an unmarked carriage parked in the courtyard, with a middle-aged woman standing beside it. Based on the guards standing near it, the visit didn't appear friendly.

  "Who is that?" I inquired.

  "She's with Cde Noire," Remlend replied. "Ah, you also have a visitor—"

  "Grandov, right?" I guessed.

  Remlend nodded his head.

  "He can wait," I replied. "Take me to Micah. Are Mother or Father back? Who is handling negotiations?"

  The state of Adovoria was critical, but it would be pointless if Micah were to perish.

  Just what in the world happened?

  "I'm afraid the Mistress and Master of the Frey Manor are still away on business," Remlend stated. "They have been called for, but, at the moment, your brother Micah is leading the negotiations himself. And before I forget, you received a letter."

  I grabbed the envelope from Remlend's outstretched hand and ripped it open. I scanned the text as I continued walking, summarizing Kathy's initial findings.

  "—requires more testing."

  Damn it.

  Given the unprecedented explosion of the Wobbly Pebble, I half expected it, but I had hoped for something. Anything, really. However, fortunately, or unfortunately, the poisoning exuded by the Wobbly Pebble's explosion was unlike anything Kathy had ever seen before. I could practically hear her excitement through the letter.

  I crumpled up the paper and stashed it inside my coat.

  Tap! Tap! Tap!

  We rushed through the hallways of the manor. Our hurried steps seemed to echo through the air. However, we didn't enter the celr. We didn't need to. Just outside its entrance stood a wall of guards whose presence was useless. Floating red runes surrounded a sphere of space that slowly moved past everyone. Within the area were Micah and a half-naked man with his head resting in the crook of his arm.

  "Micah!" I called out, rushing forward.

  "Stay back, young master Luca." One of the guards grabbed me and pulled me back.

  "I can see the outline. I'm not that stupid." I pulled out of the guard's grasp and approached the red orb. My eyes gazed over the runes circling my brother and, who I presumed to be Cude Noire based on the sheer amount of tattoos.

  Had it not been for the red orb, I might have assumed my brother was simply out for a stroll with this headless man.

  Even in the face of death, he's so calm.

  "Peep!

  Leona chirped from my shoulder.

  That's a pretty advanced runic spell.

  I nodded. I didn't know much about runic spells, but having read a summarized version in one of the chapters of the beginner's guide to magic, I was confident that this was a very high-level sort of magic.

  "So this must be your infamous brother," Cude's head spoke. "And I see he also has Phoenix Eyes like that Leo boy. And there is a third as well? Micah Frey, no wonder you've been acting so high and mighty."

  I grimaced. I didn't know what sort of magic Cude was utilizing, but it was unsettling, to say the least, watching the head talk.

  "Micah, what's the situation?" I asked my brother.

  However, to my annoyance, Micah fshed a bright smile as if nothing was amiss.

  "As you can see, I am currently being held hostage," Micah stated. "If anyone were to say, toss a weapon in at Cude here, the field would automatically activate, killing me."

  "What are you after?" I asked Cude, gncing down at the unnerving severed head.

  "I am simply trying to leave," Cude's mouth moved. "Let me leave, and I'll let your brother live. It's that simple."

  I gnced back at my brother, who maintained his rexed demeanor as the pair continued their slow walk forward.

  "Don't worry, Luca," Micah stated, smiling broadly. "But it might be time to do the cat a favor."

  AlekAundra