Chapter 151: Pretentious Persona.

Andrea turned and met his gaze.

"There should be multiple trials happening simultaneously, although I’m not sure if they are happening in this same reality, or a different one. We will never truly know unless we’re able to cross the Blood Sea."

Vincent felt the sudden urge to hum a little tune, before he stopped the retreating Andrea with another question.

"You sound awfully sure of yourself there. Why is that? Is there something you know that I don’t?"

Andrea actually paused to answer him, which was uncharacteristic of her. She had already turned away from him, but Vincent’s question was enough to make her stop and consider her answer.

"If this was the only trial, I would have seen my brother."

The answer was simple, but it immediately caught Vincent’s attention. He remained where he was, his walking stick resting loosely in his hand as he looked at her back.

"What if he was sent here, but died during the first few days and is rotting underneath a pile of snow somewhere?"

Andrea went silent for a moment. The question was blunt, but Vincent had never been particularly concerned with softening his words, especially when he was genuinely curious about something.

"He’s not the type to just die."

Vincent couldn’t see her facial expression, but he could almost feel her dread. There was something behind those words that made him wonder if she was afraid of her older brother, but he quickly dismissed the thought. To him, there was simply no way that was possible. This was Andrea, not some random nobody.

...

"Great speech, you really motivated them." Seris said to Damien with her arms folded across her chest.

Damien didn’t seem particularly impressed by the compliment. He glanced towards the survivors who were already beginning to organize themselves, their earlier hostility having been replaced by movement and obedience.

"Funny, I wasn’t really trying to motivate them. I was manipulating them. I showed just the right amount of fear, then manufactured belief and mercy. From there, all I had to do was make myself seem humane. It’s the oldest trick in the book."

Seris couldn’t hold back her chuckles. "You know a lot, even though you seldom act like it."

Damien raised a brow. "You think I act like a fool?"

She shrugged. "Hmm, just enough to trick the actual fools."

Damien scoffed lightly.

Seris continued walking beside him, still looking somewhat amused by his explanation. Damien, meanwhile, didn’t seem bothered by the distinction. Whether they believed his words because they trusted him or because they feared him didn’t really matter to him, as long as they listened and continued moving.

The cavern was still cold, and there was still a long way to go before they reached the ruins. Whatever awaited them deeper inside could be dealt with later. For now, the survivors were moving again, and that was enough.

Damien glanced at Seris.

"What’s on your mind?"

Seris didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she shook her head and said, "I’m not good with words, so I hope you can learn to read my eyes."

She didn’t wait for Damien to respond. She sped up and went in the opposite direction, her steps carrying her away from him with a determination that made it obvious she already had somewhere to be.

Damien watched her leave, his expression remaining mostly unchanged as he tried to make sense of what she had meant. Whatever was on her mind, she clearly didn’t intend to explain it to him directly.

Seris had a purpose. She believed Chad owed her something, and she was going to collect on that debt.

Damien didn’t quite understand what she was on about, but he had something else to do. He shifted his attention away from Seris and looked up at the massive ice boulder ahead of him. Vincent stood on top of it, overlooking the area below as the survivors prepared to leave. That was his destination.

Vincent, meanwhile, clicked his tongue in wonder at the distant Elias. The man was helping the survivors load the supply crates onto the fixed wagons, moving from one task to another without showing any sign of irritation.

And he was doing it all with a smile.

Vincent stared at him for several seconds, his expression gradually becoming more displeased. There was something about Elias’s constant willingness to help, his calm attitude and that irritating smile that seemed to grate against Vincent’s nerves. He was disgusted by him, to the point that his eyes suddenly turned pitch black.

Elias suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine.

His body reacted before his mind could properly process what was happening. His dormant ability suddenly activated on its own, metal-like skin spreading across his body for only a second. It wasn’t an attack, nor had Elias consciously chosen to activate it. His ability had simply responded to the strange sensation threatening his soul, protecting him before returning his skin to normal almost immediately.

Elias stopped what he was doing and slowly raised his head.

His gaze travelled across the passage until it found Vincent standing on the ice boulder.

Their eyes met.

"What the hell, Vincent?" he asked, even though he knew Vincent couldn’t hear him from that distance.

Vincent didn’t answer. He simply continued staring at him with those pitch-black eyes, looking almost bored by the entire situation.

Damien approached from behind and stood next to Vincent. He glanced at Elias before looking at Vincent.

"I see you’re losing patience already."

Vincent’s eyes returned to normal as he smirked coldly.

"I’m beginning to find his pretentious little persona rather tiresome. Someone like him is far too dangerous to have wandering about unchecked. You’re the only other person in the Round Table who seems capable of recognising that."

Damien shrugged indifferently.

He looked back at Elias, who had already returned to helping the survivors. Even from this distance, Damien could still see that irritatingly calm expression on his face.

"There’s nothing more dangerous than a perfect human being," Damien said. "And even more dangerous than a perfect human is a man that is capable of hiding his dark side so well, not even people like us can see it."