EA-LEC: Necross VS Oswald Part 1

Necross and Maxie stood on the many streets of downtown Belcazzar after splitting up from Requiem, Ripper and Walter to cover more ground in the large city. After a bit of searching, Necross had managed to find a way on where the angels may be hiding and naturally, he requested to go there.

The both people found themselves staring at a store. It was an antique store which looked just as old as the items it was selling. There were selling objects outside of the store though Necross figured that they were the cheaper ones. The most noticeable outdoor decoration was a statue of a humanoid with three eyes in the coating of gold.

Necross had a blank stare on his face while Maxie, in contrast looked like she was about to fall asleep while standing up just by looking at it.

“Ugh, why do we have to go to “Dust Magnets R Us”?” Maxie said in disgust while carrying her guitar case on her back.

Necross turned a glaring face towards his wife. “Because, “Dear”, it is an antique shop.”

“Yeah, I could see that.” Maxie spat, feeling like Necross just talked to her like an idiot. “But what does this have to do with angels?”

Necross crossed his arms. “Well, it is a long shot but they should sell magical items here.”

“So?” Maxie asked.

“So whoever is in charge of this shop must know quite a bit of said magic behind the items.” Necross said pointing to the shop. “Which means they may be a master of magic themselves.”

At first, Maxie was completely stumped. However, her eyes widened in realization upon what Necross was saying.

“Master of magic as in being able to create a barrier against demons.” She said softly.

“That’s right. There is a good chance that Shane may have retreated here.” Necross noted.

Maxie paused, staring at Necross before looking back at the shop. She gave a frown, still not liking that she had to enter this place.

“Let’s just get this over with…” She spat.

Necross gave a small smirk. “That’s the spirit!”

Maxie could sense a mocking tone in Necross’ voice but all she did was roll her eyes with a grunt. The two people had then made their way into the shop, hoping that they would find anything may be a possible clue.

As the “couple” went inside, they looked around. As if they were expecting anything else, the layout of the shop from very old-fashioned, as if they had gone back in time straight into ancient China. From top to bottom, they were antiques everywhere. Clay pots, shining gems and paper seals that were literally all over the place.

As far as they could see, they were only two people in the shop. Normally, they would assume that at least one of them was looking after the shop but much to their surprise, both of them were looking quite young.

The first one was a girl that looked like she was in her late teens with a full head of red hair. Her attire was simple consisting by merely a blue shirt, dark pants and brown shoes. She seemed to have an emotionless expression on her face.

In contrast to her, the second one seemed more cheerful. Clearly much younger than the girl, he was an anthro dog with golden fur and his ears being so long that they had gone past his shoulders. He wore a dull brown cloak over his furry body with some kind of jacket in the colour of purple over it.

Said dog made his way over to Necross and Maxie with a bright smile on his face, obviously to greet them.

“Why, hello there, sir and miss.” He said politely bowing his head. “Hello to Shu Lin’s Enchanted Antiques. How may I help you today?”

“Um, hello.” Necross weakly answered before giving the shop another scan as if trying to find another adult around. “Um, are you two in charge of this shop?”

“Yes but only temporarily.” The dog answered before pointing behind him. “The true owner of the shop, Mr. Shu, is out back handling something with our guardian.”

“Oh, fair enough.” Necross said with a shrug. Though he was still a bit stunned that two people so young were in charge of a shop.

He then looked down at the dog. He then quickly noticed that the dog was gazing straight up at them in awe.

"Yeah, I know I got a large set of pearly-whites." Maxie piped up, making Oswald snapped out of his daze and realized that he was staring.

“Oh, I am SO sorry!” The dog cried out, immediately bowing his head in regret. “That was rude of me!”

“Eh, it is all right, kid. I get that a lot.” Maxie said, waving it off.

Necross on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. Deep down inside of his mind, he couldn’t help but ponder why that the dog was staring at HIM instead of Maxie.

The dog slowly raised his head up. “Well, in any case, how may I help you? We had got a lot of wonderful magical items.”

“Um, right…” Necross said before putting his fist to his ground to stifle a cough. “Dear, don’t you have something to ask this bright young man?”

Maxie raised her head up, turning towards Necross in confusion. However, she quickly caught on as her eyes lit up.

“Oh, yeah!” Maxie exclaimed before looking down at the dog. “Hey, kiddo! Do you have any pearl pieces?”

“Pearl pieces?” The dog while tilting his head in confusion. “I am afraid we don’t, miss. We DO have WHOLE pearls.”

Maxie slumped her hands, looking absolutely deflated from the news. “Pass.”

“I am sorry for the inconvenience, Miss.” The dog said while yet again, bowing his head. “I will go ask Mr. Shu out back if he wasn’t so busy.”

“Better than nothing, I guess…” Maxie muttered, underneath her breath.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in realization.

“Wait a minute! No, it isn’t!” Maxie snapped, making Necross and the dog jump in their places. Even the redhead seemed a bit startled from the shark humanoid’s outburst

“I-I’m sorry?” Oswald asked in surprise.

“You heard me! I had came all of this way for pearl pieces and THIS is what I get!?” Maxie roared while pumping her muscled arms into the air in anger.

The dog took a step back, a bit overwhelmed by Maxie’s sudden shout. “Um, I am sorry, Miss that we don’t have the pearl pieces you wish but…”

“But nothing!” Maxie snapped, cutting the dog off while stamping her foot on the ground. “What kind of freaking service is this?”

“Miss, please just calm down and…” The dog pleaded.

“Calm down? I will sure as hell won’t calm down!” Maxie roared. “Where is the manager of this literal antique?”

The redhead merely crossed her arms with an annoyed frown before finally speaking up for the first time since the two had entered the shop.

“Just like the kid said, they are busy.” She said while speaking in a stern tone. “In other words, he got better things to do than to deal with a picky customer, Jaws!”

The pink-haired woman’s eyes widened, looking appalled. “What!? Don’t you know that the customer is always right?”

“Yeah, I am actually glad you said that.” The redhead pointed out. “I always found that saying needs to die.”

“Well, aren’t YOU a big help, Red!” Maxie snapped while pointing her finger to the girl. “It is employees like you is because this place don’t live up its name!”

“We’ll sell what we got. I am pretty sure the old man didn’t opened up this shop just cater to people like you.” The redhead retorted.

“But I had came all of this way to get some pearl pieces!” Maxie said while pumping her arms into the air in anger. “I am not going away that easily!”

By this time, the redhead gave an annoyed grunt before walking over to Maxie, fearing that the pink-haired woman would act out irrationally and may stop throwing a physical tantrum like a little child not caring what gets caught in the outburst. Necross, who had been quiet the entire time since Maxie had started to snap.

He then gave a small smirk. As obnoxious as Maxie’s attitude was, at least she knew how to use it as a good distraction. Shifting his eyes between the redhead who was having an insult battle with Maxie and the dog who was trying to defuse the fight but wasn’t having much luck, he walked off.

Looking back behind him, he made sure that the two youths were preoccupied with dealing with Maxie. When he had confirmed that they were distracted, he then went ahead and scanned around the shop. It was time to begin his search trying his best to block out the women’s fight.

Necross narrowed his eyes tightly, glaring ahead of him. In a mere second, something had happened. Plentiful items were engulfed in flowing auras. Said auras seemed to varied in terms of colour where they were either in a shade of blue and white.

However, it was the objects that had the white auras surrounding them he was interested in. Those carried the atmosphere of holy power that was similar to what the angels. Necross then began to look around the area at said holy items.

Nothing seemed that out of place. There was a sword, a large spellbook and several seals but they were all on display meaning that any person could buy it. What he needed to find was something that was out of place. Like a feather or something that shouldn’t have holy energy on it.

After a search of the shop, there weren’t any clues that that would tell him that the angels were here or at least visited the building. Letting out a deep sigh, he continued to scan around the area.

His eyes had picked something to the closeby. A large heavy wooden door. Necross paused in thought. Granted, there was a strong chance that whatever was inside may had been nothing of interest to him but if the angels were hiding out in here, then perhaps there was a clue in here.

Narrowing his eyes, he then made his way towards the door. Whatever that was inside of that room, he was going to scan every item until he noticed something that was out of place. Reaching out his hand, he inched it towards the doorknob.

“Hey, Deadbeat Manther!”

Necross’ eyes widened before he winced as if someone was scratching their claws against a blackboard. Slowly turning his head back, he silently hoped that the comment was not forwarded at him.

Much to his dismay, all three of them were staring at him. The dog blinked twice in confusion, wondering what was going on. Maxie had a shocked look on her face but it quickly turned into an exasperated one as she slumped her arms in defeat. Finally, the redhead glared straight at Necross as if she was trying to set him on fire with her eyes. She was clearly not happy.

“This is not a museum.” The redhead said, crossing her arms. “You can’t just go around wherever you want.”

“Um, well…” Necross said with multiple excuses going through his mind. No matter how you looked at it, he was caught red-handed so he needed to think up of a good reason for trying to go through a door he wasn’t allowed through.

“ROSS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?”

Necross jumped at the sudden shout as did the two youths. They all looked in the direction of the voice to see Maxie raising her fists over her head and angrily stomped on the ground.

“Did you not see how this runt got pissed when you tried to enter that room!?” Maxie roared. “That means the pearl pieces are inside of there!”

Necross blinked twice while slumping his arms. “Huh…?”

“Don’t you “huh” me!? These brats are conning us!” Maxie snapped. “They are keeping the pearl pieces all for themselves!”

The redhead merely stayed silent before giving her opinion on the matter. “As if I didn’t needed any proof that you are an idiot.”

“Oh, don’t act like we aren’t onto you!” Maxie roared before turning her head towards Necross. “Ross, get your butt into that room this minute!”

Necross blinked twice at this. He was honestly trying to decide whether he should praise Maxie for more or less giving them an excuse for snooping around or scold Maxie for thinking that this would make things any better.

The redhead merely shook her head before stepping forward.

“Look, I don’t know if you are really going into there to look for pearl pieces or not nor do I care but I do know one thing.” The redhead said sternly. “You need to get the hell out of here.”

“Well, isn’t THAT convincent.” Maxie said while crossing her arms. She wasn’t giving up without a fight.

“Miss, please, we really don’t have any pearl pieces, I swear!” The dog insisted, trying his best to calm Maxie down.

“Forget it, Oswald. Clearly Jaws’ intelligence matched her mouth.” The redhead said.

“What was that?” Maxie said with a twitching eyebrow.

“You heard me. You have the brains of a fish.” The redhead said. She then paused. “No, wait, that is going too far. Fish are smarter than you.”

Maxie growled while clenching her sharp teeth together. “Why you arrogant little runt! First, you lie to your customers and now you insulted them! I am a hard-working mother of two!”

“I actually hope that you are lying to my face this time because I hate to see how you treat your kids.” The redhead said rudely while occasionally looking at Necross making sure that he didn’t come through the door while they were arguing.

“What was that!?” Maxie roared.

“Ellen, please!” The dog named Oswald begged stepping forward. “There is no reason to bring their relationship into this.”

“If what they are saying are the truth.” The redhead spat before glaring at Necross. “I am not going to ask again, Manther. Leave.”

The dark-haired man gritted his teeth with a growl at the girl’s rude attitude. However, he knew for a fact that technically she was in charge of the shop and unless they do what she said, she could easily call the police on him and Maxie. As much as he hated to be bossed around by such an ill-mannered child, he had no choice.

“Come on, Maxine.” Necross said with a sigh of defeat. “Let’s go.”

The pink-haired woman’s eyes bugged out. “What!?”

“You heard me, dear.” Necross explained, raising his head. “If this young lady wishes us to leave, then we’ll leave!”

“I can’t believe you! YOU was the one who dragged me all of the way into this dust building and now you expect us to leave here empty-handed?” Maxie asked in disbelief.

“Not my fault you don’t have the social status to pay for a job.” Ellen snarked.

“What!?” Maxie roared.

Realizing that Maxie was this close to starting a brawl, Necross practically rushed over to his “wife” and grabbed her by the arm before struggling to drag her over to the entrance of the shop because she broke something.

“Come on, dear.” Necross said through gritted teeth. “Let’s go!”

“This isn’t over, brat!” Maxie roared as she was forced out of the building. “Do you hear me? Don’t be surprised to see this place be completely covered with toilet paper!”

Ellen merely scoffed as she glared at the two exiting the shop with Maxie returning the dirty look.

“Hmph. If she actually had a decent-sized brain, she would know that I would wipe the floor with her.” Ellen spat.

“Toilet paper…” Oswald said softly as if he was in a trance.

Ellen raised an eyebrow while turning towards Oswald. “Forget about it, Oswald. You know as if as I do this place wouldn’t allowed itself to be TPed by some punk.”


Oswald merely shook his head. “No, it is not that. I had just realized that we needed to go buy drain declogger today. We are almost out.”

Ellen nodded her head. “All right. Fair enough. Just remember to make sure that it is an one-way trip. You go to the store, you come back. No talking to strangers.”

Oswald nodded his head. “I understand, Ellen.”

“Good. See you later.” The redhead said.

Oswald again nodded his head before saying his goodbyes to Ellen. He then exited the door with his goal in mind. Ellen watched him exited the door silently hoping that he didn’t run into those two potential thieves from earlier.

Suddenly, she had heard a noise from behind her. Turning around, she saw a woman poking half of her body outside of a door. She had a healthy figure that had tanned skin and long, wavy hair that was the colour of snow. Her attire consisted of nothing but a red dress that looked like the ones female flamenco dancers along with matching high-heels.

“Darling, what is with the ruckus just now?” The woman asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Ellen said, waving it off. “Just told a couple of stupid thieves to beat it.”

The woman merely shook her head with a light chuckle.

“That’s my Ellen.” The woman said. She then quickly noticed something was missing. “Say, where is your sister?”

The teenaged jerked her thumb behind her towards the entrance. “She had gone to buy some drain declogger.”

“Really?” The woman asked. She then frowned putting her hands on her hips. “Well, it is unfortunate but with her gone for a bit, we have to close the shop for a while.”

“Um, why is that?” Ellen asked, not liking where this conversation was going.

“The work we are doing is hardly than we thought and we both agreed that it would be great if a certain someone came along and helped us.” The woman explained before smirking.

Ellen let out an annoyed grunt. Knowing her luck, whatever those two were working on, they would have her toiling away for the rest of the day.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Necross and Maxie both walked down the street, still strongly upset for two reasons. One, if the angels were actually hiding out in the antique shop, they had blown their chances completely. Two, they had to let that sharp-tongued kid insult them while kicking them out.

“I can’t believe that little runt!” Maxie said while gritting her teeth together. “How dare she talk to me like that?”

“Agreed. How did a child like that ended up in charge of the shop?” Necross asked in disgust. “If I was the shop owner, I was put it in charge of that canine child.”

Maxie nodded her head confirming that Necross was right. She then glared at her husband.

“More importantly, you had completely wimped out back there!” She scolded.

Necross’ eyes bugged out before turning towards his “wife”. “I beg your pardon?”

“I was putting much trying to give you a reason after you had gotten yourself STUPIDLY caught!” Maxie snapped while pointing an accusing finger. “But no, you just stood there like the idiot you were!”

“What!?” Necross said in disbelief before narrowing his eyes. “Even if that girl believed you about us genuinely thinking they were hiding pearls pieces from us, we would had been arrested!”

Maxie merely scoffed. “It was still your fault for getting caught in the first place!”

“Hey, I was counting on YOU to keep the both of them distracted!” Necross snapped.

Maxie’s eyes bugged out. “Oh hell no! I just KNOW that you are not blaming me for getting caught!”

“This is a TEAM effort, Maxie! We are both to blame!” Necross scolded while jabbing a finger forward.

“What!? It is not my fault that runt had happened to turn her head while we were arguing!” Maxie snapped. “Besides, you just suck at being a snake!”

“What was that!?” Necross growled.

“I said that you…” Maxie started, feeling more than ready to take out her anger out of Necross.

However, a sudden voice had stopped them.

“Please stop!”

Necross and Maxie’s eyes bugged out before turning towards the direction of the voice. Standing a good distance away from them was Oswald, the dog child from earlier. He had his hand on his chest with a look of concern on his face. Necross and Maxie stared at the child before nervously shifting their eyes towards each other realizing that they were caught.

“Um, how much of that did you hear?” Necross asked before looking back at Oswald.

“More than enough, I am afraid…” The child sighed while shaking his head.

At first, Necross was mildly worried, fearing that this child may had heard everything. It wasn’t that this child seemed like a threat at all. In fact, if he tried to try to alert anyone of their plans, they could just threaten the child. It was the fact that they got themselves so easily caught in the first place that troubled himself.

Fortunately for both parties, Necross had just realized that neither of them had mentioned about their true motive. As far as this child knows, they were a couple of thieves at the worst.

Oswald let out another sigh. “I am terribly sorry that you had came all of the way just to go empty-handed, miss but that is no reason to accuse us and try to sneak out back and steal our items.”

He then raised his head up.

“Also, isn’t you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” Oswald asked.

“Um, husband and wife.” Necross said.

“Well, that makes things worse, I am afraid. Correct me if I am wrong but you had both signed a vow to be together for better or for worse.” Oswald explained. “The both of you shouldn’t fight like this if you are a married couple.”

Necross stepped back while a blush come onto his face. It wasn’t enough to have an appointment with a family therapist from someone they merely knew for a few minutes. But now he was being scolded by a little boy. Maxie on the other hand, merely scoffed while crossing her arms.

“Sorry…” Necross apologized.

“It is all right. I merely chided you just to save your relationship.” Oswald reassured.

“Um, right.” Necross said with a nod.

“In any case, my name is Oswald.” Oswald said before bowing politely.

“Um, I am Ross.” Necross introduced, a bit stunned by Oswald’s maturity.

“Maxine.” Maxie said with a simple two-finger salute.

“Pleased to meet the both of you.” Oswald said, raising his head up.

Necross paused for a moment staring at the child. He seemed extremely friendly and helpful. Along, as mature as he was for his age, he also seemed quite naive. If there was a chance that the angels were living inside of the shop, Oswald would know about it.

Maybe if he played his cards right, he could manipulate Oswald into telling him everything or at least give a few clues. It was a long shot but it was worth a try.

“Right, listen, sorry about my wife’s outburst back there.” Necross said. “But even though you probably guessed this but she really wanted some pearl pieces.”

“I noticed.” Oswald said while nodding his head.

Maxie merely scoffed before looking to the side.

“In any case, we have to go look for someone else to help us.” Necross said with a shrug. Suddenly, his eyes bugged out in realization. “Oh, I had almost forgot!”

“Forget about what, Mr. Ross?” Oswald asked raising an eyebrow.

“I am sorry but me and my family had literally just appeared on Elarthe a few days ago.” Necross said before putting his hand on his chest.

“Oh, so you are league members too?” Oswald asked.

“That is correct.” Necross nodded. “Now I had heard that pearl pieces hold some kind of holy energy inside of them. Maybe a person who wields the power of said divine power may be able to help us find them. Do you have any idea who might fit the bill?”

Maxie’s eyes widened, realizing what her “husband” was trying to pull. Looking back down at the child, she saw that he was putting his finger on his chin in thought. The two adults waited patiently silently hoping for the best. After what seemed like an eternity, he then spoke up.

“Well, a friend of mine had some kind of aura around her before that was very holy.” Oswald noted. “But it seemed to disappear a few weeks ago, I think some of her friends had a similar aura though.”

Necross and Maxie’s pupils shrank when they had heard this. This had to be some kind of coincidence. There was no way it was THIS easy. Surely Oswald wasn’t talking about Priscilla and the other angels, could he?”

“OSWALD!”

Maxie and Oswald both jumped before turning to their heads at Necross, who had a desperate look on his face. Said demon clenched his fists while gritting his teeth together.

“Um, w-what is it, Mr. Ross?” Oswald asked, still stunned by Necross’ sudden shout.

“Where are your friends!?” Necross demanded hastily.

“H-Huh?” Oswald questioned in confusion.

“Your friend that had the holy power! Where is she!?” Necross snapped.

Oswald stepped back suddenly not liking where this was going. “Um, I am sorry but I don’t see why I have to tell you… Couldn’t I just ask them myself?”

Maxie made his way over to Necross and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Psst, hubby, we don’t want to scare the little runt away and ruin anything now, do we?”

Necross breathed in and out heavily, glaring down at the scared and confused child. He then soon realized what he was doing. Shane was literally right in his grasp and his impulsiveness was nearly ruining it for him. If he had frightened the child away, how would he find out where the angel prince was then? Taking in one final breath to calm himself, he looked up with a look of embarrassment on his face.

“My apologies, Oswald.” Necross said with an apologetic bow. “I just got over-excited.”

“It is all right, sure. I understand.” Oswald reassured, shaking his head though the two could tell that he was still a bit shaken. “Though again, I believe it would be easier if I went to them instead of you two.”

Necross paused for a moment, thinking of all of the ways to get Oswald to trick to get the child into giving him the location.

“I appreciate the offer, Oswald but you don’t have to go to all that trouble.” Necross said with a smile. “We could go there ourselves.”

“Yeah, Ross here never takes me anywhere interesting anyway.” Maxie smirked before putting her hand around Necross’ shoulder.

Oswald paused with a frown. “I am sorry, Mr. Ross but I am afraid I can’t tell you because a demon going to them may be a bad idea.”

Necross and Maxie’s smiles vanished as they once again watched with wide eyes and slack jaws upon what they had just heard.

“What was that?” Necross asked softly.

Oswald’s eyes widened as he looked up. “Oh, I am sorry but remember when you thought I was staring at you, Miss Maxie? I was actually staring at your husband when I found out he was a demon.”

Necross’ pupils shrank. “You could tell that just by looking at me?”

“Yes, I have Spiritual Alignment Detection.” Oswald explained. “In other words, I have to ability to sense if someone’s aura is light or dark. Or Miss Maxie’s case, I am able to sense that you are an elementally infused being.”

“Say what!?” Maxie asked out loud in shock and confusion.

“Also, we had only just met. I am sorry but I don’t think it is right for me to lead a couple of strangers there.” Oswald explained. “That and for some reason, you have a second aura and it seems to be very similar to my friend’s own. They may be put off by that.”

“Well, THAT worked!” Maxie said sarcastically while turning her head towards Necross.

The demon gave a small growl while clenching his fists together. He was not going to give up that easily.

“And makes you so sure that it would be so bad if a demon asked a person with holy power for help?” Necross challenged. “We merely wanted some pearl pieces!”

“You are a demon…” Oswald said softly before looking to the side. “Sometimes that is just enough.”

Necross raised an eyebrow as he looked at Oswald’s face. The child seemed to had a slight hurt look on his face when he had answered Necross’ question for some reason. It was then narrowed his eyes summoning the aura surrounding Oswald.

Much to his shock, Oswald’s aura was warped. It was some kind of strange monochrome pattern twisting around in a fire. He had never seen anything like that before.

However, neither had the angels he may had guessed getting a dark smirk on his face.

“Oswald…” He said sternly.

The dog gave a small jump. “Um, yes, Mr. Ross?”

“You are not the only one who has the ability to sense people’s auras.” Necross said before crossing his arms.

Oswald’s eyes widened in horror upon hearing this knowing what the demon meant.

“That is correct. I could sense your aura and I must say that it is not like what I had ever seen before.” Necross noted before raising an eyebrow. “Oswald, what are you?”

The child nervously took a deep gulp wondering what he should do in this situation.

“Um, I am an artificial god…” Oswald said finally, making Necross and Maxie’s eyes widened.

“Seriously?” Maxie exclaimed.

Oswald slowly nodded, confirming his answer. Necross then smirked. It was then to get to work on this child.

“Oswald, you say that I shouldn’t go see your friends because I am a demon.” Necross noted. “By that logic, you shouldn’t be friends with them period.”

“I-I beg your pardon…” The dog asked softly.

“What I meant to say is that your friends will see you not as a person but as a monster.” Necross said.

Oswald’s pupils shrank as the air around him had suddenly turned cold. Necross, while still smirking, noticed this before continuing while putting his hands behind his back as he started to encircle the child.

“I mean think about it. Usually holy people would a lot of respect for gods. Mainly because they are gods for a reason. They had been chosen to be up in the clouds.” Necross explained. “Which is why they would immediately look down on you.”

Oswald slowly lowered his head, still having his horrified look on his face.

“You are not a real god. You are mainly a false one created to be a replacement for one, correct?” Necross said. “Either way, your friends may see you as a living sacrilege. A physical form of deluded arrogance.”

Oswald’s eyes bugged out as a familiar voice echoed throughout his head.

"There are some things that you shouldn't do and one of them is trying to imitate the gods! This child's entire presence is one living sacrilege! A child who existed based on delusions!"

Oswald paused after hearing the harsh words through his mind.

“Of course, as a demon, I don’t believe that but those with holy auras will definitely think so.” Necross said as he stopped encircling Oswald right behind him. “In fact, they may not only cut any and all ties with you but they may come after you and kill you.”

Necross then crouched down and leaned forward so he could whisper the coup de grace into Oswald’s ear.

“However, if you tell us where they are, I will promise you that we will make sure that will never happen.”

Maxie watched the whole thing with a smirk. It was clear that Necross’ words had greatly affected Oswald as he was looking down at the ground in deep thought. Surely the child would cave in and tell them where the angels were.

Oswald paused, thinking over the whole thing. This man had a point. The angels would had probably be seeing him as an abomination and may plan to come after him to kill him. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened.

Even Priscilla, the person who had defended him against Nathan’s harsh words may turn against him. After all, while they are friends, she clearly knew the angels longer than him. He truly valued his friendship with her but would she do the same?

Necross smirked as he watched Oswald’s reaction. As far as he was concerned, he had won. Surely the artificial god would had realized that it was pointless for him to try to protect the angels.

“Just tell me the location… That is all we need…” Necross said softly while resting a gentle shoulder on Oswald.

The artificial god continued to look down at the ground, pondering on all of the consequences on what would happen if he refused Necross’ offer AND what would happen if he ACCEPTED. After what seemed like an eternity for all three of them, the child raised his head.

“I’m afraid I must refuse…”

Necross and Maxie’s eyes both widened when they heard this. Looking down at the child, they saw him raising his head with a stern look on his face. Necross stared in disbelief not believing what he just heard.

“Come again?” Necross asked.

“It is just like I said. I’m afraid I must refuse.” Oswald said in a firm yet polite tone of voice. “I cannot tell you the location of my friends.”

Necross gave a growl of annoyance. “Are you that naive? Do you really think that your “friends” will stay loyal to you?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I did not refuse because you are wrong.” Oswald said, startling the two.

“W-What?” Necross asked in confusion, slowly standing up straight.

Oswald nodded his head with a sad sigh.

“That is right. You are completely correct. My friend… She may no longer become my friend anymore… Whether it was because of her loyalty to her old friends or because she genuinely believed that I am a living delusion… Also, the angels may be planning to kill should I ever show my face in front of them ever again…”

Necross blinked twice as if Oswald was speaking in another language that he didn’t knew about.

“But…” Necross said before narrowing his eyes. “If that is the case, why are you STILL refusing to tell us?”

Oswald raised his eyes with a serious look on his face. “Well, if you excuse me if I seemed like I am jumping to conclusions but judging by your words, you seemed to have some dark objective with them. I don’t know what it is or who is the one at fault here. But it is clear that you wish to harm them.”

“So?” Necross roared, about to lose his patience. “You just admitted that THEY wish to harm YOU.”

“Even still, two wrongs do not make a right.” Oswald said while shaking his head. “I am sorry but whatever grudge you have against them, I am cannot help you with it.”

Necross growled with his entire body twitching in anger, trying his best not to lash out verbally or physically. Maxie on the other hand merely scoffed while crossing her arms with a roll of the eyes. While she was clearly upset, her anger were nowhere near Necross’ own.

“Well, so much for THAT.” Maxie spat. “What now?”

Necross continued to twitch in anger. However, after three seconds, he had finally managed to calm himself.

“Oswald, what are you doing here anyway?” Necross asked softly.

“I-I beg your pardon?” The child asked in confusion. Maxie also raised an eyebrow, bewildered by Necross’ sudden question.

“Why are you out of the shop in the first place?” Necross clarified.

Oswald blinked twice before speaking. “Um, I had just remembered literally a few seconds after you left the shop that we are all out of drain declogger. I was on the way to the store.”

“So in other words, you are doing a quick errand for the shop.” Necross said softly.

Oswald nodded his head confirming Necross’ answer, even though he was still extremely baffled by the demon. The latter on the other slowly nodded his head.

“Maxine, you seemed to want to have your revenge on the shop for not having any pearl pieces.” Necross said, without turning towards his “wife”. “How about you… Keep them busy until then?”

The pink-haired woman’s eyes widened, suddenly realizing what Necross was going to do. A second later, she gave a toothy smirk while crossing her arms.

“Gotcha, hubby.” Maxie said before casually swaggering off while glancing at Oswald. “Good luck, runt. You are going to need it.”

“Luck? For what?” Oswald asked in confusion as he watched Maxie walk out of sight. “Mr. Ross, do you know what your wife is talking about?”

Oswald then turned his head back towards Necross. He then saw the man untying the jacket that was wrapped around his waist when he came into the shop. Oswald stared in confusion, wondering what Necross was doing as he put the jacket on properly.

It was then Oswald had noticed something attached to Necross’ pants. A sheath that seemed to carry a blade that had a gold handle. However, what really caught Oswald off-guard was that it was the blade that what he was sensing the second aura from.

”That aura… It can’t be… Can it?” Oswald thought.

“Now, boy, I don’t wish to do this.” Necross said while adjusting his jacket, snapping Oswald back to reality. “This is your last chance. Tell me where your friend is and I will just walk off and leave you alone.”

Oswald shook his head with a frown, suddenly realizing what was about to happen. “No, sir, I cannot tell you. Why are you going out of your way to antagonize them, anyway?”

Necross narrowed his eyes. “Child, you have NO idea.”

“Well, whatever your reasoning is, I must give you the same answer that I had gave myself.” Oswald said. “Two wrongs do not make a right.”

Necross sighed before shaking his head. “So intelligent. Yet so naïve.”

“Mr. Ross, please! Don’t do this! Didn’t Miss Maxine said that you two have two children?” Oswald pleaded, putting his hand on his chest. “What would THEY say? In fact, what would your wife say?”

Necross’ eyes widened when Oswald had said the last part. Suddenly, a figure of a white-haired woman had flashed through his eyes. Necross stared as if he was a trance.

However, he quickly broke out of his daze with a growl.

“You are treading on thin ice, child.” Necross said before getting out the sword out of its sheath. “Now, I am only going to ask this once more. Where is your friend?”

Oswald shook his head. “My answer is not going to be any different, Mr. Ross.”

Necross merely glared at Oswald. Suddenly, black energy had surrounded the steel of the sword. Oswald stared in awe as he watched said energy turn into a raging fire around the blade.

”Burn…” The sword spoke in a dark tone. However, Oswald didn’t know hear the weapon speak at all. Necross on the other hand, heard the sword talk but acted like he didn’t heard it. He was too busy focusing his glare onto Oswald.

“Boy, if you are truly an artificial god, I strongly suggest your powers against me.” Necross demanded.

“Mr. Ross, is there no other way?” Oswald pleaded.

The demon narrowed his eyes. “No…”

Oswald let out a deep sigh of defeat, realizing that there was no way of changing Necross’ mind without giving into his demands.

“It seems that I have no choice but to defend myself…” Oswald said softly.

With that, the two stared into each other. Necross’ eyes burned with the passionate flame of determination while Oswald returned the glance with an uncertain and worried glare. Despite the latter’s pacifistic nature, neither person was backing down on their side and the only possible way was to fight it out. Possibly for the fate of an entire world.