Return of the Runebound Professor

The Advanced Track meeting was considerably more busy than usual. Noah wasn’t sure if they’d suddenly kicked up the recruiting drive or if a bunch of professors who normally hadn’t bothered showing up had finally decided that it was time to remind everyone else of their existence.

He wore a plain metal mask that Todd had created for him in the hours leading up to the meeting. It had no features aside from a flat line for the mouth and two similar slits for the eyes, which made it somewhat annoying to look through, but it did a fantastic job at obscuring his features.

Beside him, along with all of his normal, non-demonic students, were Moxie and Vermil. A faint smile pulled at Noah’s lips at that thought. Karina was doing a fantastic job impersonating him so far.

As stressed as she’d been before, she had managed to capture an arrogant, casual air that seemed to run native in most Linwicks. The disguise would hold up perfectly so long as nobody spoke too extensively to her.

Lee stood beside Karina, a deep hood pulled over her head. There were two small points at its top where her horns poked into it. It wasn’t exactly the most convincing disguise, but it would be sufficient for the time they needed it to be.

Everyone had their roles.

Everyone including Jalen — who had fucked off midway through Noah’s debrief and had yet to show up again.

What the hell is he doing? I was counting on him to help me increase my stage presence. I can’t believe he’d miss something like this. It’s right up his alley.

There, unfortunately, wasn’t much time for him to wonder about Jalen’s presence. Things were about to get moving. A Rank 6 would have made things a lot easier, but Noah was no stranger to Jalen being a bit… distracted.

He also couldn’t help but notice that their group was getting more attention than normal. A lot more attention than normal. Nearly every single eye in the room was directed toward them. Even Godrick, the head of the Advanced Track, was staring right at them from where he sat at the head of a long table in the center of the room.

Perhaps Contessa did her job a bit better than I was expecting. It seems that word of Spider’s arrival has spread quite effectively.

If that was really the case, Noah was impressed with Godrick. The man held enough respect to keep an entire room of powerful mages from trying to attack the demon they all knew was in their midst.

One that had a rather impressive kill record against a number of Inquisitors.

Speaking of which, I wonder if any showed up. I kind of hope they did. They’ll be quite useful in some of my goals. Particularly that Inquisitor lady that was a bit receptive to what I was talking about back in the auction.

I might have forgotten her name.

Oh well. I’m sure it’ll come up again soon.

A loud bang echoed through the room as Godrick drove a fist down onto the table before him. It didn’t seem like an act out of anger so much as one to draw everyone’s attention. All the conversation echoing through the room died, but Noah couldn’t help but notice that many of the gazes still remained fixed on his group.

“I believe we are all aware that this meeting is abnormal,” Godrick said, his words slicing through the now-silent room like a blade. His eyes affixed firmly on Noah. “The individual responsible for that has made sure to have the word spread quite effectively. You wanted our attention, demon. You have it. I suggest you use what time you have left wisely. I do not know why Vermil saw fit to invite one of our greatest enemies into our own ranks. It matters not. That will be discussed — assuming he survives this. But, if you think you can defeat an entire group of mages prepared for your arrival, then you are a fool.”

Damn. What the fuck did Contessa do? I’ve got to give her a raise or something.

“That’s quite the introduction, Godrick,” Noah said, crossing his hands behind his back as he took a step forward — both to ensure the attention of the room was completely on him, and to put some distance between himself and the others in case some idiot tried to attack him while he was speaking. “But you forgot to mention my name. Defeats the point, don’t you think? I am known as Spider.”

“We know who you are,” a pudgy but competent-looking professor said. Noah recognized him as George. He was the professor to Fiona, one of the strongest students in the Advanced Track. “What do you want, Spider? And how arrogant can you be to bring a demon to our meeting, Vermil?”

“Are you really asking me that?” Karina/Vermil asked, tilting his head to the side and arching an eyebrow. “I escaped the Damned Plains. I beat Wizen. I think I might know what I’m doing. The question is… do you?”

Damn. Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t we?

“As abrasive as Vermil is, he is not a fool. I would assume there is a purpose to this,” Silvertide called from across the room. He’d arrived separately to ensure nobody would make the immediate connection that they were working together. Silvertide’s eyes narrowed and he rapped his cane against the ground. “I suggest we get to that purpose sooner rather than later, Demon.”

“With pleasure,” Noah said. “My time is valuable. I don’t have any desire to waste it, so we’ll get right to the point.”

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“I’m certain many of you are wondering why I’d ever ally myself with the strongest demon that’s ever made itself manifest on the Mortal Plane,” Karina said. “But, for those of you who have more than rocks rattling around in your skulls, you might have realized that there would only be one good reason to stand beside one of our greatest enemies. Does anybody care to take a guess?”

Dozens of gazes bore into them. Noah stood as perfectly still as he could. The less human he felt, the more everyone would be uneasy — and the less likely one of them would try to do something that would interrupt his carefully prepared play.

Come on. One of you have to want to speak. Answer the question so you can seem smart. It’s not a hard one.

And, to Noah’s delight, it was Otto who stepped forward. He hadn’t seen the wealthy man in quite some time, as most of his dealings had been with his assistant, Bird. Noah rather liked Otto. He was the sensible sort — and he also paid a lot of money for runes.

“A common enemy,” Otto said, his eyes boring into Noah’s. “That’s what you’re implying, isn’t it? That Vermil is working together with you because there’s some great enemy that threatens both demons and humans.”

“Bullshit,” another professor called almost instantly. “That’s a likely story. Just think for a moment. Verrud and Jakob died during the exam. Right before Vermil returned. Are you going to tell us that you don’t know what happened to them, Vermil?”

“No. I know what happened to them,” Karina said. Her words were grim — she was doing an excellent job of looking a mixture of distraught and harrowed with Noah’s face. It was rather impressive. “I was there when they died.”

“Arrogant bastard. You don’t even try to deny it,” another professor called. “They were known to have issue with you, Vermil. Let me guess. You’re going to try to claim they were working against all of us and you were forced to kill them by making a deal with a demon.”

“Wrong!” Karina barked. “We had our differences. Jakob was arrogant — and worse, a Torrin. Verrud was a bit of a sleazebag… but we were all colleagues. Jakob and Verrud were not our enemies. Despite everything that went down between us… I am here today to say that they weren’t our enemies. On the contrary. Jakub and Verrud were heroes.”

A stunned silence fell over the room.

There wasn’t a single person that had attended an Advanced Track meeting in recent times that didn’t see Noah’s students at odds with Jakob’s. They’d all watched him humiliate both the students and masters in one of the earliest meetings he’d been to. It was well known that the tensions between them couldn’t have been higher.

To claim that the people in the room that hated him most were heroes was inconceivable. Nobody would ever do that, especially when said people were no longer around to defend themselves. It would have been an easy opportunity to disparage them.

No noble would ever pass that chance up.

Noah smiled behind his mask.

“What?” George asked, blinking in surprise. “Heroes?”

“Heroes,” Karina repeated, going off the script that Noah had practically handed to her. He didn’t know exactly what the professors would say, but he’d had a pretty general idea of how they’d react. She took a step forward and clasped her hands behind her back. “Jakob and Verrud died trying to protect the students.”

“It’s true,” Yulin said, emerging from behind Emily. “We were attacked during the exam. Someone shut off our lockets.”

“And not just their own students,” Isabel called. “A group of people in Arbitage uniforms attacked us. Jakob and Verrud tried to save all of us, but they were armed with magic we’ve never seen before. It was a slaughter. They died covering us. If Vermil hadn’t emerged from the Damned Plains with Spider right in time to scare them off… we’d all be dead.”

“Unfortunately, I was too slow to stop them from taking Jakob and Verrud’s bodies with them,” Karina said grimly. “And I was severely injured in the fight, even with Spider’s help. I have been hiding, recuperating. I told the students to keep what they saw to themselves to avoid overplaying our hand — but now is the time to act.”

Brilliant, Karina. Well done. You’ve got them dancing on strings.

“Act for what?” Gordrick asked, his initial anger turning to confusion. “What are you saying, Vermil?”

“Use that little mind of yours,” Noah said, taking the opportunity to sieze control of the conversation. “I don’t care about your little political games. I have stood before the Lord of Death and left him mortally wounded. I have witnessed more lives than most of you could ever comprehend — and I know of the pathetic little secrets you try to keep… such as how the Bastions are nothing more than stockpiles of ancient weapons.”

“What of it?” Godrick asked, but Noah could see unease in his posture. That wasn’t knowledge that people wanted to get out… and thoughts were starting to churn behind the large man’s eyes.

“Why do you think I would ally myself with a pathetic little mortal?” Noah asked, but he didn’t bother giving anybody time to respond. “Wizen already managed to steal one of your weapons, and he was not the first. He was not alone.”

Come on. Somebody say it for me. Fill in the blanks in my bullshit.

“Traitors,” Godrick whispered as his eyes went wide. “Are you saying there are traitors attempting to unearth the weapons from the Long Night?”

“No human would ever pose me a threat. I am greater than any demon you have met before. Even Inquisitors are nothing before me,” Noah said. “But the weapons from the Long Night… they are sealed away for a reason. There are weapons within the Bastions that could end existence as we know it. I do not want them unleashed any more than you do.”

I don’t have the faintest fucking clue about how strong the things in the Bastions are, but I’m sure there have to be some super-weapons somewhere. Its quite plausible. I’m willing to bet nobody here actually knows what the strongest weapons are, and even if they do, they probably assume there’s a stronger one somewhere.

“But who would want that?” Ulya called from the other end of the room, right on cue. Noah had only managed to get a little time to warn her of their plans before the meeting, but she only had to say that one line.

“I have killed many of these traitors already. I care not for mortal families, but Vermil identified them for me. They are Torrins.”

Someone snorted. “Right. Sure—”

“They are Linwicks,” Noah continued. “They are Kings. They are Herrons. They are Rivvens. They are all of you,” Noah called, his mask concealing his smile as he laid the final piece of his plans down. “The rot runs to the core. It permeates every single one of your families. If you wish to find the traitors, turn to each other. I have no doubt that they are present even here, in this room.”

Everything I said is straight bullshit, but it doesn’t matter. The pieces are all there, and the nobles already don’t trust each other. I saw what happened when Wizen was using his plant clones — and this is a thousand times worse.

The urge to laugh bubbled up in Noah’s throat, but he crushed it down and did nothing but watch as chaos exploded through the room and everyone burst into loud yells.

Let’s see you bastards try to come for Isabel when you’re all at each other’s throats over some traitors to the empire that don’t even exist.

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