The Duke's Passion



837 A dead fish

"Uncle Alphonse?"

Claude's pupils went wide, trying to confirm the face under the shade of the person's hood. When the latter pulled his hood down, Claude's jaw nearly fell.

"What are you..." he trailed off when Alphonse flashed him a short smile, making Claude take a step back.

"I know you and I had so many things to discuss -

"We need no discussion." Claude shook his head in dismay, pulling an aura on him as if to tell Alphonse he wouldn't hesitate to wield his sword at any moment.

"I know." Alphonse breathed out, ignoring the hostility coming from his nephew as he shifted his attention to the battle between the Kraken and Stefan. "I understand you despised me more than anyone - more than Stefan for taking your parents' lives. No words of apology would ever quench that hatred. However, I believe we are currently in a situation where our personal issues should be put aside."

Alphonse carefully set his eyes back to Claude. "I came here because Stefan told me to assist him. If you and I are still alive after this, we can settle any score"

Silence dawned on them for a moment, staring at each other. After several seconds, Claude let out a weak yet deep huff, relaxing his tense shoulders.

"I can't stop the time from that distance," said Claude, answering his uncle's previous query whilst keeping his eyes on him. "But I can slow it down. I don't know if that is enough since I can only do it for five seconds. I don't want to force myself more than that."

It would be too dangerous for Claude to stop the time longer than a few seconds. After all, he had been using his divine weapon, Auron, since marching the warriors out of the Colosseum. Morcover, he didn't want to lose control over it. Therefore, Claude was careful in using his ability to not make the same mistake as the reversal of time.

"Tive seconds is enough." Alphonse rocked his head and gazed at the ocean. He briefly cast all the people in the boat and swimming in their direction a look, before lifting his gaze. The battle between Stefan and the Kraken was intense. Even from this distance, Claude and Alphonse could feel the thick clash of aura that the powerful gust of wind and big waves brought. Aside from one problem that Stefan's places to land on decreased significantly in a matter of a minute, the good thing was that the waves of this clash were causing hastened the speed of the knights approaching the land.

"Support him as much as you can,' said Alphonse after a moment of silence, keeping his eyes on the Kraken. "But only when you think he needed it. Right now, Stefan can fight without anyone's help. Therefore, you should conserve your energy until it is necessary to step in"

Claude's brows rose, gazing at his uncle's side as the latter walked forward until he was standing

beside him.

"You are already doing a good job in assisting him and everyone!" Alphonse's eyes slid to the corner, falling on his nephew's figure. "Keep it up."

"I don't need your praise or approval." Claude was irritated, snapping his tongue. "Don't order

me around. I know what I am doing

"I am simply reminding you," said Alphonse, smiling slightly. "After all, you tend to lose your mind whenever you are cornered. I won't ask you to trust us, but rather, Stefan and I don't deserve your slightest concern."

"Just think that whatever you do, we don't honestly care," he continued, taking another two steps until he was in front. "Therefore, there's no point in risking your life or sacrificing your own time for us."

Claude's face darkened at Alphonse's remarks. He balled his hand into a tight fist, getting more irritated the more this man speak as if he had the right to be concerned about him, Claude despised Alphonse just as equally as how he hated Stefan and Alistair.

What they had done to Claude and his parents was unforgivable. The only reason Claude was tolerating their insufferable presence around him was that they had the "same" goal. They had the same enemy, thus, they had to deal with this first.

"What about you?" asked Claude after telling himself to set aside his personal issues with Alphonse. "What are you going to do?"

Claude turned his head in Alphonse's direction, only to see that the latter wasn't moving anymore. Alphonse stood motionless, making Claude furrow his brows. He heard about his uncle's ability to become one with the shadow. However, Claude had no idea about Alphonse's real abilities.

The La Crox had this habit of hiding the real nature of their abilities, after all. Just like Samael, whom everyone thought was gifted, only for him to admit that his real ability was to steal other people's abilities.

Claude took one careful step toward Alphonse, calling him with a quiet voice to see what was going on. Ilis steps became more and more careful until he was standing beside Alphonse. Claude tilted his upper body to the side to see Alphonse's front.

"What are you...?" he trailed off, seeing that Alphonse's eyes were nothing but white. The latter wasn't moving and just standing on the same spot, but Claude was certain Alphonse was currently unconscious.

"Unconscious..." Claude whispered as deep lines appeared in between his brows. "... no, you weren't unconscious. You're just not here, are you?"

Just then, Claude realized something and got a good grasp of Alphonse's real abilities. As soon as he did, Claude's mouth fell open in amusement.

"How... did I miss it?"

********

Meanwhile, under the ocean, a dead fish that was floating down deep in the ocean opened its eyes. The fish gazed around, catching the dark element that i deemed as the body of the Kraken. Most of its tentacles were still underwater. In other words, those above the sea were simply a portion of it.

'It won't be an exaggeration to say this Kraken had a size of a town, thought the fish, swimming deeper to see how deep the Kraken's body was. As it swam deeper, a thought crossed the fish. 'I should've told him to look after my body. But then again, he might kill me if he knew I was

vulnerable in that state.

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