Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

Medusa's voice fluttered lightly as she recited a poem of seemingly Japanese origin and a lopsided smirk of mischief appeared on her face, as she asked,

"This is a poem I thought of whenever I see you, what do you think? Pretty fitting don't you think so?"

"How dare you!?"

For the first time, the four men who had been silent and stoic no matter how she insulted them, reacted with an outcry of anger so intense that their wrath had literally become tangible. All of them stood up from their dogeza and their auras were coated with their blazing fury and wrath.

"Enough."

A calm voice – like a beautifully echoing bell, yet deep and full of authority – was enough for them to stop and go back to their kneeling state.

Ignoring them, the woman looked at Medusa with her ever-calm smile,

"Truly a beautiful poem you have made there. Though it seems like the kind of poem young men would sing to prostitutes during the night."

"Did I stutter?"

Medusa cackled out loud, "Furthermore, if I remember right, Geisha are not necessarily prostitutes, right? Only selling their talents and not their bodies, was it not the concept they wield? So why the outrage? Unless… you see yourself in them? And define their acts as your own…"

One could see the smile on the blonde haired woman twitching greatly. The hand she had hidden in her large sleeve tightened slightly around her fan.

"..."

"..."

The two women gazed at each other deeply.

Each of them sported the most beautiful smile they could possibly muster but the temperature of the surroundings slowly dropped drown as the pressure rose higher and higher with each passing second.

"I see, it seems like you still have a prejudice against me. Do not test my patience, however, I will not be insulted inside my own house and territory."

"I don't have a prejudice against you. I simply hate you and everything you embody. Simply being in your presence sickens me to no end and I wish for nothing more than to pull out that rotten foxy stench that is trying to cling to my body while being near your vile and vulgar self."

It was really rare to see Medusa show so much emotion but she truly hated being in the presence of this hedonistic woman.

The two knew each other for years now and their relationship was less than friendly, to say the least.

Just as it seemed like they were about to come to blows, Medusa stopped in her tracks as she felt hundreds of stares eyeing them from everywhere at once.

She tsked,

"Truly, the daughter is even more creepy than the mother."

She ignored the feelings of more than a few dozen Spiders gazing at her at the same time and looked behind her.

There, she could see a woman approaching them from afar.

Unlike her mother, Tsubasa was clad in black battle gear. Clothes reminiscent of a ninja straight out of a fiction book, an extremely short kimono that stopped just around her hips and the typical fox max covering her facial features.

"Hello, Doctor Piaget, it seems like I have interrupted something. Forgive me for my rudeness."

Medusa shrugged and reigned in her hostility..

"I am the one who chose The Magician as the representative for the mission in France. I would like to know what your intention is in joining the mission this time. It was already doubtful that a Gold rank would join to help but from what I see, you already far surpass what a normal Gold rank can do. Aren't I right, Ghost Spider?"

Medusa threw a blatant stare at the mask Tsubasa was wearing right now. It was none other than a divine weapon of Inari no Kami, the fox goddess.

While the majority of her authority was related to non-combat, she was still the goddesses patron of swordsmiths and the protector of warriors.

At Medusa's current level of power, facing those two women together would quite literally be suicide and she had not come here to fight them in the first place.

Listening to Medusa's question, Tsubasa took a few steps forward while taking off the mask covering her face, revealing her facial features that were no less beautiful and alluringly seductive than her mother's.

For each step she took, blood trailed behind her, and her entire body was entirely covered in blood and the aura of death around her was nearly palpable.

"Firstly, I would like to apologize for my current attire. I was patrolling through Little Tokyo and had to… Let's say eliminate a few troublemakers."

Medusa was not surprised.

Little Tokyo was the territory of the Hanekawa family and they obviously took care of the security there in regular intervals.

Be it hunters or supernatural creatures.

"Dear daughter of mine, you should be a little less flashy with your tasks. Already, tales of your actions are filling the ears of even the Powerless. I was surprised to receive a report about people cosplaying as you not long ago."

It seemed like even someone as crazy and knee-deep in the realms of lunacy as her was able to feel some semblance of embarrassment.

After clearing out her throat, Tsubasa looked at the four men who were kneeling on the ground,

"Leave."

The four men did not say a word as they started to leave while still kneeling and their faces lowered to the ground.

It was only after they left the premise that Tsubasa smiled once again.

"The way you treat men is rather awful."

Medusa muttered to which Tsubasa answered with complete indifference,

"If they were to hear the conversation going forward, I would simply kill them in order to keep his secret safe."

Medusa shook her head, it seemed like the girl was even more insane than she remembered her to be.

"Anyway, Doctor, to answer your question in the clearest way possible, the mission Adam is undertaking is too dangerous for him and so I wish to follow and protect him."

"Kidnap him, you mean?"

Tsubasa smiled, "Kidnapping him would be counterproductive, he would hate me even more and be unhappy, which goes against my desire to fill his life with joy and happiness."

"Haha…"

Medusa was speechless at the words being conveyed by the lunatic in front of her.

She wondered whether she should be happy that Tsubasa didn't plan to kidnap Adam or worried about how she seriously thought about Kidnapping Adam before coming to the conclusion that it was not really worth the risk.

"You are crazy…"

"You said the same thing, six years ago, which caused my separation from Adam. Here, I am six years later and I believe I showed that I was in fact… Not crazy. Time has proven your words wrong, Doctor. In fact, I believe I am one of the sanest persons in this world."

"Is that so…"

Medusa did not need to say that those who said those words were generally the people who would eventually be labeled as the craziest in existence.

"No matter. I am not your doctor anymore so do as you wish. I just came to confirm if your choice for this mission was intentional. I am surprised you told me the truth so readily."

"Sooner or later Adam and I will meet again and I do not plan to hide the truth from him. I have nothing to hide and I am proud of my love for him."

"Even if he chases you away?"

"He will not… and even if he does, I am willing to wait for him as long as it takes. In this life, and all the ones after this one, there will only be one man to hold the key to my heart and that is Adam. No one else…"

Medusa could only stare at her with absolute bewilderment.

The girl was mad.

Stark raving mad.

There was really no doubt about the madness that was constantly churning in those hollow eyes of hers.

But there was a purity to her obsession, a beauty to her love which brought a feeling of fascination in her mind.

'She can be useful…'

Medusa was sure of one thing… as she was now, Tsubasa would kill herself if she decided that it was necessary for the good of Adam.

This kind of madness could be dangerous but when funneled in the right way—

"You are thinking of using my obsession."

Tsubasa's words interrupted her thoughts.

"You are… surprisingly self-aware, aren't you? Are you angry?"

"No. In fact, I am extremely happy that I have been able to generate those thoughts in your mind. After all, this proves that you are a true ally of Adam. It would have been a shame if you were not."

She showed a kind smile but the threat in her voice was completely unmistakable.

"How brazen. You think you can kill a 'Zodiac', even if I am on the weaker side of the spectrum?"

"Had I not stopped my training five years ago, I believe I would not be far from being on par with a Zodiac myself so, yes. I believe I can kill you and I will kill you if deemed necessary…"

Was it confidence, or was it hubris?

It was hard to say, but Medusa had to admit that this girl was extremely talented.

A woman loved by Fate, with a supreme talent that transcended her age.

This was quite worrying.

The more supremely talented humans appeared to be, the greater the threat that was actually brewing in the background. The aggregation of power and talent would only mean the imminent destruction of the world or a crisis that would be similar in scale…

'Is it a sign from the Scales?'

Presumably, something huge was about to happen in France and the world was moving the cards necessary to fight against it.

If it was the truth then—

"I will accept your candidatures for the mission."

"Thank you."

"Do not thank me. Everything will depend on Adam. If before going he says no, then it will be no."

She shook her head and started to walk away though she stopped and gazed at the woman who had not spoken much during the whole discussion.

"Inari, I hope to never see you and that vile face of yours ever again."

She spoke the name of the woman. Her name was like that of the fox goddess— for the woman in front of her had long since given up on her own identity.

Then she left without looking back.

Not even once…