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Chapter 45: Start of a New Beginning
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Dio prepared for his journey to the capital the next day. The night he spent crying and letting it all out made him feel lighter as if a heavy weight on his chest had been lifted. His puffy eyes made the others worry about him but as soon as he told them that it was because he visited his grandfather’s grave, no one tried to bother him about it anymore. The residents of the southern city had been considerate of him and he was happy that he chose to visit the place before he went to the capital.
“Uncle? What are you doing here?” Dio asked when he saw the carriage with the Armani Merchant Guild Crest and Royce went out of it.
“I came here to fetch you.”
“Fetch me?” Dio chuckled. “I’m no longer a little kid. I could go to the capital on my own.”
Royce smiled when he saw how Dio laughed. The young man looked brighter than he was when he left the northwest. He was happy for him because he seemed to fi
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 46: Axis City
Axis City was the capital of the clandestine empire and the center of all commercial industries. It was also the place where the clandestine palace and academy were located.“Would you like to go directly to your grandfather’s estate?” Royce asked him after they entered the gates. “I will send Kael there after a few days. I will go to the Registry office first to process your adoption papers.”Dio bit his lips. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to see the properties that his grandfather left him. “C-can I go to your house first?”“Wait! How about I tour you around before we go home?” Kael suggested.Royce took a pause as he held his temple before he nodded. “If you guys aren’t that tired from our journey, you can hang out first. It’s been a while since Dio had been in the capital so it would be nice if he could get familiar with the place.”“Thanks, Father!&rdquo
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 47: Empty Awakening
“Have you rested?” Royce asked as soon as Dio opened his eyes. It was already morning of the next day after they arrived in the capital.“Yes, Uncle.”Royce messed Dio’s hair. “You should get used to calling me father by now.” He put down the documents in Dio’s side table. “You’re officially an Armani starting today.”“Dio Armani, huh? I almost forgot that I was Dio when I was in the northwest.” Dio looked outside the window where the sun rose.“Would you like it if I included your first name?”“It’s fine. I realized that the name Arkin is a proof that I’m a Romanov. Though it was Gramps who gave it to me, it was necessary to hide it for now.” Dio smiled. “I couldn’t bring you more trouble, right?”“You’re not troublesome at all, son.” Royce patted Dio’s head before he left the room.
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 48: Newfound Family
“How did it go?” Mika asked him as soon as he entered the lobby. The young miss was also done with her awakening and her smile was bright as ever.“It was empty.” Dio smiled at his sister whose face crumpled after hearing what he said.“Empty? But you used to be an adventurer. You didn’t have a record of your awakening?”He looked down as he remembered his awakening. “I awakened, the day Gramps died.”Mika covered her mouth with her hand as she gave Dio an apologetic look. “I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”“It’s okay, Sis.” Dio smiled. “I need to get used to it.”“Are you going to hide it?” Mika whispered.“Yeah. They say that only geniuses could awaken on their own. I don’t want to be labeled as someone that I’m not,” Dio said with an annoyed tone.“My little brother is so cute when h
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 49: Troublesome Kid
After they finished the snacks at the café, Mika once again led the way towards the central plaza. The stalls were brimming with foods from raw fruits to meat skewers. Dio went to the stall that sold chicken feet and bought two pieces.“You like this kind of food too?” Mika said with a smile as she took the chicken feet that Dio offered.“Yes. I prefer eating in a tavern or a roadside diner rather than inside a classy restaurant.” He said while munching on his food.“You’re similar with Kael in that manner.”Dio’s face crumpled when he heard Kael’s name. He was comfortable enough to even show his annoyancetowards him.“Found you!”Mika heaved a sigh as she mumbled, “He would never allow people to talk behind his back.”Dio grinned when he caught Mika’s words. However, his expression changed once again when Kael wrapped his arms around his
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 50: Armani Merchant Guild
“Woah! 10 continuous shots and it was all bull’s eye!” Mika said with admiration.Dio put down the bow and smiled towards his sister. “Thanks for bringing me here.”“Now that you had your fun, shall we go to the guild? Father asked for you,” Kael said with a smirk on his face.Dio nodded and immediately hid behind Mika before Kael could grab him. He glared at his older brother when he laughed in amusement.“Let’s go meet Father.”The three of them went inside the carriage and proceeded to the Guild. They stopped in front of an enormous building with lots of people coming to and fro. At the top of the building stood the Armani Merchant Guild crest and even the people working had the crest pinned on their uniforms.“Welcome to the guild, Mr. Mikael and Ms. Mikaella. A receptionist slightly bowed his head and led them the way.Once they entered the lobby, they saw that mos
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 51: Armani Merchant Guild II
“I knew that you’d be here.”Dio looked at the entrance of the balcony and he saw Amery’s grinning face. He shook his head as he watched Amery walked towards him and hold onto the railings as soon as she was standing beside him.“For a noble lady, aren’t you quite assertive, my lady?” Dio teased.“You’re getting arrogant now, I guess? Do you think that you’re my type?” Amery giggled.Since the day he met her, Dio knew that being bold and assertive was part of Amery’s personality. She always took the initiative and make sure that she wouldn’t hesitate on things that she wanted.“I won’t get ahead of myself and assume that, my lady.” Dio turned his back on the railings and sat on the floor. The hall seemed to be much livelier and the music grew louder. The dance must’ve started and the people inside were having fun.“I somehow expected t
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 52: Not a Date
It was a fine morning after the welcome party for Dio and Cassandra was already beaming with nervousness and excitement. Though it was a shock that her brother insisted on Dio touring her around, she did not dislike it. “Why are you dolling yourself up when you are just going to tour around the capital?” Casper’s voice was heard near the open door of her room. “Don’t tell me that you have a crush on that guy?” Her brother’s statement sounded more like a warning than a question. She could feel him glaring at her back as she looked at herself in the mirror. “I don’t have a crush on him. I just don’t want to look like a nobody if I’m going to walk around with him,” she defended. “And what do you mean by that?” Casper folded his arms as he looked at her suspiciously. “Dio Armani is such a handsome man,” she said as she smiled sweetly. “I don’t want to look like a rag beside a commoner.” “Is that so?” Casper’s suspicious gaze continued on.
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 53: Clean Up
“Your backup is here!” Kael smirked after he hit the director’s nape stealthily.“I didn’t ask for backup, though?” Dio said with a childish grin as he opened the hidden door. It was dark inside and but he could hear the children from below flinched at every sound that he made. He jumped down and he was followed by Kael who used an artifact to produce light.“What the…” Dio clenched his fist and he could feel that Kael did the same as they both looked around the room. The children were all dirty and their thin clothes looked more like a rag. They were all so skinny that their bones were almost visible on their skin. And their eyes… Those were the eyes of people who already lost hope.Their eyes were wary of the two strangers who just went in and the younger ones trembled as they hide behind the older kids.Dio kneeled in front of a little girl and held her cheek gently. He smiled and said, &ldq
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“You finally decided to show yourself,” Absalom chuckled when Amir, Joe, and Vince went towards him. The stars and their masters’ were confused about what was happening between the captain and him. The crackling sound from Dio’s lightning dagger was heard by the others. Though some couldn’t accept the truth that Dio was a multi-element mage, there were people who genuinely wished to see him not holding back. Dio’s vines grew around the area to attack Absalom but the other three captains moved to protect him. “You need to go through us if you want to hurt him.” Dio couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “So there are also people you wanted to protect?” It was a sarcastic laugh filled with bitterness. There were people whom he failed to protect: his mother and grandfather. Those were his family who loved and cherished him, but he lost them because of the midnight serpents. He continued to live on for the sake of revenge and because of that, he fou
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Cassiel merged with her phoenix guardian while Andriel merged with his thunderbird. With fire and lightning, they merged their powers and created attacks that were supposed to be hard to dodge. However, Captain Joe and Captain Vince were veteran fighters so fighting them was hard for the two.Cassiel cast a fireball and Andriel merged it with his lightning bolt. The ball made of fire and high-voltage electricity crackled as it went on a straight path towards Joe. The speed of the attack was too fast that Joe didn’t fully dodge it and left a small cut on his shoulder.“Not bad, you two. However, I’m not your only opponent,” Joe smirked when the two realized that Vincent was nowhere to be seen.Suddenly, a black whip covered with high-voltage electricity came to attack the two and they barely dodged it. They looked around and saw Vince a few meters away from them, holding the base of the whip. He laughed evilly when he saw the anxious expre
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 100: School Attack!
Dio pulled Lewis’ shirt when he tried to step back. He also used his dagger when Lewis tried to slash his hand and smirked. “Let’s finish this.” Lewis, with all his strength, pushed Dio away from him. He kept his distance from him since he was informed that Dio’s strength was his melee fighting, though he also needed to be wary of his casting. However, he didn’t know that the information he received was taken when Dio was still an adventurer. As a student of the academy, Dio honed his casting skills and practiced them by helping the other casters in the elite class. Dio used his vines to capture Lewis who always dodged his attacks and his attempts of getting closer. Since Lewis was naturally fast, it took him a lot of time just to catch him. He set a trap and drove him to the way he planned for him to go and there he created a pit deep enough so he wouldn’t escape. Dio held the mouth of the hole and ice spread from his hand down to where Lewis stood.
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Almost hundreds of monsters inside that dungeon surrounded Dio. Though he knew they outnumbered him, he let everyone leave him alone so that he could use his power to his heart’s content. “Bree, can I trust you to watch my back?” Dio looked around and created a plan in his head. “Sure, master!” Bree twinkled brighter in excitement. “I wish Blur was here too.” “It’s okay, Bree. Blur would assist the others at school.” Dio put his dagger back into its sheath as Bree took care of the monsters that attacked them. After he put the daggers in his space ring, Dio created an electric dagger with his right hand and an ice dagger with the left one. “Now, let’s do this.” Dio helped Bree with cleaning up the monsters. With a single slash of his dagger, the small monsters were cut in half. And since Dio embedded poisons in his daggers, those who were cut and wounded weren’t able to regenerate or heal their wounds, so they end up dying. “I like your eyes an
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 98: Excursion
After their introduction and a few exchanges, the groups went inside the dungeon led by Caspian and Arthur. The other group was silent for it was their first time to enter a dungeon so the elite class tried to reassure them by having conversations as if nothing wrong could happen. Yet, deep within them, they were also afraid because they had a bad experience from a dungeon before. “Don’t you dare act on your own again, Dio.” Keila reminded him. Cassandra walked beside Dio to make sure that he wouldn’t let himself get behind. If they wanted him to behave, they needed to monitor him closely. Dio wouldn’t hesitate to jump ahead if it meant to protect them so someone had to be beside him to stop him if ever. “Are you also worried about me?” Dio chuckled when he realized that almost all the elites were watching over him. He turned to Cassandra with an assuring smile. “I told you not to worry. I won’t do something dangerous again.” Though Dio seemed believa
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“Dio and Kael, though I know that you already know him, let me introduce Carter von Claude.” Professor Croix gestured his hand towards Carter. “He was promoted to the elite class last week and he will join you in today’s excursion.” Dio bowed his head to Carter. Though he was sad that Mika had been replaced, he knew it was no one’s fault and that the world would continue moving, even after her death. That thought hurt him a bit, but he had to accept it. Those who were left needed to continue leaving. Just like how he did it after his grandfather’s death, he would live his life to honor those whose lives were lost because of him. He had decided. He would talk with Andriel if they meet again. The group went into the carriage large enough to fit fifteen people and settled down. The atmosphere wasn’t as comfortable because of the new member but they lifted the mood. Dio was seated beside Keila and just like their midterms exams, he snuggled close to her and close
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 96: Comfort
Dio and Kael went back to school after a few days of being on leave. It was so sudden and everyone was surprised to hear the news of the Armani Massacre and Mika’s death. Dio couldn’t even smile out of guilt. He couldn’t forget how he promised to go home early just to end up being late and not being able to save her.It was the afternoon lunch break and Dio chose to hide at the back of the building under the shade of the tree. He still couldn’t get over his sister’s death.How could he? All he did ever since he met her was to make her worried about him! Mika gave him a warm welcome, she made him feel that he belonged in the family and treated him as a precious little brother.He hadn’t done anything for her yet. He still had a lot more things to do with her. There were more memories to be shared, but it was too late. He couldn’t make her happy after all the love he received from her.Dio buried his face on his kne
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 95: The Reason Behind
“Our master’s prediction was right. He really came.” A girl wearing black revealing clothes giggled as soon as he reached the second floor. “Hey, boy, do you want to play with me?” She even licked her lips after looking at him from head to toe.He smiled seductively and let the girl touch his chest before she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Was it okay to play with a boy like me?”He scoffed internally. How could she act so shameless right after they planned to kill his sister?The girl licked her lips and looked him in the eye. His eyes never left hers and soon enough, her lips touched his and he had no choice but to open his mouth so that her tongue could have her way.They were both panting when they finished the kiss. Dio smiled and whispered, “That’s one down for me.”The girl’s eyes widen as she held her neck. She was gasping and chasing her breath but the more she struggled
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 94: An Unexpected Visit
Blur entered the slums so Dio just followed him. The people living there eyed him suspiciously because of his bloodied academy uniform, but he chose to ignore them. Nothing was more important to him than the annihilation of the people who massacred his family. As long as those people wouldn’t stop him, he wouldn’t have anything to do with them.Blur entered a dark alley and Dio moved to follow him. However, a voice of an old man was heard before he could enter the alley.“What’s the business of a young man in there?”Dio stopped in his tracks and looked at the old man who was hiding in the shadows. He smiled innocently but there was a hint of danger in his eyes. “Someone indebted to me is in there so I came to collect the payment.”“Take care. That place is dangerous.”Dio nodded and continued to walk inside. He found Blur waiting for him a few meters away and as soon as their eyes met, Blur con
