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ultramagicalternate · 1 month ago

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ULTRAMagic Interval Chapter 19

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It was certainly a delight to hear Will talking so enthusiastically about the lecture and his chat with Infinity from the day prior. Umuka was a little concerned given that Will was starting to sound a bit overconfident, but at the moment all that mattered was him being happy and safe. And given that Milan and Aelia were present, what better way to spend the day than going on a patrol? Faustus chided Umuka on the way out for being a workaholic, but Mayhem wished him luck regardless.

Umuka went from shadow to shadow of the bustling city. It was the usual fare of people walking down the sidewalk for one reason or another while cars passed by on the streets. Usually he liked to listen in on any conversation to get an idea of what could have been going on, but a screaming match had erupted between a cab driver and a rather arrogant, rich-looking woman. Given that people were starting to gang up on the cab driver, Umuka went and tapped an officer on the shoulder before heading off. He never understood why most humans were so quick to anger, especially over such mundane things. Will getting mad was understandable, but other people? That required a bit of pondering.

Having noticed Yale zipping around the city, Umuka tried his best to follow him. It was difficult given that the dire fairy was so small and quick. Annoyingly something distracted the ghost, causing him to lose track of Yale. There was ruckus coming from a nearby restaurant. Peering into what appeared to be a family owned establishment with an Italian aesthetic, Umuka could see a somewhat burly man chasing something around with a broom. It was certainly a hysterical scene, with some customers cheering the man on.

Umuka phased through the window and got a good look, finding out that it was a rogue squirrel who was causing all of the issues. It was frantically running across the tables in his direction, so he got ready and grabbed the squirrel once it was close enough. There was no concern of getting bit given the nature of his being. He then opened the doors and let the scared critter out, with it racing off towards a park. Umuka smiled and turned around to make sure everything was alright only to see everyone staring at him. He was confused until he had realized that he had gone visible to catch the squirrel.

The man walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “You’re certainly a strange fellow, but you just saved us a load of trouble,” he said as he indicated for a male employee to bring something over.

Umuka gave a nervous chuckle. “Oh well, I just figured I’d lend a hand given that I’d hate to see the squirrel and the restaurant harmed…”

“You have my thanks. Here, on the house” the man said as he handed him a cannoli.

“You’re very welcome. Have a good day” Umuka said as he made his way to the exit.

“You too, stranger.” Naturally everyone was weirded out when they saw the odd person disappear outside with the cannoli vanishing into nothingness.

The Male employee took a second to process that. “Boss, was that a ghost?”

He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “If it ain’t one weird thing it’s another with this city as of late, ha!”

Umuka hated accidentally revealing himself, and it had happened before, but helping people out was worth it. Still feeling a little peckish, he took a freshly prepared hot dog from a roadside food stand. The cart owner was a bit startled, but did not complain when a dollar and 25 cents appeared out of nowhere. Umuka was halfway through his tasty, ketchup-mustard-relish hot dog when he sensed someone he did not want to: Valentin.

It was only a matter of time before Valentin was back at it again following the failure at the construction site. Umuka quickly noticed something odd as he approached the area, however. There was a young boy heading in the direction of where he was going. From what he could see, the boy had hair and eyes that was a light shade of turquoise. While rare hair and eye colors were not unheard of, something about this child provoked the ghost’s curiosity.

Shoveling the last of his food into his mouth, Umuka hurried down the dingy alleyway. The boy was now peering out from behind a large, dirty dumpster while Valentin could be seen pouring strange liquids onto an even stranger pentagram. Doing his best to conceal his presence, Umuka crept forward. He could only begin to imagine what his enemy was up to, especially given the pungent odors coming from the materials in use.

On the brick wall was what looked like a window peering into another dimension, revealing a realm of twisted, contorted, screaming faces that could not vocalize. Looking through the portal was a truly terrifying entity in bright, yellow robes. Its head was a hollow skull with crown-like horns and haunting, blue eyes shone out from the voids within the orifices. All of the terror and fear Will had ever felt felt like it was trying to escape Umuka right then and there.

“Thoust better hurry, dearest father,” the entity stated in a raspy, yet gentlemanly voice. “We don’t have all day…”

The entity then shifted to resemble something along the lines of a ghostly assassin with green eyes. “Stop calling him father! He is our creator. Nothing more, nothing less… imbecilic suck up…”

What could be described as a bestial berserker from an alien planet with red eyes then appeared. “Father? Creator? Who cares!? Just tell me when we get to MAIM AND KILL!”

“There will be time for violence, Xanthous King,” Valentin assured as he put the finishing touches on the ritual. “That degenerate German won’t know what hit him…”

Umuka was beyond scared and had no idea what to do. Did he go tell Zoltan and Milan? Or did he try to stop the ritual? The pressure was mounting until the tension had broken when Valentin cried out in pain. A stone had struck the side of his head. Umuka was startled and looked over to the boy to see that he had fired it from a slingshot. Valentin was livid as his injury stung given that the rock was quite sharp.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” he yelled, quickly noticing the boy.

“A little boy?” The blue-eyed form questioned. “How queer indeed…”

“Where did he come from!?” The green-eyed form demanded to know. “Valentin, you daft pillock!”

The red-eyed form laughed. “Are you kidding me!?! Let me at him, I’ll squish him like a bug!”

Valentin already had one of his cards ready to go, looking like he was going to kill the boy. “I don’t know who you are, but you are going to regret messing with me, you little brat!!”

Umuka was about to leap into action when the most terrifying thing imaginable happened. The boy opened up his body and revealed something Umuka could never possibly describe, even with his wildest dreams and imagination. Whatever it was had The Xanthous King laughing in a bout of panicked hysteria. Valentin screamed at the top of his lungs, like he had seen the scariest specter imaginable and ran for his life. The Xanthous king also fled, causing the window to completely vanish.

After composing himself, the boy got to work ruining the ritual by scuffing up the chalk lines and dumping the vials of liquid here and there, most certainly in ways Valentin had never intended. “I… I think I need to go and relax. I’ll be at Bellanger Park if you need me.”

Umuka had to do a double take on that one as the boy left. Was he aware of him the entire time? Either way he needed to get back to M.A.I.G. to tell everyone about what had just happened. Trumna and Antares were relieved to know that Will was not involved this time, but this also meant the situation was fairly serious. Fortunately GRENADIER soldiers were arriving at the base and were ready to go.

The tricky part was convincing everyone to let Umuka take Sam and Will to the park. Trumna was confused, with Umuka stressing that he needed the two to go see the boy. He had the strangest feeling it was the right thing to do. While Trumna was hesitant, Bellanger Park was a fairly public place and out in the open. Plus the boy was most likely going to need protection from Valentin, so a retrieval made sense. He approved it, but as long as Jackson and two GRENADIER operatives went with them. With the permission secured, Umuka went straight to Sam and Will to inform them. The two were surprised and confused to say the least.

“I mean, that’s strange and all, but how does it concern us?” Will asked. “Can’t the soldiers handle it?”

Sam was not pleased with this response and love tapped him upside the head. “Boyo!” she scolded. “There is a kid out there in need of our help!”

“Sorry, sorry, good point. Lead the way, Umuka…”

Jackson was amazed by what he was told on the way to the park. A kid with that much grit was unheard of. Upon arriving at Bellanger Park, Umuka asked Jackson and the two soldiers to wait at the entrance. Jackson wanted to go with Will, but noticed some of the park officials were getting worried, so he figured it was best to quell their concerns. With that out of the way, Umuka went invisible and led Will and Sam to a series of benches overlooking a peaceful pond.

Will noticed the turquoise-haired boy at the third bench. He looked about 10 years old and was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of colorful sneakers a kid his age would typically wear. The smell of a freshly baked bread wafted towards Will as he could see the boy finishing a large, soft pretzel. Truthfully it made him a little hungry.

“Hey there, kid!”

The boy was a little surprised. “Oh, hello, mister…”

Sam flicked Will in the head. “Boyo, that is an incredibly awkward way to greet a child,” she cautioned.

“Ow, sorry…”

“Don’t worry too much about it, Boyo. Just work on your social graces. You don’t want to look like a weirdo, do you?” Sam then shifted her attention to the boy. “Hi there, I’m Sam and this is my boyfriend, Will. What’s your name?”

“I’m Orion,” the boy answered. “Hey, would you two happen to be Samantha Devilfay and William Ford?”

“You’ve heard of us?” Will questioned.

Orion nodded. “I’ve been looking for you two…” A weird feeling then overcame the couple. “I’m looking for parents to adopt me. Would you two be my mom and dad?”

“Of course we can, sweetie…” Sam replied, a little out of it.

Umuka was beyond confused as he watched Sam and Will continue on like they were half asleep, but went along with it to see where things went. Orion did not seem malicious after all and he had helped them out a great deal. Jackson was also confused over Orion’s request. He looked at Umuka, who nodded in confirmation. The soldiers raised their concerns, but Jackson was a little tired of the twists and turns at that point. If things went south, they would just call for reinforcements.

The interview at Shining Mountain Orphanage was not going in Orion’s favor. Sam and Will were not married, did not have a stable income, and Will had a massive target on his back. Orion could see the disapproval in the interviewer’s face. He knew the staff and the strange ghost would not approve, but Orion snapped his fingers. Just like that, the interviewer approved the adoption.

Jackson and Umuka felt their brains melt as they all left the orphanage, with the other orphans and staff congratulating Orion on getting adopted and saying their goodbyes. Jackson could tell that Orion was well liked, so why was he so eager to get adopted, aside from the obvious? Eventually he just threw his hands up and figured Trumna and his father could deal with it. His job was to protect Will, not be a nanny for random kids off the street. The trip back to M.A.I.G. headquarters went without incident, but Trumna definitely had some things to say when Sam and Will got to his office.

“... So let me get this straight,” Trumna said as he stood up and placed his hands on his desk. “This kid just walked up, foiled Valentin’s plans, and just so happens to be an orphan that you two adopted?!”

“We adopted him?” Will asked. He looked at Sam, then to Orion, who nodded. “Er, yeah, we did.”

“JUST WHAT IN THE SAM HILL IS GOING ON HERE?” Trumna cried, facing away from everyone.

“Well this is all levels of bizarre, isn’t it?” Reynard remarked. “While unexpected, I have seen stranger things happen.”

Jackson sighed and spit his gum into the trash, getting out a new stick. “Kid’s got nerves of steel, stuff I’d expect from a soldier fresh out of boot camp and ready to fight.”

The eerie entity from earlier was still bothering Umuka, so he spoke up. “Trumna, Reynard? What is The Xanthous King?”

They both stared at him in terrified disbelief. “Wait, WHAT!?” they exclaimed in unison.

“The Xanthous King?”

“Code Orange?” Reynard asked.

“Code Orange!” Trumna confirmed.

Reynard pressed a button on his watch, causing special alarms to go off, worrying the others. “Jack, take Umuka and Orion to the Anomaly Containment wing. Boys, tell the scientists and operatives there every minute detail possible about what you saw.”

Jackson nodded and began leading the two out. “Don’t worry, guys, the people in Anomaly Containment are cool dudes…”

Will seemed to be panicking a bit. “Guys, what’s going on?”

Sam began rubbing his back to calm him. “Agreed. Is this something we should be worried about?”

“The Xanthous King is a gestalt entity Valentin created some time ago by fusing 50 wicked souls together,” Reynard elaborated. “We believe this was an attempt at artificial ULTRAMagic and we’ve been hunting down the entity to get it contained for a while now.”

“We’ve also been enlisting the help of The ACF, given that they specialize in this kind of work” Trumna added. “The king is a dangerous entity, but also very finicky and stubborn. And given that Orion sabotaged the ritual, I doubt it will show up. We’re safe, for now.”

Will let out a stressed sigh and slouched in his chair. “Jeez, and I thought the alien life forms that we apprehend at The Liger Brigade were bad…”

“Wait, say that again, Boyo…” Sam interjected. “Aliens?”

“Yes, aliens from other planets trespass all the time… Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are… are the Men in Black real then?”

Will nodded. “Yup. It’s not like the movies, but yes, they do exist.”

“Fascinating…”

“Jeez, and I thought those missions were dangerous…”

“Annoyingly the Unlight is not much better in that regard, Boyo,” Sam pointed out.

“Yeah, but isn’t the ULTRAMagic Guild capable of dealing with that stuff?”

Sam shrugged a little. “Well yeah, but even they run into things they have trouble dealing with…”

“Hold up, the ULTRAMagic Guild?” Trumna interrupted. “What’s that?”

“You haven’t heard of them?” Reynard questioned. Trumna shook his head.

“Infinity told me about them and Sam’s been alluding to them,” Will answered. “Want me to tell you about them?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Trumna replied. “Besides, a casual chat should ease our nerves…”

Next: Chapter 20

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ultramagicalternate · 2 months ago

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ULTRAMagic Interval Chapter 13

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After the group went over the past two weeks and Vlastimir explained what he had been through in the Unlight, he got up to think. It was incredible that his old friend was going through a similar journey to Blood-Wraith. While the situation on Earth was not as dire, there was still a fair deal of concern. Vlastimir had left The Iron City before Milosh’s death was confirmed, leading to him being uncertain if the cult was behind Valentin’s actions.

“Hum…” Vlastimir said as he finished a calm lap around the lounge. “We need to ascertain if this has anything to do with Milosh…”

“From what I remember, Milosh Proch died a long time ago,” Buster answered. “The cult on the other hand? They’re still around…” he groaned.

Sam exhaled, with a hint of solidarity. “Annoyingly…”

Vlastimir fist pumped towards Ekaterina and she followed suit. “I knew Barna and Dunja could do it” she stated with a tone of proud relief.

Will was a little confused. “Proch? He’s not related to Professor Milan, is he?”

“Uh…” Vlastimir paused. “That’s a good question.” He continued to think. “It didn’t come up when I was in The Iron City… Perhaps we should ask Professor Milan if he shows up? Dad was mentioning calling him in, haha.”

“That’s probably our best bet. Besides, I need to thank him for the chocolate… and bug him for more, hehe.”

“Will!” Vlastimir said with a sudden clap. “You need help, very special help…” In the strangest sight ever, Vlastimir reached into his chest, pushing past bones and organs to retrieve a blue flame. “What’s the matter?” He asked in response to the horrified looks he had received.

“Well I think that officially tops having to witness amputations…” Adrien admitted.

Will rubbed his neck, having cringed a little. “Thanks, Vlastimir…” The fragment weirdly went into his chest, unlike the others. Sam looked a little concerned, but Buster put his hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

“That was… something else,” Olivia commented.

Ekaterina nodded. “To be fair, I’m a bit strange myself.”

“You don’t say…”

Ekaterina bent back her hand, causing a metal ribbon to emerge from her arm. “As strange as they come.”

“So that’s what I was feeling?” Will noted. “Er, no offense, Eka.”

“None taken,” she replied. “These were originally intended to counter Drago’s metal body, but I’ve made them into my own thing.”

Sam wanted to comment, but sensed something. “I think Bran is about to show up.”

“What makes you say that?” Will asked.

“Succubus intuition…”

As if like clockwork, Bran swung the door open, slightly out of breath. “Vlastimir Dracul!?”

“Yes, that would be me” he replied, making the others chuckle over his courtesy.

“I would like to speak with you in my lab… also here’s your security cards. Keep them on you at all times.”

“Thank you,” he said as he handed one of the envelopes to Ekaterina. “Ooh, shiny…” Vlastimir commented as he marveled at the card.

Bran straightened himself out. “Adrien, I’m stealing Vlastimir and Ekaterina from you.”

Adrien laughed, albeit slightly weak as he was still getting over what Vlastimir had done. “Just like that, amigo?”

“I’ve been waiting years for this day, please let me have this.”

“Alright, alright. Vlastimir, Eka, this is Bran Lommel, one of M.A.I.G.’s best scientists.”

Bran blushed a little. “Oh stop it…”

Vlastimir took a second to study Bran, noting that his cotton bodysuit and M.A.I.G. issued jacket seemed out of place to him. “Bran, you’re… a 62 year old succubus, correct?”

“Wow, right on the money, Mr. Dracul.”

Ekaterina blinked, utterly confused. “Wait, I thought succubi were supposed to be women… also you’re 62? You look 26 at most.”

“You’re right, but a male succubus can be born if you have a succubus mother and a human father. Also that’s demon longevity for you, ha.”

“Incredible.”

“Alright, let’s get moving then. Will, Sam? Could you two come along too?”

Buster thought to himself as the five left the lounge. “Hey, Olivia? Want to get the ball rolling on those interviews since they’ll be busy?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Bran’s quarters were a bit out of the way, being somewhat deep into the research sector of the base. The group was not far from the anomaly containment zone and they could feel it. How Bran got any sleep that close to all of that was beyond them. After entering a code into a keypad and swiping his card through, Bran led everyone inside. It was quite the spacious laboratory, with LED lights lining the shiny, onyx walls. Large instruments and machines were all over, humming and beeping as they performed their functions. On the far end of the gigantic room was a loft, presumably where Bran slept.

“Welcome to my place, everyone,” Bran said as he cleared off the main desk. Mind the cables and wires and make yourselves right at home… just don’t touch anything if it's beeping with blinking lights.”

As the four marveled at the devices and instruments all around, Will noticed an odd blueprint on one of the tables. “Hey, Bran? What’s this? A… multiversal jump gate?”

“Oops! You’re not supposed to see that yet!” Bran quickly rolled up the paper. “It’s very top secret… but we may or may not be working on a means of traveling to other universes. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, got it? This is very, VERY important to us.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

“May I ask what prompted this research?” Vlastimir inquired.

Bran groaned a little as he did not want them meddling into things they should not, but Vlastimir’s pleasant demeanor got the best of him. “I can’t disclose the full details, but let’s just say someone from what we call Universe-15 has been trying to get into contact with us.”

“Interesting,” Ekaterina remarked. “Curiously what number is our universe?”

“Universe-23. Don’t ask what the numbers mean, they’re fairly arbitrary.”

Vlastimir nodded, then looked around. “Have you tried looking into Reality Errors, Bran? They could help you get to Universe-15.”

“We’ve heard of them. Have you been in them before?”

“Yup. Me and Master Gostislav have had to travel through them in the past.”

“Intriguing, I’ll have to pick your brain about them when we get the chance.” Bran then got out some medical tools and beakers. “Vlastimir, may I have a sample of your blood for my research?”

He smiled in a seemingly unsettling, yet supportive manner. “Of course, but we won’t need any of those tools.”

“We won’t? How so?”

“Vlastimir can easily remove blood from his body,” Ekaterina answered. “Would you also like a sample of one of my ribbons, Bran?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind. What’s so special about them, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Ekaterina extended a ribbon, with it clinging to the metal desk. “Need I say more?”

Bran was amazed as he studied the phenomenon. “A potentially organic metal with magnetic properties? Incredible! Let’s get busy. Sam, Will? You two can head up to my loft if you don’t feel like sitting through all of this.”

“Sure, Bran. Thanks,” Will replied as Sam followed him up the stairs.

Bran’s loft was fairly messy, as was to be expected. Clothes, blankets, plastic cases for various types of media, and wads of crumpled up paper were strewn about across the floor. While the desk was also fairly cluttered, the high end monitors and overbuilt PC tower stood out like a sore thumb. Will took a seat at the small table and picked up a piece of salt-water taffy from the bowl in the center while Sam looked around.

“I see he has an interest in rubber clothing…” Sam remarked as she peaked into the closest.

Will felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah, he does, heh…”

“Boyo, you said you’ve been on missions with him before. Have you two been getting into some mischievous things behind my back?”

“Maybe…”

“Boyo!”

“Sorry! If it’s any consolation, we had plans to bring you along on a mission or two. It’s just that it’s kind of hard to justify bringing a civilian along for official stuff…”

Sam then noticed something for her in the closet, slightly blushed, and calmly shut it. “Oh my…” She then took a seat in the desk chair. “Jeez, just what do you get up to, Will?”

“A lot… you’d think it would just be some standard paperwork, but then you end up going to alternate realms…”

“Is it only Bran?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright then. Not going to lie, I like the cut of his jib so far, succubus to succubus…” Sam paused as she realized something. “Is he single?” Will nodded as he ate another taffy. “Yup, that explains a lot.”

Will was about to speak, paused, and sighed. “Bran is… We… Bran is still fun to hang out with when he’s not being his true self. He’s a massive nerd and knows computers like the back of his hand. Also you should see the AMVs he works on. They are fantastic.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be a scientist doing scientist things though?”

“Yeah, but he has a lot of down time while his machines are running, ha.”

Will opened up a folder on the computer, with Bran quickly noticing the sound of his work playing on his computer speakers. He was hoping the two would sample his creations as he wanted to make a good impression with Sam. There was no getting around some of the things he and Will had gotten up to in the past. Plus Bran was taking a liking to Sam. From what he could tell, she was the emotional support Will needed. It would have been nice if she could have been with Will on some of his past missions, looking back on it.

“Alright, now that we have the samples, could you two fill these out?” Bran slid some packets of paper forward.

Ekaterina took hers and studied it. “What is it?”

“Just a questionnaire about your abilities. You don’t have to write down anything personal or revealing, just tell us what it’s like to have your abilities.”

Vlastimir gave an accepting shrug. “Fine with me,” he said as he took his pencil and began writing stuff down. Ekaterina saw this and followed his lead.

“And don’t worry, all of this will be kept confidential,” Bran assured them as he got up. “While you two do that, I’m going to go check on Sam and Will.” Heading up to his loft, he smiled seeing the two enjoying an AMV featuring a 10 minute, late 70s rock song.

Once it was over, Will noticed Bran. “Hey, Bran. How did the sampling go?”

“Great… Vlastimir’s blood is incredibly strange though.”

Will nodded. “You should’ve seen what he did right before you showed up at the lounge.”

“Really? Well anyways, would you two like to show me what you can do with your magic? Especially given recent circumstances.”

“Sure, Bran.”

“And Sam, I’d definitely like to see your alchemical skills in action, given that you’re currently looking into making a Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not…” Then it hit her. “Hold up! How do you know about that?”

Bran realized his screw up. “Oh, I mean…”

“Bran, you’d only know that if you went through her files, because I certainly haven’t talked about it… unless…” Will had a similar realization. “BRAN! YOU BUGGED HER COMPUTER TOO?”

“SORRY, Sorry! Orders from Trumna, I swear!”

Sam was beside herself with the most bewildered look on her face. “NSA mother truckers… So that’s what Kyu’s been dealing with in our network?” A window then popped up on the monitor, depicting a 16-bit sprite of Kyu giving the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. She knew who it was directed at.

“To be fair, I really wish the government didn’t mandate that every OS has backdoors in it” Bran reasoned. “Even Linux has this nonsense. It’s why we have unique computer architecture for all of our computers.”

Sam groaned. She was still annoyed, but sympathized with Bran. “Well Ellen trusts you guys, so I guess there’s that… Jeez, first the closet and now this?”

“Oh, you saw that? What did you think?”

Will lightly whacked him upside the head. “Bran!”

“Sorry, sorry, wrong time…”

After a moment of awkward silence, Will had an idea. “Sam, want to go on a date tomorrow?”

She was caught a little off guard. “Well of course, Boyo. Where to though?”

“You two could go to River Thrill Park, but good luck trying to get Trumna to approve that with all that’s happened so far, ha,” Bran pointed out.

Will thought about it for a second. “Vlastimir, Eka, want to go with Sam and I to the amusement park? As a double date?”

“Oh, sure, Will,” Vlastimir answered.

“As long as it’s safe to do so, that’d be wonderful,” Ekaterina added.

“There, two of the strongest warriors in the Cosmos are going to be with us,” Will boasted.

Sam laughed. “If you’re certain, Boyo. To be fair, I’d be damned if I ever let Valentin lay a single finger on you.”

Bran shrugged. “Well if things go south, Reynard will have GRENADIER here faster than Valentin can even draw a card. Best of luck to you guys.”

Next: Chapter 14

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