CHAPTER 376: HE’S BEHIND EVERYTHING

Lucivar waited patiently, but the opportunity never came.

He had been waiting close by, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and talk with Vanessa.

Most likely, the confrontation would come after the party, so he was not about to waste this chance to learn more about Master Tobias. In any confrontation—be it direct or indirect— knowing your enemy in depth is the surest path to victory.

It’s crucial to know the enemy.

But it seemed Lady Luck wasn’t on his side tonight.

Lucivar had lived under Master Tobias’ roof for quite some time.

In hindsight, he should’ve known who Master Tobias was as a person, but given the circumstances that were looming over him right now, it was possible he only knew Master Tobias superficially. A carefully crafted persona is only created to be shown to the family.

If their suspicion were correct, then the Master Tobias they knew was nothing more than a mask.

That meant Lucivar and the others might not know him at all, and that was deeply troubling.

Not only would they be blind to his true nature, but Master Tobias also knew them—inside out. Unlike him, they wore no masks; they were being themselves throughout this time, leaving Master Tobias with a natural and dangerous advantage in whatever confrontation lay ahead.

Due to those reasons, Lucivar knew that he needed to talk with Vanessa.

Just a bit of hindsight of the real Master Tobias would be of help.

But unfortunately, the opportunity to talk to her never came.

Lucivar stood at the massive window, away from the other guests, looking up at the night sky.

"A full moon..." He murmured inwardly, the rim of his glass brushing his lips as he took another sip of the drink already beginning to blur his senses. The alcohol spread its warmth through him, yet did little to dull the unease coiling his gut.

His gaze lingered on the sky, where the eclipse moon glowed like a baleful eye.

Half-shrouded in shadow, half-burning in cold red light.

"A bad omen—said to be the night when no goodness can exist. A herald to unnatural phenomenon and rivers of blood." A small smile tugged on the corner of Lucivar’s lips. "How fitting... Such a cold night chose now to reveal itself. Is that why Lady Luck isn’t on my side tonight?"

Lucivar shook his head.

It seemed the world was mocking the restless dread that already gnawed at him.

"Even the Divine Beasts weren’t answering my calls. What are they doing?" He placed the drink down on the table beside him and put both hands into his pockets, sighing. "One thing for sure... Something bad is going to happen tonight."

He could feel it in his bones.

Normally, the Divine Beasts would not waste any time appearing whenever he was alone.

From the day he awakened his Angel bloodline, there was only one deviation.

It was back when he was fighting Caldaros.

Every single time Caldaros were around, Sha never appeared.

Only Gandr appeared and stayed active.

From that alone, Lucivar realized one crucial truth: whenever a matter involved one specific God, the Divine Beasts of the others would remain—conspicuously silent, almost as if they were respecting the fact that the problem came from one God.

And thus, the supposed God would be the one to handle their own affairs.

And there was no mistaking this, as he couldn’t use the Triune Scarab ability in front of Caldaros.

Only abilities tied to Loki still answered his call.

Perhaps it was a code among them, a divine courtesy that Lucivar wasn’t aware of.

And tonight, the absence of any other Divine Beast could only mean one thing.

"It’s a situation that originated from me, and I need to resolve it alone."

Lucivar pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose, stressed by the situation.

A deep line formed between his brows as the weight of it all settled heavily upon him.

"Before you are ready, soon, very soon, your heart will be broken—just as broken as I am right now."

For some reason, the last word of the woman spy that he killed rang inside his mind like a warning to what was about to happen. He thought of it as nothing more than a threat from her about the approaching avatar of Horus, but it could be something else entirely.

It could be tied down to this moment.

’What if she was talking about Tobias?’ He thought, frowning. ’After all, he’s most likely the traitor.’

Just the thought of that alone made Lucivar’s stomach churn with unease.

He always trusted his gut feeling.

And there must be a reason why what the woman said rang inside his head right now.

"Oh, you’re here."

Lucivar looked over his shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to see Vanessa approaching him.

He had been waiting for him all this while in worry.

But now, she came to him on her own.

Vanessa smiled faintly and approached, heels clicking against the marble floor, "I noticed you among the crowd earlier, standing on the edge with this worried look on your face. What’s wrong? Do you have something to say to me?"

"What about your guests?" Lucivar asked, raising a brow.

Regardless of whether he was feeling right now, she was the woman of the hour—this is her party.

Surely, everyone would notice if she were missing from her own party.

"No need to worry about them," Vanessa chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I can tell that this is your first time being in an occasion like this. All the people I invited are all powerful people of the city, and most of them came to socialize, other than to celebrate my birthday."

She turned to the entrance, where the guests were mostly in.

"I doubt they’ll even notice I have slipped away—at least not for the next ten minutes," She said with a knowing smile, turning back to Lucivar. Her eyes glimmered with warm yet demanding curiosity, the kind that made it hard to look away. "Now—tell me, what is it you wanted to say? And don’t you dare hold back on me... I will be angry if you do."

Lucivar stared at her, deliberating on something.

’Should I kidnap her? Master Tobias valued her certainly if he tried hiding this party from us, and we can use her as a backup plan if things go awry after I extract information from her...’ He thought, fueled by the restlessness inside. ’No, that’d be stupid. A lot of people are going to notice her missing. Seems like there’s no other choice.’

Since he couldn’t do that, he decided to go the normal route.

Lucivar looked back at the full moon again.

"How much do you know about what Tobias meant to us?" He finally asked.

Hearing this, Vanessa was silent for a second before she also turned to face the full moon outside, "He had been truthful about all of you from the start, how he couldn’t bear to watch young people get hurt or in a bad situation, so I pretty much know everything."

Lucivar glanced at her and saw the light of admiration behind her eyes.

She really adored Master Tobias, and it shows.

’Another lie...’ Lucivar sneered inwardly, certain there had to be a deeper motive behind Tobias’ coming to save them like a white knight. ’Even before the suspicion took root, I could never have pictured Tobias as that kind of man, especially since he knew what I’ve done and still was okay with it. Unbothered even.’

But still, Lucivar was surprised to find Tobias telling everything to Vanessa.

It seemed dangerous and reckless.

Regardless, Lucivar decided to dig deeper.

"We’ve been living with Tobias for so long—but we’ve heard that he acted differently when he was not with us," He continued, faking a troubled voice while paying attention to the change in Vanessa’s face. "It made us feel like we don’t know him at all. I’m afraid we’re burdening him so much that he has lost himself in time."

Vanessa let out a sweet chuckle, rubbing Lucivar’s back as if reassuring him.

Like a mother would when her son was sad and down.

"You’re surprisingly the caring type. I always thought you were the coldest, second only to Leandra," Vanessa remarked, her tone laced with genuine surprise as Lucivar was the complete opposite. "But you don’t need to worry about that. Any parent acts differently when their children aren’t around; it’s only natural. After all, he has to be a good example to all of you, doesn’t he?"

"I guess so..." Lucivar replied with a half-smile.

Vanessa was a refined, high-class woman—one who always knew the safest answer to give.

From asking that, he had gained nothing, and it was frustrating.

"Cheer up." Vanessa cupped Lucivar’s face gently. "If you wanted to know a secret, you’re Tobias’ favorite. Now I can see why he liked you the most."

Lucivar was stunned when he heard this, but their conversation was interrupted.

"Vanessa! It’s time to cut your cake and dine."

A blonde woman wearing the same lavish dress as Vanessa poked her head from the entrance.

Her voice broke the atmosphere between them.

"Okay, I’ll be there in a second!" Vanessa said in return.

Once the blonde woman walked away, Vanessa focused on Lucivar again.

"Let’s talk again after the party," She said with a warm smile. "Don’t stay here alone for long."

Vanessa stepped away, heading towards where the guests gathered.

Just before she could step out, a voice stopped her.

"What about your toast speech earlier? How did Tobias get close to you?" Lucivar asked, not wanting to let Vanessa go just yet, as this was his only chance. "I failed to imagine Tobias being able to catch the attention of a woman of your caliber."

Upon hearing this, Vanessa turned around bashfully.

"You overestimated me too much, I’m an old woman," She answered, but clearly pleased that someone like Lucivar complimented her like this. "And you also underestimate Tobias. In the eyes of us women, he’s extremely charming, you know."

"Charming...?" Lucivar’s eyes gradually widened as that word struck his mind like a lightning strike.

But despite that, Vanessa didn’t stop.

"Even the last part of my speech was for Tobias," She went on, her lips curling in a knowing smile. "You know the old tale, don’t you? The Devil himself, stealing away little ones and raising them as his own. Well... the way Tobias gathers all of you under his wing and dotes on you—it does sound awfully similar, doesn’t it? I was only teasing him with that last remark."

Not even waiting for another second, Vanessa walked away.

She has the guests to attend to.

Lucivar immediately staggered the moment she walked away as if the floor had shifted beneath him.

His vision swam, edges of the world melting into a haze.

He lurched, catching himself on the cold frame of the window before gravity could claim him.

The wood bit into his palm, ground him just enough to drag himself onto the sill.

A sharp pulse tore through his skull.

Lucivar clutched his head, breath hitched, pupils quivered as the truth struck him.

"Tobias... He-He... He’s behind everything?"