/n/jackal-among-snakes-1520/c-527
chapter-528

Traugott watched Argrave and his companions walk over the broken husk of this realm from a distance. He had to admit—he wasn’t expecting such a display of potency from Castro. As it turned out, a cornered rat was much as likely to fight twice as hard as it was to make a mistake. He’d spread a net of spirits outside this strange pocket realm to block their flight, but it was all turning to naught.

He lamented that he’d not had the time to study this realm in greater detail, after both Argrave’s severance of the loop and Castro’s levelling of the city. They preached of preservation, but they had put an end to an invaluable heritage in one fell swoop. He hoped to claim Sophia, but Argrave’s desperate thrashing had thoroughly trounced that idea. And moreover… it had put an end to another mysterious variable. The one called Norman, father of Sophia.

“Still… not all is lost,” Traugott whispered, laying his hand upon the corpse. He looked at the black ring in his hand. It stored Norman’s soul. It was no undying soul, but even still, Traugott was certain simply by the strange power still coursing through it that it would have something to say when he pried it open. What remained of King Norman would experience only agony until Traugott extracted the answers he sought.

There is a reason Norman was so freakishly powerful. And lurking in that reason is why Gerechtigkeit’s malignance led back to Sophia. Traugott thumbed the ring, smiling. Despite everything, he would get the answers he sought. Let Argrave enjoy his prize.