Clamor (Thirty-Four)
Everything was exactly as he remembered.
Without Weihle beside him, Count Valentin stepped forward shakily amid the crowd's anticipation and blew the horn without wasting any time.
At his signal, the clamor rose everywhere, quickly merging into a single tide that surged and echoed across the docks.
Amid that torrent, Fu Qian heard Veil's puzzled voice nearby. She couldn't understand why her younger sister didn't seem excited.
This was the moment she'd been waiting for.
Soon, horns sounded in turn at the other two locations.
Count Valentin still hadn't caught his breath.
Watching this unfold, Fu Qian was a little surprised.
Could both Weihle and Crow Feather be gone?
The results seemed almost too good to be true.
Fu Qian had figured that, given what he'd done earlier, luring either Weihle or Crow Feather away would already count as a good result.
After all, Hamadus had emerged from the sea. The docks were clearly far more important.
But it was only a guess, and he'd know soon enough.
He silently counted the seconds. Before long, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.
The first supernatural being succumbed, then a second, then a third... The tide of clamor followed, charged with an intense resonance.
At once, Veil, who had been trying to get her sister excited, froze.
Realizing something was wrong, she dropped the small bottle in her hand and pulled her sister away.
But Lita, who had been silent moments before, suddenly stopped. Her voice rang out from beneath her mask, almost feverish.
"Quiet."
Just then, a sigh-like voice pierced the clamor, faintly suppressing it.
Cassandra, the Night Watcher demigod guarding the docks, had made her move.
In Fu Qian's sight, Count Valentin was still trembling. He hadn't stepped forward to remove the horn; he was standing in place, screaming