"Hurry up!" - Gust
The bird almost shouted as we made our way through the main hall to the east wing. Not that I paid attention to what he said. The missing corpses caught my attention.
I jumped down on the first floor and looked around. Someone has cleared the area of the rat corpses that were here. Even the king-sized rat king is gone. And most importantly, so are all the bloodstains and pus from the corpses. Heck, even the chandelier was fixed. I also found a broken vase thrown into a trashcan. That could have been the source of the noise that made me notice the Dread Spirits.
And finally, when I looked at the door leading further into the main building of the mansion, the same door that the Rat King broke through when it tried to escape, had returned to its normal, complete state. It's even locked. Suspicious.
"What are you doing!?" - Gust
"Wait here," I told him as I entered the air vents and crawled to the other end of the main building.
I got a hunch that the Dread Spirits weren't here just for some random reason. Somebody had cleaned up the main hall, and those guys are the only possible culprits that have been there during the short time since Gust and I visited the hall before this infestation.
What about us two? We're pretty much allergic to cleaning up stuff. That much have I learned during these last days.
And if it were those Spirits who took care of the hall, then there has to be someone who ordered them to do so. According to the Kigal-Note and Gust, Dread Spirits are practically grudges and regrets that's been left behind by the dead and taken shape by the "aether" that was also left behind by the sucker who died. They don't have the brains nor the will to do stuff such as "tidying the place".
That leaves us with the option of someone having the power to command the Dread Spirits. It's not a foolproof hypothesis, since there could have been someone or something else that fixed the main hall... Unfortunately, it seems that I'm right.
I found the boss of the Dread Spirits.
From the vent in the wall, I saw them. They are sitting on a huge throne in a huge, circular room located deep in the mansion's main building. The throne is placed in the middle of the room on an elevated pedal, and the culprit is trying to access some magic-high tech command panel-thingy. The panel doesn't seem to be reacting to their commands, but that doesn't stop them from keeping on pushing the buttons like a child in the arcade.
But there's no doubt they're the culprit. Who else can command the Dread Spirits other than this guy?
The creature sitting on the throne was the same rust-armored knight who had knocked me down into this abyss.
---
"GYAAAA!! We got to run! We got to run noooooow!!" - Gust
Yup. Called it. I knew he wouldn't take this news well.
After I returned and told Gust what (and who) I'd found, he started to run around in circles and spread feathers all over the place. Stop that. It's messy.
"Calm down. You got more of those cores, right?" - Garami
"Y-yes, right here..." - Gust
I did remember he had some left, but I wanted him to stop freaking out and do something productive.
"Can we use them against the knight?" - Garami
"...they are probably not enough. The knight has survived many attacks by people and monsters alike when I was forced to join his travels. And we used up almost all of those I plundered from the testing facilities." - Gust
That's where you got them from!? ...I did clear those things already, so I guess it's fine.
"Let's run then." - Garami
There are no reasons for us to go the way and defeat that thing. We just need to flee before it notices we're here.
"That could end up as a much harder task to clear..." said Gust as he pointed at the window. I took a look outside and was greeted with...a less pleasant sight than I expected.
Dread Spirits. Enough to cover the "sky" black.
"Those things always came flocking after the knight had stayed in one place for too long. As expected of a Wild Hunt Lord." - Gust
"Wild Hunt?" - Garami
"Dread Spirits who retained a sliver of their original personalities. The people who were so strong both in power and in mind that their personalities remained in their Dread Spirits when they died." - Gust
Yikes. You needed to be pretty strong for the aether left behind to take shape in the form of a Dread Spirit, but to surpass even that?
"...are they strong?" - Garami
"The Lords? Obviously. They retain all the experience the Dread Spirit had before they died. The good news is that they don't have access to skills, but Dread Spirits on their own are bad enough due to how their bodies can make the livings' aether go baloney just by touching them." - Gust
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
So the reason your bodies go boom when touched by those guys is that our powers go haywire? Scary. And the knight can fight compared to those shambling ghosts? I seriously don't wanna fight him.
But going outside can lead to being attacked by that swarm of Dread Spirits. And this time around, they're not limited by barricades or a one-way corridor, so the idea of beating all of them is impossible.
"Wait, didn't you mention something about a panel and a throne?" - Gust
"Mhm." - Garami
"Then that f*cker's plans must be the vault..." - Gust
Gust then proceeded that Avalar-designed mansions (Avalar being the place the mansion originated from. Even this floor's quest mentioned that) were designed in a fashion that they were all equipped with some sorta treasury in the main building. And the lock is operated from the throne placed in the room right in front of the treasury. Now that he mentioned it, the floor behind the throne was notably darker than the rest of it. Was that the entrance to the vault?
"It's probably something incredible inside that vault for him to go all the way searching for it. Luckily, Dread Spirits can't operate magitech such as the lock. That must be the reason why he's still struggling with it." - Gust
"...and?" - Garami
"And how's that going to help us, you ask? ......I'm still thinking up that part." - Gust
This useless ball of feathers! But the contents of that vault do sound intriguing.
"Isn't there something else we can use other than the cores?" - Garami
"Hmmmmmm...I don't think so. All that's left are all the useless junk left behind in the facilities. And before you ask, I couldn't retrieve any of the proper weapon rewards. Those were gifted by the World System, so they're not physically there until someone clears the facility. Other than that, I guess there's still some food-item left. Like the alcohol or those emergency rations we haven't touched." - Gust
That's not much to go on. Unless...
---
*KA-BOOM!!*
The explosion could be felt even from the wind ducts as the destabilized magitech core hit the rusty knight straight to his face! That ball of feathers can do it when he needs to!
To clarify, I had Gust destabilize the cores beforehand, then we stored them inside my Storage skill. When I managed to crawl back to the throne room, I used my enhanced throwing hand (thanks to [Throwing] having reached high levels during my stay here) and launched the bomb toward the knight. And I hit big-time.
When I heard a "click" sound coming from the back of the room, I exited the vents and landed on the floor. The vaults are opened now. Gust said there used to be something like a bug in the lock mechanism of the old Avalar mansion's treasuries that made them unlock themselves if the throne got crushed. Not many know about this, but it worked. Not that I doubted that it would. I even double-checked the info on the Kigal-Note and got a thumbs-up from it.
As for his majesty the Wild Hunt Lord, he is...tch. Still "alive". Some parts of the knight's armor had been knocked off and he was leaking black fog from his "wounds", but he was still standing. He sure lives to his reputation. Not that I wasn't prepared for that.
I aimed several Aura-charged shots of [Darkness Bullets] toward the Lord and fired them like there was no tomorrow. The Lord proceeded to either fend them off with his broadsword or simply dodged them. Does this guy not have any skills? Those moves are out of this world. I'd slip and fall on my butt if I tried the same.
And despite my barrage, the knight's getting closer to me every second. I'm gonna die~. ...not.
*Splatt*
The knight finally stepped in the floor-colored webs I'd thrown onto the floor while I descended from the vents. The Bullets from before were mostly to distract the knight from the webs. Even if it would be cool of him to be hit by at least one of them...
This is for my poor [Darkness Bullets]! Barrel bombers, GO!
I grabbed a giant barrel from my Storage and kicked it toward the Wild Hunt Lord. The knight in rusty armor proceeded to cut them in half. Which made him get covered with the barrel's contents. Damn smelly alcohol from who knows what year.
Since his majesty has gone the way of bursting the champagne open, let's salute with some more fireworks! Magitech core bomb number 2, coming up!
I threw the second core-turned-bomb at the Wild Hunt Lord before getting down on the floor to minimize the damage from the blast. The impact plus the flammable parts of the alcohol created a damn nasty explosion worse than the first. It knocked me into the walls! That hurt! As for his majesty...still alive?! But just barely...?
The Wild Hunt Lord is standing on his last leg. Literally. His right leg and left arm have been destroyed, and he's using his broadsword to keep himself standing. Way more of his armor got blasted off as well. But he's still not "dead". In that case, it's all up to you, bomb #3!
I got up and hurled the bomb at the knight. Unfortunately, he managed to use his sword to block the shot. Seriously? While in that state?
Too bad it wasn't a real bomb I threw at you.
The knight's sword got splattered with the [Web Bomb] I'd thrown at him, and more came flying and webbed him to the spot. No way I'd risk my last magitech core bomb on a throw that could be blocked or dodged. I always make double sure that my hit will get the target. But now you got no possible way of dodging the real deal.
Without any fanfare or warning, I hurled the final bomb at the knight of the Dread Spirits.
The large sound and sharp flash ended too soon, and all that was left was some disappearing black dust, along with the knight's broadsword.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Karma Value has dropped.
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Acquired title: [True Chaos]
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Legacy Quest: [Hunt of the Wild Hunt], has been cleared!!
The quest reward can be retrieved at any time by interacting with the System Window.
----------------------------------------
Acquired Blessing: [Proof of Order]
Acquired skill: [Gamemaster Lv.1].
...excuse me. I'm sure killing that guy shouldn't hurt my rep. What a bunch of baloney. Speaking of strange...what's a "proof of order"? Why did I get that if I turned "chaos"? The only thing here that makes any lick of a sense is the quest that I've never heard about, and that's saying something.
I'll look it up when I got the time. The window in the corner of my line of sight is somewhat annoying, but I don't wanna take any hasty decisions.
So, that sword...it's free for the taking? I'm not gonna be possessed by it or something? ...let's find some thick cloth to wrap it up with. If there is none, I'll make some. But first...what's inside that vault?
............
Garami has obtained a bag of gold~.
Garami has obtained a chest of gold~.
Garami has obtained a lot of gold~.
I love vaults! Treasures! Cash! But there's nothing to buy down here! I wanna get out of here!!