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He discussed this with Cyrus for a long time—they have already confirmed that all of this had something to do with his quest, but there was also a possibility that his quest would take a very long time to complete.
He said something about a linear quest, and in terms of video games, they were long storylines that one had to follow. And he said that the quest they were on right now, [Master of Shadows], checked all the boxes for a linear quest.
For one, they were being led right through it—everything that was happening, the people he had met on Artemia starting with Juliet. It was a chain that made sure he wouldn’t diverge from the path.
And in most cases, Cyrus said that these quests would take a while to complete. And that all of this, the corpse puppets, the mansion, the cargo from Edzea—they were just a set up for a longer quest.
But it would seem he might be wrong.
Because right now, they were already in front of a ritual that might be summoning Orpuk himself. But of course, as Cyrus said, it might also just be a prologue for what’s to come.
Either way, it didn’t really matter for Julian. What mattered right now…
…was raising his crystal shield to block the raging pillar of fire roaring toward him.
The Eldazen woman didn’t hesitate at all. With a series of motions with her hands that made it look like she was dancing, she summoned a wall of fire, hurling it toward Julian with a calm incantation. The flames coiled, spiraling through the air toward him like a wild beast.
The fire clashed against his shield, but Julian stood unmoved, holding his ground against its searing rage. Without waiting for anything else to unfold, he charged forward.
The flames parted. Julian was like a stubborn rock on a river, unyielding as he moved toward the Eldazen mage without any resistance at all.
“Who are you people?” The Eldazen mage narrowed her eyes, stretching her arms wide to both side, instantly dispelling the pillar of flames. Her hands glowed colder now, her tattoos blazing in icy hues as she brought her arms together.
And with a fluid, flowing motion, her fingers began to weave a spell, and in the next breath, she flung lances of ice into the air, each one streaking toward Julian like javelins, aiming to pin him down.
Julian was about to stand his ground again, but he sensed the odd trajectories of the ice projectiles. And so, rather than merely bracing with his large shield, he quickly shifted his grip on Searadyn’s Veil, transforming it into a shield and rapier.
And the timing was perfect—the javelins suddenly altered course mid-flight, arcing around him in a coordinated assault, like hungry predators preparing to strike from all angles.
With instinctive precision, Julian parried the incoming lances with his rapier, and then deflecting the others he couldn’t with his shield. Each time he batted one aside, the enchanted javelins lost their velocity, a subtle effect from [Glacial Rebound] allowing him to swat them away like they were nothing more than brittle glass.
Julian wasn’t just defending, no.
Footwork.
Each deflection brought him closer, his footwork precise and deliberate as he advanced. Every step closed the gap between him and the mage, a dance drilled into him by his trainers back on Earth.
But unlike the monsters he’d faced in recent days, the Eldazen mage wouldn’t allow him to close in easily.
With a scoff, she dropped to one knee, slamming her palms against the ground. And as she did so, tendrils of earth uncoiled from her fingers, twisting like serpents as they slithered forward, ripping apart cobblestone and earth alike in their relentless advance.
“Hm…” Julian’s eyes narrowed as he felt the ground quake beneath him. And with a deep breath, he brought Searadyn’s Veil together, morphing it into a larger shield and slamming it into the ground. The impact shattered the earth tendrils before they could encircle him, dispersing the attack in a violent ripple.
But her magic was relentless, each spell seamlessly flowing into the next. Fire, ice, earth—one by one, she summoned them in an unending cascade, each element blurring into the next as Julian countered them. His movements were fluid, almost instinctive now, as he shifted Searadyn’s Veil from one form to another, blocking, parrying, and deflecting in a desperate bid to close the gap.
Yet every step forward, the Eldazen mage took two steps back, eluding him like a shadow, keeping herself just out of reach.
Julian had always been warned that true mages—those who could wield magic as naturally as breathing—were the most dangerous foes in Artemia. Now, facing the Eldazen mage, he understood why.
Meanwhile, across the courtyard, Talia, Juliet, and Dyrroth’s battle with the mage’s companions.
“Juliet! Left!” Talia shouted, spotting the arbalist as she raised her crossbows, aiming at Juliet’s exposed back. Juliet spun just in time, her war axe slicing through the air to intercept the incoming bolts. Her swing deflected them, but—
“No! Juliet, it—” Talia's warning came too late. The instant Juliet's axe struck the bolts, a small click echoed, followed by a blast that hurled Juliet back, her axe flying from her grip as she tumbled several meters away.
Talia was going to help her up, but she did not get the chance to do so as a bolt came flying in her direction.
Dyrroth couldn’t really offer any help, as he was completely engaged with the pugilist who kicked him away earlier—a towering woman almost as tall as him, wielding an oversized gauntlet, with its sharp knuckles ominously glinting under the moonlight.
The two exchanged blows, with Dyrroth’s daggers clashing and creating sparks each time it made contact with the pugilist’s gauntlets. His movements were quick, and he was obviously faster than the muscular woman—but the woman knew how to utilize every part of her body.
Dyrroth tried to stab her foot, but it was also protected by a pair of greeves—which she used to kick him straight in the chin. Fortunately for Dyrroth, he was able to block with his hands. But still, it caused him to slightly lose balance.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“My… my dudes! Gonna need some help here!” Dyrroth’s shout was desperate as his back hit the ground. Just as the pugilist raised her foot to drive her greave into his skull, Juliet rammed into her side with a powerful shoulder, knocking her off balance and buying Dyrroth a moment to scramble away.
Juliet did not really pause as she raced to get her axe.
Back near the altar, Julian continued to press forward, but the mage’s spells still came at him in a relentless barrage. Fire erupted beneath his feet, forcing him to leap back. Icicles hurtled toward him, razor-sharp, and he dodged to the side just in time. His breath was becoming ragged, his stamina waning.
“This ends now.” The Eldazen mage sighed as she watched him struggle.
Her hands glowed, and with a triumphant gesture, she cast a spell that sent the very earth beneath him trembling. Blackened vines erupted from the ground, snaking around his legs and pulling him down.
Julian struggled against them, shifting Searadyn’s Veil into twin rapiers, slicing through the vines even as more shot up around him. But the mage wasn’t done. She raised both hands, her tattoos blazing as a glowing sphere of flames materialized between her palms. The sphere expanded, crackling with malevolent energy.
“I shall reduce you to ash!” the mage hissed, her voice ringing out across the courtyard.
Julian, however, instead of shifting Searadyn’s Veil into a large shield, did not brace himself at all and even shifted his weapon into twin rapiers. And with a breath, he roared,
“Titus, now!”
“No one moves!”
The violent sphere of fire forming between the Eldazen mage’s palms instantly withered away as she turned around, only to see a bald man’s head violently reflecting the moonlight. But of course, that wasn’t the first thing the Eldazen mage noticed—it was the knife he was holding, as well as the neck it was placed on.
“Don’t move!” Titus repeated, holding the dagger closer to the Eldazen child’s throat. But of course, Titus didn’t have a single intention of even causing a drop of blood to flow from the child’s neck—he was just scaring them.
“You dare lay your hands on Orpuk, our guiding light and savior!?” the mage’s voice cracked with raw desperation, a mix of spit and fury spraying from her mouth.
“This is your child! You’re sacrificing your child!?”
“He is but a vessel! It is an honor to—”
And before the Eldazen mage could finish her words, she saw two long arms emerging from behind her. It was Julian, kneeling down right behind her with his arms stretched out—holding the two rapiers and pointing them directly at her eyes.
And without even waiting for the Eldazen mage to say or do anything, Julian plunged the rapiers into her eyes.
“Grah!” Her scream echoed through the courtyard, blood gushing from her face as Julian removed the rapiers. But before she could move, Julian once again plunged the rapiers through her eyes—and this time twisting and moving them to completely re-arrange her brains.
And just like that, the mighty Eldazen mage dropped to the ground.
And suffice it to say, her companions faltered, their attention torn between Titus and their now-fallen leader—a deadly mistake. Juliet seized the opening, bringing her war axe down with brutal force on the pugilist’s shoulder, her strike cleaving deep. The arbalist barely had time to react before a sword pierced her chest; Talia pulled her blade back and swiftly severed the woman’s head.
And just like that, silence blanketed the courtyard, broken only by the low hum of the old, naked people still murmuring in their trance.
“They’re... still singing?” Talia murmured, moving closer to the elderly crowd with her brows drawn in concern. She and the others waved their hands, snapped their fingers, even shook some of them, but nothing worked—they remained as still as statues, eyes blank.
“C’mon, my wrinkled dudes,” Dyrroth muttered, shaking one of the elders. But it was useless; they were entirely lost to the hypnotic spell.
Titus, meanwhile, gently placed the small boy back on the altar. He checked his small, delicate frame for any signs of harm, but the child was surprisingly unscathed.
“The child seems fine.” Titus pulled back to call for the group, “We—Hm?”
But as Titus started to turn away, the boy’s eyes snapped open. And in a blur, the child lunged at him, sinking tiny, sharp teeth into his shoulder.
“Argh!” Titus stumbled back as he instinctively threw the child back to the altar. He clutched his shoulder, the blood seeping between his fingers.
And in the same instant, the old naked crowd fell silent, their heads freezing mid-bob. They stood motionless for a bit. But then, one by one, as if controlled by the same grim conductor, they collapsed to the ground.
Their shadows, vanishing completely from beneath them.
“Heh…” And slowly, everyone turned their heads as a whisper escaped from the altar. The child rose to his feet, impossibly small and yet commanding in his presence. He lifted his gaze to the group, and in a voice deep and hoarse, words escaped from his mouth filled with Titus’s blood,
“I, at last, have awakened. And you who have delayed me, I will tear down your light.” The child sneered, each of his words dripping with malice, “My shadow has come, to sniff out every last glimmer…
…I am Orpuk. But for you who stand before me, I am the harbinger of the voi—Hm?”
But amid his words filled with rage and hatred, something broke through—a crack in his fierce mask. Tears, streaming down from his eyes, and what reflected from them was a child—frail, scared, and trembling.
“P…please…” A whimper escaped from the malice as the boy’s small frame shuddered, “It… it hurts. I want… I want my mo—”
“I’m sorry.”
“Julian!?” Juliet’s horrified cry echoed as Julian, without a moment’s hesitation, crossed the courtyard in swift strides and pressed his longsword through the child’s chest.
“I am truly sorry.” Julian whispered. There was no anger, no violence—only an endless, quiet compassion as he drove the blade in deeper before the child could truly transform into the monster he was meant to become.
He kept his hand resting on the child’s head as he carefully pulled the blade out, guiding the boy to lie back on the altar as though preparing him for sleep.
“I’m sorry you had to be born this way,” Julian repeated softly, his voice carrying the weight of his own memories. “I understand. I know how hard it is, so rest now. Your mother… she’ll be waiting for you.”
“...My mommy?” the child’s face softened, the darkness it once held now completely gone.
“Yes,” Julian replied, his words warm as a lullaby. “And your mother loves you very much.”
“She… she does?”
“Hmn. She told me just now. She told me how proud she is of you. And that it’s okay… and when you wake up, she’ll be there.”
“Mommy…” The child’s face relaxed, a peaceful smile barely gracing his lips as he took one last breath.
“Mommy… I love…”
And then... his words trailed into silence.
“Hm.” Julian gently closed the child’s eyes, watching as the life faded from his face. For a moment, he sat in stillness, letting the shadows of what he had just done fall upon him. And then, he rose to see his group.
Juliet stood, trembling as she tilted his head back to prevent the tears. Talia, on the other hand, was unable to hold back and wrapped her arms around Juliet, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
Titus looked at Julian with a conflicted expression, anger and pain mixing in his eyes. Still, he managed a solemn nod, acknowledging the necessity of Julian’s actions.
As for Dyrroth, well, he just let himself fall on the ground.
Cyrus also finally emerged, but he didn’t say anything at all and just focused on the solemn painting in front of him.
And soon, the [Guidance of Artemis] flickered in front of Julian.
[Congratulations on killing the [Special] monster, Orpuk.]
Julian, however, barely glanced at it, waving it away and turning his attention back to the small body on the altar.
That’s it? That was his quest?
Although it would have been harder, Julian preferred to fight monsters. Because for some reason, this felt… wrong.
“Juliet…” Julian whispered, his voice incredibly weary as he looked at Juliet. “...We should approach the authorities now. All these people… we can’t bury them alone.”
“Okay. Just… let me rest a little, Boss. We should—Boss!?”
Juliet’s words froze as her eyes widened in horror. And it wasn’t only her, the rest of the group gasped as a massive shadow formed behind Julian, spreading over the ground like an ominous wave before it surged forward.
And without even any warning… it swallowed him whole and wrapped him in darkness.
And in this darkness, the [Guidance of Artemis] once again came to him with a message.
[4. ???]
It was the final part of his quest. And slowly, the question marks faded, replaced with a new message:
[4. Clear…???]
[4. Clear the [Special] Dungeon, Orpuk’s Dreams.]
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