Right after her brief conversation with the parasite, Amare Na Xivia saw no need to extend her visit and left Green’s End with haste.
Viscount Kirn Sparrow provided her with some provisions for the short journey and bid her farewell and though she didn’t agree with his way of dealing with things, she didn’t argue with him.
To begin with, she didn’t know why one of the Ten Seats would house and protect a parasite. Then again, knowing what she knew about the eccentric man, such an inexplicable course of action was to be expected. However, she didn’t doubt his action or suspect him to betray her, after all, he was a friend of her mother and that was enough to rely on him.
Marjory Na Xivia didn’t trust people so easily, and neither did she befriend them on a whim. Amongst the ruling party of the Militant Syndicate, only Duke Terden Sidus and Viscount Kirn Sparrow were considered to be her friends.
As for the remaining seats, it could even be said they regarded her with hostility, much like she did to them.
As she was marching further from the towering stone fort standing tall amidst the darkness of the night, Amare noticed a silhouette jump from the lower floors, causing quite the ruckus.
Even with such a big distance separating her from the commotion, she saw the parasite’s undead safely land on the ground then start madly sprinting. However, not even a minute later, another silhouette jumped from the fort, this one enveloped in a glistening silver light.
Much to the girl’s surprise, Lexander Biax, with his unremarkable sword in hand, was in full pursuit of the zombie.
He was even swinging his sword, shooting silver-colored blasts which caused large holes into the grassy ground. As the two were moving at an alarming speed, they soon disappeared from view and merged with the looming darkness.
“Is he sending that woman away?”
Her curiosity notwithstanding, Amare didn’t take it into her to intervene like last time and help one of the parasite’s followers. Instead, she quickened her pace, hoping to reach home within two days, at most.
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“It was Lexander, as you have guessed.”
Impressed, Kirn Sparrow clapped his hands as his golden eyes pierced through the darkness and followed the speeding Mort with Evelyn on his back.
Only when Mort dove into a forest West of Green’s End did the Viscount retract his gaze and put back the blindfold.
“Is the carriage ready?”
“Yes. Oh! And please don’t forget the time limit. I need that item in fourth months, at most.”
“I will try my best.”
“Yes, that’s what I’d like to hear. Thank you.”
Arthur shook hands with the enthusiastic man then he was escorted to the entrance of the settlement at the foot of the fort.
There, a shabby carriage was waiting for him, though he was going to be the only passenger.
The town was deadly quiet and most residents were asleep or nestled at home. Yet, the parasite felt dozens of eyes follow him the second he had exited the Viscount’s unbreakable lair.
With Lexander out of the way, Addy and the mercenaries he had hired were the only ones to remain, or so Arthur would have suspected were it not for Kirn’s recent tip, which informed him that Solas too, seemed to be after his head.
Arthur didn’t know what he did to anger the Holy Church, but Solas seemed adamant about going after him.
Instead of asking for the help he wasn’t going to get from Kirn Sparrow, Solas Frotstrune camped outside of Green’s End and patiently waited for his target to reveal himself.
“S-sir!”
A Holy Knight, crouching amidst the bushes with all the rest, pointed at a carriage leaving the settlement.
“Be ready! We need to finish it fas-”
Solas suddenly stopped talking and looked at his rear, spotting a relatively large rabbit flashing its row of pointy teeth at him.
It had half-white half-purple hair and its eyes were red and glowing ominously.
“Sam and Bea are with me! The rest, stay here and don’t interfere until I’m back.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Yes, sir!”
With his empowered sword in hand, Solas leapt at Furball only for the latter to screech and jump away.
While snorting in annoyance, Solas and the two Holy Knights chased after the rapid rabbit, quickly distancing themselves from the rest.
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Arthur drove the carriage for a couple of minutes before stopping near a cluster of small stones. There wasn’t any shortage of stones scattered across these flat and grassy planes, but their special distribution made it obvious that this was the Viscount’s doing.
As he disembarked from the carriage, Arthur chuckled and, with a loud and clarion voice, stated,
“Isn’t it about time, Addy?”
Right on cue, a fog spread from nothingness, barely obscuring the dozens of silhouettes that sprung from inconspicuous hidden spots.
The mercenaries were armed to the teeth and wearing expensive magical artifacts, all for the sake of hunting down the parasite.
Their employer, the frail and slim private investigator, had a hideously scary expression as narrowed eyes glared daggers at the nonchalant Arthur.
“To be welcomed by such an illustrious company. I’m really honored that you think so highly of me, Addy.”
“...”
The man wasn’t in the mood for talking as he signaled the mercenaries, who lunged at the red-haired noble.
Alas, scarce had they unsheathed their weapon and taken a couple of steps did a thick green mist rise from the parasite and swirl around, rising several meters above the ground.
[Air Decay] was activated, but Arthur was surprised to see only two people fall to the ground. The rest were enveloped by unique protective barriers, seemingly prepared for such an eventuality.
A flying black sickle struck Arthur’s side, and as he was blown to the air, he was bombarded by fireballs and invisible wind blades.
In a matter of seconds, the green mist vanished and the parasite’s body was riddled with wounds. Against so many experienced people, not even his arsenal of skills was useful.
He was being attacked before he even used his Barrier Magic or took out his sword.
“You really prepared thoroughly, huh…”
As he knelt on the ground, Arthur swept his gaze at the greedy mercenaries. They were all top-notch fighters and equipped with several empowering artifacts.
With bits of dog dancing around his body, Addy stood amidst the quiet mercenaries, a grin plastered on his face as he enjoyed the sorry sight of the parasite’s downfall.
“I count 23 mercenaries… excluding the Holy Knights hiding out there. Hehehe…”
While taking a deep breath, Arthur pressed his hand against the ground and closed his eyes.
Much to his enemies’ confusion, after a brief silence, the grass and dirt withered and turned into nothingness.
Beginning from the parasite, a circle of unstoppable withering spread from the parasite, alarming everyone as they hastily jumped back.
“What are you doing? Attack him!”
Only when Addy encouragingly shouted did they raise their weapons and cast spells. Alas, it was too late a brilliant yellow barrier appeared around Arthur, protecting him like an unbreakable cocoon.
The barrier was getting brighter and brighter as Arthur sucked as much energy as he possibly could. With a radius of fifty meters, the whole ground and minuscule life dwelling within it were affected by [Wither Touch].
By the time Arthur opened back his eyes, his veins were glowing with an azure luster, which was due to the abundance of Mana circulating within his body.
While reciprocating Addy’s shit-eating grin, Arthur declared,
“Are you ready?”
“...”
The private investigator, along with the attacking mercenaries, were confused by this statement. Soon enough, they saw the pebbles and dirt slowly rising into the air, which only added more to their perplexion.
“Even if you run away now, it’s far too late.”
Arthur shifted his gaze to a specific spot near the carriage; There, there was a light so strong that it pierced through the ground below it.
The Mana-infused black crystals were buried under the dirt and, after receiving enough quantity of energy from the parasite, the expected reaction had finally begun.
The mercenaries realized that something was wrong and immediately abandoned the prize. Addy, however, conjured that creepy flying skull and bashed it on Arthur’s barrier.
Unfortunately for him, the Sanguis Barrier was the strongest Arthur had ever made so far, meant to block the devastating impact.
“You forced me to do this, Addy. Let this be a warning to anyone who wants my head.”
“I will kill you! You can’t stop me!”
Seeing the crazed man unleash all of his powers despite knowing that it was over, Arthur felt a bit of pity as he sighed and lowered his head, pouring all the absorbed Mana into the blindingly radiant barrier.
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Even though Lexander Biax was a renowned knight, his speed still felt short in comparison to the nimble Mort.
He had chased him for close to an hour yet the gap was getting bigger and bigger. The old man would slice the air and shoot multiple shock wave, but the undead would just jump out of the way while grimacing at him.
Just when he was about to give up, Lexander saw three black-robed people jump in front of the zombie and try to attack him.
Mort, like an acrobat, jumped over their magic and kicked one in the chin before safely landing on the ground. While worriedly checking if Evelyn was hit or not, Mort cursed at the unwelcomed assailants.
Thanks to their interception, Lexander could finally reach his target.
“You’re not going anywhere. Show yourself, vermin!”
He ignored the clearly suspicious robed people and kept his attention on Mort, expecting him to be the parasite in disguise.
Unfortunately, Mort was oblivious to that as he frantically looked around then jumped in a random direction.
Lexander appeared in front of him and stabbed his sword, piercing the zombie's leg and mangling it in the process. Still, Mort managed to shake off the knight and back away.
“Stop him! He’s our prize!” Shouted the elderly man hiding under an oversized hood.
Before things escalated, there was a blinding flash of light from a big distance away, followed by an ungodly rumbling that made the whole ground violently shake.