Liam swiftly turned to see if Mercer and Artem were still in the room. They were both still there. Mercer was slowly sitting up looking like he was half asleep still as Artem laid there passed out. A loud explosion rattled the room causing Mercer to fully wake up while Artem started to stir.
Mercer looked around and saw Liam making his way over to Artem. Confused and concerned, Mercer asked, “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Liam started as he started shaking Artem. “There’s fires burning and people fighting. My best guess is that something is going down and we need to either get out of here or prepare to fight.”
Mercer was half way out of bed when a fist pounded against their door. Before anyone could respond, the door flew open and Roman, Avery, Ariyana, and Blair raced in. This woke Artem up. He was so confused as to what was going on his only response was to pull his blanket up to his chin looking like an embarrassed teenager getting caught naked under the covers. A high pitch squeak escaped his mouth causing everyone to look at him.
“Let’s pretend that never happened,” Artem said, cheeks burning hot.
Blair quickly cut Roman off as she stated, “We don’t have time for this. Uncle Naro wants us to meet up at the Teleportation building as soon as we can. Artem hurry up and get your girly butt out of bed so we can head out.”
Roman narrowed his eyes at Blair and muttered, “I thought we didn’t have time for that.”
Blair glared at him challenging him to say more. Roman swiftly turned around, not taking up that challenge. As the embarrassed half Orc did as he was told and Mercer changed into his clothes, Liam stared out at the mess outside. He didn’t know what was going on, but he wanted to. He thought about the ways he had that could get the information he wanted to and weighed the pros and cons of using them.
His ever faithful instigator must have known what he was thinking because within a few seconds he received a notification. [Do it. Use your Phantom Cat persona and head to a roof top that isn’t on fire. – Eri.]
Liam nodded before looking back at the others. They must have received a message from Eri as well because they looked like they had just finished reading something before nodding and looking at him.
“Be safe,” Blair replied.
“We’ll get to the rendezvous point and meet you there,” Avery stated.
“We’ll come up with a lie to tell Naro. So just hurry up and go,” Mercer said with urgency.
Liam nodded before switching his armor to his Phantom Cat set in the dressing room setting and activated Spirit Weave with his Shadow Moon daggers as the target. Everyone watched with fascination as his shadowy cloak materialized. They saw the hood form cat-like ears and a tail on the back end and were amazed by it. After he was done, he activated Shadow Step and disappeared leaving behind a small cloud of black smoke.
After he disappeared Ariyana broke the silence as she muttered, “Do you think the tail is real and if he has actual cat ears under the hood of the cloak? Cuz if that’s an accessory thing then I want one just like it.”
Everyone stared at her. “What?” Ariyana asked as she watched a couple of them shake their heads. “I’m just wondering is all.”
----------------------------------------
Liam reappeared on the roof of the building. He saw people running around screaming. It didn’t seem like fighting had reached the area around him since no spells or weapons were being used. Instead it looked like these were civilians trying to run towards the port or the teleportation building.
Before Liam decided to make a move, he pulled out his Web Watch, channeled some mana into it and opened it. As he watched Silky make her way towards the pitch black center of the watch, he asked, “Silky, do you have any information on what is going on right now?”
After Silky disappeared into the watch she replied back.
[I apologize Phantom Cat. I have no current information on the events ongoing….There is no Fiddler’s Spider Web Branch in the area, and I sense no members nearby. – Silky.]
“That’s okay Silky. I figured it might be a long shot,” Liam said as calmly as he could. “I am going to try and see if I can gather any information I can. Do you think the Fiddler’s Spider Web would value that information?”
[The Fiddler’s Spider Web would welcome any information on events like these…whether it be for clients curious or to make preparations for future similar events…Please collect as much information as you can and pass it to me at your earliest convenience. Also please be careful. I feel…strange powers at play here. – Silky.]
Liam smiled at her concern, but then frowned at her last words. “Alright, thank you for the warning,” Liam said as he waited for the small spider to exit the dark hole of the web watch before closing it. I wonder if that strange power she felt is connected to that one girl that Uncle Naro was wary about. Liam shook his head before focusing on where to head to first. He made a decision and Shadow Stepped away.
Liam used the roof tops to make his way through the town. As he moved he watched as groups of people continued to run away. The direction he was heading towards was getting louder and louder with shouts of anger, cries of pain and sorrow, and even cackles of laughter. The laughter concerned him the most because it wasn’t coming from a single person nor from a single area. It was coming from groups of people before explosions came about.
A couple of times Liam had to redirect his movements to different rooftops due to fire, lightning, and even icicle explosions erupting from buildings he was aiming for. He stopped a few times to see if he could get a better look at the people attacking, but failed as their cloaks concealed their faces.
What he did see was that none of the attackers were Demon-kin. Even though the hoods on the cloaks remained on their heads and covered their faces, the sleeves moved about revealing their skin. From what he was able to see, it seemed like the attackers were a mixture of humans, Beast-kins, and some sort of aquatic race he had yet to learn of.
After a couple of minutes he was able to see the destination of his picking. However, he stopped several blocks away as he felt his Danger Sense light up all in front of him. He stopped and tried to make sense of where the danger was coming from. Usually his Danger Sense would warn him by putting pressure around the area he was going to be attack at.
While he did feel that sense of dangerous pressure, it was completely different. This sense of pressure was only noticeable when he thought about continuing forward towards the Dungeon Tower. Confused by this, Liam tried to look around to see if there was anyone this sense of pressure was coming from.
[Don’t go anymore forward Liam. In fact, don’t spend too much time there. – Eri.]
Liam’s face looked confused as he asked, Why? What’s going on?
[Look below. – Eri.]
Liam did as he was told. As he scanned the area down below he noticed something strange. There were bodies laid in the streets unmoving. Not only that, but upon further inspection the clothes and skin of each person looked completely strange.
The spots all over the clothing of each person laying there looked like it was stiff and brittle while their skin looked thin, wrinkled, and even took on a shiny red appearance. As his gaze lingered on the closest body he noticed the spots were slowly growing. He was about to mutter something but stopped as the sound of something heavy crumbling echoed in the air.
Liam’s gaze looked forward just in time to see a patch of wall from the Dungeon Tower suddenly crumble apart and fall down to the ground. He then noticed several other spots on the wall that look strange. He activated Spot Frailty and was shocked at what he saw.
The entire building was glowing yellow and was slowly changing colors. The several spots that looked really strange had a light red and was slowly turning dark red before they crumbled apart.
“What the hell is going on here?” Liam muttered.
[Liam time to go. – Eri.]
Liam was confused what she meant until his Danger Sense filled not only his front side, but his back side as well. Without wasting a single second, Liam used Shadow Step to move backwards and away from the spot he was just standing at. After he reappeared on the rooftop of a building not too far, a sudden spark of lightning came crashing down where he once stood.
Liam scanned the area to see where the attack came from, but stopped what he was doing, pulled out his daggers, duck as he deflected a sword strike aimed for his back, and spun around his attacker. He then kicked the leg of the cloaked individual and shouted, “Are you the one responsible for all this?”
The cloaked swordsman regained his balance before spinning around and sprinted for Liam once more. Liam parried with both of his daggers as the attacker thrust his sword straight for Liam’s heart. The swordsman threw a left punch as they continued forward only for Liam to push his weapons off of the attack, spin under the punch and around his attacker once more.
Liam was about to use back stab on the person until he felt a strange pain suddenly explode in his left kneecap causing him to buckle and fall down. His body then rolled off the edge of the building and onto the ground were a pile of bags full of grain rested.
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Liam let out a cough as he rolled off the top of the pile and onto the street. He tried to get to his feet, however as he tried to put weight on his left side, the pain from earlier burned hot. He placed a hand on his pant leg and tried to pull it up, but before he could he felt his Danger Sense flare up across his back indicating something was about to attack him.
He pushed his body forward right in time to dodge a strike from the cloaked swordsman who had dropped down from the roof. As Liam spun around he saw the attacker race towards him once more and tried to attack. Liam sheathed one of this daggers and reached for one of his throwing daggers and threw it at the aggressor.
The cloaked individual swung his sword down to block the attack and was about to attack once more but stopped as Liam jumped forward with both of his daggers already within striking distance of the man’s face. However, before Liam could finish his attack, the pain on his left kneecap disappeared and reappeared on both of his wrists, causing him to release his grip on his weapons and fall straight into the cloaked person.
Before the cloaked swordsman attacked Liam, they heard someone shout, “Stop. We need one alive to learn more of what their plans were here.”
Even though Liam was in pain he was still able to focus on the voice and it sounded familiar. The swordsman plunged his weapon into the ground while swiftly and elegantly grabbing Liam’s wrists and pulled them both behind his back.
Liam let out a painful grunt as he fell to his knees. Anger filled him as he tried to wriggle free from his captor. Each movement, however, only sent jolts of pain through his hands and arms. He could feel the cloaked individual grip tighter as Liam struggled making it futile for him to move.
“Stop moving you damn cultist,” the cloaked swordsman stated, hostility leaked heavily in his gruff voice.
“What? Cultist?” Liam grunted through the pain.
“That’s what you are, aren’t you?” the new voice asked as she and three others appeared in front of Liam.
Liam looked at the four newcomers and glared. “I ain’t no damn cultist you bastards.”
“If you’re no cultist then what we’re doing up there?” one of the four in front of him accused. This voice belonged to a female.
“I was trying to see what the hell was going on,” Liam seethed. “The building, clothes, and people…Is all that decay your doing?”
“And if I said it was?” the lead figure questioned. “What would a cultist like you do when I’ve marked you with something similar?”
Liam’s eyes widened at that. If what she said was true then that would make sense why his grip loosened so easily when the pain hit. Not only that, but now that he was focusing a little more he did feel like he was losing all sensation in his wrists and that it was slowly spreading up his forearms and hands. However, the area he was first hit, his left kneecap, didn’t have that pain anymore. He tried to think what that meant.
“Are you not going to answer me, cultist?” the woman in front of him asked.
Liam scowled as he said, “Like I said. I’m no damn cultist. I can’t stand those Seven Immoral Vice bastards! I’d rather take out as many as I can and die before becoming one of them!”
The group of people looked confused as Liam. Liam could feel the grip on his wrists loosen a bit. As soon as he felt that he wrenched his hands free and used Shadow Step to disappear and reappear behind the group in front of him.
The group of five cloaked individuals spun around. The three that were now standing in front of the lead woman got into a stance and was about to attack Liam, but stopped as their leader ordered, “Stopped!”
The three kept their eyes on Liam and stayed in their attacking stances, ready to attack just in case. The leader of the group made her way to the front with the cloaked swordsman beside her. She then said, “I haven’t seen anyone in their ranks use a move like that before.” She then looked like she was contemplating something as she looked at Liam even more as she muttered, “Never seen any of them wear something like that either.”
“Don’t be fooled mistress,” the shorter member of the group snarled. “Just because we haven’t seen either of those before doesn’t mean they don’t have anyone who can use that type of magic or that kind of armor.”
“True, but at the same time we know they work in groups and never alone and yet no one else is here,” the leader stated.
The others didn’t have anything to say to that. Liam wasn’t sure what they are talking about. However, he did know there was something more going on than he thought. He decided to take another route as he stood tall with his hands by his side.
“I am Phantom Cat from the Fiddler’s Spider Web. I came here to gather information on what the hell was going on. I thought I would get more information where the most damage was at but stopped when I felt a strange powerful magic spreading from the tower,” Liam stated. He thought stating this would be risky, but at the same time he didn’t know what else to say to get them to understand he wasn’t a damn cultist.
“Fiddler’s Spider Web?” the hooded female behind the leader commented.
The leader turned to look at her and asked, “Do you know them?”
“I have heard of them. I don’t know much, but from the rumors I have heard they are not part of the two cults we are against,” the female replied.
The leader nodded. However before she could say anything, the hooded swordsman said, “How do we know he isn’t lying?”
“They should have a way to show proof they are a member…some sort of pocket watch I think,” the hooded female said.
Liam tensed at the information the female gave out. With caution he said, “You seemed to be well informed.”
The hooded female shrugged as she replied, “Information is power.”
The leader looked at Liam and said, “If you are a member then you should have the item my companion spoke about. Show us the proof.”
Liam stared at her. He winced as he tried to ball his hands into fists making him loosen his grip. He then lifted his hands up and said as he gambled on a thought he had. “I would love to, but since my wrists are in this state I don’t think I can properly pull out my item. Why don’t you deactivate the spell so I can properly pull it out?”
Four of the five hooded individuals went on alert as they listened to Liam. The leader, who seemed a bit surprised at Liam’s words stood calm as she asked, “What makes you think that I can deactivate whatever I have done to your wrists?”
Liam didn’t respond. Instead he pointed to his left kneecap before pointing to his wrists. He didn’t want to voice what he assumed just in case he was wrong. He waited for a response after that and felt confused as the woman laughed.
“So that’s how it is,” she stated as she started to get her laughter under control. “You are quick on the uptake there. Many of my enemies don’t figure it out until it’s too late. Luckily for you the ability to keep everything I try to decay is sealed once more or you would be shit out of luck.”
As she waved her right hand through the air, the hooded swordsman flinched as he protested, “Mistress, why are you…”
“I have a good feeling that he won’t attack. In fact I’m starting to think we may have made a mistake,” the woman stated.
Liam felt the pain in his wrists suddenly vanish. He clenched both hands a few times to make sure the pain was completely gone before looking back at the group. He then said as he slowly reached into his pocket, “Since you have jumped the gun and attacked me so blindly…”
Liam watched as the four hooded figures crouched down and were ready to strike but stopped suddenly as Liam pulled out his Web Watch and finished saying, “Allow me to end your suspicions and show proof that I am telling the truth.”
Liam dangled the Web Watch in front of them to show the others. He then watch the leader of the other four look at the hooded girl. The hooded girl gave her leader a nod of confirmation, making Liam wonder how she would truly know that this was a genuine Web Watch. However, at the moment he wanted other information. Information more prudent based on the events going on.
“I apologize for attacking you. With this damn cult running amok and doing whatever the hell they are doing, we didn’t want to take any chances,” the leader replied.
“Do you know what is going on here? Is this the Seven Immoral Vices doing?” Liam questioned.
“It isn’t that damn cults doing,” the leader suddenly hissed. “We thought it was them, but the cultists that we came across inside of the Free Roam Dungeon was completely different. As for what they were doing we aren’t entirely sure.”
“What cult do they belong to if it’s not the Seven Immoral Vices?” Liam inquired.
“Don’t know. I’m still new to this gods forsaken world and don’t know every fucking lunatic cult that exists,” the female sneered. “However, what I do know is this cult was doing something I did come across before.”
Curiosity filled Liam as he asked, “Oh? What was that?”
“None of your gods damn business,” the female quickly snapped. “Just know that it was nothing good.”
Explosions erupted in the background causing everyone there to look back at where it was coming from. As he stared at the fiery mushroom cloud grow a notification suddenly appeared in front of Liam.
[Time to go. Everyone is almost at the Teleportation Portal room and that Naro guy is starting to get agitated that you’re not there. Also the damage and fights is getting closer and closer to that area. – Eri.]
Liam clicked his tongue as he turned around. He was about to say something to the group but stopped as a small piece of cloth was sent flying towards him.
“Take this,” the woman stated. “I have a feeling that you might be able to find someone who can figure out what this cult is since you belong to that little web group of yours.”
Liam snatched the piece of cloth in the air and took a quick glance at it. The cloth was pure white, but the symbol on it was a deep raven black circle with wisps of black escaping the edges of the circle and a crimson red eye in the middle. Liam froze for a moment as he stared at the crimson eye. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he recognized it.
[Liam, you have to go now! – Eri.]
Liam snapped out of his thoughts before placing the object into his inventory. He then looked back at the group and saw they were gone already. With a shake of his head, he muttered quietly, “Fine then…don’t say goodbye. Jerks.” He then used Shadow Step to get to the roof top and raced towards his new destination.
----------------------------------------
Eri stood there with her arms crossed across her chest and with an indescribable look upon her face. She watched as Liam hurried over to the others. While her gaze was stuck on her champion, her thoughts were locked on something else entirely.
Her plan was to have her champion run into that woman with her group while getting information on what was happening. While she knew what was going on, she hadn’t known who all were involved in this little event. She didn’t think they would be involved.
Eri’s nails dug into her skin, causing indents and almost blood to be drawn. When she realized how hard she was gripping her arms, she relaxed her nails and let out a sigh. Rarely did things go outside of her scope when she had eyes on her champion, but when it did it did in a way she wasn’t really prepared for.
“So they really are active once more,” she muttered to herself. “I know I heard the S.I.V.’s had some connections with them due to Liam’s last encounter with the demon fanatics, but I thought they were just saying that to cause a stir. But now…maybe they really are backing them up.”
Eri’s thoughts went back to the symbol Liam had seen on that piece of cloth. She had felt it through her link that Liam seemed familiar with it and that made her both confused and curious. However, answers to that could be obtained another time. Right now she had to think about the possibilities of her champion running into more of these god damn lunatic fanatics.
Her champion had a run in with a member not too long ago and it left a bad taste in her mouth how things both went down and ended. Could the same happen again this time round? She thought about the members in Liam’s group. While they were gaining power and growing, they were still too weak.
Except…there was someone currently in his group that wasn’t. Someone who had been on this planet for a lot longer than any of the members in Liam’s little group. She could…no. trying to have him forgo his current patron deity and claim him as one of her own followers would only bring issues her plans.
She refocused on Liam and watched as he ran into the Teleportation Portal room. She was no longer clad in his Spirit Weave form and had changed his armor for something else. She watched as Naro yelled frantically at the young man. he had both a look of anger and worry on his face. As he scolded Liam that mixture had turned into relief before they started running through the portal one by one.
Her thoughts ran back to her previous line of thought. She would need to have patience. Patience that her champion and apostles would grow in strength and slowly gain more followers as they met new people. She would need to wait and see how things turned out and hoped that their next encounter with anyone from that damn cult would go better than their first. Because if they didn’t…they would die.