Nirra's eyes became wider in shock because of the realization that the man who took Ameria in as his daughter is the person who's orchestrating the summoning of a demon within the city of Aeris.
"That may have been the case before, but I will assure you I am no longer the person you assume I am," he said as he stepped closer to Nicholas and reached out a hand to help him up.
Nicholas reached for his hand, and the latter helped him back on his feet. The latter was dusting himself off and checking his body for any more wounds that were inflicted by Ellie in their duel.
Finding that his body was intact, Nicholas once again flashed that haughty smirk that caused Ellie's eyes to sharpen, wanting to break out of whatever was holding them still and slice Nicholas' neck wide open.
"That was a very interesting duel, won't you agree? Mr. Forecastle," the former guildmaster said as he stepped beside Nicholas.
"No, I don't think so. Though I will want to request a rematch." His smirk turned into a frown upon the realization that he was almost bested by a mere commoner.
The former guildmaster suddenly started chuckling to himself. His chuckles reverberated inside the room, giving off a very eerie feeling.
He then suddenly stopped, and in an instant, before Nicholas could process what happened before him, The former guildmaster whispered something to his ears that made his skin crawl.
"A pity it would not happen."
The dark-red rocky spike suddenly came out from the ground and impaled Nicholas, going through the back of his stomach and out the front side. His blood spilled on the ground as he coughed up some more.
The twins eyes went wide once again due to the shock of the former guildmaster betraying the adventurer that was working for him.
"W-what i…is the m-meaning o…f thi-s" Nicholas still managed to say, grunting as pain wrecked havoc across his body.
"It's really simple; I have no need of you anymore, well, alive that is," the former guildmaster replied as more spiked rocks impaled Nicholas' body, earning a pained scream from the adventurer.
"Y-you tr…aitor... y-your pro…mise," he slowly said before he got cut off.
"Were just lies to acquire your services." he said.
After the realization that he had been lied to. Nicholas' body finally limped while impaled on the sharp rocks.
"I suppose a thank you is in order for that elf as well. I also predicted that you would come to her aid once you got news of her disappearance, which is why I removed the detection spell blocker so that we would be spotted by the guild." He then stepped towards Nirra, the latter still frozen in place. He then gazed slightly at the rifle Nirra was holding and chuckled
"An Interesting weapon indeed. It can kill targets faster than a bow, and can also function as a spear when needed" He said while he scratched his beard. He then released Nirra from his spell a tiny bit so she could speak.
"Those men you used as grunts, what are they?" Nirra decided to play nice for a bit and ask about the people they had been killing. If she stalled long enough, maybe Eric's party could bust inside the room and stop the summoning.
"Those men are just bandits we managed to kill and use their dead bodies as cannon fodder" He answered nonchalantly.
"And the persons that were assisting you? They don't look dead to me," She replied.
"They do not, because they're just mercenaries I hired to speed things up a little," he answered as he slowly stepped back towards the corpse of Nicholas and let a few drops of blood inside a glass bottle.
"How about yourself? The guildmaster was reported to be dead." Nirra asked the biggest question on her mind and hoped he would answer.
"Since you'll be spending an eternity in the underworld, I think I will answer that question," He said as he stepped back towards Nirra while Ellie and Mofu tried their hardest to regain mobility in their bodies by shaking around slightly.
"You are indeed correct; this body is dead. It merely serves as a puppet for myself to carry out missions from inside the underworld," he answered as he turned his back towards Nirra and started walking up the steps towards the summoning circle. Said circle was already glowing an ominous red the moment he entered the circumference of it.
"I think that is enough for answering your questions. It is time to start bringing one of my brothers into this world," he said as he pulled out a vile that contained a crimson liquid from beneath his dark robes.
He splattered the vial onto the middle of the summoning circle, the blood-red liquid filling the gaps of the circle that encompassed the pentagram. He started whispering something that he could not decipher, which got louder and louder. The ground started shaking, and the sound of small rocks falling from the ceiling could be heard as the liquid that now marked the circumference of the summoning circle grew bright red.
When he was about to throw the bottle that contained Nicholas' blood into the middle of the summoning circle, an arrow flew by Nirra's head and nailed the former guildmaster in the hand, making him drop the bottle, but the contents did not spill into the summoning circle. The bottle rolled away from the former guildmaster and stopped just at the edge of the circular room they were in. Due to the brief moment of him getting distracted, Nirra, Ellie, and Mofu managed to break free from whatever was holding them in place.
"Who dares interrupt my summoning!?" He shouted and scanned the room for the person who shot the arrow.
"Nice shot, Shael," Eric complemented with a thumbs up as Shael smiled while still in the stance of firing that arrow.
"Be careful, guys! That guy has a lot of demon energy eminating from his body." Hildia warned after assessing the summoner's body.
The four-man party rushed towards where Nirra, Ellie, and Mofu were located and helped them up, with Garrett deploying his shield in front of them.
"Took your sweet time..." Nirra said as she got back up with assistance from Eric.
"The mage and that assassin girl were tough; in the end they managed to escape, but not before we got some good hits into them. They're probably long gone by now," Eric explained. "So who's the creepy bald guy?" He then asked.
"I'll explain later; we need to keep him from spilling the contents of that bottle on the summoning circle," Nirra said as she loaded some rounds into her Model 1973.
"Alright, Let's get him!" Eric shouted with a slight smirk on his face.
Nirra's eyes became wider in shock because of the realization that the man who took Ameria in as his daughter is the person who's orchestrating the summoning of a demon within the city of Aeris.
"That may have been the case before, but I will assure you I am no longer the person you assume I am," he said as he stepped closer to Nicholas and reached out a hand to help him up.
Nicholas reached for his hand, and the latter helped him back on his feet. The latter was dusting himself off and checking his body for any more wounds that were inflicted by Ellie in their duel.
Finding that his body was intact, Nicholas once again flashed that haughty smirk that caused Ellie's eyes to sharpen, wanting to break out of whatever was holding them still and slice Nicholas' neck wide open.
"That was a very interesting duel, won't you agree? Mr. Forecastle," the former guildmaster said as he stepped beside Nicholas.
"No, I don't think so. Though I will want to request a rematch." His smirk turned into a frown upon the realization that he was almost bested by a mere commoner.
The former guildmaster suddenly started chuckling to himself. His chuckles reverberated inside the room, giving off a very eerie feeling.
He then suddenly stopped, and in an instant, before Nicholas could process what happened before him, The former guildmaster whispered something to his ears that made his skin crawl.
"A pity it would not happen."
The dark-red rocky spike suddenly came out from the ground and impaled Nicholas, going through the back of his stomach and out the front side. His blood spilled on the ground as he coughed up some more.
The twins eyes went wide once again due to the shock of the former guildmaster betraying the adventurer that was working for him.
"W-what i…is the m-meaning o…f thi-s" Nicholas still managed to say, grunting as pain wrecked havoc across his body.
"It's really simple; I have no need of you anymore, well, alive that is," the former guildmaster replied as more spiked rocks impaled Nicholas' body, earning a pained scream from the adventurer.
"Y-you tr…aitor... y-your pro…mise," he slowly said before he got cut off.
"Were just lies to acquire your services." he said.
After the realization that he had been lied to. Nicholas' body finally limped while impaled on the sharp rocks.
"I suppose a thank you is in order for that elf as well. I also predicted that you would come to her aid once you got news of her disappearance, which is why I removed the detection spell blocker so that we would be spotted by the guild." He then stepped towards Nirra, the latter still frozen in place. He then gazed slightly at the rifle Nirra was holding and chuckled
"An Interesting weapon indeed. It can kill targets faster than a bow, and can also function as a spear when needed" He said while he scratched his beard. He then released Nirra from his spell a tiny bit so she could speak.
"Those men you used as grunts, what are they?" Nirra decided to play nice for a bit and ask about the people they had been killing. If she stalled long enough, maybe Eric's party could bust inside the room and stop the summoning.
"Those men are just bandits we managed to kill and use their dead bodies as cannon fodder" He answered nonchalantly.
"And the persons that were assisting you? They don't look dead to me," She replied.
"They do not, because they're just mercenaries I hired to speed things up a little," he answered as he slowly stepped back towards the corpse of Nicholas and let a few drops of blood inside a glass bottle.
"How about yourself? The guildmaster was reported to be dead." Nirra asked the biggest question on her mind and hoped he would answer.
"Since you'll be spending an eternity in the underworld, I think I will answer that question," He said as he stepped back towards Nirra while Ellie and Mofu tried their hardest to regain mobility in their bodies by shaking around slightly.
"You are indeed correct; this body is dead. It merely serves as a puppet for myself to carry out missions from inside the underworld," he answered as he turned his back towards Nirra and started walking up the steps towards the summoning circle. Said circle was already glowing an ominous red the moment he entered the circumference of it.
"I think that is enough for answering your questions. It is time to start bringing one of my brothers into this world," he said as he pulled out a vile that contained a crimson liquid from beneath his dark robes.
He splattered the vial onto the middle of the summoning circle, the blood-red liquid filling the gaps of the circle that encompassed the pentagram. He started whispering something that he could not decipher, which got louder and louder. The ground started shaking, and the sound of small rocks falling from the ceiling could be heard as the liquid that now marked the circumference of the summoning circle grew bright red.
When he was about to throw the bottle that contained Nicholas' blood into the middle of the summoning circle, an arrow flew by Nirra's head and nailed the former guildmaster in the hand, making him drop the bottle, but the contents did not spill into the summoning circle. The bottle rolled away from the former guildmaster and stopped just at the edge of the circular room they were in. Due to the brief moment of him getting distracted, Nirra, Ellie, and Mofu managed to break free from whatever was holding them in place.
"Who dares interrupt my summoning!?" He shouted and scanned the room for the person who shot the arrow.
"Nice shot, Shael," Eric complemented with a thumbs up as Shael smiled while still in the stance of firing that arrow.
"Be careful, guys! That guy has a lot of demon energy eminating from his body." Hildia warned after assessing the summoner's body.
The four-man party rushed towards where Nirra, Ellie, and Mofu were located and helped them up, with Garrett deploying his shield in front of them.
"Took your sweet time..." Nirra said as she got back up with assistance from Eric.
"The mage and that assassin girl were tough; in the end they managed to escape, but not before we got some good hits into them. They're probably long gone by now," Eric explained. "So who's the creepy bald guy?" He then asked.
"I'll explain later; we need to keep him from spilling the contents of that bottle on the summoning circle," Nirra said as she loaded some rounds into her Model 1973.
"Alright, Let's get him!" Eric shouted with a slight smirk on his face.
