Eryas cradles the broken silver watch in his hand, his fingers tracing the familiar cracks. It was the first gift Helena had given him, a symbol of their love and the promise of a future together.
A surge of sentimentality washed over him as he remembered the day she had handed it to him. He holds it close to his face, his breath fogging the glass.
"Once we're out of this, I promise, I'll find you. I'll make up for all of this," Eryas vowed, his voice filled with determination.
The silver watch was then put on the dusty table. Beside the watch, there is a simple breastplate armour. Eryas zips up his worn-out jacket all the way and then takes the armour and puts it on.
It fits onto his body nicely. The armour only covers his torso. Then, from the dusty old table, he took the city guard sword that he got from Edward. This special sword is given to city guards to enable them to carry out their duties effectively. And now it was his.
The sword scabbard was clipped onto his left hip. He adjusted the angle so that he could reach and pull out the sword anytime. On his right forearm, there is a small leather bag tied tightly. He then took the three throwing knives lying on the tables and placed them in the leather bag.
When everything is nice, he walks away from the table, heading towards the front door of the workshop. As he approaches the front hall, he looks towards the front door and notices that it and its walls have been shattered into rubble.
Standing at the entrance are six people from the earlier roundtable meeting, and there seem to be two more strangers with them. Eryas walks closer towards the six comrades. He notices that Greg was talking to the other two strangers.
The people he saw are the scouts who are hunters who helped bring him here. From what he heard Greg was talking, he commanded the two of them to look after the people inside the building. The other survivors would be in a dangerous situation if no one protects them.
With everything in place, the seven of them stepped out, leaving the safety of their refuge. Hars, the seasoned veteran, held a staff with a guiding light at its end. The luminous beam pointed the way forward.
Greg, Caen, and Emma took the lead, their unity ready for any threat. Eryas and Edward covered their flanks, protecting Clara and Hars. They were a tightly-knit team, prepared for the impending battle.
On their way to the root of the problem, they encounter a few tainted humans. The once-happy citizens of Veloria have been corrupted by the darkness and now serve as mindless minions for the devils.
But they easily dismiss the threat, as Greg, Caen, and Emma were their spear. They had no remorse for their actions as they knew nothing could bring the tainted back. The only humane way is to kill these darkness humans without regret.
Caen and Emma are trained guards and soldiers, respectively. So that their combat capabilities are exceptional, and their minds are already forged to handle this type of situation.
Meanwhile, Greg is not just any blacksmith. Before becoming a blacksmith, he was a member of the hunter corporation. This mercenary organisation helped manage affairs outside the scope of government.
Higher-ranking government officials will hire these mercenaries to handle any kind of work, even their dirty ones.
This mercenary group is very different from the assassin school Eryas went to. The mercenary only does work for the human kingdom, while the assassin school accepts any kind of job from other kingdoms.
That can be said that in the past, Eryas was already familiar with stuff that would paint his hands red. But now, he has thrown all of that away. Now he wants to start his life fresh, free of impurities. Well, end is the most appropriate word to use.
As they walked closer into enemy territories, Hars suddenly resounded.
"Remember, we don't know what those things look like. So always be careful. They might even attack us from where we least expected."
Edward, who was walking behind Hars, glanced at him and said.
"Hey, Mister Hars, you told me that you once fought with the sentient darkness creature. So, how dangerous are they compared to the mindless ones?"
Hars turned his glance towards Edward.
"Have you seen the mindless one use magic?"
"Nope. So far, I have fought none; those creatures only come at me with their fangs and claws. Wait, don't tell me…"
"Yes, the sentient ones are capable of using magic. That's what makes them so dangerous. They can think, use magic, and their magic is different from ours," Hars explained, his voice tinged with fear and the weight of the impending battle.
"Different?"
Eryas, who was walking behind Clara, overhears the conversation between Hars and Edward. He had heard all this harrowing knowledge during his days as an assassin.
The sentient creatures of darkness are ten times stronger than the average royal soldiers, and as a manaless person, the power gap between him and the intellect is a hundredfold. Encountering one would mean instant death.
Hars continued.
"The magic we use is from the blessing of the seven gods, while their magic is from the element of darkness itself. The most terrifying things about sentient darkness creatures are not their strength or their magic. But the fact is that they have the power to corrupt any living beings they demand to."
Edward hugs himself as he shivers.
"That does sound terrifying. So how do they turn living beings to darkness?"
"Well, I'm not pretty sure myself."
The reason why no one knows how the darkness-tainted living being is simple. There is no one to live to tell the tale.
Clara turns around to Eryas, noticing that his gaze was locked on the conversation between Hars and Edward. He looked tense, so Clara tried to cheer him up.
"Hey, don't tell me you're scared?"
Eryas quickly turned his gaze upon hearing those questions. His face still maintained a serious expression.
"A little."
Clara hears those replies with a shock. He thought that Eryas would reply that he is not afraid or something along those lines. She tries to lighten the mood.
"Hey, don't worry if anything happens, I will protect you. I'm pretty strong myself, you know."
Eryas looks at her with amusement in his eyes.
"Yeah, sure."
"Hey, that doesn't sound like you trust me at all."
Eryas just smiles. Then he reached for his knife's pouch and took out one of the knives.
"Clara, take this."
Clara looks at the throwing knife in Eryas's hand.
"Why?"
Eryas sighed.
"Something bad is gonna happen. I'm sure it will come in handy later."
"What… what do you mean?"
"I'm not really sure, but just to be safe, take this. It will protect you.
She looked at Eryas with a weird look before slowly reaching for the knife. The moment she held it, she felt something strange.
"Wait, what is this knife?"
Eryas just smiled.
"Just make sure you don't cut yourself with it."
***
After a while, the group of seven finally closed in on their target. Right now, they were on top of a huge broken building. All of them climbed on the building to take a clear view of their enemy.
Right in front of them, a vast crater held a humanoid figure standing in the middle. The dust surrounding them blurred their vision, so they could not really tell what it looked like.
Hars stands in front of everyone. He turns, looking at the others.
"That is the creature that caused all of this."
Greg crossed his arms and looked at the sky.
"So that is our target. I could already feel the creature's chilling sensation. We need a plan to attack it."
All of them went closer to discuss the plan, except for Eryas. He was still standing near the ledge of the broken building, staring intently at the dark creature inside the crater.
'Something's wrong.'
"Eryas!" Greg called Eryas.
He turned and walked towards the group. Greg sounded his voice.
"Attacking that creature head-on would only mean suicide. So the plan is to ambush it and strike when it doesn't notice us."
All of them are planning the assault. They took a few minutes planning the attack. After everyone had reached an agreement, the seven of them took positions. Greg, Caen and Emma were circling the monster from three different directions.
Clara had to stay close to the assault, as she could be sent quickly if someone needed a heal. Edward had to stay close to her to guard her. Meanwhile, Eryas and Hars were left atop the broken building.
As Hars is unable to fight, Eryas needs to stay close and guard him in case something happens.
Greg, Caen and Emma were in position. The three of them will attack the unsuspecting creature using their most potent magic. Greg brought his hands forward; a light-blue magic circle appeared, then a giant ice spear.
He then grabs onto the ice spear, ready to throw it like a javelin. Caen aims his right hand, and a small, deep blue magic circle appears, and a blue lightning bolt appears from it. Emma brings both of her hands forward, aiming at the creature in the middle of the crater.
A red magic circle appeared in front of her palms, then a huge fireball formed from it. The three of them launch their attack at the same time. The fireball, ice spear and lightning bolt fly to their targets, leaving no gap to retreat.
Even if the creature notices it, it won't be able to react in time. The projectiles land on their mark, causing a massive explosion at the centre. Edward covered Clara from the flying dust, as they were also close to the impact area.
Eryas, who stood on the ledge of the building, couldn't really see what was happening, but he saw the explosion's huge impact and the flying dust heading towards him.
He turns his head to the right, towards Hars, who also stands near the ledge, not far from him. Hars was watching the scene intently.
Eryas holds his throwing knife in his left hand. He quickly dashes to his right and swings his blade at Hars.