Yushai looks at Saigid, He takes a deep breath.
"This is probably the first time you've survived in this territory." Says Hanchu
Saigid glances at Hanchu, then at Yushai—his expression unreadable for a moment.
A slow, dangerous smirk curls at the edge of his lips.
"Survived?" he repeats, voice low and smooth like velvet over steel. "Hgitinabbats... I didn't come here to survive."
His crimson eyes flash with quiet fire as he steps forward, the air around him humming faintly with restrained power.
"I came to burn it all down."
Kakhach screams where his pet is, to which the Phone raises one of its tentacles. But he waves it off with the words "not you."
Saigid watches with a mix of fascination and wariness as Kakhach addresses the Phone. He can't help but be impressed by the spider-octopus's ability to respond with a tentacle wave—even if it does look kind of creepy.
He tilts his head slightly, studying the Phone through narrowed eyes. "So, that thing... actually understands you?" he asks, voice edged with slight skepticism.
"Do you think I'm a liar?!" he asks indignantly.
"what exactly did these people need from your new pet?" Hanchu is trying to defuse the situation.
Saigid just stares at Kakhach for a long, flat second—then turns to Hanchu with an expression that very clearly says "Are you seeing this shit?"
Hanchu wisely changes the subject. Saigid exhales sharply through his nose.
"...No, no. Not calling you a liar," he mutters (lying). His gaze drifts back to the Phone—the tentacled spider-monster that's apparently now Kakhach's "pet"—before adding dryly:
"But I do think you've got awful taste in friends."
Yushai called out to Saigid and motioned for silence.
Kakhach understood this and laughingly said, "Your master told you to shut up, gray-haired raven!"
Saigid glances at Yushai, and obediently falls silent—though there is a hint of stubborn irritation in his expression.
And that irritation only grows when Kakhach opens his insufferably noisy mouth again.
He glares at the man for a brief moment, eyes narrowing. "...Gray-haired raven?" he mutters, voice edged with thinly-veiled impatience. "Really?"
Lyutich is waving his arms and trying to attract attention to himself. "everything needs to be combined to complete the quest and survive until tomorrow"
"Hanchu, Silas! Follow me," Yushai says coldly.
"You can't undress," Hanchu says, following Yushai
Saigid glances at Yushai and Hanchu with a mixture of curiosity and irritation; he hates taking orders.
That said... curiosity eventually wins out, and he begrudgingly follows Yushai with a short sigh. "This better not be a waste of my damn time," he mutters, red eyes narrowing.
He's still keeping an eye on Kakhach, wary of what the madman might do next. But for now, he's willing to follow Yushai—only because the possibility of getting some answers is somewhat tempting.
"So," he says after a moment, breaking the silence. "You said something about... 'combining'. What exactly does that mean?"
"from what I know, there are several places where the president can be. The first is in the city of Saarit or the second is in the forest by the river Fiti."
Lyutich runs up to Yushai and says, "You should hear what Kakhach said."
The mention of Saarit and Fiti sparks a flicker of interest in Saigid—he's vaguely familiar with both locations, albeit without having been there personally.
His attention shifts from Yushai to Lyutich, eyes narrowing slightly. "And what kind of nonsense did that lunatic yammer on about now?"
Yushai returns back. Kakhach says, "that man in the mask, his name is Crystal. He works for the president. But there is a small problem. The one who was here is just his clone. The real one is next to the president, he is his right-hand man. And as you might have guessed, what we were dealing with was only 15% of Crystal's strength."
Yushai thought hard. He ruffled his hair as if it would help him think better.
Lyutich looked puzzled at the people in the cage. "why did the president's people kidnap people? And specifically men? And why do they turn them.... Em... into such... soldiers anyway?"
Kakhach looks at his huge pet. Then he looks at the thoughtful Yushai and then at Lyutich.
"There is a so-called Extra-Dome King behind this whole office. He made a deal with President Fermiris to help him get inside a certain dome. Thus, the extra-dome king would not touch civilians and everything would be fine. But the president's plans were changed six times. And that's why the peace treaty has been terminated and he is going on the offensive by force. These soldiers were created as a vessel for extra-dome control, since he needed a vessel to get into the dome that he wanted. And as you know, a vessel is a person who can withstand its power."
"Of course, I don't consider myself smart, but I didn't understand anything," says Lyutich.
As Kakhach lays out the situation, Saigid' expression darkens—the more the fool talks, the more irritated he seems to be getting.
By the time Kakhach finishes the explanation, Saigid is practically glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "So," he says, voice tight and edged with irritation. "You're saying the masked bastard was only a fraction of this so-called Crystal's power? Wonderful."
"So," he says after a moment, breaking the silence. "You said something about... 'combining'. What exactly does that mean?"
"from what I know, there are several places where the president can be. The first is in the city of Saarit or the second is in the forest by the river Fiti."
Lyutich runs up to Yushai and says, "You should hear what Kakhach said."
The mention of Saarit and Fiti sparks a flicker of interest in Saigid—he's vaguely familiar with both locations, albeit without having been there personally.
His attention shifts from Yushai to Lyutich, eyes narrowing slightly. "And what kind of nonsense did that lunatic yammer on about now?"
Yushai returns back. Kakhach says, "that man in the mask, his name is Crystal. He works for the president. But there is a small problem. The one who was here is just his clone. The real one is next to the president, he is his right-hand man. And as you might have guessed, what we were dealing with was only 15% of Crystal's strength."
Yushai thought hard. He ruffled his hair as if it would help him think better.
Lyutich looked puzzled at the people in the cage. "why did the president's people kidnap people? And specifically men? And why do they turn them.... Em... into such... soldiers anyway?"
Kakhach looks at his huge pet. Then he looks at the thoughtful Yushai and then at Lyutich.
"There is a so-called Extra-Dome King behind this whole office. He made a deal with President Fermiris to help him get inside a certain dome. Thus, the extra-dome king would not touch civilians and everything would be fine. But the president's plans were changed six times. And that's why the peace treaty has been terminated and he is going on the offensive by force. These soldiers were created as a vessel for extra-dome control, since he needed a vessel to get into the dome that he wanted. And as you know, a vessel is a person who can withstand its power."
"Of course, I don't consider myself smart, but I didn't understand anything," says Lyutich.
As Kakhach lays out the situation, Saigid' expression darkens—the more the fool talks, the more irritated he seems to be getting.
By the time Kakhach finishes the explanation, Saigid is practically glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "So," he says, voice tight and edged with irritation. "You're saying the masked bastard was only a fraction of this so-called Crystal's power? Wonderful."
Yushai stares at Saigid with his usual blank stare. Hanchu stands between them and asks. "or maybe a draw?"
Saigid glances at Hanchu, then back at Yushai, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips.
"Draw?" he repeats, voice smooth and mocking. "How... adorably democratic."
He takes a slow step forward, red eyes gleaming like embers in the dim light. "Fine. Let fate decide."
With a flick of his wrist, he pulls out a silver coin—etched with an Onychinus sigil—and flips it high into the air.
"Heads, I go to Saarit.Tails, you're stuck with me in the forest.No arguments."
"No, no, no, I'm not talking about your date. I suggest counting all those present and dividing them into three categories. There are about 170 of us here, and we will each be given three subjects. For example, the blue stone is the Fiti River. The red stone - the man stays here. The black stone goes to Saarit" Hanchu says urgently.
Several people go to look for stones of different colors. But the decision was made that the stones should not be divided equally, but rather as needed. The red stones were exactly one hundred pieces. So that most of them stay at the base. The blue stones were in the amount of 50 pieces. Because there might be an ambush or something like that in the forest. For less, the number of stones was black. We thought that there would be no problems in the city.
Saigid watches the stone distribution with a growing sense of disdain.
"Ah," he says dryly, picking up a black stone and turning it over in his fingers. "So the city is 'no problem,' is it? That's always how people die—right before they get stabbed in the back by their own confidence."
Yushai pulls a blue stone out of the bag. Kakhach and Lyutich pull black stones out of the bag. Hanchu pulls out a red stone from the bag.
Saigid watches as everyone draws their stones, grumbling under his breath and glaring at Yushai.
"Of course you get the damn easy assignment," he mutters bitterly. "I get to walk into the middle of a city and get ambushed by the enemy, and you get to stroll through a forest with flowers and fluffy animals."