Chapter 53: Chapter 52 – Making a decision.

The night was dark and the whole city was lit up by the light of the lanterns. The winds had picked up and it started to drizzle. It looked like it would be a cold, stormy night. The guards that were patrolling the city moved slowly, mostly keeping to the buildings and hiding from the rain.

In one of the better-off sections of the city was Exeor’s Magic Emporium. It was late and close to 9 pm now. Almost everyone had left the store and was now either at home or out in the pub. However, there was still light shining in the building, mostly through one window in particular.

This very window was getting closed by a man in a black robe. There was a collapsed gnome in the room next to some alchemy equipment. By the entrance door to this lab, there was a female elf. To normal people, she might have looked like a sun elf but this man saw through her disguise.

The man placed a double helix looking magical device on a nearby table after closing the window. The artifact gave off a red glow and the helixes revolved around each other while this item was active.

Besides these three there were two more people in close proximity. One was a tall human youth that was passed out close to the female elf. The other was another woman in a black robe that was similar to the one this man was wearing.

She was now bringing the passed out woman over. She did this by dragging her by her long hair. Her legs were dangling and her arms were flopping around without any strength in them.

“That toy always makes things so boring~”

The woman said while sighing, she tossed the passed out Zilyana into the room while complaining.

“Do not talk about our lord's artifact in such a way! It is a blessing from the Lord of the Abyss.”

The man replied in a monotone voice while glaring at his partner in crime. The woman had her hood down so you could see her smiling widely after the man got mad.

“I wouldn’t dare, our Lord is truly merciful”

The woman shrugged while replying, her tone indicating a hint of mockery. The two clearly had different views about this lord they were speaking of.

“Can we at least take their bags, they won’t be needing them.”

The woman smirked while pointing to the bags that both the gnome and the elf had on their sides. The man didn’t answer and that was enough for the obsidian skinned elf to move closer. She took out an intricate-looking dagger and pointed it towards the unmoving bodies of the gnome and elf.

Unbeknownst to the two the third person that was there was quite awake. The tier 1 class holder that was there didn’t seem like a threat to these two assassins. They were preoccupied with the target and his hidden guard to pay attention to the sleeping youth. This would turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes that they could have made.

Roland waited patiently, he started moving his hand towards his belt where he had one of his magical wands attached. They still looked like pieces of wide metal with a handle. After getting the knack of steel weapons he had created one that could support his fire arrow spell.

There were some downsides in making a weapon like this. The charges a regular steel weapon could hold was limited. Even with the highest rune quality and the help of the rune compression skill at most he could squeeze out ten charges.

The runic components would erode afterward. That is also why he kept the paddle-like design, with the added thickness and wide shape he could repair it more often. After each repair, some of the material would be lost but these wands didn’t need to keep an edge so it was fine.

Finally, he saw the opportunity to strike. The woman pulled out her dagger and started going for the bags of holding. He grasped his weapon and was ready to point it at the strange artifact that was radiating with an unusual mana signature.

The man in the black robe didn’t look like he would be waiting much more. He moved his hand up and Roland could hear some strange cracking noises, it was as if bones were being broken. He had to act now, he knew that this was probably the only way he would survive.

These two were far above him in levels, he didn’t think that he would be able to make it down the corridor if he ran. He would probably get stabbed by the strange black looking elven woman. She looked like the speedy type and agility was the stat that Roland lacked the most.

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He knew that Zilyana wasn’t what she seemed. She was the only person that could get him out of this bind. He also wasn’t sure how strong the gnome was in a fight but he also could have a trick up his sleeve.

There was a slight delay with the spell activation. To be on the safe side he needed to inject his mana before aiming with his steel wand. The downside of this was that he couldn’t focus on his target before activating his weapon. He had no choice though as otherwise, he might lose the element of surprise.

“Hm?”

A large thick tentacle rose from the man’s long sleeve but stopped midway. He was about to devour the gnome that was on the floor. He had carried him over here and placed him next to the elven woman. He wanted to order his accomplice to carry the last person over here but before that could happen he noticed a new mana signature. Someone was clearly activating a spell or a magical item.

The man’s class was an Abyssal Warlock, a prestige class that needed some special steps to unlock. He was someone that was proficient in transformation magic, he could transform his body into many abyssal monstrosities. He was also someone that started just like every other magic caster, as a tier 1 mage.

He possessed all the magic-related skills and traits. He had noticed the shift in mana around Roland’s body but it was already too late. He had believed in the artifact, it had never failed him before. Even this tier 3 elven woman and gnome had fallen to its might.

Only people with specialized classes that were resistant against abyssal illusion magic would be able to resist it. The youth that was there didn’t fit the criteria, he didn’t even have a tier 2 class. Yet somehow there he was, pointing a piece of metal at the artifact that this man was so proud off.

The Abyssal warlock’s eyes glowed in a red color and he pointed his large tentacle at the magical device. He was trying to defend it, what the youth was planning was clear.

The thick tentacle flew to block the path of the fiery arrow but it was too late. The mass of fire elemental energy slammed into the double helix-shaped item. The artifact wasn’t built with defensive measures in mind so it shattered into many tiny pieces along with the table that it was on.

“Nooooooo!”

The man wailed in a strange deep voice as he watched his artifact being destroyed. The woman that was with him was already next to the perpetrator. She had vanished from her spot and instantly appeared with her dagger above him, ready to deliver a killing blow.

Without giving him much time to react, Roland turtled up. Right after firing the fire arrow spell he instantly activated every protective item on his person. He had many magic shield type runic spell scrolls on himself just for such an occasion.

His body was covered by various elemental shields, fire, wind, water, and earth. He was encased in many layers of common grade magical shields. The woman didn’t falter with her attack, her face showed a ghastly wide grin.

The dagger flew down and started going through the protective barriers like through butter. Only after passing the fourth one did it start slowing down. Roland continued activating more shields in hopes of stalling her. His true objective wasn’t to defend himself from this attack, it was to give the people in this room time to react.

The biggest problem was that he didn’t know how long that would take. He was putting his life in other's hands yet again. He had a theory that Zilyana wasn’t just a simple shop clerk. She stuck too close to this gnome and he never saw any bodyguards around. Either the gnome was strong himself or this woman was the one defending him. His theory would be now put to the test and he really hoped that he was right.

The last barrier finally shattered and the dagger poked through. It went right into his shoulder as he was given enough time to shift himself to the side.

The pain was excruciating, he couldn’t help himself from screaming. The woman’s eyes turned into two crescent moons and it looked like she was enjoying herself.

“Naughty boy.”

She said while twisting the dagger that had cleanly penetrated through Roland’s scapula bone, it had even reached the floor behind it.

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