I'm feeling kind of evil, to be honest. Looking over at the wee bit of carnage that we've caused, I realized I've let the bubbling demons in me take a hold of my soul for a moment and had ran rampant a touch too much. Or two touches too much, maybe.
Death, in fairness, is hardly an alien concept to me at this point. I've largely made my peace with the fact I'll be killing quite a few folk, but still, pulling back out a bit and observing my actions... sheesh. Sometimes I wonder whether I made up my entire life back on Earth as I'm fairly certain that guy wouldn't recognize this guy.
Long Tao was the last one to finish, but he didn't kill the man; instead, he tied him up and brought it over to me, uncloaking the figure at last. Beneath was a marred and scarred face, with barely an inch of the skin visibly unhurt, malformed to an extent that it made me wince. Bald, black-eyed, and thin-lipped, the man stared at me with indifference of someone who simply didn't seem to care for his fate.
"Who is she?" Long Tao asked as the rest of the kids climbed up to us as well.
"Just somebody else who participated in the auction," I didn't lie, technically, as I really didn't know who she was. It did scare me a bit that she recognized me, though, and it scared me that there was apparently a portrait of me out there that was so lifelike, my eyes were one-to-one on it. "Why'd you bring him here?"
"I thought you could question him."
"Did he say anything?"
"Not a word."
"And you think I can get him to talk?"
"Worth a shot," he shrugged, sitting down.
I looked over at the man as the kids settled about, with Lao Shun and Shufen joining me--alongside the woman--standing next to me and inquisitively looking at the man with me.
"He doesn't look like a Sage," Lao Shun said.
"Because he's not," I'd already used my Creator's Eye on him--the only proof he even belonged to the order was the same Brain-Worm that Yawen woman had back in Moonlake City. Other than that, he was actually kind of pedestrian, with a slightly above-average talent, at best, and not much else. "He's just another bottom-feeder. What's your name?" I asked, not expecting much. The man, surprisingly, answered.
"Child of the Abyss."
"Hm. I somehow doubt that. Why did you attack this place?"
"To reclaim what is ours."
"And what is yours?"
"..."
"Is there a Sage with you?" I asked. Though the reply never came, there was a brief flash of light in the man's eyes that all but confirmed it. "There really is a Sage. Huh."
"What Sage? What are you talking about?" the new woman asked, but before I could reply, I watched the man's eyes melt into a acidic sludge that then began to melt the rest of his face. Before a literal second was up, half of him was gone, melding into the floor below.
"These guys sure have a flair for creepy," Shufen said. "What now?"
"Let's go to the central hall," I said. There was one hope left in me--that we'd resolve this quickly, and that I'd get some of the promised stones. If I don't get any, I will cry. I will literally just sprawl on the ground and cry for seven days and nights. "They'll be joining us. Lan'er, you and little Feng'er take the front this time."
"Yes, Master!" the two jumped, speeding over to the front as we descended back down and over to the passage where Long Tao fought.
The hallway we entered was slightly wider than the one before, curving along the edges. It was also fully bereft of light and had corpses stacked to the ceiling, almost, in certain spots. Cloaked shadows suddenly emerged, striking at our flanks. I actually didn't spot them, and from the looks of it neither did anyone else--save for perhaps Long Tao--but it didn't really matter. They were... weak.
A single flick of my blade was enough to cut through three of them, while the kids did even better. Rather, half of them didn't even get to participate, with Rayce finally finding the Word for light and conjuring a floating orb near us that brightened the place. Alright, maybe brightened is a wrong word to use here as it simply gave us a better look of absolutely horrific destruction and death, but still.
As we made our way through the hallway, the frequency of attacks lessened while the sounds of the battle grew louder and louder. Towards the end, we sped up and emerged into a connecting chamber similar to the last one, except it was about half its size.
There was just one battle happening, with about two dozen figures in varying states of hurt sitting and lying around the chamber's edges, and three figures fighting at the center--two young men were attacking a cloaked figure wielding a large claymore.
"Twin Wind-Daggers!" an unfamiliar voice commented, prompting us all to turn and face him; it was the young man who accompanied the strange woman, whose names I still didn't actually ask for... for some reason. "T-those two... are famous..." he elaborated, cheeks flushing red momentarily.
"They're quite coordinated," Shufen said. "It's still a miracle they're putting on a fight."
"Really?" most seemed dubious of Shufen's estimate--as did I, initially. However, considering her Traits... yeah, she probably saw something we didn't. So, I used my own little cheat.
[--Dao Sight used]
[Target: Belligerent Night]
[...]
[Host is not strong enough to view the target's information]
[Spend 1,000CP to partially view the target's information?]
... it's been some time since I saw that little block, and even more since I saw such high cost.
"Tao'er--"
"--they can do it," Long Tao said somewhat dismissively. "Lan, Xiu, Zhao, Rayce, Yimu, and Shufen. Feng can coordinate them."
"Hm," though I could feel the woman's strange gaze on me, I ignored it. I pondered for a moment whether to spend 1,000 points or not, but actually decided against it--for now. Though it's not as though I can't afford it, there was a strange itch at the back of my head; relying so ostensibly on it... wasn't actually good. This is only the second 'obstacle', if I could even call it that, and I'd already be relying on a crutch. Just because I can afford it now doesn't mean I'd be able to afford the rest.
I also need to be able to recognize signs of danger without it--heck, neither Shufen nor Long Tao had a system that told them the precise strength of someone, but they could discern it just as well.
"Alright. If you feel like it's too dangerous, step back immediately."
"Don't worry, Master," Lan'er stepped out, his lips splitting into a... alright, I don't wanna say a creepy smile, but I will say that she'd feel right at home in that movie Smile. "We will make sure they understand your pain, and understand it a thousandfold!"
... eh? What?
"Just a thousandfold?! No, a millionfold!" alright Xiu'er, that's sweet, but what are you guys talking about?! What pain? I'm just pissed off!
"Just a millionfold? How about--"
"--just go, for the love of everything." Long Tao interrupted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Wow. I'm actually more tolerant of this bullshit than Long Tao himself.
Huh.
That feels good. Real good.