"He's bringing this many people?" asked Maya.
Hidden underneath her half-shut eyelids, her heterochromatic eyes betrayed her as they widened in disbelief as she watched the line of cars pulling up into the driveway.
Twenty vehicles rolled up, each filled with guards and members of the Facold family tasked with accompanying and carrying out Bell's order.
"Everyone is ready, Young Master," Jerman said, bowing as Bell descended the outdoor stairs.
Bell glanced at the convoy and nodded once, satisfied.
He wasn't like other protagonists who had to rely on themselves to deal with issues that arose. The weight of the world didn't have to be placed solely on his shoulders. It would be foolish not to use the resources he had at hand. He was an Agnus: power, resources, and people who would gladly throw themselves into the fire at his command.
Why do it alone when others could do his bidding?
All it took was a simple request to his grandfather, who once again asked if Bell needed his help, but due to the issues that it would cause, he was rejected once more.
"Isn't this overkill?" Maya muttered as she climbed into the same car as Bell.
Earlier, a part of her had prepared itself to put her life on the line and fight until every last fiber in her body burned.
But she forgot just who she had sworn loyalty to.
Now it felt like her conviction was for naught.
"There's no margin for error. Everyone involved in this needs to pay the price for their crime," Bell responded as he picked up the book he brought with him.
In a single-file line, the cars left the estate and began heading to the northern district.
In a single file, the convoy left the estate and headed toward the northern district. The Agnus seat lay in the far east — so far east, in fact, that it was the eastest of all east in St. Vernon.
Their estate had been purposely placed there generations ago when the king used their line as a bulwark against threats from that direction.
It was Maya's first time in a car; she spent the first few minutes marveling at the speed and smoothness of the ride.
The novelty quickly faded however when she remembered where they were going and their task at hand. This wasn't a joyride, it wasn't a moment to admire the scenery, they weren't heading out to a picnic — it was a trip into a place that had sheltered something ugly for who knew how long.
A frown formed as she stared out the window.
She noticed the small black box sitting between her and Bell.
He turned pages so quickly she couldn't tell whether he was reading or merely skimming.
"What's this box?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"It's a gift."
"What is it?"
"You'll see it when you see it," Bell's answer was intentionally vague.
'Why are you being so mysterious?!'
Her curiosity prickled; he knew it would. This was the perfect way to get on her nerves, but he wasn't doing it on purpose, unlike their first interaction at the library. He just didn't want her to know — at least until the very last second.
He'd rather never use the box at all. If the Agnus guards and Facold members handled everything, perfect: no intervention, no need to open it.
But if they couldn't and he had to, then—
It wouldn't come down to it though, right?
Even without the elite units who were away escorting his third brother on his mission that was handed to him by their father, the Duke, the force with him should be more than enough.
* * *
The Droselmire estate loomed in silence.
A beautiful place full of flowers and greenery when the two suns are high in the sky, illuminating the area, with the fog that had covered the city, all of that beauty was hidden, making its true colors easier to see.
The convoy riding along Rockshire street came to a stop a short distance away from the estate itself.
As the car doors opened, a hundred men and women moved in unison as they formed an interlocking rank.
The guards of Agnus were suited in their armor; all of them had the crest of the Agnus family, a black lion with red eyes, engraved on their shoulder plates.
A few of them had the banner of House Agnus draped over them like a scarf or cape.
What they were about to do was quite illegal.
It wasn't like the old days, when you could just attack another family unprovoked.
But with Godfrey's connection and the explanation they would give the city once it was over, there wouldn't be a punishment. If anything, they'd receive an award.
The assassins of the Facold family were dressed like assassins. Meaning they were black as the darkest of night.
The temporary leader of the guards and Jerman Facold I walked over to Bell's car, where he was still seated. His door was opened by little Jerman.
"We await your command, Young Master," said the leader.
"Move," Bell said as he closed his book.
The command was quiet, but it carried.
His guards surged forward like a tide of metal while the Facold members vanished as they dashed with incredible speed and silence.
"I… I can't believe I'm seeing this," Maya uttered in shock as she got out of the car and watched as the gate was smashed open and shortly after, the heavy oak doors of the estate cracked and crashed inward.
'I almost fell bad,' she thought for a moment before shaking her head. 'No. I know what that place is like. They deserve this.'
The guards entered a grand hall that stank of chemicals and roses.
Old portraits lined the walls, and faces of Droselmire ancestors long dead were watching the intrusion with cracked and hollow eyes.
The way the guards were moving, it was almost as if they knew the ins and outs of the place.
That was thanks to the information that Maya had given them.
Then came the first scream.
"AHHHH!"
A Droselmire guard — barely more than a boy — charged forward with his blade raised above his head.
His attack was blocked by a guard, and a dagger was inserted into his neck by a Facold member who appeared from the shadows.
Then another scream. And another. And another.
The battle had now fully begun.
Swords clashed, steel rang out, daggers flew through the air, and on a few occasions, skills granted by their gods were activated, brightening up the room with fire, drowning the hallway with water, etc.
The air was filled with the scent of blood, sweat, and hot iron.
While the battle was slowly pushing deeper and deeper into the mansion, Bell finally took his first step inside.
His hands were behind his back, and he walked as if he were browsing through a museum.
Jerman was closely behind him, his weapon out and prepared to attack anyone who got too close to his young master. He was also holding the black box in his other hand.
Maya was even closer behind him. She wasn't scared, but her heart was pounding as she observed the chaos ensuing before her.
The Agnus formation was holding firmly as they proceeded forward.
Everything was unraveling smoothly. Too smooth.
If it continued like this, then they would be finished shortly after, but—
"Something's wrong," Maya whispered as she vanished into thin air. "I'm going to find the scientist before he gets away."
The only reason she hadn't done so earlier was that she assumed everything was going to go perfectly fine. That was a mistake on her part.
Eyes flickering toward the staircase, Bell muttered, "Yes. Something is wrong indeed."
'It wouldn't be the world of a novel if everything went so smoothly for me,' he thought.
It started as a faint sound. Wet. Ragged.
It was like a creature breathing through a throat full of liquid.
Then came the smell that wafted into the hallways — acid and decay, it was sharp enough to make the air sting. All of his men and women had enhanced senses, so none of them failed to miss it.
From the second floor, the first figure stumbled into view.
Its limbs were twisted, its skin translucent and veined with sickly green light. Its jaw hung loose, and a tongue shriveled like burned leather dangled about.
"What… is that?" one of the Facold members stammered.
'Would it be wrong for me to assume that this creature was once a human?' Bell pondered. There were monsters in this world, but considering the context of where they were at, the experiments that the scientist they were after was known for doing, it was likely possible that this creature was a product of some sort of experiment.
The creature lunged from the staircase, grabbing a Droselmire guard whose scream was cut short as his throat was ripped open by claws that gleamed like glass.
"Mindless creature," Bell murmured, his tone flat. "Can't even tell the difference between foe or ally."
More of them came. Crawling out from side doors, bursting out through walls, spilling down the stairs, etc.
They varied in shapes and sizes; some were larger, some were slimmer, some had unbalanced limbs, and one of them was missing an arm.
Their howls echoed through the halls like a chorus plucked straight from Hell itself.
"Shields up!" the leader of the guards screamed. "Hold the line!"
The guards with shields got in front of their comrades and braced, activating their star ability that had to do with defence.
One of them created a blue shield that expanded as glyphs shimmered from his actual shield.
One of them created a wall of rocks that arose from the ground.
Another had a glowing symbol of a shield above him as his defensive strength was boosted momentarily.
Blocking the attacks, the other guards took the moment to attack as well as the Facold members who dashed in, got a few minor hits in before pulling back and repeating.
The leader joined the fray as his greatsword was enveloped in flames, and he used the blade to cut off one of their arms that was swinging at the head of his fellow guard.
The arm fell on the ground, but as the green veins on the shoulder pulsed faster, flesh began growing out from the stub, and the flesh stitched itself together like liquid wax until a new arm replaced the old.
He stepped back and screamed, "They can heal!"
"Hand me the box," Bell told Jerman.
Box in hand, he opened it and pulled out the widowmaker.
Walking forward, unhurried amid the chaos, he aimed the widowmaker, a revolver as black as obsidian, at the head of one of the creatures and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The sound was out of place in the world filled with swords and magic.
The single shot cracked through the hall. It wasn't just thunderous. It was sharp and final.
The sound cut through the noise of battle like the strike of a judge's gavel.
Tearing through the skull of one of the creatures, it fell. The guards standing in front of the creature waited to see if it would get back up.
But no. It was lifeless. Killed in an instant.
"Aim for the head!" the leader of the guards didn't hesitate to yell once he saw what his young master had done.