The next morning.
City Guards surrounded Sykes's house, both as a form of protection and detention.
Two hours back, three players had somehow located the house upon hearing the screams of the blacksmith. They rescued him and attacked Sykes, who they thought to be Leonard.
Now the players were on a full on argument with the guards, demanding them to hand over Leonard to them. The guards didn't move an inch, replying sharply that an investigation was under order.
For them, discipline and rules in their own rankings came first...the rest came after that.
The citizens of Trios lurked nearby, watching the tension unfold. Few however didn't stay long for they couldn't tolerate the stink coming from the slum area.
Sykes was heavily perplexed. He still couldn't remember how he had lost consciousness.
One moment he was walking, the next he was on the ground. And the strangest thing being he woke up on his cot.
Technically he was forced to wake up when those three had broken through the door.
His body was barely holding on though.
When he woke up and tried to speak to the intruders, he wasn't able to. Immediately he found out that his tongue had somehow been lopped off. Running his fingers on his face, he understood soon enough that his face was a mess of cuts that made him unrecognisable.
No wonder they thought him as someone named 'Leonard' who also had the same yellow hair as him.
Strange.
And now it didn't look as if any medic would soon be here to alleviate the coursing pain he felt in every fibre in his body.
But even though he was in a deadly condition, his primary concern was...
'Where is the blacksmith?! Shit, i shouldn't have delayed so much. I should have killed him when I had the chance. What if the Second Seat considers me unworthy now?'
He wasn't panicking from the fact that hundreds of saviours were just outside his house, demanding his death and whatnot nor was he panicking from the fact that if not treated quickly he might even die...but he was rather panicking from the thought that he might have already failed the Second Seat.
What if the Second Seat no longer considered him worthy?
What if he could no longer serve the Temple?
Truly a religious fanatic through and through.
__________
Adrian watched all of this while standing among the numerous people around the house. His eyes were narrowed, his brows slightly furrowed as the chitter-chatter around him grew absolutely annoying.
Truth be told, he was dissatisfied with the condition he found himself in. He hadn't expected Sykes to live the encounter with the saviours. Afterall, it was Adrian who tipped them with his location.
And yet, the saviours couldn't kill him.
He had watched that fight. And that's when he realised that the fighting style of the Saviours were too blunt. Their physique;weak and frail.
For a moment, he couldn't actually believe that these were the Saviours!
Sykes had easily won the encounter.
Though Adrian's plans haven't exactly gone awry.
If he wanted, he could simply flee from Trios itself.
But Leonard shall still be chased.
And Adrian wanted Leonard officially dead. And with the death of Sykes, he could have achieved that.
No, Syles has to die.
Adrian then subtly raised his fingers and snapped them before walking away a short distance from the crowd.
_______
Drew currently stood among the crowd, his hands shaking as he brought the crystal to his lips and whispered in them.
"Can you hear me?"
Looking ahead, he saw one of the guards stiffen, his head looking left and right in confusion.
Gulping down his fear, he said again, "I know you can hear me, Guard."
Who is supposed to get threatened by that meek voice?
A calm voice resonated in his mind. His shoulder snapped behind as his eyes met him.
There, a bit farther from the crowd, stood a black haired man, his eyes fixed on him.
Drew blew in a lungful of breath meeting his gaze. He was so scared right now. He wanted to scream for help, to run away from this madness. But he was helpless.
As if that wasn't enough, the man's voice entered his mind again.
See blacksmith, I am not forcing you to do this. You can still say no anytime and go away from here. It's just that your family won't be able to return back alive...with you.
The black haired man pointed towards a specific section of the crowd where Drew's family stood, watching the spectacle like many others.
In a low voice, Drew pleaded.
"I shall do it, please...leave them alive."
Depends on you, came the indifferent reply.
Drew steadied himself. He had to do this. For himself and his family.
This was his chance at redemption. The man has said it himself!
Although the dangerous man looked calm, Drew could see the bow and arrows he was hiding behind his clasped hands, his gaze never leaving his family.
As if it was a warning...a reminder to him of how his family's fate rested upon his hands.
Drew brought the crystal to his lips again and feigning a sinister voice, threatened the guard.
"Guard, yes you! Nobody besides you can hear my words and don't even think of telling about me to anyone.
Listen properly, just turn your head to your right.
Yes, yes...now do you see someone?"
He watched the guard, whose face now bore curiosity mixed with slight cautiousness.
Kicking it up a notch, he continued, "She is currently under my gaze. An arrow at her heart, that won't be the best thing...would it be?"
Drew bit his lips watching the man's expression crumble on hearing such a threat. The person in target was the guard's wife.
And Drew could see how much shaken the guard looked at that moment.
'How did he even stage all this so perfectly?' He thought while stealing a look behind him, only to find those same hollow eyes upon him.
He snapped his head forward, trying to ignore the cold sweat that broke out on his brow.
He then softened his voice, just a little as he exclaimed, "But you have a way to save her. It's really simple...kill the guy in the house."
The guard tensed at the offer, his body refusijg to act or move, his mind torn between duty and love.
To incite him into action, Drew quickly added, "If you agree, nod or else...your Miss won't be there with us anymore..." He drawled out the last of his words.
After a moment of hesitation, the guard nodded.
Seeing this, Drew sighed in relief as he looked at his back and gave a slight nod.
The black-haired man looked at him for a moment before his eyes snapped forward...towards the house.
Drew seeing that, did the same and and as he looked at the house....he saw the guard gutting the straw haired man.
The man fell dead.
The crowd suddenly stilled.
Silence.
No one spoke.
Nobody moved.
Each and every pair of eyes were on the house, on the guard who just killed the man they were supposed to protect.
"Oh shit, he isn't Leonard, guys. His name is still listed in the System!" A sudden shout broke the almost peaceful silence.
Chuck
Suddenly, an arrow flew and pierced the guard who just killed the supposed Leonard.
And suddenly as if possessed, many guards screamed and rushed towards the players, instantly killing many.
Chaos broke.
People, saviours...all ran in every direction. They stumbled upon each other. Their hearts thumped loudly in their chests, their fear messing their thoughts.
Thump! thump!
Chasing after them were those loud steps of the guards, desperately bent on killing them.
The City Guard Chief and the rest of the guards came to their senses and rushed forward to stop their frenzied brothers-in-arms.
In the midst of this, another scream broke out.
It sent chills deep inside everyone's core. The shriek was filled with raw agony, intense distress and pain.
Almost instantly all the eyes found the source.
Many recognised it as the blacksmith.
But currently, he didn't resemble anything like a human.
His entire body burned in shades of blue; scorching flames consumed his muscles, tearing his soul and ending his entire existence within seconds.
Another set of screams followed as his wife, his children came rushing towards the blacksmith's burning figure, as if to seize him away from the thralls of the hellish torment.
Coming out of their reverie, the guards' chief cast away his shock and roared, "Catch them. Capture all who were involved in this incident!"
In an instant, the guards coming to their own senses, readied their own weapons. While in the amidst of the sudden chaos and confusion, the players ran.
Although they were utterly confused with the situation, they didn't want to be involved in the mess.
Even for a game, this scene looked too heart-wrenching. They wanted to rush away from there.
Anywhere but here!
Among these running visages, one such was Nyx.
She was utterly baffled at the strange turn of events.
What happened exactly? She couldn't keep track of anything after the guard suddenly killed the man.
While she did guess that he wasn't Adrian but she wanted to see how everything played out.
Instead of clarity, all she gained was a scene of torment.
It was now evening. The sun was setting, leaving bloody skies in its place.
Was this a premonition of doom? She hoped not.
She suddenly heard a chuckle through the communication piece neatly tucked within the folds of her ear.
"So you got played as well huh?"
"My Lady!" Nyx separated from the others and went to an isolated spot.
"What do you mean,my lady?" Nyx asked.
The voice replied, "If I am not wrong, you are probably thinking he is out of this town already, right?"
"Isn't that obvious, my lady? What could be a better time than now to get away from here?" Nyx didn't get what her lady meant by her words.
"Not unexpected...it even took me quite some time to figure it out. He is within this city, Nyx. He is probably even waiting for you to get out of here.
Looking back at it, I should have guessed it as well.
I don't know how but all the chaos was orchestrated by him. Remember that shout declaring Leonard still alive? It was probably him...no, it was surely him.
Yes, that's how it was..." Her voice trailed off.
Nyx widened her eyes as she asked, "How though? How would he even know the existence of the systems?"
"Nyx" the voice started, "That man..Adrian, he is intelligent, smart, strong and ...very adaptive. He knows how to analyse situations and solve it, always keeping it in his own favour.
I can guess it...Heck, I can even imagine it vividly, how he must have chatted with the players, mixing with them as if he were one of them, talking with them with such familiarity as if he had known them for as long as one could remember, as if he and we both have been living at the same place, had the same culture...as if we are friends.
Nyx...beware of every person you see around you. He could be anyone. The person you trust the most, your enemy, your imaginary lover, your family; he could be anyone...
He has this cloak, just a family heirloom. They call it the Protean Veil.
No matter how much you try to see, you shall never gain the vision required to spot him.
No matter how much you try to follow his trail, you shall always end up ahead of him and he...he would be at your back, waiting for you to stumble, waiting for you to look back...as he stabs you, butchers you...
There was a reason they called him the 'Puppeteer.' "
Nyx found herself stunned.
The more she thought about it, the more she could see how carefully every move had been manueavered towards this very result...creating chaos.
The death of the straw haired man.
The guard's death.
The blacksmith's death, who also happened to be kidnapped by the same straw haired man.
A connection... She could see a link between the three,purposely used by Adrian to derail her and everyone behind him.
Though she still couldn't explain how the link might have been used.
It was really impressive.
The voice returned back again. A soothing one, capable of cooling down souls.
"But fret not, Nyx. Even if the world fails to recognise him, I shall still be able to. In this mission of yours, I shall help you..."