Now in the carriage and on their way to the Rosales home, both Red and Christopher started laughing at what had occurred. "You're both crazy, I knew we were planning on getting attention but…" Azure was interrupted by both Red and Christopher. "What the hell is wrong with this city." Christopher almost puked after saying this. "How can anything become this corrupted, this land is literally unlivable." Red also Grimaced. "What's wrong with you two?!" Rosalina was honestly worried about their reactions
Red breathed in deeply and said: "I'm sorry Rose, but we might actually have to destroy this city after all."
"WHAAATTT?!!!" Kitty, Azure, Rosalina, and Sybil could not keep their reactions in check.
"My prince is everything okay in there?!" John had heard screaming from the carriage, the other dozen knights and him couldn't help but be worried, although they knew that the individuals inside were far stronger than them. "Don't worry John, everything's okay. Be on the lookout for more problems on the road." "Yes, my prince." John took his orders to heart.
"You guys really need to learn to control yourselves." Red said this with a sigh. "Chris, I won't forgive you if you hurl inside the carriage." Red was honestly worried he might.
"What did you mean when you said you might have to destroy this city?!" Rosalina had tears in her eyes when she asked. "I'm sorry, but we still haven't even entered the city and already I can tell that the land is full of corruption, it's honestly an unbelievable amount." Rosalina could tell that Red was being completely honest. "Corruption is incredibly hard to cleanse, only healers and support mages of the highest levels can even hope to accomplish this. When such individuals are unavailable, the alternative is usually to find the source of the corruption and destroy it." Red hadn't lived long, but he doubted he'd see corruption like this again.
"Why can't we just do that? It's probably count Orlok, vampires are known for being powerful after all, it's him most likely." Azure had learned to not take what Red said lightly. "There's no way it's just him." Christopher barely managed to say this through his discomfort. "Chris is right, the amount of corruption here is quite simply hard to even imagine." Red sighed while he said this.
"How come only you two can sense this corruption then?" Azure had lived here all his life, but he had never sensed that anything was wrong with Asterion. "It's simple, I encountered corruption as part of my training to be able to wield pure mana, pure mana is neutral, so understanding both blessings and corruption let's you see both extremes of mana, letting you acquire the neutral pure mana much easier." Red disliked thinking about his past, but he hoped that everyone in the carriage would be able to grow by telling them this.
"What about Chris?" Kitty signaled the proud knight who looked like he was physically sick from the exposure to the city. "Well, as you know, Chris is a devout follower of the goddess of light, she is the enemy of everything evil, so this amount of corruption, if you can even still call it that, is making him sick." Red sighed once more and said: "Rose, can you use a detox spell on Chris?" Rose did so without complaint. "Chris you're going to need to man up, I know you're having a hard time but I need your help now more than ever." Red said this sternly, but both Christopher and Kitty knew that Red wouldn't have asked this of Christopher if he didn't believe in him.
"Don't worry my prince, thanks to Rosalina's spell I can think more clearly, I'm sure the goddess will protect me while in the city. That might call attention to myself however." Christopher prayed and a faint golden aura enveloping him finally managed to break his discomfort. "The goddess, should just go ahead and make you a saint already, with all the devotion you show her." Red chuckled, he was relieved that his right hand man was back in action. "You know it doesn't work like that." Christopher said this, but he couldn't help but remain hopeful that he could achieve this one day.
"Well, let's get into my plan for now, before we find the source of the corruption we need to deal with this count Orlok. Now, we obviously won't be going to a restaurant tomorrow night..." "AWWW!" Rosalina had been looking forward to a night out with Red and Kitty. "Hush Rosalina, there are very important matters to attend to, I'm sure you'll have time when we take care of this." Sybil knew better than to take Red's statement about destroying the city lightly, she had known his father James for a while, and she knew just how devastating the man's strength could be. Red being James' heir was most likely more than capable of unleashing devastation on the city.
While patting Rosalina's head, Red continued: "We won't be at the restaurant tomorrow, but you will be Chris." Christopher nodded. "Why does he get to go?" Rosalina pouted her lips while saying this. "I didn't know you had such a bratty side to you." Red said this with a chuckle. Rosalina blushed and hid her face against Red's shoulder. Kitty couldn't help but giggle at this sight.
"From what I told Leonorio, count Orlok is very likely to send assassins and maybe even a bunch of guards to the location, Chris quite frankly has mana comparable to a saint already, so he shouldn't have trouble against them, no matter who they send." Christopher was visibly pleased by what Red said.
"If he's expecting you there, won't he send attackers to our mansion instead, there's no way he hasn't heard that you bested me in a duel. I doubt he'll send just anyone to take care of it." Azure knew that Christopher was strong, but he didn't understand why Red would let him handle something that might even be dangerous for him.
"Well, not to toot my own horn, but I really doubt that there's a soldier, noble, or even a royal stronger than me in this city, although your royals are trash.... Anyway, Orlok probably thinks that a mildly strong Assassin could deal with me, I'd be with both my fiancés after all, he probably thinks he can use that opportunity to assassinate all three of us. I've been underestimated for my age before after all, that's why I had both Chris and I deal with the soldiers earlier, he'll most likely think he has my level of strength approximated." Red grabbed his chin as he said this.
"What about me then?" Azure wanted to be part of the plan, this corruption was affecting his city after all. "I'll have you stay with Rose, Kitty, and lady Sybil at your mansion. The guards will also stay with you. It's as you said, I can't be sure that they wont send people to the manor when they don't see me at the restaurant. I know that you will be able to keep them all safe." Azure smiled smugly, Red's compliment had gone straight to his head. "Leave it to me, what about you though?" After regaining his countenance, Azure launched a knowing glance at Red. Red smiled and said: "I'll be hunting a vampire."
The next night, Christopher Arknight sat alone in a secluded restaurant high on a hill, the restaurant Mascarpone was quite well known in Asterion, famous for serving exquisite pasta and having a tasteful decor. Christopher would've liked to come here with his friends, but it wasn't meant to happen he thought. 'Who knows if it'll even last the night.' The thought saddened him, but he had a duty to uphold tonight.
The first course had arrived, a salad with some type of vinaigrette had been served, along with a basket of bread and butter. Christopher's stomach rumbled loudly. The elderly waitress couldn't help but giggle. After the waitress left and his embarrassment subsided, Christopher couldn't help but wolf down the food, it was gone in less than a minute. The waitress saw this from afar and went to tell the owner. The owner had come from a continent across the sea, in his land hospitality was a must. The man's name was Giorno Maroni.
The owner had been told that the young man had made the food disappear in less than a minute. "Not only did he reserve the entire place tonight at his great expense, but he also appreciates my food,.... is he really a noble?" Giorno had heard countless complaints from noble's before, it usually regarded how inexpensive the ingredients were, and how they wanted only the finest food. "It appears this young man understands that pecetas spent don't equal quality. That settles it, I want you cooks at full throttle! I'm gonna have to speak to this young man over a meal."
Giorno went out and greeted Christopher, a vast number of plates followed him out of the kitchen. Giorno and Christopher spoke for over an hour meanwhile they also ate a great amount. It was quite unexpected, but it was evident that a new friendship had been formed between the two of them. Laughter filled the dining room, even the waiters were entranced by the conversation, but a final guest had arrived.
"It seems you blood sacks are having quite a lot of fun here, I hope you won't mind that I'm joining." A woman of fair complexion said this with a threatening tone in her voice, and then she opened her mouth, a pair of long fangs revealing what she truly was.
Giorno and Christopher instinctively knew what she was, surprised of this fact, both of them exclaimed in unison: "Mamma Mia!!!"