While we were being attacked, the first thing I noticed was how the people in the black robes were mindlessly charging at people.
I mean, every terrorist attack should have a purpose, no?
Then this brings us to this question. What is the purpose of this attack on the church? Why are they attacking right now? Don't they know we have an 8-star knight protecting us? How come they are just blindly massacring people? Is it just to cause discomfort in the people of the dukedom and weaken its governance of it?
I don't think it is just as simple as it sounds. The gathering of dark mana, this preparation itself, needs a good amount of time, so I don't think they are aiming just to cause discomfort. There should be something else they are planning to achieve from this attack.
And it seems I was right. They were not blindly charging at people and massacring them, no. They were actually preparing for something big.
The moment I sensed the huge dark mana gathering around a person, I knew it was something big. It should have been at least a 7-rank spell.
However, it seems I underestimated them a bit.
/ROAR/ /ROAR/ /ROAR/
'The 8-rank dark summoning spell, Kerberos.'
This spell is one of the most dangerous spells to use in the subject of dark mana, and it is strictly forbidden.
There are two reasons for this. The first one is that, in order to summon Kerberos, you need to have sacrifices. However, normal sacrifices won't be enough. You need to sacrifice people with a good affinity for mana, which generally means the nobles.
And secondly, it is impossible to control the summoned monster, Kerberos, which is different from any other summoning magic. Some people say it is because Kerberos is a monster from Hell itself, but the reason for this uncontrolled behavior is still unknown.
Those two reasons coupled made the governing powers in this world ban the usage of this spell, and the records holding its chant or any other things are all burned as well.
Then, how can I know something like this? From the game, of course. Know that this group is not a force that is strictly reliant on the revival of the deity they referred to as god.
No, they are a strong force on their own. They have talented individuals, a good economy, and good backup supporters.
And in the game, they used this spell several times, and each time they used it, the results were horrible for the victims.
The cities were destroyed, a huge number of people were killed… It was like a scene from a gore movie, and there were dead bodies everywhere; some people didn't have half of their body, and some people's body was chewed out…
The thing I identified as blindly charging seems like it was not blindly charging at all. They were aiming to kill all those nobles who attended this party and complete the summoning.
However, still, why now? And, how come they were prepared for this from the beginning? Did the death of Austin also pre-planned action?
There are so many questions bugging my mind, but right now, I don't have the leisure to answer those questions since this place will be very hot soon.
"Just what is this monster?" "We are all dead, and there is no way we can kill it."
"No, Sir George is with us. He is an 8-star knight, so we should have a chance."
There were murmurs between nobles; some were positive, and some were negative.
Seeing the monster summoning, the knight commander's complexion was also not a good one.
'Hmm, what is this ominous feeling I am getting from this monster? It feels like it has come straight from Hell itself.'
He thought like that, but George didn't give in to this feeling and regained his composure.
/ROAR/ /ROAR/ /ROAR/
With a huge roaring sound, the huge three-headed monster started attacking the people in front of it.
"MAGICIANS SHIELD!"
With a command coming from the knight commander, all magicians focused on shielding.
/SHINE/
"Evacuate all people here. I will deal with this monster. Leave immediately."
George commanded the knights surrounding him and, at the same time, attacked the monster with his great sword.
/ROAR/ /ROAR/ /ROAR/
With another roar coming from all three heads, the monster responded as well, and their attacks collided with each other.
/BOOM/ /CRASH/
And the aftereffects were really bad.
The reason why most of the time, strong people avoid fighting in a crowded place is that their fight would heavily affect the surrounding.
Look at that; from just one exchange of blows, all the surrounding buildings shook, and it won't take too long for them to collapse.
"Come with us, please, young master and young lady. We will safely escort you to the mansion."
Saying that, the knights who were protecting us started leading us out of the cathedral. And it was not just us. The other people were being evacuated as well.
"Brother, what was with this monster? The spirits were all afraid, and my powers were not working well around it either. When I looked at it first, it gave me chills; it felt like that monster was the embodiment of Hell itself. Sigh, it was scary…. And I don't even want to talk about those resentful spirits around it either. Brother, do you know anything about it?"
I heard Diana asking. Hmm, her powers not working around Kerberos is pretty normal since spirits highly value purity and innocence. The aura of Kerberos itself should have scared all those spirits.
"No, Diana, I don't know anything about it either. I have never seen something like that in the books or anything. That monster was not in the records. Either it is an ancient species or the information regarding it is heavily guarded."
I answered Diana while walking with the knights.
"Young master, we will reunite with other groups when we move out of the cathedral. We don't know if we will get attacked again, so please get ready."
The knight in front of us warned us, and we started moving again.
/BOOM/ /BOOM/ /CRASH/ /CRASH/ /CRASH/
The moment we reached the outside of the cathedral, we heard another sound of cracking as well as the sound of fighting.
It seems the knight commander won't hold himself back anymore. Well, he should be able to win. Even though Kerberos is a legendary monster when it is summoned, its power will be adjusted according to the power of the spell, and right now, it should have strength close to the 8-rank. But that won't be enough to win against the knight commander, either.
And not long after us, the other people started coming out as well.
One by one, people started coming out, and Adelyn, Emma, and the main cast followed them not long after.
However, at that moment, we heard a shouting sound.
"ALL HAIL HODUR!" "ALL HAIL HODUR!" "ALL HAIL HODUR!" "ALL HAIL HODUR!"
Suddenly four people mixed in the crowd started shouting and blew themselves up, which caught all the people off-guard.
/BOOM/ /BOOM/ /BOOM/ /BOOM/
With the loud sound of bombing, everyone got scattered around suddenly, and since the explosion was pretty close to us, I wasn't able to avoid it either and was blown away by that.
'Fuck, they really blew themselves up. Those lunatics…'
/TING/ /TING/
I thought while trying to stand up. This constant ring of tingling sound in my head pisses me off.
"Cough, cough. Diana, are you okay?"
I stood up and started looking for Diana.
"Cough, yes, brother. I am okay, and the spirits protected me."
Diana responded. Good, it seems Diana is not injured, either. But I don't understand, what are they aiming for?
Why are they doing this?
I closed my eyes and started focusing on mana as well as started thinking about all events that took place after the attack started.
First- the sudden attack of the bombing
Second- the indiscriminate massacre
Third- the summoning of Kerberos
Fourth- the last bomb attack
And lastly, the high amount of dark mana gathered around the knights in front of us.
Ah, I see. Right now, I understand. They are trying to take a hostage from the Duke household itself. Everything was just for that.
The sudden bomb attack made it look like any normal terrorist attack.
The indiscriminate massacre was to summon Kerberos.
The summoning of Kerberos was to keep the Knight Commander busy.
And the last bomb attack was to mess up with the coordination of people around us just to isolate two heirs…
Wow, that is a truly well-planned course of action. I should really congratulate the mastermind behind this. The plan is almost flawless; no, we can say it is flawless; if I was the original Callius.
But sadly, I am not.
I am not a classless kid who can't protect himself or who can't fight against the enemy.
No, I am the mage of the beginning.
Let me give you a taste of my magic….