Blending into the crowd, Emilio and Sirius followed behind the towering merchant, who slowly walked through the street. The red-haired, pale figure wore green-and-gray clothes, with baggy pants and a gray vest over their tunic.
"He's got company," Sirius whispered.
"Yeah," Emilio nodded.
Beside their target, there was another figure who walked beside him: a man with slicked-back, ashy-gray hair and light-green eyes, wearing leather armor with silver plating on his shoulders.
'A hired guard? An adventurer, or is he a member of the Children of Chaos?' Emilio questioned.
As he kept his gaze laser-focused on the target up ahead, walking through the crowd as he pushed through some passing civilians, earning some odd looks, he was suddenly intercepted by a figure–
"Hey! You look famished! Would you like to try some of my delicious bread?!"
The out-of-nowhere interception in his path almost made him instinctively attack, though he stopped himself as he realized it was a streetside merchant, who was holding a loaf of fresh bread in one hand.
The bread seller was a tan-skinned woman with dark-brown hair, smiling at him with the bread in hand.
"No, I'll pass–" Emilio declined, trying to continue moving forward as he could see the target getting further, though the seller of yeast goods pressed on.
"Oh, but you don't know what you're missing out on! My bread is the best in this region of Vasmoria, they say! So, why don't you try one? I'll give you a discount!" The bread seller insisted.
"Hey, I said I'll pass!--"
Getting frustrated as his target got more distant within those few seconds as Sirius stood ahead, waiting for him to catch up, he placed his hand on the woman's shoulder to move her to the side before–
"--!"
One of his spirits had manifested in that moment; the well-dressed man with long-red hair appeared beside him, reaching by his stomach as he stopped something from reaching his abdomen.
A knife was held in front of his stomach, wielded by the bread-selling woman, only stopped by his Soulbound spirit.
'A knife…? She tried stabbing me?' Emilio realized.
"Master," Gavill spoke direly, "This woman–she's not what she seems!"
A grin appeared on the tan-skinned stabber's lips as she looked straight at Emilio, "I won't let you reach Mr. Leocharn. That is my mission."
"You–you're one of the Children?!" Emilio asked.
Though his question wasn't answered verbally, it was confirmed through that wicked grin of the knife-wielding woman.
Sirius seemed to notice what was going on, approaching the woman from behind, though Emilio took it into his own hands as he held his hand towards her face, ushering in the harmless spell of sleep: "Tranquil Plane."
The sleep-inducing bubbles caught the stabber by surprise while Gavill held onto her wrist, causing her to slump over before she fell back into her stand of bread. Fortunately for him, the business of the streets of Desim actually made it so the confrontation wasn't much noticed by the passing civilians.
Emilio breathed out, "Thanks, Gavill. You can go back now."
"Master," Gavill bowed politely before disappearing back to the Astral Realm.
"Good grief…They've got plants around here as extra pairs of eyes for our target?" Sirius sighed, ruffling his own hair.
It was definitely an unnerving feeling, as now it felt as though nobody within the town could be trusted, not by their harmless appearance or demeanor.
"It's obvious now that somebody of Maximus' importance wouldn't just have one guard, but this is something else. They expected something like this to happen," Emilio said.
"Luckily for us, I don't think the sleepy girly here actually warned the guy–so we're good," Sirius said, "Just stay vigilant now."
"Don't need to tell me," Emilio said before turning back in the direction they were following their target, no longer seeing the towering figure, "Hey–where'd he go?..."
Sirius smirked, holding up his index finger as a small trail of electricity was anchored from his finger to something down the street, "Don't worry. I managed to stick a lead onto him."
"Nice thinking," Emilio said, beginning to move through the street again, following behind Sirius who wielded the electrical anchor to their target.
He kept his eyes peeled as he pursued their target; every person he passed by on the street felt like a potential enemy now–feeling a chill running over his skin as he could feel the looming presence of the cult and their claws dug into the town. It was a sickening feeling; knowing such a heinous group had ingrained themselves into the town–to what degree, he wasn't sure.
Even the adventurers and academic mages he walked past were doubted by him as he was extra wary of them.
"This way," Sirius told him quietly, turning towards the right streetway.
"Yeah."
It was noticeably more empty down the street they'd gone; there was a lack of open shops, in fact, it seemed more than half of the stone-and-brick built shops were completely abandoned altogether.
There were a few people here and there, though the further they walked down the street, the more lonely it became; there was nobody occupying it, and no open shops, leaving the ambience of the bustling town now distant.
"--" Emilio stayed cautious.
"Hmm…I've never been this way," Sirius remarked, glancing around.
The sudden emptiness of the tucked-away section of the town, paired with the quietness of the abandoned establishments–boarded up and forgotten–was not a comforting environment.
"Where is your charge leading?" Emilio asked.
Sirius held his finger out as the faint line of electricity that was anchored at his finger stretched forward, wrapping around into an alleyway up ahead to the right.
"Ugh…" Emilio furrowed his eyebrows, realizing where it led.
On the other hand, Sirius smiled, "An alleyway? I wonder if our target realized we're on his tail. The trail's stopped moving somewhere around there."
"Or maybe that leads to the place he's staying. I'll check it out before we enter–give me a second," Emilio said.
"Sure thing," Sirius nodded with a laidback smile.
With a raise of his hand, the Dragonheart manifested the four lesser elemental spirits above his palm, sending them forth to inspect the suspicious alleyway.
"That's a handy spell," Sirius put his hand to his chin, "Never had any affinity for spirits myself."
Emilio didn't respond, only focusing as the lesser spirits glowed in the air, bouncing through it like pollen as they swayed into the unknown alleyway.
"Sense anything?" Sirius asked.
Emilio slowly shook his head, "Nope. Come on."
This time, he led the way as he recalled his lesser spirits to his side, still moving with caution as he slowly approached the shadow-filled gap between abandoned buildings.
"—"
As he peeked around the beige-stone building, he didn't see any people, only a doorway at the very end, crept in shadows.
"Prepare yourself, villain!"
The sudden proclamation nearly made him jump out of his skin, making him jolt to the right as he saw the one who yelled out so boisterously:
Standing in the path of the alleyway that connected to the lonely street, Sirius stood with his hands out and his cape fluttering, though his "hero"-like words met only the dusty air of the shadowy area.
"Really?" Emilio asked, breathing out as he relaxed his guard.
Sirius chuckled, brushing his fingers through his hair, "I'm not the type of guy that does sneak attacks, sorry. I like my enemies to know I'm coming and get smashed into the ground fair-and-square."
"You're ridiculous," Emilio muttered, stepping past him and walking into the mysterious alley.
Even if nothing was seen or sensed, it didn't mean he wasn't cautious even when passing through the narrow, seemingly empty area. Perhaps that very fact is what made him so wary; the complete emptiness of the alleyway was unnerving–not a single squeak of a rat.
"Your electric anchor is leading to that door, isn't it?" Emilio whispered.
Sirius nodded while standing beside him, facing the mysterious door sitting at the back of the alleyway, "Nice observation."
There was a small set of steps that led to the lower door, which was made out of dark, grimy wood, giving off an old, putrid smell as it had been seeping in the darkness of the empty alleyway.
"Past this door…" Sirius began to say quietly.
"Yeah," Emilio nodded, "We'll probably encounter our target. He's not alone, either–we'll have to fight."
They both stood in front of that door, with Sirius relinquishing the subtle line of electricity, getting ready as Emilio leaned closer to the entrance.
Exchanging a glance and a nod with one another, they both cemented that they were ready for what was next, with Sirius stepping up in front of the door to take the initiative.
As lightning coiled around the body of the Stormheart, a smile formed on his lips as he raised his left leg slowly, pulling it back as he readied himself.
Emilio stood ready, quietly unsheathing his sword as he kept his eyes on the door, already ready to rush in once the moment arrived.
'Here we go!' Sirius thought.
'It's time–let's take this bastard down,' Emilio thought.
Sending his boot forward with thunderous force, Sirius blew the door straight off of its hinges as it rocketed forward into the room beyond it. As the door was blown in, it flew straight to the back of the following area, heading straight for one of the figures waiting in the room:
"Hey–uuegh!"
The high-speed, thick door collided into the bald-headed mercenary, slamming him and itself into the back wall with bone-crushing force.
That same second, both of the reincarnators dashed into the room with ruthless speed; Sirius charged in as a bolt of lightning, and Emilio amplified himself with [Draconic Might], bursting in.
'Four, five…six,' Emilio counted.
For him, time was perceived differently with his enhanced speed and reflexes, counting the figures in the room: they all seemed to be hired mercenaries by their discolored, rough uniforms that didn't match, though they all already had weapons out as if expecting them.
"You–!" A red-headed mercenary growled out, attempting to raise his weapon.
It was too fast; the blade wielded by the Dragonheart had already slashed across the mercenary's chest before he could even perceive himself being attacked, rushing in on his next target without wasting a second.
When it came to handling the elusive cult–even if they were merely associates of the nefarious organization–he didn't waste any mercy on them. The dark-skinned, axe-wielding mercenary awaiting him tried to wildly swing his weapon, only for Emilio to slide across the wooden floorboards, ducking beneath the attack.
"Wha–?!" The mercenary reacted.
Emilio slid right between the towering fighter's legs, jumping back to his feet and swiping his sword against the man's back, causing a spill of crimson as the mercenary collapsed to the floor.
"--" Emilio looked around, finding that the rest of the hired fighters in the room were already dealt with.
Sirius held an unimpressed look, sighing out as he was holding the collar of an unconscious mercenary in his right hand, "Isn't our target a big shot? You'd think he'd hire some decent bodies, then. Disappointing."
It only took a couple seconds, at most, to clear the room out, though Emilio didn't relax himself yet as he swiped the blood off of his own sword.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel