Having heard the man's words, Arthur and the others understood quite a bit. But even then, there were some things that were not adding up.
"Wait, why would they need the barrier to be gone for them to enter?" Caleb couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, the barrier doesn't stop humans. Only beasts and monsters." Alchemist Lugan nodded.
They looked at the bandit, but he had already stopped speaking. It was evident that the drug had knocked him out as well.
~thud~
"Bah, we have to use the last one." Fredric dropped the bandit and moved to the next cell.
The third and final bandit would have to give them all their answers, or things would get difficult.
The bandit was quickly fed the drug and questioned.
"Speak, why does the cult need to destroy the barrier? Can't they enter on their own despite that?" Fredric demanded.
"The cult… Need blessed beasts to kill…" The bandit answered.
"Blessed beasts? What are those?" Fredric asked next while the others also listened in curiosity.
'Those blessed beasts? They can already make them?' Arthur though knew what the bandit was talking about.
"Beasts blessed… By our lord… they will bring… Favor… AGH!" the bandit was speaking but suddenly showed an expression of pain.
~TREMBLE~
The man's body started to spasm, and foam started to come out of his mouth.
"What's happening to him?" Fredrick asked frantically.
"This isn't from the drug." Alchemist Lugan replied while furrowing his brows.
"Let me take a look." Arthur quickly used Dragon's Insight on the convulsing bandit.
>Dragon's Insight has been successfully activated<
~DING~
——
Target: Forest Bandit Riga
Race: Human (NPC)
Class: Thief
Level: 20
Info: A bandit belonging to the Dozla Bandits. He has been tasked to infiltrate Roran Town.
***
HP: 2%
MP: 0%
Stamina: 1%
***
[Status effects]
1. Iltan's Bind [Active]
2. Vow of Secrecy
——
As soon as Arthur saw the active status on the Iltan's Bind, he understood what had happened.
"It's the curse that is put on them. It has activated!" Arthur revealed.
"How? Wasn't the drug supposed to prevent that?" Caleb wondered.
"Hang on…" Arthur looked at the other bandits and found them to be in a similar state. "The others are convulsing too. The curse is activated for them, too." He informed.
"What's happening?" Fredric had a frustrated look on his face, as they hadn't gotten all the information they needed yet.
"Looks like the curse was triggered manually." Lugan guessed after seeing the common reaction.
"It does seem like it." Arthur replied. "Perhaps the use of the drug on all three one after the other, might have made the curse caster figure it out." He guessed.
"That is possible." Lugan nodded his head.
>Forest Bandit Riga has died to Iltan's Bind!<
>Forest Bandit Niall has died to Iltan's Bind!<
>Forest Bandit Ostov has died to Iltan's Bind!<
In the next few seconds, the notifications popped up, confirming the deaths from the curse.
"Dammit!" Frederic and Caleb shouted in unison.
"We did get a significant amount of information from them though, so all is not lost." Alchemist Lugan tried to calm the two down.
"Yes, we at least know their reasoning behind it. As for the 'blessed beasts', they were talking about, I think they might be similar to the beast inflicted with insanity I came across before." Arthur suggested as if he had guessed, but he already knew what they were.
Since Iltan would be one of the major plots that the players would come across in the game, Arthur had read about it. As such, he also knew about the 'Blessed beasts' of Iltan.
They were nothing but beasts that had been corrupted and mutated by the influence of the deity.
Arthur hadn't realized that the Insanity afflicted beasts he had seen earlier were related to this, since the 'Blessed Beasts' looked a lot different.
'The other mutant that was spotted might be related to it too… The Blessed Beasts of Iltan appeared about a year later when the quests related to them popped up.
The beasts needed to be killed but were problematic since they could also inflict the curse on players,' Arthur recalled.
He had thought that the blessed beasts were something that would only appear when Iltan would become freed and had more powers. But now it was clear that they could still be created.
'Looks like the cultists had been working towards that all this time. They'll need to remove the barrier for the blessed beasts to approach the town after all.
And since the beast's spread the curse of Iltan, it makes sense that they are using that to 'sacrifice' the town's residents.' Arthur quickly figured out the plans of the cultists and bandits.
With this information though, Arthur had a better grip on what they needed to do now.
Fredric heard Arthur's earlier words too and thought about it, realizing that it made sense.
"If they need beasts to cause the damage, then we need to up the security more." Fredric spoke.
"I also think the beasts might be cursed, similar to the bandits. That's how Iltan might be trying to spread his influence. He might not be able to affect the humans directly right now." Arthur suggested.
"If it really is like that, then we'll have to be fast now. We can't let the bandits have their way. They've already tried a large attack once. Who knows if they'll do it again soon." Caleb spoke with concern.
"Indeed." Arthur nodded his head. "And we'll be getting rid of them, too."
"Are you prepared with your plan?" Fredric questioned.
"Yes. I feel like I can do it now." Arthur nodded his head. "I just need you to be ready to attack at a moment's time. I'll make sure to lure Dozla out." He spoke.
"Do you need anything from us?" Alchemist Lugan questioned.
"I do, yes…" Arthur thought of a few things. "To signal Captain Fredric, I'll need a flare. One that can be seen all the way here. And I'll also need some explosives." He answered.
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