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Chapter 446 - Collateral
🕑 Added 2023-10-03 04:06:35 +0000 UTCRed observed the flying Duke.
He was wearing embroidered plate armor covered by a robe draped over his shoulders, sporting the white and gold color of the Northvale family. From this far, it was hard to discern his features other than the slicked back black hair and finely trimmed beard, but one could still feel the majesty and power from his figure glowing with white energy.
They weren’t afforded much time to study the Duke, though. He flew around the demon, a trail of mist left in his wake as he prepared to shoot more ice spears. But the serpent was quick to react.
Its glowing eyes locked onto his figure, and it opened its mouth. A jet of toxic fumes shot from its gullet towards Duke Northvale, covering the night sky in the same noxious mist that Red and the others dealt with earlier, though this one was far darker. Such an expansive attack seemed impossible to dodge.
Leon tensed as his father’s figure was swallowed by the sea of fumes, but a moment later, a bright light shone from within. An icy mist spread from within the green gas, freezing it into a solid state midair. Then, a moment later, it shattered, icy flakes raining from above as Duke Northvale reemerged, unharmed.
The demon roared in anger. It rose, the ground shaking as its giant body moved, and it soared towards the human up above.
Before it could get to him, though, the Duke waved his hand and a small ray of light shot towards it. The demon was unafraid and met the attack head on, but the glimmer simply disappeared as soon as it crashed into the serpent’s head, its charge unimpeded. Just as it seemed the man was about to be swallowed, the serpent abruptly slowed down.
The icy mist that covered its scales from the earlier attacks spread further, and rings of white light materialized around its long body. The demon froze midair, bound by this mystical technique, when it should have naturally fallen down under its weight. It was a strange sight.
“It’s the Ice Loop Ring!” Leon said with a smile. “He brought it with him!”
Red assumed he was referring to an artifact. Judging by how the Duke had managed to arrest the momentum of such a powerful creature, it was a powerful artifact too.
The mist continued to spread along the body of the serpent, covering more than half of the monster before long. The creature struggled to break free, but its movements slowed down.
“Why isn’t he attacking?” Red asked.
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to strike, but Duke Northvale just stood there, staring at the demon.
“The ring requires focus to work,” Leon said. “If he splits his power to attack, it might break free.”
Red supposed such a restriction wasn’t surprising in an item this powerful. In any case, whether the demon was encased in ice or skewered, it would still mean the Duke’s victory.
The mist continued to spread along the serpent’s skin at a visible pace, soon reaching its head, but at that moment, the demon’s struggle intensified, and its horns shone brighter. Spiritual Energy gathered around them, flashing as bright as the moon for a moment.
Even from this far, Red had a bad premonition.
The icy mist covering the demon’s body melted as an inky black liquid surged from the cracks between its scales. The strange fluid appeared around every part of the demon’s body, and it was soon entirely covered in this corroding poison. For a moment, the monster resembled a flying black river.
The rings of light around it shattered and then, free of its bindings, the demon moved. It shot towards the Duke, even faster than before. The man didn’t have time to dodge, and he raised both of his hands in front of him as a hexagonal ice barrier materialized to block the attack.
Shield and serpent clashed in a thunderous boom. Duke Northvale’s protection cracked and shattered, but it held long enough for the man to fly back and create some distance from the demon.
Leon's expression fell as he saw this, while Red also frowned beneath his mask. But at the next moment, something else caught their attention.
A pitter-patter sound around them. It took but a second for the sound to intensify.
Droplets of black liquid started to rain around them.
“Move!”
Red was the first to react. Still carrying Emeric, he jumped away and sought cover beneath a canopy, while Leon was a step behind, but was also quick to react as well.
It was a brief shower, lasting no more than two seconds, but the droplets of the corroding rain ate away at everything they hit with a hissing sound. The trio remained unharmed, but the same couldn’t be said for the unconscious peasants around them.
“No!”
Leon screamed in horror as he looked around. The black droplets were not thick enough to do much damage individually, but there were a lot of them covering a widespread area.
Some people were lucky enough to have fallen unconscious under cover, while others lay in the middle of the stream and couldn’t avoid being hit. Those lucky still weren’t hit in vital areas, but many others were peppered along their entire body.
Clothing or armor were of no help to stop the corrosion.
Leon tried to help them, but the poison was too fast to act, and the damage was already done before they could even blink. The young noble stared around him at a loss, his mind shaken from the sudden event.
Red, however, focused on the battle up above again.
Duke Northvale had turned into a streak of white light, running away from the liquid covered demon chasing after him. He was leading it away from the area, either not confident to take its attacks head-on or aware of the damage it would cause to the city if they were to clash here.
Red looked back at Leon.
“We need to go.”
Leon didn’t seem to register his words as he stared at the surrounding carnage.
“Other cultivators will arrive soon and we need to be gone before they find us,” Red said.
“Is that what you’re worried about?!” Leon glared at him in a rare display of anger.
Red stared back at him in silence, but the young noble looked around himself in dismay.
“This… We were supposed to save them, but…”
“We already talked about this earlier. More would have died if we didn’t-”
“They were right in front of us! I could have brought them to safety first, but I just stood there gawking, looking at the fight!”
Red couldn’t argue about this. They couldn’t have predicted this would have happened, but it was clear that Leon’s mind and priority were elsewhere as soon as he saw his father.
“H-How many more are dead around the neighborhood?” Leon trembled as he got up. “We should’ve… I should’ve-”
“We need to leave,” Red repeated. “Whatever self reflection you intend to make, it can be done away from here.”
“D-Does none of this affect you? Do you really not feel anything about the people who died?”
Leon was staring at him as if he was seeing Red for the first time. Red, however, remained silent.
The young noble seemed like he wanted to say something else, but a sudden groan interrupted their conversation.
“Ugh…” Emeric seemed to wake up on Red’s back. “W-what happened? Did the demon-”
His words were caught in his throat as he looked around at the corpses on the street. His expression twisted in fright.
“W-What happened? How did all these people-”
“We can talk about this later,” Red cut him off and turned to look at Leon. “Right now, we need to leave.”
Finally, his words seemed to snap Leon out of his reverie, who nodded without confidence.
The three of them made their way out of the area, back towards the Northvale Manor.
…
The trip back was rather difficult as they tried their best to not be spotted, but with the help of Leon’s invisibility badge, they made it all the way back before long. They came across a lot of guards on their way to the area the demon appeared, but once they got to the vicinity of the nobles’ manors, their numbers diminished.
As they arrived at the manor, Leon informed someone from inside using a talisman, and they entered through the same gap in the formation that they had exited from earlier. Once inside, they went to a resting area where a bunch of worried servants greeted them.
“Young Master Leon!” A maid hurried over to him. “We heard news that a monster appeared in the suburbs, and we were almost worried to death!”
“It’s fine,” Leon waved her off with a tired expression. “Where is my… I mean, have you any news of my father?”
“He left earlier, but we haven’t gotten any news of him since then. Is he-?”
“He’s fine. Just inform me when he comes back.”
Although Leon said that, there was worry in his tone.
“Now, just leave us alone to rest.”
Soon enough, only Leon, Emeric, and Red were left in the room. Emeric was already informed of what happened while he was unconscious, and although he was shaken, for the most part he just seemed relieved they had made it out alive.
Red thought to leave as soon as he got here, but he decided against it. With the city on high alert, sneaking around on his own would be risky, and if he was spotted, others might suspect his involvement. Not to mention the fact that his alibi was supposed to be his presence in the mansion, so it would be better if he left the place through “official” means.
There was a heavy silence in the room as Leon was preoccupied with his own thoughts, Emeric was too tired to talk, and Red wasn’t intent on speaking either. Almost an hour passed by before they heard some commotion from outside, and he felt the fluctuation of the Duke approach the manor.
Leon made to get up, but paused and sat back down with a pensive expression. Before long, the door to the room opened, and Duke Northvale walked through. Red was able to see his features in full - a weathered and serious face, resembling a soldier’s, and with uncanny similarities to his son’s appearance. He didn’t seem to have any wounds, and Red didn’t notice anything strange with his fluctuation, either.
“Leave us,” he said to the servants accompanying him.
They did as he ordered and closed the door to the room. As soon as they were alone, Leon stood up with a worried expression.
“What happened to the demon?”
“Dead,” the Duke said. “Duke Claiborne was the first one to appear to help, and we killed the demon before long.”
“Claiborne?” Leon sounded surprised. “Why would he-?”
“If he remained passive while a demon destroyed an area of the city where he owns so many businesses, it would have raised too many questions.”
“What about the damage to the city?”
“After the first clash, I tried to lead it away from the populated areas so as not to cause further damage. I couldn’t outrun it, however, so I focused on minimizing the collateral damage while waiting for reinforcements.”
“And? Did you manage to keep it from killing more people?”
“We did the best we could, but none of us were equipped to deal with that corrosive liquid. The destruction the demon caused before its death is extensive.”
Leon’s face paled at this, but his father didn’t seem too concerned.
“Tell me what happened down there,” he asked.
The young noble tried to recover his composure and told everything that happened in the sewers - from the rituals to the confrontation with the cultist and the giant snake. At the end of the explanation, Duke Northvale frowned and held his chin in thought.
“I see,” he nodded and looked over at Red. “Leon made the right decision in hiring you. Without your help, they might have fed even more sacrifices to that demon and the situation could have been much worse.”
“I only did what I was paid to do,” Red said.
“In any case, your assistance is still appreciated. Would you be interested in another job?”
“If it’s part of my contract, I see no reason to refuse as long as it doesn’t involve me putting my life on the line.”
“It’s nothing dangerous this time,” the Duke said. “Are you able to identify the materials used in the formations you dealt with at the sewers?”
“Some of them. For others, I would need some time and experimentation.”
He wasn’t able to study the formations so thoroughly as to be able to identify every material they used.
“In that case, I would like you to make a list for me of those materials,” Duke Northvale said. “We will provide you with the required items for experimentation. Would you be interested?”
Red nodded. He saw no reason to refuse this.
“Good,” the Duke seemed satisfied. “You can discuss compensation with Leon. I would also recommend spending the night here in a guest room so as not to risk arousing suspicion if you were to be spotted walking around this later.”
“I will do that.”
With Red’s agreement, the Duke simply turned around and made to walk out of the room.
“Father, wait!”
Leon stood up and tried to stop him. The man turned to look at him with a frown.
“Is there something you haven’t reported?”
“No, that’s not-”
“Is there something you’d like to discuss about the mission?”
“… No.”
“In that case, this conversation is over. Other matters can be discussed at another time.”
With that, he walked out of the room, leaving a bewildered Leon behind.
