Upon entering the ruins' entrance, Magnus followed closely to Rachel along with some of the Amber Family men.
The cave entrance was like a long tunnel and after exiting the other side, they were at awe when they saw the ruins. Just as the name suggest, it was a ruin...a ruined city. Houses and temples stood tall, built with stone and there were pillars and statues seen all around.
Everyone's expectation rose with what they saw and they quickly dispersed, searching for every scrap of gold and other treasure they may find.
Rachel and her guard also wanted to hurry but they noticed that Magnus stood there like a statue.
When Magnus saw the city, he wasn't at awe at the scenery like the others, no...he was stunned as he felt something familiar calling to him. But in fact, it was calling to the Darkness within him. Even Gula was speechless and Magnus could sense the expectation growing within her.
But soon after he heard Rachel's voice and a hand pulling at his own and he was shocked back.
He looked at Rachel and the disappearing figures of the other people then he heard her speak.
"Ah...Look at them, they've already gone ahead. How are we supposed to look for treasures now?" Rachel pouted at him.
Magnus didn't know what to say and just smiled while scratching his head. He wanted to look for the origin of that mysterious feeling but he can't quite escape now and leave Rachel alone or else Jon would roast him alive.
"!" Magnus thought of somehting and said to Rachel. "They all just gone to the area near here right?"
Rachel heard his question and answered with one of her own. "Yeah, and so?"
Magnus then acted clever and said. "Ruins such as this usual have it's most valuable treasure at the middle, so..."
Rachel's face beamed up and she pointed towards the center. "Alright! To the center of the ruins!"
The men guarding her all look at one another and sighed, they led the way while Rachel and Magnus followed close. There was a reason to why Magnus spoke of the center, he heard Gula spoke to him that she pinpointed the general location where that feeling was coming from and it was at the middle.
As they rushed towards the center of the ruins, they saw some people as well. Magnus has already predicted that they won't be the only people heading there. What he didn't thought of these people actually trying to kill them.
Two groups of people rushed out of the stone houses around them, there were only four guards assigned to Rachel while there two other who were at Jon's side. The four guards drew their sword and as the enemies approached they heard Magnus, saying.
"You handle the group on the left, I'll handle the right."
Magnus then turned to Rachel saying. "Support me."
At that moment, the two groups caught up to them. The guards and the group of enemies to the left began fighting. The moment Magnus asked Rachel to support him, one of their opponents rushed forward hacking downward with his sword, attack Rachel.
But Rachel replied to him. "Hey! I'm not as helpless as you think I am."
Then she took out a saber from her ring and swiftly dodge the incoming enemy attack. Another enemy came at her from a blind spot and almost grabbed her by the shoulder but Magnus quickly jumps in and grabbed the enemy's hand. In a swift movement he raised his feet up and while still tightly gripping the enemy's hand, he delivered a strong kick that dislocated the enemy's shoulder off.
Magnus was still hesitant to kill them as he doesn't know if they belong so some influential family so after kicking back one of them. He jumps back towards Rachel and asked her.
"Are they part of some powerful family?"
While focusing on the enemy before them she answered. "I don't recognize their sigil, they must from some new families around this part."
Hearing this, Magnus coldly smiled as he thought "Looks like i can kill..."
He charged forward, attacking two of the remaining three enemies as one of them has a dislocated shoulder, he left one for Rachel.
Manifesting two of the sword he commissioned back at the Yellow Rock Fort, Magnus swung down with his sword "Sharktooth."
Bam!
The two enemies split up, dodging Magnus' initial attack and the ground shatters from the force of his blow. The two enemies then came at him in a pincer attack and as their swords slowly inched in, Magnus ducked down, quickly dispersing the two Darkness-formed Sharktooth sword.
Spurt...
As Magnus ducked down and dispersed the Darkness swords, he stretched out his hands. With the momentum of their attacks pulling them closer to each other, the two enemies that were attacking Magnus couldn't avoid his palms and they felt extreme sense of danger from his palms. But it was too late, Magnus' palms touched their body and from it spikes formed from Darkness pierced their body.
But they didn't die just yet, they tumbled back, bleeding when Magnus quickly stood up and spun with his hands still stretched outward. From his hands, the Darkness formed the blade of a regular sword which cut the heads of his enemies along with his spin.
As their heads flew up, Darkness quickly formed out of his feet and devoured their bodies.
Back at Rachel's side, she had the upper hand as her enemy was being distracted by Magnus' fight with his comrades. Mid-fight, the enemy couldn't help but look over when he saw two of his friends beheaded by Magnus. Rachel took this opportunity and with her sword she sliced her enemy's thighs causing him to buckle down.
With Rachel's small build it wasn't easy for to fight a larger opponent but her speed made up for that disadvantage and with her enemy being distracted it made it easier for her to defeat the foe in front of her.
She pointed her sword at her defeated opponent and said. "Yield."
Then the enemy sneered. "Like hell i will-"
But he was cut off as Magnus came from behind with a swift thrust through the back of the man's head.
As the man falls, dead. Rachel flared up. "Why did you do that?"
Magnus tilted his head and asked. "You mean kill the person who tried to kill you?"
Hearing this, Rachel was stumped. It is logical to kill someone who tried to kill, especially in the martial world but something about it didn't sit well with her. But because she couldn't find the words to fire back at Magnus, she just pouted on the side, irritated while Magnus consumed the dead man at his feet with his Darkness.
Rachel had seen this shadow once before but was still baffled with how it is able to devour a person whole. She wanted to ask him again but Magnus walked up to the man who he dislocated his shoulder to ask some question.
She thought that Magnus would begin his question with an actual question but before she could react.
"Argh!!!" She heard the man scream in pain.
Then she saw that at the man's knee was a finger sized black nail and it was then that she heard Magnus ask.
"Why did you attack us? Did someone sent you?"
The man grimace, he had heavy breaths from the pain and he smiled, not saying anything. Annoyed, Magnus sent another nail to his other knee, he grabbed the man's hair pulling him closer, saying.
"Annoy me again and-" But before Magnus could continue he noticed something.
There was a pill inside the man's mouth and he was on the verge of cracking it. Magnus knew that his hands wouldn't be fast enough so in that split moment, a hand made of darkness formed from his shoulder and tightly gripped the man's throat, prevent him from swallowing the pill and actually making him spit the pill.
"*Cough! *Cough!" The man coughed after being released by Magnus.
Magnus walked over to where the man spat the pill and as his back was turned, the man rushed towards Rachel which surprised her.
Being caught off-guarded, she knew she wouldn't be able to react fast enough.
Bam!
"Argh!!!"
But at that moment, she once again heard the man scream and she saw that one of the man's hand was nailed on the ground as the man lay flat on the ground.
Magnus walked over, sneering. "So...you're target is the young miss of the Amber family, huh?"
Hearing this, the man's eyes widened as he realizes that he has been played by this kid the whole time.
Even Rachel was shocked and soon after, the four guards protecting her came over. Both Magnus and Rachel turned around and saw that they've killed the enemies to their side. They came over asking.
"Young miss, this is?" One of the guards asked.
But instead of Rachel answering, it was Magnus who answered. "It's an assassin, sent to kill her."
Hearing this, the guards all turned cold and one of them even tried to kill the assassin but was stopped by Magnus.
He was then pulled back by his other comrades as Magnus walked in front of the assassin and once again sent a nail into his other arm.
"Argh!!!" He screamed once more.
Magnus then asked. Speak or the next few moments would make you wish you were dead."
From this boy's child, no one doubted that he would slowly and painfully torture this man as they saw nothing but coldness and no regard for human life...in fact they could even feel that Magnus didn't see this man as a human.
"You...won't get...anything...from me." The assassin sneered.
But this made Magnus savagely smiled and then he turned to Rachel and the guards, saying. "You go on ahead, this won't take a while. I'll catch up as soon as I'm done."
This made them shiver as Magnus was smiling but that thing is...that smile was way too calm for someone who is about to torture someone. What's more was that the one who was doing the torturing was a little boy!
Even so, the guards all beckoned the young miss to look away.
As they left the area, Magnus was left with the assassin and the next things were what one could imagine. Magnus was able to be creative with his torture since he could form material object with his Darkness.
...
Back at Rachel's side
They just arrived near the central area where they saw the magnificent temple before them. Without hesitation, they quickly entered the temple and when they entered they saw a wide hall with a large statue in the middle.
As they stared in awe of the large statue, one of the guards called out. "Young miss, look!"
He pointed at the foot of the statue, there was a hidden door downstairs. Rachel shouted in anticipation.
"Quick! That must be a hidden entrance to a secret treasure room!"
And they quickly went down the entrance and they saw a long cave corridor with a couple paths leading to other pathways. Along the cave corridor, they saw small openings on the cave walls where signs of recent activity could be seen.
"There's signs of something heavy placed here and is recently taken." One of the guards said.
"Must be the treasures!" Rachel said excitedly.
Then they hurried towards further in the cave corridor and they were then forced to make a decision. There were eight pathways leading to other places where there might be treasures.
Rachel pointed to one of them after randomly picking. "Let's go there." She said.
The Guards then followed her towards the pathway she pointed at and they were led to a small cave corridor with six cave rooms. It didn't look like someone has been here before.
"Quick! Search for any treasures!" She said.
She and the men then entered different rooms and they quickly saw gold and silver ornaments, jewelries and gems placed in chests and covered in clothes. Rachel and the men soon smiled as they though they've hit it bit.
From her room, Rachel shouted. "Feel free to grabbed three of more things but the rest shall belong to the Amber Family. I promise that the family will reward you all well after we're done here."
Hearing this, the men were ecstatic, three treasures were more than enough to fill their pockets for years to come and they were gonna be rewarded afterwards. What more were they gonna ask for?
They started to pick which treasure looked the most expensive and after that they started to placed the numerous treasures inside their ring.
As Rachel was happily putting the treasure one by one inside her storage ring, she found a green gem which she absolutely liked. She stared at it even more when she sensed a person behind her but she didn't sensed any danger so she thought it was one of her guards.
"Oh? you're done already?"
Then this guard coldly said. "Yes, young miss. Now, it's time for you to eternally sleep..."
Hearing this, Rachel found it weird and as she quickly turned she saw the guard with a dagger that had a golden rose carving on it. Before she could draw her sword, the man pinned her down with a hand on her mouth.
She squirmed and struggled to break free but the man was much powerful than her.
He raised his hand and was about to plunge it into her head when he screamed in pain "Argh!!!"
This scream alerted the other guards which prompted them to come over and they saw that is Magnus standing outside the cave room where Rachel was in. When they came closer they saw that the other guard had one of his hand on Rachel's mouth while holding a knife on the other. They quickly figured out what was going on and they helped the young miss.
They chained the guard who had a nail pierce the back of both his thighs. The traitor guard grimaced in pain and turned to Magnus.
"How did you find out?" He asked.
But Magnus just stood there smiling and it was then that the traitor guard figured out.
"It was that assassin fool, wasn't it?!" He shouted.
Magnus sneered not saying a thing.