<'How did he...!?'> the assassins thought in unison.
Nikolai was literally holding the hooded leader's head between his thumb, middle and forefinger. A simple squeeze had the leader shrieking in agony, stopping them in their tracks as they were about to unsheath their blades and scattered back to reposition.
He lifted the full grown man high into the air with but a pinch. The poor guy squirmed like worm in a hook as Nikolai tightened it a little more, causing the others to take a step back or two hearing the pained wails.
<'Man. This nostalgia is so inappropriate.'> he thought as memories of similar situations resurfaced, especially those intimidated gazes.
<'Too bad, I can't do those ruthless demon lines anymore. Fun times.'> the giant sighed, returning his focus to the matter at hand, literally.
"AARGH!" one of them took up enough courage to strike first. He had what looked like tonfas with thin bluish blades attached to them, moving with considerable expertise.
<'...dark elves, huh. It's probably the Church, nobody else would be obsessed enough that they'd send or hire such extravagant services.'> he sighed again.
"Except...for those...friars." he mumbled.
The slashes, arrows, strikes, even gunfire and explosives, bounced off like toys. Nikolai wasn't a bit fazed by their assault even when they aimed for his eyes, all he had to do was blink.
The leader whom he was holding, freed himself like an acrobat, slithering around his arm like a serpent and wrapping around his head. He unraveled a pair of purple sai, pointed weapons that looked like miniature fencing swords.
By the time Nikolai realized what they were, the weapons pierced the sides of his skull.
<'Gotcha!'> the leader inwardly smiled. He could almost hear the addictive jingles of those gold pieces that was the promised reward if they fullfil the quest, when he was interrupted by the supposed dead man.
"A...human...and...dark elves? Strange."
Chills crawled down his spine as he tried to pull out his weapons, but to no avail. The leader retreated and pulled out a dagger to compensate, still unsettled by what had transpired.
<'Just a greeting, huh. These guys must be mercenaries then.'> he was starting to understand the situation, coming up with a vague idea.
"You don't...know me...do you?" he said, donning the biggest smile he could make as he pulled out the two weapons stuck in his head, leaking a little bit of bloodlust as he did. He also commanded Matros to slowly resurface the five mercenaries that they've previously captured.
The result? Nightmare fuel.
The devil smiling at them in the night of a full moon, ready to claim their souls. Some of the members fell back when they saw five of their companions appearing from the man's shadow, sprawled out unconscious. Nikolai's already horrifying mug made his grinning visage seem maniacal and evil as blood flowed out from the open holes in his skull. The image was perfected when the blood arose into steam, the result of him unhindering his healing factors.
"D-Diabolical...!" stuttered one of them. Cold sweat drenched their garments as they listened to the quickened pace of their own heartbeats, shivering all over.
Looking at their terrified expression, Nikolai was able to confirm that his "Scare Tactic" worked.
"Hmph. Get lost!" He waved as he turned to leave, causing the stunned killers to flinch.
Many things could change in the span of a year. And for someone who had been declared missing for the last 15 years, he was pretty much history book material by then. Grudges and revenge however, weren't so easily forgotten.
He was aware of the fact that the number of people who wanted him dead had long reached the triple digits, but he couldn't care less with him being immortal and all.
Then again, things were different now.
"W-Wait! Surrender yourself or your precious little brat gets hurt!" Greed had blinded the human, those gold pieces had poisoned his mind beyond redemption. At those words, the others felt the floor below them cumble to pieces and liquify like quicksand slowly swallowing them up.
"You fool! Do you realize what you've brought down on us?!" one of them whispered in outrage. Grabbing the human by the collar, dissuading him like their lives depended on it. But he was merely shoved to the side as the human took out a tiny communications amulet.
"There is a bomb strapped below that carriage of yours! One command! That's all I need to reduce your brat to ashes. So either that or you—"
KRRRR
The night darkened before them.
"YOU...!!!" the ogre snarled.
The air thinned and their bodies suddenly weighed like tons, causing them fall to the ground like rags. The human was on his knees holding his neck as gasped for air, all of them forced to reveal their faces after removing their mask and hood. A black, sandy mist had enveloped the surrounding area, shifting about in swirls.
"YOU...WOULD DAAARREE...!!!!"
The butcher's words thundered, his shadow growing expansively and covering everything behind him in black ink. An enormous beast emerged fangs bared from the black pool, growling savagely.
RAARGGH
His eyes flared red, it had been a long time since Nikolai felt this way. Fury flowed in every fiber of his being as he approached the puny pest in front of him. Indeed, he shall remind them all of who they were challenging.
"THIS WORLD...FORGETS...ITS PLACE!!!"
The mist thickened like an omen as Nikolai brought his foot down on the human, the soles of his boots dirtied by the heaving man's tears, snot, piss and sweat.
"P-Please!!! Ack! *gasp* I-I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!! Please forgive me—"
CRUNCH—SQUASH
The stone road was dyed like a graffiti in the gory cocktail of bone, blood and excrement from the exploded remains of the greedy mercenary. Only thing left intact were his flattened armor, everything else grinded into an unrecognizable mush.
"FILTHY." He uttered, wiping off some bloodstains on his cheek.
His gaze landed on the remaining members of the group, all shivering pitifully as those still conscious groveled on the ground trying to appease the entity they've angered. Nikolai on the other hand waited for them to finish reciting their excuses as they spouted every information they had to try and spare their lives.
"Hmph."
Hope had returned to the mercenaries as they praised their thanks for their target's mercy, seeing death walk away.
"Dinner." He commanded, patting Matros's snout.
WROARF—AWROOOOOO
It was later noted that one of the mid-ranking parties in the Mercenaries Guild called "Moonshine", with all of its dark elf members including the human leader mysteriously missing, be declared as disbanded.
The festival too, was cut short due to multiple incomprehensible cases of sudden fainting, largely affecting elderly and children, and sudden fluctuations in the electric power supply that caused some street lights to shatter.
.
"I see. But we can't be certain that it really was from the Church, if it is as you say. Those geezers wouldn't resort to such subtle ways." Amira pondered.
"They like to flaunt around that almighty justice of theirs, proclaiming their delusions as "divine will". Those clowning posers have followers all over Verochka and I doubt they would be so humble as to hire third-rate mercenaries. Their too pompous.
Whoever set this up wants you to think that they're from the church."
Multiple shears levitated around and trimmed the dried leaves of the Cristeluna growing in the marble kiosk in the middle of the palace's garden. The translucent roof supported by 4 chiseled marble pillars allowed the moon to shine on the delicate blue flowers.
Amira was circling around in her lengthy nightgown, observing the process. Her attire was nothing short of provocative, accentuating her cleavage and her long luscious legs peeking between her garments as she walked bare foot.
"We've considered such a possibility, milady, after reconsidering the information Sir Nikolai had procured. The bomb I had disarmed was crude at best and would have created an explosion nothing stronger than a hand grenade." the butler summarized.
Bastian was carrying a basin of clean water and had a towel on his arm, standing by the kiosk's entrance. Nikolai was wiping off the bloodstains from his latest carnage with a wet towel that the butler had provided.
"...am I...a bad...father?" Nikolai mused upon his decisions as a parent while looking at the red stained cloth.
He sat down on the path, arms on his knees and head hung in melancholy. In the end, Seffa's approval wasn't an excuse to expose her to such danger. But the following days were almost certain to be grim and full of bloodshed, the exact opposite of what he intended for her future.
Though he already knew that when he was summoned once more, Nikolai had hoped for better.
"Hey." Amira gently caressed his gruffly face, noticing how he'd aged in the past 15 years. She turned his head towards her and smiled sweetly while twiddling her thumbs on his cheeks.
"How do I look?" she asked, making him notice the Cristeluna Flower by her ear.
"...gorgeous." Nikolai smiled, slowly taking her hands into his. She giggled seductively, biting her lower lip as the prolonged eye contact started to get sensual.
Nikolai hugged her in warm comfort, taking the half-elf by surprise. Bastian smiled, silently sighing as he observed the scene and the empress's dejected expression.
"Thank you."
"Tsk...well, I'm glad you're better!" she exhaled loudly, visibly pouting as she turned away. She was widely recognized for her unparalleled beauty, there wasn't a man who wouldn't fall for her charms.
"None, but the man denser than a black hole. Better luck next time, Elle." teased Phillis who had just arrived, laughing out loud.
"Don't! Call me that!!" yelled the fuming lord.
Phillis's attire was ruined. One of his suspenders had snapped, the right sleeve of his blood-stained pink-colored top was missing while the rest were dangling rags that seemed to have been ripped apart by claws, his black pants had tears here and there, yet his glasses were spotless still.
"What happened to you?" Amira's voice oozed with sarcasm.
His perfectly chiseled bod was exposed for all to see. The vampire moved with the grace of a god, despite the mess that his outfit was. The long, silky hair barely curtained his undeniably enticing figure.
"I'm a vampire, I'm supposed to be hot and suave. It's been too long since we've given the audience some fan-service, you know. I am doing them a favor." he said, lowering his glasses as he striked a pose and winked.
"What...??"
"Nevermind that, I've had my moment.
I've finished torturing—I mean, inspecting the retrieved specimen. Come to my lab, I've some good and bad news." he proclaimed, wiping himself with Nikolai's used towel and returning it after use.
.
The stench of cigarettes and rum filled the air inside the lounge of Phillis's underground laboratory, assaulting visitors with a horribly putrid welcome despite it's spaciousness.
The bat had a taste for vintage and steampunk design, its influence was obvious in the way that the lab was built. Gears and pipes were aesthetically placed overhead, the floor was fully carpeted with high-quality brown wool, and his personal collections of various items were displayed by the left and right walls with respective wooden tags. All of them had their own respective lamps that emitted a low, warm light.
Two long leather couches, a really wide wooden table littered with multiple important documents, multiple bookshelves stuck to the wall behind the unkempt table, and finally a hand-knitted complete map of the Continent of Verochka framed above those bookshelves.
DING
The audible ring of an elevator sounded as Phillis casually pressed a hidden button below the edge of the long table. The illusionary shelf in the middle dematerialized, revealing a large elevator waiting for them to board.
"I took your size into account, so don't worry Nikki." he said cheekily as he gestured for them to enter.
DING
It took them deeper into the earth. There was a sense of tension as the three looked at the sign change more rapidly, an indication that they were falling faster.
From UL-01, they were now at UL-44.
(A.N.// "UL" means Underground Level)
"It is sort of a secret so I trust you not to tell anybody, alright?" the vampire looked over his shoulder.
"Sure."
"That's good then, this hidden facility studies Primordial Magic after all." he chuckled, the door opening to reveal the marvelous underground world before them.
.