Dexaril was an unexpected face, but a welcome one. Although their interactions were short and most professional, he had made a great impression on Sargon with his character and ability.
"Dexaril, it is a pleasant surprise to behold you so soon, haha!", Sargon said heartily. "What brings you to Fereldyn? Also, I sense a greater power from you now, have you gone up a level?"
Dexaril responded with a cheerful smile, "Aha, I have leveled up. I am no longer a wizard. I have become a magus!"
Sargon knew the strength of a magus magic wielder can easily match a malachite-level fighter. Sargon and his companions may be a rare exception because of their unique abilities, but most others of the same level would falter against a magus. Magic wielders have the advantage of knowing a variety of spells that are synergized most of the time. As a magic wielder gains more strength, their spell arsenal becomes more powerful at an exponential rate. This is a reason why powerful magic wielders and magic wielders, in general, are highly valued.
He was impressed with Dexarils progress since he had jumped two levels in a span of months. His respect for him has certainly increased. Sargon congratulated him, "Excellent progress Dexaril, ascending two levels is impressive. I am sure you expended no small effort to reach your current rank, bravo my friend."
"Thank you, Starry Knight, hehe. As for the reason I am here. It is to deal with the kidnappings. It has become a huge worry and Duke Verinhaust who manages this side of the kingdom made a task force. I am here with the task force to solve the mystery of the insidious enemy. We've been here a couple of days already, but our efforts have failed so far."
"Dexaril, perhaps Pharis and I can be of some assistance. We both are able to track the signature of their tainted mana. We were just about to track it through this alley to see if we can find them. You are welcome to come with us and see what we find." Sargon invited Dexaril to join them since their goals align and view him as a trustworthy companion in battle.
Dexril saw Sargon as an exemplary knight of great strength and righteous will. He knows too well that one cannot be righteous without strength. Which is he respects Sargon so much as he is both. He accepted with o hesitation to follow the heroic knight into the darkness to fight alongside him again. "Count me in Sir Jupiter, I'll send a quick message to the rest of the task force and we can get going."
Dexaril sent the message and followed behind both of them. They entered the alley together and searched for traces of the cult. Astral sight and sense led them to a hidden hatch door on the cobblestone floor. It perfectly blended into the alley floor, looking exactly like it. Sargon stomped on the hatch to bust it. "It seems we will going underground now," Sargon said with a sigh as he jumped down the hole. Pharis followed suit and then Dexaril.
They walked through the underground tunnels where lit candles were scarce and far in between. The three relied on their ocular abilities to traverse the path. The tainted mana particles were getting denser and denser as they continued tracing the cult. They came upon a large room with a stone double-door that was carved with magic runes and a little bigger than neccessary for a person.
"The stone doors have strong residue on them from the tainted mana of the cultists. Dexaril, are those runes a danger, or can we bust the door down?" Dexaril looked at the runes to determine their purpose before responding to Sargon.
He said surely, "The runes are not traps, they are hexes. If the door is broken we will be cursed to lose control of our body, become unable to move, and then experience excruciating pain without dying. Allowing us to be captured easily and softening us up for interrogation. The rests are detection and alert hex runes."
"That sounds unpleasant. I may have a way to erase the hexes. Although, if you have a tried method of hex removal you can use, be my guest Dexaril." Sargon said with an encouraging smile.
"Pfft, I am a Magus. These hexes can be removed by me with little effort. As you may recall, my specialty is fire magic and the arcane study of it. I will use a unique spell I developed for myself called Controlled Burn Dispelment. I will control my fire to dispel the runes in a methodical manner. They won't even know they are removed, hehe." Dexaril moved to the door to use his unique spell.
Sargon watched curiously with Pharis as Dexaril burned away the hex runes with a wave of his hand. He said aloud to Dexaril, "Most impressive my magical friend. You continue to remind me of your genius, haha! Now let us find these foolish cultists that think of themselves as lions in the dark when they scurry around like cockroaches."
Dexaril fell in line behind Sargon and Pharis as he said merrily. "Indeed Sir Sargon, time to control the pest."
Walking down the corridor past the stone doors, they soon came upon a sad sight. Cages started to line the walls of the corridor after a few twists and turn following the thickest traces of tainted mana. The cages were empty, but they were obviously recently occupied. They came upon some rooms that seemed to be lived in by the cult members. They were empty though. they continued to more underground spaces, but they were all empty. The astral sight and sense could tell that they were all just in the rooms.
They continued their trace to what would be the largest collection of tainted mana yet. When they entered the extremely large and spacious room, their eyes immediately took in the situation they just strolled into. Prisoners, mostly children and the young were chained together and completely naked. The whole room was covered in hex runes with an altar in the middle. The floor had a complex formation carved into it. The altar was presided over by a peak arch-magus figure with a red cloak that had black accents and some gold lining. The altar was surrounded by ten others wearing the same cloak with strength nearing the presumed ritual master presiding over the altar. The room itself was filled with cultists.
The alter had a girl no older than eight that looked to have been sacrificed before they entered the room. Sargo could not see what was inside the room beforehand presumably because of the various hexes around the room. The three were appalled and completely disgusted by their actions. Dexaril was told to hang back while Sargon and Pharis went invisible to secure the prisoners.
While removing the used sacrifice from the altar, they boosted while invisible to rescue the remaining seven prisoners quickly. They spread their astra to the bodies of the prisoners to reinforce them so they can just pull them all to the exit by grabbing their chains without hurting them too badly.
The cultists noticed the action and they all snapped their heads in their direction and became eerily still. Even though they were invisible and Dexaril was out of their line of sight, they shouldn't be able to see them. However, Sargon could feel the gazes of the arch-magus cultists on Pharis and him.
Sargon knew that despite Pharis and Dexaril being among the strongest normally, they were completely outmatched in this situation. He quickly decided to push them both out of the room with the prisoners and collapse the entrance with a slash, getting them out of danger from the powerful enemies. When he turned back around, all the cultists had stood up and are now turned towards him creepily.
Sargon muttered, "Creepy little evil rats." He turned towards them completely brandishing his sword and shield; his armored body taking on his signature twinkling of starlight.
"The newly famous Starlight Knight, Sir Jupiter, what a fitting name. Tonight, your righteous sense of duty has led you to your demise. Know that I am Arch-Magus, Ire Jundan. Prepare to die in the name of Heilg...!" Right before Arch-Magus Ire was about to finish his monologue, Sargon struck first.
He boosted through the wall of cultists with his shield and thrust his sword towards Ire with intent to kill swiftly. A shield was conjured by him in response and was strengthened by the others since it was about to break just as it was cast. Hexes are not so good for defense Sargon realized.
He pulled back to reassess and attack once more. Now all the cultists and other arch-magus enemies all started casting their hexes in unison.
He thought to himself, "Well, I asked for this and I found what I was looking for. No use complaining, time to fight." Sargon exclaimed with his voice carrying power and conviction, "Deus Vult!"
Then their battle started with Sargon at a complete disadvantage in numbers and presumably firepower.