Athelei stalked the stalkers, waiting to see what will happen. He did not strike right away for his curiosities were getting the best of him.
What are these Nightwalkers trying to achieve?
How will they do it?
Where will they set the battle?
When would they strike?
Athelei wanted the answers to these questions, and so he placed the growth of his wings at a lower priority for now.
As he watched, the parade of adventurers made it to a rather spacious intersection where a large group of people were watching from the sidelines. There were quite a few lamps littering the streets, accompanied by mystical lights floating around. It was pretty bright, but in contrast, the shadows were still as dark as ever.
When the Ink Cats were about to take a right turn, there were only a few more blocks before they would arrive at the Adventurer's Guild.
'This looks like a good place to strike,' Athelei noticed, and it seemed like his fellow Nightwalkers were of the same mind.
There was a gleam of green despite the warm lights and Athelei saw familiar weapons flash into existence.
'Are those weapons creations of Mystic Patterns?' Athelei drifted as close as he could to the weapons, but he decided against using his Analysis Skills at this moment.
Now, just like back then, when the green blades of clear glass were present, an eerie silence descended upon the intersection.
The previous boisterous voices of a few hundred adventurers were instantly snuffed out. Their mouths moved as they tried to speak yet no sound seemed to come out. Many looked around in confusion, wondering why everything became silent.
Then, the Adventurers watched as faceless shadows emerged from the darkness, making a mad rush to the Ink Cats.
They were all shocked, but Adventurers weren't people to be bullied.
H u m m m m m m m m m !
The sheer force of dozens of suddenly battle-ready Adventurers shook the earth despite the lack of sound. Athelei felt his nonexistent hair stand on end as several Mystic Patterns gleamed in the darkness, as palpable bloodlust was exerted, and as fighters blitzed towards the approaching shadows.
Athelei noted the techniques being used and adored the versatility of the Adventurers. 'From Mystic Patterns to Tangible Will, and even strong Battle Prowess,' He thought to himself, 'Amazing,'
Then, the Adventurers swiftly struck in response to the Nightwalkers. A dozen different forces descended upon the few shadowy figures.
But the attackers came prepared.
In the silent battlefield, a large-scale Mystic Pattern suddenly shone beneath everyone's feet. It caused a massive redirection of energy, bringing chaos to the fight. The friendly fire became the Nightwalkers' best friend as they advanced past the fighters who proudly barred their way.
Athelei frowned when he saw what was happening and drifted away from the area. 'That is suspicious,' he thought to himself, 'If they had this much preparation and such an elaborate plan, they could've attacked those Ink Cats at a remote location, right? They made their attempt at theft a hundred times harder by doing it in the middle of an Adventurer village. If they expected the Adventurers to mind their own business, then their hopes were barely satisfied.'
Athelei glanced at the fleeing Adventurers as well as the ones who were moving towards the fight.
Some Adventurers had even begun spectating on the rooftops with either indifference or sadism shining in their eyes. While others were taking advantage of the chaos to mess with their own fellows. Purses, important items, and even entire weapons were being pilfered whenever a vulnerability was shown.
As for those Nightwalkers, they were inevitably caught in the crossfire of a handful of crazy battle junkies who just loved to fight. Half of the Nightwalkers had already been pummelled into dissipation. Their consciousnesses were likely heavily injured or silenced forever.
There was also a large faction of Adventurers who were clearly trying to stop damage to the town as well as prevent any civilian deaths. They were like referees in the midst of the battle. Their attacks were used to redirect stray shots or nullify dangerous levels of energy. They also drew many patterns to reinforce the already sturdy walls of the houses and buildings.
'This place is wild,' Athelei chuckled as he roamed the village from above.
He was looking for more suspicious activity, somewhere, somehow. He stayed at a sufficient height, scouting the area from as many vantage points as possible and keeping an eye out for actions that struck him as weird.
But, with all the chaos occurring, nearly everyone was acting weird. It made Athelei's search bear little fruit.
It was only when a suddenly fluctuation of energy rippled out from the very centre of Colsi. It was a head-turning turn of events, as the chaotic battle was suddenly brought into a lull while sound returned to the area.
It seemed like all the Nightwalkers had been slain, but that was no longer the Adventurers' biggest issue.
At the centre of the town, where a proud obelisk stood higher than Athelei's floating altitude, a group of robed individuals sat at the very top and looked to be holding a ceremony.
'How did I not see them?' asked Athelei as he braced himself for what was to come.
G O N G !
Without the forceful silence, the Adventurers heard what kind of sound accompanied the ripple of energy that spread from the obelisk.
A palpable and heavy pressure suddenly descended upon every physical being. Everyone, from onlookers to civilian citizens, to the brave Adventurers, was forced to their knees.
Athelei then witnessed a black light grow from the base of the obelisk then run through the abstract carvings of all its four sides. The light swiftly climbed up, rushing towards the pyramidion at the very top.
Athelei's eyes shone when he felt the energy stored within the light.
'This... it's a consciousness! It should be... And it's not a mere remnant...' Athelei marvelled at the obelisk and wondered of its origins.
The best way to look for answers, of course, was Inspect.
"What are you?"
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Royal Gravestone
- [Title: Our Heaven] All those who are buried within the Royal Gravestone's range enjoy an "eternal life in Heaven" within the gravestone.
[ +1 Exp to Analysis Skill: Inspect (Current Exp: 9/10 ]
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Athelei was slightly bothered by such a discovery, 'Yikes. Did the Adventurers build a town on top of a cemetery..?'
But he could not be bothered by it for long as Athelei heard screams sounding out from the protrating people,
"M-monster!"
Athelei moved his gaze back to the ominously shining obelisk and discovered that the carvings were leaking a disgusting and viscous black liquid. Faces were surfacing from the flowing liquid every now and then, together with hands, limbs, and other body parts.
'An abomination of human minds... and it's exerting an immense hatred and scorn.' Athelei scrunched his brows at the sight of the monster that was taking form.
The liquid continued to flow and bubble as Athelei watched.
It formed into something without a form. Athelei realised that it had no complete shape and was simply an ocean of wailing souls, stained by the madness of false immortality and a belief that consumed their entire lives. It continued to grow until it reached a volume akin to an Olympic-sized swimming pool. 2.5 million litres of black, soul liquid was squirming around, like a giant slime.
Athelei glanced at the top of the obelisk and saw the perpetrators watching in sadistic delight from up above.
'Well, I guess there shouldn't be any other surprises left, save for large amounts of human deaths and the destruction of this town...' Athelei analysed the situation, 'Time to grow my wings.'
A smile grew on Athelei's face as his fog-body approached the obelisk and began to coalesce at the very top.
He swiftly invaded the body of the Nightwalker who stood at the centre and began consuming him from the inside. A hideous cry echoed out from the Nightwalker as his companions witnessed him get torn apart.
And then an angel was born from within him.
"Hello there," Athelei spread his wings as the Nefarious Icon on his chest lit up, "Damn blasphemers."
AAAAAAAAAH!
Four more ear-rending screams cried out as Athelei forced the corruption inside the Nightwalkers. Blue veins spread across their phantom figures as their fog-bodies lost their humanoid shape.
They writhed in what looked to be agonizing pain while weird appendages and different shapes kept sprouting from them. Athelei saw what was happening and admired them for a moment. He now had better guesses on why the Nightwalkers kept to their rigid, human forms.
He then consumed them, one by one.
"These are the ends you deserve," Athelei murmured as he mercilessly crushed their sentience and fed their energy to his wings, "I have had a nagging feeling that you bastards were the ones who destroyed my hometown. Now that you've struck a third time, I'm sure of it. I will hunt all of you down for my family and for my wings."
The curses he had learned from Thallium Yan and a few other adults were proving wondrous tonight.
Now, five Nightwalkers would never wake up, ever again. In their place stood a grey angel with folded wings. It looked like a child, yet anyone who saw it would never relate it to an actual child, especially with the twisted joy it was displaying.
"Humans call this vengeance." Athelei chuckled in delight, "I can now see why there are many tales of humans being obsessed over revenge.
"Ending your enemies in this way is—"
FWOOSH!
Athelei's grey wings of solidified fog had developed greatly with his newly-improved 3-meter wingspan. A colourless smile was spread across his face as he said,
"—Absolutely refreshing."