Thump*
The sound of a body falling echoed in the silence.
Nier's eyes widened as he activated his ability and looked at Loy who was now looking at him with dead eyes. Completely emotionless face. Suddenly a grin etched on his face as he began moving forward in quick drunken steps.
'Is this the legendary Death mana' Nier thought.
The man in his eyes was covered in a dark aura- the previous signs of his mana completely vanished.
He was dead but still walking
A single touch seemed to cause heavy damage to vitality.
No other explanation made sense.
'I must avoid his touch at all cost! I don't have almost any anti-mana left and it'll take time to recover. What is this? Someone is remotely giving him death mana? Then why are those pins not working? Wait!? No way-'
Nier jumped back avoiding the hand that passed by him.
The man... no- zombie crazily hacked like a kid throwing a tantrum.
"!!!" Nier looked as he found himself in a dead end. The ice structure at his back and a crazy zombie running towards him.
He took out his chains when-
Stab*
A flaming baton emerged from the zombie's head. Lighting it alive.
"A̵̤̝͓̮̰͖͌̅̎͒Ą̶̧̛̳͈̭̹͕̮̳̼̩͈̗̰̙͕̘̂̏͂̉̔̂̏̿͋̇̕̕A̸̧̡͙̖̝͚̮̮̖̭̔̋̈́̉̈́̀̊̀̎͋̌̅͝͝ͅA̵̢̛̟̱̞̰̲̜̙̞̲̙̤̗̻͔͎͗͐͆̑͛̐̔̋̀̓̍̈̃A̷̢̩͓̠̲̠̝͚̼̲͉̞̱͊̄͑̀͋͑̾̔A̸̛̘̳̹̎͗͆̈͘Ả̷̛̛̛͙̤̼͍̯̞̺̲͖̣̣̖͋̽́̾̋A̶̙̣͕̲̬̲̻̯̳͈͔͂͜ͅẠ̷̧̢̲̻͖͕̺̹̹͚̫̖̍̔͐̒̿̆̎̀̿́́̋̔̕͘A̷̡̧̠̙̠̬͎̝̙̞̰̒̈̂̽͆͠" It let out distorted screams as it got completely covered in flames
A wobbling Reya stood behind it. Her face covered in blood and sweat. The burning zombie turned and clawed her. Reya was unable to avoid completely before it grazed her face leaving long wounds.
Just as it was about to continue- A chain rapped around it closing it's movements- leaving it to burn completely into ashes.
Reya saw that she fell on her back. Silent.
Nier remained silent looking at her. She was going to die in some time. His healing attribute mana would not help since the damage wasn't some physical damage.
She was damaged from death mana- it brought the living towards death. And he could neither use anti-magic on her. Aside from the horrible pain and destruction it would bring to her mana, it would be like trying to destroy ashes and hope that would negate the damage done.
Sigh*
"Who's gonna give my reward now" Nier muttered in a low voice.
"Go to the Mistey family house- they'll reward you handsomely. Also- tell them...please" Reya suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice.
"!"
"One last thing- please somehow tell the prince- there are traiters in the knight ranks. The kingdom is in danger...he is the only one that can be trusted. Please...this is my last request"
"Aren't you an idiot...you trust me? I am a random adventurer from thousands of them who happened to take on the mission and you trust me?" Nier sarcastically muttered.
"I can only believe" Reya said as a smile etched on her face.
"People who trust everyone...they never go far in life" Nier whispered...to no one.
Sigh*
"Tch- I let big bro win...how stupid of me, now he can be happy. Heh" Ria said with a self-deprecating smile.
"..."
"Looks can be rather deceiving- you look rather innocent"
"Not always- you look rather...dead and indeed so"
"At least be nice now. I am dying- and hungry. Should have listened to Reiner...Your eyes...they are really beautiful- I want to eat them"
"I knew you were a cannibal...and I must decline your last wish. Heh, how will I even come in contact with the prince? And if I tell your family of your death, couldn't the news reach to these so called traitors? Wouldn't they realize that I came in contact with you? And last of all- I really don't care. In the end, I won't get anything."
"You know- the prince is leader of the Iron mountain squad. You can find him there. He'll definitely reward you. As for everything else. Ungrateful a**hole. I saved your life just now. Tch"
"I missed the part where that's my problem...No one asked you"
"You should have died. Hopefully the afterlife is great."
"I wish." Nier muttured before standing up.
With one last look at her, he ran. Fast as possible. Covering himself in anti-magic to hide his traces. Soon a 'thorn' appeared in his path as the mountain ended- no rather, it was a left turn. The mountain wall and road went left and the forward direction was a cliff in Nier's perspective but- Nier continued running- soon he reached the cliff- and looked down. There was a slope, a metallic slope that seemed to end on a giant city built atop a giagantic shell.
Yes, a giant shell that lied on the grass plain and a city was built on it. What did the shell belong to? Nier didn't exactly know. He slid down the 'road' and felt no friction which was surprising since it was said to be possible to run on it- probably the result of a formation.
There was also a lack of the gut wrenching feeling or fear that would likely come from a slide that was as long as this.
The city became bigger and bigger in his eyes and soon he saw his destination-
A massive fluffy pillow?
Putting on the mask, Nier reading himself for impact and- smashed into the pillow, deep in it, the pillow regained its shape throwing him away- and he soon fell on another safety pad.
Standing up- Nier looked around. He was standing outside a large wall- surrounded by large wall. Sandwiched by two walls.
He didn't know what the walls were made of but the carving patterns on them were quite beautiful. All sorts of beasts and sapiens.
Soon after paying the entry fee- which he took from Reya. The city was bustling with people and even beasts. Shops were lined up and some pets were aerial as well.
The architecture was...rather bizarre. The houses were of different sizes and their shapes were varying as well. Some were like sea shells, tree houses, spiral serpentine houses etc.
Nier walked calmly and looked around. In the bustling environment, he felt a strange calm. Despite seemingly calm, he was a little stressed from the ambush.
Finally feeling a little bit of peace. He thought about his actions- a magic knight died and it was definitely going to found. He didn't exactly cover his tracks for no reason initially and the chances of his involvement being found out were very high. It was unnecessary to put himself in suspicion for keeping the story and better to tell it and get a reward on it.
In truth while he denied all the requests Reya had. It was more so meant as questions instead of criticism. Questions, of which the answer he already knew- meeting the prince was the best option. It wasn't necessarily his favorite option but it seemed the best.
Deciding to meet the future king of the kingdom. Nier moved towards one of the city's main attraction. The Teleportation Stand.
Dainsport was a tele-port city- tele-port cities were cities which had a teleportation stand in them.
The city was especially famous for being a place of bond between humans and beasts. Built atop a shell of an unkown humoungus beast. It was a place that attracted different species for their reasons and became a such a spot.
Nier would have stayed to learn about the history and stories of the city but he strode towards the stand as he felt he had to do something quickly.