'Eh bien... Seems like some interesting things are going to go down in Laparadis'
'Better get myself a seat to observe all of that'
"I'll be away for a little while, repeat that to everyone else if you have the occasion to" spoke Theli to his sister, it was cutting their time together short but there was no way he could miss on such observations.
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"But, isn't it like, my job to fight them?" spoke Iustus, concerned about what was to come.
"Well, it definitely is but you can't even push out mana at all at the moment, it would be a cruel twist of fate if you were to get killed before even using your powers for real, focus on trying to use them" responded Gregory, seeming calm but his mind really was a mess, they were going to participate in that, technically, still unplanned assault.
It would happen pretty much to moment one of the various scouts dispatched were to find where the sins were holed up, it didn't seem like anyone was planning on being tricky about it, it was going to be rushing in and then exerce violence in the name of justice or whatever.
Since he wasn't a brilliant strategist himself, there was no avoiding it but really, the shaky attack plan wasn't what worried him, they were doing that because trying to play it smart when you barely had any information on your enemy wasn't much of an option.
He really was just scared, scared of meeting Lust again, the grim resolve of hate and vengeance wasn't up to part against the terror she inspired him, her image was carved into his mind for eternity, there was not doing anything against this.
The image of the cardinal sin wasn't scary in any way, it was disgustingly comforting and appeasing, which was worse, he could tell that he still wouldn't be able to brush off the influence she exerted on him just by being around.
A loud sound took Iustus's attention as Gregory just banged his forehead against the wall to try and change what was going on in his head, without explanation he did a few more time before just walking away as the young hero watched him perplexed.
The boy was surrounded by strange people and he wondered if he would turn out a weirdo too if he hung out around them too much, although, at least they were good people.
He didn't remember himself being a good judge of character but it was a feeling he felt willing to trust for some reason.
Shaking his head before focusing back on himself, he was still questioning how his powers worked in the first place, all of the skills he had gotten after becoming a 'virtuous hero' didn't have any level it seemed and it said that they were solely dependent on his own mana output.
He had asked for pointers from the others but they were either unable to give him any or the one they gave didn't work at all, no traditional or even specific techniques of using mana was working for him, in spite of all his efforts.
Would they really just come out if really needed like Gregory joked they would? That seemed highly impractical.
'Come on, 'virtuous hero', do they only appear when against a sin? They didn't poke their head out when those two ambushed us back then though...' he scratched his head in thought, the fact that he barely remembered the time he had used them was inconvenient.
He sighed heavily as he continued racking his brain out to find some way to use his mana.
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Carefully pushing a large bush apart, a wide eyed scout was surprised by the pretty sight in front of him but quickly straightened up as he noticed something was off, his vision was a slight bit distorted.
He raised a feet up but he wasn't feeling light headed or nauseous and his balance was fine, looking back, the effect of distortion wasn't visible.
Certain about it, he took a few slow step forwards and extended his hands a bit shakily, feeling a stone wall despite not seeing anything in front of him, he was pretty much convinced that he had found it, he reached into his satchel.
A single blow of air in this horn and many other scouts would be able to tell his position and immediately go report the finding, the scout hadn't thought about it too deeply, he was only following procedure.
He wasn't able to grab the horn however as someone else was already holding it in their own hands.
"That is nice work but hollowing a horn out make it way too weak..." commented a man from behind him, his voice sounding wrong and muffled at the same time.
The scout didn't have to do anything as the man in question grabbed his shoulder and spun him around before grabbing his neck and lifting him up in the air, his feet only barely scraping the ground.
The scout was part of the Heiligian force sent to Laparadis, so he was able to somewhat recognise the man for who he was.
"Answer a few of my questions and I'll let you go" spoke the necromancer of steel.
"How many of the champions are here?" the scout clearly expressed his refusal to speak before the necromancer could even release a bit of the pressure he was putting on his neck.
"No a big talker? Fine then, just tell me then..." he hesitated for a moment, he was going to ask for the most important but he had already been told that Wrath Of The Gods was here, so instead, he asked about something else.
"Is Minimil here? Lady Storm I should say I guess" the slight change in expression of the scout was enough of an answer for the necromancer and he threw the breathless man to the ground with a flick of his wrist.
He tried to stand up and run immediately but found that his muscles were like paralysed and that he was struggling to get his breath back, despite breathing perfectly fine.
"I guess you wouldn't know that but there is iron in blood, I am not exactly an expert in controlling existing iron but that is nothing a bit of magic can't help with" spoke Narik as he walked up to the scout.
Whether or not he would die didn't matter much in the end, if he got back, he would spill everything out and if he died, they would just retrace the path he was meant to take and find this place either way, the second option would give him more time however.
Had he had access to someone capable of mind control or memory altering, it would have been a different story but he had no such option at his disposal at the moment.
He held up his index finger as his metal glove shaped itself into a blade.
Neatly chopping the scout head and watching it roll against the ground for a few moments, Narik had to get ready to receive the visit of some troublesome people.