When they appeared back in the physical realm, the first thing Damien took notice of was the sunlight streaking in through the windows. It seemed night had passed on in the physical realm despite them only spending almost an hour in the metaphysical.
That was one of the unpredictable things about spending time in the metaphysical: time was unreliable. You could spend minutes in the metaphysical and hours could pass you by in the physical.
Damien had even read that going deep into the metaphysical had more adverse effects. You could spend seconds very deep in the metaphysical and days could pass in the physical realm. Spending hours or days deep in the metaphysical could have you come out and find that years had passed you by in the physical realm.
Despite Damien only pushing them so close in the metaphysical as to overlap with the physical realm, hours had still gone by.
The second thing that caught his attention was the two men in more powerful armor than the ordinary guards standing outside the room. Spreading out his senses throughout the room and a little bit outside came up with more of them standing around, trying to disguise and blend in with the passing civilians. Those weren't putting on armor, but the invisible energy shield around their bodies served as protection just in case of ambush. Damien thought.
Within seconds of their appearance, the door to the room was pushed open and the two men entered.
Seeing them, the quality of their armor alone marked them as no less than the cult's executioners. Their armors were forged with a black magically infused steel, and a lord-rank monster energy well was placed on the chest plate of the armor, powering the multiple enchantments Damien sensed on their armors.
As Damien studied the men, so were they studied in turn.
The one who looked older spoke first. "Good day, gentlemen. I am Commander Ali, and I will need you to kindly identify yourselves." He spoke casually, but Damien saw the wariness he looked at them with.
Cropped short brown hair combined with black eyes fixed on a face that was somewhere in his late thirties, though Damien knew he was far older than that. He had the presence of a commander, one who was used to issuing commands and expecting them to be carried out.
"He's the head of the executioner's force in the city," Spy Salin whispered to Damien, now sounding almost calm after confirming that he wasn't going to be killed.
The commander raised an eyebrow on seeing the unconcerned expressions on both their faces. The other one, though, did not take it well. "You will show respect when in the presence of the lord commander." Blond hair and blue eyes tried to intimidate them. Damien almost laughed.
Seeing the amusement on Damien's face, he flushed red, and he almost reached for his weapon when the commander stopped him with a knock on the back of his head. "Learn to control your emotions, or you won't survive long as an executor."
His face could have been mistaken for a heated iron, by how red it had gotten.
The commander then addressed them, "Forgive my subordinate, It isn't often as a commander that you see people act unconcerned in your presence." He didn't sound offended at all; in fact, Damien could sense a hint of relief from the way he spoke.
"You should get used to it, seeing as you're going to be getting a lot of those soon," Damien said.
The commander's face froze. "What do you mean by that?" Piercing eyes met Damien's and the man flinched as his eyes met Damien's.
He stepped back. "Who are you?" He asked, looking shocked. The second one looked confused, looking between Damien and his commander, while Salin started looking nervous.
"Take me to your chosen," Damien's voice brooked no further arguments, so the commander just nodded and stepped aside.
Damien stepped forward and began walking.
Crossing the room entrance into the corridor, he turned left and started for the stairway leading down to the inn's bar, the executors and Salin following behind.
Stepping into the bar, the various patrons quieted and looked on as Damien walked out followed by two executors and a man dressed in civilian clothing.
When he stepped outside, he turned and said to Salin. "Since I have no more use for you, you may go. Do not forget to pass my warning on to your superiors."
The man nodded. Damien saw the obvious strain as he restrained himself from running, managing to calmly walk away. Damien was sure that he would run the moment he was out of sight.
He noticed the other disguised executors keeping their distance but still surrounding them, following.
Turning to the commander as they walked, he saw the man's confusion. "Focus, you will soon learn what all that was about. Now, I suspect the answer but still want to confirm, why did you people come for me?"
The man quickly focused, and Damien smiled appreciatively. "We received a report from one of our soldiers who saw you at a bar close to the gate. He thought you strange and suspicious at first but kept it to himself."
Damien nodded "Wise of him," He then motioned with his hands for the man to continue.
"He watched as you kept interacting with the barman, but as nothing more suspicious happened other than different highly toxic drinks being placed on the table for you, his suspicion lessened until the barman shouted in fear, drawing the other patrons' attention, which led to you quickly leaving the bar. After you left, he went to the barman to inquire why he had shouted, the man was shaking in fear but managed to tell him what you did."
"I never knew a drink would spoil my anonymity like that," Damien said.
"That wasn't a normal drink. Even the chosen would not have taken two shots without any effect on him, yet you did so without showing even an ounce of reaction other than saying the drink wasn't that heavy," Damien could see the questions in the man's eyes that he struggled to hold back. Leaving the man to his speculations, he motioned for him to continue.
"After hearing that, the man was beginning to feel fear but waited a little to make sure you weren't coming back before broadcasting an emergency message throughout to the city's guards and informing them of what you did. He advised caution, that was why you weren't immediately apprehended by any of the guards around," The man said.
They were now approaching the temple's gate where Damien could sense hundreds of guards spread out across the entire street.
"We, the executors and the chosen were informed and quickly moved to apprehend you. We were waiting for night to fully come in when something happened in the room you were staying in, our newest member."
He pointed to the younger executor who came with him.
"Opened the door and almost fell into a room of darkness so black that it literally drank the light. Informing the chosen, we quickly summarised that the anomaly was there as a response to the unnatural absence of something; we thought you had brought Powerful equipment that caused the anomaly. Some wanted to enter and look for you, but the chosen ordered us to be patient; whatever you did would soon be reversed, and the room would go back to normal. So we waited,"
The man looked at Damien. "May I ask what you used to make the room like that?"
Damien smiled and said. "From the way things are playing, you might soon get to find out," before stepping through the temple gate, the guards at the gate stepped aside at a signal from the executor.
"Can I ask why you want to see the chosen?" The younger executor asked.
"You'll know soon," Damien replied before following the new person who came to lead him to the chosen.