"So be it!" Rose shouted, her expression calm as she drew the greatsword.
"Using my own weapon against me—"
James' cries went unheard as the Baron interjected, putting himself between the two of them as he held his palm tightly.
"Stop, you two. A mutiny here would be suicide," feeling the opportunity, Ployer looked at Rose. "And you, mercenary! Do you think you can act all mysterious and gain our trust?"
"Not in our dreams,"
Rose smiled coldly, "Don't think I didn't notice you pulling at that ring on your middle-finger, old man. You were the one least affected in that room except him," her eyes darted between Ployer and Ruiki, James feeling like a tomato in a salad.
This old man has tricks up his sleeves as well, Ruiki looked at Ployer discreetly, not giving away that they weren't united. It would be better to quell the situation if they showed harmony instead of distrust, for Ruiki knew the old man wouldn't betray or dare harm him, atleast.
"Tch," James clicked his tongue, nocking an arrow on his shortbow. "Don't think I'm useless here—"
"Stand down," his voice was cut by Ruiki, who stared coldly at Rose. "I can kill everyone here including myself if I want to,"
It was a bluff. By the time it'd take him to cast a spell, his head would be casted off instead.
"Oh? Try it, we'll see who's faster, spellcaster,"
Just as Rose was about to speak further, a loud roar broke her voice off as the cavern suddenly shook.
"Damnit, what's going on?"
James held onto the walls for support, barely hanging on as Rose plunged her greatsword onto the ground, grimacing.
"Any idea on what's going on?" Ruiki asked, seeing her expression turn grim.
Her grimace tightened even further as the cavern shook even more violently, debris and small rocks falling from above onto their heads.
"This damned...!" Ployer almost collapsed, supported by Ruiki as he cursed, looking around as the tremors stopped, eventually coming to a standstill.
"What was that?" Ployer asked, Rose shoving away her greatsword on her back.
"Time is of essence; I will explain its origins later," She said, looking at the ceiling, "For now, please follow me. While I don't expect you to find everything I do with reason, I'll try my best to explain my actions."
Ruiki and Ployer, including James, were a bit taken aback by her behaviour as the former nodded.
"My opinions don't even matter, do they?" James mumbled begrudgingly. "Well fine, let's."
...
The party headed to the underground, or the first floor, as said by the polymorphed human, once again, seeking to go near the place where the prison had collapsed due to the large amount of corpses sprawled there, which would undoubtedly attract fagosins and other creatures, for the mages were "rich" in magic.
"May I ask what you know about the gods?" Rose suddenly asked, surprising them amidst their haste, "It's no problem if you don't want to talk about it," she said once again, glancing at Ruiki and Ployer.
But seeing that none of them were ready to answer her question, nor James, she started: "In churches or temples, no matter where, gods are described as the "Beginning and the End," and this is very common, in fact. No matter where you go, the north, or anywhere."
"Your point being?" Ruiki asked.
"Think over this sentence, not with much complexity. Think over it simply, in the literal sense of things,"
Literal sense of things... Ruiki ruminated, eventually asking: "What does that relate to our current situation?"
She shot a glance back at Ruiki, and briefly smiled, "Everything."
Wh— Everything? Ruiki looked around, as did Ployer and James. The caverns had nothing distinguishing themselves from the others except for the blackstones that were as pristine as though they were polished, imbued with countless complex inscriptions.
Ruiki took a deep breath. "The place the Order of Black Pits were working on, they aren't simple? They are related to some ancient history?"
"You're somewhat correct, congratulations." Rose encouraged, as if giving a thumbs-up for a kid.
Ruiki looked at Ployer as he asked, "Amongst the many of us, you were the only one with much authority and contact with the Order of Black Pits. Care to give some conjectures?"
Ployer spread his hands helplessly with a bitter smile as he shook his head, "In this matter, I don't know much. Why'd you think the Order of Black Pits would disclose their operations to a mere Baron like me? Even Viscounts and Counts place their respects on them."
Although Ployer had a rather important territory in the Kingdom, the matters the Order of Black Pits handled were too high-level to actually know, so Ruiki nodded.
"In such cases, that lass might know more," Ployer gestured, pointing at Rose at the front.
Rose merely chuckled, not responding.
"Why be so secretive?" James asked, "Can't you skip some riddles?" he scratched his head, the sound of his makeshift wooden stick clashing against the ground in haste reverberating.
Rose merely shook her head, not answering either.
"So be it," Ployer grumbled besides Ruiki, as Ruiki considered her words.
View them in a simple manner, literally? During sermons, the priests had proselytized that the gods were the beginning and the end, though it wasn't emphasized in what sense. As far as Ruiki knew and could think, the gods created the world and would bring about its destruction as well?
Ruiki sighed, not pondering much. If it had been before the Last Embers, he'd have thought about such topics scot-free, but now, he didn't dare to do so.
Pressing forward, the group came near the place where the prison had collapsed as they ducked beside a crude rock that had fallen, watching carefully.
Ruiki squinted as he looked ahead — he couldn't distinguish from where he had come from, nor where the prison had collapsed — for the whole area was a bloody mess.
Blood scattered everywhere, hundreds of fagosins' feasting upon corpses, their teeth, face and body drenched in red blood.
He also noticed a few scuffles for food among them as they fought amongst each other, fighting for food.
But if one looked closely, they could also notice the scarred corpses of fagosins', no other of their kin going anywhere near them.
"There are dead fagosins as well," she said, "We can make use of these instead of taking them head on,"
"It's difficult," Ruiki remarked, the whole place had been covered by fagosins, and although they didn't pay much attention to their kins' corpses, they surely would notice something amiss. "We lack stealth, the corpses are in the open, not feasible." he shook his head.
"Well, looks like we need to wait patiently then, mix both of our plans — observe and fight," Rose said, sighing.
Ployer smiled, pleased, "Heed the advice of your elders, they preach," he shook his head, "but youngsters these days..."
"Enough talk," Rose chided, pointing at Ruiki. "You and I will keep watch and observe their moments — waiting for them to fight and see if a fagosin will disperse from its group."
"Miss, I'm still here," Barlet Ployer scoffed, looking at her. "If it's simple observations, I can make do,"
"You can do so if you wish, but don't expect me to follow your whims," Rose said coldly, "No suggestion of yours will be taken."
Ployer raised his hands in surrender, withdrawing, as Rose turned her gaze back to Ruiki.
"Besides me, you are the one with the most strength here, and I hope you aren't in hands with the Baron," She said, looking at Ruiki after the Baron had withdrawn a fair distance.
Ruiki clicked his tongue, shaking his head, "I might. If your motives aren't clear,"
Hearing his answer, she frowned but still nodded, gesturing back at the fagosins, "We'll observe their movements until there's a loner amidst them. Then, after it has moved a fair distance, we ambush it,"
"Since we can't arrange traps or snares, we'll have to face it head on..."
Rose explained the plan to him, although it was simple and involved a basic "Trick and Treat" mechanism, although this one leaned more towards "Treat and Trick,"
"What do you say?" Rose asked him, waiting for his answer.
Ruiki thought for a bit and then nodded, "You can cast spells,"
Rose's lips twitched as she asked, "How did you come to such a horrid conclusion?"
"Just a guess," Ruiki dismissed, but seeing her questioning gaze, he answered: "Well... You've too much knowledge on magical creatures and such. Moreover you can read enchantments,"
"And you look only a few years older than me, that's all. Unless you are a prodigy of some sorts, you can't accrue such knowledge,"
Knowledge about gods, somehow... He held back saying that part aloud, waiting for an answer.
"You can think of me however you want," Rose stood, "What's important is that we escape from here," she said as she walked away to the rest, leaving Ruiki to watch over the fagosins.
Did she just leave me here? Wasn't she the first one to keep watch? Ruiki shook his head with a sigh, focusing his gaze on the fagosins, observing them.
...
Ruiki and Rose had both kept watch over the fagosins for several hours, learning much about them in the process, also coming up with several plans as to how to poison their food chains and on how to combat them as well.
The initial planning was as such: After defeating the fagosin, Ruiki would attract them with his magic. It wasn't much difficult, since fagosins much preferred their food "alive" then "dead," the only reason they were feasting on the dead was because of limited options.
Well, every creature prefers live prey than a dead one, at least in terms of magical creatures.
In the meantime, Ployer and James were exploring the rest of the cavern, intending to take whatever they could for the impending battle, making sure they had scouted every place clearly, and if possible — find an actual Wizard.
Ruiki doubted they would, however.
Seeing Rose walk over to switch places with him, Ruiki asked a question that had been troubling him, "That dragonslayer,"
"How did he kill an entire camp of Wizards of Order of Black Pits?"
"How do you know it's a dragonslayer?"
Seeing no reply, Rose paused for a moment as she replied, switching places, "Most of them were outside, dealing with some explosion up-north.
"Another explosion?" Ruiki asked, to which Rose plainly nodded, not explaining further.
Several minutes later, though, Ruiki saw that James and Ployer had returned, James holding a small enchanted dagger— similar to that of Rose — while the Baron had gotten himself a studded-leather armour.
"Nothing much from the search, just some daggers and an armor," James said, disappointment evident in his tone.
Just at this moment, though, Rose signalled to Ruiki, gesturing him to come closer.
Just as Ruiki was about to ask further questions, he heard a loud screech as his eyes lit up.
"Shh," Rose gestured him to be quiet, "We've found one, there's a loner," She said, pointing to one of the fagosins which had separated from its group due to infighting.