When James saw these people, he stayed where he was for a few seconds, he couldn't believe his eyes. He really couldn't figure out what was going on, how was he going to get out of a place like this, how was he going to clean this floor?
James waited for a while after the family members came down the stairs and took a chance to get closer to Elanor.
"I don't think I've seen you before, thank you so much for coming to my birthday party."
When Elanor uttered those kind words, the grimace on James's face had reached a colossal level, it was impossible not to feel sad. The bloodied young woman he had seen only a dozen minutes before was now bowing her head in thanks.
"Lady Elanor, forgive my rudeness, but please follow me, I have some very important information for you."
James gave Elanor this rude greeting as politely as he could and confused the woman in front of him.
"You say you have information for me, sir, but I have never seen you before, why should I believe you?" Elanor retorted, not knowing what was going on any more than James did.
"I beg you, my lady, if you don't like the information I bring you can kill me with your bare hands, I only need five minutes of your time."
James' words and the look of bitterness on his face must have pricked Elanor's conscience as the two managed to retreat to one side of the hall.
"Well? So tell me then," Elanor said with a smile.
James wasn't quite sure how to explain it. He never thought he would be able to convince Elanor so quickly, and when he realised that it would be best to tell her the truth, he uttered these words:
"You do not recognise me now because I was sent here by you from the future, my lady."
Elanor giggled a little when she heard these words and then tried to leave by saying "Haha...I didn't know my father had invited a comedian, thank you." but James managed to stop her at the last moment.
When James took out the blood-covered necklace from his inventory and showed it to Elanor, her eyes widened and she stared at James.
"This necklace belonged to my grandmother, she always said she hoped it would protect me from all evil, but I'm wearing it now, how is that even possible?"
Elanor uttered these words in astonishment, upsetting James one more notch. Unfortunately, the necklace did not protect Elanor.
"My lady, I wasn't lying when I said I came from the future. This necklace is yours, you gave it to me, to save you and your loved ones. We must leave, the shapeshifters...they are already here."
As James spoke these words, Elanor paused for a few seconds and said with a smile, "They were all destroyed by the god that we kneel before, Erebus, did they escape and come here?"
These words made James think. He had no idea that Erebus himself was destroying the Shapeshifters.
"Now that you understand the situation, please allow me to protect you, we must leave immediately," James suddenly said, and Elanor, hearing these words, turned around and said, "Then I must inform my family, we all must leave together."
At that very moment, James gently grabbed Elanor by the arm and shook his head left and right after getting her attention.
This was the frightening sight James had seen when his family members first arrived in the parlour.
All family members except Elanor had been transformed into shapeshifters.
When James looked at them, he saw twisted faces, bodies with missing parts, long tentacles, dozens of eyes, and as many other disgusting things as possible. It seemed to tell him that he had to save Elanor as fast as he could.
Elanor understood what James meant and somehow managed to keep a smile on her face. She could feel her heart-shattering.
Her little brother Rigby, her mum Amber and her dad Dick were no longer with her, it was a miracle she could even handle it and not have a breakdown.
"Let's go," Elanor said suddenly, as if ready. With that, the two slowly made their way to the door of the mansion. The parlour was in the same place as the door to the mansion, it may have been an odd piece of architecture, but in this case, it would have been more massive than they had thought.
The duo somehow managed to get out of the mansion door, but what they saw outside did not bode well.
The human bodies around were something that even James had not expected. Some black-robed people seemed to be busy drawing runes, James could not understand what was going on, and Elanor was like him.
The two of them passed through the black-robed figures as if nothing was happening and they seemed to attract no attention whatsoever.
Even Elanor could tell that they were necromancers, one of the few powers that were not recognised even inside the tower. It wasn't because they were evil or anything, but because in the eyes of the gods, necromancy depended on gaining power the easy way.
"What's going on?" Elanor asked in a low voice, but unfortunately, James had no answer, he really couldn't understand what was going on. After a while, they came to a place where there were no more people and not even a sound.
It all happened so fast, a window suddenly appeared in front of James and he saw Elanor freeze.
"Are you kidding me? All of that sadness I have lived was for this? I am so gonna lose my fricking mind!" James muttered, unable to understand what was written on the window in front of him:
[8th Floor Cleaned.
Elanor Rosewell successfully cleared the mansion and the dangers outside the mansion.
15,000 gold won]
"My lady, what's going on?" James asked suddenly, he needed answers, he had no idea what was going on.
The possibility that the tower had pulled a trick had occurred to him but he restrained himself, he knew he wasn't going to get any answers from anyone but someone like Nyx right now.
It would be cheating a little, but he wasn't going to take a step forward or return to the 5th floor without knowing what was going on, he had a right to know what was going on.