RotDG Chapter 72: Underworld Investigation VII

It was a spectral sentinel.

A greater spirit.

Standing at nearly ten feet tall, it was a behemoth made of metal. Like it was a living knight’s armor. Blue flames which turned gold at the edges burned inside of the visor of its helmet, and a fiery cape blazed from its back, flashing in and out of existence with each passing second. 

It towered over Mike who stepped back with round eyes, and it slowly swept its gaze over its surroundings, quickly assessing the situation. It looked towards Mike, then Luke who was lying on the ground, before finally looking towards Wyll. It didn’t even give a second glance to the five remaining Bronze Rank men working under Luke.

“Are you in trouble, master?” it asked in a tinny voice, turning back to the child standing right behind it. “Is this an urgent matter?”

“No,” she… he… whatever said, shaking their head. “You can have your fun, V. Just make sure nobody escapes.”

“Yes, master.”

Wyll snapped out of his stupor when he heard that. He backed away as he called out to his friend.

“Mike, get out of the way!” Wyll said, conjuring up a spear made of ice. 

Immediately, Mike moved, rolling out of the way. The ice spear launched forward, arcing straight for the spectral sentinel as it raised its head, unable to react in time. The ice spear struck it in the chest, causing it to recoil as it exploded into a mist of ice.

But that was only a distraction. Mike jumped back forward as he took advantage of the opening. He swung out with his spiked fist, aiming straight for the giant knight’s head.

“Got you!” 

There was a loud metallic clang as the spectral sentinel reeled, its head twisting back. Mike grinned, and Wyll felt himself sighing in relief. 

While a spectral sentinel was certainly a Platinum Rank threat, it was up against both Mike and Wyll— a Platinum Rank [Brawler] and a Gold Rank [Mage] respectively. So they had the numbers advantage.

And with it, they would win—

But then as the mist cleared, Wyll paused at what he saw. The spectral sentinel just stood there, its head cocked back slightly, some frost left covering its chest. But, otherwise, it was completely unharmed. 

It slowly turned its head back to the front, forcing Mike’s fist back as he blinked a few times. And then he leapt back as it stepped forward.

“Both of you are so weak,” the spectral sentinel said, seemingly cracking its fists. “I won’t even need to use magic to kill you two.”

“Well, you should keep Wyll alive, I’ll deal with him myself,” the kid piped up from the back.

“Of course, master.” The spectral sentinel nodded as it continued to stride forward.

Mike and Wyll just stared at this scene as Luke’s five remaining men exchanged a terrified glance. In the background, Luke shouted angrily at them, waving his axe in the air.

“What are you idiots doing? Go and stop that thing!”

And that spurred them to act. They charged straight at the spectral sentinel all at once, swinging their swords and axes at its legs. But even though the spectral sentinel wasn’t defending against their attacks, it wasn’t slowing either.

It was like watching a group of children desperately kick and punch at the legs of a fully-grown man. 

Even by just walking, the spectral sentinel managed to knock a few of them to the side. Wyll cursed when he saw this, before conjuring up a spell as his fingers crackled with electricity. 

Meanwhile, Mike just charged forward and joined the group of men, swinging out with his fist.  This time, the spectral sentinel actually responded. It swung out too— knocking aside half of the men surrounding him as it did.

Mike and the spectral sentinel clashed fists as the ground almost seemed to shake from the impact. The two of them exchanged punch after punch after punch as the rest of Luke’s men were knocked back and forced to watch from the side.

It almost looked like the spectral sentinel and Mike were equal in strength. That was— until his spiked knuckles broke. When it did, they clashed fists once more, and this time, there was a cracking sound. His fist bent upon impact as he screamed out in pain, before stumbling back.

Then a follow-up punch from the spectral sentinel landed on his face, sending him flying back a hundred feet, before he crashed through one of the abandoned houses. The building collapsed as dust and debris shot into the air.

“Dammit—” Wyll clicked his tongue when he saw that. But he steeled himself and pointed at the spectral sentinel as he finished preparing his spell. “How about this? Take my strongest attack— [Frozen Lightning]!”

All at once, a blast of lightning shot out from his fingertips, exploding straight for the spectral sentinel. The attack tore across the landscape— even zipping past one of Luke’s men and both burning him and freezing him an instant, leaving him dead— before it struck its target.

The spectral sentinel braced itself by raising both of its arms, but the attack exploded upon impact, covering the area in a layer of thick mist. Wyll lowered his hand as he stared at the clearing mist.

And the spectral sentinel had slid back only a single foot from the attack.

“How are we supposed to kill that thing…?” Wyll whispered as he stared at the greater spirit.

But before he could even get an answer, Mike exploded out of the rubble in the distance, his veins popping as a red aura overcame him. He bounded forward like a feral animal, using his broken hands like they were perfectly fine. Wyll recognized that power immediately. It was blood magic— it was called [Blood Frenzy].

It sacrificed some of his [Vitality] to give him a significant boost to all his other Attributes. It was a last resort Skill that Mike had been taught since he joined the Crimson Covenant. It was not something to be used lightly.

However, this was not a light situation.

Mike moved much faster now, darting around the spectral sentinel as it wasn’t able to react. And that was when he struck. He landed a powerful fist onto the giant knight’s back, causing it to stumble forward, before he quickly backed away. It tried to swing back at him and missed as he darted out of the way.

This repeated a few more times as Mike continued to land strikes while avoiding being caught by the greater spirit, and Wyll found himself perking up in excitement.

That’s right, we can still win this— he thought as his lips curled up.

But then as Mike got closer to land another punch, this time, the spectral sentinel spun around and caught the punch. It held onto Mike’s fist, refusing to let go even as he pulled back.

“Most impressive, you’re stronger now. But—” it said, nodding approvingly at him. He roared and tried to headbutt it, causing it to stumble back. And then it sighed. “You’re still weak.”

With that said, the spectral sentinel responded with its own headbutt. But its attack completely caved in Mike’s skull. He fell back as it let go of him, collapsing to the ground.

“Mike!” Wyll cried out.

But his friend’s body just lay there limply, face practically smashed open. Already dead.

Wyll stared at Mike’s corpse for a moment as he tried to process what just happened. It was so quick— it was only a single attack. However, perhaps it was because Mike had sacrificed his [Vitality] after already taking massive damage, that single attack was now more than enough to finish him off.

B-but… the thought tried to cross Wyll’s mind. It’s only a single spectral sentinel… we outnumber it— how is it so strong…?

Unfortunately for Wyll, he wasn’t going to get any answers as his thoughts were interrupted by the terrified voices of the last of Luke’s men. 

“Fuck this, I’m out of here!” one of them said, before dropping his weapon and running off.

The rest hesitated, but a second one fled the scene as well, screaming in fear. And that was enough to break the morale of the last of them. They all took off running— some of them even crying— as they tried to get away from the scene.

“What are you damn fools doing?” Luke said as he finally managed to hobble back to his feet. He was barely standing, since missing a leg made it very difficult for him to even be upright. “Don’t run, fight—”

But he was cut off as one of his men just shoved him to the side, knocking him back onto the ground. 

“I’m not going to kill myself for you, you fat bastard!” 

And while they fully intended to flee, the spectral sentinel had a different idea. It raised a hand as flames sparked out of its back, creating different fiery weapons that floated above its head. 

“Unfortunately for you, my master said to leave none of you alive,” it said simply. “So none of you are going anywhere.”

And right as the words left its mouth, the weapons shot out, flying straight for the fleeing men. One after another, they were crushed by the giant fiery blades. Their screams erupted for a moment, before being promptly cut off as they were killed.

W-what…? Wyll backed away as he watched this happen. This entire time, the spectral sentinel had been capable of using magic. And yet, it was fighting with only its fists? It’s been… holding back?

And yet, it had been completely slaughtering them with ease. The last of Luke’s men perished as Wyll repeated himself for what felt like the tenth time.

“But how…? I just don’t get it—”

The spectral sentinel stepped to the side as the kid— no, the monster casually strode past the greater spirit, shaking their head.

“Perhaps if V was an ordinary spectral sentinel, it would have been overwhelmed by you and your men. But, unfortunately for you, that is not the case.”

Wyll staggered back, his knees growing weak in fear. He tripped over nothing as the kid drew closer. 

“Just who are you?” Wyll asked, trying to catch his breath. 

But he couldn’t. He was practically panting, unable to even breathe normally because of the bands of terror he felt tightening around his neck.

“I told you, I’m the Bloodied Blade,” the kid said without missing a beat.

Behind him, Luke managed to get back to his feet once again and shouted. “You’ll be bloody dead, that’s what!”

He hurled his axe straight for the Bloodied Blade. But before the attack could land, a crimson whip shot out from behind his back, knocking aside the flying axe, before striking Luke in the neck.

The burly man dropped to the ground as he clutched at his neck, making a gurgling noise, unable to speak. He lay there, trying to breathe— but he couldn’t. And he slowly drowned in his own blood.

Wyll’s eyes widened when he saw that. “Blood magic too…?”

His mind raced with the possibilities of who this kid could be. And, finally, it all clicked.

“I get it— you were sent by Rin, weren’t you?” Wyll said as he pointed accusingly at the kid.

The Bloodied Blade came to a halt before him, before pausing curiously. “Rin?” 

“Don’t play dumb with me— I’m talking about the Prophet of Change!” Wyll exclaimed, shaking his head. “He’s upset because I got one of his mawdriths killed, isn’t he? He’s doing all this to make me pay for my failures!”

That had to be it. That was the only explanation. The blood magic— the Lesser Death Dagger. Even the greater spirit that was summoned. It could have only been orchestrated by the leader of the Crimson Covenant.

But even though Wyll had been convinced that this was what was going on, the kid just shook their head and chuckled.

“No, I’m not sent by your boss. I just have a few questions to ask you, that’s all.”

Wyll tried to work his jaw. “...questions?” 

“That’s right,” the Bloodied Blade said. “You’re an information broker, aren’t you? So answer my questions, and I’ll let you live.”

“You’ll let me live?” Wyll repeated after them, processing what was going on. “Will you really spare my life?”

If this was really true, then he would tell the Bloodied Blade absolutely anything and everything— all just to survive. And what he heard in response instilled enough confidence in him to make a decision.

“Yes.”

The kid’s eyes twinkled with a crimson glow underneath their skull-like mask as they nodded.

“I promise.”

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