"
Wa—mph
!"
Wan Jinju darted forward to push his hand against Hon Takira's face. Then he noticed the other girl standing beside her, too shocked to even speak. He leaned closer to the platinum-blonde girl's ear and whispered.
"
Please don't call me by my real name. I'll do the explanations later. I didn't think you'd remember me after all these years. Because I, too, have not forgotten your face. For now, keep your head down. I don't understand what intrusive thought made you come down here, not just alone but with another eyewitness too. Well, good thing you did, otherwise I'd have to slit your throat for the sake of ensuring guild secrets remain secrets
."
Wan let go off his hand from her lips, wiping off the trace amounts of wetness that it had acquired.
From the humble gentle way that he had held his hand over her mouth, Takira could predict that Wan definitely wouldn't have done any of those hideous unethical things had had just described. Something about the honesty in his bleak grey eyes, too, she noted.
"
Sayan
!" Wan lifted a finger. "
Don't dare to try any funny business, alright? We'll let you go as soon as we're done finding and subduing that monster. And I can earn my freedom out of the Akamine guild, too
," he sighed, kicking away a pebble from his walk back to the necromancer currently sitting cross-legged on the uneven ground. "
Remember! We're both in the same boat
."
The blue-haired son of Dor idly scraped away at the rock with his ammolite dagger.
"
A boat that you got yourself into, silly Akamine
," came Sayan's response. "
And one where you dragged me inside by force
."
Takira and Miyura quietly obeyed Wan's orders by staying as far away as they could from the two strangers in the center of the cavern. One of those 'strangers' had erected luminous sticks with magic runes rotating around them for glowing brightly enough to see in colors in the dark.
"
Now that we're here and those unexpected bystanders are out of the way
," Wan patrolled around the space, peering at every unique detail worth seeing but being bored by the sight of stalagmites and stalactites. "
Where in this world could that beast be? I don't see any cages 'round here. Nor any signs of life. Are we really at the right place, I wonder
."
"
Dumbarse
," Sayan mocked, still sitting on the uncomfortable floor. "
It doesn't take an idiot to know that those two ladies over there have arrived here for the same reason! Think, Akamine, think!
"
Wan shoved the negative words away like ignoring a pesky fly. Once a person reached a certain threshold of intelligence, words were only meaningless sounds flavored by human emotions and biases. Actions were the real deal.
"
Shut up
," Wan bluntly spoke out, putting his fists on his hips as he walked in a circle around Sayan. "
Unless I decide to hand YOU over as the monster. HQ has no idea about its exact species or appearances. So it would work seamlessly. Also gotta thank the Sirutov that we managed to target this place on the same exact day that you did, Mr Dor
."
"
Go ahead and try
," Sayan held up his blade to admire the strange way the light from the stick runes danced across the inhumanely-crafted design. The ammolite material seemed to almost glow in the dark. '
I feel so damnably scared, frickin' flux! That guy… I don't know what kind of soul he has. I don't wish to be near him. The best I can do is remain calm and pretend not to be so afraid. But oh! What the HECK is that thing inside of him? Is that Akamine truly human? I think I shouldn't test his patience. By what divinity exists in the universe, that guy is insane! Wait.. another person is approaching
.'
Wan and Sayan turned their heads around to greet their third dose of interruption.
Clang-clang-clang-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
Armored footsteps arrived into the cavern.
Wan, Sayan, Takira and Miyura prepared for the worst.
"
GET OUT OF THERE!
" Eolum the legendary icemage's voice rolled out like a flood of intense sine waves.
Surely enough, Wan and Sayan managed to dodge an incoming monstrous attack from behind them, a giant arm-like structure.
The ground began violently shaking.
"
Alo
!" Wan chanted, instructing the light sticks set around the area to rise up like fireworks and explode into showers of fuzzy floating lights that floated down very slowly. A glowing snowfall. The new quantity of illumination revealed that an entire wall of the cavern was suddenly moving.
'
What's this! The monster was here all along?
' Wan looked up to face the animal, adjusting his eyes to look for visual clues about the shape and size of what the mythical beast looked like.
Occupying the entire hundred meters of clearance from the ceiling, which was the floor of the mansion itself, an otherworldly humongous turtle looked down at the puny humans who just disturbed its sleep.
!!!
Sayan, Wan, Takira, Miyura, and Eolum all looked up at the behemoth of a creature in much surprise.
Oh man, I've fought demons, and I've fought humans. But this might be the first time going close quarters combat mode with a giant. Hmph, there's a first time for everything, huh?
"
Old man
," Sayan called out to the man of the house. "
What sort of crazy collector are you?! Keeping this building-sized thing down deep below? What were your intentions with it? Experiment? Torturing? All you Akamines care about are killing off non-humans for the sake of the greater—
"
Smack!
Wan slapped the necromancer on the side of his face, with a force that knocked him straight into a non-moving wall of the cavern.
"
Lectures later, fixes first
," Masayoshi unsheathed his katana, holding it with one hand and the other inside his pocket. "
Mr Hon. I understand that you may have been a member of the Akamine once. And whatever affiliation or conflicts of interest you may have with them are forfeit in this current environment. I need you to help us slay this beast or stand your ground and protect your daughter and her friend over there. Choice is yours. Clock is ticking
."
He looked over his shoulder to see Eolum already standing upright and strong as a human shield in front of Takira and Miyura.
What am I thinking? A father's instincts are never wrong.
"
Ugh
.." Sayan rubbed his cheek where Wan's hand had impolitely applied the force.
But his mind quickly shifted from revenge to survival instincts as the turtle began to unveil itself from the rocks, its body resembling that of a mixture between an armored land tortoise, a dragon, a dinosaur and an ancient Dunkleosteus shark.
"
Boy, stop! Don't attack my turtle
," Eolum's voice flew like a paperplane, pecking at the demon hunter's ear. "
His name is Pathor. You people have disturbed his slumber. Usually he isn't so aggressive
."
The turtle's shell was the primary support holding up the roof of the cavern, with the remaining secondary pillars having decayed by the turtle's mildly corrosive breaths while it remained stuck for so long. Pathor wasn't the only one being disturbed, as his movements sent crumbs of rocks and stalactites falling down from the rocky canopy above.
So many questions, so many reasons for hiding this monster from the Akamine guild. No wonder why they sent me on this 'one last mission' before I can earn my freedom and head back home to see my parents. First the blood moon, and now this? God, what a wonderful world I live in! For real. This is what keeps me running, makes me feel alive. Thank you, Divines above.
Wan was in a position to speed forward like a ninja-samurai hybrid.
"
Boy, whatever you do, do NOT make Pathor move too much! The cavern will collapse. And my mansion, too
," Eolum's requests continued. "
Please listen to this man of your father's age. Don't you love your father? Would you not listen to another's?
"
Emotions, ghaah! Why do the restrictions always appear when I'm just about to go all wild?
Wan turned around.
"
Mr Hon, judging by the size and age of this creature here
," his eyes remained stern and cold, even when talking to his superior or elder. A bad habit he had gained from having to scowl and intimidate monsters very frequently in the past. "
You had found this turtle as a baby during an expedition back in your active years, am I not right
?"
Hon Eolum nodded, quarreling with himself in his mind whether to continue gatekeeping the truth.
"
You were an Akamine member at that time
," Wan deduced. "
By Akamine code of conduct, you should have killed this thing when you had a chance
."
The ground continued shaking with each footstep that Pathor took as it crawled nearer, attracted by the light sources.
Eolum had a look of embarrassment on his face. Takira looked into his eyes. Miyura looked at Pathor's.
"
What are you waiting for?
" Sayan came walking in style, his fiery eye blazing again, with enchanted seeds stuck in between the gaps of his non-dagger-holding hand's fingers, ready to be launched for casting spells. "
Lectures later, huh
?"
Wan shot a glance at Sayan with his eyes, glowing teal for a moment as his finger crossed his lips in a silencing gesture to make him shut up. His eyes went back to normal as he looked back at Eolum again.
"
Mr Hon, even though you are not an Akamine member right now, please note that I am one. They have instructed me to slay this pet turtle of yours to earn my freedom. I hope you understand. I think you know me from before. You know who I used to be. And you've seen me in my current state now. The Akamine can compensate all your financial losses due to side effects caused by the death of your precious pet here. So it wouldn't hurt you as much. Now… if you'd please permit me to attack Pathor, I will get rid of this burden forever off your shoulders
."
"
No! It's not about money, it's not about the turtle. It's
…" Eolum looked at his daughter's eyes. He sighed. "
I'll keep it brief. Back in my dungeon hunting days, my wife and I used to battle together. Once, in a portal world somewhere, just as we were finishing an exploration, a Fleskofalin turtle had blocked our way. It
…" Eolum took a deep breath and inhaled, like a sob. "
It attacked Takira's mother. I slayed the beast with my bare hands, ripping its flesh into shreds,
" his face seemed to mimic the exact rage he had on that tragic day. "
Only realizing afterwards, that the turtle was only protecting its own hatchling. Just as any parent would. So I brought baby Pathor out of that world and kept it alive as a memory. To uphold the reason why that turtle had killed my wife, and preserve its purpose. It was only doing what was ethical, though I buy it with a great price.
"
Takira's eyes and ears stopped working due to emotionally overwhelmed by too many bitter truths being pronounced to her consecutively.
"
Bullsh—,
" Wan stopped midsentence.
Pathor let out a roar.
The shockwave of air forced out of its mouth blew and broke off many rocks from the ceiling and flooring of the cavern.
"
Old man! Better hurry up and decide on what to do before that animal takes away your daughter's life, too. It's not a blessing nor an act of generosity you've performed. You've brought in a curse! You understand? Any other sentient creature would have made sense, but an animal is an animal no matter what
."
"
Wrong!
" Eolum's eyes seemed to be glowing in the shadowy corner now, a bright blue-white light in contrast to Sayan's blue-black. He stepped forward, flipping his axe out of its holster midair before catching it with his hand. "
Pathor listens to me
."
Wan's poker face turned into a smirk.
We'll see.