18 「Zurrernorns Atonement」 (1/2)

Jack and Ninya were walking along the outer wall. The soldiers and other NPCs from within the fortress were stocking cannons and other live defenses along the walls.

It was clear he was greatly fortifying the place, but it looked like they were preparing for war. Why were they preparing for war? Ninya was watching the horizon as she walked beside him.

She was initially mesmerized by the wall itself. It looked so new, there were no disfigurations. Perfection was the one way to describe it. She wondered, in the future, what would people say about it? How many wars or battles would it strive to survive.

Her gaze turned towards the village itself along with the farmland within the walls.

How big would this place be? How many people would move here and live here in harmony?

Ninya turned her attention back to Jack who was walking silently, but his gaze had never left her.

He was admiring her soft, short, brown hair as it moved by the slightest breeze. How her hands were fidgeting at her sides. This was one of the very few times she had been alone with someone after joining the Swords of Darkness.

However as they were reaching the location they had originally went up the steps to get access to the wall from, he came to a complete halt. The look on his face changed, his eyes shot forward, it was as if there had been a shock to his system.

He had just sensed the death of the Shadow Demon which he had used to guard the leader of the Swords of Darkness. It was generally supposed to be an early warning system that the squad was under attack during a job, that was its initial purpose.

Yet due to the distance there was a delay of about ten minutes.

He turned to look off towards the South, in the direction of the Fortress City known none other than E-Rantel.

Of course they couldn't see the city from here, it was much too far. However, it was clear he could sense something was wrong.

”Jack?” Ninya reached up and grasped the fabric of his tunic, digging her fingers into it as she clutched her hand into a fist. ”Jack, what's wrong?” She lightly tugged on him, which oddly was enough to make his upper body move with her minimal strength. Something, something was clearly wrong. ”Jack!”

Slowly his head lowered a bit and like any other human being, his eyes got a bit glossy. Though it didn't look like he was going to break down, not like when he thought of his kid sister.

”The Shadow Demon I summoned to protect them, has fallen.”

All of the hairs on the back of the girl's neck stood up as she heard him. ”Sh-shadow demon?”

”It was supposed to shield Peter from harm, it was taken out.” He took in a shaky, clearly angry voice. While they had originally gotten off on the wrong foot, they had begun to accept one another as people. Peter still annoyed him though, at least his friendly and confident interactions. However, that was what gave him life, what made him unique, that personality.

”I don't understand,” Jack muttered as he'd look towards Ninya. Both of them looked like they were about to cry, but it looked like Ninya was now using Jack as support to stand as she assumed the worst.

She trusted him so she believed every word he was saying, and of course, she also knew what he was capable of. If he summoned something to protect her friends, she believed him. Even if it had been a Shadow Demon of all things.

”They should have been in E-Rantel by now... They should've been safe.” Clenching his teeth hard together, he started to sprint down the step. Skipping one or two along the way.

”Eep!” Ninya tripped and squeaked loudly as she was trying to keep hold of him. So as she went to fall past him, he wrapped his arm around her waist and swung her around, ending up holding her like a board across his torso. Planting her face in his chest as she hugged onto him.

The moment they reached the bottom he stepped out behind the wall.

Standing there a couple meters away was none other than Sir Gallifrey and Min. They already knew something was wrong when a Shadow Demon died and set off an alarm.

”We're going to E-Rantel.”

”Yes, M'Lord. What are your orders?”

”Investi--” Jack stopped in mid-speech as he heard something in the back of his head, a voice.

”Jack,” it was Momon, ”I have unpleasant news...”

Jack's eyes squinted slightly. 「Gate」

Without a single warning a portal appeared swirling with purples and blues, rippling with a cool white waves of energy. The four of them would step in through the portal, after Jack allowed Ninya back onto her feet.

…

Instantly when they reached the other side, they were standing mere feet away from the scene.

The front door of the pharmacy was broken inward. A dead body had been dragged out with a large hole in its central mass. It was an unknown face, but they were sickly pale, more sickly pale than a normal human being would be even in death.

A necromancer.

Ninya and Jack stood in the front of the portal as Gallifrey and Min entered the scene, flanking them on either side. The two strong guardians gazed over the streets and the surrounding area.

The place was abnormally quiet. It appears the area had been doused in a sound dampening spell. It was probably from the dead man as Dyne hadn't known a smell like that. Both Ninya and Jack were sure of this.

Jack walked up to Momon, not making contact with him initially as he stood there with Nabe at his side. He opened his mouth slightly, before looking up at him. ”Where were you?”

Momon seemed to sigh, it was clear he wasn't feeling pleasant over this situation. Though it was probably for a different reason all together than that of Jack's. The only similarity was that they were upset about losing something.

”Registering the Wise King of the Forest.”

Jack slowly nodded before looking towards Nabe, he knew she was there to protect Momon and not the Swords of Darkness, but it was clear she hadn't needed to join him.

If Nabe had joined them, if they had gone to register the monster together, this wouldn't have happened.

”It's common courtesy to walk your friends home,” was the one thing he managed to mutter before walking towards the residence and peaking inside.

The smell was uncanny, especially the zombified Dyne. He smelled worse than Lukrut and Peter who had been freshly killed. The place was overwhelmingly painted by the blood of a single individual, one which he narrowed his eyes on.

Blond, red eyes, pale skin and scantily clad armor. They were bisected diagonally from shoulder to hip. He was sure the weapon used was none other than Momon's, but the attacks on his party members were consistent with the stilettos on the girl's corpse.

Ninya reluctantly padded over to the door and covered her mouth. One hand rested on the busted door frame for support as she almost puked in her mouth.

She found herself falling to her knees as her lips quivered and she could hardly hide a whimper. She saw the lifeless eyes of her friends. ”Why...”

Peter's were looking at the door, while Lukrut were facing forward at nothing in particular as he was propped up against the wall