Gems Strike Again

The ice shard goes straight at us. I was able to dodge it easily, and Domotraus barely dodged it. THUD! The ice shard hit the wall, breaking the furniture that was placed there. I ran up the staircase, and Domotraus followed. The quick thinking of this cloak person made him cast another spell. Violent wind appeared out of nowhere pushing us down. We at the brink of our last strength to keep us standing and pushing forward.

Why are the Gems of Rider so strong? I thought this person was a regular sorcerer. This one's a battle mage, born to fight. Casting so many spells. I looked at Domotraus, and it looked like he was having a hard time to get up. I looked at the cloaked man had his next spell ready as three flame orbs appeared behind him. I jumped letting the wind push me back and land down. I immediately dodge roll out of the wind. I looked at the cloaked man. Whoosh. He hurled blazing fire towards me, and I took it on.

"AGHH" I let out

Domotraus jumped to the side from the staircase and landed down. Staying hidden, I was out in the open so the cloaked man kept his focus on me. He had two more flame shots, and I already took the first one. I didn't plan to getting roasted. The violent wind was still there, and judging by how it sounds. It's getting louder, meaning he's relocating the direction of the violent win towards me. I was on the left side of the room, with the staircase being in the middle. The nearest door was to the left, but it's the ballroom. I made a run for it. Before I could even pass the door, he hurls another blazing ray of flames at me. This time, I kind of expected the ray of flame and did a quick step back before it could it me. I could feel the temperature of the flames, and it was really hot. As if his intent was to kill. If I could get behind the staircase like Domotraus did. I can exit the mansion and enter through the balcony, which is behind him. The violent wind stops abruptly and the fire disappeared. I saw that Domotraus had thought ahead of me, and already had that idea in action.

Domotraus, which his bladed gauntlet, he stabs the cloaked man in the back. He pulls out the dagger, and slashes him from behind again. The cloaked man falls to the floor, bleeding out.

"Let's go Athelstan, we know what's happening here" Domotraus says

"Right" I reply back

I rush the stairs and head to the second floor. From the window walls, we can see the other nobles looking towards the direction of the indoor balcony. Whoever was up there, was taking all the attention and talking to the nobles. There doesn't seem to be any other cloaked men, but we had to be cautious. With our flashy noble outfits, we were easily spotted by the other nobles. I scanned through the nobles, and found Theo and Kurt there. Lucas was nowhere to be found. Before Domotraus opens the door to the indoor balcony, I stop him.

"Wait" I said

"What?" he replies

"I think we can leave this guy to Lucas, there should be something or someone they want here"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they wouldn't be here for a reason. Surely it wasn't to distract the nobles. Also I can't find Lucas from the crowd of nobles in the ballroom, he must be already on the move to get this guy. Let's look elsewhere to find their true goal" I say

"Hey"

"What?"

"Good thinking" he agrees with me

"I thought you were gonna oppose my idea?" I say

"I'm not like Razz who wants to just jump into action" he replies

I give him a suspicious squint

"Okay, maybe I am but it's just a bit" he admits

"Then let's get going" I say

"You have any clues on where to go first?" he asks

"I don't know the layout of the mansion, there are some places that we haven't explored yet, let's check those places out" I suggest

We continue on passing by the door that leads to the indoor balcony. The other nobles kept their eyes locked on us as if asking to be rescued or to call for help from others. I take one glance at Theo then look away. We continued on and at the end of the hallway. It was another staircase leading upstairs. This was unfamiliar territory, so I hesitated when going up. Every where we went in the mansion was well lit and had decorative paintings and expensive furniture. We went upstairs and we were on the roof top.

They have a garden on their rooftop, that's so awesome! There a lot of different types of flowers here and there's like a little structure in the middle. Small stone steps with a stone platform decorated with vines. Circular pillar with vines entangling it. On the platform is a table and two chairs, perfect for tea, perfect for meeting. Two guys were there sitting and having a chat. A cloaked man, and the noble earlier with the white and red noble tunic. They haven't noticed us yet. Domotraus and I stayed silent. There was no hiding place in this garden as every plant had a brick pot.

"So, are you two up to this attack?" I ask loudly

The two people turned and noticed us in surprise.

"How did you-" the cloaked man angrily says before he gets interrupted

"So you were able to get pass through Robert" the noble says

"Robert? You mean that cloaked magic caster that uses elements? He was easy" I reply

"Well, Benkai, it seems you've failed to keep others out of this" the noble says

"I'll kill these two" Benkai the cloaked man says

"You better, I have things to attend to" the noble replies back

"Hey wait!" I shout out

The noble ignored me and two other cloaked men appeared before him. They both use their magic to open up a portal which the noble enters followed by the two cloaked men. The portal closes immediately. Leaving Benkai, Me, and Domotraus behind.

"You think you can take us on?" I say arrogantly

"You were lucky to defeat Robert, but I'm of a different calibre" Benkai replies

All of a sudden, a burst of dark aura just appears around him. I stepped back on guard and Domotraus notices and does the same.

"Careful Dom, this guy must be going for real" I warn

"Loud and clear" he replies

We have no magic on our side, and we've always been fighting against magic. Why does it always have to be us here at a disadvantage, this just seems way too unfair honestly. I took out my dagger from the one I had kept hidden in my waist then prepared myself.

The cloaked man lets our both of his arm and a magic circle appears on the ground. This must be ritual magic, but how did he cast it so fast. Domotraus seemed to know what was happening. His body reacted fast, and made a run for it towards the Benkai. The magic circle was emitting so much power, that Domotraus couldn't get close enough. Something seemed to be coming out from the magic circle. A dark winged entity slowly ascends from the magic circle, it was horned and has red glowing eyes.

"Behold, the Shadow Demon!" Benkai shouts

"I call to you, Shadow Demon of the Nine Hells, heed my request. From the deepest depths of the abyss, the darkest of darkness. I order you to kill these two!" he orders the Shadow Demon

The Shadow Demon faces towards Benkai and nods. Then faces towards us.

This is bad, this one is a summoner. He even summoned a demon. All I have is a dagger, and since this is a shadow demon we're up against. It's most likely to negate our physical attacks. This must be what Edengeld spoke about, using the scroll when needed. I think I should use the scroll. No, not yet. It seems too soon to use the scroll, I'll let the scroll be the last resort. I glance towards Domotraus to see if he's got something in mind. He also had his gauntlet, and that's it. There was nothing that uses magic that he can do. I need to stall this before something happens.

"Seriously? Benkai? You talk of how much better you are, yet you're merely summoning to fight for you" I remark

"So? Whatever means I use to fight you both will still have the same outcome. I will win" he says

Domotraus seems to have caught on to what I was trying to do. He joins in.

"Having something fight for you, is different from fighting us yourself. Are you that weak that you need something strong to fight us?" Domotraus insults him

"Weak? You should be worrying about yourselves first before my pride. Maybe if you defeat the demon, I'll take you on myself" he says

"What are you even trying to accomplish? Fighting us won't lead to anything, because we're gonna win in the end" I boastfully say hoping that the scroll from Edengeld can actually help me win

"You think you can beat me?" Benkai asks

"Of course we can, the same way we'll beat your pet slave" Domotraus insults again

"Tsk, you arrogant nobles are all the same" he replies

"Isn't your boss a noble too?" I ask

"He's different from you all!" he shouts

"Also... we're not nobles" I say

This was the signal that we take off our disguise, I take off the makeup that Domotraus placed on me. I expected Domotraus to do the same, but he just let me do me. He looked at me, and acted like he didn't know.

"Why are you here if you're not a noble?" Domotraus asks me

This guy, I swear, if only he had done the same we would've looked intimidating and cool.

"Excuse me? You're also not a noble" I say

"Fine" Domotraus says

He also takes off the makeup he placed on himself.

"We're the Assassins of Dusk" Domotraus proudly says

"Tsk, mere assassins took down Robert? What a disgrace he is to the Gem of Rider" Benkai says

"Well, let's get this show on the road" I say drinking the potion of strength and activating my boots of speed.