The silence lasted no more than a breath.
With a furious roar, the first commander of the Explorers lunged forward, brandishing his massive war axe. His bulky body didn't seem fit for such speed, yet each of his steps cracked the ground beneath him. The second commander, armed with a spear, stayed slightly behind, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Erik stepped forward, gripping his sword with both hands, and the next moment, a flow of energy spread around him.
"Agility Boost! Strength Boost!"
The veins on his arms and his muscles swelled. His body, lightened and empowered, seemed to vanish for an instant, so fast was his charge. With a sharp blow, his sword clashed against the commander's axe, scattering sparks.
Alfred also rushed forward, drawing his sword and intercepting the other commander.
"Fire Sword!"
The blade was wrapped in crimson flames, and with a swift move, he traced a fiery arc before him, forcing the spearman to change his course.
The clash erupted in an instant, and the other men joined in the fight.
Erik continued his assault, using the speed and strength his skills had granted him, trying in every way to break the axe's defense. But the commander was no novice, managing to defend himself well.
When Erik's sword was deflected to the side, the commander raised his axe high, then swung it down with enough force to shatter stone.
Erik bent his body as much as he could, dodging the strike and counterattacking with a kick to the flank. It didn't cause much damage, but it pushed the commander away, giving Erik a moment to catch his breath.
If there was one thing to notice, it was that neither Erik nor Alfred were giving their all, not out of pretense, but because if they wanted to face Paul, they had to save as much strength as possible.
"I'll kill you, brat!"
While Erik resumed his fight, Alfred kept battling the spearman.
"Electric Bolt!"
A blue lightning bolt burst from his hand toward the commander. The man leaped aside, giving Alfred the chance to close the distance.
Seeing him approach, the commander used his spear shaft as a lever, tossing dirt into Alfred's face. Squinting, Alfred miscalculated his strike, only grazing the commander's side.
The second commander finally rose to his feet and counterattacked with a circular sweep of his spear.
Alfred was forced into a defensive stance, constantly parrying his blows. In another situation, he would have stepped back to throw several Lightning Bolts, but since he was trying to conserve mana, he had to accept this passive role.
'Where are those two clowns?!'
Seeing that Jasmine and Anthony still hadn't arrived, Alfred's patience was quickly thinning.
Ducking, he avoided a blow to the head, then, using the flat of his sword, he deflected the spear, allowing him to close in and counterattack with a punch to the man's face.
The commander took a couple of steps back in pain, and blood began to flow from his nose.
"You've got something coming out of your nose," Alfred scoffed.
"You old piece of shit." The man wiped his nose and resumed his assault.
The clashing of weapons mixed with the screams of the rioting city. Flames rose high on every corner, carrying the acrid stench of burnt wood and blood. Erik, however, had no time to notice; his full attention was fixed on his opponent.
He blocked a strike aimed at his shoulder and countered with a thrust, but again the commander's axe stopped it.
'Damn it! He blocks every single strike and doesn't budge an inch!' Erik thought, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Already tired, kid?" the man mocked.
"Me? Not at all. It's just that your dangling fat is a bit distracting."
Seeing Erik's mocking grin, the man grew irritated, though he still kept calm.
The first commander had three abilities that fit well together. Two were passive, one slightly boosted his stamina, the other increased his stability, while the third allowed him to improve his reaction time for a moment, at the cost of stamina.
Thanks to these skills, he had risen quickly in power. But it would be better for him not to underestimate Erik.
When their weapons clashed yet again, the man still wore his smile, but the cold gleam in Erik's eyes made him sense danger.
"Sword Energy Wave!"
A blade of luminous energy shot from Erik's sword, pushing the commander back several meters and carving grooves into the ground. He managed to disperse the strike, but the price was high. His hands now bled.
"How pitiful. Tell me, how does it feel to be pushed back by someone half your age?" Erik taunted, clearly drawing on his experience with Adel.
"Damn brat..." the man snarled, gripping his axe again.
But before he could advance, a whip wrapped around his neck, hurling him into a wall and shattering it. Meanwhile, Alfred's opponent was forced to jump back to avoid a pair of throwing axes.
"You're late," Alfred said coldly.
"Calm down, we're here now," Jasmine answered, waving lazily.
"Looks more like you were waiting for us to tire them out." Said Erik.
"KHAKHAKHA! Ye ain't wrong there!" Anthony bellowed, only for Jasmine to shoot him a killing glare. "Don't be starin' at me like that, woman. They ain't fools, ye know."
"At the very least, I hope you'll finish your job properly," Alfred said, drinking both a healing and a mana potion, with Erik doing the same.
"Don't worry, we'll try to be quick," Jasmine replied, loosening her whip.
"It's up to ye to keep Paul busy, aye. So if ye must die, do it after he's dead. I wouldn't mind sharin' the Merchants' riches, KHAKHAKHAH!"
Alfred and Erik shot him an exasperated look.
It was strange how three factions that would normally destroy each other on sight were now working together. But that was what happened when a greater evil was at hand.
Jasmine and Anthony charged at the two commanders, while Erik and Alfred headed toward the base.
Like outside, the interior was chaos, with some of the Explorers hiding there to escape the battle.
"You! Tell me where Paul is?!"
Erik grabbed one of the men, pressing his sword's tip to his throat.
The man turned pale at once and stammered, "H-He's on the top floor, a-at the end of the corridor! He's been there for days and never comes out!"
"You're not lying?"
"I-I swear! Please, don't kill me!"
Seeing the man cry, Erik shoved him aside and joined Alfred, who was also questioning another guard about Paul's location.
"Top floor, end of the corridor?" Erik asked.
"Yes, their stories match. Let's go."
They kept moving, ignoring anyone in their way, unless they blocked them. In that case, their blood painted the walls.
"There's something I don't understand..." Alfred said suddenly as they neared their destination.
"Why hasn't Paul moved, even after all this chaos?" Erik asked, understanding his thought.
In their first guess, they should have already faced Paul outside the building. Yet there had been no trace of him, and from what the other guards said, he hadn't left his room for days.
"Exactly. It's too strange," Alfred nodded.
"Either way, we'll find out now."
They finally reached the marked place. Leaning on either side of the doors, they caught their breath. The two exchanged a glance, nodded, then kicked the doors down together.
Inside, the room was thick with shadows, devoid of light. The air was stagnant, filled with a nauseating stench that made them squint in discomfort.
Even in the dark, they spotted a figure crouched in the corner, mumbling to itself. When Paul felt their gaze on him, he slowly turned his head toward the intruders.
"What the..." Erik couldn't help muttering, and Alfred was no less shocked.
Once their eyes adjusted, they saw the man, if he could still be called that, who had begun a reign of terror. And what they saw filled them with repulsion.
His body was a skeletal wraith, deformed by an unnatural hunch. His skin, pale and blotched, looked like that of a terminally ill patient. His fingers were long and bony, ending in sharp nails. His huge eyes burned with a sickly yellow light of madness.
He crawled on all fours like an animal, joints bending unnaturally.
A guttural sound, half-whisper, half-growl, slipped from his throat.
Neither of them knew how to react to the sight before them. What they had imagined was nothing close to this. They knew the curse of the artifact would have changed Paul, but they had never thought it would turn him... like this.
"Gods… what has he become?" Erik whispered.
"No one can have it... it chose me... only I'm special..." Paul's voice was weak, but slowly he became more and more obsessed.
"Mine... it's mine... MINE! MINE! MINE!"
When Paul's eyes locked on them, the two took a step back, triggering his reaction. With an inhuman scream that shook the very walls, the creature hurled itself at them.