Tracker shifted slightly, tilting her head with a tense and confused expression.
In the next moment, Pierce swiftly turned to the sentinel, his face still pale and terrified, but now also full of grim resolve. His voice, which had been so confident just a few moments ago, now sounded panicked:
"Seal the temple! Destroy the Gateway! Go, now! We can't… we can't let that thing escape…"
Caster spoke up.
"Sir Pierce? What is going on?"
As though reminded of their presence, the Master turned around and threw a dark, menacing look at Caster.
"...You!"
His voice shook with barely suppressed fury.
Caster thought about summoning the Cruel Sight, but before he could even move, the tall man was already beside him, grabbing him by the shoulder.
"I'll deal with the two of you later… there's no time…"
Looking towards the sentinel in the room, Pierce spoke up:
"Forget about the plan. Lock him up. I don't have time to deal with him right now."
'Plan? What plan?'
Next thing Caster knew, they were being dragged out of the room.
It was welcome though. He didn't struggle as Master Pierce dragged them into the corridor.
Outside the small room, the Citadel that had been peaceful and somber before was now in a state of pandemonium. Several Lost darted past him, their shadows dancing on the black walls in the orange glow of the ornate oil lamps.
Caster could see motion and sense hurried, but orderly movement in every direction. Unlike before, each inhabitant of the temple was now clad in armor and wielded deadly weapons. They were swift and disciplined, like professional soldiers that were preparing for war.
And there was an army of them.
But, despite all that…
Was it nervousness he felt behind the facade of calmness the Lost showed?
Master Pierce shouted at one of the sentinels, ordering him to stop, then pushed Caster towards the man.
"Lock him up in the lesser cell!"
'Do they not fear my retaliation? Have they judged me to not be "stupid enough" to try to retaliate in this situation? How sloppy.'
The whole temple suddenly shuddered. A few moments later, a deafening soundwave rolled through the corridor.
'The gates… they have closed them…'
But it wasn't as simple as that. The temple was now completely cut off from the outside world.
It was now sealed… with him inside… just as he planned.
The sentinel silently grabbed him and dragged him away. Staggering and trying not to fall, Caster threw a glance behind his shoulder.
The last thing he saw was a woman with beautiful red hair appearing before the fearsome Master. She wore a simple black tunic and leather vambraces, her shins protected by a pair of greaves. The woman's face was grim and full of tension.
"...Pierce! What the Spell happened?!"
A moment later, the three — Tracker, Pierce and Welthe — disappeared behind a turn of the corridor.
'This must be Master Welthe... and by the looks of it, Tracker is joining them.'
The Lost swiftly dragged him through the disorienting maze of corridors and stairs. They were descending lower and lower, most likely heading toward one of the cathedral's belfries. His expression was dark and severe, and for a good reason — everywhere they passed through, the inhabitants of the Night Temple were busy preparing for battle, a battle against Mordret.
'Unfortunately, most, if not everyone here will be dead by the end.'
Most of the Lost could be seen to be rushing deeper into the temple, toward its inner sanctum and...
…It wasn't long before he heard screams. They seemed distant, and yet, Caster couldn't help but feel his blood run cold.
These chilling wails were full of indescribable agony and terror… he knew the type too well. These were the screams that humans let out when they were not only horribly hurt, but also maimed, knowing that their lives were either over or would never be the same.
The sentinel in charge of him stopped for a moment. His face grew ashen, and without saying a word, he continued to drag them toward a heavy metal door at the end of a long corridor.
'I'm so fucking crazy man... this plan is so crazy!'
It wasn't a stretch to say that he was getting cold feet now, but he held his will.
'If one does not gamble when they have the chance, when would they succeed?'
The Lost used an elaborate key to open the door, and then pushed him inside the room.
Caster found himself in a circular chamber that had a tall ceiling… or rather, a tall floor, since it was built in reverse. The domed ceiling of the chamber was actually beneath their feet, sloping down like a deep crater.
In the center of the cell, a large iron cage stood, each bar of it as thick as a man's arm. Strange runes were inscribed all around the cage, circling it entirely.
Before the sentinel could do anything, Caster secretly summoned The Celestial Cord, his rope memory he got from the time he killed Gunlaug. He never really had an opportunity to use it much so it had been sitting in his soul for well over half a year.
Using the rope, which could extend seemingly forever, he instantaneously bound the sentinel's arms and let a strong strike on the back of his neck, causing him to immediately fall unconscious.
Following that, Caster took the elaborate keys from him and pushed him inside, causing him to roll down the slope of the dome and through the door of the cage, which he then promptly closed.
It locked with a loud click.
With nothing else to do for a bit, Kieron spoke outloud, as if talking to the unconscious sentinel over there.
He dropped some water in the dome floor of the prison so that the sentinel can at least survive.
"Be thankful I'm not killing you. You still have some value."
However, that was just an excuse. Kieron just, did not like killing.
Sure, he might have to kill quite a few people here, however, if possible, he wants to avoid it as much as possible.
Since the first nightmare he got of his past life, he's been way more conscious of killing. It reminds him of his mother.
However, he knows he can't avoid killing.
Now, Kieron simply waited for someone else to check up on him, likely to question him.
Kieron summoned a different armor than usual, it wasn't Evermelt, nor was it Ashveil Tunic, nor was it Vivienna's Armor. It was Tracker's armor that he forced out of.
It was a really basic armor with no special effects. Its enchantment only making her armor more sturdy and damage absorptive, but it was a transcendent tier 1 armor. It was a good replacement for Evermelt, because he can not use Evermelt right now due to its reflective properties. This armor is made of a bleak black steel so it was perfect for the current situation. It was called Blackplate.
Following that, he summoned another one of Tracker's memories, the sword. It was also a tier 1 transcendent memory, with its enchantment only making the blade more durable, but with the enhancement from Nameless Sun giving it soul annihilating properties and sharpening its physical damage, it became a really lethal weapon. It was called the Dusk Warden.
The rope memory, Celestial Cord was also in his hands, ready to capture at least 2 or 3 people with it at any moment.
Suddenly, the cathedral shook again.
"That must have been the Gateway. Pretty quick... I suppose they have to be really quick, Mordy is too big of a threat to them."
Minutes passed, slowly converging into hours. With no windows, it was hard to measure the passage of time. He was completely quiet on the outside. Not making a single sound.
Instead, his mind was being hyperactive, constantly running his plan in his mind over and over again, trying to make sure he doesn't mess anything up.
The plan he had in mind... was just too risky and too tight to allow for a single mistake.
The Night Temple shuddered several more times, but these tremors weren't as strong as the first two. Somewhere outside, a gruesome massacre was perhaps taking place.
But here, everything was calm and silent. But then he heard something.
'Someone is coming.'
Immediately, he crouched a little and closed his eyes before willing himself to turn The Fourth Wall off. It pained him, but he had to do it. He needs to be ready to be overtaken by him at any moment.
Since a soul battle is the only place that Mordret can die in.
After turning it off, he opened his eyes and stood up, hidden behind a few empty crates, then glanced at the oil lamp with a dark expression. Its dancing flame trembled, and then disappeared for a moment when the door opened with a bang and a gust of wind entered the cell.
Four people came inside. Four of them were Lost warriors.
They checked inside the cage, only to see the sentinel who was supposed to imprison him inside it.
"So he did end up resisting in the end..."
Kieron felt different suddenly. He felt less hesitant. He felt more vulnerable. He felt more dangerous.
'Calm down. I'm just not used to the fourth wall's absence.'
Kieron could have stayed hidden, but that wouldn't be ideal.
One of these lost is likely the lost with a lie detection ability.
That's why -Kieron- Caster decided to kill them all. He can't let the masters have this guy, or he loses any chance at creating credibility.
He didn't need to kill of course. He could just, put them all in the cage, like the sentinel from before.
Yet he decided to kill them all. To be thorough. To not take risks.
But that isn't Kieron's way of doing things. He wants to be a miracle, not a cold leader.
It was almost as if Kieron was getting affected by Caster's tendencies.
However, he doesn't realise it.
To him, this is just normal.
'In the novel Master Welthe was the one doing the questioning, where is she? Maybe something changed with Mordret's approach which doesn't allow her to leave?'
He observed the four sentinels, they were discussing where Caster might have went.
'That's actually good for me, this saves me a lot of time. I'll have to revise my plan slightly though.'
Using the Celestial Cord, Caster he caught two of the Sentinels on the back and and used all his force to pull them towards him.
They couldn't even react getting entrapped and by the time they can do something, Caster uses the transcendent sword, Dusk Warden, to behead the two sentinels instantaneously.
'Neither of the two could have been Mordret's vessel.'
A flood of essence began filling his cores.
The other two sentinels were also caught off guard but their experience didn't betray them.
They got ready, focusing on the fight instead of their dead companions and launched a coordinated attack. One of them launched a sword slash diagonally, while the other stabbed at the same time from a blind spot. Caster ducked under the stab on one leg, parrying it away, and with the same movement, halted the strike by the other sentinel. Following that, he used his other leg, to kick that same sentinel down and stand back up to respond to the other sentinel's attacks.
The coordinated attacks wouldn't have given Caster any room breathe if Caster was just a bit weaker physically.
But his physical capabilities made that coordinated attack virtually useless.
Within a short time of thirty seconds, Caster took care of the both of them. Killing the two in the process with ease.
More essence started filling his cores.
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
He did not feel disgust for killing. Rather, he felt refreshed.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
And Kieron didn't realise what.