The mage did as he was told and stayed silent, which was probably for the best. He hadn't realized it before, but he couldn't sense the guard's aura before. It was as if he were an ordinary civilian.
He had taken it that he was just that much stronger than the guard, making his aura overshadow his. But it was actually the opposite. It was the guard who had exceeded his own power range.
Even with the magic dampeners that greatly restricted the amount of mana they could output, he was totally suppressed, making their fight look more like a mid-awakener on steroids than the actual standard of high awakeners who could destroy countries and continents with the swipe of a hand.
"So now," the guard's smile was visible again. "I hope you don't mind my asking a few questions. I'm rather curious, you see, about your current situation."
The mage stared at the guard, as if deciding whether to comply or not.
He chose not to. A flame appeared in the mage's hand as he instantly smothered it with a close of his hand, releasing smoke everywhere.
"Go fuck yourself," the mage said hatefully as he disappeared into the smoke. He needed to get out of here and very quickly at that. He doubted someone of that level would be distracted by that little trick for even a minute.
The guard, on the other hand, just watched all this with a smile. "Sarah, you know what to do."
*Hissssssssssss*
Sarah hissed in compliance as he shot into the smoke like a bullet.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaghhhh"
Apparently, he couldn't get very far, as his screams resounded through the hallway, causing many to shiver instinctively.
The basilisk soon slithered out of the smoke, revealing the fire mage pinned beneath one of her fangs.
His body was decorated with a myriad of cuts and bruises as he hung limply from the arm that was pinned. He seemed to be unconscious.
"Good job, Sarah~," the guard said lovingly as the snake seemed to shiver in the delight of being praised. "As a reward, you can have the rest as a snack."
The faces of the rest of the fake merchant group visibly paled at the news. They had been quiet all this time, hoping they would eventually be forgotten, which they would, just not in the way that they hoped to.
"Hey! Wait, wait, wait! Can we do a retake on this? After all, we're all human-"
He couldn't even finish his sentence as Sarah's eyes gleamed dangerously, making him instantly turn to stone.
The guard eyed the now-turned statue blandly. "You forfeited your rights as humans the minute you attacked MY wall. As for the rest of you, please die quietly."
Sarah hissed in agreement as her tail rose in the air, the tip slowly morphing until it resembled a large scythe blade. She flicked it towards them.
"Wai-"
*Flash*
Her tail flickered in and out of sight, reappearing at the other side of the hallway with the merchants looking relatively unharmed.
They looked at themselves, bewildered. "We're we spare- Ack!"
They spat out blood almost in unison, as they watched their bodies, with slowly dimming eyes, slide effortlessly off their torso.
The guard chuckled at the sight as he raised a hand. "I'll store this for later."
The ground disfigured itself as the metal transformed into a maw, swallowing Sarah's 'snacks' whole before reverting to its previous state.
The guard then turned back to the remaining living 'merchant' that rested between Sahrah's maw, his smile becoming a grin. "Now for the main course. At least you would prove somewhat interesting this way."
Sarah's jaws instantly tightened around the man's limb, bringing him back to consciousness in screams.
The guard waved his hand dismissively at him. "Quit the screamin' fest. We've got work to do."
The metal under his feet began to distort, extending until he was now face-to-face with the mage.
"As I said before, I'm gonna ask you some questions. By now, you should have already noticed Sarah's poison working its magic on your body. Answer my questions, and I'll give you the anti-venom. Don't..." the guard let out a low chuckle. "Let's just say petrification would be the least of your problems."
The mage visibly gulped, but remained silent, indicating that he understood.
The guard nodded. "Good. Now, first question: Who do you work for?"
The mage shook his head. "No one, we work alo- Aaaagggggg!!!"
The mage screamed as the guard calmly tore off his arm. The scariest part wasn't even that, though. It was the fact that he couldn't even follow his movements. He just saw the man's hand flicker, and then he was holding his arm.
The guard eyed his captive with distaste. "By the way, I forgot to mention that I know when you're lying." His irises turned to slits as his eyes glowed yellow for a second before reverting. "So I suggest you throw away any useless loyalty to your holding."
"..."
"Understood. Good. Alright, now answer, but this time, think real slowly, 'cause I'll rip out your leg this time."
The mage was silent for some time before he spoke. " We work for an organization called The Lost."
"The Lost." The name rolled off his tongue as he played with it. "Never heard of it."
The mage gritted his teeth in spite. "Of course you haven't. It's relatively new, but it has potential. It's been rising through the ranks and has been gaining new members every day. We gather those who do not seem to fit into the current societal standard, due to certain... inclinations. We are a society of our own to clear a path where those of our belief will not be discriminated against due to the views of the ignorant majority."
The guard nodded slowly. "Spoken like a true fanatic. So, tell me what the internal structure of this 'holier than thou' organization of yours looks like."
"We have several ranks that identify the hierarchy in our organization.
We have the Strays. They're generally just new recruits who are just learning about our organization. We teach them our ways, and there is no reason to hide their inner selves.
Then we have the Found. They are newly integrated and now know what we believe and stand for. They generally deal with affairs happening inside the organization as they're still relatively new to the cause.
Next, we have the Whispers. Their job is mainly to spread the word while recruiting those who fit to join.
The Drifters, which I am a part of, are the mercenaries and the main fighting force of The Lost. We deal with situations outside the organization that can aid the cause. We also take offers from fellow dark guilds.
Then we have the Keeper. She is our Oracle and is responsible for strategy as well as development plans concerning the cause.
And finally, we have the Shepherd. They're the founders of the Lost and are responsible for everything we are now."
The guard processed this in silence before moving on to the next question.
"Where is your organization located?"
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."
"Oh>" The guard raised a brow in mild surprise. "Surely, you've realized that we're under potent magic dampeners. They even affect magical contracts. Actually, you would have noticed since you revealed your internal workings without batting an eye. So what's the problem, or is it just your 'loyalty' acting up again?"
The mage shook his head. "I realized the potency of these dampeners long ago. The issue is that this information isn't guarded by magic. It resided within my soul."
The guard's brows furrowed at the statement. Soul contracts were very troublesome to deal with, as they were considered volatile, which was why most investigators left them relatively untouched when they came across them.
"Okay, how about the name of your Shepherds and Oracle?"
"I don't know," he answered lamely. "They usually talk to us using blurred holograms, so I'm guessing no one knows what they really look like.
"Makes sense," the guard nodded. "Last question, what was your mission?"
The mage sighed in exasperation. He had basically become a human answering machine with the way he was tossing out information about the organization he supposedly swore loyalty to.
(At least after this, he'll let me go.)
"We were sent to spread our cause in this city and wreak as much havoc as we can. We're basically suicide bombers."
The guard raised a brow in confusion. "Then why are you so afraid to die now?"
The mage chuckled sadly. Who wouldn't be?. Plus, we didn't really fulfill our mission, did we?"
The guard chuckled as he gestured towards Sarah, who used her fangs to pierce the mage's arm, much to his discomfort.
Sarah's mouth suddenly opened, allowing the mage's battered body to plummet onto the floor.
"You've been injected with the anti-venom. You're free to do whatever"
The mage stood up as he eyed the guard warily. Seeing that he didn't take any action, he breathed a sigh of relief as he began to plan his next set of moves whilst he headed back to The Lost.
He needed to report that Lysarrieth now had info-
*Puchi*
His chest suddenly burst open as Sarah's tail pierced him from behind. He glanced at the guard, who smiled lightly and waved in return.
"You.... said you would... let me go." he heaved labourously. Sarah had managed to pierce his lung and heart. His life was draining fast.
The guard shook his head lightly. No, I said I would give you the anti-venom, and I did, didn't I? Goodbye. Please rot in hell."
As the light dimmed from his eyes, the mage cursed himself for having accepted this mission in the first place. Maybe if he hadn't been so eager to please, he might not have met this madman throughout his life.