"Who the hell is that?"
"Intruder! We have an intruder in the building!"
"Get her!"
The dozens of men all over the building charged forward, their weapons ferociously displayed while shining with dangerous glints. The ranged fighters took positions, preparing their longbows and crossbows, while the melee fighters rapidly closed in.
"Tch!" Theo had to undo his camouflage, brandishing his two daggers as he stood in front of the scared Liyah.
"Stay back!"
He swiftly looked in Kaycee's direction, thinking he would tell the boy to remain invisible so he could obtain the evidence and report to the appropriate authorities while he and Liyah bought him time.
However, one glance at him showed that he too had undone his camouflage.
"Why?!" Theo wanted to scream, but this wasn't the time. "Now that it's come to this, we have to make our way to the exit…"
There was no benefit in drawing things out in such a disadvantageous place.
"Come on!"
WHOOOSH!
As both Kaycee and Liyah raced to the door, Theo activated his flaming dagger, causing fire to erupt from his weapon. This instantly caused the incoming mercenaries to halt their advance, their faces paling in both shock and fear.
"H-he had an Arcane Instrument?!"
"What Grade? How can such a kid possess one? Who the hell is that guy?!"
"Who are these people?!"
While they were all stunned and looking at Theo's weapon, Kaycee used the opportunity to thrust a small orb into the air.
Upon seeing this, Theo and Liyah instantly knew what to do next.
They tightly shut their eyes.
BANG!
An eruption of blinding light filled the room, causing everyone around to instantly scream and groan as they temporarily lost control of their vision. Liyah, now expertly wielding her weapon, aimed at the four men who blocked the entrance/exit of the building.
Without an ounce of hesitation, she fired a shot at one.
BAM!
The recoil sent her small body jerking backward as her eyes widened in shock. Since this was her first time firing with the weapon, she hadn't expected such intensity—especially since the blaster was only set to 'Damage' and not 'Destroy.'
The man she shot square in the chest fell to the ground, screaming in pain while the others gawked in surprise—unable to process the shock that someone else was also in possession of another Armament.
"Fire! Fire the arrows!" Yells echoed out.
Most of the men in the room were still stunned by the flash bomb, but that didn't stop the archers from taking the risk and firing arrows in the presumed location of the enemies. After hearing the noise from Liyah's Armament, they already narrowed their positions down.
SWOOSH!
Several arrows flew towards them—many of them inaccurately slicing through the air, hence missing their target.
However, for those that would have undoubtedly hit the group, Theo used his wind dagger to alter their trajectories, while burning them up with the roaring flames that danced all around him. This light show protected the group from the incoming projectiles, allowing them to advance further towards the exit.
Liyah, now completely recovered from the recoil and accustomed to the pressure exerted by her weapon, quickly fired three consecutive shots aimed at the remaining three obstacles who were already recovering their sight.
"Ack!"
"Guack!"
"Uwahh!"
All three fell, completely powerless in the face of her Armament's power.
"Almost there!"
Theo was still warding off the projectiles while Kaycee and Liyah reach the door, their hands nearing the handle, when an ominous presence suddenly emerged from the other door in the warehouse. The appearance of the strange man, clad in an all-black trenchcoat, sent strong signals to Theo's instincts.
His eyes widened as every fragment of his thoughts told him the same thing.
'He's dangerous!'
Swiftly turning to his friends behind him, Theo screamed with all his strength. "Guys hurry!"
However, the moment his sight reached them, he noticed something.
Both Liyah and Kaycee were already trapped in what resembled a massive bubble. The bubble was filled to the brim with water, and the two—trapped in its confines—were rapidly losing air, struggling to break free from the overpowering currents of water that enveloped them.
"No—!" Theo tightly gripped his daggers, willing to fuse them together for the first time to unleash an even stronger power—anything that could save his friends.
Right as he was about to do this, he felt the overpowering presence right behind him.
"That's enough."
Unable to respond or struggle, Theo experienced a bludgeoning feeling at the base of his neck, instantly turning his vision blurry as his mind became blank.
"N-no…" His eyes whitened as he lost consciousness, descending to the hard ground as his friends drowned in water and the man responsible for it all victoriously stood before his paralyzed body; a cruel smile on his face.
Incapable of much else, Theo could only embrace the cold darkness… waiting for death.
***********
"… Ugh…"
Unpleasant voices taking the form of whispers and murmurs trickled into Theo's ears as he slowly regained consciousness. The sounds were akin to the loud buzzing of insects, constantly tickling his eardrums with a disturbing rhythm.
Incapable of mustering the strength to reject the voices, Theo could only endure, slowly opening his eyes to see nothing but blurry images overlapping against one another.
He looked to his right and found a silhouette of someone resembling Kaycee, hands tied behind him as he knelt on the hard ground. To his left was another shadowy figure, this one resembling Liyah, who performed the same action as Kaycee.
'I see…' Theo's mind silently echoed with his thoughts. '… So we were captured.'
He could feel the constraints on his hands tightening the more he tried to move them, and he felt the rough surface of the ground as his knees shifted. It was evident to him at this point that he, just like the other two, was unable to do anything but kneel in absolute compliance to the ones before them.
And who were they?
Theo waited until his vision was clearer and the loud ringing in his head diminished before he cast his gaze on the people standing in front him. None of the mercenaries they previously saw and fought were present. They had been replaced by these four individuals clad in dark trench coats and hats. Their faces were obscured by the darkness, and the flashing lights distracted Theo from fully seeing their hidden facades.
However, he saw emblems etched on the breast-pocket of their respective trench coats.
'A heart… a diamond… a spade… and a club.' These were all symbols of cards in a deck, and by closely observing the four, he recognized the one who captured them at the furthest left end of the group having the 'heart' symbol. He stood right next to a much larger man with a bulkier build who had the 'diamond' insignia. The one at the furthest left was slim, but he was also the tallest in the group, possessing the 'club' logo, while the one closest to him seemed quite robust and had the 'spade' imprinted on his own breast-pocket.
There also seemed to be numbers right next to the insignias, but Theo couldn't make those out.
The four were silent and quietly watched Theo and his friends, not saying a word to them even while a feminine voice echoed in the darkness.
"Who are you? Are you the Intermediaries? Why aren't you saying anything, you bastards?!"
"…."
Theo ignored them and looked around him, observing that the surroundings did not at all resemble the one they were previously in before he lost consciousness. Instead, the room they occupied felt claustrophobic, with the only source of illumination being a faulty light bulb that only flashed for a few seconds before turning dark, repeating the process in a tortured cycle. Theo endured this, noticing that both Liyah and Kaycee were conscious and were staring at him in relief.
He was still dazed, so he couldn't properly hear their words and respond.
Instead, in absolute silence, he nodded in acknowledgment and continued to struggle with his thoughts.
Right when he was about to finally regain full control, the door of the room creaked open.
…. And a man with a skull mask emerged from beyond it.
Behind him was someone who also wore a mask, but this one had the resemblance of a frowning face. The one behind also seemed to have a cap that covered his head, with long-flowing hair bursting from it—almost like it was a wig.
Despite having a peculiar appearance, dressed in similar apparel as the four silent men—though with far greater sophistication—the frowning mask man was overshadowed by the one in front.
No one in the room was immune to his intimidating presence.
He had a hood that covered his masked face, connected to a long cloak that practically swept the ground he walked on. His heavy boots made crunching sounds on the ground, and the magnificent armor that decorated his very elaborate garb made his prominence evident to anyone who saw him.
There was no question on Theo's mind once he saw this man.
'He… is the boss!'
"You are correct." As if reading Theo's mind, the man spoke from behind the mask, his jaw moving as it remained exposed due to the design of the skull mask."These four are my intermediaries."
It turned out he was answering Liyah's earlier question.
Kaycee and Liyah's faces paled upon hearing those words, their eyes widening in realization as they finally understood the identity of the man who majestically stood before them.
"I am the Mercenary King… and you three have no idea the mistake you just made."