265 Investigating Melen Part 5

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/A few moments before…/

/Clap clap…/

Phew…

/Whistle~/

'Dusting his hands, Silver whistled happily while Rubato sat down on the ground with a tired and defeated expression.'

'The thing is, after a few minutes 'tormenting' him, Rubato was finally coerced to admit his involvement with the entire Melen's business, but he swore he knew nothing about the monsters aside from the fact they were being "controlled" by the magic stones.'

'He was only in charge of supplying Borg and the government of Melen with Magic stones so they could grind it up to make "Magic Powder".'

'It was never his intention to have the creatures cause any trouble and he affirmed he did it for the people, which would be a commendable act if not for the fact he was fattening his pockets with Valis.'

'Rubato was certainly not a bad person, but he was by no means a good samaritan, he helped the people as long as they went with his interests, but he wouldn't go against their well-being even if it meant going rich.'

'Though it was exactly this way of thinking and how easy he was to be corrupted that led him from being pushed from Orario to Melen… Though Silver wondered what the Guild had in mind for him.'

'They must've thought that since Melen was a rather peaceful place nothing would happen, but they were very much wrong.'

'He knew his punishment wouldn't be big but he also knew that the Guild only gives people so many chances, so in the end, Silver just bound him in rope before placing him on the side, his judgment wasn't for him to decide.'

"Stay right there, if you try to flee, you know what'll happen don't you?"

"You don't have to remind me of that." He replied with his head hung low, unwilling to face Silver any further

'Just to be clear, Silver did not torture the man. At least, not in a conventional way…'

'You can easily drive a man mad without the need to induce pain, Silver easily did so by causing him a scratching sensation all over his body and in places beyond his reach.'

'Rubato gave in before the clock even ticked.'

'Thus, with his job done, Silver turned around to leave the Guild, when…'

/BOOOOOOM!/

/Tremble!/

"?!"

What's going on all of a sudden?

'A powerful explosion rung not far from where he was, shaking everything around them violently, causing dust to fall from the ceiling as drawers fell and shelves cracked.'

"Wh-What's going on?!" Rubato asked out loud as he raised his head

/CRACK!/

"EEEK!"

'Just as he said that, a porcelain pot fell right between his legs, causing him to freeze all over.'

"... Stay here, I'll deal with it." Silver said as he walked through the door

"WAIT! How can you leave… He's gone."

Dammit! Rude adventurers!

'Since cursing Silver was the only thing he could do, Rubato remained in his corner as he waited for the mess to end, fearful for his well-being.'

…

/Outside…/

/CHAOS!/

'The first thing Silver did as he left the Guild was jump atop a tall building to get a good look at everything around him to try and understand the situation.'

'There, he saw what was going on:'

'Smoke rose to the clouds while people screamed and ran as stone fragments rained from the skies.'

'Children cried on the sides while mothers and fathers ran around with them on their grasps, trying to get to safety amidst the confusion.' 

'The cause of all of this were several dozen serpentine creatures moving around chaotically as they destroyed everything in their path.'

'He couldn't tell where the flames were coming from, however…'

/Frown…/

Why are the Violas here?

'Seeing this scene, Silver's expression went cold as his eyes sharpened.'

/Clang!/

'From afar, he heard faint clashing sounds of metal and he quickly drew a picture in his mind.'

I see now… This is what he meant by being a bait. He had been planning for this. That was why he arrived much earlier than expected, to give himself and his bait time to fetch prey.

He was slowly pulling them out, controlling their movements from the shadows.

He didn't investigate the three powers due to safety as he said, in fact, he may already know everything, Hermes isn't as helpless as he poses himself to be, he's extremely capable of digging information on his own.

He was just waiting for me to arrive to trigger the bomb he had planted over the course of a few days… Right in the middle of this busy city.

/Booom!/

"..."

Hermes… That damn bastard, he truly doesn't care at all, does he?

What does he wish to get from this? Is he willing to sacrifice some of the people to cull out a squad of Evilus? No…

Is he trying to force them into the open? To try and take a peak into their minds…

'The muscles in his face tensing, Silver's aura slowly shifted…'

I'll get back to him, but first… I need to resolve this mess, isn't that why he called me here?

I hate being used like this, but it's kind of my role, otherwise I wouldn't have volunteered to join the investigation.

I wonder… How long did he plan for this? From the very start perhaps?

I wouldn't be surprised if Hermes had already investigated Melen weeks ago and only contacted the Guild to have his plan going… Of course, the Guild must be in the dark regarding this, Ouranos would never agree to instigate chaos to get his agenda across.

Either way, I'll find that out once I beat him a bit… Actually, that won't be necessary.

His children will do so for me.

/CRACK!/

"!"

'A massive rock collided against the house he stood, breaking it down and causing the roof to collapse on the streets underneath it.'

"NOO!"

"KYAAA!"

'On the streets, several adults ran with their children in tow, crying out loud as they saw the debris fall, they tried to protect their young with their bodies but what little would that do?'

"... This is pissing me off." Silver said as he raised his left hand

/Fuom!.../

""?!""

'Confused and surprised, the citizens raised their heads to see that everything around them had stopped falling and was now floating in the air gently.'

'Not only that but all of the fire around them slowly died out, leaving behind only faint smoke and crackling as the wood cooled down.'

"Don't stay there, run." Silver mumbled to himself as he placed all of the rubble on a corner of the street

They're desperate, this won't do, without order, people only make things harder on themselves.

/Thud!/

… I have to quicken things…

/BREAK!/

/ROAR!/

'Just when Silver was about to leave to take care of other sections of the city, a large Violas broke the ground between several houses, dashing towards him with its open jaw!'

"##!!"

"I don't have the patience to deal with you!" Silver said out loud as he swiped his hand in the creature's direction

/BLAST!/

'The moment he did so, the creature's torso burst from the inside, splitting it in two as it fell on the ground lifeless.'

"..."

'His right hand slowly transformed, and his tendons became sharp metal sheets sticking out of his skin.'

/Splat!/

'Suddenly, they all jumped from his arm, floating in the air around him silently.'

"It wasn't within my plans to deal with Evilus right now but since they made their way to me..."

I'll eliminate them all, no hostages this time.

/Fwoosh!/

'By controlling the floating sheets of metal, Silver began a massacre against all Violas in the city.'

'Silver didn't even give them a spare glance, continuing on his way around the city, dousing all fires and killing all Violas in his path, saving and healing as many citizens as he could.'

'But at the same time, he had someone to find.'

…

/Clang!/

/SLICE!/

While Silver made his way to their position, the main group of the Hermes Familia fought a terrific battle as they tried to protect their temporary headquarters.

Standing side by side in a half-circle formation around the house, they fought all of the cultists who continuously popped from all sides like ants!

"Urg! Where did these people come from?!" Lulune exclaimed in confusion and anger as she kicked a woman dressed in a cloak from head to toe away

(Image)

"Does that even matter now?! Just push them all away!" Pock said loudly from the side as he finished mixing something into a cylinder 

"How's the progress?!"

"The flare is ready!" Pock replied 

"Then shoot it!"

'With a tense expression, Pock raised his hands into the air as he used a flint to ignite the fuse.'

/Sizzle… BAM!/

'The fire quickly went through the fuse, exploding a strong red light into the sky for all to see.'

/SLASH!/

"WH… POCK!!!"

'But before they could rejoice, a sneaky assassin dashed from the shadows, aiming at Pock who now had his guard down.'

/CLANG!/

"Oya? Don't you know it's bad to be violent with children?" Aisha asked from the side as she deflected the Assassin's blade easily before slamming her free arm against her chest, sending her flying against a house nearby

/BAM!/

/CRASH!.../

"##!! Thank you for helping me but I'm not a child!" 

"Fufu, there's only one way to prove that to me though~" Aisha said seductively 

"Ahh?!" Pock replied out loud as his face grew red

"Ignore her Pock!" Said Pot, his sister as she slapped his head

Damn thot!

/CLANG!/

/CRACK!/

'At that moment, from high above, a tall and strong man fell from the skies, holding a massive ax in one hand as he pressed down another man with his foot.'

'It was obviously Vultus, the strongest of the Hermes Familia!'

"Everyone, gather." He said deeply as he looked around

The situation isn't good.

Hermes isn't around us and neither is the Captain.

I'm not worried about us, they are the problem.

All of our combat power is here while they are alone… 

'He then closed his eyes.'

No, as long as he's with them, then there should be no problem… Still, that doesn't mean the situation's any better.

Without Hermes and the Captain, the chain of Command is completely broken, I can lead the others in the meantime but I'm not sure on how we should progress.

Given that, the best course of action would be to…

"?!"

Before Vultus could finish his own thoughts, a man approached from the side, swinging a large sword against his waist.

(Image?)

/CLANG!/

"URG!!!"

/BAAAM!/

/CRACK!/

"B-Big Guy?!" Someone else exclaimed from the side as Vultus suddenly flung across the street

"Already? I expected more from him, guess looks can be deceiving." Said the attacker as he rested his massive greatsword on his shoulder, hunching slightly to balance it

"... Shit." Pock said out loud as he took a step back

To throw away Vultus like that… Is he a…

""?!""

/CLANG!/

/BAAAAM!!/

'Amidst the confusion, another sneak attack came from the side, flinging Aisha far away deep into the houses.'

'This time, it was a woman with a strong build.'

"Gran, no chit-chatting, kill them all quickly, you know the plan." She said with a sharp expression as she walked next to him

"No need to remind me, I was just making a slight comment, you know, to break the ice?"

"... Shiiiiit…" Pock mumbled out loud as a bead of sweat fell from his forehead 

If one wasn't enough… We're now facing two First Class adventurers?!

Just… Where did they come from?!

What we need... Is to regroup, fuck this place!

'With that in mind, Pock ran inside their temporary home, rushing to the basement where he grabbed several boxes of consumable items, all made by their Captain in case a fight/emergency occurred.'

'And that was exactly what they needed right now!'

...

'With Silver distracted far away, the Hermes Familia passed through a great crisis.'

'Surrounded by dozens of cultists ranging from Level 2 to 5 while they themselves only had two Level 4s, the situation was extremely dire!'

'Was this within Hermes' plans? How far had the God actually seen and envisioned?'

'Or was he truly a fool for believing solely in his own predictions?'

'Everything now rested on the shoulders of a single adventurer… Or did it?'

"BURN YOU SON'S OF BICTHES!" Pock exclaimed out loud as he threw two boxes full of Blast oil on the streets, specifically atop the two First Class adventurers

"CHICKEN SAUCE!!!" He exclaimed in their secret code as he jumped back to the inn

""!!!!!""

'Hearing the code, everyone from the Hermes Familia immediately jumped back while the enemies were still trying to process what was going on.'

'And by the time they did...'

/BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!/

'Two full boxes exploded in the middle of the busy streets of Melen!'

…

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Notes