SECOND-CLASS SAINT

Decisions (IV)

"You sure did a number on this place, Marcel." Silas joked playfully, clapping his hands slowly as he approached the glowing core.

The scene inside the hidden room was nothing short of a massacre, the space was utterly ravaged by the brief conflict that ensued. Bodies were scattered all over, bony protrusions jolted up from the ground and to top it off, flaming trails of doom courtesy of none other than Marcel himself were spread all over the place, adding to the devastation.

"Big talk coming from someone who didn't help us at all." Marcel countered snottily, tightening his palm to snuff out the hovering fireball.

A blaze roared before him, its hellish flames ruthlessly charring the remains of the monster trapped inside. Scorched to the bone, the barbarian's body lost all semblance of structure and collapsed into a pile of soot, crumbling away piece by piece inside the blue inferno.

"I told you I'd be drained for a while. Controlling this many monsters at once isn't easy—let alone settling them enough for someone like Victor to take command."

"If you say so." Marcel casually fanned him off and made a brief glance over his shoulder. His eyes briefly scanned the room, but not once did they ever stray on the skewered bodies being hoisted into the air.

A handful of people were still alive near the entrance—those who were lucky enough to have Carissa's aid would escape death, at the very least. Even now, she was working diligently to heal the final patient in her queue.

"What a shame, I didn't think that many of them would get themselves killed." Silas commented from the front as he removed the small prism-like core from the glowing slot.

"I'm not willing to risk receiving aid from our guilds heavy hitters and have them get killed here." answered Marcel, "It's much easier to cut our losses with just this, there's no shortage to the number of Nectar-boosted grunts we can find around here."

The group had supposedly split into smaller units at the start of the raid to cover more ground, but that was only the official story. In truth, Marcel had chosen only expendable allies for his venture. Most weren't even official guild members, so he felt no qualms over the casualties they suffered.

Hearing Marcel's answer, Silas laughed and returned to the task at hand. The minute he removed the core; the purple markings spread across the room instantly lost their spark, their light slowly faded from the ancient text. Silas gave their surroundings a quick glance and stuffed the core somewhere under his coat.

" I'll be taking the core back now. I'd hoped to get my hands on the boss, but you've gone and reduced it to cinders."

"Don't you have enough of those things as it stands?" inquired Marcel, glaring at him dubiously.

"In a way, I do—and I don't. Summoners aren't an official class, so there's no by-the-book method for us to train our abilities. I'd say it's best if we keep our hands in as many pots as possible, friend."

"Is that so? What a bothersome class you have." Marcel replied, sounding uninterested.

His tone made the businessman laugh on his way toward the exist, but then, Silas suddenly stopped.

"Oh, I almost forgot Marcel. The neural links I shared with Victor and Scarecrow were severed some time ago; same goes for all the summons I lent them as well. I'm always one to hope for the best but this doesn't look very good."

"Victor I can believe, but Scarecrow's a different story. I'll tie up a few loose ends here and get to the bottom of this when I'm out."

"Then it's decided. Let's meet again some other time my friend." Waving as he walked, Silas summoned a twin-tailed reptilian creature to his side. The scaly white monster exhaled a billowing cloud of vapor, shrouding its master before both vanished as the mist dispersed.

"Now then, it's time I settle my business with you." Marcel approached Carissa with a look of ambivalence.

Her head had been hung low this entire time—a sign of her intense focus as she healed the last growling hunter laying on the floor.

She ceased her efforts once Marcel got in range, muttering a single word to stop him in his tracks.

"I take it our agreement has been fulfilled now, yes?"

"What?" Marcel stopped in his tracks, staring at her with a puzzled expression.

"That makes four. I upheld my end—assisting your guild with the barrier formation and retrieving those strange cores—in return for Cyril's protection from Cocytus. That was our agreement, was it not?"

"Yes, indeed. You've done very well, I'll admit that. I've never met an enchanter of your caliber before. Thanks to your efforts, things were able to proceed smoothly without anyone noticing."

"Then-"

Marcel raised his hand to deny her retort, he narrowed his eyes and casually shrugged his shoulders in admission:

"I can no longer follow through with those terms. The situation has changed, you see."

"...Pardon?"

All it took was a single sentence from Marcel to shake her resolve.

"While I have ties with Cocytus' upper brass, I'm not part of their organization—we just share interests for now. In exchange for your help, I pulled a few strings and kept their boss from pursuing Cyril himself, but I can't rein in every thug looking to pick a fight with him after what he did to Victor. I haven't targeted him in a long time, and any recent scuffles weren't my doing."

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Marcel laced every word with mock benevolence, as though he were preaching to her. If she knew the whole truth, she could have easily dismissed the majority of his words as a bold-faced lie.

"My point is the terms of our agreement were flawed from the start—we simply cannot form a partnership on such flimsy terms."

"Are you admitting you'll break your word?!" Carissa demanded, her fists tightening at her sides.

"In a way, yes. Don't play dumb. After seeing what we just did with those pills, I know you've already figured it out. You're the one who set up that concealment barrier over the other facility, too—I'm sure you've been slowly putting the pieces together."

His words only made her grip tighten further. Up until now, she'd done her best to avoid broaching the topic, but since he'd brought it up himself there was no way around it.

".....Just what kind of monster have you people been keeping in there? Is that what you need the dungeon cores for?" Carissa asked hesitantly, whatever she was speaking about invoked a primal dose of fear into her—enough to suppress her own rage.

"Nectar, that monster, and Cocytus. You people seem to have a lot going on, but that isn't my concern. My only request is that you leave Cyril out of it, that's all."

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible." Marcel muttered, reaching into his inner pocket, he retrieved the half-filled vial of capsules and secured it with his fingers.

"This is the first batch of Nectar's alpha dosage; they've nearly perfected the formula. When that happens, I'll have what I bargained for, and Cocytus will have everything they need to make their move."

"Do they.... intend to wreak havoc again?" Carissa asked, her tone carefully measured as she wove her words with deliberate precision.

"I knew it." Marcel paired his admission with a sigh.

"That brings me to the real problem, Carissa." he said, leveling his finger at her. "You're a bit too informed for someone who's just hired-help. I would like nothing more than to keep you around but I'm in hot water at the moment, and I'm not willing to risk dragging the guild's name into this."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I don't need you anymore."

By the time Marcel's words landed, Carissa was forced to throw both hands up in defense. A blazing inferno shot out from Marcel's finger without warning, slamming into Carissa's barrier with enough force to shatter it.

"Ack!"

She managed to ward off the heat, but the impact shattered her barrier and sent her tumbling across the floor like an empty beer can.

"It really is a shame. Blocking just one of these attacks is call for merit, you know?" Marcel spoke in an exasperated voice, but as soon as he appeared from beyond the smoke, she quickly realized that he was lying.

Try as he might to sound somber, the cynical expression on his face said otherwise.

Has the drug not worn off yet?

Carissa wondered to herself as she pushed off the ground, panting like a wild horse. It seems the effects of the previous battle were now beginning to weigh on her.

"Let's see how you do against these." Marcel announced his intent with glee, the space around him shimmered as blue flames flared into existence. He manifested several dense orbs of the smoldering flames and chucked them at Carissa with a thin smile.

Focusing her mana, she summoned her barrier once more—this time layering it several times over and sealing herself within the dense sphere. Explosive blasts hammered against the glowing shields one after another, draining Carissa's strength with every impact.

Of all the known classes, enchanters were the least suited for direct combat, which was why they so often filled support roles. Logically speaking, there was no worse kind of opponent for someone like her to face.

"I made that barrier you need so badly Marcel! It wouldn't take much for me to crush the entire building you know!" Carissa roared, her voice carrying above the ceaseless explosions.

"Is that your play?" Marcel paused briefly, raising a brow in thought.

The barrier she used was a large-scale technique that distorted the perceptions of others by functioning as an artificial domain. It manipulated light, distorted air vibrations, and altered other environmental factors, giving her complete control over the enclosed space. With precise adjustments, she could will the barrier to collapse inward and easily trigger a violent implosion.

And yet, in spite of knowing that, Marcel simply laughed.

"Fool, that place is already abandoned. As if we'd let you have that much power over us."

"No...way... but I was certain that.."

The words hit her like a thunderbolt, draining much of the strength from her body. Sensing her hesitation, Marcel seized the moment, fusing several flaming orbs together. He compressed the mass to the size of a golf ball and took careful aim at her.

"It's time we end this."

As he spoke, the orb suddenly exploded, unleashing its stored heat at her like a laser. Carissa's barrier stood no chance; the attack tore through it effortlessly, striking her body like a spear.

She crashed to the ground, rolling several meters, her breathing ragged and uneven.

As Carissa's vision blurred and blood pooled around her, the image of a certain troublemaker surfaced in her mind. She had known him for over ten years and had weathered countless hardships together, yet for some reason, the memory of his innocent smile pierced her heart with a pain far deeper than anything Marcel could ever inflict.

I'm such an idiot....I should never have gotten involved with these people. I'm sorry, Cyril.

Marcel appeared at the edge of her vision, wielding a fireball several times larger than his last. It seems he intended to completely incinerate her body, but before he could deliver the final blow, he froze.

His entire body shivered like a frightened animal, and a cold sweat broke out across his skin—not from his own flames, of course. His fear was solely due to the presence of a third party, the person who'd just arrived.

Boom

The entire room—pillars, floors and ceiling— everything was shaken to its core.

Marcel heard the thunderous sound of the giant pillars collapsing outside. The massive stone columns toppled one by one, as if a colossal bulldozer had been unleashed.

After a few seconds, the tremors abruptly ceased.

Cancelling his spell, Marcel slowly turned toward the doorway. A gust of wind swept aside the billowing smoke, and then came the footsteps—the intruder, whoever they were, had arrived.

The figure stepped into the room, and the space immediately responded. The cryptic markings that had gone dark shortly after Silas retrieved the core now glowed with renewed activity.

Bathed in the purple glow, the silver haired boy approached Marcel wordlessly.

Recognizing the face, a nervous smile split across Marcel's lips. He gestured toward Carissa's body, leering as he said this:

"It's been a while, Cyril. You came at the perfect time."