Chương 123: Chapter One Hundred Twenty: Clash

The world seemed to slow down, every detail appearing in sharp focus. In the moments before Agnes completed her chant, Pyre took in the coiled tension of the room, the way every knight stood with stiff shoulders, eyes trained on their captain and arms instinctively moving closer to their weapons. There was Lord Alardice, seated at the head of the table with his usual stoic expression. Below the light of the dining room chandelier, his dark eyes seemed to be gleaming with anticipation.

And then, there was the dawning horror on Daphne's face, the mage spinning around to face the person seated across the table directly above those different runes. Pyre watched Llyr's eyes turn in their direction, only to widen in realization as he met Daphne's panicked gaze." Ru —" The light burst forth before she could finish her warning. For a split second, the entire room was engulfed in blinding golden light.

Pyre cursed and vaulted over the dining room table, the entire structure toppling and falling under the force of the demon's weight. She was vaguely aware of yells behind her, a mixture of voices she didn't bother sorting through. She was more focused on getting to the other side of the table, where a visible pillar of light remained around Llyr even as the rest of the room dimmed and became visible again. She could only make out a vague silhouette within the barrier, but she recognized it as the siren.

He was frozen unnaturally in place, body convulsing oddly as the unknown spell took hold. The demon landed with a heavy thud on the floor. Without hesitating, she reached into the glowing pillar, grabbed onto Llyr, and yanked him out. The healer tumbled to the ground in a heap, the light of the spell circle immediately dying the second he was out of its bounds. He was gasping for breath, hands clutching at his throat as his muscles twitched strangely. That wasn't what Pyre was focused on, though.

Below his waist, she could very clearly see a lumpy form below his robes, hidden under layers of cloth, that was decidedly not the shape of human legs. Her eyes landed on Llyr's face again, where he was gritting his teeth and seemingly still struggling through the last of the convulsions. There were gleaming scales visible near the base of his neck. Pyre heard Daphne curse behind them. She was vaguely aware that the flesh on her arm—the one she'd used to pull Llyr out of the light pillar—felt softer than it should.

She quickly contorted it back into shape before anyone could notice it below her sleeve. That had to be some sort of forced "true form" revealing spell. She'd pulled Llyr out quickly enough that he was only partially transformed, but the effects were still obvious. Pax's talismans worked against wards and detection magic, not something like this." Mer," one of the knights breathed. Llyr's eyes immediately snapped in the direction of the voice.

Even collapsed on the ground, body still convulsing (he was trying to shift back into his full human form, Pyre realized), the look of raw fury in those blue eyes was enough for the man who'd spoken to stumble back in fear. All around the room, the distinctive ring of metal sounded as weapons were drawn and pointed in their direction. One of the knights took a step closer. In a flash, Llyr shoved his torso off the ground and summoned a jet of water that he hurled straight at the man.

Just before it could hit, a golden barrier flashed in front of the knight. The spell collided with it, water spraying everywhere and soaking the plush carpet. Pyre knew from firsthand experience how much power was behind those spells. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to where Agnes stood, the captain's hand raised. Her palm glowed a familiar golden hue. It was as if that attack acted as a trigger. All at once, the coiled tension in the room released as the knights surged forward with their weapons raised.

Pyre heard Daphne, still stuck on the other side of the toppled table, yell something—probably demanding an explanation—but she was more focused on the knights currently closing in on them. A spear tip thrust in the demon's direction, and she dodged to the side. Without missing a beat, she grabbed onto the polearm's metal shaft and tugged lightly. The knight toppled with a yell as his weapon was abruptly yanked out of his grip. He landed hard on the floor, armor clanking.

Pyre had a brief moment to consider if she should reveal her demonic nature, but she still didn't know exactly what was going on. Obviously the interrogation had been a setup to reveal that Llyr wasn't human, but did that mean Lord Alardice was working for that group? Or was this completely unrelated? Maybe it didn't matter, because the knights had clearly taken Llyr's attack as a hostile act and were now intent on retaliating. The vibrations in the ground shifted.

Pyre spun around just as another knight approached her. Still holding onto the spear, she used the blunt end of it to knock the knight back in a sweeping movement. She controlled her strength enough to only mildly bruise the woman's ribs, and she was already turning back around the second she felt the hit land. A little ways away, Llyr had managed to stop his partial transformation and shift back into a full human form.

He was back on his feet, though his movements were noticeably more shaky than usual as he fought with Agnes. The healer aimed a water stream at the knight captain, but once again, she blocked it with a barrier. Agnes had drawn her rapier, and her movements were precise and sharp. She pushed the siren back methodically with carefully aimed swings, never giving him a chance to breathe. She was strong, Pyre thought. Even if Llyr was weakened right now, she had to be [Tier 2] as well.

She didn't seem to be trying very hard, either. Shoving back another knight who lunged at her with a quick elbow to the gut, the demon attempted to move closer to Llyr and Agnes, but it looked like the other knights were intent on blocking her path. She clicked her tongue and used the spear to block an incoming sword swing. She then twisted her arm, jerking the weapon out of the knight's hand in a movement that came as instinctively as the random combat knowledge she'd displayed in the garrison.

Her past self's instincts, it seemed, remained as strong as ever. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Pyre swept her leg out in a wide arc, tripping the next two knights rushing towards her. This would be so easy if she just used her fleshwarping, she thought. Or didn't bother trying to be nonlethal. Surely they were past the point of keeping up appearances, right? Or maybe not.

She grew an eye on the back of her head, hidden below her hair, and saw Daphne with her finger brandished threateningly to the knights—Sir Henry, she recognized at the front—trying to approach her. They had formed a circle around the mage and were approaching cautiously, eyeing the glowing fireball sitting atop Daphne's hand with obvious trepidation. Pyre ducked under another swing, straightened, then lightly pushed the knight. He flew back, colliding with another knight behind him along the way.

Both crashed into the wall. It was a little hard to make out what anyone was saying over the sound of weapons clashing, but it didn't look like the knights were trying to attack Daphne. That Henry guy's expression seemed almost pleading, like he was attempting to convince her of something, but the noble wasn't hearing it. She hadn't actually fired one of her spells yet, though, Pyre noted. Damn, that meant they were still keeping the charade up. Her eyes darted over to Lord Alardice.

He'd moved to the back of the dining room after the fighting had broken out, and he was now flanked by four separate knights as he watched the chaos unfold. Once again, she couldn't get a read on what he was thinking, but it was pretty obvious that he'd ordered this all to happen. There was a distinct possibility that if they let the knights restrain them, they'd then get an explanation for what the hell was going on, but Pyre didn't really feel like giving them the upper hand after their little ambush.

This feeling was only emphasized when, a second later, a sharp breath was followed by the sound of clinking chains. Across the room, Agnes had managed to shove Llyr against the wall and attached shackles to his wrists. Based on the lack of water bullets being fired and the runes engraved on the metal, Pyre suspected that they limited his magic somehow. The siren was still struggling, but Agnes was able to hold him still with one arm. Capture was, indeed, their goal here then.

And grabbing Llyr meant they already had a bargaining chip for whatever conversation followed, assuming that was what Henry was trying to get Daphne's attention for. Coming to a decision, Pyre kicked up one of the fallen chairs and grabbed it in one hand. Not missing a beat, she spun around and hurled it in Lord Alardice's direction. Several yells rang across the room. The knights around the noble quickly stepped forward to block the object currently barrelling towards them.

Two of them formed an X with their spears, and the chair exploded in a shower of broken wood and splinters from the force of the impact. Pyre hadn't actually expected the chair to hit, though. The second she'd thrown it, she'd shoved the knight blocking her back and raced for the back of the room. With two knights focused on blocking the chair and others dodging the rain of splinters, she now had a clear opening. In one smooth motion, Pyre thrust the spear past one of the knights straight at Lord Alardice.

The tip came to a stop a millimeter away from the noble's neck. All at once, the frenzied action halted. Everyone in the room seemed to suck in a breath at the same time, but Pyre didn't move her gaze away from Lord Alardice, who'd frozen in place. Her steel grey eyes met his wide ones steadily. She didn't even glance at Agnes's rapier, which had come to a stop an inch away from her as well. The knight captain had managed to rush over quickly, shoving Llyr's chained form to the ground before attacking the demon.

The threat, however, didn't really matter when Pyre currently had a spear poised to slice Lord Alardice's neck open. A slow, wide smile stretched across the demon's face. Holding the spear steady, she cocked her head.

"You know, ambushing your guests is awfully rude, Lord Alardice. What happened to diplomacy?" The noble's lips thinned. On the other side of the room, Daphne used the lull in combat as an opportunity to shove Henry back and step forward, fury visible in every movement even as she kept her head held high and posture straight in that distinctly aristocratic way of hers.

"Lord Alardice, I hope you have a good explanation for attacking a member of the Bellhein household." Her voice was equal parts sharp and cold. The man in question turned stiffly to face her, but he kept a wary eye on the spear still gleaming by his throat.

"Our intention was not to attack you or your guard," he said slowly, clearly hyper aware of the fact that any movement could result in his neck getting sliced open.

"Your guard interfered with the knights' duties, and so they responded." His eyes narrowed.

"You implicated yourselves."

"In what?" Pyre shifted the spear forward just enough for the tip to brush against the noble's skin, and his jaw promptly clamped shut. She raised an eyebrow.

"I was just defending the Doc from a random suspicious attack. You can't seriously expect me to sit around when you pull shit like this."

"If you had a concern, you should've informed us before acting," Daphne agreed. Her sharp brown eyes gleamed almost amber in the light.

"As it stands, it appears to me that the Alardices are deliberately obscuring their intentions, assaulting guests who have come in good faith, and acting in a manner completely unfit for a noble house of its standing." Lord Alardice's eyes flashed at that.

"Unfit? The Bellheins siding with a mer is far more reputationally damaging. Serindell has every right to arrest you for aiding and abetting a criminal." Daphne's mouth opened, then closed again as she took the words in. Her brows furrowed in thought, and Pyre could see the moment when realization seemed to dawn on her.

"Are you—" Before she could finish her sentence, a commotion by the dining room entrance drew everyone's attention away. Through Pyre's back eye, she could see a few knights struggling to push back a very familiar figure. Her eyebrows rose.

"—ust let me through," Callan was saying, entirely solid and visible to everyone. The knight attempting to push him back looked equal parts stern and somewhat baffled.

"We apologize, Lord Alardice," the knight called.

"We don't know where he came from—he just appeared around the corner! We'll apprehend him at once."

"I'm saying if you just let me through, I can explain everything and save you all from a giant mess!" Callan snapped. He managed to crane his neck and peer around the knight trying to block him, and his green eyes widened as he took in the scene: the toppled table and chairs, the knights with their weapons drawn, Llyr chained and on the ground, and Pyre with a spear pointed at Lord Alardice's throat while Agnes's blade aimed at her own. The ghost groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Oh my god," he muttered.

"Of course I'm too late. Great."

"Kid, what's going on?" Pyre called, still holding the spear in place. She had a feeling she already knew the answer based on everything Lord Alardice had said and implied so far, though. Her question was more for confirmation than anything. When Callan opened his mouth again, he indeed verified the demon's suspicions.

"It's not him," he said, the words tumbling out in a rush.

"Lord Alardice isn't involved with the disappearances. He's investigating them." Every pair of eyes in the room moved first to the ghost, then to the noble in question. More than a few knights' brows furrowed in confusion. Lord Alardice, meanwhile, was staring at the sudden arrival like he was piecing together a puzzle. Dark eyes moved from Callan to Daphne to Pyre, finally landing on Llyr, who was still shackled and now directed a venomous glare in the noble's direction.

He hadn't moved from his spot or tried to attack any of the knights currently surrounding him, though. Probably because he'd also come to the same conclusion. Lord Alardice glanced down at the healer's now fully human legs, then back up. His expression turned considering. When he opened his mouth again, his next words were slow and deliberate.

"I believe," he began carefully, "that this may be a misunderstanding."