Chương 196: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Ninety-Six

"What does it say?" Adam asked.

"It tells me to feed it and makes a comment every time I kill something," Heiner replied. It was clear from his expression and melody that it made him very uncomfortable.

"It's like a starved beast. But it did teach me that I can manually feed my health to the ring to safely lower it and get more of the effect."

"That doesn't sound safe," Adam remarked.

"You can't heal it back."

"What does it matter?" Heiner replied as they flew around the northern side of Oath Spire.

"I'm going to die after this stage." Adam suddenly remembered a thing Emelia had told him. For some reason, the memory was extremely faint, as though it'd been buried beneath layers of dust.

"There is a way for you to survive," he said, while simultaneously realising what plan he must've set in motion and what the mysterious note would tell him when he returned to Interim Island.

"How?" Heiner asked, a flicker of hope entering his melody.

"The Godstone, once completed, should allow us to change which Absolute we worship. I was told by a time-looper that it's possible to do it after stage ten, but if the Godstone itself is the mechanism, then we'll complete it after the Forlorn Kingdom, which should make it possible to change who you worship and allow you to survive being Godless before using the altar on Interim." Surprise and excitement entered Heiner's melody, but then a sorrowful realisation followed.

"I shouldn't have taken the ring," he said.

"Nothing to do about that now," Adam replied.

"We've already confirmed that there are ways to heal despite its limitations, so you just have to get your hands on a relic like the connoisseur's gorget."

"Thanks, Adam," Heiner said and meant it.

"You've saved my life again."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Adam cautioned.

"The Forlorn Kingdom is far from over. There are some very challenging fights we might not be able to avoid."

"Actually, there was something I was hoping you could clarify for me about one of the bosses," Heiner started.

"I didn't want to say it around Chien, since he's the one who seems to cause them to appear."

"What are you talking about?" Adam asked.

"The black horsemen," Heiner replied.

"Have you not heard of them?"

"No. But it could be a secret boss with an obscure trigger. I know of two other secret bosses, but none of them are riders."

"That does seem to be the case," Heiner said.

"If I understand the orb's vision correctly, then they appear because of Chien."

"Because he's worshipping the First Light," Adam realised.

"I didn't realise his patron was that special," Heiner admitted.

"You can only unlock it if you don't kill any other players before reaching the altar. And worshipping the First Light means you take damage if you hurt another player."

"I don't think he took damage when he nearly killed Diwa," Heiner said.

"Maybe it's because he didn't directly hurt her," Adam guessed.

"I hope he hasn't realised that," Heiner replied.

"I don't like him. I feel that he might be up to something."

"It's hard to say for sure," Adam remarked.

"But all of the Absolutes scheme, so it would not be a surprise if the First Light had some plans in mind for him to fulfil. He's clearly been handpicked as its champion. But tell me about these riders."

"They're as big as the forlorn captain from stage four, and ride black steeds covered in shadow. There are three of them and it seems like they might hunt down Chien. They will appear the moment that the Shadow crosses the blue river."

"That's once the second day ends," Adam said.

"But three of them at once… That's troubling. What weapons do they use?"

"One has a lance, another has a large crossbow, and the last has a hooked chain thing."

"I think we should tell him about it," Adam replied.

"If they're only after Chien, then perhaps we can convince him to be bait," Heiner said with a devious grin.

"A guy like him, he'd jump on the opportunity," Adam replied with a laugh. To their right, the wall of the Oath Spire mountain curled towards the south, and the others raced their horses along its edge.

"The mountain is shaped like a large set of teeth," Heiner explained.

"There's an abandoned village next to the bandit camp inside its mouth." Adam nodded. It matched the description from Beck. Apparently, even though the placement of Oath Spire and other parts of the stage were located in different places for everyone, Red Rian's hideout was always within the embrace of the mountain.

"Let's join the others," Adam told Heiner as it was clear they were coming up on their target. There were no signs of mana anywhere, so Adam switched back to his crown to maximise his firepower. I wonder what will happen to my patron relics when I leave the Flayed Lady's worship. Would I get to keep using them? I wish I'd asked Beck about it, because it's possible my build is crippled as soon as I'm worshipping someone else. Heiner landed on the back of Chien's horse, and the big guy hardly seemed to care.

While flying with the grafted wings is cool, I get the feeling they devour stamina really fast, so not the most efficient means of transport. Still, getting them on the Fool would likely be invaluable. Adam floated down next to Natalia.

"I had an idea about how we can rescue the hostages," he told her.

"Let me guess, you want me to use the cape you gave me to sneak inside their camp?" she replied.

"Uh, yes. Good guess." Natalia laughed.

"Seo-Yoon brought up the same idea a few minutes ago. You and her have the same wicked mindset." Adam glanced to the Spellcaster. She waved back when she noticed him looking.

"We're almost there," Heiner then told the others, and they slowed the horses to a trot.

"Let's talk strategy," Adam said. The bandit camp was quite a lot bigger than Adam had expected. Wooden huts and tents dotted the landscape in front of a ruined village, and they'd managed to erect a palisade around their main base in the middle of it, which was where they kept their hostages according to the melodies Adam could pick out. The Red Scarves were spread out across the village and huts in great numbers, and primitive towers dotted the landscape with crossbowmen inside.

They kept watchful eyes on the rolling green hills, making any approach impossible without being spotted. Unlike the ones who had ambushed them previously, these bandits actually wore the scarves they were known for. We need to make sure to collect those. Seo-Yoon had suggested using her cloud magic to let them get through unnoticed, but it would require precise timing and a lot of setup to cover a big enough area to allow them to reach the hostages.

And unlike the goblins, none of them believed the bandits would be that easy to fool. Likewise, Adam's affliction-spreading mantle could be used to easily clear out a lot of enemies and open the way, but its power was indiscriminate and he couldn't be certain the hostages weren't targeted too.

Heiner had suggested that he and Adam come in from above, but that plan wouldn't be likely to work until after the sun had set, and they were in a hurry to finish before dusk, since that was when being outside settlements got dangerous. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was all but guaranteed the hostages would be killed the moment the guards sounded the alarm, and they had agreed to at least attempt to save them.

As such, the strategy they had landed on was actually the simplest one: a direct attack on the towers to allow them to push into the camp. There were four towers they had to worry about if they wanted to make an approach from the north, and their placement was such that the fourth tower would immediately spot if the three in front of it were attacked.

They had therefore agreed that Adam and Heiner would wait to take out the three towers in front until after Natalia had snuck past them and dealt with the fourth one in the back. Since she had the nightfarer's cloak from Adam, she would effectively be able to turn invisible for twenty seconds, which, given the speed she could move at, would be enough for her to get the job done and allow them to take out the other towers to open the way into the camp.

Despite their entire plan revolving around Natalia, she didn't seem to feel the pressure. In fact, she was in her element and full of excitement to show off. Diwa, Seo-Yoon, and Chien did all seem a bit frustrated that they were relegated to back-up, but as soon as they had secured the hostages, the agreement was that they'd go all out to destroy the bandit gang.

Adam had sifted through all the melodies, but he wasn't sure which one belonged to Red Rian, so they were working off of the assumption that he would be within the palisade walls, since that was where the biggest building was located. Much to Chien's dismay, the Red Scarves had transformed a dilapidated church into their headquarters, and the hostages were inside it, so that made it their primary target. Although Adam couldn't see them, he sensed that two men were in the belltower, no doubt as further lookouts.

They should be far enough away that they won't notice four towers going cold.

"Is everyone ready?" Natalia asked. She had switched to her one-handed sword from the Nimble Prince evolution. It would be best suited for stealthy takedowns. Heiner hefted a spear and Adam detached two fingers from his left gauntlet, wrapping his control around the three separate elements within each, which would allow him to fire them at insane speeds.

"Ready," Heiner and Adam both said. The back-up group was ready too, so they all pushed up towards the last hill before the towers would come within view. They had left their horses down at the foot of the hill, and fortunately the animals didn't seem interested in running away anymore.

"You'll know when I've taken down the tower, right?" Natalia asked Adam. He nodded.

"I'll know."

"All I needed to hear," she said. Then she knelt down into a starting pose, and Adam recognised it as her activating her mongoose chargers. The dark cape wrapped itself around her body, pulling her down into her own shadow. Adam immediately lost the ability to detect Natalia's melody. A split-second later, the shadow flew up and over the hill.

They carefully crawled up towards its crest, peering at the distant towers, but it was impossible to spot Natalia's shadow, even though they knew what to look for, which was a good sign. The towers were far out of Adam's reach, but he was confident his finger bullets wouldn't have any issue hitting his targets. Heiner had boosted his own range quite a lot, and coupled with the lucky charm, he'd have no issue striking his target. Past the three towers, the melody in the fourth one suddenly vanished.

"Go," Adam said and raised himself slightly, just enough to give him a clear shot at his two separate targets. Heiner moved back slightly and stood up, before taking a running start and tossing his spear the moment he had line of sight with his tower. As the javelin sailed high into the air, Adam fired his first bullet and lined up for his second. The finger zipped through the air with a hiss and the tower went dark as it popped through the skull of its occupant. [2 Afflictions applied,] his cube announced.

Heiner's spear struck true, killing another lookout, and Adam fired his second finger. [2 Afflictions applied.]"Let's move up," Adam told the others. They all hurried up over the hill and across to the fourth tower where Natalia awaited them.

"No one's spotted us yet," she said.

"The two lookouts in the church belltower are going to be an issue," Adam replied, pointing at the palisade walls and the large building within.

"My lucky charm is ready again in two minutes," Heiner said.

"Can you hit both?" Chien asked.

"Depends on how they're positioned," he replied.

"He just has to hit one," Adam said.

"I'll get the other." They advanced across the area, skirting around the wooden huts and tents, and taking out a few of the bandits who were isolated and wouldn't be spotted. Although Chien wasn't a fan, they relied on Adam's raiment to remove the bodies.

The ground started to flatten as they reached the outskirts of the ruined village, making their approach on the palisade and church much more difficult, though they were able to move through the husks of burnt-down buildings to get close enough for Heiner and Adam to spot the two lookouts atop the church. They waited within the charred skeleton of an old tavern until the area had cleared of nearby bandits, and then they struck, taking down both men without either falling down from the belltower.

The melodies inside the palisade walls filled with troubling emotions and Adam thought they'd been spotted. But as he observed their tones and how they flowed, he realised that what he was noticing was someone torturing a hostage, and enjoying it greatly. That must be Red Rian.

"He's hurting the hostages," Adam told the others.

"Horst and I will go in from above. I can carry two of you, but not everyone."

"I'll jump over the walls," Natalia said.

"Then I'll take Seo-Yoon and Diwa with me," Adam decided. Chien gave Heiner a look.

"What?" he asked.

"Airdrop me," Chien said. Heiner sighed.

"Why do I have to carry you?"

"I cannot jump over the walls and if I barge through, they will notice me."

"Fine…" Adam and the others did their best to contain their laughter as Chien spread out his arms and Heiner grabbed him and lifted into the air with a furious flapping of his wings. At the same time, Adam grew two handles from the back of his armour and the two women held on as he floated over to the roof of the church. Heiner was a bit slow to follow, since he wasn't as strong as Adam with his raiment, and because Chien easily weighed the same as Diwa and Seo-Yoon combined.

"I don't think anyone saw us," Heiner whispered.

"Where's Red Rian?" Adam pointed down into the roof.

"Is he holding a sermon?" Seo-Yoon asked with a grin that clearly upset Chien.

"I want to be the one who kills him," Chien said.

"We need to be smart about this," Adam replied. They watched as Natalia leapt over the palisade and landed inside the church courtyard. Four guards watched the gate opposite the church, but none of them were looking into the courtyard, since it was normal to assume people couldn't jump or fly over the walls. Not to mention, their entire defensive setup relied on the lookouts, many of whom were now dead.

Chien and Diwa joined Natalia down by the church entrance, while Seo-Yoon, Adam, and Heiner went down the ladder from the belltower to an antechamber inside. Adam led the way, since his ranged attacks were the fastest. Already, he had two of his regrown gauntlet fingers floating in front of him, ready to pop Red Rian's head the moment he saw him. A male voice echoed through the church hall with gasps and whimpers responding to his words.

< < Optional Stage Objective > > < Defeat Red Rian > Adam pulled out the third eye he'd sculpted in Moonport and used it to survey the interior. The others were waiting for him to strike before they moved in, but he didn't want to rush it since hostages' lives were at stake.

As vision filtered in through the sculpted eye he'd lifted high into the air along the wall near the belltower chamber's doorway, he saw eighteen women, who'd been bound and gagged with strips of fabric from their own clothes, sitting on the pews as though attending Sunday Mass. Every single one of them had weeping open wounds on their exposed bodies, though none of the injuries were life-threatening. Clumps of wax were scattered around sporadically and fat candles burned to light the interior in an ominous way.

A man walked up and down the floor between the women. His deep-red hair was slicked back with stiffened blood and his only article of clothing was a pair of blood-stained trousers cut short below the knees. He was emaciated and gaunt with pale skin, but there was a cruel fire in his eyes, and in his hands were two large butcher knives, the blades of which glowed red in the candlelight. A nasty scar ran from the bottom of his left eye to the corner of his mouth, and it was clearly infected.

The way it pulled on his face gave him a lopsided and sinister grin, exposing yellowed and decaying teeth. Adam floated one of his gauntlet fingers out into the hall, ready to take out the man, but then he realised what he was saying.

"Tell me where you keep the Woodlocke ring," he demanded, pulling down the gag from one of the women.

"I don't know!" she said. Red Rian made a face and ran the blade of his knife along her cheek, drawing a line of blood and making the woman gasp in pain.

"Does anyone fucking know!?" he exclaimed, his voice booming. The women whimpered and prayed for mercy. He's looking for a ring. It has to be the old seal that I got from Lady Cassandra, Adam realised. Before Red Rian could harm any of the others, Adam fired his finger bullet through his head, the hiss from its rapid movement sounding like an angry serpent within the echoey church. It snapped Rian's head back and left a hole in his skull and the wall behind him. [2 Afflictions applied.] Adam grunted as the pain flowed back through him. < < Optional Stage Objective Complete > > < Defeated Red Rian >"Clear," Adam said. Heiner and Seo-Yoon followed him into the hall. The church door opposite them opened and the others came inside. Adam was the first to reach Red Rian's body and he picked up his two butcher knives.

< < Quest Object > > < Red Rian's Fangs — The blood-drinking knives of the Bandit Lord known as Red Rian > I think these will turn into actual weapons after we hand in the quest in Old Town or Gothershall, just like the Golden Nail did. Adam stashed the quest object in his backpack for now and helped the others free the women. Once they had removed their bonds, their melodies were filled with gratitude and guilt, hope and sorrow. They had clearly lost much, but they also felt thankful that they had survived.

"I will stay in the church with them while you clear out the camp," Chien said. Given how much he'd been a limiting force on Adam's display of power, his words almost sounded like an endorsement for Adam to do his worst to the remaining bandits.

"Don't forget to grab the scarves off their bodies," Adam reminded the others.

"Want to see who can get the most?" Seo-Yoon suggested with a grin.

"So long as no one steals mine, I'll win this," Natalia said confidently.

"I will stay here too," Diwa told them.

"I won't be able to keep up with you."

"Suit yourself," Natalia replied.

"Well then. May the best one win," Heiner said with an eager smile. The four of them left the church as fast as they could, with Adam and Heiner taking to the air immediately. The Red Scarves wouldn't know what hit them.