Chapter 7 — The Big Party
Edric's POV
Here we are, I thought as the Black Dragon, Eupherbia and I landed in the Land of the Seas, the region the Intoner Five rule, we landed on an empty beach, but in the distance I could see a coastal town with a harbor.
"We're here; enjoy your little human feast." The black dragon said to me as he walked along the beach.
"Won't you stay?" I asked the dragon.
"No, I don't like parties, too much noise for my taste, I prefer silence. I also believe that the humans in the city just ahead would not be happy with the appearance of a dragon." Black Dragon replied.
"Never mind Edric, he's just a grumpy old dragon, he's too old to party, his youth is long gone." Eupherbia said as she landed on my shoulder.
"I want you to know that I'm not that old, I'm only twenty thousand years old!" The Black Dragon replied.
"Wow, he is old!" Eupherbia and I both squealed in surprise, the Black Dragon gave an irritated grunt and walked away.
"Young people these days… They don't respect their elders." I heard the dragon murmur.
Forget it "Come on Eupherbia."
Together Eupherbia and I headed towards the city, on the way I changed my set of armor, equipped the Yurt set, since no one saw me wearing this set of armor before.
Finally we reached the city, passing through the gates I began to observe around me, it was a merchant city, ships were constantly arriving and departing, bringing and taking goods, the streets were bustling with merchants and in the port I could see the sailors working on the ships.
People on the streets were giving me curious looks, probably because of the set of armor I was wearing and the fairy accompanying me, speaking of the fairy.
"What do you think of Eupherbia City?" I asked.
"Stinks of fish." Eupherbia replied as she grimaced and held her nose.
"HA! You'll get used to it; there are worse smells after all." I replied.
"Serious? Like what?"
"Dead bodies."
"Where the hell did you come from, Edric?" Eupherbia asked.
"Hm! Boletaria was not in a good situation."
"I hope I never see a place like this."
"Hope you never see one. But enough about the bad places, why don't we explore a bit before carrying out my quest?"
"Then what are we doing standing here? Come on!" Eupherbia said as she flew around me and darted through the streets.
With a long sigh I ran after Eupherbia, on the way I started thinking about a certain paper given to me before requesting this mission.
FLASHBACK
"Listen here, Edric! You have no idea how important this quest is to the guild!" Reha said to me.
"I understand." I replied.
"Accomplishing a quest requested by an Intoner is one of the highest honors one can earn in Midgard!"
"I understand."
"Therefore I beg you! Act normally, please! No cutting off heads or covering yourself in the blood of your enemies!"
"I understand."
"Pay attention to what I am saying! This is a financing and satisfaction contract, if you can get Madam Five to sign this contract, not only will it be understood that Madam Five is satisfied with the work done by one of our adventurers, but we will also be financed directly by her!" Reha said as she handed me the contract.
"I beg you again, please behave yourself, do your best and make sure Mistress Five signs this contract." Reha said with tears in her eyes.
"Fine." I said uncomfortably, I don't agree with that, but I'll do it for the good of the guild.
"Thanks!" Reha said as she hugged me.
Maybe I can get Five to sign the contract, but she has a terrible accident right after.
END OF FLASHBACK
Edric's POV
"Listen here you flying pest, why don't you go bother someone else?!" I heard a familiar voice say ahead.
"As if you were anyone worth my attention, you bald idiot!" I heard Eupherbia say.
I accelerated my pace and as I turned left around a corner I saw Eupherbia arguing with a bald man I knew very well.
"Patches." I said when I saw the man.
"Oh! Hello, my friend, what a coincidence to find you here, no?" Patches said to me with a smile from his crouched position.
"Coincidence? I don't believe it, since you were the one who kicked me out of the Nexus."
"Now! That's in the past, it was just a slip, I swear on my mother's honor." Patches said as he placed a hand on his chest, above his heart.
"Go straight to the point Patches. Why are you here?"
"Well, after you left the Nexus, that place stopped being interesting, so I decided to explore the outside a little, I ended up in this city, I believe it is a good place to set up my shop."
"You mean your stolen goods store?"
"Who do you think I am? Stolen is a very strong word, I prefer to say that they were acquired after their owners passed for the better."
"No use arguing with you, just show me what you have to sell."
"With pleasure my friend." Patches said with a smile.
TIMESKIP
In the end I ended up buying some grass and spices, stuffed them in my bag, but before I could leave Patches caught my eye.
"Hey, did you hear? Tonight there will be a big party at the mansion of a woman called Five; I'm told she's an Intoner, whatever that means. But that doesn't matter at the moment, what matters is that several nobles who have more money than what to do with it will all be in the same place. I think this is a good opportunity to expand my store's material, if you know what I mean."
"Hm! I won't stop you, but don't expect me to come save you if you get caught."
"Don't worry, I know my way around. You're too serious, you should have some fun."
"I will enjoy myself when I finish my affairs in Midgard and after I return to Boletaria."
"HAHAHA! You have no idea where you are, do you? You're further from home than you think, good luck to you. Show up again, maybe I have something you'll be interested in."
I got tired of listening to Patches' bullshit, so I started to walk away and head towards Five's mansion.
"I don't like him." Eupherbia said beside me.
"Neither do I, but he sells useful items, so I tolerate him." I replied.
TIMESKIP
Finally we arrived at the mansion, it was a three-story building, surrounded by a stone wall and with a metal gate in front, on each side of the gate there was a guard.
"Stop! Identify yourself!" one of the guards said as I approached the gate.
"My name is Yurt; I'm here on a mission requested by Mistress Five." I said to the guard as I handed him the quest paper and showed my adventurer plate.
Upon seeing this, the guard gulped and broke into a nervous sweat.
"But of course. You can come in, but what about the fairy?" the guard asked as he opened the gate.
"She is with me." I said as I walked through the gate.
I could see Eupherbia sticking her tongue out at the guard.
As we walked through the courtyard of the mansion, a butler appeared to escort us.
"Follow me, please. Mistress Five awaits you." The butler said as he bowed.
Upon entering the mansion I saw several employees running through the corridors, they carried decorations and food, scrubbed the floor and removed the dust from the furniture, Eupherbia and I received a few looks, but soon they returned to their work.
Eventually we stopped in front of a large double door.
"Miss Five; there is someone here who wishes to see you." The butler said as he knocked on the door.
"Let him in." A female voice answered from the other end.
The butler opened the double doors allowing me to pass and closed the door leaving me alone, looking around, I was in a large room, a large bed was between two large windows, to my left was a table with a mirror, on the table there were several bottles of perfume and makeup.
To my right was a large closet, this closet was open displaying several dresses and other items of clothing and in front of this closet was Five.
"What do we have here? You must be the adventurer who will serve as my bodyguard?" Five asked me as she approached.
"Yes, Miss Five. My name is Yurt." I replied in a serious voice.
"Oh, you don't have to be so serious; we're going to be spending some time together after all." Five said as she walked around me and looked me up and down.
"I believe it would be unprofessional to refer to you otherwise."
"Hm! A professional at his job, I like that, as my bodyguard you are under my service, so I hope you accompany me at all times…"
Five then walked over to me, crossed her arms just below her breasts making them look bigger and pressed them into the breastplate of my armor as she looked up towards my helmet where my eyes were.
"… And I want to say at all times, if you do a good job, I will reward you at the end of my party." Five said with less than pure intentions in her voice.
I shuddered in disgust inside my armor, get away from me harlot.
"I understand." I managed to answer.
"Fine, but how about you show me your face? I would like to know what my dear bodyguard looks like." Five said as she brought her hands closer to my helmet.
I took a step back out of reach; Five looked at me in surprise at my action.
"I don't believe this is a good idea, my appearance is not pleasing to the eye." That wasn't a lie, absorbing so many Demons' souls caused serious changes in my appearance, the Edric who entered Boletaria and the one who left are completely different persons.
"Come on, can't be that bad? I don't judge, after all looks don't matter, but how good you are in pleasing me." Five said with a hint of desire in her voice and tried to remove my helmet again.
Once again steps out of the way "I'm sorry Miss Five, but I have to decline."
Five then gave me a look of fake sadness, pouted and clasped her hands just below her chin and started rocking left and right "Don't be so mean. Couldn't you do this for me? I bet underneath that helmet is the face of a strong, handsome man. Don't you feel uncomfortable wearing armor all the time? Wouldn't you like to change into something more comfortable?"
"I feel comfortable when I am protected from most of physical harm." I answered seriously and quickly.
Five then broke her pose and gave me a disappointed look "You're playing hard to get. I like that, I like a good challenge, and it makes the reward more rewarding. And I always get what I want; I'll see you out of that armor one way or another." Five said as she licked her lips.
Five then looked to the side, specifically at something floating above my shoulder, the fairy Eupherbia.
"And who would you be?" Five asked Eupherbia.
"My name is Eupherbia Miss Whor… Ha!" I didn't let Eupherbia finish, as I flicked the back of her head.
Eupherbia glared at me and I glared back.
"Behave yourself or no sweets for you." I whispered to Eupherbia.
The faerie's eyes widened and she gave a more appropriate response, "My name is Eupherbia Miss Five." Eupherbia said as she bowed.
"How cute. You're adorable, you know? I think I have some doll dresses that will fit you." Five said as she grabbed Eupherbia and carried her towards the closet.
Eupherbia gave me a desperate look, but I ignored it, we'll see if she behaves better after that.
"It must be here somewhere." Five said as she removed dresses from the closet and tossed them in a pile by the closet.
Suddenly the pile of clothes started to move and a boy came out from under them, the boy looked around and noticing me he said.
"What's up?" The boy said as he gave me a wave with one of his hands.
"Greetings." I replied.
"My name is Dito."
"Yurt."
Then we stood silently staring at each other as clothes landed on top of Dito.
"Are you the bodyguard?" Ditto asked.
"It seems so." I said.
Silence returned.
"Could you get me out of here? I'm kind of stuck." Ditto asked.
"No problems." I walked towards Ditto, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and lifted him in the air, removing him from the pile of clothes.
"Oh! Dito! So that's where you were, you know Yurt, my bodyguard for today. I think you better get acquainted with each other, if all goes well the four of us will have some fun after the party." Five said as she paused momentarily in her search.
"Four of us?!" Eupherbia screamed from Five's hand.
Five then brought Eupherbia close to her face and gave a big smile. "Yes, the four of us." Five then returned to her search.
"Can you put me down?" Ditto asked me.
"Oh! Sorry." I said as I put Ditto on the ground.
"Well, Yurt, I think you'd better sit down, because we're going to be here for a while." Ditto said to me as he sat down on the floor.
"Why you say that?"
"Five is looking for a dress; she wastes more time choosing an outfit than ruling her lands."
"You seem to know her pretty well."
"Of course, I am her disciple after all, unfortunately." Dito said with disgust in his voice.
"A disciple? So does that mean you're Five's apprentice?"
"More like a servant. I help control her power and fulfill her desires."
"By desires you mean…"
"Yes. All the time, what I wouldn't give to switch from Intoner." Ditto said with a sigh and a tired look.
"You have my condolences."
"Hm! Thanks."
So time passed. Dito and I stayed talking, I can't say that we became friends, but we managed to reach a level of understanding between us.
TIIMESKIP
It was already night and the party had started, and it was exactly as I imagined, golden chandeliers illuminated a large ballroom with a pleasant light, musicians played music on top of a stage, a large table full of food and drinks was near the large sliding glass doors to balconies overlooking the mansion's gardens.
Currently Five was talking to some guests while she was holding a glass of wine in her hand, I couldn't hear what they were talking about; Five said something and everyone started laughing.
"I can't move in this clown outfit!" Ditto said next to me, he was wearing a noble yellow outfit with frills on the sleeves and neck, white pants that hugged his legs and black shoes, his hair was combed back and there was a little makeup on his face.
"I understand you; I look like a spoiled noblewoman's doll." Eupherbia said as she sat on my shoulder, Eupherbia was wearing a pink dress, her hair was curled, red lipstick was put on her lips, her eyelashes were accentuated and her cheeks were slightly pink due to makeup.
The three of us were in the farthest corner of the party, but with a full view of the entire hall, I know that a bodyguard's job is to stay close to who he's supposed to protect, but according to Five my armor is scaring the guests, perfect, I still plan to do my job, if anyone tries anything a throwing knife to the neck should be enough. I thought as I crossed my arms but secretly twirled a throwing knife through the fingers of my right hand.
When the party is over, and Five and I are left alone, Makoto will get the work done.
"Wine?" One of the butlers stopped in front of me holding up a tray full of wine glasses.
"Yes please, I need to get drunk to make it through this party." Ditto didn't wait, picked up two glasses of wine, one in each hand, and began to drink.
"Hey, Edric, get me one." Eupherbia said into my shoulder.
"Are you sure? That drink might be too much for someone your size."
"HA! Who do you think I am? Of course I can handle a little drink." Eupherbia said while puffing out her chest.
"If you insist." I said as I shrugged and took one of the glasses, thanking the butler, I lifted one of the glasses until it was facing Eupherbia; she leaned forward and drank some of the wine.
Immediately she started coughing and pounding her chest.
"COUGH! COUGH! This one is strong!" Eupherbia said between coughs.
"I warned you."
Suddenly the party was silent, the doors of the mansion opened and two people entered, a man and a woman, Octa and Intoner Three. The guests moved out of the way and looked admiringly at Three; she wore a beautiful golden dress and walked with confidence, while Octa remained serious and with a distant look.
Eventually Three stopped in front of Five, who greeted her with a hug and a big smile.
"Three! I'm so glad you showed up! I did not expect you to respond to my invitation!" Five said as she hugged Three.
"Thanks Five, I'm not normally a party person, but I thought it would be a good idea to spend some time with my dear sister." Three said as she returned the hug.
"You don't know how happy this makes me." Five replied.
As Three hugged Five, I noticed that her gaze came towards me; Three then gave me a big smile. She doesn't know, or does she? No one has ever seen me wearing this armor; I even introduced myself under a different name.
Five then broke the hug, "Three has so many things I'd like to talk to you about. Why don't we talk alone? You can leave Octa with Dito and Yurt over there." Five said as she pointed at us.
"Yurt Hm! I hope you don't mind if I spend some time with the Yurt afterwards." Three said as she looked at me.
"Oh! Let's have some fun after the party is over, you can join if you like."
"I was considering spending some time alone with him; there are so many things I would like to experience with him." Three said as she looked at me.
"Hm! It just makes me more excited, hope you don't mind showing me later."
"But of course, it can be said that it will be an experience that you will feel in your soul."
"Cannot wait."
Three then ordered Octa to come to where we were, without saying a single word Octa stopped beside us and watched the party in silence, Three and Five walked away while talking, but I managed to hear a snippet of their conversation.
"By the way, I love your dress." Five said.
"Thank you, you could say it was fate that brought it to me." Three replied.
Great, but a problem. Why is Three so interested in me?
"HIC!"
I heard a sob beside me, looking over my shoulder I saw that Eupherbia was still drinking from the cup I held in front of her, Eupherbia's cheeks and nose were red and she staggered sitting on my shoulder.
"Eupherbia, are you okay?"
"But of course I'm fine *HIC!* Why wouldn't I be? *HIC!*" Eupherbia asked me as she smiled.
I sighed, "No more wine for you." I said as I took the cup away from Eupherbia, she stretched out her arms trying to hold the cup, which made her fall forward into the cup.
SPLASH!
Bubbles began to form in the cup until Eupherbia emerged with a whoosh of air.
"I am in paradise!" Eupherbia said as she leaned her back against the cup and rested her elbows on its rim, as if she were in a bathtub.
Forget it, I put the glass on a window sill, crossed my arms and went back to watching the party.
"So Octa, how are you with your Intoner?" Ditto asked Octa.
But Octa didn't answer, just kept looking straight ahead.
"Because for me it's hell. Why do I have to be stuck with that bitch?" Ditto continued.
But there was no response from Octa.
"All she thinks about is sex, sex this, sex that, but if only that were the problem it wouldn't be so bad." Said then rested one of his arms on Octa's shoulder.
Octa turned his head to look at Ditto, strangely making the sound of wood, and then looked straight ahead again.
"Five treats me like I'm a toy, always doing what she wants but never what I want, but not only that, I hate this land too, the sound of the waves when I try to sleep, the salt sticking to my skin, hair, it all annoys me." Ditto then drank from his cup.
"Sometimes you've asked me why we can't switch Intoners, yours doesn't seem like much work, and knowing you, well, you and Five were made for each other." Ditto drank again.
"Not to mention, of course, that Five doesn't share my tastes, let's just say I can be a little rough, and the people I like are a little cold and tense…"
But Dito couldn't finish his conversation as the music changed to a waltz, couples started to form and dance in the middle of the hall.
Suddenly, Five and Three came towards us.
"Dito let's go! Come dance with me!" Five said as she grabbed Ditto by the arm and dragged him towards the middle of the room. Dito grimaced as he was dragged away.
Three stopped in front of me.
"Would you like to dance?" Three asked as she held her hand out to me.
"Unfortunately I will have to decline, as Lady Five's bodyguard I must be on the lookout for anything that might threaten her." I replied.
"Are you sure? Because the guests are looking." Three said with a smile.
Looking around I saw that everyone was silent and watched us waiting for my answer, I think that due to how loved the Intoners are, deciding to ask someone to dance must be a big thing, and my armor doesn't help at all, because I could hear the whispers of the Intoners guests.
With a sigh, I accepted, "Okay, I'll do." I said as I held Three's hand.
Immediately Three grabbed my arm and we walked towards the center of the room and started dancing.
(Author's Note: I recommend that during this scene you play the song Dmitri Shostakovich — Waltz No. 2. It's a short scene, but I believe it adds to the immersion.)
"Funny meeting you here Edric." Three said as we danced.
"So you knew?"
"Of course, it's impossible for me to forget those who managed to capture my interest."
"Would you mind telling me why you are so interested in me?"
"Of course not."
I lifted my arm as I grabbed Three's hand and spun her around in front of me.
"We Intoners are the strongest in Midgard, humans and monsters don't stand a chance against us, and that's boring, humans are smart but don't have power, monsters are powerful but don't have intelligence. I wondered if there was any way to combine the two, and I did, but I still didn't find what I was looking for, that is, until you appeared out of nowhere, a person with unknown magical power and strength enough to rival an Intoner."
I stopped spinning Three and she came closer to me pressing her head against the breastplate of my armor.
"May I know what you are looking for?"
"I look for two things, a person who can answer my questions."
"What questions would those be?"
"They vary, for example, I would like to know where your strength comes from, how your bag works, while other questions are more philosophical. Where we came from? Where are we going after death? Why do people live? Why do people die? But every time I ask these kinds of questions, no one can give the answer I'm looking for or they respond with 'What the hell are you talking about?' my disciple doesn't help either, always thinking with his lower head."
"I won't lie, I've also had a lot of questions in the past, but I regret finding the answer to some of them."
"Oh! Could you tell me what you discovered?"
"Hm! Did you know that God and the Devil are the same being?"
Three lifted her head and widened her eyes.
"I honestly didn't expect this, but it explains a lot. No wonder this world is the way it is."
Then we went back to dancing the other couples dancing around us like a sea of colorful clothes.
"Three?"
"Yes."
"What is the second thing you look for?"
Three was silent for a few seconds; I felt her move closer to me.
"What I look for Edric, is how to create the perfect doll."
The moment Three finished saying those words, I felt a tingle run through my body, someone had invaded this world.
I started to look around frantically in search of the invader, several couples passed by us until I saw Five and Dito dancing, a couple passed between me and them, blocking my view, when the couple left I saw a slightly transparent red being appear from the other side of Five and Ditto with a short sword raised in the air, but they haven't noticed him yet.
I quickly pulled Three away from my body, removed a throwing knife from my bag, pulled my arm back and threw it forward, throwing the knife, the knife flew at great speed, passing between Five and Dito's faces and hitting the invader in the center of his forehead causing him to fall backwards.
"AAAHHH!"
(End of the Song)
I heard the guests scream when the invader hit the floor, everyone started to move away; opening space in the hall; Five and Dito moved away from the invader and came towards me.
"Yurt, what is this?" Five asked me.
"An invader. A Black Phantom."
The invader rose, his hand gripping the hilt of the knife stuck in his forehead and yanking it out, throwing it aside.
I felt more tingling in my body, looking around the hall, several red circles appeared on the floor, and in each of these circles an invader appeared.
I equipped my Sharp Uchigatana in my right hand and my Fatal Secret Dagger in my left hand.
"You weren't invited, so remove yourself from my party. Now!" Five screamed as she grabbed her dress and revealed her usual revealing outfit and pulled her spear out of some mysterious place.
"Hm! This party sucked, killing something will improve my mood!" Dito said as he pulled a spear out of nowhere and prepared to fight.
Looking around I saw that Three and Octa had disappeared, but Eupherbia was still in her wineglass.
The invaders raised their weapons and came towards us.
POV Unknown
A few minutes before the invasion.
Report Number 3: Edric is currently undercover at a party at Five's mansion, he has been shown to be determined to eliminate the Intoners, according to his conversations with the Black Dragon, Edric seems to sense the power of the flower within the Intoners and he senses some kind of duty to finish them off, Edric seems to possess some kind of cursed sword that might work to kill the Intoners.
If this is true, serious changes will be made to this branch, as if they haven't already been made, but I can't interfere just record, the golden clothes Three wears remain a mystery, but it has something to do with Octa's strange behavior.
This branch would remain normal if not for Edric's spawn, but I still can't determine where he comes from, perhaps I should investigate where he spawned in Cathedral City.
That report was being written in a book carried by a girl with a big suitcase, in the book there was the drawing of several lines representing different branches, suddenly the girl's book started to shake.
"What is it?!" The girl asked as she looked closer.
In the book several red lines appeared, these lines began to converge towards the line that represented the current branch, the pages of the book began to turn red and several messages appeared.
Black Phantom Killer Enrique invaded this world.
Black Phantom Gerian Eagle Eyes invaded this world.
Black Phantom Alissa the Ruthless invaded this world.
Black Phantom xxBigDick42069xx invaded this world.
Black Phantom…
Black Phantom…
Black Phantom…
Black Phantom…
"Black Phantom? What is that? I need to get in touch with the other Recorders." When the girl got ready to run, she found herself surrounded by transparent red beings.
"Hi! Would you be the Black Phantom?" the girl asked as she adjusted her glasses.
All the spirits did was draw their weapons.
"I see, I would love to stay and talk, but I have to go, I have to report what happened here." The girl then took a large cell phone out of her pocket and pressed a button, but nothing happened.
"What?" The girl screamed as she pressed the button repeatedly.
The invaders approached.
"Well, I can see it's going to be the hard way." The girl said as she opened her bag and took out a sword preparing for the fight.
The black dragon rested at night on a secluded beach in the Land of the Seas, the sound of the waves serving to calm his being, but his sleep was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, opening one of his eyes the dragon saw a series of people that glowed red and approached.
"Go away, before you do something you will regret." The Black Dragon said, but the red beings continued to advance while drawing their weapons.
"Well, then don't say I didn't warn you." The dragon rose and let out a roar that echoed through the night.
"ZERO! ZERO!" A young white dragon screamed in front of a dilapidated hut.
"What the hell?! I'm trying to sleep here!" A girl with white hair, one arm and pink eyes called out as she opened the cabin door.
"We are being attacked by ghosts!" The dragon screamed.
"What the fuck are you talking about?! Ghosts don't exist!" Zero replied.
But when Zero finished her sentence, red circles appeared on the ground and the invaders appeared.
"See Zero! They are ghosts!" The dragon screamed.
"Holy shit!" Zero screamed as she held a sword with her remaining hand, as in front of her house there was a group of ghosts.
Back to the mansion
"Everyone, get out of here!" Five shouted to the guests, needless to say again, all the guests started to flee through the hall doors.
Edric looked around noticing that Three and Octa had disappeared.
Now there were only Five left, Dito, Eupherbia and Edric.
Then the invaders attacked, the invader with a short sword ran towards Edric, Edric raised his Uchigatana blocking the blow, while crossing blades with the invader Edric used his Secret Dagger to stab the invader in the stomach, his leather armor didn't do much to protect you.
The blow made the invader move away giving Edric the opportunity to swing his Uchigatana towards the invader's neck cutting him, despite the cut no blood came out of the wound, even so the invader fell to the ground while holding his neck, and soon the invader disappeared into red particles.
But there was no time to rest as two more invaders appeared, one wearing plate-metal armor, a large wooden shield and a spear and the other wearing shaman clothes, a scimitar on a leather shield. The two walked towards Edric.
Edric blocked a swing from the raider, who held a scimitar, but that left him open to a strike from the raider who held a spear; Edric jumped out of the way of the spear, but ended up being wounded in the right side of the hip.
As Edric fought off some of the invaders, a dart shot through the air towards Five's head, Five tilted his head to the side, allowing the dart to pass close to his head, tearing out a few strands of hair, as he saw the golden strands fall from his hair. Ground Five gave an irritated look to the invader who had fired the dart.
The trespasser wore black clothes similar to that of a nobleman, a light crossbow in one hand and a rapier in the other.
Five rushed towards the invader, his spear pointed towards the heart, quickly the invader started to reload his crossbow, but there was no time to shoot, Five would kill him, or that's what would have happened if an invader wearing heavy metal armor, a large iron shield, and a Zweihander hadn't stepped in front of Five and used his shield to block the blow.
Five's spear hit the shield with a metallic echo, the invader raised his Zweihander and brought it down towards Five, trying to cut it in two, Five jumped back letting the invader's sword hit the ground destroying him, the invader gave a step to the side giving the invader a clear view with the crossbow to fire at an unprotected Five, the javelin approached Five, but was blocked by Dito's spear who jumped in front of Five to protect her, begrudgingly.
Seeing what had happened, Five blew a kiss to Dito, who received the kiss with a disgusted face, which Five didn't notice.
"This fight is making something pump through my body, and it's not my blood." Five said as she rubbed her thighs together.
"Is that all you think about?" Ditto asked.
"You know me so well Dito." Five said not noticing the sarcasm in Dito's voice.
The invader with the Zweihander swung his sword from right to left trying to cut Five and Dito in half, Dito ducked causing the blow to pass over his head, Five jumped high, allowing the blow to pass under her, while fall Five pointed his spear towards the invader's head, the invader raised his shield blocking the blow, but was exposed to Dito's blow that pierced him in the stomach.
"So what do you think of it?" Dito asked the invader, the invader's response was to grab Dito's spear and with a great show of strength, pull the spear out of his stomach and throw Dito away, when Dito got up he saw that the invader was still standing and with a hole in the stomach, but blood did not come out of the hole.
"No blood? Hey, I don't like this!" Ditto said as he prepared to fight again but was pierced in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt, the invader with the crossbow was still alive, and Ditto grabbed the bolt removing it from his shoulder.
"Dito!" Five screamed as she saw his disciple get hit, giving the invaders an angry look Five exchanged blows with the Zweihander invader, slowly Five managed to inflict minor injuries on the invader as he was slow due to his heavy equipment.
Taking advantage of the fact that the invader with the Zweihander was busy with Five, Dito ran towards the invader with the crossbow, the invader with the Zweihander tried to get in the way, but Five didn't allow it, the invader had to block a spear blow that came towards his head, if the invader was distracted he would be sent back to his world.
The invader with the crossbow threw a dart towards Dito, Dito jumped to the right dodging the dart, seeing that he didn't have time to reload the invader, he drew his rapier and propelled it forward, Dito turned his spear to the side blocking the blow.
Dito kicked the invader away and tried to pierce him with his spear, the invader rolled to the left and when he finished his dodge he tried to pierce Dito in the heart, Dito jumped back dodging the blow and when he landed on the ground, he propelled himself forward with the spear aiming at the invader's head, the invader waited for Dito to approach and parried the blow with his rapier, Dito ended up losing his balance and having his guard open.
The invader taking the opportunity reloaded his crossbow and aimed at Dito's head, Dito's eyes widened when he saw this, immediately Dito threw himself on the ground, causing the dart to pass over his head, while Dito was on the ground he tripped the invader's legs, knocking him to the ground.
Without giving the invader time to recover, Ditto plunged his spear into the invader's heart repeatedly while smiling sadistically, the invader tried to fight back, but it was in vain, finally the invader disappeared into red particles.
Ditto then turned to see Five fight.
Five and the Zweihander invader were still exchanging blows, both breathing heavily from exhaustion, Five for not being able to get past the attacker's defense, and the attacker for using heavy equipment and having to block Five's barrage of blows.
"It was fun while it lasted, but you guys ruined my party, so it's time for you to go." Five said while singing and activating Intoner mode.
With a burst of speed Five dashed towards the invader, the invader seeing this, raised his shield to block the blow, but to his surprise his shield was shattered by a blow from Five, the force of the blow making the invader's feet as they slid across the floor, Five charged towards the Invader again.
The invader raised his Zweihander with both hands and brought it down towards Five's head, when the Zweihander hit its target a large cloud of dust was raised, when the dust dissipated the Zweihander was broken in two and Five's spear pierced the invader's heart.
"Our time together was short, if you hadn't caused trouble I might have let you join me in bed, unfortunately I don't like troublesome men." Five said as the invader disappeared.
Now only the invader Edric was fighting remained.
Edric's fight ended up taking him towards the windows, specifically the window where Eupherbia was, Edric ended up being thrown against the window frame, looking outside out of the corner of his eyes Edric could see the city streets, red lights ran through the streets, fighting the knights of the Land of the Seas, this attack was not just in the mansion.
Looking ahead Edric noticed the invader with the scimitar advancing and trying to cut his head with a blow, Edric quickly ducked dodging the blow.
"Hey Edric, who are these guys?" a drunken Eupherbia asked as she swam in her wineglass.
"They are invaders, Black Phantoms from other worlds." Edric responded as he got up and tried to slash the invader with his Uchigatana, but the invader blocked it with his shield.
"Oh! I have no idea what you just said. What happened, is the party over already?" Eupherbia asked again.
"You could say that yes, the invaders interrupted the party." Edric said.
The invader with the scimitar shifted his focus to Eupherbia, he raised his scimitar and tried to slash Eupherbia, and quickly Edric grabbed the cup with his left hand and leapt away from the invader.
"Hm! Too bad, I was starting to like the party, maybe we should send them away?" Eupherbia said still drunk.
"That's what I'm trying to do. How about you help me?"
"You can leave it to me!"
Edric was facing the two invaders, the one with the scimitar in his right and the one with the spear in his left, Edric held his Uchigatana in his right hand and the cup of wine with Eupherbia inside in his left hand.
"Hey you! Go away!" Eupherbia screamed as she shot a projectile of magic towards the shielded invader, the invader raised his shield blocking the projectile.
"Keep him distracted Eupherbia." Edric said as he struggled with the scimitar invader.
And that's what Eupherbia did, firing projectile after projectile, keeping the spear invader at bay, giving Edric the opportunity to fight, blow after blow the invader was forced back, his leather shield doing little to stop the Uchigatana.
In one of the openings between the projectiles of magic, the spear invader advanced towards Edric, Edric seeing this threw the cup with Eupherbia in the air.
"AAAHHH!" Eupherbia screamed as she was going up.
With his left hand free, Edric grabbed his Secret Dagger and parried the attacker's shield strike, with the opening accomplished Edric pierced the invader in the chest with his Uchigatana, the invader was then sent back to his world.
Gravity finally took effect on Eupherbia.
"AAAHHH!" Eupherbia screamed as she fell.
Edric sheathed his dagger and extended his hand, first the goblet landed between his fingers, then the wine and finally Eupherbia, now only the scimitar invader remained, Edric continued to slash the invader repeatedly until his leather shield could no longer withstand being broken in two.
Edric and the invader prepared for their final blows, the invader swung his scimitar towards Edric's neck, and Edric already raised his Uchigatana and descended towards the invader. It was impossible to know who would win, until a drunken Eupherbia decided to interfere.
"*HIC!*" With a sob, Eupherbia accidentally fired a projectile of magic towards the invader's face, blinding him long enough for Edric to finish his attack, slicing the invader from neck to groin.
The last invader in the mansion had disappeared.
Edric's POV
I headed towards Dito and Five, it looks like they are done with their fights.
"Yurt, dear, could you tell me what these things were?" Five asked as she approached me.
"Invaders, Black Phantoms, call it what you will, some of them are people, some are vengeful spirits, and they invade other worlds to kill people and absorb their souls and grow stronger."
"Hm! Spirits? That explains the lack of blood. And other worlds? What do you mean by that?" Ditto asked.
"I could explain, but we would be here all night."
Suddenly the sound of footsteps began to echo through the corridors of the mansion, we prepared to fight against more invaders.
"Miss Five!" A group of knights screamed as they broke down the hall doors.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. What is the situation out there?" Five asked.
"The red beings suddenly appeared everywhere, we were caught by surprise and lost many men, but we managed to resolve the situation." One of the knights answered.
"Good job, remind me to reward you later." Five said as she smiled at the knights.
I saw the riders shudder slightly, whether it was anticipation or disgust I couldn't tell.
Realizing that Ditto had been injured during the fight, I approached him and handed him a piece of grass.
"What is it?" Ditto asked as he held the grass in his hand.
"Healing grass, just eat it to heal your wounds."
Ditto shrugged and ate the grass, immediately his wounds healed.
"Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll see how things are out there, I hope to find a lot of corpses… And I'll help bury them… Of course." Ditto then left through the hall doors.
Then Five started to approach me.
"In the end you really did your job as a bodyguard, I can't imagine what would happen if I didn't have a strong and brave man like you by my side. I hope you don't mind if I request your services again. But at the moment is there any way to reward you?" Five said as she pressed herself into my chest and looked at me with lust in her eyes.
"Sign these papers, please." I said as I handed Five the papers Reha had given me.
"What?" Five asked with surprise in her eyes.
"Sign your initials here, here, and your name here and here." I said to Five as I showed her where to sign.
"What?" Five asked again.
"Here is the pen." I said as I took a quill and a pot of ink out of my bag for Five.
"What?!" Five screamed.
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
I left the mansion and headed towards the city with a sleeping Eupherbia in my hands, at the moment she was hugging my thumb.
"Quite a party, isn't it?"
Looking to the side down an alley, I saw Patches.
"You can say so."
"Well, at least it was a profitable night, for me of course." Patches said with a smile.
Looking closer, I could see that beside Patches there were several bags and wooden boxes; inside them I could see jewelry, rings, necklaces, earrings, expensive dresses and perfumes.
"Where did you get these things?"
"AAAAAHHHH! I WAS STOLEN!" Five's screams came from the mansion and echoed through the night.
"Forget it, I already figured it out."
"Well, my friend, I wish you a good night, it's getting late and I'd like to get my beauty sleep to welcome my clients with a smile tomorrow, until we meet again." Patches then started walking further down the alley.
But before he disappeared I heard him say something "A word of advice, you better be careful, today's invasion was not normal at all obviously. Many invaders in the same place, they were called here by someone." So Patches disappeared into the back alleys with his stolen wares.
Hm! Were they called? This only complicates my objective further, I need to investigate.
I returned to the beach and found the black dragon.
"Hello human, I encountered peculiar creatures tonight. Do you know what these things are?" The Black Dragon asked me.
"Yes, I'll explain to you on the way."
The dragon nodded in confirmation, grabbed me with one of its paws and we flew away from the Land of Seas.
"Today's experiment was extremely productive, the nature of these beings known as invaders interests me, spirits of the dead seeking revenge, perhaps this will reveal more about the power of souls." Three said as she walked through a clearing away from Five's mansion with Octa at her side.
Suddenly, Three stopped.
"Yes?" Three asked as if someone had spoken to her, but there was no one there.
"I understand." Three said again.
It might have been the wind, but it looked like the gold dress Three was wearing was moving.
"Octa! I propose we return to the Land of Forests, we have much to do." Three said.
Without saying a single word, Octa accompanied Three.
END OF CHAPTER
It took me a really long time to write this chapter, I would have finished it sooner, but I had a very busy two weeks, I was often too tired to write, but I finally did it.
Thanks for reading this far, leave your comments and opinions about the chapter, suggestions are welcome.
Until the next chapter.