The Phantom Riser

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - THE SURFACE

“Enough with all the emotional stuffs, you don’t have that much time on your hands.” – The Ranger shuffles awkwardly – “Here’s your map. I don’t know what you need it for, but you better get on with it.”

“How do we deal with the goblins outside. Or will you handle them?” Kiro asked.

“Oh, those? They are mine. I just wanted to scare you a bit,” he teased. Kiro and his team weren’t very pleased. Karenia rolled her eyes so much that you’d think they would fall off. Were they nothing but amusement to him?

“Please get them out of the way. They are blocking the exit.”

“Oh. About that. I can’t at the moment. I need my powers to do that. But don’t worry, I told them to go easy on you. Although I’m not sure my commands still affect them. They are probably just looking for flesh now.”

“Of course, it won't hold. Curses and compulsions don’t last in neutral zones, even if it is a beta type.” The Ranger’s eyes narrowed. Kiro was saying things he shouldn’t know. But that shouldn’t surprise him at that point. He should expect Kiro to know just as much as he does. Maybe even more.

“How did you know it’s a beta type?”

“It’s a makeshift. Especially since there’s a sage temple here.”

“A what? Here?” the ranger seemed utterly surprised. Hadn’t he known about it? Although it would be unlikely that his intention was to lead them there, but how wouldn’t he have known?

“Yeah, a sage temple. Just at the end of the path opposite here. Didn't you know about it?” Kiro asked.

"Well, that wasn't the temple I spoke of."

“It even had all those statues. The ones with the Eight and all,” Karenia added.

“That’s why it’s a sage temple. They usually host one or two statues there.”

“Oh, this one had Eight,” Karenia blurted out.

“Eight!” the ranger yelled. He stared at them longer than they were comfortable. “How are you still alive?”

“It wasn’t that creepy. Except for the---” – Karenia was promptly interrupted by Victor’s gaze. Kiro made sure to keep the Ranger fixed on him so he wouldn’t notice. It was risky to tell him what happened. There was no telling what it meant or what they would do in response. Karenia understood all that from a single look. – “---marks all over the place,” she finished.

The Ranger was disappointed. He thought he would learn something of use from them. Sage marks in a sage temple were perfectly normal. In fact, it was the status quo. “I’ll distract the goblins towards this sage temple. You guys make a run for the exit. I need to check out what you said you saw,” he said.

They did as planned. The Ranger was the bait and the goblins took it. When they had moved far enough, Kiro led the way to the exit.

The Ranger ran in the same direction as they described, but couldn’t find anything. He kept on navigating the entire area and even wider than he was told but he found nothing. Not even a trace. Disappointed, he pulled out his sword and slew all the goblins that had been bugging him all the way through. The same goblins he had commanded to taunt Kiro and his team. Had they tricked him? Or had the impossible happened? Did the sage temple disappear? Well. its existence on its own was impossible as it was.

***

It didn’t take long for them to reach the surface. Luckily, they did need to go through the swamp again. Kiro opened the map. He cringed from the awkward feeling of dried marsh on his body. He needed a bath urgently. “We can go after Azulon first. All we need to do is pull out his heart. He is a boss tier creature, so be careful.”

In a few minutes of walking, they stumbled upon a few teams. News about them had spread faster than they knew. Not a single team dared to raise a finger against them despite having numbers on their side. They were well aware that the result of any sort of battle was evident. It would result in their loss

They arrived in a lair. The mesh was generally green. It had so much life and vegetation, but this place was anything but green. It was dark, like a volcano supplied the air that was breathed. The aura around the place was enough to force anyone back, but they pressed on. Karenia and Victor kept gaping at Kiro occasionally, just in case he needed to signal a retreat. But he never did. He just kept on walking forward, not minding the creatures that stalked them. For some reason, they didn’t attack. Was the Ranger behind it too? He did say he would not interfere unless it involved the other Ranger. What if he was teasing or maybe he changed his mind?

As they finally got to the centre, they were ambushed my numerous types of creatures. They had baited them. Immediately, Kiro and Victor went to work. It wasn’t too difficult with Kiro’s shield on, but it also meant that Karenia would not be able to fight. She was purely a close combat Riser. A few tougher ones came along and Karenia was allowed to join the party. She relished in her newly gained freedom and tore through the creatures recklessly. For someone who wanted to befriend these creatures, she sure was taking delight in killing them. Perhaps the mesh had straightened her up. Deep down in what would seem to be the throne room, Azulon sat atop his throne. He wasn’t bothered. It was almost like he was bored. It had been a while since he had a good fight. Everyone else either ran away or got killed by his minions. But these ones before him, seemed to be very delicious targets.

Azulon charged at them. Kiro and Victor played support for Karenia as she battled him up close. It was a tough battle and Victor finally got a clear shot. He fired the strongest fire skill he had in his arsenal; the fire skull. But just as it was about to make contact with Azulon, Karenia jumped in the way. She would have taken the hit if Kiro hadn’t shielded her. “We can’t hurt him. The heart we need is not this way,” Karenia said.