14th of the Black Star

10 AM (12 hours before the banquet)

“More of you?”

The Devil Doctor looked most displeased as three more Hashashin appeared. Now, four of those black-clothed were in his laboratory, half of their faces hidden by a black clothes and their bodies exuding a chilling and thick aura of blood. What was worse, there were even more out in the ruins.

“Our Master sent us to retrieve the vial. He believes it is ready.”

“So what if it is?”

Sephron didn’t even try to deny it. In fact, he created it not long after his cooperation with the Sultan had begun.

“The terms of the agreement were that you were provided a laboratory and research materials in exchange for the vial.”

The Hashashin who spoke was taller than the rest. He was their leader and the Sultan’s strongest servant.

He sounded calm and non-threatening, but he reeked of a pungent smell of Blood.

‘Blood Magic mutation? An insidious kind, no less.’ Thought Gaffron, who sat on the bed and kept to himself.

“Surely there was no need to send this many of you just to retrieve it.”

Sephron was getting suspicious as an invisible energy gathered in his hands.

“Master takes this matter very seriously.”

“...”

“The vial, please.”

The Hashashin approached the Devil Doctor, stopping a couple of paces away and resting his hand on his sheathed sword.

“My Master has provided you with everything you needed.”

“Do you think I don’t know what he plans to do with it?”

“Why does it matter to you, Doctor?”

“...”

The Devil Doctor lowered his hands and grunted.

“It will be ready this evening. Wait outside and don’t interrupt me!”

The Hashashin bowed his head ever-so-slightly then left the laboratory along with the others.

“It frightens me to even imagine what’s inside this much-desired ‘vial’.” Remarked Gaffron as he drank the concoction brewed by Sephron.

In response, the Devil Doctor sat down and took out a transparent vial half the size of his bony and wrinkly hand.

“Nothing?” Asked Gaffron as he scanned the vial, which seemed to be empty.

“A poisonous gas. Colorless and extremely deadly.”

Gaffron squinted his eyes and concentrated on the vial, finally seeing a hint of black mana that swirled around.

“This could wipe out a town- nay… a city, in but a night.”

“Why would you create such a terrible thing?”

Reasonably, Gaffron sounded very frightened and even a bit angry.

“The Sultan provided me with the recipe and the ingredients. I didn’t think it would be this potent. I don’t know if the creation of the gas was entirely successful, but what I know is that it is potent and dreadfully strong. It can be used to commit mass-murder without lifting a finger. Fortunately, it can only be used once.”

“Hmm… those Hashashin seem pretty adamant in getting it. They’ll even try to kill you for it. And… as I still need you to treat me, I really wouldn’t want you to die, Sir Sephron. As much as it pains me, I say give it to them.”

“Then the blood of hundreds, if not thousands will be on my hands.”

“That’s not a certainty. The Sultan might use it as leverage. He’s not in a position to unleash something like that and escape unscathed.”

“...”

The Devil Doctor thoughtfully nodded his head, but he didn’t look that convinced. Nevertheless, he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

He had the power to either fight back or flee, but he would be leaving behind this laboratory and all the accumulated research in it. Not even his storage artifact would fit everything.

Years of meticulous and hard research would be lost, and the fact that the Sultan would send even more Hashashin to chase after him.

‘Maybe I should contact the Circle? No… they’ll want a piece of my research. I can’t allow that.’

Sephorn turned his head and stared at the dwarf’s corpse lying on the bed not far away.

‘The timing couldn’t have been worse. Tonight is the full moon and the Sultan doesn’t know about the gargoyle… I will send it after those Hashashin. It might be able to hinder them or possibly steal the vial. The best result would be if it is destroyed in the desert, amidst the chaos.’

Arthur, still in his minuscule parasite body, had managed to crawl to the dwarf’s body that Gaffron had brought.

The only issue was: crawling through the floor took a lot more time than originally anticipated. Not only were most corpses lying around unpossessable, but Arthur had to also remain out of sight.

He might be small, but someone with keen eyes could notice him. He didn’t take any chances and only moved when the Devil Doctor was busy and looking away.

‘I got the gist of the situation. However, the Hashashin might kill him once they have the vial. Probably, the only reason they haven’t acted is because they’re not sure if he completed it or needed a little more time to do so. They aren’t taking any chances, I guess.’

Arthur had already reached his target and could possess the body at any moment but he chose to wait a bit more.

He needed the Devil Doctor alive, but if he were to possess the dwarf now, he could be discovered and that would undoubtedly lead to a fight. Put simply, the timing wasn’t perfect yet.

‘If they attack him, I’ll act immediately. Tonight is the full moon, but I’ll still be able to snatch him and leave before he summons the gargoyle.’

…

7:30 PM

Night has fallen and the silver moon started to reveal itself from behind a cluster of clouds.

“We have waited enough, Doctor.”

Sephron gritted his teeth and reluctantly took out the vial.

The air was tense as Arthur prepared himself to possess the corpse. Gaffron Gaol was standing with a staff in his hands, mumbling something under his breath.

The Hashashin stood behind their leader, hands on their weapons as they focused on the Devil Doctor. They seemed to be expecting him to do something too.

“May your Master never us-”

The Devil Doctor was interrupted as a deep rumbling reverberated across the laboratory.

The entire place started to violently shake, making the Hashashin unsheathe their swords.

“What?!”

The Devil Doctor looked at the ground, totally stupefied.

“The ruins below? How?!”

He was astounded as the shaking grew more intense and the furniture and lab equipment wobbled left and right, some falling down and rolling over.

Fifteen minutes earlier

The ‘ruins’

“Okay! Here’s how we’re going to do it. Assuming we’re correct, Evelyn will go first, followed by Charles, Isabella, then me.

We have a limited period of time to act, so we cannot wait until the first of us reaches the other side.”

The four of them were gathered together as Christopher pointed at the first pillar to jump towards.

“Evelyn, you will be leading so don’t mess up the sequence. The color and shape must be as we have discussed. Denim Square, Nyanza circle, Almond triangle, and Sienna circle. After that, you wait until the light from the walls fades before starting the second sequence.”

“I got it.”

“Charles, you are second, so you have to be extra careful too. The Triangle pillar takes 5 seconds to return, so don’t rush it. Wait for it and then jump. We follow the order on the plaque and that should teleport us.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“There’s no other solution, Bella. We can’t jump our way through to the other side. We need only jump on eight specific pillars. Four during the ‘day’ of this room, and four during the ‘night’. Alright! Are you all ready?! Let’s fucking do this!”

Chris put his fist forward as encouragement, but only Charles hesitantly imitated him. Isabella shrugged and Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“Your watch better be correct, Charles.”-Chris

“I-It is!”

The four stood in a line before Evelyn jumped first. She was the most agile of them, reaching the fourth pillar within 10 seconds.

Charles, was much slower and his jumps were clumsy. Fortunately, he was able to follow the lead without falling into the hole, although he came close on the second pillar, which started spinning and making him dizzy.

When the lights coming from the white walls started flickering, Evelyn jumped to the fifth pillar, Sienna Pentagon.

Charles jumped on the fourth and then fifth, he could see the maid reach the 8th pillar and then get teleported to the other side.

Up until the end, he was met with no troubles.

“Bella!”

Isabella landed on the 4th pillar and then froze. She didn’t seem afraid, just sort of dazed. Her eyes were hollow and her body completely motionless.

“Bella! Move!”

The flickering lights on the wall were about to die down, meaning that ‘night’ was about to fall. Only during the shift from ‘day’ to ‘night’ was this riddle solvable, so every little second counted.

The fourth pillar, circle-shaped, was spinning more rapidly.

Christopher was tempted to jump toward her and try to grab her body, but that would teleport them both to the beginning.

Only one person could stand on a pillar, adding more would result in a reset, which would make them lose time and wait for a lot more hours to repeat the sequence.

Just when Isabella was about to fall, she suddenly snapped out of it and jumped toward the 5th pillar with surprising swiftness.

She reached the end within a couple of seconds, which shouldn’t have been possible. Chris and Evelyn immediately knew that someone else had taken control of her body. Arthur or the Demon known as Lucy.

“Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!”

When Chris appeared on the other side, he sat on the ground and took deep breaths.

“...”

‘Isabella’ crossed her and snorted, proceeding to ignore their stares and focusing more on this room.

“We’re even now.” She whispered.

“Hi. I’m back.”

“That wasn’t Arthur, right?”

Understanding his question, Isabella didn’t try to hide it. She nodded.

“It was the other one. I helped her too, by the way.”

“At least we all made it in one piece. Phew! I can’t even feel the joy of solving the riddle. That was stressful!”

Christopher got to his feet and began ascending the wide stairs.

“Wait! There could be traps!”

“And? Either way, we have to leave this place and find Arthur.”

He shrugged his shoulders and approached the massive golden gate.

The other three were right behind him, looking apprehensive and wary.

“Open sesame!”

“Open!”

“I passed your test! Let me in!”

Christopher was shouting atop his lungs, trying all kinds of strange stuff which only made him look stupid and ridiculous.

Only when the lights from the walls completely faded and ‘night’ had fallen did a change occur.

Four participants have succeeded.

A booming and disembodied voice echoed within the room before the golden gate rumbled and started to slowly open.

“Oh… oh ohoh! I see treasures! What’s that statue?”

Christopher was too impatient to wait for the gate to fully open, but when he tried to step inside, he bumped into an invisible wall.

“Isabella? Are you alright?”

Charles noticed that the girl was leaning forward and clutching her chest, seemingly having difficulty breathing.

Not even a second later, the walls, floor, and ceiling ominously glowed with a pulsating red light. The golden gate suddenly slammed shut as the disembodied voice spoke again

Outer God presence detected.

Initiating Annihilation Sequence

All personnel are required to evacuate within 10 minutes

“I.. I can’t breathe… I…”

Charles caught Isabella’s falling body and touched her forehead only to find it scorching hot. There was a barely noticeable dark-violent shimmer emitting from her stomach.

“This isn’t good. We're trapped here!"

“No we are not. Don't panic. You’re going to teleport us out of here. Now!”

Evelyn grabbed Chris and pulled him closer.

“Guys, something inside of her is reacting to this place!”-Charles

The young Apothecary, still holding Isabella, raised his head and looked at the bottom of the stairs. There, strange-looking constructs were surging from the ground. They were very slow, but they were very big and their arms were equipped with what looked like advanced and ranged weaponry.

…

Laboratory

Things grew more chaotic as a twisting long shadow rose from behind Sephron. The Hashashin immediately leapt at him only to be blasted by an invisible force.

Unfortunately, Sephron wasn’t able to react to what was behind him. His surprise grew more as the Gargoyle appeared on its own, which shouldn’t be possible.

Its long arm was thrust forward, piercing through his back and coming from the front.

“I got you.” Spoke the monstrosity with a hideous grin.

The Devil Doctor didn’t fall so easily, even with the gaping wound in his chest: The Gargoyle was pulled backwards and smashed against the wall.

“Sir Sephron!”

Gaffron finished a quick incantation and extended his free hand. The vial, which had dropped from the doctor’s hand flew toward the elderly mage before the leader of the Hashashin could snatch it.

As the situation kept escalating, a thick green mist exploded forth from thin air and instantly shrouded the entire laboratory.