Nox Sacred Order
Blood was dripping from the hand of the leader which was sticking out from the back of Mr. Henry. Zane opened his mouth. 'What?? How the fuck did he do that? His punched through Mr. Henry's body' He was shocked by the strength of the leader. He held his breath and kept watching.
"W-Why..." Mr. Henry uttered with blood flowing from his mouth.
The leader spoke in a coarse voice, "Fool. You really think we are from that disgusting Nox's church. Everyone in this town is going to die anyway... Consider this a mercy as you brought us here." He took out his arm from his stomach.
"Are all the preparations complete?"
A member came forward, handing him a cloth and bowed, "We've already set the ritual circle and altar near the forest towards the north of the town. And these Mayhem Bells were brought just today. We will prepare them right away!" He took out a bell from his robe to show to the leader. Observing carefully, Zane noticed that there was a mouth on the bell. After he saw that, he got goosebumps all over his arms and his body shuddered.
"Good.." The leader wiped his arm with the cloth. "I'll be heading towards the ritual site. Prepare the bells right away!"
"As you say!"
After hearing that, Zane stealthily backed away from the house and ran towards his house. He slammed the door open. "Val!"
Valentina came running at the sound. "What happened? Why are you shouting?"
"Come with me" Zane grabbed Valentina's hands and quickly ran towards Mr. Rodger's house.
"W-wait! What're you doing?" Valentina cried out, but she was dragged helplessly.
*Knock Knock Knock Knock*
*Knock Knock Knock Knock*
"I'm coming I'm coming! Jeez who is it at this late hour" Mrs. Callie opened the door. "Zane and Val? What are you doing here at this time?"
"Mrs. Callie, I need to talk to Mr. Rodger right now!"
"Who is it dear?" Mr. Rodger appeared behind Mrs. Callie. "Oh Zane. What's going on?"
"I'll explain inside." Zane and Valentina headed inside the house. Hearing the commotion, Cadell also came downstairs. "Valentina?" He looked at Valentina and then Zane.
----
Mr. Rodger stroked his beard, "Hmm.. so you're saying that they are not from the church and are planning on killing everyone in the town tonight?"
"Yes, they were talking about some rituals and some type of Mayhem bells."
"Haah..." Mr. Rodger sighed. "They must be cultists following some evil god. We need to deal with this carefully. They were likely referring to a sacrificial ritual of some sort. We need to stop them and inform the Nox Sacred Order in the city."
Zane thought for a moment, "Then I'll go stop them, Valentina can go to the city."
Valentina looked at Zane in dismay. "What!? No! I'm going to stay here with you.", she protested.
"No you are going to the city. You're fast on your feet. We need someone dependable." Zane tried to convince Valentina.
"Yes, and Cadell can accompany you too." Mr. Rodger chimed in. Zane and Mr. Rodger looked at each other and nodded. 'I guess we had the same idea.' Zane thought. Mr. Rodger looked at Cadell and Valentina, "You two must depart right away! Go to Nightwatch City and inform the Nox Sacred Order about this. Honey, prepare some items for them for their journey."
After some time, Valentina and Cadell were standing outside the door, looking at Zane and Mr. Rodger.
Valentina stared at Zane, "Brother, be careful! I'll bring the Knights quickly. Don't do anything stupid."
Zane gently put his hand on Valentina's head and patted it. "Haha don't worry about me Val! You know your brother don't you? I'll capture all the cultists so that the Knights you bring can take them away!"
Valentina made a sad face like she was about to cry. "Cadell! Let's go!" She suddenly turned and stormed off.
Cadell looked at his father and then Zane who was looking at Valentina. He nodded his head and followed Valentina.
"Zane..." Mr. Rodger called out. "Let's go inside. We have something to discuss."
Saying that, Mr. Rodger headed inside the living room. Zane followed him and sat down.
"Zane, according to what you saw, this leader person must be really strong." Zane nodded. "Hmm, They must be one of those supernatural humans we heard about in stories. This is going to be dangerous."
"What should we do?" Zane asked.
"We should stall them and evacuate the town."
Zane contemplated for a moment. Then he looked at Mr. Rodger, "Okay. Then I'll go stall them for as long as I can. You guys go and evacuate the town."
"Are you really okay with going alone?"
"Yes, it will be easier this way." With that, Zane headed outside, towards the Beast-Scourge Forest.
---
"Wait up!"
"Val wait up!!" Cadell was out of breath, but he still ran towards Valentina with all his might.
Val slowed down and looked back at Cadell. "Why are you so slow? Hurry up!"
"We've been running for over six hours without stopping Val. Let's take a break."
"No! We can't take a break! We need to get to the city and inform the Knights!"
"Val... You know that we'll never reach the city in time. They just sent us so that we could be away from the town."
Valentina gave Cadell a death-stare, "No! They sent me because I can run really fast! We must bring knights back. We must! They'll be safe till then, they'll probably evacuate."
"Yes, they'll probably evacuate the town and stay somewhere safe until we return. But didn't you hear what Zane said? The leader of that group killed Mr. Henry with a punch! How could a normal human ever do that? Maybe they thought that it was really dangerous for us to be there and so they sent us away."
Valentina clenched her teeth at Cadell's words, "Whatever! We must get going" Just as she turned and was going to run ahead, she bumped into something and fell down.
Looking up at what she bumped into, she could see a sturdy middle-aged man. He was wearing a dark violet long coat with a symbol depicting a crescent moon and stars. Behind him, there was a 16 year old girl. She gave off a mature presence despite her age and combined with her beauty, she looked like she was an angel. She was also wearing the same coat as the man.
"Nox Order Knights!!" Valentina exclaimed.