Interrogation (2)
"...But why kill Smart Nash?"
Trying to get past the sudden reveal, Petra changed the topic, steadying her breathing. Sebastian leaned back and smiled at her.
"That's the thing." He crossed his legs. "We didn't."
"What?" If he was telling the truth, then that meant there was foul play. A third party was interfering. "I don't understand."
"Smart Nash was an associate of ours for a very long time. How else do you think we quickly pinpointed multiple of your outposts?"
Petra gulped. She needed to relay as much information as she could.
"You've only attacked small bases so far. Unimportant ones. Looks like Nash wasn't giving you the good locations."
"Well, we were about to receive that information, but then he died. That is why we are both here, after all."
Right then, Petra realized something.
"...But why would the leader personally come here? Even us Children of Namek only sent Acolytes like myself. Unless Nash has something you find very important…"
She saw Sebastian chuckle.
"Oh, don't misunderstand dear, this is merely a clone of mine. I simply wanted to see things for myself."
Petra froze. Spells that created clones of the caster were known to only have the clone have up to a portion of their strength. If Sebastian Syne's clone was already a Grandmaster level Mage, how much stronger is the real deal!?
"Anyway, that's enough about me. This is an interrogation, after all."
Sebastian snapped his fingers, and Petra's vision was replaced by darkness, her hearing disappearing as well.
"Due to the unfortunate loss of Smart Nash, while we look for his archives, YOU are going to tell us everything you know about the Children of Namek. Oh, and don't fret, we have plenty of time…"
Sebastian's voice echoed in her head before he gave a sinister laugh that slowly faded out.
"Pfft…" Laying on the ground, a boy tried to hold his laughter as Sebastian Syne turned into a puff of black smoke and disappeared. "Hahahahaha!"
Zane coughed as he laughed, clutching his stomach as he stood up. He gazed at Petra's trembling figure. Right now, she was unable to see or hear anything, courtesy of yours truly.
"When we get back, I'm going to introduce everyone to my long-lost 'brother'," Zane did air quotes with his fingers. "To the Blood of Syne! Their real leader!"
Benjamin smiled at Zane's antics, while Barry was laughing softly with him. Sebastian Syne's debut was simply one of Zane's dark magic spells, called Shadow Clone.
With it, he could create a clone of himself with any features he wanted, limited to being slightly weaker than him, and he could either control it directly or give it orders and leave it to accomplish them.
Calming down, Zane quickly pulled out a few papers covered in writing. He had created it while Petra was distracted by "Sebastian Syne".
"I need you two to find Smart Nash's archives, or wherever he keeps all his information." Zane's face turned serious as he handed the papers to Benjamin. "He probably has a section for us, though I doubt it has anything inside it. Put these in there."
"As you wish, my lord." With a smile, Benjamin and Barry bowed to Zane before they left, sinking into the shadows.
"Time to get to business." Dusting his hands off, Zane turned to Petra. His spellbook floated beside him as he raised a palm, a small blade of shadows appearing out of nowhere.
He quickly gripped it and slammed it into Petra's leg, sending a message to her head.
While the woman was waiting for something to happen while she was blind and deaf, an angry voice echoed around her as she felt a terrible pain in her leg.
"How many of you are there?!"
Petra screamed as the dark energy ate away at her leg, not answering the question. Zane pulled out the blade of shadow and sighed.
"I did say we have a lot of time… Just gotta make sure she doesn't die."
******
As Lanius and Lisa continued to evade the Blood of Syne, Vincent was flying through the forest, breaking through branches as he was getting further and further away from the town.
The moment he landed on the ground, he was hit by another attack and sent flying once more. He emerged from the forest onto the top of a barren quarry. He planted his feet on the ground, sliding a bit further before stopping. He quickly created a sword of light and stuck it in the ground.
A shadow appeared next to him, striking him, sending him to the bottom of the quarry and making a small crater in the stone. Vincent pulled himself out of the crater as he glared up at the creature made of shadow on the top of the quarry.
Vincent saw the creature scoff before turning away.
"What!?" He yelled at it. "You attack me then try to leave? Bring me all the way here, for what?"
[You are weak.] The Deathrider responded with its heavy voice. Vincent sighed as another sword of light appeared in his hands, sticking it in the ground as well.
"That may be so." He adjusted the sword before standing next to it, keeping a hand on the hilt. "But there are a few details you overlooked this time, Deathrider."
Curious, Gunther turned back to look down at Vincent, surprised to see a fire in the man's eyes.
"The conditions are different from our previous altercations. Currently, we are far away from the academy grounds, none of my students are in range, and most importantly…"
The inside of his coat began to light up, revealing spell diagrams etched into the fabric.
"There's no one around to worry about. It's just you and me."
[You cannot defeat me.] Gunther said, yet he could feel Vincent's energy rising.
"I know." Vincent let out a small grin as bright lines of light began to crawl on his skin. "But I can protect my students from the biggest threat present."
Suddenly, Vincent disappeared from his spot, leaving the light sword at the bottom of the quarry. He reappeared next to Gunther, holding onto the hilt of the first light sword he stuck into the ground, one that the shadow creature had not paid attention to.
As Gunther watched Vincent pull the sword out of the ground and swing it at him, he read the man's lips, making out the name of the spell he had uttered.
"Tether."