The mended star

Considering how these past couple of minutes went, Bardeelus was sure that they could get out of here alive. It was even better how they managed to heal Erdeta, too!

He and the team won, in more ways than one. He had the enemies in a clutch, for example, and that wasn't all. Eventually, he even understood why he felt so tired; His body was still absorbing all of those goblin souls!

Bardeelus barely knew how he got them, or why he needed them to begin with, but it felt reassuring to know that he bested so many creatures and their souls too! He didn't feel rushed either, there wasn't a need to figure everything out this instant, as he was sure they'd walk out of these ruins alive, perhaps with a few scrolls as a parting gift too.

There was time to figure out what these souls were for, he felt certain of it. By now, his best guess was that these enslaved souls could get weaponized, through some command. 

There was no telling for now, and besides, he was focused on Audera more than anything else. She had the worst day of all, at least, in comparison to the rest of the group!

A demonic shadow beat her half to death, and she got her powers taken away too, at least momentarily. Worse yet, it could take a long time for her to fully heal physically. 

The necromancers were working to help her, though. Bardeelus was confused by the process, and he got on edge about it too.

"Why's her forehead glowing?" He asked. 

"Her eyes are glowing," That old man corrected, and referred to a dark-red shade.

He still didn't feel comfortable, however, and asked. "Oh right. Are you pushing the knight's soul through her eyes or something?"

With a growing lack of patience, the old man answered. "No, the knight's soul is already in her, and it's getting purged through the mending process. Give it a minute, any non-necromancers don't have it easy to handle a second soul in their body. Please stop asking questions and let my sons think."

Bardeelus didn't want to stop talking, especially since he had another question now, but he heeded that request regardless. These people already did whatever he told them to, so some respect was due in exchange. 

Silently though, he still pondered over a burning question. 

"That was Driola's knight, she enslaved it… But this bitch is still asleep, and her brothers are using the knight's soul instead? Why are they making a fuss about collecting souls, if anyone can take it from them at any time?" He thought.

Nothing about this encounter made sense. The dark arts of necromancy were very contradicting, as if there weren't any rules or guidelines at all. Bardeelus had a one-of-a-kind chance to learn here, as he found tens of necromancers, yet he still wasn't learning anything!

In fact, he barely knew if he was similar to these people at all! It was frustrating to witness a process thoroughly, but not understand a thing.

He further concluded, "From what I understand, I could steal all of the souls they collected, and bounce! Sounds good… but a few goblin souls almost killed me, and my heart is kinda beating backwards right now, so maybe it's not a good idea to steal souls."

The fact that he contradicted himself, showcased how confusing necromancy was. Anyway, he couldn't mutter over this further, because a certain glow caught his eye. 

"Their arms are glowing…" He thought.

"Red-uh," Bardeelus smacked his lips, "Everything they do looks red, like blood. These must be the summoners with the 'sacrificed veins'. But they call themselves necromancers… so maybe 'summoner' is just another name for this shit?"

He wanted to yell out for the old man, and harass him with another question, but something happened before he could do so. Audera woke up, and she rose with a bang too!

She jolted upwards, took long and deep breaths, and punched one of the men nearby. It was obvious, she was not happy!

That knight's soul shouted along with her, but only once, before its mist-like form dissipated into nothingness! The knight's soul vanished.

"Calm down, calm down!" Bardeelus spoke from afar, as he still didn't have enough strength to walk. 

"Calm down? Are you insane?" She yelled, and had one of the enemies on a choke-hold.

She was pretty strong for a mage, physically that is. The enemy was gurgling for air, but she wasn't feeling so merciful.

"Yes, calm down. They're all under my command now." Bardeelus said.

"You killed them all? That's impressive." She complimented, and let that necromancer go.

Casually, Bardeelus explained. "Well, not really. But if I want to, I can kill all of us all together. Don't worry, we're good either way."

"Are you?" A heavy, almost incomprehensible tone erupted.

He was scared shitless, and frantically looked around in all directions. He wanted to know who that voice came out of, but in a way, it sounded as if ten-men spoke at once, so he didn't really know where to look first!

For a moment, he thought that it was all in his head, but he noticed that the other necromancers were nervous too. He could even count the huge droplets of sweat on that old man's forehead.

Before he was about to answer, or even ask questions, the ground started to rumble. He was still in the middle of that pentagram, where all of the commotion was coming from!

This big star was carved into the ground, and now, each of its blood-painted corners were glowing more than ever! He wasn't the only one seeing this, either. Everyone was covering their eyes, the team included.

"What the hell…" He grunted.

Just moments ago, there had been a characteristic detail which made this star memorable. One of its corners, or its 'head', was separated from the rest of the pentagram. This detail was difficult to miss.

Now, however, that whole part moved through the hard-stone by a whole foot, and attached itself to the rest of the star. It had mended, and just then, the pentagram started glowing more violently than ever!

That heavy, terrifying voice spoke out once more. "I want your soul, pure necromancer!"