Zarek the Mad

[Kyak! Red artifact! Go to direction where sun rises, stop in front of room with red seal! Hurry!]

The voice interrupted their reunion, and almost relucantly, the two recently reunited friends parted. A quick explanation from Charles later, Marie smiled at Nora, her amber eyes conveying gratitude. "Hey, Nora, you can rest a bit. I've spent the time sleeping, I won't get tired out at least."

Before Nora was able to give any protests, Marie turned away, her long blue hair fluttering with the breeze from her motion. She smiled at Charles and said, "What are you waiting for? Let's get the artifact!"

"Sure. The direction where the sun rises, so east from here," Charles replied, "I do still think leaving her here with the artifact is unsafe, though… Hey, Dy-"

"When Nora already made her decision, you can't exactly convince her otherwise unless you are prepared for a long debate. That's not time we have," Marie cut in. "I can contribute, for sure," she said, while showing the dried tree-like seal on her hand.

Lines of notification appeared in front of the two guys' eyes.

[Marie Arlestior]

[Class: Novice Technomagus]

[Strength: 35]

[Endurance: 45]

[Agility: 33]

"How about it? Are you convinced of me now? For at least Nora's sake, I won't inconvenience you," Marie smirked and said. "Just because I don't bring weapons, doesn't mean I'm weak. Big blades are cumbersome, and unlike some people, I have no need to compensate for anything."

"… I'll pretend I didn't hear the last part, but yes," Charles sighed and walked towards the door, "Let's go."

"Hahaha! I like you already, Marie!" Dylan laughed.

"Well, at least someone is having fun,"

"Sourpuss," Henrietta replied with a playful smile, "Laugh a little, I won't let any harm come to you, I promise."

The four of them exited the room and walked towards the east side of the castle. As they walked, they noticed most of the castle seemed to look similar, most of the doors leading to what seemed like guest rooms. Yet, many of them were banged up, implying the insanity were constrained in those rooms and nowhere else.

Perhaps, considering the mess they saw after a quick surprise attack at the main hall, whatever happened would be better constrained in the separate rooms

Then, they saw the room mentioned by Reazar. It was a room that seemingly was greyed at the edges, while a seal that looked like a bloody beating heart was set onto the center, with runes decorating the veins of said heart.

Marie took a fighting stance and tested the strength of the door with a punch, and the door refused to budge.

"This seems like a seal that will only react to magic, so you'll need magic attacks to weaken it,"Henrietta came closer and touched the heart with the tip of her fingers. She lingered for a moment, noticing the strange texture of the door. "I can sense something inside this, too. We should be on our guard."

"Magic, huh…" Dylan glanced at Charles, Henrietta, and Marie, "Can we even scrounge up a strong enough magic attack without Nora?"

"No need for that, give me a second," Marie looked around, focusing on the carved gold patterns on the walls and tracing them, "I have an idea."

Then, she took her fighting stance again, but this time, a magic circle similar to that of Nora formed underneath her. Unlike Nora's magic circle, Marie's was pure white.

As if pulled by a magnet, the metallic parts of the wall started to shift and gather into the circle, only to disappear as it was absorbed away.

[Construct Creation - Soul of Ira]

From the ground, a massive humanoid construct rose, its color a deep gold and black. Marie had taken a seat on its shoulder, as if she was a child hitching a ride on her parents. The sight was cute, in a way.

Then, Marie raised her hand, forming a sigil on the air, and the fists of the construct started glowing in an eerie purplish white light.

[Construct Infusion - Lightning]

Electricity started to crackle from her spell, and she wasted no time before pointing at the door and ordering the construct.

"Get 'em, Ira!" Marie shouted, and the construct immediately punched the door.

BANG! BZZT! CRACK!

At first, there was a slight resistance, but then, cracks formed at the seal while the walls around the door started to break. The moment the seal disappears, the door and everything around it has turned into dust, allowing them to step in.

The room was massive, with scratches adorning the walls and floors and ceillings. However, unlike the destroyed walls before, the scratches were writings of unknown nature, bizarre symbols and runes stitched together that looked more like a child's attempts at language.

Charles felt a slight whish and he moved to the side, just as something punched the air right where he stood on not a few seconds ago.

[You have entered a battle with Zarek the Mad!]

BANG!

Before the notification could disappear, a crashing sound could be heard. The kobold was drooling, its eyes practically glowing red and unfocused. Chains weigh its body down, yet it seemed not to slow the kobold a bit as its attack collided with Marie's metal construct, creating a hole on its fist.

"Ooh, gutsy. I love that," Marie said in a slightly cooing yet condescending way as she raised her hand, forming a magic circle underneath her construct, "But, don't think that is all you need to defeat me."

Then, a notification appeared.

[Construct Creation - Soul of Acedia]