Conflict of Interest - Ⅱ

"Huma--"

Before he could finish his sentence, my dagger's tip sunk deep into the side of his neck. His muscles were so dense that the dagger didn't even make it to the other end. 

The entire pub was suddenly enshrouded in a veil of silence. No one moved. No one talked. As if caught in a collective moment that was a mix of disbelief, rage, grief and subtle hints of disoriented revulsion. And the alchemy of emotions manifested tangibly as the sound of swords leaving their scabbards and axes and maces and spears— weapons of every kind were suddenly drawn. 

Michael looked at them and then at me. "Oh, we're fucked out of our mind."

"We?" The orange haired Dwarf that had warned me to not touch the powder at the side of the pavement asked in a rather stunned disbelief. 

Smirking, Michael's fist crunched into his face and his features undulated sideways, totally making it unrecognisable for a second before his entire body caught up to it and he was sent flying into the nearby wall. 

And then, all hell broke loose. 

Arcanum flared outwards out of everybody as the Demon girls serving pints screamed and ran inside. 

Michael deactivated his horns and then picked up a pint, bringing it close to his lips. 

"Can you at least stop drinking at such a time?" 

My words would have barely reached him as I took a step back and a sword whooshed past my face, narrowly grazing the area underneath my eye. Letting the momentum carry the stub-horned demon forward, I flicked the table upwards and kicked it towards the incoming horde of Dwarves, Demons and the three Trolls. 

Although it was enough to block the sudden wave of people attacking me, the Trolls bulldozed through their own companions, their single eyes looking down at me with a feral intensity. The one in the lead swung its arm as I rolled down the strike on the floor and dodged it. 

While I was on the ground, I threw my dagger upwards and then kicked the arm of the demon that had swung at me a while ago. 

Conveniently enough, the sword left his grip and fell on the ground. The Troll stomped down at the place where I was laying down. Pulling the sword towards myself, I grabbed it with both my hands. The sharp edge of the sword dug deep into its foot. 

The urge to throw up infiltrated me as the demon standing kneed into my middle section, causing me to wince in pain. Twisting the sword in the Troll's foot, I extended my right arm and pulled the dagger back that I had thrown a while ago. The dagger's tip sunk into the demon's skull as he fell like a lifeless sack over me.

Pushing his light body aside, I quickly stood up to my feet and then immediately crouched down. 

The mountain-like body of another Troll flew right over before crashing into the loose door behind. The walls cracked and a spiderweb of cracks ran all along from the point of impact until it reached the roof and the entire pub caved inwards. 

Looking back, I saw Michael standing with a wide grin. 

"Another one bites the dust! WOOOO!" 

Although he was getting hit, none of them were life threatening. The drunk frenzy he was currently in was doing him more harm than good but there was no need for me to intervene. 

Pressing my foot over the Troll's neck that had his feet stabbed, I stabbed the right side of his chest. 

Trolls had their heart on the right side after all. 

Lightning coursed from my hand and through the dagger, illuminating its chest from inside in an eerie azure glow as his body twitched once and then a streak of lightning cut outwards from his chest, totally puncturing his heart and the primary node. 

Two more demons ran in my direction.Throwing my dagger towards the cracked roof, it lodged itself into one of the many splinters. 

[Ferrum Field]

The dagger magnetised instantly as I poured enough Arcanum to blow a hole through even the walls of "The Keep of Ruin". 

The expression of pure horror and surprise as their weapons were forcefully stripped out of their hands lasted only for a second before I dashed and jumped upwards as I caught a sword that was stripped out of the hands of a demon who was fighting Michael and slashed at them using the same sword. 

A thick spurt of blood sprayed in every direction as they clutched at their throats desperately, trying to block the blood flowing like a fountain. 

Michael jumped upwards and jabbed at the back of a dwarf's head and then proceeded to kick the third Troll into his pelvic region. As it jumped around in pain, he hit the back of his head with the scabbard of a sword. The Troll's eyes rolled to the back of his head and foam rose up to his mouth before falling to the ground with a loud thud that made the already wrecked roof almost fall off.

"You should kill them." I spoke, the silence that followed the defeat of people oddly satisfying. 

"I won't." He spoke by bringing his face close to mine. His breath reeked of Alcohol and his eyes—although mostly unfocused—were looking right into my own, as if I had said the most immoral and disgusting thing. 

It honestly baffled me. 

"You realise when they wake up, they will come after you. And would have even more motivation to explicitly have your head on a spike." 

He smirked. "They can try as many times as they can, the result would never change." As he said, he walked past me. 

Casting one last look back and heaving out a sigh, I followed after him. 

I hate my decision. Or rather complying with his decision. However, I'd rather have him by my side than him being an enemy. I was not asinine enough to be unable to weigh the merits and demerits of my own actions. 

As I walked out of the semi-collapsed pub, I was expecting to meet a huge horde of people ready to chant stuff like "Burn the witch!" or in this instance, "Burn the humans!" but instead what I was met with was an utter lack of people. 

Or lack of the immediate presence of people. They were present, lurking behind the stretched, long shadow of a lone man standing- towering over Michael. The hate, spite and disgust in their eyes was almost palpable, threatening to take over. 

The man whose shadow extended eerily back had long, waist length midnight grey hair and a pair of slit amethyst eyes that contrasted well with his hair. 

His hands were clasped behind his back and his face carried a rather welcoming smile. 

A golden chainmail decorated his shoulders and middle chest, protecting it. Now that I was looking at it from up-close; I could feel the subtle hum of Arcanum imbued inside it. 

The numerous medals adorning his chest were absent and he was wearing a much more informal attire, or at least it seemed so in comparison to the previous flashy one. 

He was wearing a light brown doublet fastened together with rows of leather laces. Its collar stood tall, padded and regal, framing his face with authority. Tailored seams made it look like a snug fit, accentuating his muscular frame. 

He cocked his head to the side and then let his arms dangle freely to the side. His dark amethyst eyes flicked up and down curiously and then he clasped his hands in front of himself.

"I must say, I am quite disappointed." His baritone held authority without arrogance, lacking the chill of condescension. "You are… pardon my words but really, hmm, how do I put it?" He tilted his head to the other side, his tongue making moving-bumps on his cheek from the inside of his mouth, as he was tangibly trying to roll the correct words to manifest on his tongue. "For the lack of better words, Mundane." He finished. 

"Uh, thank you?" 

It was the only thing I could think of as a sarcastic answer, however, the derision only seemed to backfire due to the stillness that plagued the whole place like a graveyard. His amused eyes looked at me from up to down and then he gave me a shallow, mock bow. 

"You're welcome." 

A smirk crept up his face. 

"Well putting that aside, may I know to what do I- or rather we owe the pleasure of your visit? I am sure you have not graced us with your presence to provide recompense for the apples Adam and Eve stole before scurrying away like mice with tails tucked between their legs to avoid starvation. Starvation on an unknown land stolen from us by the Heretic Gods." 

It was quite obvious what he was doing and every word that came out of his mouth was laced with deadly poison.

However, his voice made it seem like it was all a fiasco and he didn't mean any of it.

A wave of laughter erupted and washed over the entire place.