Since Sagespire had an array that prevented anyone from using energy, none of them could cast a spell or use Celestial energy to enhance their abilities. Aranion and Rurik dashed forward, fully prepared to take on the intruders.
"Who are these clowns, and what do they want with the artifact?" Ayag asked. Michael remained close to the artifact as several dark-robed figures approached him from all directions.
Michael cracked his neck as an intruder lunged at him. Without wasting a mont, he kicked over a nearby barrel of hot oil they had been using for forging. The scalding oil sizzled as it splashed onto the ground.
"Argh... son of a bitch!" the intruder roared in pain as the hot oil burned his legs up to his thighs.
The others quickly changed their paths to avoid the searing oil, while two intruders slipped on the slick surface, tumbling to the ground.
"It burns!" scread one intruder who landed buttocks-first in the hot oil.
Michael didn't stop there. He noticed two intruders flanking him from both sides and imdiately shielded the artifact with his body.
"DIE!" one intruder roared as he swung a unique weapon at Michael. It was a long, flexible sword made of steel, sharp enough to cut flesh but pliable enough to coil. Michael swiftly bent down, narrowly avoiding the blade, which missed his face by re inches.
He then evaded a second attack by launching a counterattack of his own. Grabbing a nearby hamr from a table beside the artifact, he hurled it at the second attacker, who wielded a long spear. The hamr struck the intruder square in the face, making him howl in agony. The satisfying crunch of a broken nose rang through the hall.
anwhile, the attacker with the flexible sword swung the weapon again. It produced a sharp whistling noise as Michael deftly sidestepped. This ti, however, the blade managed to nick Michael's face, leaving a small, bleeding cut. Undeterred, Michael grabbed the sword with his bare hand.
His hand bled despite his sturdy flesh due to the blade's sharpness. But ignoring the blood, Michael twisted the blade before pulling the attacker closer to him. Then, Michael slamd the intruder's head against the table, just inches from the artifact.
"Who sent you?" Michael demanded, but the attacker refused to answer. Instead, three more assailants sward Michael.
"I will send you all to hell!"
"You will pay for what you did."
anwhile, Aranion and Rurik each grappled with two intruders. They had their hands full, while Michael was surrounded by five attackers. The leader of the assailants watched the fight from the shadows, waiting for the right mont to strike. However, Michael sensed him and could feel his gaze upon them.
"Get that!" one of the attackers shouted as he lunged forward while Michael was dealing with another by banging the intruder's head against the table.
Seeing the newcor attempting to grab the artifact, Michael kicked the table with enough force to knock down the approaching attacker. Then, he lunged toward the artifact, grabbed it, and hurled it into the air. With incredible swiftness, he cast a silence spell, creating a slowed-ti bubble around him.
Within the ti-altered bubble, everything seed frozen in place. In the next mont, Michael employed shadow teleportation, instantly appearing behind each attacker within the ti bubble. Without hesitation, he snatched a dagger from a nearby assailant and repeatedly stabbed the intruder in the neck.
"Slaughter them all!" Ayag exclaid with a sinister satisfaction.
Michael teleported behind each and every attacker inside the ti bubble, delivering a series of fatal blows. Then, he positioned himself directly below the artifact just as the silence spell expired, causing ti to resu.
"ARGH!"
As ti resud, the five attackers crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from their necks, and the artifact landed safely in Michael's hand.
Rurik, who had observed how effortlessly the newcor had dispatched the five intruders, was utterly stunned. However, Michael's frown remained, as he could tell that these were trained killers. When Michael locked eyes with the leader of the assailants, the figure darted toward him with unnatural speed.
"Protect the artifact!" Rurik shouted. Simultaneously, two attackers flanking Aranion hurled a pouch of red mist at him.
"ARGH!" Aranion scread as the red mist engulfed his face. The elf instinctively clawed at his eyes in agony as the attackers closed in, swiftly slashing the elf's neck.
In re monts, the attackers had claid the lives of two master blacksmiths. Aranion lay on the ground, blood gushing from his neck, while Michael focused on safeguarding the artifact.
Since the leader appeared to be an orc, he towered over Michael with his imnse size. Despite his massive build, the leader moved with remarkable speed. Michael clutched the artifact in one hand and cast the Silence spell once again. However, sothing around the leader's neck emitted a soft glow as Michael watched the leader continue to move at his previous speed, entirely unaffected by the ti bubble.
"How did you-" the leader began, clearly startled when he felt his amulet tremble.
Rurik, caught up in a fierce battle with two intruders, struggled to focus on the artifact. His short stature, typical of dwarves, allowed him to dart quickly beneath their strikes.
"You want the artifact," Michael snickered before swiftly retreating.
"Take it," Michael declared, placing his hand on the artifact. Then, he summoned his dark lightning bolts and directed them into the artifact.
The artifact trembled as it absorbed the energy of the lightning. The more it absorbed, the brighter it glowed. Soon, the pale blue cubical artifact transford into a fiery red. A smile crept across Michael's face as he watched his modules work perfectly. He adjusted the opening that would discharge the stored lightning energy toward the leader.
"Boom," Michael casually sneered as the artifact unleashed a powerful bolt of energy that shot out, striking the leader. To everyone's astonishnt, the leader disintegrated into a bloody red mist.
Yet, another shock awaited Michael. The mont the leader of the intruders perished, the two assailants locked in combat with Rurik exploded. The dwarf let out a pained shout as he was propelled into the air, slamming into the wall.
"Shit, what the hell just happened?" Ayag began to say, but her words were cut short as the rest of the bodies also detonated into bloody mist.
The air beca suffused with the stench of blood as Michael remained the sole survivor amidst the grueso aftermath. He clutched the artifact and made his way over to Rurik. The two master blacksmiths had long since perished, and Rurik lay on the ground, coughing up blood.
"Here, drink this," Michael offered the dwarf a healing potion. Rurik, seeing the glistening liquid, slowly brought it to his lips and ingested it. The potion worked swiftly, healing his wounds completely. Aside from tattered clothing, Rurik was restored to full health.
He stood up and rushed over to Aranion, but the elf lay lifeless, his vacant eyes gazing into the distance.
"Rest in peace, my friend. I will find whoever is responsible for this," Rurik solemnly declared as he tenderly closed Aranion's eyes.
Michael walked over to the grueso aftermath where the leader had exploded into a bloody pulp. Only blood and gore remained on the ground, with no trace of the leader's body.
Vedroa leaped down from Michael's shoulder to conduct her own investigation.
"I knew that cursed artifact was trouble!" Rurik roared as he approached Michael without questioning the newcor's combat prowess.
"Stay here and keep the artifact safe. I'll go check the rest of the guild," Rurik ordered, not hesitating to entrust the artifact's protection to Michael. Michael nodded as the dwarf left the hall.
"Hey, check this out," Ayag's voice called out after Rurik's departure.
Michael followed the sound and discovered a piece of tal amidst the bloody ss. It bore an engraving resembling a serpent, although the fragnt was too small to discern the full design.
"And there's sothing else," Sarba added, sniffing the air with two of his heads. "Sothing in the blood... sothing musky, tallic." Sarba's attempt to discern the scent was hampered by the other two heads, causing Ayag to react with disdain.
"What are you trying to do, Sarba? That's gross," Ayag remarked.
Michael collected samples from the ground using a vial, all while holding the still-warm artifact in his hand. After discharging the stored lightning energy, the artifact had heated up.
anwhile, Vedroa continued to investigate the bloody ss, and Michael discreetly retrieved a tiny Spyder and a tracker from the system storage. He carefully concealed them within the artifact.
"What are you doing?" Ayag inquired.
"Safety asure," Michael replied.
"Should we take the artifact with us or not?" Ayag asked.
"Why?" Michael questioned, leaning against the forge with the artifact resting on the table before him.
"Because it's incredibly powerful, and we should make use of it," Ayag argued, but Michael shook his head.
"We don't need it. What we need to know is who commissioned the forging of this artifact and what they plan to do with it. Keeping it with us will only paint a target on our backs. The artifact isn't worth the risk. However, if we give it to the Silverbrook family and monitor its location, we might gather valuable intel," Michael explained his intention with the artifact.
"Besides, I already have the blueprints recorded. If we want, we can forge it later," he added.
The door swung open once more, and Rurik entered the hall. His eyes were red, a testant to the tears he had shed. He approached Michael, grief weighing heavily on his features.
"What happened?" Michael inquired.
"They're all dead. All the master blacksmiths, the guards, they're all dead," Rurik revealed, his voice heavy with sorrow.
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