⬡ Desert Rescue Operation Slavebane ⬡

Finally! A game. A prey to hunt. A criminal that needs karmic justice delivered swiftly. Red has been wanting to relieve the stress he put himself in after getting himself involved in mundane tasks in order to afford his daily lifestyle back in the Neutral Grounds. A sigh of relief escapes from his mouth as the request wasn't taken by any mage yet. He's not happy, just relieved to finally take a break from his hectic schedule.

What makes it interesting is it is requested by the Rune Knights. Perhaps they are busy preparing for something else? Or doing what needs doing. Who knows. What's even more interesting is the location of their meet up - The Menagerie, a 5 star restaurant by the corner of the shopping district. The need of a private booth in the Menagerie gave him the insight that his work must be classified. It may have been better to make contact in the alleyways where they couldn't be followed and eavesdropped. Who is he to judge?

He finally arrives, a rich looking location that befits a 5 star restaurant. Expensive looking decor and proper staff could be seen from inside the walls of the restaurant. He enters, the rich aroma of freshly cooked high quality meals entering his nostrils. He feels nostalgic, asking himself where he might have smelled the scent before. He looks around and managed to find the booth he was looking for. Booth 6. He knocks on the door.

"Come in." A familiar voice invites him to enter, but he couldn't quite put a finger on who it might be. All he ever knew in his life was himself. He enters and is greeted by a slightly chubby man with the same height as him, and the same face as him aside from his purple colored eyes. He doesn't look like a rune knight at all, but rather, looks more like a noble, wearing an expensive looking garb with gold decors and a purple color scheme. His hair is different though, his more curly and brown than his slightly straight black hair.

Red usually wears his helmet when meeting with his client. Today is a different day as he never bothered to retrieve his helmet when he forgot just for the sake of punctuality. Needless to say, the rune knight in front of him is surprised. "Michael, my brother, is that truly you?" The rune knight asks, perhaps looking a little teary eyed and wearing a worried expression. Red is confused.

"Do I know you?" He asks, very confused. Just who is this man standing before him? And why does he look like him?

"...I was certain you'd be dead when the order was decimated, but it's a miracle you're alive! Come, sit. I already ordered refreshments." Red nodded and sat down in front of him.

"The tragedy must have changed you, brother. You don't remember me at all, as if you forgot everything!." The rune knight says, and Red is even more confused than ever. He came here to work, damnit, and he did not go to an exquisite 5 star restaurant just to catch up and chat with a person you never met. "I only came here for the request. I take it you're not wasting my time with idle prattle?"

"Ah, the request. Oh! Since you forgot all about your brother dearest, let me help jog that poor memory of yours. Francois Alexandre Belrose Dufleur, though formerly a Morgan, but I am happily married with a loving husband. Remember when you were in the party?" Red shakes his head. Francois' cheerful face becomes serious as his attempt to make his brother remember failed. "It must be worse than expected. But! I am not here to have you waste your time. The rune knights' resources are spread thin and we need a capable mage for this task. I daresay a spy might be in the midst but it's just my paranoia. The booth is soundproof, I assure you." He says, and hands out a piece of paper containing a sketch of a fat human sporting regal attire, much like Francois. "This person is Bladdi Moccoi. We only knew him as an entrepreneur but when I dug up some info after I received a missive from an unknown source, I have confirmed him to be involved in shady deals and slave marketing. What's worrying is no one knows where the slaves may have ended up. I need you to look into this."

He took a closer look into the picture. The person in question is one fat, ugly bastard.

"And what would you have me do if I picked up dirt?" Red inquired. Francois gave him a slight menacing grin. "Dispatch him. I don't care how, and Fiore will be off better with scum like him gone."

"Do you have any leads?"

"You're just as inquisitive as I remember, brother." Francois smiles. "We do. In fact, I believe his employees are set to depart from here in just a few hours from now. To where? I don't know. It boggles my mind that we don't even know where his goods are coming from."

Red takes another look at the picture of the fat bastard. Perhaps ways to dispatch him for good? "Any other information I might need?" He says. Francois stands up. "Expect heavy resistance. I daresay he does not let his base unguarded. And with that, I bid you adieu. I'll waiting here in the same booth to await for your success." And with that, he leaves the booth. A waitress enters the booth to give him his tea and snacks. With his insight, he guess he is in much of a hurry he had his order for take out.

As the sun sets in the Neutral Grounds, after (finally) recovering his helm, he proceeded to keep watch of the employees. Looking through his HeXcry, there are only 2 employees set to depart from the shop. He observed the pair entering a vehicle, with one manning it. The vehicle has 3 spaces - one for the driver, one for the passengers, and the other for cargo. The passenger's space doesn't provide any vision on the back cargo. He snuck towards the vehicle and managed to secure his place somewhere in the cargo space where he hid. He took a close look at his HeXcry map to make sure there are no other parties involved.

The ride went smoothly. In the few days of travel, the vehicle passed through several forests before moving to the Desierto. He isn't found yet. Though the cargo hold doesn't provide any vision to the front, the conversation between the two individuals provided ample volume to be heard from the back. What is most intriguing in their conversations is mention about a ritual that requires a sacrifice.

He is now on alert. As they near the secret base of operations, he spotted several dots in his HeXcry. Based on his insight, the more isolated ones seem to be guards, while the dots crumpled up close together are the slaves. Who would need that many slaves? He thought. Observing the guards, they don't look strong. They don't look like mages at all, just simple men who wield magic weapons. This is the resistance he is warned about?

He got out of the vehicle and was immediately spotted by the guards. "This should be easy," he thought. The guards immediately raised their weapons against him, prepared to unleash their magics against him. Before they could even ask who he is, however, he grabbed his pistol and aimed towards one of the guards and fired an explosive round. As the bullet hit one of the guards, it exploded, effectively killing at least 3-5 of the hostile personnel.

The rest open of the guards open fired. Firebolt. Lightning Bolt. Frost Spear. Spells upon spells were unleashed and not a single one hit him. Perhaps the death of their comrades stirred fear deep within their hearts that they could not aim properly? He aimed towards another and fired another explosive round, killing more.

He finally enters the compound and looks at the terrified slaves. They look like typical slaves, overworked and forced into harsh labor. "Where is Bladdi Maccoi?" he asked. His menacing tone was enough to frighten the slaves even more. One of them pointed towards a tunnel. "O-over there... but please hurry! He's going to kill my friend!" The slave cries. "You have to help her!"

He faces towards the tunnel the slave pointed. He looks at his HeXcry, and found no other hostile entities in the area as all dots in the map are the slaves. He takes one good look again and found more dots just west from his point. The dots look more crumpled than the slaves here, with a lone dot away from the others. This must be where the bastard is. 

Before he could go, he faced the slaves once more. "Wait here." He says as he descends into the tunnel. As he got deeper and deeper, a faint chanting could be heard of unknown language. He eventually finds a door at the end of the tunnel, the chanting still continuing. The dots are still together, and judging by their distances with each other, it's safe to assume they will all be affected by his defensive spell.

He kicks the door open and is greeted by a large chamber big enough to perform a ritual. Demonic paraphernalia and blood soaked floor is what decorates this entire room. Lit candles are spread far and wide, the only sources of light which gives the room an eerie atmosphere. To his right are the captives to be used as sacrifices for a ritual he does not know. He made eye contact with a fat ugly bastard who stopped chanting, shocked at the sudden intrusion of an outsider. By the looks of it, he is none other than Bladdi Maccoi. He quickly faced towards the captives to conjure glyphs that shape into a hexagon beneath them, a magic barrier erecting from the glyphs to protect them from the upcoming battle. He raised his pistol against Bladdi Maccoi. "Wh-who are you?! And what are you doing here?! D-d-don't you know who I am?" The man exclaimed, mad at the sudden interruption of his chanting.

"Bladdi Maccoi. Under the eyes of justice, and at the behest of the Rune Knights, you are to be exterminated for your crimes against Fiore and of humanity."


"C-crimes you say?" The man grit his teeth at frustration, and suddenly grins at the thought of his next action. "Are you stupid? I am the greatest mage in this place, and I can do whatever I want! Say, you make a good sacrifice!" The man raises his arm and prepares to strike Red down with a spell. "Earth Magic - Boulder-"

Bang.

With that, Red put a hole in his hand as he fired a pistol round. The man writhed in pain, cursing him for what he had done. "Don't make this even more painful than it should be." Red glared down at him, as if he's looking down on him. Once more, the man tries to cast a spell with his other hand. "Damn you! Earth Magic - Sand Bu-"

Bang.

He shot his other hand with another pistol round. He screamed in pain as both of his hands were shot before he could even finish casting his spell. "Too slow." Red remarked. This agitated the man even further, and then, a bright idea pops up. "If I can't kill you... then he can instead!" Mustering the rest of his strength and shrugging away the pain on his hands, he grabbed his sacrificial knife and stabbed himself in the heart. Suddenly, the room was filled with dread. "Demon of the Abyss, I beseech you! Grant me vanity and annihilate my enemies!"

A sudden draft of air breezes through the chamber and extinguishes the fires of the candles, effectively making it dark. Only the light from outside provide ample light for him to see. As the ground shakes, a magic circle appears beneath the man. He gives out a maniacal laughter before wasting away as a lifeless corpse.

The ground shook as the ritual is completed by the sacrifice of Bladdi Maccoi. A hand extends from the blood red circle, most likely a demon summoned by Bladdi. The demon tries to climb out of the circle and eventually does so. What stands before them is a tall and imposing demon that resembles a djinn, but nothing like it. "Sacrifices... I demand more sacrifices!" The demon screeches loud, a wave of force pushing anything away from him. It shatters the barrier that's been protecting the captives, and fear creeps in as the captives are no longer protected. Cracks start to form on the ceiling and the threat of being buried beneath a pile of rubble surfaces.

"Get out of here, now!" Red orders them, and the captives ran away and escaped from the ritual chamber. The demon attempts to catch and kill the defenseless sacrifices. However, his quick wit deterred him from doing so as a barrier protrudes from the ground, the same barrier that protected the captives. As the captives escape, only Red and the demon remain, locked in an arena.

Failing to catch its prey, the demon lashes out and whips its tail against Red.

Anticipating the demon's attack, he dodged out of the way and counterattacked. Aiming his pistol to its vital point, he fired a pistol round against the demon. Fortunately, it hit. Unfortunately, it didn't hit anything vital that would give the demon a swift death. Just a few more shots and the demon should be good as dead.

Red was about to fire another shot until the demon unleashes a swift burst of dark energy against him. He manages to dodge out of the way, instead hitting the barrier that's been keeping them inside. Cracks start to form as the barrier threatens to break apart from the destructive attack of the demon. Once more he aims and fires another shot. Bang. The demon starts to writhe in pain as he manages to fire at its shoulder.

He tries to get another hit in but was unable to anticipate the demon's sand magics. It temporarily blinded him, though thankfully he's wearing a helmet so none got in his eyes. This gave the demon an opportunity to land a swift blow against him, sending him flying and hitting the barrier. It hurts alot as he starts to cough up blood. He did not anticipate the demon to be this strong.

As dark energies swirl around the demon's arm, Red phases out, dodging the demon's attack and teleporting just behind him. Bang. He fired another round, this time hitting its leg. The demon is semi-limping at this point from all the shots it took. So far, the demon took 3 shots from his pistol. Hopefully the battle will not last any longer than necessary.

The demon lunged towards him, attacking twice with its claws. Both missed. Bang. He counterattacks as he aimed for his chest, though it only hit its lower abdomen. That makes a total of 4 shots.

The chamber walls and ceiling threaten to collapse unto the two duelists. Realizing that the barrier will not hold the falling debris, he fought with his all. Enchanting his pistol with HeXalted Strikes, he fired another shot against the demon. Another hit. The demon lashes out against him, attacking 4 times. Red screams in pain as 3 of the attacks hit him. He's bleeding. Smaller debris starts to fall unto the barrier, with it threating to break apart once more.

He should time this right. He must sneak one shot in and get the hell out of here.

The demon lunges forth and attacks him once more with swift strikes. One attack hit and the other misses as he phases out and teleports once more, this time closer to the stairs. He fires another shot against the demon. He can tell it's getting weaker and weaker from all the blood it lost.

It screams in pain and frustration, its sound enough to completely break apart the barrier. He was pushed aback from its violent screeching. As he backs away, he loads up his pistol with an explosive round. The demon nears, and he aims on the ceiling. 

Bang. Boom.

The demon fell down as it was caught in its blast radius. He, too was pushed back. Just it tries to get to him, the chamber's ceiling finally collapses, burying the demon under a pile of rubble. Its form disperses, proof that the demon is no more. Relieved to see his mission complete, he climbs up to see the slaves still in the compound. They were relieved to see their savior back up in one piece.

"You may go, now. I'll stay around for abit." The former captives bid their farewell to their savior and got the hell out of that hellhole. It was around sunset when he vanquished the demon. It shouldn't be a problem for them to get home.

Poking around for a little while, he found some shady business records and names of affiliated slave dealers. That, and a journal containing the late Bladdi Maccoi's recent activities. He found out he wanted the demon to make him young, beautiful, and wealthy beyond recognition. This bastard already had some business and he wants more? He thought to himself. The demon would have most likely killed the man as well, so all is good now. He poked around even more and salvaged any documents that might be of use to the Rune Knights. Not his fault why they stuck to paper.

Returning to the Neutral Grounds via the only remaining vehicle left in the compound, he met up with the rune knight to notify him of his success.


"Excellent work, my brother. I knew you could handle it! Though I did not expect a demon to show up, but all's well. I hope. The Magic Council would also like to extend its thanks to your efforts. And with these documents you have provided me, would could take down criminal organizations, even dark guilds. You have my thanks."