Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Three: Dark Sarcophagus: Verse One-Hundred and Thirty-Eight

Cypher and Alex had questioned the man for several hours. They had tried every tactic they could think of to try and get him to talk, but nothing had worked. They also weren’t ones for physical torture. They tried of course, but neither had the stomach to continue using those methods. In the end, Cypher and Alex had been forced to combine their mental waves and delve into his mind for the answers they sought.

Even then, they had only been able to gather small bits of information. Zealot’s Ring operated in a nearby underground ruin. They consisted of mainly human forces with bodies in the first rank. That was nothing to be concerned about for Cypher and Alex. However, they also employed five Rank-One Conductors.

They were not professionally trained, that much was clear, but they could still pose a somewhat credible threat to the two if they banded together. At least, that was what the bandit had assumed before they had shattered his mental space, killing him.

Cypher was a lot stronger than most other rank-one Conductors, and that was even more true when comparing him to the wild Conductors that filled the ranks of the crime organization. Alex as well was no pushover, his skills with his weapon put him in a league of his own when the first rank was concerned, and Cypher had yet to see him use spells.

They had also discovered that the leader of Zealot’s Ring was stronger than all five of the Wild Conductors combined. Additionally, at this moment, the village was only being guarded by a few above-average humans. The information gathered was fragmented, but enough to at least form some kind of plan.

However, the matter of Rinn still needed to be addressed. Sunrise was still a few hours away but there were lodgings outside Seven City. They were, however, a bit pricey, and between the two of them, Cypher and Alex only had barely enough money to pay for her stay. Her father would be taken to the city morgue and hopefully, his spirit would be able to replace some peace in the fact that his daughter lived on.

Cypher and Alex then headed to Heartwell Village under the cover of the fading night. By the time they arrived, the sun was beginning to rise. they positioned themselves just outside the eastern wall and were peeking over it to examine the interior.

Just as Rinn had said, several cages stood against the western wall and were filled with villagers. Only a few bandits were roaming between the houses on patrol, while the others slept or played cards around their small fires.

“Where there hell did those guys go? How long does it take to chase down some bitch and an old man?” asked a slick-haired bandit sitting around a nearby fire.

“You know how those three were Delvin, they’re probably just having a bit of fun with that wench before they off her. I personally don’t give a shit about the old man though.” said another bandit.

“Oh, well, you wouldn’t care would you Terg?” began a bandit with a bloody eyepatch. “The dumb old bastard didn’t claw out your eye now did he?”

“Oh relax a bit will you Gedd, we’ll get your eye looked at as soon as we get back to base. I’m sure one of our healers can fix that right up for ya. That ugly mug though… well there ain’t no fixin’ that!” replied Terg.

“Fuck you asshole! Your mother didn’t think I was too ugly when I was dirtyin’ up her sheets the other night!” grumbled Gedd, and Terg socked him in the jaw. Delvin rose and broke the two apart before a full-on fistfight could break out.

“Calm down the both of ya, and stay focused. The boss will have our asses if any more of these fucking villagers escape. Gedd, the only dirty sheets you’re making are your own, wipe your ass more often and that might not happen,” said Delvin, and Terg began to snicker.

“Don’t go laughing too hard now Terg, there isn’t a man here who hasn’t had a turn with your mum. She’d spread her legs for a wooden coin if I asked her to!” Terg shut up quickly after that but scowled at Delvin with a look of anger.

Cypher and Alex snuck their way inside by hopping over the gate as a bandit passed and slit his throat before he could raise the alarm. Cypher felt odd killing a man this way. He was far superior to him in every respect when it came to strength and battle prowess, and it felt dirty to be killing someone so weak.

Still, he followed through, they had a village to rescue and no time to lose. He and Alex split up and headed in opposite directions around the Village. They would take out any bandits that crossed their path without mercy.

Cypher felt even worse about killing the sleeping ones, but if they awoke or were alerted, the villagers would be in danger. If that happened, he could be forced to either surrender or flee. If he surrendered they would likely try to kill him. They would fail but it would jeopardize the villagers. If instead, they fled, the bandits would only increase in number and tighten security around the caged civilians.

This was the lesser of two evils and Cypher took to the task the same way he did anything else. With 100% conviction.

After about an hour of slow, stealthy slaughter, the only bandits left were Delvin, Terg, and Gedd. The three were completely oblivious to the deaths of their comrades around them. Thus, when Cypher and Alex simply walked up to them they were confused.

“Oi! Who the fuck are you two supposed to be?” asked Gedd as he stood up and drew his dagger from his belt.

“Who let you two in here?” Terg said, his words slurring a bit as he too drew his weapon.

Delvin, however, was somewhat smarter than his two tipsy companions and he instantly knew something was wrong and called out to his companions.

“Oi! Men! We got ourselves a couple of intruders!” When no reply came Delvin went wide-eyed and dropped his sword to the ground. He quickly figured out what must have happened and chose to live if possible. Terg and Gedd, on the other hand, weren’t so quick to realize what was going on, and died the moment they tried to attack Cypher and Alex.

“Look mates, just calm down yeah? A-anything you wanna know? If so, it’s me! I’m your guy! I got all the saucy information you could ever need yeah? So just spare me okay?” pleaded Delvin. Cypher was shocked that he was so forthcoming about revealing information this easily.

He had expected it to take a while, like with the first bandit, before they could squeeze any information out, but this was a pleasant turn of events. “Speak then,” Cypher said in as gruff a tone as he could.

Delvin smiled and kicked away his sword for good measure before sitting back down and drinking from his cup. “Right so! I imagine that you two are here for those villagers over there yeah? Aha! Yes, yes, yes! I could see it in your eyes! Such powerful warriors you are as well, have you been working out?” he began.

“OUT WITH IT ALREADY!” Shouted Alex, and Delvin flinched before continuing.