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

Armond smiled as he paced in front of a large black sarcophagus, and the others around the table chuckled softly as they watched Cypher and Alex struggle against the berserkers restraining them.

“You are quite the adventurers to have made it this far. I must congratulate you! Although, it would seem that a lot of your companions must have died along the way. Such a shame for you, I hope you weren’t too close. But don’t worry, once we return to the surface I’ll be sure to have my men send flowers to their families.” he said, as a dark, sarcastic laugh escaped his lips.

Cypher and Alex looked at each other with puzzled expressions. ‘What the hell is this guy talking about?’ Cypher thought, and Alex seemed to mimic his feelings. They could have communicated through their mental energy, however, they didn’t want to alert the Wild Conductors to the fact that they were true Conductors if they hadn’t already noticed.

It was a common practice among those taught at the Academy to hide one’s Conduction level when not in battle or preparing for one. This wasn’t to hide from other Conductors. Properly trained Conductors could easily tell how powerful their peers were.

Instead, this technique was used to protect those who were much weaker. As Cypher had been told by Alvin when he faced the Council of Elders all those years ago, being reckless with one’s power could get weaklings killed. At that time, the Elders could have shattered his mental space with a single wayward blast from their minds.

Wild Conductors were sometimes able to figure out how strong an opponent was, but the ones here, of course, didn’t seem to be able to. This Armond was obviously confused about who he was talking to. Therefore, they continued to play along. If this guy had misinformation, then who were they to correct him? This could work to their advantage.

“Tell me, what was it that claimed their lives? Our brother outside? The zombies? Or perhaps it was the Rot Ogre?” Armond asked, his pride and obvious feeling of superiority radiating throughout his every word.

“You must understand that these resources cost my organization quite a lot to procure. I simply wish to know that they were effective.” Cypher scowled at him and spit on the floor before answering.

“Fourteen,” Cypher whispered. He had laced his voice with false anger that hung low in his throat, and his head dipped low hiding his expression.

“Forgive me, I didn’t quite catch that. How many of you trespassers were killed?” Armond asked, an evil glee clear in his own voice.

“We lost fourteen companions asshole! But don’t you worry, you bastards will pay for each and every one of their deaths! I swear it! If it’s the last thing I do you’ll pay!” Cypher roared as loudly as he could. Armond, on the other hand, broke out into a fit of laughter. He continued pacing as the people around the table joined in his mirth.

“Calm down little adventurer. You don’t need to worry about that, trust me. In fact, you don’t have to worry about anything anymore. You won’t be leaving this place alive!” Armond tapped the black sarcophagus and turned to face Cypher and Alex again.

“Well, aren’t you going to ask?” Armond questioned.

“Ask what asshole?” replied Alex, his tone now similar to Cyphers.

“About our plan of course! You hero types are always trying to figure out what people like us are up to. Come on indulge me, will you? I didn’t set all this up just for a couple of stupid kids to mess it all up in the end.”

Cypher smiled inside his mind before speaking, “Fine then asshole. What are you up to? Why are you doing this? Don’t you know that this place is a sacred tomb? You’re desecrating the people who are laid to rest here! Where is your pride?”

Armond laughed again and snapped his fingers, “Yes! Yes! Just like that, I love it! Since we’re doing this so backward, I’ll answer your questions in a similar manner. I have none. I don’t care. I really don’t care, and lastly, because people like you fail to see the beauty of a breeding ground such as this!”

“In this crypt, a large quantity of negative energy has gathered over the centuries. I plan to use that energy to revive our true leader! You see, our organizations, the ones surrounding Seven City, used to be a unified front. We were led by a group of powerful individuals and they kept our enterprise running smoothly. We extorted, we pillaged, and we did whatever we wanted because there was nobody strong enough to stop us.”

Cypher sighed internally as this asshole began to monologue. ‘Why do these kinds of people never just kill the “hero” types? They always gotta explain their whole plan like anyone gives a shit…‘ Cypher thought, his annoyance rising with each passing second.

“However, they soon began to disagree with one another on how to divide the profits, and a civil war broke out that ended with all of our leaders killing each other. After that, we all broke up into different bands. However,” Armond spread his arms wide again, “all of the organizations have the same goal: To revive our leaders and return to our former glory!”

“This black sarcophagus contains our patriarch! It was made of a special material that absorbs negative energy, and once it reaches a high enough saturation, our leader will be revived stronger than ever! It is through him that we will show those other organizations exactly who’s in charge!”

Armond stopped speaking and laughed a deep throaty laugh, his subordinates joining him. Cypher and Alex on the other hand only looked annoyed. ‘How stupid are you guys? How have you made it this far in life if you think that such a stupid plan will work?’ Cypher thought. He was dumbstruck at how ridiculous this plan was.

Retvial magick was a mostly unknown art, however, reviving the dead wasn’t something it was capable of as far as Cypher knew. It could only create undead beings that were under the control of the caster, and that was only as long as the being created wasn’t stronger than the caster in the first place.

“You idiots don’t know what you’re doing! This won’t bring back your leader, it’ll only get all of you killed instead!” Alex said, his worry growing as he stared at the pitch-black sarcophagus. Cypher felt uneasy looking at it as well. It was one thing if negative energy gathered on its own, but if it was forced to gather and condensed into a single spot…

Well, Cypher didn’t want to consider what kind of horror could be spawned from such a thing. At that moment, Cypher and Alex looked at one another again. The time for acting had passed and they needed to destroy that sarcophagus as quickly as possible.