**Harolds estate 20 minutes earlier*
The last of harolds house servants, the same maid who opened the door for the torchbearers was shaking, as she quickly got underneath the floorboards.
"T-thank you sir harold, I dont know how i could repay you for this." The woman was clearly scared out of her wits, at least she had somewhere to hide. In this basement area stood tens of other people, some were his maids and others were people who kept begging to get into his estate, fearing those creatures tearing the town apart.
As harold crouched down, he stared straight into the maid's eyes "listen, i dont give a damn about repaying me right now, but you better repay me by staying alive first. Try not making too much noise, and that goes for all of you." Harold then looked back at his estate's underground entrance, seeing the amount of people hiding inside. He sighed "damn… this will be troublesome."
He took one last look at them before closing the floorboards and placing a rug over them. Taking a deep sigh, he walked over to his living room chair and sat down "you've truly done it to yourself this time."
If hed know it was that bad, harold would have sent some more funds and buffed up the guard a bit. Looking out the window, he saw destroyed buildings, and lost civilians, some looking for their loved ones, others running like their lives depended on it. Hell they probably did.
a messenger came a few minutes ago, telling of how something changed multiple civilians and members of the guard into unholy monsters,
all while nobody noticed. They all acted normal until they didn't.
"I thought we caught it in it's beginning stages. People were always going missing at rapid rates,
Something just puppeteered their body's long enough to fool us."
Well, regret wasn't going to save him now was it?
He was a noble, there was no time for self pity, especially now. Walking over to an old closet, he opened it, revealing a few tools.
A crossbow that his father used to use. Hunting strong monsters was his passion. 'I was always more of an inventor, but if their was any last time to use it, now would be it.'
It was made from the same wood elves used, and tipped with a mana stone, A sigil of the Aegis family on it.
Holding it in one hand, he grabbed a few more tools. The next thing he grabbed was a gauntlet and a shoulder pad. They weren't toon heavy, buy the mana stones in the shoulder pad and the gauntlet to control what it did.
The last thing harold grabbed was a final mana stone that he injected into the palm of the gauntlet.
With that, he stepped outside of his room.
As he walked back into his living room, he heard a knock at the door. Having his gauntlet at the ready, he walked up to the peephole. What he saw made his heart skip a few beats.
A man with completely pale skin and long hair. His eyes were both the most dead and lively he had ever seen. Standing in the trenchcoat with mercinary attire underneath.
To his side was a man large tenticle like growths coming from his back, all seemingly having a mind of their own, fighting and bickering with eachother. He had no eyes, only a mouth that seemed to permanently open, rows of teeth leading down into his throat.
To his left was a woman who would be relatively attractive if not for the eye in between her breasts and her right hand being seemingly made of corrosive acid, it was currently melted through his porch.
The man on the trenchcoat made a smile too big for his face. "I can hear the heartbeats of everyone in this establishment. Such a delightful party you have here."
Harold kept his breathing steady, his gauntlet subtly humming as mana surged through its circuits. He knew these weren't the kind of creatures you reasoned with—they were the ones who'd been eating townsfolk alive while wearing their skins.
"Party's by invitation only," Harold said through the door, his voice steady despite the sweat trickling down his temple. His fingers flexed around the crossbow's grip. "And you weren't on the guest list."
"You sure? I think you've been looking for me for a while. I've finally decided to show myself for our…formal meeting."
The man to his right began violently twitching as The wormlike growths began attacking each other once again.
The trenchcoated man sighed before placing his finger on one of the growths and tearing it off. It wiggled in his hand for a moment before he squeezed it into mush. The eyeless man didn't react, only continuing to breathe heavily.
Taking a breath, Harold focused. This was the creature who was turning people. Was everyone else doing fine? 'No. He looks spotless. As much as i dont like shiva, she'd leave a mark on one of these guys before she died.' And since he had send those adventurers to her, they had a better chance being alive than not.
That was good to know. He most likely didn't send good people to their deaths, But 3 of the most powerful abominations were now at his doorstep, demanding entry.
Harold's gauntlet whirred softly as mana circuits pulsed to life beneath his skin. He could feel the weight of his father's crossbow—solid, reliable, its elven wood humming with latent energy. The sigil of House Aegis glowed faintly, responding to his racing heartbeat.
"Last chance," the trenchcoated man called, tilting his head unnaturally to the side. "Open the door, and I'll make it quick for the ones in the basement. You can even watch." His grin widened, splitting his cheeks like overripe fruit.
Harold almost laughed. Surely he was a man of his word.
The crossbow snapped up—no hesitation, no grand speech—just the sharp *twang* of the string and a bolt laced with searing mana stone. It punched through the peephole and buried itself in the trenchcoat man's grinning face. The impact sent him stumbling back, but he didn't fall. Instead, he reached up and plucked the bolt free, black ichor oozing from the wound like melted tar. His grin never wavered.
"Rude"