The Villain Wants to Quit

The Gems (9)

They were able to swing the castle gates open without too much trouble.

The castle may have been locked at one point, but now any such things were long rusted through.

The ruins of the garden made it clear that it had never been a verdant place. Everything was very utilitarian save for one crumbling statute.

"Is something wrong?" Giselle asked as Vin suddenly froze.

"I just thought something seemed off about the snow," Vin's eyes glowed as he made some sort of calculation. "It's just a bit lower than I would have expected in some places."

"Wouldn't that be the wind?" Marc asked.

"I suppose," Vin said, pushing aside the feeling of unease.

They made their way through the gardens to the castle's front doors.

Marc pulled open one of the doors for them, and everything came crashing apart.

"Looking for this?" Dullahan laughed, holding up a necklace made with a familiar black gem.

He was stretched out languidly on a chaise lounge at the grand entrance.

Theo didn't waste time talking or asking how Dullahan knew they would come here.

Instead, he immediately cast the fire spell, imagining Dullahan and the chaise lounge catching fire.

A sphere appeared around Dullahan, negating his magic.

Theo didn't even manage to make Dullahan flinch.

"I see you learned a cute party trick," Dullahan said.

Despair overwhelmed Theo. Despite all the times he imagined killing Dullahan, he had no confidence in his ability to do so.

"Attack," Dullahan lazily flicked a finger, and some of his men immediately began attacking Theo's comrades. "Just leave the warlock to me."

Theo started chanting another spell.

Dullahan flung a curse at Theo before he could finish the chant.

Theo dodged, but the curse was faster.

He fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"My, my," Dullahan grabbed Theo by his hair and drug him toward a magic circle. "It seems you've picked up an interesting little artifact."

Dullahan discarded the hair tie, and Theo's hair faded to black.

"Was that supposed to be a disguise?" Dullahan chuckled as he tossed Theo into the center of the magic circle.

Meanwhile, the other's put up an impressive fight and felled many of Dullahan's men. Theo's gaze cut to them.

They were skilled knights but severely outnumbered, and Vin was the only innate magic user in the group. They would be at an even greater disadvantage as the ambient magic reduced.

Marc was a skillful leader and commanded the group wisely, but there was a limit to how much strategy could help.

Theo felt nauseated watching them fight.

"My goodness, you looked so shocked that I was here," Dullahan threw his head back as he laughed. Theo's attention snapped back to him.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice that your little missions to find gems continued after your 'death'? You see, there's no reason to collect these gems if you don't own a warlock." Dullahan tapped his temple knowingly,

"Now, I expect you to tell me where the two gems you have are," Dullahan smiled down at Theo while dangling a gem in front of his eyes.

Theo glared at Dullahan, still unable to speak because of the curse.