I Am Alucard [Ongoing]

CHAPTER XIV - SHOCK AND AWE

The midnight of the Abandoned Fortress...

The Necro Games was in silence as it rests in the middle of midnight, calling a day for tomorrow, in order to continue. The fortress was quiet, the crickets sounded cheerfully, blending into the soothingly vibes of the night.

And here comes a hooded being, who came inside the Abandoned Fortress' entrance. The guards opened up the gate and pointed out their spears and swords to the hooded being, asking its buisness.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing?! Do you know this is-" the guard stopped his sentence as the hooded being casted a spell to knock them with just a snap of its fingers. The guards went down, leaving the gate—freely opened. The hooded being walked away to the corpse heading to a coliseum, where Adrian and Maria resides.

The hooded being went to the prison, looking for someone. It noticed Adrian's presence when it gazed into his cell. But Adrian is sleeping peacefully, resting for his upcoming match. The hooded being raised its hand as it was trying to cast a spell on Adrian but unfortunately Maria who is disguised as guard, held its hand and the hooded being was alerted.

"What do you think are you doing?" Maria asking a question with a terrifying looks at its face.

The hooded being alerted, had noticed Maria and it called her name in femininely voice. "Maria?"

Maria became a bit alerted when the hooded being called her name. She looked closely into the hooded being and it was someone familiar that she'd known for a long time. "You... You're...?"

Few moments after, the hooded being and Maria went over to a shelter where no one could find them, not even the guards.

Maria began their conversation while standing, and posing near the door. She took off her armor for awhile, and started asking.

"So, what business brings you here" paused herself a while, remembering the name of someone she's familiar of before responding "Sister Annette?"

"I'm here to tell, you... That we should go home, for a moment." Annette responded Maria.

"What?" Maria came shocked hearing her sister's demand.

"Right now, our town is being invaded by Zobek's forces. Lots of people are dying." Annette explained, about to sit on a chair.

Maria was intrigued by hearing Zobek's name and asked into her own thoughts. "Zobek. Isn't that the man, Adrian is talking about?"

"What happened in there?" Maria asked her sister.

Annette sighed heavily, her expression filled with sorrow. She began recounting the events that had unfolded in their hometown, the town they had both left behind.

"The town's chief had been in negotiations with Shanoa, a representative from another village," Annette started. "They were discussing a trade agreement for magical goods, items that Shanoa's townspeople had crafted to help heal the sick in our town."

Maria listened intently, her concern growing with each word. She knew how important those goods were for the well-being of their people.

"But then," Annette continued, her voice trembling with anger, "some dark magic interfered. The goods were destroyed, and that's when Zobek appeared."

"Zobek," Maria repeated, her mind racing with memories of Adrian's search for the same man. "The sinister man Adrian is after. What did he do?"

Annette's eyes filled with sadness as she spoke. "Zobek mocked the deal between the chief and Shanoa, taunting them mercilessly. Shanoa, in her desperation, tried to attack him, but she was too powerless. That's when he summoned his minions, and chaos erupted in the town."