Rise of the Godking - Chapter 157

Chapter 157 - Heist(2)

He remembered his children, first.

Even before the last word was out of the messenger's mouth, Noraldin was running to the door. In his mind, frightening images of the children trying to fight even fire with their makeshift swords and spears formed and were swept aside. No matter what, he had to get to them before any danger came even close to hurting them, so when he ran into an invisible wall right in front of the doors which made him fly back and slide on the ground until he was at the feet of the Ushanbo, the blackest of curses spilled out of his mouth and he turned to the man dressed in purple robes with eyes that screamed murder.

It took a few moments for Noraldin to realise who he really was, and that this was all probably being orchestrated by him. This did change things a bit, but as he knew that the guards were watching, he got to his feet and spat, "What is the meaning of this? Let me go!"

Finally, for the first time today, the leader of the Ushanbos spoke while gazing at his nails, almost as if he wasn't aware of the plumes of smoke that were now making their way into the waiting room through the door.

"I'm afraid you cannot leave without ensuring us that our deal shall not fall through. We gave you the vajrams. When in the presence of heat, they are known to melt and lose all their value. Even the items we have bought from you are in danger of being consumed, as all crystals cannot handle heat well. Hence, I must insist that you either return the money, or give us the items that we bought beforehand."

The smoke was arriving in great gusts, now, and Noraldin found it increasingly hard to focus and keep in mind that this was all part of the scam. Finally, knowing that this was the best thing to do, he gave up on the effort and allowed the anger that had been simmering at the corners of his vision to take over before screaming, "Damn you! I don't care about that! My children are in danger! I must go to them!"

The only response he got was a shrug.

"Not my problem. Everyone knows that money is our child. That is not really a perfect sentence, but it is the best way to communicate our priorities. Items, or money. Your choice."

Helpless, Noraldin looked to the door and the faint shimmering in the air which indicated that the spell-wall was still up. The only reason that they were all not coughing on the ground was that the room was big enough to accommodate a lot more smoke, but time was running out fast. From the degree of the fire, Noraldin couldn't be sure whether precautions could really be taken to ensure that everyone would be safe.

He weighed his options, thinking in the back of his mind that he should make a decision that would make sense in the future, too, for anyone who would be going over all this later. After looking between the door and the Ushanbo whose face was framed by his braids, he finally cursed again and plunged his hand into his robes, before taking out a silver key shaped like a dodecahedron.

"The items. Remember, both of us answer to the family. If even one item that was not paid for is taken, you will feel their wrath. Now let me go! Everything you need is in the vault three doors away from this room."

As the key entered his hands, the leader smiled faintly, then nodded to one of the men behind him. Looking to the door, Noraldin sighed with relief when he saw that the way was clear. Rushing through the corridors that were filled with coughing people at a dead run, he made his way to his personal vault. On the way, the only thing he paused to ensure was whether a specific group of servants who were always on call to protect the resources that belonged to the Garbonors when such disasters happened were actively carrying away the most precious objects within his home.

He relaxed a bit when he saw a couple of them on his way, dressed in bright orange robes that were meant to indicate to all those in their way that they should be allowed through at all costs. Noraldin let out a shallow breath when he happily saw that the fire had been restricted to the second floor. His own level was no different from how he had left it a few hours ago, but still, he was soon in the room where the children lived, ushering them to the secret exit through which the three had escaped before.

They had learned to read his body language long ago, so they knew that he was utterly serious when he said that they needed to go. In silence, they all moved through the underground tunnel, and finally, when they emerged near the beach at the edge of Southwest Marillein, the knot in his shoulders finally loosened and he took in his first, normal breath since this entire ordeal had begun.

As the leader of the city, it was his duty to oversee any and all efforts being taken. Dropping off the children in one of the many safe houses he had set up for circumstances such as these, Noraldin hurried back to the central island, pausing only briefly on the way to assure the people that everything would be alright.

His heart felt warm when he saw many already running in the same direction he was going, holding buckets of water. No call for help had been given, but here, everyone helped if they could.

He had to pause, again, to coordinate the efforts so that too many people would not target the same area that was aflame. Whenever anyone stood on a street from which the central island was visible, the smoke that was billowing out of the many windows that had been enchanted to automatically open on a single command could be seen. It was a good thing that the one in charge of these enchantments had been quick enough to take that step, and with the wind actively being blown inside, it was only a matter of time before the fire went out.

He wrinkled his nose a few times on his way as the stench of something so deplorable that it made his stomach turn reached his nostrils. Now that he thought about it, he realized that a hint of it had been present in the waiting room, too, but try as he might, he couldn't think of a reason behind its existence.

When he finally stepped onto the central island, he was relieved to see that the smoke had already decreased to such a degree that it was almost ready to be dispelled completely. There was another problem, though: the same smell was stronger, here, and he could only make his way to the pyramids while holding one end of his robes to his nose.

Only fifteen minutes had passed since he had run out of the room with the Ushanbos. Even with his ailing body, he was proud of the time he had made, and he was also proud of the dutifulness of his underlings as he saw that the fire had completely been brought under control when he stepped into the vast clearing in front of the entrance.

Something was still wrong. It tickled the back of his mind, and now that he found himself relaxing a bit more with only the smell affecting him the most, he took the time to think about it.

Something that came into his vision when he turned to his right made it all clear in the blink of an eye. It came crashing down on him in a single instant, and when he understood exactly what had happened, the breath went out of him as if he had been punched in the chest.

With the shaking hands and quivering lips of one extremely alarmed, he walked to a group of people and asked, "What are you doing here?"

They looked down, at first, and due to the sudden movement, two of them even staggered to the side, losing their balance and barely managing to stay on their feet.

Finally, it was the leader who answered in a tipsy voice, before promptly barfing all over his orange clothes while Noraldin watched on, horrified.

"W-we thought it was w-water, sir, but it-it was wine! Strong w-wine! So strong! W-we just got here...but people are saying we already carried stuff out? H-how? Did we work in our sl-sleep? Or w-were they imagining things? I don't kn-know, sir...but if we did do it, then I guess we did a g-great job cos everyone says we carried a l-lotta stuff out! Hehe....maybe we're d-due for a promotion!"