Twenty-five days had passed since crystallization begun.
Several Knights had pitched tents outside the village of Zo as the barrier that surrounded the village appeared to be impenetrable.
A silent rider approached on a horse.
"Welcome Captain". An elven female knight said as she ran towards an approaching horse.
"Morning Lady Sophia". The Captain said as he got off his horse. It was Captain Nikola of the Zeroth Guild. It's color were gold and black and it's symbol is a golden knight's helmet extending from a black shield.
"We have been trying to get through this barrier for three days now."
"Seems like the caster drew up ancient alchemical circles and runes around the village. Some really powerful stuff". Lady Sophia said to her captain. Her hairstyle was a red bob with bangs, she was fair skinned and had green eyes. She was an archer, one of the best in the knights.
"Good job lieutenant, lemme see what i can do". Captain Nikola said as he approached the barrier.
"Welcome Captain".
"Good to see you Captain!!!"
Several knights greeted their captain as he drew closer, he waved at them.
"Alright lemme see what i can do about this". Nikola said to himself as he held the hilt of his Silver Schiavonesca and drew it from it's scabbard.
He took a stance and shook his head, alerting his forces to move away, his lieutenant observed him from a distance.
Large currents of lightning began to surround him and gradually find it's way to the top of his sword. An aura of lightning immediately shot out of him, burning whatever it touched on the ground as the captain shot himself towards the barrier.
His sword pierced the barrier, tearing through it's layers, now destroying the circles and runes that circled the village.
His men cheered in excitement.
Nikola let out a deep breath and stood upright.
"Let's move in. We have a member of the investigative guild here with us, Sir Byomkesh. I believe you all will give him whatever he needs to uncover whatever happened here." Nikola announced to his men.
"Yes CAPTAIN!!!!". The team yelled in unison.
"Thank you for making this easy". Said Sir Byomkesh as he shook Nikola's hand.
"No problem. Now that we're in here can you tell me if something's wrong, yunno out of place?". Nikola asked the Investigator.
The differences between the two human men were stark. Nikola was a handsome man of below average height, thick black hair that feel to both sides of his face and a moustache. He was pale while Byomkesh was tall, beardless, well built man with light brown skin and short black hair. He wore specialized glasses.
"First thing i noticed was the mana, there's little to no presence of mana within a "wizard" village. That should be impossible but here we are". Sir Byomkesh said to Nikola.
"It's almost like something sucked it all up. Let me take a closer look at everything". Byomkesh added.
"Alright then. Casler, Fabio and Ella. You three will follow Sir Byomkesh here and if you see anything that wants to kill you, you kill it." Nikola said as he took out his cigar.
"Feeling cold Captain?". Said Sophia as she approached him from behind.
"Jeez, you startled me."
"I got the governor's letter last week cause i wasn't at the base, maybe if i got it sooner whatever happened here wouldn't have happened. You get what am saying right?". Nikola poured out his frustration.
Lieutenant Sophia tapped her captain on the shoulder and said;
"Don't let it eat you up, we'll find whoever did this.."
BOOOM!!!
A loud explosion was heard, followed by screams.
"Or what did this". She finalised her sentence and armed herself with her lance.
The Captain and Lieutenant ran towards the rest of the force only to discover something strange.
A creature three times as tall as the average human, it's skin was as white as death and it was a humanoid in appearance but far from a human. It felt like a failed attempt to replicate a human. It's torso was small, it's legs, arms and neck were long and it had a mouth with no face.
The creature swung it's arms, the impact from the acts sent several knights into nearby structures.
"What the hell is that thing???". Sophia screamed at Byomkesh who ran towards them.
His arms were on his knees and he tried to catch his breath.
"I… I don't know. I've never seen something like that". Byomkesh immediately replied her as he armed himself with his mace. Channeling his ice affinity to form spikes around the weapon.
The other knights attempted to cut off the creatures legs only for it's go rejoin.
Byomkesh who was observing the encounter began to explain his theories to the two leaders of the squad;
"It appears to have no organs and it's made of some kind of organic matter…"
"..the wizards. Whoever created this used the flesh of the wizards to somehow cook this up". He added.
"That is sick. What did the wizards ever do to anyone". Nikola said in anger as he charged up his Schiavonesca and launched an attack on the creature.
Lightning Territory: Electric Estate
An aura of lightning surrounded the creature, sending sparks throughout it's body. It exploded, it's parts splashed across the village.
"Thanks Captain"
His men screamed in thanks.
"Alright Alright that's enough."
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's pack this up so the investigators can find out how this even.." Nikola stopped in his tracks while addressing his squad as he noticed something.
The creature began to reform.
The men began to panic.
"What the..". Byomkesh too stunned to speak ran towards the creature, slamming his mace into it and freezing it immediately.
Sophia burned it with her flames until the very ground had charred.
Shortly after, parts of the creature emerged as spikes and broke free from the ice. The melted parts began to solidify.
The knights were in shock.
"The true goal of alchemists in creating homunculi was not merely to create life, but to create intelligent, independent life."
"Many failed to achieve this, leading them to regard their creations as imperfections. Such as the creature before you".
The voice was heard from above on a rooftop, a young man sat on a balcony eating an apple.
"You see, that thing over there can think but it's like a two year old expect i can tell it what to do and it listens". The young man laughs and takes a bite of his apple.
"Where i failed this time, i will improve on when i start again". He said to the knights.
"There will be no…AGAIN". Byomkesh said as he enhanced himself with mana, preparing to leap towards the young man.
The creature slams him into the ground with it's fists.
"Nooo." Nikola yelled out as she swung at the creature. It transformed its right hand into a large curved blade and exchanged strikes with the captain.
"Call Fabio, he's the healer. We need him now." Sophia yelled out as Byomkesh began to spit blood.
"Tony!!! It's time to go… it's funny that i call him Tony". The young man said as he laughed.
The creature kicked the captain as he slammed into Sophia and later a building.
"Captain!!!". The other knights yelled out as they ran to their captain's aid.
Fabio ran towards the injured Byomkesh.
The creature began to build up a large ball of energy from it's stomach, it made it's way up it's long throat as it fired a powerful beam in the direction of the captain.
The knight out their shields together to defend their captain and lieutenant.
"You two are the only hope of us catching this guy or stopping this thing".
"I'm sorry Captain, Lieutenant." Said Casler, a young knight as he gave his all to block the beam.
Using their shields and defensive spells they attempted to redirect the beam.
The creature charged another one, adding to the force.
The beam broke through their defenses, crushing the armor, bones and flesh of the valiant knights.
The Captain quickly got up, after regaining consciousness.
He looked to his right, only to find the pieces of what were once his men.
"Dammit".
He held his sword tightly and lower his head.
He then looked up to see that the creature and it's master had gotten away.
"No need to worry Nikola. I used a tag spell. We'll find them eventually." Byomkesh said as he attempted to get up.
"Don't worry."
"Fabio, Lieutenant Sophia is in that building. Go heal her." Nikola said to the young knight.
"Yes Captain". Fabio said as he immediately ran to help her.
Byomkesh had a look of anticipation on his face and looked at Captain Nikola, he said;
"From what i looked up before i left my base, this village only had two unusual visits in the last three months".
"One from a student, who arrived and stayed."
"And the other from a guild known as El Diablo. One must be connected to whatever happened here, if not both".
"We better find out because i doubt the wizard community would be happy to find out an entire village of their own have been wiped out." Nikola said to him and he got up, left his side and began to walk around the village.
Captain Nikola observed the aftermath of death and destruction that had taken place in this small village. He said to himself.
He shook his head and returned to his people. His left hand began to bleed as he squeezed his gauntlet into his flesh.