We started to argue about thirty minutes ago in a remote hotel that Alexandros rented. Since the Blue Chevaliers started to get suspicious of us, we decided to stay low inside. Since it was already dark, most of the guests are already locked in doors, fearing that the Night Demon will come and sap the souls of everyone. So, I tried to…diplomatically change his mind.

"I believe that it is a bad idea going to a place and invade a palace full of knights ready to take you on." I argued. Hestia nodded too.

But Alexandros' wretched pride sparked in his eyes, like a warrior thirsting for blood and glory. "We cannot waste time. We have to find this Barry character and throw him out of the picture. We will leave by tomorrow and attack."

"Can't you hear yourself? You are talking like a maniac. Haven't you got any sense of brain cells in your head? What if there is a trap in the palace? What if a Master was expecting this move? We have to act cool and smart."

He shrugged his shoulders and looked away, hurting his little conquering pride. I sighed with frustration because he's such a hot headed guy. It's like his brain is nothing more than a piece of muscle who wants to fight and fight and fight.

"Alexandros, I'm well aware of the situation right now. I know you want to win so badly, and I want to find my friend as soon as possible. But we cannot go crazy on this. Which is why I came forward with a plan." I lay out my plans with Hestia in the afternoon.

Hestia was happy to follow along the plan, so I ordered her to head toward the nearest Magic Shops in town and buy some books for her to learn. Although she is a student in terms of magic, she has proven to me to be capable of handling well in the arts. For such a young age, she was capable of breaking off the door we locked back in Oceana to protect her, and it's all thanks to her that I was able to live.

She huffed as she pulled a backpack full of juicy spell books. I did had to convince Alexandros to give us a bit of his gold currency to execute the plan when he started to ramble about sieging the palace.

"I will need to concentrate to read the spell books. So…I will be in my room for study." Hestia said as she retreated back while huffing from the weight of her spell books.

Alexandros crossed his arms and sighed. I walked between the window and him, so as to watch any anomalies outside.

"So, are you going to tell me your master plan, tactician? Is it going to be a battle ahead?" He said sarcastically which I rolled my eyes.

"As a matter of fact, yes. It is a possibility. If the conditions are met, we may have a battle that could involve many people if we are not careful."

"And that is?" He raised an eyebrow on the question. So I turned my head and locked eyes with his.

"We are going to capture the Night Demon." Alexandros' brows narrowed in confusion and surprise.

I lay my hands on the table as I focused. "The Night Demon attacks at night. If I'm going to find the true murderer, we have to capture it and tell the Blue Chevaliers the truth. That way we can absolve the accusation of Joan."

Alexandros crossed his arms. "That sounds ridiculous. We do not know the enemy. We cannot predict the enemy's attacks. This could well put your life at risk."

I chuckled. "I'm aware of that, Master. Now, I a.n.a.lyzed the city's map." I opened my menu and tapped 'MAP'. This feature records a new city or place, each time you visit it for the first time. As the map appeared on the screen, I flipped it so I can show it to Alexandros.

"See this?" I tapped the center plaza. "This is where the last murder ended. Someone died near an hotel and restaurant place. Someone who was the owner of the restaurant. I also learned that Joan was in that place too, according to witnesses. I suspect that she was framed somehow, probably something she had. All shop owners requested citizens, especially those who are armed to remove their weapons in fear of the Night Demon."

"So, your plan is to wait for the Night Demon to attack on the night? How can you be so sure that thing will even sneak attack on the population?" He asked.

I placed my hand on my chest. "Because I will be the bait."

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "That doesn't explain why it will attack tonight."

"Think about it. According to the citizens, the Night Demon usually attacks at night. Now, since the population is aware of this, they are already prepared to hide themselves indoors through the night. But, if someone else is outside during the night alone, what will you think will happen?"

"Well, it certainly will attract the attention of the Night Demon. An easy prey to kill…"

I continued. "Which is why I will go out alone into the plaza. Hestia will arrange the traps that I will designate and, you…" I smiled at him. "You will fight the Night Demon if the plan fails."

He remained silent for a moment, then he blinked. "So what's in your mind?"

Before I could tell more deeper, Hestia opens her door and, with a fl.u.s.tered look on her face, she said: "I'm ready."

The night was quiet and chilly. The plaza itself was empty, like a ghost town has taken over the town of Bordeaux. Houses were sealed shut with little lights s.h.i.+ning the gla.s.s windows. The streets were cold and dark. Scanning the area, there was no sign of Blue Chevaliers at all. Why do they bother patrolling the streets if they aren't paying attention on the real threat?

Hestia gave me an item called Hearing Gem. If another user has the gem, we can communicate through it, like a cellphone without a screen. Each of us divided our tasks accordingly. Hestia uses her new learned spells to lay traps around the streets using rune binding spells. Each gate of the city is also covered by traps just in case. Alexandros on the other hand lies hidden on the tower of a church near my position. If all else fails, he will intervene and save the day. But the real objective here is to trap the Night Demon. That way, the Blue Chevaliers will see the truth. Only then will Joan be free of her captivity.

I took out my black sword and waved it around as I breathed. I relaxed my muscles and waited. I looked around the plaza, opening my ears for any sound of movement. I started to imagine myself with Joan on my side. Her glistening smile that warmed my heart every day. Her ruby hair waving with the wind. Her skills with the sword. She always told me that I can be better with the sword. That practice does make perfect. But I never took it to account. And I felt sorry for that. I gripped my sword as I promised myself that I will find her no matter what.

"I sense something…" Alexandros spoke to me with the Hearing Gem. "Right through the north."

I looked beyond the dark street before me, and surely I felt something wrong. A sense of coldness and dark. Something was indeed coming.

"Hestia, is everything ready for the trap?" I whispered at the Hearing Gem on my hand.

"Yes, Mister Alister. I await your signal."

A shadow crawled through the dark streets of Bordeaux as a floating phantom with black robes swooped in like a ghost. It was a being with no sense of ident.i.ty, covered with a dark hood that concealed it's face. The hands were shriveled with long talons. A strange shrieking sound emitted from the dark as the floating being turned it's head at me. Then…

"Now!!!" A burst of fire erupted from the traps. The flames engulfed the shrieking menace as Hestia appeared like a wild cat and chanted the words: "Hex Prison!" Multiple magical lines erupted from the floor as it traced a cube box, surrounding the Night Demon. As she focused to contained it, I quickly grabbed a scroll of 'Mana Sap' spell and opened it, which quickly disintegrated and activated the effect. With this, we can weaken the thing by sapping most of it's mana.

Hestia continued waving her hands rapidly as she focused to complete her spell. The monster shrieked and shook the streets with fear. But the thing was too strong to even withstand Hestia's spell.

The Night Demon smacked away Hestia from the field as I screamed to get it's attention. It c.o.c.ked it's head toward me and soon I started to run away toward the dark corridors of the streets. Time for plan B.

As I ran as fast as I could, the Night Demon began to stalk me behind. The shrieking noise gave me gooseb.u.mps and I was getting ready to freak, but I finally arrived toward my next trap. As I gasped watching the trap unfold, the Night Demon engulfed into flames again. Now, it's my turn.

"Alexandros, are you ready?"

"More ready than I ever could be."

Alexandros quickly appeared like lightning as I stood besides him as we waited for the flames to stop. I informed Alexandros to gulp his pride away and told him to weaken the monster only, not killing it. If the Night Demon gets weaken, we might need Hestia again to se her 'Hex Prison' again.

Alexandro's golden armor flashed into him as he dramatically took out his sword. Together, we charged into the monster and started to attack. At first, we thought we were doing some damage to the thing. Although using the 'Scan' menu will reveal the monster or player's name and HP, it didn't work at all. So we continued doing the barrage of attacks. But this time around, the Night Demon retaliated and slashed me first.

"Alister!" Alexandros screamed as I flipped down on the street. My HP was cut down in half, which means this thing is far more dangerous that I could imagine. I coughed out blood as I held my chest from the pain. Alexandros fought back but later was knocked out.

"Mister Alister. Mister Alexandros. What's happening? Where are you guys?" Hestia screamed at me at the Hearing Gem as I gulped down trying to think of words. I looked at the Night Demon and gritted my teeth. Why hasn't being weakened? I used the 'Mana Sap' spell which theoretically could weaken anyone in ten minutes. Alexandros is quite powerful too. I saw him hitting numerous times and still it didn't went down. Could it be that…?

"Die, you wretch!" Alexandros roared with his sword enchanted with pure light as he slashed his sword vertically into the Night Demon. But…it didn't faze it at all. It was as if…

"Alexandros, stop!" I said as Alexandros was pushed back by the creature as it fled away from the battlefield. As we recovered, I informed Hestia that Alexandros and I were chasing the Night Demon down the street where she was, through the East.

As quick as lightning, Alexandros invited me toward the chariot and we chased the shadow flying through Bordeaux.

"How the h.e.l.l that thing is still kicking?" Alexandros angrily said.

"I think that thing can't be beaten…at all."

He raised an eyebrow. "What? Impossible. There's no such thing as that. Unless…" We exchanged looks and I nodded.

"It's a 'Hacker'."

We retrieved Hestia from the central plaza and used Alexandros instinct to track down the Night Demon. While chasing around the quiet city, we saw multiple bodies littered on the East side of Bordeaux. It was the Blue Chevaliers. What in G.o.d's name happened here?

"So much death here…" Hestia frowned as she looked away from the corpses.

It was indeed hard to see. We have to stop this thing or it might get worse now.

"Alister! Hestia! Behind you!" Alexandros quickly warned us as the Night Demon was behind us. I quickly reacted to the situation and began to use my sword to defend the chariot. As the demon retaliated offensively, Hestia quickly realized she had to act now or we will all die here.

"Hex Prison!" She barked the words, but it was too late. The Night Demon expected this and quickly grabbed her by the arm and lifted her into the air. She screamed for help.

"d.a.m.n! It's getting away, Alexandros. We have to hurry!"

"If only we could make a dent out of it, we could surely have an advantage. Right now, we have to follow that thing." His face turned dark with the facts on the table. We lost the battle.

I lifted my eyes as I saw Hestia and the shadowy monster flew away into the night as I remained helpless to save her. All we had left was going forward and follow the monster's trail, hoping we could track it down and help save Hestia. Joan, hold on for me…