"Hey," he called out softly, his voice calm and non-threatening.
On the other hand, the person on the receiving end was imdiately surprised at the sudden greeting, instinctively his hand reached for his weapon, but Apollo was faster. Before the man could react, Apollo's eyes stared deadly at him, it locked onto the man's gaze.
"Calm down I am not an enemy, aren't I one of your allies"
His voice dropped to a soothing, rhythmic tone, the subtle power of his copied authority seeping into his words.
"You don't need to be afraid," Apollo said, stepping closer. "You're safe. You've done your job, and now you can relax. All I need is for you to answer a few simple questions."
The man's tension lted away as the power of mystics worked like a hypnotic suggestion that took hold. His eyes glazed over slightly, his posture relaxing as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Yes... safe," he mumbled, his voice distant and eyes vacant.
Apollo's voice remained soft and steady, drawing the man deeper under his control. "You worked for the Revolutionary Church, didn't you? Tell about the experints they were conducting here. What were they planning?"
The man blinked, struggling to form the words as Apollo's power held him in its grip. "They... they were making vessels... people who could channel the power of gods. They've been trying for months, but most of the experints failed. Only one vessel survived."
Apollo's eyes narrowed. "The one we just saw?"
The man nodded sluggishly. "Yes. He was the first success. But they're not stopping... there are other labs, other places where they're trying to make more."
Apollo leaned in slightly, his voice growing more insistent. "Where are these other labs? How many more vessels are they trying to create?"
Hearing that question the man hesitated, his mind fighting the fog of hypnosis for a mont. Apollo deepened his control, his eyes glowing brighter as he reinforced the order. "Tell everything."
Finally after strengthening the command the man finally gave in.
"There's... there's a lab north of the empire, deep within the shelf," the guard finally said, his voice a monotone. "In the mountains. It's hidden, heavily guarded. They're closer to perfecting the process there. They're planning to create an army of vessels, enough to challenge the empire.
But they need sothing—so artifact to stabilize the magic."
Apollo's heart raced. An army of vessels? This was sothing he can't let happen. "What artifact? Where are they looking for it?"
"I don't know," the man replied, his voice faltering. "Only the high priests know that. But they're desperate. The vessel we had here... it wasn't stable. Without the artifact, the magic breaks down."
Apollo let the information sink in. An unstable army of living weapons wasn't a threat yet, but if the Church found whatever artifact they were searching for, they could turn the tide of their war against the empire. He needed to get this information to the Archduke—and fast.
"So the reason for their mass harvest of the artifact was for this, they were looking for a weapon to stabilize magic"
Satisfied with what he had learned, Apollo released his hold on the man's mind. The man blinked, disoriented and confused. He wouldn't rember the conversation, only that he had continued his duty to finish the incantation.
"We were never here," Apollo said softly, planting the final command as he turned and disappeared back into the shadows.
As Apollo rejoined Alicia in front of the stairs, he relayed everything the man had told him. Alicia's expression grew darker with every word.
"An army of vessels?" she said quietly. "As expected they are aiming bigger to challenge the empire"
Apollo nodded grimly. "We need to move quickly. The Church is racing against ti to find that artifact, and if they do, we're all in trouble."
Alicia's eyes grew colder and in that mont Apollo saw her power leak for a second before being sealed again. "Then let's make sure we find it before they do."
A low rumble filled the air, and seconds later, the warehouse erupted in a blinding flash of light and a deafening explosion. The ground shook beneath their feet as the building collapsed inward, consud by the raw energy of the failed ritual. From a distance, it would look like a catastrophic accident—a magical experint gone wrong.
Apollo and Alicia stood on a nearby rooftop, watching the plu of smoke rise into the night sky. "That should do it," Apollo said quietly.
Alicia nodded, her eyes fixed on the smoldering ruins. "The Church won't know what happened. We've eliminated the vessel and destroyed their lab without leaving a trace."
Apollo's expression was grim. "But they'll regroup. We've only bought ourselves ti."
"Then we'll use it wisely," Alicia replied. "We need to figure out their next move before they can strike again."
As Apollo and Alicia stood on the rooftop, watching the warehouse collapse into a cloud of dust and debris, Apollo felt that they were still missing sothing. The explosion had wiped out the vessel and destroyed the lab, but he felt that they would discover sothing if they waited a little longer.
"I think we should wait for a bit and see if we could spot the people behind this," Apollo murmured, his gaze fixed on the site below. "It might give us an edge."
Alicia glanced at him. "Wouldn't it be dangerous if they spot us here, I think it's more feasible to let the archduke's n handle this."
Apollo's eyes narrowed as he spotted a lone guard staggering away from the wreckage. Unlike the others who had rushed into the warehouse before the explosion, this one had stayed back, watching from a distance. His uniform marked him as one of the higher-ranking rcenaries, likely privy to details that the foot soldiers wouldn't know.
"Wait for here," Apollo said quietly.
Before Alicia could ask what he ant, he leapt down from the rooftop, landing silently a short distance from the guard. Moving through the shadows he silently approaches his target, Apollo stands beside the man, who is clearly shaken by the sudden destruction of the warehouse.
The guard's attention was still fixed on the smoldering remains, making it easy for Apollo to close the distance without being seen.
"Tell who hired you to guard this place?" he asked in a very calm manner...
Strangely the guard was enveloped with a power that left him no choice but to answer.
"It was a...woman!....the princess of this kingdom! She told us it was a treasure from a dungeon, if we can secure it we will be paid handsoly"
Apollo was suddenly taken aback hearing that it was this kingdom's princess who would do such a thing.
"The princess is she a mber of the church...or perhaps an artificial god in disguise?"
His thoughts were running wild until a notification called his attention.
Discover stories with empire
[Creator the guards are heading this way it's better to leave]
Apollo then nodded before ordering the man to forget everything about their conversation.
Then he returned back to the rooftop and left an insect spy to act as his eyes as the two disappeared into the shadows, preparing to return to the archduke to give their report.
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