“Yo!”

The violet tuxedoed man waved his hand in a casual manner whilst the other held his modern guitar, this turn of events shocked the Archbishop that wasn’t even finished on dealing with Aristotle, now another one joined the fray.

“Hello, lemme introduce myself! I’m Ryan Hannock 22 years old, aspiring musician, my accustomed instruments are guitars and drums, my voice also, maybe, my idols are, multiple pop musicians, rock musicians and a few rappers…”

He continued more on his personal details, with no clue of what was currently happening, it was like he wanted to do a different approach against on his enemies, in Aristotle’s eyes, hearing the name Ryan Hannock he knew he was an ally, not a random war bard but, The Hero of Music and Melody.

In the midst of telling his personal details, he saw a mind-controlled Naoki who stood straight near the Archbishop, the tuxedoed man, Ryan Hannock, reacted as if he’d seen a friend and walked closer to Naoki.

Since Naoki was near the Archbishop, the Archbishop thought that he was about to attack him and cowardly ran away from him who was still a few meters away from them, as he walked to Naoki he was greeted by an attack.

It was some sort of punch accompanied with a strong gust of wind, Ryan was able to evade it with ease, like he had been expecting the attack, when he reached Naoki, he strummed his guitar before Naoki finally regaining his consciousness.

“Hey, if it isn’t Lowkey- dokey Naoki, whatcha doing here with Aristotle the Orator!”

He said with a tone, like greeting a long-time friend of his, this turn of events shocked Aristotle, even Naoki who had just been released from the hypnosis spell that he was under in. Naoki replied with a faltering voice and said.

“Um- Ryan, hey… yeah… the Archibishop, him, is the neemy.”

He said before becoming unconscious and laying his head on Ryan’s shoulder, Ryan replied with a nod and placed Naoki to the ground for a rest.

“Sheesh, you sure ain’t okey-dokey today, aight, back to the main topic, Archbishop! What’s up?”

He shouted in a casual manner, like he was familiar to him again, but it was impossible, was it some sort of trick to lower the Archbishop’s guard? Maybe yes, maybe no? Aristotle couldn’t read his mind nor his strategies.

“Now then, I’ll give you up to the count of three before I sing me some Bohemian Rhapsody.”

He exclaimed infront of the Archbishop before immediately adding.

“Uno!... Dos!... Tre-“

“Shut up!”

His countdown was then suddenly interrupted by the Archbishop who showed signs of aggressiveness and hotheadedness as he yelled, was he really an Archbishop, for him to lose his composure every time, if they’re a priest or an Archbishop why would they fear death when they'd address their followers and believers that they have god’s blessing.

But he wasn’t, instead he was the complete opposite of a reverent and composed priest, he was hotheaded and aggressive, it was as if, he changed his self. This caught Aristotle’s eyes and informed Ryan about this.

“Ryan! There is something controlling him! Can you take it out!”

“My voice and my music is something you shouldn’t take lightly, bookworm!”

Did he just call me a bookworm? Aristotle was bewildered.

Meanwhile on Ryan’s eyes, he was mostly a support role, as long as he sang and played music his allies would be given buffs and extra attributes, he never had a chance to fight alone and now it was given to him, most of his skills were for support and attributes, but he did have two offensive skills.

[Cast skill: Mother’s Lullaby]!]

[Mother’s Lullaby] a skill that was able to make monsters and humans immediately collapse and sleep like a baby hearing her mom’s lullaby, it was even effective on monsters that had +5 levels more than him, if it was past that +5, they would only feel tired and their overall performance would drop, but they wouldn't sleep like the skill intended to do.

For the Archbishop’s case, Ryan knew that he was being controlled, he had been watching from afar and saw some peculiar movements and phenomenon’s that were happening near the Archbishop, first off his movements was that he was always far away and was always behind Naoki, a Defensive hero, normally a priest should be at least near his own followers and believers to keep their morale in check and that he was also a support-type of mage, yet he was a coward hiding behind a defensive hero, Second he didn’t act like a priest at all yet wearing the Church of Cotiadanus, which was full of respected and collected members and priests but for an Archbishop to act like that is very unlikely, Afterall they have a strict procedure when selecting high-ranking members.

And thirdly, Ryan had already felt something different on the Priest’s Aura, and that was true, as he saw the Archbishop’s eyes turn pitch black and his entire body trembled, only to stop and look at Ryan in a more different view than the cowardly glare the Archbishop was doing earlier.

“Music and melody, a very important part of life, giving happiness and enjoyment, amusement and relaxation, even depression and sorrow to its followers…”

He said in an entirely different voice, it was deeper, the voice was low toned, it was neither a female-like or male-like voice, it was no more a human voice but a demon’s.

“Oh, you see music in that way too? Then I guess we both have good minds, so if you have a good mind, I won’t mind that you drop your weapon, leave that man's body and die?”

Ryan said, trying to provoke the demon that finally took control of the Archbishop, it was better to fight a defensive fight against a stronger foe, but in Ryan's mind was something different, Ryan had other plans.

“Anyway, rock or pop? Your choice? I don’t plan on becoming a lead singer though, but that guy can.”

Ryan then suddenly pointed his thumb at Aristotle which stunned and bewildered the already injured Aristotle, he pushed himself against the wall again and walked towards Ryan and onto his ear, before whispering.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“What does it look like old man, take the stage, I’m a support role, do you think I can fight head on?”

“True, but can’t you see I’m already injured, its fine if it was Naoki but why me?”

“I don’t know, I just guessed.”

“What kind of fucking judgement is that?”

“well, you should’ve held out longer, you did those sick muay thai and karate moves only to be pushed by the wind.”

Both silently insulted each other, confusing the demon that was currently in front of them, but nonetheless they came to an agreement.

“Fine, but in return, give me information that I need.” Aristotle negotiated with Ryan.

“That’d depends on how you value the information I have.” Ryan replied.

“So, what’s the value of your information?”

Ryan smirked and looked at Aristotle and said in a sinister voice.

“I have a little information about that demon guy and his minions.”

“I see, then your value shall range no more than 3 obols.”

Aristotle immediately disclosed the value as he heard what Ryan had to offer to him, which in turn shocked and discouraged Ryan, even though he didn't know what obols meant.

“… what!? w-what do you mean! Hey I had to intrude a few churches and sacred ruins just to get this piece of information, you should be grateful.”

“Yeah, I already know the basics and abilities of that demon so, right now I only need its background and what it really is.”

“Ah, you know what fuck it, just fight him already.”

Aristotle forced Ryan’s hand and no longer argued with him, while most of Ryan’s information was true, all Aristotle needed was his enemies’ abilities and powers, then it’s true form and background, then within a week he could’ve already manage to find a weakness.

From Ryan’s point of view, Aristotle had already seemingly found a weakness, it was neither a big or small one but it might be enough, a support and scholar class can’t win such a big fight, a monster with a blank background against Heroes that were chosen by gods, of course the latter has already been exposed, they’ve assessed their abilities from afar.

“The plan is simple, Ryan, weaken him and strengthen myself, easy, correct?”

“Yes.”

From their conversation, all Ryan had to do was weaken their enemy whilst Aristotle did the work, a support-class like him had barely any capable skills let alone offensive ones, he believed Aristotle had a plan, Afterall he tutored one of the most greatest military generals in history.

“Humans! You are just mere insects! Know your place!”

The possessed Archbishop yelled, before emitting a powerful and violent aura, those that came close too close to him was squashed by the powerful Aura, even the townspeople that where asleep near him were crushed by an unknown but heavy force to the point they woke up and yelled, screamed and died while in agony.

“What the!” his sudden Aura and attack shocked both Aristotle and Ryan and stunned them for a few seconds, but Ryan cared less about it, Afterall he wasn’t the one fighting it.

Aristotle didn’t know the maximum range of its area of effect but one thing he knew was for sure that if he entered that area of effect, he’d be crushed like by a boulder like Polybotes.

The best option for an attack was long-ranged attacks, the only thing that came close to that was a makeshift spear held by a sleeping man, Aristotle picked it up with both hands and pointed it at the possessed Archbishop and walked forward, without fear being shown in front of his enemy.

“♪ Music is like magic, there’s a certain feelin’ you get when you real and you spit, and people are feelin’ are shit. ♪”

Ryan rapped something against the possessed Archbishop that stunned him and weakened his magical capabilities, giving time for Aristotle to attack, and he did, Aristotle Immediately ran as soon as he saw the weakened Archbishop and ran towards him, gripping the spear with both hands and aimed directly at the Archbishop’s body.

Little did he know he had already entered the Archbishop’s Area of effect and in the Archbishop’s mind he altered his weakened aura to become a smaller and mobile space which was a perfect assault for a moving target, Aristotle.

“ ♪ ‘til the roof comes off, ‘til the lights go out, ‘til my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth, ‘till the smoke clears out, am I high? Perhaps, I’ma rip this shit ‘til my bones collapse. ♪”

As soon as Ryan said that in a tone, the Archbishop’s cast was executed at the exact time as Ryan ended his verse and the Archbishop's magic barely gave any effect on Aristotle who was still rushing towards him, did it improve Aristotle’s defensive capabilities? his stamina also? the monster controlling the Archbishop didn’t know.

But he still had something on his sleeve, a trump card, in the possessed Archbishop point of view, he knew the host would eventually die aka the Archbishop, then why not change his host, he was just a priest after all, the monster that resided in the Archbishop needed to injure or weaken Aristotle and invade his mind, taking a more powerful host, a Hero.

As Aristotle came closer to him it gave the monster a more accurate range to cast magic that can injure Aristotle, the possessed Archbishop held his arm in place and a darkish gray magic circle appeared, he calculated Aristotle’s speed as all he did was charged without stopping, obviously trusting the abilities of the Bard.

This made the Possessor thought of a plan that might work, if executed properly, he wins and controls the body of a hero, but if he can’t possess Aristotle’s body, he could just kill him, it would be a striking blow to the human kingdoms and an advantage to his comrades, The Demons.

“♪This is your moment, and every single minute you spend tryna hold on to it ‘cause you may never get it again. ♪“

After singing that verse, Aristotle accelerated faster and he felt his arms become heavier like carrying both a shield and a spear, but he could still control it and move with ease, Aristotle saw this as his chance, one chance. But for the possessor inside the Archbishop, he knew what the verse meant, it added the chances of Aristotle’s victory and he didn’t want that, he decided to stop his casting and cast it immediately.

Just like the verse said, both of them had a moment that they may never get again, both of them gambled for victory, until Ryan added another verse.

“♪So, while you’re in it, try to get as much as shit as you can and when the run is over, just admit when it’s at its end. ♪”

As he casted that, both sides didn’t know who it was meant for, both of them gambled for victory, but that verse. That one verse changed the two fighter’s faces and thoughts, there was no name nor classification, just ‘You’.

But both didn’t admit defeat, it still wasn’t the end, Aristotle Continued his attack whilst the possessed Archbishop’s magic cast failed it was too weak for release, shocking both sides, in the midst of the confusion of the two sides, Ryan used again his skill.

[Cast Skill: [Mother’s Lullaby]!]

As he used his skill for the already weakened possessed Archbishop, the Archbishop collapsed onto the ground and was on his knee, he felt tired, no, more like something was telling him to sleep, a gentle and angel-like voice, it wanted him to rest.

But the monster fought the voice, he didn’t listen and tried standing up only to change what he had felt earlier, this time it was like a boulder was crushing him from above, it was heavy, his eyes became droopy and his legs were giving up, he couldn’t continue, he tried looking at Aristotle, who, as soon as he looked up stab him directly at his heart before shouting.

“Mana Infuse! Holy Mana!”

As he shouted that, his hands that held the spear lit up in a bright golden-like color, in the eyes of the possessor it was imposing, the light was like that of a god’s, their mortal enemy, and his weakness, Holy mana, as he casted it the wooden makeshift spear lit up also in a golden like body, it’s shaft up to the tip was painted and lighted up in a golden color, like the sun, it shined a bright and blinding light.

“Kugh! Haah!”

The possessor’s breath faltered through the Archbishop’s body, he lost.

“Admit defeat?”

Aristotle said in a tired voice, as he also panted and gasped for air just like the entity that he just fought. The Possessor nodded at Aristotle whilst adding.

“I… admit defeat, hero of wisdom… you were… a good opp..nent”

The possessor said in his voice through the Archbishop’s mouth, before the eyes of the Archbishop turning back to its original colors, the whiteness of the sclera and the dark and blue color of the pupils came back.

After the eyes became normal, the powerful dark Aura that he felt disappeared like thin air, he looked at his nearby surroundings and saw nothing but the knocked-out townspeople, the burnt and destroyed church and a few more damages on the town.

Aristotle was about to collapse and sleep before noticing fragments of a black wind that soon dissipated in the air, it meant everything was already done, he barely won, he sighed in relief before collapsing to the ground and took his rest.

“Sheesh, old man you shouldn’t sleep like this.”

He mocked Aristotle’s choice of actions, especially sleeping like a child whilst his ally was awake. For the first moments it was peace and quiet.

before the dirt suddenly rose up from the ground making a capsule like rock, then suddenly it opened, revealing a brown-skinned young man, wearing an enclosed brown cloak on his body, it was made of materials from the earth, but didn’t know what kind of materials, he walked down of it casually while scratching his neck before saying.

“Anyhow, Ryan what do you think?”

“Yo, if it isn’t earthboy, why’d you even bother?”

He replied to him with a smirk, obviously greeting another friend of his, for him to be that familiar.

“Well, we got news, the Imperial Capital is in flames, the demons launched a surprise attack and captured half of the eastern region of the Empire.”

He informed the bored and uninterested Ryan who was currently strumming his guitar.

“Hmm, what’d you say?”

“You heard me.”

The man immediately replied.

“Well, I heard the thief and greed one stole a demon artifact, that true?” Ryan asked the dark-skinned manned, with a ridiculing tone.

“Yeah, that’s true, his skills are impeccable when it comes to stealing items.”

“Oh, then should you still hide underneath the spotlight? He was only able to steal it because you killed the Orc shaman. Am I right?”

He tried provoking his ally, before adding.

“Am I right?... Hero of the Earth, Taskhit Mishsalskar.”

“Shut up! Shut the hell up!  Afterall I’m just here to inform you that the first demon general has appeared and has now focused their sights on the imperial capital, all heroes must support and reinforce it.”

The brown-skinned dark man was actually the Hero of the Earth and Mountains, the Indian, Taskhit Mishsalskar. Currently, his job was to inform all nearby heroes about the impending attack on the Imperial Capital, which was the first line of defense against the [Eastern gate], the portal to the demon realm.

“Oho, your lucky you found 3 heroes, we’ll go there within a week.”

He said calmly and with a laid-back tone, as if he actually didn’t want to go, he looked back at Taskhit and added.

“Info, who is this first ‘demon general’ of course he must be that~ powerful that all heroes must attend such a gathering.”

Taskhit hesitated but the information must be disclosed out to all the heroes, he gave a serious glare at Ryan who was sat comfortably on the ground, not giving any sense on his surroundings, a laid-back figure.

“Demon general BozukPaymon, we barely have any information about him, but he was said to have the body of a bull and a tiger maybe, skin as hard as steel, and a face of a deformed beast with the strength of a million men or maybe even comparable to a hero.”

“Oooohhh, sounds fun, aight then, see you next week.”

Again, Ryan said with a laid-back tone not giving any fucks about what his ally informed him of, this made Taskhit annoyed about Ryan’s behavior towards him, but he needed to control it.

After informing Ryan who would soon relay the message to the two sleeping heroes, Tashkhit noticed the ground lighting up a in reddish like color, he looked towards the sun and saw that It was now hiding behind the giant mountains of the land.

“The sun’s already setting, clean up your mess before you meet up.”

He said only to get replied with silence, he didn’t heed anymore attention to Ryan and entered his erected dirt capsule, after entering the tight capsule it automatically covered its entrance with dirt and rocks before lowering it self back to the ground.

“Bozuk… Paymon, Aye?”

JDC_OnPaper

Hey! what's up? as you can see, an entire week of not uploading chapters, 9 days to be exact, sorry, stuff came up and I wasn't able to upload, you guys must've waited for quite sometime, to make it up to you, ask a question or tell me something about the story, I'm currently half-asleep and I didn't know if I double checked this chapter correctly, feel free to comment me and tell me about some mistakes or if you just feel like asking a question.

                                                                                 -JDC