"King Julian of Muzez, show yourself this minute!" A loud, menacing voice thundered across the encampment following a series of explosions.
The voice of the soldiers outside the tent interrogating the owner of the voice and asking him not to come closer could be heard, as well as the sound of them unsheathing their swords and preparing to engage with the stranger.
Inside the royal tent, King Julian trembled at the sound of the voice. Even without seeing the face of this person or knowing their intention, he could already tell it wasn't a good one.
Osborne was also very concerned, he could sense a strong, dark magical presence the moment the explosions occurred outside.
Alister pieced together the actions of the corrupted creatures earlier, the details of his urgent quest and the arrival of the stranger and got a clearer and wider understanding of what was happening.
'Someone's been targeting the king all along, and those corrupted creatures were his undead puppets meant to capture him. Now that we've defeated them, he's finally revealed himself. He must be a member of the Gravemind Cult, the tormentor of Muzez Kingdom,' thought Alister.
He turned to King Julian and warned him not to leave the tent no matter the situation before strolling out to control the commotion outside.
King Julian stood solemnly for a few seconds as his mind ran through numerous worrisome thoughts. There was an understanding in his mind that he failed to admit and that understanding was that, the man outside is a member of the Gravemind Cult that tore his kingdom apart and kidnapped his only son.
He tried shaking the thought off his head but his brain kept reminding him.
'Had they figured out already that we are coming to take them down? Hence why they have come to halt our plans.'
He turned to Osborne and muttered a low, "Is it really them?"
The old wizard nodded his head silently without looking at the king.
With the confirmation from the wizard, a shiver ran down the spine of King Julian.
Meanwhile, the hero stepped outside and his eyes fell upon the brewing commotion. He arrived in the midst of soldiers who were pointing their swords at the invader — a man of huge stature, draped in dark robes with a black mask covering his entire face.
"Stay back!"
"Do not come closer or we'll attack," the soldiers barked, but the invader stood unmoved.
The dark-robed figure remained rooted at the old campfire's spot.
The campfire had been quenched, the only light now flickered from the burning tents. Alister needed no explanation to realize that the earlier explosion, aimed at their shelter, was this figure's handiwork.
'Dark robes, black mask and an ominous presence. Definitely a Gravemind cultist!' Alister noted inwardly as he studied the stranger.
The dark-robed figure noticed Alister's entrance to the scene, his head tilted in his direction and his gaze lingered for a few seconds.
As he was putting on a mask, one couldn't tell what expression his face displayed.
'Why is he staring at him like that?'
Alister felt extremely uncomfortable with the gaze fixed on his body. He lifted his sword defensively and frowned.
"Haha, haha, hahahaha!"
The dark-robed figure started laughing menacingly.
The soldiers went silent and stared at him with confusion, why was he laughing? They wondered. Even the hero thought the same.
"You are the hero they summoned, no wonder they managed to take down my sweet babies," the dark-robed figure said amidst his laughter, "All this while, I thought it was impossible to summon a hero but you guys did a good job proving me wrong."
He continued laughing, his laughter becoming even more menacing as seconds went by.
Alister frowned, how could this guy tell that he was from another world?
"Your attempts are great, as much as I hate to admit it, I am proud of you guys for actually summoning a hero for yourselves but do you really think this scrawny teenager would be able to stop the great cause of Gravemind Order or even fathom to stand against I, Nervered?"
Saying this, he erupted into another round of mocking laughter. He held his stomach and laughed so much he started wheezing.
Alister felt offended after being referred to as a scrawny teenager. On the other hand, he was able to confirm that he was in charge of the corrupted creatures that attacked them.
'Judging by how he refers to me as scrawny, he must not be aware that I was the one who singlehandedly wiped out all the powerful creatures he sent to attack us. He is underestimating my strength, I can use that against him.'
A gentle smile appeared on his face as he focused on Nervered who continued mocking him while laughing.
"I am the hero that was summoned into this world to get rid of evil mad men like yourself and your group of fellow insane people known as the Gravemind Order."
Alister spoke in a loud tone, puffing out his chest with confidence and might.
Nervered stopped laughing and went silent. He fixed his gaze on Alister, moving his eyes up and down his body and then he burst into laughter once again.
"Kid, what world are you from? Are they always this stupidly confident in your world?"
"Stupidly confident? I think that is better compared to a bunch of annoying fools. It is even more painful that you fools have a sense of pride bigger than your brains."
Nervered could not stop laughing as Alister continued to provoke him.
Even Theobald and the other soldiers could only stare at the hero. They have never seen him being this talkative before.
'What plan does the hero have this time?' they thought.
Alister continued exchanging words with the cultist for about three minutes, only both their voices and the cackling of the flames devouring the tents could be heard in the vast barren plain.
"You know what, I think you would be a better addition to our sacrifice."
Nervered spoke with a sinister tone as he began waving his hands, making strange signals while muttering unknown chants.
[ Target is preparing a spell, beware! ]
Alister grinned, he turned to the soldiers and whispered a short warning in their ears.