[BONUS]

The two of them walked in silence until they reached a small clearing where a glistering lake was seen. The sky was darkening, casting shadows over the area.

Pii went straight into the lake and stopped meters before the two beings who stood near the waters.

When Ren and Evie caught up, the both of them were surprised to see the face of the two — it was Sebastian and . . . an unfamiliar person. He was good-looking and had long black hair, an angular jaw, dark phoenix eyes, and dark thick slanting brows.

From the way he carried himself, his back straight and hands behind his black robe, he seemed like a noble.

To be precise, an Emperor of some sorts?

"Sebastian!" Evie was glad to see the centaur again, and she was about to come close to him when Ren stopped her by extending his hand to block her path.

"Wait. Something is not right," he warned her.

At Ren's warning, Evie looked over at Sebastian and found that the centaur was acting . . . strange.

"You must be Meriyaah's successor?" the long-haired man asked, voice deep and soothing like that of a singer's.

"And you are?" Ren asked since not even [Probed] worked against the man. Maybe if he were engaged with it, the skill would work.

The man's face was still serious, as if he didn't know how to smile. "I am Regard. And I'm here to take all of Meriyaah's items."

"Regard . . ." Evie gasped because he was the rumored man who killed Meriyaah!

Ren wasn't surprised since he somewhat expected it already. "What have you done to Sebastian?"

Regard briefly took a look at Sebastian. "Sebastian was originally a Djinn — one who is powerless in the face of the most powerful Enchanter."

Evie's eyes rounded. "You . . . What have you done with him?"

"He is my Djinn, now," Regard only said and extended his hand.

Sebastian sighed and looked apologetically at the pair. "I'm sorry, Ren, Evie. I was caught off guard by his strange spell."

This was probably part of the quest. Ren thought. Meeting Sebastian triggered the second part, and this time, they were up against the second-best Enchanter in the world.

"Sebastian . . ." Evie was worried about the centaur, and she faced Regard. "Let him go."

Regard wasn't perturbed in the slightest and only replied, "I will. But first, you have to get me all three of Meriyaah's items. Since you're her successor, then only you can get her items."

After Regard said those words, he looked at the lake. At the center of crystal clear waters, something could be seen floating. And upon closer inspection, it was an intricate white cape.

Evie gasped. "Is that . . ."

"Meriyaah's cloak," finished Regard. "A set of three. The mask, the cloak, and, of course, the last one, her harp."

"Is that why you killed Meriyaah? To get her equipment?" Ren asked. Sweat slid down the side of his cheeks, seeing that things seemed to be going south.

Regard's expression darkened, and for the first time, his cold facade broke, but it quickly turned back to his original expression. "Think what you might."

He then extended his hand to Evie. "If you don't want to die, then get me the cloak and hand me the mask."

Ren shielded Evie from Regard's view and grinned. "And what if we refuse?"

"Ren . . ." Evie wasn't sure if she wanted to potentially fight against Sebastian and end up killing him. After all, a fight with bosses would always end in either side's death.

There's got to be a way where they could all come out of this alive — except for Regard, of course.

"Don't worry. I have a feeling that he is the type of Boss that's unkillable, so Sebastian should be alright."

". . ." Shouldn't she worry then?! "And you've just got to antagonize him? What now?"

"There's no [Engage] prompt, so that means that our choice will greatly affect the outcome of this quest."

Ren briefly shot Evie a look. "Honestly, it's your choice."

"If he's unkillable, then how are we going to defeat him?"

"You'll know once we engage him."

Evie pondered hard, and Regard didn't seem in a hurry for her answer either.

"Remember, if you choose to surrender your items, then it's game over for you to become Meriyaah's successor," said Ren. "I don't know what he wanted with Meriyaah's equipment, but something tells me that you won't be able to get any of it if you surrender them to him."

". . ."

Ren was so adamant about making her an Enchantress that he practically chose an option for her already despite him saying that it was up to her.

Frankly, Evie didn't want to sing and dance, but being Meriyaah's successor was too good of an opportunity to pass.

She looked at Regard, who was wearing a poker face and had a no-nonsense character, and he was still the second-best Enchanter in the world. Maybe she could be one too.

"Can you use [Probe] on them?" Evie asked Ren. "To see if we could defeat him."

Ren's grin told Evie that he was happy with her decision, and she looked away with a pout. It was not like she was doing it for him.

"I have Sebastian's information. As for Regard, I think we have to engage him first before we can find out about his stats."

There were Bosses like that in COVENANT, especially bosses in quests. This was to ensure that their stats wouldn't influence the player's decisions in the end.

"That means . . . we're going to engage him without knowing how strong he is? Isn't that too risky?"

Ren looked at Evie, and his grin grounded her.

"What are you worrying about? Pii is here, remember?"

That's right. Pii was their backup plan. That was why they were confident enough to do this Epic Quest with just the two of them.

"Alright . . . let's do this."

"Have you made a decision?" Regard asked.

Evie faced Regard. "Yes. And my answer is no . . . You can't have Meriyaah's items."