"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Place screamed as he threw the door open, trying to distract them from the ritual.
He succeeded.
The sudden noise made all four of them jump and pause their chanting, and as one, they turned towards him.
At the same time, Emilia and Ange leapt up from the other side of the roof. A fireball flew forward from Emilia's hand as Place moved to throw his spear.
The fireball struck a barrier, and Place stopped his throw.
"Ah, so you were prepared for that." He remarked, trying to engage them in conversation while scanning the ground for the cause of the barrier.
"You're too late." One of them said as Agne and Emilia walked around towards him.
"What happened to you?" Place peered at them as he asked.
All four of them looked sickly. They were pale, and it seemed like there was almost no flesh on their bones.
"Are you sacrificing yourselves?" Place asked, taking a step back. He noticed the ritual was still ongoing. It had slowed down, but it hadn't stopped.
"Of course not!" Kolid spoke with a haughtiness in his tone. "This is just the price to be paid for the summoning!"
"The price being your life?"
"Nothing more than a bit of vitality, it'll come back."
"I don't mean to alarm you, but have you looked at yourselves?"
Place's tone sounded so genuine that three of the four actually looked, while the last one just had a snide look on his face.
"Hah! I don't care if I lose a few years of my life! As long as-"
"Buddy." Place cut him off. "You look like you're about to die right now."
Place could see that two of them seemed truly frightened by what they looked like, and perhaps of what they could feel drain away from their bodies.
Kolid was frowning, but he seemed more irritated than afraid, while the last one, the one who 'didn't care', just scoffed.
"Just a temporary state, it will be gone soon."
"How?" Place looked at the energy slowly flowing out of them and slowly seeping into the book.
"Huh?"
"You said it will be gone soon, how?"
"I will be healed."
"Healed?" Place blinked in surprise.
"Yes, do you not know what that is?"
"I do." Place was taken aback at the amount of ignorance on display. "You can't 'heal' your vitality back, a fact that only two of you seem to know."
The man and Kolid looked to their companions, only to see them distraught, and staring at the book eating their life-force.
"Is that true?" Kolid asked, panic seeping into his voice.
"Yes." One of them said, glancing at the book, then at the ritual circle, then at Place.
"If you stop this, I can guarantee an amount of protection." Place stated, and beside him, Agne and Emilia both nodded.
"You will receive a small punishment, then you will be integrated into my families hidden guard, it will be hard, but you will live, and maybe even thrive."
Place made an offer.
"But if you don't, there is a member of the Custode Lordian in the campus, and one of our professors is Kalek Phiree, you cannot win this battle."
Kolid and the other two seemed to listen to Place's words, the fourth member did not.
He snarled.
"You expect me to believe that?" He let out a laugh. "I bet that as soon as we let this barrier down, you'll run that spear through our necks!"
His words seemed to affect his companions thinking, and Place knew he had to step up his act.
"God-damnit! I'm trying to help you here!" He exclaimed, slamming the butt of his spear against the ground for some dramatic effect.
"Do you think the demons are your friends? There's a reason you never make deals with them! At best, they'll kill you when they're done, but have you never heard stories about them imprisoning souls to use as fuel?"
Even his friends were taken aback by his outburst.
"Even if you do win, then what?" Place challenged.
"At best you get some power, but even then you'll be declared traitor and become a target for the demon hunters, and there is no guarantee that they wont just kill you when it's all over!"
"What do we do?" One of the two distraught one spoke.
"Stop the ritual, and let me take you in."
Place lowered his voice.
"I can guarantee your life's safety, and you might want to hold him down first."
"NO!" The volatile one screamed. "I WILL NOT-"
And was promptly tackled down by Kolid, who did not want to die.
The barrier fell away as they other two quickly stopped the ritual and destroyed the formation on the ground.
Agne moved to help restrain the thrashing one, and Place slowly walked over, keeping his spear lowered, but still ready in case he needed to use it.
"What now?" A whispered question was the only sound, expect for a few meaty thuds as Agne struck, very violently, to pacify.
"Now," Place spoke in a low tone, looking at the book. "We destroy the book, and walk back to the academy to see if we can help."
"Okay..."
Place prepared to stab the book, when-
*thud-thud-thud
Someone was sprinting up the stairs.
Six pairs of eyes whirled towards the door.
And Zandre ran in.
"Place!" He shouted.
"Zandre? What are you doing here?" Place was befuddled.
"I-"
But before Zandre could explain, the book began to glow.
"Huh?" "What- "Watch-"
Place immediately thrust his spear towards it.
And the world went purple.