New World, Free Trade City of Aquarius, In the Alleyways of Aquarius
1st Year of the New Age, New Sabbath, 2nd Week, 3rd Month of Abraham.
The squad of human Special Operatives from the Austronesia Empire were dashing through the narrow alleyway, with their boots slapping against the cobblestone as they moved through the shadows of buildings.
Price led the way with a grim look on his face, while Tavish and Woods followed close behind. Belinski carried the unconscious little girl in his arms, and the Elf, Polites, trailed slightly behind, with his steps unnaturally light and silent, while his eyes scanned every darkened corner.
They finally came to a halt beneath the shelter of an overhanging rooftop and breathed heavily. The alley was tight, cluttered with abandoned crates and debris.
"We can't keep running like this forever," Tavish panted, leaning against the stone wall with sweat dripping down his forehead.
"I know," Woods grunted as he rubbed his side. "But we can't exactly stay put either. They'll definitely be coming for our asses!"
"But at least we've got these come in handy," Tavish said, glancing at the Spatial Ring on his finger, where some of the magical artifacts they'd stolen from the auction were stored.
Among them were the enchanted painting, the gauntlet, and these strange potions.
Price scanned the area with his narrowed eyes. "We need to figure out if we're going to hide somewhere in this city. Don't forget what our leader said. We cannot be discovered nor get caught."
Belinski, adjusting the girl in his arms, looked over at Polites. "What do you know about the guy running the auction? Jason Lance, was it?"
Polites crossed his arms and let out a breath. "Not much. Just rumors, really. Jason David Lance is a slippery criminal, slips through the cracks, and vanishes before anyone can catch him. Operates mostly in the Second Civilization Zone. That's about all I've heard."
"Great," Woods muttered. "Just the kind of guy who'll be looking for us."
Their eyes turned to the girl in Belinski's arms. Despite the chaos surrounding them, her small pale face remained serene.
"How does this girl have mana?" Tavish asked with a frown. "Humans in this world don't possess it. It shouldn't be possible."
"And her clothes…" Price murmured suspiciously. "They look too familiar, too much like something from our world. Something's not adding up."
Suddenly, a soft voice called out from further down the alley.
"Oh, thank the Gods! You have her!"
The group whirled around, with their hands instinctively moving toward their weapons. What they saw was a human woman stepping into the faint light filtering through the narrow passage and her face was washed with joy and relief as her eyes locked onto the unconscious girl in Belinski's arms.
"Who the hell are you?" Tavish demanded as his fingers went inched toward his gun.
"She's my daughter," the woman replied with a warm, grateful smile. "Thank you. I've been searching everywhere for her."
Belinski held the girl a little closer as he hesitated. "Your daughter?"
The woman nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, I'm part of a human resistance group. We've been hiding for as long as I can remember. There's a hidden human community not far from here."
Tavish and Woods exchanged uncertain glances. However, the prospect of finding allies for the Austronesian Empire crossed both their minds.
Belinski, seemingly convinced, took a step forward and prepared to hand the girl over. But Price, whose hand was already hovering near his pistol, stopped him with a cold steely gaze.
"Wait," Price said sharply as he studied the woman. "Where exactly did you say you're from?"
The woman blinked and her smile cracked ever so slightly. "From a city to the east. Like I said, we're part of the human resistance."
The alley fell into a tense heavy silence.
Then, without warning, Price drew his pistol and fired.
Bang!
The sharp crack of the gunshot rang out, and the bullet struck the woman square in the chest.
"What the hell, Price?!" Tavish yelled, stepping back in disbelief.
But the woman didn't fall. Instead, she stumbled back while clutching her chest where faint magical flickers rippled across her body.
With a metallic ting, a crushed bullet can be seen falling harmlessly to the ground.
Woods' eyes widened in horror. "She's… She's still standing."
Before anyone could move, the woman's body transformed as the illusion dissolved into thin air. Her features twisted and changed rapidly until she no longer looked like the joyful mother. Instead, before them stood a tall male elf with a shocked expression on his face, clearly not expecting his disguise to fail so abruptly.
"Well... I didn't expect you to find out so quickly," he said in an amusement tone.
Price frowned as he kept his pistol trained on the now-exposed elf. "I could smell the bullshit from a mile away. First, there's no chance a human could sneak into Aquarius without being noticed, unless their security is shit. Second, why would a human woman willingly approach a group of supposed elves and say they were part of a human resistance? Unless…"
The elf chuckled, feeling impressed. "I have to hand it to you. I admire your quick thinking, human."
Polites stared at Price in disbelief. "Wait, you knew they were humans? I placed an illusion—"
"Your illusion's useless on me," the elf interrupted with disdain in his voice. "I can easily see through that disguise the moment I laid eyes on it. And using Mana Crystals to camouflage? Please, that's the oldest trick in the book, even for human rebels."
Polites blinked in shock, but before he could respond, the elf stepped forward and his amusement turned sinister.
"But you still don't know everything, do you?" the elf taunted. "That little human girl you're holding, she's got an Anti-Magic collar, one with a tracking spell embedded in it. Unfortunately for me, her unique ability started interfering with the spell. I had to find her before the trail went cold. After all, our souls are at stake."
With a dark, chilling laugh, the elf drew two finely crafted swords, twirling them in his hands with a deadly grace, and his eyes gleamed with sadistic intent.
[GIF]
"Enough talk. This is as far as you go."
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from behind the group. They spun around to see a few more elves closing in, with their enchanted weapons shimmering ominously in the dim alley. Their faces were hard, and their eyes filled with cold determination.
"End of the line, monkeighs," one of the approaching elves muttered venomously, taking menacing steps toward them.
"Get them!" their leader barked.
With a psychotic grin, one of the elves shot forward, seemingly to be running impossibly fast as he was upon the group of humans within seconds.
"Shit!" Tavish cursed as he pulled out his Single-Action revolver and fired as fast as he could at the fast-speeding elf before him.
The elf's mouth curled in a sneer, fully confident in his speed and his magically enhanced body as he sliced his sword through the air, aiming straight for Tavish who emptied his revolver at the elf.
But as the revolver roared, five massive .500 magnum rounds hammered into his body in quick succession. His eyes widened in disbelief, and his sneer turned into a shocked gasp as the surface of his clothes burst into sparks when the magic protection overloaded and the remaining mass and kinetic energy of the bullets dumped themselves against his flesh.
The elf was thrown backward as some invisible force hammered him across his chest and crashed to the ground with a sickening thud, with his arm shattered and his body wracked with pain.
And with that, chaos erupted in the alley.
Bang!
In an instant, a flash grenade was thrown and exploded in a blinding burst of light, stunning the charging elves. Disoriented and vulnerable, they stumbled as their magical enhancements were useless against the sudden assault.
"FIRE!"
The command was followed by the deafening roar of rifle fire.
The elves recoiled under the barrage despite their enhanced strength, speed, and resilience. Protective spells shattered, bones cracked, and flesh tore as the bullets tore through them, sending them collapsing to the ground one by one.
With his heart racing, Tavish backpedaled and ejected the chamber of his spent cartridges from his revolver and slipped in a fresh five rounds using a quick loader. Snapping the chamber shut, he raised his weapon again and cursed under his breath, as he saw the alleyway was still swarming with elves, and how outnumbered they were.
Suddenly, the ear-splitting roar of a machine gun erupted, cutting through the chaos. Tracer rounds lit up the dark alley and brutally tore into the remaining elves. The charging warriors fell like ragdolls under the barrage of heavy fire, as their magical enhancements were unable to withstand the sheer force.
The tall elf with dual swords stood frozen and his expression was one of pure shock as he watched his forces crumble. These humans had just decimated a group of Level 3 warriors, beings who, despite being the weakest in his ranks, could have slaughtered crowds of ordinary humans with ease.
"What the hell?!" he shouted with fury and confusion mixing in his voice. Irritated, he turned to the figure beside him, a demihuman with cat-like ears.
"You, demihuman," the elf growled, "Take out the human carrying the magic girl. I'll handle the elf. I sense he's strong."
The demihuman, Judis, snorted. "No fair. Why do you always get the good one while I deal with these inferior Monkeighs, Den'nis?"
The elf named Den'nis scowled, feeling his patience thinning. "You're a Level 6 warrior, Judis. My opponent could kill you with a stick if I let you. Now stop whining and follow orders."
Judis let out a sigh, but a wicked grin soon spread across his face, and his body began to radiate with a fierce blue aura as the raw power of a Level 6 warrior surging through him, and his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
"Fine. Either way, this is going to be fun."
And with that, he launched himself forward like a striking viper, moving at blinding speed toward Belinski, who still held the unconscious girl tightly in his arms.
Meanwhile, Polites spotted the cat demihuman, Judis, closing in on Belinski and was ready to take the demihuman down, when suddenly the tall elf with dual swords appeared before him with his blades whirling with lethal intent.
"Focus on me, you little shit!" the elf snarled and brought his swords down in a powerful arc.
"Curses!" Polities cursed and formed a magic barrier just in time as the elf's dual blades clashed against the barrier, causing it to crack under the force. "Belinski, watch out!"
Belinski heard Polities' warning just in time. He spun around, rifle in hand and the unconscious girl still in his grip, only to see Judis charging toward him at terrifying speed.
"Stay down, you alien cat freak!" Belinski yelled as he squeezed off a few rounds from his rifle, and the bullets struck the demihuman's outstretched arms but bounced harmlessly off his tough magically enhanced skin.
Belinski's eyes widened as Judis suddenly vanished, disappearing from sight in an instant. He gritted his teeth before throwing himself backward while clutching the girl tightly to his chest. He hit the ground with a grunt, just as Judis reappeared above him, with his razor-sharp claws slashing downward and aimed to cleave him in two.
"DIE!" Judis roared as his claws cut through the air with enough force to split a boulder into pieces.
"Fuck!" Belinski rolled away, dodging the deadly swipe with the unconscious girl still in his arms. Once he was clear, he quickly shoved the girl away from him, making her slide across the floor toward Price, ensuring her safety before rolling back to his feet.
"Come on, asshole!" Belinski spat as he raised his fists in a fighting stance. "Fight me like a man without magic!"
Judis sneered as he stood tall and proud. "Magic? I'm not even using magic, you fool!"
"Really?" Belinski blinked, momentarily confused. But he quickly shook it off and adopted a serious expression. "Doesn't matter. Come at me, bro!"
Judis's eyes narrowed and his grin widened to reveal his sharp canine teeth. "I am going to enjoy mauling you to death, human. You'll beg for death soon."
The demihuman strolled forward confidently, not bothering to raise any defenses, as he let out an arrogant look.
"I shall show you the difference in our strength. And when you're choking on your own blood, I'll make sure your friends watch—"
"Fuck your stupid monologue!" Belinski shouted, cutting him off. In one swift motion, he straightened up and quick-draw his revolver from its holster.
Without a second's hesitation, he fired a series of .500 magnum rounds dug into Judis' clothes and pierced his skin with a sharp sting, causing him to stagger back a couple of steps, but even with some of the strongest rounds tearing into him, the demihuman appeared largely unfazed.
"Really?" Judis muttered as his blue aura expanded around him like a blazing inferno. The energy swelled, wrapping him in a nearly impenetrable shroud.
"No one dares to interrupt me!"
"Oh boy..." Belinski mumbled, unloading another couple of rounds from his revolver, and the bullets pushed Judis back slightly, but even so, they were doing little more than annoying him.
The demihuman was bracing for what could only be a brutal bloodbath.
Belinski glanced at the Spatial Ring on his finger, and an idea formed in his mind.
"You know what, I'm going to try something else."
BOOM!
Before he could act, Judis charged forward with terrifying speed, the ground beneath him cracking as he launched himself at Belinski with a roar of a tiger and swung them down with murderous intent.
"RAHHHHH!!!"
Clang! BOOM!
A metallic clang reverberated through the alleyway, followed by a shockwave that blasted the dust and debris away from them. Judis paused and his eyes widened with disbelief as he realized his claws had struck something solid.
Belinski had blocked his strike.
Not with his bare hands, though, Judis took a closer look and saw a pair of metallic gauntlets on Belinski's hands, before he recognized the weapon.
"Is that the Járngreip?" Judis whispered in a surprise tone. He knew of the magical artifact the human was now wielding.
The gauntlets enhanced the physical strength, speed, and resilience of their wearer, even if they had no mana to draw upon.
"This might be interesting," Judis admitted in a dangerous voice. But his excitement did nothing to change his bloodlust.
With renewed fury, he launched himself at Belinski again and unleashed a flurry of rapid deadly strikes.
Belinski gritted his teeth and braced himself. Each of Judis' attacks was met with the strength-enhanced gauntlets, and the sound of metal clashing with claws echoed in the tight alleyway.
He could feel the raw power coursing through his body, amplified by the artifact.
"You're not the only one who can throw a punch, freak," Belinski shouted as he ducked under one of Judis' wild swings and landed a punch to his side that sent the demihuman skidding back several feet.
Judis wiped a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, and a maddened grin spread across his face.
"Oh, this is going to be fun!"