It begins with a strange creature being unleashed outside the Crimson Wolves' fort. Slithering out the pant leg of who seemed like an ordinary man walking the streets at night. It is a flat, black snake. Flat as paper, with two even darker dots on its head that are its eyes.
It slithers under the gate of the fort. Through the yard, and up the side of a wall. It crawls along without a sound. Within minutes, it's at a window. Sliding through the crack between the window and the wall.
Sleeping in this guest room, which is quite nice, is Henry. And unbeknownst to him, he has a guard watching him sleep this entire time. The Guard is an older man with dark skin. He wears entirely black armor. There is no sheen to it. The light is absorbed entirely by the leather. The Guard stands in the corner of the room, melded with the shadows of the corner.
The Guard points a finger at the flat snake. And a metal dart quickly forms in front of it, and flies at the snake. It chops its head off, and flies through the window. The glass breaking wakes up Henry.
"What the fuck!?" I shout with confused fear.
Suddenly a strange, entirely black man steps out from a corner of the room. I yelp with shock, and quickly start searching for my wand or some weapon.
"Calm down. I am a Crimson Wolf protecting you." Strange Man says bluntly.
I stop and turn to him nervously. Then I look at the window, and see some strange snake decapitated, laying on the ground. With some black liquid leaking out the wounds.
"Get up and grab your wand. You'll need it. You're a target." Strange Man says bluntly.
My eyes widen, and that moves me into action. I quickly scour the room for my wand, and find it on the floor by my bed. Must've rolled off the dresser nearby or something. Then I turn back to the Strange Man.
"Could I know your name?" I ask nervously.
"No. Just know I am your bodyguard." Bodyguard says firmly.
I sigh annoyedly. My Bodyguard ignores me, and opens my room's door.
"Come with me. We need to get you to the Panic Room." Bodyguard says firmly.
I nod nervously. He leaves the room, and I follow after him. We walk down a dark stone hallway. The halls are lit by crimson balls of flames that float an inch from the walls. Half a minute passes, and we arrive at an intersection. Coming down a hall on our left is a small group of warriors in black leather armor with crimson steel chestplates.
"Follow me. I have their most likely target with me." Bodyguard says firmly.
They nod in unison, and quickly follow behind us. We continue moving forward.
"Why am I the likeliest target?" I ask nervously.
"Cause you're the weakest." Bodyguard says calmly.
I sigh sadly. One day I'll be a strong anime protagonist. Definitely. …
Anyway, we turn down a hallway, and arrive at a deadend. There's just a bookshelf filled with books. Bodyguard walks up to it confidently, and throws off several books in widespread parts of the bookshelf. There doesn't seem to be any clear pattern from what I can tell. But suddenly, with a final gold book, the bookshelf suddenly sinks into the floor a bit. Then slides to the right along with the wall behind it.
This reveals a simple room. There's only basic wooden furniture. And in the back right corner of the room is a large crystal that glows with bright gray energy.
"Get inside. You will have the company of this Guild's leaders shortly. Treat them with utter respect, or your protection may be revoked." Bodyguard says firmly.
I nod quickly, and enter the room. As I do, the wall starts to shut behind me. I watch it close. As it gets close to resealing itself, I see Deatrix jog around the corner into view. I can't help but sigh with relief. It'll be good to have someone I can actually trust nearby.
I've arrived at the panic room, just in time to see Henry safely put up in the Panic Room. Good. I don't have to worry about him dying quite yet.
Behind me are the Guild's leaders. On my left is Percival Caeser. Dark skinned, with a short, neat head of black hair. He wears a crimson jacket with a golden jabot around his neck, hanging down to his stomach. Black pants, and black dress shoes with a golden buckle on it. On my right is his wife and co-leader, Julia Caeser. She's light brown, she has golden dreads that hang down to her hips. She wears a dark red dress and golden heels. She's sipping a glass of wine. Neither of them are taking this seriously, and honestly, I'm barely surprised. Knowing them, they're thinking something like "This has nothing to do with me. If my daughter didn't care, I'd throw Deatrix and Henry Sheeves on the streets."
They annoy me a bit. But all rich bastards do really.
We're close to the Panic Room now. A veteran of this Guild, a man in all black, nods at us. Then he starts opening the Panic Room.
My leaders move past me, and get close to the wall. But as they do, one of my fellow Guild Members starts acting weird. He makes a weird smile. And his eyes start to glow.
I consider the situation. And I act in what some people, my friend August, would consider irrational. I grab the weirdo by his chestplate, and throw him with all my strength. As I throw him, he starts to glow bright white. This only makes me throw even harder out the nearby window. He flies several dozen feet into the air, before exploding in a sphere of white light.
My leaders watched what just happened without a care. Looking at it like a dull firework. I groan annoyedly.
"They sure are trying hard to kill him. Are you sure we have to help him, honey?" Percival asks calmly.
"August insisted he's important for Deatrix to stay out of jail. We should at least try to keep them alive." Julia says calmly.
"Yes, cause literally no one else would work for Deatrix as his lawyer. This whole city has a vendetta against the Kingdom of Gilgamesh." August says firmly.
We turn around to see August approaching us with her poker face on. A blank face, and her eyes are looking around rapidly at every little thing. Observing the scene.
"Honey, relax. It's just some thugs. Our Guild has been in wars. We can handle this little skirmish. You should come in here with us." Julia says warmly.
"No, if August wants this man defended, she must help with it." Percival says firmly.
Julia looks at her husband annoyedly, while Percival crosses his arms and looks firmly back. August sighs annoyedly.
"It doesn't matter. Just get in there with Henry, we'll protect you all." August says with forced calm.
"Damn straight you will." Percival says firmly.
"Percy, be polite. She's your daughter." Julia says nicely, but firm.
Percival turns away from his wife, facing the wall that has now mostly opened. Henry waves awkwardly, and we all ignore him.
Suddenly a shrill scream of bloodlust fills the air. I instantly spin around, and run down the hallway. I get to the corner, just in time to intercept some monster. It's like a demonic praying mantis. A black human skull with razor sharp teeth for a head. Its body is covered in red flesh with patches of black and gray boils spread out over his body. It has two scythe-like arms with sharp black edges.
I focus my preferred Mana, Wind, into my right fist. I swing it forward, and the combination of my superhuman strength and a strong burst of wind sends the demonic praying mantis flying down the hallway. Then I reach into my sword bag, and draw my first blade. My black katana, Katayanna. I focus Wind mana into my blade, and it glows with light green energy. Then I swing it with great speed, and an arc of light green pressurized air flies out my blade. My Flying Slash attack. It flies through the demon praying mantis's body horizontally, and blood flies out of it on all sides. Then it collapses to the ground in two halves, rolling a bit from the momentum it still carried.
I decide to stay at the corner. I turn my head to my leaders, and see them already inside the Panic Room. The wall is close to shut. I sigh with relief.
Meanwhile, August is kneeling on the ground, with one eye closed. She glows with a dark gray aura. I think she's using her metal magic to set up traps throughout the fort. It should help us a lot. I notice in the hallway ahead of me lines of razor wire are slowly piling up on the ground. I can see the sharp knots of wire being manipulated to act as legs, like a metal centipede. They crawl up the walls quickly, the wires becoming taut and stretching across the hallway within seconds.
I hear the sound of a cork popping out, and turn to see August drinking a blue mana potion already. Damn, she must've filled the fort up. I've only seen her do that for the sake of proving a point. Not for an actual fight. But here we are.
August looks back at me, and her left eye closes. Then her eyelid glows with purple energy.
"I've activated my Astral Eye. It'll be following you so you can move through the fort without issues. I can already sense enemies being caught on my razor wires. I'll link my mind with yours so I can direct you to them." August explains calmly.
I nod. August's one eye glows purple, and I feel something strange. Like a cloud growing out of mind, and it's connected by a string of wool. Except the string isn't there in reality. The string really is our psychic bond.
Another trick of this is how instantaneous information can be exchanged. Within a second, August gives me the directions to my first targets. They're on the porch outside our leader's bedroom. They just broke down the doors apparently, and got caught on razor wires in their bedroom.
I rush through the hallways of the fort. Within a minute, I've travelled half a mile's worth. I arrive at the North Wing, the living space of the Caeser Family. Basically a manor hidden in the back of this fort. It's fancy as hell, and it gives me mixed feelings. Love the aesthetics, hate that it's all for one family. Lots of golds and reds with white marble floors.
I arrive at the leaders' bedroom. They have a platinum statue of themselves, one each standing on the sides of the door. To most, it's pretentious. But to those in the know, like me, it's pretentious, high grade protection. They're golems. But of course, they don't want to help us. So they're just standing here, fucking useless.
I growl angrily at this thought, and kick open their doors. Inside, there's a man in all black leather armor with the symbol of the bloody fists painted on his cuirass. He's wrapped entirely in razor wires, with them tightening and twisting all around his body. He yells in pain as he has two allies dressed in similar armor doing their best to get him out. Which is wedge knives beneath the wires, and try to pull them away.
The wrapped up man notices me, and tries to point at me. The razor wires tie themselves around his mouth, but not in time to prevent them from noticing me. Not that it matters. These guys are cannon fodder.
I approach them confidently, and ready myself. I hold my blade by my left hip, blade pointed behind me. They let go of their knives, and try drawing their wands. But they're too slow. I unleash my full potential for fun.
Within five seconds, I perform a lightning fast combo. I first slash horizontally through their torsos. Then I twist my wrist around, and drag it back through the right one. I raise the blade as I do, and I finish my slash by dragging it through the left one's neck. Then I thrust my blade through the right one's heart. And finally I pull the blade out, and thrust it forward once more into the tied up man's skull.
I pull the blade out, and a small arc of blood shoots out the hole. Then blood shoots out the other wounds I made, painting the walls behind me with blood. I walk out the room quickly, blood hitting my back unfortunately.
I receive news that a monster is attempting to break down the front gate. And it seems like there's mages watching nearby on the rooftops. They're providing ranged support while the monster provides the brute force.
I head out onto the bedroom's porch, and jump over the railing. I drop two stories before landing on the ground in a kneel. Then I get up and run around the outside of the fort. Within a minute, I reach the front.
I see a humanoid behemoth smashing giant fists against the gate. It stands ten feet tall, with dull gray skin. I see bright red veins pulsing clearly through its body. Its muscles are huge. Its bicep is the size of a barrel. Its face is vaguely humanoid, but its skull is carved into sharp lines. Almost like a cube. And it has patchy, short black hair. It wears nothing, and…thank the gods, it doesn't have any junk.
It's already bent the thick black bars inward a lot. I put away my first blade, and pull out my second blade. Monkula, named after the monstrous ape I slain and used its spinal cord and other bones to make a bone greatsword. It's white, seven feet long, and only one side has a sharp edge. The other half has a long line of giant vertebrae. It's heavy too. One hundredish pounds. I'm superhumanly strong though, so it's still very useful to me. It's what I mainly use to tear through big boys and tough boys.
I charge straight at the behemoth, screaming my war cry. As I do, I see the rooftops nearby light up with mages charging spells up.
"Didn't I tell you about the ranged support?" August complains in my mind.
I roll my eyes. I focus, and create a powerful gust of wind to propel me from behind. Then I turn and run up the nearest building to my right. As I do, magic bolts fly at me, but I'm too fast. I quickly reach the rooftop, and pull myself up with a heavy footstep on the roof's stone railing onto it. Then I run along it and jump onto a rooftop ahead of me.
As I sail through the air, the mages on the rooftop fire at me with wild abandon. They shout their spells' names with passion, stupid things like "Elbezar's Chaotic Eye!" and "Lecher's Acid Spit!" But I just focus my Wind mana, and intercept the spells with Flying Slashes. The will of a Warrior is obviously stronger than these weaklings. The Flying Slashes destroy their attacks, and I land a few feet away from the mages on this rooftop with a malicious grin.
There's only three of them here. I peek past them, and see seven more. They're spread out between two more rooftops, can't tell how exactly from here. Doesn't matter though.
I focus on my Wind mana propelling me to its maximum point, and perform one of my simplest, but ultimate moves. Killzone Rush. I zoom forward with rapid speed, dashing between all ten of these mages. I cross the distance between rooftops within seconds. As I move to and past each target, I slash my blade through them.
I leave behind a chain of corpses cut in half through their torsos. I hear the sounds of their last screams and blood flying. It makes the Behemoth turn away from the gate, and look up. He sees me standing on the edge of a rooftop a few dozen feet away from him. My large second blade, Monkula, is covered in the blood of who I assume are his masters.
He turns back to the gate, and grabs it with both hands. Then he starts trying to pull it out, but he's struggling. He gives me time to swing my second blade, sending Flying Slashes at him. They smack against his body, leaving shallow cuts. But it doesn't do anything but piss him off.
He finally rips the gate out of its stone frame, and chucks it at me. I jump high up, narrowly avoiding complete devastation as the entire corner of the roof I'm on just explodes from the impact of that thrown gate. Damn, this guy's strong. I better not try getting in a contest of strength with him. Gotta treat him like the behemoth he is.
I land on the ground a few feet in front of the building I was just on. The Behemoth roars, and starts shoulder charging at me. I rush at him, but my goal isn't to play chicken. I Wind Dash, gusts of wind propelling me at a diagonal angle as I narrowly avoid the Behemoth. I hop a bit, and spin in the air. As I do, I swing my second blade. I cleave halfway through the Behemoth's shin. Then I use wind to propel myself away from the Behemoth, dragging Monkula out in the process.
I plant my feet firmly on the ground, and slide backwards while staying faced towards the Behemoth. He starts to spin on his heels, and I unleash a barrage of Flying Slashes. The Behemoth doesn't even bother trying to dodge, and this just annoys me. He just roars and charges forward despite the shallow cuts. Ugh, what a bastard.
This needs a decisive blow. He's moving around half as fast as before. I could deliver a Bloodfall Slash.
I rush forward. Once I'm within thirty feet, I leap high into the air. The Behemoth roars, and looks around for something. He finds a carriage with terrified horses tied to it. The driver is nowhere in sight. He lifts the carriage with ease, dragging the horses with him by their straps. They whinny with pain and fear. Then they squeal with absolute terror as the Behemoth throws all of them at my high flying body. I focus a gust of air beneath my feet, and leap even higher over the carriage and horses. I wince as I hear the horses and carriage smash against a nearby building.
I refocus, and Wind Dash through the air until I'm directly above the Behemoth. Then I form wind above my head, and make it propel me down at high speeds. The Behemoth roars, but I roar louder. Within seconds, I'm within feet of him. I flip forward with the help of Wind, and swing Monkula cleanly through the Behemoth. It tries to catch my blade, but I'm too fast. My blade cleaves through his left shoulder, and down to his hips. I'm still five feet in the air. I use Wind to force myself to go further down, cutting him further in half.
But this damn thing takes the word monster to absurd levels. It must be undead because despite the wounds, it still moves its arms. With no hesitation, I might add. He grabs my blade, and starts pushing it out. As he does, strange red veins leap out between the two halves of his upper half, and start pulling it back together. I growl angrily at the sight. I didn't expect to be fighting something that can heal. Luckily, he's not alone on that.
However, if he's undead, I have an idea. I let the Behemoth pull my blade out. I help even, kicking at his torso and sending myself sliding away. As I slide, I reach into my sword bag, and draw my third blade, the Promethean Knife. A dark blue dagger with a bright orange tip and edge.
I point the third blade's tip at him. I pour my mana into it, and the knife converts it into very high quality fire mana. The blade glows with bright orange energy. I focus my intent into it, and a five foot wide torrent of flames pours onto the Behemoth. The Behemoth roars with pain, and starts backpedaling. I can feel the fear in him, I swear. It's a primal, instinctive fear. The fear of a weaker creature that needs to flee from a warrior.
I focus the flames into an intense beam that is three feet long. A blade of flame. The Behemoth stays back, weary. I approach him, flames pointed towards him. With each step, the Behemoth shivers. It makes me grin maliciously. I can't help it sometimes. I'm a warrior who values honor, but there's something delightful about crushing a foe. It's only a bit sad when it's a creature like this. One of little intelligence. But it's so delightful to do it to a grown man who thought they were strong.
I dash forward. The Behemoth attempts swinging a fist, but it hasn't pulled itself fully back together. Its punch is off by a lot. It flails wildly, before bouncing high over my head. I casually overhead swing my flame blade through his forearm. He roars fearfully, and starts to turn away. But then a purple and black flame blazes in its eyes and it becomes rigid. Its will and fear is being overcome. This could make matters worse if the Behemoth wasn't screwed already.
When I'm feet away from the Behemoth, I activate Killzone Rush: Execution. I dash at high speeds past the Behemoth from multiple angles within seconds of one another. With each dash, I swing Monkula and my Flame Blade into him. With each slash, the Behemoth's roar of pain grows louder. Until finally I fly through the air like a spear, blades held in an X in front of me. I cut through the Behemoth's neck, and take his head with me. It's pressed against my chest as I Wind Dash over the rest of his corpse.
I land on the ground, feet still sliding from the momentum. Dust is kicked up as I do. I stab Monkula into the ground, and plant my feet firmly to stop myself even sooner. As I do, I spin around to face my Guild's fort.
As I do, I receive the news that I must return to the Panic Room immediately.
Shit, they opened a portal in this hallway. Of course they have a mage good enough to get through our Guild's anti-magic measures. I'm going to have to review the work of whoever did them. Hopefully I can prove these Seekers breaking into my fort is their fault. That way I can get a refund.
I stand up, and draw a red wood wand with a black crystal tip held in a small crown of gold studded with small amethyst crystals and gray moonstones. Jewels that resonate well with the manas I need. My soldiers ready their weapons.
Down the hall, sixty feet away. Stepping out of a purple and black portal are three mages in dark blue robes studded with small jewels. Probably stores mana. They're accompanied by a pet monster each.
The left mage has a tall, lanky humanoid with all white skin. Its face is a human skull with the skin seemingly pinched back as far as possible With large, unblinking red eyes. It twitches at a very high speed. I assume it's fast based on this alone.
The right mage has a hellhound. A wolf-like creature that stands up to our chests. It has a black exoskeleton that resembles a wolf. But it has large arcs of open air that are filled with crimson flames. I can see through a hole, and see a sinister ball of flame the entire length of the dog inside. The flame presumably fills its limbs and head as well. I bet it explodes when killed. Or perhaps it just has flame breath.
Finally, the center mage. He has a black stone golem with black obsidian eyes that glow with purple energy. It stands as tall as the left mage's creature. Its left "hand" is a giant ax. Its right "hand" is a mace with foot long spikes. It has a large white crystal in its chest. Probably its power source. I'll break it quickly.
I have only one expert soldier here. Shadow is admittedly an assassin, but his speed and expertise with Dark magic means he will more than do in a fight. He however, doesn't have much in the terms of powerful attacks. Unless he manages an attack from behind, anyway. The rest are admittedly above average, but I don't remember anything special about them. It's nice I have a squad of five of them here though.
Time to begin. Both I and the Center Mage begin tossing orders to our soldiers.
"Shadow, take out the twitching white thing. Don't hold back." I order firmly.
"Unleash your followers." Central Mage orders calmly.
At once, all of their creatures start attacking us. The tall, lanky humanoid rushes at me with great speed as expected. However, he collapses mid-sprint as a tall spike of crystalized darkness sticks out of his forehead.
For a moment, I see Shadow standing behind the creature. I lock eyes with him, and establish a mental link. Then I order him to start killing the mages. He nods, and zooms off. A black blur that comes behind the mages.
The hellhound is within feet of us now. A soldier thrusts a spear forward, and it catches on its eye socket. The thing yelps with pain, but as the spear comes it, it is aflame. The soldier thrusts once more, and it smacks against the hellhound's exoskeleton and breaks. Splinters, sparks, and the blade itself fly in all directions. The soldier curses, steps back a few feet, and draws a dagger.
The Golem is slow meanwhile. He's barely taken three steps in that whole time.
"Focus on the hellhound!" I order seriously.
The soldiers begin using skilled teamwork to fight the hellhound. There was one spearman remaining. His last name is Hunter. Two swordsmen, Deko and Phox. A mage, Stephanos. And the soldier with a dagger now. He's Weedler. He however, seems to be charging some wind magic.
They begin with the spearman continuing his comrade's work. He thrusts forth, smacking his blade against the snout. Sparks fly. The hellhound growls angrily, and pushes forward. The spearman pulls his spear back, and the swordsmen rush forward. One on each side, they each attack, Phox trying to hit inside the openings of the opening.
It becomes apparent why when the hellhound yelps with pain as he succeeds. And like a good soldier, he immediately relays his realization.
"Attack the openings! Hurting the flames is what actually hurts it!" he yells urgently.
With that, the hellhound tries to snap his jaws down on the right side swordsman, Phox's shin. But the spearman interrupts with a thrust against his head. It smacks hard, but only serves to attract attention to him.
Meanwhile, I've been generating more metal out of my body to use for one of my ultimate spells. Razor Sharp Spider Webs. And I'm making razor wires crawl from the hallway to the left of the corner and come in here. I need a few seconds though, the golem is getting a bit too close for comfort.
"Weedler, use that wind mana and push back the golem." I order calmly.
I imagine him nodding, but I wouldn't know. I didn't turn to see. I just watch as the wind comes and pushes the golem back several feet. His feet grind against the floor with a screech. And they definitely ruined the floor. How rude.
At this point, the mages are failing to stop Shadow. He's already driven his knife into the stomach of the right mage over five times. He's fallen back against a wall, and is fruitlessly holding his arm against his wounds. I can see the hellhound's fire fading.
I helped Shadow finish it. I have my razor wires crawl around the mages' feet. Up their legs, and around their bodies. They tried to struggle, but they couldn't beat the binding strength of these wires. At best, the center mage managed to make his golem turn around in time to watch him die.
Unfortunately, something went wrong. Just as the hellhound collapses with a loud howl, a red light starts glowing from the golem's chest. I stare fearfully at it. And demand once more for Jacob to come back to the Panic Room.
"I'm right here!" he yells seriously.
Jacob runs around the corner just in time. I point at the golem.
"It's gonna explode or something! Throw it into the sky!" I yell seriously.
Jacob nods, and immediately does as I ask. He's interrupted by the golem's arms swinging around his sides, and pulling him into a binding bear hug. Then it starts to sing a hysteric drumbeat. A timer of sorts.
I come around the side, and immediately start scanning the entirety of the golem for any hints as to what's going on. Jacob starts complaining, as per usual.
"Come on, August. This shit ain't a puzzle. Just blow its arms off." he asks annoyedly.
I roll my eyes, and ignore him. I found several runes covering his body. An hourglass slowly fading. A musical note blasting loudly. And what I need. A skull. The death rune. It was triggered upon his death.
I channel mana into my fingers, and press them against the death rune. I feel slight pain as I do, but it's necessary. I must overcome this. I focus intensely, and send a powerful burst of my mana into it. A battle of wills begins.
This battle is different from most battles of wills. In most cases, you still fight someone living. There's things you can exploit. Their emotions, their memories, or worse. Their bonds with you.
But when they're dead, you don't fight them. You fight a Shadow of Death. It's considered to be the spiritual memory of the dead being combined with powerful, pure Death mana. Death mana that can only be used when someone dies, normally the user.
My vision becomes covered in erratic, sharp black and white lines. They flicker in and out, along with my surroundings. A mass of darkness begins to grow from the central mage's corpse.
It stands seven feet tall. It wears crimson robes, and wears the same face as the mage. A square jaw, confident blue eyes, and short blonde hair. However, his robes were something monstrous. The faces and burnt skin of his victims wrapped around the bottom of his robes. In his left hand, he held a scythe, and his right arm coursed with black lightning.
I hold my hand out, and focus intensely on the antithesis of Death. Life. I created a wall of holy energy. This isn't the first time I've fought a Shadow of Death. It's always strange, and deadly. And worse, I'm not the kind of person Holy mana gets along with. That stuff judges you.
So the wall doesn't form in time. And the Shadow of Death points its right arm at me, and fires its bolt of lightning. And the battle of wills truly begins as I feel the pain.
Within two seconds, I focus and wash the pain away. The Shadow laughs at me. I glare at it, and focus once more on the Holy Wall.
To get it to work with me, I have to convince the mana that this is a good thing. And I love my Goddess Libra, but she sure made Holy mana a chore.
Alright mana. Jacob is a hero, believe it or not. He has slain many monsters to help society. He has saved many people of this world with his actions. He is an honorable warrior. And he's the only friend I trust. If a Caeser telling you they trust them isn't enough to convince you, I don't know what is.
The Holy Wall forms in front of me almost immediately. Thank you so much Libra. Alright, alright. I focus, and send the holy wall flying at the Shadow of Death. The Shadow overhead swings his scythe at it, and white sparks fly off it. I feel a new rush of pain as our wills clash once more. I grit my teeth, and make the wall wrap around the Shadow. He begins screaming with pain, and his lightning starts coursing through the white wall.
We both withstand our own storms of pain. In reality, I cough out blood and fall to my knees. I dully hear people being concerned, and feel the mage healing me. Meanwhile, the golem's crystal is flashing between a bright red light and a dull light.
I focus my will, and pull my hand out. I snap my fingers, and make the holy wall explode. It briefly forms a white cross with wings. Then that widens into a thick, white laser that quickly and completely envelops the Shadow. It howls with pain as it is.
And then the weirdest part. That moment where the Shadow fades, and the last remnant of the Mage's soul realizes its dead. I see his face outlined in the light. He sighs, and glares at me.
"I will tell the Gods about you. They will find you delicious." he threatens coldly.
I flip him off as he fades away. Until he's gone and the link between me and the death curse ends. The golem stiffens suddenly. Jacob is still struggling, and I sigh with amusement.
"I thought you were a strong man, Jacob? Unbeatable warrior?" I tease smugly.
Jacob shoots me a glare as he continues to struggle.
"August, quit screwing around and help me. I'm still just a human." he deadpans.
I giggle, and place a hand on the golem. I inject a bit of mana into it to get a feel for it. I sense there's a lock going on with the arms. Magical locks are a bit of a chore. To form one, one must make a solvable puzzle that functions as the lock. This lock will exist in anyone's mind as they interact with it as long as they keep a mana connection with it.
The puzzle in this case is a simple maze. I easily solve it. I think my eyes must swing about wildly as I do. When it's solved, I force the golem to unleash Jacob. Its arm swing open, and Jacob steps back. He glares at the golem, and swings an angry fist into its face. A loud clang cries out, and surprising some of the soldiers but not me, Jacob left an indent of his fist in the golem's face.
"Jacob, relax. This thing is about to help us." I say firmly.
"Ugh, it's lucky it was stronger than me. It'd be destroyed by now." Jacob says angrily.
I ignore him, and focus on my Psychic mana. I spend a large amount of mana to send out a pulse of it through a three hundred foot area. It won't hurt anyone', it'll just make me aware of them. … There's something in the Panic Room!
"HOLY SHIT, IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE SNAKES!" I yell fearfully
I run and jump onto a wooden table. The leaders of this guild just laugh at me while the snake chases only after me for some reason.
"You're going to have to kill it, kid." Percival laughs.
"Oh honey, can't we help him?" Julia asks warmly.
Percival sips his wine out a wine glass with a golden rim.
"Hell no, this is hilarious." he says with delight.
I scream again as the snake crawls up the leg of the table, twisting around its leg. I suddenly hear Deatrix yelling from outside.
"Quit being a pussy, Henry! Just shoot it with a bolt!"
I see its head crawl over the edge of the table. I focus, and form a spike of ice in front of my hand. I point it at the snake, and fire. The snake dodges to the left, his body curling into a C shape briefly. Then it keeps coming. I jump off the table, and run to the wall. Near the leaders. Percival shoves me aside, and I shoot him a glare.
Suddenly he forms a large bolt of lightning in his hands, and my glare is replaced with humble terror. Julia places a hand on his shoulder.
"Honey, be nice please." she asks nicely.
Percival growls angrily, and dispels the lightning bolt. After gulping nervously, I return focus onto the snake. It's hanging down from the table, and its head is close to the table. I form another ice spike, and fire again. I miss it once more.
I notice the entrance is beginning to slide open. Thank god. I only have to survive for a bit longer.
The snake hisses, and starts zooming towards me. I form another ice spike, but this time I just hold it in front of my hand. Then I jab it forward, trying to thrust it like a dagger. The snake slithers backwards, hissing at me. Its mouth is small, a black hole with small white fangs sticking out.
"You are an embarrassment. You better be glad you're a lawyer, cause there's no way you'd survive in this world otherwise." Percival insults with disdain.
I grit my teeth, and restrain myself from arguing. It wouldn't help me at all. The snake starts raising itself up into the air. A clear sign of attack. It makes me hesitate. We stare at each other for a moment. The snake swings its head forward, and I backstep further along the wall. It slithers after me, anger somehow clear in its tiny eyes.
The wall finally slides fully open. Deatrix and August strut quickly inside, and August focuses immediately on the snake. Deatrix stares for a moment, then starts laughing at me.
"You got pinned in place by a snake! Hah! God, you're terrible!" he says amusedly.
August draws her wand, and fires a bolt of iron at it. She perfectly pins the snake's head to the ground, killing it. Percival "hmph!"s with disappointment.
"Should've made him kill it." he complains.
August rolls her eyes. Then she addresses us all.
"We believe they've stopped their attack on us for now. We will remain on high alert however." August states dutifully.
She turns to her parents nervously. She takes a deep breath, then looks at them with clear hesitation.
"I'm gonna have to ask you two to wait a bit for your room to be fixed up though. A fight occurred there." she says nervously.
Julia clicks her tongue, while Percival sighs annoyedly.
"Jacob slaughtered some people in there again, didn't he?" he complains.
"Sure did, chief! It was a blast too. I was like, schwing, schwang, and they were like 'We dead, now' and then they died." Deatrix jokes happily.
Percival surprisingly laughs at this, along with Julia.
"Ah Jacob, you're such a funny guy. That's why we keep you around." Julia says happily.
"I thought it was cause he's so strong." Percival says warmly.
Then he glares at me.
"Unlike this weak peasant." he insults with disdain.
I turn away from him, so as I don't glare back. I really just want to get through this without being abandoned.
"Man, don't be mean to my lawyer. He's a good guy." Deatrix complains.
Percival suddenly shoots Deatrix a glare, and that makes him straighten up.
"I like you, but we don't need him. If necessary, we can bribe our way out of this. You're quite valuable. Henry is merely a cheap way to solve this." he explains seriously. "I don't need to respect him."
Percival begins leaving the room, and Julia follows after him.
"We will be in the lounge if you need us, August." Percival says calmly.
"Yes, father." August says calmly.
With that, they leave the room. And August turns to me with a sheepish smile.
"Henry, I think it may be best we move a bed in here for you." she says.
I sigh annoyedly. Of course I have to sleep in here now. Cause I'm so weak.
Deatrix gives me a thumbs up.
"Don't worry. With my help, it'll be a snap." he says warmly.
I nod and give a weak smile. He'll probably do all the work while at best I help keep it balanced.
I settle in for the night once more. They've taught me how to open the exit just in case I need to use the bathroom, or leave the room in the morning. It's telling the door "Open, Please." The pause is important. It's exactly two seconds long. If you mess it up, it won't open. I unfortunately learn how frustrating this can be during the night at some point, but otherwise the night goes fine.