Touch of Fate

Mike shook his head to clear the fog that had settled in it after the explosion. Using some of his remaining mana, he sent a wave of Life Magic through Selene, waking her up and healing the multitude of injuries she'd suffered in the aftermath of the bomb.

He'd managed to protect them from the main force of the blast, but the concussive wave still did a number on them, and only their supernatural, System-enhanced toughness had kept them from being liquified.

Once his familiar was well enough to move, he turned his attention to the room outside the blasted stone hemisphere. There were sufficient holes in his creation that he was able to detect a slight disturbance in the air currents, suggesting that something was moving around on the other side of the conjured wall. However, that was the full extent of what he could see.

[Alright, screw this. Time to get out of here.]

Sending his mana into the stones around him again, he quietly created a pathway directly behind them, angled up towards the surface. He grabbed Selene and began flying.

As they moved, beams of crackling energy started punching through his wall. Mike didn't wait to find out anything more, and flew faster while summoning additional walls to block off the passage behind them.

Distantly he heard the girl yell, "Hey! They're getting away!"

Her exclamation was followed by several loud crashes as their pursuers began destroying their way through the walls he'd erected. Based on the sound alone, he could tell they would catch up to him slightly outside of the tunnel.

Without looking down at the woman that had shaken off her confusion and was clinging on to his cloak as they travelled, he said, "Selene, we've got enemies at our backs. It looks like they'll be on us soon. Are you well enough to fight?"

The vampire grimaced. "I've definitely been in a better condition, but I should be able to hold my own." She paused for a moment to clench one hand into a fist. "Rather, I think I might be stronger than before…"

There was a second of silence as Mike digested this information, considered what it might mean, and ultimately decided that it wasn't important at the moment. "Good, we'll turn on them as soon as we get to the surface."

She nodded. "Do you know what we are up against?"

"Two that I know of. By the sounds of it, there is a young girl and an adult man, although considering they are probably vampires, that doesn't mean much. The man seems to have the ability to produce high intensity energy beams, but that's the extent of what I know about what they can do. So, be prepared for anything."

"Great. Nothing I like better than tangling with an unknown number of potentially powerful enemies while I'm suffering from what I can only call a soul hangover."

Mike's lips twitched at the sarcasm, but he was too focused on the task at hand to enjoy the banter. "We're near the surface. Get ready."

She responded by wordlessly bracing herself.

They erupted through the tunnel opening and he quickly angled their path down and to the right in the hopes of avoiding any kind of ambush. Thankfully, it looks like their enemies hadn't managed to get ahead of them.

As Mike set down near a patch of scrub brush, he took a quick look around. They were still inside Gildusi, but had ended up in the band of empty grassland that extended between the city walls and the district on the top layer. By all appearances it seemed to serve as a staging ground for convoys, as the ground had been repeatedly torn up by beasts of burden.

[We could continue running, but I don't know if they have a means of tracking us. If I exhaust my mana fleeing and they catch up, we will be in a much worse shape. Better to just turn and face them now.]

"This is not the best battlefield, but it's better than trying to take them on in the middle of the city. I'll put down a few traps while we have the time, do you need a weapon or anything?" Mike asked while preparing his mana.

Selene was still clenching and unclenching her fist distractedly, but answered after a brief delay. "...If you have something like a quarterstaff, preferably made as solid as they come, I think I can help."

Diverting a bit of his focus, Mike channeled mana into the ground, causing a patch of dirt to elongate into a staff-like shape, and then harden until it had a metal-like sheen. "It's a bit on the heavy side, but here you go."

He watched her take a few practice swings before continuing. "I don't know how strong those two are, but we should plan for the worst possibilities. When they show up, I'm going to try to talk with them first. If they attack, I'll have a few surprises for them. Once they are on the back foot, I need you to engage the sniper and keep him from interfering while I take on the girl and any other members they might have brought along. In the event they prove too powerful, I'll hold them off while you make a break for it and then follow you when I have the chance."

"Whatever you say, boss." She replied lightly while shouldering the staff, a relaxed smile on her face.

For a moment, he found himself captivated by the sight of her standing in the moonlight, hair waving in the gentle breeze. At least he did until he realized that there was something else that he'd been too distracted to notice up till now.

"Ah...crap. I completely forgot. I'll make you some clothes now."

"I was wondering when you'd get there." She shot back calmly while taking the simple shirt and pants Mike whipped up in a flurry of activity. "Thanks, boss."

Sighing, he returned to his preparations, putting the finishing touches on his traps.

[Now I just have to hope that they won't just hide at maximum range and attempt to snipe us into submission. If they do that, I'll have to take drastic action.]

He was hoping to minimize the damage to the city, but if it came down to it, he was prepared to unleash wide area attacks to fight back.

Thankfully, the opponents were apparently interested in a more direct confrontation.

A final cataclysmic crash sounded from the tunnel, and a cloud of dust billowed out, obscuring much of their surroundings.

"Ah! There they are! Looks like they were waiting for us. How thoughtful." The girl's voice emanated from the cloud, and soon a pair of figures could be seen moving through it.

The first was a broadly built man dressed in a long overcoat and wearing a tricorn-like hat that gave him a slightly nautical air. In fact he vaguely looked like a character torn from a pirate movie, complete with a full beard and several tattoos on the portions of his skin that were visible. He was carrying a long rifle made of a dark grey metal that seemed to bear some runic markings, although it was difficult to tell at this distance.

The second was a young girl, who looked to be around ten at the most. She was wearing a simple sundress, with her dirty blonde hair left to flow in the wind. Her empty hands were swinging freely as she calmly walked in their direction, looking to all the world as if she were on her way to a picnic rather than a fight.

Mike frowned. Not only did he not detect any hint of hostility coming from them, but the information his Aerosense was providing was confused. Almost as if there were some kind of interference. Thankfully, at least Appraise was working correctly.

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Noah

Age: 587

Race: Elder Vampire

Class: Magic Gunner

Title: Hand of the Court

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[That's probably our sniper. He's old and has an advanced race, but can't compare to Brutus, at the very least. I was a little worried this guy was of a similar level of power.]

He turned his attention to the girl next.

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Esmerelda

Age: 1243

Race: Elder Vampire (Demon)

Class: Blood Witch

Title: Lady of Chains

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[...That's....huh. I guess they're going with the 'terrifying little girl who's actually thousands of years old' trope here. Truthfully though, all of that is a bit scary. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a Tier 4.]

He whispered out of the side of his mouth to Selene. "Hey, have you ever heard of someone called the Lady of Chains?"

She sucked in a breath. "Only rumors, but she's supposed to be some big player in vampire society. Outranks pretty much everyone besides the queen and can be considered to be a peer of individuals like the Lord of War...Please tell me that's not her over there."

"Then I won't tell you." He muttered back before taking a few steps forward and yelling. "That's far enough."

Surprisingly, the pair came to a halt about ten meters from them with Esmerelda standing a little bit in front. With a cocky grin she called. "Done running away already?"

"We thought it might be best to address the issue in a civilized manner." He replied. "Or does the Undying Court no longer respect proper conduct."

"Ha! Only if you consider back-biting politics to be proper. But I suppose I can humor a little diplomacy. Alright, you give us what we want and I will spare your lives."

Mike allowed a trickle of mana to enter his voice. "You seem to be under the impression that I am afraid of you. I suggest you amend that thought process before you come to regret it."

"That's a neat trick, but you are underestimating us and our intelligence networks. We've been aware of your movements ever since you crash landed to the north of the city. We know all about your actions leading up to the destruction of the Divine Seal in this city's ruins. Even as a Tier 4 mage, you are definitely on the last of your mana reserves. Additionally, you appear separated from your other allies, to include your famed mount, and have been acting erratically, suggesting that you are not in your best condition. All that together suggests you are bluffing."

"It seems like you're the one underestimating me. I've killed a lot more dangerous opponents with a lot less mana in a lot worse circumstances. However, in the interests of negotiation, perhaps you should explain what it is that you want." He shot back, trying to present as strong of a front as possible. While he was fairly confident in his ability to take the pair normally, he was a little concerned about having to deal with them and his mental intruder at the same time.

Esmerelda gave him another cocky grin, no doubt assuming that he was negotiating as a result of her previous comments striking home. "Fair enough. We know that you interrupted the ghoul's ritual and preemptively shattered the Divine Seal, releasing Aculyan the Devourer. Somehow, you subsequently managed to hide him in a manner that is blocking our divining methods. As such, our demands are simple. Give us our god back. Or don't, and we will simply force his location out of you."

Her eyes took on a predatory look as a spike of intense hostility pierced his awareness, nearly catching him by surprise. With the grin still in place, although it had become much more feral, she continued. "Personally, I would like you to resist. Young mages like you are quite delectable. Something about the quality of the mana in your blood."

Mike took a moment to gather his thoughts. Under ideal circumstances, he would like to ask Aberth or Aculyan for his opinion. Based on the way he'd been acting up to this point, though, he felt certain the god would want to avoid dealing with the Court of the Undying. At least, he should want to avoid contaminating their personalities with his hunger-inducing influence.

Add to that the debt Mike now owed him for his assistance with Selene's rescue, and it was clear he had to turn them down.

"I'm afraid I have no intention of sharing that information with you." He replied finally, before intentionally activating his Communication Magic and infusing his voice with mana once again. "So, I'll give you one last warning. If you attack us, know that I will use every means at my disposal to crush you utterly."

Noah took an involuntary step back at the declaration, but Esmerelda stood her ground, still smiling.

"Perfect." She whispered. "I wouldn't have it any other way."