Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Return of the Undead King(Part 2)
Aster fired out a blast of telekinesis as several ice arrows came shooting out towards him from an alley, easily deflecting them away before glancing back as Arren teleported behind him and drove his fist towards the back of his head.
As his fist closed in on Aster's head, an intense telekinetic burst erupted behind him, knocking Arren away before his fist could strike, as Aster swung one of his blades across to deflect an incoming arrow, the projectile shattering upon impact.
"Sorry, but I'm going to need to end this quickly," Remarked Aster, as he raised his hand towards Arren and chanted, "[Telekinetic Pull]."
"[Switch]!" Arren quickly chanted, swapping places with Aster before teleporting several meters away as a barrage of ice arrows came shooting down towards Aster from the top of a nearby building as he reappeared, with Quila having climbed up from the alley to get a higher vantage point.
He swiftly spun around and unleashed a powerful telekinetic shockwave as the arrows closed in on him, blowing them away before Arren teleported to his left and sprang forward, reaching out to try and grab hold of Aster...
"[Telekinetic Zone]."
Arren's body came to an abrupt halt as Aster activated his zone with the Knight already well within its range, freezing him in place before turning his gaze up towards the top of the building Quila was on, as several more arrows came shooting down towards him.
Arren's eyes widened as Aster's feet lifted off the ground, as he grabbed his own body with his Telekinetic Zone and lifted himself up, effectively using his Spell to fly as he then began strangling Arren telekinetically, a choked gasp ringing out.
As the arrows got deflected off his zone and shattered as they fell and hit the ground, he then zipped up towards the top of the building, flying up and over it in the blink of an eye, Quila flinching as he met her gaze.
"Ah, so that's the bow Relic Armament, is it? What's it called?" He inquired, as he eyed the weapon with a look of intrigue.
It was a sleek black bow with a scope-like eyepiece attached to the handle with a thin chain, which Quila was wearing over her right eye.
"It's called Hawkeye...and that's enough gawking at it," She replied, as she removed the eyepiece, which floated off and got pulled to the handle of the bow like a magnet, before she put it away in her Storage Ring and formed a pair of ice blades in her hands.
"Come on...I don't mean to sound arrogant here, but do you really think an Archer can take on a Dual Blader and beat him at his own game?" Smirked Aster tauntingly, as Arren began to lose consciousness, unable to activate a Spell and escape since he couldn't focus while being choked out.
"Maybe not, but there's only way to find out," She responded with a grimace, not feeling particularly confident about her odds.
Meanwhile, not too far away...
"It seems you've greatly improved since we last met," Remarked Rione with a grimace, as he narrowly blocked a rapid slash of Tacitus's blade with his hammer, a sharp clang echoed out as his feet skidded back upon impact, his arms jarred slightly.
"And you don't seem all that much stronger than you were back then," Responded Tacitus dryly, before he shot forward and unleashed a rapid, powerful swing across at Rione's head.
Rione quickly ducked under it, the blade whooshing past the top of his head before he drove his hammer towards Tacitus's stomach.
Tacitus whipped his sword down with a flick of his wrist, slamming the blade into the head of the hammer and knocking it down, a crash ringing out as it collided against the ground, chunks of dirt flying out upon impact as cracks spread out.
Tactius then swiftly rotated the handle of his sword and swung the blade back up, the flat of the blade striking Rione's chin with a thunk, dazing him slightly as he shakily stumbled back, before he quickly raised his hammer up defensively as Tacitus zipped forward and swung his sword across as he closed in on the Knight.
The blade slammed against the handle of Rione's hammer with a sharp clang, the impact jarring his arms painfully before he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his weapon, before raising it up and slamming it onto the ground as he sprang back, triggering a shockwave towards Tacitus as the ground cracked deeply and broke apart.
Tacitus quickly backed away before jamming his blade into the ground as the shockwave closed in on him, rooting himself and maintaining his balance as it hit him, puffs of dust rising up ahead of him.
Rione then grimaced as he spotted Aster flying up towards the top of a building, with Arren caught in his Telekinetic Zone. Realizing that his subordinates were about to be defeated, Rione then slammed his hammer onto the ground again, triggering another shockwave towards Tacitus before racing towards the building, a sense of urgency driving him.
Tacitus braced himself as the shockwave closed in and hit him, planting his feet firmly to avoid getting knocked back. As the force of the shockwave faded, Tacitus glanced in the direction Rione was rushing towards before quickly pulling his sword out of the ground and chasing after the Knight, who raised his hammer and whipped it across as he closed in on the building, a deafening crash ringing out as the hammer collided against the side of the building with a devastating impact.
Deep cracks spread out across the structure as the building shook upon impact, the windows shattering before Aster came swooping down off the top of the building as dozens of shards of glass rained down and peppered the ground.
Quila leapt off the building and into the alley to the left of it, kicking off the walls on either side to control her descent, before landing with a slight thud as Rione sprang back as Aster closed in on him, a loud crash ringing out as he landed with immense force with his Telekinetic Zone, a cloud of dust rising up around him.
He then set Arren down, who was unconscious, before turning his gaze to Rione as Tacitus stepped up behind the Knight.
Quila peered out of the alley as she brought out her bow again, running her Mana into it before an ice arrow manifested across the middle of it, as she took hold of the end and notched it onto the bowstring, drawing it back and taking aim as the scope floated off the handle and latched over her right eye.
Rione eyed the two Irregulars warily, a strong tension in the air, before he began to charge towards Aster-...
"Captain Rione! We have an emergency!" A voice rang out, distracting the four of them, who all glanced in that direction in unison.
It was another Knight, with a panicked look on his face...
"Hm? I'm pretty sure he's a Knight in the Commander Squad, a Teleporter, if I remember right. He isn't a target, so I'm not totally sure if that's correct though," Aster thought to himself warily.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of in the middle of something here," Frowned Rione in response.
"Yes, but...it's the Capital! It's under attack by a horde of undead creatures! They're led by a strange, powerful undead being who's battling the Commander! Whatever that thing is, he regenerates instantly from any damage! Even the Commander is unable to kill him!" Exclaimed the Knight, surprising Aster and Tacitus.
"No way, it can't be...," Aster trailed off in disbelief, before exchanging a wary glance with Tacitus.
"What? Damn it, of all the times...," Muttered Rione with a grimace.
"It seems we've got a common interest...the two of us want to leave, and I'm sure you want to go and provide backup the Capital, isn't that right? That seems to be a much more pressing concern than continuing to fight us right now," Spoke up Aster.
"I-...shit. I suppose I have no choice. I'll let you leave this time, Irregulars. But mark my words, this isn't over...you won't be so lucky next time," Rione warned them as he relented before picking up Arren, putting him over his shoulder before heading towards the Teleporter.
Quila walked out of the alley and followed after him, eyeing The Irregulars cautiously for a moment before relaxing as they didn't make a move.
They then linked up with the Teleporter, before vanishing from sight as he teleported them away. Aster then walked over towards Tacitus, a concerned look on his face...
"You don't think that's-...?" He began with a frown.
"Unless there's another being with the same abilities, then yes, it's definitely him. Seems he survived. Looks like you failed to finish him off," Replied Tacitus grimly.
"Hey, don't blame me, how was I supposed to know? Well, it doesn't really matter how he survived...whatever the case, this isn't good. Come on, let's go back to the hideout...this concerns us too, the Undead King is sure to come after us at some point as well."
"Mainly you, since you're the one who defeated him."
"Yeah, I know, don't remind me...shit, I've got a bad feeling about this."
Meanwhile, in Carnelian Village...
Colt raised his dagger up defensively as Jacks slashed at him with one of his blades, managing to block it before quickly lowering the dagger as the Knight whipped his other blade across at Colt's stomach, narrowly deflecting it before Jacks unleashed a barrage of rapid cuts and slashes at Colt.
A few shallow cuts appeared across Colt's torso as he failed to fully block the flurry of attacks, before several blood tendrils burst out of his back and zipped out towards Jacks, who swiftly crossed his blades in front of himself defensily and backed away, avoiding the tendrils before they could converge in on him.
"It really is quite remarkable for an Assassin to be so adept at close combat...however, I still have the edge!" Declared Jacks as he shot towards Colt again, before his eyes widened as a smirk spread out across Colt's lips as he began to close in on him.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that. Now, [Blood Zone]," He chanted with a sadistic smile, a massive amount of blood bursting out of his hands and spreading out before engulfing the surrounding area, forming a rapidly swirling dome of blood spanning a twenty-five meter radius range around Colt.
A layer of blood formed over the ground within the dome, as the dome began spinning with more force, the stench of blood permeating the air within the space.
Jacks quickly turned around and sprinted towards the dome, charging rapidly vibrating sound waves into his blades, aiming to try and slice his way out, before he came to an abrupt halt as the blood on the ground below him rose up in the form of ropes and wrapped around his legs before tightly constricting, rooting him in place before he overbalanced and fell forward, his hands splashing onto the blood before more ropes of blood rose up and coiled around his arms.
"Wh-what is this?" Stuttered Jacks as he tried to break free, before wincing as the blood tightened its grip on his limbs.
"This is my trump card, and it's how I beat you. You no longer stand any chance of winning this fight," Responded Colt, before lifting Jacks up as he spread the ropes of blood out, stretching the Knight's limbs out as he met his gaze with a smirk...
Meanwhile, a short distance away...
"You better pay attention!" Exclaimed Lexia as she shot towards Dox while he was distracted by Colt's blood dome and drove a narrow, piercing bone blade towards the right side of his chest, grazing the side of his right arm as he sprang off to his left, narrowly evading the attack before Lexia swung the bone blade across as a blast of light came shooting towards her, deflecting it away before it could hit her.
Diar charged in towards her from the right and leapt forward, driving his right fist towards the side of her head, before gasping in pain as a bone spike burst out of her cheekbone and pierced in between his knuckles, before his fist could reach her.
She then swiftly retracted the spike before whipping the bone blade across at him, he quickly sprang back in response and narrowly evaded it, the tip of the spike cutting through the fabric over his chest as Dox shot towards Lexia from the left and drove his spear towards her as he closed in.
She narrowly deflected the thrust of the spear with her bone blade, the edge of the spear whizzing past the front of her chest before she fired out a bone bullet from her fingertip, hitting the middle of Dox's forehead and dazing him.
He shakily stumbled back with a groan as a trickle of blood ran down his forehead, before he quickly unleashed a burst of dark mist around himself and backed away, firing out a barrage of dark arrows out of the shadowy mist.
Lexia quickly raced away as the arrows came shooting out of the mist, grimacing as one grazed her arm, her vision blurring slightly as the debilitating effect of Dark Magic Spells took slight effect.
She then quickly got low as a rapid slashing wave of light came shooting towards her, before she unleashed a flurry of bone bullets at Diar as his attack whizzed past the top of her head.
He sprinted away as the bullets came shooting towards him, narrowly evading them before Dox sprang up behind Lexia and swung his spear down towards her.
She quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly evading it as the blade of the sprear struck the ground and got lodged in. She then leapt back as he began to pull the blade back out, before taking aim and firing out a long, narrow bone slate at a low angle, which sliced through his heels before he could react, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from him as he collapsed onto his knees, unable to get back up.
"Damn you...!" Exclaimed Diar, as he shot towards her while firing out a barrage of light projectiles at her.
"Relax, it's not like that'll kill him...just get him to a high level Recovery Mage and he'll be just fine," She responded with a shrug, as she zipped across to evade the projectiles, before countering with several rapid, drilling bone arrows.
Diar fired out light blasts to deflect the incoming arrows, before crying out sharply as he failed to hit one of them, which sliced across his right hip and tore his skin apart, blood pouring out and running down the side of his leg.
"Shit...," Muttered Dox with a grimace, trying to get back up, but to no avail.
"What, just because you had me outnumbered, did you think you stood a chance against me? Sorry, boys, but I-...," Lexia began with a smirk.
"We have an emergency! The Capital is under attack!"
"Hm?" Frowned Lexia, as she turned her gaze in the direction the voice came from, spotting a Knight rushing over, before she thought to herself, "Isn't that guy a Teleporter from the Commander Squad? What's he doing here?"
"Vice-Captain Jacks is in there, get him out!" Dox yelled at the Knight, who turned his gaze towards the blood dome before vanishing from sight as he teleported into it, before reappearing a couple seconds later, several meters away from it.
He was holding onto Jacks, who looked barely conscious, with strangulation marks around his neck, his limbs numb and shaky.
"You bastards...I see, so your real target was the Capital," Frowned Diar, as the blood dome collapsed and Colt came into sight with a bewildered look on his face.
"Huh? Uh, no, we can't take credit for that, that's not one of our targets today," Responded Lexia in bemusement, before the Teleporter teleported towards Dox, grabbing him before teleporting towards Diar.
Lexia began to take aim at them, before stopping...
"Wait, it's a good thing for us if they leave, why would I try to stop them? I don't know what exactly is going on here, but it's best if I just let them leave."
"The hell just happened?" Inquired Colt with a puzzled look on his face, as he approached her.
"Not a clue. We can think about it later...for right now, we should get out of here while we have the chance."
"Uh, yeah, sure...no objections here."
"Seriously, though...what the fuck is going on here? If we're not the ones attacking the Capital, then who is?"