NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20 (Ballroom Blitz)
With that, he gave his wrist one more snap, seemingly satisfied that he had his full range of motion back, he waved his hand, giving the signal for the other two men to reluctantly step to either side of me.
Not waiting for them to finish their encirclement, I kicked the heels off my feet towards the leader's head. They didn’t have enough force to do any real damage, but in the time it took the man to recover his wit, my fist filled in the gap, striking his chest. I considered letting the tentacles carefully concealed around my body out. Ultimately, I didn’t want to reveal my trump card so soon. The man fell backward, but before I could land another hit, I saw a punch closing in from the larger man beside me. I leaned back just in time to avoid the first strike; however, I failed to notice the short man slip behind me, launching an attack from my blind spot. Having already dodged the first attack, I couldn’t halt my dive backward, so instead, I kicked the ground sending me into the path of the strike even faster. In an instant, I felt a force impact me above my left rib cage, but my flight didn’t stop there; thanks to my extra force, I continued into the source of the punch, tumbling into the small man. Landing on top of him, I could see every aspect of his features, from his slightly oilly skin to The clear signs of exertion surrounded me. I could feel his muscles twitch in an effort to throw me off. I was about to launch one of my fists toward the man's torso when I heard a blizzard-like whooshing of air behind me. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. Hitting the ground, I rolled to a stop to see the leader of the group standing a few feet away from where the short man was struggling to his feet, a white vapor coming out of his hands.
I picked myself out of the display I had crashed into while checking my wounds and considered my next move. Alone, I didn't think any of them were even as strong as the basic ants I had fought in the rift. Besides the last hit, the blows they had managed to land either did little to nothing or could be healed with my lesser recovery skill. The issue was that I also didn't have a significant advantage. They just worked too well together; anytime I had an opening, the others were able to make up for the shortcomings. I felt a shiver go down my spine as I wondered what if the ants had the same level of cooperation. If I had my sword, then maybe I could change this situation around, but right now, I think it might be best to try and give Mariam more time to flee, then get out of here.
Just as I was finishing my plan, the large man named Mitch raised his hand to his ear, his face paling. He tried to whisper in the leader's ear; unfortunately for them, I was close enough that any lapse in concentration could prove costly. Something the man knew well.
[Garrett (the punk leader)] "Just say it, damn it!"
Clapping his hands together, he sent another shock wave in my direction. This time I managed to move to the side, finally figuring out how his attack worked. I wanted to take the opportunity when the man started to speak to at least gain some ground.
[Mitch (the tall lackey)] "Hey, boss, got a problem here. Looks like the rift we were tracking earlier suddenly changed to a power scale two and is wildly changing direction."
Hearing the word rift mentioned again, I backed off. Right now, that term likely involved all of our fates, not just theirs.
[Mitch (the tall lackey)] "Just got an emergency association notice. They want all available wardens to help evacuate..."
The man spoke slowly; however, he realized I had backed away, and he spoke normally after listening for a second.
[Mitch (the tall lackey)] "That's not the bad news, apparently it's opening right on top of..."
Silence descended on the room as the realization of the man's words dawned on us. The short man spoke first.
[Short lackey] "Hey boss, we should get out of here before the backup team arrives. If we move now, we'll probably be able to get out of the rift's range."
His suggestion was cut off by the man who growled out a response.
[Garrett (the punk leader)] "Both of you shut up, this is just the opportunity we need to deal with this ignorant bastard, stop her from leaving, and I'll make sure both of you get into the elite squad."
Hearing this, I wasn't sure of some of the phrasing, but I managed to pick up that they were planning to let themselves get sucked into a rift. To me, their confidence seemed misplaced. If they couldn't even deal with me, how could they hope to survive in a place like the ant's cave? Either way, it wasn't something I planned to stick around to find out. My legs bent and pushed off the ground as I lunged toward the door. I saw a pair of hands coming towards me but managed to slip past their grasp. With my goal now in sight, I picked up speed while kicking a chair at the leader who was just about to send a punch in my direction, causing him to lose his footing.
As I exited the shop, the three men were hot on my tail. I stepped out onto the street before coming to a stop. Despite the downpour of rain that had been constant since I had woken up, no water hit me. In fact, I couldn’t hear the sound of rain at all.
In front of me was a multicolored wall of pulsing rainbow light. It looked like lightning going through a prism as it arced in the air above me. Suddenly, the ground below me began to disappear.
I heard a snicker behind me. As the three men stepped into the street behind me, that was the last thing I saw before my vision turned white. The next thing I knew, my surroundings had completely changed. I no longer stood on pavement. Below me was slightly damp ankle-high grass interspersed with smooth stones. All around me, there were trees, some soaring so high into the sky that their branches could barely be seen from the ground, while others fell to the ground like they wanted to smother it in their leaves.
I could feel a faint heat on my neck. Looking up, I saw a clear blue sky and the glaring beams of the sun, which shot through the gaps in the trees. It was the type of place where one would gladly lie in the grass, enjoying the scenes around them.
Too bad it was ruined by the three men also examining their environment in a clearing a few yards in front of me. This time the transition was a lot less dramatic. I hadn't lost consciousness for too long. What greeted me when I awoke was this forest. I was grateful that at least it wasn't a cave again. Quickly checking the map, I was pleasantly surprised not to see many red dots in view. The ones, besides the three in front of me (good on you map), were near the edge of its view. My attention was pulled back towards the trio as I heard a voice shout out towards me.
[Garrett (the punk leader)] "Looks like this rift really had it out for you, huh?"
Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a shining silver dagger with redstones embedded into its grip. The weapon didn't seem to fit with the rest of his outfit (though I doubted if that mattered right now). The tall man pulled out a short stick with a shiny blue stone on its tip, while the short man somehow had managed to fit a pair of thin black blades into his pockets.
Looking at this increasingly assured lineup, I couldn't help but smile grimly. Feeling the tentacles frantically push their way into the grass towards the group, I regretted that I had to use this ability so soon. "Monarch's Reach," huh? The name repeated in my mind. I don't think I would ever be able to get used to this. I could tell where every tentacle was almost without thinking, guiding them into position like I was taking a step down an even road. This ease only made the feeling of moving close to men's skin feel more unnatural. I couldn't help but think of that ant, the way its dead eyes looked at me, the way it harvested the corpses of its own kind as if it was only right. In this moment, how far was I from being like that monster? Sure, my thought process was different, but did that really matter when my actions were the same?
While I was wrestling with my thoughts, a confident voice sounded out from the leader with the same grim smile plastered across his face as when he attacked Mariam.
[Garrett (the punk leader)] "You know the saying 'The rifts can keep even the truth out.' Look, you can only blame your bad luck, right?"
With that, the tall man pointed his stick in my direction. Its tip began to shine with a brilliant red light. While chanting some strange words, he looked down at me with a strained expression a single bead of sweat dripping from his brow.
My eyes opened with newfound resolve. I was never the one who was a monster here. It didn't matter how I fought; it mattered what I was fighting for. These people in front of me were much closer to the ant than I ever was. They didn't care about what was right; they were only interested in using their power to oppress others.
I didn't see anything wrong with being self-serving, but there were simply lines that shouldn't be crossed.
It didn't stop me from feeling a little bad for what was going to happen. I mumbled an apology to myself as three screams filled the forest.
"I’m sorry about this."