Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

"Careful, he is an illusionist!" Connor warned, his eyes glowing again. I had no idea what magic he was using but being a tracker he might have ways to see through illusions. Sadly, I had no such magic. We had not been trained in countering illusions yet.

Hatsumi sniffed, then she turned towards me and pounced. A man appeared right next to me as her fangs pieced his throat. Damn, that was close. I made sure to cover myself with a water shield and poured more mana into it.

Meanwhile Nyx was charging the enemy skeletons. Duncan drew his sword and surrounded himself with wind. It was the first time I saw him in battle. Connor had drawn his sword as well, taking a defensive stance. Our reinforcements were on the way, so all we had to do was hold out for a little time. The illusions made things tricky. I could not tell how many enemies we faced.

The bald man had not made a move yet. Likely he was the one responsible for the illusions. Actually, he might be an illusion himself. The hooded figures were attacking Nyx with necrotic spells, a rather stupid move. Sadly, they were coming to the same conclusion. They switched their approach and summoned black chains which tried to immobilise Nyx. They were not entirely successful but it did slow her rampage through the skeletons.

I was busy trying to not get assassinated. My shield intercepted a few darts, I had no idea where they came from. Hatsumi was close to me, using her nose to sniff out anyone who approached us.

The two armed guards who had retreated earlier were now standing next to the bald man. The other people were hiding behind the counter of the bar. Or maybe they were now invisible too. I had no way of knowing.

Well, maybe it was time to give the bald man something to worry about. Trusting Hatsumi's defense I prepared a spell, necrotic ray. I might not be able to see a lot of the enemies but I could simply sweep the area with a ray and I had enough mana to keep it going for a while.

The runes appeared in my mind and I fed them with mana. I pointed my hand at the bald man and unleashed my magic. Sadly, my suspicion proved right as the ray went straight through the illusion. I started moving it around, sweeping the general area. I was rewarded with a cry as an armed man appeared, his skin withering as the ray hit his chest.

Before I could sweep more of the area a green bottle appeared and flew straight towards me. Hatsumi intercepted it with her blood claws and a cloud of green mist burst from it.

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"Poison!" Duncan yelled. He used his wind magic to redirect the cloud away from us. Sadly I did not hear any enemies dying, which likely meant they had some antidote, or a way to avoid breathing it.

Suddenly I heard an explosion from above. I looked towards the door and saw Helena rushing towards us.

"There is a golem upstairs, Cassie and Skadi have it covered!" She shouted. Helena was covered in a complete ice armour and was holding a spear made from ice. Yoru was running beside her.

"Careful, they are using illusions!" I warned her.

Helena nodded. "Time for some area magic. Yoru, protect me please."

"Meow." The cat nodded.

Helena dismissed her spear and raised both hands, then she pointed them towards the illusion of the bald man. Our enemies were not idle, more potions flew our way, seemingly appearing from thin air. Yoru fired ice darts at them and soon the room was filled with explosions.

They used bombs indoors! They were as crazy as Cassie! I focused completely on defense and used water magic to counter any fire coming my way. Hatsumi was still keeping any assassins at bay and soon Helena finished her spell.

A giant turquoise ball appeared in her hand. It looked like ice, yet it also looked like a liquid. The ball flew from her outstretched hand towards the corner of the room, where it exploded in a shower of ice snow. The room was lit by crystals in the ceiling and the snowflakes seemed to dance in the artificial light. It was beautiful.

Also, the ice shards found some marks as four people appeared, bleeding from several wounds. The illusion of the bald man was gone, instead the real mage appeared, safe behind a shield of white light.

As the hooded mages took some cover Nyx obliterated their chains and roared.

The bald man did not look pleased. Something glowed in his hand and a new door appeared at the back wall. "You are not the only ones with reinforcements." He said.

The door opened towards a dark corridor. Light blue flames shone through the darkness and approached slowly. The combat came to a halt as everyone stared at the new door.

"Careful." Duncan warned.

Meanwhile, I smiled.

Walking through the door was a creature dressed in an immaculate suit. Somehow it seemed spotless. Kaito faced the bald man, who was staring in disbelief. "Ah, you must be the proprietor of this fine establishment. I must thank you for this wonderful opportunity to try out my skills. It has been delightful. The secret tunnel towards the sewers was a nice touch. Unfortunately your minions were a bit too noisy and gave it away." He tipped his head.

Then Kaito looked at me and bowed. "I must apologise, mistress. I was not able to capture them all alive. I am afraid the first mage seemed less resilient than expected and was consumed by my flames. The second one seems to be alive and is preserved in ice."

While I was slightly annoyed that he called me mistress again I was really delighted by his entrance, and the face the bald man made. It was priceless.

Kaito was not finished, his gaze swept the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, your valiant resistance is noted but now would be a great time to surrender."