Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

Bearer of Sanguine Promise made a quick double checking of the ritual circles that his powers were shaping from the pools of blood upon the ritual surface, a simple enchantment on the stone slab having kept the vital fluids fresh throughout their stay in the astral space. Promise could use his own lifeblood too in a pinch, but sacrificing his own vitality when he had other materials so readily available just felt… unnecessary.

“Heaven-cursed adventurers and their movement powers.” he muttered, turning to the twitching form beside him. What remained of Crimson couldn’t respond, and Promise found that as an improvement to the unbidden sycophancy of her previous form. “At least you might give me the edge needed. If I can just incapacitate them for long enough…” His thoughts went to the nearby aperture. The ritual to unseal it wasn’t too long, but having bronze-rankers fighting nearby would wreck the balance of the weak ambient mana, as well as himself being left vulnerable.

“The heavens should at least favor the prepared. May my skills prove sufficient.” Promise said, continuing his muttering as he finally deemed everything to be ready. Outside, the sounds of essence users dueling had started reaching him through the barriers, the spell chants and battle cries muffled through the barrier.

“Well, dear student, I believe it is time you went out and introduced yourself. Do not worry though. Your master will take care of you.”

The tall, thin being next to him only continued her slight twitching in response, but when Promise dropped the barrier formation, the sallow head turned instantly to the people clashing between the tents outside, half of the camp already wrecked or set on fire by their conflict. The being that was once called Crimson then dashed off, long spindly legs eating up the distance quickly.

Promise instead turned his focus to activating the other rituals he had already prepared, sanguine circles coming to life along with another barrier of force, this one mostly transparent.

“I will not be brought down so easily, this I promise.” he muttered, the accumulated frustrations of his situation and the last few days finally allowed to fully break through, the spell chant which followed coming out as a bellow.

“Champions of viscera, show me their lifeblood!”

As the barrier in the camp broke, two things happened:

First, and perhaps most immediately pressing, was the three meter tall humanoid which came charging out of the barrier, emitting a primal but potent bronze-ranked aura. It was thin to the point of looking frail, every part of its bright crimson skin distended and twitching. But while it might look frail, it was fast, fast enough that its limbs moved like whips, blurring as it sprinted towards the clashing essence users.

Second, a loud spell chant sent a wave of magic washing over the fight, a red glow starting to emanate from the two cultists and monsters alike as all of them seemed to become more powerful, blood dripping from their eyes and mouths. Kite could glimpse a robed figure standing where the opaque barrier had once been, magical perception revealing him to be the source of the boons.

But Kite was forced to focus more on the present as the slender beast was upon him, leaping over the bronze-ranked cultist in front of him to thrust downward toward him with a thin arm.

“Ward!”

His personal barrier appeared, deflecting the blow, but the thing had already begun an arcing kick which was sweeping in from the side. Interrupting his counterattack to instead block with his staff, the sand beneath Kite was sent scattering outward as the force of the blow was absorbed and dispersed. Then another attack struck him, the monster's other hand striking his armored shoulder turned into a glancing blow upon his green jade pauldron.

“It is fast. Too fast.” Kite thought, letting the monster drive him backwards with its flurry of attacks. “I need to cancel its boons.”

An opportunity for just that came a few seconds later, as the monster turned into a frenzied drop kick. The telegraphed move left Kite just enough time to prepare, his staff lashing out in response even as a small, concentrated barrier appeared above to deflect the vicious attack.

As his staff impacted the thin body, Kite’s dispelling attack washed through its form, the empowering boon flickering. But not winking out. And the following echo proved equally unable to force it to gutter out.

“Is it resisting my dispel?” Kite thought, the small amount of transcendent damage dealt instead being but a small consolation. “How-” The thought had just begun to form when his mind caught on to the answer. The ritual circle. Their blood cult opponents had obviously had the means to make their summons resistant to being dispelled. It was quite reasonable that they might have similar means for other forms of magic.

A bolt of fire interrupted further thoughts as the cultist had finally found an angle of attack, harassing Kite with bolts of flames even as the monster continued bearing down on him. Its frenzied speed kept Kite on the defensive, and its seeming lack of other magical tricks might have been a boon to some, but to Kite it was actually a disadvantage.

Further worsening the situation, the person inside the barrier cast another spell, bleeding wounds starting to appear on Kite’s body, copper taste filling his mouth.

Blocking a whip-like leg on another barrier, Kite struck the disc of force with his staff before it broke, a wave of resonating force slightly staggering the beast as he called out to Phiona.

“Teacher, the heavens might have seen fit to push us a bit too much!”

“I am aware.” Phiona called back, nimbly sidestepping a snapping maw which had struck as the cultists throat rapidly elongated, only for the distended neck to be snapped to one side by her neat counterattack. “That thing is a bad match for you. Wall, duo, then switch.”

“Understood! Just one moment…” Kite responded, activating the enchantments of his boots to increase his speed before taking an unexpectedly quick step backward. The monster had been swinging both arms down towards him, only to miss and receive a projected strike from Kite’s face to its face in response. The dispelling force once more caused its empowering boon to flicker, but this time the echo managed to complete the task.

Satisfied at leaving his opponent weakened, Kite grit his teeth through the pain of a fire bolt striking his armor and burning his body beneath as he chanted:

“Wall!”

The customary walls of force appeared, forming cages around the spindly monster and the transformed cultist, Kite using all of the spell’s available area of barriers to layer them as well as he was able. The flame wielder did not sit idle, sending more bolts of flame his way including another of the small suns which would rain fire down on the battlefield. Or she at least attempted the latter.

“Attention of the weepi-”

At the end of the spell chant, she was rather suddenly and forcibly interrupted as Phiona appeared next to her in a blur of motion, leaving her now trapped original target behind to strike at the woman. Kite recognized her stunning special attack as well as the loud crack of a broken jaw, his own attack at the woman slightly delayed as he simply could not move as fast as his teacher. Even his empowered jump, made available by the absorbed force from the slender monster’s onslaught, was still too slow to get a strike in before Phiona followed up with a flurry of staff strikes before once more flickering away when a circular burst of dripping flames burst from the cultist.

Meanwhile, both of the now trapped enemies were furiously fighting their way out of their confines. The monster’s lack of special attacks and empowering boon made its progress the slowest, but that was not saying much as its frantic pace of attacks still cracked the panes of force at a concerning speed. The male cultist had instead stopped and opened his distended jaw, tentacles fluttering about as what looked like a small singularity had appeared in his maw, exerting a powerful pull at his surroundings. From the crackling barriers, Kite suspected that the pull inflicted at least some disruptive force damage at rapid intervals, the pace making it clear who would first break out of the cage.

The flame wielder in turn conjured a cylindrical pillar of flame around her, probably to deter further attacks while waiting for her allies to re-engage, and both Kite and Phiona could feel more of the bleeding affliction being layered upon them. While the pillar of flame looked ferocious, Kite did not hesitate as he once more unleashed his dispelling wave over the flaming cultist, the barrier flickering out in addition to one of the empowering boons cast by their leader. Phiona was back upon her just a moment later, a thrust of her staff audibly snapping the woman’s collarbone and sending her tumbling backwards.

But it was then that they were brutally reminded that it was their enemies who had a supportive essence user on their side.

“Resurgence of vitality!”

A red light broke out from the cultist woman, her aura flooded with power as she seemed to be inundated in potent healing. She sent a spray of flame toward the two adventurers, Kite dispersing it once more while Phiona leapt over it, staff already twirling. Unfortunately, a crackling sound of a barrier breaking spelled doom for the adventurer’s hope of finishing off the woman before her allies were back in the fray. Kite had to halt his advance as his expanded field of vision showed the limber monster break through its barrier just a short breath after the male cultist, moving towards them in a blur and leaping towards Phiona as she in turn had leapt for the female cultist.

“Ward!”

Kite’s barrier appeared between the monster and his teacher, the beast still plowing her through the air before she disappeared in a blur of speed to reappear on the ground, facing off against the monster even as the two cultists faced off against Kite.

“Fortune wasn’t with us, teacher, but thank you nonetheless!” Kite called, moving in amongst the burning rubble of the tents to engage the male cultist and put him in the woman’s line of fire.

“Can you handle them?” she managed to call, having initiated a brawl with the monster, both combatants moving at a blistering speed.

“Pray to the gods that I may.” Kite called back while whipping up his own staff to intercept clawed swipes from the cultist, followed by another attempt at using the singularity to draw Kite in. A projected slash of his blade carrying his dispelling force put a stop to the power, Kite showing a strained smile even through the numbness of the bleeding and pain from the hits he had suffered.

But to keep him and Phiona going for as long as needed, he decided to use what means he had to alleviate the pressure on them. One charge from Sage cleansed the bleeding affliction from Phiona where she was dueling the slender monster, but for himself, Kite had a different solution.

“Time to put this thing to proper work again.” he thought, sidestepping a firebolt to once more put the transformed cultist between himself and the flame wielder, hoping to continue to deny her the use of her area attacks. As he sidestepped, he made to look as if he swept away his cloak, the length of not-fabric falling off and being thrown off to the side and hopefully out of sight for a little while. And with it went all his bleeding, warmth returning to his limbs as the affliction was cleansed.

For the next few seconds, Kite remained in a defensive stance, counter-attacking against either cultist through strikes carried by his intent only when opportunity prevented itself. Another set of empowering boons landed on them, but Kite was fortunate enough to remove them from the woman just after with an errant strike, getting a satisfyingly frustrated snarl in response.

“I will enjoy devouring your sizzling flesh!” she called at Kite, launching another set of firebolts when she managed to find an angle. The latter was made as difficult as possible by Kite’s footwork and the other cultist still engaging him in melee. Even so, Kite was pressed hard, consuming one of Sage’s charges for healing on himself. He was biding his time, aiming to see if he couldn’t turn the tables as soon as his distraction became active.

Fortunately, the opportunity came not long after as a plethora of ethereal tendrils suddenly shot from the nearby cloud of smoke to plunge themselves into the two cultists and the monster to drain their life force. The source of said tendrils was what one might recognize once being Kite’s cloak, now having seemingly taken root and grown to a cluster of large fungi. Nourished by the cleansed afflictions, the cloak awakened into a ravenous, if short, lifespan where it attempted to further drain all enemies in the area. The damage was not very big, but Kite hoped that few enemies would just ignore the constant tapping into their vitality.

The monster fighting Phiona did not seem to care, but both cultists immediately started trying to rid themselves of the translucent thread. Which was in turn the moment Kite had been waiting for.

Staff appearing mid-swing, Kite activated his void strike, further empowering it with the remnants of magic and mana his power had so far ripped from his foes during this altercation. What resulted was a wide swing extending over a large area, dark spatial tears extending from his staff in ominous silence. Both cultists staggered under the sudden swing and its echo, and while the damage was part of his plan, Kite was even more hopeful that the affliction left behind would make an even greater difference.

This got proven just a short moment afterwards, as the spell chant rang out again from the shielded caster further removed from the violence.

“Resurgence of vitality!”

This time, it was the male cultist that was targeted by the benevolent energies, but the lingering void afflictions seemed to eat a satisfying amount of the restorative power. But even satisfactory as it may have been, some of the healing still managed to get past, making Kite worry if his own dwindling reserves would keep him going all the way. Unless he was ready to commit his immortality in this stage of the fight, he needed to think of another way to persevere.

It was at this time when Phiona misjudged one of the monstrous thing’s moves, using a power to dodge a clawed hand only to be hit by the sweeping kick delivered just afterwards. The monster’s shin connected with her midriff with a force that could be seen even from across the camp, the blonde Geller being flung aside and bouncing once on the purple sand before rolling to her feet, albeit somewhat unsteadily. The female cultist saw her chance, and sent a ray of dripping flames straight towards where Phiona was rising from her roll even as the slender monster made to continue its barrage.

Kite did not call out; there was no time. Instead, he just activated the speed-increasing enchantments of his shoes, accepting a raking hit from a clawed swipe as he used an empowered leap to take him closer to Phiona as a barrier appeared to intercept the ray of flames sent her way. The male cultist attempted to use his singularity once again, apparently wanting to keep Kite in his proximity, but the young adventurer’s resistance to being forcefully moved by others held firm.

Landing near his teacher, Kite immediately warded off another set of fiery projectiles before staggering slightly when he mistimed an attempted block against the swiping red claws of the monster. The duo of adventurers was now at least standing close together, but Kite had to admit that the prospects were gradually looking dimmer by the moment. Without the leader supporting their foes, he would have had every confidence in their success. But with the stream of healing and other boons as well as the offensive afflictions, all from a source they had trouble even getting near, meant that not even Kite thriving in extended combat brought them an obvious way to turn the fight around.

The male cultist soon advanced on them as well, having taken his time to destroy the sudden cluster of vampiric fungi which had been formed from Kite’s cloak, and even as Sage sent his only current charge into Phiona in the form of healing as he once more conjured his walls of force. But this time, it was a defensive measure, wrapping the pair of adventurers in three layers of protective barriers.

“We might have overestimated ourselves here.” Phiona said, accepting a mana-restoring pill from Kite as he downed one himself. “I had hoped that we might have been sufficient to distract them for long enough, but I believe that we may have run out of time.”

Her words were accompanied by the cracking of the layers of barrier as the monster was furiously laying into it, the other cultists hanging back and downing pills of their own. Something was shouted from their leader, but it was too muffled by distance and the barrier for Kite to pick it out. But his senses did pick out something else. Something that caused a tired smile to break through the strained expression on his face.

“No, teacher. I think we held on just long enough.” Kite said, his expanded field of vision picking up a small silhouette of something passing over the top of a nearby dune of purple sand, glowing like a beacon to his magical senses.

“Resurgence of vitality!”

Bearer of Sanguine promise looked as his restorative spell once more restored his underlings, even though parts of it were hampered by whatever dark attacks one of the adventurers employed.

“Still, things are looking optimistic.” he allowed himself to think. “Proper preparation is key, after all, something these adventurers seem to have forgotten.” The ritual circles around Promise still held fast, boosting the output of his spells. While the barrier made him unable to deploy some of his powers, he had no trouble continuing the slow and steady approach. And when the Crimson-thing managed to get a proper blow in on the female adventurer, who looked to be the most skilled of the pair, Promise couldn’t help the elation bubbling up inside him.

As the adventurers had to huddle up and hide behind their barrier, he finally allowed himself to think the thought. They had won. Maybe not the war, as their target was still missing, but this battle. From here, they could reassess and retreat or make new plans. And just looking at the pair; the proud, powerful adventurers now put on the back foot, Promise couldn’t help feeling his mouth watering slightly, imagining how they would taste. Maybe he could treat himself to some gloating. Just this once.

“Have you realized it now? The futility in fighting against your betters? We are the ones who will claim the lifeblood of all the unworthy of this world! At least be grateful that you may become nourishment for our rise!”

He did not know if the adventurers could hear him, but Promise had to admit that it was pretty satisfying, and added a certain poetry to the situation. “Just wait until the rest of my superiors will hear of what I have accomplished. They will have no choice but to-” he thought, the Crimson-thing already broken through the second layer of shielding around the two. But that was when he too noticed the shape gliding over the sands at great speed towards their camp.

“Is that- is that a fish?” he thought, before his heart sank when he picked out the two people riding what was indeed a giant, glittering fish. “Two more. That makes their numbers even to ours. But they are weakened, while we only grow stronger. This should not-”

Then one of the shapes mounted atop the carp shot from its back even while still having a dozen meters left before reaching the edge of the camp. Promise even had a bit of trouble following the movement, until the Crimson-thing was suddenly thrown backwards, and what was now revealed to be a young man matching the very description of their target quickly followed in pursuit of the tumbling monster. His every moment exuded power, speed and precision, twin blades whirling with a literal tempest as he began laying into the monstrous result of Promise’s ritual, having cost him the lion’s share of his personal resources to bring about. And from the clashing that followed, the Crimson-thing was at a distinct disadvantage.

“No!” Promise cried, frustration welling up as the other adventurer riding the fish disembarked as well, albeit less forcefully, serpentine heads appearing from her back to start bombarding Promise’s two followers with blobs of acid. “No, no, no! I knew it! I knew it was stupid. The gods are surely watching. We have been lied to. Curse you, Fortune!” he growled between the chants of his renewed spellcasting. There was nothing else to do now but create a distraction, and make his final attempt at escape. But he would at least make sure to bleed them as much as he could from the safety of his barrier. Lower their chances of being able to catch up to him.

“Bearer of Sanguine Promise will not die here!”

Vista’s arrival was like the clap of thunder heralding that a storm would begin anew. Through the cracked barrier, both Kite and Phiona saw that he had indeed managed to achieve what they had set out to do.

“Hey Nona! Kite! Looks like we arrived just in time.” Rachel called from outside as she ducked behind the force cage to get cover from a few firebolts.

“And it looks like you succeeded.” Phiona noted, seeming a bit more restored now after the short downtime. “Was there any trouble?”

“If you call a small horde of monsters and cultists bearing down on your location trouble. I would say that it was a bit of a strain to keep our young master here alive for long enough to get going. Burned through all my big spells. But when he gets going-” she paused to admire the young noble as he fought like a hurricane all on his own, “- he really gets going. There were some left, but Whimmy is covering our retreat and they didn’t seem all too keen on following.

But what is up with these people? And the shouting guy up there in the barrier?”

“Explain later. Kite, drop the barrier on my signal. Rachel, you and me will help Vista deal with these three. Kite, you go up there and see if you can break it down or at least stop him from supporting them.”

“Yes, teacher.” Kite said, nodding. He was weary, but still had enough reserves to see this through. He hoped, saying a silent prayer to Fortune even though the god could not hear him.

“Then go!” Phiona called, becoming a blur as she passed through the barrier while barely giving it time to dissolve. And from the looks of her zigzagging around the battlefield while leaving afterimages ready to strike, Kite knew that his teacher had chosen to bring out everything.

“Fortune bless you, Rachel!” he called, getting a wild smile in return from the red-haired Geller before he set off towards the raised barrier at a run. Kite weaved through the burning remnants of tents and took a short detour as to not get in the way of Vista thoroughly beating down the slender, red monster. And shortly thereafter, he arrived at his destination.

The man inside looked a bit frazzled, but to his credit he remained calm and focused more on the battle outside rather than at Kite’s close proximity. Without much pause, Kite reached into his void sheath and brought out something that he had so far not been able to employ in a real battle.

“Let us see if you work like during our testing.” he murmured, taking out the dagger which looked like it was made from a single, solid seed. It had no handguard, looking more like a primitive knife carved from a single piece of stone.

Kite infused it with mana and he could feel it come to life in his hand, before he stabbed it into the crimson barrier. Normally, attacks failing to penetrate a barrier would most often skid off or be repelled. But in this case, the dagger’s tip actually managed to penetrate just slightly into the barrier’s surface before stopping. And staying there. A heartbeat later, the transformation began. Roots began growing from the tip, burrowing out through the barrier itself. The handle sprouted, becoming a bud before quickly blooming out into a vibrant blue flower. From its stem grew wide leaves and thinner tendrils which expanded outwards to bury themselves in other parts of the barriers, causing new roots to spread. And as the flower grew, the barrier started cracking.

WWJS:

[Item] Boundary-devouring Lotus

Dagger

Bronze-rank - Rare

[Effect] Pay a cost of moderate mana to activate. While activated, contact with magical barriers will cause this weapon to transform into an expanding growth of plants, inflicting continual disruptive force damage to the barrier while fueling further growth. This will continue for a long duration, or until the plant is satiated or destroyed. Should the barrier be deactivated, the plant will use its limited mobility to seek out other sources of sustenance. Has no effect on other targets than magical barriers consisting predominantly of mana, and will not affect conjured walls of solid materials such as stone or earth.

As Kite saw the odd item chewing through the barrier at a visible rate while using it as sustenance to spread further, he sent a thought of thanks to Peony for gifting it to him. They had both agreed that it was a weird item, but one that might come in handy. Magical shields and barriers were rather common after all, and not all were vulnerable to Kite’s dispelling powers, barriers springing from rituals or formations foremost amongst the resilient category. And the blue lotuses now covering the crimson shield were also quite striking.

Apparently, his opponent did not quite share his sentiment.

“Curse you!” was the only snarled insult the man took his time to deliver, before making a curt gesture. The barrier started dissolving as if it was crimson ice melting down into blood, but the man was already chanting another spell.

“Torrent of boiling life!”

Even as Kite readied his own attack, the man had just enough time to finish his spell chant. A cascade of boiling blood exploded from him, the torrent steaming and bubbling as it was heralded by intense heat. Abandoning his attack, Kite instead countered with a spell of his own.

“Wall!”

A pair of force walls appeared like the bow of a ship to split the torrent. But this time, Kite was not satisfied with simply remaining on the defensive. In addition to the two walls, a series of smaller horizontal panes of force had formed a stair in front of him. Even as the blood sloshed at the outsides, Kite was running up and over his own barrier, leaping down towards a surprised cultist.

Even while in the midst of his jump, Kite swung his sword trailing the dark of the void, projecting an attack just as the man snarled his next spell.

“Become the bloodwind!”

The slash, carried by Kite’s intent, cut into the man’s side and detonated, his pained scream cut out by his whole body dissolving into a bright red mist, quickly gathering itself and floating off with great speed. Kite swung again with his staff, projecting an attack with dispelling force, but unfortunately the elusive mist proved harder to predict than he had anticipated as it was speeding off. And if Kite was not mistaken, it was toward the aperture.

With no time to gather his allies, still in the midst of a battle they looked to be thoroughly winning, Kite ran after the retreating mist, sending a mental call to Glint. The seconds he spent running felt like a frustrating eternity, seeing the crimson fog that was the cultist getting further away. But a well-known presence soon arrived at this side, swerving up just as Kite crossed the peak of a purple dune, allowing him to kick off the top of the hill of sand to land on Glint’s back.

“Thanks, little beauty! Now, after him!”

Zooming over the rather short stretch of ground remaining, Kite vowed to not let the man escape. If the ritual circle was any indication the man would be their way out through the closed aperture. And Kite had way too many hopes and plans on the outside to be stranded here.

Bearer of Sanguine Promise reformed next to the closed aperture. He was frustrated, no, furious, but let that spur actions rather than delay them.

“Curse the gods, curse me and curse those blasted adventurers!” he snarled as he sacrificed some of his health to conjure blood for the ritual circle. Fortunately, it was a simple one, at least compared to many of the rituals of conjuration and enhancement he was so familiar with.

The red circles were forming in their specified locations, overlapping with the already existing rituals which kept the aperture close and under lock. Said locks needed to be removed, and-

Too late, he sensed the heaven-cursed boy drawing close. Turning around to cast a spell, Promise was instead struck by a crushing force in his midriff, mana and his breath exploding from him.

“He still has meters left. How-”

Then, like a specter of past pain returning to haunt him, it was as if the blow had landed again. Each strike stole some of his Promise’s precious mana, as well as the continual drain which was leveled against him but a moment later. He was forced to scramble out of the way as the young adventurer leapt off the oversized fish, landing where Promise had stood in a small geyser of purple sand.

“I feel it only polite to offer you a chance to come peacefully. You aren’t stupid, at least not from what I have seen. Surely, you can see that this ended the moment that my friends arrived.” The young man said, the steel in his eyes not wavering but Promise got the feeling that he at least meant the words.

Straightening, Promise smiled ruefully. “I know what happens to those like me who your little ‘civilized’ adventure society gets their hands on. As alluring as the offer may be, it is little different in the end. I will not go down easy enough to let you take me alive.” Part of Promise wanted to take him up on the offer, but he was nothing if not a realist, the latest act of slight haughty self-satisfaction notwithstanding.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” the young man said, smiling. It was a kind smile, even if it had some hard edges, and genuine enough to cause Promise’s blood to run a bit colder. “People tell me that I am surprisingly good at it. I suppose we will find out.”

Kite looked down at the unconscious cultist he was dragging along the sand, suppression collar in place. His assumption that the man could not have too much of his mana reserves remaining had proven correct. Kite also felt a bit worn out on most accounts, but with his immortality power still available, he had felt confident in taking on the man.

He had to admit that the look on the cultist leader’s face as he fell unconscious against the conjured barrier wall Kite had been pressing him against had been rather satisfying. The hand-to-hand skills uncle Walker had taught him had definitely been enough to subdue the ritualist, continuous contact with Kite’s barrier and some punches carrying his mana-draining special attack emptying the last of his foe’s reserves in short order.

“But this was against an unskilled opponent. I suppose that is but another one on the long lists of fighting skills which I will have to strive to master. Maybe the Gellers know of a good teacher?” Kite thought as he crested the closest sand dune once more and saw what remained of the cultist camp.

His companions had thoroughly wrecked it, especially Vista’s signature wind special attack. And from the look of the three sitting down and resting, Whimmy having rejoined them, they had come out of the struggle as the victors. Kite let the wave of relief he had been holding in finally wash over him, smiling as he rejoined the others.

“I see that your hunt was successful.” Vista said, nodding at the unconscious man.

“Which is great! Because we kind of broke ours…” Rachel added sheepishly, looking at the pair of slain cultists a bit further away. “But at least the rest should be wary of coming back anytime soon. I think Vista put the fear of the gods back into them.”

“As it should be.” the young master said, smiling viciously. “Circumstances aside, I must admit that this little misadventure proved to push me more than ever before. I can’t wait to meditate and consolidate!”

“And I, for one, can hardly wait to get out of here.” Rachel said, looking around. “My hair is gonna be purple forever after all this dust.”

“Assuming that we can coerce our captive here to unlock the aperture.” Phiona noted.

“In that, I have hope, teacher.” Kite said, prodding the man lightly with his foot. “He had the time to lay down the ritual circle, so I could maybe have a chance at completing it. But foremost, he actually seemed surprisingly reasonable.”

“Then I will trust in your judgment, student.” Phiona said. “Because I also share my cousin’s sentiment; I can hardly wait for us to finally take our leave.”