NOVEL NEXT 107. A Traitor's Gambit
The two watchmen gripped their weapons. Sweat dripped down their chins. They focused on the enemy. The two intruders weren't knights, but their skills were higher than expected. Tucker kept his gaze on them. He couldn't afford to turn away from them, judging by the density of their aura. They were at least four-star aura users.
But how did they get through the fortress's defenses?
The more Tucker thought about the situation, the more questions arose.
"Maybe I'll tell you, but first you need to drop your weapons and return to your cell," Luka said mockingly. "If not, then you'll never find out."
"Maybe?" Nox chuckled while shrugging, playing with the mana-cuffs. The metal shackles opened with a soft click and clattered against the stone tiles. His eyes shifted back to a violet glow. "You fools always seem to be getting in our way. Thinking you're something better when you're nothing more than a constant thorn in our plans."
"Your way?" Luka pointed his blade at them. The embers of torchlight dancing on its edge. "You really are a traitor, after all."
"A traitor? No… not exactly." Nox kept his hands behind him. He glanced over his shoulders. "How could I betray you when I was never on your side to begin with?"
Tucker narrowed his eyes, thinking about what the others had told him. Nox's father was Carl's sworn brother. He was born and raised in the Everheart Kingdom, but for there to be no allegiance? No guilt? It didn't make sense. His hand moved to the back of his belt.
The tension in the air was thick. Nox was a mage, one that was recently restrained by mana draining cuffs. He would need time to recharge his mana, time Tucker and Luka couldn't allow them to have. In the blink of an eye, Tucker drew out a dagger strapped to his belt and flung it forward. The blade gleamed beneath the light, slicing through the open space.
One of the enemy knights met it with swift ferocity, deflecting it to the side. While the other rushed towards them, with Nox following closely behind. Luka knitted his brows, examining the knight's posture. Their aim was to break through, to get past them and escape. The swing was simple but fierce, cutting through the icy prison air. Yet before the blade could connect, Luka struck the mid-section at the last second, redirecting it to the side, but the knight didn't relent. He barreled forward, letting his sword fall with a metallic clang as he grabbed Luka by the wrists.
"What the hell—!"
A second blow came crashing down. The knight tackled Luka and slammed him into the ground with a sickening crack. Luka let out a painful groan as the stone beneath him split. Before Tucker could move, the first knight kicked off the wall, shattering a part of it on impact. He launched himself forward right as Nox tried to slip past in the chaos.
Tucker gritted his teeth and concentrated every last bit of aura into his blade. With no other option, he raised it to meet the knight's overhead strike. The impact of their swords blew out the torches on the walls, the force rippling through Tucker's arms and legs. He could feel the pain course through his limbs as the ground slightly caved beneath his feet.
For a split second, he was exposed. Vulnerable. But before Nox could strike, another figure burst into the fray, causing him to click his tongue. Jones was already at his captain's side, blade drawn and fury in his eyes.
"Like a bunch of vermin, always sticking together." Nox pulled out a scroll from his sleeve.
Tucker caught sight of it, but as he tried to move, the knight swung once more, pushing him a step back. Nox was still a few paces behind the knights, hovering just out of reach. The only one who could do something was Jones, and without saying a word. He began dashing towards the advisor.
Jones pulled his arm back mid-stride, lunging forward and stretching it as far as it would go. His sword grazed the fabric of the azure robe, but it wasn't enough. A flash of golden light filled the dim halls, and just like that, Nox vanished, leaving behind only a faint shimmer in the air where he once stood.
"Fuck!" Jones loudly cursed, clenching his jaw.
Both of the knights had been thrown back by Luka and Tucker. They were wounded but still on their feet. The only difference now was that the knights now stood between them and the exit. Their armor was falling apart, barely holding together, and Luka had managed to retrieve his sword.
Tucker's eyes flicked to Luka's swollen wrist. "Can you still fight?"
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Luka smirked despite the pain. "Yeah, something like this isn't enough to slow me down."
Tucker examined the knights. They didn't run, but continued to block their path. This meant that Nox was still somewhere within the castle. Still trying to escape. "We need to get past them. They're trying to buy time."
"Let us clear the path." Luka glanced at Jones, who gave a firm nod.
The two immediately charged headfirst into the imposter knights. Luka twisted his blade mid-swing, meeting the first knight's sword in a devastating clash of force. He felt his wrist pulse in agony but pushed through the pain. Beside him, Jones had slammed into the second knight, pinning him to the wall before deflecting his incoming strike.
A crack splintered down the length of Jones's blade. Without hesitation, he hurled it straight at the knight's face. The imposter flinched, instinctively raising his weapon to block just as Jones closed the gap and tackled him, driving him into an open cell.
Bang!
Jones drove his fist into the knight's helm, caving in a small section from the bottom as blood dripped onto the floor. The knight staggered, dropping his sword as Jones raised his fists. Tucker could see the path created by the two, sprinting up the stairs without looking back. He trusted his men and needed to use this opportunity to stop Nox from escaping.
Tucker's gaze swept through the branching corridors before he released a sharp whistle. Moments later, his spirit companion answered the call, soaring overhead with wings cutting through the darkness in swift arcs.
"Gale!" Tucker called out. "Find a man in a tarnished blue robe with gold seams. Circle above their location when you find him!"
With a beat of their wings, Gale vanished into the castle's upper reaches, gliding towards the areas Tucker couldn't reach in time.
He needed to think. Where would Nox have gone? The scroll Nox used was definitely a blink spell. That meant it could've taken anywhere within a hundred meters. Just far enough to slip away if Tucker made the wrong move. The nearest escape points were through the third and fourth bastions. Once Nox got past the inner walls, there wasn't a chance in hell they'd catch him.
Logically speaking, the fourth bastion was sealed tight with most of the castle's defenses concentrated there. That made the third bastion the most likely option. It was less guarded and still offered a viable way out. One that would draw less attention.
Tucker clenched his fists. He wasn't a hundred percent certain, but there wasn't time to spare. He turned to head that way, but then stopped. Above him, Gale had started circling in the opposite direction of where he planned to go. He needed to choose which way to go. There was a possibility that Gale had found someone else. An advisor who wasn't Nox. The chances were slim, but right now, he went with his gut and chose to believe in his companion.
Mana gathered beneath the soles of his boots. The crumbling pillars passed by like a blur as Tucker dashed through the long corridors. He could see the soldiers scrambling to the front lines. Members of the Twenty-Eighth and Ninth were establishing makeshift defenses. Soldiers of the Thirtieth sharpening their weapons. And finally, soldiers of the Thirty-First moving munitions.
He couldn't let Nox escape.
Not after everything his men, his comrades, had endured.
Tucker vaulted onto the rooftops and focused on the distant figure ahead of him. Nox was in sight, barely thirty meters away. There was still a chance to catch him. And if not… to kill him.
His blade hardly reflected the sunlight, its surface still smeared with the blood of the many lives he had taken.
If Nox had enough mana left to blink, then it would be over.
The wind around Tucker howled, growing louder than any of the previous currents he had conjured. It shrieked like a tornado without form, tearing through the haze around him. Borrowing spirit essence from Gale, he formed a rotating column of gust around his blade. His figure turned into a blur, like an arrow that had been released from its bowstring.
An emerald streak hurtled across the tiles on the rooftops, shattering into tiny fragments that rained onto the ground. Nox glanced back, sensing the commotion, and smirked. He extended his palm towards Tucker, forming a translucent crimson mana shield that was highly concentrated at a single point. Tucker's blade struck the barrier head-on. Flames licked his blade and crawled towards his arm.
A single sound erupted. Like a thunderclap in a raging storm that aimed to split the sky. Glass shattered and the ash blanketing the floors burst outward like a wave. Traces of spirit essence and mana spiraled around them in a chaotic dance of power. Both of the men locked eyes, one with a cold light embraced by the sun, while the other was amused and shrouded by darkness.
Tucker staggered back several paces, boots scraping against the rubble. Disbelief flashed across his face as he clenched his sword. Blood was dripping down from his palms. His sleeve was scorched, still smoldering from the brief exchange.
He should've caught Nox off-guard. He had closed the distance in seconds, yet the advisor had already prepared for him and summoned a perfect countermeasure. A mana shield infused with flames. The reaction time was inhuman—far beyond what a mage of Nox's level should've been capable of.
Tucker knew he couldn't take the advisor alone. Not without backup. But that didn't mean the battle was over. He just needed to force Nox to spend his mana. Deplete his resources until Luka and the others arrived. Yet as Tucker was still weighing his next move, Nox's grin grew.
The sound of footsteps rushed towards them, but Tucker couldn't afford to take his eyes off of Nox. A single moment was all the advisor needed, and Tucker wasn't going to let him have it. He stepped forward but stopped when a sharp voice cut through the air.
"What is going on here!" Reynold furiously demanded answers, storming into the open space with a squad of soldiers close behind.
They drew their blades towards Tucker and Nox, surrounding the two in an instant. But before Tucker could utter a single word, Nox pulled down his hood and turned to his longtime friend with a voice full of panic.
"Please! Help! He's trying to kill me!"
Reynold's eyes locked onto Tucker—and it was at that moment Tucker knew. He was fucked. The advisor wasn't just planning to flee, but to twist the narrative of the story.