Chapter 43: Blood, Fire & Shadow (4) (Patreon)

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***

A calculated gesture.

Arione’s Mana Vow to Clover still bound him; if he attacked Lock outright the Vow would sap away at his Mana.  He’d recover but the backlash would not only reduce his Max MP but leave him magically crippled for a while.  So the mage chose not to aim the spell at Lock.  Burning the black-haired slave to a crisp wasn’t something he could explain to the pink-haired beastwoman without looking like he went back on his word.

Still, he needed to do something.  

Lock Slaveborn was obviously a player.  Plus, Clover’s loyalty towards her friends – L’teya and Lock – was unnaturally high.  He wondered if it was because they had gone through the orc’s slave selection process together.  Regardless, if he brought all three of them together into his party, it wouldn’t be his party anymore.  It’d be our party or their party.  Worse still, it might become his party.

Yeah, that was no good.

What Arione needed to do was manipulate all of them into a position where Clover and Lock would turn on each other while still maintaining plausible deniability for himself.  The answer was simple enough.

｢Arione Popwindale has cast [Fire Ball]｣

He just needed to kill everyone but the man himself: Lock.

***

Time slowed.

The fireball came from nowhere.

Kyrian was the first one to sense it but was too late to warn us, his yell was cut off by the noise of the explosion from the spell’s impact.  I could barely distinguish the explosion from everything else that was going on.  The sound of men dying, centipedes hissing, blades clashing and spells flying overhead.  But the damage was different.

We hadn’t been walking in any formal formation; Skaris and I were in the front.  Behind us were the Black Dogs then the dwarves and the orcs bringing up the rear with their civilians and other ragtag individuals.  It happened naturally, walking in the front was more dangerous and no one else had been willing except those confident in their own strengths, or with the belief that.

Kyrian walked in the middle of our group, as our only mage he was needed on all sides.

That’s where the fireball was aimed at.

By the time rest of us saw the fireball, it was too late.  I couldn’t get in front of it and even if I had, the fireball veered all shadows away from its trajectory. The angle made it impossible for me to stand in front of something and still be in shadow to proc my magical damage immunity.  Maybe my subconscious knew that, and I just wasn’t willing to take the risk.  Maybe I was just thinking of excuses of why I shouldn’t instead of why I should.

The berserkers didn’t; they jumped in between the group and the roar of flames using their bodies as shields.

Their bodies weren’t enough.  The resulting explosion knocked most of us off of our feet and blew us away.  The shockwave alone probably broke bones and wounded these people.  

If the shockwave alone did that much…

“FUCK!”  I escaped my thoughts as time began to flow naturally again.  “KYRIAN!”  

Kyrian had been at the center of the group, if he got wounded our chances of getting out of this place just got that much lower.  He was a pivotal part of our party right now, we couldn’t afford to lose him.  I ran towards the wreckage; the smell of sulfur and smoke assaulted my senses, stronger than before.  The fireball had created molten rock and a literally mushroom cloud in its wake.

“Ssslaveborn!”

I saw Skaris running towards me, the Black Dogs and dwarves in tow.

“Skaris!”  

Their eyes were wide and dazed.  None of them even knew what hit us.  Confused and scared, they were looking for direction.

So I made them do what I did when facing fear of the unknown: do what you could do first.

“Skaris get these guys out of here.  Luckily that Fireball burnt all nearby centipedes to nothing but ash.  Keep heading east and you’ll find the wall.  If I don’t show up soon, just leave. Zimmskar, Jayu, I don’t care.  Anywhere.”

If it was just this small group, they might be able to make it.  I couldn’t let them stay behind just because I wanted to find Kyrian and other survivors. There was also the chance that L'teya and Clover were still here.

“If you find L’teya and Clover, the woman I told you about outside of the walls, tell them I'll be heading east. ”

Skaris frowned.  “And you, Ssslaveborn?”

I gritted my teeth.  “I’m going to find Kyrian and whoever else I can along the way.  I’ll meet you in the east.”

“You disshonor me.”  Skaris narrowed his eyes.  “I ssswore to aid you out of this csssity.”

“Fine.”  I didn’t have time to argue.  “Kellin, get yourself and-”

“We will help.”  Kellin didn’t miss a beat.

“Aye, and us as well lad.”  The dwarf,  Tomuraud, hoisted his warhammer higher.  “We won’t be holding you back.”  

“Goddamit why is everyone so freaking- AGH.”  Internal screaming aside, we had a job to do.

We moved quickly, searching through the wreckage and looking for Kyrian and other survivors.  Luckily for us they were all huddled together in one spot.  Kyrian was fighting off a centipede soldier but it was too much.  He was a grade-8 mage holding off a grade-7 monster alone.  

Skaris and I flanked the monster from behind and made quick work of it.  Skaris’ flaming halberd lit the creature on fire as soon as I cut off its legs. Without its legs, the creature stumbled around awkwardly off balance.  A moment later, its body was full of arrows.

“Lock.  Skaris.”  Kyrian breathed hard.  “W-We’re fine.  But the berserkers, they, they protected us.”

“I know. I saw.”  I looked behind Kyrian.

It wasn't just the orc civilians that they had protected, they had saved everyone else as well. The nobles, the slaves who were too weak to hold a weapon... everyone.

The berserker who had spoken for his people lay on the ground, missing a huge chunk of his torso.  I didn’t want to look too hard… but anyone who’s ever seen a burn victim would recognize the wounds.  Warped flesh that just looked wrong, smooth to the touch and mangled beyond repair.  Everything below his waist was a mixture of red and black, whites of his bone showing through the skin.  Half his face had been melted off and I could count his molars if I wanted to.

I forced myself to look.

“He wishes to speak with you.  I’ve managed to keep him alive by pouring healing potions on him but it’s not the type of wound that could be healed.  If I wasn’t a mage and was a priest or if we could even hunt down more Akka Xalud soldiers--”

“Kyrian.”  I could tell Kyrian was babbling.  He was in shock.

He looked at me.

“He protected us, Lock… why? Aren’t we… enemies? They're... orc and you guys are slaves and I'm a human and the rest are nobles and... and slaves and... why would they?...”

I cannot claim to know what Kyrian went through at the hands of the Akka Xaluds while serving them, except what he told me. I could tell in his eyes that this moment broke everything he knew about the world. But now wasn't the time; there would be plenty of time later once we got out of this city.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know.”  I answered honestly.

“Get everyone ready to move.  I’ll talk to the orcs.”

I walked past Kyrian and parted the circle of orcs that surrounded the fallen warrior.  He was still breathing, rasping and sounding wet.  With each breath, blood poured down the burn wounds on his face.  I could tell he was in agony..

“Slaeborn.”  He couldn’t even say my name correctly anymore.

I kneeled next to him.  

“Kept… Promissse.”  

Was he talking about the promise about me allowing his people to follow me?  That why he jumped in front of the Fire Ball? To give the civilians a chance? That thing he said before about how he and his warriors would be at the perimeter to be our shield?

Then why'd he protect the rest of us?

“I…”

It should have been impossible for a man on his last breath, but he raised his arm and grabbed my arm.  He pulled me in close, his burnt eyes glaring holes into me.

“Promi.. Promise… me… my… people…”  

“I… I don’t…”

“PROMISE ME!”  He roared.  

Spittle, blood, mucus and pus splatted over my face and neck.

“I.. promise.” What the hell was I doing?

Why was I promising a dying orc, part of the slavers who locked me up in chains that I’d protect his people?  Not just the civilians but even the berserkers?  What was going on in my head?  I shouldn’t have done more than just let them follow along.  I wasn’t responsible for them.

Thump.

I felt my heart beat loud.

I wasn’t this type of person.  

Loner.  Loser.  No friends.  Nothing.

Thump Thump

But this dying orc was stirring something within me, something hot and cold. Was this anger? Why should I be the one who was angry? I wasn't a hero or a person who had a heart big enough to forgive the orcs for their wrongdoings. So why was it that I wanted to answer this orc in kind?

Why did I want to honor his death?

“Thank… you… Slaveborn…”

He breathed his last, a hideous smile on his face from the burns.

Clap

Clap

Clap

“Wow.  Such a touching scene.  You should be thanking me.”

A single voice.  A man’s.

I slowly turned around, my tears flowing freely now.

“If I didn’t blow that orc to bits, you’d never have gotten to experi- eh? Are you crying?  Are you seriously crying?”  

A man in a dark green cloak.  Akka Xalud.  But not human, he was an elf.

“AHAHAHA! You fucking loser! You’re actually crying?! He was one of the guys who kept you guys as slaves!”

He actually doubled over in laughter, holding his stomach.  I studied him.

Light blue hair, slightly curly.  Eyes that looked gold and bluish-green.  Tall, maybe almost 7 feet.  No weapons, so definitely a mage.

“Can’t believe you actually cried over an orc.”  He pretended to wipe a tear out of one eye.  “Oh man.  That’s rich.”

He wiped the tear with his left hand.  Left handed.  I should attack him from my left side.  No weapons plus his earlier claim; he was definitely a mage.

“Why’re you glaring at me like that?”  His smile never left his face.

“Skaris.”

“Ssslaveborn.”

“Take the orcs with you guys.  Kellin and the dwarves too.”

“Lock, that’s a mage.”  Kyrian muttered.  “I should stay here and support you.”

“No.  They need you more than me.” 

Shiiiing

My sword and shield cried as I drew them simultaneously from my back.

“What will you do Slaveborn?”  Kellin was the one who spoke.

“I’ll catch up soon enough.”  I took a step forward. 

"Ssslaveborn... let the mage and I assist you."

"You saw what I'm capable of."

It was true. I had grown strong in the last month. Maybe I was overconfident but my heart told me if I didn't do something right now, I'd wonder what if for the rest of my life. Always looking over my shoulder, always questioning who I was and who I would be.

I had a choice.

Was I Han, the loner who played video games in his room all day?

Or was I Lock, a Warrior who had people depending on him?

The mage smirked at me, flourishing his hand and bowing.  “Arione Popwindale at your service.  Directed by yours truly, Stockholm Syndrome: Orc and Human edition.”

I felt Kyrian stiffen.

“Lock… that’s-”

“Doesn’t matter.”  The tears had stopped now.

But my heart still pounded.  I don’t know why but it hurt.  I felt sad. I felt regret. I felt pain. I felt a thousand different thoughts that cut my heart in a dozen different ways.

And I wanted to make this guy feel the same thing I did.

“I’m going to kill him.”

***

“Arione, that fucking bastard!  I’m going to kill him!”  

Clover screamed and tried to jump off of the disc to follow after the mage.  Scarlet held her back.

“Wait…”

Clover slammed the back of her head into Scarlet’s face, feeling something crunch under the blow.

“OW!”  Perhaps the strongest reaction the soft-spoken mage had given yet.

She spun around and grabbed Lety.  “Get away from me, both you and your master are liars and I’m going to-”

“You have to calm down… I wasn’t in on it… and the Master might do weird things sometimes… but he wouldn’t betray us.”  Scarlet tried to stem the blood pouring from his nose.

“He literally just tried to kill-”

“Stop… please… it wasn’t aimed at him… I saw the spell.  It was aimed at the people behind him.”

Clover took a deep breath.

“That makes no sense, why the hell would he-”

“Let’s just go ask him… if your friend Lock is alive, then they’re probably fighting… we should be going over to stop them…”

Clover wanted to scream and kick the mage off of this disc.  But she had to remember that she wasn’t alone: she still had L’teya with her.  Someone needed to take care of her.  Luckily for them, the disc was slowly starting to float in the direction that Arione had flown off to.  Scarlet cast a spell to hide them from the centipede monsters.

｢Scarlet has cast [Shimmer Weave]｣

“Don’t move… please… The spell is difficult to concentrate when there’s multiple people….”

Clover cursed.

If Lock wasn’t hurt… as long as he wasn’t hurt, she was still willing to work with Arione.  The giant monster in the sky, the centipedes raining all around them; there was guarantee they could get out of this by themselves.  She also wondered why Lock was in a group that big.  She couldn’t see the anti-social human getting along with everyone there.  Had it been a cooperation out of survival?

“Yeah… he was always do anything as long as we got to survive.”  She would have to convince Lock to let go of his grudge and work with Arione.

Lock would be more than willing to work with Arione, as long as it meant they had a greater chance of living through this.

***

I knew he was a [Player], just like me.

The way he talked made it too obvious.

Skaris, Kyrian and the others had cleared out.  Now it was just me and Arione.

He casually burned a centipede before it touched the ground.

I immediately dashed towards my left towards his right side.  With a single outward-slash I could-

Arione leaped into the air, casting [Levitate].  

I cast [Coin Toss].

On my way here, I had been casting [Coin Toss] constantly.  If I was counting correctly, I currently had four [Attack] buffs and two [Defense] buffs lined up.

And roughly ten [Speed] buffs.

The moment his feet left the ground, I accelerated.  I had been fighting battles constantly but the brief respite and the anger that I felt fueled me beyond what I thought was capable.  I leaped off of the ground and swung my sword; my slash was aimed towards separating his shoulder from the rest of his body.

But the mage was more slippery than I expected, he lurched to the side and levitated away.  I saw him form a few hand seals which looked strangely familiar.  No staff, no nothing.  Just his hands.

And that goddamned voice of his.

“Whoa! Already aiming for my weak side?! Damn you’re practically one of them already!”

Dark tendrils sprouted from the ground, entangling my arms and legs.  I struggled against them but they stretched with the elasticity of rubber and the more I struggled the harder they wrapped around me.  The mage landed just outside of my reach – not that it mattered, I was constrained by these tentacles – and began to talk.

“Now, let’s talk.  Are you a pla-”

I used [Shadow Blink], I’d saved up quite a bit of stacks on the way here, and appeared right in front of him.  I thrust forward with my sword aiming at his forehead.  The mage flicked his hand and slipped out like an eel, slowing me down with a [Mana Barrier].  I cut through the mana barrier and immediately gave chase, trying to stick to him like his shadow.

“Goddamit! Let me talk!”

I had no intention of slowing down.  No intention of stopping.  I didn’t give a shit that he was a player.

I was going to kill this guy.

But he must have cast buffs on himself to match my speed, or his mana control was off the charts.  He stayed just out of the reach of my sword.  

“This guy’s way too used to close combat.”  All the Akka Xalud mages I’d fought so far had been extremely weak in close quarters.  

It was impressive the rate at which his hands moved while running but instead of using spells to attack me, he stacked a series of debuffs on me.

A huge mistake.

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Speed]｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Attack]｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Speed]｣

I couldn’t tell what clued him in to the fact that his curse-type spells were only making me stronger, but he stopped casting curse spells on me. However, it was too late and I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  My legs propelled me forward and the scenery became a blur as I cut him on the knee, trying to take the leg from him.  If I could take away his mobility, the battle was as good as mine.

He grunted and lurched, the knee starting to bleed freely.  I saw him wince in pain and try to take to the skies again.  I didn’t let him, following up with a [Hateful Wound].  Normally, I’d only use the ability as a finishing maneuver but I’d found a neat side-effect besides causing additional damage based on the wounds I inflicted.

The ability hurt like hell.

He hissed in pain and took a knee.

I took the opening, my speed stat was off the charts by now.  I could just-

Suddenly my legs slowed and I fell flat on my face.  I had been moving at a speed which was humanly impossible, I felt some go crack and knew that I had broken my ribs from the fall.  Instinctively I tucked my arms and legs into a ball; they were the life of a swordsman.  I couldn’t break a wrist or gods forbid, my leg.

I rolled out of the ball and my sword was nowhere to be seen.  But I still had the shield in my hand.  Arione was sauntering towards me, muttering something but I’d hit my face on the floor and the adrenaline made it impossible to make out what he was saying.  I lunged towards him to try and punch him in the side of the face with my shield.

But I was pathetically slow.

And weak.

What the hell had just happened?

“LOCK!”

I turned around.

Standing on a round disc, I saw the one I’d been looking for all this time.

Clover.

And standing behind her, Scarlet.

His hands were outstretched, an unmistakable evidence of him having just cast a spell and my head put the two and two together.

The fucker had taken away my buffs.

｢Scarlet has cast [Back to Square One]｣