Chapter 84 (Patreon)

Ishtar took several swaying steps backwards, her head moving just out of the path of Chunhua’s swings. Her attacks kept missing! Either she could see the goddamn future or she knew her fighting style better than Chunhua did. It was beyond frustrating. How could anyone possibly know a style that didn’t exist? Yet she knew every move as it happened, moved just the right way to block it, intercept it. Chunhua grimaced, she needed to shake things up, change the momentum in any way she could. Her eyes glowed faintly as she ducked low, shifting immediately from one form to another. The stress of the shift putting extra strain on her muscles.

Executing a technique from this proximity was not only difficult, it was dangerous. She usually relied on momentum and keeping the opponent on the backfoot on a drawn out fight. There were no such openings here. Besides, she needed to keep Ishtar’s concentration on her for a few more seconds. Chunhua did her best to keep her eyes steady, not shifting at all when she noticed Handmaiden coming from behind. The thoughts moved through her head in the span of a single heartbeat, her body moving into a crouch so fast the force sent out a small rush of wind around her. She gripped the hilt of her sword and pushed off the ground, her muscles screaming.

The uppercut came like a flash of pink light that stretched up to the sky. At the same time, a thunderous crash rang out as Handmaiden came in like a comet, her body gleaming like a star. Chunhua felt something give way and followed through with the blow, bringing her weapon up and back down into her next ready stance. 

Ishtar chuckled.

“Better.”

Chunhua’s eyes went wide as a kick drove all the air out of her lungs. She was flung backwards as she heard a cry of pain from Handmaiden. She hit the ground and skipped off of it twice before slamming down with a groan and wheeze. Her head spun, her vision blurring, exhaustion screaming through every cell in her body. She pulled herself back and up, staggering to her feet and fixing her gaze on the supervillain. Ishtar was standing there, examining her gloved hands as if she was checking her nails. The woman spread her fingers out and tilted her head, nodding slowly to herself. “Not bad, I like it, a good baseline.”

Baseline?

Ishtar turned her head and looked at Chunhua, tilting it slightly like a bird of prey examining something tasty. “Shall we turn it up, ladies? I have a whole warehouse to test out.”

A thrill went up Chunhua’s spine, she grit her teeth and cursed. “What the hell are you?” She demanded. She glanced over and spotted Handmaiden getting to her feet, several deep furrows in her face and neck healing and closing. The woman looked physically healthy, but she was clearly tired. Regeneration didn’t replenish stamina as fast as one might think and between An Set and Ishtar, the both of them were already running on fumes. Still.

I am not letting her go! She glanced towards the west side of the battlefield where the glowing panels of light had formed an arena for them. She couldn’t see any movement. Hopefully that meant that Pathfinder had figured out where An Set was and had taken the other heroes to pursue him. She glanced to the right and saw cracks forming on the east side barriers. The heroes lead by Bluestar were fighting to get through and give their support. Her focus returned to Ishtar who hadn’t moved.

“Done figuring out your strategy?” Ishtar asked, crossing her arms behind her back and holding her head high, “I imagine Pathfinder is off searching for your quarry, right?”

Chunhua kept her mouth shut, slowing her breathing and allowing her cultivated energy to flow through her body, muscle tension eased and aches began to fade. 

“I wonder,” Ishtar said aloud, tilting her head and looking up at the sky, “Can Pathfinder handle a mythic-tier master assassin? He’s good, but is he that good?”

Chunhua bore her teeth, “Handmaiden! Now!” She shouted and exploded into motion, her body turning into a streak as a burst of light erupted behind Ishtar.

Ishtar just laughed, a cruel insane laugh as the ground beneath their feet shook. Chunhua reacted as fast as she could, changing direction and spinning out of the way as water exploded from the ground beneath her in a torrent. A column sprayed into the sky and created an artificial rain around them, water flooding out at their feet. More bursts happened around the battlefield, more columns of water. The pipes! Chunhua realized as droplets of water changed direction in mid air and began pelting her, leaving small scratches and cuts as they passed. She winced and pivoted, shifting from strength to speed. Her sword turned into a blur as she cut lethal droplets of water out of the air.

How many powers does she have?!

Water kept flowing, spreading, it was ankle deep when she landed again. A flash flood that filled the basin created by their battle with An Set. She slid across the ground, stopping on top of a slick slab of concrete. Ahead of her, Handmaiden lunged at Ishtar again who simply raised her hand and blocked with a barrier of hardened light. She swept her arm and used it as a plow, pushing the woman to the side before leaping into a flip kick. The impact releasing a crack of sound before sending Handmaiden back a good distance, splashing into the water.

“I set the terms, I set the field, I control the game,” Ishtar pronounced and raised a hand. The water spraying into the air stopped and the ground shook again. “The battlefield is mine, heroes. You are just playing in it.”

BOOM!

The ground behind Ishtar exploded into a spray of debris and dirt, something huge roaring up into the air and spreading out. Chunhua stood there and watched, her head turning up and up as the bows of a tree spread out over them. Leaves grew and flowers bloomed as the ground shook beneath her feet. One limb caught Ishtar beneath her feet and carried her up into the air with it, now looking down on them. Another limb sprouted from the tree and curled behind Ishtar who leaned back and took a seat, crossing her legs.

Chunhua felt heat rise to her face as the supervillain took the posture of a queen. She nearly lost her temper, her anger flaring with the adrenaline, confusion, and stress. She bit her lip, drawing blood and forcing herself to calm down. She’s toying with us. If she could do things like this before we should already be dead. She took a calming breath as her eyes took in the changed battlefield. A massive tree hanging over an artificial lake, Ishtar sitting in her wooden throne like Titania herself. She mentioned Pathfinder and An Set, a realization hit her that should have hit her a long time ago. She’s delaying us! She’s using herself as a goddamn distraction!

She stood up straight and lowered her weapon, “Ishtar! Enough games! I’m leaving!” She shouted.

“About time!” Ishtar shouted back, laughing. “I’m sorry to say I can’t let you, dear, not until I have word that my quarry is secure.”

“Try and stop me!” Chunhua shouted back and turned her attention to the west, “If I get out of range, whatever you’re doing to our communications will come back on, right?” She snarled, “Are you faster than me?”

“Probably not, but you’re not in a position to run that easily,” Ishtar teased and the ground shook again. “Trees have roots, did you forget?”

Chunhua’s eyes shot down towards the ground and her instincts screamed at her to move. She darted towards the west, throwing everything she could into speed. “HANDMAIDEN, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!” She shouted and put power into her voice, “HEROES! SHE’S DISTRACTING US! GET AWAY AND FIND AN SET!”

Roots erupted from the ground and grasped at her, they darted from the side, from the front, aiming to spear and incapacitate. Every blow was projected, clearly aimed not to kill but rather to slow her down. She set the infuriation she felt at the insult aside and put all her focus into running. There was no beating Ishtar, not now, not when they were all exhausted. She understood how powers worked intimately, she was more practiced, more powerful. The best strategy was to eliminate a fight all together. 

I’ll get you one day. Chunhua thought, darting past another pair of roots as Handmaiden caught up to her. The two exchanged a look and nodded before leaping over the glowing barriers that had contained them.

–

Ishtar watched them go through the Astral Eye hanging above and let out a sigh, leaning back in the seat she had created for herself. She rest her helmet against the tree. Sylvan Monarch worked well. She thought and looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers again. Ah… your heart feels great in my chest, Feng Hyunh. She thought and glanced towards the distant ruin of the building where the dungeon had been. I didn’t expect that answer, but I’ll keep my promise.

A chime sounded in her ear.

“Blackrazor?” She answered.

“I’ve arrived at the first staging area, Mistress. We are securing An Set to move to the second location, I am being pursued,” Blackrazor reported quickly.

“Pathfinder, he can find anything as long as he has some sort of connection,” Ishtar said and shifted in her seat, watching the heroes of the east side of the battlefield make their retreat. She raised a hand and threatened them a little with the roots of her tree to keep the show up, “He could be a problem, kill him, he’ll be able to find the second location once we move An Set.”

“It will be done,” Blackrazor grunted and cut the connection.

Ishtar glanced towards the east side again and a frown crossed her features beneath her helmet, she felt her heart tighten a little. “Oh, Nick,” She sighed, “You brave, incredible man, you won’t be forgotten, I promise.”

She closed her eyes and drew in a breath. The air stirred and the eye in the sky began to slowly fade. The panels of light shattered, scattering sparkling dust about the now dimly lit lake and tree. She basked for a moment, savoring the sense of power that burned in her veins. She looked down at the water below, glittering beneath the dissipating hard light and smiled to herself. “...maybe a memorial garden,” she murmured as a panel of light appeared behind her and turned in on itself. She leaned back into it and disappeared.

–

Blackrazor stood over the broken man. An Set was a shadow of his former self. He remembered seeing the man from afar when he once met with Feng Hyunh on a job some time ago. Now he looked… diminished. His face was sunken, his muscles were deteriorated, and his eyes were just hollow. He supposed the paralytic he had used didn’t help things. He glanced towards one of the gang members who walked over with a steel suitcase. The young man wore the usual uniform of those in Ishtar’s employ, including the white queen chesspiece on his lapel. He opened the suitcase and revealed the cuffs.

“This is the prototype that the boss sent,” The youth said, holding it out.

Blackrazor nodded, another mechanical marvel created by Amos no doubt. He nodded towards An Set, “Cuff him and activate it, we don’t have a lot of time.”

“Sir!” The gang member nodded and got to work, slipping the cuffs onto An Set and securing them before stepping back and pulling a remote from the box. He fiddled with it for a moment before hitting in a combination on the number pad. There was a sizzling sound followed by a strange sense of emptiness around An Set. The broken mythic let out a groan and stirred, his eyes fluttering. Blackrazor frowned and tossed a violet needle at his throat, putting him back to sleep.

He glanced at the youth, “I’ll take the remote for now.”

“Right, the code is one-four-seven-nine-nine-five,” The young man said and handed it to him. Blackrazor turned it over in his hand, it looked like a universal television remote. Well if it works it works.

A rush of air drew his attention away from his new toy and he glanced over his shoulder to see Veloce return, one second she was at the door and the next she was at his side, arms zipping around his elbow. He glanced down at her, confused, as she pressed her face against his shoulder. He decided to tolerate it for now, “How did it go?” He asked.

“I couldn’t get him to target me,” She pouted, puffing up her cheeks, “He practically ignored me, I even tried teasing him. It’s like that guy doesn’t have balls or something.”

Blackrazor looked away, “Did you delay him at least?”

“It’ll be a few more minutes,” She said with a sigh, “Is that enough?’

He nodded, “Yes that’s fine, we’ve just finished up here. All we need is for the mistress to arrive so she and I can go to the secondary location,” Blackrazor said, “After that, you’re to find your own escape route. If you are caught you might be recognized as the one who separated Feng Hyunh and An Set which immediately resulted in his berserk state.”

She looked up at him wide-eyed, “Oh, that’s right,” She blinked and looked thoughtful.

“They won’t settle with imprisonment, if you want to live long enough to get Mistress Ishtar’s planned gifts, you’ll need to give it your all to get out of here,” He said grimly.

She squeezed against his arm, “Can’t I go with you?”

He raised an eyebrow. What was with her, it was like she was physically attached to him for some reason. All he’d done was fight off a few gnolls while she was paralyzed. Ishtar had been the one to restore her legs. He sighed and shook his head, “No, the Mistress’ orders were clear-”

He was cut off by the sound of gunfire.

“And there he is, faster than expected,” He muttered, “Time for you to go.”

She pulled away and snapped a playful salute, “Right away!” She grinned and in a blur of motion she was gone. He shook his head and turned away from the beaten An Set, “The rest of you! Prepare to make your escape once we’ve bought a little time. The Mistress will arrive soon and she will not want to be disturbed!”

“Yes sir!” A unified shout came as the thugs and lesser villains hurried to make their final preparations while their comrades held the heroes at bay. Blackrazor threw out his hand and a short blade appeared in it, glittering, violet, and deadly. His steps made no sound as he glided across the ground towards the door, “Only one thing left to do.”