Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 245-246 (Patreon)

Melissa let the Falling Blade’s dagger clang off her armor harmlessly as she thrust her sword for his gut. She was more than aware she was nowhere near good enough a warrior to make a meaningful effort blocking his blows, so she simply didn’t bother.

The Falling Blade dipped out of the way of her strike. She pressed the attack, swinging her blade again. Snarling, the assassin drove his dagger for a gap in the armor. Melissa squeezed her eyes shut an instant before a brilliant flash lit the square. Her eyes were already opening before the light completely faded and she swung her blade once more.

It caught the assassin’s shoulder and carved across his chest, leaving behind a long, superficial wound. His stance shifted as he weaved back, bringing his dagger to bear and stumbling over his feet slightly. He hadn’t been expecting to still be standing in the same spot. Melissa’s lips pulled back in a smirk.

“What’s wrong? Shadows not working?” She asked as she lunged, driving her blade for his neck.

The assassin knocked the blow to the side with his dagger and drove the blade for her chest. It rang off harmlessly a second time and he skipped back before she could retaliate.

“Where did you get this armor?” The Falling Blade demanded. All the cockiness in his posture and voice had vanished, replace by a cold determination and a sliver of respect.

Before Melissa could answer, she felt a draw on her magical energy. A swirl of wind pushed out from her as a dagger that she hadn’t even seen coming was hurled to the side, prevented from connecting with her by mere inches.

“Kill her already!” Alcard screamed.

“Shut up,” Melissa and the Falling Blade yelled as one.

Metal clashed and shadows danced all around the alley as the two groups of assassins fought. The two black-cloaked turncoats were holding their own, but only barely. They danced from one shadow to the next as they ran through the market square, desperately trying to stay ahead of the Falling Blades.

It was a game of cat and mouse that they couldn’t win. The Falling Blades just had too many people, and Melissa still hadn’t spotted at least half of their forces. It wouldn’t be long before her unexpected allies ran out of power and were gutted.

Blows rained down on Melissa, giving her no time to think. All she could do was block and swing, desperately searching for an opportunity to turn the tides. Despite all the Falling Blade’s skill and ability, he was completely ineffective at breaking through Ifrit’s defenses — and it was clearly starting to get to him.

“What is that damned armor you’re wearing?” the assassin demanded. His dagger plunged down for her face and she leaned back, raising her arms defensively.

She staggered as an immense weight slammed into her, nearly ripping them both from their sockets. A magically enhanced strike. Her armor reacted immediately, sending a wave of power rolling back down her arms and through the dagger. The assassin stumbled back with a cry of pain, his teeth cracking together as a violent tremor tore through his body. Melissa didn’t pass up the sliver of opportunity. She dove forward, slamming her shoulder into his stomach.

Melissa was far from a large woman. She didn’t have all that much muscle and she stood a head shorter than the assassin. There weren’t many worlds where her weight would do much to inconvenience such a superior opponent.

Unfortunately for the Falling Blade, Melissa was also wearing an entire set of magical armor. It might not have been the heaviest set of armor in existence. It was, however, the set of armor that lodged itself right in his gut and knocked the air from his already shaken lungs.

The two of them tumbled to the ground. Melissa sent a mental command to her armor and squeezed her eyes shut as another brilliant flash of light flared, illuminating the alleyway. She couldn’t let the assassin disappear into the shadows while she had him pinned.

“This is—” the assassins started, but the rest of his sentence was lost to a loud crunch as Melissa’s fist slammed into his face. His nose broke beneath her gauntlet and blood splattered across her and the ground. Melissa’s armor flashed again as she lifted her hand once more, her sword forgotten on the ground beside her.

A sword slammed into the back of her neck. Melissa swayed from the force of the blow, but the armor prevented it from landing true. More energy poured out of her and into whoever had swung the weapon, sending them crumpling to the ground at her side.

She paid them no attention. Melissa’s hand crashed down again, this time driving into the assassin’s forehead and slamming the back of his head into the ground as he tried to rise. Her armor flooded the air with another wave of light once more, banishing any attempts to sink into the shadows.

Stars danced before Melissa’s eyes. She lifted her hands once more, ignoring the dagger that scraped across the side of her armor, and brought them both down with a scream of defiance. A loud crunch echoed out. The assassin fell limp.

Melissa drove a foot into the ground, her breath coming out in ragged gasps. She grabbed her sword and rose to her feet. Blood dripped from her fists as she turned toward the Falling Blade that had just tried to run her through the back.

The man rolled to his feet and lunged at her with two swords. Melissa ignored the attack, letting it scrape along the armor as she whipped her fist for his face. He dodged out of the way in a practiced motion, but Melissa didn’t have any intention of fighting like anyone they’d ever practiced against before.

She charged him, blinking in sequence with a flash of light that rolled from her armor to avoid blinding herself, and unleashed a flurry of blows. The assassin ducked and weaved past them. His weapons carved across her over and over again. Wind erupted from her armor in a twisting maelstrom, sending two daggers scattering before they could connect with her.

Nothing mattered. Melissa bore down on the assassin, taking every attack he threw in search of just a single strike in return — and she found it. Her fist caught him in the shoulder. A glancing blow, but one that gave her a chance to dig her fingers into the cloth. Shadows wrapped around the assassin’s body and he vanished from her grip, sinking into the ground. She bared her teeth and brilliant light erupted from her armor.

The assassin snapped back into reality, his magic ripped to shreds. Melissa’s blade slammed through his chest, striking the ground beneath him with such force that its tip shattered. Her elbow snapped out and into the man’s temple with a loud crack.

Melissa ripped the blade out of the assassin even as he slipped off it, driving it down a second time and impaling him through an eye. She could feel her magical reserves dwindling. She could take one more assassin. Maybe two, if they played things poorly.

Then I’ll take three.

“Come on!” Melissa screamed. The two black-cloaked assassins were still alive, but she could see they were slowing. They weren’t going to be able to hold out much longer. There were still at least eight more Falling Blades. Her jaw clenched, but she didn’t let her desperation show. She pounded a hand against her chest. “I killed ten of you! I’ll kill ten more!”

Two Falling Blades watched her warily from across the street, their daggers held defensively before them. Two more of them were chasing the black-robed assassins, which left four lurking in the shadows somewhere.

Alcard watched from the back of the street, his hands trembling in fury. Melissa was tempted to just sprint at him and ignore the rest of the assassins, but she didn’t dare open herself up that badly. The Falling Blades weren’t idiots. They’d seen every ability her armor had now, and she’d only killed two of them.

I can’t let myself take pointless attacks. I to make every attack I take count as much as I possibly can.

“What are you waiting for?” Alcard demanded. “She’s not a warrior! Just kill her!”

“Her armor is far superior to what you described. She has a powerful force backing her,” one of the Falling Blades snapped. “Be silent. We not lose more of our number. This will be handled our way — and you will shore up the costs when it is done.”

Alcard flinched, but said nothing more. A dagger flashed at Melissa from the edge of an alley. She tried to duck out of the way, but the attack was a blur and she was nowhere near fast enough to dodge it. Her armor activated and sent it spinning off at the cost of even more magical energy.

Okay. One hiding in the alley over there. Don’t know where the other three are right now.

Melissa adjusted her grip on her blade and swallowed between her ragged breaths. The longer she waited, the worse things became. Her best chance of victory would be to help the black-cloaked assassins, which meant she had to deal with the two Falling Blades in front of her and hope she could survive the ones hiding in the shadows for long enough to group up with her allies.

She burst into motion, letting out a furious scream. The assassins ran back to keep their distance, splitting to move in opposite directions. One of them threw a metal marble in her direction. Melissa squeezed her eyes shut a moment before it hit the ground and went off with a brilliant flash.

By the time her eyes opened again, a Falling Blade was swinging their sword straight for her throat. She wheezed and stumbled back as it struck true. Even though the armor stopped the blade from penetrating, the sheer force of the strike nearly choked her.

More energy poured from her armor and into the weapon. The Falling Blade released it instantly, hopping back, but failing to completely evade the magic. He stumbled over his own feet as tremors shook his body.

Melissa lunged, not even blinking as her armor flashed and prevented the Falling Blade from retreating into the shadows. Stars swirled before her eyes but she landed on top of the assassin. A blade rang off her back harmlessly and she brought her head down, straight into the man’s forehead.

His skull bounced off hers like a pinball and hit the ground with a wet splatter. She drove her fist into his face just to make sure the deed was done, then rolled to the side and staggered to her feet. Wind howled around her as it prevented a dagger from connecting with her once more.

Somewhere in the back of Melissa’s mind, she was somewhat surprised that there had been so few surprise attacks. There should have been four assassins waiting to strike, but this frequency of attacks didn’t line up with that at all.

Melissa didn’t have the liberty to wonder why. She fought to catch her breath as her eyes bored into those of the final Falling Blade standing off from her. They took a step back, raising their sword before them.

“What’s wrong?” Melissa rasped, spitting on the ground and grabbing the sword of the dead Falling Blade at her feet. “Scared of a girl half your size?”

A wet thunk echoed through the street. Melissa instinctively glanced in its direction. Her eyes widened as the body of a Falling Blade ragdolled across the street before sliding to a stop. A dagger protruded from his neck and the blood running from the wound had already coagulated.

 Poison. That’s not the poison they used on me. That isn’t one of the Falling Blade’s daggers either, is it?

The Falling Blades realized they were under attack at the same time that Melissa did. The two chasing the black-robed assassins broke off their pursuit. They vanished into swirls of shadow and rose up beside the one on the street, pressing their backs together. A fourth one appeared beside them. With the reprieve they’d been granted, both of the black-robed assassins retreated to the top of a roof.

“Show yourself,” one of the Falling Blades demanded. “We know you’re there.”

Melissa stared in complete confusion as a man emerged from the shadows, a huge sword scraping along the ground behind him. He wore brilliant silver armor embossed with a golden sword upon a red badge. A bucket helm obscured the man’s face.

“Hullo there,” the warrior said in a jovial voice. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything too important.”

Chapter 246

“I thought you said you secured the perimeter!” Alcard hissed.

“That was before you brought enemies inside!” one of the Falling Blades snapped back. “Be silent, lest your throat be the next thing we cut.”

“I don’t reckon you’ll be cutting much of anything else today, actually,” the man said with an easygoing chuckle. “Pulling shit like this on the Ardent Guild’s territory? Really? Did you underestimate our spies that badly?”

“Your spies are incompetent,” a Falling Blade spat. “Back out of this, merchant guildsman. It is not your blood we seek on this day. You will not get the offer twice.”

“Oh, lucky me. That’ll save us a whole lot of time. I won’t have to refuse twice,” the man said. “I have to say, your dedication to the job is impressive. If you were smart, you’d already be running. You’ve been getting your asses handed to you.”

“The Falling Blades do not fail. The girl will die. You will too, if you wish to join her.”

“No.” the armored man let out a hearty chuckle. “I don’t think I will.”

He tilted his head to the side. A dagger blurred from the shadows of the alley that he’d come from. It streaked mere inches by his head and carved through the air before cutting across one of the assassin’s shoulder’s, leaving behind a superficial wound.

The Falling Blade instantly let out a hiss and shoved his hand into a hidden pocket. He grabbed a vial and brought it to his mouth, draining the entire thing.

“Too late,” the armored man said with a shake of his head. “That’s not going to save you. Might stall things out a bit.”

The injured assassin let out a snort of laughter. “Poison is no stranger to us. We—”

“Take micro-doses of poison to develop an immunity to it, yes. I’m quite aware. The Falling Blades do enjoy their poisons. Several in particular. But drinking all that poison alters your blood chemistry. Turns out, if you’re real immune to a few poisons and someone happens to know which ones they are…”

The assassin’s eyes widened and he choked, blood bubbling up from his lips. He doubled over, hacking, then clawed desperately at his throat.

“Who are you?” a Falling Blade member asked, staring into the alley behind the man. “Why is the Ardent Guild getting involved in this?”

“We just love sticking our dicks in beehives,” the man replied. “And we also hate you. And small children. Puppies as well. Everything beautiful in life. Well, aside from you. You’re right shitstains, but I think you get the idea.”

Melissa stared at the man, her sword dipping toward the ground as her grip slackened in disbelief. It almost sounded as if he was trying to shit-talk his own guild. Almost as if he had read her thoughts, the man glanced in her direction.

“You there. What are you waiting for? Leave the toilet-paper mummies to us. I think you’ve got someone else to deal with.”

Melissa’s eyes flicked to Alcard. She didn’t need to be told twice, and she wasn’t one to question fate. She burst into motion. The tall man paled and spun. One of the black-robed assassins hurled a dagger. It sailed through the air before striking him in the back of the head hilt-first. Alcard tumbled to the ground with a cry.

He rolled over in an attempt to rise back to his feet, but Melissa’s foot slammed into his chest and drove him back into the ground. Her sword flicked to the bottom of his chin and she locked eyes with him, her lips pulling back in a snarl as she pressed the tip of her blade to his flesh.

“You killed my father,” Melissa snarled. “Are you ready to die?”

“I—”

Melissa drove the blade home, sliding it up through Alcard’s jaw and into his brain, silencing him.

“May your last words die with you. You can share them with the rest of your Coalition when I come for them as well,” Melissa hissed. She ripped the blade free and turned back toward the remaining three Falling Blades. Her heart felt like it had been twisted into knots. She couldn’t decide if she was relieved, exhausted, or angry. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t let herself be anything but prepared until the fight was done.

“Well then,” the Ardent Guildsman said. “It appears ten have become three. We outnumber you and your employer is dead. Who wants to die next? Show of hands.”

Nobody moved.

Melissa couldn’t see the man’s face, but something told her that he was smiling.

“That’s what I thought. Then perhaps we can come to a deal, eh?”

“Talk,” one of the Falling Blades said.

“Oh, lucky me.” The man chuckled. This time around, there was no doubt in Melissa’s mind. He was definitely smiling. The warrior leaned against his sword. “I love talking. Especially about the terms of your surrender.”

“The Falling Blades do not surrender.”

Melissa’s hand tightened around the hilt of her stolen sword, but the warrior didn’t even seem slightly concerned. He just blew out a long-suffering sigh. “Yes, I’m aware your group is a big fan of semantics. Bunch of hardasses. Very well. We’ll agree on the alteration of the contract. Your employer is dead, but I trust you’ve already been paid.”

“We have not been paid for the lives that were wasted.”

“Sounds like a miscalculation on your part.” The warrior shrugged. “You already lost a whole squad. Are you really going to lose another?”

“Even if you were able to kill all of us while we were running, more would come,” a Falling Blade said. “You are not part of the contract. Your attack on one of us is an attack on our entire organization.”

“Or so you say. You won’t actually enforce that. It’s a good threat, but there aren’t enough Falling Blades for you to waste that many bodies. 17 of your men are dead. Do you want to make it 20? Make your decision. Either give the girl immunity from the contract and back out or waste another group trying to kill her. It’s up to you.””

There were several moments of long silence. Sweat prickled at Melissa’s palm and rolled down her back.

“How do you know so much about us?” one of the other Falling Blades demanded.

“None of your concern,” the warrior replied. “The only thing keeping you here is pride. With no contractor to report to, the mission is over. You didn’t fail, but you didn’t succeed — and yet, you live. Hesitate for longer and I’ll rectify that.”

To Melissa’s surprise, the three remaining Falling Blades inclined their heads in acknowledgement. Shadows wrapped around them and they sank into the ground as one. Melissa readied her sword, but no attack came.

There’s no way. They actually just… left? Just like that?

“They’re gone,” the warrior said, reading the shock in Melissa’s posture. “The Falling Blades are killers for hire. They aren’t insane murderers, and they live be their own set of rules. You won’t be dealing with them again. By backing out today, their entire organization has agreed to never take a contract against you again. Now other assassins… that’s a whole different question.”

“Don’t look at us,” Leena said, picking at her tattered black robe and letting out a weary sigh. “I’m quitting. I hate this job. Don’t forget our deal, girl.”

“I… yeah,” Melissa muttered. She rubbed her brow as a headache started to build. “I won’t. But who are—”

Leena and her companion both vanished in swirls of shadow. Melissa’s gaze shifted over to the Ardent guildmember. Something about him almost felt familiar, but she couldn’t place what it was.

“Good luck,” the warrior said, raising a hand and giving her a sharp nod. “This isn’t over. The assassins were the tool, not the hand wielding it. You’ve got a lot of work ahead if you want to take what you lost back from the Kererus Coilition. The whiny bastard at your feet was only the closest of your enemies, not the strongest.”

“I — I know that. But why are you helping me? My family has no friendly dealings with the Ardent Guild.”

The man chuckled and turned on his heel, starting for the alley that he’d come from. He paused at the edge of the darkness. “And you’ll find it’ll stay that way. I acted alone. Don’t expect help again. Just treat today as a gift. Sometimes, things just work out in your favor. And remember, momentum is a powerful weapon. Don’t sit back and relax. Move quickly and strike hard. Regain your foothold in Milten. If you give the Kererus Coalition time to fight back, the next fight against them will not go nearly as well as this one did.”

 “I… okay,” Melissa said. She glanced at Alina. The maid still stood on the other side of the gates, her eyes as round as saucers with disbelief. It didn’t seem she had any idea who the man was either.

“Who made that armor of yours, by the way?” the man asked.

Oh. That’s right. Ifrit wanted me to make sure people knew who made the armor.

“A — a smith. Ifrit, down at the Infernal Armory.”

“I see,” the warrior said. “Good to know.”

With that, he strode into the darkness and left Melissa standing alone in a street covered with dead assassins. And, as the sun slowly dipped behind the buildings and cast the world into shadow, she couldn’t shake one last question from her mind.

 If he acted alone, who threw that poisoned dagger?