August Intruder- Chapter 53- Oath of Madness (Patreon)

The moment [Knowledge is Power] came back to Melmarc, he knew he needed to stop walking.

Evening was coming to an end and this was the last ruin he was going to be checking for the day. If Naymond wasn’t in it, he was going to clear out any of the monsters inside and hole in there for the night.

The moment he received the information, Melmarc’s entire plan changed. Sleeping for the night became the last thing on his mind. He sucked in a deep breath, suddenly worried. He was just going to be killing the [Damned] just as he’d been doing for a while. But there was a difference now.

He rushed forward, hand twirling. [Rings of Saturn] activated, coming naturally now. Melmarc slowed his hand movement as he darted into the ruined building.

He scrambled in then darted behind a wall as he swung his hand around the corner. The ring of mana left him, relieving him of his weight, and Melmarc was already on the move.

Speed was important here. There was a new kind of pressure fighting against the [Damned] now that he wasn’t the only thing at stake. He could’ve tested everything he wanted to when he only had himself to look out for.

But there was more than himself now. And time was of the essence.

Melmarc heard the sound of heavy things clashing and knew his attack had struck true. His interface flashed in front of him, informing him of the demise of his target and he waved it aside as he ducked into the next room.

On the ground, the red indicators had doubled their speed after him, scurrying about to hold him down.

Normally Melmarc would’ve ignored them to a certain extent but there was too much at stake right now. The last thing he needed was to be slowed down.

The wall he’d darted out from shook violently as a red indicator of one of the [Damned] ran into it, shaking it violently.

Melmarc gathered another ring of mana to his hand and threw it. He swung it so that it barreled through the air chaotically instead of sharp and cutting like a discus.

When it slammed into the [Damned], Melmarc watched the red indicator get pushed back. On the other side of the room he was in, another red indicator barreled into the wall, shaking his room. The ceiling of the room was already a mess and it threatened to come down on Melmarc.

Melmarc spared it only a brief glance, confirmed it wasn’t coming down yet, before darting out of the room.

He hadn’t gotten a notification of the death of the second [Damned] so he ignored it as he moved.

There were too many red indicators that he needed to take care of for him to be focused on a single living monster.

Melmarc darted out of the room, eyes roaming around in his eye socket, tracking the moving red indicators. There were more monsters than his uses for [Rings of Saturn] before its cooldown and his mind was already trying to figure out how to come out of this victorious without his attack skill.

What had sent him running into the building was the presence of blood that [Knowledge is Power] had given him. He wasn’t sure how he knew but it was still fresh, recent.

If Delvers had finally made their way into the portal, the last thing Melmarc wanted was to have one of them dying on him. There was just something unacceptable about a savior dying in the process of saving him as far as he was concerned.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” he bellowed, moving a little too close to one of the red indicators as he darted into another room.

This one had a broken wall that connected it to a second room with a window that led out of the entire building.

[Knowledge is Power] had only scanned maybe half of the building so Melmarc worked with the outline he had in his head.

He darted into the room, charging his third ring of mana. A red indicator moved towards the entrance with a terrifying speed that let Melmarc know it was in attack mode, which meant it had seen him passing by.

Melmarc did his best to pretend that fear wasn’t trying to hold him down. The red indicator flashed at the door. The thin point of a rusted serrated knife cut through the air, almost taking his eye and he dived backwards and into the adjoining room.

Melmarc threw the ring of mana in a cutting motion as he went through the air before hitting the ground. Pain filled his back at the impact and he groaned. The dive had been a panicked one, an attempt to increase the space between him and the knife wielding [Damned] as fast as he could.

And it had been a good decision.

The [Damned] cut through the air as it leapt forward, rusted knife cutting a pattern. The ring of mana slammed into it. The white ring cut into the thing’s hand and made it all the way through.

It severed the [Damned]’s hand and embedded itself into the thing’s shoulder.

Melmarc didn’t stop to check if it was successful or anything else, he was already out the window, making his way out of the building. The moment he hit the ground, he took four steps, his mind obeying what he knew of the outline, and vaulted through the next window.

The moment he was back into the building, he let [Knowledge is Power] blast out of him as he activated the skill, still charging through the room.

Come on, he thought as he ran through the room. Answer me.

He didn’t need whoever it was to answer him. In fact, there was a chance that the person wouldn’t. They were probably scared that making any sound would attract the attention of the [Damned]. What they wouldn’t know was that the only sense the monsters had was the sense of sight. Everything they had relied on the critters that still hadn’t managed to attach themselves to Melmarc.

There was also the possibility that the person was Naymond.

Melmarc hoped it was Naymond.

Having [World of Insight] would do a lot in helping him kill more [Damned].

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Melmarc frowned. Instead of thinking of saving Naymond, he was more concerned about the benefit that would come with it.

It wasn’t the right way to think.

You save everyone because they need to be saved, he told himself as the blast of mana came back to him.

The moment it did, he couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is concluded.]

[All stats are increased by +1.5.]

[Life forms detected: 08.]

[You have received 02 Potential buffs.]

…

[World of Insight (Mastery 05.03%]

The Gifted is aware of their existent present surrounding.

[Soul Damnation (Mastery 04.00%)

The damned damns their own soul into further damnation through the damnation of their soul by offering their soul to Caldath.

 …

[Buff mastery is scaled based on mastery of skill Bless Your Kindness. Mastery of buff will begin reduction after eight minutes.]

[Would you like to select a Buff?]

[Yes/No.]

[Remaining time: 00:01:49.]

Melmarc wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that he had some level of mastery for [Soul Damnation] as he selected [World of Insight].

The moment he made his selection, the entire building came alive. Suddenly he knew exactly were everything was.

He stopped in a hallway between two rooms, hand already generating his last ring of mana from [Rings of Saturn]. The skill had a one minute cooldown and he wasn’t too worried about using the last one.

There were more than enough places to dash into to keep a distance between him and all the [Damned] without breaking a sweat.

Where he was standing kept him placed right in front of one of the [Damned] but kept him perfectly hidden from all the remaining ones in the building.

A frown touched his lips, wiping away the small smile knowing that Naymond was still alive had put there. As the [Damned] leapt into the air, he realized that while he was completely aware of the red indicators hovering over the ground and how they were moving, he was completely unaware of the creatures they belonged to.

[World of Insight] couldn’t see the critters. Then how had Naymond survived for so long?

Melmarc remembered the current state of Naymond, the state [Knowledge is Power] had shown him of the Sage. He couldn’t say he was truly surprised.

The nostalgic feeling of being all knowing filled Melmarc’s mind as he simply stepped to the side, avoiding the [Damned]. It soared past him, hand swiping about and cutting through the air.

Melmarc side-stepped into a free room, fully aware of the [Damned] there only to walk back out.

The new [Damned] followed him out, swinging, but Melmarc was already running. His senses told him the moment both monsters clashed into each other. He felt it just as easily as he heard it.

Melmarc turned, the monsters behind him, and swung a casual ring of mana into—

Melmarc’s feet buckled under him. He staggered as the faintest glow of a mana ring appeared around his wrist. It was the weakest amount he’d ever drawn, yet it was so terribly bright, and hot, and heavy, and loud.

The weight of the ring pulled him to the ground and a ringing erupted in his ear. He struggled against the pain, unable to release it. Instinct warned him of his state of vulnerability and he let go of the ring of mana.

It dissipated, leaving him unarmed, wasting his third use of [Rings of Saturn].

Immediately his senses returned to him, pain gone and the ringing silenced, Melmarc released [Knowledge is Power] once more and rose from his feet, hand held out.

He braced himself for the pain that would come and caught a wrist attached to a sharp flat plate in his hand, halting the attack mid-swing.

A sharp serrated knife cut deep into his neck from another angle and Melmarc winced in pain but refused to cry out.

Instead, he took the little strength he still had in him and swung the [Damned] he held by the wrist into the one with the serrated blade. Somehow, his very presence and being unable to cause him damage broke the rhythm of the creature’s attack so that the [Damned] staggered back as if it had run into a wall.

The creature he threw slammed into the second [Damned] and both of them went tumbling into one of the walls chaotically.

Fear and anger flared in Melmarc’s mind. Fear from almost dying and anger from almost being killed.

His moment of nigh invulnerability was coming to an end and he knew that once it ended he would be defenseless against the [Damned] until [Rings of Saturn] was off its cooldown.

So he turned and bolted out of the room.

With [Knowledge is Power] and [World of Insight] active, he had a literal map of the entire ruined building in his mind. Oddly enough, it was like a detailed map with blinking dots pointing out every living thing.

The moving red signified the [Damned] and the single grey holed up in a small room signified Naymond.

All he had to do was get past the only [Damned] in front of Naymond’s room and he could carry Naymond out through the window.

They could hightail it from there to the nearest safety.

Melmarc was already running, sprinting down the small building as his burst of mana returned to him. It came with an odd sense of hyper-awareness.

He knew where everything was before they were there. It was so deep that it felt as if he could predict every move the [Damned] was about to make. Each one felt programmed, predetermined. And Melmarc felt like he held in his mind the orders given to them.

Melmarc’s sprint led him weaving through the building. He could’ve gotten to Naymond in a shorter amount of time, but he was in no hurry. The chaos he’d caused had drawn the attention of all the [Damned] to him. In fact, if Naymond wanted to sneak out of the window right now, he doubted any of the [Damned] would be aware of it.

Also, there were two [Damned] between him and Naymond. If he wanted to dwindle the number down to only one, Melmarc would need to take a roundabout route.

A lot of rooms and walls here, he thought as he vaulted over a hole in one of the room walls, throwing himself into another room.

He was beginning to wonder if Naymond had chosen this building for some kind of battle or if he had coincidentally stumbled upon it.

It mattered very little as Melmarc darted out of the new room, noting how he’d circumvented the second [Damned]. The only one that now stood in his way was the one in front of the entrance to Naymond’s room.

[Rings of Saturn] was still on cool down which meant he had no attack skill so Melmarc’s mind ran through all the possible ways he could stop it.

A thought occurred to him and he ran at the creature.

A few days ago the idea rummaging in his mind would’ve been madness. Now…

Well, it was still madness, it was just madness worthy of making it to the list of plans floating around in his head. Knowing more about himself and how his skills affected him gave him more options and a little more confidence in those options.

Melmarc had used [Knowledge is Power] three times already and ten minutes were yet to go by. Which meant the effects that came from [Bless Your Kindness] continued to stack. Right now, while he was unsure of going toe to toe in strength against one of the [Damned] he was very certain he wouldn’t be knocked into oblivion from a single hit.

Melmarc darted forward, willed his strength and speed into the single action. In the blink of an eye, he was skidding to a stop in front of the [Damned]. His body adjusted to the sudden stop, his leg muscles tightened and his feet scraped a line in the ground, upturning the earth beneath them and roughing up his shoe.

The [Damned] looked down at him, expressionless, as he came to a stop and raised a single hand.

The bruise on Melmarc’s chest tingled. He remembered the blow he’d taken a few days ago, the pain and momentary inability to breathe that had come with it.

The fear of death.

Melmarc panicked.

His intention had been to throw the [Damned] over his shoulder in a judo toss as he’d been thought in self-defense. But with the memory of what a single hit could do to him, his composure shifted and instinct acted in place of calculated attack.

Melmarc went low, spinning into a leg sweep. Pain flared in his calf as it brushed the creature’s feet out from under it but Melmarc ignored it. What was pain in the way of survival.

It was a practiced combo, ingrained into him from constant use during his lessons.

Melmarc spun into the attack and came up with a shoulder thrust with his entire upper body weight behind the blow. He struck the disoriented creature and it barreled into the wall, shaking the building.

Melmarc sensed the framework of the entire building shake but [World of Insight] let him know that nothing significant had come loose.

It also let him know that there were now more than a handful of red indicators all over his upper body. Even now, it didn’t register the critters as attached to him as they were.

Melmarc was beginning to wonder if it had something to do with his mastery percent of [World of Insight].

He checked on [Rings of Saturn] as he paid attention to the remaining [Damned] in the building and their renewed attention in looking for him.

[Uses Remaining: 0/4]

[Cooldown: 00:00:57]

“Less than a minute,” he muttered to himself.

The [Damned] he’d just attacked had made something of a small crack in the wall and was jerkily trying to pick itself up from the chaotic sitting position that Melmarc’s combination attack had thrown it into.

Melmarc look down at it, thought of the critters all over his upper body, and had an idea. He found himself wondering if it would work.

It’s kind of brutal, though.

Melmarc wasn’t entirely sure if he had the stomach for it, which was stupid considering everything he’d been through, and the subject of the thought.

His hand touched his bruised chest and he stopped wondering if he had the stomach for it.

The [Damned] leaned forward, pulled its head away from the wall, and Melmarc raised his leg.

He locked eyes with the creature before stomping its head into the wall. Melmarc felt the force of his own attack reverberate through his leg. The creature’s head bounced off the wall from the blow.

Unwilling to settle for it, Melmarc stomped its head into the wall a second time, then a third, then a fourth.

He kept his attention on the world around him as he did. With all the critters scattered on his upper body it was surprising to learn that they were still searching instead of making their way straight for him.

This one must be from a different group.

Melmarc stomped again. His thought supported the idea that Naymond must’ve dragged the [Damned] all the way to this building for some planned battle. But judging from the state he was in, something had gone horribly wrong during the battle or at some point in time before it that had forced him to make this choice.

By the eight stomp, Melmarc watched the indicator of the [Damned] go from red to grey before finally fizzling out.

Then the critters fell from his body.

I guess I could stomach it, he thought. Wait till I tell Ark.

Melmarc stepped over the dead creature and into the room. He was oddly anxious. He was in a portal, tossed in due to reasons he did not understand, mistakes he did not truly make, and decisions that he could not say were entirely his fault.

And he was about to meet a man who’d obviously gone in after him. Whether it was from a sense of duty or something else, Melmarc could not say.

Still, he remained anxious as he walked into the room

He winced at the sight he met.

Naymond Hitchcock was a mess. A broken mess. There was too much blood and one of his legs was bent at an odd angle.

But Naymond smiled as his eyes locked with Melmarc’s. He looked proud, but most of all, he looked relieved.

Melmarc couldn’t help himself.

“What happened to you?” he asked with a smile of his own.

Naymond raised a lapel of his tattered coat.

“This?” he asked haughtily. “It’s just a little stain. Nothing a proper dry cleaning can’t fix.”

Melmarc’s smile softened into a genuine one. He didn’t know it before, not even a fraction of a second ago when he’d stepped into the room, but he knew it now.

He, too, was relieved.

Naymond’s smile remained genuine as he added: “I see you’ve fixed your form.”

Melmarc walked deeper into the room, ready to carry his sub-mentor out, with no idea what the man was talking about.

…

Enowor sat at her desk. There was no computer in front of her to type with not that she needed one. the notepad in front of her was all the documentation her mind needed. And her only reason for it was simply because she didn’t want to have to do the paper work when she was busy with things she considered more important, like the latest chapter release of her favorite novel scheduled to come out in the next three hours.

And whatever deity the author worshipped help them if the chapter was delayed by another day like they’d done yesterday.

The room she sat in was large and metallic, and she was normally the only one in it. But today was different.

Today, she was not alone.

To her side at the other end of the room, a woman sat on a simple stool with crossed legs reading a magazine. She was lithe, with blue hair and deep black eyes. She had a face that was—as far as Enowor was concerned—strange. It could easily pass for fifty and could just as easily pass for thirty-five.

How? Enowor had no idea. What she did know was what the woman was.

Even now, she remained confused about the information she’d gotten from the president’s office. It was a direct communication, ignorant of all the chains of command she knew. In fact, the man that had called in to give her the piece of information was a man fifteen years above her pay grade.

The communication was simple. The Oath of Shield was coming to her to provide assistance in the matters concerning the Oath of Madness.

Even now, Enowor wasn’t completely sure what that was about. But she was able to figure out a few things, though.

There were three messages left for Madness within the span of the last eleven days, none of which she was permitted to open, all of which were on the designated Oath line. A line only used by civilians and was rarely used at all.

In her time working with Madness, the line had never been active, not even once.

Then three times in eleven days. Something significantly important must’ve happened back home. The presence of the Oath of Shield supported that theory heavily.

Enowor’s guess was that it was so important that they had to send the Oath of Shield. Which meant that Madness would not be going straight to the SS-rank portal that had opened up approximately eight hours ago in Boston.

Seeing as the Oath of Shield hadn’t come with her team, she was likely going to lead Madness’ own.

Enowor wasn’t completely sure about the entire process, considering she was relatively new to her position.

Shield had certainly not told her anything either. She’d simply walked into the room and taken a seat. Now, they were both waiting for Madness and his team to return from the portal.

They’d been like this for the past three days, sitting and eating. Never speaking.

The Oath of Shield suddenly perked up then smiled.

A moment later there was a loud thud on the outside. It had enough force to tilt the entire warship to the side and it took the ship a while to realign itself.

“Quite the entrance,” Shield commented. “Is he always this loud?”

Enowor knew the question was rhetoric.

As for the entrance, she couldn’t blame anyone for it. The portal they were clearing wasn’t a normal portal. For one, it had opened in the sky. Which meant that they’d had to sky dive into the portal. Now that they were done, they dropped from the portal.

Enowor, waited. As important as it was to get the details of the portal directly from those that had cleared it, she found herself more intrigued by what could possibly be so important that one person had left three messages.

Shield got up from her seat, placing the magazine calmly on the stool. Enowor watched her stance and was suddenly worried.

Something didn’t feel right.

The door handle in front of them turned and Enowor got to her feet as well.

Madness had returned.