Mei strutted through the city of Inuvik, smiling smugly and thoroughly enjoying the mix of shocked, panicked, and fearful expressions worn by the residents who recognized her from the description released by the Lightning Corp. There probably weren’t any other women in Trurok who stood eight feet tall with several hundred pounds of muscle.
Behind her, the other six Mage Hunters followed behind, each wearing a long hooded cloak that concealed their faces. The news that Tulimak’s killer had appeared quickly began to spread around Inuvik City, causing many citizens to hide inside their homes for fear of the retribution the Lightning Corp might unleash.
The Mage Hunters headed into the upper class district of Inuvik City, leaving the crowds behind. They quickened their pace, hurrying through the streets towards a tower that dominated the city’s skyline. Soon enough, they stood outside the walls of the Lethridge estate. Takt walked forward, bracing against the stone and boosting the other Hunters up and over, except for Mei, who simply leaped over the walls in a single jump.
As they landed inside the garden within the estate, they began creeping forward toward the doors of the tower, keeping alert for any mages who might come out of it. However, Levin’s interference meant that the rune array that would normally react to intruders didn’t respond at all to the Mage Hunters. They arrived at the entrance of the tower without incident, and all stopped to prepare for the assault.
There was no need for words; the Hunters had gone over the plan many times, and everyone knew their role. Takt swept his eyes over the team he had trained, and raised like children. They each nodded at him, hardened looks on their faces. Nervous, but prepared. Ready. Takt took a deep breath and swung open the door, its magical lock providing none of the resistance it should have.
Takt and Mei were the first ones in, and they both evaluated each mage present on the first floor in an instant. Each of them were utterly shocked at the sudden appearance of the Mage Hunters, which delayed their reaction as the rest of the warriors continued to race in behind Takt and Mei. Lieutenant Aiyame was the first to react, jumping to her feet and facing down the intruders.
“Fire Spr-”
Takt swung his arm before she could complete her chant, sending a burst of energy out in a line and instantly decapitating Lieutenant Aiyame. A bracer engraved with a rune on her upper arm shattered as Takt’s weapon art, executed without chant or weapon, overwhelmed the defensive artifact. She died in a single blow.
“The array didn’t activate!” shouted one of the mages, and they scrambled in shock.
An arrow suddenly pierced the skull of the mage who shouted just as they finished rising to their feet. As another mage began to rise, Mei appeared before him, driving her fist cleanly through his torso.
“Assault Barrage!”
One of the mages managed to get a spell off, taking barely any time to complete the cast. As expected of a trained Inuvik Academy battlemage. Dozens of small flames ran down his arm like beads of water, before each leaping off his hand and catapulting towards the intruders.
“Piercing Fate!”
Kana responded, sending out her weapon art to meet the flame orbs. As she did, Miki stepped forward, using Kana’s weapon art as cover to advance. The brilliant silver glow of Kana’s collided with the flames in a burst of energy, but the mage’s spell was not done, and more orbs hurtled down his arm toward his hand. Miki thrust with his spear, covering half the distance in the room in a single leap, piercing the mage through the throat and ending the spell prematurely.
The final mage, the slowest of them all to react, was apparently too stunned to think properly and understand what was happening. Making a hand sign, he attempted to summon the power of the rune array, a mistake that allowed Yotti’s blade to sever his head without resistance. Several thuds echoed through the building as the bodies of the dead mages fell to the ground, marking the end of a battle that had lasted only a few seconds.
“Levin’s good, yeah?” Mei said with a smile, entirely unconcerned with the blood covering her arm.
“Let’s get the loot and move out,” Takt said, moving up towards the next floor.
The Mage Hunters swept through the tower, grabbing every precious resource stored in Lethridge, filling several bags with the various materials. The locks on the storage lockers were just as disabled as the front entrance had been, all a result of the counter-ink that Levin had created. It took less than a minute for the tower to be stripped clean, as though it were a field devoured by a swarm of locusts. In minutes they had regrouped on the ground floor.
“Let’s go,” he said, and they all began to race out of Lethridge.
Unlike their entrance to Inuvik City, the Mage Hunters didn’t show off this time, instead choosing to run away as fast as possible. Several horses were tied up a short ways from the city, which each of the Hunters, except Mei, leapt on as they sped out.
They rode west, away from the open fields and farms and towards the forested mountain range. The roads out this way were rough and less traveled, but they still rode past several bewildered travelers heading towards the city.
The Mage Hunters made no attempt to mask their trail. Takt took a deep breath. Raiding Lethridge was the easy part, and now came the hard part. They left a clear trail of witnesses, until veering off the main road onto a small dirt path that cut through the forest.
It took several more minutes of brisk riding, but they soon arrived at a small abandoned shack nestled deep within the forest beyond Inuvik City. Takt was the only one who entered, as the others fanned out around the building and stood watch. He was pleased to see how well his disciples were performing, staying focused and sticking to the plan.
They all dumped their bags of stolen resources into a pile, which Cho swooped down and seized. A moment later, and the supplies were gone – even if Inuvik caught them now, they wouldn’t be recovering their losses.
Takt headed into the wooden shack. The inside had been stripped bare – there were no furnishings, and the old, warped wood of the walls and floor had not been lived in for a long time. The place was entirely empty, except for one single item.
A long, slightly curved sword nestled in a sheath decorated with blood red lotuses, that hung from a string tied to a peg in the wall. Takt walked over to the sword and picked it up gently, looking upon it with equal parts nostalgic familiarity and hardened resolve.
“It’s time, Goro,” he murmured, pulling the blade out halfway and examining it. “Your masterwork must be wielded once again.”
Takt took a deep breath, sheathing the blade and tying it around his waist. Then he turned to leave the shack, meeting the other Hunters outside.
“So… you’re really using it,” Miki said, eyeing the blood lotuses.
“Yes,” Takt said. “What happens now will determine the fate of thousands. I must use it.”
“Then the Hero of Antigo has finally come back to Trurok,” Miki said with a small smile.
***
“Senior Magus Azaadi! Urgent news!”
A bespectacled young man burst into Azaadi’s study. It was improper, but time was of the essence – and the young man knew he would be punished far more for dallying than not knocking.
Azaadi was sitting at a table, but leapt to his feet when the man burst in. They both wore the same white robes patterned with streaks of black lightning, but Azaadi’s were woven of much finer threads, materials befitting a Smoke rank.
“The Mage Hunters just assaulted Lethridge Tower! They’ve been spotted riding west out of the city!”
“Ready my horse!” Azaadi immediately leaped into action, rushing out after the young man who ran ahead of him.
He ducked into another room, with a bed and small study table. On the table sat two objects – a small cloth pouch, and an eye patch made of a flat silver plate. He scooped up the pouch, squeezing it and feeling the hard metal cube inside, then dropped it into a pocket of his robes.
Next, he held the eyepatch up to his left eye, and a rune on the inside lit up in response. Runic lines bound the mirror-like piece of silver to his face, and an image appeared that filled the left half of his vision. Closing his right eye, he focused on the image, to see six cloaked horsemen riding behind a titanic woman casually sprinting at high speed away from the gates of the city.
That was it. The target he had been hunting all this time. The killer of Tulimak, his brother. Not by blood, but by bond – were it not for Tulimak, Azaadi would never have survived this long. And were it not for Azaadi, Lord Silla may have never accepted Tulimak, a warrior, into his organization. Then they rose in power, both reaching the Smoke rank and becoming Silla's right and left hands. Until that woman took it all away.
He rushed out of his abode within Inuvik City, to where two young men, one of them the spectacles from earlier, were just finishing tying down the saddle to his horse. It was a pity that all the Wisp ranks had been called back, leaving Azaadi with just a few acolytes to run his errands.
They wouldn’t be of any use in a battle, so Azaadi simply mounted up and rode off alone.
***
A convoy of Inuvik Academy carriages rolled up to the gates of Lethridge, unloading several mages who gloomily looked at the wide open doors to their secure vault. Leading the group as they walked in were three old men, the most powerful mages of Inuvik Academy, Lords Panai, Hann, and Eliya. They entered the tower, coldly regarding the dead mages inside before Hann and Eliya headed upstairs. Panai stayed, and turned to address a middle-aged man standing behind them, frozen, eyes fixed on the bloodied, headless corpse of Lieutenant Aiyame.
“Captain Kodan, you said that this was done by the one the Lightning Corp have been hunting?” Panai asked him.
The question caused the captain to jolt slightly, and he struggled to look away from the dead woman and meet Panai’s gaze before answering. But when he spoke, his voice was level.
“Yes, Lord Panai. There were many sightings of Tulimak’s killer walking through the city, and she was seen fleeing the city along with a group that calls themselves the Mage Hunters,” he answered quietly.
“The Mage Hunters… Ah, you mentioned them recently. They’re the reason our firelily supply was disrupted, yes? From Triple Lily? But how could they have been behind this attack?” Panai asked as he stroked his beard in thought.
“By my estimation, they couldn’t have been. These rebels have only ever attacked minor clans and isolated groups, never making moves against us or major powers of Trurok. They usually try to free slaves, so this attack seems both beyond their capabilities and not their usual modus operandi. However, I have confirmed that the killer of Tulimak has been working with them recently, and she was definitely involved here,” Kodan explained.
“So there must have been someone else… Do we know if Azaadi has gotten involved yet?” Panai asked.
“Yes, our scouts report that he is following their trail. Shall we try to catch up with him? With the Inuvik battlemages and a Smoke rank of the Lightning Corp, these attackers will certainly face destruction. They deserve a painful death for daring to kill my subordinate and raid our tower,” Kodan said, rage contorting his face.
At that moment, Eliya and Hann returned from the upper floors. Panai turned away from Kodan, leaving his question unanswered.
“Everything is gone, obviously,” Eliya said bluntly.
“Naturally. But we’ll recover the stolen supplies soon enough,” Panai said.
“We have a traitor in our Academy,” Hann said, causing Panai, Eliya, and Kodan to stare at him in surprise.
“Explain,” Panai said, his expression darkening.
“The rune array wasn’t destroyed. When I arrived up top, it appeared to be functioning perfectly, at a glance. In fact, parts of it are still working. But all of the defensive components, from the shielding to the locks, have been disabled, and in such a way as to be nearly undetectable,” Hann explained.
“Then one of our own mages did this during a regular visit, and worked together with the warriors who attacked to steal the resources? That’s what you’re saying, Magus Hann?” asked Eliya.
“That’s correct. But only a master runesmith could have done this, and only after being allowed inside. Captain Kodan, retrieve the records of which runesmiths visited Lethridge during the past two months,” Hann commanded.
“Yes, Lord Hann,” Kodan responded, moving to retrieve a wooden tablet from within a small drawer. He had served as guard for Lethridge before, and knew where the records were kept.
Kodan activated the rune engraved on it, examining the information stored inside.
“The visitors in the past month have been Magus Atuat, Magus Asa twice, Magus Tica, and Magus Pilip, thrice. The guard roster hasn’t changed in over three months, so the ones here and those four are the only ones who’ve visited,” he explained, setting the tablet aside.
“All capable runesmiths, but I’m unsure if any of them could pull this off…” Hann murmured.
“We’ll conduct investigations into all of them. For now, the matter of the trail they left is more pressing,” Panai commanded, leading them back outside.
“Are we going to follow it, Lord Panai?” asked Kodan.
Panai put a hand to his chin, staying silent for a few seconds. The others stood patiently, waiting for the ruler of Inuvik Academy to deliver his commands.
“With the runesmith who perpetrated this attack still at large, we can’t afford to make careless moves. Magus Eliya, take Captain Kodan and one contingent of battlemages. Follow Azaadi, but do not support him. Ideally, the two sides will destroy each and we can collect our supplies from whoever is leftover. Magus Hann, come with me.”
***
Azaadi strolled leisurely through the forest, using his silver eyepiece to look up the path ahead. The Mage Hunters had vanished, but the trail led straight to an abandoned shack. He was in no rush, instead quite confident that his target would be waiting for him at the end of this path. As such, he intentionally traveled slowly, giving Inuvik Academy the time to catch up. But they didn’t seem to be coming.
"Are they not coming, or just waiting for me to start the fight?" he thought to himself.
"How unbecoming for a mage!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
Azaadi continued down the path. With the runic artifact over his eye, he could probably find which bushes all of these Mage Hunters were hiding in, waiting to ambush him. Yet that would burn through the ink, and the mirror-element rune was expensive to replenish. So instead he simply pocketed the device.
“Even if they catch me by surprise, they won’t be able to hurt me,” Azaadi thought, absently touching at the rune-engraved amulet hanging around his neck.
Azaadi decided to pick up his pace. He had given Inuvik Academy a chance to go after their raiders with him, but he wasn’t going to wait forever. If they didn’t want to come get their stolen supplies, fine. He would be able to handle this on his own, anyways.
It took only a few more minutes for him to arrive before the abandoned shack. He paused out front, scanning his surroundings, but the trees provided plentiful cover. He saw no one.
“So, you want to ambush me in there?” he said loudly, speaking to no one.
Azaadi waved his hand, launching a small silver ball that arced through the air towards the building. It landed on the wall of the shack above the front door, where the small silver ball erupted into a blinding flash of light that engulfed the entire building. When the flash dissipated, the only thing left of the building was scrap wood.
“Not in there, huh?” Azaadi called out.
He was expecting to be attacked. His opponent was a Tulimak-level warrior and those Mage Hunters, a bunch of novices. Sure, the woman was a credible threat, but just barely. Azaadi could have defeated Tulimak easily – in fact he regularly did, during their sparring sessions. A routine he missed.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
But his utter confidence that they had a sneak attack planned caused Azaadi to be shocked when the foliage rustled behind him, and someone simply stepped out. Azaadi turned to look, and smiled. His target was here. Vengeance would be his.
“Ah, I’ve finally found you,” Azaadi said. “I must say, you’re even more grotesque in person compared to the descriptions. I was sure they were hyperbole – I couldn’t believe it was possible to be born this deformed.”
Mei nodded at him, and smiled. “I know some of those words!” she shouted. Then she raised her fists. “Let’s fight!”
“Is she mocking me??” Azaadi thought, a vein bulging on his forehead. “You wannabes are about to see who you’ve been messing with!”
“So we’re just wannabes?” said a deep male voice from behind Azaadi.
Azaadi casually turned to look at the newcomer, unfazed that he was now stuck between him and Mei. “Yes, as far as I’m concerned, your group has accomplished nothing of – ”
Azaadi cut himself off. He narrowed his eyes, gaze suddenly drawn to the waist of this man. There, a blood red sheath decorated in a lotus pattern hung. One that he recognized. Azaadi’s eyes went wide.
“Takt!” he hissed. All arrogance was gone from his tone. He was confident against one Tulimak-level warrior. Against two he would have to focus, but he would still win. But not when one of them was Takt.
“Hello, Azaadi. Last we spoke you had just advanced to the Smoke rank, what, eighteen years ago? You tried to recruit me, as I recall,” Takt said. A smile played at his lips, which infuriated Azaadi.
“You played me,” Azaadi said. “When did you join the Mage Hunters? They’ve been active for nearly a decade! How long have you been lying in wait?”
“The whole time. You see, I founded the Mage Hunters,” Takt said. "And I never revealed myself, all for this one chance."
He drew his blade.
***
Mei gasped and held her breath, eyes fixed on the long, silver blade in Takt’s hand. “This is it,” she thought, a shiver running down her back. “He’s finally going to show me his weapon art!”
Oh how long she had waited. Oh how frustrating it had been to live with a supposed legendary warrior who refused to fight seriously. But not anymore.
Azaadi had a lovely scowl on his face, exactly the sort of expression Mei expects her targets to make. And this guy was number two on the list of people most responsible for ruining Mei’s vacation to another dimension. Number three was already dead, and number one soon to come – the rest were too beneath her notice.
Azaadi had gone quiet, and pushed his hands together. According to Uki’s lessons, that look of focus meant he was channeling his magic, taking the time to form a spell in his mind. And that meant he was using a Smoke rank spell, one of the deadliest in his arsenal. Anything less and he wouldn’t need so much focus.
Except, warriors didn’t need to focus. They just had to swing their arms.
“Overdrive!”
Takt moved first, activating his evolved weapon art. He swung his blade down, and as he did, Takt vanished, leaving only a red streak of light from his sheath. It followed him like a trail as Takt snapped over to Azaadi’s side in an instant, too fast for even Mei's eyes to follow, bringing the blade down with a battle cry.
Mei whistled approvingly.
Azaadi leaped backwards, but he was too slow. The sword stroke landed on his right arm, and Mei watched excitedly for the spray of blood that was sure to follow. Except, there was only a clang and flash of silver light, and Takt’s swing left behind nothing more than a thin paper cut of a scratch.
Azaadi waved his hand, and a small ball of silver – identical to the one that destroyed the shack – flew from his hand towards Takt. But the warrior was gone in a flash, reappearing a dozen feet away and avoiding the explosion from Azaadi’s spell.
“Good,” Mei thought with a nod. Azaadi had to cast the spell silently, so it was a weaker one – either Wisp or acolyte level. And that meant he had been forced to abandon the Smoke rank spell that required concentration.
According to Uki and Takt, that was the basic way you fought a mage. Keep the pressure up and don’t let them get the moment they need for their big guns.
Ah, oops. She was supposed to be doing that right now.
Mei dashed forward, a wild grin on her face. Except, she had gone a moment too slow, and didn’t have nearly the speed of Takt. Azaadi held his hands together, and was given the time he needed to form a Smoke rank spell.
“Shattering Wind!”
Throwing his arms wind just before Mei closed the distance, he unleashed a swarm of jagged shards of silver that swirled around him like a tornado. The force of the spell pushed Mei back, each shard leaving a thin line of blood on her body as they ripped fiercely around her. The spell expanded outward, continuing to push Mei back even as she dug her feet into the ground and resisted. And if the shards were tough enough to scratch Mei’s hide, the other Hunters certainly couldn’t get close.
As the swarm expanded, the trees surrounding Azaadi began to shatter as countless fragments ripped through them, causing the top halves of the trunks to fall to the ground in all directions. One of these trees began to fall down in the direction of Azaadi, tearing up from bottom to top as it collapsed into the spell.
From a nearby branch, Nano suddenly leaped out, landing on the trunk of the falling tree. Sprinting up the side as the bottom collapsed beneath him, he jumped out, flying through the air directly above Azaadi. Twisting in midair while nocking an arrow, he took aim straight down to Azaadi, a clear path with no magic shards between them.
“Descending Lost Star!”
A streak of energy raced down at Azaadi as Nano continued to fly through the air. Azaadi gaped in shock for a brief moment before swinging his outreached arms up, causing the swarm of silver to stop its outward expansion and charge towards Nano, intercepting his weapon art. His arrow stood no chance against Smoke rank power.
The shards blasted through his weapon art and continued up, but just before it could tear the boy to shreds, another blood-red streak flashed through the air as Takt rapidly carried Nano out of the way and towards safety. As the attack flew harmlessly into the sky above them, Mei’s path was suddenly cleared.
Before Azaadi could ready another spell, Mei was upon him, her right fist swinging downwards towards the smaller man’s face. A bang echoed out into the surrounding forest, even louder than the sound of the collapsing trees, as her punch connected with the transparent, metallic glow that had protected Azaadi earlier.
The protective spell blocked most of the damage, leaving only a small spot of blood on his temple. However, it seemed that Azaadi’s defensive magic couldn’t prevent movement – his head snapped down with Mei’s fist, and Azaadi doubled over from the force of the blow.
Mei followed up instantly with her left fist, swinging upwards into the gut of the doubled over mage, causing his feet to lift up off the ground even as the attack was once more blocked automatically. As Mei wound up another strike, Takt rapidly closed in from behind Azaadi, blade held high at the ready.
Mei wasn’t sure what it was like to get punched through a magic barrier, but based on Azaadi’s expression, it wasn’t pleasant. And Mei clearly needed to swing harder, because Azaadi was able to silently cast another spell in the middle of his pummeling.
A dome erupted from Azaadi’s body, a transparent silver film that expanded in all directions. It swept Mei away and caught Takt a moment later, not harming them but simply pushing them backwards. The two stumbled for a moment, giving Azaadi a split second of breathing room.
It was all he needed.
“Surging Tide!”
Liquid silver pooled beneath Azaadi’s feet, rising up into a crashing wave that swept him up off the ground. Mei had heard he used the silver element of magic, but she was only now fully realizing that meant all his magic was obnoxiously garish. She braced herself, preparing to take the attack.
However, Azaadi didn’t charge Mei or Takt like she expected, but instead shot out towards the open space between them.
“Is he trying to run!?” Mei thought angrily. Now she was properly pissed off. She shot off after Azaadi, determined to get a proper battle from him.
But Takt’s weapon art was truly on another level, a pure incarnation of speed. Several red streaks flashed through the forest, flashing past Mei and closing the distance to Azaadi in a couple seconds.
Azaadi raised his arms, silver protective spell lighting up once more as he blocked a sword swing aimed at his neck. The force of the attack carried Azaadi off his silver wave and tumbling into the forest, another thin line of blood left behind on his arms.
Takt came to a stop a distance away from Azaadi as Mei quickly closed the distance that had been put between them, the rest of the Mage Hunters following behind as fast as they could, all waiting for an opportunity to provide an opening for either Mei or Takt.
“Binding Chains!”
Mei wasn’t quite sure how he could focus on a spell while somersaulting through the forest, but he did. Azaadi rose and punched up with his right hand, causing chains made of polished silver to erupt from the ground around both Mei and Takt, which quickly wrapped around them and prevented either from advancing further.
Mei roared, letting out a primal war cry. She strained against her bonds, muscles bulging as veins began to pop all across her body, and Azaadi grunted as he strained in response, trembling from the exertion.
“Mei! Aim for the necklace!” Takt shouted, and Mei suddenly noticed the glowing runic artifact peeking out from Azaadi’s robes.
Despite trapping two powerful warriors, Azaadi’s spell didn’t break, and the two struggled in a stalemate for another few moments. While Azaadi’s technique bought him space, he was just as chained down as Mei and Takt. In the forest surrounding them, Mei could see the others shifting position as they advanced.
All five younger Hunters took advantage of the moment. The charged, converging onto him, with Jess, Kana, and Nano coming from Azaadi’s front while Miki and Yotti were a step slower as they circled in from behind.
Azaadi swung his free left hand, launching out several silver, ephemeral bolts towards the three charging from the front. Jess and Kana immediately retreated, ducking and weaving to the side to dodge the attacks, while Nano was forced to take cover behind a tree.
However, this gave Miki and Yotti the second they needed to close in from behind, with Yotti running directly behind Miki. Azaadi spun around, sending out another wave of the silver bolts haphazardly behind him, not even taking a moment to aim.
“Spirit Spear!” Miki shouted.
From this distance, with churning silver Smoke rank Force hurtling all around him, Miki chose not to dodge. He was outmatched a million to one in power, but chose to counter Azaadi’s attack with his own weapon art. Mei nodded in respect.
Azaadi’s tiny bolts looked acolyte-level compared to the previous attacks, which must have fueled Miki’s confidence. But even Azaadi’s weakest magic was still powered by his Smoke rank Force – Miki’s weapon art collided with one of them, and the spear-shaped wave of energy collapsed instantly. Azaadi’s magic pushed through, slamming into Miki’s chest and launching him backwards in a spray of blood.
“Miki!” Jess shouted, peeling off from the battle to run after him.
However, Miki's sacrifice gave Yotti an opening. As Miki blocked with his body, Yotti was able to fly out from behind him and completely close the distance to Azaadi. Azaadi quickly flung another acolyte spell at him, but Yotti fell to his knees and leaned back, watching as the spell passed inches above him.
Sliding across the ground on his knees, Yotti arrived behind Azaadi, where the young Hunter spun around and leapt up in one smooth motion, swinging his falchion at the back of Azaadi’s legs.
“Flame of the End!” Yotti roared, summoning forth his weapon art that immediately crashed into the back of Azaadi’s knees.
The silver glow coating Azaadi’s body once more sprang to life and protected him from any real damage, but the force of the blow still caused his legs to buckle. Azaadi went down, crashing onto his knees with a pained grunt.
It was enough to disrupt the spell that bound Mei and Takt in place, and the chains binding them vanished. The two warriors immediately resumed their charge towards Azaadi. He let out a loud roar, once more summoning a harmless expanding dome of silver light to halt their advance and toss them all back.
“Maybe I can’t kill you, Takt, but they’re a different story!” Azaadi shouted as he pulled out a small cloth pouch from his robes.
From the pouch he pulled out a small block of silver, barely larger than his own hand and with a dense, complicated rune engraved upon it. Throwing it in the direction Miki and Jess had gone, the rune on the silver ingot lit up.
A bubble expanded out from the block, stretching out to a human-sized ellipsoid that surrounded the ingot hurtling through the air. A moment later, the bubble sprouted arms and legs, taking the shape of a person but with a flat, featureless face. The silver ingot floated in the center of the semi-transparent creature like a heart.
“Kill them!” shouted Azaadi, and the rune puppet immediately charged into the woods towards the younger Hunters.
“Rising Tide!”
Jess launched a wave of energy towards the puppet, but it casually deflected the attack without even slowing down. Seeing the danger they were in, Takt immediately began to move to intercept the puppet, but Azaadi countered by firing off fast and silent acolyte and Wisp rank attacks. He was easily able to avoid them, but the swarm pushed Takt back even with his speed.
“No!” Takt shouted, but he wasn’t the only one who was moving to protect Miki and Jess.
“Descending Lost Star!” “Piercing Fate!”
Nano and Kana fired off their weapon arts simultaneously, each one targeting a different opponent. Nano’s Force-imbued arrow closed in on the puppet from behind in an instant, scoring a direct hit. But even a surprise blow from behind barely caused the silver puppet to stumble.
On the other side, Kana’s piercing energy shot towards Azaadi, taking him by surprise and knocking him off balance even as his silver protection blocked the attack. She had tried to buy Takt a second of breathing room, but her weapon art wasn't powerful enough.
Azaadi recovered a moment later and continued to tie down Takt with a rapid barrage of spells. Only Mei, who had immediately taken off after the puppet, could still stop it, as she closed the distance as fast as possible. If Mei didn’t catch that puppet before it reached Jess and the injured Miki, one or both of them would certainly die.
Mei felt a thrill run through her. The tension of a life hanging in the balance. Except, she wasn’t going to make it. It must have been a Smoke rank rune, because it closed in on Miki and Jess in another instant.
Jess stood defiantly over the downed body of Miki, raising her falchion in one last desperate attempt to stop the rune puppet. Mei could see in Jess’s eyes that the young girl knew she didn’t have the strength. Yet her eyes remained wide open, staring death in the face as the rune puppet descended upon her in a flurry of Force-powered blows.
Mei would remember Jess. Jess had always been kind to Mei, and she always had respect for someone who could stare death down without blinking. After all, Mei knew one day it would be her in that position.
But there was one more person participating in this battle. Ironically, he wanted Azaadi dead most of all, yet he was miles away to the north. He was past Inuvik City, up a mountain, through the gates of Inuvik Academy, within a runesmithing lab halfway up a tower. And on his upper arm, a small green rune lit up.
Jess’s final desperate sword swing encountered nothing but air. Jess herself encountered nothing but air, because she was suddenly flying, high above the treeline.
“Wha–!?” she shouted, her scream trailing off in Mei’s ears.
Miki went up alongside Jess, each of them clutched tight by a mechanical talon. Above them, the metal bird Cho was awash in green energy, carrying the two Hunters up and out of danger at top speed. The rune puppet’s blows missed, launching a wave of energy that blasted through the forest harmlessly.
“Nice save, Levin!” Mei cheered. Now that was the sort of twist she loved in a battle.
Unfortunately, the next part played out exactly how she had expected it to. Mei began laying into the silver rune puppet with strike after strike, a flurry of blows that sent the automaton reeling. Each strike bent the transparent form out of shape and caused the rune on the core within to dim as the ink rapidly burned to absorb Mei’s firepower. The puppet attempted to swing back, but Mei dodged with the reflexes and instincts of an elite fighter as she continued to pepper the puppet with blows.
Meanwhile, Azaadi’s concentration was broken by the sudden appearance of Cho. He gaped at the bird for just a second, but it was enough for Takt to close in on him with a flash of red. Azaadi raised his arm to block the sword swing, but the force of the blow he expected wasn’t there. Takt had swung with only one hand this time, as his now-empty right hand reached towards Azaadi’s chest where the glowing amulet was.
Azaadi instantly countered with another silver grenade, covering the space in front of him with a fire-less explosion. Takt had dodged everything before, but this one caught him, and he came away with his torso raw and bloodied where he had taken the brunt of the attack. Only the Force of his evolved weapon art, which coated Takt’s body like a tight cloak, kept the man alive. He wouldn’t be able to take another hit like that and keep moving.
However, there was no way Azaadi could be faster than Takt – in his right hand, Takt tightly clutched the amulet that Azaadi had been wearing. The artifact’s removal caused a nearly-invisible metallic sheen to disappear from all over Azaadi’s body, a layer so subtle that Mei hadn’t even realized it was there until it changed. That sheen had been stopping their blows.
“He’s vulnerable!” shouted Takt, who quickly resumed evasive maneuvers as Azaadi continued to rapid-fire magic, his grimace now much deeper. Even a normal blow without Force could hurt him now, if it landed.
At the same moment, the rune puppet that Mei was beating down finally broke down, popping with a loud bang as the silver ingot that made up the puppet’s core cracked into two pieces. She immediately began to race back towards Azaadi while the rest of the young Hunters retreated in the direction that Cho had carried Miki and Jess. She hadn’t been keeping close track, but she was pretty sure they had all run out of Force for their weapon arts.
Takt’s wounds were hampering his speed, and he was steadily being pushed back as he dodged and deflected magic with his sword. But as Mei charged in from behind, Azaadi stopped, standing still. Mei doubted he was giving up.
“Dancing Reflections!”
Long, thin blades of finely polished silver erupted into existence around Azaadi, flying outwards in all directions before converging onto Mei and Takt from multiple angles in an instant. Mei raised her arms to block and continued to charge, intending to endure, but the attack was able to tear through her enhanced skin and muscle and inflict wounds much deeper than the small cuts from earlier. She was forced to abandon that track, pulling back and starting evasive maneuvers.
Takt, however, made no move to counter the silver blades racing towards him. Mei gaped at him in surprise. There were too many to simply dodge through them, and Takt’s defenses were obviously not going to hold out. Even with his weapon art, Mei probably had the stronger defense. If these blades could gouge her arms, they would tear straight through Takt.
But he dove in anyways, pushing forward with a burst of speed Mei couldn’t even follow, going right through Azaadi’s Smoke rank spell, his sword pointed right for his neck. For a moment, Mei thought he intended to win in a suicide attack. Then she noticed a subtle, nearly imperceptible silver sheen surrounding Takt.
“Die!” shouted Azaadi, pointing at Takt. The blades of silver bearing down upon him grew and increased in speed, as the ones following Mei slowed and shrank slightly.
But as the blades landed on Takt, a silvery, metallic light erupted on his body wherever a blade struck, causing only a faint line of blood to be left behind. Takt’s blade swung out with impunity as the loud sound of metal shattering echoed through the forest.
And Azaadi’s head came off, wearing an expression of utter shock.
Takt exhaled deeply, releasing the tension in his body. He wiped the blood from his sword and sheathed it, his motions slow and deliberate. Mei sauntered up, giving the man a grin and a pat on the shoulder. That had been a lot of fun.
She was impressed he had used Azaadi's own artifact against him. She looked at it curiously, wanting to try it herself, but the amulet had been badly cracked. As she watched, it crumbled away as the rune engraved on its surface faded to nothing. Takt tossed the loose chain to the ground.
Cho joined in a second later, swooping by to land on a tree branch near them. Behind, the younger Hunters followed with jubilant expressions, Miki being supported by Yotti and Nano, but still wearing a smile on his face.
“Thank you, everyone,” Levin said through Cho. “I’ll have Cho bring a healing ink to your base. It’s the least I can do for allowing my friend Andrew rest in peace.”
Cho dropped off its branch before climbing out of the treeline and into the air. The Mage Hunters let out several celebratory whoops of victory as they headed in a different direction, to return victorious.