Interlude: The Tinebrand

Smoke wafted throughout the battlefield. It was a mess of broken buildings and fire. The sky had been obscured by the twisted mage's spell. The battle had been a grueling affair and Dario hadn’t prepared for such a long fight.

He still couldn’t get a read on exactly what he was dealing with. The mage had a powerful identity obscuring enchantment. If he knew their class from the start, it would have made things a lot easier.

Suddenly, an old wrecked car that was sitting nearby flashed with a white light. It whipped through the air at Dario. He barely sidestepped the hunk of metal before seeing the bolt of shadow hidden behind it. It took him square in the chest, and he landed on his back. He slid a few feet, the concrete scratching up the exposed skin on his shoulders. If that had happened before the System, he could have kissed the skin on his back goodbye. Now, he just had to deal with the pain.

With a groan, Dario began to climb to his feet. He wasn’t sure of the mage's position. They could launch spells from almost anywhere. The freak hadn’t even spoken before he started wrecking the town.

It wasn’t Dario’s first rodeo, but these guys usually liked the sound of their own voice. Not this one though. He’d been frustratingly silent throughout the entire affair.

Before the town had been wrecked, he would have hesitated to go all out. But There was no point in holding back now. He squatted in the middle of the road, and activated [Inferno Trigger]. The flames greedily responded to him, erupting in every direction and devouring everything in their path.

After the flames died down, hardly anything was left around Dario. They had burned so fiercely that even the cars nearby had turned into pools of molten metal.

His [Threat Analysis], was still triggering, however. The mage had been hit by the blast, but he wasn’t out of commission. Dario began moving, standing around with no cover might be suicide. He was worried that the mage hadn’t revealed all of their cards.

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He ran forward and activated [Flame Stride]. A trail of fire belched from the pavement behind him and his speed nearly tripled. He planned to make his way deeper into the ruins of the town, where he could take cover in the rubble.

A specter materialized in front of Dario, slashing at him with a wicked blade. He simply used his momentum from [Flame Stride] and shoulder checked the apparition. Thankfully, it was tangible and it was pushed to the ground. It fell into his fiery wake and screeched from behind as he pushed onward.

[Threat Analysis] still wasn’t providing him with the exact location of his opponent. The identity obscuring enchantment was too powerful for that, but Dario knew the mage was still nearby. Every technique used against him was from close by. He assumed that there must be range restrictions on his opponents spells. Every moment that passed only stoked his rage.

“I’ll kill you! I know you can hear me! I’ll burn you to cinders and nothing will remain!” Dario shouted and he meant every word.

Good people had lived in this town. But Dario would be surprised if any of them lived at all, now. He wasn’t just venting his anger, though, and hoped his outburst would goad the mage into action.

His taunting cries seemed to do the job. A cloaked figure stepped out of the remains of what had once been the town hall.

The edgy bastards always need to have a dramatic flair.

He wasted no time before rushing towards the mage, but quickly found himself cut off by a shadowy barrier. The mage approached with a blade that appeared to bleed tendrils of shadow. Dario couldn’t see the mages face. It was obscured by gloom and a tattered hood.

His opponent thrust his blade through the barrier of shadow, and it simply passed through. It felt inevitable that the point would meet his heart. His [Threat Analysis] blared in his mind and he narrowly pivoted to the side. The blade had nearly taken him straight through the chest.

Dario’s [Ember Heart] activated, and his arms flared up with renewed flame. He began pounding on the barrier, one fist after the other. The mage continued to harass him with the blade of shadow, eventually scoring a hit against Dario’s shoulder.

The wound chilled him down to the bone and his arm felt stiff. It didn’t matter, though. Dario could feel the mage weakening through his [Threat Analysis]. The mage must have gotten near only because they were desperate. Their mana would be running low after such an extended fight.

Another few blows were all it for Dario to crush through the barrier. A shockwave of force erupted outward as the wall of shadow shattered. He swatted the mage’s blade away and grabbed him by his throat, all the while flames began crawling up Dario’s fingers.

“You’re dead,” whispered the [Tinebrand].