Chapter XXXV

Completely disregarding Sinna’s sharp warning, the cloaked woman blasted from her spot with a burst of wind, soaring directly toward the two Masters with her sword raised. Sinna didn’t hesitate as she, too, rushed to greet the attack head on.

“Durumi!” the Master of Rock chanted, and as she did so, a layer of hardened stone spread across her fists, encasing them in rocky armor all the way up to her elbows as she swung her powerful arms toward the assailant.

Yet, the woman was too quick and, rather than meet Sinna’s attack with one of her own, she instead placed her feet firmly on the hardened fists and used them as a platform to propel herself over Sinna, then rushed toward Ryokumo. He was stunned by her graceful movements and instinctively knew that she wasn’t somebody they would be able to defeat with ease. However, he found himself unsurprised. If he was right in his assumption that this person was the one who killed Seiras, then she would almost certainly be quite strong with wind magic. Her ability to fly down the wall of the Citadel and reach the window of the Niras Lounge was proof enough.

“Infundite,” she chanted, softly enough that Ryokumo only barely heard her.

Wind magic erupted around her rather thin blade as she closed the gap between them, pushing forward to send the tip of her sword straight for his neck. Unfortunately for her, he’d already overcome his momentary surprise and had his mana at the ready.

“Nex!” he snarled, blocking her attack with a shield of wind, which pushed her blade backwards, forcing her to move out of the way just as he went on the offensive. “Perkari!”

Three bursts of wind all shot toward her, but she managed to stop them from reaching her body. With the grace of a dancer, she deflected them with her magic-infused sword, cutting them down and nullifying the spells. It was at this time that Sinna was spinning on her heel, her jaw clenched as she regarded the attacker.

“Ignoring me, are we?” she spat furiously, pushing off the ground and using her powerful legs to cross the hallway swiftly. “I’ll admit you’re strong, but you’re foolish to think you could take on two Masters and live!”

As she taunted the girl, Sinna sent punch after punch toward her opponent’s body, moving with a speed that was impressive for her large frame. Yet, despite the Master of Rock’s speed, she couldn’t match up with the other woman’s wind. Dodging the first two attacks, Seiras’s killer then pushed backwards against the wall before grabbing the windowsill and placing her foot against it to propel herself upwards. The next few attacks happened so fast that Ryokumo barely processed it. The cloaked woman used wind magic to enhance her sword arm, sending a barrage of attacks into Sinna’s chest. Her body was most likely hardened and protected by rock so it undoubtedly failed to pierce her, but the force of the attacks sent her stumbling backwards. This gave the faceless woman an opening, which she used to once again dodge around Sinna and rush Ryokumo.

Why is she so damned fixated on me?! he thought irritably, once again throwing up a shield of wind just as her blade was about to reach him. What about me would draw her anger?!

For a moment, he thought it might be simple strategy. Sinna was powerful, but her magic came from the earth. Therefore, being as high up in the Citadel as they were, there was only so much she could do outside of hardening her body for defense. But Ryokumo could use his abilities to the fullest and, despite their attacker’s clear talent with wind magic, she still wouldn’t be able to hold her ground for long against the Master of that affinity. So, if she could take him down fast, killing Sinna would be within the realm of possibility, so long as she didn’t armor up her entire body.

But…what if…?

While that made sense, the other part of him recalled what he’d discussed with Sinna and Nyx a mere hour before. They believed that she targeted Seiras, specifically, and didn’t care for an assassination against the other Masters.

So if she’s going after me, is it possible she only wants me dead? Have I done something to put a target on my back?!

Regardless of the answer, he knew he wouldn’t know unless he asked her himself, and the only way to do that would be to take her down. For the beginning of the fight, he had watched her take on Sinna and had resorted only to defense, but now that he had a goal, he was ready to put everything he had into defeating her.

“Condite!” he roared, casting the spell that would send invisible ropes to wrap around her limbs.

Unsurprisingly, she reacted quickly, cutting each one down before they were able to get a solid grip on her. However, it gave him the chance he needed to set his plan in motion.

“Cartus!” he snapped, sparing a brief glance back at Sinna, all the while keeping the barrage of ropes flying toward his opponent. “Your magic isn’t strong enough at this elevation to take her on, and even if you armor up completely, she’s still too fast for you! So go find Nyx and bring reinforcements! If she’s not dead before you get back, we can take her down together!”

As he expected, Sinna clenched her teeth and shook her head furiously. “You’re telling me to retreat?! Like hell, Caeli!”

“Don’t be stupid!” he retorted. “Wind magic is your natural enemy and, take it from me, this woman is strong! Trust me! I’ve got this handled! Go find reinforcements! Please!”

Just as the words left his mouth, the attacker got the upper hand against the ropes and launched herself toward him. He barely reacted in time, casting another shield that blocked her from reaching the two of them.

“Cartus, damn it!” he shouted. “Set aside your damn pride and trust me! We can’t let her get away! If she really did kill Seiras then we need to take her down! Go find Nyx or Iris or even some goodman guards! Anybody will be beneficial!”

Unable to break past his shield, his opponent retreated further back down the hall, putting distance between them and raising her sword before her. He knew he shouldn’t give her time to catch her breath, but at the same time, it gave him the moment he needed to get through to Sinna. He could see the Master’s features tense up in frustration and he feared that her dislike for him would keep her from being sensible, but to his relief and surprise, she finally nodded.

“So be it,” she grunted. “Don’t let her get away, Caeli! I’ll be back as quickly as I can be!”

He forced a strained smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

With those curt words, Sinna spun on her heel and hurried back the opposite way, leaving Ryokumo alone in the hallway with the cloaked woman, who was still a dozen yards away, her headless body unmoving, though he knew she must be watching him from behind the distortion. The Master of Wind dropped the shield and briefly scanned the hallway, still finding no sign of anybody wandering around. At that time of evening, most were probably either in the entertainment floors or still in their offices so their fight was unlikely to be interrupted.

And that’s probably why she chose to confront us when she did.

“Tell me,” he called out to her. “Are you the one who killed Seiras Ka?”

He didn’t expect much of an answer, yet to his surprise, she nodded. He couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but he supposed it didn’t matter. Whether she was the halfling’s killer or not, she had attacked two Masters and thus, she was a criminal. It would be his job to take her down, and they could deal with questioning her afterwards.

“You’re talented,” he went on. “I’m honestly impressed, but at the end of the day, you won’t be walking away from here a winner. So, I’ll give you one chance to surrender. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to put you down.”

Yet again, she didn’t speak, but instead bent her knees, as if inviting him to make the first move. He narrowed his eyes, bringing his mana to his fingertips as he, too, prepared to strike.

So be it.

“Proto!”

“Proto!”

Shouting the same word at the same time, the two mages of wind burst from their spots and launched toward each other, her sword raised to strike and his blades of wind ready to cut her down. Despite knowing how fast she was, he still found himself struggling to keep up with her. Once they reached each other, she swung her sword at his neck and stomach so quickly that he was barely able to deflect it, getting in only a few shots of his own, which she dodged. Ryokumo landed on the ground first and immediately pressed off of it, pushing himself toward the wall before placing his feet firmly against it, using it as another launchpad with which to go after her. She used a similar method and, almost quicker than he could follow, she began ricocheting off the walls and ceilings, taking her swings whenever she got close to him. He did the same, never staying in one spot for long and keeping his shield up when he needed it. Part of him wished he had his own sword on him, but that was left in his quarters since he hadn’t thought he’d be fighting anybody that night.

She’s fast! Who is she?! I mean, could she actually be a Child of Reiner? But no, we already established that there couldn’t possibly be any Children still hiding within the Citadel. She has to be somebody else… But who?! Who would be this skilled with wind magic and betray us?!

Deciding to go on the defensive for a moment, Ryokumo launched himself down to the ground and muttered, “Coniune.” Instantly, his senses began to speed up and the speed with which he processed everything increased. He could see his opponent’s movements much clearer now and would be able to defend himself with greater ease. His plan was to protect himself for the time being and try to search for any patterns that might enable him to gain the upper hand. But what happened next threw his entire plan out the window.

The woman suddenly disappeared, throwing up a distortion to conceal her presence.

What?! How did she…?

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Before he could react, Ryokumo was flung backwards by a burst of wind magic, sending him skidding along the marble floors of the hallway. He was quick to react, using the momentum of his fall to flip back onto his feet, but not before a glimpse of the thin, wind-infused blade poked out of the distortion, aiming for his chest.

“Nex!” he shouted frantically, just barely pushing the blade back before it disappeared into the distortion once again.

How did she know I was using Coniune?! She reacted immediately, so did she hear me mutter the incantation?

Clenching his teeth at allowing himself to lose the upper hand, Ryokumo discarded the spell and instead chose to focus on following her mana in order to prevent any more surprise attacks. But just as he found her signal only a few dozen yards down the hall, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Master Caeli? We heard shouting! What’s going on?”

Ryokumo quickly glanced back to see two guards in their gold and emerald armor hurriedly approaching, their swords in hand as they tried to search for any sign of an enemy. His immediate instinct was to shout at them to turn and run, but before he could even get the words out, he felt two blades of wind shoot past either side of his face. Within a second, he watched both of the guards lurch backwards, their heads separating from their bodies as the blades cut through their necks, killing them on the spot. At the same time, his opponent’s mana signal closed in on him and he hurriedly turned back to put up another shield to shoot her backwards. This time, the distortion came down, revealing her cloaked figure once again as she landed on the ground.

Damn it! They’re dead! She killed them!

He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. He hadn't fought an enemy this strong in a long time, and part of him feared he wouldn’t defeat her on his own. He had to hope that if he couldn’t beat her, he would instead keep her at bay until Sinna returned with aid.

I'll just have to put everything I have into this!

“Proto!” he snarled, swearing to avenge the lives of the innocent guards she killed.

He expected her to come at him like she had the last time, but once again, she did something that threw him off. She chanted the same spell he did, but instead of coming at him, she turned and rushed off in the opposite direction, as if fleeing him.

What?! She’s running?! But why?! What the hell is her game here?!

Yet, the answer came to him almost immediately.

Shit! She’s trying to get away from where Sinna left us! If she doesn’t know where we are, it’ll delay the backup and give her more time to take me down! He clenched his teeth. Clever bitch!

He put more power into his bursts as he used both the floor and the walls as launchpads to pursue her further through the Citadel. He now knew how willing she was to kill anybody who came across them so he had to pray that nobody else showed themselves. He didn’t want any more innocents to die.

“Perkari!” he snarled, hurling more blades of wind toward her, but she dodged each one without fail, not even allowing them to skim her.

She then spun around in midair and raised her hands toward him, though he didn’t hear what spell she cast. He found out seconds later as ropes of wind came at him. Ryokumo only just sensed their presence before they reached him, allowing him to cut them down with his own attacks. This need for defense gave the woman a chance to gain the upper hand once again. She landed upon the ground, using the momentum to slide further backwards as she hurtled her own blades of wind his way. He reacted the moment he saw them, pushing off the floor and jumping between the two walls as they crashed into them, shattering parts of the silver, with one even cutting through a window, smashing the glass and sending shards scattering across the ground.

In the midst of his attempts to defend himself, the woman finally decided to move toward him, closing the distance and using her sword to try and cut him down once more. Ryokumo grit his teeth and used his own power to enhance his movements, allowing him to dodge at inhuman speeds, though the blade did manage to nick him across the cheek. He felt the warm blood dripping down his face and knew that if he didn’t stop her somehow, he could actually die.

She’s so damn quick! And it’s like she knows every trick in my arsenal! Who the hell is this—?!

As the potential answer to his unfinished question crossed his mind, he instantly wanted to reject it. It couldn’t be possible, after all, but as he reflected on their fight thus far, he realized that her movements were oddly familiar. He’d been too focused on taking her down to notice, but there was a very distinct familiarity to the way she moved around and attacked.

And she used distortion immediately after I started using Coniune! Just like…I taught her last week. Could it be… Could it possibly be…?

“There he goes again, having blind faith in somebody just because he likes them.”

Sinna’s words from the meeting earlier in the day came back to him, causing him to feel sick as he took in what they meant. At the time, he’d been confident that it couldn’t be true, but now, he realized that he was blinding himself with his emotions. Sinna had been right. She had seen the possibility and was ready to look into it. But he hadn’t wanted to accept it. He still didn’t, but…

I have to know! I have to!

“Proto!” he chanted once more, pushing backwards and out of the range of the attacker’s swift strikes. Then, once he had distance between them, he shouted, “Is that you, Hannah?!”

She was already pressing toward him, but her blade stopped midair as she froze in place, her expression concealed behind the distortion surrounding her face. Barely a second later, as if having expected him to say such a thing, it vanished and in its place, the familiar face of his apprentice appeared. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, yet she smiled.

“I should have known you’d figure it out, Master.”

“H-Hannah?”

He didn’t know what to say. The person he’d been trying to take down was his own apprentice. The one who murdered those innocent guards in cold blood was a girl he’d been training for years, someone he loved and respected.

“W-why?”

She looked back at him and opened her mouth to reply. “Perkari.”

With a swift move, she raised her free hand and launched a blade of wind straight for his throat. He cursed aloud, frantically throwing up another shield as the blade shot toward him, vanishing on impact.

“Hannah, wait!” he shouted as she launched backwards nearly twenty yards, her sword raised in defense. “Stop this, please! Let’s talk!”

But she shook her head sadly. “There’s nothing to talk about, Master. I betrayed Ijiria. Last night, I flew down to the Niras Lounge and I murdered Seiras Ka. I put two arrows in his chest and then I fled. And just now, you saw me kill those men. Not to mention, I’ve just tried to kill both you and Master Cartus. So what’s there to talk about? It is your duty as Master of Wind to kill me for my crimes. So, I expect you to do so!” She smiled. “Proto!”

The world seemed to slow down as she launched toward him, though it wasn’t due to any spell. Instead, he found himself processing every word she said. If she wasn't lying, which he could tell she wasn’t, then she had murdered a Master and attacked two others. There was no doubt that Reigious would have her executed, and perhaps even tortured, for her crimes. It would be his job to kill her and if he refused to do so, then he would probably be executed for treason as well. He knew that.

And yet…

Hannah closed the gap in a second, her sword ready to be thrust straight through his throat, and despite seeing his death staring him in the eyes, he didn’t move. Ryokumo Caeli stood in silence as his apprentice went to kill him. Yet, Hannah’s blade stopped mere inches from his throat, her eyes wide as she stared up at him.

“Master?” she uttered. “What are you doing? Fight back!”

He could feel tears rolling down his cheeks as he looked down at her, and he shook his head slowly. “No,” he whispered. “I won’t. I will not kill you, Hannah. So, if you want, shove that blade in my throat and end it. I won’t fight back.”

“But Master!” she pleaded. “You’re supposed to—! Why? I’m a murderer! You need to kill me! If you don’t, then they’ll kill you! Please, I killed Seiras! I killed a Master!”

He nodded. “I know you did. But…” He swallowed. “I can’t kill you, Hannah. You’re my apprentice. You have so much potential and you are one of the sweetest individuals I’ve ever met. You’re strong and talented and…you’re like a daughter to me. So I can’t kill you.”

“Master!”

“NO!” he snarled, causing her to step back in surprise. “Don’t you see? I’ve already done so much I can’t repent for. I’ve helped the torture Abi’s Children. I lost my friends either to death or to this country’s laws. I’m alone already. I’ve done things I can never take back that will haunt me until the day I die! You…were one of the few things I still lived for. So…if killing you is the price to pay to stay alive, then I’d rather be dead. I have too much blood on my hands already…so I will not kill you.”

Hannah was trembling and he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t going to go through with taking his life. He realized now that she never planned to. For reasons he did not know, she intended to die by his hands.

“Please, Master,” she begged. “Please, don’t do this! You don’t understand! You were supposed to kill me! If you don’t, when Ijiria finds out I was the one who killed Seiras, they’ll suspect you were involved, just like they did with Reiner’s rebellion! Unless you kill me, you won’t be able to sever yourself from my actions!”

“Why did you kill Seiras?” he asked softly, ignoring her pleas. “Why would you do something like this?”

She clenched her teeth, tears in her eyes. “It was for you,” she whispered. “I saw how it was affecting you. I could tell you were scared of Seiras and so, I…I decided I would repay you for everything you’ve done! If I could kill him, I could help you! And…and I did something else, Master. I saved the Children! I got them out of the Citadel! They’re in the city!”

His eyes went wide. “What?”

The Children? She…released them? Which means Arisa Kirisan…the guide…has escaped?

“They’re safe,” she went on. “You no longer have to worry about hurting them…or about Seiras. I made these decisions for you, but the only way my plan works is if you kill me! So please, Master! Kill me! Before somebody finds us! Before Master Cartus comes back!”

She killed Seiras… She released the Children… For me?

Feeling overwhelming emotion, Ryokumo raised his hand and aimed it at the window to their right.

“Perkari.”

A wind burst from his hand and smashed through the glass, shattering it and opening the window to the outside to admit the breeze from beyond.

“Master…?”

“Perkari!”

Then, without hesitation, knowing how hard it would be to do if he gave it any thought, he turned his hand upon his own leg and sent a cut straight through it, severing it from the knee down. He cried out in horrid pain as he collapsed to the ground, and grit his teeth against it to stay conscious. Hannah was instantly at his side.

“Master, please! Why did you—?”

“You were too strong for me,” he uttered through the pain, feeling the blood seeping from his wound and knowing he would need to tend to it quickly. “Due to the fact that you knew me so well, you were able to overcome me and cut my leg off. You then fled through the window and escaped into the city. You’ll be a criminal…and I’ll personally see to hunting you down. I’ll get my revenge against you for betraying this country…and betraying me.”

“Master, please,” she repeated once again.

“Run, Hannah. Please, run,” he begged. “Under no circumstances…will I ever kill you. You are my apprentice. So go. Cartus will be here soon. It’s my final order to you as your master.”

As he weakly looked up into Hannah’s eyes, he could see the fear and sadness within them. Yet, she must have seen that there was no way she could convince him to do what she wanted him to do. Slowly, she got to her feet, fighting back her tears, and bowed her head.

“Yes… My Master.”

He then watched through blurry vision as Hannah turned and rushed toward the open window. She looked back at him once more then jumped over the side and vanished from view. Ryokumo let out a sigh of relief and weakly reached his hand down to his severed leg.

“B-benedio,” he chanted, sending enough healing magic into it to stop the bleeding.

Go, Hannah. Survive. I’ll miss you so much, but I will forever be grateful for what you’ve done for me. Protect those Children… My apprentice.

And with that last thought, Ryokumo Caeli fell unconscious.