Aya, after a few hours of running back and forth managed to save a handful of people. She brought everyone directly to the front of the guild. At this point, the roads were filled with people, making the entire area seem lively.
Heinster was holding Aya’s arm as she tried to pry his hands away. Fearing that she could harm him, she tried to slowly move away.
“Aya stop it. It’s been an entire day. You can’t save everyone.”
“But, sir Heinster! I can save one more! Just one more!” Aya pleaded with Heinster.
“At least tell me this, are you doing this for yourself or for others?”
“I-“ Aya didn’t know how to respond to that.
At first, she did it out of guilt, sending that father and daughter to their deaths. Eventually, she saw how pitiful the weak were, giving her motivation to continue saving more. Finally, she was influenced by Luke.
So, was she doing it for herself or for others?
She steeled her resolve, “I’m doing it for myself. Sir Heinster, I need to tell you something about Reinhold,” finally she was going to expose Reinhold.
“He’s behind this, huh?”
“Sir Heinster… you knew?”
“He already got over it. When push comes to shove, he stabs right back. Like father like son.”
“Was his father also cruel? He led others to their deaths! He sent so many people to their deaths! I even saw-“ she couldn’t continue her sentence.
“Lad, you lived in the slums. You should know more than others that the world is cruel. In these past explosions, how many innocents have died? Can you tell me?”
“How many people died? Of course, it's… none… what?” Aya was taken aback when she spoke aloud. She remembered the first time Reinhold blew up the wall, she frantically tore apart rubble only to find debris.
Her travels also led her toward the other side of the city, where the other explosion occurred. She saw countless limbs but the only thing they all had in common was a shining metal piece that was welded within their skin.
“Still! He made me send specific letters that lead countless people to run towards their deaths. Good thing the guild was able to keep out most of them, but a family was sacrificed in the end!”
At this point, Luke and Argen came out to meet them.
Argen spoke up, “Heinster, it’s true. I was there. Reinhold has committed so many cruel acts, he deserves to be imprisoned after all this.”
“He managed to get the entire guild under his thumb, even you. Now you want this city’s only hope to suffer?” Heinster was oddly in favor of Reinhold. Especially after hearing that he caused the inquisitors major losses.
Luke now questioned, “Sir Heinster… why are you speaking up for him?”
“We all lost someone. Luke, I know you want to keep yourself busy but face it, you lost your parents too.”
Luke’s face grimaced. His gaze turned toxic as if his true feelings were laid out. He tightened the grip on his spear.
Heinster vigorously said, “Aren’t you angry too? You lost your parents and I lost my daughter! Rei’s the only one fighting back against them! What did the guild do after they infiltrated? Nothing! What did they do to stop this? Nothing! They only started moving because Rei sent out those letters! Rei was the only person who did anything! Everyone was too drunk on the promises they made! Now look who got the most out of this, your so-called noble that promised everything!”
Heinster was panting at the end of his speech. His breath was ragged and his chest heaving. No one could refute him.
Argen tried to speak up but in the end, what Heinster said was correct. The entire guild was in disarray, no one moved only waiting about. Even the Fanged Lioness kept mum, she was also completely lost. Killing the inquisitors didn’t do anything, trying to kill the golden-armored inquisitor was impossible, and finally, an extremely terrifying god-like being was now born, Raxer.
What hurt Argen’s pride, even more, was that their entire source of information was Reinhold. Not even their scouts could find out anything by themselves, other than finding out that there was a backlash in killing someone.
From start to finish, they were twiddling their thumbs while Reinhold was carrying the burden of keeping the most survivors alive by himself. The thought of how much they insulted Reinhold for sacrificing lives when their inaction caused many more lives ruined him.
He always thought that he was fighting for the civilians but in the end, he was worse than the person he called out to be a monster.
Argen had a dim look on his face, Aya didn’t even know what to feel, meanwhile Luke was looking at the spear in his hands. They all realized that what they were holding onto was meaningless, only action meant something.
“Reinhold told us to not bother with the sacrifices, what did he mean by this?”
Another girl showed up, it was Hannah. She held a scroll in her hands, a magical scroll.
“What you’re doing is pointless. They aren’t the only victims here.” Hannah exited the darkness.
Aya and Argen already noticed her so they weren’t surprised when she showed up. Luke and Heinster, on the other hand, were caught off guard by her sudden appearance.
“Only Argen moved, within his expectations. Everyone else should still be holding out. Aya, Rei is asking for help, I’m here to convince you. Everything gets easier if you accept.”
Aya still conflicted, answered, “Depends on what he’s asking. I don’t want him controlling me.”
She understood that it wasn’t the time to play hero but she didn’t want to be led around by the nose.
“It’s about the three mercenaries Rei hired. He wants you to deal with them, soon enough they’ll start to murder the citizens and there will be countless innocent lives that will be wasted.”
“Why does he-“ Aya interrupted.
“You can also ignore them, it doesn’t affect Rei’s plans. The only important thing I came to check was if mercenaries still are kept within the guild. See you.”
Just before Hannah disappeared Argen asked, “Is 3000 noux worth all the trouble listening to him?”
“You think I’m doing this because of the money? Are you blind? Everyone’s dying left and right! And you still think I’m doing this for the money?”
Aya shouted out, “What about the people he sacrificed? Don’t you feel bad about them?”
“There’s no perfect plan in the world. He’s… at his limits already.” Hannah recalled back when she asked Reinhold why he kept drinking coffee. It seemed to be his hobby but he was drinking more and more these past few days. His answer was simple, ‘I can’t afford to sleep, too much is at stake.”
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“How do you know that?” Luke interjected.
“I’ve read some of the plans he was writing when he took a break to make more coffee. I’ve seen how many times plans he made up, how many variables were put in place, and how he thought small factors could affect the grander plan. He took into account everyone’s personality and made contingencies upon contingencies based on what happened. He… know what, you don’t deserve to know more,” Hannah then proceeded to run away, blending into the shadows.
Aya suddenly felt a heavier load weigh her heart down. She was there, she saw Reinhold make countless plans, countless pages of paper littered the floor where he sat, each of them had clear and precise lines of ink. Although she couldn’t read, it was completely clear how much effort Reinhold gave.
It was funny, she was so scared to show the world her talent in fear of being taken captive. She tried to steal money from a crippled man and caused her brother to fall ill. She went all out, unleashing all the power she could muster to find him, not fearing the consequences. After those sequences of events, she followed the man he stole from which led her to experience countless insane situations.
She was naïve.
Luke went up to Aya and held her hands, he softly said, “What do you plan to do?”
Luke saw Aya’s hesitation so he continued, “Rei, held back so much from us. At the same time, he shielded ‘us’ from what happened. I know I can’t do anything, I know it’s too much to ask you this. I know I’m using you. But please, stop them. I don’t want any more meaningless deaths.”
Aya knew what Luke meant by ‘us,’ it meant those that were powerless. It meant Luke, Chris, Johnny, Miss Howards, and Heinster. It didn’t include her.
Her full strength was definitely formidable, the only question was how strong she was, where did her limit lay. There was one thing for sure, if Reinhold asked her to do something, it would’ve been something she could do.
“I’ll do it. Sir Argen, please protect them.”
Argen had a complicated look on his face, he was still thinking about Hannah’s words. All his bravado was for nothing but seemingly given one more chance he decided to uphold it as if his life depended on it.
“My blood will spill first before any of the people here spill theirs.”
Aya nodded, “There’s one more problem, where are they?”
“That’s where I come in.” Houston came out of the darkness as well. This time neither Argen nor Aya noticed him.
“It would’ve hurt me if you didn’t accept. I would’ve been running across the entire city for nothing.” Houston’s carefree attitude seemed as if none of this mattered to him.
“I know where the three of them are staying. I’m not the second fastest person in the guild for nothing.”
“Let’s go.”
Houston reached out his hand a made a swaying motion with his hand, “Ah-ah-ah, not so fast little lady. You’re still tired. We’ll take them out tomorrow.”
“I can handle them! Just tell me where they are!” Aya’s eyes finally ignited a desire for battle.
“Hmm… if you can touch the hem of my clothes, I’ll tell you where they are. Easy, right?”
“Alright.”
Argen warned Aya, “He’s Houston Aboi, a notorious mercenary scout. As reliable as his skills are, he only follows what he believes to be fun. He used to follow the Fanged Lioness hoping to fight her at some point. Right now, he’s probably following Reinhold since he’s just letting him do what he wants. He’s going to make fun of you so brace yourself.”
“Snitches get stitches, didn’t you know that Argen?” A carefree expression still remained on the man’s face.
A brawl of only their physical bodies, Houston remembered how Reinhold described Aya, a peerless genius, only held back by her experience.
“Breaking a genius down before they can rise up, ah, how fun!”
Houston appeared directly in front of Aya, slightly bowing down, his nose touching hers.
“Boop!”
Aya’s face blushed as she instinctively took her stance. She brought up her knee, intending to ram it up his stomach. The expected impact didn’t appear, her knee only hit the air. What surprised Houston was that the gust of air that Aya created slightly blew him back.
“Reinhold really didn’t exaggerate, he might’ve even underestimated her. With this kind of power civilians are in danger. Better move out,” Houston thought.
Houston disappeared in place, Aya tried to track his movements, but her eyes were just a step too late. Houston appeared behind her, Aya swung her fists behind, twisting her body in the process, intending to strike her opponent down where he stood.
Houston then brutally kicked down at the back of her hind leg, putting her off balance. Aya’s fist missed and now she was in a kneeling position.
Houston, rubbed her head, her hair turned slightly messy, “A proposal? Oh my, don’t you have a boyfriend? Mister boyfriend is over there watching you.”
Aya boiled with rage, she was never humiliated like this, hated and insulted yes but never humiliated like this. She gritted her teeth and from this position, she tried to sweep her legs against his. Unfortunately, as if it was telegraphed, the hand holding onto Aya’s hand suddenly gripped harder.
Houston was now directly above Aya’s head doing a handstand as she made a half-circle rotation, sweeping with her legs.
“You guys enjoying the show? I am, hahaha!”
Aya tried to grab Houston’s hand that was gripping her head but he nimbly backflipped dodging her grab. He backflipped but he still remained in the spot, his shoe was now stepping on her head.
“We should open up an act! Who knew we were this coordinated? Hey mister boyfriend, don’t you think so too?”
Luke’s had his arms crossed and didn’t react. He was only looking at Aya’s predicament. Although he wasn’t talented in the gift of physical strength, he could see just how skillful Houston was compared to Aya. He took advantage of her clumsy fighting style, her weak points were on full display and she was prone to anger.
Housten was raising his legs as Aya tried to grab onto them, she would’ve faced up to see if she didn’t mind having a footprint etched on her face. From Luke’s point of view, it looked like Houston was tap dancing on Aya’s head.
“Ey! Oh! Ah! Hahaha! I’m having fun, are you too Aya? I’d say we make a good team!”
“Argh! Get off me!” Aya screamed out, extremely annoyed at how lightly Houston was treating her.
“Sure! All you had to do was ask! Hahaha!” Houston bent down and placed a foot on her face, staining it with mud and dirt, desecrating her looks. He used Aya’s face as a springboard to get out.
Houston was now on top of a building, gazing from the skies.
Houston shouted, “Hey Aya! I like your new look! You should be paying me for your make-up! Hahaha!”
Aya who once looked prim and proper, now looked like someone who just crawled out of the slums. Her bright red hair was now stained with dirt and mud. Her face had a comical footprint on it, making her look extremely pathetic.
“I’ll kill you!” Aya jumped up towards Houston, her jump creating a small web-like crack on the cement road.
“Oh my, it looks like I really angered you this time. Come with me then.”
Houston ran forwards in a straight line, towards the old hole that everyone thought Nuane created.
“Now, let’s see just how fast you really- ah?”
Houston glanced behind him and saw an extremely annoyed girl looking at him like prey. Her bloodshot eyes met his blue eyes. Their faces were just as close as earlier, he immediately leaned back, barely dodging her bullet-like body. Aya sped past through him, her body rag-dolling across the city buildings. Tiles were dislocated and cracks appeared on the rooftops.
Her momentum was too strong, she dug her hands down on the building rooftops, tiles, and other ornaments were destroyed. Her ten fingers created ten streaks of deep indents, acting as the only stopping force against the monstrous force propelling her forward.
Houston’s heart started beating for the first time in this match, “Monster.”
If Houston glanced back for even a moment further, his upper body wouldn’t have continued to exist.
He proceeded to take this more seriously. Reinhold told him to handle Aya in a specific way. He was to completely and utterly break her self-confidence in her own talent. Make Aya understand that she needs to learn the basics if she wants to survive. Force her naivety out of her.
“Boss, this task’s looking more and more troublesome. She hasn’t even bled once yet! Hahaha! Finally, something fun!” Houston took out a throwing knife from his waist and threw it toward Aya’s eyes.
Aya had barely time to react, if she wanted to block this attack she would either need to somehow shift her momentum to avoid it or let go forcing her past the point of being able to catch up to him. Aya’s mind raced, both options seemed to be extremely bad so she trusted her guts.
The throwing knife was about to pierce her eye when she fully let go, having the full momentum of her initial jump propel her beyond the horizon. She grabbed the throwing knife and twisted her body, using the rotational force and the force of her momentum to send the throwing dart back at Houston.
“Holy-“ Houston’s eyes couldn’t believe it, in the heat of the moment Aya seemed to have awakened something. The throwing knife was piercing the air faster than when he threw it. The shockwave that it produced wasn’t something Houston thought wouldn’t do him well.
His instincts popped in and using his hand he hit the throwing knife at a blunt point, redirecting the throwing knife into the distance. He managed to stop the knife but now Aya managed to get her bearings, she was ready to pounce on him one more time.
He glanced at the throwing knife still traveling in a straight line, “It’s still going, wow…”
Houston thought to himself, “Boss, you’re not paying me enough for this! I want a raise! A raise I tell you! Ah, here she comes again!”
He put up his guard now, knowing that she was fully unleashing her physical abilities since the rooftops were a zone where she saw no one.
Houston crouched down and widened his arms, it was then he noticed his left hand that he used to deflect the throwing knife earlier was numb. He glanced at it and saw a dark bruise form at the back of his palm, clearly injured.
Houston rapidly shouted, “Wait! Wait! Wait! Stop! You win! See this, you managed to touch me, so I’ll tell you where they are,” he showed Aya his bruised hand and moved out of her way.
Aya, finally having the upper hand, “I haven’t won though, you said I only win if I could touch the hem of your clothes,” the rage in her heart couldn’t be concealed anymore. She bared her teeth, extremely feral. Her tattered clothes and rabid expression did not bode well for Houston.
“Is that so?”
Houston thought, “Boss, it was nice while it lasted.”