Alex opened up his gate, and the world around him revealed itself. The mist stunted it, but he could sense further than he could see and needed that edge. His part in the plan was simple. He would avoid the nightshade and Jack and instead focus on finding Lucien in the mist. When he found Lucien, it would give the man more than two people on him at once, one on his summoned monster and one on himself. By doing that, they would provide enough of a distraction that no one would notice Erin when she cut Jack down.
"Hopes and dreams," Alex said as he ran through the gravel and dirt that covered the most.
Groan. Thump.
In the distance, he could hear the nightshade move, but he purposefully went in the opposite direction of it. He wasn't going to deal with that thing unless Sayed needed backup. However, he was sure that Sayed would be fine. Sayed had already proven that he could hold his own in a fight.
Alex had already run near the walls to ensure they were there. They were, so Gulantry wouldn't be pushing the core that hard to run this fight. Alex was concerned about the screens the announcer mentioned, but he wasn't sure how much power that would be used when it came to an island core. He knew the breaking point but didn't know everything that could lead to a backlash from the core.
"Where are you, Lucien?" Alex whispered as he ran through the mist.
"Sayed engages the nightshade!" The announcer suddenly yelled, and Alex stopped and spun around to listen. "On screen four, you can see him take on the beast! He's going blow for blow! As expected for the Champion of the Arena!"
Alex tuned it out again and focused on the world around him. He hadn't expected them to be separated, but he couldn't fix it either. He had to stick to the plan. He had to find Lucien in the mist.
As he ran, he noted again that he hated the mist. It had properties that dulled the senses and made it harder to see and hear. Even the magnetic sense he got from his curse was limited in range because of the mist. He had to focus on the edge of his senses. He had to squint to see deeper into the mist. He had to listen so he could even hear beyond his immediate area.
Shadows danced around him, but then he felt it. A figure out in the mist caught his attention. Alex focused on it, running straight at it. There weren't many options for who it could be, but he was sure. It would be Lucien standing out in the mist.
"You finally made it, WPN Nine," Lucien said as the mist rolled back from his body. "I knew you would come for me. You were never one to fight a creature like the nightshade. You always knew to go right for the throat."
"You're confident," Alex said as he began to walk a circle around Lucien.
Lucien, on his own, would look fairly unthreatening. He was a man who had a face that reeked of nobility and prestige. Long white hair, the hallmark of Apostles, reached down his back. Black steel armor covered most of his body, and steel black clawed gauntlets rested at his waist. On his back rested his weapon, a greatsword that seemed far too large for such a man to wield. If it wasn't for his enhanced body, Alex knew Lucien would not even be able to lift the weapon.
"A superior being does not need confidence," Lucien said, reaching up with one hand and drawing out his greatsword with one fluid motion.
He took one step forward and flung it through a one-handed flourish that hurt Alex's wrist just thinking about it. After swinging it through several arcs, he brought it up with one hand, pointing it at Alex. Alex came to a stop and took his own stance. He didn't need to win. He just needed to survive.
Alex noticed then that the announcer didn't come on and say anything about the fight. He had tuned it out earlier, but the man seemed to be there sheerly to build up hype. Alex had to assume that was because they were keeping Lucien's presence in the battle a secret. Alex kept that idea in the back of his mind but still focused on Lucien.
He was nowhere near Lucien's level when it came to fighting. As an Apostle, Lucien was like an apex predator. He would know all of the Five Paths. He had a body built for combat, and if what Alex had heard was right, that was more literal than metaphorical. Like himself, Apostles were experiments, creations that weren't human any longer. The only real up he had on Lucien was that he had full access to his curse while Sayed kept the nightshade busy.
"Step."
Crash. Boom.
Alex disappeared just a blink before Lucien's sword strike hit the ground. Alex reappeared off to the side, and when he looked back to the crater Lucien had left behind, he was already ducking the next blow.
Fwoosh.
"Might."
Boom.
The sword scythed through the air above his head, and Alex clenched his fist, aiming a punch right at Lucien's chest. His muscles bulged mid-strike, and his knuckles crashed into the armor. Metal rang out like thunder under the punch, and Lucien was thrown back. Alex's hand pulsed from the hit, vibrating in and out as his muscles relaxed. He grabbed his staff in both hands, retaking a stance.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Hah," Lucien laughed from where he stood, holding a hand to his chest as his sword lay pointed off to his side in the other hand. "You have some strength, as expected."
When he released his grip on his chest, metal shards of the armor fell away and onto the ground, leaving a plain white shirt visible underneath. Lucien smiled as he looked up at Alex, his eyes a stark yellow and taken over by an animalistic slit iris.
"But, I wonder. Will you be able to keep up with me?"
"Oh, I can do that," Alex said, his eyes keeping track of Lucien's sword.
The man was fast, but his preference for his greatsword gave Alex what he needed to stay one step ahead. If Alex knew where the sword was going, he just needed to be where it wasn't. However, that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. If Alex could take it out, he may be able to survive just a little longer.
Luckily, that was where his curse came into play. While he couldn't just throw Lucien around, he could use his curse to deflect the sword. He could throw off Lucien's strikes and slow them down just enough to make a difference. The problem was how much focus was required.
"Let us try it then."
Whip. Crack.
He disappeared again, and Alex rolled to the side. The air beside him rippled open like a wave passed through it, and a massive scar ripped through the ground. It cleaved a line longer than a small car through the dirt. Alex spun on his heel and tensed his body as he threw his next punch.
"Might."
His muscles bulged, and his fist made contact with the greatsword's flat edge. His knuckles flared with pain and heat, but he didn't care. He just wanted to hear the sound he was looking for.
Slam. Crack.
Metal shards exploded out from the greatsword, shooting out with shrapnel away from Alex. Alex immediately backed away from Lucien, holding his staff ready for the next strike, but it didn't come. Instead, Lucien stood frozen mid-swing and looking down at his blade.
"A pity," Lucien whispered, rising from his stance and looking down at his shattered sword. "Hunger was my favorite, but I already know I no longer need it."
He raised the sword and raised his left hand. A black mist seeped out from that clawed gauntlet and began to eat away at the broken sword, reducing it to dust in moments. When it was over, Lucien smiled and threw his hands wide.
"Is this not glorious! Look at you now! I have surprised you." Lucien looked all around him. "Now is time for the curtain to fall and a new act to begin."
----------------------------------------
Erin ran through the mist, her gate open to the world around her, and she had to swallow down every few seconds to keep from vomiting. The mist in the arena was like a toxic cloud of death and decay. Every breath in ate at her body and clouded her mind. It wasn't the same as normal mist from a rift in the Veil. This mist had a malevolent intent to it, like it was ever hungry for more and more to consume.
Erin swallowed down again, slowing her pace momentarily and dropping her hands to her knees to catch her breath. Miasma seemed like a more appropriate word to describe what she felt- a dark mist that brought disease and death.
"You can do it, Erin," she whispered to herself. "Find Jack and get him out. Then we can all get out of here."
Groan. Thump.
In the distance, the sound of something moving in the mist echoed out. Erin patently avoided it as the announcer said Sayed had engaged the monster. All was going according to plan then. She just needed to find that hill in the mist, and she would find Jack.
Crack. Boom.
In the mist in front of her, two shadows fought. One swung what looked like a giant sword, while the other seemed to disappear and reappear steps later. Their sounds were muffled, but she didn't have to guess. Alex was doing his part in the plan and keeping Lucien distracted. She just needed to find Jack, and they would be able to start the escape.
She pointedly avoided the two shadows as she continued deeper into the mist. Her boots dug into the gravel, and she had to watch around her. The mist almost wholly blocked her ability to sense living things around her, so she couldn't tell what was around her beyond sight and sound. She could feel a slight incline across the dirt and rock beneath her. Wherever she was going, it was up, and that was where she had seen the figure on the hill.
Slam. Crack. Boom.
"On screen five, folks, you can see Sayed's signature technique. 'Demon's Thrust' is a charge that tries to skewer his opponents. Most enemies wouldn't be able to take it, but the nightshade is no pushover."
Erin looked down the hill and saw more shadows in the mist. Something large was hit back and fell into the ground. That would be Sayed, fighting off the nightshade. The man was practically a monster all on his own. He named all his attacks with 'demon's,' which was a bad omen in itself. What kind of man thought harnessing a demon's power was a good idea?
"Focus," Erin chided herself, as her old mentors were wont to do.
She looked up the hill and took in a small breath. The dark mist still rested all around her and ate at her, but she didn't have much farther to go. She kept walking and made her way to the top.
At the top, the mist was completely dissipated, and she could see the figure hanging up on the structure. Erin ran forward without hesitation. If Jack had been tied up there for some time, there would be a risk of limb loss due to circulation being cut off. There was also the chance that he was injured when they tied him up there. Her thoughts immediately focused on how to best treat him, even if she was in denial about being a healer.
"Don't kid yourself," Erin whispered as she approached the figure. "You're still not a true healer."
The figure was wrapped in a dark cloak, and she couldn't see his face. He was still small enough to be Jack, but she couldn't help but feel something was off every time she moved closer. Every instinct in her told her that this was a trap.
"Jack," she whispered as she reached out for his hood. "Are you alright?"
There was no response. Tentatively, she reached out a hand and took hold of the hood. She pulled it back and gasped. A dirty skull rested beneath the hood, chin down. It was marred with dirt and cobwebs and appeared to have been there for a long time. Erin took a step back, looking around her. As she did so, the skull fell off the body, rolling across the ground.
Thump. Rattle. Rattle.
This wasn't part of the plan.
She ran. Immediately, her only thought was to get as much distance between her and the hill as she could. Whoever the skeleton had been, it wasn't Jack, and she wasn't going to stay around and find out why it had been planted there. Her boots crunched into rock and dirt as she sprinted down the hill and deeper into the choking mist.
Crack. Boom.
Behind her, the ground rumbled and split. Erin risked a look back but immediately regretted it. Though the mist was quickly consuming the hill, she could still see the giant cracks forming as the skeleton fell into one of the massive gaps. She didn't need any more impetus.
She ran for her life.