CHAPTER 71: DEADLY AMBUSH

The air across the lobby was cold. Silence prevailed as all eyes were stuck on the man who had just awoken from his slumber on the couch. With a yawn, he gazed toward the crowd, who were glaring at him intently, and smirked.

"Goodness gracious... I didn't think anyone would notice my presence... I thought I could allow you lot to go on with your tasks and I can just simply forward the information I collected back to the bishop at the main diocese..."

"Chief inquisition knight, Brandon Thorne," Mason declared in a strange guttural voice. Not wasting any time, he immediately began to charge the Atomniums surrounding him into orbs of exotic matter, as lightning snaked across his body. In less than a second, he lunged toward the man, his arms primed over his head. Immediately, a halberd formed in his palms, and he swung it down with enough force to destroy the entire building.

The man stared down at Mason as the blade fell toward him. He smiled from ear to ear as he shifted his hand in the direction of the halberd. Without even flinching, he caught the sharp end of it with his palm, as lightning continued to spark across the room from Mason's dimensionality. Brandon Thorne, in retaliation, used his own cosmic force suppression. The clash of two 8.0 dimensional beings ruptured the windows as well as the fancy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Hermes gazed at the scene, frozen in place. His eyes refused to blink. Shaking him out of his trance, Merlin yelled in a shrill voice,

"Hermes! Move!" She shoved him to the floor as bullets began to rain down on all the mercenaries stationed inside. Lance grit his teeth and ducked along with Merlin and the rest. It was too late, however, as the barrage of bullets managed to strike a few of the lower stage mercenaries in their crew. In the sea of gunfire and the chaotic dance of two different kinds of cosmic forces clashing against each other, Hermes looked over to his side where Lance was. He immediately noticed the exotic particles coalescing around him.

"Lance! Form a shield around us! Can you conjure that?!" Merlin yelled out to him.

Lance immediately replied to her pleas, "On it!" With his hands plastered across the floor, he channeled the metals he had conjured to move away from him. Hermes watched as the exotic particles began to form into a metallic dome. The sound of bullets rattling against the newly formed shield drowned out all other noise.

Hermes took no chances and immediately activated [Sensory-Boost]. He turned to face Merlin, who was wearing a witch's robe and hat.

"Merlin, I can sense roughly 50 enemies outside the warehouse. It seems that's where the bullets are coming from."

She nodded her head and turned to Lance and Frederick, who were busy conjuring up newly formed SV weapons.

"Lance, Frederick. I plan to 'Blink' Outside the warehouse. I'm bringing Hermes with me. How long will this dome last?"

Lance answered, "If I don't continuously supply it with cosmic force, it will be shredded to pieces in ten minutes. Well, that's counting on the fact that they don't have heavier weaponry...."

She nodded. "No problem, ill try to be quick about it." She glanced over at Hermes. Understanding what she meant, he nodded. "No worries. I agree with this plan. I'd much rather be out there than be a sitting duck here."

She smiled, "You are becoming more and more handsome the more I get to know you."

Hermes shook his head. "Alright, let's get to it. I am ready."

Seeing that he was ignoring her advances, she pouted. "You're no fun..." With a snap of her fingers, they disappeared from inside the dome and reappeared on top of a building that was across the street from the mercenary HQ.

Standing next to Merlin, Hermes grabbed his fedora, making sure the wind didn't carry it off. In front of him stood three men wearing crimson cloaks with golden sigils gilded across their fabrics. They were holding rifles that they were using to shoot at the warehouse. Immediately, one of them turned around and noticed the pair of Celestials glaring at them.

With widened eyes, they swiftly turned their guns in Hermes' direction. Hermes gripped his gunblade in retaliation, but it was too late. Bullets began to hurdle toward them. Merlin smiled and placed her hand in front of her and began to chant.

"Spatial Shield." her cosmic force interweaved with her ethyria, forming the Solari syllables.

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Hermes watched on as the bullets hit an invisible wall in front of them, sending sparks flying in the air. Ripples began to appear across the 'shield,' like raindrops falling into a pond.

She glanced over at Hermes and smiled. "Your turn." Locking eyes with her, he nodded. Merlin immediately snapped her fingers again and teleported Hermes above where the three men were. Panic set in as they tried to shift their aim toward him, but it was too late. Hermes' eyes sharpened like daggers as he gripped the trigger on his hand cannon, sending bullets right through two of their skulls. The last one managed to dodge in time, but as soon as Hermes landed, he thrusted himself forward, turning his gunblade into a lance that gutted through the man's chest. Blood began to drip from his mouth as he turned his neck slowly to face his killer.

Hermes did not close his eyes for a second. He continued to look directly into the dead man's soul as he pulled his gunblade out from his chest. Guts splattered across his glasses as he stood there in silence. His gunblade was still dripping in blood.

Merlin walked up to him and clapped her hands. "You're a natural at this... Good job."

"..." Hermes continued to stare down at the bodies beneath his feet. He took off his glasses and began to wipe them, then looked over to where Merlin was standing.

"Lets go," he said stoically.

Merlin's brows furrowed. "Hey, I am stronger than you, you know?! Stop ordering me around!" She snapped her fingers violently, teleporting them both away.

...

Inside the now dilapidated warehouse, Mason grit his teeth as his cosmic force flushed out of his body repeatedly. He was tightly holding his halberd, swinging it toward Brandon, but it was no use. The man was slipper than an eel. With a wide grin on his face, he continued to dodge Mason's every attack while holding... Something?

Mason couldn't tell. In fact, other than his face and a few aspects of his body, everything else was blurry to him. He wasn't convinced it was his own vision becoming faulty. It was more like there was an obstruction surrounding the man's body.

He grit his teeth, "What the hell is up with you?!"

Brandon grinned. "I wonder what you could mean? What's up with me? Nothing. I'm a perfectly sane, human being."

"Stop playing games!" He swung his halberd horizontally, slicing the air. Brandon jumped backwards casually. Suddenly, a large metallic rod bolted through the lobby toward him, catching him off guard. Brandon swerved his head slightly backwards, allowing the metallic rod to graze his cheek slightly.

With his eyes widened, he glanced down at his newly opened wound and rubbed his hand against it. Then he began to lick his newly tainted fingers.

"Marvelous... I expected this much from a man they call the 'Steelmancer'. When did you conjure that crossbow?"

Mason panted for air as he glared into the eyes of his enemy; at least the portions he could even see properly. 'This is bad... I can't go all out because Lance and the others are still around... Until Hermes and Merlin finish off those outside at least...'

Glaring intently at Brandon, Mason began to channel his cosmic force once more. "I won't answer anything until you do first. What the hell are you using to hide yourself... I was sitting next to you the entire time during our mission brief, but never noticed your presence.... That's impossible to do with normal means..."

Brandon smirked. "Even I am unsure what it is, but I do know one thing: it's wonderful! This ring..." He lifted his right hand to show Mason, but it was still difficult to see through the shrouded veil. "It lets me become completely invisible, both physically and psychologically. It's been so damn useful! I can murder just about anyone in these disgusting backwater streets, and no one will ever notice!"

Mason grit his teeth, "You monster..."

Brandon nodded. "Correct. I am a monster. By the way, where did that fella that spotted me go? He is fairly interesting... How did he, as a stage 1 Celestial, discover me so easily?"

"..."

"Ah, you want to stay silent? Alright, no problem. Let's continue this fight, then."

Mason's eyes were squarely on Brandon's blurry figure. Contrary to what Brandon believed, Mason didn't stay silent because he wanted to hide Hermes' secret. In fact, even he was clueless as to how Hermes had discovered the man. But it did not matter whatsoever. The only goal on his mind currently should be the eradication of the blonde-haired fool grinning foolishly before him.

Suddenly, the man jerked; his movement felt more fluid than a stroke of ink. In a blink of an eye, he somehow closed the gap between him and Mason. Quickly stomping his left foot, he jabbed his right hand forward, slashing the air.

Mason tried to react, but it was too late. Blood splattered from his chest in a distinct pattern. It was as if the man was drawing a painting with whatever blurry weapon he was holding, and Mason was the canvas. Mason quickly jolted backwards to create more distance, but not before the man caught up to him once more. This time, however, Mason was more prepared. He swiftly conjured a shield, and with [Magnetism-Control], he pushed it toward Brandon's body.

Brandon crossed his arms for protection as an entire solid block of titanium slammed into his body, sending him flying like a rag doll. But Mason wasn't finished yet. He quickly conjured an array of SV weapons above his head. With bullets primed and ready, an array of plasma beams hurled in Brandon's direction. He quickly tried to dodge the attacks, but a few managed to hit his body, shredding through his flesh and leaving burn marks in their wake.

With his back hunched over, he glanced at Mason with that same eerie smile on his face. Blood was dripped from numerous wounds across his body. Mason clenched his own chest wounds while staring intently at his enemy.

"I have to say... You are far more resilient than most Druids I have faced..."

Brandon's smile widened even further. The wounds across his body slowly regenerated. "The same can be said about you being a Sentinel... Even Cyborgs can't be that resistant to attacks..."

Mason began to conjure a syringe, which he instantly injected himself with. The nano bots inside swam into his bloodstream, racing to close the 'artistic' wound across his chest.

"Heh... You flatter me... But no compliment you say today will make me not want to kill you."

Brandon began to laugh. "Same, my friend, same! Let us dance!"

End of Chapter