While Alisa’s dogs went out to hopefully gather some information about the state of the town, the crew began to discuss their plans to take down the corruption. It wasn’t just the emblem that they needed to worry about, though.
If Tolus wasn’t the target of the corruption’s possession, then the two hunters could turn out to be a big threat. Both of them were experienced with guns, and both had Regards… and they both believed Alisa to be an enemy. There was hope that they realized that she wasn’t the one behind the corruption and that they would stay out of her way when she tried to deal with it, but it was always better to prepare for the worst.
On the other hand, if Tolus was corrupted, it would only get worse for them. He would be a lot harder to kill, and if Enric didn’t realize that the fellow hunter had changed and listened to his instructions, it could be even worse than if he randomly picked a side.
“My dogs just reached town, there’s a small gathering in the main street… Roth, is the red dot still in the center?”
“Yep.”
“Tolus is there. And he has a badge on his chest.”
Alisa’s eyes glowed with a faint blue light as she peered at the center of town, even while being in the cabin. She hadn’t fully explained her abilities to the crew, but it wasn’t difficult for them to infer her observational abilities through her dogs.
“It looks like there is a group of regular hunters with him right now,” Alisa paused for a moment, the blue light in her eyes flickering, “They’re starting to walk away. It looks like Jean is telling them something.”
The crew continued watching Alisa as she observed the town, but she remained quiet until the light glimmering in her eyes dimmed, and she returned to normal.
“Probably to search for Enric. If they haven’t teamed up yet, we’ll have a much better chance at an ambush. There are still way too many townsfolk left here, though. Too many flintlocks for us to attack out in the open.”
Alisa directed her dogs to start searching the forest for Enric as well, though she could only hope that the hunter wouldn’t try to shoot her animals again when he saw them. Roth was on map-watching duty, but even as he continuously glanced down while their team started to make plans to fight the corruption, the red dot stayed near the center of town.
-
“Alright, I think this is best for us. The corruption can probably control the townsfolk to come and help it, so we need to finish the fight quickly.”
Many hours later, the crew was still coming up with more ideas, but they had a rough outline of their plan.
Alisa would charge in first, using a wood ax to hopefully cleave the badge in two right off the bat. With her speed and strength outmatching Holl and Roth thanks to her powerful Regard, she was easily the most lethal in close combat.
The first ability Alisa gained from her Regard was a flashbang-like ability that would temporarily blind anyone in the area. If she used it while charging in, she could hopefully stun Tolus long enough to land a clean strike on the badge.
Alisa had no idea if that would even break it, but her attack wouldn’t end there. Cundy would be her support and was in charge of unloading his powerful revolver into the enemy, all while Alisa’s dogs ripped Tolus to shreds. They’d already made the decision not to try and spare the hunter. Roth’s impression of his map suggested that the hunter might already be dead anyway, and facing off against a Half Deity rank corrupted artifact, Alisa didn’t have much hope for preserving the life of a weak Regarded.
Roth didn’t have any advanced Regarded abilities, and he wasn’t as good of a shot as either Holl or Cundy, so he ended up designated as a lookout.
That was the plan. Ax, dogs, gun.
Now, they just needed to wait for an opportunity to strike, the moment Tolus was isolated from all of the townsfolk-
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“Rain. I guess it did look a bit cloudy earlier-”
“This is our chance!”
Alisa suddenly shot up from her chair, then quickly strode over and grabbed the wood ax from beside the stove.
“We should attack right now, before the townsfolk can track down Enric!”
Roth glanced down at the map. The red dot was in the center of town.
“Why? We’ll just be shot to pieces by the townsfolk!”
Both Holl and Cundy seemed to be similarly confused, and Alisa looked over them with a strange look.
“Flintlocks are almost useless in the rain. Except for the three or four good muskets in town, there won’t be nearly as much of a threat from the townsfolk.”
Roth could still see some anxiety on the girl’s face, but she held steady as she hefted up the ax.
“Almost. There will definitely still be some that will fire. Especially since quite a few of the townsfolk are hunters, too.”
Alisa looked over at Holl.
“Yes… I know. This still might be the best chance we have. They will probably find Enric before long. It’ll only get harder to win if he’s working with the corruption, even if it’s unknowingly. It’s this, or hoping that Tolus isolates himself from the townsfolk.”
Alisa heaved a deep breath as she started walking toward the door.
“I’ll be starting the fight… if any of them do have shots that go off, they’ll be aimed at me. This is our best chance to save the town, I’m willing to take the risk.”
Holl let out a long sigh, then hefted himself up out of his chair.
“This might be our best shot at taking it down. Alisa, if this goes well, help us get that boat afterward. Saving the townsfolk from an evil mind-controlling artifact should be payment enough.”
-
Near the center of town, three shops down from the bakery, fifteen minutes after the rain started. Roth crouched behind a small, empty countertop, his eyes angled down at the map in front of him.
“He’s inside the building just across the street now.”
The young man’s hands trembled as he peeked up over the countertop. He couldn’t see much. Even with the coverings pulled back from the windows, all he could see outside was the rain pouring down outside.
The downpour wasn’t torrential, but it was definitely more deterring than any summer shower. The water was practically coming down as ice, turning the ground as slick as a skating rink within moments of falling.
“Are you sure about doing this right now, Alisa?”
“Before the rain ends. It should’ve been long enough now, start it.”
Roth struggled to steady his fingers as he refocused on the map held out in front of him and slowly laid it out on the floor. His fingers dragged across the surface of it a few times until it was focusing on a close-up of the shop just across the street.
This was a last-minute addition to their plan, but one that could be necessary to force Tolus out of the shelter he was currently in. The crew doubted he would just wander out into the freezing rain, even if he was under the full control of the corrupt artifact.
I only felt a little light-headed after trying this earlier, hopefully it’s the same this time. I really don’t want to pass out right now.
Angling his finger, Roth lightly swept across the doorway of the shop Tolus was in. His fingernail lightly scraped against the surface of the map, and a sudden rush of blood dimmed Roth’s eyesight.
For a moment, the world seemed to be spinning away from him, welcoming him to fall unconscious. Unlike when he was back on the island and hadn’t yet received a Regard, he was now barely able to stomach the effects of the map.
Outside, the space inhabited by the shop door warped and twisted, pulling away from the building around it. The move wasn’t swift, taking a solid 10 seconds before it settled back down, but it certainly did its job of drawing the occupants’ attention.
Eerie screeching noises rang through the rainfall as the wood of the door was ripped apart by the forces generated by the map, and a large, hulking figure quickly moved over to the now-open entrance to investigate.
“Now.”
Just as Tolus stepped outside to get a better look at the state of the door, Alisa made her move. Despite being cloaked in the same stifling number of layers she’d arrived at the cabin wearing, she moved with shocking speed.
She burst out from the shop they were sheltering in, then sprinted across the street toward her enemy, the wood ax clutched in her gloved fingers. Standing at the doorway behind her, Cundy already had his pistol up and ready to follow up on her assault.
Tolus spun around at the commotion, and Roth could immediately see a dark metallic object clipped to the right side of his jacket’s chest.
Alisa saw it too, and aimed to swing the ax directly toward it.
Her free hand moved by her side, but before she could snap her fingers and cast her blinding ability, something dark snaked around her feet.
She stumbled for a moment, recovered, then started lunging toward Tolus agai-
Bang!
The first gunshot of the evening ripped through the rainstorm, its projectile finding its target in an instant.