“Forgive me. I blew it up,” said Karkas as they walked out of the establishment and towards the gates. “What are we going to do next?”

“Damn it,” said Jacques. “Of all the people I met, it got to be her. We’re out of luck this time, Sobesk. Really out of it.”

“Who is she? Why are you trying to hide from her that much?”

“I think I am qualified to answer that question, buyan.”

The Karkas gasped when he saw the Fa’ar again. He wanted to reprimand her for sneaking up on him, but then realized that it would only make an already bad situation worse, at least from Jacques’s actions.

“I know you will eventually find me,” said the Fa’ar leader. “You’re far too good of a hunter to just let me be. And do you really think no one would notice? They may be lower in rank, but they are still members of the Church.”

Jacques did not respond.

“Caught you red-handed, didn’t I? Either you’re getting sloppier, or you are confident enough to take on us again. Whatever the reason is, Jacq, even you can’t fight against a whole town.”

“Of course, I can’t,” said Jacques. “But then, why not?”

Karkas soon noticed that one of Jacques’ revolvers was already on his hand and was aimed at the Fa’ar. The Fa’ar did not flinch. In fact, she smiled.

“Guess I'm out of luck this time,” she said. She then shouted, “Help me! He’s trying to kill me!”

The call for help was then heard by everyone in the square. Many of them looked at the situation but did not react, but some, especially those with the symbol of the cult prominently shown on them, saw the situation and became alarmed.

Jacques pulled the trigger but was several moments too late. Her call for help distracted him enough for her to move her head just a bit before she kicked his revolver out of his hand. One of the cultists tried to jump at him, but his right hand, empty a moment ago, suddenly had a revolver that appeared out of thin air. Without hesitating, he shot the cultist. The aim was poor, but the bullet found its target anyway: the cultists’ head. He also instantly retrieved his other gun, which reappeared on his left hand before he put it back into its holster. He then held his other gun with both hands.

Anyone who saw this thought that Jacques made a mistake by putting away his other gun, but they were wrong. Instead, he was far deadlier with one gun, especially when he combined this with a combat skill that outmaneuvered his enemies with a roll, a quick grab, and a point-blank shot through the face. He continued doing this against several other enemies, until he needed to reload.

But he did not need to spend time reloading his revolver. As he calmly walked, he opened the revolver’s chamber and cleaned out the spent casings before simply returning it back to armed position and spin it. He shot another attacker with the bullets already inside, with no indication of him ever spending time to reload his gun.

As he shot his way through those who rushed towards him, Jacques scanned the area to find his target. Being a Fa’ar, she was rather nimble, not to mention the leader of a cult that were loyal to her almost to the point of foolishness. Instantly, everyone affiliated with the Church of Nihilo were involved in the fight, most of them met their ends with the Loup’s bullets lodged inside their heads or their hearts. Some were lucky enough to survive, as the Loup was focused on finding his target among the now panicked townspeople. These cultists already lost their will to fight when they saw what Jacques was capable of.

Karkas, meanwhile, was forced to keep the situation under control using his non-lethal binding magic. He was very surprised by Jacques’s cold demeanor and methodical kills. Granted, he had never seen the Loup gunslinger fought before, but it was still surprising how he managed to kill many of the attackers without even breaking a sweat, even when they were clearly capable of using offensive magic. He made every shot count and did not waste any time reloading his gun, either conjuring the bullets or pulling them out of a pocket dimension, the answer to the trick he used to conceal his guns. The practical use of the spells, combined with his skills with the gun, made Jacques a unique fighter, one that Karkas did not want to mess with.

Jacques kept moving and dispatching anyone attacking him until he found himself outside the free town’s wall, with Karkas in tow. The town, now terrified of what Jacques was capable of, did not even try to do anything as Karkas joined the Loup, who now came face-to-face with his target, who by now had stopped running and stood facing her hunter, without a hint of fear or anger in her murine face.

“Well, Jacq,” said the Fa’ar. “You got me.”

Jacques scoffed. “You and I both know that isn’t the case, Maril.”

“I was expecting you to ambush me when I traveled back, but I never thought you found my base first.”

“Believe me. It’s a coincidence.”

“Not really a coincidence if you happen to be targeting us from the bottom up.” Maril sighed. “2 years of progress, all gone because I drew the short stick. That’s what our kind is, I guess. Who would’ve thought a loose end can be so much troublesome.”

Jacques, not one for chit-chats, said, “You should’ve burned that rope a while ago.”

“Except it’s never too late to fix that mistake!”

Jacques would have been stabbed if he did not roll out of safety when several knives flew out from underneath Maril’s oversized robe. Jacques dashed towards her, trying to get close enough to shot her. The Fa’ar anticipated this and threw her oversized robe in front of Jacques, moments before trying to stab the bigger Loup from behind the robe. Jacques deflected the knife with his revolver and kicked her away. She made a flip and landed on her feet; weapons drawn.

Under the robe, she revealed herself to be armed and ready against an ambush. Maril had anticipated Jacques to attack her along the way, so she was always ready for a fight when needed. Over her clothes, she wore a leather body armor. On her hips, several throwing knives were neatly kept in place by a strap that acted as her belt, complimenting a short sword she already drew. The sword in question was glowing. Both Karkas and Jacques noticed several runes carved into the sword’s blade.

“You kept that sword with you after all this time?” asked Jacques.

“I can say the same to your guns,” said Maril. “But don’t you ever think this is going to be the same as last time.”

Maril spun the sword, leaving behind trail of lights as she played with it around her, before dashing towards a guarded Jacques. Jacques had faced this before and anticipated it. Maril, however, hid a few tricks, knowing that the same trick would not work against someone who had seen through it.

Thus, Jacques was surprised when the attack happened. Jacques expected Maril to play with his depth perception as her sword was enchanted with illusion magic. Being a Fa’ar, Maril couldn’t naturally use magic, but that did not mean she was incapable of using magic weapons, only that their use was limited to the charges she had in her sword. Like before, Jacques relied on his instinct and his quick assessment of Maril’s sword length to dodge. He was not confident enough to shoot at her blindly and waste more bullets.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The attack already happened when Jacques prepared to defend himself. Only his instinct saved him from certain death, but not being able to anticipate the attack cost him. He managed to reflexively dodge, but the attack still connected. Maril slashed his chest as Jacques lean back. The attack was shallow, but it drew blood. Right at that moment, Maril was already in front of him, disorienting him further and completely ruined his timing. Jacques felt Maril’s kick, which knocked the air out of him when it hit his solar plexus, stunning him and dropping him to his knees.

Maril would’ve won if it wasn’t for Karkas’s save. He, too, was fooled by the illusion, but was able to react when the spell wore off. Before the Fa’ar could cut Jacques’s head, Karkas disarmed her from afar, casting a quick spell that created a concussive force that disarmed Maril and threw her sword far from her reach. That did not stop her from throwing several knives towards Karkas, who kept a barrier up in case she tried such a thing. He soon realized his mistake.

The knives effortlessly penetrated the barrier and found their target. Karkas’s thick hide saved him from being critically injured. He recovered quickly and cast a binding spell to stop the Fa’ar from moving around, but she was far too quick for Karkas. Jacques, however, took this opportunity to take the shot, predicting where Maril would be on the next step and timed his shot. The Loup pulled the trigger just as Maril got to the position he predicted. Maril had no time to dodge or do anything.

The shot connected. The bullet found its target in the Fa’ar’s head.

Jacques was not satisfied. He unloaded the rest of the bullets in the revolver chamber, magically changing the bullet’s trajectory to hit all vital points on the Fa’ar’s body. He knew that it would not be a guaranteed with just one bullet.

He soon realized that it was as he feared.

“Damn,” said Jacques. “I knew you’d have someone backing you up.”

All the bullets that connected with Maril instantly disappeared, but not without hitting their targets. What Jacques saw wasn’t Maril’s illusion; the bullets penetrated her skin and even her head started bleeding from the first bullet. Yet, despite Jacques’s perfect aim, he did not consider that Maril could have someone assisting her from somewhere, much like Jacques was being assisted by Karkas.

Maril, disoriented and confused, suddenly disappeared, surprising both Jacques and Karkas. This was not something new for the Loup, however.

“Claire,” he whispered under his breath. There was no reply, only silence.

Jacques kept his revolver out, but after several tense minutes, he concluded that Claire and Maril already escaped. He twirled his gun and holstered it, all while rubbing the cut wound he sustained from the fight.

“What now?” asked Karkas.

“Now?” Jacques turned his attention to the town. “Now, we make good of our end of the bargain.”

***

If it wasn’t for Claire, Maril would’ve died. Jacques was far too formidable of an opponent for her, even after she managed to use a different form of illusion spell against him. She did not expect him to be there. The Fa’ar hoped that it was a coincidence as she was aware of him operating in the wastelands, not the seaside region. He must have a reason to be in such a bleak region.

All those could wait. Claire’s help was greatly appreciated, but even she knew it was for emergencies only. Being a Fa’ar with vulnerability to magic was detrimental for anyone who wanted to support them with magic. The teleportation magic Claire used was very useful in dangerous situations, but for a Fa’ar, it caused Maril to become violently sick. After Maril emerged from being teleported, she suddenly keeled over and threw up, feeling sick and disoriented.

“N-nice save,” said Maril.

“Don’t talk for now,” said Claire, helping the rat person sit. “Here. Get some water.”

Maril did not hesitate to drink the rest of the content of Claire’s water canteen. As she started to get her bearings back, she realized that Claire teleported her to one of the buildings she recognized on her way back to the town she built.

“You…followed me?”

“I followed the tracker in your satchel.” Claire extended her hand into Maril’s satchel to pull out a pin. “I put this on everyone so I can keep track of each of you. We’re still the hunted ones, remember? In any case, you’re lucky I happened to be following you. I was intrigued by how much you’ve started returning our Church back to normal, so I want to meet with you after deliberating for it. From my estimates, I was two hours away from you when my tracker indicated that you’re engaging someone.”

“And what an engagement that was,” said Maril with a dry chuckle. “And don’t bother checking the town. We lost it."

“What happened?”

“Jacq.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “Him? In the seaside region? Did he catch wind of your operations?”

“From the look of it, I don’t think he did, but I have a feeling that…he’s doing a job for someone else. He must’ve heard about the Church’s operation and decided to check. I think he never expected me to be the town’s leader.”

“Who? Let me—”

“Don’t bother. It’s my fault,” said Maril. “I should’ve controlled my followers better. Many of them already voiced their displeasure on the way I ran things. I like it subdued and personal. They wanted it to be big. Guess being a part of a notoriously dangerous cult can make you too overconfident, huh?"

Claire was concerned with her friend’s decision to drop the matter, but she did not say anything more. The two of them knew, one way or another, that the rebuild cult would fail, whether it involved Jacques or not. Yet, the fact that Jacques was there only complicated matters. There was a reason why only Claire and Maril were concerned with his exploits compared to the others, who dismissed Jacques.

The three of them were once friends, after all, before their paths diverged. They knew each other’s weaknesses, and they knew each other’s strong points. Unlike Claire and Maril, Jacques was vengeful, and he would not rest until he hunted down everyone who were once members of Nihilo. They would meet again, sooner or later.

     "Should've just let broken things be," said Claire with a sigh. "Reviving the Nihilo name is a bad idea."

     "No, I think it serves its purpose," said Maril. "We may have lost much, but it doesn't matter, anyway."

     "Well, it matters to me, and for those who still believes in the cause."

     "I'll break the news to them. I will damage my credibility, but in their eyes, I have no credibility, anyway."

As Maril got herself comfortable, Claire said, “Have you sent a message to them?”

“To Nuremnia? I did,” said Maril. “Though it might be a while before they are able to act. We don’t have any more allies there to tell them, so one of mine volunteered. He’s a human, so he won’t be as affected by the Aether.”

Claire sighed in relief. "Then, our only problem is to explain the situation with the others, and what we are going to do about Jacq. I guess your risky gambit paid off."

“Hey. I don’t go risking my life going to the seaside region without doing something important for once. The Maker created me for a purpose, and I’d do it….”

Maril trailed off, though Claire did not catch that last part. She simply commended the rat person and told her to rest while she called the rest of them to talk about Jacques.

The Fa’ar became contemplative ever since she realized what she had done. She had a purpose given to her ever since her ancestors walked the face of the world. She simply followed the same order from her Makers and found that the Church of Nihilo was a great place to gain influence to make sure it was done.

While Nihilo’s grand order was to bring the end to the illusionary, broken world, Maril was more realistic. It was never an illusion. It was caused by a war long before her time, in the time of her ancestors. Her Makers were the enemy of the world, and the world almost won. Her Makers made sure they would not go down without dragging the rest of the world with them. They managed to do so, destroying what’s left of the world in the process.

Maril never thought of anything as an illusion, which was ironic, given her preferred method of combat. Thus, when she sent the man to cross the sea towards Nuremnia, she started to wonder if that was the right call, or even if Nihilo was the right way to go. She wanted to be proven wrong, so she would be glad if she found someone who might change her mind.

Jacques couldn’t give her that. Claire was too onboard with her plan and showing any signs of hesitation could end badly for them. Her own people, the Fa’ars, would not give her what she needed.

So, instead of thinking about it, Maril simply rested, preparing herself for the inevitable rematch against Jacques. It wouldn’t matter if they won, or he won.

The world would still be there. A broken, bleak world where the strong survived and continue on, pointlessly surviving until the final end.

“Guess some of us are just impatient,” thought Maril as she closed her eyes to rest.