Capítulo 95: Violent Godnapping
When a huge number of her children had died in rapid succession, Petbe had immediately noticed. This wasn't a special ability that was exclusive to her, though. Rather, all gods could sense the demise of someone that they gave their Falna to. When that person's soul left their body, the Ichor that made up their Falna would soon follow suit. The energy contained within it would be returned to the world, whose laws would resonate, in turn informing the deity of their blessed one's death. Regular gods weren't too aware of the actual reasons behind this phenomenon or how it worked, it was only 'a gut feeling' to them.
Even when the first of her children had been slain, Petbe had already realized that something had to have gone horribly wrong. After a while, when the majority of the group that she had sent had been wiped out, the only thing that still gave her solace and hope was that Asim, along with some of his most trusted subordinates, was still alive. Whatever had happened, he had to have either gotten away or gotten captured. Especially the latter was a development that she wasn't keen to see, but it was still a lot better than his death. Should she manage to free him, then she wouldn't have to spend so much time and effort on raising another capable Executive like him.
Petbe was anything but an indecisive wallflower. Swiftly, she had ordered her men to both increase the defensive net around their mansion, as well as to search for whoever had messed up an operation that, for all intents and purposes, seemed to already have been in the bag.
'It's that bastard Vidar, isn't it!? He's been trying to hog my spotlight for so long!'
The Red Blade's local branch leader hadn't even entered her thoughts, as they were usually quite reclusive and even relatively 'docile'. Only Vidar liked to make trouble at every opportunity. Since their children weren't even that far apart in overall strength, he had been getting more and more uncontrollable recently.
Even though most of the Petbe Familia's manpower, led by the Vice-Captain, stayed back in Knossos to protect their main base of operations, two of the Executives and the Captain were sent to keep a close eye on the Vidar Familia's home, to look out for any unusual movements, and - if at all possible - to free Asim and his men.
Five more Executives, all at Level 4, went to the familia's mansion in Daedalus Street, to protect their goddess, just in case. Knossos was a fine hideout, but for a woman who liked luxury and splendour - and most of all, sunlight - it was a horrible place to be holed up in.
Hours after all of her troops had been rearranged, a shocking piece of news entered Petbe's ears.
"Lady Petbe, one of our members stationed at the outermost surveillance area has just reported that he has sighted our prime target, Isaac Blackshaw. He seems to be making his way directly towards this mansion."
Taken aback, the goddess' eyes widened. A moment later, she thought of a terrifying possibility and hastily addressed the messenger.
"What about the Loki Familia? Are they with him?"
"No, he is alone. We already sent more people to make sure, and aside from a rat observing from the distance, keeping an eye on him without his knowledge, there is nobody else."
A sigh of relief escaped Petbe's lip. For a moment, she had even contemplated fleeing her comfortable little nest. Still, if it was only Isaac alone, that didn't make too much sense. Had the Loki Familia been in the mix, then it would explain how her children could have failed so miserably, and how they could have been captured. But only Isaac? Unless they underestimated him…
Her expression suddenly darkened. Should this man of unfathomable potential really have advanced to Level 4 already, then it would be possible for him to overwhelm the group that she had sent out. After all, only Asim was a Level 4, while the rest were quite a bit weaker.
After thinking about it for a bit, a smug smile played across Petbe's lips.
'In any case, by coming here, he is only making my job easier. I have been asked to take care of him and his students, so that is exactly what I'll do.'
"Re, go and get Manu from the Knossos base! As for the rest of you, stall our target for as long as you can. Once Manu gets here, he will die without a doubt!"
Addressing one of the fastest of her present Executives, Petbe sent him to get her Vice-Captain. As a veteran Level 5, Manu shouldn't have any problems dealing with the talented young man. Keeping the, at most, Level 4 Isaac occupied shouldn't be too hard for the four Level 4 Executives remaining at her side. Even the weaker members could attack from a safe distance, to be of some minor assistance.
Jabari, a more than two meter tall hunk of a man with a bastard sword strapped to his back, stepped forward right after Re had left and bowed to his goddess, a passionate fire burning in his eyes.
"Do we have your permission to kill the Blackshaw kid before Manu arrives, Lady Petbe?"
With a pleased smile at his eagerness, Petbe nodded. She wasn't entirely confident in these four Executives, but she was certain that they could at least wound their target. Jabari was the one amongst them who was the closest to advancing to Level 5, so it was reasonable for him to be assured of his victory.
"It will take Manu about ten minutes to get here, so try your best!"
After encouraging her children, Petbe sent them away, only keeping one of her handmaidens by her side. Certain of her imminent victory, she allowed herself to relax on her comfortable throne and closed her eyes, intending to meditate a little until everything was resolved. She knew that a few of her children were bound to die soon, most likely sacrificed to buy time, and she didn't want to be mentally present to feel their passing - it was unpleasant, to say the least. Also, with a battle about to break out at her doorstep, it was bound to get a bit loud.
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At almost the same time, Isaac had already approached within fifty meters of the mansion. By now, no matter how labyrinthine this area's layout was, he could clearly see the building and its surrounding garden. In only a few steps, he would be able to reach the encompassing fence's only entrance.
All of a sudden, more than fifty people shot out of the manor's doors and windows, charging straight at him. From the surrounding rooftops, an equal number emerged as well. They kept a distance of a few meters between their group and Isaac, forcing him to stop in his tracks.
Seemingly surprised by the sudden crowd and a little panicked, he raised an eyebrow.
"So many!?"
The hint of fear in his voice made quite a few of the black robed assailants grin smugly underneath their veils, while the towering man at the back, the one seemingly in command, laughed derisively.
"You shouldn't have come here, kid! But now that you're already here, how about you stay forever?"
As if he had just heard something unexpected, Isaac's expression turned from one of slight fear into a troubled one. He shook his head and raised his hands in apology, clearly adopting a diplomatic approach.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm really not into men!"
The out-of-place words evoked chuckles from quite a few of the surrounding members of the Black Blade and served to incense their leader.
"Enough talking! All of you, kill him!!"
Jabari had originally intended to frighten his prey with numbers and to use the others to test Isaac's strength, before jumping in himself and finishing the intruder off. This plan hadn't changed now, but the implications behind Isaac's words had certainly not been welcome!
More than ten of the enemies began to chant, intending to attack Isaac with their magics safely from within the crowd. They were scattered amongst their comrades, bunched up in a few spots. Meanwhile, a group of more than ten surrounded him closely from all sides, intending to cut off all conceivable paths of escape before attacking him.
While outwardly, Isaac seemed to be in a bit of a pinch, that was all just a facade.
'Four Level 4's, 82 Level 3's and 13 Level 2's. For now, twelve have exposed themselves as mages. It's about what I expected.'
He had been keeping his Eyes of Hermes activated this entire time, so he was able to sense the flow and location of the mana of the Magics being casted, enabling him to more easily dodge or even interrupt them should the need arise. The latter would be more difficult and unnecessary, so he judged the former to be more than sufficient.
Keeping up a misleading, slightly overwhelmed front, he yet again entered a mental world of supreme focus, just like every time that he battled. His surrounding enemies were read like open books, and a nigh endless amount of potential paths to victory were calculated by him.
With a speed that was faster than his opponents had expected, Isaac disappeared from the spot that they had surrounded and unsheathed his sword, beheading four of them in a single motion. Only the fifth enemy that the strike had headed towards managed to block it - it was one of the Executives. He quickly realized that they couldn't take this battle as easy as they had hoped initially, as the sheer impact of Isaac's blow had forced him close to ten meters backwards.
"Jabari, help! He's too strong!"
Hearing his friend and rival's plea, the mountain of a man's expression darkened. He had already realized that Isaac's speed was only slightly slower than his own, so that meant that it would most likely be impossible for this group to kill him.
With a mighty swing of his bastard sword, Jabari forced Isaac to dodge backwards, before trying to motivate his allies.
"Don't fret, Manu will be here in another eight minutes! We just need to hold on until then."
Little did he know that his words had just significantly expedited his demise. With a calculative glint in his eyes, Isaac completely overhauled his plans on the spot. Before anyone could react, he kicked the four decapitated bodies towards the enemies. He had waited just long enough for the bombs next to their hearts to be on the verge of exploding. As he hadn't moved towards them or outside of the bombs' blast radii, nobody had attempted to get too close to him. It was clear that they had intended for him to take these post-death 'surprises' head on.
"Oh crap…"
Seeing their allies' bodies fly their way, the mages interrupted their chants in an effort to regain their mobility, but by then, it was already too late. Four deafening simultaneous explosions ripped their bodies apart and the shockwave hurled a few enemies that had stood too close to them into the distance.
The deaths of the mages and some of the others also activated their own implanted bombs, or what was left of them, causing a chain reaction. In a short few moments, many of the surrounding houses had been razed to the ground and a huge part of the garden had been turned into scorched earth. Thankfully, for her familia's safety, Petbe hadn't allowed anyone to settle too close to her residence, so the buildings all around were abandoned and only kept there for appearances. In essence, they were just a second 'fence' around her property.
A few of the black robed attackers had been knocked unconscious by the explosions, while some were badly wounded, but wide awake..
Their group had been reduced by about a fifth in a single move.
"This sneaky bastard…!"
Clenching his jaw, his eyes bloodshot, Jabari shot towards Isaac again, surrounded by his fellow Executives. He now realized that letting their weaker members test out this opponent had been a major mistake. He had basically given the enemy free explosive ammunition to use at their own discretion!
'That guy's really an idiot. Oh well, most madmen usually are. Only a few are the polar opposite.'
Implanting bombs in one's own troops would always be just as dangerous to oneself as it would be to one's enemy. It was a stupid move that left Isaac with nearly endless openings to exploit. Only if an opponent didn't know about the bombs or had no possible way to evade would they ever lead to a successful outcome.
After checking that some of the distant Petbe Familia members were indeed still alive and had just fainted, Isaac dropped his pressured expression. His face instantly returned to his real, nonchalant state.
With a simple swing of his sword, he pushed back three of the Executives and used the recoil from colliding with Jabari's weapon to gain some distance. While stretching himself in a relaxed manner, he loudly muttered.
"I only have a few minutes left, huh? Looks like I'm on the clock. Alright, playtime is over."
Eliminating all of these enemies wouldn't be a problem, even with his current stats. But due to their sheer number, he would cut it pretty close. After all, he still had a goddess to kidnap and riches to plunde--- ahem, to confiscate!
Without further ado, he updated his Status for the first time since he had reached Level 3.
[ Name: Isaac Blackshaw ]
[ Familia: Loki Familia ]
[ Affiliation: None ]
[ Race: God ]
[ Divinity: None ]
[ Arcanum: None ]
[ Level: 3 ]
[ Age: Unable to measure ]
[ Charisma: 34 ]
[ Divine Energy: 13546 -> 23271 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: I-0 -> SSS-1211 (11594 x 2.003) ]
[ Endurance: I-0 -> SSS-1205 (11570 x 2.003) ]
[ Dexterity: I-0 -> SSS-1222 (11638 x 2.003) ]
[ Agility: I-0 -> SSS-1208 (11582 x 2.003) ]
[ Magic: I-0 -> SSS-1217 (11618 x 2.003) ]
[ Magic ]
[ Anemoi Steps ]
[ Eyes of Hermes ]
[ Skills ]
[ Divine Being ]
[ Reverential Resonance ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Huntsman: F ]
[ Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment: G ]
[ Hunter: I -> H ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Archer, Experienced Hunter, Mage, Spirit Healing, Swordsman ]
From one moment to the next, his entire bearing changed. The all-too-familiar sensation of every single one of his stats nearly doubling filled him in his entirety, but he didn't get lost in that feeling or observe the changes too closely for now. Contrary to the last time, he was well prepared to control the vast increase in Divine Energy, so not a single bit leaked out.
Before any of his opponents had a chance to blink, he rushed past the Executives and into the midst of the small fry hiding further away. Like an unstoppable reaper, he anticipated all of their movements and beheaded them in rapid succession. Tens of bodies hit the floor almost simultaneously.
But that was not all. By the time that Isaac had dealt with the last conscious regular Blade member, he had 'coincidentally' ended up right next to the spot where he had slain the first one. Right before the body exploded, he touched it and stored it into his inventory.
While the horrified enemy Level 4's were looking on, all of their companions' bodies, besides a few that had fainted, disappeared into thin air. A field of heads was left behind, painting a ghastly image.
With an extremely benevolent smile, Isaac turned to face these last four enemies, causing them to take a few steps backward completely subconsciously.
Although he was utterly terrified, Jabari gritted his teeth and remembered his goddess' command - they had to keep this monster of a man here until reinforcements arrived! He had no idea what method Isaac had used to suddenly become as strong as an average Level 5 adventurer, but no matter how puzzled he was, it didn't matter!
"Everyone, follow my lead! We will injure and stall him, even if it's the last thing we do!"
The Executives' knees had been buckling in extreme fear, but Jabari's words caused them to recall their devotion to their mission, to their goddess. Even if they died, they would accomplish her will! Collectively, they activated the mechanisms next to their hearts, ready to go out with a literal bang. They were all well aware that even by doing this, they might not be able to slow him down. Still, they wouldn't go down without a fight, without trying their very hardest!
Nodding silently at the resolve now sparkling in his enemies' eyes, Isaac decided to give them a swift death. Well, he didn't really have to change his modus operandi at all.
Only Jabari could vaguely follow his movements with his eyes, but by mixing in feints, Isaac approached the group without anyone being able to react. It took him only two swings of his sword to behead all of them, and less than a fraction of a second to store all of their bodies. Even though he respected their stalwart will, he wouldn't let such magnificent disposable grenades go. After shaking off the blood from his blade, he sheathed it, checked yet again that a handful of enemies had survived and only been knocked unconscious, then he entered the Petbe Familia's mansion through its front door.
It was decorated lavishly and there were many rooms. Still, throughout the fight, he had already used his Eyes of Hermes to check for any interesting or notable places that could be storing information. Of course, he had also found Petbe's exact location.
With about five minutes left, he rushed to a few rooms and stored all documents, books and somewhat special items that he could find. Oh, and a few expensive goods as well.
A vase made out of pure gold? Confiscated. A large mirror whose frame was encrusted with jewels? Confiscated. All the bags of valis that he could find, some even stored in hidden compartments? Confiscated. Elegant dresses made out of the most beautiful and exorbitant materials of the Lower World? Confiscated. Petbe's lingerie collection? Confiscated.
What? They were sure to be worth a pretty penny. Heck, maybe even some of his female associates would be happy about getting a chance to receive or buy these rare gems of the bedroom. And in the worst case scenario, he could just let them rot in his inventory until one of his friends or subordinates needed a present for a loved one that was similarly endowed as the still-meditating goddess.
Speaking of, why was she meditating? Oh well, Isaac couldn't be bothered about that. She was sure to have her reasons, but he really didn't care. By the time that he arrived right outside of her throne room, only three minutes were left. The only one by Petbe's side was a single black robed woman, who seemed to be Level 3 as well.
She shook her goddess awake and charged at him right as he entered, but she was dealt with in less than a fraction of a second. Disposable grenades plus one.
Seeing her very target appear right in front of her the moment that she opened her eyes, Petbe almost doubled over in shock. For a while, she didn't know how to react, and it was as if her mental faculties had been frozen.
Only after Isaac touched her golden throne and mumbled an "Excuse me", thereafter making it disappear into thin air, did she snap out of her daze. Luckily, right in time to break her fall and not land on her scantily clad rear.
"How are you here!? What happened to my children?"
She couldn't help but ask these questions, even though she already knew the answers to them. As expected, Isaac didn't even dignify her with a response. Instead, he stuffed a gag into her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue and searched her body for anything that could be used as a weapon. He only found a single dagger, which he promptly stored in his inventory. Then, while ignoring her pitiful attempts at clawing at his arms to break free, he took out some rope and bound the goddess tightly. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move at all by the time that he was done.
Without further ado, he slung her over his shoulder.
After a last search through the throne room and storing whatever valuables that he could find, he still had about one and a half minutes left to make his escape.
"Alright, it's time to go. It's a shame about the property, but I want to set the scene properly."
Chuckling at his coincidental rhyme, he sprinted out of the mansion. On his way, he left behind numerous of the close-to-exploding Petbe Familia members in various spots. Even outside of the building, he put them in specific places to both simulate a battlefield and erase some of the traces of his passing - the close to a hundred heads on the floor. He could have just added them to his inventory, but maybe, just maybe, that would have felt 'wrong' to him. A more likely reason was that he still wanted to leave a few traces of tissue, blood and bones behind, for realism's sake.
He had calculated everything and made sure that aside from making it seem like an intense battle had been fought here, leading to the death of all of the suicide bombers, the unconscious ones would be just outside of the various blast radii.
By the time he reached the rooftops about a hundred meters away, the mansion was finally swallowed by a chorus of magical explosions. Pleased with his own work, Isaac nodded to himself, then he signalled towards a green-cloaked figure just a short distance away. With the show over, he hurried off into the distance, followed closely by his invited audience.
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When Manu finally got close to the mansion's location, he heard muffled explosions in the distance. Soon, he was greeted by a trail of smoke, rising from the now barely recognizable remains of the building. He faltered in his steps and stared in shock at this place which he had considered to be a part of his home for the past tens of years. Very quickly, however, he managed to become clearheaded again.
"Quick, we have to check if Lady Petbe is okay!"
Manu was a man in his late thirties. Most of his frame was hidden underneath his robe, but it was clear to see that he wasn't especially tall. He had a bow slung over his shoulder, a quiver fastened to his back and two khopeshes sheathed at his hip. His looks underneath his uniform were extremely ordinary. Aside from his olive skin, he could easily pass as a random farmer. Sure, he was a little muscular, but most of the regular folk were. Only the higher ranks of society and some adventurers had the luxury of not having a low body fat percentage.
As he was too fast for Re to keep up with, Manu arrived at the smouldering ruins of the mansion first. When Re finally caught up, his Vice-Captain was exuding the strongest killing intent that he had ever experienced, causing him to freeze up in fright and stay silent. Only close to a minute later did the silence finally end, when Manu managed to calm down enough to speak. His voice was still trembling a little, though.
"Lady Petbe isn't here. She hasn't been killed, because our Falna is still intact, but she has been taken. Let's ask the survivors about what happened."
The two quickly determined which one of their incapacitated companions was in the best shape, and used a bucket of water to startle her awake. After listening to the fearful and confused woman's retelling of the events, they found out that there had only been one assailant, just as reported - Isaac. She had been knocked out early on, by an explosion, and the fighting had apparently lasted until just before Re managed to return with Manu.
At first, Manu had expected that maybe the Loki Familia had ambushed them, but that didn't seem to be the case. The combat power that his fellow Blade member had described Isaac to have would indeed be sufficient to eke out a close victory in about ten minutes, give or take. Or at least that was what Manu's mental simulations told him.
This realization just caused his expression to become progressively worse.
"What should we do now, Vice-Captain?"
Re's words forced Manu to calm his nerves. Finally, he released a conflicted sigh.
"We can't chase him, as we don't know where he went. We also can't attack the Loki Familia, as they would wipe us out in a heartbeat. I honestly don't know what to do. Let me find Mosi, explain the situation to him and let him decide. You stay back and tend to the wounded."
In the end, the only thing Manu could come up with was to transfer this burden to his Captain.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Shiro_the_Hero
Shiro_the_Hero What can I say? Things escalated quickly... Also, admit it. Most of you would have also taken the lingerie! xD
Although it was over pretty quickly, I hope that you still enjoyed it, everyone! \o/
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This is the last chapter of the year... and I'd say it ended with a bang (in more ways than one) :D I had been looking forward to writing this one for a long time now, and even more reveals and developments are yet to come. All of them have been hinted at, of course~
I wonder how many of you will have noticed the signs by the time that they will occur...? ;)
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Check out my novel series "Reincarnation Cycle's Unfortunate Bug" on Amazon:
-> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYHGRR8M/ <-
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sh1ro
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Shameless self-promotion aside, I hope you have a wonderful, fantastic day!! o/
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