Chapitre 63: Chapter 51: A Mottes Machinations
Flame spewed from my mouth like molten vomit, burning my skin and throat in the excruciating process. I fell to the ground, plunging my hand into the mud while heaving out draconic spew.
Dammit!
The elemental lightning was slowly fizzling through my armor and seeping into my body. Riders' boon grating strength and speed seemed to be drawing out dormant traits that I didn't believe I could possess.
"They're coming!"
As I looked at the armor piercing crossbow bolt that I caught in my left hand, I noticed it had been twisted and reformed with the ridges of my fingers and black pigmentation on the inside of my hand was quickly spreading.
"Ota! If they- GAHHH ARGH!"
"I know!"
Whatever the other Dragons did to disguise themselves, I needed to figure it out now.
What the hell is this?!
My braces snapped off and my recall ring struggled to rapidly adjust as my arms expanded and transformed. I felt a weaker pressure push against my boots and coat before simmering back down to my muscles.
"What are you waiting for! KILL THEM!"
A deep masculine voice rang out, barking orders at the scouts that had grouped up ready to attack from atop a building across the cobblestone street. He was not alone, nor did he have any agency outside of his voice, as his whole body had been wrapped in thread.
Beside him, in another open cocoon of silk, his second in command, the lady in dress uniform with two sabers, however, she had been gagged. Marge sat on top of her, with her clawed feet resting on the scouts commander.
Their leaders had been captured.
Marge gave us a creepy wide smirk. No doubt she was able to help, probably the entire time, but she chose not to.
Her lack of assistance led me to believe that she was an untrustworthy individual, up to her own schemes, like Enda. In the reflection of Ota's halberd, I saw my own eyes find equilibrium by overthrowing the draconic yellow with a mixture of aqua and white.
"Touji?"
"I- ARGH! -shouldn't have thrown it!"
Without a funnel to expel its power, the lightning hand seeped into my body. This time, it wasn't oil and water failing to mix, I had become a cup overflowing without a straw.
"Grab onto this!"
In a stroke of genius, Ota presented the tip of her halberd to me. Specifically, the point of the polearm. Any other blacksmith may have forged a tip like this to deflect magic, whereas Rider would always put in the extra work to make something special.
With a discharge bright enough to bring the charging pack of scouts to a halt, I had transferred enough energy to cause Ota's halberd to light up. From the reinforced shaft, to the half-moon blade and sharpened point, small symbols dictating power came to life.
"'Crescent Cutter'..."
Probably one of the 'old' pieces Rider left buried under her workshop.
Ota pulled me up again after admiring her weapon. My hands were no longer human, they had become tools of the Elder Dragons. Black clawed monstrous gauntlets of hardened scales, tougher than a High-Drakes claws, yet smaller and faster.
"Thanks"
"We're in this together"
She offered me the halberd to use, but I declined. To deprive her of offensive capabilities would be a mistake I refused to make twice in one night. Although I appreciated her humor, even if it was her only way to cope with what happened only a few minutes prior.
We all have our own way of dealing with pain and humiliation.
"MORONS! THEY'RE CHILDREN PLAYING WITH SILVERWARE! KILL THEM!"
Their commander was quickly gagged by Marge in a questionable manner followed by a kiss on his cheek. His face flushed red with anger but no amount of squirming would break him out of the shimmering prison alongside his second in command.
My Relic was still nowhere to be seen. All I could do was assume that it had gotten stuck somewhere. Magic and black dragon claws would have to do for now. At least Sister Naji taught me a bit of hand to hand combat.
"Ota?"
"Bridge?"
"Yep"
We set off, leaving the muddy road, and down the cobblestone highway, Scouts in hot pursuit. As we passed Riders' burned down workshop to our left, we both started casting different magic in our wake.
Ota conjured as much water as she could, splashed on the coarse stones beneath our feet from her free hand. Unlike last time, it was no mere Stream, no, her spell burst forth as a bubbling brook, spreading across the entire street.
"Woah!"
"Keep running!"
In my left hand, a Vortex, spinning shockingly fast, sucking in and fusing with the spell from my right, Sparks. Instead of using my index and middle finger to cast the small flame, I used my ring finger over my pointer to set up one hell of an experiment.
The way I had been taught magic theory by Enda was to think of the early levels of magic as a math problem. 'Two' by itself was beginner, 'two plus one' could be adept, and 'two times two' was advanced. Singular, with parameters and then, combined.
So what would happen if I forced a new formula?
"Get ready to attack. We'll charge after my spell, but keep your eye out in case one of em' ran off to grab a crossbow"
"Don't worry about me"
Ota's armet shifted to an angular design, almost reminding me of one of Merrah's hunting hats, with space to see from under the beak-like cap. Any arrow or bolt would be guided down either side of her head thanks to the change.
"Like sword and shield at my side, let fire and lightning be my guide, as gods and mortals turn to hide,-"
Ten Scouts closed in on our position. As they passed the ruins of Rider's workshop, I spun around and launched my ball of compressed fire and air straight into the middle of the pack. The timing would be tight.
From their point of view they must have thought it was some kind of weak fireball flung by two fingers.
Just as it left my hands, I braced my right arm and finished speaking the next spell.
Something Rider made sure I memorized on the long boat trip here.
"-let this signal turn the tide! Firecrack!"
At my mentor's suggestion, I shouted the last line while jumping.
The recoil of my spell pushed me back as a streak of purple reached out to my flying fiery Vortex. It made contact as it passed through the middle of the group that easily dodged the attack.
With a deafening clap of thunder, the ball of fire held together with spinning air expanded before imploding and knocking each of them down in different directions relative to the position of my spell. It may not have not much physical pain, but it didn't need to.
They had been stunned by the knockdown and mighty bang of three spells colliding.
Pushback from casting Firecrack had me land on all fours. At the edge of the large bridge that separated nation and kingdom, I dug my hands into the road, breaking the weathered stone, and imitated a take-off Rider used to rush into battle last winter.
Out of the corner of my eye, a tiny white and red streak leapt across the river within the spam of a millisecond, hardly enough time to deduce who it was without knowing them firsthand.
Nine, Ten.
Kicking off at a speed that would raise Arisu's eyebrows, Ota and I each prioritized different targets recovered first.
One of the few female Scouts tried to stand up and mount a defense only to be knocked out by a single strong right hand strike across the jaw. Surprisingly, I didn't feel her emotions on contact. It appeared that my arms had become natural gauntlets of dragon scale.
A second later Ota arrived, chopping another Scouts shoulder wide open straight down to his heart. His blood mixed with the water under her sabatons.
"Marita!"
Wild strikes without rime or reason from behind. Not even wielding the intent to kill, only acting in shock and confusion, trying to get to reach his unconscious companion.
I sensed no danger, yet it was clearly present.
Narrowly dodging his attacks, I jumped backwards over his head, grabbing and snapping it as I landed.
That's Eleven.
His death would serve as a reminder not to over rely on my ability to sense life-threatening danger or malice.
Ota was having a far easier, albeit, far more deadly and emotional time. Three tried to swipe, stab and slash to no avail as her armor did its job, nullifying their attacks.
Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen.
She impaled the first up through his chin with the tip of her Halberd, grunting as she then swung to the left and caught another with its beak in the chest. Both then fizzled as lightning cooked their insides.
Without a hint of fear, she let go of her weapon to grab the last assailant and threw him over her shoulder. Ripping his blade away and pinning him down, she half-sworded his weapon and struck through his chest five times, yelling as she did it.
He died after the second stab pierced his heart, but she didn't care.
The Oni wanted revenge for the degradation she was put through. For the second time in her life she had been seen as nothing more than a sex object, not to be cradled and loved, but forcefully taken advantage of.
In her own way, she was fighting back against her feeling of hopelessness after the first assault at the same time, a fantasy she was never able to fulfil.
"ENOUGH! STAND DOWN MEN!"
Marge had set their leaders free, but was nowhere to be seen. Both of them rubbed their wrists and jaw, no doubt recovering from their capture. Unlike his compatriot, the strong middle aged man sporting a brown bushy mustache and chops did not wield weapons.
"You two, face us!"
Ota stood up, disrespecting the corpse underneath her by stepping on his masked face and took up position next to me. As I looked around, each of the Scouts scrambled away, some not even bothering to pick up their weapons.
Their anguish was drawn to the high ranking man unbuttoning his dress shirt.
"What is this?"
"That harlot offered us a deal, your lives for the freedom of my men"
My Yokai companion flinched and stepped forward, only stopping when my arm blocked her path. I shook my head and she nodded in tow.
Deception barely pierced the veil surrounding this man. A partial lie to a whole truth. Freedom would be given if they beat us, but not if we were killed. However, that wouldn't stop them from trying to put us into a coma.
"You're challenging us to a duel?"
"Man to boy, failure of an Aux, to lonely wine demon"
The Eternal Empire spread fast over territories due to how they capture and enslave the defeated. A mostly human nation that looked down upon their non-human citizens. Those that submit and join their merry band of beaten brethren are labeled 'Aux'.
As in, auxiliary, lesser citizens that must earn their freedom through combat.
Whoever this man was, it was certain his style of leadership was enforced through his own bloodied hands.
"Captain, this young man is her apprentice"
"I'm aware of who they are, Second Lieutenant Thalia. I know where he sleeps, his foster mother and his High-Drake mentor. He is still just a boy suckling to the teat of his master, unable to stand on his own merit. You were raised here, were you not?"
He signaled to the remaining Scouts to pick up the dead, aid the unconscious and help the injured. Those that still had their battered weapons dropped them and moved around us, avoiding getting close sensing how much bloodlust was emanating from Ota.
"Rider taught me almost everything I know in that building behind us, the one Lord Holgata burned down"
"And the weapon that demon is wielding?"
"Are you senile or stupid? I'm an Oni!"
"I know who you are Otoh-"
"OTA! O-T-A YOU BRAINDEAD CU-"
*Thump-Thump*
Shining brightly under the dull light of a lidless white eye, another silver crossbow bolt straight for my head. My hand did not budge as I caught it, leaving a small cut against my forehead.
When the world returned to its normal speed Ota grunted, almost falling down.
A bolt hit her square in the chest.
I would have lost it there and then had she not grabbed it with her left hand and started to tug on it, pulling it out, inch by inch. Blood leaked from her lip as her single fang drew as well as the small hole in the middle of her breastplate.
Screaming and a thud snatched peeled my attention away from Ota's defiance and towards two nearby rooftops. A single head bounced off the clay tiles that lined the top of an old used equipment shop that sat on the corner of my street. Soon after a body joined it too.
Across the street, above another building, a Scout had shouted in fear as Marge landed on top of him, tearing off his uniform, then his skin, dragging him away from view.
The last thing we heard was the blood curdling screams for help being ever restrained by a pool of their own fluid.
Nobody moved or said a single word until the Motte jumped down, carrying a dead body without skin on its face over her shoulder. She walked up to us while picking out the corpse's eye and swallowing it whole, slurping down the optic nerve.
Her pale skin, long white hair and faded light green highlights shined brightly against the contrast of blood that smeared her face and lips.
"Were the rules not simple enough for you Captain?"
"I- I didn't order-"
"Shusssh"
Every step she took we heard the splash of water and hard chitin on stone. After her display, they all feared the ruthless woman.
Marge caressed the Captains face with her greyish hands, leaving a stroke of blood across the side of his face between his facial hair.
"Now their blood is on your hands"
"Wait!"
It was too late. Almost every single hooded Scout had their heads removed with the pull of her two free arms as thread ripped and tore through all but one foe that we had faced.
"If you dance with death, you do so at your own peril"
He fell to the ground, letting the water and blood soak into his boots as he stared at one body in particular. A woman, the one I had knocked out, Marita.
"And you..."
Taking one last strip of flesh from the body, Marge dropped the corpse and dawdled over to the saber wielding officer. Her hands trebled and sweat rolled down her cheek.
Without so much as a sign for protecting her own wellbeing, Marge gripped her smooth chin before forcing a deep kiss. She did not move or resist, nor did she invite the action. Tears swelled up on the sides of her eyes and ran down her face as it happened.
A mix of blood and saliva trailed from lip to lip as the Motte slowly distanced herself.
"Those that live by the sword, should not complain when it is turned against them"
"Monster"
The Captain could only mutter an insult from his disgusted throat.
"Oh Captain, was it not your order to set up a position in town knowing full well what Party protects it?"
"You're a Merchant! What the hell would you know!?"
"Marchant? We'll, I had to raise funds pay off a few depts and rejoin my Party"
Rejoin?
"But I guess I was expecting too much from a disgraced Colonel still holding onto the past"
"How did you-"
"Someone started that plague, and somebody gave you advice to stop it. Perhaps you don't recognize me"
"Shut up!"
"Uh uh ah! We wouldn't want to bury your daughter now would you?"
After checking Ota was alright, I walked over to the Scout I took down and cut the threads wrapped around her neck with the sharp tips of my fingers. If there was a price to pay for what had happened today, it was no longer her responsibility. Marge had already had her fun.
We were safe and alive, that's all that mattered, regardless of the shape that took.
"Speak plain! Who are you!"
"There are two people in the world that have overcome what all fear, the end of their own existence"
In the distance, a lone rider on a trotting armored Pegasus approached from the Manor side gate. She sat sideways on the saddle, maintaining a semi-transparent golden box above her left hand, storing my Relic in a holy prison.
Her golden hair was as long and radiant as the single beautiful black, white and gold robe she wore that exposed her bare legs. The spitting image of what a Goddess would look like in old tales.
"You're insane!"
"I am Grim, but you may use whatever name you like"
Marge Riper, AKA the Grim Reaper of legend, and the Fourth Horsemen Of The Apocalypse.
"And there she is, once again, to rain on my parade. Alameda"
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Aardartem
Aardartem :)
Might revise/update some older chapters when I get the chance. Oh, if you see new chapters called 'Enda's Archives', they're little bonus chapters that summarize things, like the accepted origins of magic, or what Touji was taught.
As always, more to come.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone