Chapitre 51: Some Measure Of Payback

With powerful stomps, Nyx struck the Shadow Vyker only for him to dissolve into dark mist to avoid all attacks. He solidified a second later and swung his sword at Nyx's head but, with speed that surpassed what the Vyker was capable of or expected, Nyx moved out of the way and struck his side with her head.

*Bam!*

The hit caught the Vyker before he had the chance to again dissolve into dark mist and had him sailing many feet away. By the time he landed on his feet, Henry had his Repeater pointed and fired multiple shots.

With an impressive presence of mind and a reaction guided by sharp reflexes, the Shadow Vyker leaned to the side and dodged most of the bullets striking toward him before swinging his sword at an incredible speed to deflect the rest.

When the Vyker eventually stopped moving, Henry got a better look at the sword in his hand. The blade looked like steel but there was a shine to it, a luminescent glow that gave it a special feel.

There were symbols etched across the blade and the hilt was made with dark iron wrought with silver studs. It was an impressive-looking weapon which, according to the brand still shining in Henry's palm, was one of Elminster's 'lost' products.

Of course, Henry was well aware that there was no way he could get the sword out of the Vyker's hand before first killing him so he put the matter of retrieving the sword for Elminster aside for now.

"That gun," the Shadow Vyker said with a head gesture at 'The Hydra's Sting',

"Let me guess, YOU killed Rena."

Henry said nothing.

A magical blue glow shone across his Repeater's barrel, refilling it with bullets.

Th Vyker took Henry's silence for an answer and let out a dark chuckle before glancing at Nyx who was scratching the ground with one of her front hoofs while glaring hard at him like she was preparing to charge again.

"Two against one?" He asked and then cocked his head to the side as a dark mist began to rise all around his body, shrouding him until only his eyes were glowing with an almost Eldritch dark blue,

"I'm fine with those odds."

The Vyker held his sword hilt in front of his face with the blade pointed at the ground and vanished. When he appeared two seconds later, he had closed the distance between him and Henry.

Henry wasn't able to raise his gun and shoot on time. The Vyker's agility was far higher than his own and that dark shroud around his body took it an extra step further.

The sword was swinging in a horizontal arch toward Henry's midsection when Nyx grabbed Henry's shirt with her teeth and yanked him out of the way just in time.

The Vyker let out a snort as his sword struck air at the spot Henry had been only a second ago so he twisted gracefully, turned his sword, and stabbed into Nyx's neck instead.

"No!" Henry cried out. He heard the sound of her pained whines before he received the alert from the system.

[Nyx has lost 20 Hit Points]

[Nyx's Hit Points: 60/80]

The Shadow Vyker grinned at his successful strike. He pulled his sword out of Nyx's neck, expecting blood to flow out uncontrollably until she bled to death.

His grin froze and slipped slightly when he saw the wound, gapping in Nyx's neck for sure, but it seemed to have clotted already.

No massive blood loss. No signs of impending death. Just a hurt and very angry horse.

With an aggressive swing of her neck, Nyx struck the Vyker and sent him striking into the wall that surrounded the Hadron Mansion with an impact that forced him to arch his back with his eyes bugging in pain.

"What— what are you?" He asked, confused, with his eyes glaring at Nyx as he slid to the ground.

Henry understood his confusion.

Hit points were how the System calculated the damage Henry suffered so while this meant he could essentially be punched to death as long as his Hit points hit 0, it also meant, that things like blood loss were useless against him. At least, so far.

Henry understood that this was why his wound was already clotted and 'healing' by the time he got to Yelena after the Train job and every time since.

The same was the case for Nyx because she was his tamed Horse and had gained access to her very own Status screen.

All that being said, Henry was not foolish enough to let himself be lost in his thoughts. The moment the Shadow Vyker was in place, he pointed 'The Hydra's Sting' and fired.

[-20 Mana Points]

For a second, right before the bullet left his gun, Henry saw the Shadow Vyker smirk and then freeze. Confused, Henry watched the bullet strike his target only for the target to dissolve into a dark mist. A mirage.

As the bullet he fired hit the wall around the mansion and sizzled as it melted the stones, Henry's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

His instincts warned him of what was coming but it was already too late.

The Shadow Vyker appeared behind him and before Henry could even think to react, a sword stabbed his back and stuck out of his chest.

"Ack!" Henry let out as blood pooled in his mouth.

…

While Henry and Nyx fought against the Shadow Vyker, Triss stirred on the ground she had fallen on, hard.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

She had managed to leap off her crippled horse quickly enough to avoid getting crushed under its weight. She assumed the others managed to do the same but her attention was not on them.

She glanced over at Henry and his battle just in time to watch Nyx slam the Shadow Vyker and send him flying into the wall.

She was awed by the Horse's strength but kept her eyes roaming until they fell on the Flame Vyker a few feet away from her. The same Flame Vyker who had blocked all their bullets with a Field of fire around his body.

The only bullet that had managed to get through that Flame field and successfully hit the Vyker's body had been Henry's and was currently the source of the Vyker's distress.

"Nghhh!" The Vyker groaned as he raised his arm. Henry's Acidic bullet, although slightly neutralized, had managed to hit his shoulder and its corrosiveness had spread all over his arm. Purple and sickly veins were now all over the affected arm and pulsing harder by the second.

The Vyker focused its magical fire on the bullet wound. For one minute already, he had been burning it furiously to stop the spread of the acid.

He succeeded in slowing down the spread and he might have succeeded in cauterizing the wound by essentially burning away a sizable portion of that body part but Triss had no intention of letting that happen.

When she looked at the Vyker, she saw Urn. The Vyker who had struck her against the ground multiple times and burned her face. A Vyker she had not had the opportunity to kill by herself and payback for what he did to her.

She raised her rifle and cocked it before closing one eye to look down the barrel. Henry's shot had given her an opportunity. The Vyker was too busy to keep up his Flame field.

Now was her chance. Maybe her only one.

*Bang!*

With a muzzle flash, the bullet left the gun.

The Vyker's impressive danger instincts were sharp enough to warn him of the coming shot. In fact, he managed to look over at Triss after the shot was fired but all that did was center his head for the bullet to strike his forehead with precision.

His arms dropped as his eyes went lifeless. His flames died and the acidic spread resumed in full force as he keeled over backward to fall to the ground with a deep and final *Thud*.

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