Bab 300: 296: A Plague of Phantoms: Incomplete Angels II
"Wait…why did all those Nephil-freaks come after the old man and I instead of you two…we're both Normies." Anders asked. Turak'Kahn frowned and nodded slowly and contemplative.
"Yes, that is a good question..." Turak'Kahn said. I felt anxious as Turak'Kahn's eyes swept over me.
'I hope the reason isn't what I think it is…' I thought, when Anders suddenly pointed at my ring.
"That thing give off magic? When you use it to talk?" Anders asked. I looked down at my manacite ring that Starlight gave me and had a quick thought.
"It's actually made of solid mana…which could be what attracted the bloody things." I said quickly. Turak'Kahn looked down at his manacite ring and frowned.
"But I have one of those as well and I'm a splicer that actually has mana… you'd think I'd be a better target." Turak'Kahn said.
[You also had me with you, Master.] Delphinium spoke up. Hearing the evo's voice in my head was a little weird. [You were probably seen as a much harder target for these evos since you had me for protection.]
"That's probably true." Turak'Kahn said then sighed. "We'll need to come up with a countermeasure against whatever was used against us."
"Unless one of ya got mana-nana manipulation, I don't see that happening." I said with a sigh.
"That mana manipulation spell that Chase knows…oh that's right, it prevents enchantment and utility spells from affecting the person that are under it's effect. The problem is that you need a lot of mana in order cast the initial spell and it prevents the caster from learning new spells. Not a downside in Chase's case since he can read the runic language."
"Gods so I really lucked out on not getting Stranded with the new bossman." Anders said.
I should have felt a little insulted by that remark, considering that I killed all of the Nephilguize that attacked us but he was right. In the current situation it was safer to be with Chase. Especially with his evos.
"Generally it is safer to be with Chase, yes. Though that safety has a cost." Turak'Kahn said. Anders looked at the ruler and arched a brow.
"A cost? We have to pay him?" Anders asked.
"He don't mean money laddie." I said softly. Delphinium's ears twitched and she suddenly spun around and growled towards the end of the hallway.
[Master, something is coming!] Delphinium exclaimed.
I turned down the hallway Delphinium was looking down and saw a faint figure coming around the corner. I hefted my axe onto my shoulder with one hand and pointed the shotgun down the hall with my other hand. Anders pointed his Thompson MK.4S down the hallway too.
The figure stopped and looked our direction, noticing us. Anders fired his Thompson MK.4S at the figure, I knew at that distance there wasn't a chance the lad would hit it and all he did was alert it.
The figure dashed back around the corner, which were a bit odd since the Nephilguize seemed ta prefer bomb rushing our little group as opposed ta using cover.
[Seamus! Was that Anders shooting just now?] Reagan's voice rang inside my head thanks to the manacite communication ring. I held a hand up to stop Anders from firing then replied.
[Reagan? Was that you that nearly got yer arm blown off?] I asked.
[No but he was with me.] Reagan replied. [Please tell Anders to not shoot me.]
"What's up Seamus?" Anders asked.
"Reagan's talking to me through the rings. He said that figure we saw was with him." I summarized. Anders looked excited as did Turak'Kahn. A moment later another figure poked his head around the corner.
"DON'T SHOOT!" Reagan yelled at us. I felt a wave of relief when I heard Reagan's voice. The figure of the man came out from around the corner with two other figures that were very different in stature. Thankfully different enough that I could tell they weren't Nephilguize but neither of them definitely weren't Bo.
"REAGAN! YOU DUMB ASSHOLE! WHERE'D YOU GO OFF TOO?!" Anders yelled and lowered his gun.
"INTO A SHITSHOW!" Reagan replied and started walking towards us. It wasn't until he was close enough that I could make out his finer details that I lessened my grip on me axe. It really was Reagan and Gargesh was right behind him, however I didn't see Bo with him and the strange evo beside him was not one of Bo's.
"Where's my nephew?" Turak'Kahn asked almost immediately. Reagan eyed the strange evo and nodded with his head.
"That's him…kinda…he…fused? With that little rat." Reagan answered. The strange creature eyed Reagan with a incredulous look.
"Little rat? Would you kindly not refer one of my exalted bases as a mere rat. He is a true transcended form evo after all." The fusion of Bo and Gadget chided. Reagan rolled his eyes while Turak'Kahn looked intrigued and concerned at the same time. "Sylvester Arsaine, the crystal phantom, at your service."
"Sylvester Arsaine? Fused through that dagger Starlight gave ya?" I asked. Reagan shook his head and reached into his pocket and pulled out a manacite dagger.
"No, Bo dropped this. They fused some other way." Reagan said.
"Bio genesis." Gargesh spoke up. "Boss and little Boss fused when little boss got bigger."
"Say what?" Anders asked.
"Don't worry about it." I quickly said, realizing what the Orkand had meant.
'The little laddie's evo has another way to fuse. Might have ta do with that ritual that changed Gadget…' I thought then looked down the hallway the trio had come from.
"Did ya boys come from that way?" I asked. Sylvester Arsaine looked back then nodded at me.
"Yes…though the path we took to get here is a bit of a maze. If you wish to head back the way we came then you might have some trouble…unless…" Sylvester Arsaine said then paused and looked away almost teasingly before raising a hand towards the light. A thin line glinted briefly in the light. "…unless a extraordinarily bright individual had the foresight to leave a trail back."
With a slight tug of his finger the line tightened and a crystal string shined brightly down the hall from his finger and disappeared around the corner. Reagan groaned and shook his head.
"Toot your own horn some other time little rat." Reagan said, much to the fusion's dismay.
"Lead the way. Back to the stairwell ya found." I said urgently. Sylvester Arsaine turned and bowed his head slightly.
"Certainly Sir. Just this way…" He said then started down the hallway. I followed after him and heard multiple footsteps following behind me. A quick glance over me shoulder and I saw Reagan, Anders, Turak'Kahn, Delphinium, and Gargesh all following behind me.
Our group followed Sylvester Arsaine for about fifteen minutes. Taking turn after turn in the hallway, the only thing that kept me from being suspicious of the fusion was the lack of reaction from Gargesh and Delphinium. However in that entire time I didn't think we were getting any closer ta this stairwell Reagan mentioned earlier.
"How much further?" Anders asked. His voice was thick with suspicion.
"Not far, another five minutes and we'll get there." Sylvester Arsaine replied.
"What's so important about a stairwell anyway?" Reagan asked.
"Probably everything…or nothing. Depends on what I see laddie." I replied then glanced down a empty hallway that's we passed. The dozen or so identical one I'd seen. "Hoping fer the latter."
"That sounds very ominous." Turak'Kahn said. I shrugged and glanced back at the Pharaoh.
"That tends ta be the case when dealing with the ancients. Either very ominous or broke down shite." I replied then crossed my arms. "If yer really unlucky ya get a combination of the two."
"What typically happens in such cases?" Turak'Kahn asked.
"Pray fer a miracle or make peace with yer gods." I replied.
"Why do I get the feeling we're in one of those freaky combination situations?" Reagan asked.
"Cuz ya got more sense and than the gods gave a flea." I said with a chuckle.
"What's going on Seamus?" Turak'Kahn asked. I shook my head.
"Can't be sure until we get ta the stairwell." I said.
"How about we move the conversation away from all this doom and gloom talk." Anders spoke up suddenly. I shrugged and looked back at Reagan and Anders.
"Then I guess we can talk about yer old teammates, Reagan." I offered. Reagan frowned and shook his head.
"How is that a better topic?" He asked.
"It's not doom and gloom like the laddie put it." I replied. Reagan snorted a chuckle and shook his head.
"More doom and gloom with that group than with our current situation." He replied, Anders groaned in agreement.
"Geez, with Cross alone you could write a full Greek tragedy." Anders said.
"Cross…that overly hateful lieutenant at Chase's brother's side?" Turak'Kahn asked.
"Downright demonic is a better description of him!" Reagan growled. "His hatred of splicers goes well beyond normal. It's a fucking obsession!"
"We'll its Bo's opinion that it's an obsession with all Americans." Sylvester Arsaine said.
"We'll he's right…in a way. For centuries hating splicers was patriotic. Being seen acting nice to a splicer was a good way to get yourself ostracized or killed. Despite that level of fervor I don't know anyone that takes it to heart more than Cross." Reagan said.
"That's for sure…I doubt any person with half a heart could do what he did." Anders said.
"What did he do?" Turak'Kahn asked. Reagan and Anders were silent for several moments before Reagan finally answered.
"He used to be married...really beautiful woman too. She was the reason he joined the Border Guard or so he says. A couple months after they got married and he was deployed to the border she found out she was pregnant. Pregnancy went along fine and he was given leave to witness the birth of his child. He had a son…a healthy splicer son. So he did what any good American would do…" Reagan stopped mid-sentence and Sylvester Arsaine looked back at him with a shocked expression.
"He didn't!" The fusion exclaimed. Reagan and Anders both nodded.
"He did…he gutted his own child, right in front of his wife. Tore the poor baby open with a scalpel…!" Anders growled.
Everyone halted, Sylvester Arsaine turned ta look at the two former soldiers while Turak'Kahn and the evos stood with their mouth to the floor. I stopped as well though I had already heard this.
"His wife did nothing!" Turak'Kahn exclaimed. Reagan shook his head.
"I heard she simply promised him the next child would be perfect." Reagan said.
"But the next child was a splicer as well…" Anders said.
"As was the next child and the next." Reagan added. "Each meeting a worse end the one before them. It was a thing of pride for the fucker. How he mercilessly killed the enemies of America, born from his blood."
"Until he finally reasoned the true enemy was his wife, who kept giving him splicer children. After the forth was born, he turned on her and killed her with the same blade he'd just killed their child with." Anders said with a shake of his head.
"How the fuck is that psychopath not in jail or dead!" Turak'Kahn snapped.
"Laws are different in America. She'd given birth to four splicers…her husband could do whatever he wanted for 'tainting his bloodline'." Reagan replied putting air quotes around the last part.
"That country makes no sense." Turak'Kahn grumbled.
"Why do you think we're trying so hard to leave?" Reagan asked sarcastically. Sylvester Arsaine turned around and shook his head.
"We're nearly there…let us keep going." Sylvester Arsaine said.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn Evo Fact: Gadget's type name is no longer Restskill in his transcended form. It is now renamed the Bestskill when transcended and Jack-of-all-skills in his true transcended form. Both names were coined by Bo. Gadget is also reclassified as a entirely new kind of evo thanks to Bo spliting his farm crystal and using it as his mana crystal core.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone