Chương 18: Trouble II

"Stop it right there!" the white cloak said as they chased the two of them

Brodin glanced back at them, "Damn." He said, "They're right on us."

They ran down the street, trying to head to the exit of the town.

Lucian skidded to a stop, "Oh boy." He said as in front of them, a group of armored men stood

They were holding large greatshields up, spears drawn.

Brodin stopped as well, "Curses." He said, "They brought a whole squad...?"

Lucian looked around and saw as the first group of soldiers reached them, "What? Do we fight?"

"I rather not start trouble with the Bronze Bulls..." Brodin said, "They're pestering sometimes."

The white-cloaked soldier drew his sword, a bronze colored gladius and pointed it at them, "Come quietly and you won't get hurt." He sad with a serious expression, "Brodin, Lucian...the two of you have been summoned by His Majesty."

"Shit." Brodin muttered, "What did I tell you about the Bull King?"

"He's going to use us as leverage, I suppose." Lucian said as Lucy flapped her wings on his shoulder, "How does he know about us anyways?"

"No clue." Brodin said, "But we can't let them take us to Minotaurus. I need to get home."

"Me too." Lucian said

Brodin opened his mouth but said nothing, he had stopped himself. He had already told Lucian that there was no way back home for a Traversed, but he didn't want to antagonize the Cursed One.

"If you resist, we'll hurt you." the white-cloak said, "You don't want that, do you?"

Lucian looked at the white-cloak, "Shut up." He said as he cracked his knuckles, "You want to threaten me? You can do better than that."

"Fine." the white-cloak said, "Seize them. Use force if necessary."

In a single second, the wall of shields and spears that were behind Brodin and Lucian took a step, and the sound of clanking metal resounded through the street.

"A phalanx." Brodin noted, "If they're magically enhanced shields, they'd be tough to penetrate..."

"Hm..." Lucian said as he placed his hand on his chin, "I wonder...."

"What?" Brodin said

Lucian then jumped in the air and reared his hand back, engulfing it in silver flames as he drove it straight down, punching the ground. The street shattered, flames erupting through the cracks as the ground beneath the phalanx imploded.

"What?!" the white-cloak shouted, "That bastard!"

Lucian straightened up as Lucy flew in the air, letting out a screech as she looked at the scattered soldiers. The attack only resulted in a seriously imploded street, but no major damage to the buildings, to Lucian's surprise.

To think that he was willing to risk the buildings showed the soldiers how reckless he was.

"That'll do it." Brodin said as he summoned what looked like a steel baton in his hand, "That's good control on your part, Lucian."

Lucian smirked, "You think so?"

The white-cloak soldier lunged, swinging his sword at Brodin who blocked it with his baton, a slight shockwave erupting. Brodin was able to instantly tell that the sword was enchanted as well.

"Enchantment Sorcery." Brodin noted, "A form of Alteration Sorcery, hm. Your Gladius adds an extra punch to its attacks."

"Quite perceptive." the soldier said as he pulled away, "I will bring you to His Majesty, no matter how bad I have to beat you down."

Brodin then swung his baton at the man's face, striking him with such speed that the man couldn't react. The blow rocked him off his feet, throwing him hard on the ground.

"Captain!" the other soldiers said

Brodin threw what looked like an grenade at them, forcing them to jump away as an explosion erupted.

"Shit..." Brodin said as he avoided a bit of shrapnel, "Can't risk the civilians. Lucian! Let's get them out of the Town."

"Oh, we sticking together?" Lucian asked

"For now." Brodin said

"Alright, allow me." Lucian said with a smirk, "Lucy!"

The wyvern swooped down as Lucian grabbed onto Brodin's arm

"What are you doing?!" Brodin exclaimed

"Watch." Lucian said

Lucy grabbed Lucian and flapped her wings, pulling the two of them off. Despite her small size as a baby wyvern, Lucy boasts incredible physical strength, being able to hold the weight of two grown adult men.

Lucy then flew them out to the outskirts of the town, away from the river, landing them on a small grassy field.

The soldiers had recovered from their blows and were running towards them in retaliation.

"Alright, we take them out of commission here and then leave." Brodin said as he summoned what looked like an assault rifle out of thin air

"What's your Sorcery?" Lucian asked as he cracked his knuckles, "You can just summon military weapons or something?"

"Don't worry about my power." Brodin said as he held a grenade, "Just worry about what's about to happen."

Brodin flung the grenade at the incoming soldiers, resulting in a small explosion. But the soldiers had already braced themselves with their enchanted great-shields, shielding themselves from the explosion.

"Huh." Brodin said as he aimed his rifle from the hip and pulled the trigger

The rifle fired off a volley of high-caliber lead bullets that glowed bright blue, almost like tracer rounds. The bullets pierced the shields and hit the men through their armor, dropping them like nothing.

Lucian took a step forward as more pushed through the fallen line of their comrades, "Okay then." He said as he summoned flames, "Here we g-"

He felt a strange presence in the air and narrowed his eyes. It felt like something was around them, in front of the soldiers.

Brodin felt it too, widening his eyes, "Another one?!"

Suddenly, they watched as the soldier's bodies exploded with blood, being completely shredded as a deep growl was heard in the air.

Lucian's skin crawled, unsettled by what had happened.

The white cloak reached the location, seeing what had happened to his comrades, "W-What?"

Suddenly, from thin air, a massive monster revealed itself.

"An Oni." Brodin said as he took a step back and summoned a large revolver in his hand, "This isn't good."

This Oni had pale skin as well, but instead of being nearly naked and wearing a loin-cloth, he had fur clothing and steel-plated armor on its shoulders. It also had a bright red Hannya mask as it released steam from underneath it. Thin black hairs sprouted from it's dome, several scars were visibly.

Unlike the first Oni they had just encountered, Brodin saw that this one had two massive serrated cleavers on each of its bulky hands. Its hands were also covered in scars, one of them was missing a finger or two.

"I don't know why, I feel like this one is stronger than the first one we fought," Lucian said

"It is." Brodin said, "Valkren granted the Oni the ability to cast invisibility on themselves, an Illusion Sorcery that they use to sneak around. Their vicious nature combined with their ability to be elusive at times makes them incredibly dangerous vanguard soldiers."

The Oni suddenly swung its cleavers down on the ground, creating a vicious shockwave that hit the both of them.

Lucian was staggered, "Shit." He said, "If what you say is true, about these things, then that must be that this Valkren guy is really looking for Calamities."

"Not really Valkren, but his General." Brodin said as he straightened up, "But yes, that's the whole deal. Your power is attracting the Oni, they're attuned to the source of Calamities."

"Well shit." Lucian said, "Well, whatever."

The Oni then charged at them, with surprising speed. Lucian jumped away as it swung its cleaver once again, nearly avoiding its hit.

Brodin had rolled away, aiming his revolver with his left hand, pulling the trigger.

The bullet fired at the Oni's mask, bouncing off.

"Shit." Brodin said as the Oni swung its other cleaver at him, "This one is way tougher than the last one!"

Brodin narrowly avoided the cleaver swipe and slid away, aiming his assault rifle back at the Oni, spraying it with bullets.

The bullets also bounced off, the Oni unfazed.

Lucian jumped at it, "Guess you gotta switch your ammo!" He said as he swung his leg at the Oni

He hit it with a flame-enhanced kick and detonated it, causing an explosion as the kick connected. The Oni didn't budge, merely swinging its cleaver at Lucian who was able to avoid it.

The Oni, however, kicked Lucian as he avoided the cleaver swipe, which sent him crashing into the ground.

"Damn!" Lucian said, "This whole ordeal is getting chaotic!"

He was right. One moment, they were eating in a tavern, another, they were chased by the Bull Kingdom's soldiers who were called the Bronze Bulls. Now, without warning, another Oni had ambushed them out of nowhere. It was too convenient for Lucian, he was beginning to suspect something else was at play.

Lucian wasn't that hurt by the kick, merely rattled. The Oni took advantage of this and went for another cleaver attack.

It was then hit by a silver fireball which exploded right on its shoulder, staggering it as it let out a growl.

Lucian straightened up as Brodin was circling around for a better angle to shoot the Oni.

The Oni looked up at Lucy who was flying in the air, letting out a screech.

"Yea, that's what you get, asshole," Lucian said as he clapped his hands

Silver flames were summoned in Lucian's hands as he extended them, the flames stretching as if they were malleable. He was getting used to wielding his flames as if they were a natural part of him. Perhaps this is the prodigal aspect of being a Traversed.

The Oni then swung its cleaver at Lucy, firing off an energy slice that surprised Lucian, who froze and watched it. Even Brodin was shocked by this, not knowing that an Oni was capable of something like this.

"W-What?" Brodin said, "Long-distance attacks???"

The energy slice was too fast and it cleaved through Lucy, ripping her wing off as blood exploded, a pained shriek exiting her mouth as she slowly fell down.

Lucian widened his eyes, "LUCY!!" He shouted, "No!!!"

The Oni let out an angry how as it raised its cleavers in the air, his left side slightly charred.

Brodin aimed his revolver at the Oni, "That fucker..." He said, "It's stronger than I thought. I might have to get a bit more serious here....shit..."

Lucy slowly fell towards Lucian who dispersed his flames, raising his arms to catch her.

The wyvern landed on Lucian's arm and the moment they made contact, her entire body erupted into the black swirling ether, sucking into Lucian's arms who was taken aback.

"W-What?" He said with surprise as the Ether returned to his body

Even the cut-off wing that slowly fell in a different direction turned into ether and returned to Lucian's body.

The Oni stopped its howling and looked at this, tilting its head in confusion.

Brodin narrowed his eyes, "The Black Ether returned to his body...." He said before widening it, "Wait....the Calamity! The Wyvern was the Calamity!"

The Ether fully fused itself to Lucian's body who had closed his eyes and hung his head. Suddenly, a loud heartbeat was heard as a slight shockwave emitted from Lucian's body, the ground beginning to shake.

"I see...." He said as his skin began to burn with silver embers, "Lucy..you've returned to me....you'll heal.....I understand now.....you were my Calamity....my potential....It makes sense now....with me, we're one."

Lucian then released a wave of silver flames without moving, parts of the skin on his forearms and face burned off as it was replaced by dark silver scales.

He opened his eyes, revealing dark blue dragon eyes, glaring right at the Oni that was staring at him.

"His Calamity is active now....." Brodin said, "This might get bad...."

Lucian looked at the Oni, "Fucker..." He said as he raised his hand, "I'm going to burn you to cinders...."

"And I'll go and kill whoever sent you."

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