581 Even
A minute and a half ago…
Setkh wheezed as he dropped to his knees.
The noose around his neck loosened a bit but the comfort it brought was little.
Karrun felt the same.
They were now outside the mansion and the man responsible for the noose around their necks gave them both a fearsome, deathly gaze.
“Where is it?” he asked apathetically. “Even all that wasn’t enough for you tell me?”
Setkh sweated. He didn’t offer a response. He was torn still.
Up until now, he had only used half measures because naturally, he was undecided on how to act. Was he to completely betray his family?
The man with the noose in his hand, a peculiar Incarnation, crouched and leaned in close to the kneeling down Setkh.
“You know, it’s a very easy thing for me to kill every single one of your Family members. Wherever they are. You made it comically easy by willingly summoning us. After scurrying around and delaying on delivery because you thought that we wouldn’t break the Severed Code… and to that you were right… you must have seen yourself as a free man with all the time in the world…”
The noose around Setkh grew tighter and his face turned beet red.
“Let me remind you. What you have is only a trinket leader is amused with. If you refuse to cooperate, I can just as easily take you back to that lovely cave where you’ll hurt so bad your only pleasure will be smacking off to the memory of your sister just to stay sane again.”
…!
Setkh shook, his eyes showing terror.
“And you know what the best part will be? You will have the perfect view of her disembodied, disembowelled corpse as inspiration for all your fantasies.”
Karrun grimaced.
Even he didn’t know about these specifics. He finally got the idea of what the hell was happening with Setkh. He had assumed the whole flirting with Stylla bit was just a way to annoy her, keep her off his trail.
Apparently not.
“Fine! I’ll show you!” Setkh exclaimed with a huff, prompting the man with the noose, Seddrik, to loosen its hold over his neck.
“I’ll show you! Please leave Stylla alone!”
Seddrik scoffed as he stood.
“Sibling love, they call it. Who knew some people break to such a sickening degree?” he voiced while dragging the two.
***
Present time.
Stylla, Ed and the rest spawned within the mansion, right where they had entered from. Unlike with an entrance, an exit could be made from anywhere, as long as the individual attempting to create it was of Bryne blood (barring Setkh).
“Come on! Let’s hurry!” Stylla urged as she dashed through the hall as fast as she could, the others following behind her.
It was as she had surmised after reading that note. Though the information had been limited, it had been enough.
‘Your enemy is in plain sight. A prodigal son hiding his fangs well and baring them against your Family, starting with its head has you all fooled.’
This was what the note said.
At first Stylla hadn’t wanted to believe it but..
First, she searched for a motive.
There didn’t seem to be any at first sight but under close scrutiny…
Setkh’s rivalry with her concerning matters pertaining to the Family after father got cursed…
This could be excused.
But… how about wealth?
Setkh had left the Family back then because he wanted to make something of himself. He wanted to establish his own wealth and familial structure. Maybe a powerful organisation on the side.
p AndD nOve1.cO,m
And on the subject of wealth, if there was anything extremely valuable in the Family, something with enough value to turn a number of rich heads, it had to be the source of the Bryne Family’s powers.
That smooth edged crystal!
The secrets of another Family’s techniques were extremely valuable because they couldn’t be legally taken away even if said Family lost in a proper conflict of resources.
That aside, the very nature of this crystal was sublime and its capabilities, the ability to fuse conflicting elements and concepts, much like how Stylla did when she produced steam, was incredible.
The powers inherited from this crystal could be applied on a higher level, as Stylla’s father did but he was the last person to be able to properly bring out much of the potential hidden within the crystal through the technique crafted within the Bryne Family.
For that, among other reasons, Stylla’s father was very… adamant about the crystal’s safety because he understood its value.
This was why Setkh had gotten their father cursed, according to Stylla.
Why Setkh hadn’t stolen the crystal was anyone’s guess but she believed it was emotional conflict.
Hmph!
Like she gave a damn about the moral struggle in Setkh’s mind between harming family and getting wealthy.
This was obviously how his lustful mind worked, right?
Stylla didn’t know exactly where these three men who just appeared came in but that didn’t change her thoughts.
This had to be the extent of the motive!
The group rushed through the halls until they reached the open space of a foyer where…
…!
Arisa was the first to scream in horror as she saw… she saw…
All her maids were hanged from the ceiling, luminous yellow nooses wrapped around their necks so tight that the flesh had gotten swollen and red!
Stylla grimaced in pain but she gritted her teeth and kept her focus on the mission at hand. This wasn’t the time for grieving.
“Ed and I will head for the storage! That bastard must be leading the enemy to the our vault! Half of you will follow us and the rest will find as many of the staff as you can and get them to safety!” she ordered before hurrying with her most trusted guard.
Ed could see Stylla’s pain as they bolted past the doors to the mansion and it hurt him to see her buried it only to uncover it later.
Sadly, all he could do now was make sure the traitor was caught.
For her sake.
***
The salamander riding on its master’s sceptre suddenly straightened its back and sucked in a deep breath, its neck ballooning up while its scaled skin glowed with a soft blue hue!
Its large eyes traced the ongoing fight that rocked this protected space every millisecond, shockwave after shockwave blasting in every direction as two super fast combatants dished out atrocious blows against each other!
“COME ON! FIGHT HARDER! DON’T YOU FUCKING HOLD BACK!”
The bellow of the beefcake battling against Skullius exploded across the wide space along with consecutively, resounding hums!
The Hybrid Luman flew, slamming against everything in his path but the moment he touched the umpteenth hard surface, his body ricocheted unnaturally as he ejected himself at blinding speed back to his opponent and gave him a thunderous punch to the jaw!
“HAHAHAHA! THAT DOESN’T EVEN TICKLE ANYMORE!”
“Tsk!” Skullius grumbled.
He launched several jabs but the monster he was fighting against swiped them away expertly, flexing his knowledge of close combat techniques!
He then whipped his right foot through Skullius’ spaced legs and tackled him backwards, causing the Hybrid Luman to lose balance!
The momentary loss of control cost Skullius a lot.
The muscular tank dropped along with him while pushing his entire weight down to pin Skullius to the stairway. Then, in a brutal fashion, he hooked Skullius’ thigh and mercilessly ripped it off while delivering an elbow into the Hybrid Luman’s face!
…!
This man was having the time of his life, mutilating this opponent who could seemingly heal indefinitely!
For a ravenous Form User like this bulky man, this was a beautiful daydream!
Skullius forcefully drew his body away after expelling his mana to the surroundings, attracting himself to the nearest surface where he stuck to firmly.
He simultaneously healed himself while sending a minute proportion of his focus to the Mage who had yet to do anything but watch the exchange.
‘That last feat.. Transmuting [Evil Darkness] shouldn’t be normal, right? I don’t have a reference but that shouldn’t be something a normal Mage can do.’ Skullius thought with the processing power and time afforded by [Beyond the Hype].
He was very wary of this Mage.
This was why he hadn’t used Demion’s Dance.
If this Mage was keen enough to identify how dangerous the weapon was, he might do something about it. Like teleporting it away as he had done with Skullius’ [Bead of Malevolence].
For now, he was looking for an opening to use it to kill this mound of battle fetish in one slash!
‘Tsk. If only I had enough mana to use the Precept. I’ll have to make it a habit to stock up on mana every few days. In any case… this guy must be–‘
A flash of blue light along with a terrible heat blared, instantly overwhelming every inch of this battleground.
‘You are a curious little man,’ the Mage thought.
The salamander on his sceptre opening its little mouth open to reveal the stream of blue, coiling flames gathered in its inflated neck.
‘For a creature of this calibre to be born from that queer darkness of yours… I think I’ll need a sample of you for my studies. Better yet, if you keep using that unreasonable healing factor of yours, I might take you in whole.’
…!
Skullius hadn’t even fully processed what he was currently looking at when a condensed laser of unbelievably hot, glaring blue flame that melted half of the criss-crossing stairways in this space without even licking them burnt his body to a crisp!
The speed!
The power!
Skullius hadn’t managed to get out of the way in time!
He only managed to move away before he could be completely disintegrated and started to heal himself while feeding the VergeRider armour he was wearing with Null Life Essence so as to not remain naked!
Everything melted as the salamander’s laser-like breath zipped towards Skullius again while his bulky opponent adorned in his Perfect Aura yet to form a Genuine Incarnation, bounced over every surface while building momentum!
He then dashed at the Hybrid Luman at a speed that exceeded Skullius’ max gravitation pull by at least three times!
This calibre of combatants…
This calibre of Masters…
It was incredible!
To think he was fighting two of these monsters…!
Skullius couldn’t help but smile even if he didn’t have a solution for it!
He ate a turbulent punch that sent him tumbling through the burnt, hissing air!
Shortly after, a clean blue flame melted half his spinning body but Skullius still wore a smile as he waited for the perfect moment.
With every attack, he guarded his ring with mana and Null Life Essence, a combination which wasn’t enough to spare his body because of his dismal level of control.
‘Now!’
The moment he wanted came!
“ARE YOU GOING TO ACCEPT A DEATH LIKE THIS, PEST?! AFTER BRAVELY STAYING BEHIND TO FIGHT AGAINST US?!” the bulky man screamed at Skullius with a mad face.
He flashed toward Skullius, followed by the ringing blue flame from the salamander!
It was the time.
This brute had to die quickly!
Demion’s Dance appeared in Skullius’ hand and in the next second, he funnelled all his might to attack when…
…!
A dreadful sensation caused him to pause and look around him confusedly!
It was the presence of one powerful… no. It was the presence of hundreds of powerful creatures that suddenly spawned around him, making him sweat as he thought the worst!
This was the same feeling from before, right after he met up with Replicus on the journey here!
‘What the hell is this?! Another enemy?! Was I being tailed the whole time?’ Skullius’ mind raced.
WHAM!
“DON’T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!”
Skullius was smashed into once again, his body becoming unsightly mangled!
‘What the flesh is this?! I can’t focus if I have a series of enemies after me dammit!’ he thought as he kept the grip on Demion’s Dance even while spinning.
Skullius’ zealous enemy roared as he approached his position rapidly again and the thought of being sandwiched by a slew of enemies which he expected… never happened.
Instead…
A bright golden light brilliantly lorded over the fumes and harsh blue flame that melted everything around.
It was beautiful, with arcs of white and yellow that sought to bring out the fullest in its beauty.
This display was so marvellous that Skullius’ opponents halted their attacks and cautiously analysed this light.
What was this?
A special attack?
An ally?
First, a freakishly long and dazzlingly beautiful cape showed, draping behind the pillar of blinding light that slowly receded to show a tall, humanoid figure.
Their outline could hardly be seen but it made the Mage teleport close to his partner.
What was this development?
It was the two’s turn to be surprised.
Skullius wasn’t though.
The finally realised what the flesh was happening and to be frank, he was more annoyed than delighted.
“You little bastard…!”
His angry call was interrupted purposefully by a heroic declaration laced with seeds of loyalty.
“Be at ease, my dear Master. Your prodigy has returned to fight for you… finally.