Chapter 407
Chapter 407
As soon as Edward and his group of bandits crossed the threshold of the main hall and walked a little forward, the man nicknamed Palms of Death started up excitedly.
«Someone strong is coming…»
~BANG~
The front door literally crumbled from a powerful kick. At the end of the corridor, a figure appeared, emitting the terrifying aura of a royal phaser of the 7th stage. His face was contorted with bloodlust.
«Filthy thieves, DIE!» – roared Stalber, throwing out his fists in front of him.
An incredibly hot stream of flame, resembling the mouth of a dragon, filled the corridor.
All the members of the Black Star clan were numb with horror. Is this what death looks like?..
Palms of Death made a hand pass, sending a water geyser towards the flame, thereby neutralizing the attack. If he did not possess the element of water, he would not be able to protect his comrades, and they would all turn into ashes!
Valeera, whose legs were freed from the grip of a huge palm, twisted and pushed off the back of the invader, simultaneously dislocating his shoulder.
«A-A-A-A! BITCH!» – the royal phaser at the 5th stage roared and released the girl, not because he could not hold her, but out of necessity. Now it is important to save the skin of the master and his own, and not to drag hostages! If only the trash hadn’t killed a friend, they would have had a chance to escape with the master and the hostage.
«Damn, she’s gone!» – Edward swore desperately. – «Why did you let this happen?!»
«Your life is more important, sir!» – grabbing the guy, Palms of Death rammed the wall with his shoulder and rushed to escape. It was obvious that the arrived royal phaser at the 7th stage was only the beginning. The rest of the Stalbers are on the way! To join the battle is to seek death.
Meanwhile, Valeera poured pure energy into her broken ribs to get rid of the pain, and rushed to her subordinates. On the way, she picked up a dagger and just found Zosimos climbing out of the pit, looking around in amazement.
Before Kyon had time to understand anything, the girl took him in her arms and rushed away from the warehouse with tremendous speed.
Tymoshka and all the others blankly watched the head of the clan holding a pot-bellied man in her arms. This sight was so strange and ridiculous that the eyes could not believe it!
«Lady, you have escaped!» – Bernard said happily, wiping away the tears that came out.
«The Stalbers are coming! Scatter!» – commanded Valeera, entering invisibility.
Everything blurred in Kyon’s eyes, as if he had entered the astral world. Any sounds were muffled and prolonged, like in a huge pipe.
«You heard the leader! Those who do not escape, they will die!» – the man shouted and rushed at full speed far away. Despite the danger of the situation, he felt so relieved, as if he had been born again. Arpha freed from the clutches of the vile Edward!
A group of the Stalbers began to surround the warehouse. The first to arrive was the strongest: the royal phaser at the 7th stage, who was already chasing Edward with a bodyguard. The next came the royal phasers at the 6th step and below. Their main task was to find a leader! After all, it was the leader who should keep the rings with the stolen loot. And the rest of the underlings will surrender as soon as they see that their leader has fallen.
«The leader is there!» – the royal phaser at the 6th stage shouted, pointing to invisibility, and rushed in pursuit. Five more royal phasers immediately appeared behind him, but they all had the development at the 4th stage and below, so they did not keep up with the goal. Little by little, the pursuers lagged behind, but at the same time did not slacken their efforts, seriously intending to overtake the fleeing ones.
{Damn!} – Valeera bit her lip excitedly. She could not defeat the royal phaser at the 5th step, and this enemy is even stronger! Besides, she has a pot-bellied load in her hands! Even if Zosimos slowed her down a little, the thought of leaving him to his fate did not arise. There are two good reasons for this: the man’s rings are filled with precious metals and… He has amazing eyes.
Stalber, having reduced the distance to 10 meters, threw a thick ball with nephrite inside at the fleeing thief. With a soft pop, without losing speed, it turned into a wide network consisting of heavy-duty metal wire. No heat, no cold, no sharp weapons can harm this network.
Without slowing down, Valeera turned 360 degrees in the jump and used one of the signature techniques with her free hand: {Thousand-leaved Darkflower!}
The dagger in the girl’s hand flickered. At one moment, a lot of the thinnest black threads of darkness came out of it, formed into a wonderful thousand-leaved flower, which, meeting with the network, made a large hole in it.
«You scum… You won’t leave anyway!» – shouted Stalber furiously, quickly approaching. When there was very little left to the target, something suddenly exploded under the feet of the pursuer. Fire, dust and even lightning enveloped half a block. The man almost immediately realized that the power of this trap was worthless, but it fulfilled its goal: distracted for a second!
{Ah?! Where?!} – the royal phaser at the 6th step was amazed, looking around. He was completely sure that he had not stopped scanning the environment, and if so, even if the invisible thief fell through the ground, he would not lose sight of him… However, he couldn’t feel anything right now!
Turning around, Stalber found an open hatch, the walls of which were obviously made of impenetrable material blocking the scanning. That’s why he lost sight of the thief who jumped down!
«Bitch!» – the man dived into the hatch and rushed along the underground corridor until he reached the triple fork. With a furious roar, Stalber spread his arms in different directions and released monstrous jets of cold, while he rushed forward.
The Webers legacy helped Valeera once again. If she had engaged in a battle with that opponent, she would have lost unconditionally. One could only hope that Zosimos’ loot, as well as his life, were worth the risks.
Kyon’s masculine pride was slightly hurt due to the long trip in the girl’s arms. Getting to his feet, he coughed in embarrassment: «Thank you, Lady Arpha… You saved my life. I am indebted to you…»
«Don’t mention it.» – the killer said dryly, pulling the lever.
Soon they found themselves in the main headquarters building, currently deserted.
Valeera, crossing her arms over her chest and standing next to the man, looked shrewdly into his pale blue eyes: «It was you who activated the alarm, wasn’t it?»
Kyon felt himself getting goosebumps under this icy gaze of bottomless black eyes. Now it would be prudent to lie, but the girl probably already knows the truth: she felt him put his hand through the alarm barrier, which triggered the signal, and as a result, the Stalbers arrived. She tests him for honesty.
When the bandits suddenly appeared, Lovr urgently needed to act. He couldn’t let the fucking bastard take Valeera. A variety of options came to mind: should he fight himself?Absurd. He, being in the middle of the superior stage (3.4), barely overcame even Dina, who was the lord phaser at the 2nd stage (5,2). And he would never have defeated the royal phaser at the 5th stage (6,5). He didn’t really want to be a whipping boy… should he call Eve and Leila? No. They are far away, sleeping, and they do not know how to fight. Their speed is low because they do not know the sticking technique yet. Use a pulse rifle? Also no. Uselessly. As it turned out even among the dwarfs, the striking factor of this weapon is a ready-to-attack lord phaser at the beginning stage, or an unprepared lord phaser at the finishing stage. However, the royal phaser at the 1st stage, even when sleeping, will not receive significant damage.
The most realistic option came to mind: call the Stalbers! Only they could force Palms of Death to let the girl go, and she just had her amazing invisibility and, judging by the careful preparation for the operation, the ways to retreat. Well, he would say that he was working undercover. That’s why he touched the signal barrier, activating the silent alarm.
In the end, everything turned out in the best way: Valeera escaped from Edward and left the chase with him! Is it luck? It depends on how you look at it.
Zosimos guiltily lowered his gaze: «I’m sorry, Lady… I couldn’t let that thug take you away. Only the Stalbers gave us a small chance to escape. You are the head of the clan, and without you we are like without hands, just an unorganized rabble. I put the clan members, including myself, in danger just for your sake. If you want to kill me as a punishment, then… Then… I will accept it…» – the man’s voice trembled. There were tears in his eyes, and his palms were tightly squeezing something.
Valeera held out her hand: «Show me.»
Kyon put a pocket watch in a gentle feminine palm.
Opening the item, the head of the clan saw the image of two incredibly beautiful girls: {Daughters? How beautiful they are…} – the very thought that such lovely creatures would become orphans, abandoned to the mercy of a merciless fate, made her heart ache painfully. Zosimos reminded her of her father, which made Valeera involuntarily project herself into the place of one of the girls, and this made it quite sad. Kill a single father for trying to save her? Doom the children to orphanhood? It’s out of the question.
With a soft sigh, the killer returned the watch and shook her head: «It’s all right. There’s nothing to punish you for. Without me, the clan will really cease to exist. Even more: I’m the one who should thank you for risking your life for me. Thanks.»
Kyon looked up, full of respect and relief. Suddenly he shuddered with concern: «Lady, your wounds… How do you feel?»
It seemed strange to Valeera that Zosimos’ display of concern was perceived by her without any irritation. With Bernard, for example, everything is different. And when Tymoshka is worried, for some reason she is completely disgusted. She couldn’t understand what the reason was.
«Everything is fine. They will heal in two days.» – the girl took out and swallowed a medicinal pill, then took out an object that looked like a mirror.
{Mercury mirror?} – Kyon guessed at once. Martin used the same in the mine. All the slaves, on which the search formation was imposed, were displayed as dots on the mirror, so that their location was easily determined.
This means that when he officially joins the clan, the same will be imposed on him, and then the path to the department is forbidden to him: {Or not?} – he already had ideas on how to cheat the formation. Yes, perhaps there is nothing to worry about. He will come up with something.
~rustle~
There was a muffled sound of an opening passage.
Bernard ran into the room. When he found the head of the clan, he fell to his knees next to her with wet eyes: «L-Lady, you have escaped! What happiness! I’m so glad! I was so worried about you! Are you all right? Oh my god! Your wounds! They need to be treated!»
«Stop it!» – Valeera cut off coldly. She understood why she didn’t like Bernard’s care: there was too much guardianship and heartbreaking anxiety! He treats her like his wife: a fragile helpless girl. It’s almost insulting.
«Excuse me… Are you really feeling well?» – the man asked cautiously.
«For practitioners of my level, such wounds are no worse than a bruise.» – she waved away.
Bernard breathed a sigh of relief and, busily picking himself up, asked: «What is the situation?»
Valeera, looking at the device, answered gloomily: «We have lost contact with ten people.»
«What a horror… Is Alexander among them?»
«No. Seven bandits and three murderers.» – there was relief in the girl’s voice. The value of people recruited from various small gangs is much lower than that of time-tested murderers.
Soon Alexander entered the room, followed by Tymoshka in new pants.
After a short conversation, Valeera interlocked her fingers in the lock and got down to business: «The appearance of Edward with his gang is not an accident. He knew about our operation, so he was properly prepared for my capture. Someone told them about our plans. There is a traitor among us!»
«A traitor?! Who dared…» – Bernard snorted with his nose, like a bull before a dash.
Alexander stared thoughtfully at the floor.
Tymoshka thoughtfully scratched the back of his head, cleared his throat and said: «Lady Arpha, besides you, only three people knew about the operation, and all of them, including me, were tested by time and deed. All the rest, working as loaders, did not know about the upcoming events until the last moment, and especially that the head of the clan would be with us. I don’t want to sound unfounded, but isn’t the answer obvious? Zosimos is to blame!»
Everyone once again stared at the pot-bellied man in disbelief. Bernard’s gaze was particularly suspicious.
Kyon could hardly resist the furious curses. He really wanted to knock out all the kid’s teeth!