The Curator
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Chapter 33: One last fight
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 16:13:28 +0000 UTCThalion waited until it was probably around 3 o'clock in the morning. The city had grown quiet, at least the palace, as only the occasional report came in, and in the last hour, it was completely silent time to make his move. He put on his black robe and mask to hide his identity, which could be crucial for the future if he didn't manage to kill the nobles.
He slowly snuck up the stairs, passing through the entrance hall, and kept going to the higher floors. Thalion was relieved to see that the second floor had no guards at all. They had probably sent them all into the city to search for more intruders. The problem was that the doors were large and would likely make a lot of noise if he tried to open them.
Then he heard the entrance gate opening. This was bad. He quickly jumped into the air with telekinetic dash, conjuring a mana barrier under his feet, making him stand 5 meters above the ground, hoping to launch an ambush.
The messenger walked by, oblivious to the danger, and hammered three times on a large door, where a guard opened. Thalion acted immediately, as he was directly in the guard's line of sight, shooting a blood thorn through the guard’s head. A vine pierced the heart of the messenger before he could say anything. Thalion drained their blood, stored their corpses in his spatial ring, and entered the room, closing the door behind him.
The room was massive, like everything in this palace. The ceiling was 8 meters high, and there were couches and tables everywhere. At the far end was a 3-meter-tall door, slightly ajar, with a commanding voice coming from behind it: "What was the information? Did something change?"
Thalion moved silently forward. He heard someone stand up from a chair and say, "Good lord, did those bastards leave again? What happened this time?" The voice muttered furiously, maybe through some kind of communication devise.
As the door fully opened, the man saw Thalion, who hadn’t managed to cross the room in time, and a blood thorn flying toward him. The man reacted quickly, drawing a sword and deflecting the thorn, though the impact was strong enough to drive him back. Thalion was already charging toward him, conjuring a fireball and throwing it. The man performed a waterslice that blocked the fireball, resulting in an explosion in the middle of the room.
Thalion hoped the walls and doors were soundproof. Otherwise, this was a big problem. After blocking the fireball, the man launched himself at Thalion, gliding forward while channeling another waterslice attack. Simultaneously, he teleported closer, but Thalion's reflexes, enhanced by the sanguine thorn, were far superior. He dodged to the side, avoiding the attack and grabbing the man’s swordarm.
However, the man’s strength was immense, and the swing barely slowed. But Thalion had activated the vine of the sanguine thorn, which pierced the man's heart, killing him instantly. Thalion fed on his blood and looted his belongings just in time to hear a woman's voice from the next room, "Faulker, what is all this noise?"
A woman came down the stairs, her expression filled with irritation. Thalion moved instantly, launching a series of blood thorns. She managed to block the first two with water barriers, but then she was hit in the leg and stomach, throwing her against the wall. Before the next thorn could reach her, she summoned a water wave spell that smashed the large window after missing him.
To Thalion's disdain, it was directly over the entrance. Luckily, the woman succumbed to the next two blood thorns, and her blood was drained soon after. Screams erupted from outside, and then the alarm sounded throughout the city.
Thalion decided against staying in the palace. He quickly shot out of the window and dashed upward into the sky. Only a few people noticed him at first. He was difficult to spot with his black cloak and mask. After reaching a height of 100 meters above the palace, he summoned a small mana barrier under his feet.
His mist-like barrier would soon be detected, but for now, Thalion began launching blood spears toward the ground, aiming at the entrances of the normal houses where citizens were gathering to defend the city. It took a moment for them to spot him hovering in the air, and mages and archers began firing spells and arrows.
However, both were easily dodged as the projectiles slowed considerably before reaching him. Moving his barrier to the side, Thalion charged a large fireball and hurled it at the densest group of people. Mages tried to counter it by launching ice and water spells, but their abilities were not suited to stop attacks from above.
The fireball exploded, sending people flying up to 5 meters in the air. Yet, the flames were immediately extinguished, and a blue glow surrounded the survivors, likely healers entering the fray. Thalion fired three more fireballs, but only one hit, while the others were blocked as more defenders gathered.
Now, people from the palace were firing at him, and three individuals flew toward him, surfing on a river of water. One of them was the woman from the forest. Thalion attempted to intercept them with another fireball, but they were too fast and dodged easily. Sharp icicles were launched at him at speeds close to his own blood thorns.
Thalion raised his barrier higher into the sky, moving it out of range from the ground defenders. Now, he could focus solely on the three attackers. He maneuvered himself so that even if they dodged his fireballs, the people below would still be hit. The blue-robed trio approached rapidly, and soon he had to abandon his barrier to avoid a sharp sword strike.
The duel began. It wouldn't take long, as all of them had to constantly use mana to remain airborne. Thalion’s mana pool was down to 30%, so he summoned his mana blade and dashed around, occasionally firing blood thorns at the people on the ground.
The woman with the staff hung back, bombarding him with spells while the two warriors approached. One wielding a mace and the other a sword, both of which glowed with blue runes. Thalion summoned another mana barrier to stand on and clashed with the swordsman, resulting in a blow to his right shoulder.
He spun with inhuman speed to avoid the next ice shard while dodging the mace wielder. The swordsman attacked again, and though Thalion’s skills were improving, his opponent’s swordsmanship was far superior. Most clashes ended with Thalion receiving small cuts.
He needed to change tactics. Activating Mana Wave, he sent the swordsman flying back, causing both him and the mace wielder to lose contact with the river beneath them.
Thalion blurred to the side, dodging another ice shard, and dove after the mace wielder. He activated a mana slash at the swordsman and the mage to keep them at bay for a moment, then focused on his immediate target.
The mace wielder was skilled, dodging Thalion’s first strike, but Thalion moved around him, swinging his mana blade at the man’s midsection while a vine aimed for his head. The warrior blocked the vine but was cut on the side by Thalion’s blade.
The swordsman returned to the fight, forcing Thalion back into a defensive position. After a few more clashes, his mana was nearly depleted. He threw a few more blood thorns at the people below before triggering his evolution.
<--
Lady Nerissa’s anger simmered just beneath the surface as she listened to the messenger’s report. The news of the slaves’ deaths had stoked the fury already burning within her. Lord Valen and Sir Cedric shared her rage, their expressions grim and unforgiving.
“All the experience lost,” Sir Cedric muttered through clenched teeth. “He’ll pay for this.”
Nerissa’s voice was cold as ice. “They were kept in the palace cellars, over 300 of them, all to be slaughtered at dawn. Now they were all dead.”
Lord Valen’s hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white. “That beast knew exactly where to strike, causing the most damage while evading our grasp. But this isn’t over.”
Nerissa turned to face them, her eyes blazing with determination. “We’ll make sure of it. He may have escaped, but he’ll regret ever stepping foot in this city. We’ll hunt him down and show him what true power is.”
The three of them stood in silence, their anger binding them together with a common purpose.
Comments
Dave Kemp
Where is chapter 34?
