Strengthened by the artifacts he had donned, Derek attacked Hugo with confidence. The Zaatsu was finding it very hard to defend and his counterattacks were not inflicting any damage either. The Alchemist had finally found an edge.

  ‘His strength is being amplified by those bracelets,’ Hugo deduced. ‘His attacks feel heavy. It’s as if all the Ki around him is getting attached to his every strike. And then that cursed pendant!’

  Derek’s body glowed red every time Hugo attempted to hit him. His sword could not cut, his fists and kicks could not damage, and even his Ki attacks were being deflected – the pendant was providing an impenetrable shield for the Cultist leader.

  ‘I have to break that thing.’ That’s how these artifacts worked. ‘If I can counter the Ki connection and strike them, they will break.’ He avoided a hit and leaped back. ‘Easier said than done…’

  As he rushed ahead and attacked, Derek blocked with ease once more. It was becoming pointless. So, Hugo leaped back again and waited.

  “Your move, Derek,” he said.

  The Alchemist smiled. “Attacking isn’t working, huh?”

  “Seems that way.”

  “We can both play the waiting game?”

  “Can we? Your numbers are thinning, Alchemist. Wait and you’ll have to face all of us alone.”

  Derek charged at Hugo. The Zaatsu was fast enough to avoid and defend. But he was truly running out of options. The battle had been raging on for nearly half an hour and he had exhausted much Ki. Stalling was all he could do.

  ‘But where the hell’s the backup?’ he thought. ‘It’s already been twenty minutes, maybe more. They should’ve arrived by now.’

  His team was getting exhausted as well. The wizards were falling, but the Eye compatriots were getting tired of all the fighting, the Ki usage, and the spells.

  All the while Derek was not using as much Ki at all. His artifacts were doing most of the heavy lifting. Hugo feared and yet held hope – even the addition of a weakened Faris or Ki-less Vincent would have turned the tide to his favour. So, he continued to drag the battle on.

  “You can’t do this forever!” The Alchemist did not want to show but he too was frustrated and had run out of options. Even with a slight advantage, he was unable to land any meaningful hits. He had no tricks left up his sleeve. His strength enhancers were unable to bring the Zaatsu down, his alchemical magic had been rendered useless, and even his evocation had been sent away like it was a joke. It was now sure to him – he was just not strong enough to defeat Hugo.

  Both dueled unsurely.

  Who would win – anyone’s guess.

  Elsewhere, the wizards were busy taking down the phoenixes while all Eye compatriots had come together once more.

  “What’re you up to?” Faris asked. “A bunch of phoenixes aren’t stopping them, you know?”

  “We know,” said Neil. “That’s why we’re here.”

  Vincent looked back. “And here they come.”

  Camille moved a step ahead. “Hey, Vincent, Master Naji, can you guys divert their attention? All we need is about a minute…”

  With his eyes scrunched, Faris half-smiled and asked, “What on earth are you guys trying to do?”

  “Just keep them occupied and in one place.”

  The senior Mystic and the bounty hunter looked at each other.

  “I might have something that would help,” Vincent said. “But I’ll need some help.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Ki.”

  Faris grimaced. “Oh…”

  The two moved a few steps ahead. Vincent stopped and spread his arms wide open.

  “Ki, now. And then move away…”

  “Shit…” Faris conjured whatever he had left. It formed small discs. “This is all I have, Vince.”

  He threw it to Vincent. The disks got sucked into his body like water into sand.

  With the wizards merely 25 meters away from him, the White Bolt chanted, “FARARA-SABAZDA-NASAWA-HASSAN-RASALHAGUE…”

  Faris slipped behind a tree, whispering to himself, “Don’t get yourself killed, kid.”

  Vincent’s figure began to darken, edges fraying into shadow. The wizards had never seen anything like it. Their progression slowed down as they observed for a moment then some leaped atop trees and some began floating midair, forming a battle ready formation.

  With closed eyes, Faris began counting the wizards. He sensed all 14 of them there. They were slowly closing in on Vincent but their formation was wide.

  “What’re you doing, kid?” he asked, telepathically. “They are moving wider. You were supposed to keep them in one place.”

  A surge of Ki rushed out of the pitch black silhouette and the wizards were left frozen as though caught in invisible tar. Two struggled to pull away. Faris darted in and kicked them back into range.

  Another pulse surged, even stronger. Faris had to use the Continuum to escape its grip. But all the wizards were caught – limbs stiff, lips sealed, spells dying in their throats.

  From the black outline, a raspy voice whispered, “Dark grip vortex…”

  The silhouette bled Dark Ki, creating a pull like gravity. The wizards were dragged towards him. They tried casting spells but could not move their lips, then attempted to undo the Ki grip but were unable to find any Ki connection. In fact, no one but Vincent could even recognize that Ki connection – because no one but him knew how to recognize and manipulate Dark Ki.

  Faris had arrived where the Zeta Squad was preparing a final attack.

  With their closed eyes, Neil and Marcus were standing in the middle channelling their Ki into their hands. Ki fumes had become visible on both the powerhouse Martial Artists.

  On their right was Camille, and on their left was Gina. Both the girls charged their Ki and chanted, “TAKATA-HATA-PETRICHOR…”

  A large amount of Ki, sucked from the surrounding natural elements, began gathering in front of the boys.

  “Master, tell Vincent to move out of the way,” Ella said, via Faris’s telepathic link. “I can’t reach him.”

  “Neither can I but give him a moment,” he replied. “He’ll bind them and then move away.” Looking at the duo front and centre, he added, “But it’ll be a small window. He had a small amount of Ki. So, the wizards will break free fast.”

  She smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about that.”

  With the wizards finally close enough, threads of Dark Ki shot out of Vincent’s shadowy figure and cinched them shoulder to shoulder until they hung stiff and upright, like puppets on a single string.

  Camille and Gina moved ahead and sat atop trees on either side of the White Bolt. The darkness faded. A panting Vincent reappeared and leaped out of the way as Camille and Gina uprooted stone walls, several feet thick, 20 feet tall, and nearly 30 feet wide on either side of the wizards.

  “NOW!” Neil roared.

  Camille and Gina rushed away, and Neil and Marcus unleashed a concentrated Ki beam aimed directly at the trapped wizards.

  The Ki gathered in front of them by the girls got latched on to the beam amplifying it manyfold. It tore forward at a supersonic speed like a twelve-foot-wide cannon of light!

  The shockwave pushed Ben and Faris back. Vincent too lost his footing and fell back.

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  But Vincent’s spell could not hold long enough. The wizards broke free and immediately bolted for the open rear of their stone prison.

  Ella smiled and stretched her arm out.

  Zap!

  The beam vanished.

  It reappeared in front of the fleeing wizards!

  They had nowhere to go – a direct hit…

  The resulting huge explosion even destroyed the trees in the surrounding area reducing them to small pieces and rubble. The stone walls were shattered, smoke rose high above the tree covering, and burnt debris fell in a large ditch on the ground. All the wizards had been obliterated.

  With emptied Ki tanks, Neil fell forward on all fours while Marcus fell on his back.

  Ben sat down and stared wide eyed. Ella took a deep breath and looked back. With a smile, she winked at him and gave a thumbs up.

  Faris clutched his head as he yelled, “Why the fuck didn’t you guys start with that?!”

  Camille and Gina arrived as well bringing Vincent along.

  Everyone gathered around Marcus and Neil and helped them up. Both had exhausted their Ki. But so had the others – Vincent had used the last of his Ki to cast the binding spell, Faris, with his last Continuum jump to get away from the Dark Ki, had emptied his tank, and Ella had emptied hers with the Ki beam teleportation. Gina had a bit left but with broken ribs she was not about to spar any time soon. And Ben, sitting cross legged, was also just as tired and spent as the rest of the gang.

  Camille was the only one with actual fight left in her. “You guys should stay put,” she said. “I’ll go and assist Master Baylis.”

  “Fine by me,” Marcus said, rubbing his eyes. “After all that, I’m hungry anyway…”

  Everyone laughed and then breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Just be careful, Camille,” Faris said and sat down. He exhaled, half a laugh in his chest, and observed the quintet. ‘So that’s Zeta Squad…’ Neil and Marcus, brute engines of Ki, pouring it all into a single devastating beam. Camille and Gina, sharpening it, amplifying it with that deft Magicism touch. And Ella – the clever Mystic in training – bending space itself to make sure it hit home. Every strength, every discipline, chained into one strike. ‘No wonder Hugo’s made them his own.’ The freelance Mystic was smiling. ‘They aren’t just strong – they are trained to think as one.’

  On the other side of the forest, amidst their fiery duel, the captains had also felt the shockwave of the Zeta Squad special move. But undeterred, they continued.

  Hugo’s right arm had been hit, but he had struck Derek’s right leg. Both had had their swords shattered and were down to the last bits of their Ki.

  “Your wizards are falling,” the Zaatsu said with a grin as he wiped sweat off his forehead.

  Derek struck, Hugo blocked. “The Devil’s Hearth is always standing, Zaatsu!”

  Vincent had stumbled to the edge of the stream. He sat down kneeling then took a deep breath. He looked at his wrists. The right one had blood on it. The Eye compatriots were sitting nearly ten meters behind him. He shook his head once and then scooped up some water in his cupped hands and drank it. Then, he drank some more. And then finally put some water on his wrist to clean off the blood. But before all of it could drip off, he felt a movement.

  He looked up and straight ahead then back at the squad.

  Camille had picked up her glaive and was ready to move towards Hugo while the rest of the gang was sitting down.

  “It can’t be…” His eyes were left wide open. Then he screamed, “EVASIVE ACTION!”

  But it was already too late. The Eye compatriots had let their guard down. The battle was over. They never bothered to sense for any Ki. Five of the wizards had miraculously survived!

  The ground exploded and out they came. The Martial Artists were thrown back by the explosion. And the weakest one was again the first one to go down.

  Two swords penetrated Ben – one came from the right and one from the left. His ripped open body fell to the ground.

  Next, were the strongest. Faris, Marcus, and Neil were attacked by a wizard each. They had no Ki left to use and were sitting ducks. Evading a few attacks, all three were eventually struck by strong magical constructs – ice, stones, and wood – and were knocked out cold. But before the kill shots could be delivered, Camille and Gina jumped in.

  Vincent came running in and swooped up the fallen trio and dropped them off away from the commotion. As he moved back to join the girls, his path was blocked by the two wizards who had killed Ben.

  “Give up, bounty hunter,” one of them said, laughing. “You can’t win.”

  The White Bolt nodded. “You’d think that.” He widened his stance and took a deep breath. As his opponents drew swords, he smiled. “You might have pulled off a miracle here, but I’m afraid you’ve shown your cards a bit too early.”

  The wizards leaned ahead. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”

  “That attack was impossible to evade…”

  This time his left wrist leaked blood as well as a tiny charge went into his right leg. He tapped his foot and sent the Ki underground. A sword broke out.

  “I know more Ki Manipulation and Magicism than most of those Zeta Squaders,” he said as he caught the sword and bent ahead, ready to face off once more. “But I also know more wizardry than you – even demonic wizardry…”

  The wizards felt a twitch in their body. Then a strange chilly feeling took them over. And slowly, blood began to dry up and clot inside. A sudden throbbing jolt of pain shot through their heads.

  They panicked and attacked. Vincent defended with ease.

  “All my knowledge and I still could’ve never escaped that.” The White Bolt pushed the duo away. “There is no way on earth. Unless of course…” he smiled. “You were never escaping nor were you in any danger to begin with…”

  A raw scream tore out of one of them as their chests tightened. Their swords fell as their hands curled like claws.

  “I know the game now, Devil’s Hearth. And now, you wait. Watch the dark, bastards, flinch at every shadow.” His eyes began glowing maroon. “You watch the dark – because I’ll be in it.”

  The trio of two wizards and one witch attacked ferociously. Camille barely defended their first attack but was pushed back while Gina was struck twice and thrown aside.

  “Gina!” Camille swung her glaive releasing a swift gust of wind which pushed the witch away from her teammate. But now, all three Cultists were focused on her.

  “Bring it on!” she said, and they attacked.

  The trio found her a formidable opponent. So, deciding not to waste time, two wizards rushed at her while the witch pushed back. The force of the duo made her lose her grip on the glaive and the wizards immediately pushed back. Vines rushed at and caught her. As she struggled to get lose, the trio began forming stone spikes.

  The two wizards in front of Vincent were in excruciating pain. But what had caught hold of them? Vincent was not manipulating any Ki. But the maroon eyes were explaining what it was – demonic wizardry. And just like Hugo’s trick to escape the ice prison, it was silent magic.

  The wizards were not strong enough to counter a spell like that, but they did recognize it for exactly what it was – an infamous Amazonian Demonic Hex. It was an extremely difficult skill to master and demanded a sizable demonic Ki bank.

  Black bulging veins, muscles locking in spasms, and eyes bursting red, they clawed their throats and clutched their chests as they convulsed in helpless agony.

  “How!” one shrieked. “Only Amazons know dry-blood!”

  No more than a minute of searing, agonising torture and the jerking, spasming bodies collapsed lifeless.

  But just as they went down, Vincent saw Camille caught in vines, and the stone spikes ready to strike.

  “No,” he whispered wide-eyed and began running.

  Wizards took the shot.

  Dozens of spikes rushed at the helpless Sokidu.

  She closed her eyes.

  A grunt.

  She opened her eyes and looked.

  Vincent was standing in front of her.

  She stared wide-eyed in horror.

  The spikes had punched through flesh and bone, jutting grotesquely, half-buried, half-protruding.

  He coughed blood.

  “Vincent…”

  He smiled and whispered, “Told you to stay away…” and then fell down.

  Before the wizards could attack her again, however, the trio of Seredums arrived wielding swords and sliced them to pieces.

  Sensing the spiritually awakened ones arriving on the battlefield, Derek immediately created a huge tremor and vanished into the elements. And before Hugo could pinpoint his location, he had already teleported away.

  The captain of the Zeta Squad rushed to his fallen comrades. Panting, he arrived to find the Seredums surgically removing the spikes from Vincent’s lifeless body lying in Camille’s lap. His heart sank as he looked around. Faris, Neil, Marcus, and Gina were all lying around knocked out. One by one he brought them there as well.

  He fell on his knees beside Camille, exhausted. With his head bowed, he asked in a hushed tone, “Can you heal them?”

  Erina shook her head as she stood up. “I’m afraid not, Master Baylis.” She threw the last of the bloody spikes away. “They need proper repairing of Ki networks… as do you. We should be heading to Ayn, immediately.”

  “What about him?”

  They did not reply.

  It was an unwanted, unfortunate result. Hugo, with his head down, kept thinking whether the outcome of the battle could have been different had he removed the Ki limiting braces from Vincent’s wrists completely. But then he wondered, would it have been better to just leave him in Australia. He had the remnants. He could have just come back home. The what ifs began to cloud his mind.

  ‘Should I never?’ His shoulders dropped. ‘Why does it never work? Vincent… Marion… I have failed you…’

  The White Bolt was dead.

  Hugo asked Camille to check up on the others once again and form the teleportation circle. She gently laid the bounty hunter down on the ground and moved away. He moved closer and began inspecting the body.

  He saw the gaping wounds but also noticed the ruptured veins next to the Ki shackles on his wrists. It was a clear sign of how far he had pushed to help the others in fighting against the wizards.

  “He wasn’t a bad guy after all,” Camille said slowly. “Sacrificed himself to save us…”

  Hugo shook his head and continued examining the body.

  “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” the youngest Baylis continued. “A man so comfortably termed as the greatest criminal in the world was actually a man with such a selfless heart. The people who were calling him a cold-blooded murderer would never even do that for their own teammates, and he sacrificed himself for his captors. We tortured him, bro. We put him through so much. And look at how he repaid us…”

  Hugo grabbed the bounty hunter’s head and picked it up slightly. “It doesn’t make sense…” he whispered.

  “What?”

  He stood up.

  Camille moved a step closer as her brother looked at her. His eyes went wide and he froze. His lips parted soundlessly and the furrow in his brow deepened.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  Pointing at the body lying at his feet, Hugo said, “It’s fake…”

  Arc 2: Liberation to its close.

  cultists.

  The next move belongs to the shadows.

  The Scribe of Ayn