novelnext Book 18-6.1: Behind the Masks
Book 18-6.1: Behind the Masks
“Are these reports accurate?”“Yes, sire.”
“What of the anomaly?”
“We lost track of her afterwards and the trail grew cold, but I believe she wouldn’t move out of District 4.”
“Why?”
“The anomaly acts erratically. I believed that she had no attachment to the stolen face’s identity, but there seems to be some attachment. Not to the extent as viewed before. I also believe child Daniels intended to bestow the Gift on her, not suspecting her true nature.”
“Then why allow events to proceed as such?”
“Unknown. Perhaps it is an awakening of sorts.”
“Magi?”
“Unknown.”
“... these recent images do not match the files.”
“There are continued changes.”
“Do not update the bounty.”
“Yes, sire.”
“I hear your heart, child.”
“I…just wonder.”
“We cannot allow Weissnacht to monopolise the anomaly.”
“Ah. But I wonder if they can even subdue her.”
“Oh? You have an idea?”
“Perhaps we should let them know, subtly. So that they may waste resources…and we would gain information.”
“I cunning plan. I approve, child. Very well. The anomaly proves quite elusive, and Weissnacht holds greater control of the city.”
“The Kaiser is theirs, aren’t they?”
“Have you forgotten your presentation, my child?”
“Ah, I apologise. It has been decades.”
“And I’ve sent you to roam beyond the city limits, of course. I understand, child.”
“Then…?”
“Do as you wish. Perhaps the anomaly’s wondrous power is too destructive for the Kindred to hold, but the allure of new power would be too much to resist.”
“Are we not the same?”
“Of similar roots, we have. But Rotblume has fissioned from Weissnacht all those centuries ago for a reason. Several reasons, not least of which was their recklessness. Why, I heard that they’ve granted leave for magi to establish their circles within Westenland, foolish to bring enemies and rivals too close. The better to watch them, true, but also, they’re close enough to stab the heart.”
“...”
“Ah, forgive this old kindred’s lamentations, my child. You may leave.”
“By your leave, sire.”
____________
Yuriko’s perception sped up to the point that the rocket seemed to crawl across the distance. She could even perceive the bullets in mid-flight, though they moved far faster than what she could accomplish in her 2nd-incarnation body. The Unyielding Guardian Sword made clear all dangers against her, as well as what kind of collateral damage the rocket and the assault rifles would cause.
While initially, her perception aura had been held tightly against her body, spreading it out to her full reach didn’t take any time at all. Her reach was her natural dominion, and it could be considered part of her, rather than something separate. That was how she saw it, and that was how it would be.
With her perception expanded, the once subtle push of the Ennoia became far more obvious. She could see and feel what she had to do to deflect the bullets coming her way, and just as importantly, she could see what she had to do to deflect the bullets in such a way that they would collide with other bullets in flight, and what angles were needed to deflect the deflected bullets into a cascade of failure for the barrage.
Well, she could do that, or she could directly reflect the bullets at the gunmen, though that would mean that the stray fire could hurt passersby. There were quite a few who’d taken cover as soon as the first shot had been made, but of equal import was the fact that the rifle bullets were perfectly capable of tearing through the neighbourhood’s flimsy walls and buildings. The bullets might lose momentum as they passed the walls, but bad luck could still take the life of the innocent.
And protection of the innocent was something she embedded in the foundation of her Unyielding Guardian Sword.
Well, it wasn’t as if she didn’t care before. Carelessness and circumstances beyond her control would cost lives. What the Ennoia did now was to highlight where such things could occur.
If she just deflected the bullets without neutralising the rest of the barrage, there was a risk to life. If she created a failure cascade, then the risks would be driven down to nothing. Ah, she needed to stop the rocket launcher from firing a second shot, too.
But first, she had to deal with the rocket currently halfway to hitting and exploding on her.
Her fingers retrieved a switchblade sheathed in her sleeve. She flicked it open, then tapped a rifle bullet near the tip. The steel against lead deformed the bullet’s shape, but she knew exactly how to strike it to achieve the path she needed. The bullet bounced back and would soon strike the rocket.
Her other hand dipped towards her waist, where another knife, a more robust survival blade. She twisted to her left, brought the blade up to her chest, then slashed with decisive precision. The bullet split apart, and a twist in the mid-slice sent the two fragments heading in different directions. The first fragment slammed into another bullet, changing its trajectory. The second bullet struck another one, but instead of changing that trajectory, the bullets shattered, which meant they didn’t deflect to parry the next cascade tier as she intended. The same happened with the second fragment, though it lasted another bounce compared to the first. The result was that several bullets had been neutralised while a dozen others continued on their way. Half of them were deflected by her knives, while the other half slammed into the street, the walls, and a single one against a red fire hydrant.
The bullet she used to counter hit the rocket, and the explosion rattled windows and parked cars. Some shattered, some endured. A couple of bullets grazed limbs, traced red lines across cloth, and another struck down a cowering man who thought hiding behind a stone bannister would have been enough. Yuriko’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she beheld her assailants.
Grey clothes, black vests. Helmets with mirrored visors. Faceless.
Yuriko frowned. Instincts relented. She had done what she could to protect the innocent, but thankfully, her Ennoia didn’t demand sacrifice and martyrdom. Although it probably would if she developed it that way. The wounded weren’t going to die within the next couple of minutes if she left them alone, but they might die if those rotters continued to spray bullets all over the place. So.
She kicked off. In Astoria, she might have flown directly at her target. In Shangria, she wouldn’t have needed to move. Here… she couldn’t rely on her Animakinesis, and she didn’t have the Animus to throw at flying swords. Radiance fought for every second it existed outside of her body as if the very plane rejected the Primordial Element. All she could rely on was her body and her sword Ennoia. Her Intent and Will were but a fraction of what she could bring to bear. The partition within her selves also throttled how much of her Willpower she could bring to bear, and just as crucially, how much she could regenerate. She estimated that manifesting a single Invisible Edge would drain her to the point that it would require an hour to recover to full, which was to say, a single Edge required half of what she had.
She didn’t know how long it would take to increase her reserves, but she had an inkling that this would be much slower growth than everything else. Or perhaps it was more proper to say, it would be erratic growth. Still, progress was progress, and thankfully, with the Unyielding Guardian Sword, the Seals didn’t require an infusion of Willpower unless she projected it outside of her range.
That being said, her strengthened physique allowed her to explosively close the distance between herself and the rocket launcher-wielding mercenary in the blink of an eye. Faster than they could react, certainly, and anyone willing to use such a weapon that caused collateral damage didn’t deserve a shred of mercy.
The tip of her switchblade traced a vulnerability in their armour, then she shoved it clear through the layers. The blade pierced skin, muscle, then bone, and she added a twist as she pulled the blade out, resulting in a fountain of arterial blood. A second strike knocked them off their feet, and the spray was directed away from her person. She didn’t want to be stained after all.
Their fellows at the side jerked their rifles in her direction, then opened fire. Barely any hesitation in hitting their comrade. Disgraceful.
The bullets were deflected back at them, the distance too short for anything more constructive. The other cadre of mercenaries at the other end of the street continued to fire at her, though it was only now that they managed to get their aim right. She deflected those bullets at the armoured vans beside her, and some back at the shooters. In short order, the mercenaries around her had fallen over like bowling pins, while the ones at the other side dove for cover. For a long moment, silence reigned over the battlefield.
Of course, that was when the original snipers made their case. With her perception expanded, she had a better grasp of the bullet trajectories, or she would have if the things hadn’t curved in the air. Those were simple adjustments, however, and easy enough to extrapolate the source. Plus, the sound of the bullets firing and the shockwave as they left the barrel were easy enough to pinpoint. The problem was that there were three gunners, and she wasn’t sure where the nearest one was. Oh well.
Ah, the sniper bullets were caught by her fingers, and one dodged. She picked a sniper at random as they were all within a hundred eighty-degree arc to her right. Which sorta made sense since it was down the road. She ran towards a building, leapt, then kicked off against the wall, then bounced against another wall, and another. She was five storeys up and landed on a roof deck.
She deflected the bullet towards the armoured van down the road, which pierced the front wheel explosively. She ran towards that shooter and ignored the other two, even as they sent another round that she easily avoided.
The bullet came from straight ahead, from an open window on the tenth floor of an office building. She could see the muzzle flash, too. The road curved so the building was across the road from her, and no easy path to her target. She leapt across the five-pace-wide street, landed against the wall with her feet, as she let the momentum of her jump bring her body close to the wall. Once her centre of mass was above her feet, she explosively jumped. She crossed several floors in the blink of an eye, and the sniper was brought into her perception aura’s range.
The first impression she got was that the shooter was that the man was large. Probably about her height, but was about half again as broad. He was clad in the same kind of gear as the mercenaries were, but also a cut above in quality. His rifle was also as long as she was tall.
He’d already backed up from the window, and his sniper rifle was discarded as useless at close range. Instead, he’d drawn a large handgun that looked like it fired bullets of the same calibre as the long gun. He levered it towards her, directed and pulled the trigger just as she entered via the same window.
Her switchblade deflected the large-calibre bullet with ease…
Ow.
She blinked in confusion. The bullet slammed into her shoulder and pancaked against her skin. The area around it was already darkening in a bruise, but she could have sworn she’d deflected it.