Sacrifice Mage

Chapter 241 (B3: 70): Enemy Ritual

Thefris and I took the elevator. The line of mana went straight up, but in a winding path, like whoever had taken the Klevacite had either been pacing within the elevator or had used some other means of climbing to the surface. “What if it was just someone from Zairgon who took away the Klevacite for safekeeping?” I asked. “Something that the Councillors know about?”

Thefris shook her head. “That doesn’t even make sense. Why would they want to safeguard the Klevacite when we desperately need them for the war party? You know they’re pulling in the Klevacite from the fringe camps with the mines and scouting operations, right? There’s a big shortage thanks to Claderov’s theft. They don’t any to spare for storage.”

“You’re right,” I conceded. “It wouldn’t make sense store anything. I was just trying to find a plausible reason why one or more of them would be taken back to Claderov.”

“I don’t know why they’d take it back to the city, but we’ll find out soon enough, I suppose.”

Thefris’s ability was overpowered in its own way. The line of mana just kept extending and extending, going pretty far. We passed by the guards around the mouth of what used to be Eversight dungeon, before threading through the streets of Ring Three.

I noted that a lot of people were tense. The streets were devoid of people, with the occasional citizen just going about their desperate business. Other than that, it felt like curfew.

“I don’t like where this is going, Ross,” Thefris said.

“Me neither…”

I shared her apprehension because I soon saw that we were heading down Ring Three. Just as my fears were percolating, the line of mana extended through the gate to Ring Four. The guards there watched us warily but didn’t impede us.

“Why is it ” I asked. Of course, no one had an answer to that. We’d need to find out when we finally reached the end of Thefris’s thread to locate the stolen Klevacite.

Our trek took us through the winding narrow paths of Ring Four, past ramshackle houses and entirely abandoned sections, through the areas where I hadn’t seen anyone live for ages. I myself hadn’t been for…

I stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Thefris asked. Even she was starting to sound worried now.

“I remember this path…”

It had been so long. Honestly, I was surprised I remember walking down this direction way, back. Slowly, I explained to her about the day I had been Sacrifice, about the path I had taken to come down to Zairgon proper, about the leafless black trees and the rocky ground we were passing by.

“So this is leading to the volcano?” Thefris asked. “What in the world…”

“A side-vent, yes,” I said.

I didn’t say anything further. Something strange was going on, and there was no point in speculating. I could feel it in my soul that we were close. That said, my heart was pitter-pattering a bit in anticipation. So, I wasted no time in using Highlight, letting Illumination light up the world in a way that could reveal whatever else was going on that wasn’t visible to the naked eye.

A bright glow had gathered in the distance, shining with tremendous power. I almost stopped at the sight. Why hadn’t my plain eyes seen power like that?

Thefris’s mana line was a lot solider under the effect of Highlight. I looked around as we moved, spotting smudges of bright colour in the distance. My hands went up to stop Thefris from going any farther.

“It’s a trap,” I said.

She didn’t contest my assertion. “Then how do we approach this?”

“We need to figure out what exactly is going on…” Keeping Highlight active, I continued looking around. The more details I spotted, the faster my heart pounded. I saw lines of mana running across the ground in a strange pattern, metal that glowed in my line of sight like they were lights, and other oddities I couldn’t identify. “It’s like… they’re trying to do some sort of .”

“You would know, I suppose.” Thefris took a step back. “I think it might be better to retreat and call in help. These people are clearly planning something and I’m not sure the two of us alone can stop it.”

I was glad she had picked up on my implication that there were a bunch of people there, even if I hadn’t explicitly said so. I also understood where she was coming from. Thefris was an investigator, someone who found out what was going on and let her clients take action. Of course she wouldn’t want to get involved directly.

That wasn’t my style. At the same time, I understood that blindly rushing in there would be to my detriment. But also, following Thefris’s idea would give the ritualists ahead of us a lot more time than would be ideal. Crap. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Let me handle them,” I said, stepping forward. “While you go and alert anyone who cares.”

Thefris didn’t move. “There’s way too many of them, Ross. Even for you.”

“I’ll be fine.” I grinned hard. “I’ve got experience in this. Plus, if these people are who I think they are, then I’ve got a big bone to pick with them.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am. Go, Thefris. I’ll be fine.”

That wasn’t completely true. Especially if whoever had flung in those oversized glassy arrows or spears or whatever they might have been was present here too. The Councillors hadn’t reported catching any of them yet.

Thefris left with a quick farewell, and to give her space, I went in.

It was a short climb to where I remembered being Sacrificed. There was no point in keeping Highlight active any longer, especially since the people had come out into the open. They had spotted me already too, waiting for my arrival like this was all scripted and expected.

“You were waiting for everyone to leave for Claderov, weren’t you?” I said loudly as I reached the lip of the volcanic vent. “Cowards that you are.”

“Welcome, welcome,” said a slightly squawking voice. It didn’t take me long to recognize the foreigner Plumefolk I had seen on Ring Two. “We were dearly hoping you would have gone along with the others, but it seems Fate has other plans.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the robed man next to him. He was nondescript. Even his robes were ratty and wrinkled. “We’ll start the ritual with or without interruptions.”

“Indeed we shall.”

“What ritual?” I asked. My eyes were darting around, trying to note what was going on.

The Klevacite was easily visible, lined at different spots on the ritual carved into the ground. But more than that, I was searching for any other presences. Highlight had indicated a couple more people, but they weren’t revealing themselves just yet.

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I also noted the lines drawn in writhing ink, almost like the living darkness of the Nether Vein. Netherthreads. Were they controlling it somehow? I couldn’t see any of the mana cores that the Nether Vein typically used. That made me pay closer attention to the metal, and yes, they were from the Nether Vein too.

“Why don’t you wait there and find out for yourself,” the Plumefolk said.

I shook my head. “Why don’t I come over and make you spill instead?”

He laughed. “I will not lie. After the way you handled Yulien, I’m certainly intrigued by your capabilities. That said, you’d do well to remain wary. If the plan needs your death, then you die.”

Plan this, plan that. I was getting a little tired of hearing him talk. So I cast Gravity Orb, flinging it at him the next second.

Really, the most annoying thing about it all was that I was now in Opal in multiple Attributes and Aspects. Yet, because of these jerks from Claderov, I couldn’t focus on any new Affixes or Augmentations I was supposed to be earning.

My little Gravity Orb never reached the Plumefolk. His silver wings flapped once, setting off a tornado around him, which deflected the Gravity Orb like the wind had enough mass to send it off. With my eyes powered by Highlight, I was able to catch how that little cyclone had been threaded with mana, which explained its defensive properties.

“So be it then,” the Plumefolk said, stepping forward. “Your blood will anoint the holy field where the Old Gods shall be reborn anew!”

I frowned. Figured they were cooking up something suitably insane.

With a powerful flap of his wings, which unleashed a blast of wind that made the robes of the other figure ruffle, the Plumefolk yelled and charged at me.

Fast. My opponent was incredibly fast. He reached me in the blink of an eye, crossing what had to be thirty or forty feet in no time at all. A halberd glowed to life in his off hand, swinging in with air-rippling power. Its clash with my mace sent up a storm of sparks, my arm vibrating at the impact.

But I hadn’t moved even an inch.

The Plumefolk’s eyes widened. “”

I grinned. All the Rituals I had performed earlier had been held back by Circle, waiting to be remotely activated. I hadn’t just put them on the soldiers and warriors and adventurers of Zairgon. A lot of them were on too.

And now, as the battle began in earnest, the Rituals of Precaution and Defiance burned to life on circles imprinted on my back and chest.

I flung back my enemy, who had to use his wings to quickly steady himself.

No chance I was letting him get away. A wide Field Manipulation popped up all over the ground, Infusion increasing the downward pull with every passing second. It covered a large enough area that the robed figure had stumbled too, falling to his knees with a cry.

The Plumefolk was powerful. He wasn’t going to be held down for long. But the few seconds he had been forced to the ground were more than enough.

Just as he got halfway back to his feet, I smashed in with my mace again. I had aimed for his head, but had missed, ending up hitting him on his armoured chest when he had managed to jerk away. As it was, he still cried out, flinging back and flapping his wings madly in an attempt to regain his balance.

Which he did, unfortunately, before I could follow through on my first strike. Rippling wind rebuffed me, but more importantly, he had now risen straight up on a pillaring twister.

“You Pits-cursed mongrel!” the Plumefolk shouted as he rose higher. “Nothing you do will ever amount to anything. All you can do is like the worm you are!”

The tornado ripped outwards. I had just enough intuition to cover my face before the twisters assaulted me too. A thousand blades of wind struck me at once, air compressed into razors that slices and slashed with more deadliness than any sword. Even Reverence Everlife was cracking ever so slightly. Good thing I was keeping my face and eyes safe.

My opponent’s scream alerted me that the tornado was not at all the end of his attack. He was diving down upon me, plummeting halberd-first from a height of at least a hundred feet.

The only advantage I had in that situation was the fact that he was impeded by his own tornado. It was marginally slowing him down. I had just enough time to call up Flare by concentrating heat energy with Concentration and Manifestation.

My instinctive response was to rely on Reflexive Mana to dodge away from the blow. But my primary Agility Augmentation wasn’t enough. One look confirmed that even if I dodged the halberd itself, the resulting shockwave would send me flying, which would be horrible inside this little storm he had thrown up.

So, just a second before impact, I unleashed all the Flaring bursts at my back. That had the effect of powering several jetpacks at once, making me shoot across the battlefield.

I was even out of the tornado. Right in front of the robed figure.

“No!” he shouted, eyes wide at seeing me. He was holding one of the metal pieces against his chest, blood dripping down his torso and onto the metal. “Get back, You will not mar yet another effort of ours! You will not—”

I punched him. He went down with a cry. It might have been more prudent to just crush his head with my mace, but this guy was clearly a non-combatant. Almost a civilian.

I’d reserve the killing for those who were willing to kill as well.

That said, it didn’t mean I was averse to using my to kill to achieve what I sought here.

“Stop grovelling,” I said, casting Gravity Orbs only to Sacrifice them in the next second. Over and over to boost the next cast of Gravity higher and higher. “Answer me instead, or you’re going to die.”

The robed man spat at my feet. “A lowly mongrel like you needs to go back to the slums—”

I had intensified Infusion acting on Field Manipulation. Everything was weighed down immensely, so much so that the ground itself started cracking. Far behind me, my feathered opponent was flattened to the ground just as the man before me had his face planted against the earth.

“If I keep increasing Gravity,” I said casually, maintaining my own weight carefully with Siphon. “You’re going to get crushed to bloody pulp. That is, unless you answer me.”

“Screw you to the Pits—”

His body was turning into a literal pancake. If he didn’t answer soon, he’d be signing his own death warrant. I briefly considered whether I ought to relent in the end, just before he was crushed to death, out of respect for his determination. It clashed oddly with my recalcitrance to simply brain him with my mace.

Thankfully, he made my decision for me.

“Alright, alright!” He groaned. “I’ll answer. I’ll tell you everything!”

“Good,” I said.

I didn’t release Gravity, not much at least. Just enough to let him speak freely without fear of imminent death. Well, besides the fact that I could freely raise Gravity yet again and make him go splat bloodily.

“What’s this ritual you’re doing?” I asked. “What’s all this about the Old Gods? Do you mean the Banished—”

“Hush!” he growled. “Calling them is blasphemy. I will not tolerate such insults.”

I stared down at him flatly. “You do realize you’re in no position to be arrogant, right?”

“One must stick to principles. Even in the face of .”

“That’s rich, coming from a guy who decided to spill the beans under a little bit of pressure.”

He growled some more, but before he could answer, I raised the intensity of Gravity around him again. That had him gasping in panic again.

A quick look behind me revealed that the Plumefolk was now apoplectic. He was trying to raise himself, trying to use his Aspects. But I had already used Granular Control around him to weigh down the very air itself, so his little windy tricks had no way of emerging. It didn’t matter what other Aspect he was trying to throw up, didn’t matter what sort of energy wreathed his body.

If he couldn’t move, could barely even get to his feet, then he was basically out of commission for this fight.

“Now,” I said, turning back to the robed figure. “What’s the—”

I cast Gravity Orb at the same time as a glint to my left alerted me that it wasn’t just the three of us on the lip of the volcanic vent.

The glassy spear or oversized arrow or whatever it was fired through the air like a missile aimed straight for my skull. I didn’t even flinch. Not when the Gravity Orb materialized right between the spear’s path and my head.

I was pretty sure that the spear was strong enough to ram through the Gravity Orb and through my skull to boot. Even if I had grown strong thanks to my buffs, I had a feeling that the attack was just too powerful. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t stop it. Vital Mana came alive at the same time as the spear met my Gravity Orb.

The sphere and the spear exploded together, a blistering shockwave and a storm of glowing, glassy shards roiling over me, but leaving me entirely unharmed thanks to my Vitality Augmentation.

I turned to stare across the volcanic crater, filled with bubbling magma. A figure clad in the same glowing glass stood far back.

“Come and face me directly, coward!” I yelled across the crater.

“As you wish,” she shouted back.

She leaped right off the edge she stood on, flashing across the entire crater in a millisecond, burning with radiant power. I blinked when she landed gracefully. She was either resistant or completely immune to Gravity. Crap. With the aura coming off her that felt like a glacier shoving itself against my face, I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Hello, Ross Moreland,” the Vaunted said. “This moment has been a long time coming, wouldn’t you agree?”