‘Come on, come on!’ She struggled and strained, but her body didn’t move. ‘This must be how someone with spinal cord damage feels. Mentally fighting, but their body doing nothing.’ She knew Selena was out there fighting close by, and it was maddening to be unable to help. The effect of Cardual’s blood was energising and paralysing. ‘How strong is he? You think I, of all people, would know.’ Cardual was a mystery to everyone, except maybe Selena who had known him for centuries. Mimi was in her 20s, and a born vampire. Born Vampires were extremely rare, and so they needed a lot of protection and care. Even now, Mimi still hadn’t grown into many of her gifts, but she had some advantages that regular vampires did not as well. For one, she had awakened several new gifts that were unknown to vampire kind before, and she felt, deep in her soul, that she had many more waiting to be unlocked. She was singularly focused as well. Some in their society said she was cold and emoti
Selena was suddenly frozen, as if she’d dipped into a nitrogen bath. Was that the icy touch of death chilling her down to her very soul? She didn’t know, but the oppressive pressure of that massive sword was splitting her scalp.Then it was gone, leaving a healing slice and a gout of blood that had frozen in her hair. ‘What the hell?’ she thought. Her mind and soul had not quite caught up to the fact that she was alive. Luckily her hands knew how to kill without her input, and they continued the deadly sweep of the blood scythe. It bit deep into the Necromancer, and sliced from the collar bone down past his solar plexus. It stopped there, impeded, finally by the spells and bone armour he’d used to stop her Katana so easily. She didn’t try to pull the scythe out of the pre-dead mage. Instead she let go, and made a weaving motion with both hands, and the scythe unknit itself and flowed back to her as a surge of red power. Selena looked noticeably healthier and stronger as she
Shinra had to figure out a lot of things. His new powers, how to deal with Crews, find Sardi and the vampires, and figure out if his dad was a mage murdering rebel. 'And when I find Sardi and the vampires, how do I mention that one of them killed me?'. Shinra wasn't totally sure how he felt about it himself. At the time, it seemed just like a sparring match that went too far, but that usually meant a black eye, or a minor fracture. She drained a lot of his blood, and poisoned him. Even now, his HP was still low.The important thing was, he was alive, and had to figure these powers out.‘Could I really see Crews through the wall? That is crazy!’ He remembered though, that he didn’t just get Shadow Strike, his Night Vision was upgraded to Vampire Vision. ‘So Vampires can do more than see in the dark, we are like giant glowing targets to them. What an amazing skill for a hunter… or an Assassin.’ He was starting to think about all the ways this enhanced vision could help, and his
Balaam fired two point blank pulses from his phased field shifter, and it seemed like the very air cracked around the young angel hybrid. She looked surprised as Balaam's spear easily pierced her armour, where her central regulator should be. Blue fluid spurted from the wound as her eyes rolled back and an electric discharge seemed to flee from them.'Fucking Angels, and their kin, harder to get rid of than [cockroaches]', Balaam thought. He surveyed the devasted battle ground, noting that both sides had pulled back to their bases to regroup. The Fallen had been on this forsaken rock for generations, guarding the Zero Well for the hope that it would bring to the Metaverse. Until a few weeks ago, Balaam would have said the Angels didn't even know about the prophecy.For sure it had been the most boring 10,000 years of his existence. He'd watched his Legion of Fallen carve out a life here, have families, grow old, die, and repeat the cycle. He actually commanded more troops now,
The thug whimpered, and Shinra thought he wet himself."Look man, it isn't even a secret, everyone knows where they are." He told Shinra the address and he was surprised. The assassin guild was in a very nice neighbourhood, right alongside minor nobles and rich merchants.He left Paulwry bleeding and ran. There was no sense in killing a useful snitch. Someone who dealt at the intersection of the underworld and the nobility was a good contact to have. 'I need a plan, but I should start with some reconnaissance. I have no idea what I'll find.'He ran fast, his stamina seemed limitless, and he wondered if it was the adrenaline rush still pushing through hIm, or had his improvements from the system accomplished this.When he reached the house, he really couldn't tell it apart from the other houses on the street. It had a nice red brick red exterior, white shutters on the windows, and ivy climbing gently up one side.He watched from the far side of the tree lined street, just between
[Quest Update: Assassin Guild Destruction][Assassins killed: 18 ][Assassins killed by Shinra: 10[Assassins remaining in Akasooki: 18 (estimated)][Hours Remaining: 38]—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Shinra decided to just walk in, it seemed like he couldn’t get anymore information by looking through the windows.He took the coin, touched the door, and engaged Fade 2, going transparent, and slipped in. His last scan through the windows told him that the maid and butler were both upstairs together, and looked like they would be busy for a while.That made Shinra suspect that all the ‘guests’ had arrived, and didn’t need the house staff’s attention. ‘Hopefully. I don’t want anyone sneaking up behind me.’He padded through the house, his steps were ghost quiet on the carpets and polished tiles alike. ‘I guess my silence skill is always working.’ Shinra couldn’t tell if the skill used some sort of magic to counter an
Shinra melted away from the window, and looked at the other 7 townhouses around the fountain. They were all lit up, as was the entire cavern, but when he snuck to look inside the rest, all but one was empty. The last town house on the other side of the fountain had 4 men in it as well, but no women. They were also playing cards, but their game seemed much more intense. ‘8 men are out here, which means another 10, at least, might be waiting inside the big house.’ Shinra thought about it. He’d killed a lot of people in the last few months, but this was the first time he was planning to kill, and the number was quite high. He needed to be strategic, or one group of 4 mages could easily stop him.‘I guess this is what it means to be an assassin. I have a mission, and I need to carry it out.’ He hadn’t thought about it much, but the System didn’t tell him to defeat the Guild, or win battles against them. Just kill them. He needed to think about how to do that most efficiently.
[Quest Update: Assassin Guild Destruction] [Assassins killed: 20 ] [Assassins killed by Shinra: 12 [Assassins remaining in Akasooki: 17 (estimated)] [Hours Remaining: 37] “Sachron!? Are you dying in there, or are you just trying to delay losing all your money?” a man yelled from the front of the house. This was followed by rough laughter from the rest of the card players. A few more minutes passed, and Shinra remained calm, waiting in the dark. ‘I think one of them will come to check on him soon. If I can take them down one at a time like this, it will be much easier,’ he thought. His first victim, Sachron, apparently, had bled quite a lot, but it was mostly behind the counter, and shouldn’t be visible in the dark. Of course, to Shinra, the cooling blood shone in the dark with a pale red glow. He wanted to keep the bodies apart as much as possible, so he laid a path. First he switched the light on in the toilet. Then he flushed it again, with the door open, hoping the men