Chapter 8-Stubborn Warriors-2 [Hiding]

POV: Rudolf Xeres

"Ahhhhh!!!!" I screamed in surprise as I felt a massive jolt of electricity pass through my body. It was so great that if Al, The Bloody Lance, hadn't used Ether to protect me, I would have died. I woke up to a charred road where a large area, around 20 metres in in diameter had simply been vaporised. Patches of the ground were a bright reddish orange. Cecilia lay at the midpoint of this mess. The hooded woman was standing in front of Grey who had pierced her through the sternum while Shaorung lay unconscious, his whole body charred. I took a moment's glance at him for further inspection and saw that his body was slowly healing itself. My vision then focused on the woman. She gurgled some blood in her mouth before spitting it out and she started laughing.

Laughing.

Who laughs with such a wound?

She then gyrates her elbow to Grey's chin, sending him flying a few metres away. This caused the ki sword to dissolve into the atmosphere. She turned to me and gave me a creepy smile. Then, as if by magic, Nico was in her hand. How? He was at the doorstep which was behind me and yet….

"I will be taking them." Her smile turned into a serious expression. "I require nothing else. Please leave." As she said that, Grey tried to pounce on her with every single bit of ki left in his body with a dagger in his right hand. Before he could land his blow, she vanished in flash and reappeared on the road with Cecilia in her other hand. By now, multiple police cars had arrived in front of my house and were barricading the way out.

"Attention!" A man blared out. "Please put your hands behind your head and lie on the ground!"

"The police…" The women sighed. She simply dropped Nico and flicked her hand, sending blasts of ether towards them. I then dashed forward to intercept the ether blasts and swung my lance at them to parry the blasts. They were deflected in multiple directions with every parry. Due to the amount of ether in the projectiles, the officers were shocked. People with a ki core cannot fire ki projectiles of that intensity because of the amount of ki present in them. It would be a waste of ki even if they could fire such a shot.

"Challenger Rudolf?" One of the officers asked in a worried voice. "We apologize. We shouldn't have interfered."

"Activate the assault weapons." I roared. "She's too strong."

"Roger!" Yelled the officer. He then turned to his subordinates. "Activate the assault weapons!" Two tubes were pointed at the woman before she was surrounded by ki orbs formed from atmospheric ki, which then exploded, causing a chain reaction of ki orb formation and destruction around her. Ki Agitators. They would take out someone as strong as Grey, but this woman? Nah it won't.

I then decided to activate my fourth phase. It's risky, but worth the shot. "Al, Fourth Phase! Now!"

"Dude!" It screeched. "I haven't finished recharging my ether. This is why I haven't allowed you to use the Third Stage."

"I don't care!" I snarled. "Do it now!"

Al sighed as its body made a sound of ringing bells. Blood poured out of his tip and covered it with me throughly. The cherry red blood hardened as it formed a protective armor around me. I then lunged towards the cloud of dust as a scythe appeared from it. I used Dash to thrust Al into her heart. However, she laughed off the attack like a lunatic.

"You can't kill me like this. Useless." She stated, but the words used made it feel more like a jeer.

What the fuck?

*

POV: Firenze

I glared at the scene with my own eyes from the window on the first floor. A guy attacked Grey and Master Xeres, whom they decapitated. However, the man could survive the decapitation. Then, this mysterious figure came and turned the tides of the battle in her favor. To be honest, there were parts of the battle that I did not watch. I felt queasy watching the mystery guy stomp Grey on his own vomit. I wanted to keep my mind away from the chaos, even for a bit.

"Yeoui," I tried changing the topic. "Earlier you said that there were only ten of you, but then Rudolf mentioned about major and minor Legacy Weapons. Are there more of you that you aren't aware of?"

It sighed as if I were an idiot. "They aren't one of us." "What do you mean?" I queried. At that moment, I heard something explode, which shook the whole house.

"Kiddo," It yawned. "Watch. Watch us."

What did he mean by watch us? I looked at the fight as I saw flashes of electricity swarm the area. The next moment, mystery figure and Cecilia were engaged in a duel while Grey engaged the man. She engaged the figure while Grey was being toyed about by that man. However, the figure got the better of her after she tried to take her down in one fell swoop and failed.

"You see," Yeoui spoke up, "I am a heavenly-descent weapon, meaning that I came from Heaven. The other Legacy weapons were either made by incredible humans or had the influence of a God in their creation. I don't consider myself in the same group as the 'minor legacy weapons' as he calls it."

"Down there, you see the clash of two Heavenly weapons," As he spoke, the battlefield was crowded with tendrils of lightning. "Vajra, the cursed weapon and the Scythe of the Grim Reaper, the soul extracting weapon. Both of them are amongst the strongest weapons in existence due to their ability to discharge and store large quantities of mana and ether, and the ability to perform necromancy."

"Just a second!" I stopped it. "But Cecilia doesn't have a Legacy weapon, and how is necromancy possible? I mean, I have heard of death-related magic in the spooky stories I read with Director Maybell, but how is it possible in real life?"

"Have you heard of the decay element?" It internally smirked. "The what now?" I screamed.

"Basically it's the element which is a deviant of fire and earth granted to those with special physiologies which allows them to perform necromancy." He briefed me.

"Wait, what do you mean by deviants?" I roared.

The staff just sniggered, not giving me any hints at all. I then turned back to the fight and saw multiple police officers surrounding the building. It seems that someone saw this mess and decided to call them. I hope Master Rudolf will be fine.

*

POV: Rudolf Xeres

I was sent flying with a punch. However, I was able to regain my balance. I then took a peek at my opponent to see purple runes appearing on her body, indicating that she was entering her third phase. I sighed, if only I had my ether reserves full…. I decided to not focus on that as I dashed towards her. Black flames engulfed her body which made me step back. The woman just sniggered as she was generously showered by hundreds of bullets. Wait, the Scythe, could it be?

"I have only heard, but I haven't personally seen," Al spoke, "The power of the Grim Reaper's Scythe, Major Legacy Weapon. We need to retreat before she kills someone and turns them into her undead slaves. You are hopelessly outmatched."

"But, how?" I was distraught, unable to find a solution to save Cecilia and Nico and keep the officers safe at the same time.

"Just tell them to back off!" Al retorted. I sighed in defeat as I issued the command: "Back away! Back away!"

As the officers started retreating, I saw a black blur escape from the scene. So that's how you want to play, huh? The Grim Reaper's scythe may have a reputation for Necromancy, but Al had a reputation for speed. I followed suit using dash. The hooded figure seemed to be able to use dash as well, despite the fact that she couldn't throw me off her trail.

After a bit, we had reached the outskirts of Oxford. I decided to slow down to catch my breath and recharge my ki and ether. Fortunately, I had attached a GPS tag on her in case I lost her. I then took a seat on a hill nearby and took out my GPS tracker. I observed the movement from my location till it stopped a few kilometers away. They must have either noticed the device or their base is there. I decided to take a walk as I used my recharge rune to absorb the surrounding ki and ether.

On my way, I walked into a settlement made by locals. Upon seeing me bloodied and a bit ragged, some people looked at me with disgust while others looked at me in wonder. On the unpaved road, I saw a torn doll and kicked it away. Dolls bring bad memories for me. I wanted to pass by as soon as possible as it reminded me of my hometown. I don't want to be reminded of that time.

As I reached the zone where the tracker was, I noticed Shaorung standing in front of a mountain, recovering from his previous fight. I sighed remembering that day, five years ago, when the last King's tournament of Etharia was conducted.

*

5 years ago

"Was that enough, old mann?" I asked Gramps as we ended our spar. My gramps, Kain Kleinton, wielder of Major Legacy weapon Mjolnir. He smirked at me as he swung back the hammer on his back. I lay on the ground, sweat and blood covering my body.

"I think you shouldn't push yourself to the point that you need to injure yourself to win in a spar. Everyone holds back in a spar." He sighed.

"I want the Grim Reaper's abilities and you know why." I growled before choking on my own blood. I spat it out to the corner.

"Anyways, Aira will heal you up in a bit. You have your next assignment on the double."

"May I know what it is?" I panted.

"Aira will brief you on it." He sighed heavily as he left. I couldn't blame him for the pressure he was under right now. Trayden and our country, Etharia, had recently signed a peace treaty to end the never-ending war between our countries. However, recent reports revealed that a Legacy weapon user from Trayden had not only taken over the government and installed a puppet king. They had also infiltrated Etharia to capture a person called "The Legacy". Gramps told me that it was a living Legacy weapon, but refused to clarify any further. I was disappointed, not gonna lie, but I was curious as well. Why is a person a Legacy weapon? I mean they were sentient already, so why be a living being? I requested Al for answers but he refused to answer any questions I threw at him due to Mjolnir's orders. Amongst the Legacy weapons, there was an authorial system if the users of two Legacy weapons had aligning objectives or working together.

"So let me get this straight," Aira sighed as she healed me and started replenishing my ki and ether reservoirs. "You are to retrieve the Legacy and her guardian. We will be giving you a location, where her engagement will be conducted away from private eyes. However, someone is trying to kidnap her and you will have to get to her before them. She goes by the name Cecilia. Is that understood?"

"Gotcha." I gave her a smirk as she gave me a smack across the face. "OW! That hurt!"

"I don't play games of seduction, boy!" She snarled.

"What seduction? How is smirking seductious?" I whined. She facepalmed as she finished replenishing my reserves. I swear, she's got enough ether and ki to recharge me a hundred times over nonstop.

"Go." She handed me a slip of paper before I headed to the terrace to make a quick escape. I looked around, searching for spying eyes. Al confirmed the absence of such eyes and I decided to leave for my assignment. I used my portal rune as space warped in front of me until a greyish-brown five-foot storey building stood in front of me. I stepped forward as I approached my destination before dismissing the portal behind me. I strided absentmindedly towards the entrance of the building as I bumped into a breeze of brown.

"Oof!" I heard a girl's voice. My eyes adjusted to the scene as I saw a gorgeous girl with brown eyes and brown hair rub her head. Strangely she wore a spring-powered watch, as if she was trying to hide herself. People wore watches powered by ki these days, but such watches could be easily detected. If she was going to head for the building, she was either going to kidnap the Legacy or she was the Legacy herself.

"Is your name Cecilia?" I asked her. She gave me a deadpan stare as she said: "No."

"No more questions needed, then." I sighed as I conjured an etheric sword in my hand. She growled as she headed for the crowds. Unfortunately for her, I was faster. I intercepted her and put her in a chokehold. She started gasping for her breath as she tried to augment her throat, which would have killed her if I didn't react by putting a ki restriction artefact on her.

"Let.Me.Go." She growled in an incoherent voice as she went on her knees.

"Not until you tell me why you are after the Legacy, girl. Who sent you?" I snarled back as I loosened my chokehold.

"....I am Cecilia." She whined. Fucking brat. She thinks she can get away so easily? AARGGHHH! I felt a searing pain in my sides which made my whole body burn. I yelled in pain as I felt it spread across my body.

"Cecil!" A man called out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I am fine." The woman, who I now identified as Cecilia-Oh, I fucked up- replied. I was rolling on the floor, basking in the subsiding pain as Al healed me. "Taht man was looking for me but when I said that I wasn't Cecilia, he attacked me. I don't know what his objective is, but he is definitely after those who are after me."

"She's the Legacy, alright." Al finally spoke up. "Bastard, why didn't you tell me earlier?" I mentally screamed. "Ask Mjolnir, not me." He sighed. I made a mental note to take a piss and a dookie on the goddamn fucking hammer before dumping a pile of cowdung on it. I then looked up at Cecilia, groaning in pain as I noticed a dark-haired companion with a pale complexion standing next to her, pointing an AK-47 at my head.

"Who are you and state your reason for stalking us?" He gave me a semi-cold stare. I sighed as I was about to get up. "Stay on the ground." He snapped.

I sighed as I folded my legs and sat on the ground. I tried sensing their strength and found that they were both weaker than me, though Cecilia had an enormous ki pool "My name is Rudolf Xeres and I was ordered to ensure that no one attacked you guys for today." I began my explanation.

"Fuck off."