by L Travern
"She does," a kid's voice said from the outside. Sara recognized it as being Matthew's.
The woman turned. "You! What did you do?!" She yelled in absolute anger right before leaving the inn.
Sara stood up and ran to the entrance.
Chapter 24 - City Lord's Men
Chapter 24 - City Lord's Men
Matthew's amusement had increased on each step along the way to the inn. He saw warriors and mages marching together, showing people the image of the Prophetess and telling everyone how dangerous she was.
His greatest surprise was seeing two groups facing each other and arguing. One had garments showing the symbol of the Temple of Time, while the other wore blue and silver, the colors of the City Lord.
"We've always welcomed you with honors," a local mage wearing magic armor made of metal with imbued gems was speaking with irritation at one of the mages of the Temple of Time, who only wore enchanted robes. In Lamia, only the City Lord's troops were allowed to wear high-end armor on the streets. "But today you're overstepping your boundaries!"
The other mage had an expression of absolute rage. "How can you say that?! There is a traitor in our ranks! Her potential for destruction is boundless! We must find her at once, for the good of this city itself!"
"If she unlawfully betrayed you, you're welcome to present evidence to the City Lord and await his judgment on it!" The local mage said. "This is not your temple, this is Lamia! You are not allowed to hunt anyone in here just because you say they are traitors!"
"She hurt our warriors!" The Temple of Time's mage replied.
"She did, but our investigations showed her claiming innocence and your warriors insisting on capturing her!" The local mage was getting angrier. "All people in Lamia are allowed to resist unlawful capture! The City Lord has spoken, cease this nonsense at once or there will consequences!"
The local troops left without waiting for a reply.
"You're harboring a traitor!" The Temple's mage yelled. "We won't allow this to happen!"
Matthew had no idea where a mere City Lord found the guts to stand against the Temple of Time, but he liked it very much.
As if that wasn't interesting enough, at the alley where the inn was located, he found three men frozen in thick ice, with only the ice on their noses open so they could breathe. And at the door of the White Lotus Inn, Helina Chosen stood in a bloodied dress screaming questions at the people inside.
Matthew decided to test her again, this time by using a spell to hide his presence.
Myriad Arts – Spellcasting – Triple Elements: Space, Light, Soul – Seventh Stealth!
Light and space twisted around Mark and Matthew, hiding them completely. They couldn't be seen, smelled, heard, or felt. Even Mana Sense would go around them if he stood still; unless a mage was actively focusing on the area they were and saw the mana going around something invisible, they wouldn't find anything wrong.
He had already used this same spell to hide from Duke Eminence Ninefingers but he hadn't been stupid enough to test how close to the Duke he could get. Now, to Matthew's happiness, Helina didn't notice him even after he got right behind her, and she was using her Mana Sense! It seemed that as long as his opponent wasn't paying too much attention to their Mana Sense, he could slowly walk inside its range without being detected.
Hearing her questioning Sara, he dropped his stealth spell and spoke.
"She does," he said.
Helina turned immediately and looked in absolute fury at Matthew. "You! What did you do?!" She stepped out of the inn.
Matthew raised an eyebrow. "I did some shopping...?"
A cloaked Sara came from the inside of the inn and silently stopped beside Matthew.
"They are calling me a traitor!" Helina yelled. "Me! A Chosen Prophetess!"
Matthew shrugged. "So?"
She was even more infuriated by his nonchalance. "It must be because of you! What did you do for them to call me a traitor?"
"Look, girl," Matthew said with an unhappy expression. "First, lower your voice, I'm not your fucking dog. Second, you think I give a damn about you, enough to make your stupid group deem you a traitor? Third, even if I did want to do it, how the fuck would I make the Temple of Time call a Chosen Prophetess a traitor?" She opened her mouth to speak, but he didn't let her. "If you didn't notice, I'm a man, and your people would rather die than accept anything I said. In fact, if they heard a man saying there are three moons in the sky, they would publicly proclaim that there once was a fourth moon, only it decided to leave the sky because it couldn't withstand the sight of men!"
Mark couldn't help but chuckle at that. Even Sara let out a smile. The Prophetesses thought of themselves as better than everyone else, but they were especially harsh against men. In their organization, men were only lackeys who were supposed to obey without giving their opinions on anything.
Helina didn't like it but Matthew's words did make sense. Indeed, how could he make the Prophetesses turn on one of their own?
"Anyway, I'm leaving the city," Matthew said. "You're free to come with us if you want."
He was already turning when she spoke.
"Wait!"
He looked silently at her.
"Aren't you..." She started. "Didn't I tell you they are calling me a traitor?"
Matthew rolled his eyes. "Yeah. So?"
"I'm supposed to protect you... But if I come with you, you'll be hunt by people from the Temple..."
Matthew sighed. "Listen, kid, take a hold of your emotions. You're too volatile. You were ready to attack me a few moments ago and now you're all worried about my safety. As I said, I'm leaving, you can come or not. I'm being hunted myself, so a few more pursuers make no difference at all." He looked straight at her eyes. "If I may say so, you would benefit greatly from following me. I recommend you don't let go of this chance."
He left unsaid that he would benefit even more by studying her and understanding how the disturbance of Origin Energy he had felt at the city gates could give her Visions.
This time, he wasn't stopped when he turned to leave.
"Master..." Sara said not too long after that. "What is happening?"
"Oh, she claims to be a Prophetess who was Chosen to protect me," Matthew explained. "But her people say she's a traitor. No idea what's going on."
Sara looked back at Helina, who was following them as if she was completely lost and had no idea what was going on.
"I..." Sara felt as much lost as Helina looked. She wanted to say something about it, but she had no idea what she should say.
"We'll talk when we have the time," Matthew said. "For now, pay attention to your surroundings, we might get attacked."
"Should you really allow her to follow you?" Sara asked Mark.
The butler shook his head. "There can be no progress without conflict. Overcoming obstacles will be good for our young master. Also, our young master isn't stupid, he wouldn't willingly attract any trouble he isn't confident in dealing with."
Sara had nothing to say after that and only looked around in high alert.
Matthew didn't use stealth or told Helina to change her appearance. He still hadn't decided if he would turn the Temple of Time into an enemy or if he would help her clear her name. It would all depend on the interactions with the first people from the Temple who found them.
* * *
Helina had no idea what to think. Who was that kid? How could he act so much like an adult? What was going on with the Temple?
As they walked the streets of Lamia towards the gates, she kept her Mana Sense on a twenty meters radius around her. If she expanded her Mana Sense too much, people might trace it back to her. That distance was just enough for her to detect any stealth attacker.
She also kept a Soul Disruptor spell active, preventing her soul from being tracked...
Wait a minute! As she realized something, she almost tripped on her own feet in shock.
She hadn't been using her Mana Sense before! How had the bo
y approached her without being detected?!
She looked at the butler. She had conjectured before that he might be an Ascender in disguise, but everything spoke of him indeed being only a weak warrior following the kid.
Then, she looked at the cloaked woman. She could see that she was a Champion pretending to be a klutz. Helina hadn't felt anything from the woman, so she shouldn't have used a spell to hide the boy from her Mana Sense.
That boy... Who, or what, was him?
* * *
Matthew was walking the main streets of Lamia, disappointed at the Temple of Time. He was already midway through the gates and no one had appeared yet.
And that's when the City Lord's troops appeared.
They were a group of twenty. Matthew felt something wrong with their leader and immediately checked their levels.
Level: 7 — Champion Mage (8 — Eminent Mage)
Level: 7 — Champion Mage
Level: 7 — Champion Mage
...
Level: 6 — Notable Warrior
Level: 6 — Notable Warrior
...
Level: 6 — Notable Warrior
It was a force to reckon with. An Eminence hiding her level, four Champion mages, and fifteen Notable warriors. They all wore impressive metal armor, all of them blue with silver details, showing their loyalty. The five mages' armors were even more impressive than all others, as they had imbued magic gemstones that shone in different colors.
The leading mage, the one hiding her level, had a helmet open on the front, revealing her face. They stopped in front of Matthew's group and she spoke directly to him.
"Matthew Valdian, the City Lord sends his regards to the Royal Family and invites you to his castle."
Matthew wasn't surprised that they had found his identity after the amount of money he spent. He smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "I thank the City Lord's kindness. Send him my heartfelt regards. Unfortunately, as the City Lord must know, I must make haste to the Three Towers."
She didn't blink at his reply. "The City Lord thought you might say this and told us to show you his respect by escorting you to the Three Towers." Her voice had a hint of a challenge to it as if she was daring Matthew to tell her to disobey her orders.
However, Matthew nodded. Even if he wanted to get rid of them, he wouldn't do so in the city. "Good. Let's go."
He barely stepped ahead when someone yelled from behind him. "Traitor! Surrender yourself!"
Matthew turned and saw a group of ten people wearing the symbol of the Prophetesses. They might be half as many as the city lord's men, but their levels...
Level: 9 — Ascending Mage
Level: 8 — Eminent Mage
Level: 8 — Eminent Mage
Level: 7 — Champion Mage
Level: 7 — Champion Mage
Level: 6 — Notable Warrior
...
Level: 6 — Notable Warrior
Five mages, five warriors, all of them wearing magic metal armor.
One of the mages was an Ascender with an amazing armor, completely black, resembling a dragon with two horns on the helmet. Him being an Ascender made him powerful enough to speak directly to the rulers of the country, not to mention to purse an Eminence.
"Miss City Lord's Woman," Matthew spoke to the Eminence despite looking at the people from the Temple of Time. "I wasn't aware that unlawful capture of people was allowed in this city."
He was expecting either a weak agreement with him or a refusal based on the Ascender's level. However, the local troops stepped ahead, standing between Matthew's group and the Prophetesses' men.
"Stand down!" She yelled. "Showing yourself in metal armor is a breach of Lamia's laws! Trying to capture someone without the agreement of the City Lord is another breach! Under the authority given to me by—"
She couldn't even finish speaking before the Ascender pointed her finger at her and a black ray came out of it.
The black ray went straight at the Eminence, trying to pierce her heart, but a white barrier appeared right between the ray and her armor. Her armor started to change as if it a layer of paint was slowly melting away, revealing an even more impressive white armor beneath, shining with blue gemstones. On the left breast of the armor, the words Immortal Crusade could be seen in bass-relief beneath the drawing of a black cross.
The Ascender apparently wasn't expecting that for he took a step back, stopping the black ray at once.
The Eminence closed her helmet with a spell and a blue orb materialized on her hand.
"Ascender William Horned-Dragon," she said, "you have attacked an agent of the Immortal Crusade. Surrender yourself at once!"
The Ascender didn't reply for a while. He looked at the Eminence, then to his sides and said with a trembling voice. "I didn't know you were a Crusader!"
She wasn't moved. "For daring to talk back after being ordered to surrender, your offense has increased! Remove all your weaponry, present all your spatial items, and kneel! Now!"
Chapter 25 - Battle
Chapter 25 - Battle
The five warriors from the Temple of Time immediately complied with the order, keeling and placing their hands behind their heads in surrender. They were just soldiers following orders; there was no way they would resist the Immortal Crusade!
Ascender Horned-Dragon, however, was as decisive to attack as he was to flee. He immediately turned back and teleported away, reappearing a hundred meters away!
His mage lackeys did the same, each one of them turning a different direction before teleporting. Or at least, they tried.
When the Ascender left, the Crusader Eminence reacted with lightning reflexes. She cast a spell to lock the space around her, preventing all teleports from happening.
"For resisting rightful imprisonment by the Immortal Crusade, you're all deemed traitors of humankind. Your lives are to be relinquished at once!" She yelled and all nineteen people under her command moved into a formation.
Maybe those four Eminences might have been reasoned with before, but when the Crusader declared then guilty, it made them even keener on fighting back or running away. They immediately raised magical shields around themselves, orbs materialized on their hands, and cast different spells.
Three balls of lightning appeared in front of one of them, with lightning moving between the balls, forming a triangle. Then, the lightning turned into a circle and the three balls released lighting that met in the center of the circle, like a satellite antenna. Following that, the ball in the center shot lightning towards Lamia's troops.
The second Eminence shot a cone of fire directly ahead of it.
The third Eminence focused on attacking the space lock using invisible space blades that Matthew could only feel but not see.
The fourth Eminence created an ice wall around the four of them. The thick wall stood between the first two Eminences and their spells, but it didn't hinder their spellcasting at all.
Fire and lightning attacked the Crusader Eminence, the four Champions, and the ten Notable warriors. The Crusader Eminence created a wide mana barrier to protect all of them, while the Champions revealed their enchanted weapons, all of them swords with gems, and pointed them ahead.
Every single sword shot Pure mana at the mana shield to strengthen it. It was the attack of two Eminences against another Eminence and a few Champions, so the two Eminences from the Temple of Light obviously held the upper hand. The warriors just stood ready to charge ahead or run away the moment they were ordered to do so.
While the Crusader Eminence was being bombarded by fire and lightning, she was also creating big ice spikes above her head, readying them to shoot at her enemies, all the while also maintaining the spatial lock around the Prophetesses' mages.
Matthew and his group were being protected by the mana shield. He shook his head and sighed. "They look like bulls, stupidly using their heads to hit each other."
His three companions looked disbelievingly at him.
This was an in
credibly dangerous fight that might be decided in a single instant and spell doom for them! The sheer amount of mana being used was corroding the stone tiles of the road, distorting the air around the battle, even cracking the walls of the nearby structures! People were running screaming on the street and sirens were resounding all around the city, alerting everyone to hide in their houses because a formidable enemy had invaded!
And Matthew considered it... Stupid?
He looked at Mark and Sara. "Look at them," he said with a condescending tone. "They have so much power that they get drunk in it. Their arrogance makes them unable to use more effective tactics to deal with their enemies. I bet if I explained to them how a simple earth-element spell could shake the ground and destabilize their opponents' spellcasting, thus granting them victory, they would vomit some lines about a mage's pride or something as useless as that. I wonder who benefits by keeping the mages so useless in combat." He sighed again. "Learn well, you two. When your life is on the line, there's only victory or defeat, the means don't matter. It's better to be a dishonored living than an honorable corpse."
Done with his speech, he acted. The four Eminences had attacked in a way that would take Matthew's life if the Crusader Eminence hadn't acted to protect him.
It was time for payback.
Myriad Arts — Spellcasting, Formation Mastery — Quad Elements: Earth, Space, Soul, Metal — Legendary Precise Earth-Space Spikes!
Mana flowed from his body into the ground, traveled ahead and appeared underneath the four Eminences, who had simply not safeguarded the very ground they stood upon. Earth, strengthened by space mana, rose from beneath the stone road and shot towards the groins of the mages. Soul mana and metal mana analyzed and searched for openings in the metal armor while tiny spikes appeared from the big earth spikes, going directly for the openings that were found!
The armors weren't just for show and mana shields automatically appeared around them, protecting the weaknesses. But then, the spikes analyzed the mana shields themselves, which were made from formations and attacked the weak parts of them!
