Chapter Three Hundred And Sixty Five - 365
"What's goin' on here?" Captain Gregis slurred. He didn't bother standing like those near Felix. "Ioldo! Stop the screamin'!"
"Hethis little townie attacked me!" Ioldo cried, clutching his broken finger.
"Oh really?" The captain stood...or tried tohe found his footing less than stable as he pushed up from his bench. He swiped his hand as if looking at his System interface. "Wha...what'sInebriated. Poisoned!"
Goddammit.
Gregis roared from his half-leaning position over the bench. "They spiked the barrels!"
A wave of rage roared through the Paladins, shoving the lot of them to their feet, no matter how drowsy or drunk. Spectral flames flickered over the captain, a corona of light that burst in all directions, sweeping across his people and leaving behind pieces of its fire. Clarity surged back into their dulled eyes.
Plan B, then!
Felix let loose a burst of strained laughter, drawing every single glare in the crowd. "Yes! I spiked your booze, you giant...stupid...idiots! You think you could oppose the Prince of Kaldis?"
"Kaldis? That fop?" Gregis bellowed. "I'll wring your neck and send it back to the Prince on a platter! Kill that man!"
Deception is level 29!
The Paladins charged.
Relentless Resolution!
Felix dove and twisted, evading three crossbow bolts by a hairsbreadth. He rolled to his feet, already running as Paladins converged on his space. More bolts and javelins sliced through the air seconds later, clattering against the flagstones. Fire bloomed behind him as Felix ran, just ahead of their attacks. Back to the gate toward town.
"He's tryin' to escape!" someone shouted. "The Light Advances!"
"The Light Advances!"
A chorus of voices all cried the same wordsa Skill, Felix quickly realizedand the light of a hundred burning blades charged and swung down. Felix leaped forward, his Strength and Agility easily keeping him out of range as the light and fire Mana slagged a molten hole in the parade grounds.
"How's he so fast!"
"Close the gate!"
Squires scurried among the battlements, and one kicked out a release lever on the winch. The portcullis crashed down cutting off any escape, and the Paladin's roars turned to jeers. Yet Felix didn't stop, but accelerated.
And blew the thing apart.
Corrosive Strike!
Corrosive Strike is level 60!
Acid Mana and pure Strength hit the portcullis, warping the metal and tearing it free of the wood and stone enclosure. It fell with an almighty clatter and Felix sped over its toppling remains, his footsteps sure and easy so long as his Relentless Resolution held.
C'mon, jerks! Follow me...yes! Felix cheered internally as the Paladins poured out of the ruined gate, heedless of the destruction Felix had wreaked, focused only on ending him. Pit squawked angrily, wanting to be let loose on the warriors, but Felix refused. They don't need to know about you, bud. I got this!
Felix slowed, letting the Paladins overtake him a little. Flaming swords and bolts of light flashed by him, brilliant with heat, but he dodged aside even as he heard Gregis start laughing contemptuously.
"See? He cannot run forever! Stand and fight, Kaldis spy! We'll show you how the Hierocracy deals with sabateurs!" The big warrior leaped a final time, his massive armor lifting off the ground to eat up a good forty feet of distance and landing in Felix's way. "You'll never escape!"
"I was just trying to get away from everyone else," Felix said.
"What?"
Cardinal Flame!
Mantle of the Infinite Revolution!
Fire and cold spun off from Felix's body, the red-gold motes striking each and every one of his pursuers. It seized them with a blaring flash of light while a dire chill poured outward from his channels, coating the path around them in jagged ice.
You Have Enthralled A Paladin Of The Pathless (x45) For 10 Seconds!
Mantle of the Infinite Revolution is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+10 MIG
+10 INT
+10 END
Rime Shaping!
Spurred on by his Shaping, the ice surged from the roadway, climbing up the Paladins' legs in a flash.
Rime Shaping is level 23!
Rime Shaping is level 24!
"You!" Gregis tried to shout through his immobile mouth, but ice soon coated that as well, leaving only his eyes and nose free. Felix grinned and took off, back toward the fort.
"Time to go to work!" Evie cackled. Her chain snapped like thunder, sweeping two Paladins off their legs. "Take em out!"
Her team moved at the same time Felix drew the zealots' attention, securing Palis and her workers while a few stragglers tried to attack. Evie disposed of them with relish, her chain making joyful loops of violence while the others threw bolts of fire and spears of air and force around.
Reap the Maelstrom is level 73!
Chain Mastery is level 74!
"Thought they were drunk and drugged!" Atar shouted, Imbued Sparkbolts whirling around him. He stood near one of the shattered wagons, his eyes scanning the parade grounds.
"They are! Were!" that tavernkeep shouted back. "Blessed Siva, that was enough to down an army!"
"Not this army, clearly!"
"Hey! I'm not complainin'!" Evie shouted, leaping over the mage to hurl a dagger at a Paladin. The blade tripled in weight the moment it left Evie's hand, slamming hard into their eye. They fell without making a sound. "Now get movin' lady! You and your people, into the wagon!"
Most of the wagons were abandoned at that point, but the first two were laden with food and drink, just as they had planned. Legionnaires and Giants had all emerged from the wagons, bursting them apart in some cases and driving even more of the Squires and lingering Paladins back in woozy alarm. Lightning crackled across the parade grounds as members of Arclight brought their magic to bear, while swords and maces and hammers swung out, engaging the enemy in an all out brawl.
"Stop! Stop, damn you!" Darius hollered, pulling several of the Legionnaires back forcefully. "Follow the plan!"
Evie wove among them all, getting everyone moving while distracting the remaining zealots. And she was very distracting. Her chain flitted among the ranks, slashing open leather armor and bashing metal as she increased and reduced its weight by turns. Silver spears flew among the crowd as well, though Vess was more directly contending with another squad that had emerged from within the wall. The heiress was almost overwhelmed, if not for Harn's axes cutting through two of the Paladins in quick succession.
Scorpion's Tail!
Evie's chain snaked out, wrapping around another Paladin's leg and she hauled back with all her Strength. In the midst of running, the chain twisted him about despite his own clearly sizeable stat. Another thrown dagger ended him as well, and Evie noticed the ghostly flame above his head vanish.
Scorpion's Tail is level 65!
Thrown Weapon Mastery is level 52!
"What is that?" she asked.
"That leader of theirs used a Skill to purify their Status Conditions," Zara hissed. She swept her hand to the side and a wave of blue-green Mana bowled over twenty armored figures, slamming them hard into the fortifications. "We do not have time to dawdle. That means you too, Miss Aren."
"Yeah, yeah."
Evie followed at speed.
Felix tore back through the sundered portcullis, each step shattering the road beneath him as he hurled his Body forward. Still, Squires atop the battlements took potshots at him, crossbows twanging into the night, and forcing him to swerve a couple times. He had no idea if those bolts could pierce his skin, but Felix wasn't willing to find out.
Adamant Discord!
Lines of lightning ignited in the air, snapping to life between him and exactly thirteen Squires atop the fortifications. With a grunt of effort, he hauled on every single link, turning it to steel in his hands. Thirteen Squires were simultaneously yanked from the battlements, their cries of fear and surprise lasting only a moment before they hit the hard flagstones.
You Have Defeated A Squire Of The Pathless (x9)!
XP Earned!
You Have Killed A Squire Of The Pathless (x4)!
XP Earned!
Felix grimaced at the messages, slowing his pace just a touch. Fuck. Why couldn't you all just go to sleep?
A crash and clatter behind him made Felix whirl, only to find Gregis and three other Paladins staggering to a halt through the gate. The captain snarled, first in anger and then in outrage as he spied the retreating forms of Felix's company.
"That Palin woman! She was involved with your treachery! I'll skin her and leave her bones to the desert!" His Spirit buzzed with violent discord, unveiling itself and pushing down on Felix with all of his might.
It tickled, at little.
Relentless Resolution!
Adamant Discord!
Shadow Whip!
Dual Casting is level 51!
...
Dual Casting is level 56!
Felix burst forward, his movement Skill mixed with the burst of lightning from behind. He charged straight at the captain. The men lifted his burning greatsword, ready for the impact which would never come. As Felix neared, he juked around the man, flicking tendrils of shadow Mana from his palms and hitting the three other Paladins. He grasped their breastplates, and kept running, pulling them all off their feet with exclamations of outrage.
"Get off me!"
"Spy bastard!"
"You got it," Felix grunted, stopping and twisting. The tendrils snapped taut, spinning about him in a sharp arc and releasing the spell all at once, sending the three Paladins flying off the road and into the forest below. "Bye!"
The sound if ice breaking apart made Felix clench his jaw. Running out of time. He looked back to find the captain again, and a growl escaped his lips. Gregis, for all his faults, wasn't stupid enough to wait for Felix to come back. Instead, the man was running after the wagons, calling out to whatever forces were left within the fort.
Dammit!
Felix turned and ran after him, flaring Adamant Discord to pull the idiot off his feet and back into the parade grounds. It worked, and Gregis screamed as he flipped, ass over teakettle, to land in a pile at the center of the space.
Behind him, the rumble of newly-freed Paladins sounded along the road, all of them racing back. Huffing a frustrated breath, Felix called to his core space. Affinity sang, Intent shaped, and Stone followed, rocketing up from the flagstones and forming into a solid wall of sandstone he shaped up and over the Bogfeld-side gate.
"There. That'll do it, I think," Felix said, a bit out of breath. He'd spent a lot of Mana and Stamina in the last few minutes. "Now, for you"
The captain rammed into him, sword first.
"Move! Faster!" Lord Darius shouted from just outside the gates, and everyone raced to follow. Loquis' group hustled to keep up, none of them with the sort of Bodies designed for physical exertion, all of them heavily panting and sweating. It was full night now, but it felt hotter than ever, and the Half-Orc had to mop sweat from his brow with the edge of his battlerobes.
That was when he saw the leatherclad Squires creeping from a side hatch. Human, they looked no older than himself and just as frightened. Their eyes met.
"SQUIRES!" Loquis shouted, followed by the crackle of his most powerful Skill. "Fulminate!"
Lightning sparked outward, blue-white and fierce, striking one of the Squires dead in their chest.
Fulminate is level 31!
You Have Killed A Squire Of The Pathless!
XP Earned!
Loquis stared at the charred body for a second too long. His team shot off weaker Flashbolts, but they largely missed the other Squire, who had just enough time to kick free the wedge that held the portcullis winch secure.
Right onto an entire wagon full of people.
"No!"
Loquis shouted, his hands outstretched as if he could stop it when, miraculously, it did stop. A pair of huge blue hands held onto its frame, only a handspan from piercing several Henaair and Legionnaires. Amazed looks passed among everyone, a brief pause as their hearts hammered in their chests.
Then an explosion rocked the parade grounds behind them, and everyone started moving at once. A second giant joined the first, and together they lifted the big portcullis fully, holding it long enough for the last of their people to race through.
"Thank you," Loquis whispered, as he passed the first giant. The bearded warrior looked surprised before frowning.
"Grmm."
"Move people! Move!" Lord Darius shouted again, and Loquis picked up the pace.
Gods, but it's hot.
The captain's sword skittered off of Felix's now-scaled skin, and he looked up in horror as the wave of transformation lifted Felix until he was head and shoulders taller than the man.
"What in the light are you?" Gregis asked.
"Annoyed."
He swiped his talons across the captain's greatsword, shearing the steel of it in half. For his part, Gregis immediately dropped it and punched forward with a spike of incandescent light.
"Spear of Radiance!"
Chthonic Tribute!
The Skill vanished as it burst free, yanked into Felix's channels as Gregis stared in horror. Then, without warning, the guy ran.
"Hey!" Felix shouted after him.
Gregis moved with a series of bounding leaps, his low Agility proving to be less of an encumbrance than Felix would have thought. His Strength alone propelled the tin can forward like a ballistic frog, and in a few short jumps he was going to reach Felix's team.
Adamant Discord!
At the apex of his jump, Felix crashed into the man, and they smashed up and onto the balcony above the gates. Felix rolled free of the captain, the both of them shattering through a set of double doors and barreling through the cozy furnishings of some sort of office. He flared Relentless Resolution and flowed to his feet as nimbly as he could, only to find the Paladin fetched up against the far wall.
He was on fire.
"You...you're no spy," he rasped. Blood flowed down across his face and the left side of his breastplate was crumpled in. A sword made of shimmering flame slowly coalesced in his hands. "You're an assassin. Kaldis sent you to...what? Disrupt the Knights? Surely he knew the Hierocracy had occupied this Pass, surely he knows what would happen to his little Princedom in the Hills. So why? Tell me!"
Felix said nothing, only lowering himself and bracing for whatever the Paladin might do next.
Gregis spat a mouthful of blood onto the carpeted floor. "Fine. Then I'll simply end you, creature...but not before you beg me for the Pathless' light!"
The sword in his hands bloomed, igniting the air as waves of Mana flashed outward in concentric rings of destruction. Fire and light obliterated everything in the room, ripping apart tables and chairs and scorching the carpets to nothing. Even Felix's Garment couldn't withstand the heat and radiance, burning away from his body as fast as it reconstituted itself.
Relentless Revolution!
Flaring his movement Skill, Felix rushed forward, ducking under the man's guard and grasping his armor at the elbow. The captain struggled, and the man was surprisingly strong and incredibly durable. Felix couldn't afford to be delicate. He thrust his arm into the man's armored elbow, snapping it the wrong way and ripping a howl of pain from the captain. Gregis' blade fell from his hand, but he was not unarmed. In his pain, he lunged forward, snapping his head into Felix's own.
Felix met him, head to head, a sharp report filled the burning room.
You Have Defeated Captain Gregis Noxum, Paladin of the Pathless!
XP Earned!
Finally.
Adamant Discord had him up and out of the fort, slinging his Body over the battlements in a single movement. Arrows followed him from a clutch of Squires that were hiding atop them. Several shattered against his scales, but a wash of fire magic burned the rest of their shafts to ash. Atar, on the rear of the wagons, stood with his hands upraised and a crown of flames atop his head.
Felix grinned.
He caught up with the wagons easily, landing about halfway in a dazzling crackle of electricity. The company was afoot and legging it through the Pass ahead. Soon we'll be well out of range of these Paladins, he mused.
The Paladins weren't giving up through. Already, Felix could see that they had broken through his sandstone wall and were gathering atop mounts. Ready to chase after their group into the desert.
So Felix did what he had to do.
Stone Shaping!
Stone Shaping!
Stone Shaping!
He yanked rock from the mountains beside them, his Mana reaching and spreading out in a net gossamer-thin and steel-cored. A wall, twice as high and thick as the battlements themselves, rose just ahead of him. This one, however, had no stairs or doors, no way to bypass it without breaking it apart. And it was made of the Tier III Stone of the mountain itself. Though it cost him almost his entire store of Mana, Felix figured it was worth it.
And stay out, he thought, a headache already clawing at him.
Stone Shaping is level 75!
Adept Tier!
You Gain:
+15 INT
+15 DEX
+15 END
They rode off into the night, with wrathful, frustrated screams the only thing following behind.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel