Chương 156: 4.25 Rotten timing

Their original plan had been to head to the statue the night prior, though that had to be delayed by at least a day because of Irwyn's manic state. Waiting more was not ideal as never leaving their residence for four full days would be rather suspicious. On the other hand, they did not want to be followed to said statue in case they indeed found something better kept secret - not to mention that the moment someone tried to retrieve the listening device in their absence things might escalate.

A conundrum to which Alice had an alternative.

"We simply teleport around through the cellars," their Time mage suggested.

"Basically every single building seems to have an underground room or three. We pretend like we are still staying home and sneak out."

"They will notice something is wrong through the windows," Elizabeth shook her head.

"I don't know how many observers there are, but no motion inside at all will most likely be caught."

"Do we have a way to simulate us being here then?" Irwyn asked.

"Could either of you create some kind of constructs that would deceive our watchers?"

"Not me," Alice immediately bowed out.

"Perhaps," Elizabeth said thoughtfully.

"With my Concept it should be easier to make some more lasting illusions. They will be closer to shadowed silhouettes but if we pull up the curtains it will mostly look like us moving behind them. But I have never done more than rudimentary enchantment - and for something so remote it would have to be that, so I am not confident."

"You are telling me you cannot match experts three times your age in their chosen field?" Alice feigned shock.

"Outrageous, your ladyship."

"I am not perfect," Elizabeth said but sounded genuinely embarrassed to have any gaps in her skillset. Even though her breadth of knowledge was already ludicrous.

"Elemental affinity helps less with enchantment so I have decided to not pursue the craft as of yet."

"It still seems like the best we have," Irwyn had to admit. He could not create, Alice seemed certain she could not make something fitting with Time magic, and Waylan was not a mage in the first place.

"I can get to it," Elizabeth nodded.

"I wonder if I can salvage something to lay the magic into. Like their special ceramics. I haven't brought many materials for this kind of work myself, so it would be a good idea to be frugal."

"How long will it…" Irwyn began to say, then frowned. In that moment, at a seemingly unimportant time what he had half dreaded happened. A waft reached his nose, one he recognized. One he would never again dismiss.

"I smell undead."

"Can you tell where," all signs of relaxation left Elizabeth's face, the bubble of Void around them disappearing. In a split second she was fully alert, magic already swirling through her body, empowering it. Not quite as noticeably as some of her more distinct spells, but Irwyn noticed her hair growing even darker than usual, a visual component to empower the magic.

"Let me try," he nodded, trying to pinpoint the direction. The smell magnified tenfold the moment the buble vanished, but it was still not nearly as potent as back in Abonisle right before disaster struck. It was, nevertheless, also increasing in strenght. His first instinct was that perhaps it operated much like usual stench would, seeking the path of least resistance. Therefore, he approached the windows to one side of the room.

"Alice, get your namesake here," Elizabeth commanded in the meantime.

"Just grab her?" their Time mage asked.

"We cannot waste time," she nodded.

"Make her inform the military." Irwyn had approached the window and was looking into the street below, shields reinforced. He was standing still but the smell was growing worse, which meant that the source had to be moving towards them in some way.

"What?!" Alice2 appeared in the room with a disoriented shriek. Honing or not, the girl had no defenses against a Time mage just forcefully dragging her through space.

"Soldier, be alert!" Elizabeth commanded with such authority in her voice that their confused neighbor even half saluted. No respite was given to gather wits either.

"You have a mission: Inform your superiors that an undead attack is imminent. Scale yet unknown but one is definitely here. Repeat!"

"Inform the command of an attack?" the girl seemed even more thrown off than the moment prior.

"Yes, dismissed," but all Elizabeth really needed to know was that she had retained the information. She beckoned and Alice1 transported NotQuiteAlice into the basement with the telegram machine - Irwyn presumed.

"Have you found anything yet?" she turned back to him.

"It's approaching us," he shook his head, still looking down at the street. It was early-ish morning and the foot traffic was significant. A bit of magic let him see perfectly well but that helped with details, not so much spotting anomalies.

"That's all I can tell. Not sure if it even is from this direction."

"Alright, Waylan, try to stay close to us, especially if buildings start collapsing," Elizabeth nodded.

"Visible if possible so we can make sure to not hit you. Depending on the scale, collateral damage might not care about invisibility."

"Got it," the sneak seriously nodded.

"Alice, conserve your energy," she then turned to their Time mage.

"Only engage if we spot a Draugr or something you are uniquely suited to defend against. Irwyn and I will not run out of mana against lesser undead, no matter their numbers."

"How many are you even expecting?" Alice asked with a hint of alarm.

"It would be ideal if there were just a few," Elizabeth shrugged.

"But worst case scenario, we must be prepared for a horde made up of half the city's population. Exhaustion might become a factor. You are vital if we are forced to flee by several Draugr."

"Draugr being?" Waylan asked, apparently still unaware of the terminology… which made sense. Waylan had not been with them for most of those conversations even in Ebon Respite.

"Conception-wielding undead," Irwyn immediately explained, continuing to look across the street. He still hadn't noticed anything off aside from the smell. LocalAlice was transmitting the warning already through the telgram - however, it was in some kind of code that Irwyn did not know how to interpret.

"Should we get to an open field?" Alice asked.

"No, I want to know if they are specifically coming for us," Elizabeth shook her head.

"We can glean much from an opening attack, including if they have even an inkling of our power."

"Still nothing?" Waylan asked with some trepidation.

"No," Irwyn said, staring into the street. The smell was not letting up despite no visual indication of anything being wrong.

"We wait then," Elizabeth said, also approaching the window. Alice quickly followed suit leading to them observing everything in tense silence. Irwyn felt the cables beneath their home lighting up in a flurry of more messages, likely a consequence of Alice's warning. Their liaison was not done though, beginning to elaborate on her exact information. That was a much slower process than some kind of emergency code. A minute passed, then two. The tension between them was palpable.

Invisible barriers were in place, as subtle as Irwyn could manage them without compromising overmuch on strenght. Elizabeth was ready to pounce, perhaps even eager to test the limits of her Concept. Alice seemed impassive but the ring had flashed on her finger a few times. Waylan was visibly uncomfortable by the necessity of staying visible, pacing in place. Then Irwyn finally found the anomaly. A pale old man walking down the street.

Too pale, for all he had been trying to hide that detail beneath thick layers of clothing. That by itself would not have been enough to gather Irwyn's attention though. What gave it away was that the man had turned towards the entrance of their building, stepping out of the crowd. And when his eyes were on him there were too many other small details to miss. The far too low body temperature, glazed over eyes, and strange limp were telling.

"There," Irwyn voiced and brought mana to his fingertips, much outright seeping out of his body, eagerly waiting to be used. The moment he felt hostile magic he would be ready to strike. He did not have to wait long. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It was not a direct attack that followed, but rather a spark. An ignition. But it was defiled. Like a profanity shouted during a ceremony. A sadistic smile on lips that feared no consequences.

Like a corpse cut open and defiled just as it was being put into the grave. Wrong. Unnatural. Evil. For a split second, the 'blue' flames began to surge. Idly Irwyn thought that they were closer to white than blue, just the slightest tint of the color visible in them. It was a bit of a misnomer really, though that did not stop them from rapidly spreading over the carrier's body. It took roughly a second to envelop their carrier entirely – for all the man was long dead anyway. But they were still Flames.

Irwyn demanded with the entirety of his being that they be extinguished. He did not take control of them for touching that filth would be appalling. The command was something more instinctual. A demand made of reality. Not the stuff of intentions and mages on his level. An action he did not think he could have replicated intentionally before that moment. Like a revulsed muscle memory spasming. For Irwyn was no ordinary mage. He knew that for all it was often much more subtle.

Just talent and unusual skill, not the bypassing of grades and rules. But in that moment, as he saw those sacrilegious Flames, something else was awoken with a deep-rooted hatred. At the edge of his will where he often tried to forget, the Name screamed with hate against the defilement with a reverberating shriek. The blue flames vanished as quickly as they had appeared. More than just extinguished but erased. Rejected from existence on a fundamental level. Irwyn breathed out, returning to calm.

That hate was still smoldering in him but lessened… like it had not been fully his own. That in itself made him suppress a shudder as he looked up - and met Elizabeth's wide-eyed gaze. Ah, of course, he realized. To an outsider, it might have looked like he had simply stolen control of the flames, then extinguished them. The practical effect was even the same. But in truth, the real method should be impossible even for him. An average mage would not notice. Alice certainly hasn't.

But Elizabeth was too extraordinary to wholly miss what had just transpired. Especially with Flames. For all she favored the Void, it was undeniable that her talents with Flames still surpassed most if not almost all dedicated mages. Irwyn opened his mouth to speak and found himself unable to find the words. How could he explain in a mere few sentences? The root was, after all, a ludicrous secret he had never dared not voice. Perhaps for far too long.

"Later," she interrupted before he could find what to say.

"Was that the only one?"

"I…" Irwyn paused, startled by such a simple question. He breathed deep and found that the smell had mostly receded. It was still there when he focused just… diminished. Perhaps more distant?

"Most likely, yes."

"Then we move out," she nodded.

"This wasn't potent enough for a dedicated attack targeting us, there will be mo…" Just as she was saying as much, sirens began to roar, interrupting her words. Some people on the street had been staring at the collapsed corpse at the doorway - perhaps wondering if they had merely imagined that split second of pale flames - but the loud noise immediately put a stop to that. Not quite panic immediately coursed through the crowd as they began to hurry"Can you feel the next closest attack?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not by smell," Irwyn frowned but focused on his other senses. Namely, his ability to perceive Flame. For in the distance, he felt several spots where such began to spread, the slightest hint of that intense profanity carried within even from such a distance.

"Six within my range of perception," he nodded.

"How far is that?" Alice immediately asked.

"Not sure," Irwyn shook his head. He had experienced much growth lately and even his prior limits on that had been vague." Far thought."

"Whole city far or several districts far?" she reiterated.

"Because that radically changes how serious the situation is!" Six for the whole city would be manageable. If it was just their neighborhood though? If those flames were anything like the first incident the group had been told about, they would spread much like a plague, except lethal in a fraction of the time.

"Sorry, I really don't know," he shook his head.

"But… two are spreading quickly."

"We prioritize by that metric then," Elizabeth nodded decisively, writing on a note she had taken out at some point. Her hand flashed so quickly Irwyn could barely perceive the individual movements.

"Teleport this to the other Alice, then we pursue. Which direction?"

"There," Irwyn pointed towards the one of the two which he thought might have been proliferating even faster than the second. It was hard to estimate from so afar. Alice nodded, making the note disappear, then teleporting their whole group on the rooftop, where Irwyn immediately created his platforms of Flame to carry them.

"I will keep us hidden," Elizabeth added, manifesting a veil around their group.

"For surprise and to prevent friendly fire." Then they were flying off at a rapid speed. The alarm was ringing across the streets, people still in the early stages of fleeing - it had only really been less than half a minute after all.

"Can you do what you did back there?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at Irwyn.

"Probably best not to," he shook his head.

"I think I could extinguish the Flames by controlling them… but it's probably better to just overpower them, destroying any carriers that are already dead."

"And those still alive?" Waylan asked.

"I will do my best to save them, if death isn't instantaneous," Irwyn nodded with some reluctance. What he had done on instict had not been pleasant.

"We are almost there." With their speed it had really taken them only a scarce few seconds to reach the next spot. It was a theatre of some kind from what Irwyn could immediately notice, the chaos spreading within as people were desperately trying to flee. The blue flames were not yet visible from outside but Irwyn certainly felt their presence.

"Inside?" Alice guessed and received a nod.

"Then hold on." The next moment they appeared above the stage in the main hall, finding a pandemonium unfolding below them. Perhaps half the hall was swarming with undead burning with that white-blue fire. The theatre must have been full, given the numbers. They also still possessed that uncanny degree of cooperation that Irwyn had seen in the undead. The exits had been secured, allowing a steady stream to exit in good order, almost like soldiers moving in formation.

On the other hand, there was an island of survivors, desperately trying to fight off the growing horde with pieces of broken-down chairs or whatever else they could get their hands on with limited success. There was also a smaller group on the stage, using fake weapons and large props to barely defend the stairs. Neither would have lasted much longer and were already halfway towards being overrun. Irwyn immediately summoned walls of Flame to isolate the survivors.

As they were magical they did not require fuel nor did they smoke, other than the ashes from the few undead caught inside. The spell only carried four intentions: Burn, incinerate, block, and contain. The last one in particular was meant to not let the heat within leak towards the fragile civilians. In the meantime, Elizabeth delivered surgical strikes of Void magic, erasing the few that were still on the same side of the walls as the playgoers.

There were many undead but they seemed to wield no magic, making them defenseless. That only left one last thing before the situation was truly under control: There were two people who had just been touched by the flame as far as Irwyn could see. Intently, he did not let himself enter that earlier Name induced state, instead grabbing control of the Flames directly. The feeling was uncomfortable and disgusting. Like reaching into the latrine or diving head-first into a pile of month-old leftovers.

Irwyn suppressed a shudder as he extinguished the profane Flames as quickly as he could, just so he would be rid of that awful feeling.

"Yes, really unpleasant," he reiterated.

"Cut off the exits," Elizabeth did not comment, instead giving another instruction. It was something Irwyn probably should have realized himself. The two main exits as well as the two emergency ones and the way backstage were immediately all blockaded by more walls of flame.

"Clean up, I will hunt those that got out. Alice, move me into the next room." Then she vanished. Irwyn felt her Voidflame sprout in the area behind the hall's main exits as she got to work. Irwyn in the meantime was left to deal with the trapped horde. It had only been a few seconds but their flying platforms had obviously not gone unnoticed. That was not the same as their foes having a means of attack.

The undead were already starting to gather in an attempt to form a flesh hill of some sort to perhaps lessen the elevation difference. A few were trying to throw burning severed body parts - a pointless attempt since his barriers would stop them even if they could reach so high. They were not currently threatening, though Irwyn was not letting down his guard and focused himself on the task at hand. Namely, he cleansed everything with fire.

An all-consuming tide swept through the theatre, sparing only those hidden safely behind his burning walls. A hundred bodies combusted, reduced to ash before they could even fall to the ground, then even the ash mostly evaporated in the scorching heat. The Flame flooded every nook and every cranny, washing out the smallest hint of the Rot. For one second, two, then finally three as Irwyn decided it had been enough, revealing a hall scoured clean.

He had tried to not damage the walls or floor so as to not disrupt structural integrity but the chairs had not been spared his wrath - saving them was not worth the effort it would take, given their numbers formerly scattered among the dead. The paint had been burned away, yes, but the building would not fall anytime soon. It was a satisfactory result. Bits of ash were still falling down a few seconds later when he finally felt sure there was nothing of the Rot left, so he allowed the walls of Flame to fall.

The people were, unsurprisingly, startled. Confused and terrified, as they looked up on the platform. Waylan waved at the frightened masses, though Irwyn paid them no mind.

"We should follow," Irwyn opined. Elizabeth would not be in danger against this level of thread but the undead could spread out, making them harder to hunt down. Not to mention they still had to be wary of surprises.

"I am done," Elizabeth said, appearing right among them, and making Waylan jump.

"Why did you even need me since you can also teleport," Alice grimaced. Irwyn was also curious. Was that a new ability? She could move quickly but not quite so instantaneously.

"I can return to a specific spot which I marked while my own shadow covered it," Elizabeth shook her head.

"Much less versatile. Also, dangerous since I physically travel through the Void. I never dared use it before without the appropriate Concept, even though I could have."

"Good to know," Irwyn nodded.

"It's beside the point. Where to next?" Elizabeth asked instead.

"There," Irwyn pointed towards what felt like the next largest epicenter. There were many smaller ones - spreading much slower - which would have to also be dealt with but they had to triage. No one suggested they split up. Although an attack like this was devastating to regular citizens, it was not dangerous to mages like them. And perhaps that would be the whole of the attack, just widespread casualties and terror… But Irwyn knew better than to underestimate the undead.

Than to assume that all cards were already on the table. The smell of rot kept tainting his nose but it was his gut where Irwyn felt the worst was yet to come.