Chương 144: Water Cuts Better Up Close

Sieghart raised his right hand above the fractured barricade and sighted along his palm toward the distant firing squad, where several altered throats expanded with compressed water behind sharpened teeth. His first Water Jet screamed across the flooded street, narrow as silver wire beneath the alchemical lamps, striking the nearest Chimerian across its chest with enough force to stagger it.

The distance robbed the spell of some cutting pressure, but the impact still lifted the creature backward and sent it crashing through two companions before their prepared volley launched together. Sieghart shifted his wrist toward another shooter and fired again, keeping the stream active until the creature stumbled sideways before smoothly sweeping the narrow attack toward another target without hesitation.

Ronan glanced over his shoulder while weaving between two clawed warriors, then shouted that he would handle the enemies before the gathering crowd could close around Sieghart from every side.

"I'll handle the ones around us!" Sieghart watched Ronan narrowly avoid a hooked blade, then answered without lowering his hand, because pretending confidence in the agent sounded considerably more entertaining than admitting genuine concern for him.

"I'll pretend that I have faith in you."

"You're going to be an insufferable teenager!" Ronan responded by spreading additional mana threads between his fingers, sending the nearly invisible strands through the crowded street until several wrapped around ankles, wrists, weapons, and horns almost simultaneously. The first Chimerian charged with an axe overhead, only for Ronan to tighten one thread around its leading ankle and violently jerk the limb sideways at the final possible instant.

The altered warrior stumbled across flooded stones, missed Ronan completely, and exposed its throat long enough for one knife to flash before blood sprayed violently across the nearby broken debris. Another attacker struck from Ronan's blind side, but two mana threads caught its wrist and elbow, forcing the weapon downward while Ronan stepped smoothly inside the creature's reach without hesitation.

He drove the second knife beneath the creature's jaw, twisted once, then released both threads before the dying Chimerian collapsed and dragged several loose strands toward the nearby flooded ground. Sieghart fired another Water Jet toward the distant shooters, knocking one from its feet before shifting immediately toward another whose swollen throat had already begun preparing the next pressurized shot.

The ranged Chimerians recovered frustratingly quickly because Sieghart lacked enough pressure at this distance to pierce their reinforced flesh, making every successful hit temporary suppression rather than a killing blow. That still mattered because each interrupted shooter meant one fewer Water Bullet threatening Ronan, although the melee fighters surrounding the agent were becoming increasingly numerous despite his constant movement nearby.

Ronan jumped backward as three opponents attacked together, planted one boot against a wall, then pulled himself sideways using mana threads anchored around a wooden balcony support hanging above him. The maneuver carried him above one sweeping claw and between two spears, allowing him to kick one attacker into another before landing behind both with knives ready to strike immediately.

Sieghart wanted to keep suppressing the firing squad, but growing pressure around Ronan forced him to divide attention between distant shooters and enemies closing around his ally from every direction. He maintained Water Jet through his right hand while forming Glacial Fists beside his left shoulder, each frozen construct appearing with packed knuckles and pale mist swirling around it nearby.

The first Glacial Fist crossed the street and struck a Chimerian approaching Ronan from behind, smashing its shoulder while coating the damaged joint beneath rapidly thickening layers of frost instantly. A second fist hammered the same shoulder before the creature recovered, breaking something beneath stitched hide and forcing the arm to hang uselessly beside its body as Ronan advanced nearby.

Ronan noticed the opening immediately, ducked beneath another attacker, then sliced the injured Chimerian's throat while using its collapsing body as protection from an incoming spear thrust during the exchange. Sieghart continued dividing his concentration, sending Water Jets toward distant shooters and Glacial Fists toward enemies surrounding Ronan until the strain created increasingly noticeable delays between every spell under pressure.

Those delays allowed the firing squad to recover properly, and several Chimerians inhaled simultaneously while Sieghart focused upon preventing Ronan from becoming completely surrounded by enemies closing from every direction. A chorus of high pitched whistles crossed the settlement as compressed Water Bullets tore through darkness, traveling fast enough that Sieghart barely registered the incoming projectiles before impact moments later.

One projectile clipped Sieghart's upper arm and tore through Protection, spinning him slightly before another struck his thigh and drove his leg sideways beneath the sudden impact almost immediately afterward. Pain flashed across both wounds while Sieghart used Wind Magic instinctively to restore balance, preventing himself from falling into the flooded street as another projectile screamed past his shoulder nearby.

He answered with another Water Jet toward the shooters, but distance again reduced its penetration enough that the struck Chimerian merely rolled backward before beginning to rise again moments later. This was becoming unsustainable because Ronan was already overworking himself while Sieghart's divided attention prevented either side of the battlefield from receiving enough pressure before additional reinforcements could arrive nearby.

Ronan now maintained more threads than Sieghart could easily count, each strand moving independently as the agent tripped enemies, redirected weapons, anchored himself, and created openings throughout the chaotic combat. Blood covered one side of Ronan's shoulder and darkened his trousers around the earlier wound, yet he continued moving because stopping even briefly would invite immediate encirclement despite his injuries. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Sieghart formed another Glacial Fist, but before releasing it, a deep explosion thundered from the settlement center and sent orange light flashing above several distant rooftops through the darkness nearby. Another explosion followed almost immediately, accompanied by screams, alarms, and running footsteps that drew attention from several Chimerians who had been focused entirely upon Ronan and Sieghart only moments earlier.

Even the distant firing squad stopped preparing its next volley, turning toward the flashes while officers shouted contradictory orders throughout the suddenly confused southern district and flooded road beneath them. Sieghart looked toward the central buildings and smiled despite the pain in his arm because Mira had finally begun whatever operation required such an absurdly long distraction inside the settlement.

"Finally." Ronan reached the same conclusion and intensified his attacks immediately, using the enemies' hesitation to wrap multiple threads around one warrior before pulling it directly into another across the street. Sieghart abandoned careful suppression entirely and raised both hands, deciding the firing squad had just surrendered the distance that had protected them from something considerably more destructive until this moment.

Several Giant Fireballs formed overhead, each roaring brightly enough to illuminate nearby rooftops and make the ranged Chimerians turn back toward Sieghart with immediate alarm across the southern district below. He aimed away from occupied buildings, choosing the open section where the firing squad had gathered because Mira's captive could not reasonably remain exposed beside combat troops during the fighting.

The first Giant Fireball descended before the Chimerians scattered, striking their formation and exploding with enough force to throw several bodies violently across the flooded road before anyone nearby recovered. Heat rolled outward while broken stone, water, and burning debris filled the air, forcing surviving Chimerians to abandon their firing positions and stumble toward whatever cover still remained around them.

Sieghart released another Giant Fireball behind them, cutting off retreat toward the settlement center and forcing several wounded shooters toward open ground instead of safer buildings during their retreat nearby. The third spell landed beside the remaining formation, scattering them completely and finally silencing the high pitched Water Bullets that had repeatedly forced Sieghart behind defensive walls during the exchange.

Removing the distant threat immediately encouraged nearby melee fighters to rush him, apparently deciding that allowing the visible mage another uninterrupted spell for even another second would be extremely unhealthy. Sieghart canceled the next Giant Fireball and switched back to Water Jet, narrowing the stream until pressure became far more dangerous across the short distance now separating both sides nearby.

The first Chimerian raised a thick forearm defensively, but the concentrated stream cut through reinforced flesh and severed the entire limb before punching onward through its shoulder despite the defense. Blood sprayed across the flooded street while the creature staggered sideways, staring at its missing arm before another Water Jet pierced directly through its torso from close range moments later.

Sieghart swept the stream horizontally toward a second attacker, cutting a deep line across its abdomen before the pressure sliced completely through one smaller auxiliary arm during the attack itself. A massive horse-bodied Chimerian charged from the side, but Sieghart redirected the jet downward and carved through one foreleg, collapsing the creature before its momentum could carry it farther forward.

Ronan appeared beside the fallen enemy and finished it with one precise strike beneath the jaw, then continued toward another group attempting to circle behind Sieghart from the opposite side. Sieghart kept Water Jet active continuously, turning his body instead of flicking his wrist so the narrow stream remained controlled while crossing from target to target without ever losing pressure.

One enemy lost several fingers protecting its face, another received a hole through its thigh, and a third screamed when the stream pierced completely through its stomach during the exchange. Their reinforced bodies resisted ordinary elemental attacks impressively, but concentrated pressure cared far less about broad magical resistance whenever Sieghart focused everything through one narrow cutting point against nearby enemies.

One heavily stitched Chimerian lowered its bone plated chest and charged directly, apparently trusting natural armor thick enough to stop blades, arrows, and ordinary projectile magic from cutting deeply enough. Sieghart aimed at exactly the same point continuously, allowing Water Jet to grind through the plate until fractures appeared and the pressurized stream finally punched completely through the hardened armor.

The Chimerian staggered backward with a large opening beneath its ribs, exposing mismatched organs, stitched muscle, and something dark red surrounded by unnatural green veins that pulsed inside the wound. Sieghart's attention locked immediately upon the corrupted core visible through the wound, and curiosity nearly overpowered every reasonable reminder that they were supposed to escape before more nearby enemies arrived.

Whatever power existed inside that crystal had survived grafts, altered organs, foreign tissues, and generations of Chimerian experimentation, making it considerably more interesting than the corrupted cores he absorbed before. Before Sieghart moved closer, another explosion erupted northward and several guards abandoned nearby streets entirely, rushing toward the settlement center while alarm bells began ringing throughout the entire valley below.

Ronan turned toward the flashes, recognized the change immediately, and shouted that Mira had already acted before their distraction transformed into a completely unnecessary last stand among the damaged buildings.

"Let's go! She already did it!" Sieghart nodded and launched himself southward with Impulse, choosing survival over immediate experimentation while Ronan followed through the nearest opening between confused Chimerian groups rushing toward the distant explosions ahead. Still, Sieghart could not stop thinking about the exposed crystal inside the wounded creature, especially after spending days wondering what Chimerian corruption might teach his System if he absorbed it.

Ronan was already several steps ahead, cutting through one confused guard and using mana threads to pull himself toward the southern alley they had entered earlier beside the flooded street. Sieghart should have followed without hesitation because every surviving Chimerian behind them was recovering, while more fighters poured toward Mira's explosions through smoke filled streets surrounding the district behind them.

Instead, he reached backward with Telekinesis, searched through smoke and wounded bodies, and found the strange corrupted core still exposed beneath the fallen Chimerian's shattered ribs inside its ruined chest. He pulled hard while continuing to run, tearing the crystal free from connective tissue and sending it spinning through smoke, mist, blood, and broken debris while nearby enemies closed in.

The dark red core crossed the street behind them and landed against Sieghart's waiting palm while Ronan remained focused upon the enemies still pursuing their escape along the flooded road. Sieghart felt familiar corrupted pressure immediately, accompanied by something stranger beneath it, but resisted the temptation to absorb the crystal while Ronan remained close and enemies pursued them from behind.

He shoved the warm core deep inside his bag, accelerated after Ronan, and left the chaotic settlement behind while Mira's explosions continued drawing enemies toward the settlement center behind them.