Chương 163: From wildly uncertain to actually doable

"Shit! Go- back off! Fall back! Report to the boss! You two, cover us! Maximum force!" The Gauntlet teams had just started to send out some of their ranged attacks towards the new arrivals, but most fell short as their targets changed momentum. Three of the mercenaries, with the chain-wielding leonid taking the lead, retreated more orderly while the less disciplined thugs started scrambling to change direction.

But from the way that two of the non-core users were gathering mana while they too started backing off, it was clear that they were up to something. That something was soon revealed as three houses worth of nearby rubble formed up into a huge, towering stone arm, lightning crackling between the floating pieces of rock and rapidly charring wood.

What should have been a fist was just a more solid lump of floating debris, and the silver-ranked spell was already descending in the direction of the adventurers as it was forming. At the same time, a dark iron sphere appeared in the air above the street, and chunks of it started being ripped away before launching themselves towards the adventurers below in the shape of spikes long as an adult's arm.

After the spikes lodged themselves into the street as the volley was trailing towards the Gauntlet team, they detonated in a burst of force and shrapnel which sent cobbles flying. None of the adventurers felt the need to point out the obvious need to fall back and get out of the way of the attacks; powerful but slow by silver-rank standards. Kite saw Ryker giving him a nod from behind, the team leader knowing that he would see it, and sprung into action to cover their retreat.

"Dissolve the patterns of power! Void!" Ripple of Cancellation spread out across the stretch of street between the adventurers and the hostile locals, swallowing spells and projectiles like a zone of absolute calm spreading across the surface of a turbulent pond. Most importantly, it swallowed most of the exploding metal spikes fired from the orb floating at the height of the rooftops - or rather - former rooftops as the nearby houses were steadily torn asunder from the barrage of essence powers.

But effective as it might be, the dispelling wave was not enough to completely disrupt the orb itself or the descending fist of stone and lightning as it had to contend with the barrage from the thugs as well. Hence, the second line of defense for the adventurers appeared in the ripple's wake, and the darkness of Gate of Nihility covered almost the whole street, its edges aglow with the additional potency added from Potential of Stolen Power.

From the other side, the retreating adventurer's could only see the fist descending before it disappeared from view along with the other projectiles and the like which were drawn into the void. Kite felt the impact through his connection to the power, all of his reserves restored and his mana even rising above its usual maximum. Using the charged version of the gate was always a nice way to top himself off without using Immortality, and the sheer quantity of spells and attacks took the effect to the next level.

But it looked like even Gate of Nihility wouldn't be enough this time, as the edges of the aperture started shuddering before destabilizing after two, intense seconds of the fist clashing with the dark void. Seeing that it had brought the adventurers the seconds needed to get clear, Kite didn't fight it, which meant that the fist of stone and lightning broke through a moment later only for its sole target to be the innocent streets below.

As the one closest to the impact, Kite would have been thrown off his feet by the thunderclap that followed had it not been for Unyielding, and cobbles, gravel, soil and other debris showered the whole neighborhood and reduced visibility to next to nothing. Rejoining the others, Kite could only see the flickering lightning of the giant arm wink out, the rest of its form obscured.

For a few seconds, the street was actually silent except for the clattering of stones falling, but that was soon broken by some more haphazard projectiles thrown their way by some of the more wasteful thugs. But their passing did help clear the air faster, revealing that the descending, spectacular attack had done a lot more than just forcing the adventurers to back off a bit and buy time for the mercenaries to retreat and find backup.

To say that the street was gone was an understatement, as dozens of meters worth of cobble, soil and stone foundations had been transformed to a vast crater.

"No, not a crater," Kite corrected himself.

"A hole." As the dust cleared enough, it was clear that the strike had blown away enough of the surface to punch through into the caves beneath, the sparking, failing remnants of the protective arrays already fading from view. The arrays which kept the attention of the monsters down there elsewhere.

"You know I said that enough damage could risk the whole defensive array starting to collapse?" Christine asked as she threw a glance at the newly made pit covering most of the street.

"I think that's probably enough to do it." As if to prove the elf right, a buzzing sound broke through the din of combat starting up again, before a beetle-like monster with a thorned, crystal carapace rose from the hole, its four antennae flailing around in wild agitation. Its appearance caused some of the thugs to start to run, but they were soon gathered up by more experienced members as part of the spells were redirected towards the insectoid monster in short order.

And while there was no tide of monsters following in its wake, Kite could definitely feel more than a few additional bronze and silver monsters working their way towards the new hole in the surface.

"Continue the retreat. Hopefully we can use this as enough of a distraction to get the stealth team back to the others," Ryker said, turning to the woman leading said team.

"We have a lightly fortified position to fall back to and a healer waiting there. A mill in the southern side. If my team members are correct in their assessment, the locals here will either have to plug that hole really quickly or the array collapse will spread. There were enough monsters in the berserk stage or close enough down there for this to become quite the headache for everyone on this island if that happens."

"Are we getting out then?" the other team leader said, joining Ryker and the rest as they started to move away at the highest speed they could, throwing subtlety to the wind as they rushed down the streets with Emilio back to his scouting ahead.

"We'll coordinate with the others and make a decision as to what is doable. Hopefully they will have located the other stealth team as well." As Kite listened, part of him still winced at the thought that their focus would have to remain on their contract or getting out of there even though there might be more monsters on their way to start getting up and into the city.

The majority of his adventuring life had been centered around protecting civilians from such monsters, but the contracts from Gauntlet had a different focus. While the Task Group would step in when possible, trying to organize some kind of evacuation in a city full of hostiles and unknown mercenaries would just be folly. Kite just hoped that whatever passed for leadership in Havenpeak at least had some contingencies planned, or the next few hours would become bloodier still.

"So, more of them? And not just sneaking rats either? Interesting," Solomon Blaske muttered, smile widening as Kursk, a leonid member of one of Doomstrike's teams, had finished his quick report of their chase, encounter and subsequent retreat. Blaske had understood as much when he had spotted some of the more potent powers of his underlings being unleashed simultaneously, but preferred to know a bit more of what he was stepping into and had therefore waited for the report.

"Always best to have someone else bleed for the information. Ah, the perks of being at the top," he inwardly mused while reaching up to clap a hand on the leonid's shoulder.

"Thanks Kursk. Now we know a bit more and can plan accordingly."

"Boss, from what I saw, they killed two of ours," Kursk growled.

"Please say that we can return in kind."

"Oh, don't worry Kursk. In fact, why don't you and yours go and round up the remnants of team three and get back here."

"But, boss, what if they have time to escape?" In response, Blaske just gave the man a wide smile, patting his shoulder again.

"If they had an easy means to do so, then they have either already used it and are gone, or they are waiting for something? To rescue more of their little rats maybe? Or maybe they still hope to complete whatever they came for? Adventurers can be proud and tenacious, as you know. But those you described were more a strike team rather than a stealthy one. That means that they probably have a little hole somewhere. Something at least vaguely defensible."

He started pacing back and forth, making an exaggerated show of being in deep thought.

"With the insides of this place seeming to be boiling over worse than a hive of berserker ants, their movements are probably more limited. Ours too, of course, but with our little locals here we still have quite the advantage. And, speaking of locals, the monsters are probably why dear Ludvilla over there is storming over so furiously. Isn't she just grand? Pure, living proof that aging with dignity really is a thing. All that strict, matronly goodness with the vitality of a silver-ranker…

This might just have awakened something in me," Solomon Blaske finished while turning to the incoming baroness of Havenpeak, having spoken loud enough that there were no doubts that Ludvilla had heard him.

"Blaske!" the woman shouted, outpacing her little entourage of two silvers and a couple of bronze-rankers.

"What have you done! Is that what you people call limiting collateral damage? That fist of lightning and stone was visible from anywhere in the city. The arrays are crumbling faster than we can repair them!"

"Well, it seems that I must go and be a leader, representative and all that," Blaske said to Kursk with an exaggerated tone of exasperation, ignoring the incoming, fuming elf.

"Go do as I told you while I handle things here. When we know more, I'll even join you myself as we go in to gobble them up."

"Interesting how what was a mere shelter only an hour ago now feels like a small fortress," Kite thought as he was resting against the wall of the old mill where the teams from Gauntlet had broken through.

While the building ostensibly looked no different from the outside, the insides were absolutely covered in magical formations which would turn the ordinary stone into something far more durable, at least for a while, and the streets, alleys and even rooftops outside were gradually being covered in a widening net of magical traps.

"Fortune be praised that we did not surface in the middle of a residential area," Amica murmured from where she stood next to another window.

"I wouldn't have wanted any normal-rankers to stumble into this place now." While not entirely unpopulated, making sure that what few ordinary people lived nearby went elsewhere hadn't been too challenging. The workers had no way of discerning the difference between the normal core-using auras of the thugs and the controlled discipline of the adventurers, so all it had taken was a decent disguise, gruff demeanor and some show of magical force.

"Fortune be praised indeed," Kite agreed before nodding towards the privacy screen in which Ryker, Rhanan and Jane, the leader of the rescued stealth team, were conversing.

"But the question is where we go from here. From their gestures, they don't seem to be in agreement."

"As long as they decide on something sooner rather than later, I'm all good. Because this place will be found out sooner rather than later. I don't know too much about formations, but given how quickly they had to set this place up, I doubt that they could hide it very well. Some of the enemies seemed competent, so it probably won't be long before-" Her words were interrupted by a trickle of sand entering through the door, swirling and gathering steadily as it crossed the floor.

The scout from the other tunneling team assumed his humanoid form, stopping just outside the privacy screen and was soon waved inside. Whatever he was saying changed the dynamic of the conversation inside, and soon all three of the present team leaders were nodding along with varying degrees of hesitancy.

"It would seem that we are about to find out," Kite said as he and Amica joined the other team members present as they gathered, none having missed the shift in demeanor of the trio that surely meant that a plan had been agreed upon. The privacy screen had barely dropped before Ryker spoke up, his gruff voice carrying the decisiveness Kite had come to recognize with the man not necessarily liking what he was about to say, but would do it anyway.

"We have agreed on a plan going forward," the human said, speaking without preamble.

"So far, it seems like the arrays continue to fail across the city, and our scouts report multiple breaches where monsters are making their way through. While this might seem as a perfect distraction to get away, even a cursory reconnaissance of the caves below tells us that we would have to swim against the metaphorical stream to do so, the stream being alive and very much out to kill us."

"But surely we do not mean to retreat? Gray Sky has barely been able to get a proper feel of our opponents. Surely we can still accomplish what we came here for and win honor?" the runic said, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. And while that had led to contention in the past, at least it seemed that he and the team leaders were in agreement this time.

"We have just received information that turned our prospects from wildly uncertain to actually doable. With some risk, of course, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. It seems like the other stealth team is still out there and has so far managed to remain undetected. Dirk here- "Ryker said, gesturing to the other scout, "- has established contact. Their presence and status opens up some options, and this is the plan we have decided upon." Stolen story; please report.

As Ryker and the other team leaders explained, Kite could feel the mood shift among the gathered members of Gauntlet. While there was some reticence and hesitation detectable in either aura or body language, most seemed to feel like he did; determined. As the delegation of tasks and contingencies was finalized, Ryker looked to each and all of them.

"You know what to do then. As always, use your best judgment. Some things were left vague and up to you for a reason. Otherwise, we move out. We all have preparations to make, after all. In a few hours, we might even be done with this place."

"What do you mean that we just lost another warehouse?" Micola Darntvang did her best to keep her voice steady and carefully not look at the other silver-ranker in the room. Franz might have the air of a gentleman where he sat sipping his tea, but Micola didn't trust that one bit. He was a part of Doomstrike, after all. And as he was a part of said group, she didn't want to antagonize him as her early silver rank reached solely through cores would not hold up to an experienced warrior of his caliber.

But the news she had just received did make her question their competence.

"Yes ma'am," one of Micola's subordinates said.

"Number twenty one. Went up in flames just a few minutes ago." Micola glanced out the window to see if she could spot the incident, but quickly thought better of it. With both adventurers and monsters on the loose in their city, there was plenty of smoke, dust and debris to go about. Her mind idly playing with the idea to just grab whatever wealth she had already stashed in her bags and run for it, Micola instead turned to the seated mercenary.

"Would it at all be possible for you to share how Doomstrike will deal with this? We are paying you a substantial amount for removing this problem, and from all that smoke outside, I don't see much removal going on." At her words, the elf froze with his cup halfway to his lips, before setting it back down onto the table.

"Ms. Darntvang, I would assume that our illustrious leader gave you his usual little speech when you came to him requiring our services? The one usually ending with him requesting patience?"

"Yes, but-""This is the part he's referring to," Franz said pointedly.

"This city is just big enough for it to take more than just an hour to find adventurers who don't want to be found, which is further aggravated by the little sentient, clawed distractions that keep popping up."

"But that hour is apparently enough time for them to sabotage even more of our business. Had we not used the secure warehouse for the actual important stuff, we would already be ruined."

"That, Ms. Darntvang, is not our problem. You paid us to hunt adventurers. We'll hunt adventurers. I don't think that Solomon would accept any contract to put us on guard duty no matter how much you paid. Not enough fun and excitement for his tastes. But your little warehouse here is another piece of the puzzle. We already have people trying to trace them back to their little hidey-hole," the elf said, looking at a map in front of him before crossing off a building.

"This last one might even have been just what we needed." Looking to where Franz was indicating, Micola frowned. The map had plenty of markers indicating ruined buildings or other types of damage, but it was all just a jumble. Seeing her confusion, Franz elaborated.

"See the pattern here? Assuming that none of these are just collateral damage from the monsters, this final piece indicates where they want our attention to be. Which instead makes it rather likely that we should take our search away from that direction. They want to keep us reactive and guessing while they are either making preparations to do what they came for or to facilitate their escape. From everything we've seen so far, they have one stealth team, so that can make things rather confounding.

But if you're just patient enough, the pattern will emerge. So from all of this, we should narrow our search to this region," Franz concluded, circling what to Micola seemed to be an arbitrary segment of the map.

"And why not there?" she couldn't help but ask, indicating a wider, clear area.

"Ah, but those are some of the most packed residential areas, Ms. Darntvang. Adventurers are often rather fond of their image as the protectors of the people, so hiding amongst the normal-rankers is only rarely done as any battles will greatly increase the number of normal-ranked casualties. That compassion makes them fallible, as they throw away such a valid strategy while leaving it open for us, so we in Doomstrike are rather grateful for it, actually."

Micola did her best to keep her aura under strict control and not let any of her revulsion for the man's complete disregard for the lives of normal rankers show. She knew she wasn't a moral woman by the standards of polite society, but she did care for the people of Havenpeak as a whole. If they weren't thriving, neither would their business after all. But as Franz looked at her with an amused gleam in his eyes and a patient smile that carried a bit of an edge, Micola knew that she had failed.

"Do you think me immoral, Ms. Darntvang? A monster? Such grand opinions from someone in your position. I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed. But fortunately enough, I have risen above and beyond needing to care about your concerns. That's the whole point of power, no? To get what you want, and to not care what those beneath you wants or needs? To choose when to put yourself within the rules of society, and when to discard them. At least that is my take on it."

The look in Franz's eyes hardened a bit to something dangerous and intense as he spoke, and Micola was almost considering fleeing when he finished.

"So be glad that I have chosen to bind myself under contract along with my fellows for now, Ms. Darntvang. Because otherwise, I might have chosen to take offense." With those words, the elf rose in one graceful motion, stowed the map and gave Micola a polite nod, once more the very image of civility as he left her office.

"I will deliver my findings to Solomon now. Good day, Ms. Darntvang." With a flick of his wrist Kite once more touched the conjured mace of his opponent, shattering it into motes of mana which scattered in the wind while another pair of mana-draining attacks stabbed into the man's torso. While they barely penetrated the heavy armor of Kite's foe, it was still enough for Chakra Implosion to take effect.

"You fu- hnngg," were the only sounds that the mercenary managed to get out before the stunning effect took effect, interrupting another tirade of no doubt innovative curses if what he had said so far was to go by. But Kite did emphathize, as it was the fifth time during the chase that he had dispelled that particular conjuration after Amica had ripped the man's reserve weapon from his hands and flung it only gods knew where.

Speaking of the telekineticist, Kite felt her aura swooping low over the building, and quickly left his stunned opponent standing in the street as he ducked off behind a corner instead. And not a moment too soon, too. The mercenary had just shaken off the brief stun when a nearby stone wall exploded as something, or rather someone, was used as a battering ram.

The silver-ranked woman Amica was flinging around had armor of stone which crackled with lightning, but even that had begun to crumble, proving that the wall she had just been pushed through was not her first. A moment later, her enforced flight ended as she was violently flung into her colleague.

From the looks of her twitching, Amica's telekinesis was about to lose its hold so the floating woman made a ripping gesture with both her hands, causing the mercenary to scream, sprays of blood flowing out from the cracked parts of her armor. One of Amica's special attacks was a powerful instance of rending damage she could use on telekinetically grabbed foes, but the burst of force would also end the power's invisible grip.

But as another of the mercenaries appeared on a nearby roof to unleash a powerful crossbow bolt that moved so fast that its glowing tip turned it into a streak of light, the pair knew that it was high time to continue their retreat. The point was further driven home as said bolt punched through both barriers of Heaven-and-Void Warding and lodged itself into Kite's chest, the stones below his feet cracking as Unyielding kept him on his feet.

Noticing a nearby iron bar zooming towards him seemingly of its own volition, Kite reached out with one hand to grab it and was carried backwards along the streets of Havenpeak by Amica's telekinesis while the rest of his arms sent projected attacks towards their pursuers.

While the one on the roof pursued, sending another bolt after the retreating pair, the pair sprawled on the street had just regained their feet as well, even if the woman in the crackling stone armor clearly had one arm twisted in what looked like a supremely painful angle.

"They keep hesitating, just like before," Amica murmured where she floated next to Kite, soft enough so that only he would hear her while she was simultaneously throwing parts of nearby building towards the crossbowman, while using her telekinesis to redirect what bolts she could. Weaker projectiles were often flung back towards their foes, but the bolts and other things with lots of force were often beyond Amica's power to just grab and manipulate as she pleased.

"Then we're convincing enough. Just a little bit longer," Kite murmured in return, wincing as the bolt in his chest chafed against his insides. Sensing his discomfort, Amica noted the bolt.

"Oh, hold on, I'll get that." Before Kite could protest, she used her powers to yank it out of his chest. Trailing a bit of his blood, the projectile was spun to face to their left and shot away in an instant, hitting the leading bronze-ranked thug of a group which had just turned the corner of a side street nearby.

"There are two silvers in that patrol. Core-users, but along with the mercs they'll mean trouble. I'm glad we're soon there," Amica noted as she hauled Kite around a nearby corner. While temporarily out of sight of their pursuers, she sped up further which forced Kite to grab the iron bar with both hands as it started to bend from the acceleration. A few seconds later, their pursuers were back on their heels, and the chase continued.

Even the woman with the stone armor was back, ignoring her limp arm as she was currently in hot pursuit while standing atop a floating stone hand made from floating rocks and lightning, the mace-wielder riding along with her. Kite had already recognized the visual theme compared to the gigantic arm which demolished the street during their rescue of the stealth team, but at least this conjuration was smaller and more mobility-based.

"And, of course, a conjuration," Kite though, unable to hold his smile back as he called to Amica.

"The hand will depart soon. Ready?"

"Oh yes!"" Dissolve the patterns of power!" While Kite's dispelling wave had been too weakened to disperse the grand spell last time, it proved adequate to the less spectacular task at hand. In but a moment, the two mercenaries found themselves airborne when the floating stone hand dissolved beneath them. Then, still carried straight ahead by their momentum, Amica thrust out her palm towards them.

A shimmering wall of force crashed into them from the opposite direction, and that sudden reversal of momentum looked particularly painful as the pair was sent flying down the street.

"Good one. And we're here!" Amica said, turning onto a side-street leading to a dead end in the shape of a warehouse wall. Kite let go of the metal rod and both gave a show of preparing themselves to climb, or respectively float, over the back wall just as the first of their pursuers turned the corner. More spells flew their way, and both Kite and Amica started defending and deflecting the projectiles, backing up towards the wall.

Amica tried to lift them both over the roadblock, but each such attempt seemed to get an even more powerful response from the silver-rankers pursuing them, frustration clear in the auras of most of them.

"Incoming. On the roof," Amica whispered, her more potent aura catching the crossbowman's approach just before he appeared in a vaulting jump and fired down towards them. As Kite and Amica deflected it through combined powers, they ignored the rest of the pursuit streaming into the street. Instead, both focused to deliver a spike of aura suppression to the still airborne crossbowman, just enough for Amica to grab a temporary telekinetic hold to throw him straight down towards the street.

Kite could see her mana flaring as she boosted her telekinetic strength, her power fighting some kind of slow-fall power of the man.

"Close enough! Now!" Kite called a second later, their pursuers almost upon them. And a moment later, the snap of fingers echoed out across the alleyway with crisp clarity. Several rune traps lit up beneath the street before detonating in violent explosions. None of the silver-rankers were without their defenses, but rune traps were quite potent, leaving their foes both injured and staggering as tethers made from mystical sigils followed the detonations.

The three mercenaries managed to blast and smash their way through the incoming restraints, accepting the detonations of force in order to avoid being immobilized, but the two core-users were just a tad too slow. Lengths of cloth, their edges gleaming with magical sharpness, shot out through the wall of the 'dead end', the illusion crumbling as even more attacks broke through. Silver-rankers were, as always, durable.

But being almost immobilized and already injured left the trapped pair at the mercy of the attacks from the ambushing members of the task group. And mercy turned out to be in short supply that day. While the core-users died, even more attacks were barreling toward the three mercenaries who had gathered at the end of the streets.

The trio fought off the attacks as best they could, but the woman in the stone armor took yet another step back, leaving her two colleagues to ward off the attacks while she yanked some kind of tube-like device from a dimensional pouch.

"Signal!" Was all Kite had the time to call before Amica was already acting. A spike of aura followed by a twitch of telekinetic force ripped what Kite suspected to be a flare from the hand of the mercenary, and Amica was just about to grab it telekinetically when the crossbowman fired a powerful shot straight towards her, carrying some kind of special attack which forced her to direct all attention during that split second to redirect the bolt. And for a silver-ranker, that split second was enough.

The crossbowman's hand lashed out like a striking snake, grabbing the flare and channeling just enough mana into it before Kite's projected attack hit his arm. The flare was sent tumbling through the air again, but the damage was already done. Beams of light were shot toward the sky, followed by brightly growing orbs, impossible to miss even in the daylight.

Seeing the light show, Kite threw his most venerated god a quick, silent prayer even as he switched to his defensive role, intercepting what attacks he could while the signal grew stronger in the sky above, screaming their location to the whole island.

"Plans are enacted and the pieces have been moved. Fortune, carry us through this trial, and may our preparations turn out to be enough."

"See? See! I told you they would find them eventually. Franz is really good at this kind of thing," Solomon Blaske told Ludvilla where he stood, one arm pointing out over the city while the other was casually thrown across the shoulders of the older elf who stood beside him. Ludvilla tried keeping her composure, but all that amounted to was her standing still like a statue. Blaske was almost disappointed, as her angry fervor from before had been much more tantalizing.

"Good job, Franz! You had the right idea in reversing tactics while triangulating their location," he continued, giving the elf a mock salute.

"We saved both time and people here. According to the others, those guerilla attacks were so annoying. But one team seems to have been tenacious enough to follow them back to their little hideout." He reluctantly removed his arm from the shoulders of the elf beside him, giving her his best, widest smile.

"While your company was most exciting, dear employer, it does seem like it's time to earn my keep. My friends always fight the best when I'm there in person to set an example, after all. But please try and work up some of that indignation again for when I return. I have been a very naughty boy, after all, haven't I?" Seeing as he got no more response from the woman than a horrified stare, Blaske sighed as he stepped up to Franz and the others.

"Overshared, did I? Oh well, live and learn." He looked to the elf man, now clad in his conjured, flaming armor.

"Take it away, Franz. Make us appear in style!" Then, in a pillar of fire, the group was teleported away, leaving a baroness of the underworld stricken and speechless in their wake. Because when they knew where to go and their enemies backs were up against the wall, Doomstrike would, as always, move in force.