Chương 43: Chapter 41. The Predator

"What was that, you decrepit old pervert?" Gita roared. Plank went red and threw up his hands in protest.

"Calm down! I have a plan to help deal with what's maybe waiting above, that's all!"

"And me becoming partially naked is going to do... what?"

"I mentioned before that [Pockets as Deep as Greed] has some other quirks. One of them involves… an explosion of loot," Plank said.

"If you were to lob your pants—because it has all the gold you stole in the pockets—then if I were to disable the skills influence on you, then your pants wouldn't wipe away the loot like what would happen should you fail to extract your pockets contents within the skills timer. Instead, all of your gold would reappear back into your pockets, but due to the extreme quantity and vastly limited space within your pockets… the result is a highly pressurized expulsion."

"So like an improvised shrapnel bomb, but with gold coins instead?" Oscar asked.

"It's not a bad idea. It'd mean a sacrifice of some of our wealth, but whoever is waiting for us above has to be some high-ranking within the Depths," Bruno said.

"The fodder they sent to greet us not only were all instantly executed at the same time, but seemed to be dying on purpose as well. For what reason? I don't know, but I can't imagine it's anything good."

"Okay, but why my pants?" Gita complained. Plank loudly blew air out of his nose before he answered.

"Because I'm not about to run around half-naked at my old age, nor will I ask the [Princess] to do this because… I don't need to explain that one further."

"Fine, but you owe me for this," Gita said irritably as she began to strip off her pants. Oscar cleared his throat to distract the others.

"One last thing… Plank, you said you had an escape planned?"

"Ah, did I?" Plank said quietly.

"Sometimes right before a big job, you have to lie. People like to get bogged down in the details too much and always want an answer for everything. If I hadn't said that then you'd have all been worried, resulting in mistakes."

"You just couldn't come up with anything, could you?" Bruno asked while grinning.

"I caught you off guard with this request, and rather than admit you'd become lazy in your ambition and not planned on hitting this bank, you lied and thought you could come up with something in time, couldn't you?"

"…Start the damned lift," Plank said in an even quieter tone. Oscar started the lift with the pull of the lever. The ascent upwards felt agonizingly slow. The higher up they went, the more this overwhelming sense of dread washed over him. Finally the lift reached the top, which revealed no one waiting for them.

"Can you please [Reroll] Jeremy?" Oscar pleaded once more.

"No, I don't think so," Bruno replied smugly.

"As much as I hate Jeremy… I also love him. Some of my most memorable fights have been with him, you know? Besides, it's not as if he can't be dangerous… he just takes a lot more finesse, that's all." No one wanted to expend the energy required to argue with Bruno, so they walked the short distance to the lobby in silence. Plank decided to stay behind lest he be a hindrance or targeted, but was going to be close enough to keep an eye on the fight when it happened.

Bruno pushed open the door to the lobby, revealing a muscular lone woman in a loosely fitted black suit and tie which had the sleeves ripped off. Blood was everywhere, but without any bodies to trace as the source. Panic and fear sprouted within Oscar as he began to wonder if any of this blood belonged to the Lamenters. Without any bodies there was no sense in assuming they were dead. After all, they were crafty little Shiftlings, they could find a way to escape. The woman was average height with broad shoulders.

Her grey and silver armor had a fierce wolf fashioned within the left pauldron. The right pauldron was chipped and damaged, but didn't seem to feature a design. Small patches of fur stuck out in various spots like around her gorget and her greaves. The chest featured a sigil of the same fierce wolf, but with a sword in its mouth. However, due to the damage, the wolf painting was now damaged and lacking slightly in clarity. A thick greatsword was planted into the ground in front of her.

The weapon looked to have been created out some sort of monster. Jagged bits of bone jutted out of the blade, looking capable of ripping and tearing flesh with ease. Her hair was a dusty white that hung free, framing her to look similar to the wild wolf that she wore on her armor. As she noticed them enter the room, she shifted to heave the greatsword over her shoulder. When she spoke, her voice was slightly raspy and commanding. Oscar—while immensely terrified of her—had to admit she was extremely hot.

"Adjutant Aurelia Aldridge. I hope my men didn't make you sweat too much. I'd hate to be bored."

"Bruno, she's not corrupted. I don't sense anything from her, do you?" Oscar whispered. Bruno just shook his head.

"What're you doing working for the [King] of Dynarus? It's been a few years since I last heard your name, but I'm fairly confident that you were the leader of that mercenary group."

"I was… I didn't think anyone would still remember us," Aurelia said, her body suddenly becoming tense.

"How could I, or anyone, forget? What were you guys called again… the Dirge Wolves, right? A loose pack of seven feral mercenaries running wild, turning the tides for doomed armies across both continents. A shame what happened at Therzak."

"Therzak was a grave mistake on my part, but… [King] Romulus has given me a way to bring my pack back to me," Aurelia said and swung her mighty blade in front of her.

"And for him I'll slaughter everyone he demands of me until my family is returned." Oscar could sense her aura flow off of her, making him anxious. He didn't know this woman or what she was capable, but based off the respect that Bruno was speaking to her with… then perhaps she was a foe similar in strength to Peeper. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Something from earlier was troubling him about her, though.

"What are you doing out of the Depths? I had a run-in with some of your men earlier, and one of them said that you never leave the Depths, so why now? Does it have to do with the [King's] experiments?" Oscar asked; behind him Ariesa let out a faint gasp.

"That was you? The better question is what're you doing here? I mean, you slaughter a squad of my fresh recruits and then decide to rob a bank?" Aurelia mused about something in her head, one corner of her lips turning up in a smile a few moments later.

"Ah… I don't suppose you were one of the rats that were snooping around the wharf the other day, right?" Ariesa stepped forth, gently shoving Oscar out of the way.

"My name is Ariesa Hargrave, [Princess] to the great city of Dynarus, and I hereby command you to stand down."

"Hmm? I noticed you already, [Princess], but I don't take orders from you. To be completely honest… you're nothing. The [King] has made his orders clear: cut down anything and anyone that stands in the way of his grand plan," Aurelia said.

"Given what he's planning as well… I don't think it'll matter all too much if you were to die here. Out of respect for his majesty, though, I'll grant you this chance to flee."" Excuse me? You think my father will be fine with you killing me?" Ariesa asked incredulously.

"Just what is it that you think he's got planned?"

"A glorious reunion, dear little [Princess]," Aurelia said, sounding enamored.

"A chance to correct our mistakes with those that cannot offer us forgiveness any longer…"

"I don't… understand," Ariesa said.

"Aye, but you will," Aurelia said, and without any warning, she lept forwards and swung her hulking blade right at Ariesa. Bruno intercepted the swing with Jeremy, the pathetic sword revealing itself surprisingly capable of warding off the attack.

"Whoa now! You're really trying to kill our [Princess]?" Aurelia didn't respond. Instead, she kicked at Bruno and back-stepped away.

"[Lone Wolf's Burden: Remembrance]," she said, and the natural and terrifying aura she emitted intensified. Her muscles began to bulge more than they had been before. Her veins strained and became visible all over her body as she bulked in size. It looked like she was destroying her body and rebuilding it over and over." Oh, fuck that's good," she moaned as she admired her newly enhanced body.

"That's just like the [Direwolf Queen] Vythe's skill… The one she used when…" Bruno said, his voice thick with… was that fear? Perhaps for the first time, Oscar realized something that should have been obvious. It was dumb to consider it now after all this time, but getting thrust into a position of high importance will do that to a person. But that was also the thing… he was important, yes, but only to those that were in the know. He wasn't anyone to Aurelia besides a pest to be culled.

This world wasn't moving to the sway of his actions. If anything, he was the one being forced to react to whatever this world threw at him. People had history; wars were fought; atrocities were committed. It wasn't just Calus and corruption that caused strife in this world, and neither was he the only source of awe and worry. If anything, it seemed that no one talked about Calus anymore, but Aurelia? Bruno knew her and seemed to know someone that had some sort of relationship to Aurelia.

And whoever this [Direwolf Queen] had been, it was clear that just the mere memory of her was affecting Bruno in such a way that Oscar didn't believe possible before.

"Aye, when her people were reduced to ashes and her cities and land stolen. This is the same skill she got during her last stand and how she made those putrid Kokorian's bleed," Aurelia said, her voice edging closer to a growl.

"But… Vythe's plight is not mine. I care only for my family and nothing else, and it is [King] Romulus who shall restore unto me what I've lost."

"[R-Reroll!]" Bruno shouted suddenly, his voice cracking slightly. Jeremy transformed in his hands, warping into a regal-looking cane. Aurelia charged forwards with her shoulder, ramming into Bruno. Oscar backed away and created two elongated shadow daggers. With how massive Aurelia's weapon was, he feared he'd always lose in a clash of blades. Daggers were more risky as he'd have to get close to use them, but it felt like the best option as of right now.

Gita—who was pants-less still with them tied around her waist—slipped on her cestus.

"[Root Carapace!]," she said and encased her body in thick roots, making her look like a dwarf-sized Ent. With that skill, Oscar worried for her less. Aurelia was still focused on Bruno, but he knew she was still alert on everyone else around her. Doing his best to ignore his fear, he went in to assist Bruno. He swept one dagger across towards her midsection. As he expected, Aurelia whirled her greatsword in an arc, forcing both Oscar and Bruno to dodge backwards.

As she completed the swing, there was a brief moment where she was open on her right-side flank. One dagger flew out of his hand and struck her in the side. The dagger sunk deep, eating a hole through her armor, but no cry of pain escaped her lips. Aurelia instead lifted her greatsword above her head and brought it crashing down onto Oscar. Rather than dodge to the side, his first instinct was to dodge backwards.

And while he did dodge the weapon, he realized all too late that she'd never intended for the blade to have actually hit him.

"[Rupture!]" A blinding flash of dark energy emitted off the greatsword, biting the ground and destroying it. The ominous energy traveled on the ground and ate its way towards Oscar, who was still in the midst of the previous dodge. With very little clue on what to do, he opted to try a variation of what he'd done to survive Peeper's explosion. The dual daggers dissipated and flowed down to cover his lower body alongside the rest of his remaining shadow reserve.

His shadow only had enough to cover up to just above his pelvis. Hardening the shadow like it was a set of platelegs, his shadow absorbed the blow. While the shadow armor had protected him, the sheer amount of energy behind the attack sent him flying back, crashing into one of the [Banker's] desks." [Trick Room!]" Oscar stood up to see Aurelia grinning as she repeatedly swung at nothing.

"Does anyone know how many men she sent down to deal with us?" Bruno asked.

"She'll wear through my skill any moment now, so answer quick!"

"Like ten, I think!" Oscar replied.

"Fuck!" Bruno cursed.

"That skill she used at the start is one that empowers her whenever she's the sole survivor of a fight, and the more devastating the loss, the greater the skills effect is. I can't believe she'd use something like that here as it ravages the users body… Gods, what kind of monster is she?"

"Yeah, that sounds completely fair and balanced," Gita remarked sarcastically.

"It's supposed to be balanced around the idea that it requires devotion and trust—someone completely willing to die for the person they serve, like how the [Direwolf Queen] was beloved by all her people. The thing is… I don't think those men seemed to have any love for her." Aurelia let out a crude laugh.

"You don't need love for the skill, you just need obedience. The Depths has a damn near unlimited amount of obedient bodies they can throw my way. And obedience can be demanded if you have the right amount of influence to ensure it."

"You mean threaten, right?" Ariesa asked.

"Those men you sent… they weren't actual Depths [Agents], were they?"

"That's why they didn't use any combat skills; it's because they didn't have any," Oscar said.

"Enough boring talk already! Look at me! I want a fight, damn it!" Aurelia growled and charged." [Rupture!]" Everyone knew what the skill was capable of now, so the afforded respect was given to the attack. Aurelia missed both the swing and the aftershock, but used the chaos from the dust to appear right in front of Oscar. From the right, her greatsword cut through the air, aimed at his head. Oscar barely ducked the blow and quickly created his daggers again and plunged one into one of her meaty thighs.

The attack seemingly did nothing to her as she brought her other knee up into his jaw.

Blood filled his mouth, which he spat onto her feet.

"[Double or Nothing]," Bruno said, appearing behind Aurelia, his cane lifted high above her head. He swung it down onto the top of her head before recalling and swinging twice at the side of her head. Aurelia made no effort at dodging and whirled around to retaliate. She stopped mid-swing and uttered some sort of skill that Oscar couldn't hear, which caused her to propel across the room and away from everyone. The massive greatsword of bone plunged into the ground as her hands flew to her head.

"What the fuck was that?" she said in agony.

"It's in the name," Bruno replied casually.

"Either my attacks for the next minute do double the damage… or none at all. Given how your reacting… I must've gotten lucky, eh?" Aurelia grunted and heaved her greatsword up and hurled it through the air towards Bruno. She rocketed forwards and caught Bruno by his leg as he was mid-dodge.

"[Maw of the Wolf]," she said and opened her mouth impossibly wide to reveal a perilous set of teeth. Panic spurred Oscar on as he swapped to his shadowy sword and lunged for Aurelia. He sliced across the arm which held Bruno's leg, drawing blood as his sword bit deep. Not deep enough to sever the limb, but enough to free Bruno. Aurelia still had her mouth open and snapped her head towards Oscar's sword arm, which was still in front of her from his attack.

With a voracious snap of her mouth, she bit straight through bone as if it were cotton candy and removed his right arm from the elbow down. Never had Oscar felt such immense pain before in his short life. Aurelia spat the limb onto the ground next to where Oscar was kneeling as he cradled his bloodied stump against his chest. His vision had started to become spotty and dark. On the verge of unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was a whip wrapped around Aurelia's neck, and a moment later…

An explosion of gold enveloped the District Four bank.