Chương 103: Birstan

"Brawl, with me!" I yelled. I raced into the woods, the direction Anchor had pointed. As we turned to face the threat, Sage pushed herself off Anchor's horse, Morph in-tow. The forest golem helped pull her toward the fallen messenger, then transformed into a shield behind her, ready to intercept arrows while she worked—anything that got past the guards. I yelled, "Anchor, how strong is the Subtle Man?"

"Silver!" Anchor yelled back. Typical for the Subtle Men, probably. A Silver had almost killed me back in Oschester. But it had been months since then, and we were stronger. My entire squad was.

"What about his horse?" I shouted, picking out a mottled brown coat hiding in the woods, a few paces away. It must've been the assassin's escape plan.

"It's a Titanium-tier arcane beast." I scowled. I didn't want to kill the horse. It was probably innocent, and it was becoming far more intelligent. But we couldn't let the Subtle Man get away. Those arrows had blue feathers on them. They were sapper arrows. The Subtle Men were trying to pin this on us, and we couldn't let that happen.

"Injure it," I said.

"Arrow to the thigh." Anchor drew back his bow, loaded up his arrow with a resonance Skill, then fired it. It pierced the horse's thigh, ripping muscle and tendon, and the beast toppled, disabled before the Subtle Man could mount it. The Subtle Man whirled toward us. His black hood was drawn, and a helmet obscured most of his face, but he was no Dupe, that was for certain. The next problem was that he could read our minds—or at least, see slightly into our future plans, and anticipate our attacks.

I assessed my standing. I had eight Presence left, and the others would be similarly low, but we had no choice. If we worked together, it'd be enough. First, I triggered my Art, creating a gravity well atop the Subtle Man and crushing him under the weight. It pressed him down, but he was strong enough to keep moving. He turned toward us, pushing through the well like a strong gale was the only thing holding him back, then discarded his bow and drew a short battle axe from his hip.

"Brawl, soak up as much damage as you can," I instructed.

"Charge your Art. Don't think about what you're going to do, and just do it. I promise I won't let you die." The Subtle Men, as far as I was aware, could only focus on one target at a time while they were at Silver-tier. If they could read the minds of more than one target, we wouldn't have been able to survive their ambush at Oschester. If this man focused on Brawl, it would give us the upper hand. As soon as the Subtle Man escaped the gravity well, Brawl moved forward to intercept.

He swatted the man's axe with his flail, deflecting it just enough that it didn't cleave his skull in two, then rammed his shoulder into the man's gut. What would've normally been an unstoppable force, pushing the man back into the forest and pinning him against a tree, was instead only a lurch. The Subtle Man dug his feet in, bracing against Brawl and holding his ground. Then he aimed his axe at Brawl's back. With a grunt, he inhaled, then swung. I reached in, trying to block the strike with my spear.

The axe rippled with orange light, indicating maegen and some kind of Art. It probably made the axe sharper. Instead of taking the strike on my spear's shaft, I shifted my aim and stabbed the side of the axehead, deflecting it just enough to protect Brawl's back. Realizing it was futile, Brawl inched back, then swung his flail back and forth, each time pushing the Subtle Man away and forcing him on the defensive. He was buying us time, and we had to use it.

His attacks seemed random, and I knew he was better than that, but it was the best way to beat a Subtle Man. He was following my advice.

"Anchor, what sort of weaknesses can you see?" I asked softly, circling around, trying to get a good angle.

"I can slow him, and I can expose the weaknesses."

"I'll test a few shots," Anchor replied.

"I have three Presence left." I nodded, then stepped back, holding my spear out, waiting. If Brawl needed help slowing the Subtle Man, then I would. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But before I could plan anything, I needed to know which of us the Subtle Man was reading. If he was smart, and he probably was, he'd be reading my mind, not Brawl's. I had to force him to switch targets while Anchor looked for weaknesses. Which, of course, he also realized.

But that was the point of forcing someone. They didn't have a choice in the matter. For the briefest moment, as the thought about force rolled through my mind, the Subtle Man locked eyes with me. If I needed any more confirmation he was actually reading my mind, not Brawls, then that was it. At the same time, Anchor fired an arrow at the Subtle Man's heart. The shot pierced the man's cloak, but despite Anchor's resonance Skill, it glanced off the armour harmlessly, then warbled off into the woods.

The Subtle Man was only wearing leather armour. What kind of enchantments did it have to make that possible? Next, as Brawl continued pressing his random assault, Anchor fired a shot at the man's mask. Again, nothing. The man didn't even flinch. The last one, Anchor aimed at the man's neck. A good choice. The Subtle Man had preferred hitting his targets' necks when he was in charge of the bow, which seemed odd. But if you were used to your neck armour being the weakest, most vulnerable point, it would seem natural.

The arrow hit the layers of flexible, enchanted leather and bounced off. But the man flinched back, his neck twisting. As he flinched, he exposed gaps in the layered strips around his neck. I couldn't help but think about it. And now the Subtle Man knew I knew. He'd be especially careful. But I didn't plan on giving him much of a choice. First step, get him out of my mind. I bet on having more Focus than him—I had more Focus than most other Path-walkers around my tier, now.

I could overwhelm him with stimulus while staying steady myself. First, I dropped a gravity well on myself, then extended my senses as far and wide as I could. I took in everything, every ripple of the leaves, every faint gust of wind, every bird squawking in the distance without a care for the fighting. I gritted my teeth against the surge of stimuli, then pushed it a step farther. With my newly enhanced eyes, I let them go blurry, then widened my field of view, taking in everything in front of me.

For the briefest moment, the Subtle Man staggered. Behind the slit of his mask, his eyes blinked. Then a pressure seeped out of my mind, a fading migraine gone forever. I hadn't noticed it building, but now that it was gone? I knew the Subtle Man was out. Brawl pressed the offensive, and Anchor joined in, attacking faster, and they forced the man to shift his mind-reading Art to Brawl—just to keep the advantage going. He may have been a Silver, but he was up against three of us.

But at the moment, he was effectively indestructible. And he was faster. His axe cleaved back and forth, racing through the air and making broad strokes, but precise, and timed to counter Brawl. They weren't deadly—yet—but they smashed his already damaged chainmail and sliced flesh, slowly wearing him down. And when Brawl couldn't tank any more, we'd be as good as dead. Without Brawl, the Subtle Man would kill Anchor in an instant. I might last a little longer, but I couldn't do this on my own, either.

Brawl was charging his Art. Pressure gathered on his arms and torso, waiting to be used. But he was also waiting for my command to release it. And I had just the plan. First, I used a gravity Art. I didn't aim at anything in particular. I just needed the foresight. Judging by how long Brawl's Art had been charging, I imagined how far it would fling the Subtle Man. I needed to time it perfectly, and I needed to place my trap perfectly, too.

Once I envisioned exactly where the Subtle Man would slide to, I crept to the side, getting in place. Anchor didn't have any Presence to do this from a distance, so it was up to me. I wouldn't have long. I circled the battle, keeping my distance, even as the Subtle Man tried to shift toward me. Brawl always managed to pull the man's attention back. I cancelled my Art, then spawned a new gravity well five paces behind the Subtle Man—just far enough back for this to work.

"Brawl, now!" I yelled.

"Aim your Art high!" Brawl triggered it in an instant, targeting the Subtle Man's forehead. The man slid back, heels digging in. What would've flung a normal man deep into the woods only sent the Subtle Man skidding back four and a half paces. But since Brawl aimed high, it acted like an uppercut, making the Subtle Man lean back slightly. My gravity well caught the man's head, pulling it back unexpectedly, causing his neck to bend. It would've snapped a mortal's neck, but the Subtle Man survived.

It did, however, expose the gaps in his neck armour. I rushed forward, using a resonance Skill, and rammed my spear into the opening, piercing through with ease. The Subtle Man choked and gasped, clutching my weapon, but I ripped it out, widening the wound. We couldn't give him any time to get off a last-ditch attack, Falling to his knees, the Subtle Man grasped at his neck, ripping off his armour, but it was too late. Blood surged out the wound, and within seconds, he was on his side, gasping for air.

Maybe we should've tried to keep him alive, so he could've told us what he'd been doing, but that seemed like a terrible plan. He would've gotten out and killed us. He was too dangerous to leave alive. Besides, if we brought him to anyone with authority, they'd believe him over us. He could make up whatever lie he wanted. Once he stopped gasping, I retrieved my siphon and gathered his Presence. An orb of pale white mist emerged at the end of the siphon, with faint orange streaks in it. An aspect.

I tucked it into my kit bag, then said, "Anchor, Brawl, you two hide the body. Some place far from the road. I'm going to check on Sage."