Chapter 10
"So, the city's ultimate defense mechanism, Blazewyn?" The hooded figure muttered.
Shadows shifted, and the figure disappeared soundlessly, leaving a single piece of paper falling towards the street.
"Better go check on the other girls from that bar…"
Said girls from that bar were now running through the streets, trying to find out the source of the Grimm attacks. Leilah figured that something must have summoned the Grimm here, because after asking around, she found out that the city's defensive wards haven't shown any signs of breach, and none of the scout posts reported massive Grimm movements toward the city in any way.
They heard the low roar of a dragon being summoned, looked at each other, and then Leilah started to shake.
"Get… Get out of here…" Leilah was barely able to talk, as scales started to form on her skin.
"Oh no, not this again… No no no no no no…" Wisty all but panicked.
"Lemme guess, she's going to go all insane and destroy everything, right?" Maddy blinked, then shook her head.
"Yeah, cuz of the dragon roar. It… I think it resonates with her bloodline. She can't control it very well yet, so you know, destruction." Wisty sighed.
Then out of nowhere, a dart, not unlike the shape of a tranquilizer dart, flies through the air and hits Leilah in the neck. She promptly collapsed, her scales fading away.
Ahria, now without the cloak, stood in the shadows of an alleyway, holding a gun-shaped object. He sighed, put the gun away into Schwarz, and walked towards the girls, his head shaking slightly as he looked at Leilah's unconscious form.
"Get her out of here. The dragon roars can cause her to lose control of her bloodline powers." Ahria said, his voice slightly raw.
"Hey, Ahria? Where the heck did you come from?" Bre was confused. One second, she was looking at Leilah losing control, and then she gets knocked out by a tranquilizer dart shot by the person standing in front of her.
"That's one question you shouldn't be asking, kid." Ahria muttered, slightly tired from the intense fighting of the last few hours. "Now the real question here is, what are y'all kids doing here. This isn't your fight, let the pros handle it."
"Hey what do you mean let the pros handle it? Do you know how powerful I am?" Wisty wasn't going to back down so fast.
"Well then, if you're so strong, prove it. Let's see if you can hit me or no." Ahria scoffed.
"Fine." Wisty was more than slightly pissed. She pulled out her dagger, and took a deep breath.
"I don't know how strong he is, but I have to show him that I'm not weak." She thought. "Let's see, narrow alley, go on to- wait, here he comes." She couldn't finish her thought before Ahria drew a simple sword and rushed at Wisty. Time slowed down, as both heightened their reflexes.
Ahria's blade sliced through the air with almost no sound, like a shadow ready to engulf an unguarded prey. Wisty could barely see it because of the darkness, and just before the blade came in contact, Wisty turned around, her dagger swinging in a minimalistic curve around, and met the sword as it came down on her. The force from the blade sent her flying down the street, and before she could land, shadows shifted, and Ahria swung again. Again, she barely blocked it, but was sent flying into the wall. She turned midair and landed on the wall, then pushed with her legs and jumped onto a nearby rooftop. Again, her shadow writhed and Ahria swung at her soundlessly. Her instincts screamed at her to jump back, but she knew that if she jumped, she would be locked in an everlasting combo of strikes until she died.
In that flash, she realized something. She wasn't nearly as strong as Ahria, not because of her weakness, but because there was simply no way to make up for the difference between her and Ahria. He was the famous 'mini-boss' that no one caught, while she was just an elite player. His strength is on par with bosses and NPCs.
Wisty growled in frustration, and her hand suddenly met the blade, faster than it had been before, and managed to hold her ground. The roof underneath her cracked, and she jumped backwards to avoid the hole that formed. Then her dagger shot out and bounced back when it struck something from her shadow.
"Good, you can at least learn." Ahria said, emerging from the shadows on the roof. "Now you need to learn that this fight isn't something you can be involved in." With that, he came at her again, this time simply using a stick. Wisty tried to parry, and were successful with the first two, but consecutive strikes hit her in the shoulder, abdomen, arms, and legs, and finally ended when Ahria's fingers tapped her forehead.
"You see, if I was going all out, you'd be no better than dead by now. Now, here's the thing. Even with me going all out, the one summoning the dragon isn't someone I can beat at the moment, so what chance do you stand of fighting?" Ahria stopped, and put the stick away. He stretched out his hand, and his sword flew back into his hand. He sheathed that as well, and looked at Wisty, then at her teammates down below, muttered something else, and turned to go.
"Wait, where are you going?" Wisty was desperate for answers, and it showed on her face.
"To try to stop this dragon from coming." With that, Ahria jumped off the rooftop, on the side opposite of Wisty's teammates.
Wisty ran to the edge of the roof and looked down, but Ahria is nowhere to be seen. She dejectedly walked towards the other edge, jumped off, and shook her head at her teammates.
"I-I don't think this is something we can mess with, guys…"
To be continued…