*Tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap
Zhul ran along the roof in the black of night. The rain pours heavier as he comes closer towards his destination. Come on!
*Tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*tap*Crack
Zhul jumps down and lands in front of his base. …I'm late. In front of him, the place that he has been called base this whole time was in shambles. The door is broken. There are numerous claw and bite marks all over the wall. There is a hole on the roof and the smell is horrible.
*Tap
Out of nowhere, Tez suddenly landed in front of Zhul. His small body landed gracefully carrying his scythe and his breath was heavy even in the rain, Zhul could clearly see that Tez was breathing heavily. So we both were running as fast as we could and yet didn't make it in time.
"Hah….Hah…..Hah….. I'm late…" Tez mutters under his breath. He turns his body and talks to Zhul. "Where are they?"
"…..I don't know."
Both of them walk inside the house and search around. Zhul kneels on the ground and pulls a plank out of the floor. "Look at this." He handed the plank to Tez. The plank was muddy with a ridiculous amount of little footprints and furs. "Suspect, rat, mole and any little earth dwelling with similar size."
"So we are dealing with a tamer." Tez throws the plank away but stops when his ears pick up a noise. He grabbed his scythe tightly and raised up his guard. "…you hear them?"
"…..yeah." Zhul pulls out two white daggers from under his cloak. "Get out of the base now!"
*BAM
A big man falls from the second roof and tries to flatten Zhul. Zhul and Tez jumped out of the base and were immediately surrounded by a crazy amount of men. Tez swings his scythe and beheads three men before being stopped by the fourth. The fourth grabbed Tez's Scythe handle with his hand and thrust his sword at Tez.
"Move." Zhul jumps over Tez's shoulder and catches the sword. He pulls the person closer by the hand and swings his dagger at the guy's throat. "So, do you know any tamer that has some sort of grudge against us?"
The big guy that was inside their base charges at Tez. Tez raises his left hand and chants. "[Fumar Catastrophe]". Black smoke emerged from Tez's body and clouded his hand. The big guy rammed his head and stopped. His body stopped as if he had crashed into a wall when his head made contact with Tez's hand. "No. Wasn't worth the thought." Said Tez coldly. Tez swings his scythe and cuts the guy's body in half.
"Let's run before we get swarmed." Zhul said lightly while dodging some attacks. "Head south, it doesn't sound like a good idea to involve Loki in this."
"Fair." Tez turns his body toward the south and powers his way towards the crowd of men while Zhul follows closely. "Now what?" Tez asked while they were running from the crowd of people that wanted to kill them.
"Get to the roof. The earth is too muddy for an effective counterattack." Zhul answered. Both of them close their distance with one of the buildings and jump to the roof. From there, they kill a couple more people before moving on before things get out of control.
As they run through the roof with a swarm of mobs behind them, another mob appears out of nowhere in front of them and quickly moves toward them.
"Stand or move?" Tez askes as he readies his scythe and prepares to attack at a moment's notice.
"Move towards a flat surface and stand our ground there." Zhul answered before jumping to a four storey building. They climb the building and use the high ground to their advantage. "It seems that their numbers aren't infinite. Kill them all and continue our search." Zhul jumped to the middle of the roof and brought his daggers closer to his body.
The mob managed to climb to the roof following the elf and the prum. They didn't waste time and immediately lunged forward at their target.
One of the faster mob pointed his sword at Tez, aiming for his neck. Tez answers by running at him with his scythe behind him. The mob jumped forward when Tez was at his striking distance, thrusting his sword forward. Tez tilts his head sideways, dodging the sword and swings his scythe at the mob's body. The scythe cut through his body but stopped halfway through because of the spines.
Damn Calcium. Tez mutters to himself. As if to retaliate, two more guys emerge from the mob back each carrying a battle axe. The two guys swing their axes, aiming for Tez's neck. Tez swing kicks his scythe, slicing through the first mob while also decapitating one of the attackers. Tez rotated his body while also lowering it to the ground to avoid the other battle axe. He turns the momentum of his scythe from horizontal to vertical and slices the remaining guy. "Are you sure there is a limit to their number?"
"If it continues like this, there's basically no difference." Zhul eyes his surroundings. With his advantage in height, he can see better at the incoming danger. Alleys swarming with figures eager to dig their weapon into Zhul and Tez's bodies. We'll be dead before we know if their number is limited or not. Zhul keeps on scanning his area while dealing with the mobs that slowly but surely, surrounding them. "Hey, do you remember when I suggested that we don't involve the Loki Familia?"
"No."
"Good. Let's change course and head straight to their manor." The prum and elf made a mad dash North through the mobs. Slicing and cutting their way through the wall of figures with everything they got. They jump from roof to roof. Betting that there's no huge gap that they won't be able to jump.
"Hmph!" Tez's scythes never stop swinging and beheading people left and right as if there's no tomorrow. His endurance level is higher than Zhul so he can exert some stamina without worry.
House after house. Roof after roof. The prum and elf run North under the dark rainy sky. The occasional thunder illuminates their way, revealing just how many figures that have joined in their little stampede.
"We're almost there." The Loki Familia's Manor stands in front of them as a beacon of hope but there's just one problem. The gap! The Loki Familia's Manor is guarded by a wall but even before that there's a huge gap between the last building before the Manor and the Manor itself.
"Don't stop." Tez didn't reduce his speed even with the huge gap right in front of him.
"If you fuck this up, I'll kill you myself." Zhul brings his hand in front of him and shouts, "[Qing Gonjiang]!" A white ball appears in that hand and Zhul quickly throws it behind him. In an instant, the ball shines brighter than even the closest star. It's almost as if the sun itself has decided to appear behind them.
So much for stealth. Tez looks annoyingly at his silhouette that was projected onto the Loki Familia's Manor. He hears several thuds behind him as the mobs tumble from being blinded but the elf and prum know that the threat is still there. "Jump!" Both men jump when they reach the edge of the roof. "[Fumar Catastrophe]!" From Tez's trouser legs, black smoke gushes down and forms a small square in front of him that both Zhul and Tez use as a platform to jump even closer to the Manor. Damn! Still not enough! "[Fumar Catastrophe]!" Tez once again repeats the same trick twice and then swings his scythe at the Manor's wall to get a good hold. "Hah… Hah… Hah…"
"They're not coming." The elf also grabs the prum's scythe so that he doesn't fall to the ground. His eyes aren't focused anywhere but the roof behind him. They're just watching us.
"Hah… Hah… Fucking better… Hah… Hah…" It's clear that Tez couldn't do anymore running around with his ragged breathing. Fucking hell… Better level up my magic stats.
"Hey! Did you see that light outside?!"
Of course people would notice that! Zhul cursed himself for not being able to come up with a better plan than throwing an attention-seeking light bomb in the middle of the night. "We need to climb up. They would see us if they open the window." Loki Familia's Manor walls don't exactly have a good place for these men to hide other than the roof. If any of the inhabitants open the window and look out, it's not hard to notice 2 men perching on their walls.
"Hah… Alright… Hah… Hah…" As if death was on their tail, the men quickly climb up to the roof as more and more of Loki Familia's Manor's inhabitants wake up and cause a ruckus inside. It's only a matter of time before one of them opens the window and notices the 2 men climbing up. "Hah… Hah…" With the rain pouring even harder than before, the men finally climb to the roof and quickly search for a blindspot where both of them can hide. "Hah… Hah… I miss being able to slice the sky… Hah… Hah…"
"I get you." Zhul lost count of how many times he almost lost his footing from the rain. His body is drenched, his hair is messy, the rain sometimes gets into his lungs, and the thunder is a threat for both of them who are sitting at the roof of a tall building. Now what? He asked himself. He lost contact with the rest of his group and it's not like he can jump down with the threat of being mobbed still lurking around.
"Hah… They seemed to be easy to kill…"
"But their numbers are the problem."
"Need a hand there, buddies?" Both Zhul and Tez were taken by surprise when they heard that voice. It was Loki who was looking at them from the window above them. "Come in, will ya?! My hair is getting soggy."
"Loki we–"
"Now~ Now~ You better ain't makin' a lot of noise or the rest will find out~~" Zhul concludes that Loki is acting on her own from that sentence but he is still dubious as Loki can lie. "Calm down~~ I ain't lying~~"
Mind reading asshole. "Fine." Zhul stands up from his crouching position and takes a peek at the room inside. From the look of it, Loki is not lying. "Excuse me." He then climbs into the room via the window and Tez follows behind him. "I have no intention–"
"Do we really gotta speak so formally between friends?"
Friends? There's a visible question mark above Tez's head. Since when was he friend with the Goddess Loki. This hospitality brought doubt into his mind. He grabbed his scythe's handle tighter and was ready to swing at any time.
"Wowie~~ No need to be like that!"
"Sorry Loki but I'm on his side." Zhul couldn't hide his daggers anymore. I know she 'saves' us but for all I know, she might be an enemy. Zhul's life experiences and Loki's reputation make him suspicious of this woman. It's barely an hour since the last time they met and yet, she acts like an entirely different person. She was so suspicious of him before and yet, here she is, welcoming him with an open arm. "We couldn't trust you just yet."
"Ya know what? Fair! Hermes said that ya lot's trust is something that is hard to gain." Then again, it's Hermes. Everyone who has a brain will have a hard time trusting him. Loki mocks the Messenger God for being untrustworthy even though there's 2 people in front of her that don't trust her. "I'm just interested in ya'll!"
"As an experiment subject?"
"Damn fuckin' no! Who do ya take me for?! I'm sly, not evil!"
Yeah. If anything, that's your brand, Zhul. Tez couldn't believe that the brain of his group couldn't use a goddamn mirror. "We're not converting into your Familia." What these men look for are freedom and there's no greater freedom than the one you get in Hermes Familia.
"Not asking ya too! I'm just shelterin' children under the rain~~ What's wrong with that?" That is true. Like Zhul's observation before, these 2 men were standing on top of a tall building in the middle of a heavy rain with the occasional thunder. They were basically courting death. "Besides, I also don't want no trouble in Orario either."
It's kinda hard to trust the Trickster Goddess but we have no other choice. "Then do you have a monocular?"
"Sure do! Wait here for a moment!" The trickster Goddess quickly opened a hatch and went downstairs.
"What are you planning?"
"I want to see if I can find the rest from here." Being at the top of a high building gives Zhul a good vantage point to see all around him. "From the evidence, they were attacked but I don't see any blood so it's most likely that they escape." This is also just wishful thinking on my part.
"I'm back!" Loki jumps from the hatch and throws the monocular to Zhul. "Whatcha looking for?"
"My friends." Zhul immediately uses the monocular to see outside of the window. "Found them." What the hell are they being chased by?! Zhul could see that they're still struggling and that something is chasing them. Is that a bunch of rodents?
"Is that guy also yer friend?"
"Huh?" Zhul shifts his eye to where Loki is pointing and notices that a figure is watching his friends from a vantage point. That figure has a long and thin tail and is carrying a large tube. Whoever it is, it's our next target. "Tez, let's go." Zhuil throws the monocular at Loki before jumping out of the window and down from the building. Tez didn't wait for even a single second to follow behind him.
"What's our plan?"
"Attack." Any normal person would have not been as calm as that person was. Zhul was suspicious because not even the strongest adventurer would stay calm when a swarm of rodents mimicked a tsunami. It's far too outlandish for people to be calm about. "There he is!"
"Hmph!" Tez jumps up and quickly closes the distance between them. He notices, huh. The person immediately turned around when Tez was directly behind him and was trying to make some distance. Stop. Tez swung his scythe to try to cut the person in half but was quickly parried by the person's tube. "Tch!"
"[Qing Gonjiang]" Zhul throws a rod of light to help him and Tez see the person in front of them. His body is covered entirely in short brown fur, there's a golden circlet on his head, he is carrying an oversized pipe, a long thin hairless tail, and wearing very colorful clothing. "A clown?"
"An annoyingly strong clown." Tez felt his hands still shaking from the exchange earlier.
"I'll change to long range." Zhul slams the pummels of his curved single-edged daggers together and it makes a clicking noise as the daggers combine into a crescent shape double bladed daggers. "[Qing Gonjiang]" A line of light appears from the tip of the upper dagger to the tip of the lower dagger, creating a bow in Zhul's hand. "[Qing Gonjiang]" An arrow made out of light appears on Zhul's free hand and he uses it to draw his bow. He quickly let the arrow fly at the enemy.
"..." The figure quickly rolled his pipe in front of him and destroyed the arrow before it could reach him.
"Hm!" Tez gets closer once again and swings his scythe for the side of the enemy's stomach. The figure tries to parry but quickly realizes his mistake.
"[Qing Gonjiang]" Zhul has already launched another arrow at the guy's face as he swung his pipe to block Tez's attack. The person tucked his head down quick enough to dodge Zhul's arrow.
"Hmp!" Tez, seeing his chance, let his left hand leave his scythe's handle and used to punch the guy's face that was right in front of him. First hit. A loud thud rings as Tez's knuckle lands firmly on the guy's cheek.
"Keep going. I'll cover you. Don't let up."
"The rats ain't comin' no more!" Briar let out a sigh of relief as it seemed that the wave of rodents finally let up. "That light! It has to be Zhul! He is fightin' someone!"
"Most likely whoever the fuck was controlling those rats!" The 4 men quickly reroute and make a mad dash toward where Zhul and Tez are.
"I'm first." Lug climbs onto the roof of the houses and jumps from roof to roof, closing the distance between him and the fight scene as fast as he can.
"It's goin' to take some time before he reaches them." Briar isn't concerned for Tez and Zhul but he is concerned that both of them could make sure that the enemy doesn't run away. If that guy saw us comin' to him! He could bolt off and we'll lose him in this rain! "Aol, get on top of my shoulders!"
"Okay!" Aol jump and stand on top of Briar's shoulders. He takes out an arrow and draws his bow. "Hah… Fuh… Hah… Fuh…" Aim correctly… Aim for his foot… Any other limb and he'll run away… Aol takes a deep breath and takes account of his surroundings. Briar's movement, the wind's speed, the rain, the enemy's movement, and etc. His eyes are hyper focused. Not blinking one bit as he tracks his target's movement. Almost there… Just one tiny—NOW! "Hmph!" He let his arrow fly toward the target.
*WHOOOSH*
"Hmm?" In the middle of his dash, Lug notices Aol's arrow that flies right by him and straight to the enemy. It keeps on flying and flying until–
*CLANK* *CLANK* *WHOOSH* *CLANK* *CLANK*
Fuckers ain't letting up. Tez has been delivering swings after swings, only for his enemy to parry it with his pipe every time. Zhul has also not been slacking off in delivering his light arrow but the enemy has always found a way to dodge the arrow.
He has read our attack pattern. "[Qing Gonjiang]" Zhul once again prepares another arrow and draws his bow. Gotta mix things up a little bit if we want to pierce through his defense. And his answer comes immediately as an arrow flies in and strikes the enemy's left thigh.
"!" Both Zhul and Tez weren't one to miss the chance of an attack as they intensified their flurries of attack. "Ugh!" Another attack manages to land as Tez's scythe finally manages to deliver a shallow cut on the enemy's left forearm. "Guh!" The second strike happens as Zhul's arrow plants itself on the enemy's right collarbone. The enemy notices his disadvantage and tries to retreat only to meet with Lug's throwing knives behind him. "!"
"Fucker have the eyes on the back of his head." Lug was clearly dissatisfied that only 2 of his knives landed on the enemy's back as the rest were deflected. He brings more throwing knives and prepares himself only to meet with an unpredicted attack. "What?!" The enemy pointed one of the tips of his pipe to Lug and the entire thing suddenly elongated. "BUGH!" Lug was caught off guard and was slammed and pushed off the building.
"That's one hell of a surprise." But it might be a clue as to this guy's identity. "[Qing Gonjiang]" Zhul launched another arrow, not to kill but to light his enemy.
"KAY! Not falling for that again!" Lug quickly rose back again as if nothing had happened. Without warning, he throws his throwing knives at the enemy and Tez jumps in to take advantage of the moment.
His colorful clothing, pipe, rats, and pipe. Without a doubt that this guy is based on the Pied Piper of Hamelin but I don't remember the legend saying that the piper is a rat too. "[Qing Gonjiang]" Zhul once again launched a light arrow to make sure his eyes weren't playing a trick on him. The piper's body still has that brown rat fur on him. The hell is going on?! The staff that could be elongated and the golden circlet on his head remind me of the Sun Wukong. Could it be… They mix legends together to create this abnormality?
"UGH!" Another hit from an arrow that's coming from Aol. "!" The piper is clearly panicking at his situation and then he decide to jump off the building but,
"Oh no you don't!" Briar was already below him and with his shield, smacked the piper into a wall. The rest of the cast jumps down and finally, the 6 of them surround the piper.
What's the ties between The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Sun Wukong? They literally come from different hemispheres. The Piper's only notable ability is to control rats and children. The Sun Wukong does have the ability to control monkeys as he is The Monkey King. Does this work by linking both legend's ability to control things?
"Huh!" The piper elongated his pipe once again to push away his attacker.
"Not the brightest, aren't you?" Aol quickly unleashes an arrow and strikes the piper's left shoulder. Better kill him now! "Hmph!" Aol unleashes another arrow, aiming for the piper's head but the piper manages to move his head in time so that the arrow pierce through his cheek but not his brain.
*WHISTLE*
The piper put one of the ends of his pipe near his mouth and he blew into the instrument, creating a loud shrieking noise.
"DAMN!" The sound causes everyone's body to shiver but the worst part is the loud pitter pattering of thousands of small footsteps coming closer.
"Alright! FUCK THIS!" Han screams out in frustration as he prepares his staff. "Not doing that shit again!"
"I command thee ruler of the sea
Awaken from thy deep slumber
Thou art the reincarnation of Disaster
The devils from the depth
The monster even the god fear
Thou name are Leviathan, I command thee!
[Gadol Mayim]"
"Damn! That's one hell of a spell." Loki commented as she watched a serpent-like dragon head made out of water rise.
"What did you do, Loki?" The mama of the Loki Familia asks her patron goddess, watching the mass of water perform what can only be described as 'Water Breath'. "Who is that?"
"If things go like I want 'em to, then possibly our new friends." The trickster goddess's wicked smiles grow even more when she notices that no rainwater has been falling to the window in front of her ever since the water dragon arose. Flashes of light occasionally light up the scene almost as if someone was lighting a firework. "Say Riveria, do ya think ye can win against a swarm of rats?"
"..." Riveria wants to answer her goddess question but stops herself. Her goddess likes to tease everyone but asking pointless questions isn't her way of doing it. "If it's normal rats then yes without a doubt."
"Of course, right~~"
"..." Then why did she ask me? Riveria couldn't comprehend her goddess intention and could only see the chaos outside. "Should we send someone to check?" They have just finished their expedition but with the size of the Loki Familia, it wouldn't be hard to have someone that hadn't participated in the expedition to check.
"Nope~~ They'll just get in the way."
"Huh?"
"Ya gotta let others take the limelight sometime, Riveria. Don't be selfish like that."