Chapter 223 (Rank 8, 1) (Patreon)

Liliana shifted her weight, feeling the wood beneath the leather of her clothes.

Her eyes scanned the three sleeping forms laid out side by side, noting the gentle rises and falls of their chests. The second years were asleep, alive and safe for the time being. Liliana met a pair of eyes that reflected the moonlight trickling into the room through the window for a moment as Polaris turned his attention to her.

“Any movement outside?” She asked her bond.

“No, everything is calm,” the Kitsune reassured her. Liliana nodded and looked toward the door, her grip on her naginata tensing and relaxing unconsciously. Nemesis mimicked the movement around her neck, a comforting weight and pressure.

She had elected to take all watch shifts, reassuring the second years that she could handle a single sleepless night. Her Stamina was draining slowly, as it did whenever she stayed up longer than eighteen hours. It was a negligible drain that didn’t quite negate her regeneration but came close. If she was awake longer than twenty-four hours, it would negate her regeneration. At thirty hours, it would begin to exceed her regeneration, and she’d need to use potions to make up the difference. Thirty-four hours would increase the drain, as would every two hours afterwards.

Liliana had enough potions in her storage to account for the drain. She could stay awake for three days with the stock she had. Provided she used the correct dosages and didn’t push herself further than necessary, she shouldn’t be in danger of poisoning from the potions either. With [Poison Resistance], she could handle taking more potions in a short amount of time than the average.

That had been part of the argument she’d leveled against the second years when they’d tried to say they could handle watch shifts. None of them had her Endurance, nor her potions, or her resistance to the ill-effects of consuming too many. A reminder of the chasm of difference between her and them. A reminder she’d blatantly spoken aloud when she pointed out that she and her bonds would likely be the only things that could take on the traffickers if they showed up, and the delay between her waking up and being able to fight would be disastrous if they were attacked. A lot could happen in a minute, all of it avoidable if she took the watch shifts.

So the second years had conceded defeat and settled down to sleep while Liliana took up a spot that gave her a clear view of the door and the window. The bed in the room had been moved against a wall, out of sight of the window. Pillows had been used to give the illusion of someone sleeping in the bed while the three second years slept on the ground between the bed and the wall, the most protected position Liliana could put them in. If necessary, the bed could be turned on its side and used as a makeshift barricade.

Liliana’s eyes flicked to the ceiling, seeing her eight swords laid against the beams. Hidden from sight and placed so they could fall directly on the heads of any who dared to enter the room through the two entry points. There were traps laid around the door and window frames, and on the ground around them as well. Nothing visible gave them away, but Liliana had memorized the positions when Ellingham had pointed them out to her.

The room, and the second years inside of it, were as protected as Liliana could manage with the resources at her disposal. Liliana was no protector, but she refused to fail at the job she had accepted. Liliana shifted the ring on her finger around and around in circles as she considered for not the first time if a beacon would be a bad idea. No threat had come yet. Diana had pointed out a very plausible theory with enough circumstantial evidence to justify removing the second years from the area. But it was not yet a situation that would mean backup was necessary.

Liliana’s fingers stilled their incessant movement as she moved her hand up the shaft of her weapon and shifted her weight again. She had tried to work on homework and essays earlier in the night, before she realized her attention would not hold to dates and theoretical questions. Not when every shout from the bar below and thud had her jumping to her feet, heart pounding and weapons poised.

Now she kept her mind busy by counting the amount of breaths she could see Tier taking in. Sixteen. Considering different strategies if someone entered through the door or the window. Or if they barreled in through a wall. Wait for the traps to take effect for the door and window. Cut off the head of the first intruder, then strike through the gut of the second that came through, hopefully pinning a third as well, if not using the body still on her naginata as a temporary shield. Kick it off onto the next attacker and then stab down.

If they came through the wall, take them out at the knees in a swipe with her naginata, use a sword to cut through the neck. Readjust her position to place her between the second years and the intruders. Activate [Hail of Bullets] with the increased room for offensive spells.

“Am I being ridiculous?” Liliana asked Polaris, mental voice soft and hesitant.

The Kitsune glanced at her for a moment before turning his gaze outside, his tails moving slowly behind him with dull swishes against the worn wooden floor. If Liliana had been more focused on the decor than on how defensible the rooms were, she’d be marginally disgusted at the barely swept floors coated in detritus. The stained linens on the bed, the walls that were an unknown own color under the grime.

“You are a vixen protecting a den of kits,” Polaris answered her simply, his ears perked up to catch even the slightest sound. “Once there was a foolish mortal who tried to attack Minori in her home, with her children. There was nothing left remaining of it afterwards.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Liliana tried to lift her voice with humor that fell flat.

“You remind me of her,” Polaris told her, tails moving faster.

“A true compliment.” Liliana’s amusement rang more true with that. The impossibility of her having any similarity to the godly Rank 1 beast she’d met was absurd enough to almost summon a bark of laughter from her.

A creak of wood had their conversation cutting off as Liliana’s body froze, ears straining. It had happened countless times before, buildings in towns and villages were often built to shoddy standards and were prone to shifting or groaning with no given reason. Liliana still treated every groan and creak as a threat, readying herself for a fight.

Her breath paused in her lungs as she pushed her awareness out to locate if it was yet another false alarm or a true one. When no other noises met her ears, her body relaxed.

“False al-“ Liliana’s thoughts screeched to a stop at the sound of glass shattering. A beat later there was the sound of shouts, a roar that shook the entire building, then a scream, high pitched and feminine.

Diana’s room. Liliana realized as she pushed off the wall. Her second years shot up, confused and disorientated, sleep hazed eyes turning to her. Liliana opened her mouth to say something, when Polaris shouted out a warning to her.

“Incoming!” then there was the sound of glass shattering again, the thud as something dropped into the room, smoke spilling from it. Liliana cursed as her mind registered what it was. Poison gas, likely meant to knock them all out.

Warning! You have been poisoned. The effect is reduced as a result of your [Poison Resistance] -10 Stamina per second.

Your [Poison Resistance] has reached level 217!

The poison you ingested has been neutralized.

“Polaris to your stone. Nemesis.” Liliana reached out and brushed the soul stone across Polaris as he jumped at her.

Unlike Nemesis, he had no [Poison Resistance], something she’d be rectifying as soon as they were out of this situation. Nemesis slid down her arm and Liliana swung it wide, flinging Nemesis at the slumping second years, who were coughing and swaying from the effects of the poison.

They’d be out soon, and little help to her. She’d almost be thankful for the poison if it didn’t mean she would have to remain here until she was certain the threat was gone. She couldn’t move the second years while in active combat. At least they wouldn’t be throwing themselves into the fight.

Set Up activated, power thrumming through Liliana’s veins, racing the adrenaline already rushing through her blood with every beat of her heart.

Nemesis landed on the bed and her body grew in a hurricane of petals until the giant serpent spilled across it, wood groaning and breaking under her weight. Her body provided protection to the students as she wrapped them up in defensive coils. Her mouth was open, venom dripping off her fangs as she swung her head to the window.

Liliana pivoted as the door burst open under a heavy foot and then [Battle Clarity] was dropping over her mind, smoothing down her fear because Lelantos didn’t have [Poison Resistance] either. She could feel him tiring through their connection, his mind going hazy even as he tried to fight.

Fear died as the traps activated, darkness latching onto the intruder and dropped him to his knees. A sword fell, blade glinting silver in the moonlight, before it sliced cleanly through the man’s bent neck with an explosion of golden light. A wet thud announced the loss of his head as his body toppled to the side, crimson already staining the wood dark.

Low vitality, likely meant to come in fast and quiet. Fighter or rogue class. This was meant to be retrieval and stealth only. They weren’t expecting a fight. Liliana’s mind supplied, observations sliding into her mind at a breakneck pace, logged and filed away as quickly as they came.

There was another scream from Diana’s room. She recognized the voice this time. That it was Diana’s voice was filtered away, the same as all other observations. The fear and urgency it wanted to spark was smothered through the defenses of [Battle Clarity].

Liliana slid forward, her naginata stabbing out through the body that had followed the first, his hand gripped to the wood of the doorway, shadows locking him in place. Her blade sunk through right below his ribs, shearing through organs and then with a stronger shove and the activation of [Radiant Edge], through his spine.

[Identify] placed him at level 220, lower than her but not by nearly enough for her comfort. Liliana braced her feet and swung her naginata with its additional weight to block the third assailant she had spotted. Level 232. With a twist of her hip, her foot swung out and kicked the dying body off her weapon, sending it flying and tangling with the third attacker.

Both fell and Liliana pursued, feet skipping over yet untriggered traps before she shoved her naginata down, [Pierce] and [Radiant Edge] aiding her strength in spearing through two chests, bones breaking with thunderous cracks. She felt her blade sink into the wooden floor before she pulled it back out, coated in blood and viscera as she spun.

There was another crash of glass behind her, a louder one — a body coming through this time. There was hissing, the sound of flesh meeting scales. Liliana did not turn, her attention firmly on the fourth and fifth attackers she could see before her. Nemesis could handle herself.

Just like Lelantos, who she could hear letting off a weak roar, his mind going dark on the edges. Not dead. Still alive.

The wind from eight swords flying past her twisted the strands of hair that had escaped her braid around her. The light from her blades lit up the dark hallway, bringing the blood from black to violent crimson where it was splashed already on walls and floor. Her swords pinned the fourth man, level 240, to the wall before explosions from multiple [Radiant Ignition]s ripped a leg and an arm off. The blades returned, leaving the man to bleed out on the ground as Liliana jumped over the bodies to pursue the one man left. Level 233.

In a heartbeat Liliana had reached him, dipping low to sweep his legs out from under him. Her naginata flipped around as she stood and she lashed out, one, two, three vicious strikes with the butt against his temple. When his body went boneless, she grabbed him by an arm after ensuring he was still alive and tossed him at the splintered doorway she had left, letting him catch one of the traps that would keep him ensnared. She could interrogate him later.

Her attention shifted immediately as three new attackers emerged from the stairway. Their second of confusion at seeing the bodies of their comrades was in Liliana’s favor as she activated [Hail of Bullets] and [Wind Sword] and the first one on the stairs took the brunt of her attack. Level 215. He fell back, entangling his compatriots and sending them stumbling back and down.

There was the crack of bones as they fell down the stairs and Liliana pursued with a single-minded intensity, forgoing the blood slick stairs in favor of jumping down them, feet landing with unerring accuracy on the chest of one trafficker, her blade following a blink later. It took four swift strikes to break through into his chest, her blade glowing like a small star as she pushed her Mana into [Radiant Edge] to force the blade through. He was dead before he’d recovered from the disorientation of the sudden attack and his fall.

A pair of swords followed, both pressing against the next of the second fallen trafficker. Liliana jumped away as they exploded, flesh ripping under them, but the man remained alive.

Higher Vitality, likely these are the ones sent in to recover the bodies. Or perhaps as backup if a fight happened. Higher Strength is likely too. Liliana assessed as she activated [Blink] to avoid the strike of a sword from the third trafficker.

Three more muted explosions filled the room with sound and light as Liliana kicked a rickety table at the third man, stopping him for a second as she slid around and struck at his side, her blade drawing blood. Her [Identify] came back with nothing more than a level once more, 234. The fact that every attacker so far had some high-level deception class skill was logged in her mind for further investigation later.

She worked with what she could see. Muscles rippling under his leather clothes. Well made, the organization had money. High Strength, based on how he broke the table into matchsticks with no effort. High Vitality, certainly higher than hers, based on how the stab wound was healing. Like his friend, who was stumbling to his feet despite the wounds on his body.

Liliana took in a breath, tasting the stale scent of cheap beer on her tongue but none of the acrid scent of poison. Her hand brushed across Polaris’ stone and the Kitsune appeared at her side as Liliana launched her attack under a second volley of [Hail of Bullets], dancing between the bright projectiles as her swords and naginata flashed with bright light and sliced into flesh. The man stumbled around. The many chairs and tables left in the tavern proved a hinderance to him and a boon to Liliana, who could easily slip between them.

Low Speed. Low Dexterity. Liliana surmised as she danced under a too slow swing and a strike to a foot had the man floundering. He was yet to flag, high Endurance.

Chaos filled the air as Polaris joined the fray, the deadly faux flames flickering and distorting wood and bodies. A scream rent the air as the already wounded second trafficker suffered a glancing blow of flames he was too slow to dodge to his right side. Liliana heard a second, choked off scream as she felt Polaris activate [Entropic Claws] and cut through the man who was now too injured and slow to dodge the second attack.

Liliana kept her focus on her own attacker, moving at a speed he couldn’t follow, her blades opening up too many wounds for even his high Vitality to heal. Blood slicked the ground, making the footing treacherous. Liliana’s high Dexterity kept her steady, but the other man was not as lucky. His foot slid without traction and he crashed to a knee. Liliana leaped forward, five blades sinking into his neck with bright light radiating off of them and [Pierce] cutting through his Vitality enhanced flesh. With a final shove from all five blades, his head detached from his body to fall to the ground.

Liliana danced back, eyes roving the room, senses spread. When she was certain the three traffickers were dead, she burst into movement, returning up the stairs. She jumped over the bodies littered about, mind focused on her task. She had to check her second years first, then find Diana. Her mind returned to Lelantos long enough to assure herself he was alive. Unconscious, but alive.

Liliana stormed back into her room, dodging around the dead bodies, and the unconscious trafficker stuck to the door frame. Two attackers lay on the ground before Nemesis, dead, faces bloated and veins black from poison. One had no visible marks on his body, the other had two large puncture wounds that bled sluggishly. Nemesis seemed unharmed, other than superficial scratches.

“Shall I use [Antidote] on the hatchlings?” Nemesis asked as Liliana sniffed the air, determining that the acrid scent of poison had been mostly nullified. Winds whipped up around her and cleared the last of the air, something she had not had the time to do earlier.

“Not yet,” Liliana responded as she motioned Polaris in to follow her now that it was safe.

She turned and left the room, Polaris following behind her as they returned to the hallway. The second years were her priority and now that she was assured they were safe, she could continue on. Her feet picked up the pace as she approached Diana’s door, already broken through.

Her swords shivered in the air as they shifted their positions, forming around her as she dropped into a lower crouch. She shot a look at Polaris who nodded at her, body lowering as his form went blurred with the activation of [Stealth]. There were no sounds from the room, and while Liliana’s connection to Lelantos meant she could tell he was still alive, it had the indistinct air of unconsciousness to it.

A slight breath of wind had the broken door opening and Liliana jumped in, weapons at the ready with Polaris at her side, Chaos brimming from his mouth. The room was in ruins, wood torn and shredded, furniture turned into splinters. Ice melted on the walls and floors, charred marks on the walls told a violent story. Two bodies, traffickers, laid on the ground. One had claw marks bisecting his body, his arm missing entirely. A second had burns, shards of ice, and stones embedded within his dead body.

Liliana’s eyes immediately went to Lelantos, who was collapsed in the middle of the room, some wounds bleeding freely. But, after a second look around the room, she saw with a heavy heart he was the only living thing left in the room. Liliana lowered her weapons slightly as she approached her bond. [Companion Heal] and [Healing Harmony] activated, working to heal her sleeping bond.

Polaris swept through the room, nudging over upturned furniture and sniffing through the room before he turned to her with drooping tails. He announced something Liliana already knew, but wished fervently to be false.

“They’re gone.”

AN: Ever sleep for 18 hours straight? Cause I just did and it was wild. Especially the dreams. There were vampires? Anyways, apparently my body thought I needed that, and I did because I feel a lot  better now honestly. 

The stakes just got raised in this mini-arc. Which is exciting. I'm very excited for this. Lili is less excited, more royally pissed off. Also guess she won't be sleeping any time soon. It's fine, she's used to insomnia.