NOVPUBTension had never been at an all-time high as it was at the moment.
The moaning of distant Iron pipes laid out a slow hum in the silence that hung in the air, a gruesome sentence festering to take place within it.
Ruffia was cornered, her actions laid bare for all, her purpose unravelled, but her cause remained unknown.
Ciara stood a fair distance away, her thoughts reeling in as she contemplated deeply on the thinking process of the former. The cause and effect.
What purpose did she serve in all this? Was she truly a member of the Red Peacemaker or simply a spy of the System Uprisers?
Was she sent to stall time? Take them further from their purpose and lead them to an unavoidable doom.
'Well, she was certainly doing a good job at it.'
Since a while ago, she had noticed they were moving further and further away from their target location.
Her spells worked like a beacon, with her wand acting as the receiver.
She simply had to tap into it to get the necessary information, and it was necessary to do so with the mind.
As a Merlin, her magic wasn't limited to the four elements, but all forms of magic. Psychic magic as well. Though it was her lowest affinity, it was enough to find the Sub-territorial space and the missing Mermaid princess. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
How Ruffia had not put that in her plans, though, confused her.
A slight frown formed on her face when she noticed Ruffia's slowly composed demeanour. Her once shaky body was slowly calming, and her gaze held no fear. Only a mask of indifference encroached on her with steady steps.
Her frown deepened as she took a long step back, putting down her wand as she tilted her head in confusion.
'This isn't good. She's not supposed to be composed. I made sure to corner her most unexpectedly….so why is she composed?'
Louis suddenly walked forward in a blur, appearing next to Ruffia in a quarter of a heartbeat. His hand clawed her neck and slammed her body onto the Pipeline, a creak spreading from the vibration as it rattled. A slight shock phasing through.
Ruffia coughed, her arms wriggling as it clamped onto his, a stiffening attempt to set free.
"Why did you lie?"
Ruffia's gaze darkened crimson, her pupils filled with intensity. A slight rage penetrated her system.
She glared at him, revealing her gritted teeth as she struggled to reply.
"Why you ask? Now that's the dumbest thing you could ask a liar. Obviously, I wanted to lure you elsewhere…."
She muttered. "Sadly, I was caught."
Ciara remained silent, her unease growing with each passing second.
She glanced around, tilting her wand around as mana spun within her.
"8th tier Spell: Dome of Protection."
A sudden tremor spread through the air as a blast of mana shut out from her, filling the space around them and forming a dome.
Ruffia glanced at her through sheer force, unable to move an inch of her head.
"Wha–What are you doing that for?" She asked.
"You're not the only one here. I figure you were part of the System Uprisers, but I have a feeling you're not."
Ciara glanced up at Louis.
Their pair of crimson eyes met at one point.
"Kill her."
Within a short breath, he tensed his muscles, gripping tighter as Ruffia gasped even louder.
Her chest rose, and her skin paled. Her pupils slowly rolled over her head while her mouth hung open, grasping for what little air remained for her.
As he prepared to claim her life, his body froze, his gaze darting to the wall behind her.
His eyes narrowed in slit as he jumped back, a sudden barrage of sword slices phasing through the iron pipe with relative ease. Like hot iron through butter, it schemed through it, evading Ruffia while tracing the edges Louis had evaded.
Ruffia fell to her knees with a loud gasp, her hands grasping her neck as she coughed out in frenzy, blood slowly running through her pupils as tears flowed down.
A wheeze sound projected into the Pipeline from behind her as a grunt pierced their ears.
A sudden thud echoed as a kick busted through the wall.
The iron creaked as it trembled, falling to the ground in pieces with a loud clatter.
Ciara sighed outwardly as she took a step back, Louis slowly doing the same while a man walked into the opening.
Her lips curled in a frown as mana swirled outwards from within, a surge of power running through her veins.
"So this is your reason for staying calm."
Ruffia slowly panted as she turned to her side, her brows furrowed in rage while Nicho dusted his attire.
"How did you know I wanted you to lead them here?" He asked, his gaze fixed on his attire while he dusted dirt and grime off.
His disinterest in her circumstances was palpable, causing her anger to boil like a volcano.
"I figured it out." She replied, gritting her teeth through repressed rage as she stood to her feet.
Ruffia was furious, but she wasn't dumb.
Knowing fully well her standing with Nicho was more than enough reason to expect such treatment. Though experiencing it was a lot different from expecting it.
'Well, this is a lot better than sticking with the System Uprisers.'
"You simply figured that I would want you to lead them here? I'm impressed."
He stated, his attention shifting towards the two intruders.
'Did she really? Since before, her behaviour and attitude have been in contrast with how she acted with the Uprisers. What is her drive in all this?'
He wondered as he looked over the intruders once, then sighed out loud.
"The La Teuer and the Merlin household. As much as it would please me to capture you both, I must admit that it would take a ridiculous amount of time to do so."
Ruffia scoffed as she folded her hands, dissatisfaction laced in her expression.
Though Nicho couldn't care less about her reaction to how he handled things.
So far, she had been merely a pawn he had used to lure the intruders to a different location.
Far from their quarters, but interlocked by the pipes to make things easier to get to them.
Either way, connected pipes usually have a straightforward pattern when you break through the walls.
Getting from his control quarters to other parts of the pipeline was an easy matter he could handle with a slice or two of the Sword. But Ruffia's ability to lure them to the exact spot he found most sufficient, now that he did not expect.
With a slight frown, his thoughts reeled in.
'Perhaps I should take her to the Red Peacemakers. Though knowing her drive first is necessary.'
"We've come for Mariam Aquarius."
Louis said as he took a step forward, his right hand held out in the air.
The darkness seemed to warp at his control as a dark dust encircled around his palm, rushing within like dust and shimmering with crimson sparks.
It solidified into a dagger, one crafted with obsidian. Hard and smooth, with a curved blade that sparked at the tip, enduring tales of flesh cut with its beak.
"I don't care who you are or what faction you come from. The Red Peacemakers mean nothing to me, but her safety is everything. So, will you let us go and save her, or will you get in my way like a fool?"
Ciara's eyes bulged slightly in surprise as she stared at Louis, her thoughts reeling in.
'That's the longest I've seen him talk for.' But then, her right brow arched with curiosity, a slight confusion etched in her expression.
'Do the La Teuer act because of others? Is this what love does to people?'
Nicho busted out in a fit of laughter, his demonic arm placed over his abdomen as he arched backwards in motion.
His body pulsed with each laugh, one that sent shivers down their spine.
An uncanny sensation grew within them while they stared in silence.
The laughter bounced against the iron structure of the groaning pipelines, giving way to a vibration that spread throughout.
It caused Ciara to raise her shoulders up and point her wand at him, a beam of light igniting at the tip.
The sudden beam ignited a golden light against the darkness in the interior of the Pipelines.
Causing the executive's laughter to cease. Suddenly and eerily, like a sudden clap of the hand.
His pupils shifted towards them, fixed onto their features, his lips curled downwards as a surmountable calm overtook him.
"You pups must think you're worth something just because we chose to let you go."
Ciara scoffed.
"Oh, please. You chose to let us go because we're strong enough to warrant that. If not, you wouldn't have captured Mariam. And even that was a wrong decision on your part."
Nicho frowned, his odachi glowing with a menacing glint at the edges of its glimmering blade. Calling for blood and flesh.
It lingered in the air as he held it with his human hand, a little gift from his old-time friend, Raph.
"Do you think being a part of the Great Family makes you great? You are all merely children under the guise of a hero. Leave this be, and I may not need to kill you to keep you here.
You know too much as it is."
A chuckle pierced the air, a startling and muffled one that caused their skins to crawl.
Their heads whipped towards Louis– the source of the laughter, Nicho slowly narrowing his gaze as he stared at him.
'I lost track of his energy flow for a moment there. Murderous intent, was it? The La Teuers truly live up to their names.'
Louis' shoulders flinched slightly, his muffled laughs coming out in slow hums.
Ciara shifted away slightly, caution growing within her.
"Wha– What's so funny, Louis?"
She asked while Nicho and Ruffia glanced at her with puzzled expressions.
She ignored it, after all, even more than them, Louis's laughter creeped her out the most.
"Oh, it's nothing," Louis said as his gaze shifted to Nicho's face, then slowly trailed to his right arm. A fragment of its former self– a crimson, demonic arm pulsed neatly, fixed to his body.
"I was just thinking about what you said, and found it ironic. After all, you lost that same arm to a kid of the Great Families…."
His lips curled into a grin, one that dripped with venom, akin to a Devil.
"Did you not?"
Nicho licked his lips dry, a suffocating ball of mass growing within him.
He scoffed, looked away and then turned back to Louis.
His gaze remained unfazed, masked by an emotionless sculpture, but then, he saw red.
