Chapter 80 – The Guards Want a Fight

"I knew something was strange with the new janitor. Walking randomly around instead of on a set path as they should. Then one of the guards died, some nasty poison you got. I called for backup, but they didn't respond. How many did you get before coming here?" she says, stalking down the hall.

The hallway lacks any true cover; my only cover is my illusion, though the stupid stone around my neck still points to the general area I'm in. I didn't think they would be watching them this closely. Or did she only start after the other guard was killed?

Whatever, with the only other guard here, my slave, I'll be good to kill her and finish the job.

I don't know how exactly the stone is letting her track me, so I won't be able to use it to trick her. It can't be that accurate anyway, or she would have just attacked me where I was sitting already.

The guard is taking her time coming down the hallway, reaching only a quarter of the way in now. Her eyes don't leave the door I'm sitting by. Did I sit for long enough for her to figure out the general area or just guess what I was after?

"Not going to run? Maybe you can sneak out the front door. The branches you've been attacking don't come close to the skill we all have. You should've poisoned us all if you want to get out of here with your life," she taunts, swirls of water forming in her hands. "If you don't want to run just come out already and play. I'll let this be just us two to start. But another guard will be coming this way soon. Oh, is that what you want? Have two guards here so you can die with an excuse."

With that she launches a ball of water just above my head, my hair swirling about after it passes and slams against the wall.

"Are you short or just sitting down?" another ball forming. Her left hand let another loose, this time passing on the other side of the door before slamming into the wall. "Do you want me just to flood the entire hall? It's quite a terrifying death. Gulping down the water, hoping for a bit of air."

I echo fake footsteps running down the hallway, seeing how much she trusts the stone's location.

She launches a few more bolts down the hallway, where the person would be to make the footsteps, the bolts echoing off the far wall.

"Oh, sound. Or are you just bending space so the balls go around you? I've never really seen a space mage work before. Heard they can do some strange things." The tall woman stops about fifteen feet away, putting up a wall of water in front of her. "I kind of wish you were the space mage, but I think I'm lucky if you're a different mage. That was some spell she did in the warehouse. It got the higher-ups scrambling to figure out who did that one and how we pissed you off. Not that we're looking to give you anything. I'm just hoping to kill a few of your friends. Need to even out the blood between us."

She doesn't make any more movements. Just her eyes move, scanning for any hints of the intruder.

Confident she can't tell precisely where I am, I start crawling to her, planning to get behind her wall.

To keep her distracted, I bounce sounds around the hall, mixing in some illusions of random people. Each one gets a water ball passing through and slamming into a wall, adding to the echoes. I move slowly, careful to check for any traps she may have placed around her.

Her water wall expands, covering her completely now. If she starts to act like the stupid rock girl, I'll be in trouble.

Fuck I should've moved sooner and faster.

I slam the wall with sound, hoping the vibrations will bring it down. The wall of water ripples but holds, so I send a constant stream of sound to it. The ripples grow as I continue my slow crawl. The guard changes her focus to keeping the wall up rather than finding me.

The wall's waves start to stabilize, and the constant pitch lets it stand. So, I start rotating the pitches.

I'm just a few feet from the wall when it burst. I lounge forward, pulling out my short sword and aiming the tip at her stomach.

She twists to the side, my sword skinning off the side of her armor. Simple leather with a small strength enchantment helping it out.

My sword did make a gash in it, but it'll take a few swings to make it through completely.

I don't let up on the assault, taking short swings at her to keep her moving. The sound keeps her disoriented enough I'm able to score hits. It's still only against her armor, but I'm likely bruising her as well. Adrenalin will carry her through the pain for a bit, but she'll succumb eventually.

She blasts water in every direction, not enough to do damage but it buys her some space. She puts the wall up again and starts spraying water randomly as she tries to get her bearings. I see the blood dripping out of her ears.

I do the same thing. A sound with a random pitch fills the hallway again. The wall comes down, letting my assault renew. This time, her armor gives, letting my sword through. I'm not able to get in deep yet, but blood is flowing.

Again, she blasts out the water, this time not caring for the wall. Instead, she follows up with water bolts. They aren't as powerful as the ones at the start, but she makes up for that in quantity.

I'm able to use a defensive wall this time, as they all come from one spot. Using the wall, I run at her, ready to end the fight.

A dumb rock vibrates my arm as it stretches for the final blow. The sword ended up an inch to the right of my target. I just get a lung before a new guard comes down the corridor.

That damn bitch went into labor and called her wife back. I should've given her a potion to induce labor a few days ago. I'm being too nice to a slave.

Well, the first guard is out of the fight, struggling to breathe. The newcomer is one I poisoned already. I just need to buy myself a few minutes, and she'll fall over. The problem will be mana. I'm down to just a quarter left.

"Did a number on that confident bitch. Well, unfortunate for you, I don't care about her fair fights. Can you kill two? How much mana have you used? The entire guild knows about you now, so be a good girl, and I'll let you be my dog instead of putting you in the dirt."

Despite the offer, she comes running in. The half-giant is obviously a strength mage. Her muscles rippled out under her tight clothing. My dance skills let me avoid her crushing blow and come up behind her.

The new girl plants her foot and turns faster than her mass should let her. Another punch comes my way, and I duck under, sending a slash at her calf. I hardly get a scratch against her—a true brawler. I scramble away. My poison will need to kill her; I don't have a sword that can pierce her skin before I run out of mana.

"You poisoned me, too."

"Yes, I got unlucky with the two here not being poisoned. But you just swapped in for one."

She lets out a scream and makes one last attempt, her breathing coming hard as the poison starts to work. Maybe my luck hasn't run out here.

I keep backing up, almost to the end of the hallway, before she falls over. Her breath comes in shallow, ragged breaths as her body starts to shut down.

Leaving the two dying guards alone, I jump to the door and start on the locks. I just have one left before I can open it. Then, I break the vault door down and steal everything. I'll have a few tails on the way out, but I can easily lose them in the city.

"You're a naughty girl," whispers into my ear as a fist slams into my back, flinging me across the room. My breath was forced out of me. I skid to the end of the hall, bumping up against the far wall. Gasping for breath, I move my body to its feet and look at my attacker.

A short elf, my height about, breast bigger than Nakuma's.

Sorry, Alzi. You were right.

"Look. I just want to know who attacked my friends. The branches didn't help, so I came here for it. Give it, and I'll leave."

"Sorry. My contract doesn't let me do that."

I get a wall up just as a vial of poison hits it. The splash burns my clothing and skin. Just as I feel the burn, a fist slams into my stomach, and another hits my face, launching me down a new hallway. I scramble along the ground, trying to go invisible again. My magic failing me over and over. Shit, she has an artifact stopping me.

I let out a scream with the dwindling supply of magic and run for the employee entrance.

The hallways are clear; likely, some lockdown is happening to let the old bitch play with me however she likes.

Even with Nakuma, this was a dumb idea.

A soft laugh comes into my ear before I get slammed to the side, crumpling against the wall.

"Your sounds are a bit annoying. Not very ladylike," the elf says casually, walking and standing over me. "I hope you have better sounds as the light slowly fades from your eyes. You owe me that much, at least, for taking me from my research."

She pulls out a short sword and swings it around a bit. All I can do is watch, waiting for the swing that comes for my neck.