Elydes-Chapter 304: Niel

Chapter 304 - Niel

Kai gulped.

I’ve found him…

The realization sank in like a rock, slow and bulky.

Since Niel had been abducted, the scene at the misty docks had replayed countless times in his head. If only he had reacted faster, kept an eye on their surroundings, adapted to the kidnappers' nullifying abilities.

The failure to protect his companion gnawed at him for a month. Kai reexamined the glowing world of Mana Observer—there was no mistaking it. The network of veins was a perfect match for his memories except for the murky tangle around the torso, but he felt certain that man was Niel.

Whatever twisted experiment the cultists had performed on him, he could reverse it once they got him out of there. If his Alchemy wasn’t enough, he had enough gold to buy his way to a solution.

As long as he’s alive—

“Mat?” Kea poked his back, voice laden with tense anticipation.

He realized he had gone silent without sharing the news. “He’s here.” There was no need to say more.

Kai couldn’t see her reaction through her Camouflage skill except for her fluttering aura.

“Are you… sure it’s him…?” Her voice quivered.

“I am. He’s in there.” He gestured at the figures in the chamber. Derrell’s intel and his memories both matched. More than that, he felt certain.

Is this…

He took a moment to recognize the ephemeral murmurs of Hallowed Intuition, so long they had stayed silent. The Lake of Myst dampened the skill, but this time it had been different. He had followed Caeli into a trap without receiving a whimper of warning.

Caeli knew I had a Fate-based danger skill.

Despite trying to hide the exact details, slips were inevitable over weeks.

Spirits, I feel so stupid.

Kai clenched his fists to control his boiling temper. Even at sea, the cultists who boarded the Intrepid had messed with his Intuition. With prior knowledge, they must have prepared tighter countermeasures.

When I get my hands on that traitorous—

The soft brushing of Kea’s arm on his shoulder dragged him back to the present. His sister took half a step forward before looking at him. “What’s the plan?” Urgency to act dripped from her tone—not the slightest hesitation for the danger.

Kai stifled a smile. If he were to lead, he had to be level-headed enough for both of them. “Give me a moment.”

At the end of the brightly lit corridor, past the black-painted door layered with wards and a polished handle, seven auras shone inside. Ideally, they would have rescued Niel when he was alone, but the world rarely cared for his preferences. Each second, the chances someone would find the guards they killed increased.

Keeping his touch light, Kai sifted the mad cultists from the victims who sported inky blotches of twisted mana. “There are four of them inside. All fully at Yellow,” he said dryly.

This many foes would have been a challenge in the best of conditions. Now, his mind and body were still reeling from the imprisonment, yet there was no time to rest.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

There wasn’t room for error if he wanted to walk away alive. Five minutes had already passed since leaving the others, which left just ten to get back in the agreed timeline. Even taking into account that Flynn would delay departure, he had little time to ponder.

Go keep an eye on them, Hobbes. I’m counting on you to get them out. I can handle it here.

Kai scoured the depths of his ego to radiate self-confidence through the bond. Despite Hobbes’ apprehension, his sense of duty toward Kai’s companions—or at least Flynn—won out. The furball commanded him to avoid silly human whims before his presence skipped away through the tunnels.

Thanks, buddy. You take care too.

If the rescue went awry, the familiar bond was the quickest way to tell Flynn to run.

Whatever happens here, they can make it out.

Relieved of one weight, he turned back to the black door. “We’ll have to fight head-on. Are you sure you want to—” Kai scratched his neck, hesitating.

Kea lowered her Camouflage and glared at him for an answer.

I expected that.

“I had to ask.” He raised his palms to placate her. “I know you’re determined, but bridging the gap between grades isn’t a matter of willpower.”

“I’m willing to take the chance for Niel.” Kea bit her lip, expression souring. “He would do the same for me. He did when he stayed in Limgrell to save a traitor. We’d all be safe if I—”

Kai squeezed her shoulder. “We’re all good at acting in hindsight. Let’s get Niel out of there before arguing who’s to blame.”

“But—” Kea scrunched her face and breathed out through her nose. “Okay… do you have a plan?”

“Obviously, I’m going to knock and ask them to let me in.”

His sister stared at him for a long while before realizing he wasn’t joking. “That’s your plan…?”

He grinned. “They’ll never expect it.”

“Yes. Because it’s stupid.”

“Well…” Pressed for time, Kai quickly shared the rest of his idea. “Knocking is just the first part…”

Once he finished explaining, Kea shook her head and checked the daggers he lent her. “It’s a gamble, but it’s better than any idea I got. Can’t I be the one to knock?”

Did she admit I’m better at something…?

“You must trust me to do my part,” Kai said, his voice colder than he intended. “No matter what happens, you stick to the plan. I can’t worry you’ll do with your head once we start.”

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“I understand. And I’m glad you’re here…” Kea looked away, begrudging but determined. “Anyway, this is not my first time fighting people on the mainland.”

Uh…? We’ll talk about that later…

“I’ll trust you with my back.” Kai gave a slight nod before stepping into the lit corridor. His boots sounded uncomfortably loud on the flattened rock. He felt exposed but suppressed the instinct to watch his back and continued onward to the door.

They couldn’t beat four cultists in a fair fight, so they had to get creative. The chamber had a single entrance engraved with inky runes—the tightest protection Kai had encountered here. A week might not be enough to crack it, let alone minutes.

He considered blasting an opening with Earth Magic, but it would reveal his presence without any assurance of success. The cultists inside might not carry beads to raise the alarm like the guards, but the less time he gave them to plot, the better.

Knock. Knock.

Kai rimmed his knuckles on the painted wood, his knocks echoed in the eerie silence. No one would suspect an intruder to announce themselves deep into their secret lair, right?

Let me be lucky for once.

If the cultists checked who was at the door or asked for a passcode, his chances of success would plummet to the depths of the sea.

His heart pounded in his ears, sweat drenched his back. Kai gripped the hilt of his scavenged saber. The balance felt awkward in his hand, but it was pointy enough to make do.

C’mon—

“I told you I didn’t want interruptions!” an irritated man growled. As if a sound ward had suddenly been deactivated, more voices and muffled screams appeared in the background.

Kai intently stared at the door handle, willing it to turn—but Fate was in the habit of disappointing

“What is it then?” The man barked over the noise. “I’m busy here. We’re finally making some progress.”

Fuck.

The cultist clearly expected an answer. Kai ran through his memories, looking for anything that would make the man open the door. Each second he delayed would rouse their suspicion.

“The preator wants to see you.” He imitated the slurred accent of the cultists—hopefully, it sounded believable through the door.

“When has she returned—” The noise inside the chamber abruptly cut off. Kai counted up to ten without receiving an answer. Hallowed Intuition maintained its unnerving silence no matter how hard he probed.

Had he botched the only chance they had?

He raised a hand to gesture Kea to run when a set of heavy steps thumped beyond the door.

“I’m coming.” The cultist sounded stiff, grumbling under his breath. “How does she expect me to make any progress if—.”

The iron handle turned, and the door began swinging inward. Kai lunged toward the gap, channeling Shadow and Earth through Elemental Swordsman to give his blade more power. The stream of mana stuttered upon touching the saber before bending to his will.

It still has an edge and a pointy end. Stop being picky.

The blade turned translucent and heavy as Body Augmentation burst through his body to fuel his acceleration. The soft resistance of flesh being pierced and the crack of bones confirmed the strike hit the target before he could see him.

His charge threw open the door the rest of the way. Kai met the gaze of the stunned cultist as they stumbled inside. For a man who played with human lives, he looked disappointingly ordinary; his chestnut hair and scruffy beard wouldn’t turn an eye in a crowd.

Kai twisted the saber below the sternum to pierce his heart. Despite the unfamiliar weapon, the dimming light in the foe’s eyes told him he hadn’t missed.

“Urgh…” Falling on his back, the man coughed blood before his body turned limp. A human with a mid-yellow profession died just like that.

One down. Three to go.

There was no time to celebrate. Standing over the corpse, Kai pressed his boot down to jerk the blade free from the rib cage where it had snagged and surveyed the vast chamber.

His first breath nearly made him retch from the overpowering stench of blood. He suppressed his instinct to gag. Contrary to his expectations of a shadowy lab, the crystals in the ceiling lit the heart of the round room to near daylight.

A runic circle covered over half the pale flooring; chains of jagged runes made by thousands of tiny black symbols twisted in an intricate pattern. Kai abandoned any attempt at deciphering them and moved his attention to the three humans standing over it.

The cultists—two men and one woman—huddled over what looked like a union between an altar and a torture chair. Chained on top was a fourth figure—Niel.

Kai did a double take, failing to reconcile the smiling man from his memories with what was before him. Blood crusted over Niel’s face and roughly shaved skull; torn clothes hung from his legs like rags, leaving his upper body bare to show black lines carved into his flesh.

What have they done to him…

He wouldn't have recognized his friend if his aura hadn’t matched what he saw from outside.

He knew he had to keep his momentum going, strike the cultists before they gathered their wits, yet Kai faltered for an instant. It was one thing hearing about the inhuman experiments, another was seeing the results.

The woman with purple hair and red lips recovered first. She wielded a sharp steel stylus dripping blood and ink, retreating to a table with an equally gruesome collection of instruments. “How did you—”

Her voice broke Kai from his lull. Like a rubber band being released, he stomped the ground to fling himself toward the closest cultist—a thin man with oily hair and half his scalp covered by melted flesh on the right of the altar.

He cast three icicles mixed in a rain of ice needles as a distraction and readied to swing. A dozen meters separated him from the center of the runic circle, where the trio congregated, he had closed half the distance when the man lifted his eyes off his dead companion and scrambled back.

A wall of Darkness swallowed the ice spells and cut his path. Kai growled at the last cultist who had cast the spell from the left of the altar.

The balding man watched with a cold sneer. Wisps of black smoke revolved around his body, making his eyes look black. “You vermin! What do you think you’re—“

Kai ignored whatever banal insult the cultist was about to utter and redoubled his charge. Essence flooded his limbs with exhilarating strength. He coated his body with ice and plunged headfirst into the Darkness.

He had to keep the initiative before they leveraged their numbers or called reinforcements.

Robbed of his sight, the foreign essence ate at his spell like a hungry beast. In his mana sight, the Darkness filled only a meter, though once he was inside, it felt like crossing ten times the distance. Ignoring his distorted senses, he exited on the other side.

“What—” The thin cultist with half his scalp melted fell on his ass, looking up, terrified.

Thanks for covering my attack, genius.

Standing over him, Kai swung his saber, heavy with Earth mana. A few palms separated him from splitting the man’s skull when Hallowed Intuition screamed at him to move. There was no time to question it. Muscles tearing, Kai twisted his legs to turn his momentum sideways.

Black flames engulfed the space on his right, hissing against the ice shield he had hurriedly erected while his left shoulder crashed against the altar.

“Get a grip, Kerril!” Standing behind a table, the woman snorted in disdain. “I don’t know from which ditch this urchin crawled out, but he looks like a prime candidate for the infusion ritual.” She licked her painted lips, looking at him with a cruel grin. “I’ll enjoy making you scream for killing Zert.”

“Hey! You almost hit me!” Kerril screeched, patting a burnt sleeve and scrambling to his feet. “I’ll remember that.”

Shit.

Kai bit the inside of his cheek, filling his mouth with a metallic taste. This was exactly what he had hoped to avoid. He’d get butchered in a battle of attrition.

I have to buy more time…

A rattled breath made him turn to the unconscious figure on the altar. Flesh and ink mingled on Niel’s chest, appearing even more gruesome up close.

Kai forced his gaze away—he couldn’t risk exposing their connection or getting distracted. Rage washed over his thoughts, though instead of scalding heat, it was cold. It carried a simple certainty: these bastards needed to die.

A wave of smoky Darkness forced him backward. He cast a hail of ice at the middle-aged cultist as a stream of inky water whipped toward his head. He raised his saber to parry. The impact reverberated up his arm, making his muscles scream in pain and the blade wobble.

“You’ll pay for your arrogance.” The thin man bared his teeth from the edge of the chamber. “I’ll skin your pretty face till you pray your pathetic gods for death.”

Guess that's a little more creative, at least.

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Kai dodged back as the cultists coordinated their attacks on him. He was glad they had no melee profession among their ranks, though facing three casters presented a different set of challenges.

Spells rained on him without a break. Black flames crackled and singed his closed, murky streams of water aimed to slice his limbs, and Darkness devoured any spell he threw. It was a losing battle, ceding ground to retreat toward the door.

“Don’t let him escape!” The woman threw flames from both hands to cut his retreat. “I want to capture him al—”

Her words ended in a gurgle, a bloody line drawn across her throat from ear to ear.

Kea stood behind her with a dagger, her figure Camouflaged back with the stone and messy shelves in the background.

The cultist burst into black flames in a fruitless attack. She collapsed on the ground, holding her throat in a vain attempt to staunch the profuse bleeding.

I’m not the one who should worry about running.