As an Adept himself, Boss Hyde had a good understanding of his colleagues, so the silence that met his "righteous" introduction didn't phase him in the slightest.
None of them were here out of some sense of responsibility or empathy towards the plights of their counterparts in this plane. It was business. They fought for the clan, and got rewards in exchange. Simple.
They would not die for it. Risking their lives however, was on the table, so far as the compensation matched the level of danger they'd be putting themselves in. And going after a Radiant knight, even with their numbers and combined efforts, was dancing on the edge of a really sharp knife.
"A target has already been chosen, and I'll be going after him. If you wish to join me, then stay and we'll discuss the plan. If not, you are free to leave. Just know that our success will ensure that each gets what we want the most."
'Good. Now you're talking…' resounded in the heads of most of the invitees. Such arrangements suited their sensibilities more, not appeals to their sense of duty or some other nonsense.
Hyde's organic and mechanical eye trailed over the faces of everyone, lingering for less than a moment on each in his observance of their reactions. He didn't show it, but he felt relieved when no one left.
He had selected everyone present after observing their performances in the recent battles. Each had powerful and unique techniques and abilities that would be integral in tipping the scales in their favor when the time came.
Hence, any one of them backing out would have left holes in his plan, holes he would have to fill with the rest of the unimpressive, substitute Adepts. "I'll take everyone's continued presence here as an agreement," he said and looked around, finding nothing contrary.
"Okay then. Let's start with what everyone wants."
What followed was a series of private conversations with Hyde, no Adept willing or stupid enough to air out sensitive information that could come back to bite them in the future.
In order of arrival, the invitees moved further away with Hyde and engaged in spiritual whisper with him. The first two, Marionette and Phantom, took about three minutes each to finish their deals.
In the seventh minute, Greem strode forward and accepted the "call" Hyde made to him with his own Spirit, the tendrils of invisible energy joining together and establishing a secure channel between them. The mechanical adept's slightly robotic voice echoed in Greem's mind.
"Greetings Adept Greem. Time is of the essence so I'll make this quick. What do you want in exchange for helping me in this hunt?"
Greem stated his desire without missing a beat.
"I want all the information the clan has obtained on the knights' power system. Specifically, the part about merging life force and runic energy."
Hyde, seemingly stunned, paused for a bit before responding. "This… this request is a little troublesome. What you're asking for is most likely safeguarded by the higher ups of the knights. Even if our hunt is successful it'll be difficult to get complete information from the radiant knight's body, much less reverse engineering the process from it."
"Sir Fügen captured the one he fought, right? Surely, he must've scanned and excavated the secrets from his mind."
The bright red of Hyde's machine eye seemed to glow brighter as he regarded Greem with more seriousness. The latter didn't wait for a response and added, "If obtaining that information isn't possible. I want to know where on the continent it is being stored so I can go get it myself."
"It looks like the rumors about you aren't unfounded. Lord Sarubo has classified the runic knowledge as a Class Three resource, so it can't be handed directly to you. As for where you can obtain it, the best I can do is give you a list of names."
His opinion of the clan already low to begin with, Greem didn't let himself get disappointed and rather reminded himself that chasing down the names would lead him to the other things he wanted. Fuck the clan.
"The names are enough. I'll help you in the fight."
Right the next moment, a magical contract appeared in his mind, and he read from top to bottom multiple times while poking and prodding for any loopholes or traps. He found none and promptly signed it, his signature emblem seared into the ethereal sheet.
More of such discussions followed, Mary and the remaining Adepts coming to their own agreements with the mechanical Adept. In a little more than twenty minutes, the private conversations came to a close and it was time for introductions.
As the one who set this all up, Hyde naturally went first.
"I'm a mechanical adept who prefers close combat. For magic, I have Energy Lightsaber and Awl of Slaughter."
Thunderbird went next.
"Lightning elementium adept here. I can use the spells Lightning Storm, Lightning Blast, and Lightning Teleportation."
Marionette's woody, choppy voice followed.
"Marion…ette, plant modi…fied bloodline…adept. Spells… Pupp…et…Strings and Sub…stitute of Wood."
"I'm Phantom, an elementium illusion adept. The spells I use are Realm of Dreams and DreamDeparture."
Greem still hadn't picked a title for himself, and he wasn't going to use the one the knights had for him either.
"I'm a body refiner so… close combat. I don't use spells but my spear can grow and shorten and I use fire to sharpen its edge."
Mary's lip twitched as she fought the smile that tried to take over her lips. What the hell was that description?
"Bloody Mary. Vampire bloodline adept who uses blood magic. I can transform into a bat and suck blood to regenerate."
Last to go was the shadow guy in a black cloak.
"Demon Shadows, elementium adept, specializing in curses and Shadow Teleportation."
His introduction matched everyone's in sparseness, none of them eager for even temporary allies to know the full extent of their powers. That mattered little to Hyde though since he didn't choose them by chance.
He definitely didn't know all, but he knew enough to see this group succeeding with the plan he'd formulated.
And they all knew this, that's why they kept silent and listened attentively when he outlined his plan of attack.
☀☀☀
The retreating force had been whittled down almost completely, their thousand strong numbers reduced to a mere eleven; seven Radiant knights and four Spellbreakers.
In their bid to prevent the enemy from escaping the encirclement, the Adepts had sent forth every available voodoo beast, succeeding in reducing the witcher knights in the retreating group to zero.
All of them were gone, most having fallen to the endless waves of attacks and others reduced to the undead states facilitated by the Adepts' bioweapon. A few however broke from the group and escaped into the forest, as though distancing themselves would spare them from their horrible fates.
It didn't. The primer for the bioweapon had been released into the camp, and every knight present had been in contact with it, not just the wounded ones.
The only reason they hadn't scratched their skin off and undergone that horrifying transformation was the fact that they still had strength unlike their injured brothers. Their bodies were actively fighting off the infection.
Still though, its effects were clearly experienced by them. As a pathogen designed specifically to take them down, the bioweapon interfered with the knights' ability to use runic energy.
Anytime one of them, and this included even the Spellbreaker and Radiant knights, tried to use the runic energy stored in their bodies, their control of it would be botched and it'd turn on them, assaulting their insides and leading to many instances of them falling down dead with blood leaking from their ears, eyes, nose and mouth.
Many of the surviving witcher knights died this way while the Spellbreakers ended up with severe injuries that did not kill them, but slowed and weakened them enough that they could no longer fight.
Naturally, with their physiques that were an order higher than their juniors, all Radiant knights suffered not so severe consequences for tapping into and using their runic energy.
They were able to withstand the blowbacks and mow down every approaching voodoo beast until none of them surged forth from the forest's depths. They had killed them all.
Now, they were trudging along, supporting the Spellbreakers who had all lost the ability to walk or stand upright on their own and hoping that the Adepts had nothing else in store.
These knights never learned didn't they?
Thunder boomed above the fleeing men as thick lines of bright blue lightning zipped about the sky and increased in number with every erratic and zigzaggy path the present bolts took.
More than a half a kilometer away from the agitated and frustrated knights, Greem stood, not beside, but close enough for it to be known they were allies by Thunderbird as the latter readied his Lightning Storm spell.
The two of them had been assigned the role of luring in the target, and this was the method they'd come up with. With every witcher knight dead or in the process of getting there, the Radiant knights had to be determined to not let any more juniors die.
What better way was there to draw their attention than attacking said juniors?
And so Thunderbolt chanted his spell, while Greem fished out his bow and activated the rocket pack, sending himself straight up so he could aim better.
Even with the distance between them, he could tell the knights were prepping to deal with Thunderbolt's attack. They were probably gonna ignore the blowbacks and fire runic energy slashes into the dense congregation of lightning elementium to disrupt it.
That couldn't happen. So he held the bow string, an improved explosive arrow appearing at his fingertips as he pulled it back and made quick but slight adjustments to his aim.
One of the knights raised his sword with a difficult expression as light engulfed the blade, only to notice something suddenly and slash in another direction, the crescent shaped projectile not making it very far before colliding with something.
The clash produced a loud and bright explosion, the wave of fire, heat, and light that ensued close and powerful enough to blow their hair back, singe their eyebrows, and evaporate the sweat staining their brows.
Even before these effects faded, the knight stepped forward and waved his sword again, another light crescent hitting Greem's second arrow and reproducing the earlier scene and producing the same effects.
Immense rage took over the knight's features as he fired slash after slash, multiple booms filling the area and distracting them from the roiling thunder above.
Said thunder reached its peak with regards to quantity and started to drop like a vengeance, thick lines of blue electricity spearing the ground and the vicinity of the fleeing knights.
The ground cratered, blackened, and melted at various spots, while trees broke apart and their remains caught fire. Amidst this chaos, the knights went unharmed, the runic forcefields of the Radiants more than enough to protect them and the weakened Spellbreakers from the hail of lightning bolts.
This left just the one to fend off Greem's endless barrage. Some of the others moved to help him, but he shouted at them to stop. "Go! Charles. Take them and go! I'll go and deal with these two."
Meusel, the ever diligent and noble one, didn't wait for a response and cut down another arrow, running in the direction of Greem and Thunderbird while cutting down more of them.
Their intentions were clear as day, and everyone of the knights could see that. Yet, they had no choice but to make proper use of Meusel's sacrifice and ensure that it wasn't in vain. They fled from the range of the lightning storm, going the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, Greem and Thunderbird ceased their actions and started a sort of coaxing retreat when they saw Meusel's charge toward them. Their goal had been accomplished. Now they just had to reach the ambush site.
With his wings and Thunderbird's versatile Lightning Jump, the two had no problem playing cat and mouse with the Second Grade knight until he arrived at his proposed graveyard.
When he strode out of the forest and saw that the two that lured him here were no longer moving, just staring at him, Meusel's heart sank as his anger faded and rationality returned to him.
He quickly brushed it aside and straightened himself, standing to his full height and flooding his entire being with runic energy. He might die here today, but no matter what, he was going to keep his promise and definitely kill as many Adepts as he could.
Even if he had to drag them down with him.
"Where are friends!" he shouted, "Call them out!"
****
Author's note:
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