Broker

Chapter 196

The wind whipped past Handmaiden as she stared down into the vacant eyes of the creature that most certainly had to be the boss of the dungeon break. Her gown whipped around her, the rustling of fabric the only sound amidst the eerie silence of the epicenter. She flexed the fingers in her gauntlet-clad hands and glanced up at the sky when the boss didn’t move. Guarding the portal, no doubt, she thought as multicolored lightning flashed soundlessly in dark clouds. She reached up to tap her earpiece twice. “Select contact: Sapporo.”

There was a moment's pause as the signal clicked over and a chime rang out.

<“This is Sapporo, who is this? How do you have this channel?”>

“Handmaiden, what is your status?” she asked.

<”Understood. I am almost recovered. What is the situation?”>

She set her jaw and took a deep breath. Describing the situation in any sufficient way was hopeless. Grief was hard to come by. Not out of heartlessness, but from the sheer volume of tragedy that had visited this place. The amount of death was staggering. To walk through a place like this even once would touch a person for the rest of their life. She looked down at her armored fingers as she mulled over how to respond. And yet you saw so many more. She clenched her fist and let out a weary sigh.

“Unspeakable,” she said, “I have some bad news to put on top of it all, though. I’m sorry,” she said, “I figure you’d rather hear it from me than someone else.”

“Say it,” he said after a chilly pause.

“The anchor monster has Takehara’s face,” she said.

Another pause, one that made her heart ache a little. She closed her eyes as he finally spoke again, “I see. Thank you for telling me. Will you do me a favor, Miss Handmaiden?”

“Anything,” she said.

“I must protect the people, get them away from the affected area. It will take time for me to build up strength to participate,” he rumbled, his words hollow, “Don’t wait for me. End his suffering, please.”

“I will.”

–

“Snow!” Crusader shouted, throwing herself forwards across the fissure in the street ahead of her. Static filled the air that consolidated into a platform of light. Crusader landed on it and hopped forward, pushing herself towards the other side and landing. She spun as she slid to a stop, planting her feet and gripping her weapon with both hands. A dome of golden flame burst from her body, more controlled than before, more refined. She was starting to get the hang of it.

She took a step back as the first of the yamukade-what Snow had started calling the undead centipede centaurs-leaped over the other side in a desperate scramble to get to her. She took deep breath in, gold flames rushing up her nostrils. Her veins glowed bright as the creature began to burn the moment it entered her space. Its skin sloughed off, its wild eyes popping as it reached for it in maddened pain. She swung and relieved it of its head as two more came. One step to the right, downward slash. One step forward, uppercut.

Square step. Minimize movement. Let them wash towards me. My very presence is pain for them but they come anyway. Let it happen.

A step to the left, another swing, back to the beginning. Momentum built. Power cycling in her core, her internal energy rising higher and higher. Far ahead of her, along the path she had come, the creatures hurtled into the air with their bodies smashed or crushed. A mountainous figure charged through them with her hammer swinging in wide strokes. Any time one of the creatures managed to pivot to lunge a black streak embedded itself in its head, putting it down. 

Two more tried to throw themselves over the fissure only for a pair of enormous arms coated in black scales to snap out from far below and drag them down with a terrible fleshy crunch. The third fell victim to yet another swing of her sword as the bulk of the horde finally arrived, pushed along by Harbinger and Bandit.

“Let’s try it Snow! Picking up the pace!” she called.

“Hell yes!” Snow shouted back with delight.

Crusader exhaled a small tuft of golden flame as the words crossed her lips. Light flickered around her body along with the sound of static. The next moment she stepped back and left an afterimage of herself behind, her eyes fixed on the sea of targets before her. Some being pulled down into the fissure below but not all. “First March of the Crusader,” she said with an eerie calm and swung. Flames rushed out from her blade in a wave, cutting two of them in two. A step to the right, another afterimage, another swing. Hallucinations of her appeared with each step she took, each moving in different steady directions. The reach and arcs of her attacks making the source even more confusing.

The yamukade spread out rather than focus on where she was really standing. Igniting as they landed all around her. It was her personal killing field. They could enter, wash past her, but they could not get away. Nothing could.

–

Crusader wiped her lip as she surveyed the latest hunt before turning to look at the others. BLF was about as tall as Harbinger now, his body bulked out with all the additional mass he’d consumed. She imagined that the boy he’d been when she’d met him would have been grinning right about now. Instead he was standing dead center of where they were resting, his head on a swivel, his tongue flicking out constantly as his eyes scanned every shadow. Harbinger sat on the ground, her horns covered in blood and her perfect blonde hair a disturbing pink. Her blue eyes glowed as she flicked a glance towards Crusader and nodded grimly. Crusader returned the nod.

We aren’t going to be the same after this, she thought hollowly before turning to Snow who was sitting atop a vending machine with her eyes unfocused. Her fingers twitching. Those pearlescent eyes flicked towards her for a moment and softened with a bit of reassuring warmth before going right back to work. Thank goodness you’re here, you’ve got spine for all of us.

Crusader let out a breath and glanced up to the sky, whistling once. A cry rang out and Alphonse swept down to her arm. “Anything?” she asked.

Alphonse spread his wings and then looked her dead in the eyes. Instinct took over. She let it happen. No resistance. That feeling she got when she first met him. That mutual understanding. “Not Rivet, but someone like him?” she asked.

Bandit stepped out of a shadow nearby, “Where?” he asked with a frown.

She returned her attention to Alphonse and he whipped his head towards the path they were already heading down before tilting it to the east. “East,” she said, “Not far ahead though. Waiting for someone to come their way.”

“Definitely stalling for time like you said,” Bandit growled, “Harbinger confirmed they’re actually Liberty’s people?”

Crusader nodded and glanced up to meet Harbinger’s gaze. Her comrade got to her feet and started lumbering over, “Yeah. They’re claiming to be Ishtar’s people. I think…” she swallowed, “I think Tokyo got caught up in their war.”

“Ishtar wants order,” Harbinger growled as she approached, Crusader looked her over. Her wounds were healing faster than ever. Growth in her ability? This whole thing was like a crucible for them. “She’s made that clear in many of her addresses. She doesn’t want dungeon breaks.”

Bandit spat on the ground, “What was it she said? ‘I can’t rule a dead world?’ or something to that effect?” he turned to Harbinger, “What do you think? Is this a strategy to discredit her platform in the eyes of the other villains?”

Static filled the air, “We’re still missing something from all this. My gut tells me we’re only seeing a small part of the picture,” Snow said. 

BOOOOOM!

The ground shook as a flash of white light erupted to the south, in the direction of the epicenter. Crusader stumbled and spun towards the source with the others. BLF landed next to her, likely having leaped over to join them. He crossed his arms, “What the hell was that? The boss?”

Bandit shook his head as a feeling washed over Crusader. It felt… righteous. Protective. A stalwart presence. Illuminating. He smiled nostalgically as she and the others looked at him; “That’s Handmaiden putting her back into it.”

Crusader let out a sigh of relief, “That means things will come to a close soon, right? A rare boss doesn’t stand a chance.”

Bandit frowned, “With how unusual this situation is, I wouldn’t be so sure. I’m sure you all have also noticed that we haven’t seen any backup either.”

Crusader turned to look at him, a bad feeling warring in her gut, “I noticed but-”

He sighed, “Tokyo manages six dungeons. This one wasn’t one of them. Could you imagine if another one of them burst from the mana release? Now, Handmaiden is fighting and Sapporo is probably going to try to join at some point,” he said as more pops and flashes of white light erupted from that distant place, the sound of thunder clapping followed them. “They’ll have to work extra hard to keep those dungeons stable. I think we’re on our own until the boss is done. At least on this side of Kato Ward.”

Crusader watched as worry crossed BLFs face, “But we can only cover so much area!”

She nodded her agreement, “There’s no way we caught every monster on the way.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, heroes!”

Crusader felt a chill run up her spine as she whirled towards the new voice. She looked up to the roof of a building only a few hundred feet away. I didn’t sense them! Alphonse let out a screech of warning when two figures came into view on top of the building. One was a bulky man with a smiling, almost wholesome face. He wore a white jumpsuit armored with plates. His hair was black and combed over neatly. The other was a thin looking woman with a grave look on her face. She wore matching armor. She was twirling something between her fingers in both hands that Crusader could only make out when she paused.

Crusader’s heart stopped.

Human bones.

Crusader steadied herself stood with her sword at the ready, her eyes fixed on the two villains standing atop the building. She shot a glance towards BLF who had moved himself into a position to her left. Static filled her ears along with a quick affirmation that Bandit and Snow had already begun moving to new vantage points, leaving illusions of themselves behind in their wake. Harbinger stepped past her, the titan of a woman standing tall despite her bloody and world-weary state.

“Pence and Song,” she growled.

The big man of the two turned his smiling face towards Harbinger and his eyes brightened. “Oho! Young miss! Rivet said you were here! To think you and your group did such a number on him,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Quit pretending to be something that you aren’t, Pence,” Harbinger snapped. Crusader watched her friends back tense, her hands tightening around her hammer as she pulled it closer to her chest.

Pence put his hands on his hips, “Wooow! You’ve really grown a spine since the last time I saw you sniveling at your sister’s feet!” he laughed and rubbed his nose, “It’s Sojurn by the way, and this is Dirge,” he said, gesturing to the grave looking woman sitting on the roof next to him.

Sojourn and Dirge. Probably can get some hints from their codenames. Crusader thought as she took a half step to the right, her eyes fixed on the pair. She shot a look towards Harbinger. She wasn’t sure if her friend was just angry or trying to dig for information. Either way, the longer this conversation went the better. She glanced at Alphonse who tensed on her shoulder, ready to take action as soon as he was needed.

Harbinger took a hostile step forward, “What is she really planning, Pence?” she put a hard snap on the last word, drawing an odd reaction from the black-haired man. He smiled even wider.

“I’m going to enjoy breaking you, but not until we punish the rest of your group for what you did to Rivet,” he declared, “The Doctor isn’t happy about having to fix him up.”

Crusader watched Harbinger’s entire body go still. Her ally’s hammer nearly dropped out of her hands, “The Doctor is here?” Crusader squinted at her friend. Was that… relief?

“Yeah, she’s here,” Sojourn said, delighted by her reaction, “With the anchor monster. I wonder how your mythic friend is going to do?”

Crusader took a step forward, “I think you’re underestimating Handmaiden,” she shouted and took up a stance next to Harbinger, she shot her friend a look as well as a comforting note of warmth through her ability, “As well as the rest of us. Now who is this doctor and what did you mean earlier about us not having to worry about the monsters?”@@novelbin@@

Harbinger straightened up a bit, meeting Crusader’s gaze and smiled a little. “They’re both the same answer. The Doctor’s ability lets her control and manipulate monsters. She’s been sending them our way,” Harbinger said before flicking her eyes back towards the pair standing before them. “They’ve been trying to wear us down for this fight by throwing all the monsters at us in waves. Which means not many of them have gone out into the rest of the city.”

“You make it sound like we’re worried about fighting you,” Sojourn laughed.

Harbinger drew her hammer up and slammed the pole into the ground, adjusting her gauntlets. She popped her neck and grinned up at Sojourn, “Are you? Have you been watching?” She asked before patting Crusader on the shoulder. “I think you’ll find we’re fresher than you expected,” her expression went hard, “And better equipped.”

Crusader searched her friend's face for a moment before it dawned on her. They were just blindly throwing the monsters at their group. Rivet had seen a bit of their abilities, but didn’t know the full restorative nature of Crusader’s power or the fact that Bandit had joined up with them. She shot a glance towards BLF. They didn’t know about BLF’s ability growing more functional and powerful as he gained mass. They were operating under the understanding that their team was a bunch of freshly minted heroes. Worse. They were far less bloodthirsty than Rivet. They wanted to talk.

Sojourn seemed to pause as his face panned to take their group in again. Behind him, a dark shape began to billow out from within the shadow of a large air-conditioning unit. Crusader got into her stance, weapon up and at the ready. BLF shifted a bit further to the left while staying within the range of her golden ring. Harbinger took a few heavy steps to the right, her eyes fixed on Sojourn. His attention had panned to the two very still illusions standing behind Crusader and her group. She saw his eyes go wide.

“Dirge!” he shouted and threw himself off the side of the building just as Inky took form behind them with his hammer raised. The cartoonish familiar brought the hammer down with a lunatic cackle, striking the empty spot where both Dirge and Sojourn had been. Arrows came next, a stream of black needles that pelted the duo as they headed towards the ground. Dirge opened her mouth and held out her hands, the bones in her grip multiplying as a hollow groaning chord rang out from her chest. A sphere of yellow-white bone wrapped around the two, blocking the arrows just in time for them to hit the ground.

“GO!” Crusader shouted and charged forward, the ground at their feet turning into a sea of crystalline spikes. She walked right through it, unimpeded as Harbinger shot past her. Crusader opened up her ring of gold and a wave of fire and warmth washed over her companions before buffeting the bone that stood between them and their targets. Harbinger was at the sphere in an instant, her hammer coming down with titanic force. She cracked the bone shell like an egg, fragments scattering and burning up in the air as a blade of bone shot up to catch her in the jaw. Sojurn’s mass darted out of the shell and charged straight towards Crusader. Every step caused him to accelerate as his armored body turned into a bullet. 

“DIE!”