Chapter 912: About Damn Time |
Vivian pressed her lips thin and fought back an irritated curse.
She’d been trying to figure out what the best way to root Spider out from the other competitors without having to watch every single match was. There was no doubt that Rake wouldn’t sit around and wait to run into the man naturally. She had to beat him there.
But her best ideas hadn’t been all that good. Vivian had — unfortunately — managed to make her own tournament so secure that she herself couldn’t easily track down a random competitor within it. She’d quite literally outdone herself.
Damn it. I should have been more greedy. Why didn’t I consider the fact that I might have actually wanted to recruit something from this whole event? Hells, I don’t even want to recruit Spider. I just want to keep him away from the other Faction Heads.
Vivian pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.
It was fine. She did have the faintest hint of his signature from back when they’d spoken at the masquerade. It would be tedious, but she could still scan through the arenas for that. It was certainly more than Rake had. Definitely more effective than waiting for the fights to end.
But she had no time to waste. She had to start immediately. Even she wouldn’t know if Spider happened to be called up to the fights while she was looking around within the waiting rooms. Of course, her people would inform her immediately, but Rake would be waiting as well.
This wasn’t something she could afford a 50/50 result for.
Vivian started forward.
The Beyond.
Someone had pulled on it again. No less than the faintest tug, but even a memory of the Beyond was enough for her senses to catch. And they were inside one of the arenas.
Vivian’s lips thinned into a flat line. Og was trying something again. The arrogant bastard had already gotten cooked by Spider once, but he wasn’t done. Maybe he thought this was a game… or he might have just seen her as too weak to interfere directly.
In a sense, he was right.
But not the one he was likely hoping.
Vivian sent out a cold sliver of her intent.
And in an instant, a bandaged man appeared before her, a massive hunk of metal bearing only the faintest of resemblances to a sword, stood before her. He stood perfectly still. It was as if he’d always been there.
“Find Og,” Vivian growled. “The demon that disrupted my party. Find him and kill him.”
“As you command,” the Executioner replied.
And then he was gone as silently as he had come.
Vivian’s lip curled. The Beyond would be of little use against the Executioner. If Og had thought the events of the tournament would have her too occupied to send out her Hand, or if he felt that she had better things to be doing than sending her most dangerous warrior out on a whim… then he was sorely mistaken.
She was a hell of a lot more petty than Og believed her to be.
***
Noah found himself standing in a hallway that he hadn’t even been certain existed just a moment ago.
Plain stone stretched in either direction, an ever so slight curve denoting that he was still, in fact, somewhere inside the massive circular arena. There were no doors or windows anywhere within the hall. The only light came from dim glowing runes imbued into the walls every ten or so feet apart.
There was no wind at all. The air was damp and stagnant, and dust prickled at his nostrils from the small amount of it he’d kicked up with his arrival. It didn’t look like anyone had been here for quite some time.
Noah stood still for a moment. He could still feel the Line lurking in the corners of his mind, see it dancing in ribbons of gold before his vision. It was a very good thing that there had been something right outside their room. He didn’t know what would have happened if the Line deposited him in the middle of solid rock. For that matter, Noah wasn’t sure if it was possible. He didn’t want to find out.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I though there would be service tunnels or something connecting the arena, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. There aren’t even any entrances on this side of the hall. It’s just… stone. A hell of a lot of it. Are these just leftover from when the arena was built? Or is it for something else? Maybe to ferry things around without having to weave through the crowds half-blind since nobody’s damn domain works properly in this city?
Either way, it would definitely be best to avoid running into anyone while he was down here. The chances for that didn’t seem to be too high given how desolate his surroundings were. But just in case anyone did come, Noah didn’t get the idea that his presence would be welcome.
He tilted his head to the side, trying to listen for any sign of Grim again. But his senses picked up nothing the emptiness stretching out on either side. Aqua Terra had dulled his magic once more. His domain may as well have not existed at all.
Noah’s lips thinned.
Last time, there was a crack.
Was that the Beyond?
He pressed a hand against the wall — taking care not to touch any of the imbued sections, and focused. His jaw clenched slightly as his mind delved deeper within itself. Noah reached for his soul. The white light had certainly been the right color.
And if the Beyond had been what had briefly let him slip past Aqua Terra’s restrictions on his domain, then it would be easy enough to test. He just didn’t want to use too much. He wasn’t trying to accidentally unmake any of the magic making up the corridor around him and bring every single one of the Church of Repose’s enforcers down on his head.
This required restraint. He just needed a tiny little droplet of the Beyond. Just enough to slice a tiny hole in the miasma that was preventing his domain from working. That wasn’t actually all that difficult. The Beyond was so engrained into his soul that it only took a small tug.
But then he was left just… holding it.
What, do I just push it into the atmosphere?
It probably couldn’t hurt to try. Noah directed the power outward, making sure to only allow the smallest possible amount free. He wasn’t trying to bring Aqua Terra’s entire anti-domain system down. That probably wasn’t even possible. But still, discretion was the key here.
I can always use a tad more magic if it doesn’t—
What felt like a wave of freezing cold water crashed over Noah’s mind. His back went stiff and he drew in a sharp breath, his eyes going wide and throat momentarily locking shut. A wave of information slammed into him in a wall.
His domain was back.
And, at the very edges of his mind, he felt a tiny pull from Grim.
Then it was gone. The information evaporated, and his domain was once more sealed behind Aqua Terra’s interference. Noah leaned against the wall, his heart pounding against his chest. A cold droplet of sweat rolled down the back of his neck. It was almost unsettling how easily he’d slipped away from the smothering anti-domain blanket of air.
I didn’t realize how much I depended on my domain before now. It practically feels like I’m blind without it.
Noah set his jaw and turned in the direction that he’d felt Grim in. It hardly mattered now. He had a way to peek out and sense the world around him again. As for why the crack of Beyond had shown up inexplicably and seemingly entirely of its own accord before… that could be ruminated over later.
He had a direction.
Noah felt the Line.
Then he stepped forward.
The world shifted. Halls changed, reforming as he found himself standing in an entirely new part of the arena. It looked like he hadn’t left whatever underground section he was currently in, but it was definitely a new part of it. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone around here either.
Noah drew another droplet of power from the Beyond and sent it out. Another flash of information exploded through his mind. It was gone before he could even truly appreciate it — but it gave him what he needed. Noah’s lips started to curl slightly.
He could still feel Grim. And this time, he was closer.
Much closer.
The sprawling golden pathways of the Line spun all through his vision like someone had flung a ball of yarn around them during a rave. He could feel the power humming within them — and something deep within him could tell exactly which direction he had to move. It wasn’t so much a conscious choice as a subconscious one.
Noah couldn’t have said why he was doing what he did. He simply knew it would work.
He stepped back onto the Line.
And then once more, he was gone.
Once more, the world shifted.
Once more, he appeared within the pathways running through the arena. A new section of it, but all the same. Dust. Must. Forgotten — and not Moxie.
Noah plucked another strand of power from the Beyond. It hadn’t done any damage yet. The protections around Aqua Terra were clearly sufficient. A little bit more of the magic wouldn’t hurt anyone.
This time around, Grim’s presence was stronger. It almost hit him with physical force. A wave of excitement and hunger and cold satisfaction practically slammed into his thoughts like a dog greeting their owner after they’d been out for a monthlong vacation.
Here.
Noah’s smile grew wider.
Grim was almost on top of him.
He stepped onto the Line.
Then the hallways were gone. The dust and old smell of earth and darkness was gone.
In its place was gentle light streaming in from an arena window. There was a pile of untouched food upon the table, tiny green sprouts poking up from half of the untouched vegetables as if they’d been grown out of sheer boredom.
And before him, looking on in mute disbelief, was a woman with red hair and a furry white coat with a massive grimoire slung across her back.
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
Noah couldn’t even hear the blood pounding through his ears. Even the muted noise of the arena crowd evaporated. There was nothing but the woman standing before him. The shock on her face felt like it had to be equally as present on his own.
It was Moxie.
He raised a trembling hand toward his mask.
But Moxie was faster.
She flung herself into him and let out a choked, half-sob of relief.
“Noah,” Moxie breathed into the side of his neck, her arms tightening around his back. “About damn time.”
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