Chapter 251 - Critical Response

The mysterious man’s impression of Char Char immediately improved as she politely refused his gift.

Sarira were extremely valuable and difficult to obtain. They were the most pure physical vessels for attuned spiritual energy. When stored in glass or other suitable crystals, the sarira were extremely stable, keeping their potency for centuries or longer.

Furthermore, he had presented the item as a gift. For Char Char to refuse made her either exceptionally cautious, or rich enough in spiritual resources to not be tempted by such a prize.

He smiled at her as he pocketed the sarira, “You are truly the blessed of the White Maiden. Well met.”

“And you are?”

“Cecil.” He bowed gently, “A friend of fate.” 

“Friend of fate?” Char Char tilted her head. 

Cecil had a calm, sagely demeanour, one that was open and friendly on the surface. However Char Char found that she could not read him the way she could read other people. Furthermore, her sixth sense was unable to sense any items in his possession. She had originally assumed that he was unarmed or not carrying anything important, but she had just watched him place the golden pearl in his pocket.

The pearl that had subtly radiated with spiritual energy had disappeared from her awareness once it was tucked away. Looking again, Char Char noticed that he had numerous jewelled rings on his fingers - From her experience precious stones often activated her sixth sense, but despite him wearing more than a dozen rings she couldn’t sense any them at all.

“Yes.” Cecil nodded, staring at Char Char with a thoughtful gaze. He seemed to be debating something in his mind. “Do you know who I am, or who I represent?”

It wasn’t asked in a pompous way, the way a noble might posture to increase his self-importance. Rather, the question was asked sincerely, laced with a deeper meaning. It was clear to Char Char that there was some scenario in his mind where she would know of him. Furthermore she felt that if she did have that knowledge, his trust and openness to her would increase. And also, if she answered incorrectly, there might be some consequences.

Knowledge of his background wasn’t something she could fake, and furthermore she saw no reason to lie in the first place.

“No.” Char Char replied, “Should I?”

“I suppose not.” Cecil chuckled, shaking his head, repeating again softly, “I suppose not.”

Danger!

A dangerous glint in Cecil’s eyes and a flick of his wrist was the only warning Char Char had as a sudden blast of white light erupted from his hand.

The split second warning from her spiritual intuition did not give Char Char enough time to dodge as she twisted to the left with a yelp. The white light slashed vertically across her left shoulder, cutting cleanly through her uniform and the silk blouse underneath.

Her hand immediately reached up to her exposed arm as the fabric fell to the floor, her heart skipping a beat as she looked down. Her pale skin shone silver under the light of the moon, illuminating the rough wolf bite scars on her bicep. 

No blood.

No pain.

A faceted quartz ring on Cecil’s hand cracked and split into pieces. Seeing Char Char largely unharmed, his gaze darkened as he muttered, “Miscast?”

He didn’t have time to react as a flurry of needles sliced into his neck and torso. As soon as the first razor thin blades contacted his skin, an emerald on a bracelet on his right wrist shattered with a burst of light. His skin hardened into granite as a dozen needles bounced harmlessly off him.

The beautiful man’s features distorted into a grimace as he immediately performed a complicated gesture with his hands. The tips of his fingers lit up with a prismatic light as he drew out a three-dimensional rune in the middle of the air, muttering ancient words under his breath.

His body shimmered with saturated blues and reds as he disappeared from sight. In the spirit world he took off at high speed, flying just above the ground as he tried to escape, but before he even made it halfway across the plaza his eyes bulged out and he began choking violently.

Char Char’s eyes shot over to the side as Cecil spontaneously reappeared in the physical world. He hit the ground hard and tumbled across the cobblestone.

A rush of air blew past Char Char as Firuzeh arrived at her side. The woman’s calm aura surrounded Char Char protectively, “Are you injured?”

“No.” Char Char replied in shock.

“Kai is coming. Stay alert.” Firuzeh said briefly.

The experienced guard’s eyes never left the Exalted man as she evaluated the abilities that he had shown in the brief seconds since the battle had begun.

The nature of the white blast attack - Aetheric? Light? Illusion? No, not illusion, given that physical damage had been inflicted. The silver sheen suggested moonlight - so Spirit Domain?

The red and blue shimmer from his escape out of the physical plane supported Spirit Domain as well. However, what was the black transformation that had blocked her needle attack? It looked like his body had turned into rock. Body and Nature domain were known for physical transformations; Life as well, but not for rocks and inanimate matter. 

Dual Pathway? Body and Spirit Domains were both in the kingdom of Humanity. Firuzeh had never heard of such a path but it wasn’t out of the question. 

A burst of wind accompanied Firuzeh’s dash away from Char Char’s side. She rushed towards Cecil, not hesitating to finish off her opponent even as she continued to evaluate the situation.

Shifting into another plane was a high level technique, meaning her enemy was at least at the Disciple level, likely even higher. Firuzeh was only an apprentice, she was surely at a massive disadvantage!

Her ambush had succeeded, the critical element of surprise had given her the upper edge. The fizzling of Cecil’s technique was a result of her Saboteur power ‘Misfortune’, that subtly affected the target’s luck. Her weapons had also hit their mark, another unlucky occurrence for the Exalted man whose ‘rock skin’ defence triggered a fraction of a second too late to save him.

Though the needles didn’t deal much physical damage, they were laced with a potent, fast acting poison. The glass viper toxin caused debilitating pain, attacking the lungs and heart. Even a pinprick lead to unconsciousness in seconds and death shortly after as the victim’s heart seized up.

Cecil hadn’t stopped tumbling across the ground when Firuzeh caught up with him. Even with her target clearly suffering from the effects of the poison, she didn’t hesitate to finish him off!

She withdrew a silver dagger from a hidden sheath, preparing to strike at his neck. A flurry of light at his abdomen drew her eye as she saw that his hands were frantically tracing out another rune.

Not good!

A sphere of force exploded out from him, shattering a dome into the cobblestone flooring and throwing Firuzeh across the plaza. A ring made of bone cracked and crumbled into dust as a green light blossomed within his eyes. His breathing returned to normal, the pain relaxed from his face, his posture straightened as he focused his gaze on Firuzeh.

Firuzeh had experienced enough Life Domain energy recently to instantly recognize its aura emanating from the man. And the sphere of force was also tinged with Order, another domain she was intimately familiar with.

This Exalted was displaying powers from at least four domains. It was completely unheard of!

Firuzeh landed on her feet with feline grace, breathing hoarsely as she supported herself with one hand. Her body tingled with pain and adrenaline, she felt like she had been through into a wall.

The whites of Cecil’s eyes turned pitch black as he traced another rune into the air. His hand contorted into awkward shapes as each finger drew a different shape, forming a complicated rune with practiced ease.

An immense feeling of impending doom seized Firuzeh’s mind as a dark cloud formed above her head. An illusory bell rang ominously in the air around her. She was overcome with the sensation that a reaper had materialized with its scythe to take her to the next life. Her dagger dropped to the ground as she couldn’t do anything but stare up at the cloud in catatonic dread.

At the exact moment that Cecil was about to finish the rune he froze in spot.

From across the plaza Corbin Nao had his hand outstretched toward Cecil, holding onto the stasis effect. His nightgown fluttered behind him as he jumped from the third storey window of the inn, his left hand holding onto the extra-tall top hat on his head.

At the same time a shout came from the alley nearby as Kai rushed onto the plaza at full speed. He ripped a chain from his vest and threw it at Firuzeh, who was staring hopelessly upward at the black cloud above her.

The weighted chain spun through the air at the cloud. As it reached the cloud the links gave out a metallic ring as they snapped one after another. This was Kai’s special move, Chaos Domain Cheater Pathway’s ‘Break Rules’!

Each link in the chain snapped as the Chaos energies imbued in them disrupted a part of the Death domain ability. The cloud shimmered as it began to lose structure.

“Char Char!” Corbin yelled, “Get to safety, now!”

Char Char’s wide eyes snapped to Corbin as she was frozen in place from the sudden violence of battle. This was unlike her encounter with the wolves, or even the abrupt but anticipated violence in the palm of the giant black hand in the forest. This battle had erupted without a trace of a warning and even as Firuzeh fought viciously in front of her, Char Char had stood frozen in shock.

It was only Corbin’s voice that shook her out of her trance, and she instantly understood the meaning of his command— Firuzeh, Kai, even Corbin himself had been tasked with a singular mission, to keep Char Char safe.

Her three protectors were fighting for their lives to save her.

The most important thing for her to do was get out of their way!