Chapter 590: Fighting for Friendship
Chapter 590: Fighting for Friendship
Oriole stared at the underground city with awe. When they built Runera, the arrays were a lot less than this. Arthur was still laying down the foundation of this city when he disappeared and reappeared half a month later.
After the merge, Oriole asked Arthur about the reasons he disappeared. A simple question let Oriole know the story behind the creation and the ancient gods. The moment Arthur finished his story, he took a sip from his tea. Oriole remembers staring at him in awe for acting so calm while the world's fate rests on his shoulder.
Every life, memory, love, and ambition would be crushed to nothing if Arthur did not stop Nameless and the incarnations of ancient gods. Yet, the man sits and chats as if the world can disappear as far as he cares. At that moment, when the lights from the underground arrays filled his eyes, Oriole realized why the powers of creation eroded emotions.
"He who carries everything can only feel nothing," muttered the runemaster as he closed his eyes. Arthur was losing his emotions because it was the only way to retain sanity. Otherwise, he would be crushed under the overwhelming feeling of responsibility.
"Should I bring a cameraman for your sentimental moment?" asked Maryam to break his trance. "We need to descend if we want to make it in time."
"I got carried away," smiled Oriole before taking the stairs down to reach the runemaster. "Where are the space arrays?"
"I only know the general location from the academy," said Maryam. "We studied that space arrays need to be the strongest in the center before spreading like a tornado."
"That should be the giant tower over there," pointed out Oriole. "However, this place is not deserted. There are patrolling officers and runic golems at every crossroad. We are far from being able to fight them."
"We just have to walk past them," said Maryam as her mana covered her hands. "I can stun them with my attack. They should not remember what happened as soon as we pass."
"...is that the reason you agreed so easily?" asked Oriole with surprise, and the runemaster gave a cheeky smile. "I assume there is some sort of condition for this ability."
"There are many, but I will not tell you about it," she stuck her tongue out before jumping over the balcony and onto the cobblestoned road. Oriole stared at her before jumping down as well.
The underground city had roads all over the place with runic plates inscribed to regulate the arrays. There were glowing runic lights on their left and right coming from the runic lines below. When Oriole stared at them, he saw different runes running in separate strips on the metallic platform.
"There are many arrays in Runera, and the tower regulates most of them. The tower is also in the city's center, so the space arrays are centered there. This also means that the security is tight around the tower."
"Maybe we can disturb the runic lines below the ruins, allowing Arthur to escape."
"Even with a high-ranking runic card, Alexie cannot travel outside the array's range. This means that the farthest he could teleport was to the end of our disturbances. Therefore, it is better to turn the array off completely."
Maryam told him that Oriole had to keep up with her while sprinting forward. The runemaster suddenly stopped and rolled on the ground before swinging her wrist as they reached a crossroad.
Oriole could see an ethereal light shoot out of her hand like a fireball before striking a giant golem around the corner. The golem stopped moving immediately and kept staring ahead without turning to them.
"Is it unconscious?" muttered Oriole as he halted his sprint beside her, letting his body push back the inertia. "A golem should not have a mind for you to confuse."
"It receives commands from a navigation array. As long as I intercept that command, the golem will be motionless as if time stopped for it."
Maryam then sprinted forward again, leading Oriole through the underground city and stunning guards and golems. If he did not have her, he would have never been able to reach this far into the city.
After a full sprint across the city, they finally reached the central tower. The glorious gates swung open when Maryam presented her Amiens Badge, allowing the two inside.
"We need to find the control room inside to deactivate the arrays," said Maryam as she bolted in front of him. "Follow me to the..."
Oriole was running behind her when a figure appeared beside her and struck the back of her neck. In a split second, Maryam was sprawled on the ground without a hint of movement. Oriole jumped away from the figure before taking a good look at the newcomer.
"You are... the Ghost Ruler," said Oriole with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
His question was not answered, and the Ghost Ruler stared at him instead. Oriole could not see the eyes behind the bony mask, but he knew this person was not here for a chat. Instead, they must have realized his goal by entering the underground city and coming to foil his plans.
"Who are you, exactly?" stared Oriole at the Ghost Ruler with a cold expression as his body relaxed and his posture straightened. "Are you someone from Alka?"
The Ghost Ruler rushed forward, and their hand clawed at Oriole, who side-stepped and punched forward. That simple punch whistled through the air before striking the Ghost Ruler and sending him away.
"You underestimate the hell I had to endure with Master Jumana," said Oriole while glancing at the Ghost Ruler land on his feet. "I am more than just a runemaster."
In a cross-timelines calculation, Oriole was over thirty-years-old. This allowed him to pursue different martial arts to survive in the cruel world of Alka, which was filled with monsters unless you were in the city.
Oriole knew that a chat was impossible with this person, so he had to strip their mask off their face to understand what was happening here. He could not stand idle while Arthur handled every problem. The Ghost Ruler stared down at their abdomen, where Oriole had struck them, and their face turned toward him.
"You are feeling it, aren't you?" smiled Oriole. "This is the technique I developed after months of trial and error. It is still rough around the edges, but it gets the job done."
The Ghost Ruler did not care about his words and rushed forward again. Oriole did not wait and dashed forward, kicking toward the ghost from below. However, the Ghost Ruler disappeared from in front of him.
Oriole thought the Ghost Ruler would appear behind him, but he teleported above instead. Their leg descended in an ax kick which Oriole knew he could not take, so he used a runic card strapped beneath his clothes.
A barrier appeared around his body, and he was about to activate another runic card to attack the Ghost Ruler. However, he saw the barrier tear in half as if it was paper before the kick descended on him.
Oriole raised his arms to block the attack, and pain struck him like a sledgehammer. As the leg met his arms, there was a sound of something cracking before his upper arm bent naturally. His feet sank into the tower's fortified floor as a crater appeared around him.
The monstrous strength surprised him, but Oriole did not sit idle. The alchemist gritted his teeth before activating the runic card he had in hand, making several ethereal swords appear to slash the Ghost Ruler.
"Hah, hah," Oriole's chest heaved as the pain from his broken arm almost broke him. Furthermore, the attack from the swords did not even manage to strike the Ghost Ruler before he disappeared. "This will leave a mark," the alchemist stared at his arm.
The Ghost Ruler stood several meters away, staring at Oriole before rushing forward again. As Oriole's mind raced to find a method to win, the Ghost Ruler suddenly staggered and fell to the side.
"It finally happened," breathed Oriole as he stared upward before looking at the Ghost Ruler. "What monstrous body can resist an ischemic attack for so long?"
Oriole drew the inspiration for this technique from witnessing a man die of natural causes. If he could manipulate the body, then he could induce a blocked artery in the body and destroy the enemy from the inside.
This technique was limited by the amount of change he can induce in a body, which depends on the difference in their stats. There were several ways to cause an ischemic attack: narrowing of vessels, fat plaques, and morphing of red blood cells.
This was his only method of fighting, and Oriole and to think for a long time before coming up with it. However, this was a lethal technique that could not be used outside of life and death situations.
The Ghost Ruler struggled on the ground in pain before Oriole walked toward them. After kicking them to flip them over, Oriole stared at them, suffering from his attack.
"There is no use. I morphed the red blood cells and enlarged them to cause ischemic attacks throughout your body. Unless you are immoral, this should immobilize you for a while, at least."
The Ghost Ruler did not answer, and Oriole crouched and used his unbroken arm to remove their mask. However, when he saw the face underneath, a crushing presence exploded from the Ghost Ruler as if a seal had been lifted.