171 – Encounter (2)

“Glint. Let me handle this.” Fargo said, his eyes locked on the Succubus before him.

Glint stepped backwards, pausing only for a lingering moment. He then moved towards Rena and stealthily slipped his daggers back into his sheathes.

“What’s going on?” Rena asked, her senses firing on high alert.

“It’s just...history.” Glint responded. The expression on his face said there was much more to the story than his words, still Rena couldn’t really ask.

“You can put that away. Fargo said he will handle it.” Glint said as he glanced towards the metal claw on Rena’s right hand. The nearly one meter blades gleamed in the sun as she focused on sending away her weapon.

Rena then turned her attention to the scene unfolding before them.

“I see you’re doing well, little devil.” Fargo said as he stepped a bit further from his companions.

“I see you’re still a sleazebag.” Red-haired, pink eyed succubus responded. Her voice was cold but there was an unmistakable fury contained within her words.

“Sleazebag? Come now. We’re just out for a stroll.” Fargo said as he motioned towards Glint and Rena.

“You expect me to believe that? Besides, you should have no problem with what’s about to happen. Six against two seemed like fair odds then -- did they not?” The succubus took a step closer, her halberd twirling as if it’s heft meant next to nothing.

*Tsk. As expected, she’s not in the mood to talk. Not that I blame her.* Fargo thought as he summoned his own weapon, a large blade with a wide flat surface. He swung it upwards, bringing it before his chest as the weight of the succubus’ halberd bared down upon him. Despite the size difference between them, Fargo felt the ground shifting between his feet as he was forced backwards slightly.

*She got stronger too. Annoying. As. Fuck.* He inwardly thought as he parried a second blow from the incensed Succubus. Fargo had an inkling that he understood why she was so upset.

*She did go apeshit after her big-titted friend went kamikaze. I wonder if she’s alright? A Scribe is pretty valuable…* Fargo’s mind raced as he shifted both his weight and position to parry the incoming strikes, which were fluid and well practiced.

*She seems to have a good deal of experience using this thing. But.. not so much fighting other adventurers.* He observed as he stepped further in and allowed a swift strike to glance upwards off of his blade, he then pivoted on his lead foot and arced his blade with an  upwards swing. As expected, the angry Succubus guarded the blow -- but due to her position she was forced upwards and back by several meters.

*These people really don’t give a fuck about what goes on around them do they?* Fargo thought as he glanced around. Most of the people nearby went on about their business, as if adventurers dueling was an everyday occurrence. The few that did look on averted their gazes almost instantly as Fargo’s eyes met with theirs.

*Ugh. Cowards.*

“Kneel.” The command cut through the sound of the nearby space like a knife, one that embedded itself deep into Fargo’s mind. Immediately he was reminded of the one person he hated most as his knees weakened and he found himself slowly sinking to the ground.

*These control types really piss me off.* He grumbled mentally as he was forced to both knees and one hand. His gaze was also forced downward, but this he resisted with all of his might.

*This is nothing! Gaines' manipulation is a hundred times worse.* Fargo thought as he clenched his weapon in anticipation of a strike that was sure to come. The Succubus walked towards him slowly, her mind filled with a singular purpose as her halberd trailed along her side.

Within two steps she reached the zone to strike, it was then that Fargo took action. He leaned forward and to his left , causing the vermillion haired succubus to miss her intended strike. He then roused as much of his mana as possible, pushing it all outwards at once. It worked as intended, restoring some of his ability to move.

Just as the succubus was gearing up to cleave downward with the full weight of her body, Fargo lifted his own weapon and forced mana into it. The specialized blade hungrily sucked at the supply of magic, the blade flowing with translucent energy.

*Tsk. This damn seal is preventing me from using as much as I want.* He thought as the strike of her halberd came crashing downward. The blue energy formed at the impact point and Fargo tried his best to make it as dense as possible, but it wasn’t enough. The blade could absorb and use mana, but feeding it his own resulted in a much less effective technique.

As the Guardian class adventurer expected, the mana faltered and dissipated, only relieving a fraction of the blow’s burden. Immediately a sense of aggravation washed over Fargo as he thought about the strict limitations placed upon him by Enzo Gaines.

*Fucking 70%!* He thought, in reference to the fact that he could now only use 30% of his full strength at any given time. With approximately 30% of his own mana gone and a foe that was hellbent on using hand to hand combat, Fargo was beginning to loathe the current situation. On the one hand, he was largely to blame. He was the one who chose to scout and attack the Scribe and Succubus. On the other hand -- he would never have bothered doing such a vile thing as “snatching” if he wasn’t forced into it to begin with.

None of this mattered however, since he couldn’t outwardly communicate this and even if he could -- he doubted that his attacker would even care. There was also the white hot cost of last time’s failure which burned in his mind. The sight of Ashe’s body bursting into black flames and crumbling ash caused Fargo to strike back viciously. He flailed his weapon, firing off an arcing wave of bluish energy from his weapon. The mid-range attack dissipated the further it moved, but it served its purpose. The energy blast cleaved into the succubus’ abdomen, pushing her even further away rather than cutting her. She careened towards a nearby group of onlookers, crashing into them with enough force to barrel them over.

Fargo quickly got to his feet and shot a glance towards his companions. Weighing his options he finally settled on the least distasteful method of resolving things.

“Fuck this. Let’s go!” Fargo said as he dashed towards Rena, catching the blue haired wolf-girl unaware as he dragged her along by her arm. Glint followed without missing a beat, a strange sort of smirk forming across his face.

“You call this ‘handling it’ ?” He said, the temptation to talk shit finally overcoming his better judgment. Fargo shouted back, “Shut it!” though, by the tone of his voice it was obvious that he was smiling. Rena jerked free, just enough so that she could stop being pulled along and the trio followed Fargo as he weaved through people.

“E-excuse me! Pardon me!” Rena attempted to say as she bumped into person after person. Each was more unruly and annoyed than the next. Many shouted or scowled in response, but Fargo’s pace did not relent and so hers could not either. Despite being second in line, Rena quickly found herself behind Glint. It was now that Rena began to realize just how severe the limitations on her stats had become. She could barely keep up.

“Get back here!” A woman shouted as she too pushed aside anyone brazen or stupid enough to stand between her and pursuit.

“She’s closing in on us!” Rena exclaimed as she endeavored to push herself faster than her body would allow. The mark of enslavement on her chest began to tingle, and then burn as if it was enforcing its will upon the lycanthrope.The slave mark imposed its restrictions, and she felt slower despite her intent to speed up. This, she realized, must have been what Fargo was speaking of.

The scent of a woman filled Rena’s nostrils and for the briefest of moments she was reminded of her earlier tryst in the rooms of Memento Mori. She pushed the thought from her mind with a fierce shaking of her head and turned to find the Succubus just a few steps behind. The red-haired woman pushed aside a husky woman and uttered something inaudible as her eyes met with Rena. The wolf-girl felt a heavy, overwhelming presence sit upon her shoulders that forced her to one knee.

Rena looked upwards just in time to notice her pursuer conjure a ball of flames and hurl it towards her face.