Chapter 187 A Pleasant Welcome

"I welcome you" a booming voice echoed out into the reception room. His voice as relaxed as could be. "Merchants"

I watched as he made his entrance, robes unburdened by gravity and as black as the night sky was the first thing that I saw as he entered the room.

His face was concealed by a hood and mask, one of a faceless being with only the eyes gouged out so that his glowing orange eyes could stare into our own.

"Please sit," he gestured to the chairs that had been impeccably placed throughout the reception hall so as to give it the proper impression.

I just nodded my head, my eyes never leaving him as I took a seat. Beside me Aoif and Delta both complied.

Again I watched on as the gravity defying robe seemed to allow him to float towards the seat in front of us. Ethereal servants passed through hidden rooms as they brought with them food. Ones that seemed to be filled with unknown ingredients.

I was confident in my own resistances but to willingly eat what would likely be poison was foolhardy at best.

As they approached their hands holding food, I stood. My glare slicing through his veneer of civility and through his soul.

"Information, on any powerful being around these parts" I declare, "That was what you wanted to know, yes? Why we came here, why we were disguised."

The man sipped at his tea, his hand slightly shaking at my display of power. Though despite that he still seemed to want to keep up his disguise.

"No need to be so hostile." His voice echoed out but instead of coming from the robe it came from everywhere.

I smirked as my eyes roamed around the hall and tracked the source of the voice.

"Then you will give us the information." It was not a question, it was a demand. One that he would either abide by or we would rip it from his hands.

To punctuate the implications I stabbed Memoria into the enchanted ground below, allowing her to sink into it with no effort. A wave of my own aether flew out and pierced his senses.

I could feel the shaking of his will as he looked towards me and then towards Delta who had not moved.

"I assume that you want to take control of this realm, yes?"

I nodded confirming his suspicions, it was no problem for him to know of our intentions. He had no way to fight back against us anyways.

"I cannot allow that."

"Then I will take the information by force."

I grabbed Memoria from where I had stabbed her into the ground and brandished her into my stance.

A tensing of my muscles and I was in front of him a stab Aimee for his heart. Or where I assumed it would be based off of the biology of my previous enemies.

A gust of wind was all the result of my attack as the cloak pulled the mastermind away from the attack, sweat pouring down his head as he stared deeply into my spear.

A circle of strange runes appeared below him as it flowed orange, a pillar of flames being generated.

BOOM

BOOM

The pillar of flames turned into two balls of fire that were aimed towards me. Flying through the air they bypassed my own sight and reached me within moments.

I narrowed my eyes and reacted just as the exploded, a barrier of aether appearing to take the brunt of the attack. Though it wasn't enough to completely negate it.

Small burns appeared on the clothes that I wore. It was the first time in a while that I had been close to injured and it excited me.

I must have picked up on Aoif's love of fights as my lips curled into a smile and my heart pounded in my chest. Excited over a challenging fight.

I took a glance over to Aoif and Delta, noticing that they didn't intervene. It was Aoif's doing as she held out a hand to stop Delta from helping. I flashed her a wide grin before jumping back into the fray.

While I had my head glanced towards the two, the mastermind was not idle, a look of concentration on his face as he summoned up even more power.

Orange aether sufficed into his veins as intricate markings appeared on his face and limbs. An ornate staff combined with a spear appeared in his hands as he gripped it tight.

Seemingly done with his preparations he called out towards me.

"Did you not think that I would be this powerful, with how I have not seen your race I would assume you are relatively new to this grand conquest."

"And?" I reply.

"You most likely have never faced someone of significant power such as I. Nor have you faced such varied techniques. You have no chance!" With those last words he dashed towards me, the spear tip poised to cut my neck off.

I backed up, aether infused into my legs to allow for faster movement. However I was not able to do that, the aether that usually flowed as easily as water now felt like honey in its consistency.

'Shit' I thought to myself as the moments tucked by, the spear growing ever closer to my neck. I could perceive it but without my aether I would not be able to react.

I twitched my hand and noticed that if I started now I may just be able to knock the spear to the side of my head.

The moment that thought appeared in my mind I realized it, my fingers tensing as I pulled Memoria up with as much force as I could.

CLANG

The spear was redirected but the force of it still blew me away, my back hit the wall of the castle and knocked the air from my lungs.

I tried to reinforce myself with aether again but it just wouldn't work, with how it was it would take a full minute just to reinforce one limb. A minute I did not have.