Chapter 243: Toys

Chapter 243: Toys

The wall shattered and Noah dashed forward, using the rain of stones as cover.

I can’t waste time with this idiot. Tremorsense told me there were only a few rooms with people in them this deep, and that means the head of this den is somewhere nearby. I need to finish this guy off and go get the boss before he runs off.

Bryorn spun toward Noah, spotting him immediately. Evidently, the stones flying around him hadn’t been enough to keep him hidden. That was fine, though. Noah had never been one for stealth.

He clapped his hands together, then released a violent gale of freezing wind from his palms. Ice washed across the ground and crusted over Byron’s armor, turning it from a shimmering silver to a whiteish blue within seconds.

Bryorn’s movements ground to a halt and he snarled in fury. “What have you done to me, fiend?”

Noah lowered his hands. That had worked better than he’d been expecting. He took a step toward Bryorn – and threw himself back as the ice shattered and Bryorn lunged forward. His sword crackled past Noah’s back, singing his clothing.

He hit the ground and rolled to the side, blasting himself back with a surge of wind before lightning rained down on where he’d been. Noah leapt to his feet and skidded back, stopping against a wall and gritting his teeth.

“You read me,” Bryorn said, spinning the sword in his hand. “You have a degree of skill. Killed many innocents before, you vile man?”

This larping prick is actually pretty damn good.

“I don’t think you fully realize who you’re working for,” Noah said. He reached down to his pack and pulled his pipe out, placing it between his teeth and packing some Flashgrass into it. He combusted the grass, drawing in a deep breath and letting a puff of smoke out into the air.

“Of course you smoke,” Bryorn said. “Vile through and through. Have you corrupted the good women traveling with you? That must be it. They are enslaved. Fear not, lasses. I will free you of this demon’s influence.”

Every word that comes out of this moron’s mouth makes me want to fry him even more. Why couldn’t he have been one of the weak guys?

Noah stepped forward. He was starting to run out of ideas, but he still had one trick that had yet to let him down yet. As smoke gathered around him, Noah prepared to engage Bryorn once more.

He didn’t get a chance.

Moxie sprinted past him, red vines cracking up from beneath the stone and wrapping around Bryorn’s legs. He let out a startled curse.

“The enslaved witch is entangling me! You’ll not hold me down, wench!”

Moxie’s vines tightened around Bryorn’s armor, but they couldn’t break through it. That didn’t stop her. She snarled in anger and yanked her hand back. The vines yanked one of Bryron’s legs, spinning him like a top.

He let out a startled cry, then pitched back and crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Moxie’s vines wormed along his armor, their thorns clicking against the metal as they tried to find a crease.

A wave of electricity ripped out of Bryorn’s body. Vines shot up around Moxie, blocking the magic and getting fried in the process. Then she reared back and kicked Bryorn in the helm, striking it with her heel instead of the top of her foot to avoid breaking a bone.

What sounded like a bell rang out. Bryorn let out a slew of curses. Moxie kicked him again.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

“Stop that!” Bryron yelled.

“This guy is seriously pissing me off,” Moxie said. “N – Vermil, take his helmet off.”

I thought I was the one fighting him.

“I’m not sure how to,” Noah said, walking up beside Moxie. He raised a wall of stone as another blast of lightning ripped out of Bryorn, blocking the magic.

“There is nothing that can be done. Fear not, wench. Deep within the recesses of your mind, I know you scream for freedom from this vile man. I will rescue you.”

“I could drop him into the ground and seal it over him,” Noah offered.

“No,” Moxie said, cracking her knuckles. “I want this one.”

“Absolutely not. I would never forgive myself if I hurt someone that did not need hurting.” The old man sounded so sincere that Noah almost believed him. “But I am being impolite. I must introduce myself. My name is Gentil.”

“I wish I could say it was a pleasure. I take it that you already know who we are?”

Gentil’s eyebrows rose. “A wonderful guess! Yes, I do. You are Vermil Linwick. Your companion is Moxie Torrin, and the girl with the lovely axe is from neither family. How did you know?”

Because it’s always the weird bastards that randomly have all the information than they shouldn’t. It’s not like we’ve been hiding our identities that much, though.

“Well, Moxie’s wearing a badge, and I imagine some word has spread through some channel or another.” Noah shrugged. “You seem like a pretty reasonable guy, though. What’s the point of doing all this?”

“Your friend murdered one of my men in cold blood.” Gentil shook his head, clicking his tongue in admonishment. “That is not an insult I take lightly. Their lives are not hers to take. It was a great tragedy. He will be missed and remembered.”

If he’s missed, why didn’t you use his name instead of just calling him ‘he’?

“He stabbed me first,” Lee put in. “I just wanted some food.”

To Noah’s surprise, Gentil’s expression flashed with surprise. “He did what?”

“He stabbed me,” Lee repeated. “Tried to, at least. So I stabbed him back with his own dagger. It wasn’t that hard, though. I didn’t think I killed him.”

“We’ve also killed about... ten or twenty of your people so far?” Noah said, scratching the side of his head. “That’s kind of on you, though. We wouldn’t be here if you weren’t going around trying to stab people in dark alleyways.”

Gentil’s brow creased in anger. He turned toward the impossibly still man in the corner of the room.

“Is this true?”

There was no response. Gentil turned back to face Noah, his hands tightening around the armrests of his chair.

“A horrible tragedy. It seems that we may have come into conflict entirely due to what I am learning to be a very flawed information system. Will you forgive me?”

This guy is seriously off his rocker. I don’t believe this apology for an instant. We just killed a bunch of his people on top of that. Does he not care about them at all?

“Well, I’d say we’re even because of...” Noah nodded over his shoulder. “You know. All the people you had in the way.”

“Ah, yes. I hope they provided sufficient entertainment, Miss Torrin.”

“They didn’t. I hated them,” Moxie said, her voice flat.

Gentil looked like he’d been physically struck. His face fell. “Oh. I see. I had hoped you would have been entertained. I ensured that every room would pose a slightly increasing challenge so you could have an exciting trip down.”

You intentionally spaced your people out so we’d mow through them one group at a time? Holy shit. Are these people or toys?

“Why Moxie specifically?” Noah asked, almost not wanting to know the answer but too curious to stop now.

“You see, our initial meeting may have been pure chance, but I actually have an appointment with Miss Torrin,” Gentil said, straightening back up in his chair. His expression returned to the kind smile in a blink of an instant – far too fast for any real emotional change. “She has some people that are very interested in meeting with her.”

“And if I don’t want to meet them?”

“Then that would make them very sad,” Gentil said, the smile fading away from his face. “And I hate disappointing people. I am afraid I must insist.”

“Then I must decline,” Moxie said. “Now what?”

“Looks like we’ve struck an impasse,” Noah drawled, starting to draw energy from Natural Disaster. “Anyone ever teach you that no means no?”

“I’ll have to ask for your forgiveness in the afterlife,” Gentil said, flicking his fingers. “You did take the lives of a few of my men. That should equal the balances for your own, yes? Alexandra, Assistant, go. Remove the intruders from our home – and make sure you leave Miss Torrin alive.”