Chapter 524: Drink this

Chapter 524: Drink this

Noah gave Moxie a moment to prepare her mystery magic while he took a brief instant to scan the street from upon his flying sword. There weren’t any guards or passersby on the road. A number of demons passed beyond the windows in some of the mansions, but nobody was paying the street any attention.

It would only be a matter of time until they were. Noah had absolutely no delusions that he’d ever be able to break into a mansion in the middle of a street full of other wealthy demons, break some shit, and get out without summoning some form of defensive force.

The real question is going to be just how extensive that force is and how quickly they show up. Fights aren’t forbidden in demon cities. It’s just a matter of strength. If I’m not bothering the other mansions, will they even try to send for help? There’s a chance Igris has allies that will... but something tells me any allies that Igris has aren’t going to be the ones willing to risk their own necks if things are going poorly for him.

Oh well. Moxie won’t be in the house and I’ll be making more than enough distraction for the both of us. Only way to find out what happens is to try.

“Just about ready?” Noah asked Moxie, who was hunched over the seed in her palms with a look of intense concentration knitting her features even behind the face wrappings.

She glanced up at him and nodded. “Yes. As soon as you do your thing, I’m just going to leave this by the door and then manage things from the alley. I’m getting out of here the moment any backup shows up.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you back at the camp.”

Noah leaned forward and sent a flicker of energy down through his feet. The flying sword jerked into motion and he zipped into the air, heading straight for the uppermost window of the house. It wasn’t a long flight. As soon as he was nearing it, Noah pulled his power from the sword and drew on Crumbling Space.

Chilly power raced through his arm and into his fingertips as he sailed through the air. He released the magic stored within his hand moments before he collided with the window. White cracks raced out and passed clean through the glass as if it wasn’t even there.

An instant later, it collapsed with a loud crack. Noah’s fist struck the window as it shattered in a rain of shards. He tumbled through them and into the top room of the building.

Small pieces of glass cut into his clothes and left thin lines along his skin as he hit the ground in a roll and launched to his feet, extending his domain and his tremorsenses instantly. The room he’d arrived in looked to be a study, with a small desk and a plush red chair. A plate of fruit was set on the desk.

The room was empty, but Noah could feel movement all throughout the house beneath him. He took a moment to process the information. There were around fifteen people in the mansion, which was less than he was expecting. Of those fifteen people, there was a single form in a room on the floor below that was nearly twice his height. None of the others compared.

Even though Noah couldn’t make out any details and his domain wasn’t quite in range of them, it wasn’t hard to determine who it was. A grin tugged at his lips. Noah grabbed a bulging purple fruit from the table and strode out of the door.

An average-sized demon prickled against his senses as they raced around the corner of a long, carpeted hall in his direction. Noah lifted a hand, releasing a powerful blast of wind before the demon had even stepped into his line of sight.

A middle-aged demon with a single large horn protruding straight from the top of his head like a flagpole emerged just in time to catch Noah’s magic straight to his face. It lifted him off his feet and slammed the demon into the wall behind him.

By the time he dropped back to his feet, Noah had already closed the distance between them. His palm crashed into the man’s forehead and drove it back into the wall with far more strength than he’d been planning on using.

The demon crumpled, unconscious. Noah paused for a moment as he stared at the limp body before him. He was pretty sure the demon wasn’t dead, but he’d never hit anything that hard without empowering himself with magic.

Is it the Fragment of Self empowering me? No time to worry about it now. Bigger shit to fight.

He slammed his palm into Igris’ chest and he unleashed Natural Disaster, sending a bolt of lighting into his body at point blank. A loud crack ripped through the air and Igris tumbled back, sliding across the gold and slamming into a wall. Smoke curled from a charred spot on his chest. Igris clutched the wound, his lips pulled fully back to reveal two rows of golden fangs.

“Who sent you?” Igris demanded.

“Nobody sent me,” Noah replied. He flicked his hand forward and wind screamed past him, forming into a thick column of white blades. Igris dove to the side, avoiding the magic as it cut clean through the wall behind him and demolished a table in the room beyond. “I am here because you dared to call me.”

The huge demon rose back to his feet. Despite his size, he was fast. He could also use external magic. This was no weak opponent — but Noah had never felt better in his life. He was practically thrumming with energy.

“You dared to interfere in my business. The only thing you have come here to do is die,” Igris growled. Gold burst up around Noah, swirling like glistening water, and collapsed on him from all directions.

Noah drew on Natural Disaster once more, forcing its power out in every direction. A howling gale enveloped his body and blew outward, throwing Igris’ magic back and sending gold clattering against the walls. The large demon may have been a Rank 5, but his external magic wasn’t all that impressive.

Definitely weaker than Azel — or he’s focused in a different area.

“Do you know how many times I’ve heard some variation of that line?” Noah asked. Lightning crackled between his fingertips and he lifted his hand. “And do you know how many of the people that have asked me that are still alive?”

Igris flung one of his daggers at Noah. It streaked through the air in a black blur. There was no doubt in Noah’s mind that it was moving far faster than any normal human ever could have hoped to avoid under their own powers.

He stepped right past it. The blade slammed into the wall behind him and thrummed, vibrating to a standstill, buried in the stone.

“Was that wise?” Noah asked. “Now you only have three.”

Igris snarled at him. The huge demon took a step forward. Then a wave of gold erupted in front of him and he spun, sprinting for safety. He crossed the distance between himself and the exit in a flash, flinging the door open —

A massive vine covered with beautiful white flowers filled the entire hallway. Thick thorns jutted off it, dripping with purple liquid. Igris skidded to a halt an instant before he impaled himself upon it the vine. He spun back to Noah, who did his best not to look equally as surprised.

Goddamn, Moxie. When you said you could handle something, I did not quite realize the scale at which we were speaking.

“What is this?” Igris snarled. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Noah reached up to the wrappings covering his face and pulled them down to reveal his smile. He dipped the fingers of his other hand into a pocket, pulling out a Mind Meld potion.

“You know who I am, Igris. We’ve already covered this. You tried so hard to get my attention, and now you have it,” Noah said softly. He lifted the potion and the blood ran from Igris’ face. Noah’s smile grew wider. “And now, you’re going to drink this for me.”