NOVEL ONLINE FREE 274. Vi's Castle
As he'd suspected, Vi's castle hadn't truly fallen at all. There was no sign of damage to the walls. Instead, it appeared that Vi had simply retreated her castle back into the earth, somehow—undone whatever magic it was that had pushed it out of the earth in the first place, to return it to its safe haven underground. Her castle hadn't fallen, it had literally dropped back into the earth. From Mag's perspective, he could see it being the same… or maybe it was just that the bird boy didn't have the eloquence to express what had actually happened? Either way, there was no point holding it against Mag. Even if he himself had seen the castle drop wholesale into the earth, Ike wasn't confident he'd think anything other than that some kind of magic had sucked it back into the earth. After all, who would think to put the castle back underground for safekeeping?
Maybe I should do that, Ike thought, then shook his head at himself. He needed the high vantage point for battle. Unlike Vi, he wasn't just hiding away, he was actually fighting his part. Besides, he'd feel the fool if he dropped his castle into the earth to protect it, only for the giant figure to stumble over the castle and crush it anyways. One misstep, and the whole castle would crumble. He wouldn't be able to use any of its weapons or defenses.
He could just lead the figure over to Vi's castle and have it stomp the castle to bits, but that wouldn't satisfy his irritation. Nothing short of facing her and beating her own cowardice into her would sate his fury. It wasn't as if he'd gone around killing all the other candidates. To the contrary, he'd invited them all into his party, rescued them, and fought with them, even Rufus. Even Rufus! And Vi, whom he had extended nothing but grace, to turn about and push the monsters onto him, without so much as trying to fight… He knew it shouldn't bother him. No, he shouldn't let it bother him. But it riled him, all the same. Not pulling her own weight. Hiding away from the challenge. Refusing to join in, just to reap the benefits as he, and Scar, and even Rufus—even Rufus—risked their lives and fought to the death to survive.
It pissed him off. It really, really, really pissed him off.
A blade hissed at his neck from the shadows. Ike's body blurred, and lightning flashed. Vi's final subordinate dropped to the ground. The man was fast, but not faster than lightning.
"Whee!" Wisp cheered on his shoulder, enjoying the ride.
"Vi! I know you're here. Come out and face me, coward!" Ike shouted. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire
His voice echoed off cold stone. Nothing moved. No one answered him.
"Come out, assassin," Wisp mocked him in a sing-song.
Ike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. Worth a shot, though. Not that I thought she had the spine to answer my call."
Wisp danced on his shoulder. "Ooh, you're mad mad. That's pretty rare. She piss you off bad, then?"
"Just—the idea of her sitting on her ass while the rest of us work…" Ike shook his head. "It shouldn't bother me that much. But it does."
"Yeah, I get it," Wisp agreed.
"You do?" Ike asked, surprised.
"Mhm. I like being the one to sit back and watch, but if someone else is sitting back and watching me, boy. That does tick me off. I mean, right? I could be the one relaxing, and instead, that guy's kicking his feet up? No way, no way."
Ike snorted. "That tracks."
Wisp tensed, suddenly alert. She tapped Ike's neck, but went on talking normally. "So I'm not happy about it, either. But you seem super pissed."
Ike nodded a tiny bit, showing her he understood. Wisp had sensed something. It was time to be on edge. He pushed his aether out of his body to its limits, expanding his senses to their utmost. If anyone or anything entered the sphere of his aether, he'd know.
"I know I'm going overboard, but it really bothers me. Maybe because people have almost died because of her inaction? Maybe because we all are fighting to the death against this figure, while she's sitting back to kill us all in one fell swoop once we finish it off? I mean, when you think about it, there's a lot of reasons to be mad."
At this point, he was just filling words. The conversation should have ended already, but both he and Wisp were keeping it up, on the pretense that they hadn't noticed anything wrong.
"Well, like you said. She's a yellow-bellied coward. Can't even kill her own prey." Wisp paused. "We better not just be playing hide and seek. I'll get mad for real, okay?"
"Oh? That's your red line?" Ike asked, suddenly drawn back into the conversation.
"I'm an ambush predator! I wait, and you come to me! I don't do this finding and chasing nonsense," Wisp complained.
Ike pursed his lips. He nodded. "It does make sense, when you put it that way."
"And that's why it's pissing you off so much, isn't it? Because humans are pack hunters who work on cooperation, and she's not cooperating. It all comes down to instincts. Instinct!" Wisp tapped him twice on the neck, slightly further to the left.
Oh? To the left? Ike gave no visual signal, but extended his mana leftward. And there, he found it. A hollow in the stone wall just ahead, and barely perceptible, a trace of heat. She'd completely hidden her mana signature, completely hidden her sight, but hadn't hidden her heat. If not for the thickness of aether, and its ability to sense and transmit more information, he'd never have sensed it.
He nodded again. He knew it. Which meant there was only one thing left to do. He steadied his breathing. Adjusted his grip on the Hungry Sword. Aether flowed through him, massing in his hand as he prepared the shape of the Hammer Sword in his mind. Lightning flashed around his wrist, around his hand, and flickered around his feet.
One step closer. Two. Ike rolled his shoulder, warning Wisp of his impending attack. She tapped in return.
Ike whirled and lunged, even as a dark form shout out of the wall at him.