Chapter 32 – The Emperor’s New Clothes

"We don't have much time," Crusher announced from the door. "The portals have almost been completely constructed."

"Almost finished," Silk said in response. Wiping the sweat from his brow he made the last touches to the two pieces of clothing. He didn't have enough time so he was just modifying clothing already in the store but you wouldn't be able to tell what the clothes used to look like.

Taking the needle out he picked it up and looked at the finished result, it was adequate.

Phoenix had already put on what silk had made, he had stayed with her normal black robes but added a bit of red for a nod to her fire magic. The robes had magical enhancements but not to the extent of Silk's as Phoenix was powerful and the space could be used for better enchantments. There were many life saving methods embroidered into the fabric.

There were some strength enhancements t increase Phoenix's survivability but most of the enchantments focused on her magical power. Her flames had been made more dynamic so they didn't just burn but also had mass and impact. One last improvement took the cake, the ash manipulation system. All it did was give the wearer the ability to manipulate ash with the user's magical imprint. All ash burned with magic leaves a magical imprint making it useful.

"Crusher, get in here and change." Silk shouted. "How is the new robe?" he asked.

"It feels powerful, I've never seen or felt anything like this." Phoenix honestly answered.

"It's made by a member of the workshop, it is one of the best."

Crusher walked in and Silk threw some clothes at him. He swatted them away out of surprise. "What are these things?"

"Those are clothes," Silk answered.

The clothes for Crusher were more focused around physical enhancement but had many anti magic inscriptions as this would always be Crusher's weakness. He tried to become powerful enough to counter magic with brute force and that was madness. He probably didn't even know that he used magic all the time when fighting with his techniques. Silk had also added in an effective healing enchantment which excited cells into healing more quickly so Crusher could take more hits.

Lastly was Silk, taking out a white thread he sighed. Injecting some of his magic into the thread made it expand and weave into itself, splitting up and finally revealing its true form. The white suit.

The white suit still gives Silk nightmares but if there was ever a chance to wear this thing it was now. The suit which's only purpose was to kill. It gave Silk the chills. He goes to put on a glove.

"Stop," Phoenix calls catching his arm before he puts it on. "It's obvious you don't want to wear that thing. It has a weird chill around it."

"It's the only way I can stand up against Strocker. With this suit I am at my most powerful. I'm a killing machine. It's what you would expect from the silk from one of the mightiest beasts alive, dragon's silk. I still don't know how it produced Silk but it is my secret weapon."

Phoenix suddenly had a pitying look on her face. "You never struck me as someone who would do something out of fear of failure. I respected you as someone who would pave their own path, make their own decisions. Not let fear rue them."

"Pretty speech but reality is never so idealistic." Silk answered back.

"I believed you would be anyway. I thought you would stick by your beliefs." Phoenix continued. "I thought you would at least bend the rules of what is expected."

"Good idea," Silk excitedly yelped pointing at her. "I'll bend the rules, look at it from a new angle." Clapping his hands the threads from the white suit began to unravel and seemingly invade into Silk's black and brown one. The threads seemed to writhe with a life of their own but the black and brown ones seemed to fight back. The threads fought as they represented two very separate principles. Survival of black and brown and offense of the white.

The threads seemed to grasp the very meaning of their being and were fighting for what their creator made them for. After a while the threads seemed to come to an agreement and started working together. They wove themselves together on Silk's body leaving a masterpiece.

The restricted movement a suit had was gone as there was no collar, waist coat or even a traditional coat. The look was still smart and the three colours balanced each other out well. The coat was not long and was had a modern look and would now not get caught when he was fighting. Silk's shirt was now just a plain t-shirt, his trousers also had another pocket. The spare white threads converged and weaved together to form solid and rigid parts. The tightly woven pieces came together to form a pocket watch, the brown and black became a chain to hold the watch in place.

"This is new," Silk commented. "Interesting though. Solid tailoring, I'm going to take note of that."

"What do you think?" Crusher burst in and asked gruffly.

"Awful," Silk said looking him up and down.

"Stupid," Phoenix piled on.

"Come on guys. Really," Crusher pled.

Crusher had a good-looking set of clothes which were made to keep manoeuvrability as a key element. Strength was enhanced as well as resistance to magics. No magic could easily penetrate through those clothes from illusionary to fire. The clothes may seem simple but the resistances were a pain to design.

The clothes had a survivalist influence but had enough belts to hold an arsenal of weaponry. The clothes were light green and darker greens. It did not have a camouflaged pattern but had a deceptive air with it. You couldn't quite focus on Crusher's position. That was the last trick the new outfit held.

"Now let's go demon hunting." Silk said opening the doors only to close them again quickly.

"What is that about?" Phoenix asked.

"Well see," Silk started explaining while putting his back on the door for pressure. "My tailoring skill is much less superior than I thought. I took too long and it seems the streets are now completely flooded with demons."

"That was quick," Crusher said dubiously. "I'm sure it would take longer for the demons to get into this world." Pushing Silk out the way he looked out the door only to close them straight after. "Your right and I think they saw me."

There was a great chorus of roaring outside. The walls seemed to shake from the violent outcry.

"Both of you are idiots," Phoenix muttered annoyed. "Can't we just fight them?"

"No way in hell!" Crusher shouted.

"And why not?" Silk asked.

"Those things radiate power, we stand no chance against one never mind the thousands out there. Those things are pure monsters. I fought against demons but those things are so much worse." Crusher ranted.

"Exactly," Silk said snapping his fingers. "Not much worse than I remember in the demonic war but they are war demons." There was a crashing against the wall and a demon resembling a rhino appeared from the rubble. It had scales and an ethereal blue glow around it. Shaking its scales, the rubble slid off. The demon went into a position to charge.

"Against machines of war you just have to be a bit creative," Silk stated with a sly smile appearing on his lips.

The demon roared and the ground shook catching the three of them off guard. Earth erupted at their sides leaving them unable to escape from the now very angry scaly rhino.

"Where's your creativity then?" Phoenix cried in distress.

"Honestly, that thing is too much." Silk grunted. "Taking out a needle Silk moved his mouth weirdly and regurgitated a clear viscous liquid. Throwing it at the demon it pierced the eye, in seconds it was on the ground paralyzed.

"What was that?" Crusher asked.

"Poison. The half of me that is demon is quite high quality. I hold some of its ability."

"Why don't you do it more often?" Phoenix questioned.

"It feels cheap and can't kill so isn't practical. I couldn't even kill that demon right now when it is paralyzed, its defence is too good." Silk said while walking out the shop through the new hole in the wall.

"Get down for gods sake," Crusher hissed in Silk's ear while pushing him into a hidden side street. "You'll get us killed, we need to stay hidden from those things. Are you a complete idiot?"

"A lot of the time." Silk answered smiling.