Chapter 44 - Arrival

Constance's jaw tightened as she ate the ferocious downwards cut from the great sword wielding shadow, even her insight could not pierce the cloud of darkness completely! 

"Who are you!?" 

"..."

Using the rebound of force from Constance's static block, the shadow took a small step of distance, keeping her at the maximum range of the sword, preventing her slightly shorter sword from entering it's range.

She took a step back, and it took a step forward, piercing.

She spun the sword in a semi-arc to try and catch out the extended hand, cutting at the wrist, but it missed as the shadow caught the strike with the long handle of the sword.

She drew back, and it drew forward with a diagonal slash, she took a step into the strike while blocking and tanked it, digging her feet into the ground like roots, her lower body showing off the prowess trained over the years and years in the churches chambers of silence.

Turning her sword onto it's broadside, she slide it forward intending to take the shadows fingers, to which it swiftly changed hand position, and pulled back, opening itself to an attack.

Constance closed the gap while she was already moving, and fiercely jabbed straight for center mass, where it would be hardest to escape.

The shadow leaned the whole way back, bringing it's leg up, and kicking her sword arm, sending it veering off, it rolled back, having thrown itself off balance, but as soon as he got it's feet under it from the roll, it launched forward! 

Constance's pupils shrank, her side was still open.

Her hand burned with holy fire, and she shot it at the offending shadow coming barreling forward, it could do nothing but eat it.

In that moment while it was blind, she grinned slightly.

One of the first sword lessons, to fighting against a superior opponent.

Play off their superiority. 

It's sword broke past the holy fire, it's clothes were alight, and the smell of burning flesh was spreading, but it's charge had not broken.

It was her victory, with the holy fire on it's way to devour the shadow completely, feeding off the aura it was using, but, she braced.

That stab wound from the sword would hurt like hell.

Her ears rang, at the sound of a high pitched ringing, as if the sword was screaming in agony.

A rock covered in violet aura had slammed into the sword.

It veered off course, and her eyes narrowed, as she raised her sword, chopping down on the shadow that had been sent sprawling, splitting it's head down the middle.

...Her chest rose and fell violently.

Expecting to be stabbed, only to get away without it, her side had phantom pain, and her head was pounding, she turned her shaking gaze over.

Argo was laid against a boulder, with the girl fussing over him, he lowered his hand, and smiled slightly, "Your welcome." 

She didn't know how to feel, one one had, he had indeed saved her from being stabbed, but on the other hand, that shit eating grin made her not want to be thankful.

But regardless, it was true that he had saved her from the pain of being stabbed.

She turned back to the burning shadow, "Thank you." 

This one had been a degree stronger than the others. If not for the churches teachings from their masters, she wasn't sure she would have been able to fight so equally with it.

It's clothes were burning off as she inspected it.

There was an insignia on it's neck but it was too destroyed to properly see it.

She turned to the other shadows, but they had already started to melt starting from their necks, where the tattoo would be.

Some sort of poison had activated, consuming their corpses.

Her eyes burned.

"Hey," Constance shot Argo a slight look, she was busy trying to investigate, yet he was grabbing her attention, though, she got worried a half second later, if he was injured and needed assistance, "Look up for me." 

Constance's brows furrowed.

He needed to know if he was seeing things.

She couldn't even say she was exhausted or surprised.

She could only say, she was prepared.

What else was here? 

What more would be waiting? 

She didn't know, but she had gotten better and better at hiding her intentions over time.

She walked over to a boulder, amidst the furious shock waves of the clashes, which had grown stronger, and as she climbed, she shot a glance at the ceiling.

Her lips pursed.

She looked at the faraway clash, her eyes narrow.

"So much power, and so little sense."

Argo briefly shut his eyes, looking into the dark and envisioning the plan and steps needed moving forward, to end up on top.

The little earth spirit flew around him pestering, as he thought.

Power and sense… It was the puppeteer of these shadows that was stuck to the faraway ceiling looking down. 

He was not going crazy, and it was not some sort of reaper at the end that he was seeing while at the edge of life and death.

It's eyes were like little crystal dots on the far far away ceiling, but they were only visible if one was looking closely enough.

Seeing the shadows melting, he knew who it was at last, that was Murphy's trump card.

He didn't see the melted insignias, but he didn't need to.

There was only one organization that fit the bill so perfectly, with that poison, and he remembered the aura he had clashed against in the past, to 'save' Constance.

He would have told her, if he didn't think he would have to explain how it was that he knew about their suicide methods, or if he thought that it wouldn't layer some latent suspicion on him.

For now, he chose to keep it to himself.

The people that were Murphy's trump card.

Spider.

To be specific, a Master from Spider, or perhaps, Spiders Boss. He didn't know. Spider was mired in deep intrigue and unknowns that he had not pierced, or tried to pierce in the past.

Another thought occurred to him.

Was he the one that had been lurking from behind, hiding from everyone? 

But he did know that Spider hated the Empress, for declaring them a national threat, to be eradicated.

And the Dumbarans naturally hated the Empress as well, so a team up was inevitable. 

But the Dumbaran's wanted the Hero to brainwash and use for their own means, to re-establish Dumbar.

And Spider wanted the Hero in order to be able to come out of the shadows and do whatever their own plan was.

The two were only ally's for now.

A thought cropped up in his head, as it reached that point, and he stopped thinking about the Spider clinging to the ceiling.

Though he did feel slightly better, since, he had a more complete picture now.

"Chieftain! We have arrived!" 

But… that didn't last.

Argo turned his head over.

He felt cold, hearing that voice.

His lungs contracted, his mouth was dry and his fingers ached.

Marce.

She looked so heroic, stoop atop a boulder, full of arms and faces. He could see the other Root Guards, faces he had memorized, with her. 

They were swarming over the boulders. Above, a flying Lunston shot like a bullet into the magic storm, clashing within.

They all looked so heroic.

So majestic and brave.

Like warriors out of a painting.

As if they hadn't betrayed and tried to kill him in cold blood, after he had alerted them and lead them on the trail down here.

But he didn't care about that.

No... not really.

Betrayals happened, after all. That was life.

Yet it was also true, that they had tried to kill him. He had killed mages in the same way, arguably done worse, so he always expected to die in a similar manner.

He wasn't against it. He didn't think, that others should be kind to him... But he had survived.

His eyes crawled through their ranks, recognizing every face, if one were to lock eyes with him, they'd be dragged into the quagmire within.

Another thought occurred to him, inside that vile swamp.

The vines in the walls... the flower, the hands, the faces... 

"Kill them all! Save the Chief!" 

...He couldn't help but smile.

Smile, ear to ear in utter silence, in fact.

The girl looked up at him, and then at Marce, whom was pulling her heavy bow back, with magic centering around the arrow like a shooting star.

She gripped her dagger. 

Constance felt something odd, and looked down, her happiness at their arrival doused completely, by Argo's expression, her eyes turning stormy as she was reminded of what Marce had done.

She didn't know what it was that he was thinking, or what it was he wanted to do, but she still had her Insight active in her eyes, and… 

….she had seldom seen such malice even in the people she had fought to the death.