Obscure War (9)

Ejiro didn't give the telekinesis mage any time as he dashed toward her. She managed to block the first strike with her floating daggers. Suddenly, Ejiro's eyes became filled with light. He was using light magic to blind her momentarily.

Before she could react, her head had been severed by Ejiro's sword, slowly rolling down the rooftop until it fell into the street below.

Ejiro was leading a small crew. It was composed of two wind magicians, a dark magician who could summon wings on his back and another who could make sticky elastic strings from dark magic. They were all mages who could travel easily through the city.

A multitude of X-54 jets DA had sent was flying behind them. Luo was the fleet's general. He smiled. "We can finally fly one of those again."

He gave an order. "Keep pushing to the West! By gathering the opposite forces' attention, we're providing a way for Ejiro Sani's team to get to this city's western gate!"

A blue missile came straight at Luo and Jenna's aircraft. Jenna quickly spotted it on the radar and hit a button, tilting the ship 90 degrees and diving between the walls of two buildings. They narrowly avoided the missile; it exploded and killed a few people within a building.

"Destroy all the towers on your way!" said Luo as Jenna shot down a missile launcher sentry. There were sentry guns all over the Obscure city's roof.

"Yes, sir!"

…

While the rebels were busy with their targetted attacks and preparing for war and the Western Army was in the heat of battle, a video broadcasted on the news shook the Obscure Guild.

Gabriella, it seemed, had filmed herself. Three rebel soldiers were with her, their hands strapped together on a prison wall. She was recording herself torturing two humans and one vampire. Their muscular bodies had gotten covered with bruises and recent scars.

A thirty-year-old man begged to his knees, yet appeared ridiculous with his dislocated arms, his hands still stuck to the wall and above his head. "Please, milady! We won't mess up again!"

"Oh yeah?"

The woman beside him responded urgently. She was terrified. "I swear we won't!"

"Please spare us," asked the mid-rank vampire. Gabriella had torn off his wings, but he was in better condition than the others, thanks to his fast healing.

"Alright. You won't disappoint me anymore." Gabriella smiled and approached the male human.

She grabbed his left arm and pulled. "What are you doing?!" The man, Joseph, couldn't control his arm at all. He was traumatized by the thought that Gabriella could do whatever she wanted with it.

She kept pulling on it. At one point, the rebel's left hand had dislocated completely and popped out of the cuffs. A few seconds later, she tore the whole arm off.

"AARGH!" He bit his tongue, yet didn't even realize it because of the excruciating pain masking all other feelings in his body.

"Joseph!" The woman screamed his name but instantly regretted it when the insane queen approached her.

-Squish!

Gabriella's hard claws penetrated her eyes and cerebral cortex, ravaging her brain. She died.

The vampire made eye contact with Gabriella. "My Queen. Please! I'm a vampire. You can't-"

"Hm!" He suddenly choked on something. Gabriella had stuck her hand in his mouth. Using her claws, she ripped off his tongue.

"I don't care~ Hihi… HAHAHAHA"

The vampire threw up blood. 'She's insane! How could she do this to another vampire!'

Seeing a hint of anger in his eyes, Gabriella halted her devilish laughter and brought the camera to the floor. She pushed the vampire on the hard metal ground. The camera was only recording from his head to his upper body.

"NGOOO-" The vampire tried to scream, his dilated pupils facing directly above.

-CRUSH

Gabriella's boot suddenly appeared in the next frame. She had smashed his head with it. Blood was everywhere, pieces of brain and other organs had splattered across the prison room, and his eyes had popped out, his skull grounded by Gabriella's terrorizing blow.

Whipping off the camera, Gabriella smiled and laughed again. Joseph was still alive in the back but had already lost consciousness. "This is what happens to people who can't follow orders properly! You better take notice, MY precious REBELS!"

The video was interrupted, going back to two hosts, equally surprised as the audience. They were acting. "We apologize for this disturbing video. It was another cyberattack, and we couldn't stop it quickly enough. Please do not associate with any rebels, their ruler is so young, yet she's a psychopathic demon."

Stephen Cure closed the news and put down the tablet. "Sophie."

"Yes?" She was one of the people Stephen had brought from the Central Continent, a young black-haired woman with a weak physique.

"I expected something like this. Reptoids are cunning creatures. To transform into Gabriella and ruin her image... This is a bit troublesome."

"What should we do?" She stood up and approached his desk clumsily.

"Firstly, observe the public reception and try to convince them it was fake. That's not how a vampire would kill his victims. Secondly, figure out whether these hosts are reptoids and investigate them. Lastly, look into the victims. We'll trace where this took place."

"Alright, but this is most likely a trap."

"Perhaps. We have a lot of work to do." He sighed, "Get more hackers to surveil the media and stop anything like this from happening from here on out."

…

Isaac arrived at the outer layer with Stephen's water mage friend, Erika. They were in Shroud City, next to the underground mall's structure.

"It's already started," said Erika, referring to the war. The streets were empty.

"I have the gate's password with me. Let's gather with the Rebels and wait for Seth."

But just as Isaac muttered his name, a man in a black hooded sweater signalled at them. He had leader gloves and grey hair that reached his shoulder. He didn't have his staff with him.

"Seth. You're here already?"

"Indeed."

Isaac and Erika came to see him. They descended into one of the mall's numerous underground parking lots.

"How is the situation?" asked Erika.

"The Northwest City is under control. We ought to open the gate to let them in."

"That's what we're here for. Are you alone?"

"Yes. I came alone. It's easier to sneak in that way."

Isaac glared at him. "But what about the rebels?"

Seth turned around and stopped walking. "Huh? Oh. Yes. Let's meet them. Lead the way."

"You haven't met them yet?"

"Nope. I just arrived."

'Did he say 'Nope?' Seth wouldn't say that, and where is his metal staff?' Isaac's heart was beating fast. He looked at the water mage and tried signalling something was wrong. She noticed his sign.

"Mister. They told us you already had the location."

"There must have been a mistake then." He frowned.

"Tell him to read the instructions," Isaac handed Erika a folded paper as he whispered.

Erika walked closer to Seth and gave it to him. "You should read this first. These are the instructions we received."

As Seth unfolded the paper, Isaac quietly got behind him. "Wait. It's just a map. There's nothing on it."

Erika noticed Isaac's eyes glowing red. He conjured a red magic spear and struck Seth's back without hesitating.

"Grrrk!" The master let out a strange scream as Isaac's spear shattered without penetrating his thick scales.

Isaac backed away. "You're not Seth!"

"Haha. You found me out, it seems!"

The imposter metamorphosed into a two metres tall, naked and hideous reptoid female.