Chapter 58. Full Counter
It was almost insulting to be sent after someone so weak.
The leader of the Last Order felt a vague sense of discontentment as he examined Levi Ironwood’s sleeping form through the polished window. He was adhered to the exterior wall of the Ironwood Manor, his magical signature suppressed so tightly that not even the most skilled of mages would’ve sensed even a flicker of mana from his form. His true name had been purged from the records of history. These days, he simply went by the moniker of Shade. A bit melodramatic, to be sure, but considering what he was the leader of, he doubted anyone would object.
They were one of the few groups of individuals said to be capable of assassinating even a king. Indeed, Luminarche’s royal government paid them a hefty sum every year to not take any jobs against the royal family, with the promise of doubling any potential offers they received. In fact, there were even talks of getting them on retainer to streamline the negotiations. It even included royal healer benefits…
Individually, they weren’t the strongest. But working together as a team?
They were one of the even fewer groups of individuals acknowledged to be able to take down an Ascendant.
With that in mind, being sent after a fresh Institute graduate – one whom, according to their intelligence gathering, hadn’t even crossed level 14 yet – was a job far beneath them. Now granted, the Last Order had determined that Levi Ironwood was stronger than his level suggested; there were quite a few rumors floating around the Institute of Ascension that raised some questions.
Enough rumors, in fact, that Shade had a small inkling that Levi Ironwood had, somehow, someway, managed to hoodwink the Institute of Ascension’s Central Nexus System. An impossible feat – but then, the Last Order themselves were regularly contracted to pull off ‘impossible feats’.
This was only reinforced by how Mythmaker Qorbin Ravenbane had taken Levi Ironwood on as an apprentice. Now that had been a shock to hear; Shade had worked together with Ravenbane several times in the past, even attempting to recruit him into the Last Order once or twice. Ravenbane had never seemed like the sort to take on any students at all, much less fresh Institute graduates. Consequently, there had to be something special about Levi Ironwood.
There were also growing rumors about some cult being led by that one beastfolk tribe emerging in the south. Information on that was still sparse, but Shade’s intelligence network had reported alleged links to Levi Ironwood. He wasn’t certain how reliable those sources were, though.
That being said, Levi Ironwood was still a fresh Institute graduate, not even an heir anymore. It didn’t matter if he was stronger than he appeared; he just wasn’t on their usual list of acceptable targets. It was a prestige thing. Shade would’ve never even considered the job request if it weren’t for the very substantial sum of coin that was offered.
And what a substantial sum it was. Ten thousand iridium coins would’ve been enough money to pay for a duke’s assassination. Hell, it had been enough to pay for the assassination of a minor country’s king.
Not to mention just who it was that had made the offer…
There was no way Shade was going to refuse.
It had taken them a week to scope out the Ironwood Manor. One week to note every defensive countermeasure, analyze the ancient magical wards, create an accurate map of the premises, and identify openings in the guard rotations. A few rehearsal infiltrations in a one-to-one magical replica of the location later, and all they had to do was wait for Levi Ironwood to return.
Shade would’ve felt bad for the kid if he still had the capacity to feel. As it was, he’d killed that part of him a long time ago. All he could muster was a few scraps of pity.
Oh well. Such was life.
Final pre-check, he sent through the instantaneous telepathic link. Shade in position.
Wraith in position, Wraith sent. He was in the room below Levi Ironwood’s. Boss, this is a waste of time. Let’s just get this over with.
Specter in position, Specter said. He was in the room above. Wraith, be silent. You know this is standard procedure.
Fang in position, Fang said from the hallways. Oh, come on, Wraith is right. This is just some kid, in a tier-3 defensible position at that. This should’ve been a single night’s work; instead, we’ve already spent more than a week in preparation.
Onyx in position, Onyx’s deep voice rumbled inside their minds. He was in the room adjacent to Levi Ironwood’s bedroom. Keep the airwaves clear, everyone. He was the one responsible for maintaining the telepathic link. We’re professionals here, let’s act like it. Even if this is admittedly overkill for some low-level cheating noble poltroon.
Hey, now that’s just uncalled for.
What, you know it’s true–
Shade could practically hear Onyx freeze in place over the telepathic link. He himself felt his blood turn to ice, a chill rippling through his entire body.
For good reason.
He didn’t recognize the voice that had just sounded over the telepathic link.
Who was it–?
Shade made eye contact with the suddenly-awake Levi Ironwood, and he temporarily lost control over the magic adhering him to the wall, slipping down a few inches before regaining control.
It was a flagrant mistake, one that if he saw any of the other Order members make, he would’ve suggested retirement for them effective immediately. But he felt like he could be forgiven this one time.
Right now, Shade was under a myriad of total presence concealment skills. It should’ve been impossible to detect him via sight, sound, scent, heat, or magic. For Levi Ironwood to make literal direct eye contact with him…
For a second, Shade wondered if he was dreaming, or if Fang had slipped some hallucinogenic mushroom extract into his rations again. But no. This was very real.
How are you – Onyx’s voice was tense. This is a closed psychic connection with multi-layered mental hexes! How is your brain not melting out of your ears?
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Yo, Levi said in a polite drawl. Sorry, but I’m not interested in whatever you guys are selling.
Shade finally recovered.
Kill him, damn it! He barked over the connection. Deploy all skills, use everything we’ve got–!
Shade’s voice cut off in a choked gurgle as Levi Ironwood disappeared.
That too should’ve been impossible. Fang, their runemaster, had set up an anti-teleportation ward around Levi Ironwood’s room. Any form of spatial transference should’ve been blocked and cancelled.
Shit! Fang cried out. The spatial field is down, visual confirmation of target is lost, OH FUCK–
Shade flinched as a mental backlash ripped over and through him, the rebound of a connection that had suddenly lost one end slamming into his mind like an angry elastic band. Onyx hissed in pain as he scrambled to stabilize the connection.
Okay, so here’s the deal, Levi said, his voice suddenly serious as it echoed around in their minds. Normally, I’d be happy to play around with you guys for a bit, but... You just interrupted my sleep. Now that -- that pisses me off.
Shade’s eyes flitted around rapidly as he tried to locate Levi Ironwood. He couldn’t detect him at all. Shit, shit, shit – how had things gone so wrong so quickly? Had Levi been Ravenbane’s hidden protege or something?
No, forget protege – what Shade was seeing right now was already on the level of Ravenbane. Perhaps even surpassing him.
Change of plans! He hissed. Regroup! To me!
He leaped off the wall and landed on the ground below. In a flash, Wraith and Onyx appeared next to him in twin flickers of speed. Shade waited several more seconds.
Specter remained nowhere to be seen.
Shade’s heart hammered furiously against his chest. Where was Specter? They hadn’t felt any mental backlash yet, which meant he was still alive–
OH GODDESS! Specter screamed, IT’S INSIDE MY CHEST IT’S SCRAPING MY LUNGS I CAN FEEL IT SQUEEZING ME–
His voice cut off abruptly, accompanied with a terrible mental backlash that had the three of them recoiling.
“Cut the connection!” Shade snapped. Onyx didn’t do anything. Right, his sound was still suppressed. Shade growled before canceling the presence concealment skills over him and repeating his words.
Onyx nodded, a bead of sweat trickling down his face as his hand briefly glowed white. The telepathic connection dissipated.
“Our intel is bad,” Shade said. He’d expected Levi Ironwood to be stronger than his reputation foretold, had even looked forward to finding out how strong he truly was, but this… He swallowed. “We’ll have to make a tactical retreat.”
“We’re going to run?” Wraith asked
“‘Course we’re gonna fuckin’ run!” Shade’s old accent, one that had been beaten out of him during the early days of his training to remove all possible identifiers, slipped back into his voice. “He already took down two of us! You think we can fuckin’–”
The world went dark.
Shade instinctively lashed out with a dagger, his [Assassin’s Fury] empowering the blade. It could cut through mithril like butter if it landed.
Key word being if it landed. He felt his dagger carve through air and nothing else.
Next to him, Onyx shouted, “[Fracture]!”
Whatever skill Levi Ironwood had used on them broke, the midnight blackness around them cracking into a million shards. Illusionary magic so potent it had become physical…
Shade’s thought trailed to a halt as the darkness fully receded to reveal Wraith sprawled out on the ground. He immediately knew Wraith was dead. But… It made no sense. Shade couldn’t see any signs of injuries on Wraith’s body. No blood, no blunt force trauma, not even a single hair out of place.
Wraith was a Nightblade, an evolution of the Warrior class. His Constitution alone was in the high hundreds, and Shade had personally seen him tank a full-force blow from a nine-headed hydra before and only getting a bloody nose.
How had Levi Ironwood somehow killed him in a single instant–?
Next to him, Onyx stiffened. The reason for this became evident a moment later when a thin earthen pike, less than a centimeter thick, exited through the top of his left shoulder. Shade looked down and mentally calculated the trajectory; the pike had entered Onyx through the foot.
It wasn’t enough to kill Onyx, but it did restrain him for a split second – long enough for three arcs of magic to slam into Onyx’s body. The first two arcs shattered the numerous protective anti-magic enchantments covering Onyx like glass, and the final arc of magic sank into Onyx’s unprotected flesh, cutting diagonally across his chest.
Just like Wraith, all the tension immediately left Onyx’s body as he slumped over, dead, only the pike keeping him upright.
What the fuck. What the fuck. What the FUCK.
Levi Ironwood had an insta-kill technique that bypassed all durability, magical defenses, and Constitution? Was that even possible?
No, Shade had no time to worry. His habits kicked in, and he whipped his head over to where the arcs of magic had come from. He couldn’t see, smell, or hear anything, but…
Before his very eyes, Levi emerged into existence. There were no telltale signs of stealth skills deactivating. One second, there wasn’t anything; the next, Levi was there.
“Well,” Levi said. “I suppose I should at least ask you your name–”
[Unerring Strike]!
Reality cracked, causality accelerated and skipped a beat, and with zero time elapsing at all, Shade appeared right in front of Levi, his dagger already impaling Levi’s heart–
“Oh wow,” Levi said, sounding impressed. “That’s a terrifying skill.”
The hairs on the back of Shade’s neck rose as reality reasserted itself, the entire chain of events that had just occurred somehow getting negated.
Shade gaped at Levi from where he had been originally standing a few meters away, his dagger hanging uselessly at his side.
[Unerring Strike] was a skill that surpassed even the gods, one that was theoretically capable of taking down even an Ascendant. Shade had been looking forward to testing it out on one. There was no way to avoid or block the skill; the only way to survive the attack was to instantly teleport out of range or somehow have the durability to tank the blow.
“How?” Shade croaked out. “How did you…”
“I’m sure that against most people, it would be quite the effective technique,” Levi said. “Unfortunately for you, I am more familiar with the minute shifts and fluctuations in reality than most. What happens in one layer can be preempted in another layer, you see.”
Layer? What layer? Layers of reality? What nonsense was he talking about?
“On that note,” Levi continued, “you really shouldn’t mess around with causality like that; such an act tampers with the fabrics of space and time. You never know when something might rip – or what might come crawling through the opening.” He shuddered and muttered under his breath, “Nor do you want to know just how much of a pain in the ass it is to track them down and take care of them…”
Shade stared at him with incomprehension.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it,” Levi said, his voice returning to normal, “I also happen to be able to take advantage of the resultant instabilities in the fabrics of space and time.” An expression of intense concentration passed over his face as he reached out into the air. “If I twist things in a certain exact way…”
He twisted his hand, and suddenly, Shade couldn’t move. His muscles strained and nearly tore as he struggled to break free of whatever binds were restraining him, but it was futile.
It made no sense. Shade couldn’t sense any magic binding him, couldn’t feel anything physical holding him down.
“And that’s that,” Levi said. Goddess above, he wasn’t even breathing hard. His voice was calm, almost placid, like he had just announced the weather. “So. Your name?”
“I am Shade of the Last Order,” Shade said. “What do you want? Money? Treasure? People? I can get you anything you want, anyone you desire, if you let me go free.”
He felt no shame as he pleaded for his life. He didn’t think it would work, but–
“Hmm, okay,” Levi said. “You have yourself a deal.”
Shade blinked. “Wait. Really?”
“Nah,” Levi said. “Do say hello to him for me, will you?”
And then his world went dark.