Mythshaper

It was a flask of alchemical explosive that detonated into shards of glass and molten flame. It shot off like a blighted cannon, on its way to disintegrate anything in its path. I let go of the fire spear and used all my essence threads through the relic, mounting my best defence.

Molten liquid flame crashed into my ward. It could not penetrate [Vigil of Protection], but the explosive force thrust me into the wall, scorching flame spurting in all directions. Even the others were not safe, despite the explosion being targeted at me. A middle-aged woman had slumped against the shutter, glass shards digging into her skin, while everyone else had been burned from the explosion.

Worse, the elder, the one who threw the explosive flask, showed no repentance as he threw another one, this time at the bystanders.

Haste flung me into the path of the flask, as I wasted no breath, extending my Ward to include the patrons in the protection as blinding flames slammed into the barrier.

I had not managed to surround the two fellows on the far side. Thankfully, the attack was not directed at them. Even so, the violet-eyed girl had already disengaged from the Half-living and come to their rescue. That proved to be prudent, as the old man's next target turned out to be them.

He changed targets to aim at her. Without hesitation, I shot out a Ward of kinetic force, creating a barrier between the explosion and her. To her credit, she already had a ward of protection on her. A pendant on her neck glowed in a glaring cerulean sheen. Its defence was perhaps not as powerful as my relic, but it should have kept her safe nonetheless.

Momentarily relieved, I shot towards the blighted old man, who took up another flask. My essence threads whooshed at him, slamming into his body. His protective amulet kept him safe from the blow, but thankfully, the flask fell from his palm and shattered, igniting into molten flame all the same.

The elder yelped, his body flying several metres to crash into a shelf. The shield protecting him was already crumbling, but I could not give him any time to orient himself. Or join with the others who broke in from the upper floor.

A blade flew into my palm as I surged towards him, my aura and essence rising to their greatest height. The Half-living bolted to his rescue, his aura-enforced axe slamming towards me.

"No, you don't!" The girl flipped over my head out of nowhere and intercepted the Half-living. Despite being a class lower than him, she held him, allowing me ample time to dispatch the others.

The old man had already stood up, shifting away from the burning floor. I gave him no chance. My form blurred in Haste, the sword hurtling with the same momentum to strike the disintegrating ward.

"Devil child!" swore the man, coughing. "YOU WILL DIE AT MY HAND! YOU WILL--"

All my aura flared in the resonance of Sharpness and Penetration. It bit through the defence, plunged into his chest, breaking bones and crushing his heart, before exiting out from his back. As soon as his eyes grew lifeless, I yanked my blade free and shifted to my left. There were other targets, one already holding an explosive flask aloft.

My blade flashed, cleaving the arm from the elbow as blood spurted in a fountain, but my attention moved to the falling flask. A handful of my threads sprang to catch it before it crashed. With a swift motion, I stowed it away into the blessed stone, never breaking from the stance of Whispering Gale.

The blade twisted, targeting his neck this time. The Half-living's compatriot was more prudent and produced his ward. My aura slapped into the shield, dispersing the kinetic force, but could not quite penetrate it when an axe plunged towards my back. I paid it no attention, with my relic protecting me completely. Instead, I oscillated my aura into a rampant shifts, digging through the ward.

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The man let out a squelching cry as the blade fractured through the defence and split his neck.

There were two more at my rear, wielding battle axes. A tall woman with a darker skin tone and a younger male. There was no time to hesitate. Smouldering flame manifested at my call, shaping into two blazing spears. They bolted at them, wasting no time. The younger male's defensive ward seemed to malfunction or could not shield him in time, as the searing spear gouged through his chest, flinging him to the back of the flaming shop.

The woman was similarly hurtled back, but still standing strong. "What are you?" she cursed, her eyes darting to others. The Half-living, who already had a knife pinned into its shoulder, had chosen to flee instead of engaging in a deadly fight.

The girl had held herself well. Despite the Half-living using nefarious tactics of using the bystanders for his escape, she had broken through his ward, only to be restrained by a couple of other minions. The Half-living practically broke through the shutter.

Taking my chance, I fired the aura-enforced blade at him. It plunged into his back, sticking in, but the Half-living did not hesitate to dash off. That at least left a way for the smoke to spread out.

This amount of ruckus should be enough to call the enforcers. Finally returning to my sanity, I decided to restrain the axe-wielding woman, implementing half of my essence threads, whereas the other half sprang to yank another fellow ganging up on the girl.

With a merciless pull of telekinesis, I threw him onto the woman, pinning both of them together. Meanwhile, the girl jabbed a knee into the other one's head, stealing his consciousness.

Her gaze met mine for a fraction of a moment. Relieved, she said, "Take care of them."

With that, she dashed through the punctured shutter, after the Half-living that had escaped.

A couple of the patrons had already passed out, unable to breathe, while the rest clung to their dear lives. Without thinking of the ramifications that were to come, I shaped water to sprinkle all over the blazing interior of the shop.

More disturbance came from outside, and soon, a group of figures broke in. At once, they shot some kind of alloyed net at me. Alarmed, my ward flared to obstruct it, and I recognised it to be an Essence-restraining net. Finally, the familiar enforcer uniform came into view.

"Give up! You have nowhere to flee," barked a female constable.

It took a moment for me to realise her words were directed at me. Soon, all the other enforcers surrounded me. "Officers, I'm not—"

A pilum struck my side, and I watched it fall uselessly on my shield.

"Officers, this isn't what it looks like," I tried to explain. "I'm not the one you should be—"

"Restrain everyone first," it was the one in an Inspector uniform this time. A pot-bellied augmenter of the Prestigious Class. "We'll get the truth out once we detain them."

Hesitation warred in my mind. Should I let them detain me? I could chance to withdraw first, but it did not seem the right choice to fight the law enforcers.

I had already killed four people. I…

Exhaling a slow breath, I let go of my essence threads and withdrew my relic. I drew my palms towards them to let them take me in.

The female constable came forward, still keeping her Ward active. With a swift motion, she detained my arms in handcuffs that sent a shiver of electric shock spasming through my arms. I hurriedly withdrew even the little aura exuding from me, in case the cuffs knocked me out.

Thankfully, it was not only me who was cuffed. The three companions of the Half-living were in similar situations, though that did not stop the conscious ones from glaring at me.

Then the Spell's voice chimed in my mind.

[Way of Aura Resonance: Penetration (7/100) is available.]

[Congratulations! Your Honour of Nascent Demon Hunter (Noble) is evolving into Demon Hunter (Prestigious).]

[Your aura has been empowered.]

[You met one condition to advance your Enhanced Aura.]

[+10% to all Aspects.]

A deep surge of essence flooded through me. It would have been empowering, though I was unsure if I was deserving of it when I had completed it by killing humans instead.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I did not have to dwell on those thoughts, as the fabricator cuffed to my arms took it as me utilising my powers and shot a bolt of charge through my system, swallowing my thoughts.

End of Part I

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