Chapter 29 - Ambush

Renji reached for the hilt of his sword, and Alina’s grip on her staff tightened.

The dark elf smirked as she approached. “I can sense the power awakening within you, Alina.”

“What are you talking about? What power?”

“Oh, you don’t know? Now this will be most interesting.”

“What do you want?” Renji’s eyes narrowed as he drew his blade.

A pair of cloaked figures slipped from the side streets, with another blocking the path from behind.

Blocked on three sides. The house at our back. Not good. How did they find us?

Rovan stepped out from behind Vaerina. “Alina, we don’t have to fight.”

“No! Never!” Alina spat. “What did the witch promise you, Rovan? How can you take her side after all that’s happened?”

Vaerina snickered. “He never told you? I taught him everything he knows about magic. He knew me even before you were…” She touched her chin in mock thought. “Born, I should say.”

“Alina, please come with us.” Rovan gestured to Renji. “We’ll let him go. Just come.” His tone was half-pleading.

“I never agreed to that, Rovan.”

“But—”

Vaerina cut him off, her gaze locked on Alina. “You are coming with us, girl. Whether you want to or not. How that happens is up to you.”

Renji’s jaw clenched. Six attackers. Rovan and Vaerina were especially troublesome. Retreat or fight? Can we win? Where would we even run?

The cloaked figures flanking the pair shifted their stances.

“Incoming,” Renji said sharply.

They converged on Renji and Alina with weapons flashing.

Alina raised her staff, unleashing a wave of frost that blanketed the street in ice. The two nearest attackers dove aside, rolling behind cover before the spell could freeze them solid. Cracks crept across the frozen ground and walls where her blast struck.

On Renji’s flank, a chain-knife whistled through the air. He deflected it with his bracer and countered, swinging his blade in a sharp arc. A crescent of magic essence cut through the air, hammering into the assailant. He crossed his arms to block but was hurled back, tumbling across the ground.

Another rushed in with daggers held in reverse grips. Renji parried the flurry of blows with his sword, sparks flying. With a powered strike, he shoved the assailant back. Seizing the opening, Renji thrust out his free hand and released a pulse of magic essence. The golden ball of light slammed into the man’s chest, throwing him back several metres before he crashed into a stack of crates.

Across the way, Alina’s foes tossed a smoke bomb. A white-grey cloud spread, filling the street as their silhouettes closed in. She conjured a wave of water that roared across the ground, swallowing the smoke and forcing the two assailants back.

Renji came up beside Alina as he switched targets.

This was a tactic they were used to — a result of the many monsters they had fought together. It was a tactic that Alina felt comfortable with. She attacked and immobilised from range. Renji finished at close quarters. Simple. Reliable.

“Keep an eye on the others. They might come back,” Renji said flatly.

“G-Got it.” A knot formed in her stomach as she caught the look on his face. His eyes were empty, cold.

It’s back. The part of him that hates being here, Alina thought.

The two assailants rushed in. Renji braced, magic essence flowing through his limbs. Beyond them, Vaerina and Rovan stood and watched. Rovan’s arms were folded, impatience plain on his face. Vaerina wore a sly grin.

Why are Vaerina and Rovan not engaging? Need to stay defensive for now, until they show their hand.

An assailant flung a trio of knives as he charged in. They clanged against the translucent shield Renji threw up. He burst forward, covering a few metres in a flash. With one swing, he severed the attacker’s right hand. The man dropped to his knees with a bone-chilling scream.

“Bastard!” the other attacker lunged. Renji parried, spun inside his guard, and slammed an elbow into his throat as he turned. The man staggered, and Renji drove his blade through his chest.

Renji turned to check on the other two he had incapacitated earlier. One was gingerly getting to his feet, and the other still lay unconscious in the pile of broken crates.

Rovan’s jaw tightened as he eyed Renji. “How did you obtain that power?”

Renji held his gaze but remained silent. Eyes still dead cold, he tightened his grip on the hilt.

No sense in wasting words on someone you’re going to kill.

He shot forward.

Rovan slammed his staff down. Ice erupted into a serpent — two metres wide, fangs like scythes and eyes dark with malice. The beast lunged.

Renji leapt, trying to get clear. The serpent snapped upwards, tracking his leap with surprising speed.

“Damn it.”

Renji threw up a magic shield and braced. The serpent rammed into it, shattering the shield and sending him flying into a building.

“Renji!” Alina cried out.

Stone and rubble shifted. Renji emerged from the building, covered in a golden glow.

She sighed in relief, a hand pressed to her chest.

“You can still stand after that? Most unexpected, Renji.” Rovan stretched out his hand, staff pointed at him. “You won’t survive this one.”

Renji lowered his stance and drew his sword back. He exhaled, and his blade flared wildly with a yellow glow of magic. The aura surrounding him intensified.

The ice serpent surged.

Renji charged.

Ice and steel clashed in a storm of frost and magic. He carved the head in two, splitting the serpent down the middle. He charged down the length of the beast, closing in on Rovan.

Rovan froze. “Impossible!”

I have him now, Renji thought as he neared the serpent’s tail.

Thick vines burst from the ground and shot toward him. Before they struck, they were shredded by Alina’s ice lances.

“Most interesting,” Vaerina mused as she sent another barrage of vines. “You have gotten stronger, girl.”

Renji leapt back as the vines hammered the ground in a cloud of gravel and stone.

Another barrage followed, and then another, each one forcing him to retreat. The last wave Alina countered with an ice wall. Vines slammed into the barrier, shards of frost exploding outward — but the wall held.

“How can she do so many, one after another?” Alina muttered. “I can do this!”

Her eyes narrowed as she dug deep into her well of magic. A faint blue glow enveloped her, and blue lines crept across her skin.

Streams of frost spiralled around her as a dragon took shape. Its body was long and serpentine, twisting like a frozen river. Antler-like horns crowned its head, and its eyes burned with fury.

“Ice dragon? But… how?” Rovan muttered under his breath.

The dragon surged forward, charging Vaerina and Rovan.

The dark elf smirked and raised an outstretched hand for the first time.

Bright green vines erupted from her palm, lashing around the dragon’s body.

Alina cried out as she dug deeper, pouring more magic into it. The dragon pressed forward, edging closer to Vaerina.

The dark elf, now enveloped in a green glow, clenched her fist sharply.

The ice dragon exploded in a massive cloud of ice and green light.

Alina froze. “No way.”

Vaerina drew a sceptre tipped with a shimmering green orb, slightly larger than a fist.

Renji froze, his breath catching. “Is that the…?”

His blood ran cold. It was the artefact of the World Tree—the very thing the Great Spirit had said could open a way back for him. He didn’t need to hunt for Vaerina on Floor Twenty. She had brought it here.

“You recognise this? Surprising.” Vaerina raised the sceptre, a wicked smile curling across her lips. “Yes, it’s the Verdant Orb. I helped myself to it twenty years ago.”

Alina gasped softly, eyes wide. “It’s impossible… to control its power without the Great Spirit.”

“With this—” Vaerina gestured to the gold sceptre bound to the Orb. “—its power bends to my will.”

Renji calculated the odds. That dragon had been Alina’s most powerful spell, and it was destroyed with ease.

He reached out and gently held her wrist. “When you see an opportunity, run like hell. Regardless of what happens,” he said softly.

She looked at him, eyes pleading. “Renji… no.” She shook her head.

“We’ll hold out as long as we can, but I don’t think it’s a fight we can win.”