Volume 2 Chapter 13 the Assassin

Chapter 13 the Assassin

I

February 3rd, 3050.

Ramsesys, Starsha’s father, was running away from the Wildshadow Camp in horror.

He had to leave there as quickly as possible. If Macchina Gloriosa knew that Starsha and her mother were his families, they would be doomed.

Now, he had arrived near a canyon.

It was raining cats and dogs so that the water in the canyon was galloping like mad. Therefore, he needed to go to the other side of the canyon via a bridge.

However, the instant stepped on the bridge, they felt that something was wrong.

The mist was rendering the world blurry, including the bridge and out of the mist that haunted the bridge came a demonic feminine figure in metallic golden power armour. There was a helmet resembling a vulture worn by her.

Her power armour looked strange and somehow mechanic, and there were circuit-like structures embedded on the surface of her suit, which was glowing with whacky yellow lights.

“נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי, סַאיְ טוּ! דַא קְוַאנְטוֹ טֵימְפּוֹ נֵימֵיסִי.׃” [Nephrenbethys, it’s you … Long time no see, my nemesis,] growled Ramsesys.

“פְּווֹ סֵינְסַארֵי לַה מַאגַייה פְלוֵּינְטַה דֵינְטְרוֹ דִי לֵי טְוֵי וֵוינֵי, רַאמְסֵיסִידֵי. פְּווֹ אוּצִّידֵירְטִי פַאצִילְמֵינְטֵי, פְּרוֹפְּרְיוֹ קוֹמֵי אוּצִّידֵירֵי לִיי אַלְטְרִי אַסַّאסִّינִי.׃” [I can sense the power of Arcana flowing inside your veins, Ramsesys. I can kill you easily, just like killing other assassins,] smirked Totanchinpys, that fiendish woman in mechanic suit.

“פַּאגֵירִי֫ פֵּירְ אִילְ טְווֹ אוּצִّידְיוֹ.׃”[You will pay for your murders,] cursed Ramsesys.

“נוֹן וְווֹלְייוֹ. אֵי טוּ, אִילְ אֵיסִّילוֹ רֵיעוֹ דִי בַּאסّוֹ דֵיסֵירְזְיַה מוֹרִירַה֫ וֹגִّיי!׃” [I won’t. And you, the exiled king of Lower Desertia would die today!] drawled Nephrenbethys.

Nephrenbethys was right. Ramsesys was in fact an exiled king. When he was a kid, his kingdom was destroyed by the Upper Desertians and he began his life of exile. He was also trained by Chophys, the strongest assassin in this world, while he was in exile. That was why Nephrenbethys was hunting him. The aim of this mad woman was killing all the assassins in this world.

With no more words, the two began to fight.

Ramsesys was an assassin and all assassins were fearsome warriors since they were enhanced by the Spring of Arcana.

As fast as a gust of howling wind, Ramsesys drew his scimitars and dashed towards Nephrenbethys.

Nephrenbethys spread her mechanical wings. Being as sharp as blade, this pair of wings was her lethal weapon.

With the help of the submatrix inside her power armour, Nephrenbethys was now the greatest fighter in this world. Soon, she subdued Ramsesys and kicked him off the bridge.

Screaming in fear, Ramsesys fell into the galloping canyon. Since the rain was pouring down, the water of the canyon was running pretty fast and it flushed Ramseys away from Nephrenbethys quickly.

Because of the rain, the air was misty and it would be hard for Nephrenbethys to find Ramsesys and make sure that he was killed.

“צִי רִיוֵוידְרֵימוֹ.׃” [We will meet again,] muttered Nephrenbethys.

II

Eight years later (June 30th, 3058)

It was a dark night.

Ramsesys was walking in an abandoned village, searching for food. He was wearing black suite with and a silver mask.

He had been chased for more than ten years because he was not only an exiled king, but also an assassin. Nephrenbethys, the lethal killer of Macchina Gloriosa, wanted to kill all assassins in this world and take their blood for research.

Struggling to survive and running from Nephrenbethys, his nemesis who was always hiding in the shadows and trying to catch him because of the mystic power running through her veins, he always lived in fear.

Cold wind began to blow against his skin.

There were someone following him.

He turned back. He had been running for his whole life and he had already become bored. Today, he was going to face his destiny.

From a small murky alley walked out a woman in power armour.

It was Nephrenbethys, the most dreadful killer of Achnosiris, the fearsome protector of Machina Gloriosa. There was no way off now.

Nephrenbethys, the nemesis of Ramsesys, was staring aggressively as him. She was wearing a vulture mask, so it was hard to judge her expression. Under the vulture mask, she was like a pure machine aimed only to kill.ּ

“נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי׃” [Nephrenbethys …] murmured Ramsesys.

“נוֹן פּוֹיְ סְקַאפַּّארֵי דַא מֵי, רַאמְסֵיסִידֵי׃ סְמֵיטֵّירֵי קוֹמְבַּאטֵّירֵי אֵי רֵינְדֵירווֹ טֵי מֵינוֹ דוֹלוֹרוֹסוְֹ!׃” [You cannot run from me, Ramsesys. Give up fighting and I will make your suffering less painful …] threatened Nephrenbethys.

“הוֹ דִיוֵוינְטַאטוֹ אַנّוֹיַאטוֹ דֵילַّה מְיַה וִויטַא דִי נַאסְקוֹטַארֵי, קוֹרֵיגֵיירֵי אֵי לוֹטַّארֵי הַַ סוֹפְרַאוִّויוֵוירֵי! אוּצִّידֵירְמִי אֵי פְּרֵינְדִי אִילְ מְיוֹ סַאנְגְוֵי!׃”[I’ve become bored of my life of hiding, running and struggling to survive! Kill me and take my blood!] cried Ramsesys hysterically.

“לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה מִיסְטִיקַה דִי אַרְקַאנַה אֵי נַאסְקוֹטַאטַה נֵיל טְווֹ סַאנְגְוֵי. פֵּירְ אַנַאלִיזّאנְדוֹ אִילְ סַאנְגְוֵי דִי אַסַّאסִّינִי, נוֹי מַאקִّינַה גְלוֹרְיוֹסַה סְוִוילַארַה֫ אִילְ מִיסְטֵירְיוֹ סוּ קוֹמֵי מַאגַייה אַרְקַאנַה דֵייְ אֵילְפִי אַלְטִי פוּנְזְיוֹנַה אֵי קְרֵיאֵירֵימֵימוֹ אִילְ נוֹסְטְרַה מַאגַייה אַרְטִיפִיצַאלֵי פְּיוּ֫ פוֹרְטֵי…׃” [The mystic power of Arcana is hidden in your blood. By analysing the blood of assassins, we Macchina Gloriosa will uncover the mystery of how arcane magic of high elves works and we’ll create our own stronger artificial magic …] sneezed Nephrenbethys.

“פֵּירְקֵי וווֹלִיי לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה דִי מַאגַייה קוֹסִי֫ טַאנְטוֹ?׃”[Why do you want the power of arcane magic so much?] probed Ramsesys.

“פֵּירְקֵי אַבְּّיַאמוֹ בִּיסוֹעוֹ דִי פְּרוֹוַוארֵי קֵי לַא מַַאדְרֵי מַאטְרִיצֵי אֵי֫ אוֹנִִّיפּוֹטֵינְטֵי, סְוַה מַאֵיסְטַה֫. מַאגַייה אֵי֫ קְוַאלְקוֹסַה סוֹפְּרַאנַّאטוּרַאלֵי פֵּירְ אוּמַאנִי, מַה סֵי קוֹלֵّיגְיַאמוֹ אַבַּّאסְטַאנְזַה צַאמְפְּיוֹנֵי, לַה מַאדְרֵי מַאטְרִיצֵי רְיוּשִׁירַה הַ אַנַאלִיזַארְלוֹ אֵי אִילְ פּוֹפּוֹלוֹ סַאפְּרַה֫ קֵי אַנְקֵי קְוַאלְקוֹסַה טַאנְטַה מִיסְטֵירְיוֹסַה קוֹמֵי מַאגַייה פּוּ פְּווֹ֫ אֵיסֵירֵי קוֹמְפּוּטַאטַה דִי מַאקִّינֵי. סַאפְּרֵיטֵי קֵי מֵיקַאנִיסְמוֹ אֵי֫ אִילְ אוּנִיקַה וֵוירַה דוֹטְّרִינַה אִין קְוֵיסְטוֹ מוֹנְדוֹ…׃”[Because we need to prove that the Mother Matrix is omnipotent, your majesty. Magic is something supernature for humans. But if we collect enough sample, the Mother Matrix will be able to analyse it and people will know that even something as mysterious as magic can be computed by machines. They will thus know that mechanism is the one true doctrine of this world …] intoned Nephrenbethys.

“סְווֹנַה קוּלְטִיקוֹ.׃”[That sounds cultic,] commented Ramsesys.

“נוֹן אֵי֫ קוּלְטִיקוֹ! קוּלְטִי סוֹנוֹ אִירַّאזְיוֹנַאלִי, מַא נוֹיְ, מֵיקַאנִיסְטֵי, סְיַאמוֹ רַאזְיוֹנַאלִי. סַאפְּّיַאמוֹ דִי קִי אוּמַאנִי הַאנّוֹ בִּיסוֹעוֹ. אַבְּّיַאמוֹ בִּיסוֹעוֹ דִי…׃”[It’s not cultic! Cults are irrational, but we, mechanists, are rational. We know what humans need. We need to …] retorted Nephrenbethys.

“סוֹ, הַאיְ בִּיסוֹעוֹ דִי פּוֹרְטַארֵי אוּמַאנִי הַ אוּנַה צִִוִיילִיזַאזְיוֹנֵי פְּיוּ אַלְטַה. הַוֹ גְיַה֫ סְטַאטוֹ אַנّוֹיַאנְטוֹ דֵילַّה וווֹסְטרַה דוֹטְّרִינַה!” [I know, you need to bring the humans to a higher civilization. I’ve already been bored of your doctrine!]

The two started to fight once again. However, Ramsesys was no match for Nephrenbethys at all. Her wings were the sharpest blade in this world, and she was unstoppable.

Soon, Ramsesys was knocked to the ground by his nemesis. Desperately, he stared at Nephrenbethys. This woman had killed countless of his comrades, but he couldn’t revenge them because he was too weak. He could do nothing but close his eyes, waiting for death.

III

While the four were resting in a village house, Floria heard someone scream.

“Do you hear that? There seems to be someone else here!” exclaimed Starsha.

“Yes, but I thought it was my hallucination, but since you’ve heard that too, that scream is real and there’s really someone else here …” Starsha nodded.

Sneakily, the four went outsides to check what was happening.

Those sounds of scream didn’t stop, and following the sound, the four spotted two people fighting. One wore a golden power armour with a vulture mask and the other wore some sort of robes and a silver mask.

“Shall we join the fight? Which one shall we help?” questioned Yanni.

“That man with robes and silver mask is an assassin. I’ve seen the pictures of assassin in the storybooks and what he wears is the typical costume of assassins. He must be an assassin,” revealed Starsha.

The four walked up to the two people who are fighting. That woman with golden power armour was slashing that assassin madly.

“Stop! Who are you?” demanded Floria.

That woman in power armour turned to the four.

“My name is Nephrenbethys. I am the protector of Macchina Gloriosa. You four are Normanians … Interesting …” smirked Nephrenbethys.

“Leave that assassin alone!” commanded Floria.

“I won’t,” sneezed Nephrenbethys.

Starsha dashed towards Nephrenbethys, that woman in power armour. With elegant dancing moves, she flashed up to Nephrenbethys, her lunarite daggers glowing brightly under the moonlight.

Daggers of Starsha and wings of Nephrenbethys collided, producing crispy metallic sounds. Starsha had been fighting with Totanchinpys many times, and thus she had known the attacking moves of those power armours well.

Moving at formidable speed, the weapons of the two warrioresses were dancing madly fast under the night sky, turning into blurry afterimages.

“You’re fast, girl!” Nephrenbethys praised.

Though Starsha fought well, she was a human so that she was becoming tired while Nephrenbethys hadn’t become tired at all because her attacking moves were supported by the Submatrix functioning inside her power armour.

Noticing Starsha’s fatigue, Yanni charged up to Nephrenbethys with his shield while Floria shot out a supersonic arrow.

With one of her wings, Nephrenbethys slashed towards the tip of the supersonic arrow shooting at her. The tip of the arrow poked into the blade-like edge of the wing at supersonic speed, and within a second, the arrow was cut into pieces while the wing remained completely intact.

A horrible shockwave was generated while the wing met the superspeed armour, which impacted on Starsha’s front and sent her hurtling in the air.

In order to parry the shockwave, Yanni held up his shield. Smirking insanely, Nephrenbethys soared into the sky and shot a stream of mechanical flechettes from her wings.

Within a second, Nephrenbethys’ flechette pierced through Yanni’s shield as well as his hand.

Screaming in irresistible agony, Yanni looked at his wounded hand in horror. Nephrenbethys had poked a hole on his right hand, all of which commenced to bleed unstoppably. The moment Yanni pulled the flechette out of his own hand, he gave out another scream in pain.

“Leave him alone!” shouted Floria.

She shot a barrage of arrows, aiming at Nephrenbethys. The latter, however, wrapped herself with her wings, which blocked all the arrows as if they were toys for children.

Fortunately, Floria’s attacks weren’t completely valid, because one of her arrow pierced into the engine that enabled Nephrenbethys to fly on the back of her power armour and broke its inner structure. Therefore, she was unable to fly now.

Floria’s attacks had given Yanni enough time to escape from the melee attack range of Nephrenbethys.

Yanni ran back to his sister, his face twisted in pain.

Aislina stepped forwards. She had been charging her magical power while others were fighting. Now, it was time to release her energy.

Eyes glowing fluorescently, Aislina conjured dozens of strips of vines. They came out from under the ground, and wound themselves round Nephrenbethys: Aislina locked Nephrenbethys in an almost unbreakable cage comprised of vines.

There were also some flowers growing on the surface of the vines. With a finger slap, pollens came out from the anthers of those flowers, forming a huge cloud of mist. The mist and the vines swallowed Nephrenbethys whole.

“Wow! Have you defeated her?” questioned Starsha.

“No! Let’s run. I am no match for her too! Follow us, assassin!” commanded Aislina.

While Nephrenbethys was trapped in Aislina’s powerful magical spell, the four and that wounded assassin were running away from the village together. They didn’t know where they would escape to. Fear had already messed up their minds.

After running for approximately ten minutes, they saw a gigantic gorge.

“We need to pass this gorge!” Starsha pointed out.

Looking back, she could see Nephrenbethys’ figure in the distance. She was running towards them. The engine that enabled her to fly had been destroyed by Floria and that was why she had to run on foot now.

Anyway, Nephrenbethys had been determined to hunt them down and nothing could stop her.

Aislina closed her eyes and focused on the magic streaming along with her blood and neuros. She could feel the power of life hidden under the barren sands …

With a formidable cry, Aislina commenced to manipulate the seed inside the sand to grow. Rapidly, they grew into hundreds of vines extending to the other side of the gorge.

She had summoned a bridge across the gorge made of vines for the four.

“Go!” yelled Aislina.

The four and the assassin ran to the other side of the gorge via the bridge of vines.

Nephrenbethys was still chasing after them. She had already stepped on the bridge of vines conjured by Aislina.

Since Aislina could create the bridge, she could destroy it too. After Aislina snapped her finger, the bridge of vines turned into green organic particles and disappeared.

Roaring in rage, Nephrenbethys fell into the gorge. Her engine of flight had been destroyed by Floria and she couldn’t fly now. The gorge was so deep that it looked like a long narrow pit filled with pure blackness, inside which the figure Nephrenbethys disappeared. No one knew whether she was still alive or not.