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Two figures sat on the roof with their legs dangling over the ledge, accompanied by a glowing orange cat and a red arcane eagle. It had been three days since they began watching over this town square, but there had not been a single sign of trouble.
Felix was getting impatient. Gaius was right. Vulcan still had not contacted him regarding any developments about Marcia’s kidnapping. And despite his ‘busy’ schedule, the man had not even brought up anything about the ‘Meta problem’ that he was supposedly trying hard to solve.
Orpheus, on the other hand, seemed content to watch the peak hour crowd form and disperse itself every day. He had even skipped some lessons just so that he could continue his stakeout. Unfortunately, tonight seemed like any other night.
Until it did not.
Felix sat up straight, observing the drastic trickling down of traffic. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Roads did not simply clear themselves without a blockade, especially not during this hour of the day. Something or someone must be blocking the traffic for whatever reason. His heart raced in anticipation.
“Hey, are you guys seeing this?” Felix pointed at the streets.
Two groups of people were walking towards each other from opposite ends of the now-empty street, looking as though they were about to do a flash mob. One side was composed of hooded Necromancers dressed in all red, while the other were clearly Metas carrying briefcases.
“Of course. I’m on my way,” Gaius said without pause, his voice emitting from the orange cat.
“I’m nearby. Some vehicles emerged out of nowhere to redirect the traffic from Madison Town Square,” Kleopatra spoke through the eagle. “Whatever’s going down here, it’s most probably illegal and backed by someone powerful.”
“Hold on, I know these people.” Orpheus pointed at the group of Necromancers. “They’re a group of extreme cultists who draw power from Hell directly. They’ve tried to recruit me on multiple occasions, but I’ve always managed to stay away.”
“The Ruby Skulls, right? They’re so notorious that even Metas have heard of them. I heard that their leader is the son of a business tycoon,” Felix replied. “So their magic comes from Hell? That’s a violation of natural law. No wonder the government outlawed their practices.”
One of the Metas was now opening a briefcase for a hooded figure to inspect. Felix squinted his eyes. The distance did not allow him to confirm what they were exchanging, but the experienced Guardian could already hazard a good guess as to what it was.
Wands.
To be more specific, illegal offensive wands that were most likely manufactured using forcibly extracted Meta essence and imbued with the sole purpose of causing bodily harm.
Anger coursed through Felix. It was people like them who gave his kind a bad name. People like them who made his neighbourhood dangerous. People like them who’d hurt their own kind just to benefit themselves.
People like them who took his sister.
Felix stood up without warning and leapt off the building with a growl, ignoring his allies calling out to him.
He landed in the middle of the criminals, directing a force field at the ground to cushion his landing. The resulting shockwave created a small crater as both Metas and Magis yelled in shock at the unwelcome intruder.
“Who the hell are you?” a Meta roared, swinging a metallic fist towards him.
Felix did not deign to respond.
The Meta cried out in pain as an invisible force snapped his arm perpendicularly at the elbow. Felix flicked his wrist, tossing his screaming foe straight up in the air. He turned his attention to the Necromancers, who were now brandishing their brand-new wands.
Bring it on—
A deafening blast from behind knocked all the criminals off their feet without warning. Felix’s eyes glanced at the girl in her flowy, dark blue battle robes. Kleopatra had finally arrived.
She raised her staff again and struck the ground, conjuring multiple disembodied hands that wrestled with the Metas. A Ruby Skull Necromancer immediately sent a swarm of undead wasps after her, but a fireball curved in from nowhere and disintegrated the insects.
Footsteps rushed towards the chaotic mob as Gaius leapt over a carriage, floating towards them as if he were almost weightless. He landed gracefully in their midst, immediately engaging them in hand-to-hand combat.
The cultists fired off their wands desperately at him, but the Sorcerer was too close and moved too quickly. It didn’t take long before the men surrounding Gaius were all knocked out by his fists and energy balls.
“It’s a setup! This is a gods-damned setup!” a Necromancer screamed right before a fireball struck him squarely in the chest.
“Double-crossers! You called the Guardian Council on us?” another Necromancer yelled at the Metas. “You’ll pay for this—”
He choked and contorted in pain as necrotic wounds began to appear all over him. Felix seized the chance to toss his body aside, denting a nearby carriage. The screams of agony were silenced as the last standing Necromancer crumpled to the ground.
Orpheus exhaled loudly from behind as the green light flowed from his staff back to the ground, ending his curse—
A wall of fire burst out in front of him without warning.
Felix reacted quickly, materialising a psionic wall milliseconds before Orpheus’s hair was singed. He yanked his friend away from the flames and took his place instead. The fire surrounded him, culminating in a bluish tornado of fire. The hostile pyrokinetic Meta cackled uncontrollably, swirling his hands in the air.
“Pathetic.”
The cirminal watched in disbelief as his flames ebbed, seemingly sucked into a pink bubble. The psionic sphere shrank, choking out the fire easily. There was a brief silence as everyone stared in both awe and terror at the very angry psychic.
Felix tilted his head.
The man’s eyes bulged as he clawed at the invisible hand crushing his windpipe. With a sickening crunch, his neck compressed inwards and snapped a hundred and eighty degrees. A dying ember escaped his mouth, his head now facing the completely wrong direction.
Felix cast his glowing eyes on the rest of the criminals, dropping the lifeless body to the ground. No one dared to move a muscle, including his allies.
Until chaos erupted.
“Run, run! It’s that guy!” a Meta screamed, frantically pulling out a wand and casting a teleportation charm. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
The remaining Metas scrambled for the portal, pushing each other to get in before they incurred the wrath of the Tier Five Meta. Most did not make it, their bodies blasting away from the portal and crashing into the nearby buildings. Felix growled and darted straight for the portal.
“Felix, wait!” Orpheus yelled, dashing in right after his friend.
The portal closed, leaving Gaius and Kleopatra behind in the trashed-up town square.265Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UN0grfKcs
