The triad watched from afar how the civil guards and wizards were easily slaughtered by Caleb Dune, the ultimate junkie. What Alicia feared had stood before her. The Trinketshore wizards were no match for the possessor of black magic.
"Nadine, will there be any wizard reinforcements to help them?" asked Alicia.
Flustered, Nadine gave her worrying news, "Alicia, they're like the only mage unit in Trinketshore." Her words implied that no other wizards will come to aid the battlefield. Civil guards reinforcement? Another useless human resource. Hundreds of bullet shots didn't leave any scratch on Caleb. What's the point of bringing more victims? After all, in a town as small as Trinketshore, the civil guards who served in the operation made up more than half of the total of officers assigned to that town.
The bystanders who were watching the show gave up their intention to continue and fled. Now only the three of them were watching, and they were about to run as well.
Except they knew Alicia would not come with them.
"We should get out of here," said Nadine. Gilmore didn't utter another word, but nodded his head to her proposal.
"B-but... where to?" Alice replied to her declaration with another question. Nadine began to feel irritated seeing Alicia's behaviour asking that question. Instead of preparing to run as far as she could, she would start another debate.
"What do you mean, 'where to'?"
"You know what I mean, Nadine! If we don't stop that mage, even my house's protective spell won't be able to keep us from his malevolent magic!"
"So what dae ye want tae dae?" retorted Nadine while keeping her composure. "Ye want to face that creature?"
Alicia summoned Orb out of her backpack. She then looked hard at Orb, hoping it could give her a reasonable answer. The magic ball made a sound that only it and the young woman could understand. Orb's response took aback Alicia, making her squeeze her head because it made her dizzy. Her cold sweat was pouring down. She knew she was the only magus left who might stand a chance against Caleb Dune. However, she was also very frightened, even though on her hand there was Orb, whose power once buried her alive. If nothing stopped him soon, it would not take the black wizard a single night to ravage the town, then build himself a mini-tyranny and take all the residents hostage.
"What's it say?" asked Gilmore.
"No one's coming. I have to fight him."
Nadine became more fretful to Orb's whispers. "No. Orb, stop yer haverin'! She's never fought anyone before. Ye want to kill her?"
Orb replied sharply. "It said it could beat the bad guy," said Alicia.
"It can beat him, you can't! Alicia, are you really gonna' believe its words?"
Gilmore suggested, "Alicia, I'm going to call your papa to come back and bring reinforcements—"
"Idiot! Ye forgot our telecomm were completely damaged at the incident yesterday?" replied Nadine.
"Ahh, shite, I forgot! Alicia hasn't paid for our telecomm yet—"
"Damn it, to Hades with this! I'm going!" Alicia sped out of hiding right away.
"HEY!" shouted Nadine, seeing her friend running towards the black mage. Nadine grabbed Gilmore's arm and pursued her.
Caleb sat on top of Taylor's body as his hands exuded the same purple raw energy as before. He didn't mean to shoot it straight into his face. He preferred to make him swallow the energy into his mouth and watch him struggle while his internal organs burned and decayed as a slow and painful death.
The addict had held Taylor's mouth open with his hand and was about to pour down the wicked energy with his other. Suddenly, the glowing ball struck his face, then turned around and hit the nape of his neck, making his neck bones and muscles plunge forward. Orb returned to the alleged wielder in a circular motion, then advanced once more to whack his chin very hard. Caleb bounced backward like being hit with an uppercut. Alicia and Orb managed to prevent Caleb from producing another grisly death, though she was trembling in her stance.
Nadine and Gilmore took the initiative to drag Taylor—who fainted from shock—away behind the overturned carriage.
Caleb opened his blazing eyes wide after being knocked down for a moment. Remarkably, he woke up like a stellar pop singer doing the anti-gravity leaning in reverse, making the flabbergasted Alicia immediately fall down. She stared at Caleb's face, which barely resembled a human—resembling an undead in fact. His teeth were gritted, his body was pitch black, and his evil eyes were wide open.
With his hoarse voice, Caleb said, "Reinforcement?" He chortled. "Are you so desperate that you have to send three kids to confront me?" The roar of devilish laughter added to Alicia's horror.
Should have gone to the nearest telecomm booth and called Papa instead!
But what had happened, happened. She was already standing at the front of the battle line, making a gateway between Caleb and his defenceless victims. Running away just made her die silly.
"Haw, ye wee bairns!" Caleb pointed at Alicia and her friends. All of them were frozen. "I don't know what's wrong with your intellects, taking my prey away and playing with me like a fucking toy! Especially ye, fancy baw brat! Do you want to die?" his eyes fell on the sitting Alicia. Gilmore and Nadine forthwith helped her back to her feet.
"Eugh, yer face is pure reekbeek, mate! We cannae let you doing foreplay with yon peely wally man!" Gilmore pulled out a sword he got from one of the unconscious wizards. He then pursed his lips at Alicia, whispering, "Yer better ken what yer gaun tae dae." Alicia, with a panicked face, just gulped with agitated sense. Nadine, on the other hand, seemed to craft something from her waist bag. It didn't take long for her to complete the assembly—a crossbow, complete with arrows attached.
"What the—? Since when yer playing with a crossbow?" asked Alicia.
"Explanation for another time!" Nadine insisted. "Focus, Alicia!" her 'army' mode came out of hiding.
"A-a... Y-yes mam!" Alicia spoke in a stuttering voice because of her nervousness. Her best friends were forced to deal with a black magic maniac, and guess what? Her moral burden increased again, as she must ensure the safety of her pals.
Caleb just chuckled as he watched them form a classic medieval team up—a knight, an archer, and a mage—then said, "Ye brats are affy reekbeek than me! Always think of everything as a game!" His hands gave off an aura of purple energy that blazed like fire.
"I'll rot aw aff ye, fucking larpers! This is nae 'Dungeons and Dragons', ye stupid fuck!"
Alicia in all her panic, trying to deepen her sync, and Whoosh! A burst of long energy stormed into Caleb's chest! The force was too powerful, it sent him flying backward again. Gilmore, who didn't want to lose, ran toward Caleb, ready to slash through his very being. Seeing the Big Yin approached, Caleb swiftly extended his arms toward Gilmore's face to decompose his annoying visage. But before his hand ever reached Gilmore, an even faster arrow also shot towards the addict's sense of sight. Even with his focus being divided, Caleb could still catch the arrow with his other hand. His reflex was remarkable.
But the trio was not done with their surprises. The tip of the red arrow exploded before Caleb's eyes. Even with his uncanny, ominous purple eyes, he couldn't stand the pain as he screamed for his burning eyes and lost vision. Gilmore took the opportunity to slide on his knee, slicing the maniac's left genu. From the wound, a glowing mauve liquid came out.
The knight then spun around and intended to stab him in the back, before the addict, on reflex, turned and slapped his palm against his head again. But his still impaired vision thwarted his own efforts. Gilmore ducked down, slashing Caleb's chest in exchange. His large body was not an obstacle for him to move nimbly with his swordsmanship. Truly a reliable and shrewd future knight. Gilmore kept slicing him while evading the attack and keeping his distance. The maniac himself could only let out screams of agony every time he received another lesion. Every moment Gilmore was about to be caught, Nadine's explosive arrow or Alicia's plasma shot sufficed to distract the ultimate junkie.
Caleb's arrogance was paid off by being battered by the 'larpers' of the fantasy world. It amazed Alica to see her two friends side by side fighting against Caleb. In all of her fear, she still tried her best to remain useful in battle, even though all she did was shoot the lasers that often missed.
So, is this what it's like to be involved in a fight? Especially a fight using magic! It's not like the girl's childish imagination of the mage hero wiping out the demons in a heroic yet epic way! It was not epic at all, it was dreadful! Imagine Merlin wetting his pants because he had to see the horrors of the demons mutilating their opponents in a ruthless manner in every battle! Or when the townspeople ran with their faces melted for being caught in the dragon's lake of fire! Merlin couldn't help but enter a battle of life and death just to eradicate the dragon, witnessed by piles of human steaks!
Meanwhile, Caleb was already overwhelmed. Who would have thought that no matter how strong his magic power was, didn't make him a black belt-level karate expert in an instant? He finally chose to jump away. His jump was quite high, he managed to keep his distance from them. Electric sparks flashed from his mauve blood-covered wounds, doing some miracle works to pull his torn body tissues together.
"Damn it! He's regenerating!" Gilmore exclaimed. The regeneration process was very painful, as seen by Caleb's demeanour and his shrill outcry. It felt like he had to endure those series of attacks again. The triumvirate could only cover their ears at the screams while watching the wounds on Caleb's body slowly closed. His body returned to no scratch, his eyesight worked again, and his emotions exploded because the three teenagers made him the object of humiliation.
"Fuck! Fuck! Rancid fucks! No mercy on you!" Caleb shot the black magic in succession at them while walking backward to keep some distance. The triumvirate chased him while eluding the shots. Nadine shot back with her arrows, almost all of them hit a bullseye. Unlike her friend, Alicia was a complete terrible at shooting in motion. None of them hit.
"Aim right, Alicia! Don't waste your energy!" Nadine ordered.
"I-I'm trying! Stop p-pushing me!" Alicia was getting more and more stressed by Nadine.
The Crimsonmane girl kept shooting at him until a shot finally hit the junkie. That blue plasma beam was potent, even bringing Caleb to his knees and delaying his shot. The arrows and sword slashes might have been very painful, but a single magic shot from Alicia put him into Hades' torturing chamber. It felt like his very being was being devoured by it, draining his endurance drastically. Whereas previously he could withstand any attack, since being kissed by Orb's magic, every arrow and slash was more troublesome than before.
The addict couldn't play around anymore. He stopped, pulled out his stance, and stretched out his hands again. He was about to release the powerful shock that was once been cast on the officers. Nadine couldn't fire any arrows anymore because she ran out of one.
Knowing what was about to happen, Gilmore braked his legs, warning the rest. "He's doing his shock wave again, Fall back!"
Nadine and Alicia almost slipped, then retreated immediately.
"Ye dinnae go anywhere! Eat this, bastards!"
The enormous lump of magic from his hand spread out, becoming a shock wave of high speed and wide coverage.
Alicia, who was looking back, instinctively created a small force field around herself and Gilmore, protecting them from the impact of the force, and reducing injuries from the impact on the ground. Nadine? How the Divine had cursed her. She was out of the force field's range. As a result, Nadine bumped into the door of one of the carriages and swooned!
Alicia shrieked, "Nadine!"
Alicia tried to approach Nadine, but Caleb did not give her a single chance. She had no choice but to run and dodge all those shots.
The fallen Gilmore knew that his sword had been thrown somewhere. Seeing Nadine passed out, he immediately went into a rage and was about to butt the ultimate junkie. Caleb, who saw Gilmore lose his temper, easily flung him aside with his hand. The force was strong enough, Gilmore bounced off and rolled over 10 meters away. The Big Yin tried to get up, but the soreness all over his body prevented him from doing so.
How the tides had turned. Now it was only the Orb Mage and the addict. Alicia shivered even more as Caleb approached her with a big grin.
"Now only you are left, little girl."
With teary eyes, Alicia directed the floating Orb at Caleb, "Go away! Go away from me!"
"Yer power is the most pain in the arse among yer pals. Of course, ye scunnered wee bastards winnae submit to me." Caleb cast magic from his hand. "Scunnered that such power has to disappear. But it'll be even more troublesome if a damn brat like ye gets in the way."
Alicia couldn't focus anymore. Her mind was messed up. She attempted to swing her arm and push the plasma energy out of the magic sphere. Caleb tried to parry, but it turned out the shot that just hit him barely hurt at all. Realizing this, he put a fascinated face with his lips thrusting forward to the frightened young girl.
"What is it, hen? Out of mana?" mocked Caleb.
She kept shooting at him, but the shots started to have indistinct effects. Starting from the attack not hurting him at all, or the energy released was getting smaller—sometimes disappearing before the impact—or even worse, the energy shot turned on its own even though Caleb wasn't moving anywhere other than walking straight!
'What is this? I'm not exhausted yet, how are my magic shots not working?'
"Orb, what are you doing? Not now! Please hit him!" Alicia shouted at Orb, tears starting to fill her eyes. It tried to explain as best as it could through its straining voice, but the girl ignored it as she kept ordering Orb to shoot properly. So scared, Alicia even forgot to move her legs.
"Alica… what are you doing?" Gilmore muttered in vague, seeing her magic ability drop drastically unlike the early demonstration that afternoon. He forced himself to get up with all the pain all over his body.
'No. Not again. Don't let what happened at the graveyard happen again!'
Nadine opened her eyes. Her nerve sensors began to do their job, giving Nadine the sense of collapsing. She heard Alicia as if begging for something. Alicia and Orb didn't move at all towards Caleb, who was slowly approaching them, as if he was stronger than before and didn't give a damn about the world around him. She also saw Gilmore limping from afar, trying to reach Caleb and Alicia. Nadine knew her little friend was in danger.
"Alicia!" called Nadine, before being greeted with a groan.
Caleb did not care about the two behind him anymore. They were no longer his match. His gaze was only fixated on the fragile girl who had cried, unprepared for death.
"Silent Divine, help me! Gilmore, Nadine, help me! Papa, Leith… Mama... Anyone! I don't want to die yet!"
In her tears, Alicia closed her eyes. The girl tried to muster the rest of her focus. Her last attempt to attack the evil mage as hard as she could. At least, in all her reckless decisions and foolish actions, she died trying.
"So long, hen," Caleb grabbed her cheek and began channelling his wicked magic into Alicia's mouth. Just before it entered her oral cavity, the unexpected occurred.
The Orb released a dazzling light that put both of them blind. A crowd of plasma strings streamed out of the Orb and danced around the two. Hundreds of free-floating threads swarmed Caleb's hand full of black magic, eating away at it. Didn't know what was happening, Alicia opened her eyes, only to see Caleb release his grasp and shake his hand away from the blue energy. Not only that, another stream of plasma surrounded his entire being, making the junkie back away and shriek in misery. His black body gradually faded to its initial skin color. His mauve veins turned faint. The struggle between black magic and Orb's one stirred his internal organs, followed by a scorching sensation on his skin.
Alicia suddenly remembered the incident at the former Howlett's eatery earlier. With a tense expression on her mien, she immediately gathered up the strength to keep her concentration. Orb responded to her intention well by delivering more plasma streams that kept coming to Caleb. He felt more excruciating pain than ever, writhing and screaming wildly. All the cursing ever existed escaped from his lips.
The fatigue had come to her not long after, her puffy eyes were dim. The swarm slowly faded, but she still tried to stay awake. After a while, the pool of plasma streams finally dissipated, and Caleb sprawled on the ground. His peely-wally and emaciated body was a sign he had returned to his normal state. He didn't feel the grip of darkness inside him anymore. He looked at Alicia in horror, especially at Orb in her hands. Was that why the pain of the previous cuts and shots multiplied every time he was exposed to its magic?
"W-what's that thing!? Fuck! You're lucky to see another day. I'll be back, ye fucking orb mage! I'LL BE BACK!"
Caleb, with the rest of his strength, chose to escape from their sight. Gilmore implied his relief. From a distance, another siren wailed and drew closer. Nadine, who was near Alicia, ran and hugged her expressionless pal.
"Alicia, ye awright?"
No response from her. She felt the gravity tugging at her body and eyelids ten times as powerful as before. Unable to contain herself with her remaining strength, Alicia succumbed to the force of gravity. She fell unconscious once again after using her power. []