"Gahahaha! You got me! You're sharper than most vermin, but a vermin is a vermin, no matter how sharp."
I am pretty sure that he just said something extremely similar to that, not even a minute ago. The individual that now stood against had begun weaving his hands in a strange manner. It was as if he was fanning away flies. His strange inclination to call us "vermin" was only the second strangest feature about him.
When he finally stopped his hand gestures, I noticed that Tomika would begin her ascent to her feet. She seemed flabbergasted at first, but soon enough, she recovered to our side.
"Tomika. Are you done attacking us?", I questioned the woman.
"I was controlled. Wires."
Her words caused me to mentally stumble. My eyes immediately shifted to the ground, Harris, and then onto Fernando. They narrowed in scrutiny towards the man.
"You knew about that, didn't you?"
Fernando hums in confirmation and nods his head. The man seemed pleased with himself, but it was unnecessary. This whole skirmish with Harris could have been prevented if that was the case. With that, Tomika would not have been forced to fight us either.
"I know what you are thinking, but I simply couldn't let them know that I was aware of their presence. Not after they did all of that effort to formulate this ambush just for us. I'm not the type of man to disrupt the flow of a plan.~"
"You say that now, but you choose not to fight alongside us, you bastard. If you knew something, then you should have said something."
I flipped my wrist around his collar and pulled him closer. My face was hot with anger, and it clashed with the cool and aloof expression on his face.
"Shouldn't you be worried about our enemy instead of me? I needed time to unveil our enemy, and here he is. His dark deeds are brought to the light.~"
"The hell are you on about?", I questioned the man. I pointed my finger towards our cloaked adversary. "I suggest that you get out of our way. We don't have time to waste on the likes of you."
He flinched at my words, and for some reason, he felt compelled to reveal his face to us. Arrogance radiated every pore of his complexion. His light blue eyes flickered like a cat's in darkness and peaked from behind his bangs. His hair was actually black, with white tips stretching from each of his bangs. His skin was tanned with his defining assortment of earrings on his left ear.
"Come now, Vermin. You'll go no further.", he scoffed. Despite being considerably outnumbered, this man wore an extremely pretentious smirk on his face.
I am certain that he is only this confident because he is aware that he has backup hiding in the trees. It was obvious that he desired to stand in our way, but it was just as obvious that we needed to get past him.
"You were given ample warning to turn tail and run like the pathetic cowards that you are. We were merciful in our actions, and yet you had the audacity to allow our warnings to fall on deaf ears. Perhaps you vermin, do not possess even the bare minimum when it comes to survival instincts, and now you will -"
This man had a mouth on him, but that allowed Tomika the opportunity to simply teleport over to him. Her blade slashed next to his head, but before the sword reached his head, our opponent managed to catch it with his hands. His palms slapped against the side of the blade with the serrated edges with centimeters to spare from his face.
She struggled, but Tomika still managed to push the blade further down. Her serrated blade began digging into face before Tomika had to shift away. Instantly, Tomika returned to our side as an arrow slammed into the ground of her previous location.
"Found you."
Her eyes lit up as she became fixated with a general area of the forest's canopy.
"Handle him.", She instructed before she reset her weapon's stance.
"Damn you! How dare you attack me when I am speaking?! I will- Hey!"
Our adversary gasped in frustration when Tomika completely ignored him. Her body rushed off towards the treeline towards her newfound target. Offended by her decision, he began making his strange gestures with his hands. His hand stretched out towards Tomika, but he soon let out a gasp of surprise.
"I'll make you -"
BOOM!
"Damn you!-" he growled.
"Apologies, but your quarrel is with him now.~"
To the surprise of both me and our adversary, a large stone wall shot up from the ground. There was a defining crash as whatever attack our opponent sent towards Tomika slammed against the defensive structure. Dust kicked up from the impact, and that allowed our companion to disappear into the underbrushes of the tree.
'Earth magic? I didn't think a man like Fernando would have such magic. I imagined that his magic would be more extravagant.'
As I looked towards the man in question, I would notice him stepping behind me. I quickly understood his intentions.
"Hey! I don't have my weapon on me, so why are you hiding behind me?! You're stronger than I am, objectively speaking."
"Lady Tomika entrusted this one to you, so it is best for you to follow her orders. I stepped in to prevent him from interfering with her pursuit. Now it is up to you to defeat him.~"
I scoffed at his half-baked response. He just didn't want to dirty his hands from the looks of it. Our opponent seemed to have gathered his wits once more. At first, he turned towards the forest behind him and attempted to locate Tomika once more. Yet, before he could act, two earth walls sealed off his other escape options. That only left him the direction to face us. He took his time turning around to face us.
"This means nothing. I'll put you in your place anyway. Your friend is as good as dead, so I'll send you ahead of her!", he says once he lays eyes on us again.
His arrogance allowed me to close the distance between us. My fist traced through the air, and it was poised to knock some senses into this man. His eyes sharpened, and before my hand landed, my momentum was halted.
"Tch- Filthy vermin, you shouldn't rush to your death. Makes it easy for me.", he taunted.
He had this perverted look on his face as if seeing my body locked in that motion gratified him. His smirk deepened as his arms crossed in front of his chest. His fingers were oddly stretched, and two of them twitched slightly.
'The hell…I can't move…'
My hand seemed to have been caught by something, and as a result, my entire body seemed to resist my command. Slowly, my arm cranked further back and left my torso more exposed than before. Thoughts pinged around my head as I looked around me. This must be the effect of his magic at play. It is possible that he has a skill that allows him to commodore a person's body.
"Now. I wonder how long you can last before you are torn asunder. I am willing to bet a single minute is all that is needed to dismember you. Reflect on your arrogance while you suffer. These final moments will be extremely"
His monologue was predictably placed. There was this tightening around my wrist and forearm, and its tightness seemed to react to his finger twitches. Unfortunately for him, I have a base skill that increases my pain resistance.
He wouldn't know that, but my lack of groaning in pain likely was an indicator. Without pain, it made noticing what he was doing much more difficult. Blood trickled from my forearm as something tightened around my flesh.
"I see now. You're nothing but an asshole that plays with some strings.", I taunt.
It was hardly noticeable, but it was there. A metal wire akin to a garrote wire constricting my arm. It was considerably longer than one would expect, but it was perfectly hidden within the darkness of the forest. That is what Fernando must have noticed and what he was pulling on earlier. The man that wielded it before me was strong, but I wouldn't allow some scrappy, loud mouth to get his way.
My words seemed to offend him, as evident by the scowl that was plaguing his face. I believe that I now know how to get out of this situation. I tensed my muscles and began pushing more towards his body once again. It was a slow process, but over time, he began to flinch as I gained ground.
"Rocket Punch!"
As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I ignited my skill. Fire erupted from my fist and shot forward to engulf my opponent. I wanted to consume him with my flames, but he managed to escape the radius. He leaped back, and the once tightened wires loosened from my arm
"Tch- A vermin that can use fire? How troublesome. I'll snuff that flame out, and I'll - "
"Do this and that and the third.", I say, interrupting him.
Frustration presented itself on his face. There were indentions in my bracers as the tightened wire slices into my protection. It was narrowly filed down by the movements of the wires.
'This is quite troublesome. Wires that I can barely make out, and he can even use them to control someone's actions like a puppet.'
I extinguished the flames on my fist by patting my thigh and staring at the now seething man. There was now indecision grabbing a hold over him, but it was clear that this was not over. I'll have to get this over with quickly. It would not be ideal to drag this out and allow him to wrap the wire around my neck. Yes. It's time to end this quickly. Tomika is expecting it.
"I'll come at you with all that I have, but be warned. I have yet to be defeated."