Chereads / Hollow in a Magic World / Chapter 57 - Lenatti's Worth

Chapter 57 - Lenatti's Worth

Somewhere on a C-Tier planet.....

A man in black and white robes hurriedly runs down the hall. He pauses only when he reaches the entrance to room, taking a second to straighten up his uniform before entering. He respectfully walks past multiple pews, at a quick pace. 

He approaches a man, wearing white and gold robes, holding his hands up in reverence. Sensing the newcomer, his hands come down.

"Good morning, Deacon Andrews. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asks without turning around.

Deacon Andrews bows before him. "Greetings Bishop David. 64596 is under attack." He reports.

"HAH! Someone is so foolish to do such a thing. Do we know who? Matter of fact, I don't even know why I asked. They'll just be a mere laugh over tea tonight. Handle that." He commands.

"Of course, your lordship." He rises, turning as he already made his mind up on how to respond. He felt sorry for the idiots that wanted to take our resources. He planned to make an example of them. 

On planet 64596...

Lenatti sat on a nearby rock swinging her legs back and forth as she waited for any signs of movement from the weyline. She was genuinely having fun. But she knew for her own safety that she couldn't mess up. She watched as the weyline started spinning, signaling that someone was coming. She stands, brushing off her dress as she proceeded to stand to do her part. 

A group of heavily armored men walk out the weyline, led by a lightly armored man with a sword and shield on his side. Following them, lighter armored men come out surveying the zone. Lenatti could count up to over 200 men to reinforce the factory. 

The man in the front, obviously the leader, easily spied Lenatti standing nonchalantly in front of them in the distance. Given the situation, his instincts told him that she was suspicious. Once they closed the gap between them, he held up his hand, stopping the rest of the troops. He carefully approached her, trying to find a trap if there was one. 

"Little girl, I am Deacon Leon, a member of the church of Luminous. We have received word of danger on the planet, and you are not safe here. Where are your parents?" He asks.

"Oh. They died." She responds which makes his heart go heavy. He had assumed that she was the daughter of the culprit who was attacking sent to distract them. Now, he realized that she might have been waiting for them as her parents were killed when the actual culprits attacked.

"Sorry for your loss child. Come. We will send you to a refugee planet where you can safely live. Right after we secure this one that is." He offers to her, holding out his hand. She looks up at him, smiling as she reaches out to him. His eyes lock on to hers, and a wave of uneasiness washes over him. Without thinking about it, he yanks his hand back in time to see a flash of metal glint from the sun. 

Shocked, he jumps back from her as a second blade swipe where he once was. A loud booming turns his attention behind him and the scene fills him with dread. His soldiers were scattered, desperate to escape the explosions that were going off among them. No where behind him was safe, as pitfalls began to open, swallowing up many unsuspecting troops who would fall to spikes below.

He turned back to the child. Drawing his sword and shield, he charges at the child as he hoped to at least even take her out. He swipes down at her, which she simply sidesteps, lashing out with her daggers. Her movements take him aback as he deflects her dagger attack with his shield. The girl couldn't be more than twelve, how was she capable of keeping up with him.

While he was going through his crisis, Lenatti was humming a tune in her head. She heeded Lord Nidhogg's advice and got training from Odin regarding close combat. She picked up the daggers because they were, 'little girl swords', as she's been calling them. 

Her training with Odin was a rough one, as he didn't take it easy on her as they were the Fullbringers and a lot was expected of them. Being the youngest put her at a disadvantage, but she wasn't planning on being the first to disappoint Lord Nidhogg. Pain was a good teacher and that's what Odin brought her. She quickly learned how to watch the opponents' movements and counter in order to avoid pain. Compared to Odin, this guy was slow and obivous in his movements.

As he ignored the cries of his dying soldiers, he continued to pressure Lenatti. As he clearly noted her superior agility, he changed tactics and tried to instead tire her out then use the chaos of the battle to head back to the weyline and report that the situation was much more grave than they expected. 

He watched as she ducked under his sword aimed to take her head off and smiled. She had played into his hands. His shield glowed a brilliant light as he began to let his mana flow into it. Lenatti doesn't fail to notice, and instantly jumps back. 

"Too late." He yells, a little too excited to kill a girl. 

In a flash, he charges forward, looking to knock the girl down with his superior strength then finish her off while she's stunned. However, his advance is stopped as he crashes into something. The sheer impact behind whatever he runs into stops him completely, knocking the breath out of him as he sees stars. 

His vision clears, and he looks to see a massive mess of fur in front of him. He slowly looks up to see a giant bearlike creature looking down on him with fury. The bear raises his paw, and Leon tries to raise his own shield to contest. A sharp pain comes from his side, directing his attention as he sees the girl stabbing his arm into his side, keeping him from further raising his arm. 

He has no more time for thoughts or any other action, as Oso brings his paw down, exploding his head into chunks and gore. The remainder of his troops don't fail to notice the fall of their leader and attempt to retreat. However, the Midnight Assassins had too much time to prepare for the ambush and any who try to run towards the weyline are easily picked off. 

As the last church member falls, and none have successfully escaped, Lenatti lets out a sigh of relief. She hadn't screwed this up. She could guess that they had already begun extracting the resources, which meant that they should start heading back. Oso happily followed her, content with a good day's work. She hoped that future missions that Lord Nidhogg gives her will be as fun as this one.