Chapter 51: Tyrant of Reunion

Ducking behind Gnosis and Maria, the Rhodes island operators lived through the onslaught due to the golden shield of light.

"Your flames are lukewarm. Alastor's burn brighter and hotter." Maria looked at Talulah through her visor and the Draco had a smirk on her face.

"Is that so? False bravado, how long would your little act last once I burn all of your little friends to cinders." Talulah's hollow eyes gained a hint of amusement to them.

What greeted her though, was a compressed fireball from Adele. Two little orange flames deposited themselves right in their ranks and Talulah's eyes widened for a split second.

Right after, an explosion that took down dozens of her men caused a shockwave that blew the fires for surrounding them for a second.

A cloud of dust appeared and Adele was squinting her eyes. "Gnosis, how's your reserves? If more than 80 percent. Pelt the center with icicles." Adele advised.

Gnosis quickly formed icicles of death behind him and willed it to pierce through his enemies. Several cries of pain and yelps were heard. But no reaction from the intended target.

"Interesting, it seems that you three... Are quite special." Talulah was seen with a red barrier around her.

"Hmm, as expected. Are you just gonna stare or are you going to let us do all the work?" Gnosis was really getting annoyed.

He was expecting a lot from the elite operators. But it seems that he was right, trust facts and you won't be disappointed.

"We can't let them do this on their own Ace, Doberman-sensei." Amiya slapped her cheeks with her hands and she looked at the Dokutah.

"Dokutah, please guide us. I know you can do it, it's still in you. It won't just go away like that. Gnosis, we'll handle the Reunion members, please hold off Talulah for us." Amiya was determined.

"Commence operation." PRTS' robotic voice sounded and the Dokutah quickly launched his drones for a bird's eye view.

Talulah was about to shoot it down, but Maria charged at her with a golden sword and they clashed, hard.

A shockwave accompanied by flames and light almost blinded everyone. "Go!" Maria shouted, Gnosis and Adele quickly positioning themselves.

Ace and his squad made their way to the vanguard, with Doberman's as the middle one. Amiya handled the rear guard and her arts came to life.

What looked like black lightning crackled on her fingertips and it suddenly changed into black energy that she manipulated.

Beams of black light pierced through the knees of her targets and Talulah scoffed after she saw it. The Draco sent Maria flying away with a violent swing of her longsword.

With the upward swing, the pegasus was sent to the sky as she blocked with her shield.

Ice trapped Talulah's feet, but unfortunately. She was well versed against fighting ice based arts. Especially because Yelena is the best mortal to ever use ice arts. Only second to Kjera.

With a jet of fire escaping from her heel, the ice melted and she put her hand backwards. She propelled herself and quickly went after Adele who was the most threatening.

"Eyjafjalla! Duck!" Gnosis shouted and an arrow coated with poison almost hit Talulah. But it burned into cinders before it came too close.

Adele used the down time to send a duetto. Talulah turned her hand side ways and she spun in the air, elegantly dodging the fireballs that packed a punch.

The battlefield turned chaotic immediately. Stray arts from the three casters hitting the surroundings.

"Amiya! Let Ace and Doberman handle Reunion! Shield the squads from stray arts!" The Dokutah was quick though.

A black line formed from her hands and it turned into a triangle that had a dark red film in the middle. The shockwaves and flames from Adele's arts didn't harm the allies which she was thankful for.

Gnosis froze Talulah's feet once again, now. Much further to her legs. "Are you daft? This won't work on." Her eyes opened wide and she looked up.

"Light holds resolute!" Maria's shield formed a spiked center and she smashed the ground with a roar.

They waited for a second, cursing the lack of visibility. Then the dust cloud got blown away by a stream of raging fire.

"I admit, your teamwork is good. But is it good enough?" Talulah managed to escape just in time. She wasn't an idiot that forgot about Maria.

"What a tough bastards, I'm not that good with swordplay like Degenbrecher or big sister." Maria informed them and they nodded.

Talulah's longsword got covered in her arts. It was glowing a brilliant scarlet red. "Let's step it up a notch."

Like cyndaquil, jets of fire appeared on her back. Looking like a Sankta with wings of fire. In her training to surpass Ash, she formed a fighting style that was extremely unpredictable and violent.

She blasted towards Maria as a rocket and her elbow released a jet of concentrated fire.

They heard a heavy thud and the next moment, Maria was flying away towards a nearby building. Making the Rhodes island operators wince as the pegasus crashed through a city block.

"Now that your guardian is out of the way, do entertain me." Talulah grinned and Gnosis upped her threat level several stages.

Her fists were on fire, half of her face too. The battlefield was sweltering. Everybody except Talulah sweated bullets.

"Lava armor!" Adele put her arts unit on her back and she stomped on the ground.

Molten earth spurted out like a geyser from under her feet. Lava covered her form and she glared at Talulah that was covered in burning flames.

The ground beneath them started to melt and temperatures were rising.

"Gnosis!" Adele swung her arms towards Talulah, willing her lava to move like water.

The stoic man quickly understood the assignment and Talulah took the bait. Arrogantly cutting through the thick lava that threatened to drown her.

The caprinae clasped her hands together and the lava that were at Talulah's sides slammed right onto her.

With a grunt, Gnosis slid into action as he surfed on ice while he was making a path. Flash cooling the lava, he circled around the dome of molten earth. Blasting it with his arts.

"Amazing... Those guys are too strong." Doberman watched their team work. Monch was also already waiting for an assassination.

Her dagger that was dripping in purple liquid in her hands as she waited behind Talulah's obviously temporary prison.

Adele raised her hand once again and raised another geyser of lava. Hiding her behind it and disguising her moves, dog piling more of the substance on Talulah.

Fire erupted from all sides though, which made Adele click her tongue.

Like a supernova, a bright flash came from the obsidian cocoon. All hell then broke loose as fire washed over everything. A massive wave of it poured out at the center of Talulah's position.

"Interesting. Interesting! Show me more! Your limits, I want to see it!" Talulah had a smile on her face. Not even a single burn on her body, hair, or clothes.

"I'm starting to tire, Adele." Gnosis looked calm, but he was about to pant from tiring himself out. Creating ice in an extremely hot environment is difficult. And protecting them while at it is even more so.

The heat was also sapping their energy, the plaza is surrounded by buildings that trapped the overwhelming heat. A haze even appears due to it.

"Tired? I can feel it, ice of that caliber can't match me." Talulah grinned at Gnosis as she called his bluff.

She then raised her hands and spears of fire formed behind her. Pointing her finger towards Gnosis, it launched itself like a javelin right at him.

Adele was about to shield him with a wall of lava, but they heard a shout. "Mon3tr!" A huge black life form with red beady eyes tried to swipe at Talulah with its scythe arms.

"Amiya! Keep up the shield before we evacuate! We'll hold her off, this isn't a fight you can win!" Kal'tsit barked orders and Ace quickly snatched the Dokutah as they ran.

The only reason they couldn't was because they're sure Talulah would direct her attacks at them once they did.

"Tch, insects are tenacious. But why do you try to keep them alive Kal'tsit? As I thought, you are naught, but a fool." Talulah squinted her eyes at the feline.

And while she was monologuing, a blonde blur attacked alongside Mon3tr. "Repent!" Talulah was encased in a prison of light.

"Retreat!" Kal'tsit ordered her familiar to do something and it started to glow green. The squad ran away quickly, noticing something awry.

They then felt the massive explosion as something slipped right to Kal'tsit's back while they were running away.

Regrouping with Ace, Doberman, and Amiya. The other operators were down in the dumps upon seeing superior casters and fighters duke it out.

They were anxious, and rightfully so. Flames began to consume Chernobog. Talulah's fury was severe.

"Kal'tsit, where's Scout damnit?" Ace frowned and the feline scowled. "I don't know, he told me he'd take down a merc leader with his squad. They were killing people he said. Once Raidian left, I have no more contact with them." Kal'tsit glared at empty air.

The team was resting in a broken building in which medical equipment that were ravaged is located. "Azazel... It seems Neo-Reunion got to them first." Doberman frowned.

"They rejected us in joining, they most likely rejected them too." Amiya shook her head and she couldn't stand what was happening.

Infected were battling infected, when it was supposed to be the opposite. They should fight for their rights, and not in the way where innocents get roped in too.

"We don't have much contact here in Ursus, especially here in Chernobog. Ash is more interested in more attainable goals. But what is this Azazel clinic?" Gnosis raised a brow.

His ghosts are few in number and Ursus was one of the countries he didn't pay any attention much. With Victoria having more action and Alexandrina arriving at Paradiso.

He didn't expect that Neo-Reunion would be so violent and high in numbers. The curse of hatred is a powerful thing.

"It's an underground clinic that treats infected here in Ursus. They're very secretive, that's why they didn't took Rhodes island's stretched hand." Kal'tsit sighed.

It would be quite a good thing for them to be allied with Azazel, especially because of the one leading them.

Maria opened the TV to see the news and there, they showed that Chernobog's police was containing the terrorists.

But when they look outside, it was clearly not the case.

"What do we do? We're surrounded, not to mention their cadres are roaming around. There's going to be some kind of squad leaders in a group this big." Ace sighed.

"Damn it, we just have to wait for Raidian to arrive in Rhodes island and they'll contact Paradiso. Even with all our elite operators, this is going to be a losing battle." Kal'tsit cursed the odds.

And the problem there, was Raidian isn't an elite op due to being physically capable. She was better than most, but not that good. And she is travelling by foot.

"Ash's portable radio towers aren't also in range. He thought this was a simple retrieval mission, he actually wasn't even supposed to send Maria here." Adele frowned at that, if Maria wasn't there earlier. It would have been a disaster.

"We need to regroup with Scout's squad, Ash will notice that something is wrong within a couple of hours. He'll be expecting news of our success soon." Gnosis thought about it and their leader would definitely be suspicious.

The best option would be to stick together and avoid Talulah who was surely trying to hunt them down.

While they tried to pin down possible places where Scout could be, they heard a metallic object roll from a window.

"Get down!" Maria cried out and she contained the explosion with her arts.

"Bang! Ahahaha! But that was a bit of a dud, it seems your mercs are extremely competent Kal'tsit." They quickly prepared for an altercation.

Kal'tsit glared at the attacker and she growled. "You bitch, I should've known you'd be here." If looks could kill, the Sarkaz woman would be dead.

"Now, now, Kal'tsit. Aren't you glad with our little 'reunion'? Scout was very happy you know? So happy that his soul went to heaven." The woman smiled at Kal'tsit.

__ Earlier, start of attacks __

"Sabotaging the radio towers for the comms huh? Simple, but effective. Okay, follow me. We should get rid of an annoyance that I found in my patrol." Scout found a bloodthirsty merc from Kazdel.

They were obviously a part of the attack, so they'll deal with them now in order for a smooth operation on the other side.

After waiting for them to have a fight with the police. Scout's team quickly went in to assassinate the leader.

The bastard was tough, but it was a fight that didn't have any losses to his 12 people squad.

And in their fighting, they didn't notice the anti-personnel claymores waiting for enemies.

"Well, well, well, didn't expect the little rat that I'll catch in my traps." A silver haired woman grinned madly. (pic)

"W... So you've joined Reunion?" Scout coughed as he felt a sharp pain from his left side. Broken ribs that was for sure. His quads also suffered a lot from shrapnel.

"Scout, you still work in that damned place? Quite a fitting end, too bad. You aren't the ghost or Kal'tsit." W clicked her tongue.

"Beat em up boys, don't wanna let him run away after all." W turned away and the Reunion members started to beat the shit out of Scout.

Then after a beating of a lifetime, he was sent to another familiar face that was from Babel like W.

"Ines... You too?" Scout looked at the black haired woman and she just stared at him with a calculating gaze. (pic)

"Scout, it isn't nice to see you in this situation." She sighed and she shook her head.

"You haven't changed, Scout. You still stay there even if the king has been killed because of them." A man with maroon hair said coldly.

"So all three of you do not share the king's vision." Scout spit in front of them and W went into a blind rage.

The Sarkaz Goliath kicked him right on the face and was about to stab Scout with a combat knife.

"W, stop! Hoerder, help me out here." Ines restrained W who was seething. She was gnashing her teeth.

They took W away from Scout or she'll definitely kill him.

'Now's my chance.' The elite op of Rhodes island didn't miss a beat and he cut the bindings on him with a hidden blade.

With his superior speed, the man ran away and quickly used the cover of buildings around the city.

He panted heavily, trying to unstrap the hidden flare he had on his body for emergencies.

And everything went to hell when he heard a click while he was distracted.

An explosion of shrapnel ravaged his body and he saw himself slowly fall down after flying.

His head impacted the floor with a thud and his ears were ringing. "Sorry Kal'tsit..." Scout's vision started to blur and he heard footsteps.

The tinnitus preventing him from visualizing who it was. "Join our king at the other side." Hoerderer stabbed his chest.

Scout quickly died and his eyes slowly turned hollow. "Hoerderer! What the hell are you doing!?" Ines arrived and she didn't bother to check Scout's vitals.

"He was escaping, Rhodes island can't learn of our other members." Hoerderer replied pragmatically.

"Scout is a Sarkaz! He was an ally of ours once." Ines glared at Hoerderer.

The man just stared at her and Ines sighed. "At least tell W about this. I won't be the one doing so." Ines left.

Reunion members carried the body and threw at it a burning pile.

__

"Where's Scout W!?" Kal'tsit shouted and everybody tensed up.

"I already told you Kal'tsit, he really enjoyed our little meeting earlier." W smirked and she pointed something at the sky.

A flare rose to the skies and it popped as the rescue team stared at it.

"We have to retreat." Gnosis pulled on the stunned feline. Hearing that one of their elite ops getting KIA.

But before they could do so, a red comet was seen flying in the sky and it crashed right behind them.

"No way..." Maria frowned upon seeing who arrived with that wild way of transport.

"This... Isn't just annoying anymore." Gnosis' face was grave.

They were outnumbered and being pincered. "You think you can run away huh? Nothing will save you from me." Talulah brandished her sword.

Her long sword got coated by flames and the concrete under her started to melt.

__

Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.