Chapter 34

"Lancer is dead."

Atop the bird through which the cultists escaped, the archer woman said to their leader, Deidara.

"He died? A pity. We had high hopes for him. Do we know his killer?" He said with complete calmness as if the psychopath persona he just had was a lie.

"A male, likely younger than 20, with short auburn hair with white patches. An ally of his called him 'Wrought Iron'."

"I see." Deidara said as he put his hand in his satchel and grabbed some white clay. When he took his hand out, a mouth opened in his palm and swallowed the white clay then he clenched his fist.

When he opened his palm, a white clay bird was standing on top of it. He threw it in the air and with a few signs the clay bird became big enough for a person to sit on it and started flapping its wings.

He then turned to one of the cultists, "Go to the headquarters and relay the information. You can never be too careful."

The cultist nodded, hopped on the bird and flew away.

——<>——

"And that's the situation." Max explained to Derek and Vincent who just woke up from their sleep.

"Damn. So those guys were really bad news." Vincent said, "I'd like to help you but I can't even lift a finger."

"No worries. Just sit tight here. We'll be back." Max said as he equipped his gear. "Oh yeah, what happened to that black haired woman?" He asked.

"Who? Ah you're talking about her. She teleported away. I don't know where she went." Bilbo said.

"Tch!"

Max noticed that Medb acted weird when they talked about that woman so he couldn't help but ask. "Do you know who that was Medb?"

"No. I don't. She's most likely a bitch though." She said with venom in her voice.

'That's suspicious.' Max thought but didn't insist. He had more important stuff to think about.

The trio got on the way towards their destination.

***

It was a cave, well hidden behind some shrubs and bushes. If Max wasn't sure that what they were looking for was in the vicinity, he'd have missed it easily.

"Let's not go in. We don't know what's in there and they may find this place soon. I don't wanna have unknown before and lunatics behind." Bilbo said as he put his bag down.

He dived inside the bag and started taking out different stuff.

Meanwhile Max was thinking of what was about to go down.

'Are we rushing this? Maybe I shouldn't have come. There could be better ways to handle it.' He was having second thoughts. 'No. There couldn't be.' *Slap* He slapped his cheeks to clear his doubts and cast his gaze on the sky.

***

"They are here." Bilbo said from his hiding spot behind a bush and passed an ornate dagger to Max. "As planned. Leave Deidara to me and take care of the rest." He put on a grey cowl and disappeared from their vision.

'Invisibility?' Max thought. "You know what to do Medb." He said as he projected his bow and arrows.

"Gotcha." She said as she started walking towards the incomers. "Ah hello! Would you be willing to help a damsel in distress? I need some big, strong men…uhh" She trailed as if she forgot her script. "…To help me carry some stuff."

"She was with the Grey Fox sir." The archer woman said.

"That was a nice try young lady, but it hasn't been that long since you were seen with our enemy. Do you think we're dumb?" Deidara said as he put a hand in his satchel.

"No way. Of course you're not dumb." She said as she waited, "or are you?" She asked as stones lit up around the perimeter.

"It's a trap!" A cultist yelled but it was futile, he was trapped in the place and couldn't move a muscle.

An arrow found its way to his throat. "Gah!" He instantly dropped dead on the ground.

More arrows flew out of the forest and hit their marks.

The archer woman tried to move but she also couldn't. Just as an arrow was about to pierce her throat, she was pushed away by Deidara.

"Seriously, Grey Fox. Is that all you can do?" He asked as he looked around. "Seriously, an artist knows no rest. Time for another exhibition." He said as the corpses started exploding.

Medb had already escaped after the first arrow was released, so she wasn't in any danger.

Max didn't lose his focus and watched for any sudden moves. '!' He suddenly rolled sideways and dodged a short sword about to slash his neck.

'How did she get here?' He thought and projected Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands.

The supposed archers got into a sword fight.

"Come on Grey Fox. I know you're here." Deidara said with his hand in his satchel. He was looking around warily.

But even with all his wariness, he couldn't sense an invisible short sword piercing his heart. "Gah!"

With his invisibility dropped, Bilbo appeared right behind Deidara with his sword in hand.

"Gotcha!" Deidara smiled as if his pained expression was a lie. His body started bloating and shone with light.

Bilbo withdraw his sword with surprising calmness from someone who fell into a trap, and slowly backed away.

His form started fading until he was completely invisible once more.

*Boom!*

"Geez, your boss seriously loves explosions." Max said while still clashing blades with the archer woman.

"Yeah. He does." She said after ducking under the black sword and blocking the white sword. She then aimed for a low kick, but Max jumped.

'Finally.' She thought. A low kick followed by a high kick was one of her signature moves. Her body had enough flexibility and explosive power to pull that off and no enemy of hers was able to block it.

After her target jumped to dodge the low kick, she was about to land a high kick when she cast her gaze on him.

He was smiling with a bow and arrow in his hand, aimed right at her face. "Say cheese." He said and released the string.

'No.' Was her last thought when an arrow pierced through her brain.

Her corpse laid on the ground with a bloody hole on her forehead.

After taking out the archer woman, Max cast his gaze onto where Bilbo was fighting against Deidara.

Explosions rang everywhere. He couldn't get close, but approaching their fight never even crossed Max's mind.

He was an archer. Sniping from range was his specialty.

He swiftly climbed a tree and sat on a branch with his bow in hand.

They were moving way too fast for Max to aim but he could always try.

"Huff." He exhaled as he pulled the string of the bow and stood still like a rock.

He was waiting for a chance to reveal itself.

Then, alarm bells started ringing in his head. "Wha-! Ack!" He was hit in the back by something with such huge force that he was thrown right in the middle of Bilbo and Deidara.

He continued flying until he hit a tree and stopped moving. Max felt excruciating pain throughout his body.

He couldn't even move his finger.

"!" Bilbo was alarmed by Max's sudden appearance. He was worried about the his situation but he couldn't afford to distract himself from his opponent.

'Shit! Shitshitshit! There is another one!' Bilbo thought. Then daggers started raining on both Deidara and Bilbo.

'An assassin!' Bilbo thought while dodging the blades.

"Tch! This just got annoying!" Deidara said as he threw white clay shaped like a bug everywhere. With a few hand sings, they came alive and ran around the forest to find the assailant.

Meanwhile Max just sat there and contemplated his life. 'Ah… it hurts. I can't move a muscle. Are all my bones broken?' He thought. 'Why did I even try to play the hero? I could've just ran and be safe and sound. I should've known that a wish granting artifact would be very attractive to everyone. Of course there'd be others coming here to get it. Sigh' Then he turned his head towards the sky.

'Even if I knew this was gonna happen, I probably would choose the same thing. I couldn't have left Bilbo alone. Being hotheaded sucks ass. But what can I do? It's in my blood. Fire, is my blood.'

"Sigh I never really had a choice to begin with did I?" He said with surprising calmness from someone who had all his bones broken. Then he opened his mouth;

"The Paragon who sits upon the Silver Throne," The surrounding mana churned and forced every individual to stop whatever they were doing and look at a spot.

They couldn't move from their spot. A being much higher than them was descending. They could only bow their heads in fear of not angering the Entity.

Blue mana rushed and congealed at a spot and formed a blue orb.

"The Mighty Owner of the Infinite Crafts," Max continued without minding the soul crushing pressure.

A circle appeared and started revolving horizontally around the blue orb.

"The Guardian King who rules over Well-Earned Luck." Max finished chanting the honorable name. (A/N: Last line was changed by the suggestion of daoistxuanlong.)

Another circle appeared and started revolving vertically this time.

Bilbo, Deidara and the Assassin hidden in the forest felt a gaze on them and broke into cold sweat. They might not fear death, but a god's ire was much more scarier than mere death.

"…" Max was silent for a bit as he gazed upon the orb. "I accept." He uttered.

With his confirmation, blue threads extended from the orb and touched Max's body.

They started from the limbs and started spreading throughout his body. And with it, they brought soothing.

Max felt his bones being mended and strengthened. An infinite power was now coursing through his body. 'So, this is how it feels like to overcome the mortal limits. I understand why Bilbo didn't even break a sweat in our spars. My mana alone increased more than ten times.' He then closed his eyes and waited for the threads to finish their job.

{I Bestow Upon You My Shield.}

{Go Forth My Counter Guardian.}

Then an ethereal voice rang in Max's head as a conceptual shield with seven petals was now sitting in his Reality Marble.

Then a notification rang out in his head.

[Congratulations On Breaking Through the Mortal Shell]

[You Have Been Gifted With Body Armor And Enchanted Cloth]

As soon as the notification rang, Max felt his previous clothing disappeared and left its place to a much stronger and more durable armor.

It was a a black body armor made from a special material that has yet to be discovered by mankind as of the present time, which consisted of a black tight and sleeveless shirt with silver accents which outlined his muscles and a metal plate on his collar, and black pants that had two black straps on his thighs, and another two strapped around his shins separate from each other. He now had black metal plated shoes, which appeared to be attached to his trousers.

He also had a red cloth, which was actually a holy shroud, covering his body. two separate sleeves connected by a metal plate at the back which covered his arms and was cut off showing his upper torso and midriff, and had a separate red open skirt which ended above his shins with the top fashioned and tied with an agemaki knot, covered by a silver metal plate.

He then slowly got up while uttering,

"I am the Bone of my Sword,

Steel is my Body and Fire, is my Blood,"

The blue orb disappeared by then and left its place to eerie silence, with only Max's words ringing out. He chanted the first two lines of his uncomplete Aria and raised his hand above his head while scattering blue sparks everywhere.

"Unlimited Blade Works."

++++++++++

Name: Maximillian Evander

Class: Archer

[Parameters]

Strength -> E-

Endurance -> E

Agility -> E

Mana -> E+

Luck -> E

Phantasm -> C

[Class Skills]

Magic Resistance -> E

Clairvoyance -> E

[Personal Skills]

Projection -> E

Mind's Eye (True) -> E

Valor -> E

[Phantasm]

Unlimited Blade Works -> E ~ C-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last chapter before we finish this arc and start the story for real.

Wish me luck!

Let me know your thoughts and keep throwing them stones!

If you've come this far, give a review eh?