Chapter 11

"But that just doesn't make sense!" A voice shouted beneath Kojiro.

Standing on top of a steel beam near the roof of the dock warehouse, Kojiro was yet again, practicing sword strikes. Neo was watching, as always, but almost asleep. The only indication of her irritation were the glares she sent to the crane tower, where the executives were meeting.

"How could all of our enforcers be wiped out by One. Single. Person?"

"Mason is many things, but a liar is not one of them." The leader of the dock gangs and the owner of the warehouse said.

Kojiro's sword swished down once again, but felt the phantom pains of a spear of water piercing his gut before he could complete his strike.

He still wasn't fast enough.

He raised the sword again, gripping the hilt with sweaty fingers, before assuming a stance and slashing downwards once more.

The sword cut through the air, sending a gale of wind forward. The sword fell swiftly, before Kojiro stopped the swing. It halted just before scratching the steel beam.

Kojiro exhaled, and sighed.

Was it the fact that he wasn't strong enough? Fast enough? Or maybe not skilled enough? Because he could not imagine the prospect of him defeating the spearman.

Uncomfortable parallels were drawn to fights where Kojiro had to fight beings akin to the spearman, who was also almost similar to a caster servant in terms of his semblance. He was never a good matchup against mages.

However, the spearman didn't even have the weakness that most mages had: being weak at close range. Kojiro didn't see him use his spear, but if his assumptions were correct just from analyzing his gait, he was at least competent with his spear.

For a moment, Kojiro could imagine hundreds of spears made of water pointed straight at him as he parried and counterattacked against the spearman's weapon. He stood little chance to begin with.

That is, if he could even get that close.

Sheathing his sword, Kojiro decided to climb down from the rooftop. He prodded Neo, who woke up and jumped from her perch, umbrella fanned open. The thin blanket she was dozing under was tucked under her arm, wrinkled and flapping in the air.

Kojiro, however, had no such flashy exit. He had to climb the ladder, all the while listening to the leaders argue about what was to be done about… him.

…

"He has a water control semblance, right?"

"Indeed." Old man Xiong said, rubbing his face in sleepiness.

"So that means that we can't even attack en masse because of the river that they've built their base around. We'll have to infiltrate."

For a moment, silence was cast across the room. The bottles of wine and cheap beer were on the pool table, amidst the billiard balls.

"But all of our best enforcers were taken out." Old man Xiong said, growling and slamming the table. The billiard balls rolled around, making gentle tinks against the glass bottles. "How the fuck are we supposed to do that?"

"The brat has an… illusion semblance, right? Just let her sneak in and shank the guy."

"She's just a kid! She can't do this."

"All of our asses are on the line. You have a chance at saving us. If the choice is between the three we have left and all of us… we know what we're choosing."

"Besides, her and your guy are basically a package deal. If we lose ours, you'll have to risk your enforcers too."

There was more silence than before. Wine was awkwardly swirled. Cigarettes were abandoned onto the ground, their embers burning out at last.

Somebody decided to break the silence.

A gun was pulled out. The hammer was coked back, and the hotheaded, younger idiot that did so stood up.

"We are doing this. Our boys got killed in those fucking raids. And now that you have some people that can end 'em, you aren't gonna use 'em? Now you listen here, you old fuck. You're gonna do as I say… or you're gonna eat this bullet."

Old man Xiong looked straight at the gun, and reached a hand slowly at the weapon. The gun began to tremble.

"I'm gonna do it! If… if you don't…. don't…" the youngster said, his whole hand shaking.

"You haven't actually killed anybody in your life, haven't you?"

"N-no. I've done it-"

A hand wrapped around the muzzle of the gun and pushed it away, the weapon falling out of their limp hands.

"You don't know how this game works. I bet you're just a small town druggie that wanted to make it big and talk with us."

"I-I control the west-"

Old man Xiong swung back an arm and backhanded him across the face. He hit the wooden door and slid out onto the steel walkway.

"We don't need your kind here. Young… impatient… all you do is give us a bad name."

A hand reached up to adjust his slightly disheveled suit.

"Guess what. We're doing this. I'll send in my guys to take him out. But…"

Beneath a graying head of hair and wrinkles across his brow, old yet sharp eyes glared at the room.

"We're doing this my way."

This time, everybody nodded.

…

"So the plan is simple. I'm going to convince everybody with my semblance that we're mercenaries that came late to their boss's contract." Verdant said, leaning back on the seat casually.

Mason, however, was much more apprehensive of the mission.

"You do realize that whoever that was just took out most of our best guys in like… ten seconds, right?"

"We're going to be fine!" We got you as a tank, me as long range, and Kojiro… as a fighting prodigy.

Neo turned around in her seat and waved a fist threateningly at Verdant.

"Oh. And you as a… distraction?"

Neo huffed, barely satisfied, before turning back to watching the street.

Verdant shivered in his seat. The various, slightly malicious revenge pranks Neo performed against him for shooting Kojiro in the arm were taking a toll psychologically.

"Kojiro, what do you think?" Mason asked, finally looking up from nervously fidgeting with his bat.

"Individually, there is no chance that we can win against him." Kojiro said lightly.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence.

…

"Halt!"

Men in trenchcoats swarmed the car, some with weapons, some without. Neo took this opportunity to give everybody a new hair and eye color in case they were recognized. In that same time, Kojiro's katana became a rugged machete; Mason's spiked shield became a smooth tower shield, and Verdant's simple revolver and hidden dirk needed no camouflaging.

Verdant leaned out of the car window.

"Hey. We're the guys the boss handled to kill a… Sasaki Kojiro?"

Neo glared at Verdant, who once again, felt cold sweat trickle down his back. Kojiro, however, didn't even look phased.

"Who's the kid?" somebody barked.

"A little… work study apprentice. Our boss wanted her to get some… first hand experience, if you know what I mean."

Neo created the illusion of a knife and began to file her nonexistent fingernails with it.

After a bit of muttering, the men shrugged.

"Well, you look like an honest guy… somehow… The boss is in the main building."

"I was told there was… another guy we had to report to. The guy with the water semblance?" Verdant said, eyes now positively glowing green.

"Oh. Chrysos. That fr-uh… friend of our boss." The men looked around nervously. "Okay. That freak is in the basement. Go down a hall, take a right, go down another one, find the stairs and go into the basement. Got that?"

"Of course." Verdant said, giving a little salute. "Thanks for the info, boss. You must be in charge of this area, right? You seem very experienced. What's your name? We may have to work together in the future."

"W-well, of course I am! And the name's Blanc." the person talking said, strutting proudly. "Remove the barricade, you idiots."

Said idiots began grumbling almost immediately, but complied anyways.

"No need to get a big head from that…"

"Damn, Blanc's almost as insufferable as Cypress…"

The barricade was moved, and the car drove through without any issue. Mason sighed in relief, and Kojiro released his hand from the hilt of his katana.

"I never knew your semblance was so effective."

"The best part is, nobody can really tell that I'm using it." Verdant sighed happily. "It got me out of so many homework assignments before I dropped out of Haven. It didn't work on Kojiro, though, for some reason. How'd you do that, by the way?"

Kojiro shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, I wasn't listening."

"You fucking replied to my question, you bastard!" Verdant said, a slight look of irritation flashing across his eyes.

"Well, looks like your semblance isn't that good, is it?" Mason said, trying to lighten the mood.

They finally arrived at the warehouse, where they got out of the car and walked in the door with no hesitation. The guards posted there didn't even bat an eye at the heavily armed people walking into the room, possibly because they had presumably been cleared by other guards already.

Truly, the bystander effect at its best.

Somebody stopped them eventually, but with Verdant's semblance, they were easily convinced.

The second hallway, however, was a different story. There were literally pictures of their faces being printed out as "wanted" posters.

Neo began to sweat as she began to distort the group's facial features even more.

"Guys, I don't think that we can get through this hallway without being caught." Mason whispered.

"Well, we better cause a diversion." Verdant whispered back, taking out a device and pressing a button.

…

The button was a signal to attack.

Old man Xiong nodded at a person holding a rocket launcher, who fired it into a building close to the headquarters of the revolutionaries.

With the explosion, several cars pulled up to the various checkpoints and began firefights with the guards maintaining the gates.

The leader's fist tightened. Whether they could take out the Monarchs depended on this move. After all, if their assassination attempt failed, there was no way they were succeeding.

A man that could control a river was dangerous.

…

The warehouse instantly boiled with activity, with people reaching for weapons and rushing at the doorway, only to see the three people that they were printing flyers about. Neo's distortions hadn't saved them, since Neo was no artist and couldn't model entirely new faces.

Weapons were raised hesitantly, as if almost not believing that their targets would just show up at their doorstep.

Then, the barrage began.

"Get over here!" Mason shouted, the illusion on him fading away as he began to use his semblance.

The bullets in the air curved towards the heavy tower shield, deflecting off of the hard metal at odd angles because of the spikes on the shield. Kojiro motioned for Neo to start taking the gunmen down, who nodded.

As Verdant fired back, nailing several in the chest, Neo snuck behind the group and looked for something to sabotage. There wasn't much except a metal baseball bat.

It had to do.

As Verdant struck them down from the front, frantically reloading, Neo began to give the gunmen concussions with an attack to the back of the head.

Sensing the dwindling firepower, Mason strode into combat, blocking bullets with his shield while attacking with his bat. Eventually, the room was cleared. Mason, however, wasn't in great shape.

"I'm at about half aura." Mason grumbled. "When we fight that guy, don't expect me to do that much."

"We can always wait a bit before fighting him. He's in the basement, right? If we barricade the boards-"

Footsteps in the hall that they had come from proved otherwise. The four quickly moved to barricade the door with the various printers, steel desks, and crates in the room.

The door handle rattled as Verdant pushed open the door to the basement.

"We'd better finish this fast, before everything turns for the worse."

Together, they ran into the basement.

…

They were greeted by a blade of water that almost cut Verdant in half. Luckily, he sidestepped at the last second. Seeing the potential carnage, Neo promptly went invisible and went to hide in a corner.

"The stragglers are here at last."

The arrogant man standing in the middle of the room wore an aquamarine cloak, with gauntlets made of grey metal that was more decorative than anything. Black rainboots and what looked like pants made of reinforced fabric, however, were the more practical part of his outfit. An aquamarine pendant hung from his neck, slowly swinging from side to side.

Everybody assumed combat stances. Kojiro stood to the side as Verdant cowered behind Mason, who hid behind his shield as well.

"I, Chrysos, welcome you to the final moments of your life."

Mason awkwardly shuffled in his armor.

"Uh… we don't know who you are."

"Fools! I am the forefront mercenary in the Mistralian market, capable of even taking on the Atlesian-"

Verdant took this monologue as an opportunity to shoot. A single bullet, slightly glowing green, arced through the room, a spiral of wind shunted out behind it.

Chrysos's bucket came to life, and a shield of translucent water appeared in front of him. The bullet passed through the shield, and harmlessly clattered to the floor.

As Verdant unloaded the rest of the chamber, Chrysos looked at the three with a raised eyebrow.

Then, Chrysos dropped his bucket. The water poured out of the container, and the pipes in the room began vibrating as well, slowly filling the room with water.

"Your insolence will not be tolerated… for long."

Kojiro's instincts screamed at him to jump. He leapt into the air, raising his katana as he did.

A whip of water circled around the room, carving a deep scar into the brick walls. The water that was slowly trickling out to Chrysos also began to gather near his figure after his own blob of water reached out to it.

Verdant was sweating now. His pants were ripped where the water had struck, and only his passive aura activation had saved him. Mason had absorbed the attack with his shield, but now, he was struggling to realign it. Neo, while invisible, had been standing on top of a crate in a corner, and only had to adjust her footing.

Kojiro kicked the wall at the topmost point of his jump, his figure darting towards Chrysos.

Water came up from the floor, forming vicious spikes to impale his abdomen. Kojiro quickly diverted his swing to slice at the water. His sword met a surprising amount of resistance, which still didn't stop his deflection. The water slowly fell, like a puppet cut from its strings, and the blunt tips of the water spikes halted their advance. Twisting in midair, Kojiro used the spin to enhance his spin, feet still off the ground.

Kojiro cut through the attack, but the stunted whip still hit him in his side, marring his purple robes with a splash of red.

After that exchange, Kojiro's feet finally hit the ground, and he slid towards the wall, coming to a stop and holding his bleeding wound.

"So you dare to attack me, even without aura?" Chrysos roared, eyes suddenly shining with a blue light. "You insult me!"

Blades of water formed a net as it arced towards Kojiro. The blood on the floor did not rise with the attack, however, though it did jerk upwards weekly.

Mason chose this time to act.

"Get over here!"

He shouted what seemed like the trigger phrase for his semblance. The net's shape distorted, slamming against Mason's form as he surged forward, bashing past Chrysos's twisted attack and swinging his bat with an ear-shattering roar.

A spear shot out from underneath Chrysos's cloak. The attack hit Mason's abdomen swiftly. Mason still persevered, stepping forward and deliviering his blow regardless. A wave, however, emerged from the ground and intercepted the attack, wrapping around the bat and enveloping it in water. Then, with a sweep of his hand, Chrysos pulled the weapon out of Mason's hand.

The brutish man staggered back, his aura flickering over his body.

Suddenly, Chrysos staggered back. He rubbed his shoulder, where a new hole in his cloak had appeared.

"Nice shot. It'll be the last one you get, however."

A tide of water flowed through the floorboards towards Verdant, who took out his whip and attacked Chrysos in an attempt to distract him. A hand reached out, wreathed in protective aura, and grabbed the whip, pulling Verdant forward.

The water then rose up in the same water spike attack. The attacks dissipated against Verdan'ts aura, but a cloak of water wrapped around Verdant's jacket and flung him into the wall once, then twice, then into the roof and onto the floor again.

Verdant lay unmoving, straight on the ground. His aura flickered, before sputtering out weakly. Bleeding from the nose, he didn't get up.

Another attack swept Mason into the wall, who pushed his shield into the ground to better endure the attack. A water tentacle tried to sneak past the barrier, but Mason raised a fist and punched the construct, making the water scatter into mist.

Kojiro took this opportunity to attack once more, opening with two swift strikes at Chrysos's head, who halted his attack on Mason to bring the wave of water back at Kojiro. The sword strikes passed through the water, but emerged at a greatly reduced speed. A lazy wave of a spear was all that was needed to nullify the attacks.

"Enough. You all bore me. Is this really the best you can do?"

A tide of water welled up around Chrysos, the water on the ground coalescing into a shell around the man, before it was propelled outwards. Kojiro stood sideways to the wave, striking at the curtain of water as fast as he could to disrupt the formation. Mason used his shield to deflect the blow again.

It wasn't enough.

Severed from the main wave, the water that Kojiro had slashed at had lost most of its momentum. Mason, however, was swept straight into a wall. When the dust cleared and the tide retreated, a lot of the water fell to the ground, made murky with brick from the dust. Mason was embedded into the corner, his aura saving him from a grizzly death.

Kojiro, now drenched in water and blood, stood up in the face of an emotionless Chrysos. His sword was held at his side by one hand, and blood slowly spread through his damp robes, dying even more of him red.

The water retreated back around Chrysos, forming a dry circle around him. At last, he looked at Kojiro.

"After all of these attacks, you of all people are still standing?"

Kojiro merely exhaled slowly as he slowly raised his sword into a guarded stance.

"I commend you for your tenacity. But this folly ends now."

The wall behind Kojiro collapsed, pipes bursting and sending shards of brick in to Kojiro's unprotected back. Kojiro stumbled forward, before his shoulder was stabbed, and he was kicked into the broken wall once more.