Mastermind

Before the treat arrived Desmond made a few quick preparations. He reached inside of his dimensional pouch and took out a small vial, It was the poison known as [Lovers Kiss]. While Desmond didn't purchase any at the gathering he had some on him because he took it from his own stash. Along with a few other magic scrolls and potions that he thought would come in handy during desperate times.

Desmond carefully pored the poison onto his enchanted dagger that he had for almost 2 years and put it back into its holster near his hip. Then Desmond crouched on the floor where he stood and started drawing symbols on the ground at a rapid speed as a gift for whomever he was about to meet. With the little amount of time that Desmond had he knew that he could do no more so he waited to confront the threat and end it once and for all.

With a calm demeanor, Desmond waited though it wasn't long till the people he sensed finally showed. Two cloaked figures jumped down from the rooftop and stood at opposite ends of the ally way while a third loomed over Desmond from up above. The ally way blocked most of the light from the glow stones that lined the walls everywhere in the Underground which helped obscure the faces of the people who blocked him in but the darkness never affected Desmond much to begin with.

He clearly saw the faces of Ferrise, Linda, and Gerald and as he did he started analyzing each of them. Desmond perceived the amount of magic flowing from them all and immediately knew that they were all a higher rank than him. Which was troublesome because it meant that they could all cast stronger spells then Desmond, but he could also tell that their souls were significantly weaker then Desmond's which gave him a lethal edge.

As Desmond analyzed the three of them he spent a bit longer looking at Ferrise because his body was, so strange and eye-catching. Ferrise had bird feathers, eyes, and a red gem on his forehead which from Desmond's perspective was like a tiny vortex.

'What in the world is that man a harpy? No, harpies should all be female maybe he's some kind of harpy hybrid or birdman species'.

Desmond didn't spend a moment longer on that though because it was useless. He was clearly in danger and needed to know the reason for their presence and If they were targeting him from the beginning he needed to know how they were tracking him.

Without a second thought, Desmond deactivated the illusion that made him look like an ordinary young man. Returning him back into his previous appearance fully displaying the rogue outfit while at the same time keeping his face shrouded in darkness. They had already found him so the previous illusion was useless. The reason Desmond still kept his face hidden was in hopes he could still protect his Identity while also because it just plain looked cool so he had no reason not to.

After Desmond changed his appearance he mobilized a bit of his spiritual energy and put it out on full display for all three of them to feel. By utilizing his spirit Desmond conveyed his strength, anger, announce, and cold hearted killing intent. Desmond's spiritual energy rushed outward and flowed over Ferrise's group making them feel as if they had all just taken an ice bath. Each of them including Ferrise himself was drenched in a cold sweat at that moment because they each realize just how much of a threat the man before them was.

Desmond's strength was pathetic when he first arrived in Theotara. He could have been bullied by even the smallest bug and died. He was nothing special when he killed Vincent and his crew. The measly strength Desmond did gain was overshadowed by the strength of Eliot Row's soul and the windshield of a car when Leopold ran him over. It was only through the use of his whit and luck that Desmond somehow stayed alive.

But after Desmond's transformation things where different even Desmond didn't know how strong he truly was because he never fought people near his level. He was always overwhelmed by the might of Zane, Seraphine, and Ragnar. But Ferrise and his group clearly felt how unusual and powerful Desmond was compared to them solidifying their stance on not fighting him.

"Tell me why have you come to disturb this old man?".

Desmond spoke plainly and without much force, but because he was still releasing his spiritual energy Desmond's words turned into chilling needles that pierced their souls. An effect Desmond didn't know he could cause. No one in Ferrise's group wanted to start a fight with Desmond. It was an unnecessary risk that provided no benefit in their eyes so they each would rather defuse the situation before it escalated.

Gerald was closest to Desmond so he spoke to him, "I am quite sorry our group has obstructed you it was not our intention. We were simply looking for a friend of ours that got separated from us. When we thought we found him we found you instead. So as you see this is clearly nothing, but a misunderstanding".

Desmond easily understood what Gerald's words implied. Whether they where true or not didn't really matter so long as they left him alone.

"Yes, a misunderstanding that's what I like to hear. This friend of yours is quite a lucky person to have such caring friends that would spend their time tracking the other down and surround them just to ensure that the other is safe and well protected from the dangers of the world. Its a shame I don't have friends like that".

"Maybe you will one day, but today we aren't those friends. Where just strangers passing by".

Gerald was a bit nervous when dealing with Desmond. He could tell Desmond was a lower rank than them, but the strength of his soul was beyond abnormal. He hoped things wouldn't go any further as he cursed Ferrise's shitty detection skills for getting them in their current mess.

Desmond analyzed the situation and Gerald's words then retracted his spiritual energy. Not a drop of Desmond's chilling aura could be felt like before which took a burden off of everyone's backs. After Desmond retracted his energy he spoke once more to them.

"Since your just passing by then I guess you should get going. You don't wanna keep your friend waiting".

Everyone was please with the peaceful resolution especially Ferrise. While Ferrise thought that he could take on Desmond since he was still a lower rank than him. He didn't want to because it waisted time and there was also the question of whether or not he would walk out unscathed or not.

After a peaceful understanding was established something suddenly broke that peace. Without warning a bullet shot from behind Gerald and past by his ear without harming him. The bullet continued to travel until it reached Desmond. It struck the side of Desmond's cheek leaving a long bloody cut on his face. After the bullet grazed the side of Desmond's face it hit the hoodie on Desmond's head forcefully pushing it off his head and struck the wall behind Desmond. The sudden shock of what happened made Desmond lose focus causing the illusion Desmond covered his face with to fail exposing his wrinkled face to everyone.

A stunned look was plastered on Desmond's face after that. His stunned expression quickly turned into anger when he realized the truth.

'All their words where complete bull shit when they saw I wasn't easy to deal with they tried to kill me with a sniper those bastards'.

While Desmond thought he knew the truth It was completely different from what he believed. Ferrise and his group were all startled and on guard against the same threat. They didn't know who it was for sure but they all had a good guess.

After that shot was fired Ferrise had his crows in that area take a look and that's when Ferrise saw the face of the most detestable human being Ferrise has ever had the displeasure of meeting. He waved playfully without care at the crows that began to surround him while still holding his custom made electromagnetic rifle. The gun is powerful enough to punch a hole through a tank on earth. Maverick used it at its lowest setting not to kill, but spook Desmond so his plan could become realized.

It was maverick who orchestrated Ferrise's entire group bumping into Desmond because he wanted to know more about the person who could obtain a grade 1 healing potion. That's why he placed a tracking device in the info drive he traded along with the other thing he sold to Desmond. Once he saw there was an opportunity to start a fight maverick took it as a bonus to his plan.

"MAVERICK!"

Ferrise angrily shouted before he shot off in Maverick's direction. The crows already around Maverick stopped circling him like pray and then started to dive bomb him. Their razor sharp wings cut the air and their talons aimed downward with full intent to claw out Maverick's eyes but Maverick didn't care he didn't even spare the crows another look. He kept his eyes locked on Ferrise who started generating more crows. As Maverick stared down Ferrise the crows that came to attack him met their end.

Over 50 circular shaped turrets disguised as shingles on the roof popped out and opened fire blasting all the birds that attacked Maverick to bits. Ferrise didn't mind the death of the birds he knew defeating Maverick wasn't going to be that easy anyway, but his body started dripping in a cold sweat when he saw even more turrets popping up all around him putting him in the crossfire of over 100 turrets.

Such a horrific sight is why many people don't like confronting mechanical adepts. Mechanical adepts also known as gear heads, tinkers, mechanics, technomancers and other slang terms are a branch of mages that became widespread around 50,000 years. After its creator also known as the beast achieved the highest attainment level possible in his field becoming an Overlord, created a new branch of mages and the first to become a god as a mechanical adept.

Mechanical adepts focus on becoming one with machines. While they do have many strong points they have weak ones as well. They are considered lethal to illusionists and psychics but are also at the same time weak to them as well.

"Its a trap"

The second Ferrise got surrounded he knew he had played right into Maverick's hand. Every single one of Maverick's guns was fired using electromagnetism like Maverick's rifle. The threat of 1 railgun is not to be underestimated, but the threat of 100 is just not fair. Maverick had little reason to hold back against Ferrise if it wasn't for the item he was carrying Maverick would have used a larger force against Ferrise, but that still didn't stop him from unleashing hellfire down on him.

The storm of bullets forced Ferrise into a defensive position. Perfectly dodging, so many bullets was impossible for Ferrise to do. To protect himself Ferrise placed himself inside of a cocoon made of crows and plummeted to the ground. The Railguns tore through the crows but missed Ferrise entirely.

On the ground, Ferrise sped towards the building Maverick was on top of while staying out of the turrets' line of fire. By the time Ferrise made it to the building and tried to scale the side of it he caught a glimpse of hell. More torrents popped out of the walls around him all of which spared no time in firing every bullet they contained at him. The second Ferrise noticed the predicament he was in he thought of the one trick he knew would save him in that instance.

Without hesitation, Ferrise scattered most of the crows he had towards all the turrets while some chaotically flew around in the air nearby. The rest of which completely covered Ferrise's body not letting an inch of his body be revealed. The turret fired sporadically at all the crows completely ignoring Ferrise's presence. As that happened it gave Ferrise the chance to Destroy all the turrets.

Most of the weapons Maverick uses especially the turrets are controlled using an AI. The AI helps lower the strain Maverick faces when controlling a bunch of different tech. But because Ferrise knew that the AI Maverick uses wasn't super advanced and relied on mostly facial recognition and thermal imaging. He could exploit that by creating hundreds of similar targets all at the same threat level forcing the AI to prioritize the closest target instead of Ferrise himself.

Two large pairs of wings made of crows grew on Ferrise back and he used them as large blades that cut all the torrents he passed by into pieces. Once all the turrets on the ground nearby were destroyed. Ferrise morphed the bodies of the crows that formed his wings. Their flesh, eyes, and feathers quickly compressed forming a grotesque pair of black wings with a metallic shine and hundreds of red eyes.

The wings on Ferrise's back are very unnatural they can bend like rubber while also maintaining there sturdy structure. Ferrise spread his wings and flew on top of the building Maverick was on. The moment he flew above the buildings all the turrets that couldn't find their target opened fire on Ferrise. While the turrets where still very dangerous Ferrise's wings shielded him circumventing most of the pressure off him.

Ferrise's wings weren't strong enough to directly withstand the full might of any of Maverick's weapons. But they were capable of moving independently by themselves and strong enough as well as fast enough to alter the direction of every bullet before they fully hit him.

Every time Ferrise's wings altered the direction of a bullet Ferrise felt as though he was being hit by a truck that was driving 100 miles an hour. The amount of strain it put on Ferrise's body was tremendous it even made the wound Krug gave him worse, but he still had enough in him to fight. Ferrise charged at Maverick and at that moment he cast a spell that conjured a shimmering purple staff made up of a dense amount of energy. Ferrise pointed the conjured energy staff at Maverick and it extended at an incredible speed.

The staff extended so fast it created a sonic boom that made large gusts of wind where ever it passed and greatly damaging the rooftop. Maverick had already put folded the custom made sniper and put it away allowing him enough maneuverability to roll away and pull out an electromagnetic pistol. Ferrise's staff could be shorten just as fast as it could extend. Using that he was able to shield himself from the pistols shot. But being under an endless barrage of bullets wasn't easy. Ferrise dodge and weaved as much as he could while attacking Maverick, but each hit took a massive toll on him. Even the building maverick and Ferrise were fighting on top of was crumbling under the endless storm of attacks from the two.

Because he was in such a dangerous situation Ferrise put everything regarding causing a large destruction in the city and involving civilians in a Magus fight to the back of his mind and did whatever it took to destroy those turrets.

Not caring about the consequences Ferrise ignored Maverick for a moment and switched his attention to the turrets. He then held the energy staff in his hand and threw it like a javelin. As Ferrise's spell pierced threw the air it broke apart into over a dozen smaller versions of the same spell. Each spell rained down causing a marvelous display of destruction throughout the block. Buildings and streets crumbled away as flames generated from the numerous explosion engulfed them.

Civilians caught in the crossfire were either burned alive, crushed under the weight of the building above them, or had their internal organs damaged from the shock wave of each explosion if they were where unlucky. Ferrise did the same thing to each place he spotted a turret. Maverick's turrets tried to shoot down all of Ferrise's attacks, but they only aided in there destruction.

"You AI is just as shit as it was before Maverick If I didn't know better I'd think you were offering them up as targets for me".

A weakness that all mechanical adepts suffer from is in short a lack of funds and time. Their strength is mostly displayed through their machines. So if a mechanical adept is lacking in funds or enough time then they cannot build their machines resulting in a poor display of power. To overcome part of that obstacle Maverick conspired against all of the students in Twilight Academy so that he would have enough funds to build what he wanted.

Maverick didn't care much about Ferrise insulting his creations he nor did he get made he instead calmly replied.

"That's alright everything here is nothing more than an investment. I'll make back everything here after I take your head and raid your room after I'm done".

"You're still after my keystone after all this time just buy your own".

"I would but I prefer the five finger discount. You know how I'm always short on funds".

"Cheapskate".

As Ferrise and Maverick clashed he found himself consistently losing ground as he is forced more of the defensive by Maverick's attacks. Maverick moved quickly around the crumbling building because of his high frequency propulsion boots that allow him to move as if the ground was frictionless and make sharp turns in the air. Though Ferrise destroyed most of the surrounding turrets it didn't stop Maverick from unleashing more robots that uncompressed themselves and started attacking Ferrise. A battle of attribution is not easily won against mechanical adepts. Ferrise knew that that's why he never wanted to fight Maverick alone. his fighting style simply wasn't suited against people like Maverick.

'Where in the world is Gerald and Linda they should have been here a long time ago'.

Ferrise couldn't hold on much longer and he knew it. His once intimidating wings were so beaten up to the point it made him look like a sick bird. While Ferrise managed to deflect the bullets he couldn't block the shrapnel that riddled him with holes or the large impact from every shot. If it wasn't for Ferrise's strong vitality he would have been dead already. While on the other hand, Maverick suffered light damage. There was no real need for Maverick to confront Ferrise himself when his horde of robots can do it for him, so besides a few cuts and a bruise, he was fine.

'I can't win like this I have to team up with Linda and Gerald'.

Ferrise knowing defeating Maverick by himself was nothing more than a fleeting dream gave up on it and tried to fly away. The second Ferrise spread his wingsto fly away Maverick activated a spell then took out a pistol significantly different from all the other weapons he used before. It was silver with a bunch of different wires exposed it was also a bit bulkier and heavier as well.

"[Overload]"

The spell [Overload] that Maverick cast is a frequently used spell that mechanical adepts use it overcharges their weapons increasing a weapons damage at the risk of decreasing a weapons durability or just out right breaks it. Because of the spell the weapon Maverick had only took a second to fully change. Once it did a thick blue lazer fired out of the gun and cut off one of Ferrise's wings. Ferrise's wings where cut through like butter by the powerful lazer along with the building beneath both of their feet.

That lazer gun was the strongest weapon Maverick had but it was also incomplete and almost complete uncontrollable. It was made from an incomplete set of data Maverick acquired regarding such weapons. Which limited the guns ability to only being able to fire once or twice if Maverick was lucky before completely breaking down.

After being fired the lazer gun overheated in Maverick's hand and dtarted to come apart. Maverick didn't care about that and threw the gun away then charge towards Ferrise as he tried to take full advantage of the opening that the weapon brought him.

As Maverick ran towards Ferrise a large robotic limb covered Maverick's right arm once it did he swung it down at full force towards Ferrise. Ferrise knew that in his condition he couldn't take that attack directly or else it would spell his doom. As Maverick's fist came down like the hammer of god Ferrise body burst into dozens of crows. Maverick's fist slammed down on the spot Ferrise once was leaving a large crater in that spot. The hole expanded till the entire roof collapse and the building along with it. As the building began to fall Maverick saw Ferrise reforming his body a few metters away and cough up blood.

The trick Ferrise used to escape is nothing compared to what Zane does regularly. It is flawed and would have been impossible to do if he didn't augment his body so much. That's why Ferrise started to heavily cough up blood. But despite the damage Ferrise suffereed from his own technique and the desperate situation he was in he still saw hope in winning so long as he made it back to the rest of his group.

Ferrise quickly left the crumbling building in search for Gerald and Linda while Maverick trailed closely behind him. As Ferrise approached Gerald and Linda's location he saw a beautiful yet disheartening sight. Large amounts of flames as colorful as a rainbow pushed back against the raging inferno surrounding it. The ice cold chill that the colorful flames brought with them was nothing compared to who stood in its center.

A decrepit old man who should have been waiting for death in a nursing home. Stood proudly over the body of a man who wasn't even a quarter of his age and a woman who was holding onto life by a thread as she desperately gasped for air on her knees in front of the monster before her.

That scene stupified Ferrise even Maverick was shocked by what he saw. He didn't expect things to go so far with those three he just wanted to buy more time for himself while also finding out more about the person capable of acquiring a grade 1 healing potion.

"What the hell happened?".

Desmond didn't answer Ferrise's question he only looked coldy at Maverick and Ferrise then attacked.