Published at 31st of May 2026 6:42 am

Chapter 359: A Debt and a Message

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Round after round slammed into the mass of black-armoured undead. Each shot punched through armour and blasted the target back into their fellows with a sound like a shelf full of pans and pots crashing to the ground. But they were so densely pressed, now, that knocking the life from a few of them barely made a difference. The two Morvain were hidden deep within them.

The ghouls had surged forwards to resume their attack on the front-line, but even with the shock of the attack from above they were holding their lines together, though they had been forced into a steady retreat.

Nicolai pulled free a spent magazine, tossed it at his chest, and the Big Mouth caught it like a dog snatching at a bone. He slotted in a fresh one and peered through the iron-sights. Somewhere in that mass of armoured undead the two Morvain were hiding. Even with drone coverage, it was difficult to know precisely where, though Simulations had picked out a few likely spots. The M99 boomed and howled against him as he took a few shots at one of them, only to find that when he went for the next his targets were blocked.

Ridges of earth were sprouting amidst the undead, stone paving slabs visibly levered aside by the rising earth. Walls were forming, and not just where the Morvain hid but also before their front line, blocking off the ghouls. Just as when the mass of undead had launched that mass of fire attacks, now they were using a similar ability to form these protections.

From directly below, he felt ripples. Then a black-armoured undead appeared, having leapt somehow from the ground.

It was blown backwards by a.50 cal to the chest that sent it pinwheeling through the air, limp and broken, to disappear into the sea of undead below. But another appeared right on its heels, then another. Serrin discarded his anti-materiel rifle in favour of his spear and leapt at them, spinning and darting, and Nicolai aided him with the Spectral Clawhe was getting better and better at using it without any hand gestures but as a simple extension of his will, a surprisingly difficult skill to developwhile continuing to fire down on the undead forming a turtle-like mass of shields around the two Morvain nobles, who were entirely hidden behind these guards.

But from where they lurked that powerful Soul Sense arose, swollen with the nobles rage, and lunged at them.

The next few minutes were increasingly difficult as he and Serrin fought against leaping undead and the powerful Tier 2 Soul Sense. Now aware of their skill at parrying, the noble demonstrated he was far from a novice at Soul Sense combat. The pair were forced closer together in order to fight back as one, rapidly switching through the fundamentals of Soul Sense combat: Hard defence against slashing and piercing attacks, soft defence against crushing attacks, and extending their Soul Sense into tendrils here and there where they saw opportunities to behead, deflect, or parry the Tier 2s own.

However, this Tier 2 was clearly specialised for this kind of combat, and as he grew wiser to their strategies and began to understand their limitations, he started to make use of some kind of ripple-based spiritual area attack, one that disrupted their Soul Senses more and more over time and which they had no counter for. Nicolai and Serrin, by this point silently communicating Soul-to-Soul, realised that soon there would be little choice but to flee out of their attackers Soul Sense range.

Fortunately, their intervention had bought the Thrynn the time theyd needed. New ripples were arriving, and Nicolai knew what they heralded. Through his dispersed drones he saw a small army of Thrynn reinforcements were on the way and would soon arrive. It seemed the Morvain had their own methods of sensing this, as without any noticeable order given the black-armoured undead shifted into a full retreat.

He lowered the M99, gazing thoughtfully down. The Soul Sense attacks had broken off, though just before doing so he and Serrin had received a very clear message, delivered through the tendrils: You will pay for this. The undead were clanking backwards, retreating smoothly having raised up more of those walls to cover themselves. Simulations was getting a lock on where the two Morvain were, but even him and Serrin shooting together was unlikely to do much. The pair were protected by a large number of the larger, more elite looking variants, who bore Imbued metal shields that were better able to weather the heavy rounds. They were also keeping those earth walls between them and him as much as possible. Beside him, Serrin stood with spear ready. The undead whod leapt up here littered the roof around them.

For someone so fresh to shooting, Serrins aim with the anti-materiel rifle had been reasonably good. Aiming had already split its processing, now the fight was largely over, and a part of it was observing a recording of this engagement and drawing up constructive feedback for the Hornet. Whatever it had to say, hed impart later.

For now The mass of Morvain were pouring around the bend in the street, filtering out of view. Those whod manned the barricades were disappearing into the buildings to find their own escape. Just in time, as further down the street a new group was arriving.

A small army of ghouls which washed around the corner then pressed in a mass of loping bodies down the street toward the beleaguered Thrynn. These ghouls came with an airborne escortdrifting, shadowy wraiths and bat-winged Peopleand walking in a cluster in the midst of them were a few People with similar robes as the Thrynn noble below. One of them had a Tier 3 Soul Sense, presumably the leader of House Thrynn.

Meanwhile, the red tinge in the air faded away and the bubble of energy that surrounded them dissipated. Nicolais Mark pinged, throwing up a brief notification informing him the Restriction was back in effect. That ended his brief thoughts of stealthily pursuing the two Morvain and looking to eliminate them.

The Thrynn noble below was waving up at them, calling out for them to come down. The winged bodyguard stepped past and leapt into the air, floating toward the calling noble, and Nicolai and Serrin followed.

The four of them regarded one another, all stood on the undead cart. The large metal box framed the Thrynn. Nicolai was pleased to be able to ignore itthe approaching wave of reinforcements meant there was almost no chance he had time to break into it and steal the Relic, even if hed wanted to. The bodyguard seemed content to fade into the background, while the noble looked them over with naked curiosity.

I would thank you, Players, he said, smiling. I certainly didnt expect your intervention. I am Edrin of House Thrynn, and this he nodded fondly towards his bodyguard is my favoured servant, Polemny. You saved him, and likely myself, too. Your actions were surprising. You are not members of my House and have no allegiance to us, is that right?

Thats right, replied Nicolai.

And yet, you helped me. Why? Edrins eyes were half gauging, half simply curious.

Nicolai felt Serrins gaze from the side. Its simple, he said, shifting into a slightly more heroic pose. He saw himself as though in a movie, the Good Guy, did his best to shape his body and his words into that mould. I dont like bullies.

Eh? muttered Serrin, while the nobles eyes widened.

Hed done as much research as he could on all these Houses, and the People themselves, in the time hed had. It seemed that amongst the People there were various notions of honour they believed in to various degrees. He suspected that younger People would be more invested in such ideas, and Edrin was clearly quite young

Those three attacking you like that, with an unfair advantage, Nicolai continued. He shook his head disapprovingly. Its not on. We saw what was going down, and thus had no choice but to tep in and help out.

I see, said Edrin, nodding and smiling, pleased. Yes, there are too few in this city who recognise honour and chivalry. But you will not find me to be one of them! He straightened. I will repay your favour here, Players. You have saved me, Edrin Thrynn. And from this day forth, I owe you a debt.

For a moment, he hesitated. It would be much easier for me to repay that if you were to join my House, he said, then shrugged. But even if not, know that I will keep this debt in mind, even should we end up as enemies. If you need something of me, I will do my best to give it. How do you call yourselves?

You are too gracious, murmured Nicolai, delighted. The kid sounded like he really meant it, too. That could come in very useful. I am Nicolai.

I am Serrin, and I would like to know more about this honour and chivalry of which you speak, spoke up Serrin, much to the Masks excitement.

Oh? replied Edrin. What would you

Fortunately (in Nicolais eyes, at least) the conversation was struck dead when a sharp voice boomed out.

Edrin! What are you doing? Who are these two?

A moment later they were surrounded. Bat-winged Thrynn soldiers and shadowy wraiths above, while the ghouls swelled with fresh arrivals.

A figure flashed through the air then crashed down onto the undead cart. The impact actually sent the huge living-cart stumbling slightly, forcing everyone on it to fight for balance before it resettled itself. The new arrival rose, ripples pouring off of him like heat from a planes jets. A male Person, robes much like Edrins only more ornate and voluminous, Tier 3 Soul Sense rising around him. Heres daddy, thought Nicolai. The Head of House Thrynn frowned around at them all.

Edrin quickly explained, mentioning the Morvain by name. There was some muttering and cursing from amongst the Thrynn as they learned what had happened. Nicolai learned the female Person was known as Ravena, daughter of the Morvain Head, and had a reputation as a psychotic bitch, based on the muttered words of one Thrynn bodyguard. As to the one whod flown and possessed a powerful Soul Sense, he was called Cyras and was her uncle, brother to the Morvain Head.

Events moved speedily on. The Head of House Thrynn wasnt quite as enamoured with them as his son, and if anything seemed rather suspicious. He questioned why theyd even been in the area in the first place, and employed a strategy of long silences in hopes of spurring truthful answers from them.

Nicolai was a great fan of people who used such strategies, as there was a part of him that derived tremendous enjoyment from standing there and staring back at them, wrapped in a warm, woolly blanket of innocent silence which no amount of meaningful staring could penetrate, but alas Serrin wasnt quite as immune to the strategy.

He was forced to let out some canned excuses when he sensed the Hornet was close to speaking up. Whether the Head believed them or not was hard to say, but the noble ultimately gave a gruff thanks, then politely but firmly told them to leave via the simple method of staring silently while his Soul Sense began to press ever more heavily down. Nicolai was happy enough with what had been gained, and, Serrin in tow, made his exit.

Im looking forward to working with that Edrin, Serrin was saying approvingly as they wandered down an alleyway. I like him. Do you like him? I like him! Hes a good person, I can tell. A good ally for us, perhaps?

Perhaps, said Nicolai, half his attention above. Xyrrith and Drekhul were descending, Cloaked. Moments later, the pair landed before them.

Good work, said Xyrrith. That went reasonably well, though its a shame you couldnt recover the Relic. He shook his head, eyeing Nicolai. I am amazed, just as I was before, by the power of that weapon you bear. What is it called, may I ask?

An anti-materi-el rif-el, answered Serrin, pronouncing the words with excessive care. Semi-auto, chambered in point fifty bee-em-gee, with a ten-round magah-zine. It weighs eleven-point-three kil-oh-gramm-es. Drekhul and Xyrrith stared at the young Hornet in bafflement. He was radiating smugness. It is indeed a powerful weapon, he continued. Nicolai says I am already quite skille

Yes, yes, Serrin, broke in Nicolai, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. Thank you. He looked back to the pair. So. We have accomplished a good amount for today, and it would be best not to draw any more attention. I have pressing business, as, I am sure, do you.

This pressing business was the Tournament, which was starting very, very soon. Hed been uncertain as to whether hed have time. The realisation that he did, that he would have another chance to fight and seize something valuable, had birthed in him an eagerness and impatience that was difficult to restrain. It showed itself in the faint shifting of the walls and the shadows, which began to resemble a familiar, menacing form. The Dark Spirit, in the form of a twisted Zero-Twelve. In his mind, he was already fighting.

Thus he couldnt help but frown when Xyrrith spoke. Wait up a moment, human, said the Hornet. There is something I would talk to you about. In private.

Doing his best not to show his impatience, he gestured Xyrrith to lead the way, and the Hornet moved toward a quiet alley. Serrin and Drekhul remained behind, glaring at one another in stony silence when they werent casting suspicious gazes after him and Xyrrith. Nicolai knew that Serrin held a strong dislike for just about all of his kind, but hed noted that dislike was especially strong for Drekhul.

In the alleyway, Xyrrith waited until he was close then reached out with Soul Sense. Nicolai immediately formed up his own in defence, but the Hornet merely brushed him.

A message from the Ripper, Xyrrith whispered through that contact, transmitting a wrapped up piece of spirit. Or at least, attempting to. Nicolais Soul refused to accept it, and so it stayed there, on the end of Xyrriths outhrust tendril.

Nicolai eyed it, wondering if this was indeed just an unusual method of conveying a message, or some kind of trick. However, regardless of the answer, Cyberwarfare saw this as a challenge and a chance to work on its skills. It rapidly formed a containment for the foreign piece of Soul, then, choosing to trust in the Module, he accepted the thing.

While Cyberwarfare was working on that, Nicolai remained focused on Xyrrith.

I have something of my own to discuss, the Hornet continued, still speaking purely through the contact of their Soul Sense, but now is neither the time nor the place, and it would be best if you have a look at the Rippers message first.

Xyrrith then pressed for them to meet later. Nicolais curiosity was roused by the Hornets suspicious, even nervous manner, and he opted to do a little probing. He named a time then changed his mind, did the same again. But Xyrrith remained patient and seemed willing to meet absolutely whenever it was convenient for him, which told him that whatever the Hornet wanted, he really wanted it. After coming to that conclusion he agreed on a time and a place, then they parted ways.

Nicolai linked up with Serrin and headed toward the arena, turning his attention to the Rippers message.

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