MTLNOVEL Chapter 211: Anima(Part 10)
"Damn it...what the hell is going on in there?" Muttered Jules, as loud crashes echoed out from all over the building.
"I don't understand it, these sounds clearly indicate that multiple battles have broken out in there, and quite intensely at that, but there's been no visible damage to the building," Frowned Wistari in bewilderment.
"Hm, that's a good point. With how loud it is, it shouldn't be possible for the building to remain undamaged...perhaps they've set up a barrier inside as well? Maybe to keep their targets from retreating? The fact that these sounds of battle are ringing out from multiple spots must mean that the enemy somehow managed to separate everyone, so perhaps they've each been isolated in different areas using smaller versions of this barrier?" Suggested Antel uncertainly.
"It is clear that they have a highly skilled Spell formulator on their side, these are seriously advanced Spells they've used, I've never seen a barrier of this level before. It's quite elegant, I just say," Remarked Feno, as he inspected the barrier in fascination.
"Nothing we tried was strong enough to so much as crack this barrier, so if they're using similar barriers inside the building, the others are trapped in there," Replied Jules with a grimace, before glancing off to the left as the sound of rushed footsteps echoed out, to see Aster jogging over.
"Hey, I'm back!"
"Did you manage to get it done?" Inquired Jules hopefully.
"Yup, sure did," He nodded with a thumbs up.
She'd sent him to the APF to contact Sylph and ask them to provide Tacitus with a Spell Card to teleport him straight to Elephas City, and to also contact Tacitus and let him know to get ready.
"Good, any idea how long it'll take him to get here?" Jules asked him.
"Not sure, that'll depend on how quickly the Elves get the Teleport Spell to Tacitus. He's at the outpost right now, so he's set to depart at a moment's notice. Well, he did start to complain at first, but he stopped after I relayed the urgency of the situation," Aster informed her.
"Okay, that's good. Let's hope it doesn't take him too long."
"Yeah, the APF said they'd bring him straight here as soon as he arrives, so all we can do now is wait and hope that the others can take care of themselves in there. I'm not worried about Raven and Nero, but I'm a bit concerned about the others," Remarked Aster, looking a bit tense.
"I wouldn't worry about Kia, she's a lot more formidable that she looks. I'm not so sure about Lloyd since I haven't seen him in action all that much, but Captain Rione has a lot of faith in his abilities, so I'll have to trust his judgment. My biggest concern in Akila," Responded Jules worriedly.
"Really? I think he's more than capable of taking care of himself, his Magic is more than a little tricky to deal with, even my Telekinetic Zone is useless against it."
"True, but it's not his abilities I'm worried about...I'm more concerned about him mentally speaking. He has a strong aversion to killing people, and while he has sharpened his skills and improved the use of his Magic, his instincts and battle sense are still just average at best. And if he's in a situation where he needs to kill an enemy, I'm almost certain he'll hesitate," Muttered Jules, repeatedly tapping her foot on the ground anxiously.
"Come to think of it, yeah, that's the whole reason he never ended up killing anyone while he was being deceived by Alphonse Plore," Recalled Aster thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Sighed Jules, clenching her fists with a look of concern on her face as she stared at the building.
Meanwhile, inside the hotel...
Akila swiftly shut his eyes as the Lancer burst out another blinding flash of light, opening his eyes right in the nick of time as a stone arrow came shooting towards him with immense speed, just barely managing to deflect it with one of his blades.
"You aren't using your Magic anymore, don't tell me you're already out of Mana!" Exclaimed the Lancer, firing out a rapid light arrow at Akila, who blocked it with the flat of one of his blades, before the Lancer leapt forward and drove his spear straight towards Akila's throat.
The Lancer's eyes widened in surprise as the blade phased right through Akila, who swiftly stepped forward and spun around as the Lancer phased past him, swinging the back of one of his blades across at the back of the Lancer's neck.
The Lancer turned around as fast as he could, raising his spear up defensively before his eyes widened as Akila's blade passed through the handle of the spear and slammed onto the side of the Lancer's neck, a sharp gasp of pain ringing out, before he gritted his teeth and fired out a blast of light at Akila's feet.
Akila swiftly sprang back, a couple of stone arrows shooting out and phasing through his torso before he deactivated his intangibility.
"I need to be careful about how I use my Phase Shift Magic. I've got plenty of Mana to spare, but with the toll my Magic takes on me when used continuously, I'll get worn out real fast if I'm not more conservative about how I use it. I need to be patient and wait for an opening to knock out the Lancer. If I can take him down, the Archer shouldn't be much of a problem," Akila thought to himself, taking a breath to compose himself.
As the Lancer shot towards him and unleashed a powerful thrust of his spear as he closed in and leapt forward, Akila swiftly sidestepped across to his right, grimacing as the edge of the spear's blade grazed his left side, drawing out a trickle of blood before he gritted his teeth and swung the back of one of his blades towards the side of the Lancer's head.
The Lancer quickly ducked, the blade brushing the top of his head, before Akila sprang back as a couple of stone arrows came shooting towards his feet, narrowly evading them as the Lancer backed away as well.
"I knew it...it's not just that you're trying not to kill me, you actually CAN'T kill at all, can you?! Hahahaha, how naive! Even using the back of your blades, there's a hesitance in your swings. You must realize that you're in a situation where you can't afford to hold back, one slip-up and you're dead. Do you really think you can beat us fighting so indecisively?!" The Lancer taunted him, before firing out a barrage of light projectiles, the Archer swiftly backing him up with a volley of stone arrows.
Akila turned himself fully intangible and shot forward, feeling conflicted as he gritted his teeth. He realized that the Lancer was right, he understood that, logically, he was in a situation where he had little choice but to kill his enemies.
Even so, he couldn't help but hesitate, the sense of morals and ethics instilled in him from his previous world holding him back from taking a step over that mental block.
As he closed in on the Lancer, he unfurled a hesitant swing of his blade across at the Lancer's throat, the swing of his arm a bit unsteady and slower than usual, the Lancer easily evading the slash before driving his spear towards Akila's chest, the blade phasing through as Akila turned his chest intangible.
He then quickly backed away several paces as the Lancer fired out a blast of light at his feet, several stone arrows shooting out and thudding against the floor as Akila weaved back across the space.
"Their ranged attacks are all aimed at my feet. The longer this goes on, the more of a disadvantage I'll be in. I...I need to hurry up and end this. I have to...I have to kill them. At least one of them," Akila thought to himself grimly, tightening his grip on his blades as he felt a cold sweat coming on.
"Hah, look at how conflicted and troubled you are. We're here trying to kill you but you're struggling to even try to do the same to us. Don't worry, we'll put you out of your misery soon enough...and the rest of your friends will meet the same fate before long, assuming they haven't been killed already," Sneered the Lancer.
"That's not going to happen. It's true, I don't want to kill anyone...but you're not leaving me with much of a choice in the matter. I won't hold back any more...if nothing else, I'll make sure you die without suffering too much, I'll end it quickly and painlessly," Declared Akila, stirring up a sense of determination as he bit the inside of his lower lip to compose himself, a trickle of blood running down his mouth...