Chapter 33: Chapter 31 – Collapse

First up is checking my true status. It had been some time since I last checked it and I had killed a good deal. It was likely I gained some levels.

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Iris - Age 14 - Female - Level 35

Body - Sp: 218/218(24^) MP 220/220(40^)

Stats - Str: 23(1^), Dex: 26(2^), Agi: 30, End: 19(1^), Int: 27(3^) Luk: -

Skills - Parallel Thought {2}, Sword skill {3}, Gunsmithing {1}, Mental Resistance {3}, Disease Resistance {1}, Mana Control {4}, Dagger Skill {3}, Physical Up {3}, Critical Point {2}, Dark Vision {1}, Marksmanship {2}, Pressure {3}(1^), Appraisal {1}, Falsification {1}, Primal Enhancement {1}, Cleave{1}, Magic Bolts {1}[NEW], Acting {1}[NEW]

Title: A Sapling in Stone, Bloody Cat, Sky-Slayer, Cruel

Capability: 250 (312) with PU) (508) with PE)

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Suitable growth. But, "Acting" huh? I guess it got generated into a skill. I wonder what the requirements were. While I was assessing my own strength, I had been quietly plugging subtle holes in the ground in a large area around the shop that guy told me about. Being an underground base, they would of course need ventilation. This was the first stage of my plan.

Next, I began to try and locate the backup exit this place would certainly have. Thanks to Licht's intuition, I was able to find it easily enough and set up a multi-layered trap. The first was set on the condition of the door opening, magic would create ice in the seam of the door to block it from opening. Then, when it would be forced through, a tripwire will be triggered, causing a container filled with dangerous chemicals to be shattered above the door, raining it down on the first one to leave. 

That'll be enough here, so It was time to head over to the back of the store where the staff entrance was. It was locked, but I picked the lock quickly after confirming the area to be devoid of people. So I entered the building and shut the door behind me. As the store was still open, the clerk at the front was still there, so the staff room was empty and I could freely investigate.

It took me longer than I might have wanted, but I finally found the door to the underground and opened it. Some familiarly bland and empty stairs led down to a plain door. Guess this is it. I activated my mask and put on my goggles as I removed another small container of chemicals from my bag. I opened it and placed in on the stairs. This bottle was filled with a liquid toxic material that constantly emitted potent poisonous gas. It was heavier than air but only somewhat, so it will drift downwards and seep into the base through the cracks in the door. It was also highly flammable, so I waited for about 20 minutes before sending in a delayed spark and closing the door, sprinting out and away from the building.

The clerk may get caught up in the fire, but as they were affiliated with the Alchemists, I paid no heed to their being here. Some seconds later, a dull boom shook the ground as green flames erupted from the windows of the building. I imagine now they would slowly be destroyed inside. So I made my way to the back door where they would come from.

Some minutes later I could hear shouts and the sounds of running from within the exit tunnel. As someone hit the door however, the gaps turned to ice and froze shut. This would buy more time for the fire and toxic gas to fill the tunnels, increasing the casualty rate and wearing down my opponents.

I had no idea how many people were inside, or how equipped they were, so my best bet would be to launch a surprise attack on them, and thin out their numbers as much as possible. I could hear the sounds of coughing and shouts of confusion from within, asking what the holdup was. The one behind the door said it was stuck, and it sounded like someone switched positions as the door started to buckle and shake. The ice began to crack, and I was waiting from behind a corner.

The exit opened up into a small empty courtyard, just a wide flat area that led off into three other directions. I was waiting in the only place that wasn't trapped in some way. Then the door burst open and my trap triggered, as acid poured down on the head of a large, bulky man who began to scream in pain, falling forward. The others rushed out to their surprise, and the less careful ones bolted down the closest alleyways. Both of them hit tripwires that detonated poisonous smoke bombs, instantly filling those corridors with smoke and sounds of coughing.

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The last of the group, which were about 14 people, mostly men with a few women, started filing into the last, untrapped corridor, where I was waiting. The first one got his throat split open by my blade, and the second had his heart ripped out and crushed. Before they realised it though, I had already plunged my blade into the throat of the third enemy. They stopped in their tracks having realised there was an enemy, and shouts of confusion rang out as the ones in front pulled out their weapons. Looks like the rogues took point.

The first one charged at me and I dodged his downward swing, slicing his throat with my claws. The second leapt forward with a wide slice which I ducked under and thrust up into his throat, ripping it out. Yet another ran forward with a thrust but I grabbed the blade with my reinforced gauntlet and pulled it away, slashing up into his chest and forcing him to stagger away.

That was 5 with one fatally injured. 8 Combat-effective targets remained, and they were fully readied now. The vanguards took stances while the engineers prepared their magic. I also took a stance and whipped my arm up, launching my sickle into their back line at a speed they couldn't react to, and hit an engineer preparing magic square in the chest. The chord wrapped around them, and I quickly retracted it, forcing the blade to rip them to shreds with a loud scream.

Taking the opportunity, two rogues rushed towards me, one made a wide sweep that I dodged backwards, and the next leapt over the first to thrust at me. I dodged to the left, and while the sickle was still retracting, the blade dug into his side and cleaved straight through, forcing him to hit the ground hard. At the same time, the first to rush at me did so again, swinging wildly with rage. I dodged and parried until I knocked the blade out of his hand and grasped his throat, flash-freezing his throat.

As it did, one of the engineers used magic to form spikes that thrust out at me from the ground. I let go of the corpse that got pierced and started to dodge the spikes, some of them hitting my sides but not piercing my armor. I formed magic darts around me in the air and launched a barrage at the engineers, forcing them to stop their spells as the darts found their mark. Before I could stop them entirely, a barrel of flame was launched into the alleyway that consumed the corridor.

I was forced to leap up the walls, using the spikes as footholds and my sickle as a grappling hook, climbing high over the cylinder of fire that engulfed the ground. I unhooked my sickle and kicked off from the wall, falling down onto one of the engineers blade-first, plunging it into her heart as the others looked at me with terror. From there, I painted the alley red with their blood, and could feel my face twisting into a grin and my blood pumping harder, taking life after life until there was only one left. 

A man standing in the courtyard, dressed in thick robes with a longsword and a gun in each hand, the green flames pouring out of the exit behind him. His expression was one of fury. "You damn monster. Who the hell are you?" he said, pointing his sword at me.

Iris: "Monster? How ironic, when the one devoid of morals is you, Alchemist of the Deep. As for me, hmm... A young girl with a heart of gold?" I said with a pure smile and a tilt of my head. The scene this painted was certainly abnormal, and I could literally feel the hatred in his air. Without an answer, he lunged at me with a forceful downwards cut. It was a tempered and practiced movement, this man had great experience with the sword. I deflected it with my blade and a sidestep, but with the same motion he brought the gun up to his hip, pointed it at me and fired two bullets. I tried to dodge but one grazed my side and the other hit my shoulder.

It didn't pierce... I guess Illivan upgraded the fabric in my armor. But it still hurt like hell and I staggered backward, holding my left shoulder. He didn't give me any time to recuperate however, and quickly stepped forward with a horizontal cut at incredible speed. I slashed up and diverted the blade, but he used the momentum to slash diagonally downwards again. I slipped to the left under the blade and he shot from the hip again. But anticipating the shot I bent backwards and made a backflip, landing on all fours and, as he adjusted his stance, I leapt forward with a slash at his legs.

Instead of attempting to block or dodge, he instead kicked forward from under his robes and nearly connected with my face. But it caught my arm trying to slash, and made me spin past him. I landed with my back on the ground as he turned to face me. I slowly sat up and switched my blade to my left hand, holding my right arm up.

Robed Man: "Any last words, monster?"

Iris: "...Its a bit early for my last words. I'm only a 14 year old girl, you know?" I said, and launched the grapple sickle at his head. It shot out and he tilted his head to the side, dodging.

Robed man: "You certainly never run out of tricks. Its a shame, you would grow to be a truly unstoppable woman."

I smiled before replying "I certainly dont, do I?" The hook deployed midair and ripped backwards, catching the man off guard and cleaving his shoulder from his body, the arm that was holding the gun, and the sickle entered my launcher once more. I stood up slowly and raised my blade while he was kneeling on the ground, groaning from the pain while holding his wound. "I don't care to hear your last words, so die quietly."

I brought my blade down but a circle of orange light appeared under him and he sneered. I retreated some steps just incase. "Too bad, it's a bit early for my final words too." He uttered before vanishing in orange light. I slowly relaxed. "...Teleportation?" I muttered to myself, cleaning the blood off my sword and sheathing it, looking at the fire.

Iris: "...We'll meet again, won't we? If only I got your name so I could hunt you personally." I muttered under my breath and cleaned the blood off as I left the scene, heading to the inn me and Christy were staying at. Time to get some much needed rest.

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