Broker

Side-Story: Seattle 3

Side-Story: Seattle 3

Liberty fumed as she marched through the trees. To think Ishtar had such an option in reserve. How did she get them past Halloway? She’d have to ask him once the job was done. Ultimately it didn’t matter how many villains Ishtar sent to interfere, so long as she dealt with Black Lotus and Evergreen, the rest would fall into place. Without them clearing the dungeon from the inside her goals would be achieved. The only variable was the villain who had confronted her outside the dungeon. His powers were strange. I didn’t feel bones break when I hit him. What is he made of? How does his power work?

She clicked her tongue, I don’t have time for this. Setting this dungeon to blow was time-sensitive from the start. Even if the Pandora Committee doesn’t find a way to push through Halloway’s power, heroes will start arriving eventually. I’ll get this done and be rid of this place one way or another. She thought as a dark shape landed next to her. Her fingers twitched against the pommel of her sword before she caught a flash of silky black hair out of the corner of her eye. 

“Ito.”

Doctor Ito hopped off what appeared to be some manner of serpent or thin armless dragon. It looked more like a worm with teeth than a reptile despite its scales. It slipped away from her as she approached Liberty and inclined her head, “My Lady,” the wicked doctor said.

Liberty nodded sharply, “Well done in Tokyo,” she rumbled as she resumed walking.

Ito cracked a ravenous smile and Liberty restrained a grimace. This girl. She has been obsessed with earning my favor since we met. I appreciate her philosophy meshing with my own but her ambition is dangerous. I can never make her my second.

“Something happen outside?” Ito asked.

“Yes, Ishtar has sent a small army of villains against us,” Liberty said, “As long as they are present it will be difficult to retreat once everything is ready,” she shot the doctor an expectant look.

The doctor dipped into a dramatic bow, “I will make sure our path is clear, my lady,” she said and leaped back to grab onto her strange serpent mount. It pulled away from the tree before zipping back into the canopy. She watched the doctor go and her lip twitched a hairs breadth closer to a smile, At least her ambition has uses. She thought and resumed her solitary march, pushing through a particularly dense patch of bushes and trees. There, on the other side, she could see sunlight. She could hear something as well. It sounded like a large number of people marching. She narrowed her eyes and stepped out through the treeline and into the sunlight.

She looked out over what appeared to be a large lake and the grassy plains between the trees and the shore. To her right she saw the plains stretch out around the enormous body of water until there was nothing but hills and grass. Beyond that, she could see mountain peaks and castles looming atop them. The marching stopped and she turned to look at the group she had been ignoring. A small army of men in armor accompanying a positively enormous figure astride an equally enormous horse. He was wielding a battle axe with two heads in one hand and a tower shield in the other.

Her lip twitched, Epic dungeons are different I suppose. I’ll deal with this and move on. Black Lotus can’t be far. The crew should have deposited the crystals by now. The delay release will give me time until I’ve dealt with the hero and left, she glanced back over her shoulder. So long as I avoid that man.

She popped her neck as the massive figure let out a roar of challenge, raising his axe over his head. The footsoldiers charged and Liberty took a step forward. She raised her sword and swung, the force of the swing bowling over dozens as it rippled out across the amassed monsters. She snapped her hand out and grabbed one that had managed to endure the blow, pulling his head off his shoulders before stomping on the next that got too close. She swung again, pulverising metallic armor and sending limbs flying. She barely paid it any mind, her full attention on the giant that looked ready to charge her.

It raised its axe again and urged its horse forward. She watched it for a few heartbeats, dismissively swatting away its foot soldiers as they desperately tried to land even a glancing blow on her armor. She looked for anything, some sign of a power being activated, some sort of tell that it was about to do something, anything, impressive. Yet all she felt was a light pressure on her shoulders from its presence that was less than negligible and caught sight of its body expanding slightly. Increasing muscle mass? She thought, That’s it?

Liberty supposed such a force would be terrifying to an Epic-tier, perhaps even concerning for a Heroic. To her mind. It was pathetic. She kicked away a particularly attentive foot soldier, punting it towards its leader. The small armored man spun through the air before colliding with the rider’s axe blade, cleaved in two. Liberty took a stance, shifting her right foot back and raising her sword like a baseball bat. She tensed her muscles and with a sharp exhale, swung her weapon. The ensuing shockwave tore the horse and its rider to pieces, pulverizing its body and leaving nothing but a scar in the earth and gobbets of meat smeared across the ground.

She wrinkled her nose and turned from it without another look, Pathetic. I hope the boss and its subordinates put up more of a fight.

She flexed her legs and lowered herself into a squat, tension building in her muscles as she fixed her gaze on the highest hill in the distance. She slowly lowered her arms to her sides before kicking off with the force of a small rocket. The ground beneath her cracked and burst, a cloud of dust left behind as she hurtled into the air. There, in the sky, she looked down on the grassy fields below and spotted something. Another one of the hulking horseriders and its minions were engaged with a small figure that danced amongst their number like a reaper, pink flashes of light ripping through them, dropping several at once.

Found you, she growled before turning her eyes on the interfering monsters. She could tolerate them appearing en masse in the dungeon, it was a necessary part of what came with a dungeon break. However, she had no use for creatures that would get in the way of her hunt. Black Lotus was her prey and she would show the entire world her head during her next broadcast. Liberty bore her teeth and drew her sword up over her head as she began careening back towards the ground. Wind whipped past her, a ripple in the air formed, a shriek of sound following her as she struck with enough explosive force to level the small hill the massive beast was standing on.

She stood from the point of impact, brushing herself off before looking down in derision at the pulverized corpse of the monster rider. She turned away from it with a scoff before marching out of the crater she had made to stand on its rim. She looked down from it at the woman in black robes standing only twenty yards away. The hero raised her sword into a ready stance and scowled.

“Liberty.”

“Black Lotus, I’ve been looking for you,” Liberty said callously, she raised her sword and pointed it at the woman as another shriek of sound drew her attention from above. She spun on instinct, throwing her sword up in time to catch a human hand adorned with gleaming black skin and razor sharp claws. She grunted as an incomprehensible mass pushed against her, shoving her back several feet and digging her heels into the soil. With a grunt she pushed the man off of her, sending the stranger back before she glanced over to see where Black Lotus was. The woman hadn’t moved a muscle. She whipped her head back towards the interloper, “You. You’re interfering.”

The man shrugged, “That’s what Ishtar asked me to do,” he said before turning to look at Black Lotus, “Famous people all around huh,” he grunted and crossed his arms, “Not my kind of party.”

“Then go,” Liberty growled. This man was becoming a problem, “If you’re so disinterested-”

A clap of thunder drew the attention of all three of them. Liberty spun and looked up to find the source, a cloud of rainbow colored light billowing in the sky. She frowned, Some new monster for the dungeon? I was unaware of such a function in dungeons.

“Did you two kill any more of those riders?” Black Lotus shouted.

Liberty rounded on her, “Yes, one, it didn’t put up much of a fight. Why?”

The man spoke up next, “Ran into one in the forest.”

She glanced at him and frowned before Black Lotus barked out a laugh. Liberty rounded on her as the woman brushed her hair back over her ear. “Shame I can’t take the credit for clearing the dungeon solo now,” she said, “But at least you made my job easy for me. You really should get better intel, Liberty.”

Liberty bristled, “Explain. Now.”

Black Lotus pointed up at the cloud and smiled, “That’s the boss. I know why you’re here, and it looks like you aren’t going to get it.”