The Hated Hero: Sigil-Powered Warrior-Chapter 31: Key to the Secret

Again. Immanuel’s mind echoed Vicar Starseeker, whose aim was steady. So what happened?

Hierophant Hargrave and his enemies, the two other armored clerics and the two black monks aiding them in the fight, were still blinded and deafened. And judging from their struggles with their footing, they were also stunned. That was one loud bang, I’m sure of that, Immanuel concluded.

Despite most others’ inability to control their bodies, the oddly-shaped chunks of metal kept orbiting around Hierophant Hargrave. They kept their distance and never floated closer to him, not even in the slightest.

She’s not firing. Maybe strangling him could help.

Immanuel compressed his shadowy essence into one tiny patch of darkness on the floor and extended multiple dark tendrils towards Hierophant Hargrave’s body. Immediately, as the tendrils were about to close in on the enemy, every single metal shard moved to deflect them one at a time as they came.

So those things are what’s stopping her from firing. The last arrow must have hit one of those, causing the explosion.

SHOOF! Vicar Starseeker let the blinding white arrow loose. Upon its approach, one of the odd-shaped metal pieces darted out of the protective formation, which was still dealing with Immanuel’s tendrils, and blocked the arrow. The collision resulted in another blinding flash and deafening bang.

From high up the ceiling, far from the action, Immanuel was unaffected for the most part; his ears rang slightly and his vision had a faint white tinge to it.

But this time, another combatant besides Vicar Starseeker and Hierophant Hawking was unaffected. Perhaps in time with the flash and the bang, the odd-shaped metal pieces congregated on Hierophant Hargrave’s head, forming his helmet. The repeated folding and eventual landing of the final metal piece on top of the rest of the helmet supported Immanuel’s suspicion.

Vicar Starseeker, in full combat armor, snuck behind a still-standing shelf, bow held by both hands. There being no glowing arrow nocked on the bow meant that her focus was on Hierophant Hawking’s order.

Go get the document... get out of here.

"Was that the best you got, Starseeker?" Hierophant Hargrave growled. He never looked around for the female cleric as he spoke, prompting Immanuel to focus on the enemy Hierophant.

This could mean he knows where she lurks, and he might launch a surprise attack from where he stands. Immanuel stretched out a few tendrils from his position above.

"Counting me out of the fight now, are we?" It was Hierophant Hawking. He stepped down from the hole, his footing solid, his grip on his mace resolute—sights that starkly contrasted to his bloodied visage.

"O-Of course not!" There was some disbelief in his tone of voice. "You are a Hierophant, after all, and I expect nothing less!"

Glowing white magical patterns appeared on Hierophant Hargrave’s armor and newly assembled helm.

Is Hierophant Hawking not casting the silencing spell this time? I stayed far away so I wouldn’t be affected.

Hierophant Hargrave needed to act fast, as Hierophant Hawking was walking towards him. If he’s taking his time advancing towards Hierophant Hargrave, maybe I should help him out?

Far away from the impending duel, Vicar Starseeker crouched in front of a bookshelf. Next to her was a growing pile of books; she was about to empty the shelf.

That was not the first bookshelf she had searched. More piles of books lay between her current position and the first shelf she crouched behind.

Or maybe I should help her find the document instead?

"You and me, Hargrave." It was Hierophant Hawking. Even while still far away from the enemy Hierophant, he had assumed a fighting stance. His armor twinkled, as though it were encrusted with diamonds and the sun was shining upon it. "Leave them be."

The spear-tip of Hierophant Hargrave’s halberd was trained onto the neck of one of the black monks. Like the three other clerics he fought against, this black monk was still struggling from the effects of the flash and bang—while he was no longer fully blinded, his eyes still hurt, if the falling tears and the hand grasping his head, in front of his bloodshot eyes, was any indication. His footing never improved, and, like the others, had fallen to the floor, unable to get up.

"Leave them be, Hargrave. I’m warning you," declared Hierophant Hawking.

But rather than move back and put the halberd away, Hierophant Hargrave stayed and kept the halberd trained on the monk. Glowing bright white line patterns appeared on its complex blade, and a small ball of white energy manifested on the gap between the blade and the fallen monk.

His attention isn’t on Vicar Starseeker anymore. Time to make a move.

Immanuel stretched the tendrils from his position far away, then darted them towards Hierophant Hargrave below. With nothing to stop them, the tendrils wrapped around different parts of the enemy Hierophant’s body, stopping him from attacking and pulling the halberd away from the monk. Then, with the halberd blade no longer in front of the downed monk’s face, Hierophant Hargrave may have been forced to dispell the ball of energy.

Hierophant Hawking dashed forward with a speed like that of a flash of lightning, taking advantage of the enemy’s predicament. He left a trail of sparkles as he moved.

BANG!

"Aaahhh!" The scream had a female pitch. Vicar Starseeker!

A pair of massive floating metal arms appeared to be in pursuit of Vicar Starseeker. Immanuel thought Hierophant Hawking must have collided with the similar-looking pair he was now engaged in a deadlock with, explaining the loud bang that preceded Vicar Starseeker’s scream.

The white glow of the lines on Hierophant Hargrave’s armor and halberd intensified, and in no time, the air around him shimmered as his armor was heating up.

Immanuel’s tendrils boiled where they touched the enemy Hierophant’s armor. Fuck! The heat was hurting him—many of the tendrils were fashioned from his shadowy essence.

Immanuel could have released the hold that the tendrils had on the enemy Hierophant. But with him being down to the last of his mana, and with Hierophant Hargrave refusing to budge even an inch no matter how hard Immanuel pulled, he used the enemy Hierophant’s immovability and the tension on the tendrils to shoot himself forward as he shortened the tendrils.

Shortening the tendrils would have been enough to propel him forward, but there was one offensive maneuver he had been meaning to do.

Before he got midway towards the enemy’s position, Immanuel started to revert to human form. Half of the tendrils remained, still wrapped around parts of Hierophant Hargrave.

As Immanuel gradually got closer to the enemy Hierophant, more parts of his human form returned, the last of which were his arms and hands. He held Justus’s axe, and it was enveloped in black fire.

Hierophant Hargrave blocked the flame-enveloped axe with the shaft of the halberd. "Maier!" he roared, the heat from his armor seemingly intensifying. "I’ll make you regret not having gone to the courts of law!"

"Why should I?! When the judges will surely be on the Grand Baron’s side?!" Immanuel, in his rage, withstood the heat and stayed with the deadlock. He was not trying to be dramatic. Rather, he had done it to find the perfect timing to pull off another trick he had kept hidden up until that point.

Here goes!

The air behind Immanuel popped multiple times, one after another. Each pop was followed by a puff of smoke, behind which floated a cloned throwing dagger.

Many puffs of smoke cleared, revealing multiple black throwing daggers floating in midair. YES!

"Hah! Now let’s see you block these!"

To Immanuel’s surprise, however, he was not the only one grinning—Hierophant Hargrave grinned just as widely as he did. Uh oh. What is he up to this time?

The enemy Hierophant teleported out of the deadlock. Immanuel swore in disgust. "Fucking coward!"

"Over there!" It was Hierophant Hawking. His mace glowed bright blue, and the metal arms he was in a deadlock against had fallen to the floor, absent of any magical aura.

With his mace, Hierophant Hawking pointed to the distance. Immanuel’s eyes followed where Hierophant Hawking looked, and at the distance he saw Hierophant Hargrave.

He was about to reach the highest point of his jump, and his halberd was ready to swing down. Attached to his back were the massive floating metal arms that pursued Vicar Starseeker, and they could very well be a second pair of arms in a fight.

Below Hierophant Hargrave was none other than Vicar Starseeker, glowing arrow ready to fire at the enemy above.

"I’m taking the Vicar and the access," said Immanuel.

Immanuel launched the floating black daggers towards the scene.

"Wait!" Hierophant Hawking shouted.

"It’s smoke." The daggers popped all around the scene, one after another. Each clone dagger burst into a cloud of smoke, and the area was instantly enveloped with a thick smoke cloud that concealed everything within it.

Immanuel took on shadow form and charged towards the smoke on all fours.

Hierophant Hawking also darted towards the same cloud of smoke, almost matching Immanuel’s shadow form speed.

Along the way, the Vicar unleashed a bloodcurdling scream.