The Lone Wanderer-Chapter 199: Eviction

“How long till they get here?” Percy asked, forcing himself to calm down.

While he and Nesha were expecting two enemies to arrive, they had prepared for more. Their ambush might be a great deal trickier to pull off now, but they could do it – as long as they made everything count.

‘About an hour.’ Micky said.

“Alright. Keep your eyes on them. And fly lower. Try not to be seen.”

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Strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Micky got spotted. After all, House Tantalus already knew there was some kind of avian beast involved in all this. That said, some elements of Percy’s preparations would work better if their enemies thought they were catching them by surprise. This was why he had instructed Micky to deactivate his boosting arts whenever he was flying by the north side of the town, to make himself less conspicuous.

The enemy Greens had probably chosen to attack in the middle of the night thinking they were giving themselves an advantage. Little did they know, they were about to regret that decision. The shadowy veil of the night sky did more to cover Micky than it did them. The fools were about to walk right into a trap.

“One hour.” he said, relaying the information to Nesha. “Start packing.” he added, getting a nod back.

Naturally, they couldn’t fit everything inside the spatial amulet, but there was a lot more space in it right now than when they had first arrived here. After all, Percy had already used up over 80% of his stashed elixirs and rainbow grass over the past two years.

The jar was the first item Nesha stored. There wasn’t too much powder left in it, as he’d consumed most of it to craft his constructs. Still, there were a few weeks of accumulation left that he’d rather not lose if it could be helped.

Next were the mushrooms. Nesha stored as many as the artifact could fit, splitting the space evenly between the green and red variants. Sadly, she did have to leave some out, as they’d taken way too many from the Trollsden. Suffice to say, each abandoned mushroom was like a stab in Percy’s heart, especially since he’d yet to figure out how to grow more of them.

‘It’s for the best. We don’t want the house to look too empty…’

Leaving Nesha alone, he then began working on his own preparations for the ambush. Opening his sack, he picked the components of his armour one by one, sliding them in place. At the same time, he took deep breaths, bringing his boosting art to the verge of activating. Though he stopped before the final step, not in a hurry to make his body light up just yet.

About ten minutes after Micky’s original message, they were both done. Percy sighed as he tossed one last glance around their humble abode. He’d never forget the decrepit condition they had found it in, nor the hours he and Nesha had spent rebuilding it to their liking, one plank at a time.

Countless bittersweet memories swirled within his mind. He keenly remembered Nesha discarding piles upon piles of stones she had ruined with her magic, trying to build him his forge. Or all the times he’d had to patch the ceiling in the middle of the night when it leaked water. This was the place where he had forged his scythes and his armour. And finally, it was where he and Nesha grew closer…

“This is the last time we get to be here, isn’t it?” she asked, grabbing his hand.

“It is.” he replied, his voice quivering.

Even if they managed to defeat House Tantalus and return to Bogside town in the future, Percy knew this place was unlikely to survive.

“Let’s go. There’s no time to waste.” he said, pulling her out. Though he didn’t miss her picking his ocarina up from his pillow right before they left, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

The two rushed out of the town, scurrying into the swamp. But they didn’t travel too far in. They hid in one of the spots they had previously agreed on, keeping their eyes on the house. Then, they used the next few minutes going over the plan for the billionth time, making slight adjustments based on the latest circumstances.

‘They’re here.’ Micky said at some point, drawing Percy’s attention.

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‘Ok, go to the designated location. And… Micky?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Keep her safe for me.’

‘Of course.’ the crow replied without hesitation.

Percy squeezed his hand to let Nesha know, as the two fixated their eyes on the hut, waiting with bated breath. Soon, a group of seven men appeared in their sight. Only three of them wore the noble family’s colours, however. As for the other four, both Percy and Nesha recognized them, having seen them many times around the town. ℞𝐚ℕȎ𝖇ËṤ

‘How could they be so stupid?’ he couldn’t help but ask himself.

It wasn’t like they had anything to gain from snitching on him and Nesha. Maybe the idiots thought they were ingratiating themselves to the noble House, or that they would get a free pass the next time an owner of the Drain bloodline visited their town. Either way, they were too dumb, or too scared to imagine a better world for themselves and their families.

But Percy shook his head. Whatever had motivated these people to do this, it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered right now, was eliminating all three of their enemies. Shifting his focus to the nobles, he scanned them from head to toe, trying to discern any information he could about them.

‘Bald with a ginger beard… then that’s Grian this time.’

This was Broose’s cousin, possibly here to avenge him. But that was a good thing. The man had a pure affinity, which should make him far easier to handle than the others. As for the second man in the group, Percy didn’t recognize him. The guy had short black hair and no other features that stood out. There were easily half a dozen possible matches, at least based on his outdated information. Though the last one wasn’t too difficult to identify…

‘Rambert. Wow. They really brought out the heavy hitters this time.’

Rambert was one of the younger Greens of the family – around Percy’s age. Yet that didn’t make him weak in the slightest. If anything, he was one of their most promising talents, only falling short of Mordred and Elaine in the entire province. And Percy was certain it was him. There was no mistake. He was the only Yellow-born redhead with the bloodline, his pale skin painting a stark contrast against his deep crimson hair.

Seeing him here, Percy suddenly felt a lot more pressure. From what he’d heard, the guy had never lost a duel against anyone his grade. Then again, this was a good thing. The more high-profile his targets were, the heavier the blow to the enemy family once they were dead.

‘Now we just have to make them dead.’

Percy and Nesha watched as the four traitors led the nobles right outside their house, pointing at it ominously. With next to no warning, one of the Greens – the one who Percy hadn’t recognized – pulled some mana from his core, unleashing a barrage of water droplets on the house, punching dozens of holes through the wall. About a quarter of the roof collapsed too, though the rest survived.

Turning to Nesha, he flashed her a questioning look.

“Sixty.” she muttered soundlessly.

Percy nodded. It was far from ideal, but 60% would have to do.

Looking back at the nobles, he watched as one of them – the same person who’d just ruined their house – kicked at whatever was left of the door, forcing his way in. His expression was nonchalant, without a hint of care for the devastation he’d just unleashed. Had anyone been inside, they’d be dead by now. Then again, these people definitely knew the place was empty, having probably scanned it with their Mana Sense already.

“Nothing here! Just some glowing mushrooms!” the guy shouted once he was inside.

Through his Sorcerer’s Eye, Percy watched the man’s silhouette walk to the centre of the house, stomping on one of the mushrooms, probably examining it with his boot. Then, Percy checked up on the other two, clicking his tongue upon seeing they had no intention of joining their friend inside the ruined house.

“Good enough.” he whispered. “Do it.”

Nesha tightened her grip as her core flared up.

“Dranold! Get the hell out of there!” Rambert suddenly yelled, being the first to notice something was off.

The unfortunate water user heeded his teammate’s instructions a moment too late, however. Before he even moved an inch, the countless pocket runes Nesha had planted all over the place lit up, the concealment runes buried alongside them failing to hide them any longer!

Realizing the danger he was in, the mage tried to jump through the hole in the roof. But he wasn’t fast enough!

Countless distortions manifested all around him – visible to the naked eye – as the walls, the ceiling and the floor of the house all shrunk and twisted. Even worse, the tears in space soon bled into one another, interacting violently as they fought over the same strips of reality, pulling and stretching, and crushing everything in their path!

By the time Dranold reached the hole, his surroundings were unrecognizable. The wooden hut was down to a third of its size, crunched into a misshapen ball, with him smack in the middle. He must’ve realized he wasn’t going to escape when a powerful force stopped him right in his tracks, dragging him back to the centre of the house.

Unleashing every drop of mana from his core, he tried to force his way out. But it just wasn’t meant to be. Nesha might be a grade lower than him, but the sheer devastation she’d carved into this place wasn’t something a lone Green could easily overcome.

With a sickening crunch, an entire segment of reality collapsed upon itself, as all sorts of colours blended together, from the dull brown of the planks, to the vibrant green of the man’s silken robes, to the unique pink of human skin. Then, it all exploded with a deafening boom, as splinters of wood and bloody chunks of flesh rained all over the town, an eyeball even landing by Percy’s foot.

Just like that, House Tantalus succeeded in evicting him and Nesha from their new home. The nostalgic scents of the old wood and the forge’s fumes were something he would never smell again. That said, the price their enemies had paid to do this was steep indeed…

‘Two more to go.’