Jason spat in anger as Cypher fled the scene and Harold went to follow after the boy, but in the blink of an eye that left the two shocked, Ulric moved into his path. Ulric flipped the sword around in his hand and bashed Harold in the gut with the pommel of the weapon.
His boots slid across the leaf-covered forest floor, and Harold fell to his knees gasping for air and clutching his stomach. “If you think I’ll let either of you escape after what you’ve done, you’re sorely mistaken. If not for my obligation to this job and that boy being witness to this whole ordeal I would have killed you already. But given that I’ve had some time to think, I’ve decided on a better course of action when it concerns you two. At least… better for me.”
Harold coughed and struggled to his feet, his Warhammer held tightly in his grip, “You can’t stop both of us! Together we’re much stronger than-” Ulric’s body began to shimmer and fade away only to reappear right next to a wobbling Harold, and slapped him across the cheek with the back of his hand so hard that he flew back and slammed into the tree Jason was propped up against.
“You two are nothing compared to me, you never were. You might be rank-three Conductors but you’re low-tier trash…” Ulric was beyond anger, beyond sadness. Something inside him had broken after Jason had revealed the state of Ashley’s remains, and he no longer cared about the mission, his career, or even his own sense of honor.
The only thing on his mind right now was revenge and making sure that these two suffered as much as possible before he ended their miserable lives. He was through pulling punches or taking it easy on them.
Ulric cast a spell and strode forward with blinding speed. “Trio, Verse 1, Stone Lacerations!”
He struck Harold with a whip made of stones and dirt, and at the same time, he brought his knee up and into Jason’s gut which sent him flying high into the air.
Jason puked blood and groaned as he tried to regain his bearings in the sky. Harold was on the ground weeping and clutching at his back where the whip had struck him. He even pulled out a stone that had stabbed into his left kidney and snagged along the flesh of his back.
“Y-you bastard!” Roared Jason as he fell back to the earth, a stream of stones rising to meet his closed hand as he cast a spell of his own. “Trio, Verse 1, Fist of Terra Firma!” The rocks gathered around it and formed a large fist which he tried to bring down on the top of Ulric’s head.
Ulric body faded away again and Jason’s attack made contact with Harold’s leg, pulverizing it and mixing it into the dirt beneath the impact site. Harold went wide-eyed and not even a sound escaped his lips as Ulric reappeared and grabbed him by the upper jaw, swinging him up and over towards Jason.
A stream of blood flowed in an arc through the air as Harold was flung around against his will, and nothing remained of his leg just below the knee. Ulric slammed him down against Jason and the two traitors collapsed in a heap on the ground. They could only stare up at Ulric in horror and excruciating pain. Ulric stared back, his expression blank and uncaring at the torment he was unleashing upon these two.
Anyone else in the third rank might have been convinced that Ulric was at the peak of the fourth rank to be able to deal so much damage to fellow rank-three conductors with little to no effort, but Jason and Harold were at the bottom rung of the third rank, while Ulric was at the peak. He also had the added benefit of his rage empowering his attacks since he no longer cared about holding back to protect his social standing or even himself.
Additionally, these two traitors weren’t skilled at all even for their rank, in fact, they were quite below average. They had reached the third rank only by copying methods others had used, and had failed to infuse their own will into their training and subsequent breakthroughs. As a result, their skills were well below the normal margins of what was expected at the third rank.
If they had even a slight bit of true skill, or if they had gained their power by their own hands they would have been able to at least put up a decent fight against Ulric. As it was, however, they were wholly outmatched.
Ulric only continued to stare blankly at the two Conductors on the ground. His breathing was even and calm and his face held no expression, but his eyes held no mercy and the force exuded by his battle pressure was violent, angry, and filled with sorrow so profound that it couldn’t be put into words. It gave away Ulric’s true feelings and Jason and Harold only looked on in despair.
Ulric had used overwhelming force against them, and they knew that even if they were to suddenly return to their prime condition and attack him together that they had no chance of victory. Ulric stepped down into the small crater that Jason’s attack had created and raised his sword.
In a last-ditch effort to save himself, Jason raised his hands, “Trio, Verse 3 Thorn Maiden!” Without warning four thick vines rose from the earth and long, thick spikes erupted from their surface. They slammed together around the body of Ulric with a sickening crunch and a spatter of gore.
“Heh! Heh-heh! Hahaha! I did it!” he exclaimed. But his joy quickly vanished along with the blood and gore that caked his features. All of it faded away into a mist as Ulric stepped slowly from his right to gaze down at him with disgust.
“You just don’t learn, do you? Pathetic…” Ulric said as he let the spell in his hands fade away. He once again raised his weapon to strike and Jason blanched as he clapped his hands together.
“N-no! P-please! Wait! We’ll turn ourselves in! We’ll atone please don’t do this Ulric! I- I mean Captain Ulric!” pleaded Jason, and Harold could only nod in agreement as his unwitting partner begged for their lives. Ulric didn’t budge and only held his sword aloft for a few moments.
In truth, he wasn’t even considering sparing their lives. In his mind they were already dead, he had only to finish the task and return to Cypher. Any restraint he might have shown had vanished along with his last illusion. Ulric sighed and lowered his sword arm just a bit. Jason foolishly thought that Ulric had lowered his guard and moved to attack with a small dagger he had pulled from the sheath at his ankle.
But before any of them could even blink, Ulric lowered his gaze and focused his entire battle pressure, laced with a strong wave of Zight, right onto Jason’s mind. He could only let out a squeak before his mental space shattered and his head exploded in a burst of blood and skull fragments.
Ulric turned to a cowering blood-soaked Harold next, and not even a single shred of mercy could be seen in Ulric’s expression. He repeated his mental attack and Harold’s head also exploded. The two bodies collapsed in a heap, intertwined with one another and Ulric turned away and dropped his sword to the ground.
He moved slowly to where Ashley’s remains were laying and he fell to his knees. He dipped his head and let out a pained howl. A few moments passed as his grief washed over him and then, he stood and raised his hand. In the next moment, her remains were pulled into his dimensional space. His life would never be the same without her, and memories of her flashed through his mind.
Still, he was resolved to, at the very least, finish this mission. To that end, he had to track down Cypher once again and he dashed off in the direction that the boy had fled. Luckily it had been towards Seven City and Ulric silently left the scene of his carnage.
.
.
.
Cypher once again moved as quickly as he could through the forest and made his way towards somewhere secluded enough to regain the rest of his Zight. He felt foolish for not opting to do so sooner when Ulric had offered.
It was clear that there were still many dangers lurking in this mountain forest and he would try his hardest not to run into another one. He hoped that Ulric would be fine against those two Conductors, but part of him already knew that they were either dead or soon would be.
After seeing that display, he was more than certain that Ulric was actually on his side. Of course, none of that mattered now that he was once again on his own. After about half an hour he came to a flowing mountain stream. A stone slab hung low over the water and opened up into a small alcove.
Cypher made his way inside, getting soaked in the process, and sat against the back wall, where he began to refill his Orrium. He had lost several small parcels of salted meat when his pack had been ripped open but most of it was still inside thanks to his bedroll which was larger than the tear the Order Conductor had made with his spell. It blocked the hole and kept the remaining bandages, and preserved foods inside. Still, the dimensional pocket was ruined and the pack was little more than a hindrance at this point.
He wasn’t sure how this night would end, but he was more determined than ever to make it to Seven City. Alvin and the others would no doubt be there waiting for him. Once his Orrium was full, he would finish this journey and reunite with them.
