Chapter 153: Yulthens vs Rosemount


    The battle between Omena and Tareth moved aggressively around the room, but Kai thought she had the edge. She was primarily using her pipe as a blunt weapon, somehow reinforcing it with chakra so that it could equal his blows. As strong as Tareth''s Spellword ss was, she seemed to be adapting, taking fewer impacts from his shockwaves with each exchange.


    Eventually Tareth let out a shout, shattering the air all around him. Omena leapt out of range... toward Kai.


    He''d been thinking about how to use his moment of surprise, so he was ready. Kai threw a weak Tyrant''s w with his left hand, and as expected Omena dodged even though she had her back to him. But she dodged predictably and he grabbed her arm with his right hand, binding her in ce.


    "Tareth, now!" Kai knew he couldn''t hold her long, but he hoped it would be enough to turn the fight.


    During his nning he''d considered dozens of responses from Omena, ranging from grappling to stabbing to emitting more poisonous smoke. He hadn''t ever imagined that she would instead back up into him, bumping her ass into his crotch.


    "I remember you." She smiled over her shoulder. "Mmm, you got stronger, but h-"


    She was trying to distract him, but Kai was fully inbat mode and wouldn''t be lead astray by a pretty face or pretty anything else. After the brief surprise, he wed at her throat, intending to make her pay for toying with him.


    Somehow she raised her pipe in the way, knocking aside his fingers before he couldplete the technique. At that moment Tarethpleted his technique and let out another shout that looked like it would strike them both, but Omena threw herself backward faster than Kai could have reacted.


    He realized that he''d been smashed partially into the wall. Omena was still grinding back against him, despite having just hip-mmed him across the room. "What''s interesting is that I know that poison should have fully paralyzed you, but you managed to process it somehow," she said mildly. "Curious."


    When he began preparing a Tyrant''s w at full power, sheughed and stabbed him in the shoulder with another needle. He staggered, struggling to resist the poison, while she flipped across the room to resume her battle with Tareth.


    "Get out of here!" The Diamond Crystallier was bleeding from more wounds than Kai had expected and waved roughly in his direction. "Take the others, save them before she uses them as hostages."


    "Oh, but I haven''t threatened them once!" Omena pped her hands on the sides of her face. "Would you like me to start?"


    Dragging out all the poisoned fighters seemed impossible and Kai refused to be dismissed so easily. He let Behemoth''s Heart beat against the poison while concentrating all his monstrous power in his other arm. When he finally unleashed a Tyrant''s w, they both took notice.


    The technique failed to connect, but it tore through one of the walls of the room. Tareth paused and nced back at Kai, as if reconsidering again. Omenanded in the corridor outside the room, examining the severed end of her pipe. Then sheughed and ran away from them - no more sauntering, she was fast.


    "Dammit!" Tareth lunged after her and Kai was right behind him. "We can''t let her get away. Go left, cut her off at the docks."


    Kai pivoted left, smashing through a door he didn''t have time to open. He kept his stride out of the estate, even as he saw Omena leap to the wall with Tareth behind her. His best bet was to go a little southwest, position himself somewhere she couldn''t easily circle around him.


    Tareth managed to redirect her into Kai, who met her with another Tyrant''s w. Omena managed to evade it, but she no longer looked so yful. They had her pinned on a narrow street with only a few options for escape. Kai was most concerned that she would start attacking the walls and the citizens who might be within, but so far she hadn''t really caused any coteral damage. He decided that he wouldn''t be the first and tried to focus his power.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The fighting continued in an intense melee and Kai started to think that they might be able to bind her in ce. Even if none of the crystalliers could resist the poison, surely someone else had noticed them by now. Every second they kept her from getting closer to the docks was a second that reinforcements came closer, which would mean their victory.


    She still managed to push them and Kai realized that he had no idea what her final goal was. The Cloudspire ship was blocked from their sight by tall buildings and she didn''t seem to be heading for thergest ships. Yet the little city boats he saw behind him didn''t seem like they could possibly be escape vehicles.


    Before Kai could figure out the n, someone interrupted.


    "You think your poison can stop a Dragontouched?" Graetri emerged from another street, panting but ring. "Take this!"


    He took a deep breath and all his nes began to glow golden, almost as if he had actually gained a draconic technique. While he was still inhaling, Omena hurled a small pouch directly into his mouth. Graetri choked and wed at his lips before suddenly keeling over with his eyes rolling back in his head.


    "Dammit!" Tareth cast a nce over at him. "I said-"


    In his moment of distraction, Omena disyed a burst of speed beyond anything she''d shown before. She had crossed the distance in a heartbeat, stabbing a needle into each of his shoulders. Tareth opened his mouth to shout, but she grabbed his head and leaned in, almost as if she was going to kiss him.


    Normally Tareth would have stopped her, but the battle must have worn him down too much. Omena exhaled a thick stream of smoke directly into his lungs and the massive man started to slump. She caught him over her shoulder, not even slightly troubled by his weight, and then leapt off the dock.


    Kai followed, expecting Omena to fall into the water, and instead saw hernd on a strange t ship that he hadn''t been able to see from his previous angle. Unlike the fishing boats and creaky little ships, this one was made of sleek wood studded with crystals. Had she nned to lead the fight here in the first ce? But if she had a getaway vehicle, why would she wait for them toe attack her?


    He should have attacked then, while she was setting down Tareth, but the missing pieces made Kai pause too long. Omena leapt off the boat at him without warning, this time sinking some sort of syringe into his chest. Kai swiped at it, but all his power seemed disrupted, flowing too loosely.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you." Omena leaned closer and smiled. "I just need you to rest for a while."


    His vision began to swim as he struggled to avoid falling and sank to one knee. Something still didn''t add up, especially as he saw Omena return to the boat and set up something near the front. It began to move and continued elerating, even when she jumped back to the dock. She hopped out of it and touched something at her side, which made a glimmering crystal appear over the top of the boat.


    Even though Kai still didn''t understand, he opened his mouth to call some sort of warning. Before he could, he saw Omena shing toward him and smelled sweet smoke.


    .


    ..


    .


    Kai awoke from a deep sleep, unbelievably rxed. He didn''t remember thest time he had slept so well, but it put him in a content mood. As if he wanted nothing more than to settle back and go to sleep... no. No, his memories started to filter back and he forced himself to open his eyes.


    There was a roof jolting overhead, and the motions were consistent with a carriage. Yet when he managed to ovee the lethargy and look to the side, he saw that he was in a surprisinglyrge room. He was tied to one of several tables, each of which contained a bound crystallier. That alone would have been worrisome enough, but she was there.


    Omena stood over one of the bodies and something about her had changed. She was still wearing the elegant dress, only a little cut up from the battle. That showed off curves that should have been attractive, yet she wasn''t standing to emphasize them.


    "You again." She nced toward him and to his surprise she was wearing goggles, which other than being blue-tintedpletely shed with the rest of her look. "You feeling alright?"


    "Not... dead...?" He could feel that Behemoth''s Heart was restoring him quickly, but guessed it was better to pretend to be weak for now.


    "Oh, I wouldn''t benefit from killing any of you, at least not in battle." Omena walked toward his bed with a syringe in hand. "All the same, I''m going to need you to stay calm, because you could disrupt the n now."


    "We''re going ovend." Kai had to swallow some sort of gunk in his throat, but he was more alert now that he put it together. "You sent the ship off as a decoy, then circled back."


    "And not stupid, either! There are tunnels out of the city that they didn''t know about, so those were always the escape route, but I needed something to throw the cultivators off my tail. And it doesn''t hurt to get so much fresh material."


    "That''s what we are to you? Material?"


    Omena pulled off her goggles to prop them on her forehead, then gave him a narrow smile. "Maybe the others, but you... well, that''s what we''re going to find out soon enough."