Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Was this woman an agent of the Zealot? Or could she be something even worse—could she be the Zealot in disguise? The Zealot had already proven he was powerful enough to hide from Ruwen's senses, especially in a place like this where his abilities were suppressed. The previous Zealot had appeared as man, but changing one’s appearance was trivial.

The lightning Mage released his spell, and the woman jerked from the high energy coursing through her body. Her pain looked real. Unless this was all for show, which was a possibility, it meant she wasn’t the Zealot. She could still be an agent of the Zealot, however. How else could you explain her wearing an item containing the Zealot’s power.

Ruwen had to make a choice. Now.

If this woman truly knew the location of Shag’la Rath, she might represent his only chance to find the Mind and Body Towers. But if she was connected to the Zealot...

In truth, by that logic, it meant Ruwen was an agent of the Zealot, too. It had been the Zealot’s concentrated Soul energy that had healed and leveled Ruwen’s soul, and that didn’t put him the Zealot’s team.

And he couldn’t afford to lose this lead.

Ruwen dropped the shadows concealing him, and stepped into the chamber as he cast Divine Bulwark around the woman. A shimmering barrier sprang into existence just as one of the Ink Lords launched a spear of crystallized ice at her back.

"Three against one seems unfair," Ruwen said casually. "We are men of honor.”

All the attacking Ink Lords turned toward him, as the woman continued to convulse from the previous lightning attack. Their expressions turned from cautious, to surprised, and ended with greedy excitement.

“It’s him,” one of them hissed.

"It’s me," Ruwen agreed. "I need to speak with this Ink Lord, so I’ll kindly ask you to give us some privacy."

The first Ink Lord produced a staff, lightning already crackling around his arms. A dozen magical items triggered, and the man’s power spiked. "Where you’re headed you’ll have all the privacy you need."

Ruwen knew these men weren’t fighters because he hadn’t hidden his Step training as he entered the room. Anyone with a basic understanding of combat would’ve recognized the extreme danger he represented.

Because of their ignorance, Ruwen raised his hands in a calming gesture. “I’ve battled gods and angels, befriended Death, and glimpsed the fabric of the Universe. Take this opportunity to leave with your life. Fighting here serves no purpose, and a library is no place for violence.”

That caused the acid thrower and the Ink Lord the woman had injured to pause, but the lightning Mage laughed.

“Are you a Bard? The lies roll off your tongue like silver rain. You can take your theatrics to your grave.”

“I am a Bard, actually,” Ruwen responded. “And an alchemist.” He pointed at the Ink Lord with the bottles of acid. “I hope you didn’t pay much for those, because combat rated magical acid would’ve eaten a much deeper hole in this stone and with a lot fewer vapors. Also, shame on you for bringing acid into a library. Did you bring fire as well?”

The last Ink Lord activated a shield bracelet and retrieved a metal staff from his dimensional storage. No, it wasn’t a staff, but a magically enhanced version of a mechanized catapult called a rifle. It accelerated small slugs of metal instead of bolts or arrows. A common weapon on many planets and utterly useless against most magic.

Like reading a book, Ruwen watched as the three Ink Lords tensed their muscles to attack. He considered another course of action, one that wouldn’t kill these fools. He really did hate the idea of violence in a library and didn’t want to accidentally damage any of the knowledge here.

Painful experience dictated reality. In such an uncertain environment Ruwen couldn’t afford to be merciful. Their movements were painfully slow, even without the aid of Last Breath.

The acid thrower went first, but he meant to create a distraction and lowered the angle of his attack so the vial of acid struck the shield around the woman who sat stoically observed the events unfolding. To her credit, she didn’t flinch as the vial shattered inches from her face, halted by the shield he’d placed around her.

Once again she used her strange magic, but this time it didn’t seem to cost her as much, even though the result manifested outside her body. Perhaps because what she did was restricted to a small area.

The space between the three Ink Lords filled with snow. Not snow, Ruwen realized as his alchemy knowledge deciphered the substance. A type of ammonium phosphate used to smother fires. Something useful for a librarian, certainly, but he didn’t understand its use as a weapon.

As soon as the lightning Mage, eyes filled with greed, released his spell, Ruwen understood the woman’s plan. As the familiar scent of ammonia surrounded them he watched the woman’s resourceful plan unfold.

Lightning rarely traveled in a straight line and as it arced from the Mage’s fingers tendrils spread outward. The lightning reacted with the fire suppressant the woman had conjured breaking the chemical apart. That alone wouldn’t have worked, but the addition of the smoke and acid vapor from the initial attack the entire area suddenly became highly conductive.

Some of the lightning reached Ruwen but it wrapped around him harmlessly. A significant portion of the lightning branched into the conductive cloud, aided by the large metal rifle the third Ink Lord carried.

The bullets in the rifle exploded, and all three Ink Lords convulsed from the lightning. As soon as the lightning stopped, the woman who’d appeared harmless sitting on the ground, twisted upward like a dancer. She struck the men using a primitive Step form that despite its unrefined techniques remained brutal and very effective.

Ruwen watched silently as the woman beat down the defenses of the Ink Lords. She had amazing endurance for an unfortified human and his respect for her increased with every passing minute. It made him nervous to stay in one spot for so long, but he wanted to see the woman’s skills and she seemed the type to finish what she started and he didn’t want to cut that short by vaporizing the trio.

The shields and magical items the Ink Lords relied on protected them from physical damage, but not the kinetic force. She used this to her advantage and kept the three dazed and injured enough to one-by-one break through all their shields. The moment that happened they died with a savage strike.

She turned to Ruwen, who hadn’t moved from his initial spot. Twenty feet separated them, easily close enough for many types of lethal strikes. Her breathing wasn’t labored which spoke to her exceptional physical conditioning especially for someone without body Fortification. He sensed the slight fluctuation from the red bracelet and only his superb Perception detected her response. It confirmed something he’d wondered about.

“It speaks to you,” Ruwen said. “The bracelet.”

The woman showed her palms, placed one atop the other, and bowed. Ruwen didn’t recognize the greeting, so she likely didn’t belong to a Step Clan, which meant her art originated in a homegrown system. They didn’t follow the same path, but they traveled in the same direction, and that deserved respect. He made a fist and placed an open palm atop it, returning her bow.

She raised her wrist. “I go by Lyra, and this bracelet signifies I am the Red Librarian.”

Ruwen didn’t sense any ill intent from Lyra and he now doubted she was the Zealot, she could easily still be one of his agents. What he needed was more information.

“Well met, Lyra. I’m Ruwen. I’m curious what the bracelet told you.”

Lyra studied the bracelet before dropping her arm. “Her name is too long to be practical, so she goes by Navi. She told me to use extreme caution. That you’re one of the Divine beings fighting the war, and that she recognizes your Steps. She’s begging me to interrogate you about another soldier in your fight against the Darkness. I must admit I’ve never seen her react like this. She’s almost frantic.”

Hundreds of questions fought to be first, and Ruwen truly didn’t know how to start. This Navi, from twenty feet away and with limited interaction, surmised he’d reached the Divine tier, recognized the Bamboo Viper Steps, and knew a soldier in a war that had ended ten thousand years ago.

It did provide two opportunities, and Ruwen started there.

“I propose a temporary alliance between our libraries,” Ruwen said. “It would give us time to exchange information.” He focused on the bracelet. “Navi, I promise to answer all your questions, if you agree to the same.”

“We agree,” Lyra said.

“You know I’m the Black Pyramid Ink Lord, right? It might be safer alone.”

“The risks are irrelevant. I agree to the alliance.”

A Notification appeared and it created even more questions.