Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

The call ended, and the Judge collected himself back after two brief seconds. For some reason, the mist had thickened further during the brief call, but the judge, Inquisitors or the participants were too busy to notice them as what just transpired here.

One of the ten High Seats. A peak level existence of the trial just called to save the asses of a few novice climbers. The Tower had not seen this type of incident for years or ever.

"Judge Nikier," asked one of the inquisitors in a hesitant tone. They were not so sure about the situation and could only let the one in charge here decide.

The elderly man, who now had an ugly scowl on his face, gave a last look towards Wrik and Scythe. Probably calculating the chances of everything going wrong. At least, with the huge advantage in place, Scythe would win the Little War, and as for the rest, he had to take care of later.

"We are leaving," he said in response and he was the first one to teleport out of the test. The other inquisitors followed immediately, giving another look to the youths they were considering, giving the role of the cheaters. 

Wrik watched the men in black and white go, and sighed in relief. Before this, he never knew someone from the council. Not to say in person, he did not even know their names or titles, but today he learned one. Winter Queen. At the same time, a few questions appeared in his mind. Why would someone in her position help me? Is this Winter Queen was the type of people Sophia talked about? Searching for chess pieces in some game, they have no idea of.

'No, I am not thinking clearly about this,' he thought. 'There are others here who might have a connection with her.' 

He looked at Tanya, who was holding an Omega cube, but contrary to the one of his one which radiates blue light, this one radiates red light. 

"Are you involved with this?" he asked suspiciously.

"Maybe," Tanya answered, avoiding his gaze. "I called my sister whenever I found the men teleporting here." 

"I see," Wrik said. He did not know Sophia had some connection with a High Seat. Whatever, he did not have time to think about it now. For another matter, now an army of hundreds of soldiers was glaring at them and the Golden armoured general was only a fraction away from attacking them. Only the presence of Scythe stopped him.

"Now," Scythe said in his iconic, filtered tone. "The game shifted in my hand again." The masked fellow looked at Wrik and continued. "Let the exchange finish first, then we will go into other developments." 

Wrik stared hard at the man. His eyes as if penetrated the mask and looked Scythe in the eyes. Is this fellow really caring for nothing, or was that just an act? After all, one of the huge undertaking just rendered useless as the Winter Queen spoiled the plan. He did not ponder on the thought and looked back at Dairyl.

"Are you done?" he whispered. 

Dairyl gave a small nod, though her expression was not so sure. 

"Good," he hissed. "Collect the talisman from Michelle or Tanya and wait for my instruction."

Making sure Daryl understood everything, he focused on the masked fellow again. The cloud cleared entirely on the path of the sun as it paint the world like a canvas in golden and white. It was a breath-taking scene to appreciate, but not even a single person here was appreciating it. 

"The deal is same. You will send back two of my friends and at the same time I'll send your man," Wrik said, pointing towards Ben. "And as for the Flag, I'll throw it when I get my friends safely."

Scythe considered that for a moment and nodded. He gestured at his men, who constrained Kevin and Byul. The men brought the two of them before everyone and Wrik gestured at Fraser, who did the same as well. 

"I know you are planning something, but all are useless now," Ben said, giving a last look at Wrik. "Your last bet would have been the plan I proposed, but you did not even consider it. Pity. No matter, we can discuss this at a later date after your loss."

Wrik did not put the words of the crazy guy to the ears and commanded Fraser. "Unshackle him."

Fraser nodded and unshackled the guy at the same time when Byul and Kevin were unshackled. Kevin almost dropped on the group, having nothing to support, but Byul caught him before that with her small body. 

The tall man, who was only a shade below of the Borgemen, nodded and stood straight. His friends had paid enough price just to free him. At least he could do his job properly now.

There is only about twenty yards distance between the two parties. The exchange should have ended within a couple of seconds, as both the hostages were bound to run the moment they were set free.

Kevin and Byul, true to the rule, rushed towards their friend immediately after the terrible time they had. While Ben seemed to have all the time in the world, only walking as if he had no worry in his mind.

When Byul and Kevin reached their group, Ben was only halfway through the mark. Michelle caught the pale girl, and Davin did the same for Kevin.

"If not for you, any of this would not have happened. Now get back quickly for the evening." Scythe said to Ben loudly. 

'Did that masked guy just make a joke?' Wrik pondered, but he had no time. The moment Ben was only a metre away from Scythe, he shouted. "Now." 

Mist rose instantly in the ten-metre radius in the middle. It blinded the sight and all the other senses, including most of the mana sense of the enemies. Tanya was using her ability to the limit.

And that was not all. A white, runic circle gleamed out in the middle of the conflict, though most of the people were too busy to notice it. Dairyl played her tricks. Two roots, like a runic pattern, moved from the runic circle as it untangled instantly. One went towards the group of Wrik and the other towards Scythe.

Dairyl, Tanya, and Michelle tore a talisman, each which appeared like the [Escape Talisman] they had won from the Wheel of Fortune. Fortunately, Tanya had the foresight to buy more with her sister's credit or else they had to leave a few of their friends here.

But the plan had not finished yet.

A black silhouette jumped from the back of Ben towards the figure of Scythe. Anton, who was hiding in the shadows of Ben the entire time, waiting for this opportunity. He was the hidden piece in the game with his Shadow Stealth.

"I knew something was wrong," Ben shouted immediately as he, too, lunged at the figure.

It was all too unexpected for Scythe, but that did not mean he was powerless to do anything against it. The mask he was wearing was not just for show, it had the effect of rendering any illusion or mental spells useless within a mare second. He pulled the sickle from his back and was about to attack Anton, who jumped at him.

Unfortunately for him, he was a few milliseconds late and Anton was never considering any assault on the Scythe. Anton just jumped at the masked fellow and rolled on the cold grass with him. The halo of the runic pattern linked with them too, and Anton's job was finished.

"You are not leaving me," shouted Ben as he joined in the fray, rolling together as the three. 

All that transpired here only took three seconds. The soldiers were bewildered and had no clue what was in the thick mist. Only Harth had the foresight to jump in there, but he was a little late.

The mist cleared instantly, and the scene before them stunned everyone present here. Wrik and his group of friends were nowhere to be seen, and that was not all. They could not find a sign of their master there. Scythe and Ben similarly vanished from there. 

"Bastard!" Harth shouted, punching the ground with his fist. It made a good impact as grass tore and earth crushed beneath his palm. "They have used some kind of teleportation talisman. Spread all around in numbers of twenty and search. Quickly. We can't let those cheaters get the best of us." 

_________________

End of the chapter: Exchange.

Next Chapter: Debt

AUTHOR NOTE:

Check out Chaos Cycle: The Eye of Genesis if you have time and while you are at it check out the other two books and if you are kind enough to leave a review, I'll really appreciate it.  The other two are: CHAOS GENE and APOCALYPSE GUARDIAN.

I don't have the time to write so many books together, so your reviews might give me a better idea of which one to follow.