Hello all! Apologies for the late update. I was hit with an intense bout of writer's block, but no worries! The block is gone. Thank you for bearing with me and your continued support!
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Two weeks ago...
The Moniyan Empire, the Port of House Alvin...
The Night of the Mask Festival
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Lesley pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Time seemed to stand still as Lesley's keen eye remained fixed on her target. She waited with baited breath for the bullet to hit, for the spray of blood and brain matter upon the cobblestones.
But it never came.
To Lesley's horror, the Prince of the Abyss held up two fingers—and caught her bullet in between them. Through her scope, she watched as Dyrroth's eyes snapped towards her, a sly, almost manic grin on his lips. His expression was taunting.
Bang!
Without thinking about it, the sniper fired another shot. Instead of catching the bullet, the Abyssal prince leapt from his stone throne. Her bullet ricocheted off the throne and into the window of an abandoned house.
The sniper swore.
Lesley continued to watch through her scope. Watched as Dyrroth and Balmond stood before the duke and Xavier. She was much too far to make out the words, but it seemed to her as though Dyrroth wanted information from the duke.
"What's happening?" Gusion's voice was a mix of concern and impatience behind her.
"I'm not sure either," Lesley muttered, glancing briefly over her shoulder at Gusion. "Dyrroth is saying something. Having trouble making it out but it seems to be something about..."
"The Heart of Anima?" Gusion hedged.
Lesley nodded, eyes returning to her scope. "I think so. Your brother looks about ready to rip Dyrroth's throat out."
Indeed, Duke Paxley's deadly shards slithered about him, his expression filled with nothing but cold menace. Lesley shifted her scope from the duke and then back to Dyrroth.
The Abyssal prince shrugged his shoulders as he grinned at the duke. And then, before Lesley could quite grasp the situation, Dyrroth charged towards the duke, clawed fists flashing. "They're fighting." Lesley gestured over, and Gusion quickly peeked through the scope.
Aamon's lethal mana shards undulated about him as he engaged Dyrroth in one-on-one combat. The prince's claws flashed as he threw strike after strike at Aamon, who retaliated with blows from the deadly blades hovering around him. Each time Aamon's blades struck Dyrroth, the orc's face twisted into an expression of fury and pain as he tried to retaliate with punches of his own, only for the duke to vanish as he activated his Camouflage.
For a moment, Gusion recalled their confrontation in Azrya, how Dyrroth had taken Aamon down with a poisoned arrow rather than confront the duke outright. It seemed as if Dyrroth's caution in fighting against Aamon was justified. Aamon danced around Dyrroth with deadly grace, shards of light hitting and slicing at Dyrroth, who growled in frustration and pain.
Gusion's eyes shifted towards Xavier and the others.
Balmond was charging towards Xavier, war axe in hand, as he let out a furious bellow at the Defier of Light. Xavier regarded Balmond with a cool eye before raising his hand. A circle of blue light materialized between him and Balmond, who leapt high to avoid the field and landed before Xavier. The mage leapt back, and fired a blast of mystic energy towards Balmond.
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Cloak and Scalpel
RomanceDon't ask me how I ended up in the Land of Dawn. I'm just like you. I work, I play Mobile Legends. I spam recalls when I do. So how on earth did I end up getting isekai'd into my favorite mobile game? I honestly don't know. Maybe this is just a drea...
