Sam and Elisa are now being followed by the previously in chapter 1 debuted bounty hunters and are trying to escape pursuit. will they stay free from Mercury's newly hired henchmen? just keep reading and find out.
hunter 1 and 3 are carrying the unconscious body of hunter 2 back to Mercury's base
Bounty hunter 3: "i didn't expect this… we don't get paid enough for this shit…"
Bounty hunter 1: "you know what's the worst part? i'm afraid of what Mercury is gonna say"
they walk through the hallway and into the room and are greeted with Mercury sitting on his desk chair
Mercury: "did you three get him..?"
Bounty hunter 3: "uhh… in contrast…"
Bounty hunter 1: "we were that one's that were "got". especially number 2…"
Mercury turns around
Mercury: "let me ask you.. two… one thing…"
Mercury forms a scythe with Magno's power and holds it at hunter 3's throat
Mercury: "what.. do you think i pay you guys for…?"
he moved it over to hunter 1
Mercury: "answer me.. do you think it's to let those teenagers… escape?"
he retracts the scythe
Mercury: "i'll give you two more Akki magic… and this time, you better give me a run for my money…"
Mercury walks up to the hunters
Mercury: "or you three will see how sharp the blade of an Akki can really be…"
Bounty hunter 3: "u- understood sir! we will take care of this at once!"
Bounty hunter 1: "we'll… find a way…"
later at Sam and Elisa. the two have found a cafe to regroup, then continue discussing their plan
Sam: "so… as for where we left off… how can we find a unsurveilled area in Mercury's base to plant a wormhole to get to at all times? and where do we plant the other end to go unnoticed when we want to go there?"
Elisa: "well, i happened to spot a corner at the end of the hallway that might lead to a storage closet! we can lead it there and Mercury will have no idea!"
Sam: "that sounds like a plan! but i have no idea how to get home from here…"
quick recap of what happened: Sam and Elisa stayed on the train until it eventually perched at a station. they have no idea where they are right now
Sam: "let's create a quick wormhole home first… it won't last that long but it won't have to"
Elisa: "but that's still going to take at least 2 minutes to pull off! and we have no time to stay off guard…"
and she was right, because the bounty hunters were in this cafe too
Bounty hunter 1: "at least Mercury was kind enough to directly teleport us to Sam and Elisa's location… just act normal and try to go unnoticed… got it 3?"
Bounty hunter 3: "i can try.. but number 2 is gonna make that pretty hard…"
in the meantime, hunter 2 has been starting to wake up, but is still drowsy from the tranquilizer
Bounty hunter 2: "hey mom.. can you… push me on the swing…? thank youuuuuu"
Bounty hunter 1: "just… ugh.. try to get him silent, okay?"
they try to spy on Sam and Elisa, but they are too far away from them
Bounty hunter 3: "what are they saying? i can barely hear anything through all this noise!"
Bounty hunter 1: "it was a smart move indeed for them to regroup in a cafe… they must've been expecting us to spy on them…"
but in reality it was just the building Sam and Elisa were closest to when the train stopped
Bounty hunter 1: "remember, we've been given Akki magic to borrow… we got to use it to it's full extent… let's try to focus on it"
they focus really hard and finally hear what the two are saying
Sam: "well then! let's not waste any more time, let's get out of here!"
Sam and Elisa dashed out the exit of the cafe
Bounty hunter 3: "dammit! we missed every detail about their counter plan! now we'll never capture them…"
Bounty hunter 1: "don't worry, i'm not giving up on this mission just yet… let's make Mercury proud!"
Bounty hunter 3: "yeah, that's like our only option too… he's going to kill us if we don't!"
Bounty hunter 1: "don't worry, this time i have a plan…"
Sam and Elisa run over to a empty place in the forest, Sam starting to open the portal
Elisa: "are you sure we weren't followed? i had a strong feeling that there was Akki magic present in that cafe… did we actually escape?"
Sam: "i'm not sure, but confident"
Elisa: "that we escaped?"
Sam: "that we were followed"
soon they heard a rustling in the bushes, and the bounty hunters appear
Sam: "good god… Elisa, if you fight them off i'll keep the portal from closing, it's now a matter of acting quick!"
Elisa: "on it!"
Elisa pulled the ring on her bracelet and transformed into her upgraded form
Elisa: "Spirit Overdrive: Seishin Maggie!"
hunter 3 aimed at Elisa with a tranquilizer gun and fired as fast as he could, but Elisa dodges just in time and appears behind hunter 1, kicking him in the head and knocking him to the floor. but hunter 3 shot again, and successfully hit Elisa this time
Bounty hunter 3: "you made my friend pass out. and i'm not gonna carry two of them back by myself…"
Elisa hit the ground and exclaimed
Elisa: "Sam! Sa.. m… i can't… stop.. loving you…~"
Sam: "Elisa!"
Sam stopped forming the portal to run in and help, but alas, he was tranquilized too.
Sam: "ow! fuck! i will make you pay! i will.. i… will… not.. stop… until.. you're… finished…"
Sam went unconscious too. when he woke up, he was in Mercury's base, tied up to a chair
Sam: "what's.. going on… huh? wait! this is Mercury's base! Zero, boost my strength!"
but no voice was heard
Sam: "Zero! answer me!"
Bounty hunter 2: "so that's how you call Zetra now huh? Zero? let me guess.. first half of Zetra and the first half of Rophyn… how original…"
Sam: "you… what did you do with Zero?!"
Mercury: "he didn't do anything with your precious Zero, Samuel Hart…"
Mercury revealed himself, holding a glass dome with a black smoke inside of it
Sam: "give Zero back to me! you didn't even earn him! you stole him!"
Mercury: "yes… but this area isn't just in an open civilization.. then it would be stupid wouldn't it..?"
Sam: "you won't get away with this!"
Mercury: "i'll get away with everything once your little Zero has been turned into the most powerful amplifier i have taken for myself yet~ you think you can stop me..? you're magicless Sam… and you can't hide from the ugly truth…"
Sam: "magicless…? i'll show you magicless!"
Sam flattens his palm
Sam: "Flare."
the sigils form in his hand, but a small and slow flame emerges, about the size of a lighter flame, extinguishing before having moved forth even 5 centimeters
Sam: "what?!"
Mercury: "without magic you're hopeless, Sam… haha....."
he slowly walks in the direction of the door
Mercury: "but.. for coming this far… i guess i'll grant you the mercy of talking to your precious girlfriend before this world transforms…"
Mercury walks off into the hallway, holding Zero in his right hand. then, a spotlight shines onto Elisa, who was in the chair next to Sam
Sam: "Elisa! can you hear me?!"
Elisa: "Sam! they took my Seishin too! what are we gonna do?!"
Sam was about to break down, until he realized something
Sam: "wait! Elisa, you may not have Maggie right now, but your magic level is still higher than mine! you should be able to free yourself and then me from these shackles!"
Elisa was curious now and tested it. as she casts flare and redirects it to her wrist, the cuff melted around her wrist. while the metal does cool down fast, she still gets burned a little bit. she does the same at her ankles. then she gets up and frees Sam
Sam: "now let's go get our Seishins back!"
somewhere further down the hall they find a large security area.
Elisa: "i got this Sam! Flare!"
she casts flares at some guards, and while some of them get knocked down, they're only paralized for a few seconds, and the other guards immediately come in to stop her
Elisa: "whoops. Sam, what do i do?!"
Sam: "don't worry, i have already thoroughly planned out what i am gonna do here~ it's a little trick Zero taught me that i like to call…"
Sam hold his hand out to the guards
Sam: "Judgement: high speed trajectory!"
the guards were slightly hopped off the floor, causing them to lose balance and fall onto the floor. then stalactites are the size of marbles, but travel at the speed of a speeding arrow shot by a master archer. the guards are instantly knocked out, some of them possibly even died
Elisa: "that's… how'd you think of something like that?"
Sam: "listen, less mana doesn't always mean that you're weaker~ besides, speed is a natural skill with me!~"
they run out of the building to catch a breather
Sam: "alright, if there's a good time to make a thorough plan it's now… what do you have in mind?"
Elisa: "i saw a hallway to the left too! there were gears over there… we might be able to use something..!"
Sam: "alright then! no time to waste!"
they run in again and find a closet with magic gear, including some mana multiplier potions
Sam: "huh? this label says that it multiplies mana… i thought only Seishins and Akkis can do that…"
Elisa: "not the thing you should be worried about right now Sam! take what you need and let's move!"
then and there, Sam ingested about 2 red mana multipliers in a row
Sam: "ahhh… i was just thirsty~ alright, let's go!"
they run through the hallway until they find another room to the right, where Mercury was placing the glass dome in a device, taking out Magno and placing it in the other slot. then, Sam and Elisa walk in
Sam: "not so fast! my Zero isn't gonna amplify shit!"
Mercury: "wha- how did you break out?! those were very powerful cuffs!"
Elisa: "he had a little help~"
Mercury: "you! i knew i should've taken extra safety measures with you… well try to break your way out of these!"
Mercury hangs the two around their waist with a medium magic repelling rope, keeping their arms restrained
Mercury: "your magic won't save you now~"
Elisa tries to flare the rope, but when redirecting it, it takes a detour around the rope
Elisa: "shit! i can't break this!"
Mercury turns back to the machine, placing his hand on the lever
Mercury: "one flip of a lever~ and Sam's magic will be mine~ i will finally rule this land as the strongest!~"
Eryndor: "never! my son's mana will never be taken from him unjustly ever again!"
Eryndor shows up behind Mercury and shoves him to the floor, then breaks off the lever, then he uses heavy blade magic to slash the ropes that were keeping Sam and Elisa hanging
Sam: "dad! you're here!"
Eryndor: "in the flesh~"
Eryndor steps aside and reveals Kaede in a Seishin suit
Sam: "Kaede?! is that you?!"
Kaede: "you bet your ass i am! while you two were busy running from and fighting Mercury, Eryndor trained me through fire and flames to make me one of the strongest! oh, and he decided to keep my specialty in my skill pack~"
Mercury gets up, severely angered
Mercury: "you… my old trainer… you haven't changed one bit~"
Eryndor: "yes, except for that i'm no longer the fool i used to be to trust you… and besides..~"
Eryndor looks at Kaede
Eryndor: "wanna show him what you can do now?~"
Mercury, still angry at Eryndor launches himself at Eryndor
Mercury: "you will pay for your mistake! ERYYYYYN!"
Kaede: "ᛋᚺᚨᛞᚤ ᚲᛟᚾᚠᚢᛋᛁᛟᚾ!"
Mercury's eyes glow white, as he rams himself in a wall at high speed
Sam: "the forbidden magic, dad? really?"
Eryndor: "well i can't do anything about the fact that it's the most convenient!~"
Mercury comes to his senses soon after
Mercury: "that won't work on my a second time…"
Kaede casts it again, but mercury changes the spell's directory
Kaede: "well shit…"
Eryndor: "don't worry guys, i'll take it from here!~ Sam, you go get Zero!"
Sam dashes past mercury, caving in the glass dome with his fist. black fog fills half of the room, soon being absorbed by Sam
Sam: "it's over Mercury!"
Zero: "It's over Mercury!"
Mercury stumbles around
Mercury: "you're not.. gonna get away with this rebellion… you… won't get away with anything!! i'm getting my modification… even if…"
Mercury aims his hand at Kaede
Mercury: "it's a slightly blueish tint of black…~"
he absorbs Kaede's Serra when he was offguard
Kaede: "AAAAAHHH!!!"
Kaede was growling in pain having his Seishin torn off his soul.
Sam: "hey! stop that!"
Mercury: "the lever is broken… however… in that case…"
Mercury takes out a pocket knife and stabs it into the stump that used to be the lever
Mercury: "I'LL MAKE MY OWN LEVER!!"
Mercury forms a new glass dome, this time around Serra
Mercury: "FEAST YOUR EYES UPON THE START OF A NEW ERA!"
before anyone could do anything, Mercury placed Serra into the machine and afterwards, everything went black for a moment. later, Sam and Elisa wake up outside, looking up at a crimson red sky
Sam: "this isn't good…"
(TO BE CONTINUED)