I could already see it clearly, the setting, the mood, and most of all, the performance itself. Knowing Black Rose, I knew she wouldn't disappoint.
"So," I asked, glancing her way, "where did you say the location was again?"
Black Rose spoke evenly. "North from the East Ridge Swamps. The only place I can think of… is the Gangu Forest."
"North it is," I said, my voice cold. "Come, both of you."
They exchanged confused glances as they stepped closer. Without warning, I grabbed them by the waist. Their eyes went wide, and their cheeks flushed red.
"Oh my… Sir Night Fallen…" Black Rose murmured, covering her mouth.
Luna… fainted on the spot, her face burning crimson. Honestly, I didn't peg her for the shy and fainting type.
"Hang on," I muttered, feeling the familiar hum of mana coursing through me.
Blue lines shimmered faintly along my legs as I surged upward. The ground around the warehouse trembled as the shockwave from my takeoff sent dust and debris scattering. The wind roared past our faces as I soared north, carrying both of them. Their hair whipped wildly in the storm of speed, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Black Rose," I called over the roar of the wind. "Once you identify the area, tell me."
She leaned forward, scanning the terrain. "Yes, of course. Sir Night Fallen."
Luna finally woke while we were still mid-air. I expected at least a flicker of shock, but she handled it with surprising composure. I suppose being imprisoned your whole life sharpens your edge.
Black Rose pointed to a mountain in the distance. "Right there. If you can land at the base, I'm sure we'll be very close to the hideout."
My grin widened as I touched down, careful not to crush the mountain's base. I still needed it for my next grand performance. I released the ladies, but they stubbornly clung on. Honestly, it was kind of annoying, they were ruining the mood I'd worked so pull off for this anti-hero shtick.
"Ladies…" I muttered.
Finally, they let go abruptly, faces guilty as if they knew exactly what they'd done. Probably not.
One thing I realized back at the docks is that I could actually manipulate my magic's form like when I made the baseball bat. I flexed my fingers, and blue lines snaked across me as a black coat materialized around my frame. Something felt off, though… a missing detail I couldn't put my finger on, a problem for later I guess.
Black Rose and Luna stood beside me under the moonlight. I shifted slightly, nudging them closer, so we were perfectly aligned in front of the target. The wind howled, rustling coats and hair. Trees swayed, birds scattered, everything conspiring for the perfect scene.
Luna tilted her head. "Sir Night Fallen… how should we proceed?"
I folded my arms and closed my eyes. "You two… move ahead. Don't worry."
They glanced at each other, probably expecting me to clarify, and rightly so. But instead, they just smiled and nodded, free-falling off the mountain like seasoned pros as they were swallowed into the darkness below.
I remained behind, eyes closed, thinking. 'If they had a stash of cash… where would they hide it?'
I pondered the possibilities until a simple solution hit me: I'd just eliminate them all first and take my time searching later.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. They glowed a sharp, piercing blue.
"Well then… rejoice. Dusk has come, and midnight shall claim you tonight."
I vanished, leaving only the moon illuminating the faint dust of my departure.
Black Rose and Luna weaved through the trees. Before they split off, I attached mana threads to both of them, thin, subtle, just enough to keep watch. I really couldn't afford to have my first main cast die on me.
Not that I didn't trust them.
Black Rose was crafty. Dangerous in the quiet way. And Luna… the mana pool I sensed within her was absurd.
They reached the front exactly where Black Rose predicted. The hideout was close, too close to be coincidence. Ten guards stood posted outside a metal door embedded into the cave wall, rifles in hand. Two mages lingered behind them, flames already charged up.
Yeah. Definitely some shady shit going on. And they must have a fortune somwhere in there.
They slipped behind the trees as Black Rose leaned in and whispered,
"Luna. Go find the cells."
Luna hesitated. Even through the thread, I felt her concern. "What about you? I can help you fight."
Black Rose smirked. "No. I'll handle the front. There may be another exit, better to trap them from all sides."
Luna's eyes widened at the implication. Then she nodded once, firmly and vanished into the forest in a blur.
Black Rose's smirk sharpened. She stepped out from the trees without a shred of urgency, reaching into her jacket and pulling out her tarot cards. She shuffled them lazily as she approached.
The guards snapped to attention, rifles raised. The mages stepped forward, fireballs swelling in their palms.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" one of them barked. "You're trespassing!"
Black Rose stopped. Unbothered whatsoever. She slid the cards back into her jacket.
Her mana threads slithered from her fingers, sinking into the ground like living veins. A faint smirk played on her lips.
"Am I?" she said softly. "And here I thought I was welcomed into this humble abode."
Gunfire erupted. She crossed her arms. The threads surged upward, snapping bullets aside with surgical precision as she moved through the hail effortlessly. One thread lashed out, wrapping around a guard's ankle then tightened.
Clean off. The foot hit the ground before the scream did.
Her slow advance never stopped.
Black Rose twisted her fingers, and the threads obeyed spreading in every direction, crawling through the air and ground alike. The two mages tried to fire, but the moment their spells were about to set, gunshots tore through them from their own comrades.
And from there, it only got worse.
She took control. Bodies jerked unnaturally as guards turned their rifles on one another, screams overlapping with thunderous gunfire. Black Rose moved among it all like a choir master, fingers conducting the carnage, expression serene as terror bloomed around her.
Then a moment of silence passed.
The bodies dropped one by one.
Honestly? It was a magnificent show. Watching through the mana threads, I felt my excitement spike. Yeah. She really set the bar high.
One guard remained. By sheer luck or maybe cruelty he was untouched. He had curled into the corner, shaking so hard his rifle clattered to the ground.
Black Rose approached him slowly and drew out her terror cards.
"Go on," she said with a smile. "Choose your fate."
Trembling, the poor bastard picked one. Maybe he thought luck still mattered. Maybe he thought he could escape.
He flipped it.
A skull.
"It's really too bad," Black Rose said lightly. "Perhaps next time."
The string wrapped around his head snapped tight. Clean and final. Poor guy never had a chance. Black Rose's cards all led to death.
A scammer indeed.
She flicked her arm, threads snapping forward to carve through the metal door only for them to halt mid-cut. The surface resisted. A magic circle flared to life, runes pulsing beneath the steel.
Black Rose tilted her head.
"I see," she murmured. "Just like the orb they trapped Luna in. How amusing."
She stepped closer, fingers brushing the door as her threads slithered along its surface, probing, testing. The spell responded with layers within layers, far more intricate than the last.
Her lips curled.
"Very well," she said softly. "Challenge accepted."
She spread all five fingers.
The threads surged, faster now, brighter—pink light sharpening into something lethal. The magic circle trembled, cracked, then shattered entirely. With a low groan, the reinforced door began to part, metal yielding as it slowly opened before her.
She stepped inside and onto a stairway leading down, guards already waiting below with swords drawn. The echo of her heels carried through the dark, and the moment they tensed, she moved.
She surged forward, leapt, and twisted mid-air, snapping one man's neck with a sharp crack before he could react.
Another lunged at her, but she shifted aside and pulled a thread tight, forcing his own blade into his chest. She ran on, kicked off the wall, crushed one guard into stone with a kick to the head, then spun and sent another slamming into the opposite side.
More guards rushed in from ahead, shouting as they charged. Black Rose twisted her fingers, threads spreading outward in an invisible web. They ran straight into it. Bodies were cut apart mid-stride, screams tearing through the stairwell as blood sprayed across the walls. The rest tried to flee.
"Fragile little men," she said lightly, almost amused. "Afraid of a little silk."
"It's too late," she continued calmly. "The thread will find you no matter where you go."
They froze in place, muscles locked, breath caught in their throats as terror set in.
She walked between them, unhurried, drawing her tarot cards and shuffling them. "Fate has many roads. Many different stories. And yet today, it chose this one."
She drew a card marked with crossed axes and sighed softly. "Perhaps next time."
She kept walking. Behind her, the threads pulled, snapping the remaining guards apart in an instant. Blood painted the stairway as their bodies fell to pieces, and Black Rose vanished into the darkness ahead.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Luna had already found another way in, moving through a narrow pathway lit by flickering torches along the walls.