"Do you have a preference in game? Blackjack, Baccarat, or maybe poker? I often have my heart on Blackjack myself. I'd offer roulette but the wheel isn't set up." Mr. Burns said, indicating a disassembled table.
"Blackjack will do fine." Nate said.
Pausing for a moment his mind drifted on what to offer as collateral. He wasn't filled with cash nor did he have much to offer in the way of spirits. All of his were bound in contracts, which left the only thing of any real value that he carried. From his jacket he took out the repaired wand sitting it on the table surface.
"What will this get me?"
"How about 10 chips. If you want to win the, eye? Is that what you called it? Then you will need to beat my generous pile."
Burns ruffled a large number of chips that appeared upon his side of the table. He smiled but it did not reach his eyes. Nate could tell he wasn't a man to play fair. Which begged the question, why had Braydon been allowed to win? He couldn't tell right away but knew he would have to find the answer soon.
"How do I know the deck isn't loaded?"
"For you, a guest, I would never. Not even in my dreams, this is a place of fairness is it not? Why not if one of us is found to be cheating we shall forfeit what we have placed as a bet."
"I'm sure you aren't going to exclude the eye from that and not just say it's the chips?" Nate questioned.
"Ofcouse, I am a man of my word. If you can catch me cheating I shall give you everything here. All that I currently own."
Nate caught onto something he said. All that he currently owned. He worded things like a lawyer or politician. In a way they were all gamblers and full of empty words. They weren't near the top of his favorite people and that went doubly so for this spirit in front of him.
"Shall we start." Mr.Burns asked gleefully.
"Let the fun begin." Nate said flatly.
***
The Knights flew off from the top of the roof. Tens of blocky metallic black fist dotted where they had stood only a moment before. Each weighed over three hundred pounds cracking the cement on the roof wherever they landed. One such fist had grazed past one of the squires in doing it gouged a cut across his flesh.
The Wands were the fighting force consisting of enhanced humans as foot soldiers. The fact it had open a wound on his flesh was alarming. Just days before the squire had been littered with hundreds of bullets. His mission to eliminate a paramiliary operation in the area was easy when only a .50 cal could injure him. Only lightly at that.
"Sir, this isn't normal metal." Squire Jones warned, clutching his side.
"First time with a Necromancer boy? Nothing they have is normal. You would think the Queen could manage to send some capable people. Awe, maybe they will get in the way." A deadly glint sparked to life in Paladin Woods' eyes.
"Do not start Sir Wood. You were the one to request our aid." Banneret Knight Emile warned.
She and squire Matias, the second of their reinforcements, were pushed to the right. On the other side the injured Squire Jones landed on the roof to the left. Blood trickled from between his fingers before slowly stopping. Paladin Wood wasn't going to take the provocation lying down. His body whipped out stretching out toward Wayne's position.
He wizened Necromancer simply smiled as he took a seat in his command chair. His cane stuck down into the center of a massive magic circle laid out beneath his feat and the amazing machine he sat upon. Keys popped up under his fingers as they began to dance within his embrace.
The roof Paladin Wood landed upon was on Wayne's left, two positions away from him. It was also where he'd laid numerous amounts of magic. When his feet touched down a dull glow flashed containing a controlled explosion that sent smoke and debris into the air.
Wayne could feel it hadn't done his adversary in but that wasn't the point of that trap. On his right Banneret Knight Emile, pounced forward followed closely by Squire Matias. They had come knowing full well that challenging a Necromancer would come with magic attacks flying about. They assumed that Wayne had cast something with his keyboard. That wasn't the case.
Just as the two landed a flood of miasama filled the roof top. The sounds of escaping air followed just as they touched down. A volley of what they had expected to be fists fell down toward them. This time they only number ten. Emile slid a tiny hammer out from her side, swiping up to blast away the attack. Mid-air it changed shape to become as big as a large trampoline.
Wayne sneered at the pathetic attempt to block him. A flick of his ring finger pulled the ten flying fists from a straight attack into a hook shot. The hammer still managed to block two but the other flew by. Matias rushed forward a shield rapidly forming where his fist had once been.
Squire Matias was closer to being knighted then his low rank Companion. He was even prepared for the change in attack given he'd participated in a prior subjugation effort. The fists were sharp but that still wouldn't mean much on his reinforced shield. He was prepared for the real damage, the blunt force trauma.
His expectations were immediately dashed as flying projectiles rounded the hammers side. Long blades were affixed to the fronts of these deathly visages. The first slashed into the top of his shield cleaving the top edge off. Being no fool he abandoned the shield with a kick to the ground.
Body shooting backwards one of the blades severed his foot midair. Minor relief spread through his body only for the remaining blades to shift once more. Wide eyes watched as they were eviscerated in the collision. Even as strong as they were a Paladin was no match for a proper necromancer.
Chunked meat fell to the ground as the bladed arms finally lost steam. Their heavy frames splattered the goop that once was Squire Matias. All the time he'd placed into killing souls, to cleanse the world of filth. The passion that he had put into finding exactly the method he would use to further his transformation. It was all just a pile of mush and blood.
Emile only gave him a passing glance. One didn't rise to the top to the position of Knight on fluke. Let alone someone of her stature as a Banneret. A piece of soul was connected to those repelled arms she was certain of it. Her power to order someone only went as far as the spirit she hit.
"Return to your master." She yelled out.
The few blocked arms wheeled around and flew back toward Wayne. He chuckled to himself. She wanted to challenge him over who could control a golem better? A twitch of his fingers sent the arms straight down slamming into the street below. The sound of metal being torn a sunder echoed up the gap.
At the same time that Wayne was ripping into Squire Matias, Paladin Wood burst forth from the cloud of smoke. The spell to trap him didn't hold, his power having grown beyond their first meeting. Wayne appraised him generally and rendered his verdict.
*PSSSHH PSSSHH PSSSSHH*
Three torsos shot out from the largest of the barrels, they spun with magnified force arms stretched over their heads. The Paladin took the first head on, pride and his battle instincts telling him it was unwise to let all three surround him. Instead he locked one into a battle forcing it forward and out of place. The other two struck the roof behind him bringing it down on top of whatever and whoever might have been within.
Footing would have been a problem for the squires but his body had become far more malleable. As the concrete slipped out from below him he stretched his legs out grabbing ahold of his opponent. Attempting to spin the robotic torso up and away before it would plummet to the ground. Wayne simply pressed a button.
Top like in adjustment it recoiled against its former rotational direction. Recalling itself and slamming both arms into Woods' side. Sent flying off back toward the crumbling building he lasso his arm out to grab a jutting rock. Just as it caught he felt a cold feeling run down his neck.
Out from the dust and rubble that had made up the roof four arms reached forth. Linking and locking down onto his sides. He was already stretching his legs before and now his lassoed arm. He wanted to liquify but that wasn't in the cards. One of the others would have to be reduced first before he could do it.
Paladin Wood operated like most body shapers within the Knights Order of the Wand. First was his tried and true methods. Hammers, spears, swords, and everything in between. A strong mental image was needed to hold their consistency and the stronger the image the stronger the item. Squire Matias hadn't pictured his shield strong enough. It was true he believed he could block it but there was always a momentary slip. The question of what if that haunts at the back of the mind.
His second method was on full display. Where each of the first methods needed practice and discipline. These came naturally, forms that were akin to breathing. Not from time practiced but a sense of need. Just like a cornered rat he could explode into the sky as a ball to escape. Who in their life hadn't curled into a ball for protection.
This method allowed for masterful unconscious control but only unconscious. Attempting to retract them mid-air with arms latching him down and liquifying. It was all too much.
What had been a retreating opponent whirled to life. The torso cracked open changing shape into vicious spears. It plummeted down toward his body. He could use his trump card but that would expose him to the enemy. Could he do such a thing when there was more to come? He need not answer.
Squire Jones was an enhanced human that also meant healing. His body speared the side of the falling torso knocking it off course. Doing so gave Paladin Wood all the time he needed. His limbs retracted before exploding out to his sides into giant steel balls. Tearing the limbs off of both of the torso's.
The squire managed to carry himself and the torso onto an outlying building. The moment he landed a melting sound began to sizzle from his side where it touched the roof. Wordlessly he heaved himself atop his opponent struggling to stand once more. A haze slowly began to fall over his vision as he did so.
Banneret Emile jumped and swung her hammer out at the building that acted as Wayne's attack base. Reverberation crashed into the surrounding alleys as the building quaked yet did not quite give up. She stepped on the surface of the building launching back up toward where he sat. Twisting in the air she brought the hammer down just as she passed the lip.
All she found was Wayne's sneering face. Hundreds of smaller holes opened up in front of him and blasted out at her. A blink of the eye and she would be shredded into confetti. Bending at the waist she slammed herself.
"Back." She shouted.
Her body carried by an invisible hand shot back down toward the ground. If she fell all the way then that was fine she would live. Those hundreds of fingers on the other hand were questionable. His leaving it till a surprise attack had set off her danger sense.
The fingers blasted into the adjacent buildings. Just as she expected, each one had a shape of three or four saw blades spinning at ridiculous speeds. They bore into and then out the other side. Anything within those rays of light were extinguished.
Wayne frowned as he'd hoped to end her with that move. He could tell that these were not the highest level of Knights. One of their queens or a jack would have posed a larger problem. Their abilities were said to border on the upper Necromancer tiers. One day this Knight might make it that far but he would end her before she would have that chance.
"I have not seen this type of action since the war. What a lovely day." Paladin Wood said.
He rose to stand on the edge of the ruined building behind him. The two torso golems were torn into pieces behind him. A gleeful look in his eye as he gazed upon the destruction. Taking in a long deep breath he could smell the aggravated energy in the air. Spirit energy absolutely radiating from the environment.
"All that it's lacking is the hundreds of dead. Where are they Necromancer? The screams of terror."
Wayne cast his eyes disdainfully upon his foe. He wouldn't tell him about evacuating the civilians, he knew from experience that they didn't truly care. Just as he knew them to be killers worshiping in blood, Paladin Wood came to confirm it.
The Banneret had stopped her descent. She looked inside from the midpoint of the building. It was barren within and she couldn't feel the tell-tail signs of humans at all. Human life was often collateral that was best avoided but here no one was around. A soft smile came to her lips. If no one was around they wouldn't have to hold back.
"You bunch of monsters." Wayne said with disgust.