TRAILING SHADOWS

"Aaarhh!" Sunday yelled as his body but the floors of the storage ro with a heavy thud. Agbawo g.r.o.a.n.e.d behind him and underneath him was a scowling Obedi with an extremely battered face.

"Get off!" Obedi cursed, throwing Sunday from over him to the side.

"Aaaah!" He g.r.o.a.n.e.d again, hitting the floor once more.

Meanwhile, Agbawo already stood up and was dusting his hands with a pleased look.

"That was excellent. Pity the Arena did not hold. We don't have enough space to flesh out the battle here. So, I propose that we rest and maybe by full sunlight, get our hands on another Arena crystal to continue." He said just as Sunday and Obedi sat up.

"N-not done yet?" Sunday g.r.o.a.n.e.d, holding the back of his head. "I went full Sage Mode in the end."

"Apparently, dimwit!" Obedi squeezed his face to the side. "That was only a stroke of luck. If you can't bear the transformation of Half Sage, there's no way you could handle Full Sage. Your Soulbond decided to cheat again."

"It said something about being insignificant...!" Sunday shrugged.

"Oh!" Obedi sighed, putting his hands to the ground as he began rising. "He must have sniffed in on the talk with my soulbond. That's unusual but again, it is Ascendancy Classed, it's high class should allow it some cheats. 

Let's get you a meal to cool you off." Obedi added, stretching his left hand for Sunday to grab.

Sunday did, hefted up to his feet by Obedi. Just then, a heavy rapping resounded from up above making Agbawo and Obedi to frown.

"What? Customers this early?" Obedi sighed. "I better see to that. Must be the appearance of Rare Type Creatures in the market so, maybe someone wants to get a special to defend themselves." Obedi muttered to himself. He walked to the extreme, just opposite the area after the dangling chain restraints that once held Sunday lay. 

Moving on, he tapped the wall and then, a rectangle shape-like door appeared out of white light, opening up to reveal the shop where artefacts of all kinds lay on shelves.

He walked through that and it closed on his leave. Stepping out to the shop proper, Obedi sighed, moving closer to the door.

He waved his hands in a X-shape and the glass doors slid into the walls, vanishing and revealing an Irunmole , the same Captain of before.

Obedi frowned. He was not expecting this. This were Guard Irunmoles working under the High Council of Ilu Obatala. And he knew so much that if they were here, it meant somehow, they got a whiff of what was on here.

Time to play dumb!

"You got the wrong address, I assure you. But it's good to know that you guys put so much effort in to your work. Nice, this way, all of us can stay safe in... GNNNK!"

"Cut the crap!" The Captain hooked by the collar of his gown. "You know why we are here. Where is Sunday?" 

The Captain stepped in, walking to Obedi who hastily struggled to rise. Just as he did, Solia and the other male Irunmole stepped in as well.

"Solia, notify the relay teams to stand by and keep their Timestreams fully operational. Any backups from outside, they cut down. Draxia, you're with me."

Solia nodded, fl.i.c.k.i.n.g a finger as her glowing Timestream orb appeared over head.

"No. This is violation of private property, you trespassers."Obedi screamed. "Out with you!"

Obedi ordered, slamming his hand down to the red button on his counter.

"Summoning Type Energy?" Captain's eyes bulged. "No, you don't! IMOLE MO!" 

He yelled, hurling over an Imole Mo into the air. The blade whistled, arcing and then stabbing into Obedi's hand and the button as well.

"Aaaaargghhh!". Obedi yelled out in pain as portals opened up at the ceiling, men clad in black dropping down like flies.

"Ah!" Captain sighed, noting the thick cl.u.s.ter of men in black about Obedi. "You want it this way, fine with me. This is Nothing.

Law of Light, Light Lance Skewer!"

AAaaaaghh..." He screamed out, hurling a beam of light.

The beam whistled again just as the men started to raise their swords for the attack. Hurtling down, the beam tore through the air, halving the men in black right before them could move in it's trajectory for Obedi.

"Captain," Solia called out sharply, taking backward steps as the men in black advanced on her. "Do I call the relay teams for reinforcement? More keep dropping from the portals." She noted even as Draxia twisted about, his light beam cutting down an Irunmole by his side as he countered an attack with another light beam at the back.

"No! Like I said, this is nothing." The Captain yelled, scything the heads of a dozen men with a single sway of his light beam.

"This is going to cost me a fortune at the Hourglass Merc. But as long as my hand is still on this button, more people will come."

Obedi laughed maniacally only to be horrified the next second, just as the lance neatly chopped off his hand before exploding to bits behind the counter.

He yelled, holding his empty wrists in agony, oblivious to the mowing down of the mercenaries about him by the three Guard Irunmoles.

The Irunmoles slashed, the captain speared through, ducking and doing with his skewering light beam. Draxia leapt up into the air, dealing a dozen slashes of light down below. Solia rolled over on the ground, her short dagger-like light beam, an advanced version of the Imole Mo, neatly chopping off feet and knees of the men. 

However, despite the progress they made, more kept dropping down. Each one they struck, a dozen more appeared to fill in. Regardless of how skilled they were, they soon find themselves at a stall mate as they chop down and soon are forced to back towards the door, the captain in front.

One could only rely on a certain technique that could last for a long time. And in the case of not being able to withstand the techniques existential strain, they each had bands on their wrists that held the constructs of the techniques from falling apart. 

It was the classic shoot, duck, reload and repeat. Except that they did not have the reload chance here. And right now, the Guard Irunmoles were finding it tough, relying on the now, less effective techniques they each had used.

And right now, in the heat of the battle, Solia and Draxia failed to notice Obedi sneaking into a door of light. This did not go unnoticed for the captain but not only him. However, he could not act because of the situation he found himself in.

But the others could.

The people who stood outside the doors of the shop also noticed.

The same persons who had been attacked earlier, Niniola and Tayo.

"Hm. There is where he is hiding him." Tayo frowned, dashing in, his aura of cutting, strongly slashing down the Mercenaries ruthlessly as he sped to the light-made door.