Chapter 237 - Two Sides Of The Same Coin

“So, this is Sanctum Santorum, the final bastion between humanity and the undead. I've heard the stories, but they don't seem real. Gotta admit, I'm a bit excited to see for myself just how undead they really are.”

“Are they truly the dead come back to life? Great-grandfather had a story of such beasts. He called them zoombyes,” Mayalyn tilted her head, somehow appearing both cute and inquisitive despite her new suit hiding all her features. Jiran promised himself he would never correct that particular mispronunciation, deeming it far too adorable.

Cameron, happy to have a leg up on a conversation for a change, explained what he knew, “Nobody knows for sure. The reason they're called the undead is because they look like they've already died. I've only seen them once. Our class at the academy was brought here to see where we might end up if we chose to join the Voicers. As far as beasts go, they’re dumber than usual. They mostly stand around looking completely, well, brain-dead. Until they see you that is. Kinda like a pawn but even less active if you can believe it.”

Interesting.

“Jiran!” Niya hissed, “I see that look. We're not here to sate your curiosity. You remember Olive, right? Or did the Prince Consort forget about her already?”

Jiran recoiled, “Don't you start calling me that nonsense. Even Mortemer was better. I've got to cause a distraction anyway, what's so bad about involving a few beasts in the mayhem?”

“Uh-huh. Very believable,” she drawled, “Fine. Do whatever you want. So long as you get rid of those Numbered, we'll take care of the rest.”

Mayalyn stepped forward, the outline of her ears twitching beneath her skintight suit could be seen as she spoke soothingly, “Fear not. If Jiran's heart was not firm, he would not be throwing himself into such danger alone. None of us are as determined to rescue Olive as he.” The warmth in her tone caused his breath to catch and he found himself smiling at her like an idiot. She turned to him, placing a hand against his chestplate, “Please, slow down. We know she is here, and alive. An hour or two to devise the best strategy possible will only aid us. You have always been good at predicting your enemies movements, lean into that strength. We cannot afford to fail.”

“I’ll do my best,” he nodded firmly, squeezing her hand for a brief moment before moving past her to hold Niya’s shoulder. He pinned her with a serious look, “Everything is going to be fine. Your armor is stronger than you realize. You're stronger than you realize. You'll make it out of this alive. We all will. maybe rein in that temper of yours if you meet one of the emperors though. Nothing I can do to protect you from them.”

Her mouth twisted like she was going to fire another barb at him but stopped at the last second. She released a ratcheting sigh as a good portion of the tension flowed out of her, “Thanks. Sorry I’m being such a bitch. Now get your ass moving! The longer we're here, the more annoyed I'll get!”

He chuckled as she turned away, marching toward the distant city. Mayalyn nudged past him to follow, her sleek blue outfit hugging her curves so well it was hard to maintain coherent thought.

He cleared his throat, catching her attention, “I don't feel the emperors’ auras so they shouldn’t be in the city. Even if they show up, you should appear as nothing more than empty space amidst the thousands of people around you. Being in crowds is your best bet to avoid detection, manasight will be even less of a problem.”

“Thank you for worrying about me. I love you too,” she waved, then chased after Niya.

“I am never going to get tired of hearing that,” noticing his friend slinking off without a word, Jiran jumped after him, grabbing the collar of his armor, “Cameron! Don't fire that cannon inside the city. Actually, I changed my mind. Give it here, I'm going to disable it.” 

In a panic, Cameron threw himself to the side, “What?! No! That's not fair! It's mine, no take backsies!” He rounded on Jiran, his hands raised defensively. The two stared off, crouched and ready to pounce. Had Jiran truly wanted to disable the weapon, they both knew it would have already happened. Without another word, Cameron turned tail and chased after the girls, quickly catching up to Niya, “What should we do while we wait for Mayalyn to scout? I know a great bar.”

“In this armor? They'd have the guards crawling down our throats in a heartbeat!” Niya snapped back while Mayalyn activated Obfuscation and faded into the background until she was no longer visible.

“I’ll draw the guards attention, don’t miss your chance to get in!” Jiran called after them with a grin and they waved back in acknowledgement. Seeing them go, a smoldering flame of gratitude churned in his chest. He couldn't be happier with his party. They were quirky, united, reliable, trustworthy, and any of them would immediately call him on it when he started to get carried away. Considering how often that happened, he felt more secure in their presence than any of them save Mayalyn realized. He might have grown leagues beyond them in strength, but he still knew in his heart how much he needed them.

It won’t be long before they catch up. Just gotta figure out the density absorbing issue and they’ll be tier nine in record time. 

No point standing around. Gotta figure out how to raise the biggest fuss in the shortest amount of time. If I want to pull all the tier nines out of hiding, it can't be anything small. Should I break part of the wall? Nah, don't want to involve innocents if possible.

Taking to the skies, Jiran flew close to the corner of the city, neither trying to reveal or hide himself as he got a good look inside the walls. The city was nothing short of majestic. Sweeping arches, decadent homes, and grand cathedrals could be found on every sprawling block. The streets were clean and wide, though mostly empty at this late hour. Compared to the austere design philosophy of the northern fortress cities, Sanctum Santorum was a land reserved for the wealthy and opulent. Save for a small section tucked against the Southeast wall, closest to the undead hordes, which was a slum as despondent as any he’d ever heard about.

Random packs of patrolling guards were the only movement he spotted. Several of the guards gave off a distinct sense of danger, prompting Jiran to activate Gaze of Pediamus and Mana Omnis. Surprisingly, each group was led by a tier seven, and there were even tier eights within view. Not even the combined forces under Colonel Roptere could come close to matching the power of these random city guards.

There's no way the emperors would have allowed the church to amass such strength. To think they've been hiding their numbers to this extent while the empire loses ground to the Graymin. Disgusting.

Red hot rage burned through his veins, his fists shaking as he fought to think about anything other than the unnecessary loss of life over the last year. Jiran was about to turn away and head toward the distant undead barrier when he paused. There was something subtly wrong with the mana flowing inside many of the soldiers. Each individual’s mana had its own distinct series of colors, and Jiran often noticed overlapping shades, but usually it would be two in ten that shared a similar tone. Somehow, well over half the soldiers in his view had a distinct, silky-green sheen within their manapools.

Had he been looking at any particular one of them, or even a group of five, he never would have noticed. But with Mana Omnis seeing so many at once, it was a glaring oddity.

Don’t get distracted, don’t get distracted!

With pure force of will, he ignored the guards and swept the city, looking for Olive’s orange and blue signature. Unfortunately, much of the larger buildings were made by higher-tier individuals, and like the city walls, he couldn’t see through them.

He clicked his tongue and tore himself away from the view of the city, turning southeast. His rapid movement finally caught the attention of a guard atop the battlements and the man shone a bright light his direction, “Who goes there?!” A dozen more lights were cast in Jiran’s vicinity, but he had already used Elemental Castigation to bend the beams around him, effectively making him as invisible as Mayalyn.

Earlier, while putting the final touches on the group’s suits, he had pulled all the mana from his own armor and shoved it into Armament. With a tight grip on any potential mana emissions from his skin and breath, he was sure the soldiers with Manasight wouldn’t be able to spot him either. The layer of Castigation coating his armor wouldn’t give him away either since the mana was being spent into invisible elemental energy near instantly. It was possible to see, but they would have to be at nearly melee range to do so.

Losing him the moment he appeared caused the wall guards to respond like a kicked nest of bugs, swarming his location. Satisfied he had pulled their attention away from his friends, Jiran moved on to his next objective; locating another of the Numbered so he could have eyes on their mysterious group once more.

With his aura tucked in tight, he crossed above the wall, unhindered by the barrier projected from Lostrifar’s formations. They extended well into the sky, but were designed to keep out beasts and had no effect on creatures who held no ill intent toward the cities they protected. The one time Jiran had the opportunity to speak with her at length, he had questioned her about their creation. Unfortunately, Lostrifar was the type who refused to give information away for free, so Jiran didn’t have a clue how she managed to construct such massive and complex formations alone. He could still only design a few functions into each of his formations, while she somehow had dozens.

He sighed wistfully, the sound swallowed by the high winds billowing against him. Scanning the city’s stronger manapools didn’t yield any of the Numbered, but he didn’t give up, knowing he would spot one eventually. On his third pass over the numerous buildings, he recognized a mana signature and only briefly debated before closing in to spy on his old frenemy. The man seemed to have no clue Jiran was there when he lowered himself between several buildings to land a few meters away.

Aura resistant suits must be harder to detect than I thought.

Despite being on high alert while skulking through a dark alley in the middle of the night, Mark the Hiss was caught completely by surprise when Jiran cleared his throat from directly behind him. The once-bandit king spun with practiced precision, the move powered by the considerable attributes of a late tier six. He then took a surprised leap away upon seeing the towering suit of armor leaning over him.

Jiran grunted, pushing his visor up with a finger for a quick second, “I would tell you to relax, but I don’t like the fact that you’re here, Markhiss. I don’t like it at all. What are you doing in Sanctum? Why are you sneaking around in the middle of the night? Why now?”

“J-Jiran?! I-is that really you?” Markhiss’ fear turned to jubilance in an instant and he leaped toward Jiran with his arms spread wide, “Arghk!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he crashed into the bottom of Jiran’s boot.

“Did you just try to hug me? No thanks. Tell me why you just happen to be here tonight of all nights before I do something you’ll regret in the morning.”

Markhiss rubbed his swollen nose, “It’s not what you think! Please, let me explain.”

Jiran’s aura sprang free from his skin, wrapping them in a tight soundproof bubble, “Go on then, explain.”

Markhiss flinched at the hard tone, “I’m here for the organization I used to work for: Silence. While waiting for your return, I got word they were planning something big for the church so I rushed here to find out what. They’re not what you would consider good people, and… let’s say their priorities don’t align with yours. You’re a threat to them and everything they stand for. I always knew you would eventually come into conflict with them and I’ve been preparing for it. I didn’t think the time would come so soon.”

Jiran’s brow furrowed, not that Markhiss could see it through his dark visor, “Are you saying this Silence organization has something to do with the Church of the Voice?”

“It has everything to do with the church. Silence and the Voice are but two sides of the same coin. One operates in the sunslight, the other in the shadows.”