The third barrier master died to coordinated attacks from two Chimaeric Demons. He tried to block an attack coming from a clone. The man knew if the Chimaeric Demon reached him, he would die. Unfortunately for him, he failed, not because of the clone, who was just a
distraction, but because of one of its brothers.
After having created a barrier strong enough to block a clone's attack, he got inevitably exposed to the other Chimaeric Demons.
One of them struck low, ending the fight after having chopped the man's legs.
As for the others, Amber broke through her opponent's defense. She warped, appearing in three places in rapid succession, but for the barrier master, it was like she was in three places at the sa ti.
The man tried to conjure multiple barriers around him, but that was what Amber wanted, because by doing that, the man basically trapped himself. It took just a few seconds before Amber warped in and decapitated the man.
Barrier masters were powerful; there was no doubt about that. Their barriers were almost indestructible; unless they received an overwhelming amount of attacks or a few powerful attacks, it was impossible to destroy them. However, there were ways to get past that overwhelming defense, and one of them was to directly kill the barrier master.
As for Mira, she also got past her target's defenses. She turned into a bug, gaining not only speed but also making it harder for the opponent to see her. Bugs were already fast as they were; one with Mira's attributes was basically a ghost. The Chimaeric Demons killed the remaining Barrier Masters.
Silence fell over the room, broken only by the soft thud of the last body hitting the ground. Six barrier masters lay motionless, their blood seeping into the floor.
The entire fight had lasted less than 30 seconds. Amber saw that as a sign of the fact they really had grown. However, it was possible to win the fight only because of the Chimaeric Demons. They were much faster and stronger than her or the Barrier Masters and had a lot of experience fighting, since Erik was always in the middle of a battle.
"Clear," Amber said. She tried to regulate her breathing, adrenaline still surging through her. "Did they hear us?"
"Apparently not," a Chimaeric Demon said.
The corridors remained as quiet as a graveyard, with no sign of enemy movent or approaching footsteps. Like a pond undisturbed by ripples, the stillness suggested they killed the barrier masters without alerting nearby guards.
The Chimaeric Demons checked each body to confirm the kills were clean. Mira transford back to human.
"One of them shouted." Mira had a worried look. "It's impossible they didn't hear that." "Maybe Emily took care of them. If they are not here yet, it ans they must have been dead."
"We would have heard the gunshots..."
"What do we d-"
Suddenly, the rapid thud of boots against stone echoed through the corridors. The sound multiplied and intensified with each passing second, coming from multiple directions at
once.
Heavy footfalls and the tallic clinking of weapons grew louder as they approached. The group froze in place, muscles tense, as they realized just how many enemies were converging on their position.
Amber and the other fought a fast battle. The blackguards actually heard the scream. It was just that they didn't have the ti to help the barrier masters, because they were already dead by the ti they got to the last floor.
"They've definitely heard us!" Amber said.
The footsteps ca from every direction, and they were far more nurous than expected. There were at least fifty sets of boots, maybe more, which suggested at least three full squads of blackguards inside the building coming toward their position.
This was in addition to the regular patrol units stationed at the entrance. The Chimaeric Demons were strong, but the blackguards were closing the gap rapidly, and killing hundreds of blackguards was not workable anymore, even for them. Unless they did it slowly, which was not possible in their current situation, especially not if they also had to protect Mira and Amber.
"We need to move," Amber said. Then, she warped everyone out of there.
The five materialized on the flat rooftop of a three-story building directly across from their previous location, about forty feet away.
They imdiately dropped low behind a stone parapet that ran along the roof's edge. From this vantage point, they had a clear view through the large window into the room they had just left. The lamp posts and the rising sun were casting enough light for them to see what was happening there.
A swarm of blackguards burst into the room. They were at least thirty. Their boots thundered against the stone floor as they fanned out in formation, weapons drawn.
Shouts of alarm and frustration echoed through the night as they found the bodies of their fallen comrades.
The death of the barrier masters was a terrible blow to the Law Gate defenses. The squad leaders barked orders to secure the periter while others radioed for backup.
It was clear that the Law Gate's security had been breached, and the entire compound would soon be on high alert.
"They know we're here now," Mira said. "Our elent of surprise is gone."
"There is sothing wrong, though," a Chimaeric Demon said.
"What?"
"There shouldn't have been so many people. We checked the place before entering."
"Maybe we missed them." Amber said.
"No," the clone said. "I didn't hear anyone else inside, and Emily checked around. Even if we missed so, we would have heard them, but we didn't."
"Are you saying they knew we were coming?"
"Yeah," the Chimaeric Demon confird. "There is no other explanation."
"But they failed to protect the barrier masters," Mira said.
"That is because they didn't think we would be this fast." The Chimaeric Demon couldn't stop
thinking about it, and the more he did, the more it made sense.
Amber could do nothing but grimace. "This complicates things. We need to find Emily and
June fast." She took her radio.
"Emily, June, we are done. What's your status?"
Only static answered.
"Emily? June? Report."
More static. Worry crept into Amber and the others. Mira and June were not so irresponsible as
to not keep their radio under range. If they weren't replying, it ant sothing bad
happened.
Everyone was concerned, but the Chimaeric Demons were by far the most concerned of the group. Since they shared Erik's mories, instincts, and protective nature, they felt a deep
responsibility for the woman's safety.
"Sothing's wrong," Amber said.
"The Chimaeric Demons and I will search from above." Mira couldn't stay idle.
They all nodded and started shapeshifting, quickly taking the shape of small but fast birds.
"I'll take the ground and try to see if they are hiding sowhere."
Even the prospect of combing the area didn't make the Chimaeric Demons feel better. "This is bad...Emily is too expert. If she had gotten attacked, she would have never lost."
"Unless soone strong did."
A heavy silence settled.
She warped them all outside of the area, close to where Emily and June should have been, and
far enough from the site of the battle to avoid being seen by the blackguards inside the building. The clones then took flight.
Amber warped from rooftop to rooftop, her heart rate increasing for a different reason now. Emily and June's silence could an many things-none of them good.
June landed on the ground, shifting into his human form. Though, he turned his hearing
system into that of a dog so that he would be able to find out people sneaking on him by their
footsteps.
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