Gunmage
Chapter 125: The Anchor breaks

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: The Anchor breaks

The tile shards hovered mid-air, locked onto the assailants.

Aside from the enigmatic maid—whom Lugh kept a constant eye on—only two enemies remained alive.

The Anchor glanced at the man who had his heart crushed, then gritted his teeth as he turned to his remaining comrade.

"Hold them off. I’ll end her."

The "them" in his words referred to the loyal shadows of Isolde. No less than three were visible, and more were likely hiding, cloaked in the gloom, breathing quiet and still as statues.

He rolled his shoulder, gripping his blade, then dashed forward with terrifying speed.

The projectiles shrieked as they came down in a deadly storm of wind and stone. There were far too many to dodge.

He didn’t even try. Instead, he charged straight through, deflecting only the lethal ones, letting the rest tear into his flesh.

Blood sprayed as tiles sliced skin and muscle, hiss body was transformed to a canvas of crimson in mere seconds.

But, he had already closed the distance.

His blade arced in a horizontal slash.

Isolde met it with a short dagger of her own, its force boosted by a surge of finely controlled mana.

The impact rattled his bones—but he held firm and pressed forward, unleashing an experienced sequence of slashes.

Isolde glided back, her footwork like water on marble, each dodge fluid and deliberate.

A flick of her fingers, and a chunk of debris launched from the ground, striking his wrist with brutal precision.

Pain bloomed up his arm. His grip loosened. The sword dropped—

—but before it touched the ground, it froze in midair, gripped by an unseen force, then shot toward Isolde like a javelin.

She twisted aside easily. The sword veered mid-flight, aiming for her again.

The Anchor had closed the distance and was already upon her, his fist clenched. He struck with a textbook straight jab.

Isolde blocked—with the sharp edge of her dagger.

Blood spurted from the gash as the blade bit in, his knuckles split.

Even as her head tilted, letting the blade whistle past her ear, she never broke composure. Her eyes were cool, calculating—already reading his next three moves.

He caught the sword with his uninjured hand and readied another swing—

—but his legs buckled. He staggered forward as the world spun. His vision swam, everything became blurry and covered in a haze.

’What—?’

His eyes darted to his wounded hand. The cut had turned necrotic black. The dark hue crept steadily up his forearm, devouring flesh with patient cruelty.

Poison?

Ah that’s right. For a moment he had forgotten who he was fighting. A scion of House Caldreth.

It could either have poison, a curse, or perhaps a morbid mixture of both.

This was bad.

Time was running out.

He slammed a foot into the ground, his sword dipped low.

Mana surged from deep within, drawn in reckless quantities. A chant followed, clipped and fast.

The world dimmed. An arcane circle flared beneath their feet, casting an eerie light in a two-meter radius—with him at its center.

Isolde’s eyes widened.

He grinned.

And then, he swung.

But she had already moved her hands. Suddenly, his clothes twisted around him like living things, binding him, wrenching his form aside mid-swing.

He flared mana outward in a pulse to dispel the hold—but the delay had cost him his momentum. The blade still carried through, ignoring range, ignoring logic. It struck hard.

Isolde braced herself. Mana surged through her arms as she crossed them.

The blade’s edge carved across her gown, a line of blood trailing up from ankle to collarbone. Her hands were cut, but only shallowly. She didn’t flinch.

He readied a second strike—

—but she moved first.

Her arm whipped out, flinging her blood into the air. The droplets hissed as they made contact, eating into his skin like acid.

He staggered back, grunting through gritted teeth.

"Zephyr"

Isolde whispered.

Her left hand lifted high, the right low. They rose and fell at the same speed, meeting in the center with a sharp clap.

From the point of impact, a diagonal wind blade of six feet tall roared forth, howling like a banshee.

It struck him full in the chest, carving deep. Flesh split. Ribs cracked. He was launched backward, magic shattered, as he crashed into the earth with a ragged groan.

His breath came in gasps as the spreading black poison continued its crawl.

Isolde turned her head slowly.

Three maids stood in silence, watching. The corpse of the final attacker, the one who had been a surge, laid not too far from them.

She nodded once in approval, her gaze sweeping the battlefield.

But something was wrong.

Someone was missing.

Then she heard a voice.

Smooth and playful.

Not far off.

It was the strange maid, speaking to the injured Anchor.

"Weren’t you supposed to be the strongest? And look at you now, beaten by a single woman. How pathetic."

She laughed.

The man grit his teeth.

"Help us."

"Hmm? I didn’t quite catch that."

"...Help us."

She laughed again. But this time, her voice turned cold.

"Haven’t I helped you enough already?"

A dagger flew through the air.

She caught it without looking.

Her eyes flicked toward Isolde.

"Can you not? I’m having a conversation here."

Then back to the Anchor.

"So... what were you saying?"

"Pay... is not the issue."

He gasped between wheezes.

"The boss will compensate... for your service."

"Hmmmmm."

She tilted her head, thoughtful.

Another blade screamed through the air.

This one faster. She dodged, just barely.

"Hey, I told you to wai—"

She didn’t finish.

A shadow emerged from nowhere, lunging for her heart.

She evaded by the skin of her teeth, but another of Isolde’s shadows descended from above.

With a wide leap, she sprang back over ten meters, landing lightly as if gravity were a suggestion.

Her dress fluttered around her like wings.

"I told you to wait, didn’t I?"

Her voice was low, but her expression quickly returned to calm.

She glanced at the wounded Anchor, then flashed a toothy smile.

"Consider it done."

Her eyes darkened once more.

"I’ll kill every one of these filthy humans for you."