novelraw Chapter 478 - 478
Chapter 478 - 478
Disappointingly, we weren't going to be able to go through with the plan. Specifically the one where I crushed that one guy with his own vending machine. Too many ways it could go wrong.
That meant going through with the backup plan, which also happened to be the first plan just with minimal throwing of vending machines.
There were two possibilities for resistance we expected to meet. If we were lucky, we had already dealt with most of their combat capable individuals. However, given that they still seemed to have vending machines and access to super serum, we could expect a lot of random thugs with powers. At the same time, it was possible they would anticipate our tactics to some extent, so we needed to vary our tactics at least a little bit.
I considered involving Ignis, but the little elemental was always fiery which just wasn't great for an indoor and likely flammable space. Even if he put the fires out.
We didn't have terribly long to prepare, but at the same time we weren't restricted to just a few minutes. Even if our target left the club, we could still catch him. What we saw with Scrying couldn't necessarily be used as evidence, but it was enough to obtain warrants. They might not be strictly necessary but they would help with later stuff.
The time was required to recruit sufficient people anyway. The people we wanted weren't always conveniently sitting around waiting to go on a mission with me. As it turned out, mercenary companies didn't make much money when people were idle. Obviously there were plenty of people in training as well, but not everyone was capable of moving directly from training to field work, depending on intensity.
It seemed this job was being taken very seriously because we had three executives involved- not counting Calculator. Three would be out in the field, specifically. That might be considered excessive, but we didn't want anything to go wrong.
Besides, I couldn't cast my big spells inside the club. It was another high-rise building, and it was easy to assume that it wouldn't react well to Meteor Swarm. Regardless of anyone 'innocent' or whatever, I didn't want to collapse an entire building on myself and my comrades. Even Sonic Lance would have to be performed with some restraint.
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I performed my first Teleport significantly before the mission start time, and that determined the actual gathering location for our crew. It hadn't seemed that bad to have a ninety-nine percent precise location at first, but the more I tried to use it the less functional it seemed. Surely with Master Spatial Magic I could achieve a longer range precise arrival, right? Without using Gate, that is.
Gate would have been correct if we wanted everyone to appear inside, in the center of everything. Honestly at this point Gate was barely more than half the base cost so it wasn't unreasonable to use it twice. This time, however, we just had people gather near our final destination.
"I'm rather jealous," Movebrain commented. "To be able to teleport to arbitrary and unknown destinations at such range… it's a fine power you have."
"Not unknown," I said. "I need to see it. Without pictures I might not manage."
At current, I might be able to Teleport while Scrying was active, but that wouldn't have been the case before. Losing the image would have made things much more risky. But high quality pictures? Even if it only revealed a small part of where we needed to go, I could just do it.
I wondered if Teleport had divination magic built into it to arrive places. Perhaps that was related to the cost… and why it was inaccurate over large distances.
It didn't really matter. We ended up a few blocks away and had to figure out where we were actually going. Telescope was the one who found it. "There!" she said, pointing to a brick wall.
"Okay, got it," Captain Punch replied. He pulled back his fist and-
"Half a block away," she continued. "Thirteenth floor."
According to my understanding of this city, it would be labeled the fourteenth floor. Having not studied luck or fate magic, I didn't know if that would make any difference if the number thirteen were in fact unlucky in this region. But people were going to do whatever they were going to do.
Captain Punch seemed to consider still breaking through the wall. It wasn't my job to stop him, but instead the thoughts of the financial penalties. He wasn't an executive for nothing, though, and he stopped himself even if he looked slightly disappointed.
"Not everyone is here yet anyway," I pointed out. "Is there somewhere we can remain concealed?" I asked Telescope.
I would have sworn her powers only worked in a straight line, but I might have been wrong. Did she simply bypass the building in the middle to see what she was looking for, or did she maneuver around? Her spatial manipulation to see things was actually very subtle so I would have had to be focused on her powers to find out. Sight wasn't the limit to her distance manipulation powers, just the one that she advertised most directly.
"Anywhere with a direct line is probably watched," she said. "But I can get us closer. Around this way."
Along with the three of them and Midnight, Magnet Man had been the last we brought alone. Shockwave was also ready, but would be arriving independently. Sorority would hopefully be showing up later.
We walked down an alley to the position Telescope deemed optimal. Shockwave arrived a bit later, and they didn't even shatter a single window. In fact, they were almost silent on approach- and that was without me providing any aid. Shockwave wasn't the same person as two years ago. They were more flexible in their abilities, managing to reach high speeds without always releasing their titular shockwaves. It was a good surprise for some people.
Anima arrived as fast as she could, and despite the spontaneity of the mission she wasn't the last one to arrive despite being an outsider. Some Power Brigade members had things they needed to finish up, and people weren't all conveniently nearby. The cutoff time was forty minutes. We might have been able to do an hour to an hour and a half… but that would be pushing it. The club could shut down and people might disperse if we waited long.
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The script was simple. I pop in with the first wave of people, we do our announcements, we fight. Midnight brings the rest, and we have outside teams ready to deal with anything unexpected.
The biggest cost? Protecting everyone against mental threats. Even getting a five-for-three cost ratio with Multicasting, we couldn't have unlimited members. Though, we would be risking those outside to get by with mostly their willpower. After all, the club guy wasn't supposed to make it out of the building.
One last check to make sure he was still there, wandering around the club. He was sitting in a little fenced off VIP area. It was perfect.
"Ready?" I asked everyone, but I specifically needed to know Anima was prepared. She was effectively a rookie, but she was still a key player in this operation. A token hero. I could have easily been annoyed if I didn't like her. Then again, I wouldn't have gotten her powers if I didn't see something in her. So far, she'd used her powers well. Vein, her Humurun companion, would doubtless see she stuck to that.
She nodded. "I just have to talk… slowly…"
"Even slower than that," I reminded her. Haste took some getting used to, but dropping in without it was an unnecessary risk. "Focus on having a concise message. No monologuing."
"I may be inexperienced," she said. "But I'm not dumb. Talking while someone makes preparations to hit you in the face isn't a great move."
She was right, of course. But it was important to remind yourself. Well, that was why I preferred to start with the punch myself.
"Great. Let's go."
Haste was applied, and I brought people along. Knowing the actual destination and the distance, I didn't even need to use Teleport. Just Dimension Door. I gathered mana until I had enough… but as I tried to push through the spell was beginning to fail. I managed to pump in enough more for us to go.
We appeared with a flash. That certainly wasn't my magic. Instead, it was Anima's. Her black and white outfit somehow sparkled… even after the strange mirror ball near the ceiling exploded and everyone else stopped sparkling.
"Gildas Lyon! We have a warrant for your arrest. Comply immediately or we will have to compel you with force!"
She was probably still a bit fast, but it should be in the comprehensible range. His response was almost immediate. Not a retort, and frankly not even much of a shot of surprise- aside from a small flinch he couldn't suppress immediately as we appeared.
Guards were moving for their weapons. They were lucky we had Magnet Man so that we didn't have to crush them first. The guy who's name I just heard and definitely remembered was responding with magic of his own.
I gathered magic in response. Even with Haste, the actual speed mana could be drawn out didn't really change much. Mainly, it just helped with the reaction time. I was way faster than this guy, though. I could have put a spear of lightning through his chest before he was halfway done with his spell- a big one. Instead, I waited with my magic in a nebulous, half formed state. A dispel, ready to erase anything.
His spell didn't really travel so much as arrive at its target, which did throw me off. "Dance… for… me." The words took a couple seconds to come out, but it felt like ten. I could already see Anima moving strangely.
A powerful spell. I didn't actually expect him to have anything that strong. Yet at the same time…
It was kind of the worst choice, wasn't it? What was I, chopped liver? According to Midnight, Earth humans didn't like that. Maybe they cooked it wrong or something.
But seriously. This guy didn't even target Captain Punch. Magnet Man would have been fine. Shockwave would have been difficult as they were already behind him leaning on his couch lazily- but a good target to incapacitate.
I would have immediately countered the spell, but Anima was drawing on her powers- a quick glance at Vein didn't show too much concern. The skunk should know best her state of mind.
So I held onto my magic for another moment, preparing to help Anima recover or to counter the man's follow up. Though he was… slow about it. Really slow. He should be halfway through another spell.
Anima spun around. Dancing, just as he had ordered. She had with her a staff that spiraled with black and white, creating a hypnotic pattern as she moved. To him, her whole form must have been a blur.
"Idiot," she said as she spun around. A leg kicked out to one side, then she leaned towards him with her staff reaching out- still five feet beyond the point.
Then a beam of light hit him in the chest. Light is still pretty effectively instant even under the effects of Haste. I was able to see that instead of a single beam it was actually three, a large central one with two others spiraling around it. No, four beams twisted around it- but two were black. I wondered if the un-light did anything or was just there to look cool.
The guy was grinning, even as I saw his shirt begin to catch fire. His body reacted faster than his mind, and he was springing up before he could form any sort of comprehensible words. He toppled over the couch, and Anima continued her dance without pause. Shockwave cuffed the guy with power suppressors.
Anima twisted, catching my eye. "Hey uh Mage… can you do something about this?"
"Oh. I kind of thought you resisted."
Mental Freedom wasn't all powerful, but from what I understood the Irresistible Dance spell should incapacitate most forms of response, but it was possible that the theatrical nature of magical girl powers countered it. Or she simply happened to resist just enough of it to get these results.
I made sure not to deactivate any of the magic I had put on her… and of course I also avoided her own magic. Undoing her transformation would be a pretty terrible move. Instead, I focused that magic on the power from… whatever his name was.
Anima abruptly stopped dancing, instead standing up straight.
"Well that was weird," she commented.
Then somebody threw a swarm of crows at us. Fake ones from a power, but still clearly crows.
"You should probably dodge," I commented. I don't know who made her outfit, but it probably wasn't as durable as what Francois made. Either way, there was no need to risk it.
It would have been a real pain to avoid the massive flock if we had to move at normal speed, but Haste would still last for another minute of real time. Moving three or four times as fast with improved reflexes and without having to worry about losing your balance allowed for some pretty good options.
Though we would also have to concern ourselves with other powers in a second, as it became obvious that the crowd as well as some of the guards near this jerk were laced with powers. Super serum might not be reliable, and it certainly wasn't safe, but the latter was why it could be so problematic. Amateurs wielding great power without the skill to handle it could be more dangerous than professionals who didn't want people to try to kill them for being excessive.