Rangers Endgame

Chapter 111: Presence

Fuyumi continued to lead Ella through the underground caverns hand in hand. With every little shifting rock in the distance or patch of shadows writhing on the stone walls, Ella clutched onto Fuyumi's hand tighter and pressed herself closer to her side. Fuyumi didn't have the patience to spare her reassuring words, so instead she absently rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb to soothe her nerves.

The talisman glowed brighter than before, so Fuyumi knew that Yakeru was nearby. The only issue was finding an exit that led to the surface. As they traversed, they had to make several detours, as heaps of debris completely obstructed some of the halls, as if Second Grades had tunneled out through the ceiling.

Now that she thought about it, recalling the pillars of radiance that suddenly rocketed into the sky from underground, it was likely that's what happened. If so, the southeast part of the perimeter was ambushed as well. With this in mind, she could assume every ranger who made up the perimeter experienced the same thing she had. It would also explain why they haven't run into any Second Grades in the tunnels, but the fact that Third Grades still weren't accounted for kept her alert. Perhaps they stayed in the underground passages to guard the Vault.

She simply didn't know.

Ella stayed quiet for the rest of the way, which Fuyumi could appreciate, but it was a bit unnerving since her silence deviated from the profile Fuyumi had crafted for her. Perhaps she had sensed it too—the feeling of being watched.

For the past several minutes, a foreboding air weighed on Fuyumi. She had the irrational sense that eyes were watching them from somewhere in the shadows. Again and again, she tried writing it off as her mind playing tricks on her, but the gooseflesh that had accumulated on her arms never went away.

As the brilliant talisman guided them into a spacious chamber, she subconsciously pulled Ella closer, narrowing her gaze and further honing in on her senses. The chamber was a rough circle, about twenty meters in diameter, with a ceiling about fifteen meters high. Torches were spaced inconsistently, creating dark areas that would've otherwise been lit.

Within the chamber, there weren't any chairs, tables, parchment, vials...just barren and out of place. Its dark interior produced an ominous air that gave Fuyumi pause. Even after kicking several rocks into the room to test for traps—nothing happened—something about it still didn't sit right with her. She especially didn't feel comfortable taking Ella into the room either. But they didn't come across any other routes, so to make a detour would mean backtracking much farther than what was worth it.

After contemplating what to do, she took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Stay close."

Ella nodded and followed her inside, one hand in hers and the other clutched onto her armor. Fuyumi’s cautious senses scanned the room for any anomalies. The snapping flames sounded distant as she tuned them out; only the echoing of their careful footfalls provided her ears with stimulation.

Her eyes swept the room, lingering on the shadows, half anticipating Second or Third Grades to lunge from them. They made it almost halfway through the chamber when the hairs on the back of Fuyumi's neck stood on end, but she still found no signs of danger.

'Is the room somehow inducing paranoia?' She wondered, barely hearing her inner voice through the noise of her anxious thoughts.

A chill crawled up her spine. Her body begged her to make a run for it. For some irrational reason, she felt they'd be in more danger if they turned back. Ella clung tighter as Fuyumi struggled to calm herself.

Further straining her ears, she tried to make out any additional sounds she might've missed. She glanced back, but no one was there. She then watched the torches, but they didn't seem to be out of the ordinary. Her eyes went to the shadows, waiting for anyone to pounce, but nothing lunged as they passed.

She thought for a moment and came to a decision. Ella was thrown into her care, and to get her out of the tunnels safely, she needed to know exactly what was going on. With no one around, the room was likely responsible for her paranoia...but she needed to be certain.

Without giving herself more time to hesitate, she took a deep breath and followed through with her improvised plan. Their echoing footsteps faded off as she came to a stop, causing Ella to do the same as she listened intently.

In that instant, her eyes shot wide in horror after realizing her miscalculation, because as the sound of their footfalls died out, so did the footfalls behind them.

A surge of raw protective instinct took over, and Fuyumi yanked Ella to her front just as a materializing blade thrust where the girl's neck was a moment before. Spinning to face their stealthy assassin and quick-drawing her bloodhound fang, she deflected an overhead slash.

The figure whirled their dagger back around, and Fuyumi snapped her head out of its path as it stabbed the air beside her ear. They dropped their dagger and caught it with their offhand to slash at Ella. Without time to think, she made a drastic maneuver, shoving the child back as the blade carved a gash in Fuyumi's arm instead.

A pained grunt was caught behind her gnashed teeth, but she remained composed as Ella trembled behind her, tears welling in her eyes at the sight of Fuyumi's injury.

"I’m okay. Stay behind me." She ordered.

Unlike the wild fighting styles of Second Grades, the assassin was more calculated, and his strikes were purposeful, leading her to believe he was a Third Grade. If she was right, their situation had gotten more complicated. She was used to straightforward battles, but now she was forced to protect someone, something she'd never done before.

This was the scenario she dreaded.

Without the time to think of a solid plan, the assassin lunged forward and swiped at her head again. This time, she leaned back to stay out of range, forcing Ella back as well. His blade whistled past her nose, and he followed up with a roundhouse kick to her ribs. She stumbled to the side, exposing Ella to the assassin.

He wasted no time capitalizing as he charged forward, dagger raised high. Horrified, Fuyumi imbued her blade and frantically fired an arc towards his wrist. The premature projectile just barely batted his hand away before his blade could come down on Ella's head, snapping his dagger off course and burying itself into the ground next to her foot.

Fuyumi's heart slammed against her chest from the close call as she launched herself between the girl and the assassin again. He engaged her once again with a flurry of strikes, weaving feints to throw her off, but she responded with lightning reflexes. She fought with a ferocity born of desperation as their blades met in a shower of sparks.

With each opportunity to retaliate, she hesitated as she was afraid an offensive maneuver would give the assassin the small opening he needed to hurt Ella. As their battle went on, Fuyumi was pushed on her back foot, struggling to keep up.

At the tail end of an attack chain, he began pushing radiance into his blade, but Fuyumi was quick to catch on. Flipping her blade in a reverse-handed grip, she deflected his thrust upward as he released a projectile into the ceiling.

The chamber erupted as debris began crumbling around them, and Fuyumi scooped up Ella to make a hasty escape. But she skidded to a stop when debris crashed down in her path. Her head shot up to find more falling debris, and without thinking, she threw herself on top of Ella and pulled her close.

"Stay down!" Fuyumi roared.

She bit back the pain as rubble bombarded her. Though her armor absorbed some of the damage, the rest bruised and lacerated her skin. When the room settled, she weakly raised her head to check on Ella.

"Are you okay?"

"No more..." Ella quaked as she cradled her head with her knees to her chest. "Please, no more..."

Fuyumi's face softened slightly with sympathy. She looked around; rocks and pebbles were still cascading from above, momentarily concealing their sound under the crackling noise. She brushed Ella's hair to the side to check for head injuries. Thankfully, there was no sign of any.

Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out the bundle of bandages and used the remaining roll to wrap them around her eyes. "Listen to me very carefully," she said softly but firmly as she finished tying the blindfold. "No matter what, do not take this off, understand?"

Fuyumi eased her into a crevice nearby, practically wedging her between two sturdy boulders.

"I'll be back."

Ella suddenly fumbled around until she found Fuyumi's arm, then grabbed onto her hand with terrified possessiveness. "Please don't go." She begged, her tears bleeding through the blindfold.

A sad frustration built within Fuyumi, but she ignored it, placing her other hand on top of Ella's. "I’m going to take care of him. But to do that, you have to stay hidden." She took Ella's shaky hands and guided them to her ears. "Don't listen to what goes on. And keep quiet. I promise I'll come back for you when it's over."

She could tell Ella wanted to say more, but she swallowed her concerns as best she could and only nodded. Fuyumi patted her hair reassuringly, releasing some of Ella’s tension.

"Not a sound."

With Ella in a safe enough place, Fuyumi stood slowly, her bones complaining as she did. Looking around, she spotted the assassin as the dust cleared. His head turned, pointing his ear in several directions as if trying to locate Ella, but couldn't get a solid read on where she was, as she expected.

"Using the collapsing debris to mask your ally's sound. Smart." He said as he waved away the smoke.

During the pause, she took the chance to examine the assassin. She couldn't make out his features due to the poor lighting and the bandages wrapped around the top half of his face. His dark battle robes blended seamlessly with the darkness, but even then, the talisman's light would've made his presence obvious. She didn't know how he managed to sneak behind them even when she checked their flank, or how he managed to locate them in the first place.

"How'd you find us?" She demanded, drawing Armor Killer and adopting a stance.

"The body tends to enhance the remaining senses for the sightless." He answered, still listening intently through the settling of rocks.

"You expect me to believe you heard us through this labyrinth?" She snapped.

He let out an amused breath. "Don't be ridiculous. Like I said, your senses would be enhanced. That includes the ability to sense radiant signatures." He then turned his head down to the flickering talisman clinging to life as it was half buried under a boulder. "So if something were to emit a constant stream of radiance, tracking the signature to its source would be child's play."

Fuyumi's eyes widened in cold realization. Instead of using the artifact to track Yakeru and find a way out, she'd inadvertently attracted a Third Grade and put Ella in danger.

"But I'm impressed," he continued. "You're clearly not the same ranger as before, and you managed to protect that Sentinel from my ambush." Curiosity crossed the lower half of his face. "I'm Yuurei. And you are?"

Her brow flicked up in confusion. "Sentinel? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play the fool. There were reports of a Sentinel with a child-like appearance," he explained. "She and her comrade devastated my village battling a prisoner on death row. I assume it took everything they had"—he tilted his head slightly as if he too was confused—"so it's curious why you would dare bring her down here if she'd depleted herself."

Her eyes flicked back to Ella, her still form tucked safely inside the crevice, then back at Yuurei, anger boiling within her. "It seems I'm not the fool here. You're attacking a child that unfortunately found herself trapped down here."

His lips parted for a fraction of a second. He didn't respond immediately, turning his head down as if weighing the credibility of her words. After a few seconds, he turned his ear to her again and slid his second dagger out of its sheath. "Suppose this was a miscalculation on my part; do you truly believe that's any reason to let you go?"

Her gaze narrowed as her defensive stance hardened, her daggers out in front of her as she anticipated his movements.

Yuurei took on a more relaxed stance, the daggers out to his sides gleaming with cold intent through the shadows hugging his lithe form. "I'll be sure to make this swift."

"So will I."