The Cast Die

Aurea felt useless. She'd barely accomplished anything. Nero had nearly been captured and killed, her idol and mentor Morta had been severely injured, and Vacuus Venti was suffering from severe mana poisoning and could very well die. Vac's body writhed in pain as blue and silver lines pulsed all over his body. His skin was cold to the touch. She'd derided Vac out of jealousy and irritation, but she'd been proven wrong. He'd risked his own life for their sake.

‘I won't let you die! I swear it.’

As she exited the now empty mana vat while carrying Vac’s body, she could see the entire situation. Marcus and the others had freed Nero and were attempting to get to Morta and retreat. The swordsman for his part looked ready to take them on, as the members of the Vigiles got ready to support the swordsman while dragging the injured Cassius away.

As soon as the swordsman noticed her carrying Vac's body, he rushed at her. Marcus yelled, “Get away, Aurea!”

She gritted her teeth, but did as Marcus said. The swordsman chose to run after her. ‘Good. If I can draw him away, then the others can grab Morta and get away.’

She leapt up through the hole in the roof and ran. The best place she could think of was the Undercity. It would be a bit tricky for her to get there while carrying Vac, but she could do it. She doubted that the swordsman could follow them there.

She used wind to glide down from the top of the black tower and began to run across the rooftops towards the nearest wind tunnel going towards the border. As she did so, she looked over the island. Now that the island was mostly clear of the gas, it was far easier to see. Her fellow people were rioting all over the island. The Vigiles had been deployed and were trying to shut it down, but were completely caught off guard by the sudden uprising. The followers of Jupiter who for so long had accepted their ‘fate’ to be under the control of the followers of Minerva had taken the removal of the toxic gas as a sign from Jupiter himself.

She rushed to the clocktower, as it was nearby. She jumped off of the wind multiple times and gradually reached the top of the tower. Once there, she put Vac down for a moment and shook her hands. Vac was heavier than she'd expected. She glanced back to see the swordsman running up the clocktower. ‘Dammit, this guy is ridiculously quick!’

She picked up Vac, and as she did so he began to stir. ‘Oh thank Jupiter! He's still alive.’

Vac attempted to move, but it clearly hurt him, so she motioned for him to stop. With Vac in tow, Aurea leapt into a wind tunnel that headed towards the edge of the island, with the swordsman not far behind.

Vac woke up to see Aurea. She sighed in relief when she noticed. He attempted to move, but simply turning his head made his body ache. It appeared that they were in the clocktower. Aurea quickly lifted him up and dragged him along into a wind tunnel. He was facing backwards as he was carried through, and saw the swordsman following them in. ‘What’s going on?’

He fought against the pain and muttered, “What's our current status?”

Aurea grumbled and answered, “I'd prefer if you stayed quiet and didn't move around. You're hurt, no need to aggravate it. Anyway, Marcus and the others came in thanks to the hole you blew in the roof. They'll help Nero and your grandma retreat, so just calm down and stop moving.”

With a sigh of relief, he took another look back. The swordsman had pulled out and thrown a bunch of knives at them. The wind tunnel enhanced their speeds to incredible levels. He warned Aurea, who managed to deflect the knives to the side with a burst of wind. He and Aurea together weighed a bit more than the swordsman with all the armor on.

As they reached the end of the wind tunnel, Aurea used multiple bursts of wind to launch them near the edge of the island. Right as the swordsman closed in and swung his sword, Aurea leapt out while dragging him along, right through a hole in the boundary.

As they hurtled through the air downwards, Aurea held onto him tightly, and like Marcus had done earlier, brought him to the bottom of the island, the Undercity. He understood what her plan was. The swordsman probably couldn't follow them there, as he didn't know where the holes were near the bottom of the island. No matter how strong and fast this guy was, there had to be limits to his stamina. With enough support and some rest they could take him down. As Aurea placed Vac’s boots first on the bottom of the island, he stuck himself there and let out a sigh of relief.

But Vac and Aurea were wrong. The swordsman followed them out the hole they'd shown him up above while activating the mana mechanism on his two swords. As the swordsman reached the bottom of the island, he stuck one sword in. As the swordsman hung from there with one hand holding onto the sword, he took out his other sword, and began to cut a hole into the barrier of Jupiter. It was no easy task, and the blade cracked in the process, but the swordsman managed to cut a hole large enough for him to swing through. He then thrust his other sword into the bottom of the island as he activated his boots.

Vac turned around when he heard a slight noise, and was amazed to see the swordsman standing there, in their hideout. Despite the nature of the situation, Vac couldn't help being impressed. The swordsman’s skills were worthy of admiration. This was the pinnacle of strength among human warriors. ‘If only this man didn't work for those people.’

He attempted to fight, but his body ached, and he stumbled as he did so, nearly falling straight down. Aurea held him and said, “Don't worry Vac, I've got this.”

‘Aurea is bluffing. I know, and she knows that this man is beyond her. If we had help from the others perhaps we could, but this will end before that.’

Aurea put up a valiant struggle. She deftly used their unorthodox position on the bottom of the island to attack in various ways. She blew dust at the swordsman’s face mask, she released the boots and used wind to hold her up as she attacked from above, or rather below, the upside down swordsman. She attempted to shove the swordsman against the barrier to lift him back up above. But the swordsman’s experience shone through as he deflected everything, without giving her a single opportunity.

‘What can we do here?’ As he racked his brains for a good idea, he noticed that the swordsman wasn't trying to kill Aurea. The swordsman was just trying to get past her to reach him. ‘He just wants me and the die artifact. I can't risk handing over such powerful tools to him, but I can use this.’

He looked at Aurea and said, “Aurea, get away. This fight is over.”

He knew she likely wouldn't listen anyway, so he forced his body to move as he hobbled away, drawing the swordsman away from Aurea. As the swordsman approached, he smirked and released the suction of the boots. The swordsman attempted a desperate lunge for him, but it was too late. Vac fell towards the land below.