Web of Chaos - Chapter 28: A Thousand Blades - Part 1

Kalden sprang up in his bed, glancing at the digital clock on the nightstand. Three o’clock in the morning. Battle mana surged through his channels, and his heart beat like a war drum.

Akari rolled over in the bed to face him. “What’s wrong?” The only light came from a small gap between the curtains, but her face was clear to his Artisan eyes. 

“I don’t know.” He pushed the blankets aside, feeling a rush of winter air on his bare skin. “My aspect sent me a warning. Not sure why.” The floorboards groaned as his feet made contact, and he fumbled around for his clothing.

“Shit.” Akari rolled back to her side of the bed and snatched up her glasses. “My portal’s down.” Akari always had an escape portal, no matter where they went. In this case, she’d placed it in the forest, five miles south of the Solidor’s safe house. 

“What?” Kalden pulled his T-shirt over his head. “How?” His prosthetic hand was still intact, so that ruled out an AMP.

“Space Construct.” She slipped out from the covers and grabbed her own clothes. “It’s around the whole compound.” 

Kalden cycled more battle mana to his head. His senses sharpened, and he felt hundreds of vibrations throughout the small building. Arturo and Zukan down the hall. Two sets of footsteps on the front porch. Another pair circled around back. The intruders did their best to stay quiet, but no approach was perfect.

He opened his Silver Sight, but that revealed nothing outside the house. Specialized armor? Only Masters could shroud their mana that well.

Kalden pressed the emergency button on his watch, alerting the rest of their team. “We’re under attack.”

“Should we go out the window?” Akari asked.

“Negative,” he replied. “Hostile Masters outside. We need to get to Rosintar.” Not only was Rosintar the strongest person in the compound, he was also a space artist. In other words, he might be their only ticket out of here.

They grabbed their equipment belts and jogged down the hallway. Another door creaked open across the basement as his teammates joined them. Zukan held a flaming short spear, while Arturo carried a black assault rifle.

Kalden’s eyes passed over the scattered furniture, and his mind focused more on possibilities than reality. This house had already become a battlefield, and his aspect showed him a web of leverage points, cover, and attack vectors.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, but they were too late. A man loomed in the doorway above, clad in the navy blue armor of the Prime Minister’s Honor Guard. Kalden caught a glimpse his chiseled face and dark brown eyes through his visor. Eduardo Dain, Relia’s body guard.

"Kalden Trengsen. Akari Zeller." Dain spoke their names with cold precision. He took another step forward, and the top stair groaned beneath his weight. “We know you’re the Soul Reapers. The prime minister would like a word.”

Kalden filled his palms with three types of mana—pure, battle, and Angelic. They coalesced  around his body, forging blades of bright blue and deep violet, strong enough to rival his opponent’s.

“He just wants to talk,” Dain said with a raised hand. “Surrender now, and you won’t be harmed.” His other hand inched toward his belt. He tried to look casual, as if he were resting his hand on his hip. But Kalden spotted something that looked like a restraining device

‘Don’t you dare,’ Akari said through their bond.

‘Don’t worry,” Kalden replied. He’d seen how Moonfire treated his prisoners, and he had no plans to visit the Palace Prime just yet. Dain was a Master who could vaporize this whole room if he wanted to, but Kalden sensed no killing intent from the man. That meant his team had a chance.

‘I’ll handle him,” Kalden said. ‘Watch my back.’

And with that, he cycled his newest technique: the Cloak of a Thousand Blades. His battle mana swirled in a pale red cloud beyond his body, stretching to every corner of the room. The possibilities became sharper in his mind’s eye, and Kalden felt every detail of his surroundings. The layout of the room, the positions of his teammates, and the stance of his enemy.

Irina’s Cloak saw the world as it was; she gathered intel, and prepared to make a choice. But Kalden’s Cloak skipped straight to the choice itself. His aspect cut through every possible future, carving the best path to victory. 

All the while, he cycled his results to Akari through their soulbond. Less than two seconds had passed, but they already knew their parts in the coming fight. 

Dain moved in a blur at the top of the staircase, snatching the metal device from his belt and hurling it straight toward Kalden. A massive net exploded in midair, flying faster than a diving falcon. Reinforced Impedium made up the mesh, ready to pin him to the floor and block his mana. Two more devices flew around the first, soaring toward his teammates like homing beacons. 

Kalden could have tried to slice through the net, but his opponent would expect that. Just as Kalden had researched the Honor Guard, they would have researched him and planned accordingly.

So he stood still and trusted Akari to play her part.

The first portal appeared in front of him, while the second snapped into place behind Dain. Kalden lunged through the opening, aiming for the back of his opponent’s head. Dain spun in a blur, raising a blade of red plasma to parry. The scent of ozone filled the air, and Kalden felt the heat of it on his face. He swept low with his other blade, aiming for his opponent’s boots. 

Sparks flew as they exchanged several more blows. A web of portals formed around Dain's body, faster than blinking. They caught his arms and legs, squeezing them as soon as they formed.

Gunfire split the air as Arturo's bullets slammed into Dain's back. Each one made a dull thud against his armor, but these weren’t designed for lethal blows. Instead, a mundane chemical that targeted his nerves, creating an itch that was impossible to ignore. Dain gritted his teeth and thrashed in his restraints. Empty casings clinked against the floor as Arturo kept firing.

Kalden slashed at the Master’s shin, and the Angelic mana cut a clean hole through his opponent’s armor. His left blade struck an instant later, drawing blood beneath Dain’s arm.

He and Akari had spent this entire year holding back. They couldn’t use their Aeon powers in class, and they couldn’t use their aspects against the police. It was like telling a fire to flicker when it was meant to burn.

Now, every technique fed a hunger deep inside him—something that howled with every slash and parry. Mana artists weren’t meant to face lesser foes; he’d always known that, but comfort was the worst foe of all. It gave you tunnel vision for months, forcing you to walk when you should run.

Kalden brought his next blade high, angled for his opponent’s windpipe.

Too slow. Dain burned away the portals with clouds of gas and plasma. The air warped with bright colors and silver mist. Kalden saw the technique coming, but he barely leapt back in time. 

Another Guard smashed through the basement window in a shower of glass, forcing the others to break off and engage. 

Dain pressed his advantage, forcing Kalden back with several quick slashes. Blades of plasma sliced through the drywall, leaving smoking red lines on either side of the hallway. Kalden leapt over furniture, relying on his aspect to guide him through the darkness. His opponent cut through the clutter, storms of splintered wood and torn fabric erupting around him.

He couldn’t match Dain in a battle of raw speed, but he listened to his Cloak technique, predicting each strike an instant before it came. His vision was a blur of lights as their blades clashed and spun through the pitch-blackness of the house. His muscles ached from the harder clashes; one wrong angle, and Dain could snap his arm like a tree branch.

Kalden carried plenty of explosives, but he couldn’t risk those inside the house. Not if people were still sleeping upstairs.

He sent Akari a quick message through their bond. Space warped around him, and he appeared outside with the others. The Solidor's safe house loomed on their left, a two-story log cabin with a thick blanket of snow on its roof. Smaller wooden buildings stuck out among the compound—a barn, a watchtower, and two training dojos. Every window was dark, with no sign of the cultists. 

Where were Rosintar and the others? Why had no one else come to help?

Kalden spread out with his Cloak of a Thousand Blades, forming a more detailed map of the game board. Akari, Zukan, and Arturo stood in a loose circle behind him, and everyone seemed in good shape so far.

A second Honor Guard, Silas Knox, stood ten yards ahead of their group with currents of wind mana spinning around his arms. A third Guard circled behind Kalden’s team. He couldn’t see her face from this vantage, but Akari sent him a quick image through their bond. That was Naomi Thorne, the red-haired stone artist who’d gone with Relia into the Hollows.

Finally, Dain stepped out of the house with his blades of red plasma.

They were surrounded again, but not for long.