"Well.. well.. What do we have here?!" The unknown man said with a glint in his eyes looking at Master White.
Master White said nothing. He simply watched.
The man's gaze drifted past him to the Marquis beneath Master White's feet, the unconscious Viscount, the spreading puddle of what had once been a leg. His expression didn't change.
"You've made a mess." He sounded almost bored. "Do you know how inconvenient this is? I had expectations. Schedules. Now I have a corpse and a half and a great deal of explaining to do."
In the mind space, Azrael's voice sounded focused. "White. This one is different. I can't read him."
"I noticed."
Before Master White could speak, someone else's voice echoed in the room,
"Sir envoy, Please save me."
"Please save me!"
"I don't want to die! Please save me!" The Marquis shouted to the unknown man with the last bit of his strength.
And again before Master White could do anything, the envoy spoke,
"Shut up! You pathetic dog."
"If you don't close your mouth, I will be the one to end your life, not him." The envoy replied annoyed.
The Marquis's mouth was sewed shut upon hearing that.
Master White and Azrael saw this exchange and were filled with many doubts. They had many questions, but now is not the time.
"Now, let's start with a simple question, who are you?" The envoy turning to Master White, asked with a small smile on his face.
Master White didn't reply. He looked at the envoy, then turned his eyes back to the Marquis trampled beneath him. Who, because of the envoy got his spirit back and was glaring at him.
Without replying to the envoy, he struck the Marquis with his hands, making him unconscious. Then, kicked him with enough force, that his body bounced like a rag doll, hit the unconscious Viscount and they both rolled to the very edge of the chamber.
Seeing this scene, the envoy laughed out loud. "Haha.. I never thought I would see this much of a pathetic Marquis, haha.."
"He isn't taking us seriously, White." Azrael said irritated in the mind space.
"Yes, but we don't know if it is confidence or arrogance." Master White replied looking at the man, said to be the "envoy" who was still laughing.
Without exchanging any words with the envoy, Master White suddenly moved.
He closed the distance between them, conjured the {flames of consumption} shaped them into spears, added {force manipulation} and thrusted the spear forward, aiming at one of the envoy's hands.
Master White's movement may had been a blur to many, but not to the envoy. Seeing the attack coming his way, the envoy dodged. His body bent at an angle that should have shattered his spine, but instead of bones breaking, the air around him rippled. Master White's spear passed through empty air where a chest had been a heartbeat before.
After creating some distance between them, the envoy with that unsettling smile on his face said, "Now that's rude."
"At least Tier-5 " Both Azrael and Master White thought at the same time.
"This is going to be really dangerous, White." Azrael said, his voice serious.
"I know." Master White replied with equal seriousness.
The envoy who had moved back, looked at them with a stoic face. Gone was his amusement and the smile which was there a moment ago. "I seriously wanted to have a chat, you know?!" He said.
"But I don't think, you're the type to converse with an enemy." With that, he moved. His speed was instantaneous and his legs silent. Before Master White could move, the envoy was already blocking him. He struck Master White with both of his hands, one moving to strike his right leg, and the other hand aiming lethally at his heart.
Master White saw both strikes coming, one for his heart, one for his leg, and knew, with the cold certainty that he could only stop one. He instinctively chose to defend the heart. So he applied {force manipulation}, this time negating the force and reducing the impact. But he was unable to block the attack to his right leg, so he was struck and he fell down to his knees. A gaping hole formed in his thigh, and the insides were visible.
At first the envoy was slightly shocked to see Master White was able to block his attack. But then, he didn't think too much about as Master White was kneeling on the ground, immobile due to his right leg becoming useless.
As the envoy was getting ready to land one more strike to the already down Master White, his senses flared and he felt something indescribable. Without doubting his instincts, he created distance between him and Master White.
And just as he moved, Master White snapped his fingers and {Puddle of Death} formed right where the envoy was standing. If the envoy hadn't dodged, he would have already been decomposed.
"Interesting.." the envoy muttered, seeing the puddle. "You have got some weird tricks up your sleeves."
Master White also got up, blood flowed down to his toes. He tried standing but his muscles weren't able to support him. He dragged his body to the nearest wall, took support and stood up. He looked at the envoy. His eyes cold.
"White, are you okay? Will you be able to fight?" Azrael immediately asked, concerned.
"I am fine, the wound will heal." Master White replied still glaring at the envoy. Who was watching everything with amusement.
Azrael nodded and continued, "He is fast, unbelievably fast. And also weirdly silent. Our attacks aren't working." His voice falling into doubt.
Master White was completely focused ignoring the pain, and said "if one single attack doesn't work, then I will bombard him." He snapped his fingers and manifested the {perfect cleaver} arcs of black light imbued with death and wind, sped across the room, closing the distance between the envoy and the blades.
The envoy who was preparing to strike, dodged it. But {perfect cleaver} is an AoE skill, and when the blades moved past him, they struck the ground and exploded.
The envoy surprised by the sudden burst wasn't able to escape successfully, and got minor slashes that tore some of his fabric and his skin got cut. The simple cuts were burning him. The pain was too much for such a simple blade slash. His expression turned sour.
But he wasn't given enough time to process any of that. As Master White, barely standing, snapped his fingers again, and multiple {Puddle of Death} started forming on the ground.
The envoy's senses heightened again, and he instinctively chose to dodge. But this time, there were multiple puddles and he wasn't able to find concrete footing,
He suddenly looked up at Master White, his expression one of disgust, and said, "I should have just killed you now, you nuisance. Be proud, that you pushed me this far." With that, his legs and hands started bulging and twisting. It appeared as if it was unnaturally growing. And to everyone's horror, it was literally growing.
Four small legs, or protrusions with pointy ends, formed around the normal limbs. And to Master White and Azrael's astonishment, the envoy jumped and anchored himself to the wall sideways, escaping the {Puddle of Death}.
Azrael in the mind space, immediately recognised what it was, " {Crawler} " He shouted, his voice urgent.
"Crawler," Azrael breathed. "Venomous Crawler. Tier-6 Beast. Extinct, should be extinct."
Master White stumbled, his ruined leg bleeding. "Weaknesses?"
"I don't.." Azrael's voice cracked. "White, {Transformation} is a very rare ability."
"After {Transformation}, the user gets immediate strength and speed boost, as well as other personal features that increases their survivability. Like, the envoy getting those extra protrusions or legs, which helped him cling to the walls, and escaping the {Puddle of Death}—" Azrael was just about to explain everything but he paused mid-sentence, as he and Master White both saw the envoy move on the "wall".
Yes, he was moving on the wall. More accurately, he was crawling with four of his limbs, as the protrusions or small legs were anchoring him to the wall.
Master White immediately cancelled the {puddle of death} and immediately a spear with the {flames of consumption} was conjured. He held onto it. And didn't throw it immediately.
"You are a nuisance, and I don't like nuisances." The envoy's shrill voice sounded from the top of the ceiling. It carried a light feminine tone with it. Which was very eerie.
Saying that, the envoy moved across the ceiling like a spider descending on its prey. Master White tracked him, barely, but his body wouldn't respond. The leg was dead weight. He raised his remaining hand to conjure a spear with the {flames of consumption}. Master White threw the spear in his hands at the "crawling envoy" and moved back.
"Shit! His speed has increased. And now I understand, why his movements were silent." Azrael's tense voice expressed Master White's emotions. And they both knew, that the spear will miss.
The envoy easily dodged the spear, and jumped down from the ceiling. He landed on four limbs. Steadied himself, and crawled towards Master White.
Before Master White could react, the envoy already closed the distance between them,
"WHITE!" Azrael's panicked alarm sounded in the mind space.
Master White immediately activated {flames of consumption} and conjured a big ball of fire, which was to block the envoy.
But before it could fully manifest, the envoy struck with one of his "legs" and as the protrusions were pointy, they immediately passed through the partially manifested fire, the force from the thrust dismissed the ability.
Master White wasn't able to comprehend anything, and he instinctively jumped. But the "protruded pointy leg" caught up to him, and struck his already injured right leg, the protrusions struck right into to the gaping hole, pinning him down. and the last thing Master White saw before the protrusions punched through his ruined leg was Azrael's materialized form, frozen mid-scream.
The envoy, moved through the partially lit fire, with groans and screeches. He stood looming over Master White, who was down, with one his legs trapped in one of the protrusions.
The envoy leaned close, his face inches from Master White's. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll make this last."