{“Weeeeelllll… Sorry to disappoint but we don’t know much.”} Monarch says. {“Regardless! Currently, we know our target to kill is a woman known as the Mistress, who is the leader of the gang who took over this town… And who may also be the Lustful Heart.”}

  {“And our target to save, assuming she is still alive, is that salesman’s sister Alyssa. Although… Even if she’s alive in a sense, her mind may be messed up beyond saving…”} Welnar continues.

  {“We’ll cross that bridge if it comes. For now… The Mistress. We know she’s a Sorcerer who has some sort of mind control capabilities…”} Monarch states. The two would go back and forth for a bit, summarizing to each other the info they know and theories they have, so they’re on the same page… And with it, they come to a few conclusions.

  While the Mistress doesn’t seem to be able to put the entire town under her influence at once, she is able to control large crowds, and she seems to be able to exert this control from anywhere in the town. When she exerts large amounts of her influence upon a person, it manifests as a pink ring around their head… And while this is just a hypothesis, they both are fairly certain that she can still minorly influence people without causing the pink ring to form…

  {“So I think it’d be safe to say that unfortunately, the entire town is against you Welnar.”} Monarch says bluntly. He nods in response. {“I won’t be able to save Alyssa as it is now anyways, so first order of business is killing the Mistress… Which is a problem in itself because we don’t know anything about her, besides her being a woman.”}

  {“I can help mitigate that. Since she appears to be the only Sorcerer here, her mana will stand out like a sore thumb. And to control so many people at once probably uses up a lot of mana as well, so she probably has a fairly large pool to work with. That’ll make her even more noticeable to me.”} Monarch proudly responds. {“Alright, sounds good. Lets stick to the rooftops then and keep an eye out for any mana.”} Welnar says, standing up from the bed. They’ve got some sort of plan now, and assessed the situation… Now it’s time to get to work.

  He slowly opens the window, peeking outside into the street below… Coast is clear. He carefully climbs up onto the window sill, looking out to the roof of the building across from the window. It’s a hell of a jump, but he could definitely make it with a burst of mana like last time… He takes a deep breath. And leaps, unleashing a blast of mana at the peak of his jump to send himself further upwards, landing cleanly on the rooftop. Now, the search begins… Welnar would go from roof to roof throughout the town, slowly letting Monarch scan around for any signs of the Mistress while keeping himself hidden… Guards and civilians alike patrol the streets with fervor below.

  …

  The minutes drag on, not a sign of the Mistress in sight. Eventually though, Welnar does encounter something… A guard, patrolling the rooftops. With nothing to hide behind up there, he’s forced to drop down into an alleyway to avoid being spotted. “There goes that plan…” Welnar mutters. And just as he drops into the alleyway, he has to then get behind a dumpster as a group of civilians pass by, pink rings around their heads…

  {“Hang on… Looking closer, I think… Welnar, trail those civilians for a bit.”} Monarch says, seemingly having realized something. {“What? That’ll be incredibly risky, why should I?!”} Welnar responds.

  {“I think I may be able to get an idea of where the Mistress is through them. I couldn’t when it was just one or two of them,, but when they’re gathered up like that… I think I can trail some foreign mana on them, going somewhere. If I had to guess, it’s the mana of the Mistress acting like a thread, connecting her to those civilians.”} Monarch explains. Welnar sighs… Damn it, it’s their only lead. Welnar would begin to cautiously tail the group as close as he reasonably can, which… Isn’t that close. He sticks to the alleys as much as he can, avoiding staying out in the open as much as possible. Guards would occasionally stroll by, but other than that… It does seem to be going well. Until… Welnar is just a few seconds too late one time, failing to duck into an alleyway in time as one of the civilians catches a glimpse of him.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Overrrr… Herrre!” They yell in a slurred voice, and like a pack of wild animals or something they all whip around and begin approaching. {“Crap crap crap crap…”}

  {“Okay, I’ve got something! Get moving!”} Monarch says, and Welnar wastes no time. He activates his Mana Charge at Stage 2 and bolts out of the alleyway and down the street, following Monarch’s directions as she guides him through the town, making a turn here and there as the restless civilians are hot on his tail! And soon enough they’re joined by armed guards. {“Cherry on top of this shit cake…”} Welnar thinks, Monarch giggling at the thought. {“There’s a few moving to cut you off, duck into the alleyway and try to get onto the rooftops again.”} Monarch then says in a more serious tone. Welnar does as asked, hopping onto a trash bin, followed by climbing onto a window sill and leaping off of that to get onto the roofs. Man, at this rate he’ll be a master of urban parkour…

  Although he’s temporarily lost them, he knows damn well they know to check the roofs by now, so he wastes no time continuing his charge for the supposed location of the Mistress… And luckily, he seems to reach it with no issues, coming to the roof of an unassuming building.

  He peers over the ledge, seeing the coast is clear- BAM! The front door of the building suddenly slams open, and a shadowy figure with an awfully regal looking cape dashes out, running away at full sprint. {“Uhh… Monarch-”}

  {“That’s her! After her!”} She yells, Welnar leaping down from the rooftop and making chase after the Mistress! She briefly looks behind her, spotting Welnar fast approaching which seems to only make her more panicked. She ducks and dives through the intersections, turning at every chance but he doesn’t let up. He’s faster… He’s catching up.

  “Invocation: Haste!” The woman yells with ragged pants, her body leaving bright green afterimages as she starts to speed up massively. “Damn invocations…” Welnar mutters. On top of that though, he suddenly finds his path blocked at an intersection by a fairly large group of civilians… 10, 11, 12… 13 of them. All with those pink rings of course…

  “That coward!” Welnar yells, growing more frustrated by the moment. She’s using them as meat shields! “Coming through!” He says as he charges straight through the crowd, wreathing his body in a mana barrier to effectively turn himself into a battering ram as he sends numerous people flying to the side. He feels a sudden pain in his arm as one of them manages to get a glancing cut with a knife… But he keeps going. It’ll heal. After getting through the crowd, he realizes he’s lost sight of the Mistress…

  {“She’s going left two blocks down, cut her off!”} Monarch says, Welnar following. He sprints down the left of his intersection, Monarch keeping track of the Mistress simultaneously as he runs parallel with her, preparing to cut her off…

  {“You’ve got the space, go now!”} Monarch instructs, Welnar hanging a right. At this rate though… He’s not sure if he’ll make it. So as insurance, Welnar pushes himself to Stage 3 of his Mana Charge…

  The Mistress pants and pants as her legs burn in agony. She was never one for long winded sprints… This stupid intruder! It’s all his damn fault! How dare he make her, the rightful queen of this place run like some dog?! She’ll make him pay… She’s certain of it! She’ll break him down bit by bit, just to rebuild him and break him again… He’ll regret ever crossing her path-

  A man skids to a halt at the intersection just in front of her, sending the pavement flying as his boots grind against the ground. The Mistress is startled by his sudden appearance, tripping over her own feet and stumbling to the ground. How the fuck did he beat her here?!

  She looks up at the man, his body wreathed in what looks like veins of blue energy… Mana? Just what the hell is he..?

  “Please… Quit running. Make this easier for both of us and just give up.” He says in a cold tone. Give… Up? Give up?!

  “You… You insolent RAT! HOW DARE YOU NOT BOW BEFORE ME?!” She screams as she gets to her feet, pointing the palm of her hand at him as she tries to worm her way into his mind… Yet… She finds… Nothing?

  {“Looooooserrrrrrr! Try again later, teehee!”} Monarch says in a taunting tone, only enraging the Mistress further as she ends up connecting to Monarch’s mind instead of Welnar’s.

  “Fine then… I suppose I’ll have to dirty my hands with your pathetic blood.” She scoffs, pulling a weapon attached to her back that was concealed beneath her cape… It’s a large, unwieldy looking battleaxe. Welnar looks at it with a bit of surprise.

  “Not… Very queenly to wield such a massive weapon, don’t you think…”

  “Shut up rat!” She yells in return. Welnar shrugs.

  “Fine by me. At least you aren’t being a coward anymore.”