Hector joined Colt by his side, and they both lingered on the sight of Stoker’s headless body.
“He’s really dead, right?” asked Colt as the reapers floated over to them. “I never can tell anymore.”
‘Yeah,’ said Garovel. ‘You can tell because the body has stopped regenerating.’
Colt stood up from his messy work, wiping the blood on his pants. “Who was this guy, even?” He started for the nearby alley where he’d parked the car.
Hector followed, annihilating his helmet and frowning at Garovel. “Ah... we never learned his name...”
‘We only know he was fighting with Karkash.’
“He did say he was Vanguard,” Hector added.
‘He was probably lying,’ said Garovel.
Hector raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”
‘When Abolish and the Vanguard clash, it’s a big deal. One-on-one fights are extremely rare. I’m guessing he told us that because he figured we’d be more likely to help him.’
Colt checked on the twins in the backseat of the car. Stephanie was standing at the window with her little hands pressed to the glass, and he opened the door to meet her. Thomas was sat contentedly on the other side, and they both looked at Colt, just as calm as earlier. He patted their heads and bellies, tickling them while he double-checked for anything to be worried about. They giggled at him, babbling a few half-words but nothing more.
Hector and Garovel were still occupied with their conversation. “I wish we could have helped him... Because that was just... agh...”
‘Yeah. Assuming he was being hunted down because he and his reaper were traitors to Abolish, then I’m sure he would’ve been able to provide us with valuable information.’
“I don’t understand why, um... well, I mean... if they really were Abolish, then I get why Karkash was after them, but... I don’t get why Karkash just kinda... left. Why didn’t he come after us, too?”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
"The[y] giggled at him..."
ReplyDeleteIf one on one fights are extremely rare, I can only imagine how scouting and spying would actually work in these kinds of fights. I know the reapers can sense one another, but hard to imagine a war without either of those tricks.
Thanks for the catch. Fixed.
ReplyDeleteAnd indeed.
"and he opened the to door"
ReplyDelete'to' not needed
'just calm as earlier'
just AS calm as earlier
Ah, thank you. Fixed now.
ReplyDeleteThe twins are starting to scare me.
ReplyDelete*knocks on typing desk*
ReplyDeleteOh spiteful Overlord, where do servants go when they die?
Haha.
ReplyDeleteHELL. HUWAHAHA.
ReplyDeleteNah, not really.
But seriously do they go to the void or...
ReplyDeleteOne day, the story will get there. Won't be any time soon, but yeah.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new reader, so maybe this is explained later on, but isn't regeneration only possible when a reaper touches a servant? That was a big deal when Hector fought Geoffrey. Hector didn't even have his super strength, he had to rely on producing metal. If this wasn't the case, reapers could simply hide miles away from a battle and never meet anyone else's servant.
ReplyDeleteYep, that is correct. Reapers have to instigate both regeneration and enhanced strength from up close.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Garovel was able to spot the lie, even if Stoker wasn't a bad guy anymore. Odd, I feel more sympathy for Stoker than when Colt died. Perhaps cause I never forgave Colt for killing the first named female character lol
ReplyDeleteOf course, that leaves reapers open to assault by forces not involved in the fight, deprives the servant of a mobile scout capable of tracking enemy movements, and, if the servant is beaten and claimed, then the reaper has no way of reviving them when the regent and super strength wear off.
ReplyDeletegood job Hector! You basically told abolish "Hey I am here! Come after me guys!" (facepalm) what was the point of you coming here hector? I am starting to think hector has some sort of curse to always fail
ReplyDelete