Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1707: Don’t Get Caught (Part 2)

B was absolutely certain she had moved at the perfect moment. She had watched the mages on the wall with the eyes of a predator, waiting for that split second where their attention shifted toward the billowing smoke of the factory explosion. She had sprinted with a speed that turned the world into a blur, and yet, here she was, standing in a manor she had chosen at random, only to find mages storming the front door.

It didn’t make sense. The mages that had made it there would have needed time to descend from the wall, and even if they had spotted a shadow moving, they would have had to search for clues or tracks to find her. To arrive at this exact manor and head straight inside felt like they were being guided by an invisible thread.

For a moment, B’s instinct screamed at her to act. She thought about just jumping off the landing, her Qi coiling in her legs, and making a massive, bone-shattering attack with her fist. She could eliminate at least one of them before they even realized she was there. But as her muscles tensed, a part of her thought back to the others. She remembered the skeptical looks Raze and Kelly had given her. They didn’t think she was capable of a mission that required anything other than mindless violence. They thought she would mess it up because she lacked the discipline to care about the finer details.

Even Londo had egged her on, practically mocking her by stating that maybe she just wasn’t skillful enough to accomplish something this delicate. It was an obvious taunt, a transparent attempt to manipulate her into doing a better job, and she had known that the moment it left his mouth. But it seemed to be working. She wanted to prove them wrong. She decided to suppress her bloodlust, pull back into the shadows, and try to wait it out in the upper rooms. If they came close, she could just phase into another room to escape, and in the worst-case scenario, she could phase into an entirely different building and lose them.

She turned around and slipped into one of the many bedrooms that lined the upper hallway. It was a massive room, part of a manor that appeared completely untouched by life. There were no soft furnishings, no carpets to muffle her steps, and no personal items on the shelves. It was clear that these places weren’t quite lived in yet; they were hollow shells waiting for the elite to move in. When she entered the room, she realized there was nowhere to hide apart from the cramped space under the bed frame. But with a manor this large, she assumed they would have hundreds of rooms to search. She decided to stand right up against the wall, merging with the shadows behind the door.

She focused her Qi, funneling it toward her ears to sharpen her hearing until she could hear the very dust settling. She listened to the rhythmic thud of their boots as they moved through the house, and her heart sank as she realized they had headed straight up the stairs and were now standing right by her door.

"Damn it, they guessed the right one on the first try?" B mumbled, her brow furrowing in frustration. "I guess I can always go into the next room through the wall and then come back after they’ve finished looking in here."

She activated her sword and quickly phased through the solid partition. A second later, the mages burst into the room she had just vacated.

"What? There’s no one here? That can’t be right," one of the mages said, his voice echoing in the empty space. They spread out, checking the corners, but they couldn’t see anyone. "The signal is coming from right here. We need to search the entire area; they have to be close."

The mages quickly exited the room, their footsteps heavy as they prepared to head into the next one. As they did, B moved fast. She quickly phased back into the room they had already searched, thinking it was the safest place to be. They wouldn’t come back to a room they had just cleared, right? But that’s when she became truly confused.

"I can hear them coming back, and they’re heading straight for me again!" she whispered, her eyes wide. "I’m going to get caught at this rate!"

With no other choice, she jumped toward the back wall, phasing through the stone and landing silently in the back garden. She immediately broke into a sprint, keeping her body low so they wouldn’t see her from the windows above. She phased through the back perimeter wall, putting distance between herself and the house.

At the same time, the mages re-entered the room she had just occupied for the second time. "They’re not in here, but they are definitely on the move," the leader said, glancing at a device in his hand. "This isn’t someone from the outer circle just wandering around. This has to be an intruder who broke past the wall."

As B ran out into the street of the inner ring, she looked around, trying to choose the next house to duck into. They couldn’t keep guessing where she was. It defied logic. But things were certainly strange; how were they finding her every time she stopped?

As she phased right into the back garden of another property, she looked through the windows from a distance. Her blood ran cold. There was movement inside already. Mages were already moving into the building before she had even stepped foot inside. And when she turned around to find another way out, she saw them—mages were descending through the air, their staves glowing with light. She had been caught. She was completely surrounded by several high-ranking mages.

"It looks like we have an intruder after all," one of the mages said, landing gracefully on the grass. "I wonder how this one managed to get past the wall guards without a sound."

"Not just that," another mage added, stepping forward and pointing toward her arm. "Look. She has a communicator from the outer circle."

That was the moment it finally hit her. B lifted her arm, looking at the wristband they had taken from the fallen commanders. She let out a sharp, mocking smile as the realization settled in.

"So that’s what it was... a tracking beacon," she said, her voice loud enough for the device to pick up. She knew Raze and the others were listening. "Raze, and the rest of you, I’m sorry to say, but I failed the mission. I was caught. And one more thing... don’t bring those communicators inside. They can track you the moment you cross the line."

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