Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"Mia…" Lucius growled. He simply ignored the elf gurgling on his own blood silently next to her.

The half-elf he once called a friend no longer looked like she used to. Her face was covered in burn scars so bad that she did not even look like a ghost of her former self. Her right arm was made entirely of metal from the shoulder down. Her left leg from the hip down was also completely artificial.

"You look good for someone who got blown up." Mia laughed.

"You don't."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, growing ever closer and deeper with each passing second. A few small coins that had rolled onto the ground rattled about along the floor from the vibrations. Lucius could also tell that Desmond was trying to maintain steady breathing through the pressure of Lucius's anger.

"You've gotten pretty strong, haven't you Lucius? I've seen you fighting. Great job in Alvora. Oh, and the Exhibition Tournament… and I suppose at the Arcadios Royal Academy too. You have been quite the busy boy." Mia said with a strained smile.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I hear you got married to Rena! Congratulations are in order, I suppose. I bet your wedding was a grand affair, filled with love and happy cheers! I also hear you've been making friends too, good job!" She continued.

Lighting struck just outside the building causing a flash of light to fill the room through the open window. The smell of ozone filled the air.

"Why are you alive?" Lucius asked.

Mia's smile faded, and the twinkle in her eyes dimmed. "I should be asking you. You should be dead. I sacrificed so much to kill you… you know. Since I've joined up with my new friends, I have learned a lot about you, Lucius.

"You and that Mark… You're dangerous. At least as long as you use those infernal powers of yours. Some are saying it's not too late. They are saying you can still change, that there is still time!" Mia paused to take a deep breath. "But I don't. I don't think that at all.

I think you still deserve to die. Nothing else will satisfy me."

Tired of listening to her rant, Lucius summoned a [Thunderclap] spell into his foot. He stamped the ground and sent a wave of force into Mia, sending her flying through the wall of the second floor. Without waiting for her to land, Lucius jumped out of the building after her.

Mia, as expected, was perfectly fine and sent a [Dark Bolt] hurdling at him. The mark on her left hand was glowing, meaning she had silenced herself so he could not hear her activating her Arts or Magic.

Lucius was forced to take the hit, but absorbed a part of the blow with a sudden activation of a low-level [Lightning Bolt]. It still left a smoldering patch of skin on his shoulder, but it did not cause him much pain.

Mia smiled at his strength and loosed a barrage of arrows, each infused with golden mana. Lucius swung his sword through a number of them as he chased after her through the alley.

Lucius wrapped his body in [Lightning Charge] supplemented with his [Savage Strike] skill. Red lightning sparked off of him as he sped up after the half-elf. He was surprised at her ability to stay ahead of him and attributed that to whatever mana was powering her artificial leg.

"Get back here, Mia!" He roared, "I'm going to kill you for betraying me!"

Mia smiled even wider and released several more arrows in his direction. The speed and power of the attack continued to shock him, but he assumed that she was Advance Rank with some powerful equipment. Something about the arrows did not seem right either.

As expected, some of them were illusions created by her Arts, but the real ones had a strange smell to them. This told him they were poisoned, but he had no clue what with. The only thing he knew was that he had to avoid them out of caution.

Mia was not an idiot. If he caught up to her, then this was her plan the entire time. She was prepared for him to come to her, so she likely poisoned these with something that was prepared especially for him. On top of that, he needed to head her off quickly. If she were leading him somewhere, that would only make the situation worse for him.

She continued to dodge through the alleys of the academy. A few times, their blades crossed, and Mia was blown back by the force. There were still a few people walking around the academy, and their screams filled the air as they dodged arrows and magical lightning from the battle.

Stark Academy's guards knew that something like this might happen, so they were prepared and tried to cordon off the area for the battle to occur. Students and staff who managed to get past their line were carefully escorted to safe areas, and a few of the buildings were carefully evacuated.

Lucius found a small opening and swung his enchanted machete, extending it at the last minute to strike her in the gut. However, it was a ruse, and she managed to toss a dagger at the opening he left behind. The blade sunk hilt deep into his thigh.

Due to the adrenaline from the fight, he barely felt the pain, but he knew it was likely poisoned with whatever it was Mia was using. Lucius figured he had only a short amount of time before it started working and decided to resort to his last resort.

"[Abyss Break: Abyss Armor]"

Inky-black shadows enveloped Lucius's body up to his neck and solidified into a glossy, metallic armor. Six massive tendrils erupted from his back and hung off him like demonic wings. Each one writhed like a snake with a mind of its own.

"You're done, Mia!" He roared, charging after her twice as fast as before.

In the past, his armor only had one tendril, but thanks to the Fragment of the Abyss he found, he now had six. According to Grimm, this was the second of three ability levels for [Abyss Armor]. On top of the six independently controllable tendrils, it also enhanced his durability and speed.

The burst of speed was finally enough to close the gap that Mia was able to consistently regain. Sweat poured off of her like a river as she tried in vain to create space between them again. Lucius could feel a burning sensation in his leg but bit his tongue to keep his mind clear for long enough to catch his enemy.

After a few more moments, they came to the edge of the academy, and Mia was left with nowhere else to go except off the cliff. For a moment, she looked over the edge as if to contemplate that being the better option.

Just as she was about to leap, two tendrils shot out and grabbed her by her ankles, stringing her up off the side of the cliff. Lucius limped up to her, feeling more and more faint from the poison coursing through his body.

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"You aren't looking too good!" Mia laughed.

"Who do you work for?" Lucius managed between ragged breaths.

"Might as well kill me." Mia chuckled, "I wasn't supposed to survive this mission anyway. Besides, best not to waste any time. Your bitch, Kalliope, is being worked to the bone as we speak. She's tough, but I don't know how long she's going to last!"

Mia cackled maniacally, forcing her to cough and wheeze. Lucius contemplated whether or not he should try any harder to press her for information, but he felt his power waning in the face of the poison coursing through his veins.

"Bye, Mia." He grunted.

The remaining four shadow tendrils flew at the woman. Two pierced through her heart and lungs, while two more sliced through her neck, sending her head cascading off the side of the mountain. With the last of his strength, Lucius threw her headless body as far as he could with a swift whip of the tendrils.

The moment the body disappeared over the edge of the mountain, Lucius collapsed to the ground and continued to wheeze on the ground. Though he managed to stay conscious, every moment of being dragged to a medical center felt like hell on earth.