Chapter 9: Dimming Light

3 days later…

Seraphina slowly opens her eyes. Katie throws herself at Her. “SERAPHINA.” “W-what happened… to me?” “You got knocked out and the knights came to get us. Luckily, we have the fire Crystal in our possession. It’s in your pocket.” Seraphina reaches into her pocket and feels the crystal. Kelly looks at Bobby’s body. “He is the one who defeated the fire spirit.” 

“We’re going to a village on the way back home,” says Captain Piggy. Gunner looks at him with suspicion. ‘Something is off about this man.’ “Do you want to take turns riding on that horse?” Captain Piggy waves his left hand. “No thanks, just relax.”

The whole group hears a weird noise. Seraphina’s eyes widen. “EVERYONE, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK.” BOOOOOOOOOOM! The ground starts to shake. Seraphina looks out the wagon. "Is it a mechanical horse?” Gunner tilts his head to the left. “Are you sure that’s a horse? It looks no wear near similar to one.” Katie grabs her bow and creates an arrow out of fire magic. “Does it matter? Let’s try to take it down.” Captain Piggy pulls on the leash. The horse starts to move faster.

In the truck: “You guys do what the boss says and slow them down,” says one of the guys. “YES SIR,” yell the other men. Three of them put a giant bullet in the tank gun and fires once. Seraphina takes out her sword and quickly creates a slash made out of light. The slash of light cuts the giant bullet in half, creating a massive explosion. The ground starts to shake. Katie quickly shoots three arrows made out of fire. The trucks start to move, evading the arrows. Captain Piggy looks back. “DON’T STOP. KEEP ON GOING OR WE WILL DIE.” Seraphina swiftly unleashes a fury of light slashes. A few of the men from the trucks put up magic barriers. Seraphina grips her sword even harder, her eyes tighten. Gunner smiles, infusing orange-colored chi into his rope dart. “I got this.” Gunner spins and swings his rope dart, slashing the wheels of multiple trucks, making them slide to a halt.

Good job,” says Captain Piggy. “Thanks,” smiles Gunner. “Seraphina, you’re on the way to becoming Captain of your own platoon.” Seraphina’s eyes lighten with excitement. “You really think so? I trained really hard in order to become a leader. Hopefully, I would join the council, let alone become the leader of the council. It is an honor hearing that from a captain. Am I rambling?” Captain Piggy laughs, “You know what? You are destined to be…”

Crack…

Time seems to slow down… Seraphina’s eyes shake. The world hits silent in a blink of a second as Captain Piggy’s body starts moving to the left. Blood spills from his head. The horses abruptly stop. Time starts to move normally…

Captain Piggy flies off the horse. Blood spills from his head. Seraphina grips her blade even harder. “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK. ALL KNIGHTS PREPARE.” Suddenly, a boy on a motorcycle grabs Captain Piggy’s body. “I repeat, we got the target. The mission has changed and we will get the other crystals.” Seraphina looks at the back of his jacket, seeing a bird-like purple symbol. “TECHNO HUNTER, GET BACK HERE NOW.” Techno Hunter giggles, “I guess I stole the bacon. Bye Bye.” Seraphina runs to the carriage and grabs a special horse. She gets on the horse and pulls the leash. Suddenly, the horse starts moving unusually fast, being enhanced by its own thunder magic. Katie and Gunner follow behind Seraphina.

Techno Hunter puts his motorcycle on autopilot then starts to chain up Captain Piggy. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill your ass.” Captain Piggy laughs with blood still oozing out of his head. “Like you can. That advanced weapon didn’t kill me.” Techno Hunter giggles, “Yeah, it’s like the bullet was purposely a centimeter away from your brain and made sure the bullet wouldn’t fully go through any major organs that you need to live.” Techno Hunter reloads his sniper rifle. “If you want, I could finish the job. But I have some questions for you. Where is the fire crystal?” Captain Piggy smiles creepily. “You’re messing with the wrong person.” “I don’t give a shit if you’re a god. WHERE IS THE CRYSTAL?” “I don’t know.” Techno Hunter takes out his handgun and presses it against the side of his head. “Stop playing with me. Where is the crystal?” “The fire crystal is in the possession of the council.” “Where is the fucking money? WHERE IS IT? You think you could get away with what you have done to those poor villagers.” “They need to pay their taxes with food and resources.” “DID I ASK FOR AN EXPLANATION? WHERE IS THEIR SHIT?” “Confidential information,” answers Captain Piggy. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna tell me. Don’t worry about that.”

“TECHNO HUNTER, GET BACK HERE NOW,” yells Seraphina. Techno Hunter looks dead in her eyes while sticking up the middle finger. “Fuck off, I am not playing with you.” Seraphina takes out her blade. “LIGHT MAGIC, light slash.” Seraphina generates light from her blade and releases it into a single slash. Techno Hunter turns off the autopilot and turns a little to the left. Katie shoots five arrows made out of various elements. Techno Hunter takes out one of the katanas  cutting down all the arrows. “LIGHT MAGIC, BRIGHT FLASH,” yells Seraphina. Light magic covers her body and the horse increases their speed. Techno Hunter’s eyes widen seeing Seraphina catching up to him in seconds. Seraphina takes a swing. Techno Hunter blocks the attack. “There’s the fire crystal around your neck. Thanks, sweetheart.” Seraphina starts to get more furious. “SHUT UP. YOU’RE GETTING ARRESTED RIGHT NOW.” Gunner tosses his rope dart, hitting the back wheel of Techno Hunter’s motorcycle. Techno Hunter rolls on the ground with Captain Piggy.

Seraphina stops the horse, subsequently charging towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter rolls to the left, dodging Seraphina’s attack. Seraphina takes another swing. Techno Hunter taps his glove, creating a shield made out of mana. Seraphina jumps back. Techno Hunter whips out two guns and starts firing. Seraphina’s blade turns yellow. “Light magic, light control.” Seraphina blocks all the bullets. Techno Hunter puts away the gun in his left hand and takes out a small orb from his belt. He shoots it, creating an explosion. Seraphina rolls to the ground. Orange chi explodes out of Gunner’s rope dart. Gunner tosses it towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter reaches out his hand. A hole develops on his glove, sucking and manipulating the air to create a vacuum. The rope dart stops. Gunner pulls back his rope dart. Seraphina takes a swing behind Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter drops Seraphina to the floor. Katie shoots five arrows made out of water magic. Techno Hunter jumps back.

Hunter punches Gunner in the face, dropping him to the ‘Seraphina predominantly uses magic. But I still don’t know the weakness of light magic because it’s a magic that is overly rare, so I don’t know how to counter it. I have this slime that turns solid, sucking in chi energy.’ Techno Hunter runs towards Gunner. Gunner jumps off his horse and infuses chi into his fist. Techno Hunter generates mana from his gloves. Both of them clash fists. Gunner flies back while infusing chi into his rope dart. Techno Hunter goes into a defensive position. Gunner tosses his rope dart as fast as he can into the air. The rope dart bounces off the air, gaining speed. Techno Hunter catches it instantly. rip…  ‘Shit, that attack was powerful enough to rip my left glove.’  Techno Hunter pulls the rope dart. Gunner flies towards Techno Hunter. ‘He’s using the gravitational pull to his advantage. Who is this man?’ Techno ground. Gunner does a kick-up, subsequently performing a spinning roundhouse kick. Techno Hunter turns 360 degrees and slaps a white slime on Gunner’s back. Gunner infuses chi into his fist, subsequently throwing a barrage of attacks. Techno Hunter blocks all of Gunner’s attacks while throwing a barrage of his own. Techno Hunter punches Gunner in the face, then in the chest, soon after kicking him on his hip. Gunner falls to his knees. ‘This is the power of Techno Hunter.’ Chi explodes out of Gunner’s body. ‘But he shall not win.’ The goo starts to spread even faster. Gunner exerts more chi from his body, trying to destroy the goo. The goo starts to paralyze Gunner’s body while solidifying.

Techno Hunter runs towards Katie. Katie shoots a barrage of arrows. ‘Katie is a sharpshooter. She has a greater amount of mana that overflows her body. Not only that, even just attacking her mana points won’t stop that flow.’ Techno Hunter whips out his katana and starts cutting down the arrows. Katie jumps back. ‘He knows my weakness.’ Techno Hunter kicks Katie’s bow out of her hands and shoots electricity from his right hand, leaving her temporarily paralyzed.

Techno Hunter turns around, blocking Seraphina’s attack. “Wow, you are persistent.” Seraphina infuses more light magic into her attack. Techno Hunter’s blade explodes with mana. “You like my tech? Sorry, I didn’t restock on stuff.” Seraphina and Techno Hunter jump back. “Techno Hunter, I don’t care about your tech magic. ALL I WANT IS TO PUT YOU IN JAIL!” Techno Hunter takes a swing. Seraphina dodges and counters. Techno Hunter dodges the attack and spins 360 degrees. Seraphina jumps back and shoots slashes of light. Techno Hunter abruptly stops, blocking the slashes. Light bursts out of Seraphina’s blade. “Light magic, bright shot.” Seraphina extends her arm, shooting a beam of light out of her sword. Techno Hunter moves to the left. ‘Damn it. Need to end this fast. I don’t have my magic absorber cube.’ Light bursts off of Seraphina’s blade once more. “Light magic, accelerating flashing combo.” Seraphina takes a swing. Techno Hunter dodges her attack. Seraphina takes a faster swing. Techno Hunter parries her attack. Techno Hunter takes a swing. Seraphina counters. Techno Hunter counters the counter. He takes a swing. Seraphina dodges and hits Techno Hunter multiple times in a row, sending him rolling.

Light magic bursts out of Seraphina’s body. “Light magic, bright flash.” Seraphina dashes towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter jumps to the left. Seraphina shoots multiple slashes of light. Techno Hunter evades the attack. ‘Her stupid magic. That is her strongest quality. Which is quite annoying because she’s a good swordsman but her magic just puts her on a whole other level.’ Seraphina points her blade at Techno Hunter. “What happened, you’re overwhelmed.” Techno Hunter goes into a sword stance. ‘She is so lucky I didn’t restock. I’m out of mags.’ Mana bursts out of Techno Hunter’s blade. “LIGHT MAGIC, LIGHT CONTROL.” Seraphina’s blade turns yellow as she dashes towards Techno Hunter. Seraphina’s eyes widen as both of their blades fly into the air. Seraphina performs a right side kick. Techno Hunter blocks the attack. Seraphina takes a swing. Techno Hunter easily grabs her fist. “Wow, you’re really bad at hand-to-hand combat. Not my problem though.” “STOP PLAYING WITH ME,” yells Seraphina.Seraphina takes another swing. Techno Hunter turns 360 degrees, stealing the fire crystal and subsequently kicking Seraphina on the side of her face. Seraphina rolls to the ground. Techno Hunter tosses a bomb. “Light magic, finger flash pistol.” Seraphina points her pointer and middle finger at the bomb, shooting out a beam of light. Water bursts out of the bomb, splashing onto Seraphina. Seraphina dashes towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter dodges her aggressive attacks. ‘She lost focus.’ Electricity bursts out of his glove. Seraphina takes another swing. Techno Hunter slaps Seraphina in the face before she can land the hit. Seraphina screams, feeling the enhanced electricity stinging her skin. Techno Hunter knocks Seraphina to the ground. “Next time, tell them to send the dark trilogy, you were child’s play.” Techno Hunter grabs his katana and leaves with Captain Piggy and the fire crystal.

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Captain Piggy’s eyes open, and he tries to move his body from the chair. “Ugh, ugh, where am I?” Captain Piggy looks at the chains that are restricting him. “Don’t even try to use magic. These chains block your mana receptors.” Techno Hunter tosses his knife, grazing Piggy’s cheek. “Where is the tax money? I know you have it.” Captain Piggy gives a confused look. “I don’t know what you mean.” Techno Hunter starts cleaning the machete. “Let’s see how long you last.”

 “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Captain Piggy’s pinky finger drops to the ground. “Tell me.” Another finger drops to the ground. “WE’RE UP TO TWO.” “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Captain Piggy’s hand drops to the floor. Techno Hunter swings the machete. Blood flies off the blade and hits the floor. Captain Piggy smiles, “I won’t tell you. I won’t. You don’t have the guts to… AHHHHHHHHHHH.” The middle finger from the other hand drops to the floor. “Stop it… You’re not achieving… anything,” says Captain Piggy in exhaustion. Techno Hunter plays with the blade. “Seeing you suffer is enough. You’re gonna tell me… it does not matter. You better just say where the money is to save all this pain and suffering.” “NEVE… AHHHHHHHHH.” The other pinky finger drops to the floor. “Three more fingers. You’re gonna get me very impatient.” “YOU COULD GO FU… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.” “The poison might be kicking in now.” Techno Hunter presses a button. Metal spikes from the chair shoot up, piercing both of Captain Piggy’s thighs. Captain Piggy’s body temperature starts to heat up. His body instantly starts to get more pale. Techno Hunter cuts his pointer finger. Captain Piggy yells once more. The screams of terror make Techno Hunter laugh even harder. “Ahahahahahah, LET’S CUT SOME MORE BODY PARTS OFF…”

3 hours later…

“He took the CRYSTAL!” yells Seraphina. “He must be in this town, judging by his armor. He also recently went into a major fight,” suggests Gunner. The group enters the town. The citizens are wearing literal rags. Their eyes pierce through the group’s souls. “Is it just me or does the group hate us? Don’t they know that we protect them and they only need to give up a small amount of their money?” says Seraphina angrily. “Why are they living in such poverty?” questions Gunner. The horses stop. Seraphina hops out of the wagon with Gunner and Katie.

“Seraphina, ten of us are going to take care of Bobby at the hospital,” says one of the knights. “The other fifteen of us are going to look for Piggy. While twenty-five of us are gonna protect our stuff and the fire dragon,” says the other knight. “Alright, me, Katie, and Gunner are going to help y’all,” agrees Seraphina. “Katie, go and take care of Bobby. Me and Seraphina are going to investigate,” suggests Gunner. Seraphina and Gunner start walking to the bar.

Seraphina opens the door. Eyes of hatred pierce her body. “Hi Light Trilogy, sorry for the people staring at you. You’re not wanted here,” says the bartender. Seraphina looks confused. “Why don’t they like us? We do protect their village.” The bartender hands her some coffee. “The tax is way too high. Captain Piggy does protect this village, but they also abuse this village. They increase the tax ten times and use ninety percent of that tax to buy this whole village.” Seraphina bangs the table. “How long has he been doing this?” “Over twenty years. He makes us poorer and poorer. If we don’t do what he says, the man kidnaps the women and deflowers them, even doing it to little girls,” explains the bartender. “Where are these women?” demands Gunner. “Nobody knows. The knights know, but Captain Piggy could just fire them, even send them to jail if they try to speak against him.”

The Bartender gives Gunner coffee. Seraphina sips her coffee. “Where is the criminal, Techno Hunter? He is wanted for 1,000 gold by the council. Trust me, we will deal with Captain Piggy later.” The Bartender looks confused. “Why so much money?” Seraphina sips her coffee. “1. He has killed 20 captains. 2. Put a bunch of rich people into slavery. 3. Stolen from the council numerous times. 4. Destroyed a bunch of mines and a lot of factories that create a lot of the army’s armor and weapons. I could go on and on.” Gunner’s mouth drops. “Is this guy insane? And there is more. I hear he literally broke every law more than 3 times.” “I understand, but I don’t know either,” says the Bartender, keeping a straight face. “Why are you lying?” says Gunner. The Bartender smiles, “How did you know?” “Your heart, your body gets more tense, you stop looking directly in my eyes, your hand hesitates a little bit, your voice slightly changes. So where is the Techno Hunter? He has stolen something.” Seraphina’s eyes widens, ‘Gunner is so observant.’

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“Wow, all your toes, all your fingers on your hand, stabbed over 100 times, poisoned you even, and you still don’t tell me,” Techno Hunter smiles, impressed. “Lucky I capture another one of your friends who is in on it. Vice Captain Oink.” Techno Hunter grabs a match and lights the other lantern. “Well, look at another contestant.”

Techno Hunter grabs his gun. “Where is the fucking money?” Vice Captain Oink starts shivering. “Please, please, I’m sorry, I will tell you anything. Don’t hurt me. I beg of you, please don’t hurt me. Spare me, spare me, spare me, it’s…” Bang…Bang…Bang. Vice Captain Oink starts screaming with a stream of tears running down his cheek. “I DID NOT ASK FOR YOUR SQUEALING. TOOK TOO LONG. LET’S TRY AGAIN. WHERE IS THE FUCKING MONEY?” “It’s 5000 miles south of here. The vault is hidden underground with the protection of invisibility magic.”

Captain Piggy's eyes widen. “YOU STUPID ASSHOLE, YOU SAW ME GET STABBED over 100 times, tortured mentally  with the fire crystal, got poisoned, got my hands chopped off with fingers individually and you told him,” express Captain Piggy. “Shut the fuck up. All those stabs were for raping all those women and children. Some of them are mentally and physically scared of what you did with them. To the point a fraction of them killed themselves. I wish I could revive you so I could kill you again and again,” anger Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter takes the necklace out of Captain Piggies neck which has a special golden key. Techno Hunter looks at the key for a good few seconds.  “Interestingly engraved with location magic and it allows the wielder to turn off the invisibility.” “can I, can I please…” Bang… Vice Captain Oink's head lifelessly goes down.  “Just get my death over with" expresses Captain Piggy. Techno Hunter takes off his helmet and drops it. A smile appears onto his face while his head tilted to the left. “Nah, I got something else planned.” Techno Hunter starts laughing. 

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Seraphina kicks the door wide open. Her eyes drop to the floor. She sees two bodies hanging from the ceiling. Blood drips from both of their bodies. Gunner freezes. “What in the world happened here?” Katie drops to her knees. “This is so inhumane.” Seraphina grips her fist. “We are too late. Techno Hunter, you are far worse than a monster. You’re a demon. This does not make up for what he has done. We could have brought him into custody with proper evidence.” Tears start to form on Seraphina's eyes.  “This is not justice…TECHNO HUNTER, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE. COME FROM THE SHADOWS.”

Techno Hunter walks past the hanging bodies, coming from the light. “YOU ARE SURROUNDED. BACKUP IS ALREADY COMING.” Techno Hunter fires a few shots. Seraphina pushes Katie. Gunner jumps to the right. Techno Hunter charges towards the exit. Gunner tosses a rope dart. Techno Hunter rolls to the floor. “It’s not the time. If the fire crystal is in one place without its magic being locked, it’s gonna attract powerful monsters.” Seraphina takes out her sword. “Give it back.” Techno Hunter puts away his guns.

Ten knights charge towards Techno Hunter. Two of the knights take a swing. Techno Hunter drops one of the knights to the ground, then punches the other. Three more charge forward with their swords. Techno Hunter grabs one of their arms and twists it slightly, then tosses him to the ground. Techno Hunter bans the knight’s sword and blocks the hit, then kicks him to the floor. The other knights charge towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter charges towards the knights. Techno Hunter defeats the rest instantly.

Seraphina charges towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter blocks her attack. Gunner shoots his rope dart towards Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter jumps back while dropping the sword. Seraphina leaps towards Techno Hunter, pushing him to the ground. The fire crystal flies out of his belt pocket. Katie smiles with her bow pointed at Techno Hunter. Techno Hunter giggles. “She made a small enough arrow to open my belt pocket. She can sense that crystal’s power.”

Suddenly, a vampire swoops in and grabs the fire crystal. “Thank you, my boy,” says the Vampire. Techno Hunter’s eyes drop. “I know her. She’s the infamous demon-vampire mix breed that wipes villages. Yeah.” Seraphina and Techno Hunter automatically get up. “Change of plans. We’re taking down Magnifica.” Seraphina gulps. “She’s the infamous demon that is killing a bunch of villages. We could take her down, though.” “Let’s hope she has that crystal. I defeated her earlier, but we won’t be that lucky,” says Techno Hunter. Magnifica eats the fire crystal. “WOW, the power I’m feeling from this already.”

Magnifica’s eyes glow red. Her muscles get stronger. Her hair grows longer. Her hands and feet harden and become sharper. Her wings explode with flames.

Seraphina takes out her sword. Techno Hunter grabs his katana and a handgun. Gunner spins his rope dart. Katie grabs an arrow. Bobby smiles at Seraphina. “How y’all doing?” The fire dragon roars. “My bad for sleeping, y’all. But let’s kill that demon.” Seraphina looks at Techno Hunter. “Let’s work together to save the village.” Techno Hunter nods. “You didn’t even have to say that. My men already started evacuating the villagers.” Seraphina looks at the knights. “Do the same thing.” The knights run off and start evacuating the villagers. Bobby’s body turns to metal, his hands turn into metal blades. Light magic explodes from Seraphina’s blade. “Take her down.”