Chapter 172: Chapter 142

The single light in the dark room flickered, a small hum and crackle coming from the bulb. Two hooded men stood together, speaking in hushed voices. Both of them checked their watches nearly at the same time before glancing towards a door. A heartbeat later it slid open, a third man stepping inside and shutting it behind him. His expression was grim. He crossed the room slowly, pulling out an earpiece and slipping it into his ear as he came to a stop. His hair was short and gleamed a bit silver in the dim light. Dark red eyes turned between the two men.

“I have an update,” He said quietly, “Information that needs to make it back to the Headmaster.”

The two men glanced at one another and nodded, “What do you have for us, Tenure?”

The tenured professor of the Night Society nodded and reached for a satchel slung over his shoulder. He pulled a tablet out and extended it to the two of them, “Liberty put out an order just a few hours ago to begin assembling for an attack. No immediate word on the target area but I suspect it is one of the hero camps, likely the one that her sister is training at, we could be moving within the next few hours at the minimum,” The Professor said and one of the hooded men took the tablet, examining the text on the screen carefully.

“So soon! She’s sending members of the round table?” The man holding the tablet asked in a hushed voice, “Four? That’s a sizeable portion of the team guarding her,” He added and turned to the other hooded man, “What do you think? Is this our opportunity?”

The second man crossed his arms, “The Headmaster will want this information regardless, it is his decision whether or not we strike during the attack or not,” He began, “Though something feels off, what changed that she decided to move so aggressively? A strike against the camps was something we considered but dedicating this much force to the attack comes across as overkill.”

“She wants to be certain,” The Professor said, “The mole that she inserted into the camp has not met their deadline, they will be killed along with the rest.”

The two hooded men looked up, “A mole?”

They looked at one another before looking back at him, the one holding the tablet glanced down at it again before looking up at him, “There’s no information on a mole in here, are you certain?”

“I’m positive,” The Professor said with a callous smile. His eyes lit up with a ruby glow as he took a casual step back, “She told me herself.”

The man holding the tablet threw it to the ground and leaped back several feet, reaching for his knife, “Damn it! Flicker! Get us out-”

The second hooded man let out a garbled shriek of pain, red sparks of electricity racing over hid body as his body twitched and convulsed, his eyes rolling back into his head. He took a sudden sharp breath and seized, collapsing to the ground as whatever was keeping him elevated gave out beneath him. The first man threw his hood back revealing a middle aged man with dark hair and a mosutache, “Tenure, Sir! What on earth are you thinking? This is madness! You know what she’s capable of better than anyone!”

“That’s the point, adjunct,” The Professor said in a cold monotone, tilting his head to the right, “Isn’t that obvious?”

The adjunct scowled at him as he tried to get up, his movements sluggish, like he was trying to right himself in water, “How long has it been Professor?” The adjunct demanded.

“Very early,” The Professor said with a sigh, “I kept feeding accurate but ultimately useless information to the members that sided with me,” He scratched his neck and tilted his head, “Oh, and please call me Sir Halloway, now.”

The door opened behind Halloway and a dozen men with guns stormed inside, raising their weapons to point them at the three men before turning their attention to focus on the two men on the ground. Flicker jolted and twitched, trying again to use his ability but only managing to cause his body to twist and bend in ways that a human’s really shouldn’t. He let out a cry of pain and fell onto the ground again, both legs broken and bent. He opened his mouth to scream but received a bullet in his forehead for his trouble.

Halloway lowered the gun, “What a noisy assassin,” He sighed before turning on his heel, looking away from the adjunct and bowing at his waist, “My Lady.”

“Well done, Sir Halloway,” A cruel voice came from the doorway. A tall shadow slipped into the room, blue eyes glowing so brightly they cast a shadow over her face. She wore a suit of heavy armor that gleamed and glittered, portions of it illuminated by some strange force. In her right hand was a sword, her left, a shield. She stalked into the room with heavy footfalls that sounded more like thunder in the confined space. Her blonde hair fell down around her face as she entered the faint light. She looked down on the adjunct who stared up at her, his expression hard. “That should be the last of the unaligned spies in my midst,” She snarled, “At least in the main compound. How many does that make for my off-brand Night Society?”

Halloway stepped back a bit and raised his hand to his heart, “Thirty six agents, Leader.”

Liberty glanced towards him but said nothing, just nodded thoughtfully. She turned back to the adjunct with a sneer before reaching down and grabbing him by the throat. She lifted him off the ground and held him there, he struggled, his weight pulling down against his spine, his eyes bulged and he reached frantically for his throat. Her lips twitched a little, “How sad, an adjunct of the Night Society made to fret and scramble for his breath so easily. It seems that even the death dealers fear it in the end, how human,” She said coldly as she squeezed until there was a noisy pop. She dropped the corpse to the ground. She turned towards a frowning Halloway, “We have enough and your betrayal will color any attempts at conversion. Better to liberate him now rather than later,” She sighed, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder.

He nodded, “Yes, leader.”

She tilted her head, “You’ve earned your place on the Round Table, kneel, Halloway.”

He did as instructed immediately, dropping to a knee and pressing his knuckles to the hard ground beneath him. He bowed his head as a blade rested on his shoulder. “I am here to serve, Leader.”

“As it should be, you are better than those beasts out there and have finally found your rightful place. I have chosen to reward you for that, despite your heretical origin, be grateful for my mercy,” She intoned. He bowed his head further and she raised the sword up to rest on his other shoulder, “I gain power from my followers, every one adds to my strength. I have learned a lot about my abilities, Halloway, thanks to your insights. My Round Table can be more than just titles,” She said proudly and a light began to gleam on her weapon, “I can spread that power that I have acquired out, give it back. So I will do so with you first.”

“You honor me,” He said as the light began to seep into his body.

“I dub thee Sir Halloway, Knight of my Round Table. Take now a portion of my strength and let it power your ability, become strong, and be my tool against the Pandora Committee,” She commanded.

He looked up at her, a smile on his face, “I am honored.”

She sheathed her weapon and turned away, marching towards the door. He got to his feet as the men around him set to work cleaning up the bodies. With two quick steps he was just behind her, walking in silence. She glanced his way and then looked back at the path in front of her. The concrete buildings of the compound stretched out ahead of them as they stepped out of the alley, “Come,” She ordered as they made their way along the path before turning on to the main route, heading towards the core building where the rest of the Round Table waited.

“Did you see the broadcast?” He asked, slipping in next to her and giving her a hard look.

“I did,” She said with a thoughtful frown before turning a cold look on Halloway, “What are your thoughts?”

“While Sonya Chernovna is an annoyance she is ultimately nothing more than a pillar of the Pandora Committee and is currently at the target location, despite all public discourse to the contrary, killing her would send the Pandora Committee into a tailspin,” He said flatly, “Ishtar is a far greater threat. She is genuinely powerful and quite real despite all evidence to the contrary,” He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “She also poses a philosophical threat to your Grace.”

“Excuse me?” Liberty growled, turning on him, “What do you mean, Philosophical Threat?”

“I was told through a contact that it was possible that our new headmaster was put in place by Ishtar but there was nothing to genuinely prove his words, so I opted for a wait-and-see approach. Ishtar is a powerful supervillain, ma’am, and she reigns over the underworld with an iron fist, keeping order and holding villains who go wild accountable but otherwise seems to preach similar tenets to your own faith,” Halloway said with a tap to his chin, “She comes across as both more lenient and more strict in ways that are appealing.”

“She could attract potential recruits that should be going to me,” Liberty nodded, “I see your point,” She crossed her arms as they walked into the building. “Then I know what I need to do,” She said with a breath and glanced to the left, “I’m putting you in charge of the raid. You will attack in twelve hours.”

Halloway blinked at her, “I- Yes ma’am.”

“You are to kill everyone at the camp, leave no stone unturned. There will be trainees in the dungeon there. Do your best to press it as close to breaking as possible but don’t sacrifice round-table lives to do so,” She said with a scoff. He nodded and read between the lines, The other cultists were fine to sacrifice, though. “What’s our progress on Chairman Phan?” She asked.

“We’re in position,” Halloway said with a nod, “We’ll move on your order.”

“Have it happen just before the attack,” She said, “Don’t leave any time to react, have we confirmed that Black Lotus is still suspended?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am, her personality indicates that while she is prone to rash action when there are minor consequences on the line, the likelihood of completely losing her Hero License will hold her back from acting unless things get serious, if she is pushed, she will move,” Halloway said.

Liberty nodded and rubbed her chin with a gauntleted finger as they walked down the carpeted path, past armored guards, “I’ll send Dame Kant with you to deal with her,” She counted on her fingers once before narrowing her eyes, “Sir Ewen for Axel, his red magic will be more than enough,” She tilted her head, “And sneak Sir Ellis in with the initial attacking wave so he can get close while pretending to be a grunt,” She hummed a little, “Yes, he’ll be optimal for dealing with Rouge if your intelligence about her abilities is correct.”

“She uses music, I’m certain of it,” Halloway said with a nod.

Liberty let out a breath, “Very well, do you think that your ability will be able to accomplish what we need it to?” She asked, giving him a sidelong look as they reached the apex of the hall inside the main building.

“Yes ma’am, nothing will-” He was cut off as the doors to the outside flew open and they both glanced back towards the entryway. Halloway’s lips curled with disgust as he took a step back from the monstrosity that lurched its way inside, grabbing one of the armored guards and hurling him past a stoic Liberty. The woman crossed her arms and wrinkled her nose as she watched the humanoid… thing lurch to a stop and look up at her. It was nearly twenty feet tall with grayish flesh that seemed to bend and twist however it needed, perhaps he was made of some sort of clay?

Liberty’s lip twitched, “Oscar Ferguson,” She sighed, “You finally made it out of the hole I left you in,” She said, raising her eyebrows and looking down on the freak.

Halloway glanced her way, “You know this thing?”

“Yes, he’s technically a member,” She said cooly, watching the nightmarish thing twist and adjust its body to try to move in the confines of the building.

The horrible misshapen man turned his head towards Liberty, his face looked like it was loosely carved from flesh and mud, it was barely human. It bore misshapen malformed teeth and bellowed, “Stella! You have run your father’s good name into the dirt for too long! I challenge you for leadership of the fellowship!” He bellowed, slamming his palms onto the ground, the entire building shook.

“Can he do that?” Halloway asked.

“Yes of course,” She muttered, stepping away from Halloway, “He’s a member, though I haven’t called the order a fellowship in a while,” She said and began walking down the steps, “More importantly, he’s strong, so he gets a say.”

Halloway frowned, “How strong?”

“Mythic, He’s the Golem,” Liberty said and in one smooth motion drew her sword from its sheath as she returned to the center of the room. She crossed one arm behind her back and pointed the sword in the direction of Oscar, “I accept, Oscar.”

The titanic man turned on her, his body literally coiling in preparation for the strike. “STELLA!” He bellowed, “DIE!” He raised his fists into the air.

“Halloway! Do you know the difference between Freedom and Chaos?” She shouted as she watched the massive man ready for his attack.

“No ma’am! Please enlighten me!” He called.

“EVIL BITCH!” Ferguson roared, his body expanding in size until he could barely fit into the building before he literally threw his enormous bulk at her, his clay-like body turning into hundreds of stony spikes that gleamed like metal. She frowned as she watched the attack come towards her and lowered her sword, she sighed and held out a hand.

BOOOOM!

Ferguson’s unsettling face frowned, sculpted eyebrows knitting together in confusion before he let out a grunt of surprise as his body was lifted into the air, one foot, two feet, then three as something beneath his massive bulk hoisted him into the air and then without ceremony threw him straight through the ceiling and outer wall of the building. He took a portion of the structure with him in a terrible crash as he hurtled through the air and landed bodily in the middle of the open square that made up the heart of the compound.

He swiveled his head as his clay-like body ignored most of the impact damage, he narrowed his eyes when a shadow stepped out of the damaged main building. His eyes widened and he bellowed, “STELLA!” He roared and threw his arms up, absorbing the ruined portions of structure beneath him and growing larger, larger, larger, increasing in size to his maximum height. He was hundreds of feet tall now, a titan of his own right. If anyone could take her-

A flicker of silver light was all he saw before a wave of concussive force carved his body in half. Not even enough time for a half-sane thought as his brain, spine, and internal organs were eviscerated.

Halloway hurried through the crushed front end of the building, glancing back at the now exposed main hall as other members of the round table hurried out to see what was going on. He stopped when he saw Liberty standing there, her weapon at her side and her head turned to look over her shoulder, “Chaos is freedom without an ideal to uphold,” She said coldly and turned away from the four hundred foot tall corpse, sliding her blade into its scabbard as she stalked past him, “I am your ideal,” She growled, “Have one of the heads of construction take over disassembling the corpse and use it to rebuild the main hall. Do what you want with the rest,” She said. “I have a broadcast to host.”