Chapter 100 - The Steward

Vivi's danger senses flared. Uundref’s spectral portal appeared beneath her. The Steward was trying to kidnap her!

She tried to jump out, but her footing was already lost. She was falling into the portal. She grabbed onto the edge and shouted for help. She managed to hold on, but the portal's pressure made it hard to hold on. Her body was being ripped apart, pulled with extreme force from below. It took her all to not fall in. Even with ether, she wasn't strong enough to pull herself up. The pressure was only getting worse.

Aang and Ven rushed to the hallway. Immediately, Aang ran in an attempt to save her.

It was too late. Vivi’s hand slipped, and she fell into Uundref’s portal.

***

Vivi fell from the ceiling. She flailed her arms in a panic before her senses returned. The fall was around fifteen feet. She filled her feet with ether and braced the landing.

The chamber was dome-shaped and disgusting. Vivi landed on a grid of steel grating. Sewage water flowed inches beneath the grating. The floor around the steel was solid stone, which extended to the walls. The chamber looked exactly like Vivi would expect a sewer to be—dark, monotone, and with a smell so bad Vivi wanted to puke.

The Twilight Shaman's aura could be sensed from directly above. It seemed the portal took Vivi to the hub’s sewers.

Uundref stood a short distance from Vivi, his tall head looking down on her. He wielded two katanas in his hands. Solace on his left and Vivi’s nix sword on his right.

“Runesmith.” His voice wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic and comical as it usually was. “You’ve made a fool of me. The answers were so obvious. Always so obvious.”

Vivi took a step back, heart racing. Uundref matched her, stepping forward. Lucius was examining the field around them. They didn’t have much room to play with.

“A sewer is not the most elegant location for negotiations,” Uundref said. “But waste is fitting for the situation. The facility is in ruins. The Twilight Shaman has destroyed everything we’ve worked for. The dungeon has been cleared. No amount of repairs will bring Zand back.”

Will he kill us? Vivi asked in her head. Is he just venting out his anger? Or does he want something from us?

“He knows you’re a runesmith,” Lucius said. “He can’t just kill you.”

“Ingfried will hear of this,” Uundref said. “His most prosperous facility is destroyed and inoperational. Nobody can tell how long a dungeon of this scale will take to respawn. As the representative of this facility, I am the one responsible. I will be blamed.”

“If you’re here to kill me, just do it,” Vivi said. “Otherwise, tell me what you want.”

Ether pushed outward from Uundref's body. A lot of ether. The aura that Uundref usually kept concealed filled the room, grazing Vivi's skin. A feeling of utter domination washed over her. Lucius’s tail puffed up.

“Do you understand what you've done?” Uundref said. “You've destroyed the facility, dear.”

Uundref pushed ether through Solace's runes. The veins glowed bright. “A little human, who we all thought was an inconsequential joke; someone to be tossed in to die... A little human like you has created a nimrod revolution.”

Lucius! Vivi thought in a panic. What do we do?

Lucius watched as Uundref slashed at the air with Vivi’s sword, taking a test swing. Uundref didn’t usually fight with swords. His swings weren’t practiced, but his absurd strength left a powerful swing nonetheless. “We won’t win,” Lucius said. “Not when he wields those.”

But he can’t kill us, Vivi thought. We have an advantage. He needs to immobilize us. He wants us. We could fight.

“Zand has fallen, and the blame is all on my shoulders,” Uundref said. “I can’t fix what has been broken. I can only offer my King something better. You’re smart enough to know what I need. You created these swords. And we both know your swords are far more valuable than any flimsy skills Zand's squadron bosses could have ever dropped.”

“You want to enslave me,” Vivi said.

“We can make this simple,” Uundref said. “Abandon Zand, and move to the seventh level with me. We will meet Ingfried directly. Comply with me, and I will let your friends escape alive. Nimrods are nothing more than cattle to me. I don’t care whether they live or die. Try to fight back, and I will force you to surrender. Fight back, and I will slaughter every member of Aang’s union.”

Uundref had her cornered. Vivi couldn’t do anything but accept his offer. If he was honest, her friends were allowed to escape. Aang still had one of her runeswords. They’d survive in the wild alone well enough.

In return, Vivi would have to work for Ingfried. The Demon King, whoever the man was. She wouldn’t even be killed or imprisoned. Perhaps she could even build a life down in the seventh level.

Lucius was shaking within her. He knew Vivi was considering the proposal. Meeting Ingfried was the last thing Lucius wanted to do.

Vivi, too, liked her life on the fourth level. She had true friends here. People who she could trust, and who wouldn’t kick her down when she fell. Vivi had honestly enjoyed her stay with the Hollows. She wanted life to continue.

“I…” Vivi said. “I’ll comply with your request. But I have a condition.”

“You are in no position for demands,” Uundref said. “Accept my offer and kneel, or I will drag your face across the sewage until you have no choice but to accept.”

Vivi ignored the sick feeling in her stomach and went into stance and called forth Abyss Destroyer, wielding it with two hands. “My condition is simple. I want to hold a duel.”

Uundref paused, tilting his head.

“If you can pin me to the ground, forcing me to surrender, I’ll follow you without complaints for as long as you need me to,” Vivi said. “You won’t need to kill my friends. If you win, I'll be loyal for life. If I win, I will make the demands.”

Uundref studied her expression. Slowly, a grin formed on his creepy face. He pushed his aura further, filling the room with pure horror.

Vivi already felt stupid. Her offer was useless. She had no chance of defeating the Steward. Not without her nix sword, not when her muscles were exhausted to near paralysis. But hell, she had one more trick that could possibly work.

“Very well,” Uundref said. He sheathed both of his swords. “I accept your proposal to duel. After you have been pinned to the ground, immobile, you will work with me.”

“Yes,” Vivi said. “I—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Uundref’s figure flashed. He disappeared from Vivi’s vision, moving faster than her eyes could keep up. She grimaced, filling her body with as much ether as she could, while activating Thorn Sword. She scanned the room for her opponent.

A hand appeared in her vision. Vivi had no time to react. Uundref grabbed her from the face and pushed her to the ground. The back of her head collided against the steel grating. The impact nearly knocked her cold. Her vision went black. If not for Lucius’s ether, she would have died.

It took her multiple seconds to regain her senses. Her sword had flung off her hands. She gritted her teeth, attempting to push herself up. It was useless.

“A desperate hope,” Uundref said. “I can’t guess what you expected would happen. You cannot defeat me. The hope is useless. Admit defeat.”

“Vivi, maybe we should accept…” Lucius said. “It’s about time I meet Ingfried again anyway.”

Vivi gritted her teeth. Uundref was off guard. Both of his swords were dangling on their sheaths, unprotected. Uundref didn’t know how to treat a sword properly.

Lucius, be ready to surprise him. Attack him from my core. You’ll know what to do. Whatever will happen, I have ideas. 

Vivi lashed out her hand, reaching for the nix sword in Uundref’s sheath.

The Steward reacted immediately, grabbing her hand.

Lucius appeared from Vivi’s core, swiping claws at Uundref’s hand. The Steward was caught in surprise. He was forced to retreat his grip.

Vivi gripped the hilt of the nix sword. Simultaneously, Lucius attacked again, throwing a claw-strike. Uundref had nothing to protect himself. He jumped back. The nix sword slid off the sheath, staying with Vivi.

Vivi had her sword now. The one she’d built to counter this very Steward. She was free from the pinch.

But she was still on the ground. If she attempted to get up, Uundref would have another opportunity to push her back before she could react. The Steward had already unsheathed Solace. He dashed for Vivi faster than her eye could see. Vivi would lose.

She had one more trick remaining. The purple skill wisp flickering within the second slot of her core.

Vivi activated Death Sense.