Return of the Runebound Professor

Linestra’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton. She gripped the edge of the railing in a vice grip as she — along with every other demon and human in the room — stared down at Spider.

There was only silence following his offer. Linestra could barely believe what she’d heard. It simply made no sense. There were times when demons worked together to further their own goals… but this was something different.

Spider stood before an army of Inquisitors and offered himself up in exchange for every other demon’s life. It made no sense.

It simply went against everything they were.

What about his offer to free us? If that was real, then how can he do it if he’s dead? Not even an Archdemon could try to go up against this many Inquisitors. That Fuyin woman is powerful enough on her own, and the huge human is even stronger than she is. That many pieces of bone rosary against one person…

Spider is dead. He won’t be able to defeat them all.

So why would he do it? Does he have some manner of artifact that will let him fight back against the Inquisitors?

The humans seemed to be just as confused as the demons.

“What manner of demon gives up his life in exchange for another?” Fuyin asked, tilting her expressionless head to the side like a dog as she tried to figure out what Spider’s angle was.

“What? He can’t be stronger than a Rank 5,” a mage muttered. “Who is that?”

“I’ll even sweeten the deal. I will speak with you unarmed,” Spider said.

“Are you arrogant or a fool?” Tren cracked his neck. “What game do you play at, Spider? You’re weak.”

“Answering that question would ruin the fun,” Spider replied. “Make your choice, Inquisitor. The battle or the war? Which will you win?”

The large man gritted his teeth. He made a sharp gesture with his free hand and a ripple of motion passed through the Inquisitors as they all lowered their rosaries.

“Everyone is to leave this building. Immediately,” Tren growled. “Immediately. Any stragglers will be executed. I don’t care if you’re a human, demon, or a hunk of metal puppeted by a dog. Get out. Only Spider and the Inquisitors are to remain. For any humans in the audience — return to your houses immediately. Call for Inquisitors to verify that your numbers have not been compromised. And for the demons hiding in the audience like cockroaches… run. Enjoy the brief moments this buys you. I will find every last one of you.”

The auction house exploded into motion. People drew on their Runes and launched themselves through the hole in the ceiling aboard flying swords; they fled from the auction house through any exit they could find.

Linestra would have loved to do the same if the madman with the purple magic hadn’t been keeping her captive. Even though she wasn’t bound anymore, one of his eyes was firmly affixed on her neck. There was no doubt in her mind that, if she tried to flee, he would stop her.

“What should we do, Jalen?” Aylin asked. “Did Spider inform you of this plan? Are we meant to stay?”

“Aren’t you the one that’s supposed to know things?” the madman asked, running a hand through his graying hair and shaking his head. “Well, you heard the man. Answers would ruin the game.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Linestra asked. “We need to run!”

“It would be wise to do as Spider says,” the armless demon said in a quiet voice. “He has not been wrong before. I do not dare attempt to weight into the probabilities right now. I fear to see what I might find.”

“Probabilities? Like math?” Jalen scratched the bottom of his chin, then let out a snort and shook his head. “Nerd.”

“The pursuit of knowledge is always wise,” Aylin said. “Even if you hold great power, there is always more to be learned.”

Linestra stared at them in disbelief. There wasn’t any panic among Spider’s companions. Every single one of them was acting as if this there wasn’t an army of Inquisitors waiting to kill all of them. Like it was just another day.

How are they so casual about this? We need to be running!

“I know, I know,” Jalen said irritably. “I was shit at math, you little mouthy brat. Music too. Tried to get good at Formations when I was younger. Turns out, I don’t have the patience for it. I much prefer smashing things over the head with cool magic. Much less of a hassle.”

“I can teach you, if you want,” Yoru said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Jalen blinked. “What?”

“Math,” Yoru said. “I can teach it to you.”

“I… we can talk about this later,” Jalen said, his voice sounding slightly taken aback. “I suppose we should do what Ve— er, Spider suggested, eh? No point sitting around at a party when all the players have already left. Still… what a disappointment. I was hoping to kill a few people. This wasn’t even a battle. How am I going to get it named after myself now?”

What is he talking about?

“Your head is damaged,” Linestra informed Jalen.

The room around them was already mostly cleared out. Linestra was becoming more and more aware that the only people surrounding them were Inquisitors. If they didn’t leave soon, they wouldn’t be getting the chance to do it at all.

“You wouldn’t be the first woman to tell me that,” Jalen said. “Good old Evergreen. Too bad she’s rotting. She was always fun when she was mad.”

He’s properly insane.

Stolen novel; please report.

A blur shot toward the platform. Linestra flinched, but Jalen just flicked his fingers. The purple barrier surrounding them vanished. That seemed like a strikingly stupid thing to do when someone was actively flying toward them at a speed so fast that she couldn’t even track where they were.

Before Linestra could even flinch, the demoness that had gone to help Spider alighted on the railing of the platform across from her. She’d slung Spider’s massive Grimore over one shoulder and had his healing potion tucked under an arm.

“Come on,” she said. “Jalen, bring the other one. Spider is going to want to speak to her.”

How is he going to speak to me if he’s taken by Inquisitors? He’s going to be dead!

“We’re actually leaving?” Aylin asked in surprise.

“Yes. Spider has this handled. Everything is as he wants it to be. Just trust him. Our job is to leave and make sure we aren’t followed.”

“Well then,” Jalen said. He grabbed Linestra by the back of her shirt and hoisted her into the air like a wet cat.

“Put me down!” Linestra hissed, squirming furiously. “I’m more than capable of moving myself! I am not some child!”

“Relax,” Jalen said. “And don’t move too much, will you?”

The air before them hummed as crackling purple energy spilled out from Jalen’s free hand. It twisted through the air like snakes, tickling Linestra’s skin.

Then there was a loud snap, and the world lurched.

One moment, they were in the auction house.

The next, a sea of red sand stretched out in all directions around them. Linestra’s stomach lurched into her throat and she nearly threw up. She managed to catch herself at the last second. The rest of Spider’s people stood around her — and demons and nobles alike flew through the air all around them.

“Short range?” Aylin asked.

“There are Imbued runes all around the auction house. They only let you use Space magic to pop into certain areas, and it’s easy to track long range teleports,” Jalen replied. “We don’t need an Inquisitor tracking us back. Any idiot who teleports right out of that auction house is going to have the Inquisition at their door by tomorrow. We go by foot until there’s more distance between us and the auction.”

“Understood,” Aylin said. “We should be fast, then. There are a lot of people present that may interfere.”

Jalen nodded. The air blurred around them again, and then they were standing dozens of meters from where they had been. Linestra’s stomach lurched again.

This has to be the worst method of travel ever invented.

But just what is Spider planning? How is he going to get out of this?

***

“Well then,” Noah said, looking out over the small army of the Inquisitors surrounding him before turning his gaze to Tren. “Looks like it’s just you and me and the few dozen men staring at us. I’ve never felt so wanted before.”

His head felt like a vice was closing on it from every angle. He’d taken too much damage from the rosaries. Even if he’d somehow left with the others, unless he found a healing potion soon, he was pretty sure he’d have just bled out from his internal injuries within an hour.

Part of him just wanted to keel over and die now — but this was an opportunity. He had to at least see if he could get something useful out of it.

“You said you have a way to destroy the demons. Permanently,” Fuyin said. “What is it?”

“By fixing their Runes,” Noah replied. “It’s rather simple, really. I just make them what they were always meant to be.”

“What they were always meant to be? What are you trying to be, some sort of Demon Prophet? You sound like a fanatic,” Tren said with a cold laugh. “But you and your demons… you weren’t affected by the Rosaries. How? That’s what I want to know. Tell me that, and your death will be fast.”

The corner of Noah’s mouth pulled up. “A demonstration, then.”

He extended his hands and drew on Combustion. He flicked his hand to one of the dead Inquisitors at his feet and they ignited with a whoomph.

The Inquisitors stiffened, but Tren held a hand up as smoke started to pour off the corpse.

“What are you doing?” Tren asked. “If you try to fight—”

“Relax,” Noah said. His nose wrinkled at the smell of cooking flesh, but he didn’t waste time in reaching for Natural Disaster and drawing the smoke to him, causing it to swirl into the shape of Sievan. “I’m getting you some visuals. If you want to understand what I can do, then you need some visuals.”

Fuyin frowned. “This…”

“Silence,” Tren said. “It’s smoke, woman. You’re an Ice mage. Deal with it if he tries to attack. Speak, demon. And do it quickly. If we are not satisfied here, then I will be bringing you back to our headquarters — and I can assure you that you will not enjoy that.”

And so Noah spoke. He told them of the Demon’s plight — there was no reason not to, after all. Inquisitors weren’t exactly bad by nature. To the average mortal, a Demon was a horrible foe.

There was a need for people that could protect the mortal plane against demons that were coming here just to hunt humans. Noah didn’t give a shit about those demons. The only ones he cared about were the ones on his side… and they had none of the weaknesses that the normal demons did.

He told them of how Demons were controlled by their runes and how the stronger they got, the more of them was consumed by their own magic.

And as he spoke, more of the room filled with smoke. It swirled around his body and danced at his fingertips, forming into shapes and images of what he described.

The Inquisitors watched on in growing interest. Every word that spilled from his lips drew their attention even further.

“That’s what you meant by free,” Tren breathed, eyes burning with hunger as he took a step toward Noah. “You found a way to remove these… poisoned runes from them.”

“I have,” Noah confirmed. “I make them whole.”

“You empower them,” Tren said. “You speak as if you are an ally for humans by fixing these demons, but you are only making them stronger!”

“Not all demons prey on humans. Some can live together with them. The demons are changing, Inquisitor. Perhaps you should as well.”

“Bullshit,” Tren snarled. “I can believe much of what you said, but demons are demons. I will not be taken in by your lies.”

Oh, well. I tried.

“We should bring him back,” Fuyin said. “The council will want to hear of this.”

“In that, I agree,” Tren said. “You were right, Spider. This was far more valuable than just killing those demons. And tell me — are you one of these new demons? The ones immune to the rosaries?”

“I am.”

“Then you will be the perfect subject of study.” Tren’s smile grew wider. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Spider. Your corpse will greatly aid us in finding a new way to destroy demons.”

“Oh, no. I don’t think it will,” Noah said, a smile of his own crossing his features. Enough time had passed. Everyone should have been able to get out of here by now. He coughed into his mask. “Is it just me, or is the room getting rather smokey?”

Fuyin tapped a finger against her waist. “Tren. Perhaps it would be wise to hear him out? If these new demons are truly not a threat to humans, then they do not fall under our directive. They could be useful.”

“Demons are demons,” Tren replied. He thrust a finger at Noah. “Restrain him! He’ll be coming with us.”

Inquisitors blurred forward, and Noah did nothing to stop them. They grabbed his arms and jerked them behind his back, shoving him down. He slammed to his knees with a loud thud.

Noah just drew in a deep breath. He pulled rivers of smoke past his mask and into his lungs. Then his lips fully pulled into a smile.

At least one of the Inquisitors seemed rather reasonable. Maybe I could convince more if I let them take me back to home base… but I can’t be fucking bothered.

The inquisitors shoved him down onto the ground. One of them grabbed his mask and prepared to pull it off. Noah twisted his head to look straight at Fuyin. There was a chance she’d be useful later.

Her eyes widened as she recognized something in his gaze through the smoke twisting around all of them.

The smoke that was flooded with his magical energy.

“Shields!” Fuyin yelled, ice already exploding around her in a dome.

It was too late.

“I’ll be seeing you,” Noah said.

He ignited the smoke.

There was a flicker of orange as the fire caught.

Then the room exploded.