Chapter 34: Lucrim Pirate

As everyone stared, Rick had a moment to examine the man threatening them. Though the camouflage had struck him first, the ragged belt and sandals suggested he wasn't military. Rick didn't know enough about guns to be sure about the one aimed at them, other than that it struck him as a bit old-fashioned... and heavy enough to fire lucrim bullets. Some sort of mercenary, then.

"Now, this can end easily." The mercenary gave them all an insincere smile revealing several broken teeth. "Lay down whatever weapons you're carrying, turn around, and walk away. If you never come back, I'll let you go."

"You two, get behind me." Uncle Frank stepped in front of them, one fist clenching at his side.

"Oh, you don't want to fight me, old man. Even if you can, do you think you're able to protect those dear children?"

"I think that you're working illegally. You couldn't be paid for this find if the authorities are notified, so you always intended to kill us. But you didn't try a sneak attack because you weren't confident in winning, so you took the coward's route."

Immediately the mercenary's smile disappeared. "It would have been easier for you to take a bullet in the back of the head. I'll kill them first."

"You can still walk away from this. I'll ignore the threat if y-" Uncle Frank's words were cut off by a hail of semi-automatic gunfire.

The bullets ricocheted off a hand of blue aura that manifested in front of their uncle. Rick remembered that hand picking them up when they were children and taking them on rides over the yard. This version was far larger, as tall as their uncle and packed with aura. Lucrim bullets could often penetrate aura defenses, but the hand showed no signs of damage.

An instant later, it swept out to strike their opponent, but he skipped to the side: a speed technique just like the Bunyan's Step. Though he fired again, Uncle Frank had automatically manifested another aura hand that deflected the bullets. The mercenary then shifted to firing at Rick instead, but the hand expanded to cover his new target.

While Uncle Frank was focused on that, the mercenary pulled something else from his belt. Rick saw it, but he was too deep in analysis to say something in time. Some sort of aura flared to activate the grenade, then it was flung toward them.

"Move!" Uncle Frank leapt to the side, grabbing Melissa as he went. Rick leapt in the opposite direction before the grenade hit.

There was no explosion, just an expanding blue fog. Yet Rick realized a moment later that all the plants within it were curling up and dying. Whatever it was, he had a feeling that aura wouldn't stop it. He didn't even want to risk his defensive core against a killer's weapon.

The mercenary moved to fire at Rick, and he was about to Bunyan's Step away when a blue hand manifested to defend him. Yet the mercenary seemed to have anticipated this, instead firing at Uncle Frank. This time, he kept up the burst of lucrim bullets, the muzzle of his gun glowing with aura. Uncle Frank staggered back a step and his barrier began to crack.

Rick realized that he had waited for too long, analyzing when he needed to act. He used a Bunyan's Step to leap at their attacker.

He didn't hear the gunshot, just saw that the gun had turned on him as soon as he moved. It must have hit him straight in the chest.

Yet he wasn't dead.

Throwing aside thought, Rick slammed his fist into the mercenary's face. The man went down hard, but he was already raising his gun again. Rick kicked it out of his hands, sending it sailing into the jungle. He intended to kick down at his opponent, but the man flashed away in another swift movement, vanishing from the ruin.

Though Rick kept his eyes on the jungle, he backed up to check the others were okay. Only after he saw that Melissa had taken cover behind a shrine and Uncle Frank was back on his feet did he look down at his chest. His shirt had been torn, he was bleeding, and it felt like a huge area would bruise, but he'd survived a lucrim bullet. That had been without the Triune Golden Spheres, which he quickly activated to prepare for the next attack.

"The two of you can take care of yourselves." Uncle Frank only glanced at them briefly, but he looked a bit guilty. "If I hadn't spent so much time trying to defend you, that might have gone better."

"Are you okay, Rick?" Melissa asked quietly from her position. Rick nodded, but Uncle Frank hushed them both.

"There's no time to talk. Get ready. I don't know who that is, but he's suspiciously well-equipped. He won't give up, so we need to find and disable him before he ambushes us."

Before they could plan any further, a sphere sailed in from the jungle. When it hit there was no explosion, the sphere simply began to sprout legs. It rapidly curled into a scorpion with a presence like a demon, but Rick had never seen anything like it before. As the creature scuttled toward them, he felt a cold presence at his back.

"The enemy has numerous demonic contracts," Katenka whispered into his ear. "The manifestations can be destroyed with force, but he's using them as a distraction."

It was too late to share the warning, as the demonic scorpion was already advancing on them. Uncle Frank had tightened his hand, a blue palm moving down to smash it. But Rick looked past them and saw the mercenary in the trees, hurling another sphere.

Directly overhead. Even as the first scorpion was being crushed, the second was forming above them, rushing down at Uncle Frank's head.

Rick tackled it in midair, slamming the demon into one of the ancient walls. It stabbed at him with its tail, but he was surprised how slow it seemed. He caught the pincer in one hand and struck the creature's head with his elbow until the chitin shattered and the demon dissipated into aura.

As he looked up to defend himself from the mercenary, he found the man gripped in a blue fist. Either he hadn't found his gun or it had fallen, because he merely struggled with his bare hands. Uncle Frank needed a moment to restabilize his aura, but then stepped closer.

"We won't kill you, but-"

"That's right, you won't." The mercenary suddenly spoke... in a woman's voice. His body melted into a succubus, who gave them a cheerful wave before vanishing into demonic aura.

"Don't move." This time it was the mercenary's real voice, coming from behind them. Despite the warning, Rick whirled around to look.

The mercenary had his gun pointed directly at Melissa.

"You're right that I intended to kill you, but circumstances have changed." The mercenary gave them all an unpleasant smile, his finger tense on the trigger. "I still can't let you report this, but we migh-"

Melissa's eyes flared black and a dark field flickered into being between her and the mercenary. Rick wanted to yell at her not to take the risk, but she'd made the right choice: her manifested void had targeted the gun.

The mercenary pulled the trigger... too late to prevent the lucrim in his gun from being drained into the void. It began to drain his hand as well, forcing him to take a step back, eyes widening in shock.

Though Uncle Frank started to move, Rick was there first. He had intended to tackle the mercenary to the ground, but the man leapt away. Rick followed him instantly, colliding with his opponent just as they landed. The mercenary kicked at his legs, but the blow deflected harmlessly, giving Rick time to strike him in the chest.

The mercenary went skidding back across the ruins, tumbling once before hitting a low wall at the end. A blue hand tried to grasp him again, but he pushed himself off the ground, landing atop one of the shrines. Rick tensed as he saw that the mercenary was smiling.

"Well, it seems I've found something even more valuable..." He threw another grenade and Rick realized too late that this one wasn't lethal. Uncle Frank tried to intercept it, but the grenade went directly through the aura hand, then exploded in midair.

Not in a fiery explosion, but tearing open a hole into the demon realm. And not above them, but targeting Melissa. She had a moment to stare in shock before the force of the explosion pulled her in.

Then the portal closed, forming a locked pillar of aura. Rick didn't know what had happened, but he knew that Melissa was trapped on the other side. He saw Katenka appear out of the corner of his eyes, a grim expression on her face. Yet before she could say anything, the mercenary unhooked another pair of grenades and smiled.

"Was that a fully mature ether void? I've never actually seen one. But oh, I know someone who will pay for one."

Rick ignored him and struck the pillar of aura, hoping that he could force it back open. The aura simply ignored his blows, leaving him separated from his sister.