[Lifespan Remaining: 26 days, 2 hours, 19 minutes.]
BOOOM—!
An arc of lightning erupted from his hand, streaking across the air and bathing the street in blue-white light. As soon as it touched the first knight’s breastplate, several branches of lightning split at once.
The sparks ricocheted toward the knights at the back, causing their entire bodies to electrify. Add to that the fact that they were all wearing conductive metal armor, well, it didn’t take a genius to know what happened next.
They collapsed onto the street like bowling pins, trembling furiously as lightning coursed through their skin and caused their muscles to spasm.
Noct was proud of the spell he cast, if not for the price that he only realized a few seconds later.
’3 days for a single spell?!’
Instantly, blood started running from his nose and his knees felt weak. It wasn’t enough to cause Noct to collapse to the ground, but was enough to make him to stagger.
’Still, the effects are insane. With my talent, I’m able to cast spells one Star higher and my spells have increased firepower as well.’
’Wouldn’t that mean I’m the equivalent of a 3-Star Sorcerer right now? Well, that does come with a price...’
He raised a hand, lifted his mask slightly, and wiped the blood away before looking back toward Noelle. "We need to get out of here. I’d rather not fight the entire city’s garrison."
Noct noticed the guards were already beginning to stir and get their bearings again. The spell was effective, but against a knight’s naturally magic-resistant body, the effects were lessening quickly.
Noelle simply sighed and reached downward at the shadow that was cast by a nearby umbrella before pulling out a curtain-like veil around the both of them.
?Alter Shade: Gardine? — [Curtain of Darkness]
"Young Master, my magic is only enough to cover the two of us. We’ll have to leave the hostage."
Noct paused, thinking about it before sighing softly. "Fine, leave him. We need to get to the port as soon as possible."
Noelle released the unconscious man, allowing him to collapse among the ruined merchandise. Noct expected everything to go black, but the surrounding market remained perfectly visible from within the veil.
It was their bodies that seemed to disappear, their silhouettes dissolving into the shadows cast between the abandoned stalls.
Several knights charged directly toward them, only to run past without noticing anything. The two patrols converged on either side of them.
"Where did they go?!"
"Search the place! They couldn’t have gone far!"
One knight stopped close enough that Noct could smell his horrible breath. His sword swept through the air just inches from Noct’s chest before he hurried toward the adjoining street.
’Despite not being a Mage, the spells Noelle used are quite effective. Could it be that she learned the magic from a Mage? Well, it wouldn’t surprise me that much.’
’That and the fact that we also got lucky...’
Had Altaire’s actual Knight Captain been present, things would’ve been far more complicated. If Noct remembered correctly, he was a 5-Star Champion, the fifth class advancement of the ’Warrior’ base class.
Someone at that level would’ve probably sensed their presence despite Noelle’s skill in handling shadow magic. A battle between them would definitely make a mess of the city and draw the attention of even bigger fish.
’Well, no use worry about what hadn’t happened.’
Once the patrols had moved away, Noelle pulled Noct between two stalls and toward the road descending toward the river and into Altaire’s port.
The further they traveled from the market, the fewer knights roamed the surrounding streets. After turning through another alley, Noelle finally released the spell.
As soon as she did, Noct staggered again, blood continuing to run from his nose. Noelle managed to catch him before he could fall.
"Young Master, can you continue?"
Noct wiped the thin stream of blood from his nose before looking down at the port below. Lanterns illuminated the place, revealing countless crates and ships that filled the place.
"I can continue. Let’s find them before they get away."
Rushing down toward the alley, they encountered an old man sitting on a wooden chair, casually smoking a cigar.
’That’s probably the Port Master...’
Noct approached the old man, throwing a coin his way to convince him to open his mouth. "Did a black carriage come through here within the last ten minutes?"
"Black carriage?" The old man caught the coin. "Might’ve."
Noct tossed him another. "Where did it go?"
The old man caught the second coin against his chest before examining it closely. After confirming that the coin was genuine, the man simply shook his head.
"No."
"No black carriage?" Noct asked. "Nothing matching that description came through within the last ten minutes?"
"I heard you the first time." The old man pocketed the coin. "Last carriage I saw was carrying barrels of salted fish. Haven’t seen any ships cast off recently, either."
Noct turned toward Noelle. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the old man since they approached. It seemed like she was scanning the guy, the way his hand was holding the cigar, the way he moved his body.
"He’s telling the truth."
The old man raised an eyebrow. "Course I am."
All he could do now was trust her judgement. If anyone could determine truth or lie from a statement, it would probably be her. That was Noelle’s field of expertise after all.
But that only created another problem.
"Go back to Amelia."
"What?"
"Quickly," Noct hurried her. "Tell her to close off all the exits to the city. Even if it causes backlash, we can’t afford to let them leave the city."
"What about you?"
"You’re faster. You need to tell her now. I’ll be with you in a bit."
"...Alright."
With those last words, Noelle quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Noct behind to stare at the countless ships that rested upon Altaire’s dark waters.
Beyond them lay the mouth of the river and the open sea—the only other route in and out of Altaire. His eyes lingered on the vessels, one after the other, trying to determine if there really were captives inside them.
After a while, Noct simply sighed and turned away.
A carriage couldn’t simply vanish.
But that begged the biggest question of them all—
"Then where the hell did it go...?"