Page 31 of I Ran Away to Evil #3

The Arc Warden

Julian

Julian and Lomen found nothing of interest and returned to search the room at the end of the hall.

They did so by throwing open the door—mage staff and sword blazing—ready to ambush anyone inside. There was no one. The room was an empty storage bay, large doors shut, with a window and a smaller entry door also closed.

Julian made his way to the window.

Everyone in the street was running for their wagons like their life depended on it. Others hollered directions as the caravan of carriages all raced for the port gate.

“Well, I feel foolish.” Lomen blushed, lowering his flaming staff.

“Don’t,” Julian told him. “It’s better to be safe.”

“ GREYSON! ” a musical voice screeched outside. A woman was trying to block a carriage from leaving through the port gate. “You can’t leave!”

“If she’s been found that means we’ve been found,” a gruff-looking elf shouted back. “And you even let her escape!”

Julian immediately guessed whom they were speaking of, and anger warred with relief. Someone had found his sister. She was safe.

The elf held out his palm facing forward and said, “[Clear Road].”

It was a perk favored by travelers which let the caster move without hitting others in traffic. The wagons practically bent reality around the young blonde woman, and Greyson led his charge through the port gate.

Julian wouldn’t let even one of those who’d kidnapped his sister escape. Ripping off the door from its hinges, he stepped out into the street and pointed at the caravan. “[Tracking].”

[You have attempted to use the Skill: Tracking . You may track Targets equal to your Tracking 4 x Perception 25 = 100. You will know the direction of each Target tracked.

Skill Bonus effect: Border Master removes distance limiter.

Warning! Targets who enter dungeons or alternate spaces will not be tracked, but will reappear after they have returned to this realm.

You have selected 17 Targets. You have partially succeeded . One Target has resisted Tracking .]

Sixteen faint red arrows appeared at his feet, overlapping as they all pointed in the same direction, following everyone except the blonde woman.

She turned to stare at Julian, her eyes narrowing when she saw who had attempted to use an ability on her.

“The duke of North Sumbria?” she spoke softly, and then smiled a charming, beautiful smile. Pink threads of magic appeared on her fingertips. “Perfect. Come here. ”

It sent a shiver down his spine, and he found himself taking a step in her direction, unbidden. With a bit of effort, he shook off the compulsion to obey her.

Julian equipped his actual shield just in time to deflect a pink thread and shout, “Fireball!”

She retreated her magic and ducked to the side, then stopped when no fire erupted from his shield. It wasn’t a spell or ability Julian possessed, but then, Lomen’s spell whirled over his shoulder, the heat brushing uncomfortably close to his pulled-back dreads.

“You dare—[Watcher of Fate]!”

At the same time, Julian activated [Charge]. Her skill hit him right before he reached her, freezing him in place. It bypassed his shield, completely ignoring his Master-level protection.

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Your fate has been sealed for sixty-three seconds or until you are no longer being watched. Character Sheet sealed. Abilities sealed. Movement sealed. Health Points sealed. Mana Points sealed. Immune to all Damage.]

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:52]

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:51]

The woman glared at him. Her beautiful cornflower blue eyes were as clear as the sky and captivating. Her hair looked so smooth that he could run his hands through it. And her frown made him hurt.

He felt disgusting .

When someone put so many points into Charisma, it affected the world around them. This woman had min-maxed her attributes so much so that she was far beyond what any normal person could achieve.

“Well, you’re as good as your sister, I suppose.” She tapped her chin, eyeing Julian up and down. She glanced over his shoulder. “Why do I know you?”

Lomen replied, obviously trapped in her Charisma, “We have met before, beautiful—”

“No matter,” she cut him off, lifting her hands. “I’ll take you both.”

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:41]

Pink threads glowed, tied to each digit. She wiggled her left hand once, and the thread on her index finger came into focus. It formed a long pink thread that created a circle large enough to walk through, and with a flash of light, a portal appeared.

She reached out to touch Julian when a wave of magical energy washed over the entire area in a forceful shimmer. The portal collapsed, the pink threads dissolving into nothingness. Another dome of magic encircled the entire city.

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:32]

The woman stomped her foot cutely. “ Why is Fate doing this to me?! ”

The last of the caravan behind her was caught on this side of the port gate, watching their companions ride off down the road. Not that they would get away.

If Julian could’ve smiled, he would have.

His mother had activated the Arc Warden.

The magical artifact took an incredible amount of mana to maintain, so much so that she couldn’t have done it alone.

While in effect, certain powers couldn’t be used within the sphere.

Fast travel, portals, dimensionals, spatial …

even spell scrolls were void under its enchantment.

Everyone was left to their own power to walk, run, swim, or fly. It was meant to hold a city under siege or protect it during a siege from the outside.

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:19]

“I guess we have to do this the hard way.” The woman pulled out a poison vial from her pocket and uncorked the lid.

Julian wasn’t the biggest fan of dying, but he was used to it. Over the years, he’d needed to be resurrected countless times by his party members while exploring the North. And his mother didn’t hold to Sumbrian inheritance laws, so dying here wouldn’t affect his title.

The only real problem he had with her poisoning him was the type of poison she held in her hand. If it was what it looked like …

“Now, hold still.” She smiled at her own joke and dumped the bottle onto Julian’s head.

[You have been affected by the Skill: Watcher of Fate . Time until effect wears off 00:00:11]

She smiled and tossed aside the bottle—then spun around to catch a knife before it stabbed her in the back. She promptly dodged two more and ducked a flying axe. The weapon sailed past Julian’s cheek, barely missing him.

John had arrived, but it was too late.

The moment the blonde woman looked away, [Watcher of Fate] had ended early, and he was hit by a new notification.

[You have been poisoned by Kazil . You are now a Frog. Health 10/10. Mana 1/1. Skill: Hopping .]

Julian shrank.

“Someone catch that frog!” a voice that sounded remarkably like Chloe shouted from afar.

The frog looked up.

There was a beautiful woman standing right in front of him. Her blonde hair was like the sun, and her blue eyes were like the calmest water in a very welcoming pond.

He hopped toward her.

She reached for him, but a strange dirt wall shot up between them. He protested as loud as he could and tried to jump over it, but it stretched up into the sky. High overhead, the woman was flying on white feathered wings. Like an angel.

Strong hands wrapped around him. “Got you!”

He struggled to get away as water suddenly got poured onto his back. As fast as Julian had become a frog, the antidote turned him back into a half elf. He landed on the ground.

It took a second to steady himself.

Overhead, attacks followed after the woman. The celestial .

“[Soul Bind].”

“[Holy Arrow].”

“[Wind Blade].”

Only [Wind Blade] managed to hit her, but it barely slowed her down. She flew west and then dropped out of sight. Hana ran past Julian, Wendy on her heels.

“ DON’T LET HER GET AWAY! ” Chloe arrived last, her own physical abilities limited without a fast-travel skill.

The necromancer’s eyes turned into pools of black, and she dropped to one knee. Inky tendrils of darkness that burst out of her and spread in all directions, searching the carriages and stretching into the buildings nearby.

“Please be here,” she whispered, her eyes unseeing. “Please, please, please—”

At this rate, she was going to give herself mana burn, so Julian dragged himself to his feet.

“Chloe. Chloe, it’s all right.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Julia’s escaped—”

“She did?” The necromancer’s spell broke, and she looked up at him with regular eyes full of tears. “She’s alright?”

Julian hesitated to say as much when he himself didn’t know, but then, John interrupted. “Julia was just found at the palace. She’s fine.”

“I have to go to her.” Chloe dragged herself to her feet, rubbing her eyes.

“At least take a mana potion first—”

She waved him off and started running. Julian turned to his rogue. “Did your shadow catch the celestial?”

John shook his head.

“Then I guess we’re going hunting.”

Julian would [Track] every single person who’d tried to hurt his family.

He would search for them all night if he had to.

And with the Arc Warden, they had nowhere left to run.