After parting from Nellie, Grandma Elunara followed the address they got from someone Nellie had tortured.
She stopped in front of a dark alley that ended in a dead-end. Her posture was calm and confident. Her tight jeans hugged her frame, giving her the air of a badass celebrity. The wind lazily tugged at her coat as she looked around. Everything was silent, and she felt no sign of life nearby.
"Is this even the right place?" she asked, holding up the paper Nellie gave her. She checked it again, then looked at the dead end wall.
The place was very quiet and gave off an eerie feeling.
"Okay, how do you open a secret door without a password? That idiot didn't write it down." Grandma was already losing patience before she tried anything.
She stepped closer to the stone wall and pressed her index finger on it. Before she could say anything, a surge of high-frequency energy jolted through her body.
She staggered back but smiled with amusement. "Exactly what a black market's first-level security should be."
"Electricity works on both Netherkins and Malgeds. No demon, ghost, or dungeon monster can walk through without dying first. Lucky for me, I'm still alive."
Before she could think of another idea, something shuffled at the open end of the alley. She narrowed her eyes, sensing a presence that didn't belong to a human. Then she slowly turned, clearly unfazed by the looming presence.
There, framed by the alley's darkness stood a towering figure, humanoid but twisted. Muscles rippled beneath its crimson skin, while its face didn't follow the rules of creation; no eyes, no nose. Only a wide, grotesque mouth that barely covered its teeth, curled into a malicious grin that almost split its head. Huge fleshy cords dangled from its head where hair should've been, meaty pulsing strands that flexed like antennae.
The creature's grin deepened, amusement dripping from every twisted line.
Grandma raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Did I just have to run into a Netherkin? So, what grade are you, six or five?" As she examined her fingernails, feeling them with the tip of her thumb, totally not impressed.
The Malgeds grin vanished, replaced by a snarl. The beast lunged, claws slicing through the air in a blur.
"I guess I have no choice but to teach you some manners," Grandma growled as she took out her red silk belt from her coat pocket. Holding one end, it unrolled like a living whip onto the cold stone, a green glow shimmering along its edges, its length three times her height.
The creature's claws sliced through the air aiming for Grandma's head, but she wasn't where is struck. She was gone, appearing lazily behind it, arms folded. "Oh, that's all you gat?"
The creature turned, throwing punches, but they all hit the silk belt Grandma held.
"You're really wasting my time," then calmly she flipped the belt and wrapped it tightly around the creature's neck. But when she tried to pull, it didn't cut.
Grandma froze for a second, then a knowing smirk curled on her lips. "I get it now. You're not a Netherkin, you're a Malged. A dungeon mob huh? So, did you escape the dungeon to come find yourself a pretty human wife? Or maybe you can't even transform."
Her words were a challenge. Around them, shadows stirred, more Malgeds and Netherkins, circling like hungry ghosts.
"Seriously, are there no hunters here?"
Now I understand why only locals can enter the black market. The moment you are noticed by these guys as outsiders, they will attack instinctively.
"Fine, Time to switch weapons if this one won't work." She folded the silk belt and slipped it back inside her coat, then said a command word.
"Display." But nothing happened. The creature tilted its head, confused.
Grandma looked around, searching for what she commanded to display, but there was only empty space. "Give me a sec, I am trying to remember the word here. I barely even run into your kind."
The Malged couldn't wait longer. It lunged again, its fist aiming at Grandma's face but it met her palm. Before it could throw the other, Grandma's fist cut through the air in a clean arc then landed on its chin. The creature stumbled back but didn't fall and took a fighting stance.
"You're tough, but I'm kinda busy to entertain you." They both lunged, but as they closed in, the creature swung its fleshy cords wildly, blocking Grandma's view. Then it punched her clean in the gut, one of its fleshy cords whipping past her ear as it swung. The force lifted her off the ground, slamming her into the stone wall, then collapsed.
The creature's grin grew wider, too wide than its head could allow. It seemed to challenge her: one-on-one, get up again.
"Okay, that's it. You really went and did it." Grandma groaned as she stood, wind swirling around her like a storm forming, her golden eyes shining even brighter.
"Uh…" Clara, inside her mind, panicked. "Mistress Elunara, I think I know the word you need to use. You want to display your system, right? The word is 'reveal.'"
Grandma snapped back. "Yeah, that's it."
"Reveal, Silverblade, Grade 2…" But she forgot something important.
If you are both an Exo-hunter and a Hunter, to activate your system you have to say your surname, your Exo-hunter grade, and your Hunter rank in that order, then say "reveal." But Grandma had forgot the order and her rank as a Hunter.
But the Malged wasn't going to wait for her to get a different weapon. It lunged again, but so did Grandma. The Malged reached out to grab her neck, but she twisted, slipped under its arm, and grabbed two of its fleshy cords then squeezed hard until she tore them off.
The Malged held it head in a scream that tore the silence of the night. But Grandma didn't wait. As it dropped to its knees, she jumped on its back, focused her energy into her fist, and punched through its head. The creature did not move again.
"Ah… goodness." She shook the blood from her hand, but most of it had already smeared her coat and shirt.
She turned back to the wall, holding her chin as she studied it. Then her lips curled into a slow dangerous grin. "Let's just break our way in."
She pressed her right thumb into the center of her open left palm, then curled her left fingers around it to make a fist. With a quick motion, she stretched out the four fingers of her right hand and pushed her hands forward at full length.
As she made the gesture, she began to incant, "Great Komo, Lord of Monkeys, King of Destruction, I summon you. Reveal yourself…"
Before she could finish, the chilling howl of hounds ripped through the silence. Before she could turn, one shot forward like a missile, crashing into her back with brutal force. The impact slammed her into the cold stone wall, then to the ground.
The hound lay still, but more appeared at the open end of the alley. Their bodies were black as night, eyes glowing red like blood, teeth bared with dripping saliva, and ears twitching higher than normal dogs'.
Groaning, Grandma rose, one eye squeezed shut as she looked toward the alley's entrance, pain pulsing through her skull. "Oh great. Again? Couldn't you guys just give me a second? I'm working on something really important here."
The hounds came charging, eyes locked like they'd been called for a feast. Without hesitation, she lunged forward. Her kicks and punches met them mid-air, each blow smashing each against the cold stone wall. But no matter how hard she hit, every one of them got back up.
She decided she wasn't going to waste time fighting the hounds and called Clara.
"Clara!"
At the call of her name, Clara phased out of her body, flickering like a dying candle.
"Sure, Mistress Elunara. I will handle them."
She stood between Grandma and the snarling hounds. In a flash, she transformed into a towering elephant. But the narrow alley limited her movements; she could only swing her elephant arm, which limited her attacks.
"Really, Clara? An elephant?" Grandma called out, her voice edged with disbelief.
"Sorry, Mistress." Clara muttered, shifting suddenly into a fierce bear. Her roaring stook the walls, scaring the hounds. But they snarled harder with desperation and fury, feeling threatened by a bigger enemy.
But Clara tore through the pact with savage strength, spilling some in two, slamming others into the wall or ground, and crushing others between her jaws. None escaped her wrath.
Grandma raised her hands again, repeating the summoning gesture with fierce determination.
She pressed her right thumb into the center of her open left palm again, then curled her left fingers around it to make a fist. With a quick motion, she stretched out the four fingers of her right hand and pushed her hands forward at full length.
"Great Komo, Lord of Monkeys, King of Destruction, I summon you. Reveal yourself and obey my command."
"Damn, such a long call just to summon one being. Komo really loves being treated like the royalty he is."
The air shimmered, and Komo appeared. He looked like any other monkey, only much bigger with a golden aura that filled the alley.
"Mistress Elunara, you might wanna hurry with that wall. I'm afraid I'll drain all your essence before we even get inside," Clara's voice echoed from within her bear form.
I wish spirits had their own essence, Clara thought.
Komo's sleepy eyes scanned the fierce battle of a bear and hounds, clearly ignoring Grandma standing nearby.
"Who dared summon me in the middle of a meeting?" he asked, voice tired but sharp.
Grandma tilted her head. "Really? Or do you mean in the middle of your sleep?"
"Elunara, what is it this time?" Komo finally faced her
Grandma pointed at the wall.
Komo followed her gesture, but his gaze drifted upward first. At the top of the wall stood a massive humanoid, far larger than the creature Grandma had killed earlier. Its skin was deep green, eyes glowing red beneath a mane of dark hair falling to its chest and elvish ears. It wore only a short skirt that hung to its thighs.
Unmoving, it had been watching everything since Grandma's arrival. But just behind it, Grandma's silk belt floated silently in the air, the creature seemingly unaware of it.
Komo dropped his gaze lazily back to the wall, say nothing about the observer.
"You dare summon me when your contract has expired."
"It expires in three minutes," Grandma shot back. "If it had already expired, I wouldn't have been able to summon you at all." Her patience was fraying, her hands restless, her eyes hard, but Komo remained calm as still water in a pot.
"This is the second time I've summoned you this year."
"Are you forgetting the sixty-three times you summoned me in the last two months?"
"That's because you went and made contracts with two other people, and they kept summoning you back before I could even explain why I needed you."
Komo sighed and stepped toward the wall, placing his hand against it. "Fine. Let's finish this so I can get back to my meeting."
Grandma chuckled. "You mean your bed? Because no King goes on a meeting leaving his crown behind, and your clearly not wearing yours." But she was tiring fast, her stamina nearly gone.
"It fell off when you summoned me."
Yeah, he thinks I will buy that. Grandma thought.
Electricity crackled harmlessly against Komo's palm. Without effort, he pressed forward, his hand punching a clean hole straight through the wall.
Grandma leaned to peek through. The wall was impossibly thick, and beyond it stood yet another wall, this one was a shimmering barrier.
"Wow. Didn't think it'd be that thick," she muttered.
"I'm out of here," Komo said flatly, dissolving into the air without another word.
I would've needed a ton of essence to break that completely. Guess that's why he only pierced a hole. Grandma thought
She called out to Clara. "Time to go!"
With a short run-up, Grandma launched herself forward like a missile through the opening, and phased straight through the barrier as if it were nothing.