Lenny awoke with a jolt. It was the early hours of the morning, and he'd heard footsteps passing by the building. They gave him a bad feeling. Perhaps it was simply that he knew the House of Cards were after them, or that the number of footsteps passing by the window had been large, yet not a word was spoken.
Careful not to wake his companions, Lenny crept to the door and opened it with a subtle creak. No one had heard him, or so it appeared from a quick glance.
He was surprised when entering the main foyer, that Mother Mercy and the other Madonnas were sleeping in the main room, laid across the benches. All except for Mother Hope, who sat on a chair by the main door, holding her familiar staff. She had clocked Lenny and was scowling at him.
As their eyes met, Mother Hope indicated with one finger for him to approach. He carefully walked down the main walkway, passed the other sleeping women. It was strange to see them in such a vulnerable state, used to them as the figures of arbitrary power.
When he got close enough, Mother Hope whispered to him: "I have no idea why Mother Mercy is going to such lengths to protect you, but it isn't worth it."
"Don't thank me," said Lenny. "I suspect she finally sees someone who might be a capable of replacing her without being an utter disappointment."
They both knew who he was talking about, and what the insinuation was. Mother Hope quickly went to hit him with her staff. However, he was getting used to being attacked, and moved back, narrowly avoiding the strike. It was a little harder to dodge than he had suspected and he began to wish he had sunk both of his last stat points into the speed stat instead of only one.
"You little cretin," the woman said. "Do you really think—?"
But at that, they both turned, as they heard someone trying the door. Mother Hope quickly slammed down her staff, activating its spirit core. A sudden screeching could be heard, a familiar wake-up call for Lenny and the others; a moment later, all nine of the Madonnas were awake, holding their staffs ready to defend themselves.
A large crash was heard as the door showed a small crack down the middle. The door was old and sturdy, so would probably last a while if that was all the strength the attackers had, draining some of their spirit essence in the meantime.
*
Outside the building, Jack had arrived and asked one his father's men to try the door. Predictably, it was locked and so he had asked Kyle, the leader of the men brought with him, to destroy the door.
The result was a single large strike, as Kyle used the Ace of Spades to drive a big wedge into the door. For his men, this was an incredibly powerful strike, but Jack realised how large the gap was between his family and their men really was.
"Get out of the way," he said. He shuffled and cut the deck, pulling out a Jack of Clubs, which flew through the air, transforming into a black figure that spun and struck the door down with a single strike before disappearing.
The door exploded off the hinges, splinters of real wood and warped metal flying in every direction.
And anyone left sleeping on the street had been quickly corrected of that state.
*
Inside, the Madonnas had formed a semi-circle inside the foyer. They had their staffs drawn and were ready for whatever came through the door. Most of them were not especially talented fighters, but they had still trained with and wielded low-tier spirit weapons. Mother Mercy had made sure of that.
If nothing else, they could take out one or two of the weaker ones, and buy her some time to take out the main force. Also, their ability could be used on themselves, and so they were generally not able to be knocked out of the fight quickly, unless their opponent could take them out with a single strike.
The first attackers to enter were surprised to see a group of women of various ages holdings staffs. They had practiced one or two group battle tactics, so when Mother Mercy had indicated, they had all struck forwards at once, knocking out two of the five men who had not been quick enough to evade.
This first wave of attacks had given them a sense of confidence, which was quickly shattered when one of the three remaining men had thrown a nine of clubs and a small strike was thrown at each of them all at once. Although they were able to block these attacks individually, it had occupied many of them momentarily, reminding them how powerful the faction they were facing really was. This was swiftly followed up by a volley of cards from the others, who chose to target either one of several of the other Madonnas, rather than the whole group simultaneously.
Suddenly, the Madonnas were on the defensive, and strikes were coming at them from all angles: sharp diamonds, blunt clubs, and penetrating spades. Attacks would get through, but would be rapidly healed in response. This seemed to aggravate the men from the House of Cards, who doubled down on the number of strikes.
Lenny watched carefully, studying the battle, and wondering if or when he should jump in and help. "So that's clubs, diamonds, spades? What about hearts?" It seemed to take a second or so for them to prepare their ability, requiring a shuffle of the deck for some reason. Their decks looked larger than most, as if not a true 52-card pack. Presumably, they had tampered with them in advance, choosing cards that suited their own skills.
At that moment, Mother Hope was knocked out by a club, but at the same time, or thereabouts, Mother Mercy had followed up a block of three diamonds in rapid succession with a forward thrust into the belly of the lead attacker. He seemed to be stronger than the other two, who suddenly came in to cover their companion. This momentary lull gave the other women a second to coordinate their strikes again, though, and each of the two guarding the leader received multiple blows. However, these were not knocked out so easily.
Just as they thought they' been given an the opportunity to finish them off, a second group of five came through the door, and those surrounding the others were now attacked from multiple sides. Their formation broken, the Madonnas had lost a little of their unified battle tactics, and were being overwhelmed.
That's when the system notification triggered. "Scavenger-tier hunters detected. New Quest: Defeat as many as you can for rewards. Current level: 6. Progress to next level: 0 of 1600 EXP."
Although that was all the motivation Lenny had needed, he spotted something odd. There was a sort of white crystal spinning above many of the intruders, but not all of them. This seemed to projected by the HUD, rather than part of the environment itself. "System, why are only some of them highlighted?"
"The quest is to fight the scavenger-tier hunters. Fighting the others is likely to have a sub-optimal outcome."
"That means death, right?"
The system didn't respond. He was quick to take note though. It turns out not all the men were equal, and he did not want to face hunters who could take out those monsters of the next tier. Only one of the original five who had entered had no indicator above them, and the same was true for the next group.
Lenny approached one of the men from behind, lunging forwards with the dagger given to him by Mother Mercy. It had a speed enhancement, slightly improving his movement speed when activated. Having a larger pool of spirit essence now, he could use it more freely. The knife slipped in the back of the man like hot butter. He screamed out, falling to the floor.
"Enemy defeated. 100 EXP—"
However, at that point, the system was cut short, as the leader of the initial group threw a card towards his fallen colleague. He suddenly rose again, invigorated, rejoining the fight. Although it was strange, as his wound hadn't healed, and blood still poured from his back. Another card followed swiftly after, bringing back one of the leader's knocked-out companions. A few of them had been dealt with by the Madonnas during the fight, who were also down a couple.
"So that's what the hearts do then?" Lenny thought. It seemed to be some kind of physical invigoration rather than healing.
Although this setback was major, it was not quite as severe as everyone had first thought. The man who had healed his companions seemed to retreat, as if he was out of the battle, presumably drained of spirit essence.
There was a reason, after all, that so many groups chose to attack in waves. Once their essence was lowered, the user became significantly more vulnerable, and so it was typical of the lower ranks to absorb the initial onslaught, leaving their strongers to come in and finish off the weakened opponents, who would have been forced to use up some of their essence. This was why the Common Corps existed in the military, a kind of damage sponge to soak up beasts' attacks in the large-scale offensives, leaving them more vulnerable to further attacks.
The battle in the church continued, with Lenny attempting to a stab another, but without the element of surprise he was having less success. Even with the active effect of the dagger, he was struggling to keep up with scavenger-tier hunters, who had some spirit armour and weaponry of their own. In fact, he had been forced to block with his newly acquired steel bone plating a few times, and though his arm was in pain, with several gashes, he couldn't help but feel he would be out of the fight by now if not for his increased durability.
He saw an opportunity to grab a hold of one of the men, attempting to use spirit drain on them, but unfortunately, he had only managed to drain a single spirit point when he had been flung aside. He wouldn't be able to use the skill again while it was on cooldown, but bringing his essence back up to an even number would at least allow him to activate the core of the dagger one more time, which required 2 points to activate.
Rose and Harry had been waiting for a signal from Lenny to join the fight, but either through getting carried away, or some other reason, he had not done so. The hope was they would come in when the others were tired as a sort of second wave of defence. They were considering charging in regardless, when the final group came in. This group consisted of Jack, the leader's son; Kyle, the squad commander, and three others wearing a higher-tier of spirit armour. None had an indicator above their heads. At this point, everyone was aware that something had changed and the fighting suddenly stopped.
"A predator-tier hunter has been detected. Do not engage," said the system.
"Damn," thought Lenny. There were now eleven of them and only seven of us, including Lenny. That's when Lenny spotted Harry and the others, behind one of the pews. Harry raised his sword, signalling they were ready to join the fight, but Lenny just shook his head indicating it would be pointless. If the spiky bearded man with an angular face could take out predators, they had no hope.
It was at that moment, that Jack, the man Lenny had been examining so closely, began to speak: "I am surprised by your commitment to protect these children. Truly admirable. But any further resistance would be pointless. Please, hand them over."
Mother Mercy bent to the ground, healing two of her knocked out companions, before walking over to Mother Hope and healing her also. "I don't know what you mean," she said. "I can do this all day."
"You might be able to, but it's clear your men—or should I say women—cannot."
Mother Mercy looked at the women from her order. They really did look tired. Most had bruises and cuts they hadn't bothered to heal. Then, the fighter with a knife wound his back suddenly dropped to the floor. It would have been comical if it wasn't for the danger they were all now in.
"Yours don't look much better," said Mother Mercy.
"Enemy defeated. 100 EXP. First time defeating a scavenger tier hunter: instant level up. Current level: 7. One stat point is available."
"And yet," said Jack. "The five strongest fighters haven't even joined in yet."
It was true. She knew of their family, who were known throughout the section. Jack was strong. And the spirit armour the remainders possessed indicated their elevated status within the faction too.
Kyle, on of the more prominent members, stepped forward: "Please, think of your faction."
Mother Mercy paused for a few moments. "You can't take the girl," she finally said.
"We will be taking everyone involved that day," said Jack.
"Then you leave me no choice." At that, she slammed her staff into the ground and activated its core. Suddenly, a screeching could be heard, a deafening one, which made everyone drop to their knees. Similar to the one that had woken the group each morning, but of the predator tier. Ears were bleeding and those close to her had their eardrums burst, even her own people. However, being partially deaf, and having slaughtered the creatures with the effect in the first place, she was less affected and used the opportunity to strike Kyle in the head.
The hit was strong, but he was still conscious. He stepped back, moving his hands quickly, ready to throw a card back at her. Just as it was about to leave his hand, the staff struck down again, and the ability had once more been activated, causing him to drop to his knees. Another blow was aimed at him, this time going straight for the back of his head, but this time, Jack had been able to recover more quickly and threw a card out to defend the leader of his father's men.
A black kingly figure rose in front of the staff, which had been swung with such force that the strike had bounced off the solid black figure and back in Mother Mercy's face. She quickly healed her broken nose and eye socket, but as she did, a volley of cards was thrown at her from all directions. The men of the House of Cards did not want to face the active effect of her staff once more.
Under the torrent of attacks, she was powerless. Although she was able to block a few strikes in critical areas, and activated her healing, eventually, she lost a leg to a powerful series of strikes, falling to the ground, bleeding all over.
However, as the attacks were thrown, Lenny had spotted an opportunity, and went to stab Kyle in the back. His spirit armour had deflected the blow, and instead a kick had snapped his head back and thrown him away from the group.
"Stop!" said Mother Hope. "We will give you the children. Let our leader live."
Jack knew now would be a good time to take her out, but in doing so, he would likely lose another man or two. Their losses had already been considerable. He considered if it would be worth it anyway, but the Madonnas had always paid their levy in the past and he doubted they would survive without her.
"Fine," he said. "Hand them over."
The Madonnas went to seize the children, turning on those they had just protected. Mother Mercy was no longer conscious to protect them.