As Red was escorting Jane, a group of five Mundane and three Accursed cut off their exit route. Halting his steps Red's iris narrowed 'mmm two Enhancers and a Conduit. All around three star.'
The biggest of the group stepped forward, a muscular man with short black hair and hazel eyes. "Well look at this a couple of nobles taking a stroll through the city…don't you know there are rebels killing people such as you."
The Enhancer let out a small chuckle, subtly shifting his body for a fight.
Jane behind Red let out an impatient sigh and in an agitated voice. "Great, a talker."
In a more gentle, loving voice almost a whisper. "Dear I'm feeling a little tired can we speed this up?"
Red was brought out of his brooding by her lovely voice and nodded. Red would have said something but when Red was in the state of mind to kill, his already quiet temperament goes dead silent.
The Enhancer standing at the ready "what cat got your tongue, even your beauty has more balls than you." the other two Accused flank Red and Jane while the five mundane formed a line with bows and spears.
Red was analyzing the most optimal way to kill his opponents. 'His words are a distraction…the Conduit, he's the heavy hitter.' The power difference between star levels grows exponentially. The Idea of a couple 3 stars fighting one five star was laughable to the point of mania.
There was a beat of silence, only the distant sound of burning buildings and distant cries acting as ambience. With vector manipulation Red formed an invisible river like field around Jane and himself. Diverting in all directions, with main pinpoints directed at his opponents.
A crackle of white electricity formed in spirals around the arms of the Conduit, a lithe man wearing a dark leather hood. As a 3 star he needed time to prepare a big attack. At the same time the mundane draw their bow's and release them.
While the arrows zipped through the air, Red simply raised the toes of his right foot, not even lifting his heel and tapped the ground.
Smooth but strong vector lines traveled out and back in causing a miniature quake. Rubble falls, burning embers settle and the footing of the five mundane and Conduit falter.
The arrows reach Red only to be smoothly diverted in all directions, some aimed at the two enhancers; their strong legs managed to keep them balanced but had to deal with the reflected arrows.
The lighting Conduit wasn't so lucky. Mid cast of lighting surge his right leg buckled causing his attack to release off kilter. A bright bolt of white lightning shot out tearing through the air creating thunderous noise only to hit the edge of Red's vector field rebounding back and deflecting left.
The five mundane didn't even know what was coming. The moment they released their arrows they saw a flash and then pain. Burning pain in their organs.
With smoldering bows and bodies, they crumbled to the ground in a pile of blacked corpses never to know what happened.
The Conduit while stumbling minimized the rebound taking the attack head on. Absorbing the energy back into himself attempting to let it pass through himself and exit through his arm harmlessly.
But he wasn't skilled enough and suffered internal injury collapsing unconscious. In the amount of time it takes for lighting to strike only two remain, the enhancers.
One rolled out of the way of the arrow, the other hardened his skin causing the arrow tip to shatter. The two enhancers stood motionless, trying to understand what just happened and how.
The man who spoke to Red felt cold sweat form on the back of his neck, palms turned clammy. The other enhanced female built for speed stammered back in fear and mutters under her breath "... a Vector.." and then again louder " A Vector, RUN !"
But before she could, Red appeared…no just existed in front of her, no time passed. On the ground the female Enhancer looked up in fear.
With his arms clasped behind his back and darkness shrouding his eyes. Otherworldly energy, silver and chromatic in nature hugged his being evaporating off his form like water. Stealing the breath of the two Enhancers.
"Do you have a family?" The female Enhancer on the ground heard a voice, a calm voice…to calm, one filled with meaning and something more. She finally looked up to meet two onyx eyes so deep she felt her life being sucked in.
With a knot in her throat she answered "huh?"
The man in front of her with fleeting patience asked again, "do you have a family?" the question under any other context wouldn't be suspect but right now she couldn't help but wonder why ask this?
'Why now?'
So in the face of overwhelming strength and fear, she didn't lie. "Yes I do, a mother, and my son…he just turned 10."
Red listened to her answer in silence, then he looked at the man who spoke to him at the beginning. Without having to say anything the man answered with sorrow and dread. "No…I lost the last of my family."
The idea of using vector splicing on these two crossed Red's mind to get this over with, but he glanced over at Jane and then at his yet to be born child…and he saw the future, a future where his child didn't have a father or a mother to guide them to nurture them.
Standing over the woman, he opened his eyes after a moment of reflection. Without any motion at all he used vector splicing to separate the head from the neck of the man who answered no.
The man's head toppled off his neck and hit the ground with a thud, his body left standing for a few seconds only to fall to its knees in ash.
The female Enhancer hearing her companion fall thought in her final moments. 'The Vector in front of me is a force I could never dream of meeting, let alone fight.'
'Yet here I am about to die by one…it's kind of an honor really…At least you're safe with grandma…I'm sorry. Mama loves you.'
She closed her eyes waiting for the moment to come but it never did, she opened her amber eyes and looked at her fallen companion.
Then looked up at the Vector's face and it confused her. Because he looked…'confused?'
His lips parted and his words were like a gavel granting her life. "Go home…go home to your son and be a mother."
His eyes filled with confusion and disappointment made her breath hitch.
'He's not going to kill me?' his eyes were filled with something so deep and primal she couldn't hold back the silent tears. She felt ashamed and angry with herself.
For how foolish she had been in abandoning her son, and for what? To fight in this 'dumb rebellion'.
Granted the right to see him again by this man she wipes tears from her eyes. "T-thank you…huh?" but when she could finally see again the Vector and the woman had disappeared.
With the Vector absent, what took his place was a reaffirmed vow to be the mother her son deserved.