The Sovereign Necromancer: System of the Dead

The Cost of a Favor

My palm slapped the broken concrete floor. The forty-seven points of mana inside my body rushed downward like a sudden leak in a bucket.

"Arise," I ordered.

The black ink under my boots did not form the giant gorilla this time. I did not have enough power for that. Instead, the dark circle stretched across the floor, and the two dead Vanguard Hunters from the hotel docks shot upward. They did not have their iron swords anymore, but their grey-flamed eyes looked wide and angry. They threw their bodies directly in front of me, locking their arms together to make a wall of dead flesh.

BOOM!

Jude’s double-barreled shotgun fired. The blast was incredibly loud inside the narrow hallway. Hundreds of small lead pellets tore through the air, hitting my two shadow servants directly in their chests. The impact was massive. The dead hunters did not feel pain, but the force of the blast ripped away their dark smoke arms and pushed them back against my shoulders. We all hit the floor together in a big pile of limbs.

[Warning: 2 Shadow Servants destroyed.]

[Current Mana: 7/100]

"You are out of tricks, boy," Jude barked, his boots clicking loudly on the stone floor as he stepped through the white smoke. He broke open his shotgun, the two empty brass shells hitting the concrete with a sharp ring. He reached into his leather belt, pulling out two fresh blue cartridges. "Your little ghosts cannot stop A-Rank steel."

He was fast. His fingers moved like an expert, sliding the new shells into the barrels in less than two seconds.

But Amarachi was faster.

She did not wait for him to look up. She stepped over my legs, her boots pressing firmly into the dirt. She raised the golden Vanguard rifle, but she did not aim for his thick chest armor this time. She aimed low, directly at his unprotected shins where his silver shields did not cover.

Zap!

The rifle fired a thin, concentrated beam of blue light. It did not make a massive explosion, but it drilled a neat hole straight through Jude’s right kneecap.

Jude made a sharp, choking sound. His leg buckled completely, and he went down on one knee, his shotgun tilting toward the plaster ceiling. The weapon went off blindly, blowing a giant hole in the roof that brought down a heavy shower of concrete blocks. One big chunk hit him directly on his shoulder, pinning him to the floor.

"Tobe, take his bag," Amarachi said. Her voice had no shaking in it at all. Her purple eyes looked cold and flat as she stared down at the bleeding hunter. "He has the high-grade mana stones from the wall gate. I can feel their light from here."

I scrambled up from the dust, my chest aching from the blast. I dropped next to Jude, who was grinding his teeth together in anger, his hands trying to push the heavy concrete block off his leg. I ripped the small canvas pouch right off his belt.

I opened it. Inside were five dark blue crystals, each the size of an egg. They gave off a soft, steady light that made the skin on my palms tickle.

[High-Grade Mana Crystals Detected.]

[Do you wish to absorb the fuel?]

"Absorb it," I said instantly.

The five crystals in my hand turned into fine gray sand, sliding between my fingers. A sudden rush of freezing energy shot up my arms and settled directly into my stomach. It felt like drinking a large cup of ice water on a hot afternoon.

[Mana Restored: +500]

[Current Mana: 507/100 (Overcharged)]

[Sovereign Capacity Unlocked: Temporary Level Rise.]

"Get up, Amara," I said, grabbing her elbow. "More of them are coming up the stairs."

"We are not going down, Tobe," she said, her fingers tightening on the golden gun. She looked up at the hole Jude’s shotgun had made in the ceiling. Through the broken laths and wires, we could see right into the fourth floor, and above that, the open gray sky. "The Vanguard helicopter is on the roof. I can hear the big blades spinning."

"You want to steal their ride?" I asked, my heart taking a wild leap.

"They came here to take me," she said, her purple eyes locking onto mine with a dark, sharp grin. "It is only fair we take their boat."

We did not use the stairs. With five hundred mana points, I did not have to hide anymore. I pointed my hand at the concrete floor beneath Jude’s pinned body.

"Gorilla," I said. "Lift us."

The black shadow under my feet grew so wide it covered the entire corridor. The massive frame of the shadow gorilla lifted itself into the hall, its red eyes burning like fresh coals. It reached down, picked both of us up in its giant, smoke-wrapped arms, and launched its body straight upward through the broken ceiling.

We tore through the fourth-floor empty clinic, smashing through plaster and old wooden chairs, until we broke through the final tar roof into the bright morning air.

The roof of the Mainland Public Hospital was flat and windy. A large white helicopter with the gold Vanguard logo was parked in the center of the concrete pad. The main rotors were already spinning fast, kicking up loose paper and dust.

Two men in black suits were standing by the open cabin door, waiting. When they saw a giant black beast break through the concrete roof with two kids in its arms, their jaws dropped.

But before they could draw their handguns, a loud voice came from the security tower behind the helipad.

"Stop right there, Tobe."

I turned around. Standing on the metal stairs of the radio tower was Fanny. She was the Chief Editor of NovelSnack, the largest media network on the Island, and the woman who handled the contracts for all elite hunters in the region. She wore a sharp red suit, and her hand was resting on the shoulder of a small, thin boy with thick bandages over his eyes.

My blood went completely still. The boy was Chiamaka’s fourteen-year-old brother, Samuel.

"Chief Segun knows you are smart, Tobe," Fanny said, her voice carrying easily over the loud noise of the helicopter blades. She pulled a small silver dagger from her coat and held the sharp edge against the boy's neck. "You want to save your sister? Good. 

But if you take one more step toward that helicopter, Chiamaka’s family pays the price first."