Spark was jostled. And carried along by the terrified people. Purposefully. As he moved, his dark-grey eyes scanned the faces rushing past him.
Mostly staff, yes. They had been closer to the exits. Serving at the fringes of the room. Most of the nobles, the intended targets, were likely dancing closer to the center.
There were a few lucky nobles. Surviving because they were, by chance, staying away from the center of the chamber. Nobody he knew personally though.
But then, his eyes locked onto a face in the crowd. Smaller than most. Framed by dark, long hair streaked with unnatural purple. Her noble outfit was quite foreign.
She was young woman. Just a few years older than he was. With sharp, intelligent eyes. They currently narrow with focus. Darting around. Looking for something specific. She didn't seem as terrified as the other people. She didn't seem to be afraid at all.
Spark recognized her immediately. Princess Kissara. The infamous witch. Daughter of the King and the Great Witch of the Catlithe Tribe.
The one he knew for sure was responsible for the mysterious illnesses and deaths haunting the slums in the capital city. Her dark arts were shielded by her royal blood and diplomatic immunity. She was arrogant. Powerful. Untouchable.
Until now.
Chaos was a blanket. Thick and obscuring. The palace was in pandemonium. Guards were likely overwhelmed. The higher ups, people with true power, should be focusing on the Land Dragon.
Holy Sun Cultists were probably scattered. Either inside with their summoned beast. Or making their own escapes.
No one would notice one person disappeared. Getting quietly separated from the fleeing mass. Especially if that person was someone many feared or disliked anyway.
Spark's face was usually amiable on the surface. It was for a few seconds settled into a look of cold calculation. Masked instantly by concern as he pushed through the crowd.
Untouchable, was she? Not at the moment. She was a potential aide for his purpose. A genius witch. A princess with dangerous knowledge. And very likely a cold-blooded mass murderer.
His private rule was 'never harming innocents'. Princess Kissara, in his estimation, was far, far from innocent. She was a problem he had noticed. One the law couldn't touch.
The chaos had just presented a perfect opportunity. To make her his problem. And potentially, a very useful asset hidden away.
He adjusted his stance. Subtly shifting his path through the crowd. His eyes locked onto Princess Kissara. Already trying to duck behind a group of taller servants. And move towards a side corridor. Away from the main exits.
She was trying to escape the chaos. But also melt away unnoticed.
Good. That made his job easier. He wouldn't grab her here in the open. He would follow. Let her lead him somewhere quieter. Then, he would strike.
Let the King and the higher ups deal with the dragon. And the dead nobles. Let them explain the missing princess to the Catlithe Tribe. If they even noticed immediately.
Spark Nighthawk had a new acquisition to make.
He moved. Blending into the panicked stream of bodies. His focus solely on the slight figure of the witch princess. Threading her way through the panicked crowd. Hunter mode activated.
Just as Spark had predicted, she didn't follow the crowd. She angled away from the wide, obvious corridors. The ones leading outside. Or to the upper floors.
She slipped down a narrower passage. One that seemed to lead towards the palace's lower levels. Basements and service tunnels. Not fleeing the palace. But moving deeper within it. Interesting.
Spark followed. Maintaining stealth and a calculated distance. Close enough to keep her in sight. Far enough to not draw attention.
The air grew cooler as they descended. The screams and roars from the level above faded somewhat. Replaced by the general din of a palace in lockdown. Silent, except for the distant shouts, clang of armaments, and hurried footsteps.
Princess Kissara kept moving with surprising agility. A small shadow against the dark stone walls of what were clearly service corridors. These weren't public areas. But she seemed to know this place intimately.
She reached a heavy, reinforced door. Set into the wall. Two palace guards stood watch. Their faces were grim. Halberds were held ready. They looked seasoned. Professional.
They were not the type to abandon their post. Even with a Grade 7 monster stomping around upstairs. Maybe especially because of it. This door was clearly guarding something important.
Spark paused in a shadowed alcove. Some distance back. He watched. His face now was expressionless in the dim light. This wasn't a simple escape route for her.
The princess approached the guards. She spoke to them. Her voice was too low for Spark to hear. But the guards' postures relaxed slightly. Recognition. Royal authority. She was about to bypass them. Probably giving some order.
Then it happened.
Princess Kissara made a subtle gesture with one hand. Spark saw a flicker of tiny movement. Too fast to identify initially. The guards stiffened. Their eyes were widening in alarm.
Their faces contorted. Dark veins bulged under their skin. They dropped their halberds with a clang. And clawed desperately at their throats. Gagging. Their movements were jerky and uncontrolled.
It was horrifyingly fast. Within seconds, their thrashing was ceased. They slumped against the door, dead. Their skin had taken on a strange, dark, mottled hue.
Gu Insect. The rumors were true. The princess, just like the Great Witch of the Catlithe Tribe, was a master of gucraft. One of the minor paths of power. Just like runecraft and alchemy.
Using insects to craft poisons and parasites into swift, agonizing death. His estimation of her danger level, and potential utility, just spiked. She was a weapon. A hidden, lethal weapon.
She ignored the dying men entirely. Stepping over their collapsing bodies without a wasted glance. She faced the reinforced door. Spark saw her lift her hand again. A faint void mist pulsed around her fingers.
Something materialized in her palm. An intricate, metallic, object. Radiating subtle energy. A key? A strange key.
She pressed the strange key against a point on the door. There was a soft 'click'. A low grind of gears. And the heavy door swung inward smoothly. Silently.
She stepped inside.
This was his moment. He couldn't let her get settled inside. Potentially setting traps or activating defenses. He needed to move now.
From his spatial belt, Spark retrieved two items he had prepared for just such... opportunities.
First, the Mask of Mystery. A simple-looking, featureless ceramic mask. Smooth and bone-white. But, it was actually full of interconnected runes. Ones that subtly messed up any ability to track his existence.
And the Hooded Cape of Stealth. A cloak woven with shadow-absorbing threads and illusion runes. Making him appear blurry. Less substantial. Harder to focus on. Especially in dim light.
Simple. Effective. No matter what ability or techniques were used... No one would describe 'Spark Nighthawk' entering the treasury. They would describe a 'tall, shadowy figure' or 'someone in a mask and cape'.
He pulled the hood up. Letting the shadows deepen around his upper body. He slipped the Mask over his face. The world through the eye slits seemed sharper. Colder. He moved from the alcove.
His footsteps were silent on the stone floor. He needed to be fast.
He reached the open door. The interior was dimly lit. The air was thick with a faint smell of ancient metal and polished wood. The princess was only a few steps inside, turning to survey the room.
She didn't sense him. Or if she did, it was a fraction of a second too late.
Spark moved with the terrifying speed of a trained predator. He was huge. But not slow.
His massive hand shot out. Not to grab. But to deliver a precise, disabling strike. He aimed for the pressure point at the base of her skull. A clean, effective blow.
The side of his palm connected. Not overly hard. But with undeniable force and accuracy. Princess Kissara crumpled without a sound.
Her body went limp and she fell. The strange key clattered to the floor from her unclenching hand.
He didn't pause. No time for hesitation. He knelt beside her fallen form. His free hand went back to his spatial belt. Extracting the small, leather-bound book. His most closely guarded secret and most potent weapon. The Slave Grimoire.
He opened the Grimoire to a blank page. There was no ceremony needed. Just intent and the inherent connection established through his runic inscription. He placed one of his hand above Princess Kissara's chest.
The Grimoire pulsed faintly in his hand.
A faint purplish glow appeared on her whole body for a split second. And then she dissolved into a stream of purple mist. Containing warm energy. The mist flowed directly from her form. Into the open pages of the Slave Grimoire.
The grimoire trembled. And then, it clicked shut. With a soft, final sound. Princess Kissara was gone. Contained within the Grimoire.
Spark noticed that the strange key on the floor also disappeared along with the princess. It was a bound object. Very likely... a technomind gear.
He didn't check her entry data on the Grimoire pages. No time for that. He slipped it back into his belt.
Now for the secondary objective. The opportunity that unexpectedly arose. The Treasury Chamber.