As they went further down the hallway, they noticed puddles of blood all over the floor.

"What the hell?" Tibaut wondered. ("Where the hell did all this blood come from?")

"You really did a number on that giant fool. Though I'm not quite sure why you would lie to us about his current constitution." Avis coldly stated after observing the blood.

She continued in the hallway.

"I always heard you say you'd burn stuff but you seem pretty brutal, Maid Red," Albus stated as he crouched over one of the puddles.

"He was perfectly fine when I last saw him! (Shit if that bastard decides to croak here I don't have a lead anymore.)" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice and he had his attention fully turned to the blood stain.

Jake saw the worry on Tibaut's face and tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry Tib-"

"Could you all come over here please?" Avis asked the group.

They all quickly walked over to the Avis and saw what had caught her attention. At the end of the hallway was a single door. There was blood on the doorknob and Tibaut could feel his heartbeat nervously when he saw it.

("You big bastard, you better not die before I get my answers!!")

Without waiting for the group to comment on it, he opened the door and saw something he never would have guessed in a million years.

In the room stood a suit of armour with equal amounts of white paint and exposed metal. There was no pattern the paint was applied with. It almost seemed like an afterthought. On another point, the only reason he could tell it was armour was because it had four limbs, a torse area and a helmet. That might seem obvious but with its design that point had to be emphasized. It wasn't something a master blacksmith made as his final work or the piece that defined his career. It looked like a cobbled heap of scrap metal someone had welded together after hearing about the general idea of a knight's armour. And it was massive. Even as it stood across the room he could tell it towered above all of them.

As Tibaut looked at it he couldn't help but feel unnerved at the creation but a part of him also wanted to laugh at its shoddiness.

Which is why he was taken aback when he heard laughter coming from the armour itself.

"HAHAHA, YOU BASTARDS HAD THE BALLS TO FOLLOW ME!? IT SEEMS THE HOLIDAY HAD COME EARLY!!"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The others quickly pushed into the room to see who was causing the ruckus and were also taken back by the sight.

The armour took its helmet off to reveal the strained face of Cormac Healy. He was breathing so hard he could have changed his name to the big bad wolf and the colour on his head had gone from a fine porcelain to that of a dead body.

"What's that trash he's wearing?" Asked Albus.

"Wow, you really did a number on him, Tibaut," Jake said.

"Jake, was it? Your friend didn't mention him wearing armour when they fought." Avis said.

As soon as Tibaut got a look at Cormac's he felt something nagging at him and quickly remembered something.

"That white armour… don't tell you're!?"

The other three looked at Tibaut curiously, wondering what he might be leading towards. It was a white armour and a large one at that. What did that remind him of?

"Are you the assassin of the King that wears white armour!?"

"The King? So that's who this scrap metal belonged to. I'll have to thank the bastard for this." It seemed he no longer had the energy to shout and responded in a more subdued tone. This just led to him sounding like he wanted to shout but his family was in an adjacent room.

"The king!? What are you talking about Tibaut?" Albus asked.

Tibaut looked relieved at his answer but didn't drop his guard.

"Don't worry about it, as long as he isn't the person I heard about then it should be fine."

Jake looked puzzled until his eyes shot open and he slammed his fist into his palm.

"Did Ezekiel tell you that story too, Tibaut!?" He asked.

"Yeah, for a minute I thought we were gonna have to fight that monster."

Albus and Avis looked towards each other in confusion.

"Don't worry, after we interrogate this guy, we'll let you know what we're talking about."

Tibaut began walking towards the nearly seven-foot-tall heap of scrap metal and Cormac wore a manic expression as he approached.

"I'll show you bastards why no one fucks with me in this country and gets to live after."

He revealed a small pouch he kept in his closed hand and emptied its contents on his face. It was a white powder he sniffed and swallowed down, making sure he pushed the powder into one of these three holes.

("Is that the same white powder I'm thinking of?") Tibaut wondered.

He let out a war cry that left the whole group stunned, almost like a deer paralyzed in the face of oncoming traffic. He put his helmet back on and rushed towards the two.

Avis had no fear in her eyes as he approached and took his challenge head-on by rushing into him. They ran straight towards each other but she managed to slide in between his legs and wrap her wire around both his feet.

"I guess that- huh?" Albus was sure she had it in the bag so what happened next came as a shock.

She tried to pull his feet but he wouldn't budge. He didn't move when she pulled on him. As she pulled on him and the veins on her forehead began to show, she felt like she was pulling against a rooted tree rather than a person. Before she used her other hand, he turned to observe her reaction and quickly got a hold of the wire before pulling her in himself. There was no struggle, she didn't have a test of might with the giant, she was simply dragged towards him.

As she flew towards him in the air, Tibaut knew this was no time to hold back and unleashed a barrage of fireballs on the giant. The four all directly struck his back but instead of exploding they all vanished as they touched him. No, it'd be more accurate to say they faded away.

Avis braced herself for what was coming. She brought her knees upwards and used her arms to protect her face.