Gaius had taken to the skies the moment the enemy Knights smashed into the wall of the makeshift fortress. The others weren’t as lucky, but the boy had no time to care about them as the two of them lunged into the skies again, swords drawn out and glinting in the faint light of Heritage’s sky.
The little boy braced himself to meet the assailants, when someone from behind him rushed into the skies to intercept the larger of the two enemy Knights. He hadn’t had time to see who that person was clearly, but enough people were shouting his name below for Gaius to hear.
It was Winston. The teenage boy had hidden himself deeply. Like Gaius, he too was able to fly, hinting at the kinds of equipment he had. Metal shrieked as he crossed swords with the enemy Knight, and in the instant their blades were locked, the teenager looked back at Gaius for the briefest of moments.
The boy didn’t need to think to know what that glance meant.
The Warmaster of this fortress was outmatched, but he would attempt to buy some time for Gaius to deal with the second enemy.
Even if the price for buying such time was death.
Less than a heartbeat later, Gaius’ knife clashed with the enemy’s longsword. The weapon was plain, unembellished, but as the two matched strengths, a small chip had appeared on the knife. The little boy’s leg shot out, only to be intercepted by a kick from the enemy’s own, the impact from that pushing the two back in mid-air.
Silver flashed across the air as Gaius threw his damaged knife at the enemy, who deflected it with a glancing blow. “Nice try, kid.”
The sneer on the enemy Knight’s face warped as the little boy raised the Moonshot, now in its short-ranged form, and fired from the hip. Blood blossomed from his torso as Gaius pulled the trigger rapidly, creating a window of weakness as the Knight staggered in rapid succession.
A small cube ejected itself from the Moonshot as the little boy moved to press the attack. Another silver knife crossed the distance between the two combatants, but the lazy grace that the enemy had previously when deflecting the projectile had been replaced with a labouring gait. The Knight in front of Gaius, whose name he knew not and cared not for, revealed yet another opening as the silver knife glanced off his sword, and the boy bit down on the weakness mercilessly.
Fine cuts began to appear on the enemy’s forearm as the knife in his hand swept and sliced out. He’d raised his left arm to block against what seemed like a decisive blow, but Gaius had subverted that expectation by aiming for the tendons at the wrist, the silvery blade darting and dancing around the armguard.
Behind him, Winston was already on the defensive, one of his arms already broken by a heavy blow from the second Knight, dangling limply at his side.
Gaius gritted his teeth and unsheathed a second blade with his left hand. His joints creaked lightly, and a slight scorching sensation shrouded his upper torso as the boy moved to unleash a dizzying flurry of stabs and slices.
The enemy’s armguard moved with a hint of desperation, trying to intercept the incoming blows, and that was when the boy put on an even greater burst of speed.
Sparks flew as fifteen strikes landed on the exact same spot of the enemy’s armguard in rapid succession. Gaius could feel the target’s mentality shift into one that abandoned any notion of counterattacking, and in that instant, he abandoned all caution and punctured the armguard that had been blocking him in a single powerful strike.
A low guttural roar leaked out from the enemy’s lips, but before he could do anything else, Gaius twisted the knife, oscillating it as rapidly as possible as he twisted, before his knee shot up into the target’s stomach.
Air shook as Gaius’s knee met the enemy Knight’s stomach, drawing even the attention of Winston and the Knight he’d tackled away earlier. Gaius’ target doubled over as the sword dropped from his right hand — he had been trying to find an opportunity to counterattack, but the toil of defending had drawn his attention onto moving his left hand only.
Silver flashed through the air as the knife in Gaius’ left arm plunged itself into the enemy’s nape. The knife vibrated rapidly as it sliced through flesh and bone, burying itself up to the hilt.
Movement fled from the punctured, abused and bloodied body as the little boy kicked the Knight downwards, freeing his knife. He could feel the stares of everyone present fixate onto the falling corpse for a couple of seconds, before Gaius drew out his Moonshot again and loaded it for the second time today.
Both sides had been exchanging sporadic fire, but no one dared to aim at the fighters in the air, for fear that they would hit the enemy.
A few seconds after the Knight’s body landed on the snow-covered land, the enemy troops from the East and the West began to direct their fire at Gaius. He could hear small pelting sounds, like that of raindrops falling on an umbrella, as he floated slowly over to the Knight that was looking warily at Gaius. The Stellar Core’s Barrier was holding steady, and the Knight couldn’t help but show some uncertainty on his face at the sight of shots being deflected by the boy’s defences.
Winston was still on guard, as he was well within striking range, but it seemed that the enemy was no longer that willing to fight.
“Why are you attacking us?” Gaius asked, his voice a smooth tenor.
The enemy Knight bit his lips, before making a couple of hand signals. Winston tensed up, readying himself to strike, but one half of the young elites a good distance away from the walls stopped shooting immediately, creating confusion amongst the other half. The fire eventually died down, but most of them still kept their artefacts trained on Gaius.
“We have orders from above.” The Knight looked at his companion’s body and sighed. “Although the person who wanted to execute this order is gone now.”
Gaius really wanted to doubt that statement. It was way too convenient to pin the reason behind the attack onto a dead body, and the little boy had a hunch that either Knight would have stopped their attack if their companion died.
It just so happened that he was…fortunate enough not to face off against Gaius. Admittedly, it was the first time he’d faced off against a Knight who was ready and aware of his presence. Gaius had overexerted himself and exploited his advantage in artefacts to secure a swift victory, but it had been dangerous. The boy was confident that he could win, but with Winston clearly unable to hold on for long, he didn’t have the advantage of time.
“So, are you going to retreat now? Or do you want me to wipe out half your forces as a justification?” Gaius asked back. “You might get into trouble if you return like this.”
“You’re being awfully considerate,” replied the Knight, his voice devoid of any sarcasm. “You can wipe out the group on the left then. They're from the West.”
Winston nearly fell out of the sky at these words. “Are you serious? You’re literally got to let him kill half your forces? What kind of commander are you?”
Gaius floated over to Winston. “They were two separate forces in the first place. I’m not sure whether there were instructions given about work together, but you lot were already intending to kill the other after this, right?”
He could tell, from the uneven marching speed between the two contingents earlier. Gaius never really paid much attention to this, but it had surfaced in his mind the moment the two Knights decided to fight their battles separately.
“Right, what sigil was responsible for that barrier?” Gaius asked.
The Knight’s face twisted slightly as hesitation flashed across his face. He glanced at the small killer’s face, before tossing a card at him. “It’s here. You can go experiment later.”
Gaius smiled faintly, his fingers flickering to create a handful of sigils as the Moonshot changed to its long-range form. “Winston. Sometimes, not all things are as innocent as they should be.”
The Warmaster looked at the little lecturer solemnly. “War should be done with honour.”
“Politics are at play here. Only by wiping out a good chunk of the enemy forces does this Knight have a reason to retreat,” replied Gaius. “And we aren’t bloodthirsty murderers that would kill if we don’t have a reason to either, right? None of us wants this battle to continue.”
“…necessary sacrifices.” Winston spat. “What a word.”
Gaius looked at the Knight. “You should know what to say, I guess. A misstep that wiped out the…Western contingent. Maybe their leader’s hubris.”
The Knight looked at the boy, shuddering slightly, and then nodded. His hands flashed, and confusion rippled across the contingent of Western elites.
Gaius fired one last time, and explosions blanketed the contingent of Western elites. A second later, their erstwhile ally turned their blades on them, cutting down whoever remained, leaving only a small number of Southern elites that had been pressed to join the Western troops.
“War’s just another means of diplomacy,” said Gaius. The field of bodies mocked the boy quietly, and he turned away in silence.
Winston stared at the field of bodies, and just laughed bitterly.