“Once we arrive there, stick to the plan, everyone.” Says Adelar, making his way through the dense forest surrounding the castle in which Solomon is kept. He’s closely followed by his employees and Thalia.
“What if they have any defences around?” The panther asks, clearly worried.
“Solomon didn’t mention anything like that.” Adelar replies, hoping that the cat was right.
“Be on the lookout anyway.” Lisa adds. “Don’t want to get buggered by a trap or somethin’.”
Right then, Adelar hears a familiar voice from deeper inside the woods. He gestures to the others to stop.
“This voice…” Says Adelar. Keeping as quiet as they can, they go towards the direction of the voice. It’s getting unmistakable, the loud voice of Ludwig is heard through the forest.
“We’re close.” He whispers, his expression that of anger. “How did he beat us here?”
“The wolf from that so-called “financing company”?” Yaroslav asks after taking a step towards Adelar.
“Exactly. I’ll go and try to get some info.” Without waiting for a response, he begins walking closer to the voice, listening intently. He can now even see the massive castle Solomon mentioned in her message. He stops and hides behind a particularly thick tree upon spotting people from Ludwig’s organisation, close enough to catch what he’s saying, mostly.
“For those who didn’t hear me the first time…” Says the voice of Ludwig. “Get in. Find the Acid One. Bring me back my cat, leave all else dead.” Adelar peeks out from the tree and sees agents from the organisation. Thalia has already caught up to him, hiding behind a large bush close by. He sees many agents in the forest right before the clearing. Twenty… Thirty… Maybe even more than that.
“And if any of her little “friends” dare to show up here, you have permission…” Ludwig pauses. “No, I order you to kill them.” Adelar moves his head back behind the tree. “I admit, it was foolish of me to just let them go, but I didn’t think they’d have the knowledge or guts to come here.” He says with resentment in his voice.
The eagle is then startled by a sound coming from directly above him. He looks up and through the canopy, he spots someone with a crossbow, just standing in the air. He glances at Thalia, who must be seeing the same thing. He hears the same sound three more times: a crossbow being fired.
“And for those that haven’t seen the Acid One before: female cat with cream and white fur. Unmistakable green spirals on her hands. Do not disappoint me.” The silver wolf declares and orders most of the agents to line up at the main entrance. Among them, Adelar sees a familiar figure: the snow lynx he also saw at Ludwig’s building.
The agents practically break down the door, the silence is broken by the sound of gunshots and shouting. The rest of Adelar’s group has caught up, laying low, staying so quiet that not a breath can be heard.
“Right.” Lisa says in an authoritative tone, the sound of gunfire muffling the conversation. “I’ll go climb up where Solomon did. You…” She looks at Yaroslav. “You approach from the right. Try to find another entrance. Father, Thali, you stay here and watch out for any dickheads coming this way.” She then points at Durazo. “Especially you, Father, Solomon really doesn’t want you in there. And you…” She looks at Adelar with a smug smile. “You go do your thing.”
They all nod in agreement. The plan is set into motion, Lisa goes to the left side of the clearing, staying in the woods. Yaroslav does the same with the right side.
Adelar observes the castle for many minutes, the sound of fighting growing quieter and quieter, listening for anything else Ludwig might say.
“Why are you not going in there…” He asks himself quietly as he eyes his former partner in business. He then glances at the castle windows and sees people in white robes getting shot down by the person above, as well as the agents going through the castle. One person catches his eye. One that looks very much like the feline they’re here for.
“I swear that’s her…” For just a moment, he sees a person who’s without a doubt Solomon in a white robe, following someone else in beige clothes. “It has to be her.” He mutters, turning to Thalia and Durazo, the sound of the crossbow above slightly startling him each time.
“I’ll get him down.” Says the panther, Adelar shoots her a questioning look in response, but then her fur turns black. Not just her fur, her eyes, claws, the clothes she’s wearing… Every part of her is dark.
Moreover, thick, obscuring darkness spreads from her. Adelar watches, more impressed than frightened, Durazo takes a step back, not taking the situation well.
“Don’t be scared, it’s still me.” Says the voice of Thalia from inside the spreading gloom. It engulfs the trees around her, forming a perfectly circular, imperceptible area of darkness. Adelar hears movement from inside going up and up quickly. He looks at the person standing in the air, aiming the crossbow towards another would-be victim when Thalia’s figure, completely dark, illuminated by moonlight, jumps out from the canopy. She grabs him and drags him down to the ground, barely making any sound other than some branches breaking.
The darkness retreats, revealing Thalia holding a crow’s beak closed, weighing him down with her body.
“Sir.”’ Says a female voice coming from Ludwig’s direction, spoken through a radio, judging by the staticky sound of the voice. “I found Sheila.” Adelar peers through the woods to look at him, he doesn’t look like he expected to hear that.
“Give her a spare.” He barks, looking at the castle with vitriol and hatred.
Meanwhile, Durazo goes to help Thalia keep the crow on the ground and silent.
“Sir!” Says another female voice, presumably Sheila. “I managed to escape, but-” She is cut off by Ludwig.
“You failed me, Sheila.” He says in a cold tone, more quietly, Adelar can hardly hear what he says exactly. “And unlike Solomon, as much as I hate it that she isn’t, you are replaceable.” There is no response from the radio for a long moment.
As they converse, Adelar hears Thalia talk to the crow, who talks back in a whisper, rather than call for help. He finds that strange, but he listens to Ludwig’s conversation and not the one behind him.
“...the situation is dire, sir.” Sheila says in a remorseful voice. Adelar can see Ludwig already getting angry with her responding. “The Lightborn leader is extremely powerful! Not just that, but Rufina is here too!”
“Really?” Says Ludwig, the mere mention of the name makes him growl. “ So the intel was correct. Very well, I will give you one more chance. Bring me back my cat and kill Rufina. Also kill every one of those little pests who destroyed my best front if they dare to show up here. I doubt you forgot what they look like.” He orders. If Adelar had teeth, rather than a beak, he would grit them. “If you want to keep your position, that is.”
There is a long pause after he says that.
“Understood, sir.” Says the voice of Sheila, sounding a lot less enthusiastic.
Adelar turns around to look at the others upon noticing the lack of sound from any of them. To his surprise, the crow not only isn’t resisting, but he’s sitting on the ground with the other two standing over him.
“Here for Solomon, sire?” He asks, also keeping quiet.
After a moment, Adelar nods in response, although questioning the crow’s motives.
“So is he. Pray that he does not succeed or we’ll all be in trouble.”
“He won’t.” Adelar scoffs. “I’ll see to it.”
“How come you give up on him so easily?” Durazo asks the crow.
“Being paid just about the same wage despite promotions for ten years will do that, sire.” He explains. Thalia nods in agreement, Durazo sighs in disapproval.
“I expected no less from him.” Adelar remarks, pleased to see that this particular ally of his isn’t very loyal to him.
They lay low in the woods for a few more minutes with no movement from Ludwig or any of his agents. They stay around him, standing guard.
“Why is he not going in?” Adelar asks the crow, annoyed.
“Someone in there has the power of rust. He has the power of metal. Not a good combination, sire.”
“Ah.” Adelar leans against the tree, waiting.
“Target down, sir. You can enter safely.” Says a voice through the radio, which Ludwig looks delighted to hear.
“Excellent work, Sheila.” He says into the radio, then gestures for the remaining agents to come and gather. “Stay here. You see anything suspicious, investigate. I’m getting my cat back, this is taking too long.” Having said that, he turns around and walks inside the castle, closing the doors.
“Are you wounded?” Durazo asks the crow. He rolls up his left sleeve to reveal bruises.
“What are you doing, Father?” Thalia asks, slightly concerned.
“Helping those in need.” He puts his hand on the bruise and powers up his magic, it shines brightly in the woods. “Also known as a distraction.”
The panther nods, understanding what he meant. Colour drains from her once again, darkness spreads, obscuring the area around them as agents come to investigate the strange light in the woods. The crow watches in awe, looking as if he recognises this power. Thalia leaves an area uncovered where Durazo can work. On a whim, he tries to shine his light into her darkness, but it gets absorbed by it.
Anyone who enters her ever-growing darkness is soon thrown inside this area, the first one being a meerkat.
“Cooperate, if you want to live.” Says the ex-priest, gesturing to him to come closer.
“Listen to him, sire.” The crow adds.
With a deep breath, Adelar steps into the darkness, towards the castle.
“You’ll get what’s coming to you…” He stumbles through the trees, only one thing on his mind. “Your reign ends today, Ludwig.” He reaches the clearing not long after and due to the opposition being gone, walks up to the main entrance and puts his hands on the massive double door. Straining ever so slightly, he pushes on the doors, opening them with a loud creak.
Inside, he sees Ludwig talking in a not so civil manner to a white fox. Adelar is taken aback by the sheer height of the fox, likely over two metres, wearing a white robe and a long loincloth. Both of them turn to look at him as he enters, Ludwig starts laughing with his back turned to the fox.
“Would you look at that.” Says Ludwig. “The two people who I want dead the most right now, all in the same room.” He smiles a toothy grin. “How delightful.”
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Adelar powers up his magic, in his hand appears a long strand of fire. With one motion, he cracks it like a whip, causing a tiny explosion akin to that of a firecracker at the end.
Ludwig laughs even harder.
“I’ll give you that, Johannes…” Ludwig begins to say, completely ignoring the fox. “Showing up for my prize with that, it’s quite daring. I don’t know how you got to know that, but-”
“You are talking to ME!” The fox says, deeply insulted, and points at Ludwig. From the tip of his finger comes out a thin beam of light. Before it can hit Ludwig, his entire body becomes covered in the colour of silver.
Then, with a bored look, he turns around to face the fox again. Where the beam of light touched his body, it looks like heated metal, he seems completely unbothered by it. He casually walks up to the fox, who has since added another beam from his other hand. He puts his hands around the sides of the fox’s neck and breaks it with a loud crack. He falls to the ground, but Adelar stands there stoically.
“Now then…” Ludwig dusts off his hands and begins walking over to Adelar. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He grins, rushing over to the eagle.
Adelar cracks the fire whip at the silver wolf, which he brushes off at first, then attempts to grasp it when he sees that it is wrapped around his neck. He laughs as the fire is severed where it’s touched, disappearing from around him. It then regrows to its full length in Adelar’s hand.
“Courage doesn’t make up for power, Johannes.” Ludwig chuckles.
“We’re just getting started!” Adelar retorts, then his expression turns shocked as he is looking at the wolf, or rather, past him.
“What’s wrong?” Ludwig stares at him mockingly.
“You brought this upon yourself by coming here!” A snap is heard from behind him, which intrigues him enough to make him turn around. There, the white fox is standing, tilting his head to the right, then left.
“What in the…” Ludwig says with a hint of confusion in his voice.
“Poor animal! You understand nothing!” The fox exclaims and puts four fingers on each hand together. A beam shoots out from each of them, all concentrated on the same spot: Ludwig’s chest.
The wolf howls in pain, it actually seems to hurt him. Adelar smiles and hits him with the fire whip again. That, however, seems entirely ineffective.
Ludwig steps to the side, the beams of light hit the floor uncomfortably close to Adelar, he takes a few steps back as a result.
Ludwig runs at the fox, now properly infuriated. He grabs the fox’s hand and his shoulder with the other. With one sickening crunch, his entire arm is torn off.
“Try using your lasers now.” He holds up the fox’s arm, only for it to start shining with white light. Looking at the fox, Adelar sees that he isn’t too bothered by the fact that he’s one arm short. In fact, he is looking at Ludwig the same way an educator might look upon someone who, out of all the answers, chose the worst one due to ignorance. The spot where his arm used to be starts shining as well, the torn off arm disappears in the light and appears back in its place, on the fox.
“That is not it either.” The white fox says with a shrug, then returns to using his beams of light on the wolf.
As Ludwig winds his fist back, Adelar sends the whip’s business end flying at him. It coils around his wrist, keeping him from hitting the fox, who is repositioning to a doorway in the hall.
“Your brutish strength is feeble compared to the divine judgement which I cast down upon HERETICS LIKE YOU!” The fox exclaims in a condescending tone.
The outer layer of the spot where Ludwig is hit begins to melt. Furious from the fox’s resilience and Adelar continued resistance, he severs the whip again and rushes the fox, now taking him as an actual threat.
“I can’t just kill you? Fine, have it your way.” He grabs the fox’s hand and brings him to the ground. He then punches the castle wall repeatedly until a large chunk of stone comes off. He throws it onto the hands of the fox, then another onto his chest, keeping him down. The fox only seems to look upset from the fact that he can’t fight Ludwig like this.
“Foolish!” The fox yells, struggling to get out. “For your sins, you shall suffer!”
“Now isn’t that better?” Says Ludwig, turning to face Adelar. “We can finally begin properly!”
“Sir.” Says a female voice through Ludwig’s radio, which seems to annoy him greatly. “I found the bear.”
“Whatever, take him out already!” He yells into the radio.
“Even your own employees get to you? You haven’t changed one bit, Ludwig.” Adelar remarks.
“Oh, you have no idea just how much I’ve changed.” As Ludwig says that, Adelar walks closer and cracks the whip, the end of it wrapping around the wolf’s arms and torso collectively. Ludwig simply put his arms apart, snapping it again.
“You make this too easy.” Ludwig lets Adelar hit him with the whip on his metal body as he slowly walks over to him. Before the eagle could put more distance between them, Ludwig rushes in and punches him in the chest, knocking him to a wall behind him. The fox watches on with his head turned to the side.
“Banish this foul beast and you will receive amnesty for your trespassing!” He shouts to Adelar, who is now on the floor, coughing up blood. “Your God demands it!”
Adelar briefly glances at the fox as Ludwig walks up to him, his drivel not helping in the slightest.
“It was a valiant effort.” Ludwig states. “I shall finish you with my own-”
Adelar smiles and powers himself back up. The newly appeared whip wraps around his feet, Adelar forcefully tugs on it once. Ludwig falls to the ground, the eagle gets up with a burst of adrenaline. He retracts the whip and cracks it again right into Ludwig’s face. The small explosion still can’t do any real damage.
The silver wolf then slowly stands back up, growling.
“I’m done playing with you.” The wolf runs after Adelar, who has moved to the fox, clutching at his chest before trying to move the stones off of him. Seeing how that’s entirely ineffective in his current state, he runs through the doorway on the right side of the hall. Ludwig follows, and swiftly grabs him by the arm.
“What a shame. I’d say it’s been fun, but that would be a lie.” He smirks at Adelar, lifting him up.
“Go to hell…” Adelar manages to say, and as a last-ditch effort to get to him, he gives the wolf a mockingly pleased smile. If this must be his end, he would rather go down getting on his nerves, if nothing else.
“Put him down.” Says an unfamiliar voice from the doorway on the opposite side. Judging by his terrified expression, Ludwig seems to know this person.
Adelar then feels wind blow, forceful, unnaturally harsh, as if sand is being blown by it as well. Ludwig drops him and that’s when he sees that his body is corroding on the outside. He powers down his magic, leaving him vulnerable.
“You’re supposed to be dead!” Ludwig yells, running to the midsection of the hall. Adelar tries to hit him with the whip, but he powers himself back up where it strikes him, the explosion sends rusted metal shards scattering, shattering a lantern in the process. He yells out in pain as a result.
Adelar now gets a good look at his apparent saviour, a reddish brown looking bat with markings of metal and wind. No doubt, this is Rufina. Her clothes are all charred and black, there is a large hole in the middle of the shirt on her stomach. She herself, however, seems completely unharmed.
“Once I find you, you are FINISHED, Sheila!” He yells into the radio, but there is no response, likely as a result of rust covering the metal parts of it. He chucks it at the wall in anger.
“Rust is to keep metal in check, metal is to keep the dark flames in check, and dark flames are to keep rust in check.” The bat states in a formal voice as she walks out into the hall. “The success of our organisation hangs in the balance of its members.”
Ludwig looks exceedingly irritated by her speech.
Another figure emerges from the doorway.
“For balance is The System, and in The System, we trust.” Says the person who just arrived, a white bat with red eyes, most likely an albino, wearing crimson clothing with crimson markings to match. “Is that not correct, Ludwig von Leue?” Both bats sport smug grins as they approach him.
“Kill the UNBELIEVER, my chosen!” The fox orders with newfound vigour.
“Ungrateful vermin!” Ludwig shouts. “I gave you a home! A job! A purpose! And this is how you repay me, Haemon?”
“Repay you, we will.” Says the bat in crimson. He grasps the fabric of his clothing. The colour drains from it, leaving it white. The liquid, presumably blood, is then fashioned into the shape of a massive axe by the bat as his markings glow.
Rufina blows the corroding wind from her palm at Ludwig as Haemon charges at him with his axe made of blood. Ludwig powers up his magic to absorb the hit, the blow of the weapon chips away at his outer shell of rust as the wind continues to eat away at his body. A piece of his coat is missing where he was struck.
“I’ve waited so long for this!” Haemon swings at him more in animalistic rage, splinters of rust shoot across the hall with each strike, the fragments shattering more lanterns. Adelar gets up to join in, Rufina shoots him a questioning look, but since he seems to be interested in Ludwig’s downfall as well, focuses her attention on the wolf. The eagle cracks the whip at Ludwig, blowing a small chunk of his rusted coat off.
Haemon lands a proper hit on Ludwig’s abdomen before he can properly power back up, inflicting a wound. Silver blood oozes out, which causes the bat to cackle.
“How does it feel?” Haemon yells. “HOW DOES IT FEEL, LUDWIG?” He then raises the axe for another strike, only for Ludwig to grab the handle of, pulling it away from the bat and throwing it aside. He then lands a punch right on Haemon’s kidney and stomach. He collapses immediately after, groaning out in pain.
“Brother!” Cries Rufina.
Ludwig kicks him aside and gazes at the rust bat, holding his wound, keeping his distance as he absorbs Adelar’s hits nonchalantly.
The eagle lands a hit on Ludwig’s shoulder, but his body hardens only where he’s struck. He tries two more times, hitting his knee and back, none of the hits seem to hurt him.
The situation is interrupted by the sound of… Whistling? Adelar turns to a doorway near the main entrance to the hall. Yaroslav comes through the door, holding a person-shaped piece of ice on his shoulder. It has a combat stance with its left arm outstretched. The whistling is coming from him as he looks around the hall.
Ludwig briefly turns around to see the newly arrived bear and the ice sculpture, he gasps in horror.
“Put her down!” He demands.
“As you wish.” Yaroslav drops the ice statue from a height. It turns out to be a frozen outer shell, which encapsulated the snow lynx Adelar saw outside. She groans and takes a deep breath as the ice is broken. Shivering, she gets up on her knees, putting her arms around herself. Steam then can be seen permeating her coat, warming her up.
“What are you waiting for, Shaquia? Kill them! You already failed me once with your “method”, do not disappoint me again!” Ludwig orders, but the lynx stays unmoving on her knees, steam rising from her, taking in her surroundings. She looks up at the bear, then at Adelar, then to the bats and finally raises her arms.
“I surrender.” She states with an uncaring look. Adelar smiles as the white fox erupts in laughter.
“It strikes me that your allies are not as loyal as they appear.” He states.
Haemon can be heard softly chuckling as he’s trying to get up.
Ludwig looks furious, but Rufina leaves him no time to think. With a leap, markings glowing silver and grey, she firmly grasps his right hand just as he holds it up in defence.
Ludwig screams out in pain as he practically throws Rufina away and grasps what remains of his hand, which is quickly turning into a reddish brown dust, despite not being metallicized.
The brown bat slides to a halt, her claws scraping against the stone floor.
“What’s wrong, Ludwig?” Rufina bares her claws and stretches the membranes of her wings. “I was made for this!”
In a panic, Ludwig retreats, then pulls on his own hand with his other, metal hand until it’s torn off, before the rusting can spread to the rest of his body.
“You’ll pay for this!” He shouts!
To his surprise, Adelar spots a gloved hand holding a black knife emerge from thin air, followed by the rest of the person. He recognises them as the one who he saw Solomon follow, the one wearing beige clothing. They plunge the knife into Ludwig’s shoulder, his metal body too rusted to properly defend him.
Haemon suddenly gets up and fashions the blood he coughed up into a thin, short blade. He stumbles over to Ludwig and drives the blade into his back, right between the ribs. Although short, the blade pierces him and comes out the other side. The silver wolf has a hard time even powering up his magic from the shock he received from Rufina.
“Un… Guarded…” Haemon manages to say through heavy breathing with a smug grin, his strike causing Ludwig to fall to his knees.
Adelar then walks over to Yaroslav, who shoots him a casual “So how goes it?” look, which seems to anger the silver wolf.
Ludwig pulls out the knife in his shoulder, after which, he powers back up and goes to elbow Haemon, but doesn’t land a hit. His body is so corroded in his metallic form that he can now hardly move while in it. Haemon steps back before Ludwig can try anything else, standing almost still in his rusted form as his body creaks, all the while Rufina blows her wind at him again, corroding him further. She then cracks her knuckles and walks up to him, reaching out a hand with markings glowing.
Ludwig backs away to evade being turned to dust, that’s when Adelar cracks his whip at him again, which is blocked by his rusted form where it hits. However, it’s useless now, a small part of his side is blown off.
Seeing how this isn’t a battle he can win anymore, Ludwig goes to try and run away.
A beam of light shoots across the hall at knee height, hitting Ludwig’s leg. It turns metallic to absorb the hit, to little effect. The beam cuts through his rusted flesh, he falls to the floor, howling as silver blood pours from his wounds.
Adelar looks over at the fox, he has one arm outstretched as he’s lying on the floor, pointing at Ludwig. The small pool of red blood beneath and around the stone that pinned his hand down tells a gruesome story.
Haemon cackles, leaning on his sister’s shoulder, both looking elated.
“We have won.” He states proudly as the person in thick clothing goes to retrieve the knife. “It’s over, sister… Today, we have revenge.”
Right there and then, the rush of footsteps can be heard from the doorway on the right side of the hall. From it, emerges four people: two that Adelar doesn’t recognise, and more importantly, Solomon and Lisa.