Chapter 18 - Part II

(Klaus)

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I will admit Desanto surprised me.

His speed was impressive, better than I’d seen from many of my opponents, sparring or otherwise. However, his mobility left a great deal to be desired, and while his technique was good, he lacked the practice to employ it properly.

In short, he lacked the training to wield the Kaiser’s Blessing to its unlocked best.

However, I believed there was more to his circumstances than first met the eye.

When he attacked and when he defended, I noticed a hesitation in his movements. I sensed an uncertainty that could have been born from his lack of training, but my intuition told me to look deeper for the answer.

To do so, I had to test him further.

I had to pressure him with deadly thrusts and scything sweeps of my spear that forced him to be nimble on his feet lest he lose a hand, arm, or foot.

It was indeed the most effort I’d expended on an opponent in a long while.

Unfortunately, I realized too late that it worked against me.

My actions curbed his apparent hesitation, and thus unleashed Desanto surprised me.

Too late I caught my mistake of stabbing forward with the cross spear toward his left flank.

As expected, he snapped his left Arm Blade downwards, knocking the spear toward the hard earth of the sports field. However, before I could turn the blade and slash at his legs, he unexpectedly stepped on the head of the spear, his tapered foot shoed by overlapping barrier-fields that prevented the blade’s piercer-field from harming him as his weight helped bury it into the ground. Without delay, he launched himself at me, flying along the length of the shaft with such speed that I barely had time to abandon yet another spear and dart aside.

I didn’t escape unscathed.

With one diagonal slash of an Arm Blade, Desanto sliced apart the right Vector Wing closest to him – one of the four Devil Wings the Lucifer possessed – with a piercer-field that shattered the barrier-fields protecting the wing. I felt the damage like a short-lived wound, and while I lost a third of the Devil Wing, the overall output of my inertial-fields dropped by a good twenty percent.

The barrier-fields protecting that quarter of my body were also affected, so I had to will the remaining Devil Wings to compensate by shifting their manifested fields to cover the weakened barrier’s to my right. But in that moment, as I darted aside to avoid a second slash that would have sliced off the remainder of the wing, my eyes met Desanto’s and a chill ran down by back.

The hesitation was indeed gone, not just from his movements, but from his eyes too.

They weren’t the eyes of a teenage high schooler with girls on his brain.

They were the eyes of someone else -- someone older, wiser, more world weary.

They were distant, yet focused upon me, and though they didn’t move I was certain they could see me and much more.

It was as though he were seeing through me, beyond me, past and present and future.

It was as though his field of vision encompassed me, and much more.

They were not the eyes I expected to see on a high school student, and for the first time since unlocking the Lucifer, I felt fear in the face of an opponent.

As I danced back and then threw up my armored forearms to block Desanto’s blades with the strongest barrier-fields I could summon, I acknowledged there was indeed much more to him than met the eyes.

Indeed, he wasn’t all about women’s lingerie, and that truly surprised me.

Perhaps this is the reason why the Lanfears chose him.

Using maneuver-fields to anchor myself to the ground, I kicked at Desanto, my right foot striking his midriff. The air close to his torso shimmered with an emerald hue, and for a brief moment I saw the barrier-field protecting him. It resembled woven scale armor comprising dozens of small overlapping hexagonal panes of emerald glass. When my armored foot struck it, the barrier-field held, flexing under the impact but refusing to shatter. In contrast, the field around my foot broke apart, leaving it defenseless for a heartbeat before a new barrier could form.

Desanto used the impact to retreat, landing on the ground lightly, but then he leapt back another ten meters.

Again, I was taken by surprise, having expected him to press the attack.

I was so focused on him, so intent on him, it took me a moment to understand why he had retreated in a hurry. But there was one more reason why I failed to notice the new presence in my Awareness-field.

I failed to notice the newcomer because Desanto’s eyes never looked away from me.

Not once did his eyes waver in their gaze.

No, they were not the eyes of a high-schooler with girls on the mind.

The ground between him and I erupted skyward as a barrier-field of immense proportions and magnitude struck the sports field. The release of kinetic energy tore the ground, and when it couldn’t go down the ground went up, resulting in an explosion of packed material that soared into the air.

Through this cloud of debris, my Awareness-field sensed the presence of the newcomer, and I chose to refrained from taking a defensive stance.

I left myself unguarded for them to see.

As strong as the Lucifer was, it wasn’t wise to take on this new opponent without just cause.

Besides, perhaps it was best for the battle between Desanto and I to end this way.

I’d learnt a lot about him these last few minutes, and had much to ruminate, so for now I chose to stand down, and wait for the dust and dirt to settle.

Standing between Desanto and I was Principal Mason’s laptop, the former Siren of the Slaughter, Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian.

The enormously long crimson katana held in her right hand glowed with an unearthly light.

A Hellish light.

It contrasted sharply with her white Siren Armor, its six Vector Wings fluttering leisurely behind her.

However, there was nothing leisurely about the expression she wore.

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Weinberg amplified her voice using an effect-field manifested by her Siren.

“If you want to fight, do it off Academy grounds.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “As you wish.”

“No.”

Both Weinberg and I looked at Desanto.

He shook his head. “This ends here and now with your head.”

Weinberg shifted her stance, angling her body toward him. “Desanto, stand down.”

His left Arm-Blade reconfigured, sliding back and reattaching to the Gauntlet-Shield. While this occurred, his gaze was upon me the entire time, and his right Arm-Blade remained as it was.

“He messed around with Haruka, and he messed around with Simone’s mind. I’ll have them both attest to that…after I take his head.”

I lowered my hands, no longer feeling like surrendering – at least not peacefully. “You’re welcome to try.”

Weinberg threw me a glance over her left shoulder. “Enough. Your conduct will be addressed later.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Do what you will…if you can prove any of it.”

“What did you say?” she demanded in a low voice.

“Desanto claims I Influenced his friends and girlfriend. However, what evidence does he have? If they were Influenced, then it should be easy enough for an experienced Investigator to determine the truth.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “After all, they just need to harmonize their Symbiote with the Symbiote inside the subject.”

“I wonder about that,” Desanto said. “After all, we know your Lucifer has the ability to influence the Symbiote inside the Aventis.”

My stomach twisted slightly, and I felt a sliver of concern work its way down my back.

Weinberg glanced between us, then took a defensive stance before Desanto. “Stand down. Like I said, his conduct will be addressed…as will yours.”

For the first time since our fight began, Desanto looked away, and focused his attention on Weinberg. He said nothing, not a word, as he regarded her with eyes that saw her and much more.

Like Desanto, Weinberg held herself perfectly still, although I was certain the crimson katana in her hand twitched faintly, and the blade angled slightly toward him.

Despite them facing each other, I couldn’t see it as a standoff.

It was more like two people balancing on a knife’s edge, challenging each other to last the longest, yet was it a test of wills, or a test of conviction in what they believed was the right course of action to take?

I didn’t know. I only knew that the first to fall would be the first to lose, but even then what did it mean to lose?

What would they be losing? What would they be giving up?

Did it mean relenting to the other’s will, and thus to their point-of-view?

I was fascinated…and bored by this encounter.

Action through inaction was not something I particularly ascribed to or considered poignant in any way.

Those that did not act simply withered away and died.

I had resolved long ago not to be one of them…and apparently I was not alone in my resolution.

She entered my Awareness-field in the company of two Familiars, as evinced by the weak Awareness-fields manifesting around their bodies.

She walked with purpose despite the pain she harbored, striding across the uneven ground of the sports field.

She was one who valued action over inaction.

She was one who would strive onwards defiant against adversity.

I found myself drawn to her, and I sensed something…awaken…within the Lucifer.

Upon her, Desanto lay his gaze. No part of him moved other than his eyes.

“…Caelum…that’s enough…you’ve done enough.”

And that’s all it took for him to step off the knife’s edge.

The second Arm Blade slid back into the Gauntlet-Shield protecting his right arm. Within seconds, the black mist of a breach between Pocket and real-space rolled out over the sports field, enshrouding him in darkness.

I sensed it then – the Sarcophagus that contained the Kaiser’s Blessing, the cradle of that great power – and the Lucifer shivered…and not from the cold.

When the mist faded away, Desanto stood barefoot on the grass while wearing a black training suit. He watched Alucard walk up to him, and accepted her hand when she offered it to him.

However, before walking away with her, Desanto once more turned my way.

“You’d better get rid of them.” He tapped his head. “I’ll only tell you once.”

Now this was indeed a revelation. I understood quite well he wasn’t referring to Influence, but rather, to my Lucifer’s special ability to get inside people’s heads.

I pressed my lips together in thought, wondering how it was possible that he knew. It was a closely – very closely – guarded secret. Other than myself, the true abilities of my Lucifer were known to but a handful of people within the Raynar Pride here in Pharos.

How in high heavens does he know what the Lucifer can do?

I decided it was a matter best pondered another time.

Desanto was effectively giving me the opportunity to come clean.

I chose to cut my losses and accepted his thinly veiled offer of clemency.

For now, it wasn’t wise to antagonize him further. In truth, I wanted to test myself against him again, but I wanted to face him when we both possessed unlocked Artifacts.

So I favored him with a faint, thin smile, and sent a thought pulse to my Lucifer, instructing it to send the destruct command to the Artifact’s tendril residing in Alucard’s brain. After hesitating for a heartbeat, I chose to release Haruka Amiella from the Lucifer’s control as well.

Then I calmly crossed my arms, and averted my gaze.

In short, it was my way of saying, You got what you wanted, now get out of my sight.

Yet deep down I doubted he would let the matter rest so simply.

I had the impression I’d awakened a sleeping dragon.

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