Arc 5: The Heart Within
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 22. One Bird with two arrows
Lincoln blasts through the capital, having to run past groups of soldiers fighting for their lives. The only thought in his head is “Ronin.”. Lincoln gets to the center of the capital after about twenty minutes of moving as fast as he can, then he notices something. He sees Gordon’s group pushing through, successful in their mission to conquer the north side. But just like himself and Ryo, they’re having issues facing one of the Sects pillars. Soaring through the sky, barely dodging Gordon's spree of glowing green arrows, is Pandora. Her wings, feet, arms, and mask easily destroy her identity. This sighting makes Lincoln ponder himself for a moment.
Lincoln {If Ryo is facing Musashi…I’ll have to help him. But Gordon isn’t close to our strength, so will he be able to beat Pandora? Oh, SHIT! Jong is fighting Severus then…Jong is way weaker than Gordon, hell Gray and his group could be him! If Severus has already attacked…then he’ll already be dead and the south side is lost…DAMMIT ALL!}
Lincoln struggles to come to a conclusion, help Jong but risk wasting time, help Gordon but risk letting Ryo and Jong die, or help Ryo and leave Gordon alone. Somebody dies in all the different paths, but in any of them, Jong is most likely dead anyway. Lincoln tightens his hand, concluding.
Lincoln: “Ryo is the one that needs to be helped because if we lose the capital, we’ll still have a supreme warrior to help the rest of the world.”
Lincoln runs off, leaving Gordon to fight on his own. Though Gordon has soldiers to assist him, nobody is on his level. He’s atop the biggest building in the area, crouching down on the pyramid-style roof, launching arrows that blast at high speeds. Gordon checks his quiver, noticing that he only has fifteen arrows left, not too little but not enough. His head is pounding in pain, with any trauma he has been replayed over and over, screaming in his ears. “You left us!” “How could you let your sister become...this?” “We’re not brothers” He drowns out his thoughts, suppressing his long-lost feelings about things that cannot be changed, he has come to terms with his trauma, or so he thinks.
Pandora continues to fly around in the air, then her eyes turn a bright purple, then her mask opens, letting a large wave of mana exit through it, sounding like a bird's screech. The voice bomb hits the ground, hurting both Leviathan and Anarchist soldiers. Gordon uses the opportunity to send an arrow soaring through the air, stabbing right into Pandora’s leg. Pandora becomes aggravated, so she begins flying right toward Gordon. He attempts to use the runes on his bow to strengthen his arrow, but due to Pandora’s ability, the mana is forced back into the runes.
Gordon: “Dammit, this is annoying.”
Pandora goes in for a head-on assault, trying to swipe at him with her talons. He pulls out a dagger, slashing at her. She lands behind him, letting off another sonic blast. He covers his ears, but it is still devastating to his eardrums, then she rushes in, swiping at his face. He grabs her arm, digging his dagger into her face. But without any mana on the blade, it does nothing to hurt her, letting her kick him in the face. He slips down the roof, almost falling off the side. Pandora flies up and uses a sonic blast to break the roof, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. He catches himself on a window seal, then has the idea to crash through the window to get cover. Gordon feels his face, wincing when he touches the cuts on his cheek.
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Gordon: “Dammit, she got me. I rely too heavily on my magic, so I can’t fight her. I wonder if her ability can affect multiple people at once…or maybe the amount of mana that gets taken away is lessened? If that’s true I can hide within my soldiers, using them as cover while I fire arrows. But that puts them in danger…but If I don’t they all die.”
Gordon gets up but is surprised when Pandora bursts through another window, grabbing him and pulling through the window he entered, taking him far into the air. He starts trying to stab her with his dagger, but her armor is too durable. She tightens her grip on him, charging a point-blank sonic blast. The second her mouth opens Gordon stabs her face, causing her to let him go and release the blast. While falling he uses the opening to coat his arrow in the green mystical energy, and shoots off an arrow, sending it straight into her eye. Though the small amount of armor covering her eye doesn't go all the way through, it's still enough to blind her. She grabs her now destroyed right eye, gasping in pain. Gordon plummets to the ground, crashing through the tall building's roof. He lands on his shoulder, dislocating it. He grunts, knowing what he’ll have to do. He stands up and slams his arm into a wall, over and over until it’s relocated.
Gordon leaves through the stairwell, attempting to walk out of the large building.
Gordon: “Glad I broke this government building and not somebody's house, hell I’m surprised any buildings like this are still here after the Sect took over.”
Gordon walks until he hears talking suddenly stop. He walks into the hallway for the third floor to find families huddled up, scared for their lives. Gordon is speechless, looking at all the crying citizens trying to hide.
Gordon: “It’s alright, just hide until this is over.”
Gordon walks out of the hall, finding more people on each floor, telling them the same thing.
Gordon: “There are probably people hiding in buildings all over the capital…and to think I was fighting in an office right above them.”
He stumbles onto the street, waiting for his arm to regain feeling. He is immediately attacked by Anarchists, taking out one of his arrows, and stabbing them in the heads with it swiftly and easily. Gordon rubs his arm, then looks above to find Pandora still flying around, but at a much waver pace. Gordon pulls out two arrows, takes in a deep breath, and waits. Predicting where she’ll fly, how she’ll react, how she'll land. Then with the slightest release of pressure, the arrows blast towards Pandora, going through her wings with ease, grounding her. With her wings disabled, she begins to glide toward the ground, crashing into the street. She charges up a sonic blast, which is stopped by a Leviathan soldier stabbing her. Pandora grabs the soldier by the face, crushing his head. Gordon gasps, repaying her for her poor choice of actions by sending an arrow through her side.
The bird's armor begins peeling back, letting her blood run onto the street. Gordon watches as the mask is pulled back into the armor, revealing that Rosine, Queen Elizabeth's daughter, princess of Ravoria, is in the armor. Gordon looks deeply into her eyes, realizing that she is in full control, not under a spell of some sort. She touches something within the armor, erupting in a red-ish mana. The Sects symbol on the ground tells Gordon that she’s trying to escape. He fires one last arrow, and due to Rosine's ability, it’s not covered in the runes magic, causing the strength of the arrow to plummet, making the killing of Pandora's apostle body incomplete.
Gordon is left star-struck, due to his inability to kill one of the apostles. Though he is immediately brought back into the fight when he hears the roars of battle behind him.
Gordon: “I’ve almost concurred on the northern side, one small loss isn’t anything!”
End of Chapter twenty-two