Cerberus HQ, CEOs Office: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 10:00 AM.
A broken sword lied on top of the desk in the CEO’s office, its steel blade displaying a faint azure color and its cross-guard stylized with the face of a lion. Alongside it, rested a large closed book titled, ‘The Champion’s Legend vol.1.’
Over many years throughout history, the specter’s have emerged to bring chaos to the world time and time again. In order to protect humanity, the goddess Gladea created a new race of superhumans known as, Gladean Knights. Swearing an oath to protect the world from the specters, they became Gladea’s army during the war and received the name of, The Order of Knights.
They were described as tall warriors with strong bodies, wielders of divine power and mighty strength granted by the goddess. They fought the specters and faced the terror known as the god of extinction, Specter. A horrifying being of immeasurable power that took action against the knights with his own hands—leading to their eventual demise.
Gladean Empire, Voyin Province: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 10:00 AM.
“Is this the place?” Eric asked.
Claire lowered her head slightly to look at her phone. “Yes, our next objective should be here.”
Bloodhound stood in the middle of an empty grassy field, far away from the city of Stadtra. Underneath the open blue sky, the gentle breeze tenderly swayed the blades of grass at their feet—the sound of crickets resonated all around them with the pleasant light of the son gently kissing their skin.
“We are to eliminate all specters in the area, but...” Claire shook her head rapidly and ignored the many questions running amok inside her mind. “Let’s split up, we must be missing something.” she instructed the others, determined to follow her orders to the end.
Spreading across the area to look for any signs of specters, the group scoured through every inch possible of the grassy fields—leaving no stone unturned. After an intensive and thorough search, Bloodhound regrouped in the same location—every member of the team wearing discontent and fatigue in their faces.
“I enjoyed the walk at least...” Tori expressed nervously, attempting to bring positivity to the gloomy atmosphere.
“You think the boss made a mistake?” Scott asked about the accuracy of the information they received.
“If I may,” Gaspard chimed in. “I believe there is a hermit leaving near these fields, should we pay him a visit?”
“You could’ve said that before...” Claire said in response with a frown—wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“How come I never heard of this hermit?” Eric raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms at the new information.
“Forgive me, sir.” Gaspard bowed. “Hermits live in isolation and prefer to be left alone; I did not deem it important enough to report on it.” the butler explained.
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice...” Claire expressed with a defeated sigh. “Lead the way, Gaspard”
Following the butler’s lead through the endless green fields of Voyin, Bloodhound eventually arrived at a small house in the middle of nowhere. The residence had a unique look to it compared to the houses found in Stadtra, its structure made of timber and clay, windows using semitransparent paper on wooden frames that can be slid open. An outside wooden corridor that circled around the entire house and a ring bell at the entrance of the sliding door.
“Do we knock or...” Scott looked at Gaspard.
Without a word, the butler moved closer to the door and rang the bell once. Receiving no response, he rang the bell a second time with the same outcome.
“Great, he is not even here.” Eric spat. “Your boss should take his job more seriously.” he protested with furrowed brows.
Claire stared daggers at the noble’s impolite claim, but sadly had no good way to retort against it—changing the subject instead. “This can’t be right... we should look inside.” she clenched her teeth.
In a moment’s notice, a violent concussive force took Bloodhound by surprise and shook the ground abruptly. The great magnitude of the tremor caused the group to lose their balance as they struggled to stay on their feet, dropping Tori to the ground.
“Ouch! W-what is this!” She quavered.
The earthquake continued for a few seconds and faded slowly right after—no signs of nearby damage could be seen on the field as Bloodhound took a quick breath of relief. Claire quickly moved her eyes to confirm the well-being of her team, going from Tori’s and Scott’s astonished faces, to Eric’s puzzled frown, ending in Gaspard’s expression of pure peace and serenity.
“What the hell was that?” The noble moved in to help Tori back on her feet.
She took his hand and stood back up, “t-thank you...”
“What the—Look!” Scott pointed at the distance—both his eyes and mouth wide open in disbelief.
Following Scott’s pointing finger, Bloodhound fixed their gaze on the massive tower peeking behind a small hill far in the distance. A belfry stood tall a couple of miles away from the group as they stared with open mouths from outside the hermit’s house. Its intimidating aura
“That can’t be real...” Eric claimed, his constricted pupils staring at the gigantic structure.
Claire shook her nerves and clicked her tongue, knowing too well what the presence of a belfry represented for the region. “We don’t have time to linger here!” She howled, “I’ll go ahead, catch up when you can.” The spectral bike materialized out of thin air in front of the group as Claire proceeded to hop on it immediately after.
“Wait, that’s too dangerous!” Scott stopped her advance. “These things can summon hordes of specters; you’ll be at a massive disadvantage on your own!” He revolted at the lieutenant’s recklessness.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“But if we don’t do something soon...” Tori interjected with a concerned expression while clasping her hands.
“I’ll go with you,” Eric stomped forward and looked at Claire. “I see some space in the back, I can sit there.”
“That’s not helping much...” Scott looked at him with semi-closed eyes—unconvinced about the noble’s utility against a full horde of specters.
“I don’t see you coming with a better solution, Foley.” Eric retorted at the lack faith he received.
"Then..." Gaspard sneaked in on Scott and Tor—grabbing both of them with his arms and holding them on top of his shoulders like luggage. “Please, take care of the young master for me, young miss.” He attempted a bow—stopping himself just in time to not drop the pair loaded in his shoulders. “We shall catch up to you both as soon as we can.” The butler sprinted with all his might towards the belfry with no further explanation, leaving Claire and Eric behind.
“What are you, Mr. Gaspard?” Scott asked with fascination, keeping his glasses from falling off.
“I am the proud servant of master Eric, young Foley.” he exclaimed with a chortle.
Tori laughed nervously, protecting her face from the wind with her hands—her hair swaying back with the breeze. “Well... just don’t overdo it, we can run part of the way too if you want.” she suggested.
Back at the hermit’s house, Claire took Eric in her bike and proceeded to ride towards the belfry. Inside her speculative mind, many memories filled her thoughts as she wondered off to the day her life was turned upside down. When the specters stopped being an occasional subject for conversation around her village and became the nightmares that have hunted her dreams ever since. Realizing that no corner is too safe and no distance too far, the specters will eventually find their way to exterminate humanity.
“So, that’s a belfry.” Eric interrupted her thoughts. “I’ve only seen them in pictures,” he commented on the massive tower.
“This is why Cerberus needs all the help it can get,” she explained—her narrow eyes glued to the belfry in the distance. “Nowhere is safe as long as these monsters exist... you have to understand that.”
“I see, guess I misjudged the situation back at the manor.” the noble said, wondering what would’ve happen if he sent Bloodhound back to Hemel. “Cool bike,” he abruptly moved to a different subject.
“What?”
“How does it work? Did the same person who made your pistols made the bike?” He speculated, leaning to the side slowly while trying to make eye contact.
“I’ll throw you off if you keep talking.” Claire snarled at him—continuing her way towards the belfry and ignoring the many queries the noble had about her gear.
Western front of the Deadlands: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 12:00 PM.
“Ugh, they are not making this easy!” Aria lunged forward with her fist charged with sparking energy, punching throw a specter’s core and dispatching the creature.
Xun implemented the machine gun attached to her mechs arm to mow down an approaching horde—the creature’s neglecting the heavy losses as they resumed their ceaseless assault. More and more specters emerged from inside the tower and continued their attack against Heretic as they were forced to fight for their lives—slowly moving away from the belfry in the process.
The colossal specter brought its fists down with ferocious strength in an attempt to protect the belfry from Sebastian. Standing his ground with the spectral gear radiating with an intense crimson energy, he Stopped the giant’s attack with the blade of his sword—causing his feet to sink into the ground by the sheer force of the impact. Responding with a quick shot of his shotgun, Sebastian managed to stagger the Wendigo as the shells homed straight into its eyes.
“Major, watch out!” Aria yelled from the distance.
A specter suddenly leaped at Sebastian from behind and pounced straight at his face with its claws, slashing his skin open. In a quick reaction, Sebastian grabbed the creature over his shoulder by the neck and forcibly smacked its head against the ground—destroying its core with a quick blast of his shotgun.
“Agh... that stings.” he groaned, tapping the cut on his face.
Its prey distracted by the smaller opponent, the Wendigo used the opportunity to snatch Sebastian from the ground—completely constricting his arms and lower half of his body inside its hand. The major fruitlessly squirmed around in an attempt to break free from its grasp, attempting to reach the shotgun still holstered in his leg.
“Well... this is bad...” he continued to struggle with all his might as the veins in his neck and face surfaced on his skin, his body crumbling under the pressure of the Wendigos gigantic hands.
Applying a tremendous amount of force to its grip, the specter squashed Sebastian underneath the crushing force of its fist in an attempt to end his life. The major could only scream and continue to fight the Wendigo’s devastating strength as his body began to break apart.
Xun fired up her shoulder missiles in an attempt to aid Sebastian. The specter however, ignored the impact of the projectiles against its legs and arms and continued its onslaught against the major.
“Damn it!” Xun cursed, refocusing on the specters swarming her position.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Unable to handle any further damage, Sebastian released an immeasurable amount of energy from inside his chest—loosening the grip on the Wendigo’s grip as his body slowly grew in size.
Pouring more energy into his charge, the major managed to give himself an opening to grab his shotgun and slip his hand out from the specter’s grasp. Aiming directly at its face, Sebastian released a powerful single shell that impacted against the Wendigo—shattering one of its eyes like a rock crashing into a glass window.
Staggered by the sharp blow, the blinded specter dropped Sebastian’s body from the lofty altitude. The major’s motionless body vigorously approached the ground like an anvil falling from the sky—violently hitting the ground with his back as no force was able quell the impact. Xun and Aria navigated their way towards the small crater the impact left on the scorched earth, stopping to check on the steamy body lying still on the small pit.
“Ha-ha... ouch...” Sebastian groaned in pain, offering a grimacing smile as to alleviate his team’s worries.
“Major, I’m sorry! One of them snuck by and...” Aria began to apologize frantically. “Sorry...”
Sebastian simply chuckled, attempting to pick himself back up. “Don’t worry... I’ve... been worst.” he managed to let out with a weak voice, keeping himself stable on his shaky legs.
“That’s not something to laugh about...” Xun retorted with furrowed eyebrows and a sharp glare. “We need to retreat, if you can’t beat it then none of us stands a chance.” she suggested, leaning the major’s body on her mech’s torso.
Suddenly—with a loud thunderous roar, a blinding flash of lightning raged from above the clouds and cut the sky in half. The battle was put to a sudden halt as even the specters stood in alarm to observe the opening in the crimson sky—the red clouds splitting like a path into heaven. The Wendigo rushed towards the belfry in an abrupt reaction, followed by the rest of the specters that neglected Heretic’s presence.
“What... the hell... was that...” Aria said with an open mouth.
A powerful azure lightning bolt made its way through the fissure in the sky and stroke the belfry from above, detonating into a blinding white light. The impact shook the ground violently—staggering the Wendigo and launching the colossal creature away from the tower with impressive momentum.
A massive white cloud remained after the impact, gradually exhibiting the eradicated belfry as it slowly began to clear out. The specters caught in the blast were pulverized by the intense bolt—leaving nothing but blazing steam on its path.
“What the hell was that!” Aria squawked, her head drawing a blank on the events that just unfolded.
“Major... what is happening.” Xun’s quivering voice asked Sebastian, her eyes wide open with a combination of both amazement and horror.
The crimson clouds above quickly closed themselves, returning to its original crimson color. Remaining sparks of electricity ran through the ground, the surviving specters kept their undivided attention to where the belfry once stood—their eyes fixed on the tall figure standing behind the smoke screen left by the lightning strike.
Sebastian’s face beamed with a smile when his eyes noticed the figure posing in front of them, secluding his power and deactivating the spectral gear in its entirety. “Looks like reinforcements have arrived,” he cheered.
END OF CHAPTER