Northern Region of the Deadlands, Near Cerberus’ Border: 936, August 12th, Sunday 2:30 PM.
“Dammit, get out of my way!” Eutychia yelled at the pair of blue armored soldiers from Hydra—attempting to down the Wendigo with their blades and firearms. “Who are these guys?”
Striking at the ground with its fist, the Wendigo attempted to crush one of the soldiers under its gigantic hand. The blue armored officer leaped out of the way just in time to avoid becoming a stain on the ground, rolling over before spinning to face the specter once again. In an inexplicable turn of events however, he would suddenly become petrified in place, as if a switch had been suddenly turned off on its brain.
Not wasting the opportunity, the Wendigo lifted one foot before bringing it back down against its stunned opponent—stomping the ground with such magnitude that shook the ground in the area.
“Stop…” Eutychia grunted while pushing back against the giant’s foot—snarling at the frozen warrior she just saved from death. “Getting… in my way!”
A powerful roar escaped her lips, successfully fending off her adversary as the Wendigo stumbled backwards. Making use of the opening, the second Hydra officer suddenly climbed into the demon’s leg to run straight towards the center of its chest—where the core of the specter resided.
“Wait!” the black knight tried to warn the man—but her words fell into deaf ears.
As the super soldier leaped in the air to reach the specter’s core faster, the Wendigo planted its feet in the scorched earth, putting a halt to its stumbling and regaining its balance. Noticing the man jumping closer—like a tiny mosquito slowly flying towards it—the demon quickly wrapped the man’s entire body inside its hand, slowly moving its sunken red eyes to look at the princess down on the ground.
Releasing a low growl from the depths of its chest, the demon clenched its fist tighter with a rapid motion—emitting a crunching sound from its palm, which leaked the red blood of the soldier through its fingers. Eutychia recoiled backwards at the sight, watching as the Wendigo slowly opened its palm to reveal nothing but the spilling liquid inside.
“Tch!” the princess clicked her tongue, bending her knees slightly to take a fighting stance. “All you did was piss me off.”
Bravely rushing with a frontal assault, the black knight sprinted across the scorched earth while leaping from side to side to avoid the giant’s attacks—leaving craters on the ground with every punch and stomp it made. Countering one of the demon’s strikes, the princess waited for the downwards punch of the Wendigo to arrive—evading with a quick step to side, mere inches away from harm’s way.
Plunging her blade on the creature’s fist with a forward thrust, Eutychia buried the sword deeper into its exoskeleton before slicing horizontally with all her strength—rupturing the monster’s armor. Reacting to the pain, the Wendigo recoiled backwards while holding its injured hand with the other—releasing a painful roar.
“My chance!” the princess bent her knees low before propelling herself upward—landing on the creature’s knee and trampolining further towards its chest. “Rrrraaaaa!”
Before Eutychia could reach the demon’s core however, the specter reacted by swatting her away with the back of its hand—landing a powerful blow against the princess. She flew away towards HQ, like a fast projectile shot out from a cannon. Eutychia’s body bounced off the rampart and crossed the line into headquarters, landing in front of the armies of Cerberus, Chimera and Hydra—who observed the battle from inside the walls.
“Aah!” Arwen screamed as the princess suddenly plunged into the concrete near him—leaving a steaming crater underneath her. “L-lady Eutychia!”
“It really is her…” Sara—Chimera’s CEO, stepped from behind her soldiers to take a better look at the princes.
Boris—CEO of Hydra, frowned with a mix of anger and confusion, scrunching his eyebrows while keeping his mouth slightly open. “What is the princess of Heildin doing here? Does king Date still support Cerberus?” the man muttered.
“L-lady Eutychia, are you alright?” Arwen kneeled next to the black knight, attempting to pull her up by the arms.
“That… was nothing…” the princess groaned—huffing through her mouth as she rebalanced her quivering legs. “…!”
Lifting her gaze from the ground, Eutychia spotted an object rapidly approaching from within the red fog of the Deadlands—flying towards her and Arwen with absurd velocity. Pushing the man away with a tackle of her shoulder, the princess barely managed to save Arwen from a mortal projectile that crashed against the floor with a loud banging sound.
“Aah!” Sara screamed while protecting her face with both arms—startled by the sudden noise and impact that shattered the ground.
“Agh!” Boris in the other hand, fell on his butt as the flying object bounced near him and his men—forcing a loud gasp from his soldiers, who recoiled backwards in shock. “What… is that…?”
Only a few inches away from his feet, as Boris remained seated in the concrete. The last super soldier from Hydra and Chimera was laid out on the floor as hissing steam emanated from its inert body. The tubes that fed the officer with the strange formula inside was melted into an almost liquid state itself, pouring the serum created by Chimera into the concrete.
“That… can’t be…” Sara expressed, swallowing dry at the terrible state of the deceased officer. “His armor should’ve been enough to resist any heat produced by the liquid and the Deadlands...”
A violent tremble that shook the ground under everyone’s feet, suddenly snapped their attention back towards the giant—its sunken crimson eyes staring deeply into the large crowd gathered near the wall. Both armies from Hydra and Chimera took their firearms and began to discharge every bullet they had on the demon, causing nothing but slight discomfort to the growling giant.
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Before Cerberus’ reinforcements could join in the assault, Arwen raised his arm to halt their attack—earning a few glances from everyone present. He turned towards Eutychia, who picked herself back on her feet—dusting off the dirt from her armor with an annoyed frown.
“Princess, you have to stop it.”
Grabbing her sword from the ground, the black knight stretched her shoulder before giving her answer. “Just leave it to me. I had enough of this thing already…”
Pushing forward with no hesitation, Eutychia sprinted towards the rampart while the combined armies distracted the creature with a rain of projectiles. Not even the massive wall could put a stop the black knight’s advance, as she firmly pressed her feet on the reinforced steel and concrete structure to run vertically across it.
“Huff,” puffing air from between her lips, the princess leaped above the rampart before spinning her body towards headquarters—slicing a barrage of approaching bullets with her blade in mid-air, quickly turning back to face the Wendigo right in front of her.
Raising its arm above its head, the specter brought its fist down against the princess—aiming to crush her with the edge of its hand. In response to the demon’s attack however, Eutychia repositioned her blade into a reversed grip, and sliced at the specter’s hand with a powerful upwards swing—leaving a trail of azure light as it split the air alongside the giant’s arm.
With its arm split open, the demon dropped its injured limb before grabbing its shoulder with the other hand—quickly bringing its attention back to the black knight. Roaring furiously at the princess, the Wendigo utilized its working arm to strike with a thrusting punch against its glaring foe.
“Ha!” the black knight would react fast enough to evade the attack by mere inches, placing one hand on the giant’s fist to climb on top. “Rrrraaaa!”
With a thunderous battle cry, the princess ran across the demon’s arm as bullets bounced off her armor and the specter’s exoskeleton. The Wendigo swung its arm in an attempt to fling its opponent away from it, but Eutychia would leap off it before being catapulted away—spotting the wide opening for her to strike at the core.
“This is it… now die!”
Flinging her weapon towards the monster’s chest, Eutychia was able to pierce its core at the center as her blade shattered part of its structure. Once she reached the demon’s chest herself, the princess kicked the butt of the weapon to sink her sword even deeper into tis core—taking a hold of the grip with her hands right after. Feeling the sluggish arm of the Wendigo approaching, the black knight pulled the blade upwards with all her power to split the creature’s core in half—shattering its chest as her blade severed the demon’s armor all the way up to its throat.
“Hu!” the princess used the specter’s chest to push herself away—landing back on top of the rampart.
A deep and weakened growl could be heard all over the area, with the Wendigo swaying sideways while dropping its head. The ground shook once again once the demon dropped to its knees, falling on its back before vanishing into embers. A trail of crimson particles of light left the specter’s body, traveling across the fog towards the center of the Deadlands.
From down below, Arwen stared in shock before releasing a quick sigh of relief—dropping his shoulders. "Hah… I guess there was nothing to worry about, I think.”
“T-there is no way…” Sara told herself with an open mouth—having witnessed the princess of Heildin take down the Wendigo on her own. “What is king Date hiding at Heildin?”
Boris shook his head slowly with an angry frown, pressing his lips together to regain his composure. “There is still more work to do…” he muttered while closing his eyes. “We can’t allow this failure to bring our morale down.”
Leaping from above, Eutychia landed in front of Arwen before speaking—dusting off the dirt in her shoulders. “Everyone alright? I arrived as soon as I could. Had to take a little shortcut across the Deadlands to make it.”
“Yes,” Arwen smiled with a nod. “Thank you, lady Eutychia.”
“The princess of Heildin,” Sara chimed in as she walked closer. “I won’t lie, it is quite a shocking surprise to see you here, lady Eutychia.”
“Not only that,” Boris walked in as well—stepping next to Sara. “But you seem to be more than what meets the eye.”
The princess glanced around for a quick second, noticing the large army of outsiders at HQ. “What is the meaning of this?” she calmly asked Arwen.
“I… uh…” the man cleared his throat. “Negotiations, nothing else.” he replied, looking back at Sara and Boris with a confident smile. “I’m sure we are done here anyway, right?”
The pair couldn’t help but glare at Arwen, with Sara being the first to speak. “You are correct, I will take my people with me for now, Mr. Rhys.” she turned her back towards him, signaling the commander of her army to order their withdrawal. “Let’s meet again sometime soon, and…” she turned to look at Eutychia from over her shoulder. “Have a good day, lady Eutychia. I hope your sister is doing well.”
Responding with a quick nod, the princess offered her reply. “Of course.”
“Hmph!” Boris huffed—signaling his own army to turn and withdraw. “Cerberus cannot put a stop the specters, Arwen.” The man claimed. “We already stationed ourselves in the south-east, and Chimera guards the south-west… it is only a matter of time before the entire continent comes down on you. You should’ve surrendered peacefully when you could.”
Commanding his own army to escort Hydra and Chimera to the outer gates, Arwen dropped his head with a loud sigh and furrowed brows—taking a long breath of relief. “I wonder if this is what you had in mind when letting them in here like that…” he thought to himself while hiding one hand behind his back—which held a small vial carrying a tiny portion of the strange liquid used by the super soldiers.
Cerberus HQ, CEO’s Office: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 2:30 PM.
“You are not looking well,” Yeon said—gently rubbing a wet cloth on Sovereign’s forehead. “Are you thirsty?”
“No…” the man replied with a weak voice—leaning his back on the chair. “What is it this time?”
“Could be a fever, but I’m not sure…” the woman replied with furrowed brows—the look of a concerned mother in her eyes. “I called Ivanna to come check on you, so just wait little.”
Blowing air through his mouth, Sovereign took a quick glance below just next to his chair—where Lucy swayed his arm around with an expression similar to Yeon’s. “I’ll be fine, Lucy. You know I get sick pretty often.”
“Looks like lady Eutychia took care of the problem,” Yeon commented as she continued to rub Sovereign’s forehead with the cool cloth, submerging it into a water bucket next to her. “Just listening to that thing growl gives me a headache.”
“The Wendigo?” Sovereign frowned. “I always thought it was cool, something you’d see in a movie. Right, Lucy?”
The girl shook her head rapidly, closing her eyes with a smile. “No.”
“You never agree with me…” the man said before turning towards Yeon. “Ki-joon, can you take me to the lab?”
Yeon flinched slightly, dropping the cloth inside the bucket filled with water. “Do you really feel that bad?”
“Daemons…” Sovereign told her. “Paradise has sacrificed a few more knights to fight Ninigi… and I don’t know why.”
END OF CHAPTER