Kingdom of Heildin, Heaven’s Castle: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 12:30 PM.
A tall man dressed in white robes walked into the throne room, his fragile and soft body structure in harmony with his graceful long blonde hair and serene face. The large room was decorated with azure curtains and carpets, the sunlight shined through the tall windows on the sides—illuminating the entire room. The massive throne was placed at the end of the room in a tall platform, only accessible by a long path of stairs—energy veins ran across the throne’s body with glowing azure light flowing inside.
The man kneeled in front of the throne, lowering his head in respect towards his king. “The Golden Lightning was deployed, my lord.” he announced in a soft and tranquil voice.
King Date sat straight with his arms resting on the chair’s armrest—his tall and muscular body displayed the imposing authority of an experienced and unflappable ruler. He ran his fingers through his short black hair and looked at the man kneeling below him.
“Where is Specter, Theo?” He asked calmy with his heavy voice.
The man of name Theo continued to kneel. “We have not discovered his position, your majesty.” he answered, lifting his head to look at the expressionless giant sitting in the throne—his eyes cloaked in a shadow that leaked a faint azure light from within. “Do you wish to deploy him as well?”
“No,” king Date blankly voiced his decision. “Send a letter to Cerberus, I wish to meet the dog with three heads.”
Somewhere in the Deadlands: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 12:30 PM.
Heretic and the horde of specters stared in awe at the tall figure veiled behind the smoke screen. The silhouette held a large polearm in front of them, swinging the weapon to dispose of the fog with a swift movement of their arm. The smoke dispersed quickly, revealing the elegant and feminine figure garbed in golden armor. Her knee length straight hair of an alluring and vibrant gold, complementing her armor and the mask that concealed her face—her tall and athletic figure exhibiting a refined yet powerful aura with the beauty of a divine being.
The knight stood in position, holding a glaive in one hand behind her back—the blade pointing towards the ground.
“Woah, who is that...?” Aria stared dumbfounded at the picturesque figure.
“That woman just dropped from the sky...” Xun claimed open mouthed as she moved her eyes towards Sebastian. He held a confident smile on his face, unshaken by the sudden arrival of the golden warrior.
The remaining specters roared with deep ferocity and recklessly charged towards the knight. Tightening the grip on her weapon, the woman instantly returned the assault with a charge of her own—displaying inhuman levels of speed as traces of lightning chase behind her. Fearlessly leaping towards the horde of specters from above, the knight swung her glaive effortlessly, cutting multiple specters in front of her in one clean sweep.
The nearby creatures were stroke by sparks of electricity flung from the glaive’s blade, causing their bodies to convulse violently as their cores shatter by the stirring force of her attack. The knight landed on her feet in the middle of the horde, taking position with the glaive behind her back once again. As the creatures’ survival instinct began to set in and took a few steps backwards, the Wendigo used the opportunity to attack the distracted knight as she focused on the horde.
“Watch out!” Aria yelled from the distance, attempting to warn the woman of the incoming attack.
Bringing its palm down with great magnitude, the colossal monster hit the ground successfully and shook the region with its powerful strike—lifting up a large screen of dust. As the dust cleared up, the Wendigo noticed the unscathed woman standing on top of its hand with her glaive and body radiating with intense golden lightning sparks.
The knight responded quickly by using the Wendigo’s arm as a bridge to make her way towards its head. The giant aggressively swung its arm to the side in an attempt to hurl the knight away from it, but the woman was able to jump off before the inertia could sent her flying into the air.
With a fast twirl in mid-air, the knight tightened the grip on her weapon and propelled herself straight towards the Wendigo’s chest with an outlandish amount of speed. An earsplitting thunder roared throughout the region as a path of gold lightning trailed behind her, piercing the colossal creature’s chest like an arrow through a thin layer of paper.
The Wendigo was pushed back by the amount of strength behind the knight’s attack, its shattered body falling motionless on its back. With a last look at the golden knight standing in front of it, the colossal creature groaned one last time in an attempt to pick itself up—its crumbling body finally dissipating into embers.
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Its ashes dispersed into the fog and the belfry quickly followed, the massive tower crumbled in on itself as the remaining specter horde hit the ground, their inert bodies burning into embers.
“That wasn’t real...” Aria—whose mouth remained slightly open during the entire event, expressed in astonishment. “...Was it?”
Xun swallowed hard after the belfry dispersed into nothing, her eyes wide open with disbelief. “How... what?”
“Let’s go say hi!” Sebastian rushed towards the knight enthusiastically, like a child running to his favorite attraction in a theme park.
“Wait, major!” Both Xun and Aria ran after him, their heads still spinning after the events they just experienced.
The golden knight noticed the trio approaching her, standing in place as she waited for them to arrive. Sebastian reached her position first, with Xun quickly catching up holding Aria in her mech’s arms.
“Thank—ugh!” Aria fell forcefully to the floor, Xun’s mech suit shutting off immediately after running out of power.
Sebastian looked at the knight with a smile, receiving the woman with a friendly wave. “Hi, I’m Sebastian.” he pointed to his team behind him with his chin. “These are my friends, Xun and Aria; thank you for the help.” he grinned innocently.
“Major, you can’t just...” Aria picked herself up and looked at the tall knight in front of her. “I don’t know, what if you are insulting her culture or something.” she whispered to Sebastian.
“Possible,” Xun stated, hopping off her mech and lifting her head straight to look at the knight. “I already looked small enough...” She sighed with a sad expression.
The golden knight bowed slightly to the group. “I’m happy to see you safe,” she expressed graciously—her musky voice soothing the ears of Heretic. “My name is Atalanta,” she began to introduce herself. “I am a Gladean Knight from the order, sent here to deal with the belfry and the horde of specters.”
“Ah...!” Aria’s mouth opened wider. “Kn-kn-kn-kn—.”
“A-a knight?” Xun stared in disbelief at the woman’s words. “T-that can’t b-be...” she stuttered.
Sebastian couldn’t help but crack a laugh at his team’s reaction. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss Atalanta!” he gestured with a fist pump. “We were in a bit of a pickle back there!”
“M-m-m-major!” Aria shook Sebastian back and forth with her hands. “That’s... a knight!”
“Where are the others?” Sebastian asked nonchalantly.
“You said you are from the order,” Xun chimed. “That means there are more, right?” Her eyes open wide with expectations, the small woman could barely keep her emotions in check as she eagerly waited for an answer.
Atalanta nodded with a smile and pointed to the sky. “We live in paradise, a floating island in the sky.” The glaive in her hand suddenly shrunk into itself, turning into a small and compact stick that seemed easier to carry. “We’ve been preparing for a crusade against Specter.” she mentioned, stowing her weapon away. “Our king has deemed the time ideal to being our search for him.”
“Specter...” Xun rubbed her chin. “You mean, the god Specter?”
Atalanta nodded once more. “Correct, we’ll free humanity and this world from his grasp once and for all.” she looked towards the crimson sky above, redirecting her gaze back to the trio quickly after. “I must go, please stay safe from now on.” She expressed gently at Heretic, her body irradiating a bright azure light before firing upwards—leaving no trail behind.
“Holding me, major...” Aria said with her body wobbling from side to side. “I think I’m passing out...” she groaned.
Sebastian kept his gaze in the sky, a confident smile plastered on his face. “She’s strong... it will be hard to keep up.” he kept his thoughts to himself. The sound of Aria’s body hitting the ground brought him back to reality, moving his eyes towards the woman lying face flat on the ground.
“You don’t look surprised, major.” Xun approached him, a look of concern in her face. “That was a Gladean Knight...” she expressed, as if reminding Sebastian of the events that just took place. “Forget it... maybe you are just as in shock as I am.” she put her hand in her forehead, her fatigued expression telling the major everything he needs to know. “Can we go back now?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Of course, I’ll carry you both back to camp since your mech is out of juice.” he turned his gaze back to Aria with a beaming smile, her body out cold on the ground. “And so is Aria it seems.”
Cerberus HQ, CEOs Office: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 1:00 PM.
“This taste great!” Sovereign expressed with a smile, gobbling the food in his plate.
Yeon crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows. “Slow down... you should chew your food properly.”
“There’s quite a lot going on at the moment...” Jacob sighed softly at the messy sight. “shouldn’t we be more worried about the knights or something?”
Not wanting to speak with a full mouth, Sovereign simply raised his eyebrows to express confusion at the given question. “Hm?”
“Or the girl in the empire,” Yeon added. “Didn’t you send a belfry over there too?”
Sovereign swallowed his food in a quick motion. “She’ll be alright, trust me.” he waved his hand, disregarding Yeon’s worries. “Who knows, I might give her a break after this.” he stated as he continued to eat his food.
“You just want an excuse to bring her back,” Yeon squinted her eyes. “Don’t you?”
“What?” Sovereign laughed nervously. “Come on, she deserves a break wouldn’t you say?” he looked at Jacob for support. “You agree with me right, Jacob?”
Jacob closed his eyes and played with his glasses, slightly turning his head to avoid Yeon’s death stare.
“Jacob?”
END OF CHAPTER