Gladean Empire, Emperor’s Palace: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 2:30 PM.

“Huff… huff…” Claire breathed heavily through her mouth, her shoulders dropped and sweat rolling down her drenched face—surrounded by the wreckage inside the palace’s lobby. “You… are no joke…” she breathed.

“You are not dealing with a specter here, or one of King’s knights.” Loki replied—smirking confidently. “I, am the real deal. A pure blooded gladean knight.”

“Save it… I’m putting a stop to whatever plans you had to kill the emperor.”

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Claire growled.

“hahah… sure, but let’s not stop here just yet.” The knight bent his knees into a fighting position. “Show me more.”

Taking a quick shot against the knight, Claire pressed the trigger in one of her pistols to release a crimson projectile from its cannon. Reacting to the predictable bullet however, Loki moved his head aside quick enough to avoid it—initiating his offensive with a frontal charge. Being not match against the strength and speed and speed of a knight, the lieutenant called upon the spectral bike to aid her in battle—directly tackling Loki from the front.

“Gh! You’ll have to do better than that.” the knight claimed as he stopped the motorcycle with one hand—emitting smoke due to the friction caused by its spinning wheel shredding at his palm.

“There’s still more!” Claire roared—pointing her pistols at the knight.

Sensing the presence of a specter from behind his back, Loki vanished into thin air to avoid the claws of the crimson demon—which resulted in a tackle against it from the bike. Having freed himself from the lieutenant’s attacks, Loki reappeared in front of Claire to grab both of her wrists—pulling her arms apart while lifting her feet in the air, demonstrating the height difference.

“Agh!”

“Now what?” Loki grinned with an eager look in his eyes.

“Now…” the lieutenant tried to wrestle against the knight, but her attempts to free herself bore no fruits—gritting her teeth. “Now this!”

Gathering large amounts of energy within her pistols, the crimson waves of electricity generating from both firearms crawled their way into Loki’s skin—delivering a shocking attack that forced the knight’s body to convulse, releasing Claire in the process. As soon as her feet touched the ground, the lieutenant retreated with a series of backflips before releasing an onslaught of projectiles against her opponent—showering the knight in crimson bullets.

“Grr… Gah!” Loki grunted in pain as every shot from Claire pierced his body—prioritizing joints in the arms and legs.

Unable to resist further recoil from the spectral gear—as fatigue began to take over, Claire dropped on one knee while breathing heavily—sweat dropping from her face into the broken ceramic floor. With the lieutenant on the ground, Loki earned enough time to catch his breath after the violent assault from her pistols—dropping his shoulder while blowing air from between his lips.

“Gr… heh... that actually hurt a lot.”

“There’s no point to this... the emperor is out of your reach… we won’t let you continue attacking the people of the empire.”

Loki dropped to the floor, sitting himself with one leg crossed, raising his knee with the other to rest his hand on top of it. “You know who you work for… do you?” he breathed.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Hah... I guess we’ll see.”

Claire offered no reply to the knight’s words, pressing her lips into an angry frown instead.

“Did you know that the founder of the empire was traveling with your group, girl?”

Unsure of the knight’s motives, the lieutenant continued to keep her mouth shut—simply glaring at her opponent from her side of the battlefield.

“Hm? Something wrong?” the knight raised an eyebrow—quickly shifting back to his confident smirk. “Ah… of course. Whatever information you think you may have is irrelevant to me, so I see no point in your silence.”

“How do you know, Gaspard?” the lieutenant asked.

“Like I said before, he was only a small brat when I saw him nine hundred years ago. Before this place became what you call... the Gladean Empire. Being a fraction of what we knights are, some hybrids are capable of living for a few hundred years themselves.”

“Nine hundred years ago… Did you…?” Claire stopped for a moment, but decided to finish her question. “What happened back then? Are the legends true? Did the champion defeat Specter?”

Huffing through his nose, Loki leaned back a little before replying. “You’ve been reading too many of those things… there was no Specter to fight back then, girl.”

“What? But… what about the champion? What exactly happened?”

Just as the lieutenant finished her question, Loki pressed his hands on the floor to lift himself up—dusting off his shoulders. “Let’s finish this… I’ve wasted enough time already.”

“Ah, grr…” Claire grunted with fatigue—picking herself back on her feet. “I grew up with stories of gladean knights being heroes… protectors of humanity against the specters.”

“Don’t you work for one yourself?” Loki fixed his shoulders—smirking at the lieutenant.

Eyes shooting open at the knight’s words, Claire clenched her jaw before tightening the grip in her pistols—raising her hands in front. “How do you—”

“Go!” Announcing his assault, Loki charged Claire with a frontal assault—reeling his arm backwards before propelling it forward against her.

Unable to react fast enough, Claire was saved by one of her crimson specters as it pushed her aside with a tackle—receiving the punch in her place. The magnitude of Loki’s attack demolished the demon’s face with little effort, shattering its head into pieces as it flew away into one of the lobby’s tables—breaking the furniture on impact.

“Have another!” the knight continued his offensive, utilizing his other arm to throw a hook against the lieutenant.

With a thunderous roar and fast response, the spectral bike intercepted Loki’s attack by tackling his fist a mere second before reaching its target—flinging the knight’s arm backwards. Drifting into position, the bike returned for a second attack against the lieutenant’s foe—striking at his chin with an upwards strike of its back wheel.

“Guah!” Loki was lifted in the air on collision—dropping down against the broken ceramic with his back.

Despite the impact, the knight refused to stay down as he rolled with his back to land on his feet. He would be met by a new technique developed by the lieutenant however, spotting the fearless Claire as she pressed forward against him—both pistols radiating a powerful crimson light.

“Here it goes!” the lieutenant roared, releasing her grip on both pistols.

As soon both Juno and Jupiter lost contact with Claire’s skin, their entire body melted into bright particles of crimson light—crawling back through the air into her hands. Having lost their physical form, both pistols reconstructed themselves in the lieutenant’s fists as a pair of black gauntlets—glowing energy veins running across their fissured structure.

“What the hell...” Loki reacted in surprise, throwing his arm forward in an attempt to block the attack.

Reeling her arm backwards, the lieutenant stretched her fingers before pulling them back together—thrusting her arm forward against her opponent. As her fist clashed with Loki’s palm, the ground around them shook with enormous magnitude, causing the wind to burst near the pair and breaking the floor even further. Taking the hit directly into his hand, the knight’s arm was forced to bend in order to absorb the strike—drawing a painful grunt from Loki’s lips.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Rrraaaa!” Claire pressed further with a roar, preparing a second attack with her other arm.

“Gh!” Ready to protect himself, Loki attempted to position his hand in anticipation for the lieutenant’s next attack—immediately interrupted by the powerful roaring engine of the spectral bike. “You again!?”

Striking at his free arm with an explosive tackle—bursting into crimson particles, Claire’s motorcycle was able to stun Loki long enough for the lieutenant to strike true. She propelled her arm forward with full determination to end the fight in that moment, delivering a powerful attack that connected with the knight’s ribs—bending his upper as the knuckles in her gauntlets sunk themselves in his body.

“Gaah!” Strong enough to wound the knight, Loki flew away into a spiral roll across the broken ceramic—eventually stopping with his face planted on the floor. He planted both hands on the floor, struggling to push himself up—only to drop face first against the ground once again. “Ugh…”

“Hah… hah… hah….” Claire panted heavily with furrowed brows, feeling her consciousness fade slowly with every breath. “Gh… I… can’t… I can’t anymore…” allowing her knees to bend, the lieutenant dropped to the floor on her chest—both gauntlets returning to their original form.

The gates leading outside of the palace suddenly burst open, revealing Tori, Eric and Scott from within the bright light of the outdoors. As soon as Bloodhound put a foot inside the wreckage that the palace’s lobby had become, the trio gasped with concern once they spotted their lieutenant lying flat on the floor—facing the knight on the other side of the room—lying motionless himself.

“Lieutenant!” Tori rushed without a care, pressing the small medical kit bag on her chest.

“Wait, Tori!” Scott rushed behind her, followed by Eric.

Once they reached Claire’s body on the ground, Bloodhound sighed a breath of relief as soon as her chest expanded with a painful groan. Tori inspected her body as fast and optimally as she could, all while Eric and Scott kept their anxious stares on Loki. The knight would simply not move however, and Claire’s voice prompted the pair to turn their gaze towards her.

“Lieutenant!” Both Scott and Eric reacted in unison.

“Guys…? why are you…”

“We came back for you!” Tori yelled at her, with a mix of concern and anger in her tone. “You always do this to us!”

“Ugh… don’t worry, I’m fine… see? Ugh!” she attempted to force, which only resulted in a panful groan.

“Hahahahah…”

The weakened laughed of the gladean knight sent chill down the spines of every member of Bloodhound, turning their eyes to face the wounded man holding his sides with one hand. A satisfied smirk in his face, Loki had one of his eyes half closed as he endured the pain traveling across his nerves—taking long breaths to avoid sudden movements.

“Dammit…” Eric recoiled, placing one hand on the sword sheathed on his hip. “What now?”

Tori fearlessly stepped in front of Claire, taking her modified taser in both hands—centering her sights on the knight. “Stop! I won’t let you come any closer…” the girl’s voice shivered.

“Tori…” Claire whispered with wide open eyes—noticing the redheads hand shaking violently with fear.

“That’s right,” Scott followed the young medic’s actions—tipping the bridge of his glasses to lighten their lenses. “I am way stronger than you think,” he smirked—his lips flinching as he gulped down the fear. “Just try me… and I’ll send you home with blue circles in your eyes.”

“You won’t get any closer, knight.” Eric claimed—stepping next to Tori and Scott, swallowing dry while struggling to maintain a confident glare. “Our unit is the strongest in Cerberus, and we are not about to run away from you.”

“Guys… stop…” Claire tried to warn her team, but only had energy to whisper her words. “You don’t… stand a chance.”

“It’s okay, lieutenant.” Tori turned to look at her from over her shoulder, offering a reassuring smile. “We are your Bloodhound! We’ll find a way!”

“We got this in the bag!” Scott confidently claimed while pumping his fist.

“Hmph, I’m not about to be shown how do fight by a stranger.” Eric stated. “I’ll show you the real strength of an Albury.”

Loki continued to breath heavily while observing the group’s speech, unable to recover his breath as the lieutenant’s attack had dealt a massive blow to his artery network. He suddenly stood firm while exhaling loudly through his nose, causing Bloodhound to recoil before taking defensive stances. With an azure light enveloping the cuts around his body, Loki’s wounds began to heal almost instantly at the touch of the light—sealing themselves close.

“What?” Eric yelled in shock.

“You have to be kidding…” a drop of sweat rolled down Scott’s cheek as he clenched his jaw.

Smirking at the shivering group of Cerberus officers in front of him, Loki stretched the joints in his shoulders and neck before speaking. “A simple technique I learned from the best,” he told Bloodhound. “But I guess this means our deal is off…”

“You wouldn’t!” Claire shouted, afraid of the consequences of Paradise’s knights returning to the palace.

Nothing but the whistling sounds of the wind, the falling rubble of the broken second floor, and the breaths of every member of Bloodhound could be heard in the area. Loki remained still for a short few seconds, enjoying the terrified faces on the men and women that stood in his way.

“Hah… as if I could bring them back in here.” he told the group—earning a few shocked reactions. “It was already a struggle to infiltrate this place with all them around… I get nothing from calling them back from Paradise.”

“W-what… do you mean?” Tori asked nervously.

“It means that I have no desire to fight alongside them,” Loki replied—moving his eyes towards Claire. “I will admit… your control over that thing is quite impressive, girl. I’m surprised you haven’t caught Theo’s attention as much, but that was a fun fight we had. Almost brought back old memories. What’s your name?”

“…” the lieutenant found herself lost for words, afraid of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time—deeming it favorable to comply with the gladean knight’s request. “Claire, Claire Lionheart.”

“Claire Lionheart… thanks for the fight, but I already have everything I needed from this place.” His eyes focused on Bloodhound next, one corner of his lips curving into an excited grin. “That’s why you all came here to interrupt our battle, right? You know exactly what’s about to happen.”

“…!” the group flinched at the man’s words—remembering the photo Euthemia left behind for them.

“What is he talking about?” Claire asked her team, picking herself up into a sitting position.

Eyes brimming with fear and worry—gathering tears from within. Tori kneeled in front of Claire to offer the small item the princess gifted them before disappearing—speaking softly, “lieutenant…”

Taking the picture in her hand, Claire’s eyes shot open with a gasp as she quickly recognized the woman in the photo. “This is…” she paused for a moment, still struggling to believe her eyes. “Yeon?”

“Hah!” Loki chuckled. “I told her not to play around, but I guess she never listens to a word I say.”

“What do you—ugh!” Claire reacted with a violent outburst as she attempted to force herself to stand, plummeting back down as the pain force her to the floor.

“Lieutenant!” Tori held her steady in her hands.

“You see… the empire has been sending people to Paradise for a few months now. Some information has been getting out through them, as well as people leaving the island. Those blank husks of King are too worthless to do anything, acting like mindless drones most of the time.” Loki began to explain. “Turns out your butler has been working with someone at your company to carry this out, someone that has been avoiding Theo for a long time.”

“Arwen?” Scott guessed—meeting Eric’s gaze as they both glanced at each other from the side.

“He thought Gaspard was actually dead,” the knight continued with his explanation. “Even for a city in the sky, it’s hard to keep an eye on things when the influence of the Deadlands is so thick down here. However, Theo found out about a certain person working for this company of yours… what do you call him? S—"

“Enough!” Claire cut the man off with a yell.

“Hmm?” the knight’s smirk widened. “Heh, fine… whatever happens to that woman in the picture is none of my business, but her presence became quite important to the order, and I’m only there to carry out my oath as a knight.” He claimed, scrunching his brows with a grin. “She alone after all… keeps the devil at bay.”

“Miss Yeon?” Eric said—followed by a question from Scott.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means all of the noise we made was nothing but a ruse from that snob in Paradise,” Loki told the group. “Whether that kid everyone calls emperor died or not was of no importance to the order. However, Theo thought it’d be necessary to remove as many opposing parties as possible. Allowing his plans to invade the empire to… leak, into the world below.”

“It was… a trap?” Tori speculated with a whispered.

“Gaspard…” the butler’s words returned to the noble—keeping Eric with a pensive expression plastered in his face. “He requested Cerberus’ aid…”

“Which brought us all back here,” Scott growled.

Loki continued to smirk arrogantly, explanting even further. “I decided to come up with a little trick to help me carry this all out, a trick you are witnessing at full display.”

“What?” Claire frowned with a wary expression—holding her pistols tightly. “I don’t see anything different from when we fought.”

“Because I’ve been using it the whole time, or did you actually think you stood a chance against me.” Loki replied with an arrogant tone. “You see… I trained to split my power in half during these past few months, creating a replica of myself. By merging both halves together once again, I can return the replica to my actual body… or join in with the other half, sending me away towards it. One of them here in the empire, and the other…” the knight’s smirk widen—baring his teeth.

Particles of azure light began to engulf Loki, suddenly turning his body into a ghostly appearance—becoming translucent. With shocked expressions in their faces, Bloodhound remembered that same light enveloping Euthemia before she disappeared before their very eyes—Now knowing exactly her, and the knight’s destination.

“Stop!” Tori cried out in a fruitless attempt to stop Loki—who continued to grin in satisfaction through it all.

“The same light that enveloped lady Euthemia...” Eric snarled.

“I replicated this with the princess, which surprised even me back then.” Loki said—referring to Euthemia. “So, I decided to bring her with me, heh. I wouldn’t worry too much, when this is all over… you’ll be thanking me instead.”

END OF CHAPTER