The girl covered her mouth with both hands, desperately trying to remain quiet as she hid under a pile of leaves and branches—leaning her back on the large trunk of a tree. In front of her was a tall humanoid specter, illuminated by the rays of the sun above—leaking through the cluster of leaves within the dense and obscure forest.
The black and crimson monster rotated its head from left to right, attentively exploring the area with its intimidating glowing eyes. A sudden squeaky gasp nearby immediately caught its attention, prompting the creature to snap its head towards the sound. It silently stared at the pile of leaves and branches leaned in front of a tree—noticing the shivering movements of the girl hiding underneath.
“…!” the girl’s amber eyes opened wide as she noticed the demon slowly stomped its way towards her—patiently placing one foot after the other.
Staring down at the quivering girl, the specter snapped its jaws open to let out an earsplitting roar. The monster’s loud outburst startled the girl out of her hiding spot; she shut her eyes closed while protecting both ears with her hands—her screams joining the intimidating roar of the demon.
The creature lunged at the girl with its mouth wide open—showcasing its sharp and pointy fangs. The girl tried to crawl away from its clutches, but the tree she used to lean on stopped her from retreating further. Before the specter could sink its lethal fangs on the girl however, a large hand reached in between them both to put a stop to the demon’s attack—burying its teeth on the intruder’s palm instead.
A loud gasp escaped the girl’s lips as she crawled back in fear, cautiously moving her quivering eyes upwards—fixing her gaze on the man protecting her from the demon. While her face was drenched in sweat—covered with mud and dirt, her panting slowly reverted into calmer breaths once she recognized the black hair in the man’s head. Her father—Sebastian—had arrived just in time to save her from the deadly clutches of the demon.
“D…da—” the girl stumbled in her words before being interrupted.
“I’m here, sugar.” the man turned to look at his daughter from over his shoulder. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his body was covered with cuts and bruises. Despite his damaged state however, Sebastian smiled gently at his daughter—advising her to leave the area. “I will take care of this, alright? I’ll see you again after I’m done here.”
The girl sniffed as tears rolled down her cheeks, whipping them from her face with her short arms. “N-no… I can’t—”
“Please go,” he begged her. “I will return to you when I can…” he nodded as his lips curved further up—closing his eyes into a bright smile. “Trust your father.”
Following Sebastian’s advice, the girl sniffed with a nod as she returned the smile—her eyebrows scrunched with worry. She quickly stood up and ran away into the depths of the forest, looking back at her father as he fended off the creature’s emerging from the darkest corners of the forest—unknown to the small girl, that would be the last day she’d get to see him in years.
Floating City of Paradise, Knight’s District: 936, May 14th, Monday 12:00 PM.
The water felt cold in her back and limbs, the gentle upward push of the waves soothed her aimless and arbitrary thoughts. Claire breathed calmly through her nose, slowly opening her eyes to gaze at the clear blue sky above—her vision hazy as it accommodated to the light. The clanking noise of fists clashing with steel snapped the lieutenant out of her drowsy state, coming back to her senses with a gasping breath.
“What… where am I?” she quickly repositioned herself to float vertically in the water, fixing her eyes in the battle that unfolded nearby.
Just outside of the fountain, in the now flattened garden of Paradise, with its flowers trampled and the once green field turned into barren brown dirt. The horned demon pushed into the offensive with a clenched fist, propelling it forward against the giant knight. Anticipating the attack, King lifted his Warhammer over his head before bringing it back down at full force—striking the specter’s hand and putting a stop to its attack.
“You cannot win, demon.” King claimed, pushing his weapon back forward in a vertical motion—aiming for the creature’s chin.
With an intimidating growl, the horned specter blocked the hammer with its palm—pushing back down with all its strength. The intense fight continued as Theo joined in to aid King, but despite their advantage in number, the horned demon’s strength rivaled the combined power of both knights—turning the match into an even struggle.
Their fists clashed repeatedly, and King’s hammer managed to put a few dents on the creature’s exoskeleton—with Theo assisting on the defense by using his control of the winds. As the battle dragged on, fatigue began to settle in both parties until they eventually retreated to catch their breath—standing a distance away while facing each other.
“Are you alright, King?” Theo asked calmly—panting heavily.
King nodded in affirmation, lifting his dropped shoulders while tightening the grip on his weapon. The giant’s body however, began to shrink down slowly until its height lined up with Theo’s—the strength of King’s artery network sipping away by the second. “This sacred place is too important to the order,” The knight said. “We can’t allow it to fall. Call for Loki, Theo.” he commanded—to which Theo acted in accordance with immediate action, calling for Paradise’s champion.
Having slightly recovered from their weariness, both knights split into opposite directions while sprinting towards the horned specter—which raised both fists in front with a defensive stance. King swung his hammer at the demon, while Theo thrusted his palm against it—creating a strong wave with the wind. The powerful gust collided with the demon and broke its balance, forcing it to stumble straight into King’s weapon—which connected with its ribs, breaking part of its exoskeleton.
The knight continued its assault with another horizontal swing of his Warhammer, this time striking at the creature’s abdomen—forcing it down in one knee.
“For humanity and my fallen knights. You must die.” King whispered as he lifted the gigantic hammer over his head—bringing it back down with all his strength. “…!” A banging sound echoed across the region.
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King’s head violently snapped to the side as a powerful crimson burst bashed his face suddenly—the sheer force of the impact caused his legs to quiver and drop to his knees, planting both hands on the dirt to catch himself from completely falling.
“What could…!” Theo’s eyes looked shocked at the sudden attack that staggered King—turning his head towards the fountain.
“Sorry… but I’ll need you to stop that.” Claire said as she emerged from the crystalline water of the fountain, carrying one of her pistols in hand—her broken right arm dangling on the side. She panted with small grunts in between, bothered by the intense pain running across her body.
Thanks to the lieutenant’s training with Sovereign at HQ, she gained further control over the spectral gear, and had improved significantly with their implementation—enough to bring forth her pistols like she would the spectral bike, materialize them in her hands at command.
“Girl…” King growled—slowly picking himself back on his feet. “You would take the demons side.”
“I’m on humanity’s side,” she retorted. “And I will fight whoever gets in the way of peace, specter or not.”
“Theo,” King glanced at his companion—who relaxed his expression before nodding in agreement.
The blonde knight suddenly broke into a sprint towards the injured lieutenant—catching her off guard with inhuman levels of speed. In a fast attempt to protect the girl from Theo, the horned specter jumped back on its feet to intercept his attack. King struck at the creature’s head with its hammer however, putting a swift stop to the demon’s stride as his weapon connected with a clean hit—hurling the specter away.
“Tch!” Claire clicked her tongue before repeatedly pulling the trigger in her pistol—timing one shot after the other.
Theo’s speed as a gladean knight proved too much for the lieutenant’s senses however, who moved her arm from right to left while trying to aim her shots correctly. In a couple of seconds, Theo managed to reach Claire’s position unscathed, reeling his arm backwards to strike at her abdomen with his palm.
“Atone for your sins against the goddess,” Theo stated.
To the knight’s surprise however—as a thundering roar echoed throughout Paradise, Claire’s spectral bike suddenly emerged from behind her to tackle him away from the lieutenant—aiming at his chest with its front wheel. Although Theo was able to protect himself by crossing his arms in front, the magnitude of the impact was enough to draw blood from his skin and force him a great distance away.
“Grr!” Theo groaned after the painful strike—sliding away with his feet planted on the ground.
Claire loudly exhaled from her mouth in relief, retorting at the knight’s statement. “I believe in heroes, not gods.”
“Lionheart,” Sovereign’s voice suddenly ringed in her ear.
“You!” she reacted in surprise.
“I’m speaking through your gear,” he explained. “You need to get out, now.” Although his voice was calm, a hint of urgency lurked within his tone.
“There’s a specter…” Claire reported. “It’s crimson and…”
“Don’t focus on that,” the man interrupted her. “Just get out as fast as you can. You cannot face the knights, and someone even worse is on his way.”
“But…”
“Please, Lionheart. You’ve done enough for now.” he begged.
Taking a deep breath, Claire mounted her motorcycle immediately before Theo could recover from the attack. She noticed the open gate of the castle further in the distance, and allowed her bike to take control and guide her to safety—leaning forward on it while holding her broken arm with the other hand.
Roaring furiously with a powerful glowing red light, the spectral bike raced away from the battlefield while carrying the lieutenant’s wounded body to safety. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, Claire took one last look at the crimson demon as it tried to fend off the pair of knights from chasing after her.
“Get me out of here…” she whispered to her motorcycle as she leaned her head on it—crossing the gate into the throne room. “…!”
The lieutenant’s adrenaline kicked off abruptly once she noticed the large group of gladean knights, standing in between her and the exit. She clenched her jaw while forcing the spectral gear into overdrive, summoning a pair of specters to assist in distracting the knights.
Unfortunately for Claire, the demons were simply not enough to divert their attention even slightly—being cut down by the knights with ease. To her extreme luck however, the spectral bike would prove reliable in dealing with her opponents, drifting around the room while dodging the attacks of the gladean knights—protecting her with all its will.
Claire was forced to hold tightly to her motorcycle as it weaved across every room of the castle, eventually making its way out through one of the windows—shattering the clear glass to land into the trampled district of the knights. Her bike kicked into high gear as soon as it touched the dirt, outrunning the inhuman speed of the gladean knights with a thundering roar.
“Wha—” a loud gasp escaped the lieutenant’s lips as she fixed her gaze forward—noticing a sole knight approaching from a distance.
The man’s shirt was completely shredded, displaying his muscular upper body. His eyebrows were curved downwards with a displeased frown, snarling as he stomped his way towards the castle—the knight’s face and short black hair covered in dirt.
Despite his unfriendly appearance however, Claire’s motorcycle simply roared past him as he completely ignored her presence—keeping a fixed stare forward towards his destination. The lieutenant looked over her shoulder to check on the knight, confirming the man’s lack of interest in her.
“Right… let’s keep going.” she breathed, turning her gaze towards the nearest wall.
“Have you made it out?” Sovereign’s voice echoed in her ears once more. “Things are quite foggy for me.”
“Not yet…” she replied with a painful grunt. “I don’t know where I am, but I’ll let the bike guide me.”
“Can you leave the same way you got there?”
“I… I don’t know what I did.”
“The sword, Lionheart. Remember the bronze sword?”
“Ah…” Claire reacted at the man’s words, humming softly as she fell in deep thought. “I don’t know where it is, or how that helps me.”
“Your gear remembers, just focus.”
Sovereign’s advice was not as easy for the lieutenant to implement however, as the gladean knights rapidly began to cut the distance between her and them. The spectral bike broke into the human’s district in its escape, nearing one of the walls in a frontal charge—showing no signs of stopping.
“Watch it!” Claire yelled.
Her motorcycle lifted its front wheel however, riding the wall upwards in a vertical position—forcing the lieutenant to hold tighter to it. As its wheels drifted on the thick concrete wall, the crimson light of the spectral gear began to fade slowly—its roar dying off into a painful crackling sound.
“Dammit…”
Knowing well the meaning behind the cries emitted by her bike, Claire quickly closed her eyes while trying to keep her breath steady—quivering with the unbearable pain in her broken bones. A sudden shill running through her skin suddenly forced her eyes open however, feeling her body fall freely from the sky.
Unable to sustain itself any loner, the spectral bike had suddenly dissipated into embers—leaving Claire to fend off for herself. She was in the middle of the open blue sky, with a sluggish mind and a broken body—her panting increasing steadily.
“Gh!” Claire flipped over to look up at the floating island—her heart beating out of her chest as the giant rock became smaller in her eyes. “Sovereign… I’m falling.”
“Concentrate!” the man urgently suggested. “You can leave the same way you got there, just remember what you did.”
“I… my body…” she replied in between painful grunts. “I… I think I’m… not…” her vision suddenly went dark, her head leaned backwards and her body flopped motionless—continuing to accelerated downwards towards the earth. She breathed peacefully through her nose with her mouth slightly open, slumbering through it all.
END OF CHAPTER