Cerberus HQ, CEOs Office: 936, March 12th, Monday, 5:00 AM.
Arwen stood in front of Sovereign—who contemplated the red fog traveling peacefully across the Deadlands through his window. “I know I signed up for this a long time ago but... this meeting at Heildin will be...” Arwen voiced his uneasiness.
Sovereign bared his teeth with a devilish grin—his left hand on his pocket. “You’ll be alright, just watch out for the youngest.” he warned his friend, “King takes real pride in his daughters... we’ll see what it takes to break it.”
“You were telling me about this other knight... will he be present?” Arwen queried, a worried tone in his voice. “If King brings him to the field... I’m afraid is my and Yeon’s lives you are putting on the line...” sweat ran down his forehead at the thought of running into a gladean knight.
Sovereign turned to face Arwen—his arrogant gaze filled with confidence. “He will most definitely be there, Jacob.” his grin grew into a wider smile. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Arwen fixed his glasses and swallowed dry before speaking. “Then you really are...”
A small plastic pot holding a pretty white flower on top of the desk suddenly moved on its own, startling the already on edge Arwen who recoiled at the supernatural occurrence. He exhaled softly from his mouth to calm his nerves—realizing who the culprit actually was. “You didn’t tell me Lucy was around...”
Sovereign cracked a quick laugh, bending forward with a quick motion of his arms—as if picking somebody up with them. “She can’t control her powers yet,” he said as the small girl materialized at contact with him—suddenly appearing in his arms while she snuggled-up on them. “Still, she seems pretty comfortable here in Cerberus.”
“Way too comfortable...” redirecting the subject to Sovereign’s recent plan, Arwen looked at his boss in the eyes with an anxious expression. “You do realize this will shatter the good will you’ve managed to build between Cerberus and the public, don’t you?”
The young CEO sat on his chair behind his desk, his daring smirk unmoved by the scientist’s words. “I only needed time before,” he looked at the sleeping Lucy in his arms. “I have no need for public opinion anymore, Jacob.”
“You always get like this when Yeon is not around...” Arwen sighed.
“My Bloodhound waits for you at your office, you know.” Sovereign urged him leave. “They’ll keep you safe.”
Far South of the Deadlands, Heildin Border: 936, March 12th, Monday, 7:00 AM.
“Well... orders are orders.” Sebastian chuckled with a bit of hesitation—setting his eyes on the massive wall that separated the outside world from the Deadlands. Under direct orders of their CEO, Heretic members: Aria and Xun, were to evacuate the Deadlands and leave Sebastian to operate on his own.
The major inspected the wall from a close distance—steeling himself for his next step, the memories of how his life turned out into the hell he found himself in kept flowing into his mind. He lowered his head and looked at the crimson ring on his finger, one of a pair that belonged to his family for ages—a crimson and an azure ring he used to propose to his wife.
“This is for our daughter...” the veins inside his body radiated a strong crimson light within him—activating his spectral gear. He kept a firm grip on his large sword in both hands—pointing the blade forward in front of him. “Now smash it into pieces!” he roared as he lifted the sword over his head and reeled backwards, collecting an absurd amount of energy in the blade—which gathered sparks of lightning around it.
Letting the charged attack fall forward with all of his weight put into it, the collision between the blade and the wall shook the region with a powerful burst of energy—detonating into the thick concrete defenses of the Deadlands. The astonishing amount of power let out by the spectral gear shattered the wall like glass, splitting the border with a wide steaming breach in the middle.
A large horde of specters immediately gathered behind Sebastian, eager to set foot outside their home. The major turned to face them with a smile, carrying his sword on his shoulder. “Sorry, but we are expanding here.” he prepared his blade for a fight.
The horde rushed him in mass, gaunt looking alpha specters mixed with stronger ones of higher level—growling with ravenous hunger. Sebastian returned the assault with a charge of his own, swinging his massive blade with a horizontal attack that cut down multiple opponents in a single blow.
A group of specters ran past him and sprinted towards the breach in the wall—keen on ravaging the peaceful green fields of the outside world. The major however, took the shotgun from its holster on his left leg and pulled the trigger without facing the creatures. The crimson shells of Callisto spread in mid-air and cracked open the specters’ cores—stopping their advance in a single shot.
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“Hm?” as the monsters began to swarm around him, Sebastian noticed the colossal specter approaching from a distance—its familiar skulled face prompted the major to smile and crack a laugh. “We never finished our sparring match from last time, did we?”
The Wendigo roared furiously and sprinted towards the major—its ravenous eyes glowing with an intense crimson light. Reaching its target, the massive specter stomped the ground in an attempt to crush Sebastian underneath. The major however, snatched a specter from the horde and used its body to kick himself out of the Wendigo’s range of attack—launching himself away and landing on his feet with a backflip.
“Woah, that was close...” he joked with an innocent smirk.
Responding with another ferocious attack, the Wendigo brought its fist down with all its might against Sebastian and struck the scorched earth with a powerful blow—leaving a large crater underneath. Before the beast could confirm its kill, an intense sharp cut split its hand in half all the way up to the forearm.
Recoiling with pain at the pungent feeling of the fresh cut, the screeching Wendigo was brought to its knees as it held its mangled arm with its other hand—directing its eyes to the unscathed man standing at the bottom of the crater.
“Sorry, buddy ol’ pal.” Sebastian stood firm with his shotgun in hand and his large sword resting on his shoulder—smiling confidently at the skull faced demon. “But I was instructed not to hold back this time.”
Positioning the sword to his side, the major rushed forward against the stunned Wendigo—leaping out of the crater where more demons expected him. A pair of gaunt alpha specters made the first move, lunging at him with bared teeth. Not stopping his advance, Sebastian aimed his shotgun at his first opponent—blasting a hole on its chest. Continuing his charge, he tackled the second specter into the ground and crushed its core with his foot—ending its life.
He carried on his assault by disposing of all opposing creatures that stood between him and the Wendigo. The colossal specter stood back up on its feet and prepared to join the onslaught—charging an enormous amount of energy in its able hand.
“Alright, who’s next?” Sebastian continued to take down specters with ease as the Wendigo prepared its attack.
Closing its gigantic hand into a fist after gathering all the energy from its core, the colossal demon opened its palm and thrusted it forward towards the occupied major—releasing a powerful crimson ray of blazing energy.
Sebastian jumped back to put distance between him and the smaller specters, focusing on the massive beam heading in his direction. The heat of the attack calcinated the specters around it, but the major caught the blast with the blade of his sword—standing firm against the impact.
“Thanks,” he chuckled. “But I don’t need all this power.” With a quick spin of his body, Sebastian absorbed the ray of energy with his sword and deflected it back towards the Wendigo—delivering a crescent moon shaped attack that sliced the demon’s torso in half.
The wendigo’s upper half hit the ground in an instant, its legs dropped on their knees and collapsed against the scorched earth—dissipating into embers as its life came to an abrupt end.
“Looking forward to our next match,” with all the specters taken care of, Sebastian secluded his power and deactivated his spectral gear—facing the massive opening in the border of the Deadlands. He forced himself to keep a positive expression as usual, unable to show the uncertainty he felt at the time—yet he couldn’t see any other way to protect the only family he had left—Claire.
Floating City of Paradise, Knight’s District: 936, March 12th, Monday, 1:00 PM.
Atalanta sat in a lonely bench at a small park with clean and well-kept grass, a large fountain of the goddess Gladea was placed in the middle for all to admire—she had her hands clasped together and smiled tenderly at the knights. An icon built in the honor of their creator and the one responsible for their strength and power.
The knight held a book in hand as the gentle breeze swayed her long hair kindly—the text was quite robust and held the title: ‘The Champion’s legend, vol.3.’ She smiled as she continued reading through the pages, engrossed in the fascinating tale of one of her fellow knights. “So, this is how they see you?” she spoke to herself with a smile—sighing with a quick chortle. “Where did you go...?” her expression quickly became one of melancholy.
“Wasting time in those human lies again?” another knight approached her—his elegant long sleeved azure tunic was decorated with golden lines at the end of the sleeves and around the neck. The man was dressed in black trousers with knee length leather boots and a leather belt, he kept his shoulder length black hair loose and wore a golden circlet on his head.
“Leave, I don’t wish to speak to you.” Atalanta retorted—not a hint of humor in her face.
“Hah!” the knight reacted with a fascinated grin. “Reading about ‘the champion?’” he gestured with his fingers—mockingly smiling at his fellow knight. “What stupid fantasies are these?”
“He’s done way more than any of us have!” Atalanta stood from her sit in a flash—glaring intensely at the knight with her dazzling azure eyes. “More than you ever had, Loki.” her taunting voice irritated the man slightly.
The knight of name Loki clicked his tongue. “So you say, but only one of us is favored by the order.” the jeering man returned a disdainful smile. “Humans believe anything you tell them as long as you make it pretty enough, but we knights know that an exile will always be just that...” he grinned with his bared teeth. “An exile.”
“Aren’t you busy with King’s orders?” she reminded him with a growl—having had enough of the knight’s games. “He will have an important meeting soon.”
Loki shrugged, unconcerned by Atalanta’s words. “And what’s a tiny group of humans going to do to him?” a devilish smile grew on his face. “If it were me... I would’ve killed them all already.”
Atalanta stomped forward at his claim, her breath heavy with rage. “We do not harm humans! it is our oath to the goddess.”
“I don’t remember promising such things,” the knight replied to her protest. “Still, where’s the fun in slaughtering weaklings, right?” he shrugged and turned his back to Atalanta—leaving the scene and the knight on her own. “I just can’t wait to put my hands on Specter... then we’ll see who the real champion is.” he claimed confidently under his breath.
END OF CHAPTER