Gladean Empire, Empire’s Seas: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 5:00 PM.

In one of the vast luxurious rooms of the Empire’s greatest vessel, Claire sat on the floor with her legs crossed and eyes shut—breathing calmly through her nose while holding both Juno and Jupiter in her hands. Her place was completely silent, and not even the waves of the ocean could be heard from inside the room—her mind however, was unable to concentrate.

“Dammit,” she muttered as she opened her eyes, finding herself back in the fancy room. “It can’t be that far…”

Her thoughts remained solely on headquarters, which she has not received any reports about in hours. By implementing her spectral gear, Claire attempted to travel back towards Cerberus the same way she accidently transported herself towards Paradise—all to no avail, as her pistol do not react to her command.

She created HQ’s image in her head, and traveled across in her thoughts—searching every nook and cranny for something that could aid her in reaching her destination faster. Suddenly—and as if she found herself back in Hemel in an instant, her eyes came across a strange room in a desolated hallway. A broken door could be seen at the end of it, but in a different room in that same hallway, a fog of crimson leaked out from the crevices of the wooden door—walls around it turn into obsidian scales with a familiar crimson glow. From within as she casually approached, the voice of a terrified girl reached the lieutenant’s ears—prompting her run in the protection of Lucy.

“Lieutenant!” Tori’s urgent scream just outside of her room snapped Claire back into the ship with a gasp—forcing her to stand and investigate the situation.

Rushing out towards the exit of her room, the lieutenant tackled the door open with her shoulder—stumbling upon Tori. “Tori!” her eyes widened at the sight of the girl, whose face was as pale as a ghost—her eyes and mouth quivering. “Tori, what’s happening?”

“I-I-I-I… I was out talking with Scott and…”

Seeing the girl too frightened to even speak, Claire took the initiative and grabbed her by the hand—rapidly striding across the hallway of the residential part of the ship, and climbing the stairs down towards the dock.

“Tell me everything, Tori.”

“I-it’s…” shaking her head rapidly, the young medic took a set of deep breaths before exhaling through her lips. “A s-specter… lieutenant.”

“Here?” she clenched her jaw with a grunt before speaking. “It wouldn’t be the first time we see them near the empire but…”

The news only accelerated the lieutenant’s steps, who came in contact with Eric and Gaspard as she continued her way towards the docks. They explained the situation as well, and joined Claire in her race outdoors. Finally reaching the docks, the group spotted a trembling Scott as he observed the waters through the scope of his rifle.

“Scott!” called out the lieutenant—startling the young sniper who jumped off his feet.

“Ah! Y-you scared me…”

“What’s the situation?”

Glancing behind Claire, Scott noticed the entire group already gathered—offering his reply immediately after. “I-t’s, well… I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Just tell me what happened and what you saw.”

“Right, right… so, I was exploring the ship with Tori when I saw something from the corner of my eye…” Scott began to explain. “I kept my attention on the water just in case I saw something cool, you know… maybe like a dolphin, or a shark or something.”

“And then we saw it…” Tori said in the back, unable to stop herself from trembling.

“Yeah…” continued Scott. “It was… massive… it’s black scales were just gigantic, and the crimson glow coming from its body was exactly the same as a specter.”

“How big?”

“I-I don’t know… It looked like a serpent… or a dragon. I just know that what we saw was only a small portion of its body. Probably the tail…”

The alarm of the ship shouted all over the vessel, red lights blinked and staff hurried all over the ship in search for the issue. A shrilling and fear inducing screech suddenly echoed across the ocean, bringing everyone into high alert as they blood ran cold. Pursuing after the staff—which now spread in the opposite direction of Bloodhound, the group finally reached the front docks, only to have their frightened eyes settle on a gigantic serpent-like creature clad in obsidian armored skin—its crimson glow flowing across the fissures of its body.

A monster of enormous size skillfully slid across the water near the vessel—its body long enough to surround the ship entirely, remaining half submerged as it circled around at a distance. Panic ensued even in the lieutenant’s mind, afflicting everyone around at the intimidating size and appearance of the demon.

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“Ah!” Tori crouched down on the floor while covering her head, averting her eyes from the aquatic monster.

Scott kneeled next to her, placing one hand in her shoulder. “H-hey, it’s going to be fine… right?” his flinching eyes turned to Claire.

She took a deep breath to remain calm, gulping down as she kept the creature in sight. “Gaspard, have you ever seen anything like this?”

Shaking his head, the butler regretfully announced his reply. “I have not, young miss. I’m afraid there was not much water to go by back in my days…”

“Dammit…” knowing she had to act quick, the lieutenant huffed from between her lips before turning to face her team. “Scott, find a place where you can get a clearer view of it.” She issued her command. “Eric, Gaspard I need you to protect the staff, and gather them in one place. Tori, go to the bridge and ensure Jean’s safety. If we lose command of this thing, then we can call it quits here.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the group tenaciously chanted, lifting their spirits at their lieutenant’s determination.

As Bloodhound split to protect the ship and its occupants, Claire remained in the docks while she prepared her gear to face off the demon—which kept lurking in the distance. It kept itself mostly hidden under water, emerging multiple times with splashing sounds and shrilling screams—as if playing with its food before a feast. Many scenarios ran through the lieutenant’s mind as she devised a strategy to deal with such a monster, a strategy that made itself clearer thanks to a familiar masculine voice calling from behind.

“How can we help?” the man asked—prompting Claire to sharply turn towards it in surprise.

“You?”

Northern Region of the Deadlands: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 4:30 PM.

Sinking his knuckles in the demon’s jaw, Ninigi landed a powerful uppercut against Specter—launching him upwards. Following up his previous attack, the knight leaped in the air to fly above the god. He placed two fingers near the chest of his foe as gravity began to take them both back to the ground, rapidly pressing them into a fist that shattered the demon’s exoskeleton into fragments—forcing him back to earth in an instant.

“Gah!” Specter’s back bounced off the dirt, leaving a small crater underneath him.

Ninigi landed on his feet nearby, opening his eyes before releasing the air in his lungs. “You’ve abandoned your core…” he commented on the god’s open chest—noticing the empty hole at the center.

Picking himself from the ground through painful grunts, Specter stood back on his feet with gritted teeth—snarling at his opponent. “I don’t need it to deal with you now…”

Charging Ninigi with a frontal assault, Specter gathered a handful of energy in his spectral palm before thrusting it forward against the knight—releasing multiple needles of crimson energy. Responding quickly to his attack, Ninigi evaded each needle by stepping aside, and jumping over them—blocking the approaching fist of the god immediately after.

“Gh!” the impact was strong enough to send Ninigi sliding a great distance away, pressing his feet against the dirt to plant himself on the spot.

“Here’s a familiar technique,” Specter said under his breath as he extended his human arm towards the knight—stretching out two fingers in his hand to point at him in the distance.

“That’s…”

The god suddenly vanished from view, as if completely seizing to exist in less than a second. Taking a closer look however, Ninigi cleared his senses fast enough to spot the approaching demon—traveling towards him with such speed that rivals even that of light. With a fast reaction that took only a fraction of a second, the knight was capable of stopping Specter’s attack as he blocked the god’s thrusting punch with the palm of his hand—the impact forcing him to recoil slightly.

Not letting his assault go to waste, Specter responded with a fast punch to the gut—burying his human fist in Ninigi’s abdomen. The knight bent forward as saliva spew out of his mouth, and the demon once again took the initiative with another strike. He leaped backwards in a quick motion, gaining enough distance to clobber the face of his adversary with the bridge of his foot.

“Grah!” Ninigi was brought to the dirt by Specter’s powerful kick, sliding across the ground on his face, and bouncing off it until coming to a sudden halt. “Ugh…”

“Your race will not see the day of light again!” Specter roared as he pushed against his opponent.

Giving Ninigi no time to pick himself up, the demon grabbed the knight by the head with his spectral arm and lifted him up in the air—forcefully and repeatedly slamming his face back down against the dirt, which lifted piles of rocks after every impact—slowly breaking open a crater with the face of his foe.

“That’s it…” muttered Ninigi as he was brought back down by the god’s hand—slamming his hands on the ground to prevent the impact.

By utilizing his palms pressed on the dirt, the knight pushed against it to propel himself upwards—using the momentum to twist his body sideways, and land a powerful kick against the head of his foe—striking at the demon’s temple with the bridge of his foot. Such powerful attack flung Specter’s head sideways, staggering him enough to make him stumble away in a dazed state.

“Grah… I’m not done yet.” He breathed.

As fatigue began to overtake him as well, Ningi’s chest puffed with every breath—both fighters feeling the strain of the Deadlands’ heat. “Your human side is begging for a rest…” the knight stated.

“There’s no human in me…”

“Allow me to prove you wrong,” stated Ninigi—transforming the crimson fog around him into azure particles of light—all of them gathering around his right hand to form the shape of a weapon.

The light materialized itself into an object, a sword safeguarded inside a sheath with the same shape. Unlike the common long swords carried by the gladean knights of the order, Ninigi’s had a thinner body, and a curved appearance—represented by its sheath. The glow of the blade—which was crafted from pure azure steel, could be seen leaking out of the sheath’s mouth, seeking the champion’s guidance.

Specter observed quietly as the knight gently pressed the fingers of his left hand on the swords grip—hiding the weapon behind him as he took a fighting position, bending his knees slightly.

“I do not fear you… champion.” The god growled with a snarl, implementing the fog to materialize his own weapon. The broken sword he always carried with himself, kept inside a scabbard so small it couldn’t hold a knife inside.

“Then face me, god.” Requested the knight calmly—his azure eyes staring with determination at the demon in front of him. “I will stop you one way or another…”

END OF CHAPTER