Northern Region of the Deadlands: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 5:30 PM.
Having snaped Sovereign back into his senses through combat, Ninigi’s claim to end the man’s life ended with Sebastian interfering during the battle—allowing the young CEO to escape while he remained to hold back the knight. Despite catching Ninigi in a wounded and tired state however, the major’s strength alone wavered against the speed and power of a gladean knight—finding himself in need of the spectral gear’s aid.
“Here I go!” Sebastian held the grip of his sword tightly with both hands. Having transformed into a spectral state, half of the major’s face was covered in a black exoskeleton fueled by crimson energy running across its veins—with the sword displaying a spectral appearance itself. “Rrraaa!” he roared while bringing the weapon down.
With a fast response to the major’s attack, Ninigi stepped aside to barely avoid the sword as it fractured the earth on impact—splitting the ground mere inches from his feet. Sebastian quickly took one hand away from his weapon as soon as it hit the dirt, unholstering his shotgun in a hurry, and pointing its sawed-off barrels against Ninigi’s face.
“How about this then!” he announced while pressing the trigger. The major’s shotgun—Callisto, ignited with a burst of crimson that released a large array of shells in the fraction of a second—shooting the knight at point blank.
Despite the distance between them however, Ninigi managed to avoid all projectiles with an astonishing display of speed by arching his back—watching the crimson shells of Callisto fly above his face. Springing back into a firm position, the knight rapidly took a hold of Sebastian’s shotgun to bend his arm upwards—forcing him to point the weapon at the sky.
“Enough of this, Sebastian.”
“Haha, we’ve only just started.” The major smiled innocently—pressing the trigger once again.
The clicking sound of Callisto caused the weapon to release crimson sparks of electricity, leaking out from inside the fissures of its body, and crawling into the knight’s hand—shocking Sebastian’s opponent with a strong force of lightning.
“Grh!” Ninigi recoiled at the electrifying ignition of the shotgun, but managed to keep a hold of it by tightening his grip around the barrels. “I said enough…” he calmly repeated.
In a single motion of his hand, Ninigi quickly unarmed the major by tearing the shotgun off his fingers—utilizing his unmatched strength as a knight to seize Callisto. The crimson sparks of the weapon faded quickly once losing contact with Sebastian, returning to its original state as a regular sawed-off shotgun. No longer a threat, Ninigi tossed the object away before turning his gaze back towards his opponent—who pursed his lips with wide open eyes.
“Well… I really thought that would be work.” Calmly said Sebastian as he scratched the back of his head.
With a short sigh and furrowed brows, the knight turned his back on the major before taking a few steps away. “Go back to your friends,” he suggested. “They shouldn’t be in a place like this on their own… special how things are now.”
His words caused Sebastian to flinch slightly, giving the knight a concerned smile in response—sweat rolling down his forehead. “Hahah…. How’d you know?”
“You can’t concentrate,” said Ninigi. “And it’s not hard to figure out that you care about them. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt because of me,” the knight turned to look behind from over his shoulder with a smile. “It’s somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I don’t think I could beat you as I am right now. That is… if you were to become serious and actually tried to kill me.”
Gladean Empire, Empire’s Seas: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 5:30 PM.
Nearing the serpent’s core, Claire’s spectral bike roared fiercely as it traveled across the beast’s mouth—its interior just as sturdy as its external armor. She managed to safely enter the glottis, and rode inside the dark tunnel towards a distant blinking light of crimson lurking in the depths. Knowing well the desperate need her gear had for a rest however, the lieutenant slowed down her motorcycle before dispersing it away—continuing her path on foot.
“Tori!” she contacted the girl through her earpiece. “Are you in position? Try one of your darts!”
“O-on it!”
On the emperor’s ship—standing on a balcony outside of the bridge, Tori held her taser in hand and prepared herself to shoot—its modified structure was painted black with the golden insignia of a three headed dog. The young medic grabbed the fairly short cannon before snapping it downwards, revealing a square slot to place the cartridge—which had a label with a red warning, mentioning the potent shock of each dart.
“I can do this…” murmured Tori. Her hands trembled rapidly however, making her breaths quiver as nerves began to get the better of her.
“Tori?” urgently called the lieutenant through her earpiece.
A gasp escaped the young medic, the voice of Claire fading in her ears as they concentrated on a strange growl from behind. She gulped down hard before taking a sharp turn towards the sound, spotting a black and crimson demon lurking in closer. Its humanoid body had strange mutations on its face and limbs, which looked similar to melted pieces of metal. A pair of small horns on its head, and teeth as black as its obsidian armored exoskeleton.
“Ah!”
Her scream only served to alert the specter, which lunged at her in an instant. The body of the creature tackled the young medic into the floor, able to slash the gun away from her hand with the sharp claws of its fingers—leaving a cut in her wrist. Tori tried to desperately crawl away, but was quickly caught by the ankle—feeling the sharp nails of the demon incrust themselves in her flesh.
“Augh!”
“Tori!?” the lieutenant’s voice came through the speaker. “Tori, what’s happening!”
With a strong pull of its arm, the specter brought the girl in closer before raising one of its arms above its head—half closing its hand to point black nails towards its pray lying on the floor, and bringing back down with full intent of ending Tori’s life.
A loud bang suddenly echoed nearby, flinging the creature’s head sideways as a strong spherical projectile shattered on its face. The impact forced the demon to let go of Tori, stumbling away until the rails of the balcony put a stop to it—limping back to its feet.
“Now you face Jean Bonheur!” exclaimed the pirate while extending her musket towards the specter. “I’m sure you’ve heard of—”
Interrupting Jean’s speech, the specter roared before limping rapidly towards the captain of the Blue Lobsters instead—thrusting its arm straight towards its opponent’s face. Reacting fast enough, Jean stepped away from its attack before unsheathing the saber on her hip—slicing the gaunt monster’s arm off.
Before the creature could have any time to react, one of Tori’s darts incrusted themselves on its back and exploded into shocking waves of electricity, crawling all over the specter’s body. The sparking waves held the monster in place, like sparking chains that restrained its movements, allowing Jean to deal the final blow with another swing of her saber—slicing its head off from the neck.
“I brought real weapons this time,” claimed the captain while blowing the smoke away from her musket’s cannon.
Inside the gigantic serpent’s mouth, Claire continued sprinting her way towards the end of the creature’s glottis—a journey that would become more complicated the further she ventured into the tunnel. A hand suddenly emerged from underneath to pull at her feet—grabbing her ankle and forcing her face first against the ground.
“Guh!” she hit her eyebrow on the sturdy obsidian floor—breaking her skin open to reveal drops of blood dripping out of the wound. “Dammit…” Claire quickly pulled herself up, turning around to spot a deformed demon emerging from the shadows with limping steps.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
A gaunt appearance and melted-like limbs and face, the specter was mostly humanoid with a pair of small horns on its head, and thorns sticking out of its body. It growled like any other beast, but despite its delicate and skeletal appearance, no core could be seen on the creature’s body—causing the lieutenant to squint her eyes to observe it closer.
“I’ve never seen this one in the database,” she muttered. “No core… it must be using the serpent’s energy.” She said before taking a quick glance at her pistols, with only one of them emitting a crimson glow from within. “Not good….”
Finding no solution other than to run, Claire turned her back on the specter and continued her way towards the depths of the tunnel. With nothing but a small flashlight kept inside a holster in her shoulder, the lieutenant fastened her steps further as more demons began to emerge from the walls of the serpent’s mouth—flopping down from the ceiling, and thrusting their arms out through the floor in an attempt to take a hold of Claire’s feet.
“Hah!” the lieutenant leaped forward to avoid a pair of hands lunging at her from below, rolling across the floor to quickly stand and continue her race towards the core. “Tori, are you alright?”
Even after her multiple calls for the young redhead, the lieutenant received no response in return, and decided to push forward in silence as her equipment lost signal. A strong rumbling would put an abrupt halt in her advance however, forcing her to stumble into one of the tunnel’s walls—slamming her shoulder on the structure. Pressing herself against it to avoid a fall, the lieutenant bent her knees lightly while slowly moving forward with the wall as support.
“…!” a gasp would escape her as a pair of hands suddenly burst from it however, suddenly taking a hold of her head to pull her in close to the wall—as if trying to merge her with them. “Gr… let… go!”
With the rumbling over, she took a quick glance behind her to spot a large group of specters limping her way like zombies—growling and screeching with hunger. Unable to free herself from the wall’s clutches however, Claire materialized one of her pistols in hand to slice the arms holding her head—easily breaking away as the crimson blade of Juno ripped through their obsidian armor.
As she stumbled away from the wall, another rumble would suddenly strike the area. Despite being weaker than the previous one, the strange event would make the lieutenant’s mind wonder about the situation outside—pressing further with her objective. Persistence that would bear fruits once her eyes settled on the bright crimson core of the demon—safely kept inside a sturdy spherical container with sharp thorns around it.
“Be enough…” she said under her breath while planting her feet to stop her advance, taking aim immediately by extending her arm forward—keeping Juno’s trigger pressed with her index finger, making her arm tremble as the pistol gathered all its energy in one single shot.
Just as she planned to release the trigger however, a screeching demon pulled her shoulder back before sinking its sharp black teeth in her shoulder—drawing a painful cry from the lieutenant’s lips. A pair of hands grabbed a hold of her left leg from behind, and another specter took the opportunity to bury its fangs deep in her thigh—almost forcing Claire to drop by the pain.
“Argh…! Ngh…”
With her only exit blocked by the approaching horde, the lieutenant put all her efforts in keeping her aim straight on the core while ignoring the burning pain running through her limbs. One eye closed as unbearable agony afflicted both her mind and body, Claire pulled her finger away from Juno’s trigger to release the last bits of energy remaining within it.
The pistol’s cannon ignited with a bang, releasing a large sphere of crimson energy rapidly flying towards its target—melting the walls of the serpent’s glottis like a sun that absorbed everything in its path. Not even its armored container could protect the core from the lieutenant’s attack, slowly breaking apart to eventually shatter into tiny fragments that melted with the crimson sun’s heath.
“Aargh!” Claire screamed as another group of teeth sunk themselves in her arm, being kept still by multiple hands emerging from the floor and walls. “Just a bit longer…”
As the core burst into dust, the specters began to flop down one by one while disappearing into embers on impact with the floor—saving the lieutenant from the large horde. Panting in both pain and fatigue, Claire dropped down on her knees while holding her injured shoulder in one hand. She inspected the wounds in her limbs, having parts of her uniform torn apart by the monsters.
The expected end of the serpent promptly arrived as a strong rumbling struck for the third time. Claire rapidly limped towards the exit, gritting her teeth in pain while calling for her bike. “Come on… help me out a little… ha!”
A gasp suddenly escaped her lips once she felt herself walk in air, almost tumbling forward as nothing stopped her motion. Claire turned her gaze down to notice the empty darkness underneath her, feeling her body suddenly become extremely heavy. Everything felt as if time itself had stopped, she couldn’t breathe or speak, and her vision had suddenly turned into a blur. Instead of dropping down as no floor lied under her, the lieutenant’s body began to float in the pitch-black void she found herself in. Her eyes opened wide at the cold realization of what had just happened, finding herself swimming in the depths of the sea.
“…!”
Bubbles blew from her mouth and nose as she recoiled back in panic, glancing all around in a desperate attempt to find the surface. Her flashlight could not provide enough illumination to tell the difference between up and down however, leaving Claire with no options left as what little oxygen she had left abandoned her lungs.
But far into the dark shadows of the ocean, like watching the light at the end of the tunnel, a strong azure glimmer filled her eyes with hope as it rapidly approached. The blood flowing out of her open wounds surrounded the lieutenant, and she found herself unable to move towards the light. Its familiar shine was enough to sooth her throbbing heart, a strange presence that resonated within her like a distant memory she’s forgotten about long ago—knowing nothing beyond a single azure light hiding behind a dark shadow.
In the surface, now safe from the threat of the serpent and its specters. Despite its damaged structure, the emperor’s ship remained unbroken by the demons as it was saved by Bloodhound, the hybrids, and Jean—both sides of the front deck displaying cracks on its sturdy steel coat. On the bridge, Jean put a stop to the ship while Tori rushed out towards the lower floors—desperately trying to get in contact with Claire through her earpiece.
Eric, Gaspard and Gal looked down into the water from the deck, looking for signs of Claire across the peaceful traveling waves. To their shock and joy, bubbles began to surface near the ship—prompting them to lean in on the ledge with great hopes of seeing their lieutenant safe and sound.
“There!” pointed Eric with his finger.
Resurfacing with a splash, Maulik emerged from under the ocean to calmly float with the waves—huffing air through his mouth. Following closely—and to everyone’s relief aboard, Claire rose from the depths of the water herself with a long gasp, taking in as much oxygen as she could before panting heavily—drenched, but alive.
“Lieutenant!” Eric’s voice caught her attention immediately, drawing a smile in her face once noticing the still floating vessel.
“I’m alright!” she shouted, a quick chuckle of relief escaping her as blood floated around her.
Thanks to Maulik’s and Gal’s assistance, the lieutenant was brought safely back into the deck with no further issues. Eric and Gaspard were the first Bloodhound members to arrive in her aid, kneeled down in front of the injured lieutenant—who was seated on the floor by the hybrids.
“I know it was me who told you not to do anything stupid until I got here, but…” said Eric—shaking his head eyebrows scrunched down. “What the hell were you thinking?” he growled with a scolding tone.
“Master Eric was worried sick for your well-being, young miss.” Gaspard commented, nodding to Claire with a smile. “Though I must admit… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concern for your safety myself…”
“I’m fine… really.” She said with a smile and furrowed brows. “It didn’t go the way I expected but…”
“Lieutenant!”
Scott and Tori’s voices called out at the same time from a distance, making everyone turn to look at the sprinting officers approaching them. The young sniper was the first to arrive in the scene, sliding close to Claire while kneeling down next to her—looking her up and down in disbelief.
“You actually lived that?” he said while removing his glasses to reveal his shocked brown eyes and a smile. “Phew… do you even get paid enough for pulling off stunts like this?”
“We… pull off, Scott.” The lieutenant replied, closing her eyes with a proud expression in her face. “I’m confident everyone in Bloodhound would do the same if you had spectral gears yourselves.”
“I don’t know about that...” said Scott as Eric offered his reply at the same time.
“You are delusional.”
“Lieutenant!” Tori arrived last, sitting down next to Claire with trembling hands and teary eyes—noticing the wounds in her body. “I’m sorry, this is my fault!” she desperately apologized. “I should’ve just—I should’ve been faster, I—"
“It’s alright, Tori.” Claire kept calm while placing one hand on the girl’s head, rubbing her hair gently with a soft voice. “I’m alright, see?”
Tori sniffed while cleaning the tears rolling down her face, nodding at the lieutenant with furrowed brows. “I know, I know but… I’ve done nothing to help. I froze and…”
“What are you talking about?” Claire calmly interrupted her in an instant. “You are our medic, Tori. Ngh…” she groaned while gently touching the bite in her shoulder. “And I think I’m in need of an experienced one at the moment. This… actually hurts a lot.”
“I-I have my kit ready!” the girl suddenly snapped back into action, placing her medical kit on the deck before taking out the necessary items to patch up the lieutenant. “You’ll be feeling better in just a minute,” she offered a smile of concern—still shacking with nerves.
“Well… I guess we are alive.” expressed Gal with little concern while looking at Maulik next to her—placing both hands in her hips.
“I know…” the hybrid replied, taking his eyes back to the water. “But for something like that to be so far from the Deadlands… we need to get back, and fast. Ninigi and Atalanta must know what’s happening.”
END OF CHAPTER