As the days go by, I feel more and more of my memories slip away. I’ve been recording every plan, every activity, and every encounter in my life ever since I was a kid. Mom did the same for me, the drawer in my room is filled with notebooks narrating my life from the moment I was born. Yeon’s phone, which belonged to mom before passing away, is filled with audio recordings, pictures and videos about me.
Many of those moments I never had a chance to remember, but plenty I simply forgot. Although I can always look into the pictures, videos or notes, the memories never return to me. Like watching events that never unfolded, I can confirm what I see, but I can’t remember ever living them.
I come here to sit in this broken throne every time I feel lost, I shouldn’t be happy about it, but just being here puts my mind at ease. My core rests beside me, what once was my source of power, the strength I used to dismantle this world and eliminate even the most powerful of opponents, has become nothing more than my life support.
It will do anything in its power to keep me alive, if that means resetting my mind into an empty husk, or turning my body into a frail skeleton… then it won’t hesitate in doing so. So long as it keeps me breathing, that… is the price of immortality.
Everyday I read thousands of pages with every little detail about my life, the notes have become so large I’m unable to read everything in the span of a week, no matter how much time I put into it. Ki-Joon shows me videos and pictures in her phone, but sometimes I ask the same question after forgetting about it the next day.
I am dying… no, I am dead. Every minute that passes I feel my heart come to a sudden halt, only to be resurrected by my core the next second—absorbing more of its power. It happens so fast it’s practically unnoticeable by the human eye, but now I know how little time I have.
My only hope is her… Lionheart. I designed her gear to be powered up by my own core, and if she can find a way to control its decaying strength, then maybe I can still pay back what I owe her for my actions.
But if she can’t, and is unable to put my heart at ease… then I will simply put it to rest.
Cerberus HQ, Outdoors Training Grounds: 936, May 14th, Monday, 8:30 AM.
Powering up her exoskeleton suit with snapping sparks of electricity, Aria Baker—Heretic’s proud martial artist, clenched her hand into a tight fist, and thrusted her punch in a semi-circular attack—aiming for the gladean knight’s head.
Her attack proved inefficient however, as Theo ducked under her right hook with ease. Prepared to continue her assault, Aria responded with a rapid left uppercut—which the knight avoided by bending his upper body to the side, watching as the girl’s fist flew past his face.
“Take it!” Aira roared, using the momentum of her left uppercut to spin in the right direction—rotating her body into a full spin while lifting her leg upwards above her head. “Hyaaa!” She brought her foot down with all her strength, aiming for Theo’s head.
In an incredible display of velocity however, the gladean knight leaped to the side and avoided her attack completely—watching calmly as Aria’s sparking boots collided with the concrete.
“No way!” her eyes opened wide.
“Please, do not fight…” Theo calmly requested. “As a gladean knight, it is not in my interests to…”
“Catch this sword!” Sebastian leaped from above, bringing his sword down with all the weight of his body.
The knight immediately jumped backwards to avoid being split in half, gracefully landing away in a safe position. However, Theo gasped in surprise once he noticed the rain of crimson shells flying directly at him. Crossing his arms in front of his face, the knight was able to block the projectiles from Sebastian’s shotgun—which incrusted themselves in Theo’s arms, bursting into crimson flames at impact.
“Grr!” the knight grunted in pain as he’s knocked back by the explosion, sliding away on the ground.
“Not done yet!” Sebastian—who was already in front of Theo, continued with a massive horizontal swing of his sword.
Unable to react in time, instead of avoiding the major’s attack, Theo controlled the winds around him to obstruct the swords trajectory—holding Sebastian’s arm in place, before propelling it back with a strong gust.
“Woah!” the strong burst of wind lifted Sebastian in the air, and soared him a great distance away from Theo.
“I need you to listen,” Theo asked politely. “Do not resist our aid, we only—"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A large missile propelling straight in his direction suddenly interrupted Theo’s speech. The gladean knight allowed himself to be guided by the winds into a safe position, lifting his feet from the air, and levitating away from the blast radius of the projectile’s explosion.
“Fire!” Xun Tinting—the brains of Heretic, slammed the red button in her mech suit’s controller—prompting the machine gun installed on its arm to fire indiscriminately against the knight.
The empty casings on Xun’s weapon dropped against the concrete, discharging the entire barrel of her rifle on the knight. Using the wind to protect himself however, Theo formed an invisible wall that deflected the bullets with ease—bouncing off it and plunging to the floor.
“You must listen,” the knight continued requesting. “Your species is in danger, and only the order can help you survive.”
“By destroying our home?” Xun retorted—releasing her finger from the red button, allowing her smoking rifle to cool down. “You attacked us unprovoked, remember?”
“That’s right!” Aria butt in. “Human, specter, or knight. Our job is to protect the people from any threat within, and outside of these walls!”
Resting his hands in front, Theo observed Heretic with a calm expression before offering his reply. “You do not understand, humanity cannot save itself. Only a gladean knight is able to kill Specter, and you mustn’t interfere.” he explained. “Why do you refuse our aid? Can’t you see that we are here to help you? To save you.”
“Save my ass!” Sebastian rushed the knight—holding his sword on top of his shoulder.
Cerberus HQ, Main Entrance Gate: 936, May 14th, Monday, 8:30 AM.
At HQ’s main entrance, the gates remained wide open as the large crowd of hybrids and humans observed the exchange between Loki and Yeon. Having held Arwen hostage, the gladean knights prevented both Cerberus’ officers and the empire’s soldiers from making a move—threatening their boss’ safety.
“So, what will you do?” Loki asked with a wide grin on his face.
Yeon gritted her teeth as the knight approached her, casually strolling his way to her. “You are supposed to be humanities protectors.” she said.
“So?” the cocky knight replied. “The others may have these grandiose dreams for the future, but I honestly couldn’t care less.” Walking closer to Yeon, Loki bent forward to look at the woman in the eye. “We all want something from this conflict, do we not?”
With uncertainty clouding her mind, Yeon struggled to think of a way out of their situation—watching helplessly as Arwen remained restrained. “Let him go…” she demanded.
“And if I don’t?”
“…”
A sudden ringing tone from Yeon’s phone interrupted the pair’s conversation, swallowing dry as she could guess who the caller was. Loki simply grinned while keeping a close eye on Yeon, confidently stepping back from her—signaling with a quick motion of his hand, allowing her to answer the call.
“Go on, just make it quick.”
Taking the phone from the pocket in her vest, Yeon looked at the name ‘Don’t answer’ on screen—clenching her jaw while swallowing dry. “Yes?” she answered the call.
“Run, Ki-Joon…”
A powerful tremor suddenly struck the ground, causing most onlookers to fall to the ground on their butts. At the very center of HQ, a massive belfry emerged from the depths of the earth, and rose into the bright blue sky—its crimson veins glowing from within its sturdy black walls.
“What the hell?” Loki reacted calmly, lifting his head to look at the top of the colossal tower that kept rising into the sky.
Realizing what was about to unfold, Yeon turned to face the crowd of perplexed officers and employees from Cerberus—urging everyone into safety. “Run! Everyone, disperse immediately!”
Large hordes of specters rapidly emerged from within the belfry, either stomping their way out from the main gate, or leaping through the breaches of the spectral tower—serving as windows for the creatures to jump out of. They plummeted from above like drops of rain, only to stand back up and join in with the fierce swarm of demons.
Terrifying screams of panic echoed throughout the region with the specters approaching rapidly, as the hybrid warriors joined efforts with Cerberus’ officers to keep the specters at bay. The crowd dispersed like a multitude of ants, crying for their lives as the demon’s began to break through the defenses.
“Alright then…” Loki observed with a smirk, before turning to face his knights. “Take him, I’ll handle this on my own.” he ordered, watching as the gladean knights vanished into azure particles—abducting Arwen with them.
In the middle of the commotion, both hybrids and humans began to fall under the pressure of the specter horde. Stronger than ever before, the demons broke through their defenses and attacked any who crossed their way—causing further panic among the fleeing masses.
As Yeon sprinted among the crowd, she turned her head to look over her shoulder, and witnessed as the demon’s massacred those who were unfortunate enough to get caught in their clutches—forcing her to shut her eyes in horror, and face forward to continue her escape.
Unsure on how to proceed, Yeon took her phone and speed dialed Sovereign in a hurry. “Please answer…” she pleaded, but received no response. Attempting another call after the first attempt failed, she cursed under her breath while dialing Sovereign’s number a third time. “Answer me damnit…”
Floating City of Paradise, Human’s District: 936, May 14th, Monday, 8:30 AM.
Tossed like an old toy in a trash bin, Arwen was dropped suddenly in the district humans inhabit—witnessing the ill atmosphere, with people roaming the barren land in their ragged clothing. Some wore more modern garments, which Arwen recognized as citizen from Pelkesk and Heildin.
Massive walls surrounded the area, making it impossible for any human to enter the knight’s district, or hop over the wall into the abyss. Some people observed Arwen, while others moved in closer—looking for better clothing to wear, which they found in the scientist’s garments.
“So, it’s come to this in the end…” Despite his quivering legs, Arwen took a long deep breath to calm his nerves—fixing his glasses while swallowing dry. “Now, don’t mess this up, Jacob…” he whispered.
END OF CHAPTER