“Loewe!” Yeon called out as she kicked the door of her car open, rushing into the cold and snowy outdoors.
Slamming the door closed, she forgot to turn off the engine before sprinting into the house she parked in front of—pushing her way inside with a tackle against the wooden door. Leaving the entrance open, she jogged into the living room to see the place completely desolated—dried and neglected flowers in the floor and walls. Spotting nothing else, Yeon continued her search by sprinting up the stairs into the second floor.
She passed through the first room in the hallway, and extended her hand towards the doorknob of the next room—pushing against the door with her shoulder. Locked tight however, Yeon bounced multiple times as she tried to force her way inside the room—pulling the doorknob desperately.
“I know you are there!” she yelled—a mix of worry and anger in her tone. “Open the door!”
“Leave,” the youthful voice of a man calmly demanded from inside.
“Open, please…” Yeon breathed as she leaned on the door—having lost all momentum after hearing the soft voice of the youth inside.
The clicking sound of the door unlocking prompted Yeon to push it open, coming face to face with a frowning young man on the other side. His silver hair was a complete mess, with a dark circle under his functional crimson eye. He kept a broken sword in his hand—glowing with a faint azure glow, which he gripped in his left hand—exhibiting the black exoskeletal look of a specter, with glowing crimson veins running through its fissures.
Yeon’s chest began to ache with sorrow, quickly pulling the young man into her arms. “You scared me, Loewe…” she told him. “Don’t ever send a message like that again…”
“But… it’s for the best, right?” the young man buried his face in Yeon’s shoulder. “Everyone’s problems would disappear if I just—”
“Stop,” she prevented the youth from finishing his sentence. “This isn’t what Luna would’ve wanted for you.”
“It was my fault…” the young man muttered. “I shouldn’t have run out on her like I did… she’s gone Ki-Joon.”
“You didn’t know…” Yeon replied, gently running her fingers through the man’s silver locks. “There’s no way you could’ve known.”
“There was—" his voice picked up slightly, but the young man bit down on his words right after. “How couldn’t have I? You know what I am… I am—"
“You are a boy… Loewe.” Yeon interrupted once again—pulling him even closer into her arms. “You are just… a boy, you hear me? Don’t go making any rash decision… let me take care of you, like I always have.”
Cerberus HQ, CEO’s Office: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 1:30 PM.
Sitting by his lonesome behind the desk of his office, Sovereign rested both shoulders on top of the wooden structure, keeping his right fist pressed against the palm of his left hand—concealed under a black glove. He pressed his mouth on both hands, his eyes cloaked under a shadow as the crimson fog of the Deadlands lurked behind him from outside of the office’s window. His gaze slowly turned towards a small bottle placed on the desk, a small red and white pill resting on a page next to it.
“Sovereign, are you there!” Arwen’s voice called out from outside of the office.
Sovereign kept his gaze on the pill for a few more seconds as Arwen knocked on the door, offering no reply. The knocks continued, and Arwen insisted in meeting the young CEO—which forced the man to snap back into his senses.
“Come in, Jacob.” Sovereign said calmly.
Rotating the doorknob, Arwen gently pushed the door open and stepped his way into the office—closing the door behind him. He speedwalked his way towards Sovereign, standing in front of the desk with his brows furrowed in concern.
“Sovereign, it’s urgent…” he informed with panting breaths.
“You look worried, did something happen?” the young CEO replied with little concern.
“Hydra and Chimera…” Arwen reported. “Both companies are at our doors right now… they said they want to talk business.”
“Business?”
“Yes… they brought a large combined army with them. More than whatever numbers we have at HQ at the moment…”
“I see…” Sovereign said before falling in deep contemplation.
“Ah…” Arwen reacted suddenly, which didn’t go unnoticed by the young CEO—who titled his head slightly to look at him. “I see you got your medicine ready, have you taken your dose for the afternoon?” the man asked innocently with curious eyes—staring at the small bottle and the empty white page next to it.
“…”
Receiving no reply, Arwen’s brows raised slightly as he directed his eyes towards his boss. “Sovereign?”
“Let them in,” Sovereign said.
“What?”
“Meet them at the entrance and let them in…” the man spoke softly, an indifferent tone emitting from his voice. “It won’t take long.”
“Ah… alright… I’ll do that.” Nodding in agreement, Arwen quickly turned back to rapidly walk towards the door—stopping himself at the entrance. “Y-you want me to bring Yeon? And remember your medicine too…”
“Make haste, Jacob. They are interrupting my work.”
“Y-yeah, right away!”
Watching the man rush back into the hallway—gently pulling the door closed, Sovereign lifted his elbows from the desk to put his hands back down—resting both of them on top of it. He opened the palm of his left hand, dropping a red and white pill on the table—which rolled across the wooden structure, eventually coming to a stop near a few stacks of papers.
Gladean Empire, Emperor’s Palace: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 1:30 PM.
“Grh!” Loki drifted away as he kept his feet planted on the floor—both arms crossed in front of his face.
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“Gal!” Maulik called out to his companion.
“You got it!”
The pair of hybrids fearlessly charged the knight, splitting in opposite directions to flank their opponent t from both sides. His left hand in front, and the right one slightly pulled back, Loki waited patiently for his adversaries to strike first—huffing through his mouth. A sudden bang from a distance broke the knight’s concentration however, his eyes moving quickly to glance at the broken window to his right—spotting the fast-approaching crimson bullet from Claire.
“Tch!” With a click of his tongue, Loki reacted quick enough to catch the projectile in his hand—which burned his skin on impact.
Having reached his target, Maulik ducked under Loki with his arm reeled backwards—propelling it forward into a powerful thrusting punch. “I got you now!”
The hybrid’s attack connected successfully against the knight’s ribs, staggering him into a stumble. Arriving next, before Loki had any time to recover, Gal leaped in closer with an aerial kick that connected with the head of her foe—smacking the knight’s jaw with the bridge of her foot.
“Grh!” the force of the impact hurled Loki away into a spiral—forcing his back against the floor. “Gh… not bad.” A grin appeared on the knight’s face—wiping the blood on his mouth as he pushed himself back on his feet.
While the commotion continued to take place inside the place, the guests fled the party through the heavy front gate in a panic—protected by the royal guards who moved in to assist. The emperor was surrounded by his own escort, who carefully guided him to safety. Revealing themselves among the chaos however, was a group of gladean knights from Paradise—with two leaping from the second floor behind the emperor, and another two breaking in through the ceiling—breaking the floor in their landing while surrounding the young monarch and his guards.
“Damn!” Scott cursed from the second floor, redirecting his sights from Loki to support the emperor. “Are there more than we thought?”
Despite the special type of ammunition provided by Cerberus, Scott’s bullets could barely cause an inconvenience to the husks from Paradise—offering a small distraction at best. The large group of guards formed a wall to protect their emperor, with a few trusted soldiers continuing to escort the young man to safety.
“Are these really gladean knights?” one of the guards said to himself, feeling his heart throb with anxiety as he instinctively took a step back.
“Stay focused!” leaping from nowhere, Eric stepped in to aid in the protection of the empire’s monarch—keeping a tight grip on his sword. “You are hybrids, are you not? We have the number advantage so we might be able to handle them on our own.”
“You are right…” the guard replied with new found confidence. “For the emperor!”
The group of four knights unsheathed their weapons before charging the empire’s soldiers with a frontal assault, a confrontation that broke into a sword fight between the outnumbered stoic husks and the emperor’s royal guards.
Despite his skill and years of training as a swordsman, Eirc found himself completely outclassed by his opponent’s superior strength and speed. One of the knight’s slashed at him from above, which the noble responded by blocking with his blade. The force of the impact was enough to bring Eric to his knees however, releasing a cry of pain as his joints were forced to bend.
“Agh!” the noble planted both hands on the floor. Thankfully for Eric, a pair of guards were able to fend off the knight long enough for him to recover—picking his sword back from the floor.
“Eric, do something!” Scott shouted from the second floor—pulling the trigger to release a potent sound as the bullet propelled out of the canon.
The projectile collided with the back of the head of its target—who managed to break through the defenses—only stunning the knight for a short second. The relentless husk of a warrior continued its chase against the emperor however—who found himself only a few steps from the exit.
The knight was intercepted by the few officers protecting the emperor, but still managed to fend them off easily with his superior strength. Burying his fist on the stomach of one of the guards, and ending the life of the other with a kick to neck.
“Shoot!” Eric shouted as he forced himself back on his feet, releasing a quick whistle to get the knight’s attention. “On me you bastard!”
Ignoring the noble’s taunts however, the knight leaped at the emperor and grabbed him by the head—lifting his feet in the air. The young man screameds and kicked to break free, but the superior strength of the pursuer proved his efforts useless. Just as the knight applied further pressure to crush the emperor’s head under his hand, a sudden strike to the face interrupted his assault as a palm broke his nose on impact.
“…!” Eric gasped as the knight was catapulted away—sliding a great distance across the floor. “That was—"
“Forgive my tardiness,” Gaspard casually apologized, continuing with a bow. “I was quite busy cleaning the exit route outside of the palace.”
“Gaspard!” Eric sprinted to stand next to the butler, shocked and happy to see his old friend. “I thought something happened to you.”
“I was only looking out for an exit plan, young master.” The butler bowed once again, turning his gaze towards the emperor—who was seated on the floor with an open mouth. “We should focus on your safety for now, please do not be scared.”
“Uncle?” the young man said while picking himself back up in a hurry. “Uncle, you are back!”
“What,” Eric flinched, his eyes looking for answers in Gaspard’s warm smile. “You what do you…"
“This is no time for reunions, dear nephew.” The butler claimed. “Let us bring you to safety first.”
“Watch it!” A second yell from Scott snapped the trio back into the chaos of the party.
Having recover from the impact, the knight rushed towards the emperor with his sword in hand—bleeding through his broken nose. With a loud and intimidating roar however, a black and crimson motorcycle broke into action through one of the lobby’s windows. Its strong body shattered the glass with ease, bouncing off the floor as it landed—continuing its furious charge against the azure foe.
“Whoa!” Eric jumped out of the bike’s way—with Gaspard picking up his nephew in his arms, leaping out of harm’s way.
Unstoppable in its advance, the spectral bike tackled the husk warrior with all its strength—striking at his chest. Matching the power of the motorcycle however, the knight caught the vehicle and pushed back against, both of them wrestling for control. Caught in the struggle to get the bike off of him, the knight fell for an ambush planned by the lieutenant—who materialized a crimson specter on top of the bike, even if she found herself a great distance away from it.
The specter possessed a tough structure, a crimson exoskeleton, and an amber light glowing through its energy veins running across the fissures of its body. Its head had a humanoid shape, with mandibles that opened like an ant’s.
Thrusting its arm against the knight’s face, the demon connected a powerful punch that hurled its opponent away—forcing him to land on one of the tables, breaking the furniture with his back. Having successfully accomplished its task, the crimson specter vanished as fast as he appeared—leaving a few particles of crimson light behind.
“This must be our transport,” Gaspard said with a smile—watching as the bike drove and parked in front of him and the emperor. “You must ride to safety now, dear nephew. Make sure to offer the young miss your most sincere gratitude.”
“What is this? Uncle, I…”
“Now please, leave the palace immediately.” The butler seated his nephew on the bike. “We can always catch up later.”
“No, wait I—"
Leaving the young man with no room for words, the spectral bike quickly broke into high gear as it roared through the heavy gate of the palace—carrying the emperor to safety, and leaving Eric and Gaspard behind.
“Uncle huh…” Eric commented without looking at Gaspard—gripping his sword tightly as he observed the knight recovering from his injuries.
Stepping next to him, Gaspard smiled innocently as he cracked the joints of his neck and knuckles. “Remind me to clear all your doubts later, young master. For now… we all have greater problems in our hands I am afraid.”
“Heh… what changed?”
Standing back-to-back with the remaining guards of the palace, both the noble and the butler fought off the group of knights now threating their safety—with Scott aiding them from the second floor with his rifle.
Maulik and Gal remained locked in combat with Loki, receiving the help of Claire from a distance. Although superior in strength and speed, the combined efforts of Ninigi’s students proved to be somewhat challenging to the knight—who smirked with excitement at the unexpected events unfolding during the battle.
“This is going better than I thought…” Loki claimed while baring his teeth with a grin. “Don’t hold back on me now…”
END OF CHAPTER