Gladean Empire, Emperor’s Palace: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 2:00 PM.
“You’ll never beat me like this!” Loki shouted with a confident smirk in his face. He ducked under Maulik’s right hook to deliver a powerful punch of his own, burying his fist on the hybrid’s stomach—hurling him away.
“Maulik!” Gal slid on the floor to kneel next to her companion—who lifted himself in a sitting position.
“I’m alright…” the man claimed with a groan.
As chaos continued to unfold at the palace, the nearby area was forced into a lockdown while the citizens of the capital were led to safety. An army of hundreds surrounded the palace, while many others ensured the safety of the public—giving the festival to honor the sacrifice of the gladean knights an abrupt closure.
Inside the wrecked lobby of the palace, Loki continued his battle with Ninigi’s students. Unlike the gladean knight’s almost unlimited stamina however, the hybrids’ momentum began to fade slowly as the minutes passed by—finding themselves unable to keep up with their opponent’s movements.
“Gh… bring it on!” Gal roared as she sprinted towards Loki.
Opening her assault with a spinning kick directed at the head of her adversary, the redhead continued with a series of attacks that the knight evaded skillfully—ducking and stepping out of the way. One of the girl’s kicks finally connected, forcing Loki to block her foot with his arm. Having successfully landed one attack, Gal dropped to the floor to sweep the knight by the ankles—forcing his back against the ground.
“Gah!”
“Hup!” Gal pressed her hands on the floor while pushing her legs upwards like a straight arrow, allowing her lower body to fall backwards to land on her feet. “Haya!”
Lifting her leg above her head—which engulfed itself in a blanket of azure light, the redhead brought down her foot down against her foe lying on the floor. Gal’s heel shattered the ceramic as Loki rolled out of harm’s way, completely avoiding the attack. The hybrid girl quickly leaped back to reposition herself, panting heavily as her legs begged her to drop.
Back on his feet Loki bared his teeth with a smirk while wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Interesting move… that would’ve actually hurt me a lot.” he told the girl. “I can see some of his techniques in every move you make… Ninigi’s.”
“Gh…” Gal clenched her jaw, her body swaying as she tried to keep herself standing. “Don’t talk about Gigi!”
“You know that I was trained by him before you, right?”
Vanishing from view in the split of a second—leaving a sparkle of azure light behind, Loki reappeared behind Gal while looking in the opposite direction of hers. Twisting the upper half of his body with a piercing strike of his elbow, the knight clobbered the girl’s temple in a powerful attack that knocked her out cold instantly—forcing her motionless body to the floor.
“And I trained to counter every single technique of his,” Loki grinned victorious—turning immediately to face the remaining hybrid.
“Damn you…” Maulik snarled.
A sudden banging noise from nearby quickly caught the knight’s attention, instinctively moving his head sideways to avoid the fast projectile that approached him from the second floor. The bullet completely destroyed the ceramic with its body—raising cutting shards in the air on impact.
“It was gamble I guess…” Scott said to himself while swallowing dry—pulling the bolt from his rifle to load a second projectile in the chamber.
With his eyebrows curved downwards and lips pressed together, Loki exhaled a low grunt as he glared at the young sniper standing on the upper floor. “How annoying…” he muttered.
“You are fighting me!” Maulik roared—catching the knight off guard.
Unable to react in time, Loki’s face contracted as he felt the hybrid’s hook bashing his chin. Making the most of the opportunity, Maulik continued to batter his opponent with a series of multiple punches—striking at his ribs, face and arms with inhuman levels of speed. As Loki remained staggered from the beating, Maulik moved in to finish his assault by stretching his fingers before pressing them back into half fists.
“Hya!” Maulik shouted as the knuckles of his fingers sunk on the knight’s abdomen—forcing saliva out of the knight’s mouth.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Throwing his other arm into an upwards attack, Maulik launched a powerful uppercut against his opponent—hoping to end the fight. Unfortunately for the hybrid however, Loki was able to block the attack by catching his fist under his palm—pushing down against Maulik.
“Don’t get too cocky, brat…” the knight growled.
Before the hybrid had any change to react, Loki responded with a headbutt that connect with the face of his foe—sending him into a backwards stumble. Maulik covered his nose with both hands, drops of blood dripping from between his fingers. With his opponent staggered, the knight rushed at the opportunity to end the fight with a single punch—aiming for Maulik’s face.
“Hu!”
The aggressive roar of a motorcycle forced Loki to leap backwards into safety, barely avoiding the spectral bike as it dashed in between him and Maulik. The bike landed while spinning in place multiple times, halting its movement to face the knight with a sequence of taunting roars—to which Loki huffed at with a scowl. Shooting back into motion with a sudden charge, the spectral bike lunged at the knight by spinning its frontal wheel in a furious tackle.
Stopping the motorcycle with one hand, the knight’s arm shook as the wheel continued to shred at him furiously. “You’ll have to do better than that,” Loki stated with a low growl.
“Already covered,” a feminine voice replied from behind him—prompting the knight to turn his head and face it.
As he looked over his shoulder, Loki’s eyes fixed themselves on the black-haired woman crouching on one knee. In both hands, she exhibited the black and crimson pistols known as Juno&Jupiter—which radiated a powerful crimson light from within the fissures in their bodies. Her amber eyes glared at him with intensity, and Loki could do nothing but observe in surprise as she pressed the triggers in both firearms—releasing a powerful beam of crimson light.
“What the—!"
Loki repositioned his body quickly, extending his free arm to block the attack. The ray of light melted the floor and furniture in its way—razing anything in between it and its target while shaking the ground underneath. As the beam collided with the knight’s hand, he was forced to utilize both hands in order to stop the magnitude of the attack—leaving himself open for the spectral to strike.
“Grr!” Grunts of pain escaped from between Loki’s lips, feeling the wheel of the motorcycle tearing the skin on his back.
Incapable of withstanding the absurd heat and pressure from the lieutenant’s attack, Loki’s arms submitted to the strength of the crimson ray and bended inwards. “You… bastard!” Loki roared as the blazing beam engulfed his body, traveling across the lobby alongside it.
The lieutenant’s attack suddenly vanished, leaving nothing but a scorched path behind. Split in half by the crimson ray, the chaotic state of the lobby became a contrast to what it used to look like mere an hour ago. The floor remained shattered as well as the furniture, with a massive crater ripped open by Claire’s attack.
“Huff…” she exhaled through her mouth, standing back on her feet. “Did that do it?” the lieutenant wondered—her eyes cautiously observing the gladean knight—lying on the floor with hissing steam emitting from his body.
“You are…” Maulik’s eyes opened wide—his voice catching the lieutenant’s attention.
“We are here to help,” Claire replied—the spectral bike materializing behind her, roaring once again. “Let’s forget what happened before for now.”
Gladean Empire, Capital City of Ksatria: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 2:00 PM.
Sprinting across the long bridge towards the palace, Tori panted with heavy breaths while carrying a bag of first aid in her hands. Ordered to help evacuate the guests, the young medic was on her way back to support her unit fighting inside the palace. A familiar, but unexpected presence put a sudden halt to her advance however.
“Ah!” Tori planted her feet on the ground, balancing herself with her arms as she almost fell on her face. “P… Pr—”
“Hm?” A young blonde girl emerged near the entrance, turning her face towards Tori as the redhead’s voice reached her ears. “Where are you going?” the princess queried with a curious snarl. “You know what’s going on in there, right?”
“Ah… I… I’m just…”
“Is that…?” Euthemia whispered, her eyes spotting the insignia of a three headed dog in the redhead’s uniform. “Ooh… I see,” her lips curved into a devilish grin. “You are that girl from Cerberus, what was your name again?”
“T-t… Tori, lady Euthemia.” The young medic barely managed to answer—the nerves starting to get the better of her. “I’m just here to…”
“To interfere with the brute’s fight, right?” the princess finished the girl’s sentence. “I am feeling a little generous today,” Euthemia placed both hands behind her back—swaying her body back and forth. “How about you turn around and leave? I really don’t want to break someone as cute as you today.” She said with an innocent smile. “I have unfinished business with your precious lieutenant so… will you not interfere, please?”
“I would listen to the blondie if I were you, red lass.” a nonchalant voice spoke from behind Tori—forcing a gasp from the princess’ lips.
“Who the hell are you?” Euthemia scowled at the man.
Stepping next to Tori—who recoiled slightly at the surprise, emerged Tormod. He smiled confidently, blowing bubbles from his pipe. The detective’s clothes were ragged and dirty—revealing deep cuts in his arms and torso—result of multiple fights against Paradise’s warriors.
“It’s a crazy party in there…” Tormod sighed. “I still have one more dance in me, but...” he blew a large group of bubbles from his pipe. “The emperor is way out of your reach now, and you have nowhere to go. Why not go home?”
“Tch!” clicking her tongue, Euthemia offered her reply to the detective. “You know nothing, bastard. Still, it’s not like I came here because I wanted to.” she said while flicking her hair. “That rotted brain savage has something in mind, but I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you.”
“Something in mind?”
One corner in Euthemia’s lips curved into a grin of satisfaction, having lured out the detective’s curiosity. “It gets you thinking, doesn’t it?” she taunted. “Don’t worry, you’ll see what I’m talking about very soon.”
END OF CHAPTER