Cerberus HQ, Main Building Lobby: 936 April 1st, Sunday, 9:00 AM.
“He is uh... taking his time, isn’t he?” Jacob sat in a couch at the lobby of HQs main building. He wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead with a handkerchief, placing it back inside the pocket of his white lab coat. “Does he not know how much effort I put into making that medicine for him?”
The lobby was bustling with activity as always, officers speed walked from one side of the building to the other—carrying stacks of documents or their electronic devices in hand.
Yeon was seated in her own couch in front of Jacob, laying her cup of coffee on the glass table placed in between them. She scrolled through a gallery of pictures in a phone that didn’t belong to her—the number of videos and images so large that it seemed like it could go on forever.
“Yeon?” Jacob tried to get her attention a second time, leaning slightly forward to get a glimpse of her eyes focused on the screen.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Yeon calmly stated—keeping her attention solely on the phone. “Irresponsible as he may be... Sovereign never breaks a promise.”
Jacob leaned back and relaxed his shoulders, releasing an exhausting sigh. “I guess you are right...” he picked up his own phone from his pocket, immediately checking on the news about the Deadlands expansion into Heildin.
After the massive conflict between king Date’s gladean knights and the specters, a massive wall appeared to separate both regions and conclude the Deadlands expansion further south. News broke out immediately the day after, the authorities—aided by Cerberus’ officers—were deployed to prevent anyone from approaching the zone. The events caused great damage to Cerberus’ reputation as well as spreading fear among the continent, many people booked their flights towards the empire while others moved farther south into Pelkesk—the less fortunate simply returned to their homes, praying to the goddess for their safety.
To the masses’ surprise however, support from the Gladean Empire arrived to aid Cerberus not long after—having secured a deal with the Albury’s, whose influence is widely known among the continent. The arrival of many strong warriors helped calm people’s fears for the most part, but many loyal subjects of Heildin expressed their desire for king Date to handle the situation through his own army—at least in their own region of the Deadlands.
Rumors about the return of the gladean knights spread out globally, mostly coming from Pelkesk in the south—after the incident that transpired with Lucy. Ever since the Deadlands expansion, Cerberus focused its efforts in reinforcing the walls and its defenses throughout the entire border—efforts aided by the empire’s troops and resources.
Bloodhound returned to HQ and was ordered to keep their encounter with Eutychia confidential, having no desire to pick a fight with Heildin’s royalty any time soon. Things calmed down for several weeks, and the group saw little action outside of minor clean up operations inside the Deadlands.
Cerberus HQ, Training Facility: 936, April 1st, Sunday, 9:00 AM.
The metallic dummy tackled Claire into a wall, continuing with a fierce punch forward against its stunned foe. Reacting fast enough, the lieutenant rolled on the wall to the side—avoiding the impact. Anticipating her opponent’s next attack, she ducked under the dummy’s horizontal swing of its arm—moving in closer to bury her pistol into its energy compartment.
“Go to sleep,” she commented—pulling the trigger and shattering the dummy’s source of energy, ending her quick training session as the dummy shut down and fell to its knees.
As she took a quick breath to release her remaining adrenaline inside, a round of applause suddenly reached her ears from behind. Turning to face it, she spotted Bloodhound standing as an audience at the entrance—the same smiling faces she is now used to greet every morning. Her training done, Claire returned the burrowed equipment and strode her way towards her team.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“We came to see you, lieutenant!” Tori offered an enthusiastic smile, her hands clasped together.
Scott tapped the bridge of his glasses—although strangely enough, the lenses didn’t light up this time. “We thought you’d be here since we didn’t see you at the barracks, nothing wrong with that, right?” he smirked.
“Of course not,” the lieutenant crossed her arms—her skeptical leer focused on Eric, who stood beside the pair. “I’m talking about you... you are not an official member of Cerberus.”
Eric frowned at her comment, both hurt and puzzled by the treatment he was receiving. “I see... I was nothing but a tool to you then... so you could get close to my father and deliver your request.” the noble averted his gaze with indignation. “I have fallen for your cruel lies it seems...”
“I didn’t ask you to join!”
Gaspard—who stood behind Eric—offered a small bow. “We apologize for the intrusion, young miss.” the bright smiling butler stated calmly. “Master Eric’s presence was requested by the owner of the company, hence our presence here at Cerberus.” he concluded.
“Lieutenant!” Tori lunged at Claire with beaming eyes. “You are free right now, right?”
“I guess...”
“There is an important matter we must discuss as a team,” Scott said with a smirk—keeping a hand on his glasses and his eyes closed.
“What?”
“Indeed,” Eric nodded. “Stop wasting our time and come with us immediately.”
“Don’t make me shoot you.”
Gladean Empire, Hermit’s home: 936, April 1st, Sunday, 9:00 AM.
Ninigi sat in the corridor outside of his home in a relaxed position, keeping his legs crossed and resting his hands on his knees—his head slightly lowered as he dwelled deep in his own mind. He kept his eyes shut and breathed calmly through his nose—his soothed expression was enveloped in pure serenity, like a slumbering child held in his mother’s arms.
The fresh and peaceful breeze of the outside tenderly caressed his skin, swaying his loose light brown hair gently—falling down just below his shoulders. He focused on the palpitations of his heart and cleared his mind of any distraction, taking on the placid rays of the sun. It was as if he traveled into a different dimension, where nothing but himself was present—no sound, no conflict, no interruptions, until...
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A crunching sound from inside the house broke his concentration. His tranquil expression turned into a sad frown in the blink of an eye—opening his troubled eyes with a long sigh of frustration.
“Gigi!” the voice of a young girl cried out from inside.
Reluctantly moving from his comfortable position, Ninigi stood back on his feet and slid open the door to his home—witnessing the utter disaster his living room had just become. A young redhead with messy hair down to her shoulders wrestled with a man close to her age—both of them in their young adult years. She had a tomboyish look to her with olive skin and intense hazel eyes—her hair being a total mess for how short it was.
The girl wore clothes similar to Ninigi’s, but instead of an azure flowing vest, hers was of a fiery red—like her hair. The man she brawled with was of darker skin—a brown tone like chestnut, and also dressed in a flowing vest—his was of an azure color however, identical to Ninigi’s. He had straight black hair, stylized into a low ponytail.
“I said it was my turn!” the redhead yelled, pulling some sort of object towards her.
The young man responded by pulling back—fighting to get a hold of the small item as well. “I just picked it up!” he retorted.
“Enough,” Ninigi strode his way inside—raising his voice just enough for the pair to hear. “Both of you, put it down.”
“Master!” the young ones jumped in surprise at his presence, letting go of the object in their hands—a small cellphone that bounced off the wooden floor into a flat position. The pair of students dropped with their hands placed on their knees, bowing deeply towards Ninigi. “We are sorry, master!” both of them said in unison.
Ninigi pinched the bridge of his nose with a soft groan. “I still have a long way to go when it comes to teach discipline...” he thought to himself. “Why are you fighting over the... device, so early in the morning anyway?” he crossed his arms—extending a strict glare to his students.
“It was Maulik, Gigi!” the redhead girl protested. “He’s been hugging the phone all morning!”
“That’s not true!” the man rebutted. “Gal had it since we woke up, and it was my turn to use it anyway!”
“Enough,” Ninigi raised his voice slightly—getting the attention of his rowdy students. “None of you will get the...” he paused for a moment, already struggling to remember the word ‘phone.’ “Device...” he turned his back towards the pair—facing the door. “Let’s head outside, I will see you run five laps across the entire field as punishment.”
The young disciples jumped on their feet with a jolt, standing firm with their arms to their sides. “Yes, master!” they both confirmed in unison.
“Try to keep up, Maulik.” the redhead offered a smug grin to her rival. “Of course, I am Gigi’s best student so... I would just surrender if I were you.”
“Gal...” Ninigi called to her from outside with a scolding voice.
“On my way, Gigi!” the enthusiastic girl beamed her way towards the wide outdoors.
Maulik took a glance at the phone before leaving—while his time was short, the small amount of research he was able to pull sparked a firm interest in the subject of his studies. “Cerberus...” his mind wondered.
Floating City of Paradise, Gladea’s Castle: 936, April 1st, Sunday, 10:00 AM.
A small group of fatigued captives trudged in a single line across a large white room—decorated with azure carpets, curtains and small statues of the gladean knights. A massive throne—the same color as the room—was placed at the end of it, bright azure veins running through its body. Behind it, was the massive statue of the goddess Gladea—a large fissure in her chest holding a faint glowing light inside.
Many gladean knights stood guard on the side of the room in front of its large pillars, making sure to maintain peace and keep an eye on the restrained humans. King sat on his throne in front of all attendants—his giant body only towered by the statue of the goddess behind him. His most loyal knights stood beside him—Theo maintained his usual stoic and disconnected expression, while Loki bared his teeth with an eager smile.
“It’s over...” one of the restrained prisoners said with teary eyes—his lips trembling uncontrollably. “All these years, just to die like this...”
“Don’t give up,” the man behind him whispered words of encouragement. “I am a hybrid knight... I will help you.” his determined voice lifted the spirits of his friend slightly.
“W-what are you going to do...?” the terrified prisoner asked.
“A distraction... there are more hybrids walking this line.” he commented—glancing at the guards from time to time. “What’s your name?”
“Kuno...” the prisoner replied.
“We’ll buy you time, Kuno.” the hybrid smiled. “Run towards the exit and look for a woman with a shaved head... she will help you.” he offered his last words.
With a quick motion of his arms, the hybrid knight of unknown name broke the chackles that restrained him and his companions. Three other fighters joined him in his rebellion—freeing more prisoners from their chackles and preparing their ambush against the gladean knights in the room—their efforts focused solely in protecting the humans that broke into a mad rush towards the exit.
Their revolt was short lived however, too short for Kuno and his friends to even see a glimmer of hope for their escape. Loki leaped into action as soon as the chackles from the prisoners shattered—the line of gladean knights guarding the place simply observed the massacre.
Loki materialized one of his swords out of thin air, plunging its blade in the abdomen of one of the hybrids—taking his life. He grabbed the second knight by the throat and slammed his back against the floor, proceeding to break his neck with a stomp to the head—keeping a sharp eye on the situation, the gladean knight ducked under the right hook of another hybrid.
“Make this fun for me!” he yelled as he stabbed the aggressor’s arm with his sword—twisting the blade and breaking the hybrid’s arm in the process.
Showing no mercy, Loki took another life by plunging his sword into the kneeling hybrid’s neck—who he held his arm with thundering cries. The last rebel standing—the hybrid of unknown name—faced Loki with raging eyes, his hand turned into a shaking fist as anger overtook his mind.
“You’ll pay for that!” he roared as he lunged against the knight.
Loki backed away while moving from side to side, avoiding the hybrid’s attacks with relative ease. “Is that it...?” he frowned with disappointment. Bored of the man’s incapability to offer any sort of challenge, Loki broke his advance with a powerful punch to the gut—bending the man forward as saliva spewed out of his mouth.
Grabbing the last standing hybrid by the neck, Loki lifted the man in the air and prepared to end his life—a soft and tranquil voice stopped him before he could carry his next move however.
“That’s enough, Loki.” Theo put a halt to the fight. “Everyone, please move back in line and proceed to walk towards our goddess.” he calmly addressed the prisoners—his off putting, placid expression sending chills down their spines.
“That was so pathetic it was almost funny,” Loki expressed—offering a devilish grin to the hybrid before slamming his head on the floor. “Make sure the next one offers an actual fight.” The knight walked back to his place on the king’s side—who observed the events with a stoic expression.
Terrified and with no other choice but to follow instructions, the captives were brought before King with no further resistance—the last hybrid being dragged across the floor by one of the knights. Gladea’s statue—towering behind the king—emitted a strong azure glow once they walked close enough to the throne—releasing a powerful ray of light that struck all prisoners. Their bodies absorbed the light and began to disperse into azure embers, the terrifying screams of the victims echoing throughout the room.
The energy flowed from the prisoners’ bodies into the statues’ chest—which transported the energy into the massive throne, joining with King’s body—his artery network glowing intensely as he absorbed the life of his subjects. The event lasted until the life force of the prisoners could no longer be harvested, the gladean knights stood firm with no expression in their faces—except for Loki, who looked bored out of his wits.
The prisoner’s clothes dropped to the floor, their bodies no longer part of the physical realm. King raised his palm in front of his face, inspecting the power flowing within him as his divine pathway grew stronger. “Your lives will be preserved forever,” he said under his breath. “I must join your strength with my own, and together... we shall bring punishment to Specter and his demons... the old god’s reign has passed.” he lowered his hand, lifting his head to gaze at the bright light leaking from the castle’s massive iron gate. “A new god must bring peace to this world...”
END OF CHAPTER