Arthur's Point of View

The Slums

When Floyd let Austin inside, both of which gave me a curious and concerned look, I ignored both of them a swiped two of the knives from the shop. Butcher knives weren't exactly practical, but I didn't have Defiance with me, and these were a lot easier to hide. Moving down the street quickly, I moved to the shadows before Alwin and Lucia could spot me or those following them.

Now in the alleyways, I moved through them without hindrance. I figured out how many were tailing the two Lestranians and their locations. In all my experience, this was either leading to an assassination or a kidnapping. The question was, which race could blend-in in such a manner where no one would realize. It made me uneasy because I only realized it because of my eyes.

Several were mixed with the crowds on the streets as others lied in wait in alleys or on the rooftops. "What is going on?" I whispered to myself.

Whatever it was, they were waiting for something. "Let me show you something else!" Alwin said excitedly before pulling Lucia into a nearby alley, and I rolled my eyes at how sexual that could've been received. "There's a nearby park where-"

Alwin came to a sudden stop with Lucia beside him when several of the people from before jumped down in front of him. Already wary, the General readied his magic as he turned around but found another group come in from behind. Much more alarmed, he summoned a barrier around them for protection as I watched on above.

Should I have gotten involved immediately? Yes, but I was more interested in who they were and what they wanted or if they were tied to the Demons.

"What do you want?" Alwin demanded, but none of them responded. "You are impeding a Lestranian General! Speak now before I decide to act in more a confrontational manner!"

Watching them was interesting. Alwin did well enough to recognize a threat, but it made me curious about how they thought this was going to go. To my surprise, another one rounded the corner with the same black aura surrounding her as the others. Difference was, she looked exactly like Lucia, which surprised me. It would appear I wasn't the only one as Alwin turned to the one next to him in surprise.

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His concentration faltered, and his barrier fell. He was quickly set upon along with Lucia. Alwin tried to activate his magic again but was quickly hit in the back of the head with a rock. Knocked unconscious, he laid there limply and was tied up while Lucia tried to scream for help. That was stopped when they silenced her and began ripping at her clothes as she kicked and flailed about. They also made sure she couldn't use magic.

Needless to say, a spark of rage lit inside me. Falling into the alley with my killing intent flowing from me, the people came to a sudden stop as they looked at me fearfully. Their eyes were wide, as were Lucia's when she saw me, but they slowly seemed to regain their confidence after a few moments.

Before they could do anything, though, I rushed into the group holding Lucia and quickly cut off a few limbs with my butcher blades. They were enhanced with my energy, so they made short work of a few of them. Screams escaped their mouths as they cried out in pain and eventually scattered away from Lucia.

"Stay behind me." I told her as she scrambled to her feet in a very alarmed manner.

"Thank you." She whispered softly as she looked over to Alwin while covering herself.

The group that had blocked the entrance was getting close, but I merely of energy through the ground created spikes that shot up and impaled them multiple times. Killing them instantly, they fell to the ground as my spikes disappeared back into the ground. Several of the others in the back alley jumped up onto some crates or up onto the rooftops. All of them looked horrified as they looked at me.

"Can you get the Town Guard?"

She ran out of the alley without further prompting, and I backed up to where Alwin laid unconscious before standing over his limp body. "Who are you to interfere with us?"

Smirking, I replied as I held the two knives out. "You may not have heard, but I'm the new Knight around these parts. I try to escape doing as many of my duties as possible. However," Looking at Alwin, I sighed. "I have a bit of a soft spot for this one and the girl you attacked."

"You're the Lestranian Knight?" A nondescript man inquired in surprise. "We heard you were adorned in magnificent armor wielding a sword that was almost as large as he is."

I shrugged. "Both are at home. What can I say? It gets tedious to lug them around everywhere. Also, didn't know I was going out today." Then I smirked again. "You can thank a little redheaded boy for my being here."

"What?" He replied, confused before looking at his group. "It doesn't matter." A smirk soon came to his lips as his body started to change shape.

While he once appeared to be an older middle-aged man, he quickly turned into a she. This wouldn't have disturbed me if the form he took wasn't one I was familiar with. Pink hair and a face that almost matched Lucia's with purple eyes looked at me.

"How about you leave us to go about our business?" The imposter requested in a sickeningly sweet tone.

I was not happy. "I'm going to fucking murder you!" My killing intent returned and moved off of my body in waves as she looked horrified. "You dare mock me?! How do you know that form?!"

No response as she fell back onto her ass. The others also looked alarmed. Some tried to run, but I quickly dissuaded them as spikes shot from the ground and impaled them. This time, I left the spikes in place as they slowly died on them. To my surprise, their forms began to falter, and a group of women surrounded me.

Dark attire with bat-like wings, strange markings, and an overall attractiveness made me even more wary. They looked similar to succubae, but I didn't think they had those here. A few then tried to fly away, which I quickly threw my knives at them. This caused them to fall back into the alley, where they died shortly after. Those that remained look at me in horror.

All of them tried to scatter as the one who looked like Mara shouted, "Retreat!"

My energy immediately shot out and trapped them all inside the alley with me. "You're not going anywhere."