Cough....
Cough....
Samuel pushed himself up from the debris. General Klot walked towards him from the ruined cathedral entrance, his blood-red armor glowing faintly as he walked into the sunlight.
"Ah, you survived that," General Klot uttered, his tone mockingly.
"Mhmm," Samuel responded, his gaze steady on the General.
"Aegirion," Samuel called, and his blade, moving with a dark green energy, snapped back into his hands. He then activated it. "Periodic Poltergeist," turning invisible. The air around him shimmered for an instant, and then he was gone from the general sights.
Boom! Samuel moved at high velocity, a silent, invisible force. He launched himself forward, aiming a powerful punch at General Klot's face. But the General, despite his vision being obstructed, reacted with surprising speed. He caught Samuel's fist with his armored hand, his grips like steel. With a grunt, General Klot used the momentum to throw Samuel into a nearby building. The impact caused the building's outer wall to crack and buckle.
Samuel burst out through the damaged wall with full force. He moved with a blur of afterimages, his blade flashing. He cut at General Klot, delivering a series of rapid slashes...left, right, left, right.
General Klot used his heavily armored forearms and shoulders to defend, deflecting Samuel's attacks, but the blade still scraped against the blood armor, leaving faint marks. Samuel then quickly switched his blade to his other hand, a swift, deceptive move, and cut under General Klot's face, aiming for a less armored spot. Before General Klot could fully react or counter, Samuel grabbed him by the shoulder and, using immense strength, threw him towards a building further away.
As General Klot flew through the air, Samuel kicked Aegirion. The blade, already in motion, instantly flew through the atmosphere towards the airborne General. It struck precisely, cutting into General Klot's left eye.
"Ahahaha!" General Klot screamed in pain, clutching his face as he crashed against the distant building's wall.
Samuel's blade was now stuck in the wall, quivering slightly from the impact.
"Don't go crying on me," Samuel responded, his voice cold with a little bit of flatness. "Stand up and fight."
"You bastard," General Klot growled in pain, blood dripping from his injured eye. "I knew we shouldn't have let you escape. We should have hunted you down, like an animal which y'all are, and crushed you immediately."
"Losing your left eye was just the beginning," Samuel uttered intensely, stepping closer. "I will rip your head out of your body."
"You know I enjoyed your sister's screams… hahaha!" General Klot taunted, his voice filled with cruel amusement, trying to provoke Samuel.
Ahaha! General Klot suddenly shouted, not in laughter, but in agonizing pain. Blood was sprayed everywhere. Samuel's blade, Aegirion, had moved on its own. It had detached from the wall, flown back, and, with chilling precision, cut off General Klot's right hand.
"How is this possible?" General Klot gasped, staring at his severed limb, disbelief warring with pain on his face.
Samuel let out a devilish grin. "My blade moves on its own."
General Klot, bleeding heavily, raised his remaining arm and blew into a small white and blue whistle. The piercing sound echoed loudly across the palace, designed to alert all nearby knights. Moments later, the heavy thud of marching boots confirmed its effect.... And five of their kingdom's Path-Knights were also rapidly approaching.
"Hahahaha," General Klot coughed, blood now bubbling from his mouth. "At least I won't die alone. I have alerted them all. You're dead! You hear me? Just like your sister!"
Samuel vanished, appearing directly behind General Klot. General Klot's eyes widened in raw fear. He tried to swing his left hand. Samuel caught it easily, the impact completely breaking the blood armor encasing the arm and shattering the bones in his hand at the same time.
General Klot began crawling away, dragging his broken body across the ground, desperate to escape. Samuel walked slowly behind him and then got on top of him. With brutal, deliberate force, Samuel proceeded to rip General Klot's head from his neck, tearing through bones, veins, muscles, and flesh. Blood splashed everywhere as the head came free. General Klot's lifeless body dropped to the ground.
Then, the ground trembled with the sound of many footsteps. Over two hundred knights, their armor clanking together loudly, marched forward from different directions, forming a formidable formation.
Samuel, his face splattered with blood, raised General Klot's severed head. He held it up, showing it to the approaching knights. They stopped. Their second-in-command, a huge knight with a grim face, shouted, "Charge! Kill the enemy!"
Samuel used "Cry of a God." His jaws dislocated. The knights halted, looking in horror at the transformation. A powerful shockwave blasted out of Samuel's mouth, tearing through the formation. Dozens of their knights were sent flying from the force. Some of them ripped off their helmets. Blood dripped from their ears, noses, and eyes.
Some of the soldiers started running back, fear overwhelming their training.
"Hand of War!" Samuel used his essence, unleashing a powerful wave of energy that crushed those trying to flee, destroying the outer fence of the palace grounds in the process.
Meanwhile...
Lira and Yvaine ran through the palace hallways. They moved quickly, following Yvaine's intimate knowledge of the palace's layout, taking turns leading through the labyrinthine corridors.
Suddenly, a group of knights emerged from a side corridor, blocking their path.
"Hands up!" one of them said, his tone coarse. Lira and Yvaine stopped.
Another knight added a cruel smile on his face, "Look at these two beauties. We should play with them. The kingdom is in a battle. No one would notice if anything happens."
Lira looked at the knights. She saw the true nature of the men who served this kingdom, their words filling her with disgust.
"Disgusting," Yvaine declared, stepping forward, her voice low and at the same time filled with cold resolve. "I will kill you all."
She then summoned her staff. It shimmered into existence in her hands, and with a swift movement, she blasted a hole through the chest of the leading knight, killing him instantly. The force continued, destroying the nearby wall and windows. Blood splashed across the hallway.
Her staff was steaming, a faint heat rising from it. "Let's continue, Lira," Yvaine urged, her voice steady.
Lira was dumbfounded. She was the only one among them who wasn't acting like a cold-blooded killer. The sight of the dead knights, the raw power Yvaine had just displayed, was jarring.
They continued running until they reached a dead end. It was a solid stone wall, with no visible seams or doors. Yvaine used one of her powers, "Inspection," to scan the surrounding area for any clues.
Then she saw it... a faint energy signature, indicating a secret passageway leading underground the palace.
She stepped back, summoned her staff again, and blasted the wall open. Dust and debris flew out, revealing a dark opening.
They looked down and saw that it was a well-lit passageway, illuminated by glowing essence-crystals embedded into the walls.
Lira swallowed hard. She looked at Yvaine, and then they both nodded and entered.
On their way down the stairs, they walked for a while in a strange underground hallway. The atmosphere there grew heavier, filled with a stale, sweaty smell. Then they saw it... boys and girls in cages. Their faces looked dry, their lips peeling.
Their clothes were similar to Samuel's old, rough uniform.
"Outworlders," Lira uttered, her voice barely a whisper.
Yvaine swallowed hard before answering. "Yes. They are the new ones. They were brought from another world after Samuel's classmates died, and after he ran away."
"So Samuel's classmates weren't the only ones they did this to?" Lira asked, her voice filled with growing and consistent horror.
"No. And there were people before Samuel's classmates," Yvaine answered, her face grim. "That was why my sister helped Samuel."
Lira remained silent, processing the horrific truth.
"Come on," Yvaine urged. She started looking into each cage, her expression one of deep sorrow.
"Help us!" the children shouted from the cages. "Please help us!" Some were too weak to even move, their pleas were faint.
"Let's help them," Lira responded, moving towards the cages.
"No," Yvaine answered, pulling her back gently. "We can't do anything. They have the brand of ownership."
"What?" Lira asked, confused.
"If they move six feet away from the owner of the essence, they will die," Yvaine explained. "The only way to stop it is if we defeat the spell caster."
The atmosphere in the underground passage was disgusting. There was a strong smell of blood and decay.
Then, in front of them, was a massive stone gate. As they walked in front of the door, it opened on its own, sliding silently into the wall.
They entered. Standing in front of them was a middle-aged man in white and red robes, smiling.
"Welcome," the middle-aged man uttered. "I have been expecting you."
"High Priest Malaki," Yvaine whispered, swallowing hard, her face losing its color.