Center of the Deadlands: 936, December 31st, Monday, 11:00 AM.
Fearing his own demise, King stood his ground against a weak Bloodhound that despite their injuries and fatigue, assaulted him like a nest of infuriated ants. Claire led their offensive while on top of her motorcycle, showring him with crimson bullets, and repeatedly tackling his crumbling body with hit and run tactics. Offering their assistance while fighting their own fear, Eric and Scott launched rocks at the daemon in an attempt to break his focus—serving as distractions to bring opportunities for the lieutenant to strike. Nearby, and to Tori’s disappointment, Claire’s command forced her to remain in place away from the battle, having the lowest performance in physical activities from the team—which may cost the girl her life.
“Hey! You ugly uh… giant! Yeah!”
“You are quite the poet, Foley…” Eric complained about Scotts attempt of mocking King, gritting his teeth while picking up a rock from the ground. “I’m sure he must be—”
“Pay attention!” The lieutenant’s sudden warning caused the pair to flinch, bringing their attention back to the giant, whose rapid and feral approach threatened their life.
“Tsk!”
“Crap!”
The daemon rushed them with an animalistic sprint, the weight of his enormous armored body breaking the ground with every step—petrifying both Scott and Eric on the spot. However, before King was able to reach the startled pair, Claire’s roaring spectral bike quickly shifted the attention of the daemon back to her, saving their lives just in time.
“Hrah!” King roared, having almost completely lost his mind to the Deadlands. He pressed his fingers into a tight fist, and sharply turned around in an attempt to smack the lieutenant away with the back of his hand.
In response to her foes rapid strike, Claire pushed herself back while pulling the spectral bike’s handles with her, elevating her gear in a fluid motion that deflected King’s attack with its front wheel. The daemon’s arm ricochet off her motorcycle, an opportunity that the lieutenant wasted no time in exploiting to her advantage—continuing to ride forward on the back wheel alone.
“Eat this!” she roared, planting the front wheel of the spectral bike on the giant’s face. “Hrm!” Her gear in place, Claire proceeded to punish the daemon with a devastating attack, twisting the throttle of her motorcycle to its limit, and shredding her opponent’s spectral face with the fast and brutal spins of its front wheel.
“Hrgh!” King grabbed the motorcycle by its sides, sinking his fingers on its black armored body, while pushing it away with every ounce of his remaining strength. “Urgh…”
The daemon’s armor slowly deteriorated with the pressure created by the spectral bike, crumbling into pieces like concrete as smoke began to emerge from Claire’s fast spinning wheel. Its roars echoed all throughout the battlefield, growing louder and louder with its increasing power. However, despite the absurd energy outputted by the gear, King’s efforts steadily won him the upper hand over time—eventually gaining enough space to liberate himself from its tearing wheel.
“Tch!” The lieutenant clicked her tongue, unable to pull away from the grip of the specter that restrained her motorcycle’s movements.
While trapped under the clutches of the giant, a swift movement from the corner of her vision caught Claire’s attention almost immediately—her eyes widening at the sight of a brave redhead pushing forward against King. The fear of ruining Tori’s cover kept her quiet, though her fast beating heart could hardly settle, prompting Claire to fight off her opponent’s push against the spectral bike at full force—her hand firm on the throttle.
Both contenders distracted with each other, the young medic took her chance to be of use for her team, grasping the grip of her knife firmly with her fingers. Her hands quivered at a similar pace to her breaths, drowning herself in anxiety the closer she approached the daemon. However, determined to see her objective through to the end, the girl swallowed her fears and continued crouching her way towards the distracted specter—keeping herself as small as possible.
“I can do this… I can do this…” she repeated in her head, gulping down with furrowed brows.
The chances of her common knife working against the armor of the specter were nearly zero, yet the brave medic pushed forward with her plan regardless, now standing behind the enormous beast with little distance between them. Tori shut her eyes and clenched her jaw, incapable of relaxing her quivering legs and arms, leaving her mind frozen at the final step.
“Let’s do this…” A voice whispered next to her, bringing her attention to a smiling Scott, who placed his hand on top of hers to hold the knife.
A third hand gently rested itself on top from the other side of the girl, making her turn her head to look at Eric—who nodded at her with a determined gaze. “If we must…”
With a sniff and a warm smile, Tori nodded back at the noble before doing the same for Scott—announcing the order to attack. “Now!”
Combining their strength, with a simple knife of stainless steel at their disposal, Bloodhound plunged its blade into the daemon’s spine while praying the goddess for success. The surprising results of their efforts drew a loud gasp from all present fighters, as the small knife sunk deep into King’s back with relative ease—breaking through the daemon’s armor to embed itself firmly on his body.
“Argh!” King cried in pain, staggered by the cold steel that had crushed his spine in a single strike. “Urk…”
Even his armor had weakened, and the reality known about specters and daemons suddenly shattered with King’s spectral body. The beats became immortals by the will of their god, which made falling a specter by common means utterly impossible, bringing the need for Gladea to create the warriors known as gladean knights. However, as the giant dropped to his knees, his death seemed imminent even to his own astonished eyes.
The trail that he followed in an attempt to end the god’s life for good circled around him without aim, expanding across the battlefield, but never separating itself from the woman that stood in front of him—charging her pistols with a final attack that would end the battle. The corrupted blood inside his veins boiled at the thought, as his eyes could see no further than the little trails left from the silver-haired man. If the lieutenant carried his heart, his abilities as a knight and daemon would’ve noticed, yet she was nothing but a regular human.
Despite the fact, the girl’s new found strength did not go unnoticed by the dying daemon, as no matter the punishment, or how fatigued and injured she became, a sudden surge of power would always revitalize her body in a way he could not understand. The fog and trails left by Specter circled around the girl, a mysterious aura that shied away from her, but remained close as if to protect whatever she carried inside.
“hraah!” King lunged at Claire in a sudden rage—interrupted the girl before she could finish gathering enough energy.
“Tch!” She clicked her tongue, jumping away to allow her motorcycle to block the giant’s attack instead.
However, envigored by his own fury, King aggressively smacked the spectral bike away with the back of his hand—leaving his opponent in a defenseless position. He launched his arm forward towards her, but to the daemon’s unfortunate luck, Claire had yet to run out of options for the battle, as the youngest member of Bloodhound bravely jumped into her aid.
“Ha!” Lucy’s tiny body emerged from Juno and Jupiter to put a stop to his advance, gluing herself to his arm, and nearly shutting down his entire pathway by simply making contact with her skin.
“Argh!” The daemon stopped in his tracks, paralyzed almost instantly by Lucy’s special abilities—giving Claire the space needed to finish her charge.
“Ngh…” she pressed the triggers of her gear with a firm grip, the absurd amount of energy gathered within them causing her hands to shake violently. The lieutenant closed one of her eyes while gritting her teeth, feeling the unbearable pressure of the Deadlands’ power accumulating in the palm of her hands. “Get… out… Lucy…” she commanded the girl, who retreated back into the spectral gear.
“No…” King snapped free from the influence of the hellish zone for only a couple of seconds, enough for his crimson eyes to meet the terrifying light that formed around the spectral gear of his opponent. “Graaah!” he quickly fell to the corruption once again, breaking through Lucy’s chains with rage alone just to lunge himself against the lieutenant.
Claire lowered her brows and crinkled her nose, standing in place while glaring at the enraged eyes of the daemon. “You had me worried…” she whispered, as a cloud of crimson particles formed in front of her, bringing forth the powerful horned demon that resided within her gear.
“…!” King recoiled in shock, feeling the sharp armored fingers of his new foe wrap themselves around his throat. “Ourgh!” he grunted, as the back of his head hit the dirt with a forceful slam from the specter.
The creature held him in place, but with no intentions to fall to a mere human girl, the giant retaliated with a punch that stunned the horned demon on impact—forcing it to stumble away. King jumped back on his feet, and chose to move into the offensive with a second hook that aimed to dislocate the jaw of the beast. However, recovering quickly from his first strike, the specter reacted by enveloping the giant’s fist inside its palm, repaying the favor with a brutal punch of its own—demolishing the armor on his adversary’s face even further.
“Agh!”
Not finished with him just yet, the horned demon continued with a violent knee that found its way into King’s abdomen—forcing the air out of the giant’s lungs. The creature looked behind from over his shoulder, meeting the determined gaze behind Claire’s ambers before giving her a quick nod—a gesture that took even her by surprise.
“Right…” she said under her breath, redirecting her attention to Bloodhound in the distance. “Everyone, move as far as you can!” she commanded, sending her spectral bike to pick them all up.
“But…” Tori tried to protest against her decision, only to be stopped by Eric’s hand on her shoulder.
“Come on… we’ll come back for her once it’s safe for us.”
“Yeah… You right… be careful, lieutenant!”
Offering no resistance, Claire’s team retreated quickly thanks to the spectral bike’s assistance, leaving the battlefield empty for the lieutenant to unleash the gears full power. Fighting nearby, the horned demon protected her from King’s animalistic assault, prohibiting him from crossing the line towards the girl, and increasing the desperation behind his attacks. Claire’s hands could barely contain the energy accumulated by Juno and Jupiter, feeling her chest about to erupt from the pressure that emulated a high gravity room.
“That’s it…” she whispered, pointing her pistols directly at the pair that wrestled for control of the battle. “Get out of the way!” she yelled at her specter, wanting to protect him from the imminent blast that would erase everything in its path. “…!”
Though with different plans in mind, the horned demon maneuvered his way around the aggressive attacks from King, eventually locking him from behind with a strong grip on the back of his head. The daemon fought with all his strength, yet his efforts proved inefficient in breaking him free from the specter’s clutches—leaving them both at the mercy of the lieutenant’s will.
“…” the horned demon nodded, its glowing amber eyes meeting Claire’s.
“Thank you…” she said softly with a smile, releasing the pressure that her fingers held on the spectral gear’s triggers.
The immeasurable power of the twin pistols shook the earth in an instant, its magnitude traveling across the battlefield, and crawling its way beyond the walls of the Deadlands—announcing its true capabilities beyond its borders. The lieutenant was pushed back by the force that ignited from each cannon, forcing her to kneel down just to maintain her balance. Her hands shook, and she closed her eyes to the blinding light of crimson that erupted from both Juno and Jupiter.
Their powerful ray melted the ground in the nearby area, tearing a massive trail on its path towards King and the horned demon. The order’s monarch desperately fought for his freedom, yet his broken body failed to match the strength of the powerful crimson beast. The pair was caught by the scorching blast in just a second, breaking their hard armored skin into small chunks of broken fragments, its heat alone transforming them into tiny particles of dust.
Such powerful force could not be contained for long, and was quickly dispersed after deleting both demons from the Deadlands—leaving only a shaken Claire on the floor. She collapsed on her back almost immediately, keeping her eyes closed as her chest puffed up and down with heavy breaths. Worried for her well-being, Lucy emerged on the field one more time to sit next to Claire—gently placing her tiny hands on the young woman’s face.
“Over?” she asked with a timid voice, prompting Claire to turn her gaze towards the enormous trail of burnt dirt left by her attack—the embers left by her specter and King being taken away by the cold wind.
“Hah… hahah…” Claire couldn’t help but chuckle. “I… I really hope so…” she saids, meeting Lucy’s worried expression with a smile. “Thank you, Lucy… I’m glad you are alright…”
“Worried…” the girl hugged the lieutenant’s head, rubbing her face on her black hair.
“Lieutenant!” Tori’s voice called out in the distance, followed by the chirpy roars of her spectral bike.
The danger had finally passed, and the group nearly burst into tears as they arrived to the scene. Bloodhound’s work had yet to conclude however, as they quickly moved into the aid of the injured hybrids along the way—gathering everyone closer thanks to the motorcycle. Gal and Maulik groaned with dizzy heads, though their wounds seemed to heal slowly on their own. Eutychia’s angry frown chased away a nervous Tori, the stubborn princess refusing to receive any further aid.
The news of King’s defeat became difficult for them to explain to the trio of hybrids, although Bloodhound was quick to convince them thanks to Lucy—her enthusiasm lightening the stress that afflicted them all. Through a lively explanation of their battle against the daemon, Claire was quick to notice a sudden shift in the Deadlands appearance, one that left her startled without words.
She became adsorbed by the beautiful sight before her, gazing upon a vast field of white flowers that expanded as far as they could see—the soft blades of grass on the ground tickling her hands gently. Each flower exhibited the exact same color and looks, the elegant white of their petals reminding her of a certain young man of silver hair—whose unsolicited gifts always included the graceful flowers.
“These are…”
“Lieutenant?” Tori called to her, noticing her lost gaze. “Is something over there?”
“Don’t tell me you finally lost your mind…” Eutychia said with a frown while crossing her arms. “That would be a real shame…”
“N-no…” replied Claire. “Do you… not see the flowers?”
“Damn…” Scott lowered his head. “She’s gone…”
“Shut up… ugh…” the lieutenant grunted as her vision suddenly became dark, taken away her consciousness to allow her body a well-earned rest.
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Urk! I can’t… I can’t understand any of this… my head… what happened? What went wrong? This place…. I know this place… but… Why are these images… Ngh… Uh? This is… this is my… it… it was… it was… me? I… can see it… I brought you here… I… wanted you… I wanted… I wanted to… I… want to…
END OF CHAPTER
