“Don't worry, Grand Duke, we’re almost towards safety!” Ben labored down the halls with the Grand Duke in his arms. “Everyone evacuated to the Palace’s secondary garden.”

“Ugh.” Duke Joseph grits his teeth. “Roselia…please help her.”

“Definitely, Grand Duke. But for now, we must focus on your safety.” Ben picked up the pace as they steadily made their way out step by step.

They trudged their way through the seemingly endless hallways and pathways within the palace. You could hear the sound of fighting and panic at the other side of the walls along with the shaking of the ground and the scattering of dust in the air.

“Why are these hallways longer than I remember?” Ben complained as he focused half of his brain power on commanding the blood inside the Duke to heal him faster.

“Your Highness, Ben.” The Duke grunted. “There's something coming.”

The Duke wasn't wrong. Not far behind them was the sound of thumping footsteps and a maniacal cackle.

“Damn it, one of them got through.” Ben started jogging but it was a struggle due to carrying the Duke.

“Your Highness, go on ahead.” The Duke choked. “You have to survive, for the Empire.”

“I’m afraid I can't leave you, Duke Joseph.” The Prince chuckled nervously. “If you die, I’m afraid your wife will kill me no questions asked.”

The Duke smiled a bit at that but he still removed himself from Ben’s hold. “At least stand on your own. Do not be burdened by my weight.”

“Then let's try to run together, Your Grace.” The Prince along with Duke began to run as fast as they could to reach the other side. Right behind them, was the giant man blasting through the hallway and destroying the things in his path.

“PRINCEY PIE!” The Big Man yelled. “IT'S TIME FOR YOUR EXECUTION!”

“Oh shut up!” Ben yelled back.

The Big Man grinned menacingly and he suddenly stopped and punched the ground. 

Ben paused for a split second to try and understand why he suddenly decided to cease chasing them but then from the point in the floor to which the man punched, fissure-like cracks broke the ground apart and made its way towards in a zigzag line that then erupted into an explosion beneath their feet, knocking them back.

“Gah!” Ben groaned in pain as he landed on his back. He hurriedly looked around him and saw the Grand Duke wincing in pain behind a pillar. “Stay there, Duke Joseph,” Ben grit his teeth, “I’ll try to fight him.”

The Duke grabbed the boy’s hand to prevent him. “No. You're just a child.”

“No offense, Your Grace. But I’ve been in war before.” He calmly broke free from the Duke’s hold. 

“It's not that.” Duke Joseph straightened himself in the wall. “You have so much left to see in this world, getting hurt now or dying. You won't be able to experience all of that.”

“That's what it means to be a soldier, Your Grace.” Ben smiled faintly and looked away from the man and towards his opponent across the hall.

“Getting confident, kid?” The Big Man snickered. “I’m not like any of the pipsqueaks you've fought in that skirmish on the border. I am…more.”

“Is that your bad guy speech done?” The Prince rolled his eyes and grabbed a sharp rock to stab his arm. Blood poured out and flowed to his palms forming itself into a hard sharp-edged spear. “Let's get this over with.”

The Big Man’s face contorted into a horrific grin. “That's what I’m looking forward to.” 

Ben clenched on the blood spear and dragged it across the floor. “Get with it.”

The Big man rushed forward and slammed his fist into a wall creating cracks that crawled its way towards Ben like vines.

It exploded the stone wall next to him and rained down debris but Ben liquefied his spear, turned it into a whip, and destroyed the rocks that went his way.

The prince then solidified the whip into a spear again and stabbed it forward straight towards the Big man. 

The Big Man reactively stopped in his tracks to avoid running headfirst into a pike, then dug his knuckles down on the ground below him, creating another explosion that sent dust and rubble everywhere.

Ben squinted his eyes as the dust began to offer a shroud on the Man's movement. Thinking quick on his feet, he turned his blood spear and spread into a small circular shield. That was when a giant arm burst from the dust cloud and smashed itself right into Ben’s new form of defense.

“Gah!” Ben grimaced as he felt vibrations ring throughout his whole arm and suddenly send him flying backwards. 

“BEN!” The Grand Duke yelled in worry as the Prince groaned in pain. He scrambled over to where Ben was lying down and picked him up. “Can you stand?”

“I can.” Ben glanced at his arm. It was bruised and looked completely worn out from just taking in one attack from that man. The worst part of it all was he didn't bleed from it either.

“Bwahahahahah!” The man emerged into view and cracked his knuckles. “Where’d all your confidence go, Mr. Prince?”

“Damn it.” Ben pushed himself up, much to the continued worry of Duke Ramirez. 

“Ben, you're hurt!”

“I know, Your Grace,” Ben stated, “But it's either I fight him here now, or we both die.”

“BAHAHAHA!” The Big man laughed heartily again. “You really are one confident lad.”

Ben gathered the blood that was scattered from the punch earlier. They collected around his palm again and turned into a blade this time. “Much better.” He then charged forward and swung.

The Man stepped back dodging the first swing and launching a fist in that direction. Expecting this, Ben ducked down but kept the sword up so that the flat end would meet the man’s hand.

When they did, the sword wasn't hard at all, the fist passed right through the shape of the blade and dispersed the blood evenly. The Prince smiled and proceeded to harden the separated blood particles, which were now wrapped like rope onto the man’s wrist.

Then using all his strength, he pulled down and tumbled the Man to the floor.

“Agh!” The Man snarled as he smacked face down on the cracked marble. “You runt!”

Ben didn't reply, instead, he dropped behind the man and crushed his back by pushing all his weight onto his spine. He then used the blood rope and pulled in an awkward direction, forcefully twisting the man’s shoulder in a horrible way.

“Grahhh!”

Ben bit his lip as he fought against the man’s resistance. The Prince grit his teeth, he had to render the man’s hands useless or else this would be an impossible match to win. He kept going, using all the strength left in him to dislocate the man’s shoulder.

“I’m not going down like this!” The Big Man smashed his other onto the marble and formed cracks that surrounded the floor below them. “Damn it.” He cursed as the already broken floor beneath the two of them exploded.

“BEN!” The Grand Duke called as the floor fell and crashed down to the halls below it.

The collapsed floor burst through the ceiling below and smashed into the hallway, landing near a crowd of people who immediately took shelter and hid the moment they landed.

“Crap!” Ben spat blood as he felt a rock pierce through his thigh. “Gah! Fu–” He winced as he stared at the sharp edge piece of rock protruding at one side of his leg.

“You brat!” Yelled the Big man as the cloud of debris finally settled revealing the fairly unscratched man. He started stretching his arm, the one Ben tried to break, and then glared at the Prince with fury. “I’ll break your neck!”

Ben dreaded, he had to immediately pull his leg out of the rock that poked through his thigh, or else he’d get a direct strike from the Man’s fist.

With a gulp and slight preparation, he quickly dislodged the rock and pulled his leg out with only a whimper and a grimace.

After he got out, he stumbled down to a farther side of the hall and barely avoided the destruction of the Man’s fist as it pummeled the place where he was just at.

“Hehe, you may have avoided that one, but that's the last of it.” The Man smiled. “You may be able to hasten your healing but even that can't heal a hole in your leg that easily.”

Ben groaned as he tried to control the blood behind the man, but he had to focus on keeping the blood in his leg still so that he wouldn't die of blood loss, but this has rendered it extremely difficult to control the external blood offensively.

There's a chance he might misplace his control and accidentally cut his own leg off entirely. He couldn't take that risk right now.

“So what’s it gonna be?” The Man trudged ever so slowly, cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck. “Head first or chest first? Which one would you prefer to blow up?”

Ben raised a middle finger. “Blow yourself up, dumbass!”

This triggered the Man and he rushed towards the Prince with overflowing anger, ready to kill. Ben grit his teeth, trying to think of a way to get out of this one but his head was drawing a blank. He just had to survive this strike, he could always fight another day but he just needed to survive this one.

As the Man’s fist loomed over him, Ben’s heart dropped. His chances of surviving are dismal.

Before he knew it, he felt the Man’s fist reach his head but in the same instant it touched him… it vanished.

“I thought I had taught you better than to lose to some random Adjudicator.” A gruff familiar voice spoke, his large hand gripping the Big Man’s arm like it was nothing. “Benjamin, Once you're better, we will return to your training.” 

“Duke Bay!?” Ben gasped.

“The Monster of the West!?” The Big Man gawked. “Why are you–”

“Enough.” The Duke thrust his fist forward and it connected right at the Man’s abdomen which then sent him hurling towards the end of the hall. “You've hurt the Prince but most importantly, you've hurt my pupil.”

“Duke…”

“Get yourself to safety and focus on healing yourself, we need as many soldiers as we can in this fight.”

“Roger, Sir.” Ben saluted but then he pursed his lips. “What about the Grand Duke, sir? He’s left alone above…I worry about his safety.”

Duke Howard Bay laughed heartily as he locked eyes with the Man getting up in front of him. “You need not worry. A familiar face will be there to save the Grand Duke.”

Above them, a scrambling Duke Joseph is trying to find a way downward to help Ben in any way he can. He grit his teeth and cursed himself. Why was he such a weakling compared to the people around him? Roselia had risked her life so many times to save him but he’s done little for her.

He slammed his hand on the ground and used the wall as leverage to stand up. “Wait for me, Ben.” He croaked as he slowly stumbled his way down the halls. 

What he didn't expect, however, was to run into a group of grunts wandering around. The Grand Duke immediately shut his mouth tight and tucked himself behind the corner. 

“Did you see that?” A grunt spoke. 

“You see someone?” Replied another.

“Not sure.” 

“Let's check, just to be sure.”

Joseph panicked. He grabbed the nearest rock and prepared himself to swing as hard as he could, but before the grunt could reach him, their agonizing screams and yells were heard on the other side.

Joseph’s heart beat faster. What could've killed those two in such quick fashion.

Then a foot stepped out of the corner and then a whole body.

Tan skin, a dirty suit, long black hair, and an annoyed look on his face. “Sup, Joe.” Millo snickered as he stared at his in-law with a disparaged look.

“Millo?” 

“Yeah.” The Gardener fashioned his two cutlasses that resembled the blades of gardening shears. “I’m helping you not cause I want to…but I don't wanna make Roselia sad.”

Joseph smiled as Millo offered him a hand. “Thanks, Millo.” The Duke took his offer.

“Shut up.”