NOVEL NEXT Arc 2: Noble City VS: The Terror From Above
Disclaimer: I don't own Gate or Nihon-koku Shoukan as it belongs to its rightful owners.
Arc 2: A City, A Diplomacy A Dragon
Noble City VS: The Terror From Above
All that she needed right now was to get a grip on herself.
Her
faint footsteps could be heard across the entire hallway as she could
be seen barely having enough strength to continue on. She held the walls
for support and her only goal was that keep her going.
Ine had no
choice from the beginning. She had the option of fighting back or being
killed. Choosing to fight back increased her chances of life, but
escaping the clutches of her former colleagues was a miracle.
"What are they?" She wondered for quite some time.
"T-They were human before...What has happened to them?"
She
had to watch their sudden transformation into hostile beings hungry for
a kill and vowing allegiance to the enemy. She was being hunted
throughout the stronghold, and no matter how much speed and strength she
summoned, they kept catching up to her from behind.
She passed
through an open window and when the ray of the sun found her, there were
little signs of blood stains on her armor which she had not noticed.
Her
recollection got hazy; all she remembered was being able to put one of
them down, but she didn't know if she had killed him. Her determination
to live free of this tension undoubtedly aided her.
Her whole body was numb, she couldn't feel any pain, with the exception of the weariness.
"Almost there." She muttered to herself, finally reaching the last hallway.
That
one single door at the end was her ticket to salvation as she hoped. A
chance for the people of the principality to receive a saving grace
before the enemy arrives.
Despite being a well-trained member of
the defensive corps and a fierce one in her own right, the young captain
had experienced terror for the first time. Fear of confronting people
she has known for a long time. People who have become a part of her life
since she became a member of them.
"I need to keep going!"
She
pushed herself despite the weakness that was pulling her down and after
not too long, she was right in front of the door itself.
Ine
placed her hand on the wooden surface and slightly banged on the door.
She did not possess the keys, to begin with, but she was aware that the
ones assigned in the room were often instructed to keep their guard up
and to not trust anyone in case tragedy befell the principality. Be it a
friend, comrade, or superior.
The young woman continued to knock on the door, hoping that someone will answer.
"Please." She begged silently, as her emotions were catching up to her.
Then
out of the blue, she began to hear noises from behind, faint footsteps
and voices that seemed to spread that same fear and looming shadows.
A
little panic had set in and she was becoming more desperate, by the
time, she attempted another knock, the door suddenly opened and the
first thing she saw was the tip of the crossbow directly aimed at her
head.
"Don't move..."
The man assigned to protect the room had said, cautious and suspicious.
Ine froze as she stared at her possible demise. He could have pulled the trigger but instead, he spoke again.
"Prove that you're not one of them." He said.
She stared at him with a dumbfounded look yet again.
How was she going to prove that she wasn't affected by the dark influence?
This was definitely frustrating and a hassle.
Yet,
something had come up in the nick of time and she glared at the man's
eyes with a certain intensity and she gave a swore instead.
"You're an arse..."
Yes, that was her proof, believe it or not.
The man just smirked in return, seeing the truth in her eyes.
"Well, the Gods are certainly going mad nowadays."
Ine,
for the first time, managed to let out a small chuckle, for some
reason, she felt relief, and looking towards a nearby open window, she
saw a glimpse of the main city, the glory of the sun still shining upon
it. For now, she still had time to recover and explain her side of the
story and could only hope for the better.
"Brace yourselves."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
And then the crowd did go wild once more...In a good way.
The
stage was set, and the plaza was filled with happy feelings and
expressions. The celebrations were in full swing, with little parades
now taking place, drawing in more spectators and potential customers.
Right in the middle of the many market stands, stood the most unique of them all.
"Alright
chaps, I want you to stop eating, knife and forks down!" The blonde man
had announced to the crowd gathered in his stall, which appeared to be
mesmerized and brewing with excitement.
The table that the man had
used for years was in front of the audience. All of the ingredients
were displayed in various cups and plates. Various sets of knives and
cooking tools sparkled as they awaited him, not long after the ethereal
essence filled them up and they began to glow.
Not long after,
Boris, the wolf demi-human staff member arrived with the main
ingredient, a giant fresh golden salmon that was freshly caught from the
blessed seas.
"For today, we'll be visiting the flavors of the
Orient." Gordon had announced as he slightly raised his hand mid-air.
Moments later, his hand glowed and an elegant knife materialized itself
from thin air as the magic flowed in and the summon was complete.
The
crowd made the reaction as their eyes were filled with amazement. To
see the legendary chef summoning his famed artifact was already a dream
to them.
For the staff of the "Lonely Lamb"...They weren't surprised anymore as it was just a part of daily life.
"Let's go, Luna!"
A certain Demi-human Wolf Man gave his own cheer and much to the
confusion of the spectators, the rest of the staff started to cheer as
well.
Gordon wasted no time in getting started. In the blink of an
eye, the Giant Salmon was smoothly chopped into small cubes, and the
man snapped his fingers and a special kitchen equipment appeared from
his palm, and all the bones were picked out of the fish itself in less
than a minute.
The crowd was in awe once more as they had never
seen such precise plucking, especially, the young cooks from another
establishment who were also watching and now taking notes.
In less
than 15 minutes, the vegetables were cut, the ingredients were
assembled, and the giant pan was turned on via the giant fire.
"Alright, a little drizzle of olive oil, sear the salmon meat, put in the ingredients, and finally heat it again."
"Once done, plate them all together and drizzle lemon for the final touch."
He was indeed one of the fastest cooks in the Orient.
As
the flavors began to mix, the delicious smell of the dish spread around
the area, bringing a kind of heaven for the spectators. The little show
in fact made them curious and finally craving to try it.
"Ting!"
Alas, the timer had ended and the bell sounded.
"And that ladies and gentlemen is how you cook a Giant Baked Salmon Dish for your family."
The crowd erupted with applause as cheers filled the entire area.
"Long live the Great Ramsay!" People were praising the old geezer, and words didn't stop from there.
For
the rest of the blonde man's crew, they were more focused on bracing
themselves for another huge number of curious customers to come instead
of joining the cheers.
By then, Gordon Ramsay cleared his throat
as he attempted to calm the crowd down." Alright, Alright, Since the
dish is done..." He trailed off, looking amongst the audience." Who
wants to try and give it a taste?" He announced.
Which was a big mistake...
As
soon his words, reached their ears, every one of them raised their
hands and began to fight and argue to get to the first spot.
"I am going to taste that dish first! Because I am the first one to arrive here!"
"Liar! I am a patron at the Lonely Lamb and I deserved to taste it first!"
"Master Ramsay, please let us taste your holy salmon dish!"
The scene was quickly escalating and if no one takes action first, then it would result in a full-blown riot.
Gordon sighed and rubbed his already wrinkled forehead. He shouldn't have done this again...but he was already here.
"OH FOR FUCK SAKE PEOPLE! JUST FALL IN LINE AND DON'T FIGHT LIKE CHILDREN!"
"You're all going to have a chance to eat this...Fucking Hell..."
Finally,
the man had released a bit of his fiery persona and the people had
stopped what they were doing and proceeded to fall in line like
discipline school boys and girls.
The restaurant staff themselves
were more amused by the situation instead of being intimidated
altogether. They were used to hearing his bombastic words and strong
character that they had become numb to it.
Anna, the Lonely Lamb's owner, who was watching the whole scene unfold could only chuckle in secret.
"That's our Chef Ramsay." She remarked, giving a little applause.
That persona and character were one of the primary reasons why her father's establishment survived and thrived until now.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"And that's about it."
The counting stopped once they finally reached the last coin, from the five huge leather bags on a vacant wooden table.
"And that would be 5000 denari in total earnings for the festival."
This time, they exceeded the expected target numbers and sales, which was definitely an achievement.
It
was also a relief since due to the ongoing conflicts in the continent,
some of the restaurants had to be closed down to avoid reckless spending
and for safety as well.
"We are finally rich! Again!"
"Good job my mates!"
"That Giant Salmon Dish is something else."
Anna smiled and nodded in return.
In
one of their usual moves, after doing the show and serving all the
customers, The Lonely Lamb stall will often close its doors for a while
and see if the demand will still continue. Although, with the attention
shifting towards the main event, it was safe to say that the crew would
get a deserved rest.
Gordon Ramsay sat quietly on a corner, as he
drank a cold cup of water. The man had been forced to cook multiple
dishes of the giant Salmon for most of the crowd, who have been
converted into customers, yet at the end of the day, it was all worth
the hard work.
He had never been this tired before since the days
were he actually cooked the food in the kitchen rather than walking
around and supervising his own chefs doing the work. However, those days
were from several years ago, before he arrived in this world. In some
way and in some form, Home had stayed by his side.
Ah yes...Home...
This
was one of the only times, he had thought about it and throughout these
years, it was just a mere forgotten memory altogether.
"Are you alright?"
His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the brunette approaching him.
"Oh
Anna, Darling...Of course, I'm okay just almost fucking knackered to
death...that's all." He explained, being honest as possible." Just
thinking about something..."
Yet, the young woman did believe him fully, but there was more to it.
She nodded." About your Homeworld is it..."
The blonde geezer gave her a glance before looking away." Yeah.."
When was the last time he made an effort to search for a way back?
From
going on adventures to find lost treasures, traveling around the seas,
lands, and mountains, reaching sacred cities, and temples to eventually,
making companions along the way. He was making that "Uncharted" idea to
fruition.
Maybe write a book about it someday and another TV adaptation.
Yet, Did ever find a single hint or clue?
"You have a better fate in this realm than the other."
As the Oracle had told him before.
Did ever love his old life?
Yes,
he was a world-famous celebrity chef, with countless of restaurants and
businesses around the globe. Various tv shows were made in his name and
even people worshipped him for that specific show. Yet, the happiness
wasn't there anymore.
He became blind as a bat and all the mood was replaced with a certain weariness.
Despite having a loving family, He was trapped in that cycle altogether.
He needed a way to get out of it.
He had to leave that place for a long time.
"Master Ramsay...! Master Ramsay!"
All of a sudden the familiar voice had entered his mind.
Gordon was immediately startled by Selina's entrance.
"You've
got to be fucking kidding me!" He automatically reacted."Selina, Can't
you see, I'm in the middle of reflecting on my life?" He said, before
adding." And don't call me Master for crying out loud!"
"Sorry
chef!" The cat demi-human apologized but immediately went back into
telling the man the news." But, we have a situation at the Inn nya!"
Both Gordon and Anna glanced at her, their eyes filled with curiosity and worry.
"What is it, Selina?" Anna asked this time.
The
latter took a deep breath as she didn't know how to explain the ongoing
story." One of Jeffrey's men had arrived here to inform us that the
restaurant has been subjected to looting."
The blonde man's eyes
widened in shock." What!?" He exclaimed." What in the fucking world
happened this time?" He asked, calmly as possible.
The cat girl was trembling as she too wanted to get to the main point.
"There's an ongoing riot happening right now."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been a peaceful and prosperous day until things began to change.
The
small incident that started in one of the small streets had apparently
spread throughout the area and had now taken over the larger districts
one by one.
It seemed that it was gradually going out of control.
To
avoid the approaching stampede, local residents began to close all of
their doors and windows one by one. Business owners took the same
action, attempting to close their doors while warning their customers to
return another day. However, it was too late as looters entered the
scene and wreaked further havoc.
They had no choice but to take
advantage of the situation. The main celebrations drew everyone's
attention, as did the minor riots caused by the troublemakers
themselves, who were still pursuing a group of youngsters.
The
streets were littered with various goods and supplies. High-value items
were now in the hands of those looking to sell them for a fortune. Shop
windows were shattered, and bakeries were ransacked for their delicious
bread.
Even the "Lonely Lamb" which stood strong from
challenges had to be targeted as well. The sign itself fell down and the
looters tried to break in, but what stopped them was the only saving
grace that the establishment possessed which was its only bodyguards,
who were staff members themselves. Yet the damage had been already done.
All of the ongoing scenes were witnessed by a certain elf girl as she peeked from a small alleyway.
"The
coast is safe since the guards are nowhere to be found...but we still
have to be vigilant," Tuka said, turning to face the rest of the group,
who were hiding behind barrels and wooden crates in the alley as well.
At
the same time, she attempted to use the earpiece provided by her
friends but failed again. She could still hear the static noise, which
meant that communication was out of the question for the time being.
However,
the rest of the group gave a sigh of relief. They may have escaped the
evil men chasing them but it was all just temporary.
They still have to find a way back to the community.
"Everybody alright?"
Surprisingly,
it was the elf boy who fired the question, not noticing that his cousin
was still catching her breath due to her pushing the wonderful
transportation that is the chair with iron wheels on it.
"..."
"Well, I guess, I'll take that silence as yes then..." He remarked, not knowing that he would get a little smack in the head.
"Ouch!, you don't have to hit me that hard, Sara." He frowned, before finally realizing it." Ohh..."
His cousin gave him a look." Says the elf boy, who did nothing but sit and cheer the whole time those turds were chasing us."
Aldon looked down in slight embarrassment." I am really sorry for that bad behavior." He said.
In
these times of trouble, a little laugh was needed as the rest of the
kids did give a giggle at the scene, yet the attention soon shifted
towards the newcomer that Lelei had rescued prior.
The little girl named Leia began to sob as her mind went back to its original thoughts.
"P-Please,
we need to go to the plaza..." She pleaded again as Lelei comforted
her." My Father is there with those bad men and they're going to hurt
Little Foot too" she explained as best as she could.
Despite understanding the basics of her story, there was still confusion that remained.
Sara, who was more outspoken raised her hand.
"Hold
on there, we understand that your father has been kidnapped against his
will but we are wondering who in Mera's name is Little Foot?" She
asked.
The latter was silent but was able to let out a few words.
"He's from the circus and he's my pet and as well my friend." The little girl replied with proudness in her voice.
They finally got her answer yet many questions remained.
Lelei then entered the conversation.
"Uhm...Leia,
May we know why those evil men are going to the plaza for?" She asked,
calmly channeling her Inner negotiation skills.
The little girl nodded." Father said, there will be a huge celebration in the plaza, and that they will put on a show using "Little Foot" to perform and to also call out his mother from the skies"
The young mage widened her eyes in surprise as she began to recognize a certain pattern.
"A Dragon's Call..." She muttered aloud.
It has to be it.
She
spent a lot of time studying the habits and lives of those sacred
creatures from the great mountain ranges. A certain call is only
available to them as a means of communication and signaling for
assistance.
"Everyone's eyes shifted towards her, possessing the same bewildered looks from before.
And then in that very moment, Lelei found an idea and gestured them to come closer.
"I am gonna need all to listen." She instructed." We will help Leia and accompany her back to the plaza."
Her announcement shocked the rest of them, and before they were about to object, the young mage continued.
"But
not without going back to the community and informing the Men in Green
regarding this." She finished her speech, causing everyone to take a
sigh of relief this time again.
Lelei then shifted her eyes towards the little girl and smiled, giving her assurance and promise to help her.
Tuka
cleared her throat this time." And we have to find a way to get there
quickly." She spoke, even more, determined than before.
However, finding a way was their next biggest challenge.
They
this group of youngsters decided to leave the small alleyway to search
for that way out.
The street, surprisingly getting calmer greeted
them. The looters were gone, the small stampede had moved out elsewhere
leaving a bunch of stuff for them to take advantage of.
They needed something...Something that could take them back, something fast, light, strong, and feathery...
Then at that moment, Tuka finally saw it.
"Kweh! Kweh!"
For
sure, she easily recognized that sound and the appearance was obvious
except for the empty big cart behind the giant flightless bird, which
was possibly abandoned by its rider.
" A Chocobo! That's it!" She yelled inside her mind, her excitement skyrocketing again.
She turned towards the rest of the group and gestured for them to quickly follow her.
All of them agreed as they began to sneak toward their target, however, things were not always supposed to go smoothly.
"It's them!"
A deep and dark voice had yelled out across the street.
For
a brief moment, the group turned to take a glance at the source of the
voice and they knew it was definitely them, but now in a more twisted
appearance.
The men had now lost most of their humanity and now looked like grotesque beings dressed in armor.
"Get the girl and kill the rest!"
The
leader of the group shouted as he barked the orders once more while the
rest followed and charged with their blades and weapons.
Seeing
another adversity heading towards them, all began to quickly board the
cart. Meanwhile, Tuka noticed a bunch of familiar objects on an open
crate that was near the cart, her eyes widened as she decided to "borrow" them for the betterment of their journey.
"I'll take the main seat," Aldon suggested, after being helped by Lelei's magic on boarding the cart along with the chair with iron wheels.
His cousin gave him a surprised look." Are you serious!?" She asked, not believing that he can ride a Chocobo.
The elf boy smirked." No need to worry, I rode a lot back at the village." He assured the rest.
"Trust me this time please."
Tuka, who was on the main cart gave him a concerned look.
As
the men finally neared the youngsters, Aldon blew a whistle as he
grabbed the ropes and made the move that encouraged the Chocobo to make a
dash.
"Kweh!"
The Chocobo yelled out, moving out of its former position at a speed that startled the rest.
"Buckle up!" Aldon yelled again, as the cat-and-mouse game between them and the corrupted beings continued.
As for Tuka and Lelei, both girls took the front positions and prepared for another potential confrontation.
The
young mage turned serious with her staff and with her remaining mana
energy while the blonde elf girl, with the newly acquired bow and
arrows, was determined to face the struggle.
"Is there a way for this to end?" Lelei had commented to herself.
In
the midst of this, she needed to take several steps ahead of the game,
and thus she finally recalled a particular object which she had left
behind in the Men in Green's moving fortress.
That will be the final piece to ending this.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where are the heck are they!?"
Since
that incident which a certain JSDF coalition member had seen, the
situation was placed into dire straits. The LAV rode across the
districts as it tried to find traces of the kids, who were unexpectedly
involved in this mayhem.
"I don't follow Higashi, you said, you
saw them running away from random dudes, who are chasing them right
now?" Shino was dabbling in her frustration. She could sense the trouble
ahead.
Moreover, they haven't informed the base camp regarding
the whole details of the incident since they needed to get the full
story out of it. Old man Kuwahara was the only one aware of the ongoing
situation, and was still waiting for updates.
The pressure of
course was on the trio right now. They were tasked to escort and protect
the youngsters and get them back in case they were ever to get lost or
kidnapped.
Obviously. The potential of encountering conflict and violence was in the picture.
Higashi was also bewildered as he was still trying to make sense of what he saw.
He
saw the young mage perform a lot of magic, roots of trees growing out
of the ground to attack the culprits. It happened so quickly that he
didn't realize he'd been left behind.
"Believe me guys, that's what I saw." He explained as he drove the LAV into different corners, streets, and alleyways.
They had no choice but to believe him. In fact, everything that they were seeing right now is quite unbelievable.
"Again...we are in another world." Kurata pointed it out.
As
their search continued, the mood changed drastically. The next
districts they entered were filled with eerie silence. Their
surroundings looked as if they went through a pandemic and an apocalypse
at the same time, with no signs of life, replaced with abandoned shops,
broken windows, and traces of conflicts.
Yet all of that, there was no sign of them.
For a while, a decision was made and the LAV had halted into an empty alleyway.
All of them leaned back in their seats as they relaxed for a bit.
They
had to take a small rest no matter what. The stress had been also
killing them, but the planning and discussions continued, no matter
what.
"So any news on the earpiece?" Shino inquired." Any replies from them?"
"Any random voices coming out?"
Kurata
shook his head." Nope, the connection still sucks." He simply said,
wondering why the damn device was working well before and now was not.
"Don't tell me this is happening again." The young woman then remarked.
She
knew...the guys knew that every time the signal went down, some random
significant incident would occur, with a high probability of them being
implicated.
They just have to wait for it and still, nothing out of the ordinary showed up after another half an hour.
"This
is getting ridiculous!" Shino removed her helmet and placed it on her
lap. She then rubbed her eyes in tiredness as the group was simply at a
loss.
Ideas and theories came and go, but out of all of them, one thought remained.
Kurata had the most absurd ideas but he couldn't contain that excitement.
"I think we should just "Believe..."
"Believe what?"
The
young man slightly shrugged." You know what I mean..." He gave them a
smile." Remember what Lelei-san and Tuka-san told us about having the
faith and willpower to believe in something and it will do great things
for us?" He then explained.
Higashi cringed while the young woman gave a puzzled look.
"Kurata,
don't tell me this is from whatever Shonen Manga you've been reading."
She fired back, not in the mood to be hyper-confident.
Yet still, the man persisted as his Otaku side had taken up the spotlight once more.
"I am telling you, guys, right now..." He said, his hand forming a fist." On the count of three, we're gonna say "Believe it" as loud as we can."
Their
reactions further deteriorated. Yet, Higashi somehow saw the light of
day and eventually decided to join in case there would be a miracle for
them.
"One!"
"I'm not joining..."
"Two"
"Seriously...Stop this crap."
"Three!"
"Kurata, for Kami's sake please!"
"Believe it!"
Little
did they know that because of that or maybe just some random
coincidence that something had finally changed for the better.
Suddenly,
all three were startled when a small glowing blue light appeared on the
back of the seat, sending chills down their spines.
"Okay, what the heck was that!?" Shino exclaimed, looking back much as the rest.
Higashi gulped." Shit, I think we did something...I mean I think We summoned something."
Upon
further inspection, the glowing blue light turned out to be a little
diamond-shaped crystal as it floated for a few moments, before heading
outside of the opened window of the LAV.
"I think it wants us to follow it." Kurata had guessed, then he recalled a certain memory.
"In case, we all went to separate paths, just follow this beacon and it will help us find our way."
As soon as he said those words, the small floating crystal glowed brighter before it sped down a certain direction.
Higashi,
placing his trust in the situation, tilted the keys and activated the
LAV again. The green vehicle came to life as it moved to follow its only
hope of finding the kids.
"I suggest we should fasten our seatbelts for this."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This had to be the biggest chase of their lives.
Not any one of them had been in a situation much like this before, with the exception of a certain elf girl.
From
her perspective, Tuka became their protector at this rate. Along with
her mage friend, who was on the same page as her, they vowed to defeat
the enemies pursuing them with horrible intent.
The wind became
stronger, and the weather became colder, but the tension remained
constant. The enemies, who were now riding dark horses, pursued the lone
Chocobo pulling the large cart carrying the children.
"You won't get away!" One of them yelled out in a deep distorted voice.
The
elf girl gripped her staff as she took a glance at the blue-haired
teen, who was ready to cast magic at any time they make a move.
"I
already activated the beacon that I left in the green fortress." Lelei
informed." I hope they'll understand and follow its directions." She
added, placing her trust in the trio.
The elf girl nodded back and focused on the current situation at hand.
Then she felt something move from her left.
"Got you!"
It turned out that an enemy had jumped from the horse, towards the old walls of the shophouses and leaped towards her direction.
Tuka
had no choice but to grab an arrow, load it on the bow, and
instinctively fire it at the corrupted dark enemy, the arrow striking
him directly on the head. It killed him instantly, sending him crashing
into a market table full of tomatoes and other vegetables.
Another
one soon approached the cart and attempted to reach them. This time,
Lelei made the move, casting a spell with her staff that summoned a
large barrel containing a large amount of booze from a nearby inn
towards the enemy, who was smashed to a pulp by the said heavy barrel.
After
that scenario, more than 5 corrupted private circus guards made the
move as all of them leaped from the horses, and raised up their weapons
aiming for the two girls.
"Lelei!" Tuka called out, giving the young mage the signal to perform her next set of magic.
The
latter nodded and used a large amount of mana to produce her next
attack. She muttered a certain phrase that ended with a small chant.
"Sierra!"
Moments later, huge wooden branches manifested mid-air and stayed still to block the enemies for the elf girl to make her move.
Tuka
drew a small blade as she leaped and landed on the massive branches,
slicing each of them in the wrist one by one. There was a small amount
of black blood splattered on the streets, and the enemies were quickly
taken down.
The magic wore out and Tuka landed safely on the cart, albeit exhausted from the ordeal.
Although, the conflict continued.
"In front!" Aldon exclaimed getting their attention.
Apparently, another group had taken another direction and was on the end of the street, ready to ambush them.
The Chocobo yelled out in fear.
Lelei
narrowed her eyes as she exclaimed." Everybody, lower your head and
duck!" She instructed, apparently casting another spell once more.
This
time a magical barrier manifested around the Chocobo and the cart. When
the enemies attempted the ambush, The barrier simply repelled their
attacks, and with strong energy, it sent them flying away to different
spots on the streets.
"I really hope that was the final straw."*
Aldon remarked, still surprisingly in control of himself and riding the
Chocobo smoothly.
"You think, you can get rid of us that easily?"
Then another deep voice came in and now.
"Both Lelei and Tuka gave deep breaths as they thought, this wall going to be over.
Though, Fate continued to push them toward their limits.
Apparently,
coming from behind, the remaining corrupted beings have now banded
together. Since all attempts were repelled by the two strong-willed
girls, which ultimately gave the decision to do it.
"Give me your essence!" The one in the middle said, as the rest followed his order and placed their hands on his shoulders.
They screamed in agony as their bodies began to disintegrate into liquid essence, all of which went to the one in the middle.
"This isn't good..." Lelei muttered as she wasn't sure if she had enough magical mana yet for this new ordeal.
A
loud demonic scream was heard moments later, and the lone corrupted
humanoid had transformed into some gigantic amalgamation of three big
reddish eyes, with three shadowy figure-like arms on both sides. Its
body is composed of organs, other body parts, and black muscles with
giant veins popping.
All the horses were released from their dark
influences and were thrown away into different spots, hitting the walls
of the shophouses.
It grinned with its disgusting but terrifying teeth as it dashed in incredibly toward them.
Lelei
made her move again and cast a spell which resulted in a manifestation
of a big blue essence in mid-air. She took a quick glance at the elf
girl and she, in turn, nodded and draw another arrow.
This time,
Tuka whispered a short phrase and the magic came alive in the form of a
fiery essence. She then fired it directly towards the blue essence,
right in time for the monster to go through it, which it tried to evade
but couldn't.
Both types of magical attacks activated and a
combination resulted in a strong explosion of magic that damaged the
monster by blowing off its two arms.
It went successfully but the
attack did not fully took it down. In fact, the wounds began to reform
back and moments later, its body was complete again.
"The weak
point is not there," Lelei reasoned, as the prospect of casting more
spells, thereby depleting more of her mana, became untenable.
It still kept chasing them and retaliated by hitting the ground which caused a small quake that almost toppled the cart.
Aldon
made the necessary changes and directed the Chocobo to take a different
route this time. However, the boy noticed that the giant bird had
become exhausted from the constant running.
It needed rest and it was only a matter of time before the poor bird would collapse.
There
was a change of pace, and the monster amalgamation was planning again
to attack once again until they ran out of options. Moreover, Tuka's
arrows were running out and soon will have to use some form of
close-quarter combat to fight the enemy.
It appeared that they had no choice but to face the dire consequences and deal with them, despite their current state.
But not until, they heard a certain sound of a loud engine nearby followed by a rowdy style of music.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
From a small alleyway, Lelei caught a glimpse of a floating blue light that emerged and proceeded in their direction.
She widened her eyes in realization.
"It worked!" She muttered aloud, catching the elf girl's attention, who turned to face her with a puzzled face.
The
young mage pointed to the same alleyway and not long after a very
familiar green moving fortress had finally made its entrance. Shocking
everybody and confusing the monster amalgamation altogether.
"Oh, tell me do you wanna fly?
Fly high way up in the sky
Or maybe you don't even have to try
All you have to do is follow that star
But when the star doesn't shine
You won't be able to find your way
And the wise man will still remain
Making a trip to Jerusalem"
The loud music which hailed from the Men in Green's world had also intimidated the monster quite a bit.
Tuka's
eyes widened in surprise as a sense of relief filled her mind. At the
same time, the continuous static sound on her earpiece had faded away
and a voice came out.
"Girls, it's me Shino, can you hear me?" The young woman's voice echoed through their ears.
Lelei picked up the response and said." Yes, Ms. Shino, I am glad you're alright." She replied.
There was a little chuckle in the background before another voice came in.
"No, you got it wrong Ms. Lelei, you have no idea how much we are so worried about you all," Kurata spoke this time as if they were his family.
In
that small moment, both girls gave a small smile, finally igniting
their hopes for survival. They had to execute a move right away for them
to get out of this cycle. So the young mage pressed the earpiece and
said." Ms. Shino, everybody...Please listen." She announced." I have a
plan to get us out of this situation."
"Alright we heard you, fire it out."
Lelei wasted no time in giving a short summary.
"What
you're seeing in front of you, is a corrupted heartless, a human
already taken over and influenced by dark magic." She explained.
"Then why the hell does it look like that?"
"It's
an amalgamation, originally, there were more than 10 people pursuing us
but they all combined each other and that's the current form you are
witnessing right now."
There was a brief pause before another reply came out again.
"Got it! It does look disgusting and it smells bad, so let's go with the game plan right away."
Lelei
took a deep breath as she cast another spell, and the blue crystal that
was sent to the LAV instantly merged with it, forming a glowing outline
around the green mobile fort. Of course, reactions were exchanged, and
some minor freakout ensued.
"Please calm down, Lelei has converted
the crystal into arcane magic and blessed it upon the green metal,"
Tuka informed and assured the trio, who were inside the LAV."
"So what's next then?"
"Lelei
nodded back and simply said." Wait for my signal, but in the meantime,
we might need your assistance to distract it from behind.'
At the
same time, the corrupted heartless made another move, leaping toward the
cart and attempting to smash them again. Another spell was used by
Lelei to create a small forcefield that blocked the creature. Tuka fired
one of her last arrows, filled with fire magic, directly into the
monster's eyes, temporarily incapacitating him. Shino and Kurata emerged
from the LAV's open hole, their rifles aimed at the monster's back.
However, Kurata noticed something before pulling the trigger.
"Shino-san! Go for its neck." He informed the young woman.
The latter saw it as well. Something shiny and dark sticking on the back of its neck.
Finally
having an idea and possible weak point, they wasted no time pulling the
trigger as the first bullets came out and directly hit the monster's
neck.
The monster in turn roared in pain, as a result, and had to
direct its focus towards the newcomers. The rifles did good damage with
their ammo having the ability and power to penetrate a thicker surface
or skin. The Germans did a great job of making them.
"Oh shit, I think we made it even angrier," Kurata warned.
"Fuck this, shoot it until it has no neck!" Shino frustratedly exclaimed, showing no mercy for the enemy.
As
a result, both JSDF members continued to fire, damaging the monster's
neck even more, as well as other parts of its body. Huge holes appeared
on its body once more, but it persisted and moved closer to them.
The
other group saw themselves as having a stronger advantage now that the
momentum had shifted toward the men in green. It was now their turn to
make the final move.
Lelei and Tuka jumped from the now halted cart towards the ground and began to work.
The
monster was caught between the two groups, with one continuing to fire
their rifles to prolong the damage. With its weakness exposed, it felt a
force suddenly holding it from behind.
Lelei had cast another spell, this time manipulating the monster's movements and paralyzing it for a brief period of time.
Alas, a chance to break the cycle showed itself.
"NOW!"
Both girls yelled out through the earpiece.
Not
wasting any time, Higashi adjusted the gear and the LAV moved forward
at full speed. Shino and Kurata returned inside just in time, and not
long after the LAV, powered up by the arcane magic slammed through the
monster, thus causing it to burst into flesh, blood, and into pieces. A
number of severed hands, fingers, arms, legs and many more, flew threw
the air, as the amalgamation became no more. The head had been separated
from its now destroyed body, and the weakness, which turned out to be a
dark crystal on the ground, was shattered by the bullets that were
fired prior.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The
tension had drifted away, replaced with the same silence from before.
Although, the whole ordeal did a lot of damage to the old beautiful city
streets.
After casting multiple spells and nearly reducing her
mana to nothing, Lelei had chosen to let go and collapse due to
exhaustion but not before Tuka grabbed her on time.
The LAV, now
covered with gooey black blood, halted, and immediately, Shino, Kurata,
and Higashi emerged and rushed toward the girls.
"Are you girls alright?" Shino asked, before taking a glance at the rest of the group.
Tuka
nodded and was the one to answer." Yes, we're fine..." She trailed off,
showing her concern for her friend." She used a lot of her mana and it
almost took her down." She explained.
"We understand Tuka-san, and
we need to get you guys back at the community right away." Kurata
informed, and also added." Thank you for making us believe it!"
He did not forget and even ignored the annoyed reactions from his busty colleague.
"You
all did great there kid." Shino proudly smiled and embraced them. The
other two also joined in and showed their praise and appreciation for
the mage and the elf girl.
They've seen what they can do before and fully trusted in their plan. Moreover, they were a Family after all.
"What about them?" Higashi asked this time, noticing the other group, who were observing them the whole time.
All
the attention went towards Aldon, Sara, Leia, and the rest of the kids,
who were also safe from the ordeal but looked dirty, dusty, and tired
as a result of the chase. The younger kids had covered their eyes as
instructed by Sara, for them not to see the violence at hand.
The Chocobo finally relaxed on the ground in exhaustion.
At this rate, another battle had concluded yet, the real challenge was just coming up.
Lelei remembered and mustered the strength to speak and said." Ms. Shino, I think you all need to know this right away ..."
A brief moment of silence followed.
"Please inform Mr. Kuwahara and the other men in green about this serious matter."
It was definitely a warning by the way she sounded as her eyes showed worry.
"Maihark will be under attack soon."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Giselle was in a rush.
A
desperate rush that almost saw her letting her emotion out for a bit.
Yet, being reminded that she was an apostle for many years, she had to
keep that calmness and professionalism intact. Despite her true and
personal personality getting in the way at times.
She was worried,
indeed worried for the victims of the small massacre that had
transpired back at the tents of the circus. Worried about a certain
adventurer boy, who she had no idea, was doing right now and worried
The draconian apostle ran and leaped over the rooftops, overseeing views of the noble city from that perspective.
The
weather was still fair, and she could feel the heat of the sun and
strong wind at the same time, though there were looming dark clouds from
a distance away.
Giselle was tired...
Tired of waiting for
the investigations, all the clues, hints, and conspiracies to come to
light, she forced herself to believe that their efforts were finally
coming to light. She had solved the mystery; the enemy had revealed its
location and was about to commit a heinous act of terror.
This was her main job all along and she will fulfill the task no matter what.
She will prove that apostles are still relevant and can be trusted by the people once more.
"Giselle! Wait up!"
Then a familiar small voice entered and interrupted her thoughts.
"You're going too fast!" Terra, a certain oracle's familiar exclaimed as he was trailing behind her.
It was obvious that he could sense the different emotions plaguing her mind now.
"There's
no time to waste, Terra." She replied back." If you have a good plan
regarding this...then it may now be the best time to tell it."
The Chirithy sighed in secret.
The stubbornness was strong in this one.
Was this the reason some other apostles refused to work with her on certain tasks?
Though, he had no choice but to understand what she was going through and the only thing he could was to support her.
But to what extent?
Can he do it on a higher level much like this?
Then at that very moment, something unusual and abrupt quickly greeted them as they neared their destination.
From
a distance a lone human hooded figure suddenly appeared in their
direction, standing in one of the rooftops awaiting their arrival.
Terra quickly sensed the danger and threat ahead.
"Giselle! Stop!" He warned the latter, but it was already too late.
Although she did see that said figure, it didn't come as a threat to her rather than an obstruction.
She
quickly summoned her usual weapon of choice and proceeded to make quick
work of the enemy. But, of course, she was in for another surprise as
the hooded figure, raised up its hand and also summoned her own weapon
as well.
A small curved blade that resembled a hook, with its own
distinct black and gold decorations. Furthermore, the blade itself was
glowing with a combination of dark and yellowish essence.
The
draconian apostle's eyes widened in surprise as the hooded figure
charged with the same speed as hers, but this time it did not collide
with her weapon but vanished before she could make her move and
reappeared from behind her.
"Too slow dragon girl."
The hooded figure spoke with a high-pitched female voice.
Giselle quickly felt pain in her back as the enemy slashed her from behind.
Blood was spilled on the ground and the young woman grimaced in pain.
"Giselle!"
Terra
was on his way to help the latter and was about to cast his magic but
suddenly was stopped as an essence manifested around him and powerful
arcane magic showed itself in the form of a small cage that trapped him.
The hooded figure gave a laugh like how an excited and confident girl would.
"Yes! Finally, all that practice paid off!" It even remarked in a cheerful tone.
The
large wound did heal in the nick of time and the draconian apostle
gritted her teeth as she tried to retaliate back and used her weapon to
get the culprit into close combat, but it kept evading her smoothly.
Giselle, being an experienced fighter who fought a lot of stronger
enemies, found herself being toyed around.
"Who the fuck are you!?" She couldn't control herself as she demanded answers right away.
"Oh, I never knew the famous dragon tamer could swear like that." The hooded figure said with an innocent tone of voice. "It really saddens me that but I'm still a fan of yours."
The enemy was intent on provoking her, yet in a twisted fate decided to remove the hood, revealing her true identity.
"A girl?" Terra wondered as he was even surprised." I haven't seen her before." He thought, yet he felt something strange regarding her.
Certainly,
this wasn't the one he encountered back in the circus tents, and never
in a hundred years he had seen that face, which was actually cute, and
of course the shoulder-length blonde hair, with side-swept bangs and two
strands as antennae. and her tempting green eyes.
"Get a hold of yourself! What are you thinking!?" The Chirithy shook his head and scolded his own thoughts.
He had to focus on the serious situation at hand.
Giselle
felt bewildered and curious as she too had never seen this girl before,
yet that strong confidence she was showing was getting to her head.
Was she treating this whole thing as a game?
No,
there has to be an agenda as she noticed her ability to summon a weapon
that possesses a signature design to it. Upon further inspection, she
caught a glimpse of a symbol on her weapon, which somehow belonged to a
church, but did not recognize it fully.
However, She isn't human and she's going to stick to that theory from now on.
Meanwhile,
the girl gave a cocky smile." It's certainly obvious that you two won't
recognize me" She said." But my name is Elrena and It's quite the
pleasure to finally meet a famous apostle such as you Lady Giselle."
"What do you plan on doing?" She narrowed her eyes." Why are you here?"
The
girl, Elrena smiled in return." It's simple, I'm here to be part of
Qua-Toyne's celebration and of course, its downfall." She explained with
no signs that she was lying." And since, I am quite bored...Why don't
we play a game to pass the time?"
She suggested excitedly as her weapon glowed with a dark arcane essence.
There were so many things that the young draconian had to prioritize and all of them were pushed aside because of this.
Giselle
smirked in return as she had no choice but to accept the fact that she
was going to fight an annoying twerp and surprisingly, she was looking
forward to something different for the first time.
"Fine, but the first one to chop a head wins!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The main celebration was in full swing.
The
main plaza was filled with a giant sea of crowd and in the middle of it
was the big stage that the famous circus will perform on, though the
curtains were still closed it seemed the preparations were nearly
finished.
The crowd sang songs of triumph and showed pride for their homeland.
Albrecht had gone through a lot.
The
first time he and his apostle friend went into their separate ways, he
encountered the most ridiculous things yet. Maihark's now chaotic
districts due to the incident with the guards chasing a group of
youngsters. He had to help them in some way, especially the blue-haired
teen, who was about his age. And then he had to sneak through the main
stage undetected, which he successfully did by using a cloak filled with
invisibility magic that he "borrowed" from a shop along the way.
The
backstage itself was indeed huge and spacious. While the curtains were
still down, there were hanging lamps that lit up the place and he could
see a little bit of its entirety. Then of course, there were a handful
of guards who were patrolling some areas, and the main stage where the
circus owner stood along with the same hooded figure he saw before.
"And to the good people of the Principality, I present to you one of God's wonderful creations."
The old man was practicing his lines even in his controlled state.
The boy gave a look of disgust and sadness, as he had no choice but to leave him behind to focus more on his main objective.
"I had to free it somehow." He thought to himself.
Upon
reaching the last area, he then finally saw the cage once again. The
dragon, now in chains, and laying down as if it had given up.
Albrecht
slowly went up to the cage and met the creature face-to-face once
again. When it saw the boy, its eyes widened with hope and excitement.
"Hey
calm down, I am getting you out of here." He said as he wasted no time
planting a small set of runes on the metallic bars of the cage.
He knew he had little time to do this so he had to finish this quickly as possible.
By
the time, he finished planting up the last rune, a couple of guards
suddenly entered the area in order to check the status of the little
dragon.
"Damn it." The boy swore for the first time, silently hiding behind his cloak.
At the same time, the big curtains were opening and one by one they dropped revealing the light from outside.
Albrecht glanced at the dragon as he gave it a determined look." You'll be free soon." He remarked as held the rune in his hand.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Although, he couldn't hide forever as his hand was suddenly grabbed and he looked up to face the hooded figure from before.
"Not so fast." He spoke for the first time, giving him a gesture.
Not
long after, the boy found himself being thrown across the area,
crashing into a small box of crates that almost knocked him out, but not
before chanting a certain phrase.
Meanwhile, the dragon stood up
with worry upon seeing the horrible scene. Though, unbeknownst to it,
the runes began glowing as the magic activated.
Alas, the curtains
were now dropping and moments later the stage was finally revealed and
was now greeted by a big joyous crowd that had been gathering since
dawn.
The creature was not used to seeing this kind of scenario, as it began to panic, trying to get out of the cage whatever it can.
Soon, the old circus owner walked towards the stage to face the crowd as he announced his speech.
Silence followed as the people listened.
"Greetings
to all! As the head of the circus business of the noble city, it is an
honor to be part of the years that our ancestors went through to achieve
peace never before broken and will continue to go strong for many eons
to come."
The crowd reacted with a roar of cheers.
"This
year's celebration would be something special. I thank everyone,
especially the captain, my own men, and of course, the bureau for
allowing us to transport the most wonderful creatures of the Orient."
The old circus owner then raised their hand and pointed toward the last curtain to fall.
"And to the good people of the Principality, I present to you, the most unique and majestic creation of the Gods!"
The curtain fell down and thus the creature was finally revealed to the masses.
The
presentation had commenced and the hooded figure smiled with
satisfaction and content, knowing that the time has come for the call.
But
at the same time, a series of small explosions filled the corners of
the cage thus the metallic bars were destroyed and fell one by one. The
roof of the cage was too destroyed by the creature itself giving him a
view of the sky that it had not seen for a long time.
Meanwhile, the crowd was mesmerized by its beautiful appearance yet they were not expecting what is to come next.
The creature looked up and roared toward the heavens, signaling its call.
Its actions placed everyone in silence.
As a result, the blue sky gradually began to turn reddish, and dark clouds formed.
Everyone also looked up and saw a fiery essence descending from the clouds.
Not long after, the same silence was finally broken by an unexpected noise that also entered.
It rang out throughout the city, allowing everyone to hear it. That distinct sound reappeared after hundreds of years.
"The Siren..." It didn't take too long for someone in the crowd to utter the words.
This could only mean one thing: their lives had gotten closer to death.
However, they forgot to thank those who were responsible for giving the one and only warning that finally made them aware.
Moments later, the fiery essence had reached the plaza and a giant shadow loomed over the crowd.
The
fiery essence that had appeared above them, gradually faded away,
revealing a terrifying winged creature heard only in myths and legends
of old.
A beast that only the daring adventurers would try to slay and fail.
A beast responsible for the destruction of many great cities and villages of the past.
But a mother, who simply was looking for its perpetrators and to eat them alive for stealing its offspring.
Surely, everybody would recognize what they had just witnessed right now.
"Flame dragon..." More words were uttered yet again.
Before
they can react, the giant erupted with a furious roar that sent
everyone trembling in deep fear, sending them a message that terror has
arrived...
And it guaranteed that no one will escape as hell was finally brought to the city.
As for Albrecht, the next thing he heard and saw was a loud eruption that engulfed the entire plaza in seconds.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Through
the windows, they saw the skies resembling the colors of hell and the
terror itself had finally arrived in the principality.
Everyone in the meeting room had been rocked by the powerful force of energy which came from the main city district.
The windows were shattered as the broken pieces of glass fell to the ground.
Parts of the old roof had collapsed as huge debris saw themselves crashing on the ground.
Pina
was startled by the sudden change of pace as she pulled Hamilton in
time before a huge debris landed on her former position.
There
were screams of agony and sounds of fighting that rang out across the
halls, followed by the voices of the old council particularly, its
leader.
She caught a glimpse of them still standing in front, fearlessly still trying to assume command of everything.
Then she heard another one of the crazed man's strong but ridiculous words.
"Nobody will leave this hall!"
"For we will conquer death itself!"
CHAPTER END
AN:
Well, this was a roller coaster ride of a chapter and it might continue
on. Anyways, I didn't really expect the chapter to be this long but,
maybe 9k words is enough to focus more on the City side of things. Since
most of the characters are also there, to begin with, I had to
re-arrange some scenes, in order to match the flow of what the original
draft was supposed to be. (And also delete some scenes that didn't fit
the flow.)
Regarding the chapter, it focuses more
on the fantasy side of things combined with the action. You Lelei and
Tuka here making what they have in order to defeat the enemy, while the
others like the elf kids from the community have roles to make an
impact. For enemies themselves, I was kinda trying to implement more
body horror with the monster, basically, the appearance resembles a
creature similar to horror games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil or
even the Diablo series, where enemies can be just really grotesque.
Gordon
Ramsay is also back, being his usual self, and regarding the great
chef, I am still exploring some ideas on what kind of fighting abilities
would he possess. (If you guys have, feel free to share them)
In
addition, in the certain scene with Giselle, a new character is
introduced but I am not sure if she would be just a one-time thing.
(I've read some Fics, where the author successfully made that character
likable, but eventually killed it off since the appearance was only for
that certain arc) so, I am kinda exploring that little idea and to see
how it goes.
Lastly, we have approached the climax of the story, and after that last battles would be held and the final blow.
With
that said, thank you so much for giving your time to read the chapter
and I really appreciate it. Also, please forgive me for small grammar
mistakes, since English is not my first language.