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This article, Leopard in Knight's Clothing, is the property of Noire. |
For the previous chapter, see: The Felled Pride
Hawk and a Leopard[]
"NOW" 10:00...9:59
Immedietly the archer leapt backwards, firing several arrows at his opponent. Without even moving, the knight avoided the arrows, knowing that they were sent to intimidate him rather than kill. Steadily moving backwards, the Archer eventually managed to reach the arena's wall, backing up against it and readying his aim. Drawing his bow with 3 arrows on the bow, the archer observed as his opponent simply moved backwards.
9:43
From the crowd, Serum commented "...well...so much for a speed battle" Next to him, Dante agreed "This is actually a rather disappointing match..." Suddenly, from the stairs, somebody yelled out "What the hell is this!" Turning their heads, the crowd saw Silas at the stairs with a furious expression on his face. "Oh...hey Silas" "Yeah, hi buddy" Ignoring the pair, Silas ran to the railing and looked down at the knight. Baring his fangs, he muttered "This isn't right at all..."
9:20
Curiousity eventually got the better of him as Dante asked "What's wrong?" "That guy...that's not the Ace of Regalia's Axis!" Raising his eyebrow, Serum said "Uhh...yes it is, he's fighting against the ace of Exire isn't he?" "No no no, the Ace of Regalia's Axis was far taller than that guy, and his sword was much thicker" Getting up, Dante walked to the railings and looked down at the knight that was supposedly an imposter. "Hey...I know you're angry and all but, aren't you over reacting a little bit? What if they replaced the Ace or, what if the Ace just changed equipment?"
8:52
Below, the fight hadn't progressed at all. The Archer was still backed up against the wall and, on the other side of the arena, the knight had dropped his blade, now in a classic running pose. Hitching his leopard skins up, the knight dashed towards the archer...and disappeared.
8:43
"Woah wait what? Where'd he go??" Dante exclaimed. However, Serum and Silas weren't as shock; it would have been more accurate to phrase their reactions as pure horror. On the Archer's side, the arrows had been snapped and the bow mangled to mere chips of wood. And, like the knight, the Archer himself had disappeared. "...Serum...what magic do you use?" His grip on the rails so hard that it turned his knuckles white, Serum replied "I...I mostly use Speed Magic. You saw that as well right?" "Doesn't make sense though..." Annoyed, Dante kicked Silas in the back of his legs and asked "Hey! Stop beating around the bush and tell me, what just happened. Where'd they go?"
"...Dumbass"
"What's that?"
Pointing to the middle of the stage, Silas said "You want to see where they are? Look there" The middle of the arena had been splattered with blood. Stains reaching the walls and; in the middle of it all was the knight without a sword. Raising his bloodstained gauntlet, the knight held the body of the Archer, impaled with his hand through the heart. Swinging his arm, the Archer's body was brutally flung to the edge of the arena as confused cheering filled the air.
8:42
Raising his eyebrow and not at all disturbed by the sudden death, Dante asked "...I don't get it" Irratably sighing, Serum said "Look! Look at the timer! It took that guy 1 second to disappear and slaughter that Archer! That's not possible" "So...how'd he do it then?" Sitting down, Silas murmured "He used magic" Again raising his eyebrow, Dante said "Wait...that's not possible. All magic within the citadel is sealed off right?" "Apparently it forgot his" "Naa that ain't possible, it's got a barrier that drains all magic as soon as anybody steps into the citadel. And even if you leave, I heard that the effects stay for 5 minutes" Grimacing, Silas nodded his head. Turning around to leave, Dante butted in "Woah hey, where're you going?" "Quite frankly, Mithra knows more about this magic thing than I do. If we want to know what happened, then we better ask her" As the trio walked up the stairs, the voice came back "CONGRATULATIONS ACE OF REGALIA'S AXIS. IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS TOURNAMENT HAS BECOME A SOMEWHAT ROULETTE, AS THE JUDGES HAVE NOW DEEMED YOUR WIN IMPRESSIVE ENOUGH TI AWARD YOU THE FRIST POSITION INSTEAD OF THE ACE OF REMULOUS. AS SUCH, THE FINAL MATCH UPS WILL BE: FRFH AGAINST REMULOUS, AND THE WINNER SHALL THEN MOVE ON TO COMPETING AGAINST REGALIA'S AXIS" Apalled at this turn of events, Silas muttered "You have got to be kidding me...I'm fighting the gladiator now?" Patting his head Serum motioned that they should keep moving.
However, the knight noticed them and called out "I would like to propose a change in the rules! Right here, Right now, I say that I fight against the Ace of FRFH to determine who will be fighting the Remulous!" Silence filled the arena, and was interrupted by the voice slightly coughing "UMM...EXCUSE ME HOWEVER, YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN PROCLAIMED AS A PARTICIPANT IN THE GRAND FINAL. ARE YOU SAYING YOU WILL FORSAKE THOSE RULES TO DUEL WITH A MERCENARY?" Even though he was wearing his armour, the knight's laugh was loud and clear. "What? You think you can stop me from destroying the rules? I want to fight that kid and chances are, if the Gladiator gets to him first I may not get that chance" "...VERY WELL. SILAS COCYTUS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?" Without a word, Silas walked back down the stairs to face the knight. Serum rushed to his side and whispered "Oi Silas...think about this will you? He can use magic and...none of us know if he can use anything else" "Idiot...I know that" Turning to the arena, he shouted out "My terms? Since he has a weapon, I think it's only fair that I get to use one!"
"...IS THAT ALL?" "Nope. I choose which weapon I get to use" "...I SEE. AND WHICH WEAPON SHALL YOU BE CHOOSING?" Leaning against the railing, Silas looked down at the knight and said: "The Gestalt Spear"
Preparation of the Hunter[]
Staring down at the mass of blood on the sand, Silas took a step forward, facing the "knight" one on one. Now that he was right infront of him, Silas realized just how tall the guy was. Despite the fact that the armour gave him added height, there was almost no doubt that the knight himself was far taller than Silas. From his side, Silas brought out a long, black pole shrouded in a black fabric that gave it an almost transparent appearance. Staring at the visor, he couldn't see anything past it but nonetheless, was not frightened even in the slightest. Gently tilting the pole, it naturally tapped the ground and immidietely burst into a column of jagged white light. Surprise ran through the crowd, especially Silas' opponent. Grabbing the Gestalt Spear with both hands, he swung it towards the knight as it transformed into a bizarre, blue spear with yellow markings. As it swung towards the knight, Silas recalled the conversation that had transpired just an hour ago...
1 Hour Before
"Dude...exactly what's this spear you're talking about?" Serum asked. After Silas had made his claim that he would take on the knight with the Gestalt Spear, the "voice" had proclaimed that Silas would have a limit of 1 hour to retrieve his weapon and make it back otherwise FRFH would be placed out of the running. Running on the rooftops towards the FRFH HQ, Silas replied in a hurried manner "It's just this weapon of mine that has a couple of different forms"
"And how does it work?"
"Well it takes either blood or magic as fuel"
"...Magic?"
"Or Blood" Silas corrected. Seeing the confused expression on both Serum's and Dante's faces, Silas explained "Everybody has magic inside of them...well everybody born in Seven that is. It was a fact proved a few years back by some crazy scientist called Ladon in the Magic Council. Anyways, the only thing that matters is that, a huge chunk of blood's on the floor and I'm going to take advantage of that. And besides, it's not like I can take on somebody who uses Speed Magic without a weapon of my own now can I?"
"Well...that's certainly true" Dante started as he flipped over the countless chimneys, barely avoiding getting his clothes caught on the edge "However, don't you think that you're at a major disadvantage? Even if he's a speed magic user, he's still got a sword and a few layers of steel to get through before you can even touch him...how're you gonna get past that?"
"No idea but I'll figure it out. Ah! We're here already" And as Silas said, the trio had arrived at the HQ within a few minutes. In all it's majesty, it resembled more a cathedral that stood above its surroundings rather than the mercenary housing it truly was. On the stone pathway, adorned with several plants that led to it's main enterance stood Mithra, casually talking with sitting Florence as Jinx sat in the latter's lap. Sensing Silas' arrival, Mithra turned her head and absentmindedly asked "Hey Silas, what's up? Did the match finish already?" Heavily panting from his mad dash from the arena, Silas panted out "No...time...to explain...Serum can explain...have to find...the spear..."
After a moment's breath, Silas dashed inside, running up to his room which was located on the third floor. As he ran inside, he left behind a bewildered crowd of Florence, Mithra, Jinx, Dante, Tethe and Serum. With just about everybody staring at Serum for an explanation, the red robed swordsman opened his mouth and began "Uhh...magic can be used now for some reason"
Franctically scavenging through his cupboard, Silas threw out several items in a frenzy, intent on finding the Spear that his Master had handed down to him. In his hurry, he ignored the fact that his actions of throwing out knives and slings, even maces, led to the wall becoming heavily dented. Reaching his hand inside once more, he felt the familiar texture of the black fabric smooth as silk, yet hard as stone. Pulling it out of the now half empty cupboard, Silas held it above his head as if he had just accomplished a grand feat.
Behind him, a throat was cleared before asking "What the hell are you doing?" Quickly turning around, Silas saw Mirone standing at the doorway with an amused expression etched upon his face "Uhh...nothing really. Why aren't you at the tournament?" Shrugging, Mirone casually yawned and said "Slept in and really wasn't all that interested in seeing two people fight it out...why aren't you at the tournament?"
"Surprise match and now I'm about to fight the knight"
"Ah ok...well be careful, I heard that there's some shady buisness going down with the Axis"
Raising an eyebrow, Silas asked "Shady?"
"Yeah. Apparently one of them found out a loop hole in the citadel's enchantment and then something about a blood contract with the descendant of something...yeah anyways, have fun with fighting the knight"
Silas, obviously concerned at the new revelation, bid Mirone a quick goodbye before jumping out the window. However, unlike this morning where he had spectacularly failed, Silas did a quick, clean jump; landing on the horizontal flag pole in a crouched position, with the Gestalt Spear balanced on his back. Looking below him, he saw the small group in a discussion before he himself joined in, dramatically descending from mid-air. "What's up Silas?" Mithra asked, not even remotely disturbed. "Nothing really. Apparently one of the guys from the "Axis" found a loophole in the enchantment"
"Oh really? Well that's fairly interesting...the only possible thing I could think of would be another enchantment older and stronger than the current one but I can't imagine anything like that happening..." Mithra theorized. Joining in, Dante said "It's possible that somebody may have aquired a lost magic that's fairly old, perhaps even older than Zeref afterall, wasn't there that Dark Guild Grimoire Heart that had a bunch of Lost Magic users?"
"So what, Lost Magic is suddenly allot more common than before?" Serum asked. Looking at her brother, Florence stated in a rather serious manner "It's allot more common than it was a few decades ago..."
Turning to Silas, Dante slapped Silas' back, almost leaving a mark on him. "OW, what was that for?"
"I have no idea who this guy is or even what he's got up his sleeve but...you'll be fine afterall, you have some weapon I've never heard of and, you know the obvious; be careful"
"Relax Silas, you'll be alright and besides, if it gets really bad we'll all cover for you" Mithra added in.
Present
"And besides, he shouldn't be all that keen on using his magic infront of a crowd...you should have a fair advantage'"
The spear clashed against the knight's heavy steel blade and, for a moment it was caught in it's many ridges. Observing the oddly shaped blade, the knight stared at Silas through his visor and asked "...you're not like the rest of this citadel..." Scoffing at his remark, Silas simply replied "Of course not. And you're not like any other knight I've met...now then, I suppose it's only fit I take this up a notch yeah?"
Leaping back, Silas distanced himself away from the knight and into the middle of the splattered blood. With the tip of the blade touching the sand, the Gestalt Spear once more burst into a jagged white light and, as it blinded the knight and the rest of the crowd, Silas' voice could be heard, uttering in a hushed whisper "Gestalt Spear, third form: Decimation Staff"
The jagged white light dispersed, transforming the jagged blue spear into an odd spear with several shifting gears at the top. The knight, beneath his visor frowned as it was pointed towards him. ...what was the purpose of such a heavy weaponry? However, his question was answered within a second. The shifting gears began to rotate at a high speed and within the middle, a glowing light shot out towards him. Shifting towards the side, the knight applied the strength that he had gained from the one that had hired him before sprinting towards the other end of the arena. It was like instant movement, he could move at speeds unattainable by mere humans...he would have thought it to be magic but the knight had heard that magic was sealed within the citadel...nonetheless, this power he held was amazing.
Looking at the clean, circular hole in the wall, Silas slowly turned his head to face the knight. It had been in an instant...so quick that it almost resembled an illusion however, it was definite...Silas could see his movements. Normally he would be able to fire off another shot out of the Decimation Staff in a few seconds however...looking down at the blood on the ground, Silas noted that there wasn't enough to recharge for another shot, nor would there be enough to change to a different form.
The knight shifted and blitzed towards Silas once more. He was tired of this...it was just getting ridiculous. Grabbing the staff with both hands, mustering all his strength, Silas swung it blindly to his front, miraculously connecting with the knight. The end of the pole, the one with the shifting gears, heavily dented the knight's armour before sending him flying a while away. Silence filled the arena as Silas casually strode over to the now fallen knight. Crouching, Silas stared at the nameless knight before frowning and leaning in even further. Beneath the desperate gasping and the occasional coughs, he could hear some king of muttering.
"They...they are coming...haha...my job is done...I have fufilled my contract...they are coming..."
Confused, Silas opened his mouth to ask before he felt a great pain in his gut. Looking down...blood spilt out of his mouth as he stared at the blade plunged into his stomach.
Running up the stairs, Mithra stumbled before continuing her sprint. Starting to take heavy breaths, she stopped when she had reached the stands and leaned over, trying to catch her breath. It had been ages since she had gone for a sprint...she really needed to go out more. Standing up, she calmy breathed and tried to sense if there was anybody she knew in the crowd. Joy overcame her as she sensed Dante, Serum with Jinx and Tethe' gathered together at the front railings.
Taking her time, she walked over to them and swiftly greeted them before asking "Has it started yet?"
Looking back at the blue haired woman, Dante shook his head and said "You're REALLY late. The match started a few seconds ago"
"Pfft, that's just a few seconds...right?"
Nodding his head towards the arena, Mithra extended her "Sensory" towards the arena. Silas was walking towards his opponent who was oddly enough on the ground. Frowning, she noticed that Silas was using the Decimation Staff...how had he managed to do that? Was magic really being used within the walls? Checking that nobody was watching her movements, Mithra secretly chanted to herself but felt no hint of her magic power rising, nor did she feel the buzzing at her fingertips whenever she was casting magic. Now awfully confused, she set aside her riddle and continued "observing" the match.
From her point of view, Silas walked over to his fallen opponent and crouched down. She had now idea what he was doing but as he stood up, Mithra's hands immidietly flew towards her mouth. The image of Silas had suddenly been plunged with a sword...from behind. Despite being blind and unable to sense anything above the ground, she could feel the overwhelming fury coming from Dante and Serum.
"...Those damned knights, how far will they go?"
It wasn't shock but rather...a dull surprise that slowly spread fear throughout his body. Slowly craning his head to look behind him, Silas then lifted his eyes to look at a figure standing in mid-air...there was no doubt that the figure was responsible for his current situation. Gritting his teeth, he managed to spit out "Bastard..." before pointing the staff at him. The bottom end of the pole touching his stomach, the staff slowly began to shift, and the gears began to grind. And just as the lachrima was about to blast his nemesis, Silas was shot back with another blade, this time sent through his right shoulder. The pain made him drop the staff, leaving him defenceless and open to any further attacks. Gasping, Silas reached out with his left hand and dragged the blade out. In a futile attempt, he flung it towards the figure, watching it arc up and then hit the ground, not even close to touching the knight. Gritting his teeth, his eyelids awfully heavy, Silas only felt the pain of another blade piercing his chest before falling unconscious...
No time to Recover[]
"SILAS"
The scream rang out through the entire arena as Mithra attempted to jump down however, she was held back by Dante as Serum, alongside Tethe and Jinx, jumped down the viewing stands and onto the ground. Rushing towards him, Serum drew out his blades and faced the floating figure. There was no way he could attack but it didn't stop him from trying to defend. Both swords raised, he swiftly moved towards Silas all the while facing the figure.
Behind him Tethe and Jinx dashed to the fallen Silas. With his muscled jaws, Tethe ripped the blade out of Silas' stomach and turned him over, once more pulling the second blade out of his chest. Bending his legs, he beckoned to Jinx and felt the weight of Silas roll onto his back and Jinx pushed him on. He then proceeded to dash out of the arena, intent on getting Silas some help as soon as possible.
Watching the Tiger dash to an exit with Silas on his back, the figure motioned with his hand, conjuring up a blade out of thin air and sending it soaring towards Silas. A clash and the blade was deflected by Serum, his right arm outstreched, the blade in his hand having clashed against his blade's tip.
"...It's not exactly in my nature to save people but you're...particularly dangerous..." Serum said.
"Then why are you attempting to save that boy?"
"Because, there's something about him that looks pretty special to me"
"So..." the figure said. Amusement filled his voice as he continued "You would risk your life to save his?"
"Of course"
"How far would you go?"
"Probably to death"
As soon as the words left his lips, the entire arena became deathly quiet. From her spot at the railings, Mithra whistled and said "Wow...Serum, I know you like him and all but that's a tad bit extreme"
At her side, Dante chuckled and commented "You don't hear that too often..."Probably to Death"...I think that's what the heroine said in uhh...what was it called again?"
"The Princess and the Sword?" Mithra reminded
Clicking his fingers, Dante grinned and said "Oh Yeah! It was in "The Princess and the Sword"!"
Now pouting, Serum shouted "Shut Up!" before slinging his blade towards the figure. Even if it was in a magic bound location, the lachrima still worked. The tip of the blade flew towards the figure before stopping short. As it slowly retracted, Serem asked "...Exactly what are you doing here anyway?"
Clapping his hands, the still floating figure said "Well I never thought you'd ask! You see, I was sent by my uhh...for now let's call him my "Master" and he gave me some really weird instructions. I think it was something along the lines of...uhh, I think it was like "Destroy the northern city" And so here I am"
Cocking his head, Dante asked "So...what you're saying is that you yourself believe you can destroy this citadel?"
The figure laughed before removing his hood. Red eyes imbedded into a pale face with a sharp goatee, it was the very image of a vampire. "Oh of course not...but I think I've wasted enough time for them to be at this citadel's borders by now" Opening up his cloak, a short vest riddled with several black stripes was seen covering his upper torso. Frowning, Mithra used her tracer ability to check the borders of Pilse Navarina. After a few seconds of searching, she froze up. Noticing her reaction, Dante asked "Oi, Mithra, what's wrong?"
"There...there's an army..."
"What?"
"There's an army just around the walls. Nearly in the Hundred Thousands..."
Nawing at his lip, Dante simply continued to stare at the floating figure. Noticing him staring, the figure asked "Hmm? Is there a problem?"
"...what's your name?"
"Now, why would I ever tell you?"
Grabbing the railings, Dante flipped over and balancing himself onto it, he leapt off with such force that the steel actually bent, flying towards the figure. They collided in mid-air, with such force that a shockwave as a result of pure physical strength was created, sending vibrations throughout the entire arena. Impressed by the clash, the man held Dante up with both hands before complying "First name's Diaros...I wonder what the second is?"
"Dante Royard. But that's all I wanted to know because..." Raising his fist, Dante began "As an S-Class Mage of Earthland, I sentence you to wherever you came from" Before smashing his fist down onto Diaros. As he fell down to the ground, Dante brought both fists above his head and flew down. A moment before impact, he smashed them down, hitting Diaros in the ribs. About a second later, Diaros countered with a kick to Dante's face before rolling backwards and then jumping up. Wiping his nose clean of blood, he said "Dante Royard...my Master talked about you, said you were one of the strongest mages he had ever met"
Grinning, Dante replied "Well I don't know who he is but I'll be more than glad to show you proof of this" before charging towards Diaros. Both their fists raised, they hit each other at the same time, before engaging in an all out "slug-fest" in the middle of the arena.
From above, Mithra grit her teeth and abandoned the match, running towards the exit to try and see if Silas was there. She wouldn't be able to do much but at the very least she knew how to stem the blood flow. She only hoped that the citadel's remainging forces would be able to do something about the approaching forces...
Defending the Border[]
Waking up with a groan, the fire mage got up from his spot in the alleyway. He hadn't gotten any luck in finding a place to sleep, nor did he have any luck in finding what he had originally be searching for. Rubbing his head, the mage realized that, were it not for the ridiculously loud war crys coming from beyond the walls, he would still be asleep. Still scratching his head, he walked out onto the main street to see hundreds of warriors, armed with several different weapons rush towards the citadel's main gate. One of them, a particularly muscular man in a white cloak stopped when he notice the mage. "Hey...you're Conway Blackwood right?"
"Yeah and?"
"We would currently require a mage of your expertise...could you assist us?"
"You know magic doesn't work inside this citadel...right?"
"Oh of course but it wouldn't affect you"
"What? Why?"
"Because you'll be going outside of course!"
"...what?"
Roughly grabbing Conway by his collar, the Assassin threw him outside of the citadel, outside of the enchantment's borders. Landing on his back, he shouted "That's Discrimination!" before slowly getting up. Stretching his arms and yawning, Conway clicked his fingers, generating a small spark of his Fire Make Magic. Satisfied with his current state, he turned around to see what the fuss was about before muttering "Aww...hell no..." In front of him, descending the second hill before they would reach the citadel was an army so large that, although the front row had already marched to halfway of the hill that the citadel was on, the back could not be seen. They marched at a slow pace, reminding Conway of several ants working together.
Frowning, Conway gathered both hands and chanted out "Fire Make..." before getting pushed in the back by a flying force. Roughly landing on the ground a second time, he turned around and muttered "What the hell?" before seeing a familiar face lying on the ground, bewildered at the fact that he had been thrown outside. Raising an eyebrow, the fire mage asked "Hey...you're...the Magic Thief; Gottes Hexenjäger?"
The Magic Thief ignored Conway and rather, drew out afairly large hammer. Eyeing the weapon, Conway casually said "Alright fine, ignore me if you want but you have to realize, if we're going to survive, we'll need to work together"
Glancing at the fire mage, Gottes simply murmured "Don't get in my way then..." before dashing towards the army, with full intent on taking them all on; on his own.
Chapter 5: The Devil Inside
Without a doubt, that's probably the longest time it took to complete a single chapter. Although to be fair, I've had alot of distractions such as 1. Recently picking up Code Breaker and 2. Playing Spore (Which gets boring fairly quickly). Conway, Gottes and the series' FIRST major antagonist have been introduced. I'm not sure about Diaros but I can be certain that you'll be seeing MUCH more of Conway and Gottes in the next chapter "The Devil Inside" :3 Once again, if you acually did read this chapter...THANK YOU