Kairo took out another healing booster from his belt and used it. Now that the effect of the Dead Mark was gone, this booster had a greater effect on him, and he would at least be able to return to his feet.
"The submarine is in total chaos. I first need to find Nyx and Danzan." Kairo wasn't going to stand here and safely heal. While he was here fighting, the situation in the submarine had worsened—Kairo felt it. Mostly because of the numerous explosions he was currently hearing.
During the fight with Corry, it didn't feel strange, but now that it had ended, it was clear he wasn't the only one risking his life. But against who?
"This can't be caused only by the fight between Danzan and the Inquisitor. It feels like the explosions come from several areas at the same time," Kairo said.
He had a very bad feeling about all of this. Had the enemy infiltrated the submarine? Kairo could not be certain already. But even that possibility was minimal—otherwise the murder would have been useless, and a full-blown fight would have exploded long ago.
No matter the answer, Kairo decided to go and verify for himself. He couldn't keep searching for the girl since things had changed again. But as Kairo prepared to leave, he noticed something strange.
"Why is he still here?" he wondered.
The fight had ended, but the Sand Paladin had not returned into its card like usual. Instead, the Sand Paladin walked toward him with what Kairo would describe as a somber expression.
"Have I done something wrong?" Kairo asked.
Although the Sand Paladin could not reason as freely as a human, it had its own share of personality. Thus, Kairo believed its justice-driven side might have been affected by what he just did.
The Sand Paladin tilted its head toward what was left of Corry and said no more, with detachment that Kairo had never seen in him before. He got closer, each of his steps marking a pause in Kairo's thoughts. Then he lifted his finger—and just as Kairo felt like his summon was about to go crazy—
The Sand Paladin handed him a card. Kairo took the card in hand, about to say something, but the Sand Paladin vanished into a storm of sand, returning to its original card. What had happened was so strange that Kairo didn't move immediately, trying to piece together what had just happened.
"What is this card… it reads... The Dead Paladin?" Kairo frowned reading the name of the card.
On the card was the drawing of a warrior wielding a lance exactly like the Sand Paladin. But unlike the former, this one was made entirely out of bones, as if rising from the gates of hell itself. It mounted a bony warhorse, aiming its lance forward.
Kairo felt his body turn cold, as if the lance would pop out of the card and go through his heart. On the description of the card read something even more disturbing:
[The Dead Paladin is an executioner. His only role is to finish off what has been started. He delivers a single blow that is lethal to most of his opponents. But beware: although he is not as agile and versatile as most, his zeal for blood is insatiable. Each time one summons the Dead Paladin, someone must perish—even if it is the summoner.]
Kairo could hardly keep his thoughts in one place. Basically, the Dead Paladin was a one-hit wonder card.
"A card used as a finishing move to deliver a lethal blow," he murmured.
If it was only that, Kairo would have been excited about this new card. With this, he essentially had the possibility to one-shot his enemies. But there was a serious drawback to this ability. If Kairo summoned the Dead Paladin at the wrong time and the opponent didn't perish, he would be the one passing in their place. This wasn't a card he could use just anyhow.
Sigh… but why did the Sand Paladin give me this card? I didn't know cards could give cards to their owner…
Kairo had a headache thinking about it. For the moment, he couldn't piece out the significance of all of this. Like many, Kairo was still piecing together all the fragments that composed card magic. He could not make any educated guess at the moment.
"I will ask Danzan later. For now, we need to save the submarine," Kairo said. He wasn't losing sight of their main objective: to escort all the prisoners alive to their new
detainment center.
However, one prisoner was dead, and the submarine was in chaos. This mission was turning into a fiasco, and he could not allow this to continue.
Kairo left the broken gym, rushing through the submarine. His destination was the control center. From there, the emergency cells to seal all the prisoners would be activated. If they managed to do that, even if the enemy was on board, it wouldn't change much—just a more bloody fight with reeling spectators.
And if Nyx had not done it yet, there was certainly a problem. Although the Dead Mark was gone, she was probably still in danger.
The submarine was immense, and Kairo could hardly figure out the exact route. Given its three levels, it was easy to get lost inside—primarily because the teams were assigned to patrol specific areas, thus never really had to leave their level nor know about the other parts of the submarine.
But the fight with Corry had taken Kairo who knew where in here. Figuring his way back to the control center wasn't going to be easy.
"Which way should I go?" Kairo questioned. He knew perfectly well that time was of the essence and thus couldn't afford to roam endlessly.
Kairo arrived at the next level of the submarine, where he remembered Corry's cell was. Unlike earlier, everything here was turned upside down, the cell bars torn with holes in every fissure of the walls.
"It's suddenly very cold in here," he thought. Feeling something was off, Kairo tilted his head downward.
"This is bad," he said out loud. His entire legs were drenched, from the toes halfway up his calves.
All over the place, water had infiltrated the submarine, spreading slowly through every possible fissure that existed.
"The fighting must have damaged the cuirass. With the two layers, water was not supposed to reach this place," Kairo frowned. The mission was increasing in complexity.
They were in the middle of a moving water corridor. If the submarine began cracking from within, not only would water fill in, they could be crushed by the pressure. With a sigh, Kairo kept a cool head, mainly because of the pain from the wounds.
"First, we need to secure the prisoners' cells and then find Camilla. I want to believe she didn't enter a submarine thousands of meters under the sea with no way to repair things if it broke," Kairo said. It might have been only his wishful thought, but Kairo's mind unconsciously refused to give up after what he had just survived.
Even if the chances were slim, there must be a way to resolve all of this. Kairo shut away his thoughts and kept up the pace, his mind reeling with a burning question.
"How did things escalate so fast?" he murmured.
No matter how he turned the question in his head, the problem had slowly gone from the Inquisitor being controlled, to the fight with Corry, and now to full-blown chaos onboard. Had he missed something?
"Hey, Rellion, do you think we still need to chase after Kairo? My card Intellect has revealed he was badly beaten, and although Corry died, he wouldn't be a problem now."
"Yeah, I don't even get why we are looking for him, Rellion. He isn't your brother nor your girlfriend. Why waste so much time in here when we could be trying to free the person we came for?"
Kairo's heart skipped a beat, almost falling into his stomach.
"Rellion?" His mind reeled in confusion. What is he doing here, and how can he be here? Acting on instinct, Kairo dived into Corry's cell, hiding in the dark corners with his back pressed to the wall. He didn't know how many enemies were there, but in his state, he was definitely not ready for any fighting. He could only hide and patiently wait.