The ground below the Crimson Dragon's castle was engulfed in battle. Teams from theirs and the Blue Phoenix Knights, who were raiding the place, were all engaged in combat.
The W.M.A. stamp that the Blue Phoenixes had was a declaration of higher decree. The stamp gave rights to any Guild who had it, the same as the W.M.A., higher than any other Guild of Kingdom jurisdiction. This meant that they could conduct any search, raid, or arrest that they felt was justified, with plausible cause.
Ryo's affiliation with the Black Wolves was proven by his appearance at the incident in the Southeast, and after the Trial for Greed, when he was nowhere to be found, suspicions arose even further about his arrest.
Somewhere within the Crimson Dragon's castle, first floors, and grand hallway. A group of Crimson Dragon Knights was gathered, fending off some Blue Phoenix Knights.
"Where's Captain Ark?" One Crimson Dragon Knight yelled to another on the battlefield.
"I don't know. Where are our Captains when we need them?" another one responded.
Though Ryo was fighting his own battle unbeknownst to the rest of them, their other Vice Captain at this time had been fighting all along within an unoccupied section of their home. There, amongst a pile of Blue Phoenix Knights that came to ambush him, a male stood with a mere blanket over his shoulders and wore white sleepwear underneath that bore the symbol of the Crimson Dragons logo on the left breast of his buttoned sleeping shirt. His long blond hair was a mess as he observed the group of Blue Phoenixes on the ground while wiping his nose.
"Seriously? I just wanted to make a sandwich… Why the hell are you guys here?" he said, talking to himself.
"2nd Vice Captain, Zeke! You're awake!" a Crimson Dragon subordinate shouted from across the hall, finally getting to the scene.
"Of course I'm awake! What, you think I just sleep in all day!?" Zeke responded, slightly pissed.
"Well, sir, it's late morning, almost noon…" the subordinate replied.
"Your point? It's my day off, and I'm sick!" he shouted back.
"You're always sick, sir…" the subordinate added before shutting up, realizing Zeke was now making an irritated face at him.
He stuttered before Zeke got another word out and briefed him on the situation, "W—We're being raided, sir! The Blue Phoenixes have a W.M.A. warrant and are searching the perimeters for 1st Vice Captain Ryoku! What are your orders?"
He calmed down and thought for a moment before responding, "Ryo, huh? Hmm."
The subordinate waited nervously for his response and then…
BOOM!
A blast had emitted nearby, and the subordinate panicked. Zeke, however, was unfazed and remained in his thinking position.
"Sir?" he interjected hesitantly.
"Do you think Ryo did anything wrong?" he asked as if the explosion had not just happened. Yelling and faint sounds of weapons clashing and magic being summoned were going off in the background all the while.
"To be frank, sir… Not at all. But that is pure opinion. I only answer that way because I have faith in our leaders," he said with sureness in his voice, but retracted nervously toward the end.
"Good answer," Zeke responded as swiftly as he had heard his reply. "Whatever they think is going on. Whatever they think Ryo did. I'm sure he didn't do it. And if he did do something, I'm sure he had a good reason to do it. I will not question that man's loyalty to the Kingdom. I may be sickly and not as strong as him, but if there's one thing I know, it's that if anyone was the face of the Valley, it's 1st Vice Captain Ryoku himself."
The subordinate's eyes gleamed at the words his 2nd Vice Captain spoke. In that moment, the battle happening nearby in another hallway had caught up to them, and the smoke filled the room where they had been talking. Out of the smoke, three Blue Phoenix Knights jumped the two of them, but had crashed into an invisible wall just inches before they could reach them.
Zeke paid them no mind as he continued to speak to his subordinate, "I have no idea if Ryo is here in the castle, but what I do know is that another Guild is trashing our home. Warrant or not, I do not approve of this rash behavior." He faced the three Blue Phoenix Knights who were suspended in mid-air, "Defend the castle and do not, for any reason whatsoever, hand them our 1st Vice Captain!"
As he said this, the three Blue Phoenixes flew out and crashed onto the walls of the room. Zeke's aura alone, along with his active spell that he had cast earlier, had still been in effect, and they had gotten a taste of that power right at the end.
All the while, the subordinate with him had his comm turned on to the rest of the Guild. They overheard their whole conversation, which had relayed Zeke's orders to them all. Afterward, one could hear the battle cries and cheers from all the Crimson Dragon Knights across the castle.
***
In the front courts of the Crimson Dragon's castle, where the Blue Phoenixes had entered forcibly. A large crater had formed, and smoke was flowing from it by something that fell high up from one of the towers of their great home. Ulrich, 3rd Executive of the Blue Phoenixes, had been standing, taken aback, just before it.
"That damn Kiki. She really was trying to kill me, wasn't she? And what the hell is this? One of her victims? Poor fool. That's what you get for resisting, you imbeciles," he said to himself, scoffing.
Then, from the smoke, a figure was rising within it. A silhouette of a male.
"Damn. That wasn't great at all. My head's pounding," the male said as the smoke slowly cleared around him.
"What? Who are you? Was that you who fell just now? How are you alive?" Ulrich asked, startled by this male's presence.
"Chill, man. I just got here. Why are you asking me so many—huh?" the male said, interrupted by a snare in his foot. "What the…"
When he looked down, he saw that he was standing on top of another male in Blue Phoenix attire, facedown, completely out cold, and his foot was caught in between his armpit.
"Well, that's unfortunate. I'd apologize, but looks like you're one of them, so… sucks to suck."
As he took his foot out from underneath the unnamed Blue Phoenix Knight he had landed on, he stepped over him—disregarding him completely as the smoke had finally cleared altogether.
"You don't look like a Crimson Dragon. Wait, that attire…" Ulrich said as the male walked out of the crater.
His hair was dirty blond, and a rat tail trailed down the side of his head. His left eye was pale white, visibly blind, with a gnarly scar decorated upon it as it took up a quarter of his face. His other eye, a dark green color, was untouched. He wore a dark gray gilet that looked like the sleeves had been ripped off and was shirtless with more faint scars on his body. He had black tattered pants and boots to match, and his right hand was scratching the back of his head where a noticeable tattoo showed from his inner bicep. The written word of a native language that, ironically, Ulrich could read…
"Havoc?"
"Hm? Do I know you, chubs?" the male, Havoc, responded.
"Ah… You're one of the main Black Wolves on the wanted list. I never paid too much attention to your face, but the tattoo on your arm gave it away… and who are you calling chubs, you mongrel!?"
"So, you can read Primal, too, huh? That can only mean—"
"Don't dodge the question, you damn dog!" Ulrich interjected before calming himself, "In any case, if a Black Wolf is here, that means you and the Crimson Dragon Knights were affiliated after all. What a gift this is. Undeniable proof of your crimes. And all I have to do is apprehend you along with the Vice Captain Ryoku… or bring back your head. I was only told to bring him back alive… not yours." He gave a wicked smile at the end.
"Really? That's 'all' you have to do? Man, that's cocky for a guy with low combat ability," Havoc jabbed.
"What did you say, you punk?" Ulrich sneered.
"Hard of hearing? You can't even decide what to call me. I've heard three different names so far. Which means you're not sure of yourself. A common trait of the weak. Need me to spell it out for you?"
Ulrich contorted his face to Havoc's words, anger building inside of him.
"I'm a 3rd Executive of the Blue Phoenix Knights. From my records, you're a lowly member of the Black Wolves ranks, a bottom-class Guild in the whole Kingdom. How could you possibly call me, of all people, weak?!"
Havoc replied, "If you were truly strong, you wouldn't have to preach about it. Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than you are trying to convince me. You see"—he scratched his head and threw his hands in his pants pockets—"titles don't matter where I come from. You prove your worth in battle."
At this time, cheers had erupted from within the Crimson Dragon's castle all throughout the place. When Havoc heard this, he smirked at Ulrich, whose face continued to twitch.
As the battle cries subsided, Havoc made the first move and shot at Ulrich, choosing to strike first. He transformed his right arm to its Behemoth form, stretching out his palm for a widened claw attack down onto Ulrich. His arm had become huge as he struck down, the claw crashing and making the ground beneath them crater.
Ulrich chuckled as Havoc's heavy hand made contact. "I see that tattoo wasn't just for show. You really do have Primal magic as well," he said.
"I had a hunch you did too—well…" Havoc glared at Ulrich's semi-transformation as he had barely made a scratch on him. "I suppose it's no longer a hunch anymore, now is it?" His claws screeched as they lay atop Ulrich's massive turtle shell on his back now.
Ulrich had dropped on all fours, fending off Havoc's Behemoth claw. He then hopped slightly from the ground, forcing Havoc off with a push, and rapidly spun right into him, forcing him back. Havoc, only flying back a couple of feet, caught himself upright with his right arm still transformed.
"You're correct. I use Primal magic too, a Leomantoise type—the renowned Giant Lionturtle, Higher Grade 2 monster," Ulrich said as he began to fully transform.
His arms and legs became tough and rubbery as his skin gained texturized features. He formed giant, clawed hooves that crushed the ground, and his face turned into that of a lion and a turtle combined. Massive sharp teeth and large tusks protruded from his mouth, curving upward. The shell, the most massive part of himself, looked like a gray olive color, sleek and shining like steel, completely draping him from his neck down. It looked as if his face was one with the shell itself as he held his head high with an intricate lion mane carved out like a statue from it—eyes beaming a deep and echoing yellow as they pierced into Havoc's own.
When Havoc studied him, Ulrich's ankles now revealed large gold cuffs on them with golden chains dangling from all four of his limbs—a magic item, perhaps.
He roared, and it looked like he rippled the air itself. Havoc, with hypersensitive hearing, covered his ears and even winced at the sound of it. It was a sound that his Primal type could not bear for even short periods.
"Damn. He just had to be that," he said as he looked back up at Ulrich, now an enormous size, like four of himself in Havoc's full Behemoth form.
Ulrich spoke in a heavy, deep voice from his new form, "How's this for weak? You poor fool."
Havoc gave a half smile and responded, "Let's see how well you can fight with it."
At this moment, Havoc had also transformed fully. Starting from his feet and all the way to his head, he was twice his size and fell over onto all fours. Long, white ribbons extended out into what looked like a cape fluttering behind him. Nasty curved horns grew on his head, and his tail stretched and curved around him. Giant claws and talons protruded from his monster paws. He was muscular, his skin gray and rough, and his face was a beast with razor-sharp teeth that bore from his large mouth, the fangs like large blades poking out. His right eye glowed red, and his blind left eye glowed white.
He snarled at Ulrich, who stood before him as another beast, though smaller in comparison to him. Right then, two monsters appeared in front of the Crimson Dragon's castle courts, preparing for their vicious battle.
***
Back up top on a higher tower, adjacent to where Ryo and Kiki were fighting, two females had also been hashing it out from the rooftops. The sparks and clashes that sounded from their battle could be seen faintly if one viewed them from other nearby towers of the Crimson Dragon's castle.
A sound of a pistol shot, firing three rounds. Ophelia held the gun as she maneuvered herself from Milo's massive swings. Her club, thicker and larger than the size of herself, decimated the flat, stone rooftop they were on in cinders as she swung endlessly at Ophelia. She had yet to land a strike on her as Ophelia continued to permeate objects and the stone ground along with her attacks.
Another one of Ophelia's attributes is to carry items without physically carrying them. Her Full-Body Ghost magic ability lets her create an inventory of items and weaponry for herself through another sub-space accessible only to her, and that goes wherever she goes. These items are invisible to the naked eye until she pulls them out from the sub-space, items like the pistol she pulled out from her thigh, along with many others.
She went underground then resurfaced again, firing two rounds. Milo dodged the first one swiftly, then went to her left, blocking the other shot with her club as it caused a clanging, echoing noise. Ophelia, again going underground, stayed within the walls and concrete of the tower they were both on. If she went too far and permeated through the ceiling of a room from above, she could fall into it and would have to permeate through the wall again just to get back to the roof.
Though her ability allowed her to permeate and travel through an object, if there was no object to travel through, she could only float there for a second before coming back down. Much like creatures in water, if she gains momentum first before surfacing, she could go farther and higher. A tactic and skill she had developed after training with Asura.
She flew through the beams from underneath the roof they were on, studying the dimensions and layout of the insides of the walls and ceiling so as to know not to go too far, and so that she knew where to strike her opponent. This was why it took her a few minutes to come back up to strike Milo during intervals. Though she was not the strongest mage, she was a careful and tactical one.
"Dang. I didn't think you'd be able to block and dodge gunshots. You're making me rethink my sharpshooting abilities!" she said, flying through the ground around Milo.
"If it wasn't for your damned ability, you'd be dead ten times over, bitch!" Milo shouted, swinging her club, causing shockwaves from all around.
"Aw, that was mean… but you're right. I really am nothing without this ability!" Ophelia pouted.
Milo couldn't tell if she was being serious or if she was mocking her. Either way, it had pissed her off. "Shut up, you stupid cunt! I'm gonna kill you, I fucking swear!"
"So angry…" Ophelia responded softly.
Swinging over and over, Milo was getting nowhere. It had seemed that Ophelia had the upper hand against her in this fight. So it had seemed…
When Ophelia resurfaced again, just behind Milo, her gun pointed to the back of her head. At this moment, it seemed that this was it.
"Checkmate!—"
Bang!
The gun fired, but Milo tilted her head to the right and dodged it—almost effortlessly.
"How—How did she dodge that? At point blank?"
Milo's big club swung in a one-eighty to her left and onto Ophelia's left just behind her, suspended in midair. Ophelia didn't bother dodging because it would only go through her… however…
SLAM!
The club had hit her at last. Not seeing it coming, Ophelia had been hit directly from her whole left side, sending her flying toward the parapet walls, crashing there.
Milo laughed at her wickedly and said, "Bet you didn't see that coming, did you, girly? That's what happens when you get cocky."
Ophelia staggered a bit, sitting leaning up against the wall as she assessed her wounds. Only a bruise on her outer left leg and her left arm—she winced when she ran her hand over them. It was at this time that she had been grateful for the protective armor she wore simultaneously from her invisible sub-space inventory, just in case something like this ever happened. Another wise tactic, again learned from Asura. Because of this, only minor damage was inflicted on her from that hit. Still, she could not believe she was actually hit in the first place.
Damn, what just happened? She dodged my bullet at point-blank, and then she managed to hit me? she thought to herself.
"Oh, girly," Milo said as she sashayed elegantly, flipping her purple and blue streaked hair while she did. Her tone was completely different now from her earlier aggression. "You thought I was just swinging my club aimlessly out of frustration, didn't you? I'm actually not like that. I just like to practice my improv on my opponents. It also psyches you out when the real show begins. Hehe," she teased scornfully. Her voice was seductive and savage at the same time.
She dropped her club behind her, dragging it on the ground as she strolled casually to Ophelia, still leaning against the wall, watching her, shocked. The heels on her long, dark blue boots clacked as she drew ever closer and said, "It takes a minute to activate, but once it does, there's no escaping it. Especially when you've breathed in as much as you have."
As Ophelia finally understood, Milo went on, "This is Gas magic. I've always hated my ability… The boys made fun of me all the time growing up. Called me 'gassy girl' or 'Flatulo'—"
Ophelia snorted a little as she said that, interrupting Milo's speech. She tried to cover her mouth, but it was futile. Milo heard her.
"Ah… You see, just like that. You're just like the rest of them," Milo continued, lowering her head, her voice taking on a dark tone.
"But, you see, when I learned just how deadly my ability can be, well… Let's just say I got the final laugh."
Milo twisted her club, and it shifted, letting out two gases, one purple and the other light blue. These two colored gases were only colored and didn't actually do anything, but when they filled the air, they followed the trails that were marked out all over the rooftop that was their battlefield.
"I'm doing this so you can see the two different gases that you inhaled. First, the purple gas numbs your senses and makes you slower. When you appeared behind me, you were actually there for a good fifteen seconds. I had already dodged where you had planned to shoot me literally seconds before. But to you, it seemed like it was all happening right in the moment."
Ophelia's one exposed eye was shaking as she said this. Milo continued, "And second, the light blue gas… This nulls your magic ability the more you breathe it in. Very useful, especially against someone like you, whom I can't normally hit."
Thinking of a plan now, Ophelia began to strategize as Milo was speaking. "And, well… Actually, there was a third gas…"
Milo twisted the wrist that was holding her club again, and it shifted—spewing another color out. This color was red.
"When I swing my club, it causes a reaction with the heat and fuses with the air, causing an explosion—just like this."
She swung the club to the right, causing a shockwave that blasted in Ophelia's direction. She permeated the ground just barely, and the blast blew through the parapet wall she had been leaning on.
When she resurfaced from behind Milo, Ophelia attempted another shot, but missed. To Ophelia, Milo had disappeared and reappeared right in front of her, where she had surfaced.
"Too slow," Milo taunted as she grabbed Ophelia's throat with her hand, pulling her out from the ground.
Ophelia had dropped her gun as she choked from Milo's height, her porcelain legs and bare feet exposed, displaying her bruises on her left arm and leg. Milo admired her body as she continued to hold her by the neck, choking her all the while as she dangled there.
"Keeper, you're so pretty… even with that eyepatch. I bet the boys are all over you. Your body, too, is so shapely, I'm almost jealous. If only I were your height, too, I bet I could get all the guys. Doesn't help that I'm so tall. Aren't many guys who want a girl taller than them—boys and their egos, you know?" Milo rambled, her grip tight on Ophelia's throat.
She tried, but she could not pass through her hands. Ophelia instead tried to pry them open, but failed. She was not as physically strong as Milo, who was as tall as a model and also quite fit.
"Perhaps if things were different, we could have been the best of girlfriends. I would have loved talking about boys with you. Having girl talks"—she sighed—"Keeper… I'm not even acting anymore. Looking at you. Is seriously making me jealous? And angry," Milo seethed, continuing to look up and down at Ophelia squirming from her chokehold. Her eyes grazed, then fell upon her eyepatch.
"And I wonder what's under here, girly? An empty hole? Shame? Regret? Why don't you show me? You've gotten to know a little about me. It's only fair I get to know a little about you too."
Ophelia squirmed even more now. It was as if Milo had struck a nerve in not only her triggering words but also with her patched right eye that was just hiding beneath her black bangs.
"Don't—" she tried to say, but the words could barely come out.
"Come again, girly? I couldn't quite hear you." Milo put the club away behind her. Her other free hand now reached for Ophelia's eyepatch.
"Don't… do… this…" Ophelia choked, almost out of breath. Her sight went in and out due to a lack of air. Milo's hand inches away, about to reveal what was underneath.
Slowing her squirm, Milo's fingers caressed the eyepatch on her face, moving her bangs aside so gently.
"Are you ashamed of this, girly? Even pretty girls have an ugly side. Time to face your shame! Show me your imperfections!" Milo shouted heinously, pinching the eyepatch with three fingers and ripping it off completely. Exposing that hidden side of her, now out in the open.
Right then, Ophelia had managed to escape somehow, throwing herself backward a few feet from Milo, her right hand over her face, covering her right eye. She had partially permeated through Milo's fingers, though it did leave small scars on her neck from where she had choked her.
Milo stood there with Ophelia's eyepatch in her right hand, eagerly anticipating seeing her mysterious right eye.
Ophelia was on one knee as she tried to catch her breath, breathing in more of the gas that engulfed this entire area now. When she caught her breath, she rose from her knees, removing her right hand from her eye finally.
Milo's diabolic smile faded as she witnessed Ophelia without her eyepatch, revealing the side of her face that she thought she was ashamed of.
"What I was trying to say earlier was… 'Don't do this to yourself, '" she said to Milo as the breeze pushed her bangs on her forehead and right eye ever so gently, revealing two things: her left eye, which was her normal dark purple hue, and her right eye, which was a bright glowing yellow.
"My sister really doesn't like being disturbed from her beauty sleep."