Manticore
The moonlight shone peacefully above the humble village of Ruben. Not a creature was in sight, nor did any of those who hide in the dark make a sound. Total silence shrouded the land.
In the distance, two ominous figures stood, their cloaks floating slightly in the gentle midnight breeze. One of them held a paper in his hand, using the moonlight to study its inscription.
Mission: Find "The Doctor," eliminate him, and stop the shipment of Manticore, a bioweapon designed to kill all living things and to corrupt El.
Time & Place: End of meeting. 3:00 AM, warehouse in north sector of Ruben Village
Reward: 10,000,000 ED
Commissioner: Government of Velder
"Hard to believe someone like that's hiding out here," one of the strange men muttered.
"Doesn't matter. He's a high value target that poses a huge threat to this area."
"Right. Let's move."
The men walked in a silent pace, slow and methodical, so as not to alert any sentries that may be nearby. All seemed well in this little village of Ruben. But they both knew all too well that things aren't always what they seem.
With each and every step, their hearts seemed to beat faster and faster, as if the warrior duo were approaching something evil. The momentary disappearance of the moon behind dark clouds only seemed to confirm their fears.
The two men stood at a distance, overlooking a shady looking warehouse, as described in their mission briefing. They removed their scarves from around their mouths so that they could catch a breath. They stood there glorying in the fresh midnight breeze, talking refuge in the calm before the storm. For a brief moment, the clouds parted, shining a light to reveal their faces. One of their faces was unexpectedly beautiful, complete with deep, crystalline cerulean eyes and lovely locks of golden hair.
Chung Seiker, known throughout the land as the Deadly Chaser. His armor and pistols gleamed in the eerie moonlight, although his signature Destroyer cannon isn't with him—it would hinder rather than help in this current operation.
The other face was more rugged, bearing determined eyes and dark red hair. His name was Elsword, a well-respected member of the Red Knights. Carrying his signature greatsword, the Lord Knight poised for battle as he scanned the area.
The porch around the warehouse had three sentries, all armed with bows, standing guard in separate corners.
From his cloak, Chung produced a compact sniper rifle, with a suppressor protruding out the barrel. Its black finish gleamed slightly in the moonlight. Chung laid down on the grass, flicking open the rifle's bipod and resting it on the ground. Elsword laid prone next to him.
"You got your piece?" Chung whispered to his teammate.
"Yeah. Terrible shot, though."
"Doesn't matter. We got time."
Elsword also fished out an identical rifle from his cloak and set up the bipod just like Chung did. Peering through the scope, he aimed the reticle directly at one of the sentries' heads.
"Don't forget to compensate for gravity," advised Chung as he peered down his rifle. "Go for the one furthest to the right."
"Got it."
"On my go…" Chung ordered. He focused his vision on the black figure on the middle below his reticle. His itchy, but trained finger waited for Elsword's kill.
"Now."
Crack!
Shot through the throat.
"Damn…" Elsword cursed, failing to get the instant kill.
Crack!
Clean through the second sentry's skull.
The third guard's eyes widened, his body jolting in shock at the sight of two dead friends. He turned and ran to alert The Doctor.
Crack!
But instead he fell face-forward into dirt and stone, a gaping hole visible on the back of his head like a crater.
"Guards down, move up."
"Jesus, Chung."
"Clean up time," said Chung once they reached the porch. Being careful to minimize sound, the two mercenaries slowly dragged the bodies of the sentries to a secluded corner, hidden from sight.
Afterwards, Chung put his mask back on and climbed up the shady building. Peering inside through a missing window tile, he saw giant capsules of dubious green substance neatly stacked together, as if it was about to be shipped into some faraway place.
Chung squinted his eyes and focused on the text that was written on the vats.
"Man… ti.. core…" he mouthed.
He kept surveying the warehouse for sentries. Overall, the place was quite spacious, but stacks of other cardboard packages turned the eastern section of the warehouse into a labyrinth of illegal packages. The other side was relatively clear, and in the back there was a reasonably wide passage, big enough for a vehicle to fit through. There were five sentries in the back, two armed with swords, two armed with axes, and one heavily armored and carrying a gigantic mace and a shield. Chung spotted three more sentries patrolling the labyrinthine area, although there could be more.
Chung slid back down to meet his partner.
"It's in there. The bastard's got Manticore ready to ship."
"How many guards?"
"Five in the back, all heavily armed. One's an absolute tank. Three in the maze-like area near our location, might be more. There's also a lot of hiding spots in the place. You could hide a whole army in there."
"Guess they don't wanna attract too much attention."
"Yeah... Anyways, there's an opening in the window up there. Go in quiet, and take out the sentries in the warehouse aisles."
"Got it."
"Remember, nothing flashy. Make me proud."
And with that, the Lord Knight climbed up the wall, swift as the wind, and disappeared into the window. Chung smirked when he heard the quiet sound of metal ripping through flesh and bone.
Elsword landed like a cat, without noise and without drawing attention. Walls of cardboard boxes wrapped in heavy-duty Scotch tape seemed to loom in on him. Dim lights overhead flickered ominously over the packages. But even so, Elsword remained undeterred. He drew a spartan short-sword, knowing that his primary blade would be no use in such a close quarters environment.
He crept in the shadows like a thief in the night, waiting for any guards to come by. He peered through the horizontal gaps in the warehouse packages for people, but no one in sight. Then he knelt on the cold floor and listened for footsteps.
Pat-pat… Pat-pat…
Two of them nearby, their footsteps slightly desynchronized.
He climbed into the gap between the packages and waited for them to pass.
The two guards walked silently through the aisle. They were strange men; usually guards hired in shady operations would be talking loudly about obscene things. Elsword felt bad about killing them.
Until one of them opened their mouths to utter a whisper.
"Wonder when we're gonna ship this thing. I hope The Doctor detonates some here. These fools'll never see it coming."
Immediately after one of the guards said that, Elsword emerged from the shadows, his hand frozen to the sword in rage.
With a brutal side slash, Elsword decapitated both guards with one Sonic Blade. With a swift movement, Elsword caught their heads by the hair in one hand, and their bodies by the shirt in the other. After dragging them away into the darkness, Elsword continued his venture, satisfied with a clean serving of justice.
He kept peering through the gaps and listening for footsteps and voices. Whatever was going on here, the guards seemed to be tense, only speaking in hushed voices or whispers. It's as if they knew he was there. Or at least they knew something was coming.
Through another horizontal gap, Elsword could make out three more faces down the aisle. They were about 10 meters away, and they seemed to be concentrated around a suspicious looking vat. Probably Manticore.
They all looked like heavily trained, experienced men. Unlike his previous two encounters, Elsword knew that he would have a problem fighting these men.
Elsword felt something metallic touch the back of his head.
"Drop your weapon!" a guard yelled.
With that one shout, the whole warehouse sprang to life.
Elsword's heart jumped into his throat. The three men in the distance began to run towards his location. Footsteps from all sorts of directions also made their way towards him.
Elsword turned around, his short-sword lashing out like a snake. The guard parried his attack with his blade and retaliated with a Counter Attack.
The attack knocked Elsword down to the cold hard floor, and the guard rushed to deliver a crushing blow. The Knight rolled to the side to escape the fatal blow, and used the opportunity to jab the guard's side with his short-sword.
"Gah!" the guard screamed.
As Elsword regained his footing, he unholstered his great-sword and impaled the guard right through the stomach from behind.
The three men were slightly taken aback when they turned the corner and saw one of their comrades with a blade protruding from his stomach. Elsword, in a mad rage, ripped his great-sword back, letting the body it just feasted on fall to the ground.
"Bastard!" one of them shouted.
Elsword gripped his sword with both hands as the three of them charged at him.
Crack!
One of the guards fell to the floor with a smoking hole in his head.
The remaining guards jolted to a stop, and then ran for cover.
"Sniper! Get down!"
"Two hostiles in the building!"
"Copy that! Let's take those bastards out!"
Shouts rang from all across the warehouse, and a parade of footsteps seemed to swarm the Lord Knight. Holding his greatsword close to him, Elsword braced for a siege.
"Elsword! Get out of there!" screamed Chung as he jumped inside the warehouse from the high windows.
Obeying his partner's orders, Elsword ran back to his entry point before he got swarmed.
"Get to the clear area!" the Deadly Chaser shouted.
"On it!"
Elsword turned a corner. Sneaking quick peeks through the gaps, he made his way to the open space of the warehouse. Guards seemed to swarm him from all around, and an army at his back was vying for his blood.
The Knight turned to the swath of guards chasing him down the aisle.
"Armageddon Blade!" he bellowed.
Reaching his sword out towards the army of guards, an aura resembling his weapon emerged from the blade, cutting through chest plates and armor down to flesh and bone.
The entire army fell to the ground clasping their throats.
With eyes wild with bloodlust, the Lord Knight swung and swung, eager to take on all of the guards that stood in his path.
With the Armageddon Blade active, none of them could even get close to him. Elsword mercilessly lopped off parts of their bodies as they rushed him, filling the atmosphere with the smell of blood and iron. After a while his arms began to pulse with pain, but Elsword kept swinging, using his adrenaline to keep the blade moving.
Chung watched as Elsword made quick work of the enemy swordsmen coming his way. He drew out his rifle again and focused fire on the archers in the back.
Crack! … Crack! … Crack! …
One by one, the archers fell, some of their bodies falling off the sniper towers they once stood on.
But soon enough, a swath of guards began to surround him too. Realizing that the sniper was no longer useful in this situation, Chung drew out his Silver Shooters as guards formed a circle around him.
He leaped into the air and into the aisle as guards rushed at him with swords drawn. Backing away, Chung opened fire on the mad crowd.
"Shooting Bind!"
Now he too felt the thrill of bloodlust as his blue bullets punched through skulls and grey matter. His smile kept widening as his fingers kept pulling the trigger.
Eventually his mana ran out and no more bullets came flying out the barrels. Seizing this opportunity, the last guard that remained charged at him with sword in hand.
Chung bolted sideways when he saw the rune tattoos on the man's arm.
"Splash Explosive!"
The guard stretched out his hand, where an exploding rune appeared on the ground and detonated. Luckily, the attack barely missed the nimble Chung, providing him a chance to counter. With knuckles covered in steel, Chung punched the man in the jaw, sending teeth flying. The man staggered back from the attack, but quickly fired back with a swing.
Clang!
Chung blocked the attack with his armored forearm. With some of his mana back, he drew out his pistol and aimed it at the ground.
"Trick Shot!"
The magic bullet split into two as it ricocheted off the ground, and the two bullets struck the man's kneecaps. With the man brought to his knees, Chung ended their little fight with a bullet to the head.
With every soldier near him dead, Chung raced back to assist his partner.
Elsword stood in the middle of a fresh graveyard, with blood painting the floor a bright red. The only enemy standing between him and The Doctor was the man who was clad in full iron. It was impressive: the armor seemed to have no weak spots whatsoever. The guard's mace was like a building, and his shield was like a tower that could stop a train. The man looked totally impervious.
Elsword fished a greatsword remarkably similar to his own from one of the courses. He took a deep breath and stilled his body for a moment.
"Armageddon Blade!"
A second Armageddon Blade grew out from the scavenged weapon, the protruding aura managing to dent the final guard's armor.
Then without further ado, Elsword leaped at the man. Or more specifically, the ground right in front of him. He plunged both blades into the ground, and the floor cracked as the earth began to quake.
"Grand Cross!"
Flames and stones arose from the ground and licked at the armored guard, dealing significant damage to his armor and shield. When the fire subsided, cracks were visible.
Thwack!
With a mighty bare-handed blow, Elsword was sent flying.
"Hold them off just a little longer, Giorgio! We're almost done!"
The ironclad man, presumably Giorgio, responded by raising up his mace to strike the fallen Knight.
Crack!
The bullet cracked the giant's armor, but the iron fragments split the bullet into pieces, digging into his flesh.
Elsword followed Chung's lead, and began to swing at the vulnerable parts of the iron armor, while easily dodging Giorgio's clumsy attacks. With a swift sidestep followed by a Sonic Blade: Crescent, Giorgio's shield exploded into pieces of flying leather and shrapnel.
With the shield gone, Chung rained bullets at Giorgio's iron pants while Elsword kept hacking away at the upper body armor. Soon, Giorgio's knees were exposed.
"Trick Shot!"
The bullet split in half as it ricocheted off the ground, both pieces striking Giorgio in the kneecaps. Brought to his knees, Giorgio looked ahead and saw Elsword rushing at him with his two great-swords.
"Spiral Blast!"
The first slash was horizontal, cleaving the damaged chestplate in half. Elsword followed up with an upward slash, pulverizing the chestplate. The iron shards embedded themselves deep into Giorgio's chest and abdomen, and dark blood came gushing out of his mouth.
He looked up at the Lord Knight with a pitiful look on his face, begging for mercy. But Elsword had none for him. Giorgio had willingly worked for a man who had the desire and potential to eradicate entire cities, perhaps even all of Elrios. There could be no mercy for anyone who would invest in the shedding of innocent blood.
Elsword the middle of both great-swords on Giorgio's shoulders. The blades crossed each other like an X, and they intersected right at the base of the giant's neck. And with a swift, scissor-esque motion, Giorgio's head came clean off and his towering body fell down with a great crash, sending red dust rising up into the air.
After the bloodbath, Chung and Elsword rendezvoused at the gaping entrance at the back of the warehouse. Looking ahead, the hallway led to a pier with an unoccupied boat at its dock.
A sole figure stood in the middle of the hallway, transporting packages in a cart.
"The Doctor…" Elsword seethed. He pulled back the scavenged great-sword and lobbed it at the target.
"Ah!" The Doctor screamed as the flying blade cut into his shoulder and landed on the floor. Gnashing his teeth, he looked back at the two his dusty goggles. His wrinkly skin and gray hairs seemed to tremble with adrenaline, and his faded eyes, though hidden by the goggles, bulged with rage.
"Giorgio! What have you done with him?"
"Giorgio's dead. And you'll join him shortly you terrorist scum!"
Elsword leaped towards The Doctor, but the old man had amazing reflexes for his age. Almost instantly he turned his body to face the Knight, and two of his fingers glowed a bright purple.
"Petrify!"
The Doctor jabbed Elsword's neck with terrifying precision, and in that instant the Lord Knight was brought down to one knee and his body was disabled.
Chung raised his rifle to shoot, but was only met with a click. The gun was empty.
"Tch!" he grunted. He pulled out his Silver Shooters and begin firing a fusillade of bullets at The Doctor.
"Barrier!"
The old man raised a magical barrier between him and the paralyzed Lord Knight, and the wall rendered Chung's Shooting Bind useless. With that, he turned around and pushed the cart with all of his might.
"Overdrive!"
The spell caused The Doctor's legs to glow yellow, and it allowed him to move at an almost inhuman speed.
"No!"
"Chung, get him before he gets away!"
The Deadly Chaser sprinted for all he was worth. He braced his arms in front of his face as he neared the barrier. He jumped through the magical wall and it shattered like glass. But immediately it repaired itself, separating Chung from Elsword, who was kneeling frozen on the ground.
"Last package! See you boys!" The Doctor laughed.
His legs screamed in pain as he ran, but Chung kept pushing on to the end of the pier. He raised his Silver Shooter and focused hard as he aimed down sight.
"Bullet Blitz!"
The magical bullet flew into the boat and tormented The Doctor just as he was about to start the engine. After it disappeared, The Doctor again reached for the gear stick.
"Stun Shot!"
The bullet hit The Doctor right on the spine, disabling his movement. Finally Chung reached the boat, and tackled the old man, pinning him to the deck. Chung produced a slender knife from his cloak, and held it to the man's throat. But The Doctor just smiled and closed his eyes, letting quiet laughs escape his lips.
"What's so funny?"
"This."
A detonator. Chung's eyes widened when he heard that horrible click.
Then all of a sudden, a heavenly light enshrouded them, lighting up the night and turning it into day as the moon and stars were setting. For just a brief moment, the world around them seemed so wondrous and calm and peaceful.
Until Chung heard the explosion milliseconds afterwards. The blast blew his eardrums out and knocked him onto the ground, sending the knife flying from his hands. Through it all, Chung still heard The Doctor's maniacal cackles as the world around them burned.
"Hahahaha! Now you and I are going to die!"
It would take a while for Chung's body to regain its strength, so he just let the man laugh away. It would be his last. After he could feel his muscles again, Chung got up and ran back into the flames.
"What!? Are you insane? Hahahahaha!"
As Chung got closer, he saw the clouds of green gas flooding the hallway. And he saw Elsword. He was scratching futilely at the barrier, bloody tears flowing down his cheeks and white foam around his mouth. Elsword's chest heaved up and down violently at irregular rates. His insides burned and his flesh rotted as Manticore ate him alive from the inside out. And soon he stopped struggling, and his hollow body slid down slowly against the barrier, never to arise again.
Chung dropped to his knees at the sight. He'd just lost a brother he'd known all his life. Now all of a sudden, all the strength he'd mustered had turned into nothing. And though the building was burning, Chung felt the cold feeling of loss creeping on his shoulders and down his back like an infection,
But Manticore provided no time to mourn. The green cloud burst through the barrier, as if it was vying to inhabit Chung's body. Snapping to his senses, Chung ran for his life. Silent explosions happened all around him as the flames grew bigger and bigger. But to his fortune, he noticed a gas mask hanging on the wall to his left. He swooped it with his hand and put it on as he ran. He began hearing The Doctor's maddening cackles again, and Chung grabbed the old man and threw him in the way of the oncoming cloud. The cloud leaped on him like some malicious living thing, consuming his flesh and leaving him laughing as he rotted away, felled by his own creation.
The boat sprang to life when Chung pulled back the gear stick. He floored the gas pedal, and sped away into the moonset, having narrowly escaped a horrible death.
A few hours later the next morning, all Elrios had been buzzing about the Gas Attack on Ruben. On the Elevision, graphic images of children breathing erratically, men laying on the ground as disease squeezed the life out of them, sirens and screams flaring all about in the chaos and confusion. Ruben, now known as Ground Zero, would never be the same. All Elrios would never be the same after that tragic day.
Chung watched these images from his hospital bed. Fortunately, he had been rescued and brought back to Hamel for recovery. Nevertheless, regret pulled his soul down to the depths, the image of his dying friend clawing at the barrier burned into his mind forever. Soon after, the acrid voice in his head opened its mouth and let out its horrendous voice.
You failed to save him. You couldn't even protect one person.
With that, the once mighty Deadly Chaser caved in on himself, burying his face in his lap and wishing the day would fade away. And surely he knew, those people—the children breathing erratically, the men dying on the ground from chemical poisoning, and those mourning lost loved ones—wished the day would fade as well.
— End —
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