The beast slowly lumbered towards them, seemingly savoring every moment of its advance. This gave Maria and her knights more than enough time to prepare a plan of attack.

"Surround it! Target its limbs!" her men proceeded to run off to do just that, leading their foe to claw at them as they got close. Doing so left its back exposed to Maria, prompting her to charge forward and attempt to cut off its leg, managing to strike the limb, but failing to pierce its bone.

The beast roared in pain and turned to slash at her, forcing her back. As she recovered, she noticed that a thick, sludge-like residue had been left on her sword, which she could tell right away wasn't blood. She didn't have time to dwell on this, however, as the beast lunged towards her, forcing her to move to the side in order to avoid it, which unfortunately allowed the beast to escape their encirclement and allowed it to go back on the offensive.

Running back towards Maria, it stood up on its hind legs and attempted to grab her, bringing its jaws down at the same time, both of which she managed to evade. The beast quickly adapted to this and attempted to slash at her; however, it took a fair amount of time to wind up its swing and when it finally did, Maria was able to dash forward and dodge underneath its arm. Before it could recover from its attack, she quickly turned on her heel, combined her two weapons and drove her blade into its undefended side. As it roared in pain, Maria pulled out her Rakuyo and followed up with an additional upward slash, striking with enough force to knock the creature on its back.

The beast quickly got back on its feet and scurried away as Maria chased after it, causing her to miss her attack. Her men then ran up to join her, but before they could run past her, she put a hand to the side to stop them, choosing instead to determine what the beast was planning. Right now, it was slowly pacing the side, never once taking its eyes off them. Just as it seemed it would not attack again, it let out another furious roar, causing an eruption of that strange substance to erupt from its body.

Soon, the beast was upon them again, wildly slashing at them and leaving a trail of its mysterious fluid with each movement. As the knights split their line in two in order to avoid its onslaught, Maria saw a small puddle of the substance nearby and in that moment, managed to deduce what it was.

"Poison," she uttered to herself, remembering the sample she'd seen Gehrman collecting earlier that night.

In something of a panic, she quickly looked to her men, who had already launched a counterattack. "Be careful! Don't let it touch you!" she called out as she rushed to join them.

"You don't need to tell us twice!" Emil called back just as the beast set its sights on him.

"Emil, watch out!" she cried, but it was too late. The beast had already leapt towards him, its arms stretched out ready to grab him.

BANG!

A bullet suddenly hit the creature mid-flight, causing it to lose its momentum and crash to the floor. Emil moved out of its way just in time and turned towards the source of the shot, prompting Maria to do the same. At the doorway stood Matthias, still holding his Evelyn: Harald stood just behind him.

"Started without me, I see? I'm hurt."

Maria experienced a moment of relief before she heard the beast rising back to its feet, growling in anger. This time however, Emil was able to turn back in time before it caught him by surprise, avoiding its careless slash.

"Not this time, fiend!" he cried as he prepared to attack it.

"Emil, to me! Now!" Maria called out to him, stopping him in his tracks. After a moment's hesitation, he retreated, leaving the beast to chase after him.

Despite its speed, Emil's head start allowed him to outrun it and rejoin the rest of them before it could catch up.

"What're we dealing with here, captain?" Matthias asked.

"Look closely. You see that substance coming out of its body? It's poison. Don't let it so much as graze you."

Almost the moment she finished speaking, the beast caught up with them, mindlessly slashing as it approached. However, Maria remained calm and waited for it to come closer.

"Now!" she cried as it performed what looked to be its final slash, after which her company once again split up and moved to encircle it. "Move in! Cut it down, quickly!"

The beast found itself assailed from all sides, leaving it unable to counterattack as it was cut, stabbed and shot again and again. Yet despite the advantage they now enjoyed, Maria nor any of her knights were able to deliver that decisive blow, wary as they were of the poison that flew every time their blades hit their mark.

Eventually, the beast stopped trying to defend itself and instead seemed to buckle under the pressure of their continuous attacks. However, Maria noticed that its poisonous substance was still oozing out of its body; in fact, it seemed to be being produced at a much more rapid rate. Her men must've noticed this too, for they ceased their attacks and backed off to avoid the continuous stream of poison.

That is, everyone except Emil.

"Enough of this!" he called out impatiently, running towards the seemingly helpless beast.

"Emil, no!" Maria cried as she ran to stop him, just as the beast stood up on its hind legs and unleashed an ear-splitting roar, sending a burst of poison out all around it.

The force of the attack was enough to knock each of the knights off their feet, landing hard on their backs. Disoriented, Maria could just make out the image of the beast quickly charging towards her. She tried in vain to stand up before it reached her, only for it to leap forward and pin her to the ground with its claws.

The force of the impact knocked Maria's weapons from her hands, but in the split second the beast descended on her neck, she was able to grab onto its face with her hands, causing its jaws to snap on empty air. Using all of the strength she could muster, she struggled to hold back the beast, who kept on pushing and biting at her as poison seeped from its jaws.

"Captain!'' A few seconds later, a barrage of bullets hit the beast in the shoulders, causing it to let go of her shoulders and giving her the chance to push it off her with one forceful motion. After regaining its balance, it attempted to charge again, only for Emil to suddenly run up in front of her and block its path, holding his blade out in front of him.

"You won't touch her again," he declared, a clear anger in his words. A tense moment passed before the beast ran forward once again, but rather than waiting, Emil charged to meet it head on, swinging his sword and hitting its limb before it could even raise its claw.

"Emil!" Maria attempted to stand in order to retrieve her weapon, intent on aiding him. Yet almost the moment she started moving, a sudden rush of fatigue caused her to stumble back to her knees.

"Captain!" it was Matthias who called out this time, running up beside her. "Captain, are you alright?"

Instead of replying, Maria set her sights on Emil, who was still locked in combat with the beast, weaving around the beasts increasingly careless, yet still rapid slashes. Yet with every passing second, she could see his guard was gradually faltering, as if his opponent's very presence was draining his strength. She had felt something similar when it had her pinned down, which she now realized was the result of the constant stream of poison coming out of the creature's body. And very soon, its potency took its toll.

A sharp cry of pain rang through the room as the beast's claws connected with Emil's flesh, leaving three large scratches across his chest.

"No!" Matthias cried, rushing forward only to be held back by Maria. Them coming to his aid only put them at risk of being poisoned as well.

Maria then stood to her feet. "Emil, fall back!" she ordered just as he was once again forced to avoid the beast's attack, stumbling as he did. However, instead of doing as she commanded, Emil only spared her a brief glance before turning right back to his opponent, a fierce determination in his eyes.

"Come on!" he shouted at the beast, which snarled in response to his challenge.

Realizing what he was doing, Maria rushed to retrieve her weapon just as the two combatants charged at each-other. Before she was even able to reach it, Emil thrust his sword forward with a roar, not even bothering to avoid the beast's incoming slash.

At that moment, the room fell silent. Maria came to a stop and looked on in shock at the sight before her. The beast's claws had managed to pierce Emil's side, yet despite this, he managed to stand upright holding his sword, which was now impaled in the creature's mouth.

"You want blood, you disgusting monster?" the sound of a chamber being loaded could be heard. "Choke on your own."

Emil then fired a shot from his weapon's attached firearm, blowing a hole in the back of the beast's head and sending it careening over onto its back. After a few seconds, its body went completely still, though its poison continued to seep out of its gaping wound out onto the floor.

Maria and the rest of her men stood in shocked silence as Emil stood bloodied and exhausted before them, breathing heavily as he turned to look in their direction.

"See? No issue at…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, he stumbled and collapsed to his knees, using his sword to keep himself from falling outright. Seeing this, Maria immediately ran to his side, catching him just as his grip on his sword failed.

"C…captain…" he weakly uttered.

"Be still. You've done enough," she said as she set about helping him up.

As she lifted him up, the rest of her men ran over to gather around them. "Emil, you bloody fool," Matthias said as he knelt down on the opposite side, helping her with his weight. "What were you thinking?"

"Enough!" Maria then looked to Emil, who by now was struggling to even lift up his head.

"Emil, can you hear me? We're going to get you help. Just hold on." As much as she tried to seem calm for his sake, she couldn't stop her worry from seeping into her words. It was clear that the poison had taken effect and that its potency was increasing rapidly. If they had any hope of saving him, they had to get him to safety now.

Without another word needing to be said, she and Matthias worked together to carry him back the way they came, with the rest of her men either following suit or rushing ahead to prepare the lift that would take them up. Along the way, Emil seemed unable to even move his legs, with the only indication that he was still alive being a series of quiet groans.

"Hang in there, my friend," Matthias said as they practically dragged him toward the lift.

"Lady Maria…" Emil suddenly muttered. "I'm sorry…I have failed you…"

"It's okay, it's okay. Everything will be alright, I promise." Maria said in the hopes of soothing him, even as panic took hold of her.

As the lift came to a stop, she used her other arm to lift him up by his legs, surprising Matthias in the process. "Go! Warn Professor Laurence – tell him we need medical attention immediately!" she ordered him, who seemed rather taken aback by her urgency. Nevertheless, he complied and without another word, rushed ahead of them, with Maria attempting to go as fast as she could with Emil in her arms.

….

Back at the camp, Laurence found himself impatiently pacing back and forth, periodically glancing towards the passageway from where they came. Each time, he saw nothing, prompting him to resume his pacing.

"You really should relax, Master Laurence," said Gehrman, who was sitting nearby.

"Perhaps, but…they've been gone a long time." Laurence said with a sigh.

"I doubt that it has even been ten minutes since we saw them last," he rightfully pointed out.

Laurence turned his eyes back towards the gate. "A lot can happen in that time…especially here." he said. For all they knew, Maria and her knights had encountered a foe they could not overcome.

"You're worried."

It was Micolash who spoke this time, drawing Laurence's attention to him. "Is it so wrong that I am?" he asked.

"No." Micolash then stood up. "No, I suppose it's not, not after all you've done to curry their favor."

Admittedly, Laurence had not been prepared for such an accusation. "And what would you have me do? Purposefully alienate them?" he demanded.

"For one, I would have you see them as they are – agents of a power that wishes to ensure we do not dig too deep. They are not our allies and never will be."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Laurence retorted.

"It is becoming difficult to tell." Despite the simplicity of Micolash's statement, they came with a clear connotation, one that both shocked and angered him.

"Be that as it may, know that I have no illusions to the contrary." He said, keeping himself to rising to his provocation. "But whether we like it or not, they are the only thing standing between us and certain doom. If we are to have any hope of survival, we need to keep them in our good graces or else those beasts will be the least of our worries."

Throughout all of this, the eyes of their fellow scholars remained squarely on them, no-one else daring to say a word. Laurence had known that disagreement would inevitably arise on how they would conduct their research and that said disagreement would inevitably come from Micolash. The two of them obviously didn't see eye to eye on many things, but that was to be expected – they were men of learning, after all.

Micolash appeared prepared to continue their confrontation. "If you are so sure, then…"

"Professor! Professor Laurence!" someone cried, causing them to turn toward the source of the noise. Running towards them was Matthias, his expression worn and desperate. "Please, we need your help. Emil, he's been…"

"Calm yourself." Laurence said to him. "What happened? Where is the rest of your company?"

"They're making their way here as we speak, but one of us has been wounded – badly." Matthias explained once he regained some of his composure.

"Say no more." Laurence said before he hurried over to the part of the camp they had reserved for the wounded. "Amelia, with me!" he called out as he walked, prompting his student to run to join him, with Matthias following close behind.

Laurence barely had time to put on his gloves before the rest of the knights had made their way into the hall, with Lady Maria at the forefront. Even from a distance, Laurence could see that she was carrying one of her men in her arms, whose body seemed almost limp.

"Set him down here," he instructed as she got close, helping her lower the wounded knight onto a bundle of blankets and rest his head on a. The knight in question was indeed Emil, whose garb had been torn and stained by blood from wounds on his chest and side; additionally, his face was coated in a thick layer of sweat and his breathing was labored.

"What happened to him?" Laurence asked his captain.

"A beast, unlike any we've ever seen. He managed to slay it, but I fear it managed to poison him before its demise." The worry in Maria's voice was evident as she explained what had occurred, with the rest of her men gathering around them.

"How was this poison instilled?" "His wounds would be the main source, but I have reason to believe he also ingested it either orally or through his skin – I do not know for certain."

Laurence looked down at Emil, who was evidently struggling to stay conscious. "Is there anything you can do?" Lady Maria then asked him and as Laurence looked back to her, he could see the desperation in her eyes.

"Wait here," he said before standing up and turning to Amelia. "Remove as much of his garb as you can and make sure he gets water. I'll be back."

As Amelia began her task, Laurence rushed off to retrieve the metallic medicine chest he had prepared for their exhibition. The number of supplies packed away inside was limited, containing little more than the bare essentials like bandages, pliers and scissors, as well as an assortment of medicines that covered most common ailments. However, he had been advised by Gehrman to specifically prepare something that would help counteract poison, which they thankfully happened to possess.

After searching through his chest for a few seconds, Laurence finally managed to dig out a small brown pouch, which he proceeded to carry back to the wounded knight along with a set of bandages. Amelia was in the process of trying to get Emil to drink from a canteen of water, who struggled to even keep the liquid in his mouth. Seeing Laurence approaching, his student moved to the side to allow him to kneel down beside him, after which he quickly unfolded the pouch and revealed its contents – a collection of small, white tablets.

"Emil, if you can hear me, I have something that should help you, but you're going to need to swallow it," he told the wounded knight.

"It's too late…" Emil managed to utter.

"Nonsense," said Laurence. "Now, open wide."

As he held out two of the tablets, Emil eventually opened his mouth, allowing him to place them in his mouth. Afterwards, Laurence took the canteen that Amelia had been using and poured a little bit of its contents into his mouth in order to help him swallow the tablets, which he managed to do, albeit with noticeable difficulty.

Before he did anything else, he looked at Lady Maria, who had not left Emil's side. "Were any more of your men exposed to the poison?" he asked her.

"It is possible, but I do not know for certain," she replied. Regardless of this, Laurence handed her the rest of the tablets.

"Take these and distribute one to each of them. If they were, it should neutralize it before it takes effect," he instructed.

At first, she seemed reluctant, but she ultimately took the tablets from him. "Yes, of course," she said as she stood to her feet and went about her task. The truth was, Laurence really didn't know if the tablets would help at all; they were used primarily to treat arsenic poisoning and it wasn't certain whether they could be used to combat natural poisons, especially one that was produced by such a mysterious creature. But it gave Lady Maria something to focus on while he worked, which was exactly what was needed at that moment.

Without another moment of delay, Laurence set about trying to clean Emil's wounds with water. "Did any of it get in your eyes?" he asked, but there was no response. Laurence could see Emil's chest was still slowly moving up and down, which indicated that he was still alive, but it was obvious that every breath was taking up more and more of his strength.

"Emil, can you hear me?" Laurence asked again and soon, he saw Emil's lips curl into a smile.

"Aye, I can hear you," he replied, his voice still weak and raspy.

"Good. Now, let me ask again, did any…" "Oh, give it a rest, will you? We both know you're wasting your time with me." Emil suddenly interrupted him and as much as Laurence wanted to argue with him, to tell him everything would be okay, he knew he was right.

The knight weakly turned his head to the side. "Lady Maria…where is she?" Being just a few steps away, Emil's captain was able to hear him say this and promptly made her way back to his side.

"Don't worry, Emil. I'm here," she said in a gentle voice, unlike any he'd heard from her before.

"I know," he said. "I know."

"You're going to be okay. You just need to rest," said Lady Maria, only for Emil to start quietly laughing.

"Do you really believe that?" Upon hearing him say this, her smile faded and for the next few seconds, she did not say anything. "That's what I thought," Emil then said.

Laurence continued to look on in silence as Emil took Lady Maria's hand, who was momentarily broken from her melancholy stare. "Captain…Maria, listen to me. Fighting by your side – it was truly an honor," he said.

Lady Maria clutched his hand tighter. "Don't say that. We're going to get you out of here." Though she kept her voice low, she sounded exceedingly desperate.

"It's okay, my lady. This is my purpose." He paused for a moment, with his only sound being the sound of his breath, which was growing fainter by the second. "Yes…my purpose. I used to have nothing – used to be nothing, until you found me. And for that, I would gladly give my life, for I owe you mine." Despite the somber look on his captain's face, Emil continued to smile at her.

"Thank you, my dear lady…Maria…"

As he spoke these words, his eyes never left hers and even after he finished and a bleak silence settled over the hall, Emil kept staring blankly at his captain, who continued to hold onto his hand.

"Emil?," she whispered when he didn't say anything more. Putting a finger to Emil's neck, Laurence checked for a pulse; after waiting for a few seconds, he looked over to Lady Maria and solemnly shook his head.

Without letting go of his hand, she looked down at her fallen knight, whose lifeless expression still retained traces of the warm smile he'd maintained while speaking to her. After a few moments of inaction, Lady Maria closed Emil's eyes with her fingers and put his limp hand to his chest before bowing her head in silent mourning.

Soon after, the rest of her company started to gather around her, looking down at their comrade with shock and soon, similar grief. Seeing this, Laurence finally decided to take his leave, standing up and silently walking away, with Amelia doing the same. The rest of the scholars had taken notice of what was happening and had started making their way over to them, only to stop when they saw Laurence approaching.

"Laurence, what's happened?," asked Lobsang. Without saying a word, he looked back to the mourning knights, some of which had joined their captain in kneeling beside Emil's lifeless body, with Matthias in particular placing a comforting hand on Lady Maria's shoulder.

"What do we do now?" Amelia soon asked him, leaving him to ponder his answer.

"Leave them be for now," he instructed. "We will decide our next course of action later."

With that, he continued on his way, leaving the rest of his scholars to look on at the gathered knights. Returning to his medicine chest, Laurence somberly packed away his tools, most of which had gone unused. After closing the lid, he spared one more glance in the direction of the knights, seeing that of his scholars, only Gehrman still observed them. At first, it seemed like he wanted to go and join the knights, perhaps in order to console them; eventually, he too decided to leave them alone and walked off.

Thus, Laurence was left to ponder what he would do next – what they would do next. But before the future of this exhibition could be decided, Lady Maria and her company needed time to grieve…and to make a decision of their own.

...