Author's note: So, I am really overwhelmed by the love and support from all the commenters here and on Ao3 and I honestly thank you so much. In fact, you all gave me so much passion and enthusiasm for this story, I am actually working on chapter 8 already. Thank you so much for reading this, and sharing your thoughts.
(Note: yes, the reveal of Frankenstein's whereabouts is part of the content that has been written already)
Putting this out there: there is a discord group for Noblesse, and feel free to pm me if you are interested in joining the party pit!

Ignes I – Werewolf Island, 24th October, 23:36

None of this was supposed to happen. Muzaka should have come alone, and while the Lord was distracted with his old nemesis, Ignes could have made a quiet departure. By the time Maduke would notice she went missing, she would be long gone and out of reach. Now, however, she was stuck amid the other werewolf warriors, and the heartbreaking, blood-freezing sound of the Noblesse's screams of despair still rang in her head like sirens when the noble Lord uttered her challenge. One Lord against another, but the scales were tilted.

"Do you regret coming here, now, all of a sudden, Lord?" Maduke spat the word as though it was an insult. "This is nothing less but a declaration of war, to come here, in person! Did you truly believe that allying with the banished Lord and the traitor warriors would give you the right to invade our lands?"
Raskreia's face was unmoving despite the pressure of the situation. The Clan Leaders had started gathered behind and around Ser Raizel, while the warriors retreated behind their Lord.
"Why so silent, Lord?" His smile was nothing but a taunt, voice gentler than befitted his riled-up spirits. "Are you realizing that coming here was a mistake?"
"I challenged you, Lord, to a battle of power, not a battle of wits," she stated blandly. "Face me, in the name of the nobles killed by your warriors – and just as I will spare your warriors if you are defeated, allow these nobles to retreat if you defeat me."
Maduke chuckled. "... of course. The people should not have to suffer for the foolishness of their Lord. Very well. I accept your challenge, Lord Raskreia."
Ignes has seen his smile before. He had no intentions of letting anyone leave alive. Raskreia turned towards her clan leaders, crimson eyes focused on Ser Raizel. "Cadis Etrama di Raizel. If I fail, you must lead our people to safety."

Some of the younger warriors around her murmured in amazement as they watched their Lord transform into his battle form, blue light almost blinding their eyes. This was a whole other kind of power than the warriors had received. The power of a Lord. Their duel was unfair, Ignes realized that within moments of their clash. Ragnarok was not meant to focus its power on a single target, and to use it as sword... meant getting within melee range. Everyone knew only a fool would confront a werewolf head on in close combat. Something about the sight made her feel sick. What was a young, exhausted Lord against an ancient Lord who had barely used any of his power yet?

The clan leaders were a restless mess. Familiar faces. She could see Rael, along with the Loyard and Landegre children. This place would become their cold grave. She vaguely remembered Karias and Rosaria, too. The grey-haired man must be the leader of the Ru clan. And... the Noblesse. He was a mess. A bloody, broken mess that made her want to cry despite her hatred.
A look towards the warriors on their side. She saw amazement, she saw anger. Mirai was in the back, weeping for her sister. They all had lost comrades today, but none as close as a sister. More importantly... they still outnumbered the nobles, despite the losses, and their superior regeneration only worked in their favour. Was this good for her? Ignes could not tell. All she knew was – if Maduke won this fight, this world would belong to him. Why did this thought fill her with unease and fear?

Biting at the nail of her index finger, she turned her attention back to the fighting Lords. Would Maduke be able to get past Raskreia's defenses? Would she be able to injure him faster than he could heal? No, but a victory of the noble Lord would be equally as bad. Raskreia might be willing to spare the werewolf warriors (and Ignes was willing to believe her in that) but her own fate... was nowhere as certain as theirs.
Before Ignes could turn around, away from the duel, she felt a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place. "Are you thinking of running?" Zaiga's voice was near her ear and tickled her neck. "I know what happened down in the labs," he whispered. "Don't do anything stupid. You can still be of use to our people." He dropped his hand and pulled away. Ignes felt cold, sick to the stomach. No, that's why … She could not stay here. But a duel must always end somehow. One would win, one would lose. Unless... It was not too late to cause the kind of chaos that would allow her to leave unnoticed. She was not ready to die, but there was no way she was going to just stay here.

The nobles... She could see Rosaria and Karias struggling to keep the Ru Leader from interfering with the duel. Of course – if one of the clan leaders attacked first... the warriors would have the right to come in aid of their Lord. In that case, they would be outnumbered and... most likely... overwhelmed. She should not care. Just months ago, she'd fought three of these people and meant to use them as Test Subjects. Something must happen and her own hands were tied. The nobles obeyed their Lord, though. Would they interfere in time? Would they interfere at all? The warriors were no better, restless, distraught by the idea of letting the invaders get away just like that, most likely. They did not doubt their Lord.

"You're better than I thought, young Lord," Maduke scoffed, leaping back to get some distance between himself and Ragnarok. Though Raskreia had, as Ignes feared, not managed to pass his regeneration... he had not broken her defenses just yet. A deep growl rumbled through his chest, and the power of his aura electrified the air. He was transforming again, growing in size and mass, his energy changing.
"Is the Lord...?" - "He's transforming again!" - "How amazing!" - "Our Lord is so powerful!"
Oh no. He would win and she would lose. Maduke's animalistic roar made her shudder. It sounded more like a beast than a man. Abruptly, Ignes turned towards Mirai, and crouched down next to her. "Look at that. The Lord is going to win," Ignes said, and Juraki, stood nearby, cast a suspicious glance at her. "And he is going to let these people go... Can you believe it? He's so merciful!"
Biting back a sob, Mirai grit her teeth.
"I probably could not bear that. I couldn't let the people who killed my comrades go just like that," Ignes continued.
"It's not right!", Mirai sobbed. "We did nothing wrong and they had no right to come here in the first place!"
"She's right!", Dorant agreed, approaching them from the backrow. He was on edge, semi-transformed. He, too, must have lost more than one comrade already. "Why are we letting them go if they attacked us first and started killing our comrades?!"
"And you just let them do?", Ignes asked softly, her voice coming out a friendly purr. She had their attention now – she must not lose it, or else she was in even more trouble. Now she must finish what she tried to start.
"What you are talking about is nothing less than treason," Juraki finally interrupted before Mirai could answer Ignes' rhetorical question.
"Not if everyone does it," Ignes stated bluntly. If everyone broke the Lord's order... would he execute them all? She glanced around the warriors whose attention she had gained. "If any of you decides that justice must be served..." She reached into the depths of her inner seas and summoned forth Leviathan, her cherished soul weapon. "You have my support."

As if the word 'treason' ever had stopped Ignes. Her words had taken root – they had reignited Mirai's will to fight. The green-haired warrior got up. "She's right. Are we going to just let them get away with this?!"
The warriors would not follow a noble, a foreigner in their lands, but one of their own? Ignes had set the fire and now she could watch it all go out in flames as Mirai released a bolt of concentrated aural energy at the nobles. The Lords briefly halted in their movements, taken off guard by the sudden eruption of battles around them. Ignes glanced at Zaiga, who remained stood where he was for now. His yellow eyes were fixated on her – and they both knew she did not intend to suffer the consequences for inciting these fights.

Maduke used the moment of distraction to attack the Noble Lord from the side. Their warriors and clan leaders refusing to stay put did not mean the end of their duel.
Ignes was left alone. Now that the damage was done, the warriors had no choice but to come to the support of their more hot-headed comrades. This was the perfect opportunity to run. Then why did her legs refuse to move? Ser Raizel. He was there, just a dozen yards away from her. Now or never. If she left now... Her father would never rest in peace if she failed to take vengeance now. Weakened by the destruction of Titan and the losses he just had gone through, he was easy prey. She must finish him – she must do it and she could not let one of the warriors get in her way. Maduke was right. Today was the day of her vengeance and she would savour it. Far away from here, preferably.

Ignes crossed the distance past the different fights that had erupted to approach the Noblesse. "Ser Raizel. We still have unfinished business." She forced her voice to remain steady. Leviathan manifested in her hand. Her only companion, her only solace.
The Noblesse looked tired, so incredibly tired. His crimson eyes met hers. "You did it, did you not?", he asked.
"A bonded for a bonded," she spat, voice trembling. Father... Her Bonded... the only person she had ever loved. Gone. Because of him. He was... truly despicable. Even now, he barely paid attention to her – he stared past her, fixated on the duel of Lords. "Pay attention to the enemy in front of you!", Ignes yelled, and Raizel weakly deflected her whiplash. His passiveness frightened her. This... this must be the last of his strength. Was he... was he saving it? Something about this thought made her sick. Was she not worth the blood it would take to destroy her? Was Raizel not thorough in his killing sprees?

"Ignes." His dead eyes met hers. "Leave, and pray no one will ever find you."
She staggered back, surprised by his words. He was... telling her to leave? But of course. He must be holding back to save strength for the werewolf Lord. He... Ignes snorted, but it came out as chocked sob. "You really are... Come on. Murder me. Murder me, like you murdered my father!" She took an angry step towards him, and he did not recoil. She did not dare coming closer. "You hear that? MURDER ME... LIKE . YOU . MURDERED . MY . FATHER !"
Raizel's eyes held nothing but sadness when he summoned forth a single wing of crimson blood. Sorrow, sadness, regret. She felt sick. "Defend yourself, Ignes Kravei."

Their fight was but a joke – he hardly attacked, let her push him into the defensive, and she, in turn, like a weak coward, did not have the heart to unleash her wrath on someone who could barely maintain their posture. This was no battle. There was no honour in this, no glory, nothing. If she killed him now, this would be but a foul, spineless murder. Why did she care?
"Ser Raizel," she whispered, closing the distance between them. His eyes were empty, as if his life was bleeding out of him with each passing breath. This void in his eyes... was the void she'd felt herself. How could she...? She couldn't.

"A bonded for a bonded, Ser Raizel. Please, retreat, and take the Nobles with you."

Raskreia II – Werewolf Island, 24th October, 23:57

Was she still not strong enough? Once more, the fate of the Nobles was on the sword's edge. This time, the Noblesse and his bonded were not here to fight her battles. She was Erga Kenesis di Raskreia, the Lord, and she was losing. Protecting Raizel from the abomination had cost much of her strength while the werewolf Lord had barely tapped into the extent of his power so far.
A confrontation with the werewolves had been inevitable for more than just a while now and she'd hesitated for too long. Once more, her inability to decide in time would cost her people dearly.

For a brief moment, her attention was drawn by the shrill voice of the traitor clan leader who'd joined Maduke. Raizel was fighting again – now, of all times, when he must preserve what little power he had left. "Can you really afford to pay attention to something else?", the Werewolf snarled, lunging at her with claws at the ready. Using the blunt edge of Ragnarok, Raskreia deflected the blow, dodging underneath the large arm of the transformed beast.

Before he could pull away, she countered, and thrust Ragnarok forward, angling it up through his ribcage. Grabbing the hilt with her second hand to stabilize her grip, she twisted the sword back to recoil before he could counter. His claws missed her abdomen by narrow as he retaliated with a roar of rage. This was an exercise in futility – someone like Rosaria or Rael might be able to deliver sufficiently devastating or rapid attacks, but she did not.

"You should surrender, Lord," he taunted with a snarl as he unleashed his aura in a forceful blast that sent her reeling for a second. Before he could seize the opportunity to deliver a fatal attack, Raskreia was thrown back by massive soul energy crashing into the ground right between her and the werewolf Lord. For a few seconds, she saw nothing but black scales. Ignes had abandoned her fight with Raizel... to what end? Before she could find out, Maduke turned on his ally with a bestial growl. His claws pierced Ignes' abdomen, drawing a shrill screech of pain and shock from her, and lifted her off the ground. Red blood soaked the brown fur of his arms. "Watch where you're aiming!", he snapped and hurled her away. Ignes collapsed on the ground almost five yards away from them.

Though Raskreia barely even understood what just happened, this interruption was a much needed one. With a breathless huff, she dared glancing around to assess the situation. The Clan Leaders were getting overwhelmed. The two modified humans helped Raizel defend himself against a green-haired female warrior.
For a second, even the Lord was distracted – and instead of seizing the opportunity to land an attack of surprise, she turned her head as well. Raskreia could hear her own heart beating. Her clan leaders were losing. Rael was overwhelmed, despite his superior speed, by the amount of enemies he was facing. His wounds were deep. Kei was caught between two enraged warriors. They were all going to die. She would fail to stop the Lord before his warriors got the upper hand and then the entire noble race would be doomed because of her mistake.

This was her fault, and though her heart broke, she must do her duty.

Raskreia took a deep breath and deflected a blow of aural energy from the werewolf Lord before thrusting Ragnarok's tip into the ground beneath her feet and lowering herself down on one knee. Breathlessly, her forehead sank against the hilt of the sword.
"I surrender!"

For a few moments, a dead silence settled over the battlefield. All eyes on her, the failed Lord, kneeling before another. This was a Lord's duty: to swallow her pride to save her people instead.

Author's note 2: a shoutout to the discord group and the commenters. Originally, I meant to kill off Kei Ru or Rael in this chapter, but everyone seems so shaken by the amount of angst here that I decided to... spare him. Hah. Comments save lives! (yes, I do, in fact, make adjustments to my stories based on the feedback I receive)