Volume II: Unforgiving Kingdom
Chapter VI: Execution Dawn (Part II)
Location: Imperial Execution Yard, 17th Floor, Goldenia
"What in the hell was that?!"
Monika's execution by gallows was formerly underway. The trap door opened, and the former Lieutenant was dangling in the air as the life was being choked out of her. However, out of nowhere a giant, metal arrow flew into the execution yard and into the gallows, destroying them and freeing Monika in the process. As of now, the woman was on the ground trying to recover her breath as the noose loosened. Ragna was just as confused as the others and was looking around for the source of the arrow. Alexiel and the soldiers in the execution yard were all on guard and looking around everywhere.
"Where did that come from?!" Alexiel asked. "Guards!"
"I don't see anything, Prime Minister!" A female soldier responded. "That thing just came out of the damn sky or something!"
"There must be an intruder in the area!" A second female soldier commented.
"Do you think it could be the same assassin?" A male soldier asked. "They have to be here some-"
The male soldier was cut off and screamed loudly as an arrow pierce through his armor from behind. An electric shock went through his body, eventually causing him to fall backwards and lay on the ground unconscious. Everyone else looked up in the direction that the arrow came from. Immediately, everyone was surprised as they laid eyes on the person responsible for the arrow.
"Who in the?!" A female soldier questioned.
"What the hell?!" Alexiel exclaimed.
"That's..." A male soldier said in surprise.
"You?!" Ragna said in surprise.
"Wha. . . . F-Feena." Monika responded quietly.
Seeing her on top of a wall, everyone looked to see that it was in fact Feena. The woman in question, instead of her standard clothing, was dressed in more armored outfit on top that left her mid section exposed. She continued to wear her brown cargo shorts with a gold belt wrapped around them, holding them up. Her old hat had been replaced with a smaller one that contained goggles on the top of it, and still had the same blue feathers from her old hat as well. She was armed with her crossbow that she tied to her left arm, with several dozen arrows at the ready in her quiver. On her waist she had a standard knight's sword inside of its sheath. As she hopped off of the wall, she pulled out a pickaxe she had on her and struck the wall with it, allowing it to stick into the wall and helped her slide down safely. As she reached the bottom of the wall, she left go of the pickaxe and stood on her feet, facing everyone before her.
"H-Hey. . . Everyone. . ." She said nervously, holding her left arm. "How's it. . . . going. . .?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ragna immediately asked.
"And where the hell did you get all of that?!" Alexiel also asked.
"Okay, so... maybe..." Feena started to say. "Maybe I... stopped by the armory before coming here too..."
"Was that you who fired that metal arrow?" One of the female soldiers asked.
"I also borrowed one of the mobile ballistas while I was there."
"So all of this was because of you?" Alexiel asked again. She then sighed. "I never should've had pity on you."
Alexiel snaps her fingers, in which the four remaining soldiers al held out their swords and rushed at Feena. In response she moved back and grabbed the pickaxe from out of the wall. She then threw it in a boomerang fashion, causing the stick end of the pickaxe to strike them each on the head as it spun around them before ending back up in Feena's hand. As the four soldiers were all knocked down, they started picking themselves up off the ground. However as soon as they did so, Feena armed herself with four of her electric arrows and fired them, striking and electrocuting all four of them into unconsciousness. She then armed with two normal arrows, firing in Monika's direction. Instead of hitting the girl however, they struck the noose around her neck, cutting it off, and the ropes around her hands, freeing them as well. Monika gasped as she was able to catch her breath fully, and immediately grabbed one of the fired arrows, and started cutting through the ropes around her feet. While she was doing so, Feena armed one more arrow that had a small explosive tied to it. Firing it, the explosive went live and upon contact with another wall, everyone shielded their faces as a giant hole was blown into the wall.
"Monika! Ragna!" Feena yelled out. "That's your exit! Now get out here! And hurry up! The rest of that wall's gonna fall and block the entrance! Go dammit!"
"Hold it!" Alexiel exclaimed as she drew her zweihander. "Like hell I'm letting you leave out of here!"
"Shove it your own ass, bitch!"
Alexiel looked to her right and was met with Ragna headbutting her, stunning her. The redhead groaned in pain, dropping her blade as she held her head in her hands. While she did so, Monika managed to finish cutting herself free and stood back up.
"Feena wait!" She yelled out. "What are you gonna do?!"
"I'll keep these guys busy for you. Just get out of here! Don't worry about me!" Feena answered. "Check the armory! I saw your swords in there!"
"Wait, we can't just leave without you!"
"If we stay here we won't leave at all!" Ragna said. "Come on!"
Ragna ran past the still stunned Alexiel and grabbed Monika by her collar before throwing her over his shoulder. Immediately he took off running towards the collapsing opening Feena created. He quickly threw Monika through first before hopping inside himself. The two then took off running down the open hallway. Alexiel had recovered at the last minute and attempted to run after the two. However, the moment that she tried, the rest of the wall above fell down, blocking the entryway Feena made with nothing but rubble. Seeing as how two prisoners scheduled for execution got away, Alexiel picked up her zweihander, and turned her attention towards Feena.
"What in the hell were you thinking?" She said calmly.
"I-I..." Feena stuttered. "I'm-"
"What. The hell. Were. You. Thinking?!" Alexiel now spoke in a more menacing tone.
"I'm doing what's right, okay?!"
"What's right is the ability to betray everyone you trust back and forth like it's nothing?! You're attempting to use an entire kingdom like their nothing but sacrificial pawns!"
Alexiel's zweihander began glowing as she swung it vertically downward, sending a crescent wave of light in Feena's direction. The girl stepped to the right and out of the way, causing the wave to crash into the ground next to her, kicking up dust as it did so.
'Like I've always said, Prime Minister..." Feena responded. "...I have my reasons."
"And your reasons are going to be what get you killed."
Alexiel starts walking in Feena's direction, Zweihander in hand and ready to fight.
"I won't offer you any mercy like I did last time." She said. "This time, I will treat you like a true traitor."
Feena chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"Honestly, it's because I'm not surprised." Feena answered. "I knew what was coming to me the moment I made up my mind and decided to help Ragna and Monika. I knew that I would have to face you of all people in order to just that." Feena clinched her fists. "I knew that I would probably die in order to do any of this. And I'm telling you right now, I'm okay. I've accepted it. If you wanna kill me then go ahead.
Feena drew the sword she had sheathed on her waist and held it in front of her.
"But know this." She continued. "I'm gonna give you hell if you try and kill me!"
". . . So be it."
Alexiel was slowly starting to walk faster towards Feena, who had a confident smile on her face. Feena then looked down before glaring at Alexiel with a serious expression. She gripped her sword, readied herself, and rushed with all her might at Alexiel.
"Bring it on!" She shouted!
Alexiel picked up speed and rushed towards Feena with all her might in response. Both fighters met each other halfway as their blades clashed with each other, each fighter rushing the past the other in the process before turning around and running back up to each other. As they reached each other, once again the same thing happened as the result, except in closer range. Now in a proper fighting range, Alexiel and Feena entered a short deadlock before they both broke away and entered a deadly swords dance with each other. In the middle of their dance, Feena ducked under Alexiel's horizontal swing and swung horizontally herself low at her opponent's legs. Alexiel groaned and nearly fell to her knees, which left her open as Feena swung her sword diagonally across her midsection. As Feena spun around for another attack, Alexiel headbutted her and threw her off. While Feena was stunned, Alexiel grabbed hold of her and somersaulted backwards before throwing a punch into her abdomen, followed by a kick that sent her flying into the air.
While flying through midair, Feena caught herself, and sent herself downward with a burst of wind, landing on the ground. She then rolled forward before sending another gust of wind to propel her into Alexiel, slamming her fist into the Prime Minister's face and knocking her back a couple of feet before she managed to catch herself. Alexiel wiped her face as she could feel blood strolling down her cheek. She looked upward with a menacing glare at Feena, who responds with one of her own. Alexiel then cracked her neck to the sides before gripping her zweihander with both hands and walking in Feena's direction. Feena swung her sword once for a practice swing before gripping it tightly, and proceed to walk towards Alexiel as well.
"If you two don't make it out of here..." Feena thought to herself. "I'm gonna be very pissed when this is over."
Feena and Alexiel both began running towards each other, both of them with a dead serious look in their eyes as they were ready to fight all the way till the end. The two rushed each other at high speeds once again, their weapons clashing with each other as they entered a deadlock. Feena eventually broke the deadlock and jumped over Alexiel's head as she tried to summon mirror blades to strike her once the deadlock broke. Landing on her other side, Feena attempted to attack from behind with a horizontal slash, but was countered as Alexiel spun around her Zweihander to position it vertically behind her. Parrying Feena's attack, she turned around quickly as spun her sword around before slamming into Feena's chest, knocking her back. Immediately Alexiel rushed in again. Feena kicked in Alexiel's direction and rolled herself backwards while sending out a gust of wind that threw Alexiel off balance while running which allowed her to get up.
"Don't think I'll let you recover that easily!" Alexiel exclaimed as she quickly recovered her balance and rushed at Feena even faster than she originally was.
Feena doesn't respond, but simply smirks. Alexiel jumped upward upon reaching Feena and slammed her blade into the ground. Feena quickly rolled out of the way before it could reach the ground. She jumped out the way again as a wave of light was sent into her direction, and once more as a barrage of mirror blades nearly all struck her.
"Gotcha!"
Feena sheathed her sword and loaded her crossbow with a single explosive arrow.
"Wide open!" She exclaimed.
"What?!"
Feena fired the arrow, causing it to hit the ground in front of Alexiel, creating a veil of dust around her and cutting off her vision. Alexiel coughed as she rubbed her eyes.
"Now's my chance!"
Feena sent a burst of wind behind her and propelled herself into the dust. She then formed a larger gust of wind with her hands and blew the dust away, revealing Alexiel's position. As Alexiel looked up to see Feena above her, she attempted to raise her zweihander, but was not quick enough as Feena drew her sword and brought it down diagonally across Alexiel's chest. The redhead groaned in pain, but was cut off as Feena jabbed the hilt of her sword into her face, followed by a second slash to the midsection. Alexiel attempted to catch Feena with an overhead kick, but was unsuccessful as Feena ducked under it, and respond by throwing a right hook to her jaw when she came up. She then stepped on Alexiel's foot to keep her in place and kneed the redhead in the chest, taking the wind out of her and allowing her to maneuver over Alexiel for a vertical slash to her back.
As Feena landed however, Alexiel spun around and grabbed the back of her collar. She then kneed the girl in her back, causing her to nearly shriek in pain. Alexiel then followed up with a drop kick to Feena's stomach, knocking her into the ground. Feena coughed as she started to stand up, but soon went wide eyed as Alexiel stood there, holding her hand out as a beam of light charged in it.
"Go to hell." Alexiel said.
Alexiel fired a beam of light from her hand consuming Feena in it as it sent her flying. Alexiel stood there for a moment but then looked up with a stoic expression as Feena shot up into the air via a blast of wind and escaped the light blast. The girl in question was currently floating in the middle of the air and slowly descending. Her clothes had become a mess with part of her shorts ripped, as well as parts of her face and mid section were all bloody. Alexiel didn't say anything else and held out her sword as it started to glow.
"I hope you realize that I'm done playing nice." Alexiel stated.
Alexiel spun her sword around and swung vertically in Feena's direction, send out a wave of light towards her. Feena took a deep breath, and let herself glide along the wind, avoiding Alexiel's attack and flying towards the Prime Minister. She quickly retaliated as a barrage of mirror blades formed in front of her, causing Feena to halt. Alexiel fired the mirror blades in all directions, making it harder for Feena to glide by them. Feena was struck by over a dozen mirror blades before getting through them and to Alexiel. However, as she reached her, the injuries sustained from the mirror blades kicked in, stopping her from drawing her sword. While she was distracted, Alexiel grabbed Feena by her neck and slammed her into the ground. She then fired a blast of light from her hands, sending Feena flying backwards and creating a small crater in the ground where she landed.
Feena struggled to sit up as she saw Alexiel hop into the air above her. The redhead held out her palm and fired several more barrages of light down onto Feena. The girl managed to roll out of the way just in time and get up to her knees. Just as another blast was fired at her, she held out her hands and created a shield made out of wind to tank the hit. She then surrounded herself in a veil of wind and used it to float into the air while she recovered. From there, she flew straight to Alexiel who hadn't touched ground yet, and headbutts her in the abdomen before she could realize. Feena then backed off for a moment before throwing several straight punches to her face, followed by hammering the top of her head and knocking her to the ground. However, Alexiel formed a barrier of mirror blades below her and quickly rebounded upward. She then raised her hand and caused a large pillar of mirror blades to extend from the ground under Feena, knocking her out of her wind veil as it hit, causing her to be left free falling in the air, in which she crashed into the ground hard. Feena coughed up a bit of blood as she finally made it back to her feet.
However, just as Feena pulled herself together, she looked to see Alexiel, with her zweihander on her back, right in front of her with her fist aimed at her face. Feena was unable to react in time as Alexiel threw a solid left hook, followed by a right one as well. Feena was knocked around to the sides from those two punches alone, and the moment she turned back to face Alexiel she was met with her opponent's foot slamming into her abdomen causing to cough up even more blood. Feena sent a gust of wind to Alexiel, blasting her away from her. Followed by another as Feena started using what amount of strength she had left to use the wind to knock Alexiel around like a rag doll. Alexiel immediately started getting fed up with this, and held out her hands, suddenly creating a current of stronger force than Feena's own winds, completely shielding herself from Feena's barrage. Feena blinked and went wide eyed at this, but suddenly sent out another powerful gust of wind as Alexiel attempted to blast her with wind as well, creating a powerful wind storm in that small area.
The two girls both manipulated their way into the center of the wind storm, facing each other.
"I'll say this much," Alexiel spoke up. "You were serious about making me work for it."
"You can use wind too?" Feena said in surprise. "What the hell can't you fight with?!"
"Just because I use light doesn't mean it's my only element."
Feena kicks behind her creating another burst of wind inside the storm that propelled her towards Alexiel. However, as she attempted to strike at her with her sword, a wall of mirror-blades formed in front of her, causing her to put her feet out first, and keep herself from hitting the wall face first. However, the moment she did so, the rest of the wall broke open and sent out a volley of mirror-blades at the girl, striking her multiple times and making her cry out in pain as she fell to the ground. At that point, the windstorm had lessened as both Feena and Alexiel were no longer using wind at the moment.
"You know something Feena?" Alexiel started to say. "If anything, above all, you've made me feel like a goddamn idiot right now."
As Feena started to stand back up Alexiel stomped on the ground, causing mirror-blades in the form of a small pillar to sprout up under Feena and knocked her into the air, where Alexiel grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
"I pitied you. I trusted you."
Feena coughed up blood as Alexiel kneed her in the stomach, followed by the Prime Minister throwing a punch with her right hand to her jaw, letting go of Feena and knocking her away, and back to the ground. Feena slowly looked up, doing her best to shrug off the amount of blood she was leaking.
"And then you just waste it all with this betrayal." Alexiel commented. "Now. I feel like an idiot because of all this."
"Good." Feena groaned. "Now you know how I feel."
Alexiel blinked and raised a brow in confusion. "What?" She asked.
Feena wipes the blood that was on her lip, and rushed at Alexiel once again. The Prime Minister sidestepped to avoid and attempted to bring her zweihander down on top of her. However, Feena had planned for this, and built up a gust of wind in her hand. She threw a straight shot at Alexiel's abdomen, causing her to wheeze and keel over, dropping her zweihander. However, when she did so, the blade unfortunately fell in Feena's direction. The woman shrieked as she fell over and rolled on the ground, the strike from the falling sword leaving a large, bleeding wound on her right leg.
"Not... done yet...!" Feena said to herself.
Even with her wounded leg, Feena wouldn't give in. She used what power she had to bring herself back to her feet, and used her elemental prowess in wind to keep herself balanced. Alexiel on the other hand, recovered herself and turned to face Feena.
"Big mistake." She said.
Feena gripped her sword once again, and propelled herself at Alexiel who held out her hand to summon her blade back to her. The two girls' blades clashed the moment they came within range of each other. Feena used the wind around her to circle around Alexiel constantly while slashing back and forth. Alexiel only responded with swinging around her zweihander for nothing but defense.
"You're nothing but a one-trick pony right now!" She exclaimed to Feena.
Alexiel propelled herself into the air with another gust of wind, in which Feena followed. Their blades clashed before they danced around in the air. Feena dodging mirror-blades left and right, while Alexiel continued to counter against Feena's sword swings. This continued, until after one bad swing, Feena had let go of her sword after coming into contact with Alexiel's, watching it fall to the ground. Feena kept herself together and moved out the way as Alexiel attempted to dropkick her. In an instant, the girl armed her crossbow and begun firing several paralyzing arrows at the Prime Minister. Five arrows were fired and all five hit Alexiel directly. The redhead screamed as several volts of electricity went through her body, and made her lose control over the wind, and fall to the ground. Feena dove after the woman, both spiraling out in midair. Feena then slammed her head into Alexiel's abdomen and forced her downward even more. However, in the middle of this Alexiel managed to move through her paralysis and throw Feena aside with a blast of wind. She propelled herself to a wall, and slowly slid down to the ground safely. Feena on the other hand crashed into a wall, and went down, hitting the ground hard.
Feena slowly looked up at Alexiel, who was walking towards her. Unfortunately she was restricted in her movement as her wounded leg had begun to hurt even worse. The woman at the time had pulled out two arrows and placed them in the wall behind her,. Slowly, she began to pull herself back up.
"You just don't know how to give up, do you?" Alexiel asked as she continued to walk to Feena.
"Hey... I warned you..." Feena said weakly. "You'd have to kill me to get me to stop."
Feena soon managed to pull herself back to her feet rather quickly. Alexiel held out her hand and fired a beam of light towards the girl, who shot herself out of the way with a gust of wind, and managed to control herself when she lands. As currently down on one knee, Feena looked up and glared at Alexiel with determined eyes.
Feena then looked down to see she landed next to her sword. Quickly she grabbed it and brought herself back up onto her own two feet, using her sword as a crutch to help stand up. She then looked around, and suddenly grew worried as she saw some of the guards waking back up.
"Shit!" She said to herself. "The paralysis is wearing off."
Soon about three guards managed to wake up first. They had immediately set their eyes on the Prime Minister and the injured Feena upon waking and grabbed their weapons from off the ground.
"Surround her." Alexiel ordered.
"Yes, Prime Minister!" The soldiers all said in unison.
Feena the looked around to see the three soldier all surround her. The woman had been forced to push her back up against the wall. In front of her was one of the female soldiers, while on her left and right sides were two of the male soldiers. Walking up to her from the front was Alexiel, who merely sighed.
"Anything else you wanna try?" Alexiel asked Feena.
The girl merely growled as she stared at the redheaded Prime Minister. However, no matter how much she stood firm, it became painfully clear to her that she was in way over her head. There didn't seem to be a safe way for her to get out of this. And she knew she wouldn't get out of this alive. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Feena from gripping her sword and loading her crossbow. She proceeded to stand up as best as she could and ready herself for whenever they come at her.
"This is over yet, Prime Minister...!" Feena said. "I'm just getting started!"
Location: Armory, 17th Floor
Inside of a closed space within the seventeenth floor, there was a room that was filled with a variety of weapons and equipment. These ranged from the standard gear that most Goldenian Imperial Soldiers wore, and also rare weapons and those taken from enemies and prisoners, as well as those that were claim in wars. While this room was normally undisturbed a loud crash was soon heard within it. Two guards that were on the outside of the door had been thrown through the door, knocking it wide open and leaving them unconscious.
"Here!"
Soon Ragna and Monika both rushed into the room, stepping over the unconscious guards they managed to get in without any problems. The two looked around quickly for their weapons.
"You think anyone heard that?" Ragna asked.
"There's a high chance that they did." Monika answered. "But I'd rather not be around if they come over here to investigate. Let's grab our swords and get out of here."
The two quickly walked around the armory, keeping their eyes out as they browsed through the large assortment of weaponry that was contained in the room. Soon as they were searching, Ragna managed to catch something out the corner of his eye.
"Over here!"
As he and Monika ran over, sitting in the area that they went over to were their weapons. Ragna's cleaver sword and Monika's long sword, sitting there awaiting to be picked up by their owners once again.
"Found you!" Monika said as she grabbed her sword.
Ragna picked up his sword and placed it on his waist.
"Alright. That's one thing taken care of." He said. "Now we need to figure out how the hell are we gonna get out of here."
". . . Actually..." Monika started to say. "Ragna-"
"I didn't notice that many guards on the way down here either. And any others that we passed by, I just shoved out of our way. So if they're still up and at it, that'll be a problem."
"Ragna, I-"
"Not to mention, that if we keep heading in the direction we came, I won't know what to expect either. Neither would you."
"Ragna, listen to me!"
Ragna looked over as Monika yelled out.
"I. . . I don't think we should leave yet-"
"No."
"E-Eh?!"
"I know what you're thinking. We are not going back to save that girl. We need to figure out how the two of us are gonna get out of here safely."
"Ragna, Feena came back and is risking her life for our sake! We need to-"
"She got us into this damn situation in the first place! Now we're supposed to go back there, pretend like she didn't stab us in the back and get her ass out of there?!
"She went against Prime Minister Alexiel, of all people! I'd go back and save her if she'd risk her life like that for us!"
"How do you know that's even what she's doing. Hell, as far as we know she could've set all of this up!"
"Now you're just talking a goddamn idiot!" Monika butted heads with Ragna while both were in their heated argument. "You weren't the one who's life was this close to being ended a moment ago! You weren't the one who was dangling in the air with a rope tied around your neck, slowly draining the life from you!"
"You're right. I wasn't. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather keep it that way. If you wanna go throw your life away for that damn woman, then by all means. Be my guest. I'm not going to do something like that. Especially for someone I can't trust!"
Monika and Ragna continued to glare at each other for a moment. The tension between the two ended when the former turned her head and walked away from the latter.
"...This Kingdom's a goddamn labyrinth." Monika said when she was not facing Ragna. "You don't know shit about this place, and you don't know where the hell to go if you wanna get out of here. And considering everything that just happened today, there's no doubt there won't be soldiers searching for our asses on every single floor. And if you just waltz on out of here, assuming you'll ever find your way off this floor on your own, you'll just end up back here. Let me tell you this Ragna." Monika turns back around to face Ragna. "You. Need. Me. You need the two of us. You're not gonna survive if you don't have a guide to get you out of here. But I'm only gonna say this once; I'm not leaving here without Feena." Monika starts walking back in the direction they came. "But hey. Do whatever the hell you feel like. What do I-?!"
Monika paused for a minute as she looked around. As Ragna also stepped out, he saw what had stopped the girl. The armory had been surrounded by dozens of Imperial Soldiers on all sides, preventing them from going anywhere if they try to.
"That's them!" One of the soldiers said. "They're who we came to find!"
Monika and Ragna were forced back into the armory, having no other choice but to be pushed up against a wall.
"Alright, fine." Ragna groaned. "I'm not in the mood to stay here and fight off a dozen soldiers. If you've got a plan to get us out of here, then we'll bring her along."
"Grab my hand." Monika said.
"Wha-"
"Just do it!"
Ragna sighed as he took hold of Monika's hand.
"Let's go."
In an instant, and right before the soldier's eyes, Monika and Ragna vanished. There wasn't a trace of which way they went off to, or even how they escaped being surrounded. They were just gone. All of the soldiers looked around in shock and confusion.
". . . Anyone see which way they went...?" One of the soldiers asked stupidly.
Location: Imperial Execution Yard, 17th Floor, Goldenia
"You're all out of options, now."
With Feena, the girl continued to look around left to right. She remained surrounded by Alexiel and the soldiers that she previously knocked out, at this point having all of them awake. Backed up against the wall and sporting a gaping leg wound, she saw that she didn't have much of a choice but to stand her ground for as long as possible. She gritted her teeth and gripped her sword and crossbow.
"She still intends to fight against us?" Asked one of the male soldiers.
"What the hell is this woman thinking?" Asked a second soldier.
"I'm thinking that I have a job to do." Feena responded.
Everyone had stopped talking and all gave Feena their attention as they listened to her speak.
"I came here with full knowledge that I wouldn't be able to beat the Prime Minister, yet alone her and any other soldiers. But I couldn't let that stop me from doing the right thing." Feena held out her sword towards the soldiers in front of her. "I betrayed two good people... People who I didn't appreciate their help... People who very well could've been my friends. But even if I can't have that, I won't let them rot away and be hanged! I'll make sure of that as long as I live and breathe!"
". . . You surprise me." Alexiel responded. "You've changed your mind so many times in these few weeks."
Alexiel points at Feena, signaling for the soldiers to move in. Slowly, they made their way up to Feena, weapons out in front as they close in on her.
"Sorry Goblin Mage..." Feena said to herself. "I might not make it back after all.
Feena jumped back, placing her one good leg on the wall behind her. In a gust of wind, she shot herself forward, sword in hand. She propelled herself straight through the guards and towards Alexiel, who jumped out of the way in response. However, instead of continuing to go forward, she held out her hands and shot out another gust of wind, propelling her backwards. She spun around while flying backwards, spin kicking the five soldiers behind her. She then landed on the ground, good leg first, and held out her hand. In an instant, she form a ball of wind in her hand and threw it at the guards, the impact sending a gust of wind that knocked them away from her. Using her last bits of energy, she forced herself over to each one of them, punching them back to the ground one by one. The soldiers were all rolling around on the ground in pain, not trying to get up just yet. Alexiel saw this and sighed.
"Looks like I have to do everything myself then." She said.
Feena landed on the ground in front of her, sword in hand and ready to fight. Alexiel placed her hand on her zweihander ad spun it around before swinging it over her shoulder.
"Let's go!" Feena exclaimed.
Feena rushed at Alexiel via a gust of wind, with her sword held out in front of her. Upon reaching, the Prime Minister swung her zweihander straight up, knocking Feena further into the air and over her head. Feena quickly switched out her weapon from her sword to her crossbow and aimed downward, firing several fire arrows, nearly trapping Alexiel in a ring of fire. The redheaded Prime Minister dashed out of the way before she was closed in.
"I've got it!" Feena said to herself as she righted herself before landing on the ground. "She reacts on her instincts and didn't bother to think that she was a wind elemental like me!"
Feena quickly redrew her sword and ran up to Alexiel, despite her injured leg. By the time Alexiel turned around, the woman had already slashed her across her back, leaving a large wound straight down the middle. Feena threw a kick that spun Alexiel around, and then slashed across her midsection for a followup. Before she could strike again, Alexiel fired a blast of light at Feena, knocking her away as Alexiel swung her sword behind her and rushed after Feena.
"Don't get too cocky now!" Alexiel exclaimed as she approached Feena.
Feena recovered herself and rolled under as Alexiel swung her zweihander at her horizontally. Feena spun her sword around so that she was holding it in front of her again and went back on the offensive. She clashed blades repeatedly with Alexiel as she danced around the Prime Minister as fast as possible. However, she was quickly halted as Alexiel sweep kicked her, knocking her down and forcing her to rebound off her hands to get back up. However as she did so she let go of her sword, which Alexiel proceeded to grab and throw in Feena's direction. The girl quickly dodged and called up a gust of wind to send the sword back to her. She then sheathed sword and aimed her crossbow at Alexiel, who was running towards her. Before firing, she launched herself into the air, causing Alexiel to stop and take notice. While the redhead was still Feena fired five electric arrows downward, all five striking Alexiel. As Feena landed, the redhead screamed as several electric shocks went through her body.
"That should keep you down for a while." Feena said.
Alexiel attempted to move forward but suddenly collapsed to her knees. Feena turned around and started walking off slowly, sheathing her sword and putting her crossbow around her waist.
"Damn, this leg wound is killing me..." She said to herself. "I'd better get out of here quick. Hopefully the others are-?!"
Feena suddenly stopped walking and looked around. Upon doing so, she saw that the five guards that she rendered immobilized earlier were all back up and at it, now having her surrounded.
"Ah, shit..." Feena growled. "I forgot about these guys..."
The soldiers all quickly rushed straight at Feena once more. The girl was sporting a serious look as she readied herself. The first soldier struck first, in which Feena responds by jumping on top of his sword and hopping onto the outside of the guards. She attempted to draw her crossbow and stun them all into submission. However the moment she did so, a mirror-blade cut across her hand, making her drop her weapon and jump back, allowing the guards to step in front and guard the crossbow.
"Dammit, she can still pull that type of shit?! Feena said to herself in a worried tone.
Feena was forced to dodge yet another two mirror-blades, but soon realized she got distracted. As she dodged the second one, another soldier brought her axe down across Feena vertically, striking her midsection and nearly breaking off the upper half of her armor. As Feena stepped back however, another soldier hit her with a kick from behind, knocking her down. As he then proceeded to bring down his sword on her, Feena quickly pulled out her sword and sweep kicked the soldier's leg knocking him down. She then rolled over the man and out into the open where a female soldier rushed at her with sword in hand. The female soldier swung left and right repeatedly, not landing any hits. Feena fired a gust of wind that knocked the woman back into a wall.
"I don't have time for this shit!"
Feena propelled herself back to Alexiel, who managed to work through her paralysis not only enough to attack telepathically, but to move in general. She gripped her zweihander as she spun around to strike Feena, who jumped over the attack. However, the moment she landed, Alexiel swung her blade against the ground, causing it to spike up and smack Feena dead in the face. Alexiel leaped into the air as she attempted to bring down her sword onto Feena's entire body. Feena rolled out of the way just as she landed, but was knocked away by the impact. The guards all quickly ran back up to the redheaded Prime Minister. Alexiel didn't say anything but point at Feena. Immediately, they all knew what she meant and rushed after the girl.
Feena propelled herself into the fray of guards, and responded with a flurry of punches and kicks, stunning them and injuring some as they all fell back down to the ground. She then formed a large gust of wind around them and threw all of them aside, one by one. She then turned to face Alexiel, but was met with the Prime Minister's foot on her jaw as she was kicked. Alexiel spun around again and threw another kick before spinning around one last time and slamming her blade into Feena's side. Feena was knocked away, and the moment she tried to stand up, she could feel another deep, bleeding wound. She growled and clenched her fists as she swiped up her sword and crossbow and ran back towards Alexiel. Alexiel proceeded to run to meet her halfway.
Feena and Alexiel enter a sudden sword dance upon reaching each other, each one going back and forth as they swung their blades around.
"How the hell do you not go down?!" Alexiel exclaimed.
"I already told you that I'm not gonna drop so easily!" Feena answered back with a smirk.
Alexiel halted in the middle of their clash and sidestepped, firing several beam of light once she landed. Feena dodged out of the way and sheathed her sword, then fired her crossbow at the Prime Minister, striking her with two electric arrows, shocking her once more. However, not to Feena's surprise, Alexiel didn't go down at all. The redhead then held up her hand and summoned a barrage of mirror blades in the air.
Just as Alexiel was about to fire her mirror-blades, Feena suddenly slammed her sword against the metal on her shoes, causing the blade of the sword to start breaking into pieces. Alexiel, confused at the moment, still sent out her mirror-blades, moving in on Feena on all sides. In response Feena caused another gust of wind to blow, taking up the pieces of the broken blade with it. As the mirror-blades closed in, Alexiel watched in surprise as they were all ripped apart by the broken shards of Feena's sword that were being blown around her inside the wind. Feena the rushed straight at Alexiel, the wind surrounding her as she went through every mirror-blade that came to her.
"How is she...?!"
As Feena broke through the barrage of mirror-blades, she sent the wind forward, causing the shards of her sword to all head for Alexiel. Before the redhead could react, she was suddenly cut in multiple places as the shards struck her, as well as dropping her zweihander as she held her hands over her face to try and defend herself. While Alexiel was recoiling from that surprise attack, Feena rushed and headbutted her in the chest, knocking her back before kicking her across the face twice and then once on her side, knocking her around. Feena loaded her crossbow and fired several normal arrows in the Prime Minister from behind. The woman groaned loudly as the arrows hit her. Feena then jumped over her and threw a straight shot into her jaw, followed by another to the stomach, and an uppercut to finish, knocking Alexiel down, and causing the arrows to drive in even further as she landed on her back. Alexiel rolled over in pain as she tried to bring herself back up to her feet. Feena then sighed deeply as she started walking away from her opponent, as well as picking up the sword of a downed soldier.
"I know she's gonna get back up." Feena said to herself. "I know that this isn't gonna take her down. Still, I have hope."
Feena sheathed her new sword and put her hands behind her head as she walked away. She then looked down as she heard rumbled while she was walking. Suddenly, she sent a gust of wind from under her feet as she flipped backwards into the air, just in time to avoid a pillar made of mirror-blades that spun up. Feena then sighed as she looked to see Alexiel pulling herself back up to her feet. In a bust of light around her, the arrows were ejected out of her body.
"Yeah..." Feena sighed. "This seems about right."
Alexiel rushed towards Feena once again, with Feena drawing her sword in response. Alexiel ran past the girl, swinging her sword as she did so, only for Feena to block it. As she turned around Feena kicked up a gust of wind under her feet and made her trip, as she was going down Feena slid under her and threw a wind powered kick into her stomach, knocking her into the air. Feena then sheathed her sword and held her hands down to her sides as a powerful of gust of wind started to form in them. She then held her hands up to Alexiel, who had been knocked high into the air by the off guard kick.
"Tyrant's..."
The wind in Feena's hand had gotten strong enough, that it almost looked like solid objects. Alexiel looked down at the last moment as her eyes widened.
"The hell?!"
"Hurricane!"
Before she realized it, Feena fired the wind from her hands, creating a large gust of razor like winds in the air above her. Alexiel was soon consumed by this wind, shrieking in pain as she was soon slashed up in multiple directions, leaving all sorts of wounds all over her body. The longer the wind continued on, the stronger it got.
"I think you ought to at least here me say this while you're up there." Feena called out. "This is my last resort, 'Tyrant's Hurricane'. It's made of highly-concentrated, razor-sharp winds that keep getting deadlier. The longer I have you trapped in this attack, the more severe your wounds will start to get." Feena pointed one finger up at Alexiel. "This is why I save this for last!"
As if on cue, true to what Feena said Alexiel's wounds were getting worse as one strike from the wind had nearly taken off her lower half. Alexiel continued to try and find some sort of opening, but couldn't find anyway to counter against the strong winds, or even more herself without suffering great damage. As Feena watched Alexiel be ripped to shreds by her attack, she smiled slightly as she clenched her fists, causing the winds to slowly die down. Alexiel was slowly spiraling around in the air as she began to fall back to the ground.
"Heh, well what do you know." Feena said as she drew her sword.
Alexiel opened her eyes and soon widened them upon seeing Feena with her sword ready to end this.
"I might win this after all!"
Feena readied herself to drive a sword straight through Alexiel from the below. As the Prime Minister saw this, she suddenly start pointing to her right. Feena was confused for a moment, until she looked over to her right and went wide eyed. There, Alexiel's zweihander,was soaring towards her.
"What the hell?!"
Feena quickly turned around to face the sword heading to her. In a swift motion she swung her blade in its direction in order to parry it.
"?!"
However, Feena was ill-prepared for what was to come. As the sword came to her, she managed to parry it and knock it back, but was unaware that it was not the main attack heading to her. Another sword made out of mirror-blades was spinning with it, just behind it. When Feena knocked away the zweihander, the mirror-blade sword avoided the attack, and continued on its path, slicing straight through her extended right arm and cutting it off, and impaling her straight through the chest before striking the ground below Feena. The girl was still standing there, having a shocked look on her face as the blood poured out of her injuries. Meanwhile, Alexiel crashed into the ground beside her zweihander. Soon Alexiel's body started glowing green as her injuries were healed almost immediately. She began to pick herself, and her sword, off the ground before walking to Feena.
"You're a tough one." Alexiel said. "I'll say that much."
"H. . . How. . .?" Feena struggled to ask as the blood leaked out of her mouth. "How did you. . .?"
"You almost had me there. I really mean that. If it weren't for the Gods that are on my side, that attack of yours would've killed me for sure. It's thanks to them and their power that I was able to survive such an attack head on."
Soon the mirror-blade sword disappeared, causing Feena to collapse and fall to the ground. The woman held her only remaining arm over her chest wound and tried to bring herself back up to her knees. She looked up at Alexiel as she did so.
"You know something, Prime Minister. . . " She said. "I've finally done it. . . I. . . I finally figured you out."
Alexiel blinked in confusion as Feena spoke, as well as watching the girl bring herself back up to her feet.
"You're a loyalist type of person." Feena continued. "Everything you've said and done suggests that. And that's why you've lasted this long, isn't it? Because you always have someone watching your back? Because you'll always have people that'll defend you?"
Feena lunged at Alexiel and attempted to throw a punch with her left remaining arm. Alexiel stepped out of the way and spin kicked Feena into a woman coughed up blood as she continued to stand up with her back on the wall.
"Meanwhile, I'm the person that no one would give a damn about if they left here alive. Someone who will live every moment of their life as if it's their last, even if I do so recklessly. And I know what you and many others are thinking. 'That's no way to live' isn't it? Well I honestly don't care." Feena started charging up another powerful gust of wind in her one hand, attempting to use her Tyrant's Hurricane once again.
"Maybe you're right." Alexiel responded, walking up to Feena. "But at the same time, what good does that do? Look at where you are now. You've betrayed everyone who ever put their trust in you. You came back to save two others who you say were 'friends'. And now look. They've left you, just like you left them. Granted, once I'm done with you, I'll hunt down the two of them and finish what started. But you should've known this. You knew that this would be throwing your life away for no reason. No smart one at least. And in the end-"
Feena attempted to use her strongest attack once again, but suddenly was stopped as Alexiel drove her zweihander back into her chest, causing her to lose focus and feeling in her body once again. Alexiel removed the blade from Feena once again, watching as the girl sank to the ground. However, even after the second stab would, Feena still looked up at the Prime Minister, and attempted to charge another attack, to little effect and power.
"You still put your life on the line like this."
"I'd rather die like this fighting to my last breath instead of spending the rest of my life living like you." Feena said weakly.
"Fine. I'll make this quick. You don't deserve it considering that you're a traitor, but I do have some respect for you."
"I'd be surprised if you didn't."
Feena smirked and closed her eyes, ready for Alexiel to end her. Soon, the several soldiers that had been thrown away during the fight all started to approach the Prime Minister and the Mercenary once again.
"Prime Minister!" One of them called out.
"Are you all right?!" Another one asked.
"I'm fine." Alexiel answered. "One of you ready the guillotine." Alexiel points to Feena. "We'll give her a swift death and then continue pursuing the other two-"
"Wait a minute..." A female soldier said. "What is that?"
"What?"
Alexiel turned around as she listened up, and heard something coming from behind the wall where Feena was.
"It's coming from back here, isn't it?" A second female soldier asked as she walked over.
"Wait! Get away from there!"
Alexiel suddenly ran up and shoved the female soldier out of the way. Suddenly before anyone could respond, a large black spike pierced through the ground and the wall, leaving a large hole and crater. Alexiel moved her zweihander and held it out in front of her. Even though she did so, she could not prevent the force that came from the attack as she was sent flying away from everyone, and landed across the yard and directly under the guillotine.
"Prime Minister!" The female soldier who was shoved said. "What the hell was-"
"Hell's Fang!"
Soon, a punch was thrown from behind the guard, knocking her back from the hole. All of the soldiers suddenly went on guard as they saw Ragna standing in the opening that was just made, with his large sword in hand. The soldiers all readied their weapons and were ready to charge at the person in front of them. Ragna then stepped out of the way, revealing Monika behind them. The girl held out her pistol and fired a shot straight passed the guards. The soldiers had first thought she missed until they turned around. The all were shocked as from the distance she was, Monika shot the rope that was holding up the blade on the guillotine, causing it to fall. Alexiel, who was still under the guillotine at the time, had begun to pull herself up, but went wide eyed as she looked up. A loud scream was heard in that direction as the guillotine's blade crashed down.
"P. . . Prime Minister!" The soldiers all said in shock.
"Hey! Monika!" Ragna said. "Whatever you're gonna do, hurry up! That won't keep them occupied."
Monika nodded as she quickly moved next to the injured girl, gasping as she saw how bad she was injured.
"Monika...?" Feena slowly said as she opened her eyes.
"Feena..." Monika said quietly. "Don't worry. You'll be alright." Monika took a deep breath and sighed. "I hate using this, but I have no choice."
Monika held out her hand in front of Feena and closed her eyes. Suddenly, unknown to everyone else, a large clock appeared under Feena and began to tick in reverse. As it did so, Monika stood there and watched as Feena's wounds began to heal. Even Feena's missing arm could be seen regenerating back onto her body. Soon Monika lowered her hand as the clock vanished. Suddenly Feena sat back up, examining her body in surprise as she saw how much she was healed.
"Whoa, what the hell?!" She said in shock. "Monika, this is amazing! How'd-"
"No time! Let's move! Ragna!"
"Right." Ragna responded.
The soldiers were all still stunned at how the Prime Minister had just be horribly sliced up by a guillotine. None of them had noticed that Ragna, Monika, and the now healed Feena were running out of the opening that had been blown open behind them. As they left, Monika held out her hand over the destroyed wall behind them and caused another invisible clock to appear and tick in reverse. Soon the wall fixed itself to before Ragna demolished it. The clock disappeared once the job is done, and Monika continued to run off with the others. As the soldiers snapped out it, they all immediately turned around, and soon became even more confused as the wall behind them had been fixed as if nothing happened.
". . . Wasn't that wall just... broken...?" One of them asked.