Tales of Xalthia

by xXGhostStalker

*DISCLAIMER: This holds no relation to Tales of VS or any Tales game* A mysterious lineage. An unimaginative power. Oblivious to Tsuki Himura, he defends his kingdom from evil and learns of a sinister plot. Forced to seek help, he travels the globe for much needed allies. Join him as he learns more about the world and about himself as something awakens inside him.

23. The Missing Piece -NEW-

Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 22: The Missing Piece

Conditions within Eresseas continue to degrade with each passing minute. Most of the town was engulfed in flames as thier military might is divided and scattered. With the betrayals of both Mike and Stahler and the appearance of Honegroth soldiers, the future of Eresseas is dark. Not only did they have to deal with the Honegroth soldiers, they also had to contend with the unexpected appearance of strange entities that spawned in the lower levels of the castle from an explosion that rocked the entire building. As everyone was contemplating on what to do, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of an elf woman dressed in violet armor with a dragon-like design to it who appears to have ruthlessly beaten Stahler to a bloody pulp.

The scene shifts back a few minutes before her appearance in the audience chamber. The elf woman had cut a handful of invading soldiers as she made her way into the main part of the castle. The soldiers meant nothing to her. She simply pierced through them and brushed them aside with extreme ease without slowing down. The elf woman didn't appear to be taking things seriously either which shows just how powerful she was. She was fighting off numerous enemy soldiers and tossing them aside as if they were just everyday trash. It almost looked natural to her as she did it.

Being unfamiliar with the layout of Eresseas Castle, she wound up getting a bit lost as she made her way through the various hallways and corridors. Things were harder on her also since she had to conceal her presence from Eresseas soldiers. She was practicaly an uninvited guest and if any of their knights saw her, they would immediately assume she was the enemy. Thankfully, she was able to avoid them though there were a few close calls. As she made her way through the halls, she had to rely on chatter amongst the knights to figure out where she was and where she was going. From eavesdropping on several conversations, she learned that Taichi and Emma were in the audience chamber. She now knew where to go but didn't know how to get there. Her worries were soon relieved when she saw Stahler. She followed him through the castle andd noticed that he eventually came to a stop outside a door. Based on the door's design, the audience chamber was on the other side. Knowing that Stahler was a traitor and Mike potentially on the other side of the door, she knew that they were getting ready to carry out their plans to kill Taichi and Emma. She had to put a stop to it so she ended up coming out of hiding. The nearby halls were empty so she didn't have to worry about anyone getting in the way.

Stahler heard metallic footsteps echoing through the empty hallway behind him which made him turn around. When he saw the elf woman standing there, he was a little surprised to see that she was able to fend off all of his soldiers and make it this far without being seen. "I'm impressed you made it this far. Perhaps you aren't total garbage, after all" he said.

The elf woman gave him a cold stare. She had no time to deal with his schemes. "Do you two honestly think you can achieve whatever it is you're planning?" she asked.

Stahler shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Whatever do you mean? All we want to do is get the royal family to safety" he said.

The elf woman scoffed at him. After everything she's seen over the last several days, there was nothing he could say to absolve himself. "Don't even try to play dumb. I've been tracking the movements of you and your cohorts for the last few days. I know you're all in league with Caius. Moreover than that, you turned your blades against your own with intentions to kill" she said.

Stahler chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "So, you were the pesky little fly we couldn't shake. And? What did you hope to accomplish?" he asked. He then examined the woman closely. "Based on your looks, you're not from around these parts. What were you hoping to gain from spying on us? Instant fame and gratitude from the royal family?" he asked.

The elf continued stare at him coldly. There was even a brief moment where her right eye twitched. "Your actions have put two of my closest friends in peril and all those they hold dear. That's an offense that isn't taken lightly" she said.

Stahler couldn't help but let out a laugh as explosions and rumbling from the fighting occurred off in the distance. His laugh was practically masked from the sounds of explosions. "Oh? So, you have a personal connection with Taichi and Emma, huh? Well, don't you worry. Once our commanders round up their troops, you can die with everyone else" he said.

The elf woman shook her head. "I hate to break the bad news to you but two of your commanders have already been dealt with. Their respective forces have also been decimated" she said.

Stahler's eyes widened in surprise. "What!?" he shouted. He looked at the elf woman for a few moments before chuckling a bit more. "Trying to fake me out, I see. Well, it won't work" he said.

The elf woman reached into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be a broken curved blade. She then tossed it against the floor towards him. "See for yourself" she said.

Stahler watched as she threw down a broken curved blade towards him. He immediately recognized it. The blade belonged to the scythe that Delvin used. The blade looked like it was broken off the scythe like a twig. "No...that's-!" he said.

The elf woman's cold, unrelenting stare continued. "What was his name? Darwin? You'll find him buried under debris with several broken bones in the central plaza. He might even have suffered a serious head injury" she said. She then folded her arms in front of her. "As for the second commander...Lee, I think her name was? Her arrogance was her downfall. She picked a fight with the wrong opponent that wouldn't hesitate to rip her to shreds. Teamed with one of the Royal Eight, she didn't have a chance. You might be able to find her charred remains or her body in several different pieces in the Recreational District" she said. She was obviously referring to both Delvin and Lily that were leading their respective forces in the different parts of town. However, there was still the matter of their third commander. "For your third commander, the samurai. You may be able to rest with ease when I say that I don't know of his whereabouts but with the way things stand, it won't matter" she said.

Stahler didn't know how to react with what he was being told. She was possibly lying but the more he looked at her unchanging facial expression and vocal tone, she didn't sound like she was lying. The fact that he was looking at the remains of Delvin's scythe right in front of him solidified that even more for him. He started to grow increasinly angry as he formed two tight fists. His arms started to shake slightly with anger. "It's not possible...you're just a single woman...! How!?" he shouted. He then drew both of his shortswords from his waist. He could probably accept the fact that she could fight through soldier fodder and make it to him without breaking a sweat but to be able to bring down Delvin and Lily as well and still make it look like child's play? He didn't understand this or who this person was.

The elf woman continued to stare down Stahler. She remained unflinching and unwavering her stance. "It's pretty simple. You're all pathetically weak" she said.

Stahler gritted his teeth as you could almost see veins pop out of his head. "I'm weak, huh? We'll see about that!" he shouted.

Moments later, both of his shortswords started to glow a yellow light. He then tossed the swords up into the air above the woman where they hovered up in the air with the blades pointing towards the ground. Soon, the swords appeared to multiply as swords of light formed around the woman in a full circle. In a matter of a few moments, two swords became twenty as the blades soon shifted and aimed down towards the woman. They all soon started to resonate and hum in sync.

Stahler chuckled a bit with an evil grin on his face. "With a tight space such as this, you won't be able to dodge well let alone be able to defend yourself with that fancy spear on your back and without Artes, you're defenseless otherwise. Now, it's time to get skewered!" he shouted.

After he said that, he brought his arms down which caused all of the swords that hovered around the woman to come down towards her in perfect sync. He knew that she had no room to move around so she made herself an easy target for him. He grinned in delight as he waited for the moment where the swords would pierce her. However, his grin soon disappeared as he felt the air around him start to become electrified. He felt a powerful static start to take form, specifically around the woman. It only took him a moment to realize what was going on but by then, it was too late. As the swords shot down towards the woman, her eyes started to blue light blue as visible arcs of blue electricity came from them. Blue sparks of electricity started to appear around her body and within moments, a ring of electricity bursted out from her which instantly blew away the two physical shortswords and cancelling out the other energized ones before they had a chance to pierce her. The two shortswords clattered against the ground towards Stahler.

Stahler couldn't believe what he was seeing. The woman was using Magical Artes which shouldn't be possible for her to do while under the effects of the Anti-Arte Field. He even had to take a double-take out the nearby window to verify that the barrier was still up, which it was. "Impossible...! You shouldn't be able to use Artes!" he said.

The blue electricity continued to spark around her boy as the woman kept her unrelenting gaze on Stahler. "Despite claiming the fact that you redeveloped the lost technique, you still don't seem to understand that no matter how much of it is reworked, it fundamentally stays the same" she said.

Stahler glared at the woman as he reached down to pick up his shortswords. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

The woman shook her sighed, folding her arms in front of her. "There are three ways to negate the effects of an Anti-Arte Field. The first is the most simplest and that is to exterminate the source. The second is to have special items that are made specifically to counteract an Anti-Arte Field such as some sort of special accessory. The third is to have an overall power level that exceeds that of the Anti-Arte Field" she said. She then gazed out the window and looked up at the violet-colored sky. "Obviously, your barrier is still up so that checks off the first and most simplest method. I'll let you take a guess on which method I'm using to negate the effects" she said.

Stahler examined the woman closely. Judging by her appearance, he didn't see anything out of the ordianry that would indicate that she had some special item on her. Her armor and spear were definitely unique but he didn't sense anything that would tell him that they weren't just ordinary weapons and armor. She also didn't have anything in terms of accessories or anything of the like which could only mean one thing. "No...it can't be...!" he said.

The elf woman nodded at her and rested her arms at her sides. "It seems you understand. My power far exceeds that of your little barrier. So, with this information in mind, do you still intend to stand in my way?" she asked. This was going to be his last warning. If he didn't move, then she was going to show off just how much of a power difference there was between them.

Stahler assumed an offensive stance as he readied his blades. It didn't matter who she was or how strong she claims to be. He wasn't about to let her past him. "I think the answer to that is obvious, don't you think?" he asked.

The elf woman sighed heavily, shaking her head. She then casually walked over towards him and stopped a few feet away from him, facing the doors to the audience chamber that were behind where he stood. The sparks of electricity grew in intensity as they started to focus around both her hands and along her arms. "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you don't get out of my way, then I'll just have to remove you myself" she said.

The elf woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The electricity continued to spark with growing intensity. Moments later, she clapped both of her hands together as the electricity sparked intensely. She then pulled her hands apart and forming between her hands as she opened up her arms was a energized spear that sparked with an even greater intensity as the electricity around her started to be funneled into the spear. Once the spear was formed, she grabbed onto it with her right hand and twirled it around a few times before pulling it back and holding it as if she was about to throw it. As she did that, the electricity in the air grew to dangerously high levels as sparks shot out from the spear.

All Stahler could do was stare at the woman in awe. He knew that the display of power he was seeing far exceeded his own. The power levels of this woman was off the charts. It was then he started to realize something. The blue electricity, her Elven appearance, the violet armor with a dragon design to it with a spear to match it and her monsterous power. He's come to the realization of who exactly this woman was too late and he could feel his body grow cold in an instant. "No...it's you...!" he said.

Before he could finish, the elf woman prepared to toss the spear of electricty as the sparks hit unimaginable levels. "Thor's Judgment!" she shouted.

The elf woman then tossed the spear of electricity at Stahler with high speed and force. Stahler had no chance to defend himself as he knew how this was going to end. He was going to be taken out in one shot. The spear soon formed into a blast of blue electricty, consuming Stahler completely and bursting straight through the doors behind him, blowing them completely off their hinges and destroying the surrounding walls that they were connected to. Smoke and electricity filled both the hallway and the entrance to the blown open hole to the audience chamber. An uneasy stillness filled the air for a few moments before she heard the voices of several people from within the audience chamber, one of them being Taichi. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief before gathering herself together and walking over the fallen doors and debris into the audience chamber.

The scene then shifts forward to the present where she had made her appearance in front of Tsuki and the others in the audience chamber, telling them that she was here to save them. Based on her comments, it would appear that this elf woman knew who Taichi and Emma were and by taking a look at their facial expressions, they also knew who she was too. Seeing this supposed connection, Tsuki lowered his sword as he kept looking back and forth at them. Meanwhile, Mike stood off to the side, giving the woman a very nasty and evil glare. The fact that she was able to beat down Stahler to such a degree and literally not have a single scratch on her or the smallest dent to her armor told him that whoever she was meant business. However, he still had backup plans to resort to in the event things turned south.

Emma looked around the audience chamber and saw the aftermath of her sudden attack. The audience chamber was a complete wreck which made her sigh heavily. "I think that was a little excessive, don't you think?" she asked.

Everyone around the room looked at the woman with shock and awe. It was incredibly easy to see just how powerful this person was. Moreover than that, she looked like she hasn't even come close to breaking a sweat yet. Meanwhile, Taichi and Emma were practically unfazed by her appearance and display of power as if they've already seen it before. Elle was also not too surprised at her level of power.

The elf woman held her hand up to her heart and bowed to Taichi and Emma. "My apologies, Em. You see, I just grew tired of this man's games. I did warn him a few times but he refused to listen" she said.

Taichi glanced over at Stahler who laid on the ground, wholly defeated with some pretty serious injuries. "I see. I was starting to think that I would have to handle things myself" he said.

Tsuki shook his head as he watched the two pairs go back and forth with each other. "Wait a minute! Can anyone care to explain what's going on here? Who is she?" he asked.

Mike removed his axe from his back and got in a position to rush towards the elf woman. "Isn't it obvious? She's clearly the enemy commander!" he said. He then charged towards her, holding his axe close to him and ready to cleave her.

The elf woman glanced over towards Mike for a moment as electricity started to spark around her right hand. "Foolish" she said. She then turned to face him, stretching her right arm out towards him and fired off a small blast of electricity at Mike.

Mike came to a halt and held his axe out in front of him to block the attack. However, the attack was too strong for him to block and it ended up knocking him back off onto his back.

The elf woman brought down her arm and rested it at her side as electricity sparked around her arm. "If I was the enemy commader, you'd all be dead by now. I'd be careful of who you pick your fights with unless you want to end up like your friend here or that scythe wielder" she said.

Elle faced the elf woman and soon approached her. "Where have you been? I've been trying to track you down for days now. When I inquired about you in Basilwell, they said that they haven't seen you stop by in a while" she said.

The elf woman looked over at Elle, giving her a slight bow. "I apologize. I've been busy following a significant lead" she said.

Looking at the two of them side-by-side, they may both be Elves but there was a clear distinction that separates an ordinary Elf and a High Elf. The shape of their ears are a big indication. Elf ears are more pointed where a Human's were rounded. High Elf ears are a little longer than normal Elf ears and were shaped a bit differently as well.

Elle folded her arms in front of her, tilting her head. "A lead?" she asked. She knew that she had been investigating something for quite a while which was the main reason she left her former occupation.

The elf woman nodded at her. "Unfortunately, the lead I was following went cold but then I happened to come across another which led me to here" she said, looking over towards Mike.

Tsuki was becoming more confused as they continued to talk. He was starting to lose track of what was happening. "Will someone please explain what's going on!?" he asked.

The elf woman looked at Tsuki before pointing her finger over towards Mike, who was down on one knee from earlier. "The two that you call Mike and Stahler have betrayed sold you out in exchange for power and are in league with Caius Ames" she said.

Silence filled the room as the elf woman dropped a bombshell of information on them. Naturally, most of the people in the audience chamber weren't sure what to make of it. After all, the information did come from a random stranger who came barging in out of nowhere.

Mike couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. He knew that people wouldn't believe information that sounded absurd especially if it came from some random stranger that suddenly appeared after beating one of their allies to a bloody pulp. "Us? Traitors? On what grounds?" he asked.

Taichi closed his eyes and folded his arms in front of him and had a look of contemplation on his face. "Hmm...I see" he said. His serious expression on his face made it look like he was actually considering the information he just got.

Mike didn't expect that kind of reaction out of Taichi. It caught him off guard. "Your Majesty, you can't seriously believe the information brought to you by a total stranger over your own knight, can you!? It's the oldest trick in the book!" he said. There as no possible way that he could believe her words especially in their situation.

Taichi soon opened his eyes and glanced over at Mike, his stare slightly cold in expression. "As a matter of fact, I would. That total stranger just so happens to be a former companion and an old friend of Emma and I" he said.

Mike had a shocked expression on his face when the truth was revealed to him. "What!?" he shouted. He then took a quick glance over to the elf woman for a moment before quickly composing himself before looking back at Taichi. "Even so, Your Majesty, this woman comes bearing no proof of our supposed betrayal. Even if she is an old friend, she has nothing to back her claim up!" he said.

The elf woman soon turned to face Mike, shaking her head. "That's where you're wrong. I have all the proof I need right here..." she said.

She then brought an old sheet of paper from her bag. The sheet of paper appears to be written in the same format as how a normal bounty is written and posted at the Mercenary Guild Branch. At the bottom of the sheet of paper were the signatures of Taichi and Emma accompanied with the seal of Eresseas.

Mike tilted his head as he looked at the sheet of paper the woman pulled out. "How is a measly scrap of paper going to make proof of our betrayal?" he asled.

Taichi shooik his head. "That is more than just a scrap of paper. That is a request that we personally made to her on behalf of the Guild to investigate a certain matter that's been troubling us for quite some time" he said.

Ramza tilted his head a bit. Usually when a new postings are listed, they're shared among the other Guild Branches within the same region. "A Guild Request? I don't recall there ever being a request submitted by the royal family especially since it would cause a lot of interests to spark among the mercenaries" he said.

Emma chuckled a bit. "That's because it was a request specifically calling for her and no one else. This was also submitted a couple months ago so it's not a recently submitted request" she said. If there were talks of a request submitted by them, then they would have surely died down long ago.

Tsuki looked over towards Taichi and Emma. Things were starting to get interesting now. "What was this matter that you had her investigate?" he asked.

Emma glanced over at Tsuki for a moment. "Do you remember a few months ago when that ruin to the northwest of Briswater was uncovered by the Explorer's Guild?" she asked.

The Explorer's Guild is exactly what it sounded like. It operated similarly with the Mercenary Guild although it was fundamentally different. The Explorer's Guild is comprised of explorerers and archaeologists that travel all around the world to explore caves and discover ancient ruins. In some cases, their work is more dangerous than the Mercenary Guild since they are sent out to mostly unexplored regions where who knows what could be waiting for them there. Some of the work was so dangerous that they've even had to enlist the protection of mercenaries a number of times. Those in the Explorer's Guild live for the thrill and excitement of the unknown despite the dangers. To many people, they were considereda special bunch.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit and thought back. "You mean the one that was uncovered by a landslide? If I remember correctly, Georg and Phi were sent out to investigate that place as well not too long ago before being diverted to help us out at Prophet Castle" he said.

Taichi nodded at him. "The exact same one. Now, did you ever wonder why they were sent out that way?" he asked.

Tsuki never really asked them what their purpose was for being at the ruin now that he thought about it. He remembered thinking that it was a little strange to send a group of knights to a ruin that was already fully explored and documented by the Explorer's Guild. He even recalls Georg saying something about exploring a "newly discovered" ruin. Typically, knights aren't sent out to explore a ruin whether it's newly discovered or not. That sort of task falls on the Explorer's Guild. He didn't really connect the dots back then. Now, he was starting to realize the inconsistencies. "Now that you mention it, I thought it was a little weird but at the time, I didn't think much about it" he said.

Lynette also recalled a conversation like that happening when she first met Georg and Phi. To her, she just assumed that they were sent out to deal with a nest of bandits or something at first but thenm they had a wagon full of stuff that they were bringing back to Eresseas. It didnt seem like it was a normal thing for knights to plunder from an ancient ruin without a good reason to do so. "That wagon they had with them did have a number of stone tablets and such which did seem a little odd..." she said, having a few flashbacks of them pop up in her head.

Taichi nodded more as they appeared to be slowly making the connections. "Recall further back, Tsuki. Remember the incident that took place there 7 months ago, when the ruin was first discovered?" he asked. He wanted them to make the connections rather than him simply telling them.

Tsuki had to think back even further. He could faintly recall what happened. "The ruins housed some pretty nasty monsters inside of it. Normally, they would have reached out to the nearby Guild Branch in Briswater but due to a lack in manpower, they weren't able to do it so they reached out to the knights. As such, their request was granted and Mike and Stahler were sent out in place of ordinary knights because of the apparent dangers" he said. He scratched his head as he tried to piece together the events that unfolded there. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember all of the details of what happened. "Something happened there which claimed the lives of an entire team of explorers that were dispatched by the Explorer's Guild and left both Mike and Stahler pretty seriously injured" he said.

Taichi kept nodding as they were getting closer to the truth. "According to the testimonies of both Mike and Stahler, they were ambushed by a powerful monster. If I recall correctly, they said it was an Ogre. Isn't that right, Mike?" he asked, looking over towards Mike.

Mike nodded at him but had a faint hint of nervousness in his body language. "That's right. I would assume that the Orgre made those ruins its home and attacked us when we invaded it. We did our best to protect the explorers but failed" he said.

Emma folded her arms, staring at Mike and gave him a serious look. "And normally, that wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary. Ogres tend to make their homes in old ruins and deep caves. Places where people don't tend to travel to very often and are relatively secluded. Except, in this particular case, that wasn't what happened, was it, Mike?" she asked in a stern voice.

Mike swallowed hard as he could feel himself start to sweat from nervousness a bit. "W-what are you talking about? Of course, that's what happened!" he said.

Taichi shook his head with a soft sigh. "No, it wasn't. We received information from an eyewitness that says a completely different story" he said.

Mike shook his head. There was no way they had eyewitness testimony of that day. The entire team of explorers were killed and given how secluded the area was, there was no way anyone else would have been nearby. "An eyewitness? But...!" he said.

Taichi nodded at him. He could see that Mike was starting to become undone. "Among the team of 8 explorers, only one survived albeit barely. Despite being gravely injured, he made it back to Briswater through sheer force of will and perserverance. Medics immediately rushed him to the hospital where he was put into intensive care. Unfortunately, he fell into a coma shortly after arriving there. His injuries had eventually healed up but he remained in a vegetable state. That is, until 6 months ago, when he finally reawakened" he said. He looked around the room and could see the anticipation among Tsuki and his companions. Things were about to hit the climax.

Emma then looked over towards Tsuki as he had both a look of anticipation and confusion. "This was around the time that Tsuki was sent out on his mission to investigate the strange shipments in Basilwell. The explorer that came out of his coma immediately documented what really happened that day and submitted it to the Explorer's Guild which prompted them to forward the report to us with all haste" she said.

Taichi looked towards Mike. "At the time of Tsuki's departure, we were unaware of the events that would take place would hold a strong connection to that of the Explorer's report. It wasn't until Tsuki returned and made his report that things became clear. There was a common factor in both reports..." he said. He then glanced over at Tsuki and his companions as they should be more than familiar with this common factor. "You all should know what this common factor is by now" he said.

Ramza had already pieced together everything that was going on. In the grand scheme of things, it was pretty impressive how everything just seemed to come together almost perfectly. "Caius Ames" he said.

Ruko looked over towards Taichi and Emma. He knew that they were about to drop the real truth about everything that's been happening. The questions that they've been wanting answers to this whole time. "And? What did the explorer have to report?" he asked.

Taichi soon took in a deep breath as he collected himself. The truth was going to be hard to bear, particularly for Tsuki and Cheria who have been left in the dark. "After clearing out the monsters, Mike and Stahler ventured deeper into the ruins as a precaution. Like a true Explorer, he ended up following them into the depths of the ruins with a complete disregard for his own safety. And within those depths, he saw Mike and Stahler with Caius...and it wasn't for a fight, either" he said. He then pulled out a familiar looking violet crystal from his bag with a strange device attached to it. "It was there when Caius saw potential in them and demonstrated true, raw power and they were easily taken in by it" he said. They had the eyewitness report from the report but even with that, it wasn't enough to take action. They needed some form of physical evidence to show to prove what the Explorer overheard. "Upon learning about this, we sent Georg and Phi out to the ruin so that they can try and find supporting evidence of these claims and ended up bringing back stone tablets depicting exactly what he had overheard. We were still unaware of what this power was until Tsuki uncovered the crystals and learned about Arcanum" he said. He then glanced over towards Stahler and then Mike. "You both were always seeking to become stronger, by any means necessary. I knew this but I didn't want to think you'd sink so low as betraying your own kingdom for such a superficial reason" he said.

The Elf woman folded her arms as they exposed the truth. "As an extra step, I was specifically requested to carry out an investigation of both you and Stahler. My task was to keep tabs of all your movements and dealings you make with people and make frequent reports back to them via carrier bird" she said. She then held her arm up and showed off a wristband with a stone embedded in it. "I caught you and Stahler meeting up with your cohorts on the outskirts of Eresseas last night, after you slaughtered all of the nearby patrols. Not wanting to give myself away while I eavesdropped, I sent out a warning through this wristband" she said.

Emma glanced over towards the crystal that Taichi was holding. "When Tsuki mentioned these crystals and their sudden emergence, we started to think about it. These crystals didn't just pop up out of some random digsite out of Briswater overnight. We've had reports of strange monster behavior and various other unsual activity ever since the events that took place at those ruins" she said. She then looked over towards Mike, giving him a cold stare. "Every time you and Stahler went out together, even when it was unnecessary, you would always be gone longer than it should have taken" she said. She then pointed her finger at Mike. "Mike, you two are the ones responsible for the appearance of these crystals, aren't you?" she asked.

Cheria couldn't believe what was being said. She didn't want to believe it. Mike and Stahler had been in their service for several years at this point and were good friends. Their actions, if true, resulted in Tsuki getting hurt and almost dying as a result. This was a betrayal in the worst possible way. "No...this can't be true...It can't..." she said, shaking her head in total disbelief. She then looked over towards Mike, who was silent this whole time. "Mike, please me this isn't true!" she said, almost pleading.

Mike, who has been silent throughout their whole explanation with his head hung low, started to chuckle. Since everything was now out in the open, he no longer had to play the charade anymore. "The plan was perfect. All we had to do was "distribute" the crystals to test their effectiveness. When monsters no longer started to give us the desired results, we opted for human experimentation. That's when we reached out to that small group of Draxus followers. Those poor fools would accept anything if it contributed to the resurrection of their fallen God" he said. He then stood up and looked towards Tsuki and Lynette. "What a waste of effort that was as their whole operation was taken down by a street rat knight and a healer from the sticks" he said.

Tsuki was in disbelief. He wanted this all to be one big bad nightmare. However, that wasn't the case. At first, he wanted to believe that what they were saying was one big misunderstanding. That some other piece of information got lost womewhere in the flow of things that caused the misunderstanding to occur. However, Mike's comments to being accused of treachery was what sealed it. His confusion and disbelief soon became unbridled anger as he soon turned his blade on Mike. "Mike! All these years of service! Why!?" he shouted. Anger he's never felt being swelled up inside of him to a boiling point. With everything that's happened over the last month with them being the root cause of everything, there was no way he could forgive them.

Mike chuckled more as his normal expressions started to become twisted to match his true personality. Soon, the air around him started to grow heavy as a violet aura started to surround him. He proceeded to then take the axe off his back as the blade started to glow. "I recall Lydia asking the very same question and so I'll tell you the same answer. All for the sake of true prosperity" he said.

Tsuki's eyes widened as he made a mention of Lydia. If she got the same answer out of him as they did, then that could only mean one thing. He turned on Lydia at some point since the conflict started which most likely ended up in some sort of fight between the two of them. It made his body go cold when it then dawned on him that he was here and she wasn't. "Lydia? What have you done with her!?" he asked. This only made him more angry, As his anger grew, he could feel something else start to build up inside of him. Something familiar.

Mike held his axe up into the air above him as the glowing of his blade started pulsate. "Why don't you go and find out!?" he shouted.

Emma sensed a powerful surge of energy coming from his axe. It wasn't nearly as strong as the power surge that the elf woman gave off but it was still powerful. It made sense because Mike was, or used to be, their frontline fighter. "Not good! Everyone, watch out!" she shouted.

Mike then brought his axe down in a vertical slash, releasing a violet arc blast of energy towards Tsuki and the others. Everyone jumped out of the way of the oncoming attack. Tsuki, however, stood his ground as the attack grew closer to him.

Ramza saw that Tsuki wasn't moving and didn't know what he was doing. "Tsuki! Get out of the way!" he shouted.

The elf woman, who had been silent this whole time and observed things from the sidelines and generally gave no interest into what was going on aside ensuring the safety of Taichi and Emma, took notice of Tsuki after immediately sensing something peculiar. "This power...could that boy possibly be...?" she asked herself.

Moments later, the blast of arc energy collided into Tsuki and exploded on impact, sending shockwaves out and filling the room with smoke. This also caused nearby walls and columns to give out and crumble. The floor between Mike and Tsuki was upheaved from the blast. No one could see Tsuki through the dense smoke.

Nagi coughed from the intense smoke while being shielded by Elle. When she couldn't see Tsuki, she grew concerned for him. "Tsuki!" she shouted.

Silence and anticipation filled the room as the smoke slowly started to clear after about a minute or so. As the smoke cleared, they were starting to make out a dark silhouette inside of the smoke. Mike gazed on with a satisfied grin on his face with an evil chuckle, His expressions would turn into that of surprise and shock when the smoke soon cleared. Tsuki remained standing in place, his left arm stretched out in the direction where the blast of energy would have came from. The standard knight armor that he had been wearing as a substitute for his Royal Eight armor was practically all destroyed from the explosion. He had injuries along the right side of his face and all over his body but didn't appear to notice them as he stood there like a statue, his head hung low. He stayed like that for a few moments, unmoving and unflinching.

Cheria felt a sudden sense of anxiety as she looked at Tsuki who was clearly hurt and appeared unresponsive. She was also getting the feeling something was changing in the air around him. "Tsu-?" she said.

Suddenly, a burst of mixed energy erupted from Tsuki. It was a power surge that Lynette and the others have never felt from Tsuki before yet it seemed a little familiar. Mixed within the burst of energy, they were able to feel two types of energy that was familiar to them and one unfamiliar type. Soon after, Tsuki dropped his arm and rested it at his side, tightening his grip on the Caliburn as the blade started to glow a familiar light. Tsuki then slowly started to lift his head to reveal a distinct change to his face. His normal azure blue eyes had now changed color to that of a mix between blue, red and green.

Mike could feel the surge of power coming from Tsuki. Such a thing should be impossible for him to do especially while within the barrier. Not only that but he shouldn't have this kind of power to begin with. "What? What is this power?" he asked. He then assumed a defensive stance with his axe and braced himself for a possible attack.

Tsuki looked towards Mike, glaring at him with his mutli-colored eyes. He then started to speak in what appeared to be a mixed tone of voices. If one would listen carefully, they would be able to make out the faint traces of both Tsuki and Allie's voices along with a third, more deeper one. "Your treachery knows no bounds. You'll pay for crossing the line" he said.

Tsuki twirled the Caliburn around a bit before shooting off towards Mike like a bullet. Mike didn't anticipate his high speed which surprised him. Tsuki quickly closed the gap between them and swung his sword at him. Mike used his axe to block his swing as the two bloades clashed hard, sending out a minor shockwave.

Mike felt himself pushed back a little bit from the clash from the sheer force of it. What he was seeing was something Tsuki should definitely not be capable of doing. He was always the one who was the stronger of the two. "Agh...! What strength...! How is this possible!?" he asked. He didn't know how Tsuki could become so strong in the short span of time he was on his mission. It was realistically impossible for him to do so. He then took note of his eyes. They were of a completely different color. He also took note of his tone of voice. "Who, or what, are you? Are you even Tsuki?" he asked.

Tsuki didn't respond to his question and the two of them continued to exchange heavy blows. For a time, it appeared that they were fighting at a stalemate. However, as they clashed with each other, Mike started to lose his bearings and was getting pushed back by Tsuki's overwhelming and unrelenting force. He slowly started to shift from an offensive stance to primarily sticking to defensive as Tsuki didn't give him much of an opening to work with.

Everyone watching from the sidelines couldn't believe what they were watching. They were watching Tsuki fight in ways that they've never seen before. There was a lot of force and aggression behind his attacks. The shift in his energies and overall personality also seems to have caught their attention as well.

Ramza has been watching Tsuki fight for a while now but he's never seen Tsuki fight so aggressively. He wasn't using any type of Arte but all of his attacks had a lot of power behind them that seemed to come out of nowhere. For a brief moment, he thought that he was watching someone else fight. Even his fighting style was different. While there were familiar moves, a lot were completely different and looked pretty complicated for him to be able to pull off all of a sudden. "What is this? Is that really Tsuki fighting?" he asked.

Lynette shook her head. It was really hard for her to tell. She has seen him fight more than the others but this was a completely different side to him that she's never seen. It didn't help the fact that she could feel three different presences coming from him. "I...don't know. He's fighting very differently than he usually does" she said.

Ruko couldn't take his eyes off their fight. He simply stood there in awe. "If you ask me, he looks like a man possessed. It's him that's fighting but it's also not..." he said.

Mike soon switched from playing defense to offense as he soon ran in, holding his axe up over his shoulder. Once he was within striking distance, he brought it down over his head. Tsuki jumped back, barely missing the tip of his blade as he slammed it down against the ground. As Tsuki tried to recover, Mike quickly went in for another dash and swing. Tsuki ended up blocking the attack with his sword which forced him back from the impact, his feet skidding against the tile floor.

Tsuki retaliated by charging towards him, holding his sword down close to his side. As he ran toward him, Mike swung his axe several times, releasing three arc-shaped blasts of energy at him with lesser power than before. Tsuki simply sliced through them all with his sword and went in for another swing as he got close to him. Mike blocked the attack which sent out a burst of wind from their intense clash where they stood there at a stalemate.

Mike looked down at Tsuki. He was impressed of the strength he was showing. However, it wasn't going to cut it. "Is this really all you got? Where's all that power you used against King Caius, huh?" he asked. He knew that Tsuki was the one who inflicted some pretty serious injuries on him. He wanted to see that kind of power for himself btu what he was seeing wasn't satisfying enough.

Tsuki quickly broke their clash by swiping his sword to the side with enough force to throw him off balance, causing his stance to break. This opened him up for Tsuki to reach out and grab him by the collar as he pushed himself forward. Mike continued to be caught off guard by Tsuki as he was able to throw him with such ease. Tsuki soon brought his sword down, delivering a vicious swing against him. However, a flciker of hestitation changed the angle of his attack. A part of him still wished for this to be a dream so instead of delivering a vicious slash to his chest, he ended up slamming the tip of the Caliburn's hilt against his chest. He hit him with enough force to bash him through the floor down and crashing into what appeared to be a storage room right below where they stood.

Tsuki stood along the newly formed hole in the floor and looked down towards Mike, who was half buried by debris and broken wooden crates and barrels along with the various contents that filled them. Tsuki then jumped down into the hole and held his sword up over his head, readying himself to swing it down at him. Mike quickly scrambled to his feet, holding his axe close to him as the blade started to glow once more. After a few moments, he swung the axe in a horizontal motion, releasing an arc-shaped blase of energy at Tsuki. With Tsuki free-falling from the floor above, he had no chance of dodging the attack so he brought his sword down to block it which ended up blowing him back up to the above floor.

Mike crouched down for a moment then used his abilities to jump up back to the above floor. Before Tsuki could react further, he fired off another arc-shaped blast of energy at him which he ended up taking a direct hit from. The attack blew him back towards the center of the audience chamber where everyone else hewas standing by, watching things go down. Tsuki crashed into the ground and coming to a stop near Lynette. Compared to his fight with Caius and his inexplicable power surge where he apparently had no control over his strange power, he looked like to be in full control of it this time around. The only difference was that the power he was displaying was far weaker than what he used against Caius.

Ever since returning to Eresseas, whenever Tsuki was alone, he was trying to tap into this power. The strange dream-like sequences where he communicated with the strange spirit who called himself Cliff and the moments where's he's felt a sudden rish of power seemingly from out of nowhere. These were thoughts that he had pushed to the back of his head but since his mission was done, he could finally put some time and thought into them. There were times he'd even sneak out in the dead of night to the castle's nearby training grounds and meditate to try and make a solid connection. It's only been 2 days since he returned to Eresseas and he's made some pretty good progress. He wasn't able to tap into the same level of power that he used on Caius but he was successful in opening up a link to the power that Cliff had. Unfortunately, he has been unable to make contact with his spirit yet and the link he was able to establish was only a temporary thing due to his inexperience with handling this strange power. He was also experimenting with a few things with Allie which also wound up them linking up in the same way.

Mike walked up to Tsuki and the others with a casual pace. He was surprised by his power display but it was being hindered by his own hesitation. Despite being told the truth, it still clung onto some hope for him and it weakened him. "Not good enough, Tsuki. I'm not sure where you got this power of yours but it means nothing if you let your own hesitation hinder you" he said. He could have potentially inflicted a fatal injury it he had swung with his blade instead of the hilt.

Lynette crouched down and helped Tsuki sit up. "Tsuki! You okay?" she asked. Simply by just touching him, she could feel the different energies swirl around him. She definitely felt the presence of Tsuki and Allie but she wasn't sure about the third presence. This presence felt old and powerful but it didn't feel negative in the slightest.

Tsuki pulled himself up to one knee and looked at Mike as he approached them, glaring at him. "Bastard...!" she said.

Mike looked at Tsuki and had a look of delight as if he was enjoying watching him struggle as he did. "That's a good look you got on you. I don't know where you got this power of yours but it means nothing if you allow your hestitation to hinder you" he said. He held his axe close to him as he assumed an offensive stance. "You don't have what it takes to kill me. How can you possibly fulfill your duties as a knight if you can't kill the enemy fight before your eyes?" he asked.

Mike's axe started to glow more intensely beofre swinging his axe, firing off the same attack he has been using towards Tsuki and Lynette. Ramza and Ruko jumped in and put themselves in front of them, using their weapons to block his attack and were blasted back towards where the throne chairs used to be from the ensuing explosion. Because they were already physically weakened from their fight with Delvin, it made sense that they weren't able to block the attack. He then turned to face Elle and Nagi and charged towards them, holding his axe over his shoulder as he readied himself for a vertical cleave.

Elle held onto Nagi with her right arm, holding her close to her side as she drew her sword with her other hand to block the attack. The force of the attack pushed her back as the axe's blade scrapped down the length of her blade, breaking off part the hilt guard and scrapped against the length of her lower arm, drawing blood. She winced from the pain as she bled heavily from the deep cut on her arm from the attack. Thankfully, Nagi wasn't hurt from the clash though she was shaken up.

Mike then turned his gaze towards Taichi and Emma. Emma was holding onto Cheria tightly while Taichi had his Odachi drawn and ready to defend, standing in front of them. He stared at them with an evil grin as he chuckled. "It's been a pleasure, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, the royal family only serves to be an obstacle so I'm afraid that you'll have to be eliminated!" he shouted. Mike swung his axe and fired off the previous arc-shaped blast of energy towards them with a greater intensity.

Taichi was ready to fend off his attack with his Odachi as the stone attached to his armband started to glow but then the elf woman suddenly appeared between him and the attack, taking the spear off her back and sliced through his attack with extreme ease as electricity sparked around her. When his attack cancelled out, she simply glared at him with the coldest look a person could give someone.

Mike clicked his tongue in disgust as the elf woman intervened once more. Her presence was starting to become a nuisance. "Stand aside, Elf. If you wish to die so much, then I'll deal with you after the blood of these royals are spilled across the floor" he said.

The elf woman shook her head as the electricity around her started to spark with greater intensity. Her expressions and body language are pretty neutral so it was hard to tell what she was thinking but she was actually pretty angry right now but is managing to control herself. "I told your little friend before; your actions have put some of my closest friends and the ones they care about in great peril. If you think I'm going to stand by and watch as you do as you please, then don't think that I won't do the same to you as I did to your cohorts" she said.

Cheria looked at the elf woman with curiousity. She's been wondering who she was this whole time and what her connection was to her parents. She can easily tell that there was a very strong, unbreakable bond shared between them. She just hasn't been able to find a good time to ask with everything going on. "W-who are you, exactly?" she asked. She puts off a very powerful and intimidating aura and presence but she can also feel wamth.

The elf woman glanced back at her, nodding and giving her a small smile. "My name is Shana Aska. I'm just an ordinary mercenary out to provide assistance to some old friends and former companions" she said.

Ramza recognized the name immediately as his eyes widened. It was impossible for any mercenary out there to NOT know who Shana Aska was, no matter what rank they fall under or what job they do for the Mercenary Guild whether it's fieldwork or office work. "What, Shana Aska? THE Shana Aska!?" he shouted with great shock and surprise.

Reia had made her way over toward Emma and Cheria so that she could put some distance between her and Mike. "I take it that you now who this person is" she said. She then took a closer look at the elf who calls herself Shana. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar but she wasn't able to figure out what it was. "I feel like I've heard that name before..." she said.

Ramza shook his head. He couldn't believe that she, of all people, were here in the flesh. "Ordinary mercenary, she calls herself! You're looking at one of the few mercenaries throughout the entire history of the Mercenary Guild to ever achieve S-rank!" he said. He also recognized her name in more ways than one outside of being a mercenary but he felt that it wasn't necessary to divulge that sort of information.

Cheria tilted her head. For her, the whole concept of the Mercenary Guild and their inner systems was still confusing to her. "An S-rank? Is that suppose to be some sort of high honor?" she asked. She didn't know the significance of what it meant to be an S-rank or what sets it apart from A-rank, which is the rank most mercenaries tend to stop at.

Ramza shook his head more. Since she's never interacted with a mercenary before, it was understandable that she didn't know how these things worked or what they meant. "Mercenaries are enlisted as F-rank and then they work themselves up to attain A-rank. However, there is a rank beyond that reserved for only special individuals who have performed feats that go far above and beyond the call of duty. This rank is only awarded to those by the approval of not only every Guild Branch but the higher ups at headquarters as well and it has to be unanimous. Throughout the history of the Mercenary Guild, there have only been 4 individuals to achieve such a rank. The last one before her was awarded over 100 years ago!" he said. People who achieve S-rank were no ordinary individuals and were considered to be of a unique, special group of people that are forever honored within the Guild.

Tsuki glanced over towards Shana with a look of amazement. "I guess that explains her crazy high power..." he said. Naturally, he couldn't properly gauge just how strong she was since she hasn't really given him much to consider but he could tell at just by a brief glance that she far outclassed him and possibly mostly everyone in this room.

Mike shook his head, growing irritated as these talks continue to go on without end. "It doesn't matter who she is or what feats she's acomplished. No matter how strong a single individual is, they can't stand up to an entire army by themselves..." he said. He then reached into his pocket and then pulled out a violet crystal that was brimming with dark, evil energy to the point where it was about ready to bust. "And I've got just the army to bring you all down" he said. Moments later, the crystal started to glow with a very intense, bright violet light as it almost lit up the entire darkened audience chamber as he did so with an evil chuckle.

Elle felt a strong chill go down her spine when she looked at the crystal he held in his hand. The dark, overflowing evil energy within it far exceeded its normal capacity and any other crystal she's ever come across combined. She knew, in that moment, that things were about to get so much worse for them. "No! Stop!" she shouted.

Of course, Mike didn't listen to her. He then turned around and faced towards the hole in the wall that lead out into the hallway and tossed the crystal with force out of the adjacent window. The crystal then erupted into a massive explosion which sent shockwaves through the skies and breaking down various walls. It wasn't long after that when a dense, purple fog started to expand out from the explosion and quickly grew in size. Within minutes, everything within the barrier was covered in a thick, purple haze. Even the inner parts of the castle, including the audience chamber, were covered in the purple haze.

Elle immediately recognized the purple haze. It was the same purple haze that filled the entire lower levels of the castle, moments before they were flooded with those strange entites. "This isn't good..." she said. She held then held onto Nagi tightly and slowly backed up towards where the throne chairs used to be towards the broken windows that overlooked the lake.

Nagi could feel Elle's high levels of apprehension as she was pulled with her towards the back of the audience chamber. She could feel the sudden change in the air. It had an overwhelming sense of dread and heaviness that it was almost hard to breath. "What...is this...?" she asked. She was afraid to know what the answer was. Her anxiety levels were through the roof at this point.

Lynette helped Tsuki up onto his feet and looked around the room. Even though she couldn't use her appraisal skill to make sense of this strange, purple haze, she didn't have to. She could feel the evil within it. It was overpowering and felt nothing like she's ever felt before. "Tsuki...?" she said. She immediately recognized that the purple haze felt similarly to the evil energy she's felt within the crystals they've encountered only on a much higher level and scale this time.

Tsuki finally pulled himself back up to his feet with Lynette helping him with his left arm over her shoulder. He could feel the incredible levels of negativity in the air as his eye color turned back to normal, his power boost seemingly coming to an end. "Yeah. I feel it too...and it's not good" he said.

Taichi looked over towards Mike, who was still facing towards the hallway. It seems that he had a firm understanding of what was happening. "Mike...what have you done?" he asked.

Mike could be heard letting out an evil chuckle for a few moments before turning around in a strange manner. His body language and movements looked almost unnatural as a violet aura surrounded him. When he looked up towards everyone his, his eyes and changed to an evil, violet color that glowed. "I think we've talked enough. It's time for everyone to die" he said.

Right after he said that, the same familiar strange entities that Tsuki and everyone else have seen already appeared to form out from the ground, their numbers growing rapidly in number. Within seconds, half of the audience chamber was filled with these entities as they formed around Mike like an impenetrable wall. This made Tsuki and the others step back towards the back of the audience chamber where Elle and Nagi were. They were now trapped and had no means of escape. There were far too many to take down as their number continue to rise. With Ramza and Ruko being too physically weakened to fight, Elle being pretty heavily injured herself and Reia, Nagi and Lynette unable to fight, things were looking pretty grim for them.

Emma knew that things had now fallen out of their hands. If these entities were spawning here seemingly from the purple haze, then they were doing the same all throughout Eresseas. This was a fight that they simply could not win. "Shana, I hope you have your exit strategy ready..." she said.

Shana nodded at him. "Of course, all I have to do is say the word and I can get you all out of here and-" she said.

Taichi shook his head at her. "No, me and Emma are staying here. We have to ensure that everyone got out alive. I want you to take Tsuki and everyone else to safety" he said.

Cheria's eyes widened when he suggested that they were to leave them behind. It was suicide. "Father, no! That's crazy!" she shouted in protest.

Tsuki also couldn't believe what he had just said. There was absolutely no way he was going to leave them while he ran away. "Your Majesty, pardon my words, but you're insane! There's no way I can just leave you two like this!" he shouted.

Shana looked at Taichi with a hint of surprise on her face though a large part of her had expected him to say something like that, given the history she's had with him. "Tai, I'm afraid I have to agree with your daughter and knight. This is suicide. You can't possibly think you can fight your way out of these, can you? I know you two are powerful, but this isn't anything like you've faced before" she said.

Taichi shook his head once more. He was adamant in his course and wasn't going to budge from it. He was the king of Eresseas, after all. "Remember the old saying that I used to preach? No one gets left behind, at any cost. We need to ensure the safety of as many people as we can that may still be fighting out there. What kind of king would I be if I left my men to die?" he asked.

Shana shook her head at him. Part of what he said made sense to her but it also didn't at the same time. "A knight's duty is to fight for the lives of the royal family. If that meant dying on the field of battle to ensure your safety, there's no greater honor than that. This is basic knight principle" she said.

Taichi scoffed at her comment. He didn't care that much about principle. "Let this be my basic principle then. If I have the power and strength to do something, then I'm going to use it. I'd be a coward if I didn't" he said. He wasn't about to back down from a fight that he himself hasn't even begun to fight yet. "Besides, Old Man Gatz would kill me if I gave up without a fight" he said. If he's learned anything from the former king and Emma's father, it's that he wouldn't hesitate.

Emma looked over to Shana, shaking her head with a smile. "I'm sorry but I can't leave either. Someone's gotta stay to keep Taichi in check" she said.

Shana looked at Emma and sighed heavily. "Not you too..." she said. She hoped that at least Emma would try to talk him down but she was a fool to hope for that. After all, she's picked up a lot of traits and attitudes from Taichi that she probably shouldn't have. "Fine then..." she said. She closed her eyes for several moments and looked like she was deep in thought about something. She stayed that way for what felt like a long minute to her before opening her eyes back open again and walking over to their side. "If you two choose to stay this reckless course, then I'll have to help you force your way out of it" she said. She then looked back towards Tsuki and everyone else that was behind them. "Meanwhile, everyone else makes their escape" she said.

Ramza shook his head. Escape was all well and good but they were blocked off from the hallway and any other exit point aside the hole in the wall behind them which was a solid drop down to the lake water below. "I think we're all forgetting to ask the main question here. What IS our escape route, to be exact?" he asked, slightly worried at the answer he was going to receive.

Shana's eyes drifted over towards the hole in the wall and didn't think she had to explain much. "You jump" she said, rather plainly.

Tsuki thought she was joking at first when she told them that their escape route was to jump but he saw that she was being quite serious. "Now, hold on a minute! Did you say 'jump'? Do you realize how high up we are? Even if we did survive the water's impact, we'd be sitting ducks in the middle of a wide lake! Plus, I don't know if you've noticed, but some of us barely have the strength to fight, let alone swim across a giant lake!" he said. What she was suggesting was absolutely absurd.

Shana nodded at him. "You're simply gonna have to trust me" she said.

Tsuki shook his head with a sigh while shrugging his shoulders. "Hard to trust someone we just met" he said.

Taichi glanced over at Tsuki. It was understandable that he was skeptic about this whole thing. However, she wouldn't have suggested such a crazy act unless she had a plan. "If you can't trust her, then trust me. Do what she says and jump" he said.

Emma released Cheria from her arms and gently pushed her away towards Tsuki. "You all need to get out of here. Your window of opportunity is closing fast" she said.

Cheria shook her head. She didn't want to leave her parents behind like this. "Mother, please! There has to be another way to do this!" she said.

Emma gave her a soft smile as she shook her head. "I'm sure there is but your father is pretty stubborn when he gets like this" she said. She then took off the necklace that she had on her nerck. Attached to the necklace was a small, shining pearl that gave off a soft glow. She then put it around her neck and put her hand on her shoulders. "Don't you worry about us. We'll be fine" she said. She then pushed her more towards Tsuki and stepped back from her.

Cheria reached up and held the pearl attached to the necklace, giving it a tight squeeze, She was frustrated that things were happening like this to the point where she almost felt like crying. However, she took in a deep breath and looked at Emma, giving her a nod. "Okay..." she said.

Tsuki still refused to accept the fact that he had to run away. "Your Majesty, please reconsider this!" he said.

Taichi looked at Tsuki, giving him a stern look. "Tsuki, you're a good knight. Probably one of the best we've had in a long time. Things were rough around the edges for a while but you really came into your own" he said. At first, when he met Tsuki, he thought he was just some random child thief on the streets. However, he saw potential within him. The way he protected Cheria when she was in trouble struck a cord inside of him. "However, the duty you were given was to protect Cheria and serve as her bodyguard, no matter the cost. If you stay with us, then you would be forsaking that duty" he said. He knew that Tsuki understood this fact.

Tsuki made his hand into a tight first. Of course, he knew this. That's been his duty and responsibility ever since being appointed to that position. "I understand that but..." he said.

Taichi gave him a confident smile. "Tsuki, I'm entrusting you with my daughter. Only you can keep her safe. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, almost giving him a direct order.

Tsuki knew that he wasn't going to be able to beat him in an argument espcially if it ends up with him giving him a direct order for him to follow. "Yes, Your Majesty..." he said.

Cheria reached over to him and grabbed hold of his hand that was in a tight fist. She wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. She didn't like this as much as he didn't but she had to believe in her parents. "So long as I have Tsuki by my side...I think I can manage" she said, giving him a soft smile.

Tsuki looked at Cheria. He knew this was more difficult for her since these were her parents being left behind to fight off an unknown enemy. Yet despite that, she was still putting on a brave face. He can't afford to lose his way now. "Cheria..." he said.

Emma looked over towards Elle, nodding at her. "Elle, look after them, okay?" she asked. With Elle watching over them, she could feel more at ease.

Elle nodded at her, bowing to her slightly. "You have my word, Your Majesty" she said.

Shana looked back towards them as they appeared to be ready. She took a moment of thought before nodding at them. "If everyone's done saying their farewells, then jump!" she shouted"

Mike let out loud, maniacal laugh as they prepared to jump to their expected deaths. "Yes, go ahead! Jump! It'll only make things much easier for me!" he shouted.

Tsuki and his companions, with Reia, Cheria and Nagi in tow, made their way over to the edge of the wall. They looked down and saw the great distance there was between where they stood and the water below. They hesitated for a moment before taking the leap of faith off over the edge and plummeted down towards the water.

Meanwhile, Mike couldn't help but laugh as they jumped to their deaths. There was no chance that they would survive the water's impact and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to survive the swim back. "Yes! Excellent! With them out of the picture, all that's left to do is-!" he shouted.

Suddenly, a large, red creature flew up from where Tsuki and the others jumped, sending a strong gust of wind through the broken wall. Moments later, the dark shadow eventually came hovering down towards the hole. This massive creature had a large pair of wings and a red body. Scales covered the creatures' body head to toe and had a long tail and had piercing, yellow eyes. This massive creature that seemed to shoot out from below and was now hovering on the other side of the wall was a red dragon with a slight shade of grey to its scales and body. On the dragon's back were Tsuki and the others, all dumbfounded that they were on the back of a dragon. Not only that, the dragon was also holding onto Phi, who was encased in a barrier, with one of its frontal claws.

Mike stood there in total shock as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. All of these surprises were starting to become a bad joke to him. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Where the hell did a dragon come from!?" he shouted. He then remembered a comment that Shana had made to him earlier when she first appeared. About how he could possibly find the charred remains of Lily in the Recreational District and that she picked a fight with someone who wouldn't hesitate to rip someone to shreds. He then glanced over to Shana and saw that she had a smug look on her face. "What are you, a dragon tamer!?" he asked.

Shana shrugged her shoulders, keeping the smug expression on her face. He wasn't right but he wasn't too far off either. "Something like that" she said. She then turned her head to look at the dragon. The two of them seemed to share a moment, staring into each other's eyes before nodding at it.

Tsuki had a feeling that they weren't going to be seeing the three of them for a long time after this. "Your Majesty, we'll be back! Don't you worry!" he shouted.

After he said that, the dragon let out a loud, piercing roar that echoed throughout Eresseas. Moments later, it turned around and took off flying at great speed, flying to the southwest. Within a minute, they flew out of the perimeter of the Anti-Arte Field barrier that covered Eresseas and its surrounding areas and immediately felt the change. Things felt much lighter and it was a lot easier to breathe. For Reia, Lynette and Nagi, they could feel their magic again although pretty weakened, most likely because it had been suppressed for so long so they were still in no shape to use Mana. They didn't know where they were going as they flew off and put distance between them and Eresseas.

As they flew off, Taichi, Emma and Lynette prepared themselves to face off against a literal wall of enemies as they flooded the audience chamber at this point. They were going to have to somehow force their way through all these enemies in order to make it to the town. They just had clear the way of some obstacles.

Mike chuckled a bit more as looked at them. "I commend your bravery but what do you three hope to accomplish against all of these enemies? You can only rely on the Elf for so long before she drains herself of her Mana" he said.

Taichi had a smug look on his face as he brought his arm up in front of him that had the armband. "Oh, don't you worry. We won't have to" he said. Moments later, the stone embedded within the armband started to glow and shine brightly.

Emma pulled her sleeve back and revealed the bracelet around her wrist which also started to glow and shine brightly. "As you are about to see, we're more than ready" she said.

Moments later, their were both encased in a faint light that outlined their bodies. They both felt their strength quickly return to them which put them both into fighting shape. The blade of his Odachi started to glow red while Emma's staff started to emit a bright, white light. An Odachi is basically an oversized katana and in Taichi's case, the blade's length almost matched his own height. Due to a weapon of that sheer size, it could be considered a greatsword to most people which are typically hard weapons to master and use properly and effectively.

Taichi walked toward the wall of strange entities as they approached. Putting enough distance between him and the other two, he swung his oversized katana, firing off a horizontal wave of energy at them. That single attack took out a large number of entities in an instant. Meanwhile, Emma held her staff out in front of her as an incantation circle formed underneath her. Moments later, she started to hover slightly off the ground as she released her staff to also hover in front of her as she started to speak out an incantation in ancient tongue. Moments later, a series of elemental crystals formed around a large group of enemies away from Taichi, all linked together by an energized chain and formed a circle. Not long after that, a powerful blast of electricity shot down, through the roof and collided into the center of the circle that formed, obliterating all of the enemies within the circle.

Mike sighed as he could no longer be surprised at this point. In fact, he almost expected something like this to happen again. "This is getting really old now..." he said. He didn't need them to say anything. He could tell that they were somehow able to negate the effects of the Anti-Arte Field and had access to their Artes again and judging by their 2 singular attacks, he could tell they pose just as much of a threat as Shana does.

Taichi held his Odachi close to his side with the blade pointing behind him as if sheathed as he crouched down, ready to lunge at them. "Mike, you're about to learn what it means to cross blades with a true battle veteran. Hopefully, you can keep up" he said.

Emma stared down Mike as she was ready to unleash another attack, still hovering slightly above her incantation circle. "Don't blame us if it hurts. You've brought this upon yourselves" she said.

Shana chuckled a bit. She wasn't worried too much but she was relieved to see that the two of them didn't appear to have lost their edge despite the years they've remained docile. She struck her spear into the floor next to her and clapped her hands together, forming the same electrified spear she had used against Stahler previously, twirling it around and pulling it back to throw. "Just like old times. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" she said.

Taichi soon lunged towards the wall of enemies with incredible speed as he prepared to swing. Emma started casting more spells and firing them off at the crowd of enemies. Shana threw the electrified spear towards another group of enemies, clearing the way before grabbing onto her spear and sprinting towards those that remained. The three of them engaged Mike and his dark forces, holding nothing back.

Meanwhile, the scene shifts over to Tsuki and the others who were being carried through the night skies. At first, they weren't sure of where they were being flown to nor what to expect when they land. Since the dragon seemed to appear at Shana's command, they could let some of their guard down but remained on edge as a precaution. Dragons were not native to Cayhill and were supposed to be extremely hostile towards humans. The mystery grows deeper when they think about just who, exactly, Shana was and how she could seemingly command a dragon.

Lynette still couldn't believe that they were flying through the skies on the back of a dragon. This almost seemed too good to be true. "I still can't believe this dragon just popped out of the lake like that!" she said with a little excitement in her voice.

Tsuki nodded slowly, somewhat lost in throught. He was curious to know where the dragon came from and how it got so close to Eresseas without being spooted. "Yeah..." he said.

Time briefly shifts back to when they jumped off over the wall and plummeted down towards the water. Tsuki wasn't sure what Shana had pllanned for an escape route but Taichi and Emma both seemed to trust her. Time seemed to slow down for all of them as they were in free fall.

Tsuki stared down towards the water and could see that there was something going on with the lake but due to how dark the water's surface was, he couldn't make out what it was. "What is that...?" he asked.

Moments later, a massive, dark figure with a pair of wings shot out from the waters below and flew up towards them. The figure caught them on its back as everyone took hold of it almost completely by instinct. When they were holding onto its back, the figure then flew back up towards the sky.

Ramza recognized what they were riding on almost immediately. There was no denying it. He felt the scales under his hands and had a distinct red appearance accompanied by its massive size which was all too familiar to him. "No way...is this a dragon!? How did it get here?" he asked.

Reia held onto the dragon's scales tightly, shaking her head. "A dragon? Aren't they native only to the mountains of Nargelond?" she asked. This was her first time seeing a dragon and despite all of the bad things she's read about them, there was something truly majestic about it.

Nagi looked around as she held on tightly and noticed that the dragon was holding onto a small, spherical, glowing object with its right frontal paw. Upon a closer look, she was shocked and surprised to see what was within the glowing sphere. "Tsuki, Cheria! Look there at its front paw! Is that...!?" she asked.

Cheria carefully looked over to the dragon's side to try and get an angle to be able to see what Nagi was seeing. Her eyes widened at what she saw as she couldn't help but gasp. "Oh my god! It's Phi!" she said.

Phi was within what appeared to be shielded by a barrier as the dragon held onto it with its paw. It was hard to tell without being able to get a closer look but it seemed that she was being healed within the barrier as most of her injuries were being healed. The stab wound she received from Stahler was slow to recover, however. The poison that she was injected also appeared to be still having its effect on her although as a gradual pace. She was also unconscious so it was hard to tell if she was actually alive still.

Tsuki saw the state that Phi was in and tried to call out to her but she had no reaction to his voice whatsoever. She looked like she had gotten pretty injured and took note of the stab wound. "Phi...what happened to you...?" he asked.

Time shifts back to the present. Tsuki was still lost in his thoughts as they continued to make their way through the night skies. Everyone had their own thoughts that the were seemingly trapped in as there was a lot that went down very quickly. Now that they were out danger, they could take a breather and compile what happened to them. They were soon brought out of their thoughts though when a female's voice started to speak.

The female's voice was calm but sounded a bit rough with a small hint of coldness to it. "If you are concerned about Eresseas, don't be. Those three will be fine. As for the girl inside of the barrier, her condition has stabilized for the time being" the voice said.

The voice surprised them. It wasn't telepathic communication and it wasn't Allie's voice. That could only mean one thing. The voice came from the dragon that carried them through the skies.

Nagi tilted her head a bit at the voice speaking to them. "Are you...the dragon?" she asked.

The dragon nodded its head. "Yes, little Human" the dragon said.

Tsuki was surprised that the dragon could speak He didn't think monsters had the ability to speak out in human speech. "I didn't know monsters could speak" he said.

The dragon let out a low grunt as it breathed out steam from its nose. "I am no monster. I'm a Faerie. More specifically, a Dragonkin. Humans aren't the only intelligent life that inhabit this planet" the dragon said.

Ruko tilted his head a bit. Having never been outside of Cayhill before, the term Faerie was largely unfamiliar to him. "A...Faerie?" he asked.

Ramza looked over to Ruko. ""It's no surprise that you're unfamiliar with them. Cayhill doesn't have that much of a Faerie population, if at all. I was pretty surprised myself when I first got here and didn't see any sign or presence of them" he said. Where he's from, Faeries were quite common and walked alongside Humans in peace and prosperity.

Lynette glanced over towards Ramza as she became interested in what these Faeries were. "What are they?" she asked.

Ramza closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the rushing wind blow past his face as they soared through the sky at a slow pace. "Faeries are a mix between a Human and Beast. Basically, they're the offspring of a Human and Beast" he said.

Cheria tilted her head a bit. "So...they're like, half-breeds?" she asked.

Ramza nodded at her. "Exactly. They retain a Human appearance althought slightly altered and inherit their Beast power. Most are peaceful but, like with Humans, there some with bad intentions" he said.

The dragon let out a low, grumbling noise. "Faerie is a rather broad term to use to describe us all. Anyone who are considered half-breeds fall under the Faerie category but there are individual races that fall within that same category. These races make up the Faerie race. I am what's known as a Dragonkin, the strongest and most feared amongst Faeries" the dragon said.

Ramza nodded at the dragon's statement as it simplified what Faerie are. "There are many more races out there but Dragonkin are supposed to be extremely hostile towards Humans..." he said. He was curious to know the relationship the dragon had with Shana. It was extremely rare to see a Dragonkin listening to and actually taking commands from a Human. "Which begs the question, what is your relationship with Shana?" he asked.

The dragon huffed at his question. "Lady Shana is the one who commands me. Until death takes me, I will continue to serve the her. Is that so unnatural to you?" she asked.

Ramza scratched his head a bit. What she said was completely unheard of. Dragonkin aren't typcially ones to find themselves being tamed by a Human unless it's through force by unconventional means. Yet, he was getting the sense that she willingly allowed herself to be tamed by Shana. It confused him immensely. "Well...yes, it does" he said.

The dragon let out some steam from its mouth as if it sighed at his reply. "To put it in terms that you Humans would understand, Lady Shana went through extensive efforts to save my life when I was on the brink despite me being hostile towards her. She showed me kindness and warmth where no one else would" the dragon said.

Ramza grumbled to himself as he tried to think logically about this. Given all the stories and rumors he's heard about Shana throughout his years and actually seeing her in action, albeit briefly, he can see something like this happening. "I see..." he said.

The dragon continued to soar through the night skies as they soon started to pass through a series of mountains. After flying through the various mountain ranges, they soon found themselves on the other side where they were able to recognize the area immediately from the skies. The familiar view of the endless sea. A series of lights down on the ground in two different areas along the main road. A portside town that was still in the midst of repairs as the city streets were dimly lit by street lights. They were back in the nearby area of Basilwell.

After a few minutes of soaring through the skies, the dragon started to suddenly descend through the thin clouds down towards the ground. After about another minute or two, the dragon soon made landfall down on the ground in a clearing near the main road, somewhere between Basilwell and the Veklhor Checkpoint. The dragon gently set Phi down on the ground as the barrier that surrounded her disappeared. Tsuki and the others carefully climbed off the back of the dragon. Once they had gotten off the dragon, it suddenly started to glow and seemingly change shape. The dragon shrinked down into a Human-like form and once the light was gone, they were able to see the altered appearance of the dragon that carried them and were stunned. The dragon turned out to be a young girl with long, red hair. Her piercing yellow eyes were now a dark shade of red and had a small pair of horns on top of her head and a tail with red scales. She was still wearing the full-body robe that she had on her in Eresseas although slightly torn from the various fights she was involved with.

Tsuki watched as the massive dragon suddenly transformed into someone with an altered Human appeareance. It was a surreal thing to watch as he felt like the world just opened up to him. It also confirmed the story that they were told while flying through the skies. "So, this is what a Fae-I mean, a Dragonkin looks like, huh?" he asked.

The Dragonkin girl looked to be incredibly exhausted as she looked like she was about to fall over. Dragonkin have a unique ability that other races under the Faerie category don't have. They're able to temporarily transform into their inner dragon and utilize their full strength and capabilities. However, it came at a high cost. Transforming consumed a large, significant amount of Mana and the longer they stay in that form, the faster their Mana will drain. Compared to normal dragons, they're unable to stay in their dragon form for extended periods of time. Not only was she already in her form for much longer than she should have been, her earlier fights and the added weight of carrying 9 people across a vast distance took also took a significant toll on her.

The Dragonkin breathed heavily and stumbled forward after transforming back down into her base form, not having much of a balance to her. "We've reached...safety. Now...we must..." she struggled to say. She then fell forward, suddenly losing consciousness due to complete and total exhaustion

Tsuki saw that she wasn't looking so good and suddenly fell forward. "Whoa! Hey!" he shouted. He quickly rushed over to her and caught her as she fell. It was very clear that she had pushed herself well beyond her limits. She was completely out cold and could tell how exhausted she was through her ragged and unsteady breathing.

Lynette ran up to them and put her hand on the Dragonkin's shoulder. She was still feeling very weakened herself so she was unable to provide any sort of healing but she did have enough magic to do a quick appraisal of her. "Her Mana is very low. She's in a similar state as you were in after your fight with Caius. She won't die from Mana exhaustion but she's going to need a place to rest for a while and regain her strength" she said. She then turned her head and looked back and saw that everyone else was also in the same position. Everyone except for Reia, Nagi, Cheria and herself, were pretty badly injured and needed immediate medical attention which they were unable to provide as she and Reia were both magically weakened.

Reia examined everyone before stepping forward onto the main road. "I think all of us could use a place to rest and recover. We're too exposed out here. Basilwell shouldn't be too far of a walk from her so I say we take sheltar there and think about what to do next" she said.

Tsuki nodded at Reia and glanced over at Elle. "Elle, take point since you're still relatively okay and able to fight. I'll carry the Dragonkin. Cheria can hang back and provide support with her bow. Everyone else, stay close. There shouldn't be anything out here too dangerous but given how weak and injured we are, it's best not to take any risks" he said. He then looked over at Ramza. "Will you be able to carry Phi?" he asked. They needed to get their injuries healed up as soon as possible and check up on Phi's condition.

Ramza nodded at him. He may not have the strength to fight but he had plenty to carry her. "You got it" he said. He then slowly picked Phi up and carefully placed her onto his back before standing up as he secured her.

Tsuki lowered himself, turning around so that the Dragonkin girl could rest up against his back. Once she was secured, he held onto legs with her arms over his shoulder and slowly stood up, carrying her on his back. With Elle leading the group and Cheria hanging back to provide support, they made their way along the main road towards Basilwell. They didn't walk very far before feeling a powerful wave of exhaustion hit them. It seems like their bodies were starting to catch up with them from the events throughout the day. It felt like Basilwell got further and further away as they made their way towards it. Twenty minutes had slowly went by and those twenty mintues felt like an hour. Ramza and Ruko barely had any energy left and practically collapsed down onto their knees. Reia, Lynette and Nagi tried their best to push them to go on but they felt completely drained. Elle continued to feel a stinging pain on her arm from the burn injury while the other continued to bleed. They soon came to a complete stop on the road as everyone started to feel themselves go one by one.

They started to think that they weren't going to make it to Basilwell until Tsuki saw what appeared to be a carriage coming towards them from the direction of Basilwell. The carriage soon came to a stop as three people hopped out from the back and rushed over towards Tsuki and the others. They could see that the two of the people were local guards while the third was a familiar mercenary. That mercenary was Max Albreiter.

Max rushed over towards Ramza who was down on one knee. He saw that he was badly injured and it wasn't just him either. Mostly everyone else in his group were. What he didn't understand though was why he was here and how he got here. "Ramza!? My god! What happened to you!?" he asked, stopping by his side and getting down to one knee to get a better look at him.

Ramza looked up at Max and breathed a sigh of relief. "Max. I gotta say, it's damn good to see you" he said.

Meanwhile, one of the guards quickly attended to Ruko. "Lieutenant Ruko! Are you okay!?" he asked.

Ruko looked up at the guard. "You...you are from Basilwell. I'll be fine. Maybe" he said.

The other guard, who appeared to be a young female, looked over towards Tsuki and immediately recognized him even without his Royal Eight armor. "You are Tsuki of the Royal Eight, correct? How did you all get here?" she asked. There was clear alarm on her face.

Tsuki looked at the guard that addressed her and saw the look on her face. He then looked at the faces of the other guard and Max and knew that they were aware of what has happened. "It's a long are you guys doing out here?" he asked.

The female guard saluted Tsuki. "We heard reports of a strange disturbance taking place in Eresseas which prompted Commander Alba to close off and evacuate the checkpoints and reinforce security around the town" she said.

Max looked over towards Tsuki. "There were also reports of what appeared to be a creature of massive size that was spotted landing somewhere not too far from here so we were sent out to investigate" he said. He then shook his head. Last he heard from Ramza, they were heading back to Eresseas and then they suddenly lost all contact with the Guild Branch there. "We'll worry about this creature later. Right now, we need to get you guys back to the town and get those injuries healed up" he said.

Tsuki nodded at his suggeston. "I agree. We'll fill everyone in once we get ourselves checked first" he said.

With the help of Max and the two guards, Tsuki and everyone else were brought up and put in the back of the carriage that they arrived on. Once everyone was safetly in the carriage, the two guards got into the back with them as Max climbed up to the front of the carriage, sitting next to the driver. The carriage soon turned around and sped off with all haste towards Basilwell. It was there that they were hopefully going to be able to recover from their wounds and piece together all of the events that took place during the day and into the night. What should have been a night of celebration turned into one of the longest days of Hell that they've ever experienced.

A think, heavy air hung over Cayhill as its future became clouded. No one knew what was happening in Eresseas or if Taichi and the others got away safely. There was also the fates of the other members of the Royal Eight that were left to the unknown. A dark shadow has been cast over not just Eresseas but all of Cayhill. The chaos started in Eresseas and within time, that chaos will surely spread to the rest of Cayhill, putting everyone's lives in danger. With Eresseas in shambles and its order of knights scattered and broken, difficult days lie in wait for all. The darkness that Caius preached about had finally taken shape for all to see and things were only just getting started.

To be continued...