Here we are at Chapter 27. Let the real battle commence in the city of combat. I do not own Code Vein or Skeleton Knight. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs. Here's Chapter 27. Enjoy.
Chapter 27: Chaotic Combat
Chaos erupted in the arena, and across the city as explosions and fires go off. Civilians who aren't dead or injured panic and race in every direction, trying to get to safety. Fuyumi looks around at the scenes around her.
"What the Hell is going on here?! Are Anelia and the others okay?" Fuyumi's first thoughts are on her beloved and her friends. However, she spots several people in dark cloaks hiding amongst the running citizens. "It's them again. Guess we were right all along,"
Fuyumi races to the stands, jumping into the melee. As she nears some fires burning, she uses her abilities to freeze the fire. However, as she does this, one of the cloaked figures comes in from behind with a sickle. Fuyumi disappears into red mist to dodge his strike, reappearing beside him to strike him down with her sword.
"Everyone, get to the exits now and outside the arena. It's not safe here. Move!" Fuyumi yells to the people running about.
Some listen to her, but others are to out of it to bother and keep going all over the place. Fuyumi sees two more cloaked goons coming her way with blades out. Fuyumi deflects their strikes and then notices a few guards coming onto the scene. Fuyumi disappears and reappears right next to them.
"Listen, see those goons in cloaks," Fuyumi points out her enemies to the guards. "They're the ones that set of these explosions. I'll handle them, but you have to get the civilians to safety. Do it now!"
"Wait, you're just a mercenary competing here. When did you start giving orders?' one guard asks, annoyed.
One of the goons throws a dagger his way, but Fuyumi deflects it with her sword, "I am Ser Fuyumi Kusanagi, knight and Sword Maiden of Anatolia. So, technically, I outrank you. Now move it already!" Fuyumi orders them.
"R-R-Right away, Ser Kusanagi!" that changes the guard's toon rather quickly.
The guards get to work on evacuating the people while Fuyumi focuses back on her enemies. One goon throws several daggers at Fuyumi, but she twirls her sword around to block them. The second comes at her side with a longsword and thrusts it at her side. Fuyumi jumps out of the way and casts Indria's Coil, shocking both opponents with lightning at their feet. With two threats down, Fuyumi looks around for anymore enemies. There is still much chaos around the arena, but the security is starting to calm things down and get people out. The problem is that there aren't enough guards around for the arena.
Fuyumi approaches one of the guards helping the evacuation, "Where is the rest of the security?"
"Out in the city, my lady. Explosions have erupted in several parts of the city. One of the locations hit was one of our military forts. A number of troops are dead or injured. Our forces are stretched thin with helping with the evacuation and controlling the situation," the guard explains.
"Okay, tell your troops to keep an eye out for anyone in dark cloaks with hoods that are acting strangely. They're most likely the ones responsible for all this. Try and take them alive, but be careful because they're skilled fighters. Don't underestimate them. I have to find my friends," Fuyumi leaves after making sure the guard understands her words.
She races through the city, finding just as much chaos as in the arena. However, she doesn't care about that. She cares about one spot in particular.
"Where's that damn arena. Anelia and the other might still be there, but they could also be in trouble. Damn it, damn it! I hope they're okay. If they're hurt, I'll find and eviscerate whoever was responsible. I'll make them suffer so badly they'll wish their mother had kept her legs closed," Fuyumi fumes as she continues on her path.
As she rounds one corner, she finds three more cloaked figures ahead of her, along with a few dead soldiers at their feet. Fuyumi fires off some frost shards, making them disperse from the surprise attack.
"Spirits of water, rip through my enemies. Water javelin!" one of them, a mage apparently, fires off several spears of water. Fuyumi disappears to dodge them and reappears close by, firing off a Flame Roar at them in return.
The blast explodes in the center of the group, taking out the mage, while the other two dodge at the last second. Fuyumi comes in close on one and hits him with a Lighting Charge, sending him crashing into a nearby building. The last one tries to make a break for it, but Fuyumi fires off a Frost Spike, skewering the man to the floor. With the immediate threat out of the way, Fuyumi continues on her way to her friends. She eventually reaches the arena, but then remembers that she doesn't know the exact location of the possible slave market.
"Crap! Okay think, if I wanted to have an illegal slave market in a big city, where would I have it," Fuyumi looks around, only for some falling debris from a destroyed building to nearly fall on top of her. Fuyumi stares at the debris on the ground and gets an idea. "Underground. Where else would rats like to scurry around to and do their business. But, where would the entrance be," Fuyumi runs around the arena to find a possible location.
As she does so, she stops cold when she feels a familiar presence nearby.
"Oh, you sure came here quickly enough," she turns to see another cloaked figure, this one wielding a scythe.
It doesn't take long for Fuyumi to figure out who it is, "...You," Fuyumi growls.
"If you're looking for your friends, I don't think they made it out alive. Had they kept their noses out of what doesn't concern them, perhaps things would've been different," the mysterious woman notes.
Fuyumi instantly disappears in red mist and reappears right in front of her, swinging her blade. The woman blocks with her scythe and the battle is on.
"You will tell me where they are!" Fuyumi mutters darkly.
"Hmph, come and try then," the woman replies.
The woman pushes Fuyumi back and twirls her scythe around at her. Fuyumi casts Flame Weapon, coating her blade in flames before countering. The two female fighters duke it out amidst the chaos all around them. At one point, Fuyumi unleashes Swallow Cutter, knocking the woman back even though she blocked the attack with her scythe. As soon as she lands, Fuyumi is already on her, unleashing a Blast Bolt on her. The woman takes the brunt of most of the attack, taking some damage but still standing. The gemstones on her scythe glow as she raises it and then strikes the blade into the ground, sending out a shockwave of darkness at Fuyumi. Fuyumi jumps back, landing on some crates away from her opponent.
"She really can do most spells without incantation. Though, I remember that she spoke a spell when she vanished last time. Whatever she's doing, it must not be full proof," Fuyumi notes.
"You can't stop what's coming. Soon, everything will cease to be as it was," the woman notes.
"Oh, and just what should I expect then?" Fuyumi drops down from the crates.
"You could come with me and find out. Though, I doubt it be willingly," the woman readies her scythe.
"I'm not fond of traveling with people who hide their faces and try to kill me and my friends," Fuyumi retorts. "Speaking of which..."
Fuyumi casts Nightstalker and Night Fog Veil together, making her silent and practically invisible to the woman. For the first time, the woman actually looks anxious when Fuyumi disappears and looks around. Casting a dark aura across her blade for defense, she looks around for where Fuyumi could pop up from. However...
"Gotcha," Fuyumi suddenly appears crouched down right in front of her and then performs Tranquil Slice.
The lightning-fast series of strikes with her blade catches the woman off guard. She manages to get out of the way, but not before her cloak gets shredded to pieces. With her disguise gone, Fuyumi finally gets a good look at her opponent. The woman has long black hair tied into a ponytail with a white bow that reaches her calves. Her skin is pale like Fuyumi's and has deep blue eyes. The woman is wearing a black dress with blue accents that exposes her navel and part of her cleavage, which is a little smaller than Fuyumi's. Over the dress is a white coat that exposes her underarms, with angel sleeves and two gold ribbons above her chest. Two long tail straps on the coat reach the ground. Finally, the woman has a blue choker on her neck that matches her eyes (Very similar to the stage 2 outfit worn by Morgan le Fay in Fate Grand Order). Her eyes look frighteningly calm despite the circumstances. Despite that, she was indeed gorgeous, but Fuyumi remembers that this woman is her enemy that hurt her friends. And she won't be leaving until she gets answers.
"Now isn't it better to discuss things face-to-face instead of hiding behind a cloak? Now, where are my friends?" Fuyumi demands.
"You're more troublesome than my master gave you credit for, but it matters not. They are most likely-," the woman begins until moving her head back when an arrow zips by, nearly hitting the right side of her head. The women turn to see Elane as the culprit, along with Anelia, Iris, and Umi with her, safe. "How?" the woman seems slightly shocked.
"You're all okay!" Fuyumi is relieved upon seeing them.
"It was a close one, but luckily having a spirit creature around and someone who can use light magic has its perks," Elane nods to Anelia and Umi.
"Umi cast a barrier of water to hold off the imminent explosion, giving me the time I needed to cast a light barrier with my magic at just the right time. A split second later and we might've been done for," Anelia explains.
"It seems thing have gone even less as planned as I thought. Time to leave this play then," the woman prepares to leave, but Fuyumi won't have it
"No, you don't!" Fuyumi gets right in her face and manages to grab her arm, only for the shock from last time to happen again. "Argh!"
"Fuyumi!" Iris yells.
"I told you, no one can-huh?!" the woman begins, only to notice that Fuyumi refuses to let go and fights through the pain. "How, how can you endure such pain? No one has ever endured this before. No one!"
Fuyumi had cast Ablative Blood, which reduces damage done to her for a time. The pain is still there, but it's much more manageable this time. She then casts Raijin's Veil to further reduce the shock damage.
"If it's for the people I care about, then any amount of pain is worth enduring. Besides, I have ways of working around stuff like this," Fuyumi replies as she gets right in the woman's face.
However, she freezes when she catches something in the woman's eyes. Shock, yes, disbelief, sure, but also... sadness and pain? What's more, she catches strange, dark purple markings across her exposed skin. This makes Fuyumi hesitates long enough for the woman to regain herself and kick Fuyumi away. The woman coats her scythe in darkness and swings it at the others, sending out an arch of dark energy at them and forcing them back.
"We will meet again, Fuyumi Kusanagi. I am May Fanchone. Remember that name. Spirits of darkness, engulf my movements in shadows. Dark Whisper," the woman called May disappears in black smoke and the battle ends.
Fuyumi sighs, only for Anelia to jump at her into a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay!" Anelia yells.
"I'm glad you're safe too, Anelia. As are the rest of you," Fuyumi returns the embrace.
"What happened out here?" Iris looks around at the chaos.
"The slavers were definitely here. They caused explosions all over the city and the arena as a smokescreen to make their escape. What happened on your end?" Fuyumi asks.
"We found the slave den, thanks to a corrupt guard not checking his rear. We took care of the guards, and found human slaves there. Then that woman showed up and through those explosives at us. The rest is history," Elane explains.
"Are the slaves okay?" Fuyumi asks.
Iris nods, "Yes, we managed to save them and free them. Some of the city's soldiers were nearby so we gave the freed slaves to them to look after before coming to you," Iris explains.
"Okay, so we found the culprits, only for all this to happen. Great," Fuyumi turns to Elane. "Elane, did you find any of your people?" Fuyumi is careful not to mention the elves.
Elane shakes her head, "No, just other slaves. None of my people were here. We've found so many of them thanks to your aid, but others are still missing. I can only pray they are safe,"
Iris is a little curious about what Elane said, but after seeing the sad expression on her face, she decides to drop the topic. Just then, several soldiers arrive and almost surround the group.
"What is going on here?" Iris demands, hand resting on her sword handle.
"That's what I'd like to know," another voice joins the fray and they look to see none other than Duke Androma joining the scene. "I take it you ladies have an idea about what the Hell is going on in my city,"
"Duke Androma, a pleasure, even under these circumstances," Fuyumi greets him.
"Enough with the niceties. You will answer why the Hell my city got turned into a war zone. The last time I checked, the only place that should have explosions happening is in the arena, not on the streets," Androma is understandingly in a foul mood.
"Duke Androma, we found one of your guards working with an illegal slave trafficking ring in your city. They are the ones responsible for this chaos," Fuyumi explains.
"What?! That's not possible," Androma retorts.
"We saw the whole thing, Duke Androma. It's true. Your own people were helping in illegal crimes in your city," Iris says.
"If that were true, I'd have known about it, and put a stop to it already," Androma notes.
"Duke Androma, I know you know who I am. What I'm sure you don't know is why I'm here. I was sent here on a mission by orders of his majesty, the king, to investigate possible n trafficking occurring in your city. We have just found evidence of such activity. If you are connected to this group, things won't end well for you. If you are truly innocent, then it would be in your best interest to cooperate. One of your men was helping this ring, which doesn't paint a pretty picture for you," Fuyumi makes it clear she's not playing around.
"Are you threatening me?" Androma narrows his eyes.
"I'm doing nothing of the sort. Just making it clear the situation you're in. So, are you helping us, or not?" Fuyumi doesn't back down.
Androma just stares at her, "...Very well. If any of my people were involved with this, they will be severely punished. You may find this hard to believe, but my family has served the royal family and this country for generations. Decades of honor and loyalty built by our own efforts. I won't have all that destroyed by some people's petty greed. But first, we must get the city back under control and tend to the wounded. Some are dead, but others can still be saved. These are my people, my responsibility," and with that, Duke Androma leaves to give orders to his men.
"Think he's lying?" Anelia asks.
"I don't think so. I think he's okay," Fuyumi then sighs, "Well, that takes care of that. Still, we have plenty of other messes to deal with," she notes to the destruction around them.
The initial panic and explosions are gone, but the lingering damage still remains. It'll take some time before the city is fixed up.
Fuyumi turns to Iris, "I'm sorry, Iris. I know you entered the tournament in order to become a knight, but..."
"It's fine, Fuyumi. This is far more important than my own personal ambitions. I haven't given up on becoming a knight. I'll just have to try something else," Iris replies.
"Maybe I could help with that. You aided us in our quest, which was issued by the king. Perhaps I could put in a good word with him to make you a knight. You aided us here, so you should be compensated at the very least for that," Fuyumi offers.
"Fuyumi, I... I'm not sure I deserve such a gift. I couldn't capture the ones responsible for the human trafficking, nor prevented all this destruction from occurring. I haven't earned the right to become a knight," Iris notes, looking a little sad either way.
"As far as I'm concerned, you performed just as well as any official knight did. And you did help us. I mean, look at me for example. I am technically a knight, but do I look like one or even act like one?" Fuyumi asks.
"Well, to be completely honest, in some ways do you, but in some ways you don't. And your attire, at least what you have on right now isn't something most knights would wear. Then again, my armor isn't a traditional style either," Iris notes.
"A knight is a knight, not based on titles, but on actions as far as I'm concerned. I know I'm not one to talk. I act more like a mercenary than a knight, seeing as how I AM a mercenary. The title was granted to me by the king to aid me in situations like today and to help legitimize my engagement to Emilia. I admit, it comes in handy at times, but other times all that nobility stuff can be a bit suffocating. Iris, in my eyes, you are more of a knight than I could ever become," Fuyumi says.
"Fuyumi..." Iris is touched by her kind words.
Fuyumi smiles back, "I'd love to continue talking, but for now we have other matters to attend to. Let's start by helping with the clean-up in the city. Anelia, see about helping with healing the injured. Elane, please go with her just in case. Iris and I will help the local security with dealing with any forms of chaos still going about," she plans out, just as Umi flies up and lands on her shoulder. "Yes, you can come with me, Umi," she pets her companion, much to Umi's delight.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's do it," Anelia nods.
With that, the group split up. Anelia heads to the medical tents with Elane and spends time using her light magic to heal the injured. Meanwhile, Iris and Fuyumi help with damage relief and security. It takes a while, but most of the situation gets cleaned up by the late afternoon. There is still plenty of rebuilding to do since a number of buildings were damaged or destroyed by the slavers, but buildings can be replaced with time and effort. Once most of the work is done, the group regroup near the main arena.
"Ser Fuyumi," Duke Androma approaches them. "I have sent a missive to his majesty explaining the situation, and my innocence in this matter. I made sure to note your efforts here,"
"It's alright, Duke Androma. I know you weren't involved in all this. But, I'm sure you can understand our reasons for not telling you as soon as we showed up. We dealt with nobles of this kingdom who were working with the slavers. Of course, we must be wary," Fuyumi replies.
"While it irks me you would think of me as a traitor... I admit that your caution is understandable. I am all too familiar with the scheming nobles do from the shadows. I've only lived this long in my life because I am cautious, not greedy. I will thank you for your aid in helping my people. Though next time you come to my city, kindly see me in person with your goals in you will," Duke Androma asks.
Fuyumi nods, "As you wish,"
Duke Androma turns to Iris, "And Lady Iris von Mirage, always a pleasure. I feel like I should let you know that I've informed your family of your presence here,"
Iris goes pale at this, "You did what?!"
"A noble's daughter entering my city and my tournament under an alias. I'm a duke, my dear, of course I'd look into every contestant of my tournaments. My duty is to the people of my city, and the less potential problems I can deal with before they actually become problems, the better. Of course, I would inform Count Mirage. It's only common curtesy. Speaking of which," Androma looks to his right.
"Iris," they all turn to see a young man with short auburn hair and eyes just like Iris', wearing an elaborate suit of silver armor with gold accents. A flowing red cape at his back and a sword on his waist. Behind the man are a few other knights and a pair of male servants.
"Brother Cyan," Iris mutters in dismay.
Fuyumi can only look between the two, "Well, things just got a lot more complicated,"
And that's the chapter. Fuyumi and her friends deal with the chaos left by the slavers, including May Fanchone, the mysterious woman. But, now it seems like she'll have another family drama to deal with. What kind of situation with the Mirage family will Fuyumi be getting herself into? Until then, please Read and Review.