Chapter 118: Imperfect Swordplay
I've arrived at the slums, right at the spot where the letter told me to come to. I've sensed a presence following me ever since I left the castle… not because my magic senses are great or anything but because I'm kind of sensitive to people watching me… of how they perceived me. That's why I can sense it when people are watching me. That one time where I got kidnapped was an expection. It was all Pooch's fault.
After waiting for a few minutes, I finally sensed more presences entering the dark alley and they showed themselves.
"Good evening, Princess Alexia. A fine night to hand yourself up to the Cult, isn't it?" A short haired middle aged man wearing black robe and a monocle appeared with a smile. I recognized him to be the new head librarian assigned to the school. To think the Cult still have plants in the school after the whole Zenon incident. He is accompanied by a few more black robed men whose robes somewhat resembled the terrorists who attacked the school.
"Good evening, Mr. Head Librarian. I see you've neglected your duties to manage the school's library."
"You may call me Willow. Let's just say that being a Head Librarian is merely my side job and being a Second Child of Diablos is my first, though I've been recently promoted to First Child."
"I see. So you're the ones assigned to catch me? A whole group of men against a fragile young maiden? How brave you gentlemen are." I taunted with a smirk.
"Indeed. We did think you'd come fully armed with the intent to resist. But no matter the methods are, we shall get the job done. So I hope you would give up and just come quietly, your highness." He replied, not affected by my taunts. I suppose I can see that he's a Spellsword with experience.
"Hmph. I refuse. I'm here to take back what's mine and you will return him back to me, or else…" I said whilst brandishing my blade and pointing it at him. He merely grinned as if amused but with a hint of sadness.
"Heh. The arrogance and innocence of youth. How enviable." He said as he snapped his fingers, signalling his minions to begin attacking me. I braced myself for their attack but…
"UAAAGHH!"
All of them stopped when one of them was slashed from the back by… the presence that followed me since I left the castle, who is revealed to be Claire Kagenou, Pooch's sister.
"Well said, Princess Alexia. But Cid is mine!" She said as she stood beside me facing the cultists. I have a feeling that she will be a bit insufferable but I welcome any assistance when possible. Unlike Claude who has other responsibilities which makes me cannot take him with me, Claire has the same stakes as me in this fight.
"Tch. Claire Kagenou, huh. No matter. According to our data, your blood should be Compatible and thus I shall take you as well." The Head Librarian said as he brandished a pair of machetes he wields in both hands.
"Heh. You certainly didn't fit the image of a librarian." I said.
"There was a time when I was a famous knight captain serving this kingdom faithfully. But those days are long gone."
"Let me guess. The Cult offered you an offer you cannot refuse?"
"You're spot on, Miss Detective. But not because of the reasons you may think. But anyway, let us not waste more time with small talks and get on the action, shall we?" He said as he charged forth alongside his minions. Both me and Claire charged forwards as well in order to meet them head on.
"I'll take these minions on! You go for the jerk with the monocle!"
With amazing swordsmanship skills, Claire sliced the minions one by one whilst I charged towards the Head Librarian. Our blades clash against each other time and time again.
Although he wielded two blades, which I noted to be no ordinary blades, possibly Artifacts considering how abundant they are lately in the hands of our enemies thanks to that blasted Necromancer, I still kept up with him, using the most basic of all basic sword techniques. Eventually he jumped back.
"I must say, I'm impressed at how solid your defences are, Princess Alexia. Even with two blades I still cannot harm you. Whereas I…" He said as he glanced at the wound I made on his right wrist.
"Last time I saw your swordsmanship you were merely making a poor imitation of your sister's techniques. To think you would practice the basic swordsmanship to such a level. But that is not enough. Not nearly enough." He continues analyzing my technique. Even if you praise me like that, I won't be happy, you know?
"What's wrong? Giving up already?" I taunted.
"Heh. Youngsters these days. No manners at all towards their elders. I suppose I should punish you for it!" He said as he crossed his blades and poured his magic into them, making them glow red.
"What!?" I exclaimed as I saw the pair of machetes melt and merged into one blade, a longsword. It also gave him a shining glove made of pure magic.
"Amazing isn't it? There was a time when both my arms were mutilated and after being reattached, they never fully recover, and thus I was forced to use such crude weapons for years. But with Lord Necromancer's Artifact, I can finally return to my glory days, to the days where I was at my peak!" He remarked with a grin.
"Now let us see if your Imperfect Swordplay can keep up with my true swordsmanship!" He said as he charged forward.
When his blade meets mine, I can already feel how different it is from before. It is now stronger and much more refined. I had trouble keeping up with his moves and he almost broke through my defences several times.
"What's wrong? Where is the arrogance you've displayed up until this point, your highness!?" He taunted in between his sword strikes. He feints an attack and managed to slice my left shoulder with a follow up attack.
"Now we're even." He continued taunting.
"Tch!" I kept struggling to keep up with his strikes.
"That's why you could never reach your sister's level. You're too weak to play hero!" But his taunts are making it difficult to focus!
Now now, Alexia. Calm yourself down. I must clear myself of any distracting thoughts and… analyze his movements.
With a clearer head, I was able to notice how… choreographed his movements are… as if he hasn't moved like this in years and was very much out of practice. The moment I figured out his attack patterns, I found an opening and went to slice his torso.
"Aghh!" he grunted and jumped back while clutching his wound.
"Hmm… It seems that I'm at a disadvantage." He said as he glanced at the direction of Claire, who already defeated all his minions before we noticed. She is now watching us, waiting for our battle to end. I must finish this quickly.
"And here I thought I could merely rely on this Artifact to face you and not needing to resort to using poison gas. How naïve of me." He said with a sad smile.
"Why did you serve the Cult? You didn't seem to belong with that group of villains." I just had to ask.
"Because… I gave up resisting… in the face of overwhelming power. Not just Lord Fenrir… but that monster… Lord Necromancer too… I suggest… you do the same, Princess. Be compliant with us, as your father has done."
"Don'you dare mention my father in such a light! My father has defended the kingdom from the likes of you for years!"
"He allowed many crimes committed by both the Cult and the Thirteen Night Blades to be done. He turned a blind eye to the suffering of so many people in his kingdom. And you think he's not like me? You think he didn't give up and complied with every single one of the Cult's demands?"
"If he was so compliant then the Cult wouldn't need to kill him, wouldn't it? My father was the final bastion between Midgar and the Cult. Now that he's gone, the kingdom is in chaos and both the Cult and the Thirteen Night Blades became bolder than ever!"
"Hm… You have a point. But in the end it is all futile. In this world, power is everything. And Midgar Kingdom didn't have enough power to face what is to come, be it the Shadow Garden, the Cult of Diablos… or Lord Necromancer himself."
"We won't know unless we try. And even if we fail, we will go down fighting!"
"Heh… How admirable… I wish I was as brave as you are back then. Then perhaps I wouldn't need to live a disgraceful life like I have."
"… It's not too late for you to try."
"No. It is far too late for me. I shall now offer you some useful information, Princess Alexia. In exchange… I wish you to take my life. I wish to die as a warrior. Will you do me the honors… Princess?" He said that with an even sadder smile. I couldn't help but respond.
"… Very well. Let's hear it."
"Beware of Eliza Dakuaikan. She has received a mind control Artifact from the Cult and was ordered to use it on Claude Normann. Also, there are three members of the Thirteen Night Blades, Viscount Shinobi, Marquis Jet and Count Oyano Bou, waiting for you in a secret lair underneath Count Oyano Bou's mansion. The entrance to enter the secret lair can be found in the mansion's basement covered by several crates. That is where you can find your precious Cid Kagenou. And above all…" His face turns serious.
"Beware of Lord Fenrir… the Devil of Midgar."
"Fenrir…? That name sounds familiar but… could it be?"
"Once hailed as the greatest Spellsword who ever lived. Many thought of him as a myth but he is real. He's the one who took both my arms away." He said while revealing the scars on his wrists.
"He is one of the Knights of Rounds… one of the strongest ones... and he has controlled Midgar Kingdom from the shadows for centuries. Even the Thirteen Night Blades were merely his pawn. If you meet him, just run. You have no chance of defeating him." One of the Knights of Rounds… the same as that baldy archbishop then. That means Fenrir has lived for centuries by ingesting the Tears of Diablos as well.
"But if he… stood between me and Poo—Cid Kagenou… then I have no choice but to fight him."
"Heh. That is your choice. I will say no more. And there is one more thing you should know about the Cult."
"What is it?"
"The Cult… is not as united as you think. Each member of the Rounds constantly schemes against each other, but it has become much worse recently ever since Lord Necromancer joined them. Now the Rounds is divided into two factions, one that favors Lord Necromancer and one that is against him. Lord Fenrir happens to be on the latter. Funny, isn't it? Your kingdom and Oriana aren't the only ones facing civil war right now. The Cult does too." The Cult is also at war with each other? I mean… I should've expected that out of a big and evil organization like theirs… but… this is big!
"Now… I've said all that I can. And you shall fulfil your end of the bargain!" He said as he brandished his longsword once again and adopted his stance. I did the same with my blade.
We both charged forward and went for a strike. It looked like he was about to slice me apart but I feinted my strike and blocked and pushed his sword away instead, which made him widen his eyes. With his blade out of the way, I stabbed him in the heart.
"Aghh…. Magnificent, Princess Alexia… Although I'm not one of the strongest… you still managed defeat a First Child of Diablos single handedly. Now… I can finally meet with my wife again…" He said as he dropped to the ground, his blood pooling into the ground as his life left him.
"Farewell, Sir Willow. May you find peace and forgiveness in the afterlife." I said as I cleaned and sheathed my sword.
"Good work! Though you took a little too long, you managed to get him to spill out where Cid is! I suppose you're useful after all, Princess!" As if to break my moment of silence, the annoying Pooch's sister began to say something rude.
"I don't like your tone, Claire Kagenou. But There's no reason for us to fight each other now. Let's go." I said as both of us walked towards the direction of the noble district where Count Oyano Bou's mansion lies, as is the residences of many other aristocrats, including other members of the Thirteen Night Blades.
"Say… why did you follow me all the way from the castle? Were you stalking me?" I asked the black haired girl as we walk.
"What are you talking about? I may have searched for Cid everywhere but I never stepped foot close to your castle!"
It's not her? Then who is…?
Author's Note:
Alexia in action! This time she defeated the (pervy) head librarian single handedly without Shadow interfering! Can she save her beloved Pooch alongside Claire Kagenou? Find out on the next episode of the Kidnapped in Shadows!
This chapter becomes a bit longer than I anticipated as I wrote the fight scenes. I hope I can make Alexia shine in this chapter.
I interpreted Alexia's high defense in the Master of Garden game (which made her a tank in the game) as her having a solid foundation in her mastery of basic swordsmanship that made her great at defending. She's a tank in my fic too.
The Walt: Nah man, now that's a declaration of war, do NOT mess with Cid's Mobness
Answer: Can't help it. Cid's mobness is failing. XD
A-Yellow-Lizard: Thank you for the chapter! Is cid going to get tortured soon? Ah, actually it might not make sense, but it would be cool if he did,
And yeah lol. Not sure why some people these days can't understand the point of a story. They always seem to pop up on the webnovel sites I read so I heavily dislike them.
Answer: Why not? The cultists and the Thirteen Night Blades can torture him for no reason.
And yeah, I guess people like that St Pat guy are enjoyers of generic power fantasy where the mc crush everyone else in the fictional world they are reincarnated in, which made the story kinda bland eventually.
TEiS is different because although Cid can crush everyone else no problem, his lack of knowledge of what's going on around him and the misunderstandings allowed for an amusing story where he can occasionally be cool and destroy enemies but the misunderstandings also kept things amusing, also the things happening outside his pov (the serious and dark stuff) kept things interesting too.
borregodillon9: The cliffhanger tho
Answer: You're gonna have to keep hanging. XD
Vapid-Vappy: Ah right, sorry for the alt account. I'm a-yellow-lizard, ffn doesn't let me post more than one review per chapter haha
Answer: It's okay.
