"Catch him and the girl!" one man shouted.
Leclerc, still carrying Alice in his arms, ran as fast as he could. His breath was ragged, his heart pounding. Turning sharply into an alley, he pressed himself against the shadows, hoping to stay hidden.
"Alice... do you still have the artifact?" he whispered.
Alice hesitated before nodding. "I touched it... and then it fused with my back."
Leclerc frowned. "What do you mean?"
She turned around, lifting her hair to reveal her back. A glowing green line, like a maze, traced the shape of a triangle at the nape of her neck. Abstract patterns stretched down her spine, pulsing faintly.
"I slipped on the road and fell on it," she explained. "It shattered... and then it just—sank into me. Now, I can't use magic or anything."
"AHH!" A scream echoed through the air.
The heavy thud of bodies hitting the ground followed, one after another. The sharp sound of swords slicing through flesh filled the alley. Amidst it all, slow, deliberate footsteps approached, carrying the weight of an ominous presence.
"Yo, Leclerc."
Arthur stood atop the crate where Leclerc and Alice were hiding. His long coat was soaked in blood, and his longsword dripped crimson.
"Arthur!"
Alice tensed. "Who is he?"
Leclerc hesitated. "He's, uh… my savior."
"You could say that," Arthur replied casually.
He jumped down from the crate, inspecting his longsword before tilting it slightly. A small crack ran along the blade.
"Ah, crap. It's gonna break," he muttered.
"So, what are you guys gonna do? Actually, wait—what's even chasing you?" Arthur asked.
"It's the Bandits of Gover," Leclerc said, catching his breath. "They were after this artifact. I stole it from them and tried to escape with Alice using a carriage, but they destroyed it halfway. I told Alice to flee to this city while I led them away."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "And what does this artifact even do?"
"It generates an airflow strong enough to lift things into the sky… They're planning to use it to raise the capital."
Arthur groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Ah, shit. I really shouldn't have helped you."
"Right... sorry"
"Look, I'm gonna go now," Arthur said.
Before Leclerc could respond, Arthur was already gone.
"Huh?!" Leclerc blinked in disbelief.
"He's gone! How?!" Alice gasped.
Meanwhile, on one of the rooftops, Arthur found himself in a dire situation. A high-speed aura user had caught him off guard, his grip tightening around Arthur's throat.
"AGH—!" Arthur choked, struggling against the hold.
"So, you're the one who killed Darius, huh?"
The man in the cloak pulled back his hood, revealing fiery red hair and a scarred face. One of his eyes remained shut—possibly blind. His legs pulsed with blue aura, and his hands were clad in heavy iron gauntlets.
"Tch," Arthur clicked his tongue, realizing he was in trouble.
"Seems like you don't want to talk. Alright then," the man said.
He loosened his grip—only to launch a high-speed kick straight at Arthur's head.
"NUL!" Arthur shouted.
The instant the kick connected, a shockwave erupted, nullifying the attack. The force rebounded, sending a violent tremor through the aura user's skull.
BANG!
A sharp, disorienting sound rang in his ears, and he staggered, clutching his head.
"What the—?!"
Arthur didn't waste the opening. He gripped his longsword, tilting it 180° to the right before slashing upward in a brutal arc.
SHLKT!
The blade cleaved through the man's face, splitting it clean in two. Blood sprayed as his body crumpled to the rooftop.
Arthur exhaled, flicking the blood off his sword. "Tch. Annoying bastard."
Just as he was about to catch his breath—
BOOM!
A surge of aura erupted from the corpse. A flicker of movement—too fast to track—then a devastating kick slammed into Arthur's stomach.
"IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" Arthur roared.
[NUL has reached its limit.]
His eyes widened.
"Shit—!"
The impact sent him flying, crashing through the side of a building with a thunderous CRASH! Dust and rubble exploded outward as his body tumbled through the wreckage.
"Not bad," the man muttered.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Arthur by the collar and began dragging his unconscious body across the rooftop, his heavy boots echoing against the stone.