home

search

Chapter 15

  Out on the field, Shokei and her party are traveling once again to the journey of Senwald. During their continuous trip to Senwald, Antoinette looks up and sees the castle at a distance.

  "Hey! I can see Senwald just ahead everyone!" Antoinette said to the party.

  "Same here." Shokei said to her. "I can see it also."

  "Keep going! Once we get there, I'll tell you everything that you need to know to get inside." said Antoinette.

  "I WOULDN'T BET ON THAT!!"

  Just then, an unknown voice was heard, and the party stops in their tracks. Then the party hears ughter that was loud enough for them to hear.

  "Wh-what's that?!" Antoinette asked, about to panic. "Who's there?!"

  "Ahahahahahahahaha!!!" a voice roared with ughter comes from above.

  "Look! There's someone above us!" Kichiro points out to the party.

  The party looks up and, in the skies, a mysterious figure in a form of a harlequin floats in mid-air. The figure makes the appearance in a dark dress attire and sees the party below.

  "Wh-who is that?!" Antoinette asked.

  "Who are you, and what do you want from us?!" Shokei steps up and calls out to the figure, taking out her sword.

  "I am Bck Death, a member of the Necromutants of Chaos!" the figure introduces herself. Unknown to everyone, she is disguised as her human counterpart, Lei. "I have come to stop you all from going further on your journey to Senwald!"

  "Big deal!" Shokei said to her. "Stay out of our sight or be dealt with."

  "Haha...really?" Bck Death asked. "I believe I'll do the favor of stopping you and your little friends from going further. And since I've finally met you all, I have a delightful present that you can all py with!"

  Upon saying this, Bck Death takes out a card in her hand. The card she holds contains symbol of a Sigil on it. Then, the Necromutant threw the card into the air until the card automatically becomes straight and vertical. The harlequin extends out her hands and is ready to summon out the card using her powers.

  "Spirits of the Dark Dreams Gaxy!" Bck Death summoned. "Bring forth the demon that lies within this card I possess! Botis! Come forth and destroy my foes that are willing to fight!!"

  Suddenly, the card glows and then the spirit from the Sigil forms out to be turned into a demon-type monster. The card grows and soon it turns out to be an ugly viper. The demons form turns out to be a human shape with great teeth and two horns. The monster carries a brightly lit sword in his hand. Shokei and the party gets a look at the monster that the Necromutant summoned, and they immediately take their weapons out in preparation to battle.

  "Go forth Botis!" Bck Death commanded. "Show no mercy!"

  "Bring it on!!" Shokei calls out and grips her sword tightly.

  Antoinette, being the only one without any weapon, takes cover and hides behind a group of trees to save herself from the vicious demon.

  The battle against Botis went underway into action. The demon made its first move by swinging its tail right into Shokei. Shokei was not able to defend herself in time and she was being sent back down. After Botis made a move, Beatrice acts by swinging her sword against the monster. Botis saw the attack coming and he swings his sword right at Beatrice. Beatrice sees the enemy countering her move and guards herself quickly with her sword. The force of the monster's swing made her fall back down.

  Tamiko tries her best to aim at Botis with her crossbow. Botis became aware of the attack and quickly charges right up at her. Tamiko immediately rolled out of the way as Botis swings his sword downward. Then, Botis makes another move by using his tail attack against his enemy. Tamiko was not able to get out of harm's way as she felt the enemy's tail hitting her and knocking her to the ground.

  Obsidian and Saeko fought against the demonic monster by charging right up to him with their weapons. Botis, however, moved swiftly and successfully whacks them with his tail, knocking them down.

  The rest of Shokei's party waits patiently to make a move. Kichiro is about to make a move against the vile demon with his axe ready. Rei, in her fighting stance, waits for Botis to come at her. Marie and Sadako are preparing for the demon's next move waiting patiently to use their magic.

  Bck Death is pleased to see how half of Shokei's party was faced with strong attacks from her summon.

  Hee, hee...this is going good so far. The Necromutant thought with a smile. These pathetic weaklings are no match for Botis!

  Bck Death floats in midair where the battle is taking pce and she is viewing the fight in excitement. She notices Shokei on her feet again, after being knocked away from a distance by Botis. Obsidian gets up from the ground along with Saeko and Tamiko. Botis makes a roaring sound as the demon waits for Shokei and her party make a move against him. Quickly, the party regroups.

  "This one is too powerful." Tamiko said.

  "How do we beat this vile thing?" Saeko asked. "This demon is no joke here. It's fast!"

  "Look, unless we work together, we cannot allow the demon to take free shots at us." Obsidian tells them. "We need to distract this demon to lower its defenses."

  The party looks at each other. Shokei then looks at Kichiro.

  "I'm on it." Kichiro said. "I'll get its attention."

  "Good idea." Shokei said to him.

  The party goes back to confront Botis. The demon sees the party and roars out again by swinging its sword, taunting his opponents that dare go near him. From behind, Kichiro grips his axe and then he makes a swift move by charging at the demon from behind. Botis sense Kichiro is about to attack him from behind and as the enemy got distracted, Tamiko gets in action by aiming and firing her crossbow. She quickly loads a few more arrows and shoots away by striking the enemy by the chest. Botis takes damage as the monster fails to counterattack against Kichiro. Kichiro successfully attacks the beast by sshing the demon's back with his weapon, cutting the monsters wound open.

  "Chilling Icicle!"

  Sadako puts her magic to use and used her ice spell against Botis. The demon felt the freezing attack being used against him, weakening his body. Once Botis's defenses was lowered, Saeko takes the opportunity by nailing the demon right in the torso.

  "Wh...what?!" Bck Death said as she sees the fight against Botis was backfiring her. "Impossible!"

  Botis appears to be badly damaged but does not slow down and looks fit enough to fight. The party managed to give him enough damage, including by the tail. Shokei rushes at the demon and using her sword, she pulled off a three-way ssh right at Botis. Then, Shokei charged at delivered two critical blows on the side of his body and made a direct thrust from behind. Botis is suffering in critical damage as it cries out dying, but then Rei came out of nowhere to fight the monster with her strength.

  "Let me try him for size!" Rei said, going in for the kill.

  Rei constantly used her punches and kicks on Botis, hitting him around in his body area. Bck Death gets her attention on Rei, and she looks at her to see how she was about to defeat her demon. Rei rams right into the chest of the monster as she is giving the monster direct-straight attacks, brutally punishing the demon. Botis is unable to fight back as his body felt crumbled.

  Once the monster is down to its st strength, Rei cries out in anger and grabs the enemy by the tail. She lifts and swings the monster around in circles until she tosses the monster in the air, using enough stamina that she has inside. From there, building enough energy she has left, Rei jumps into the air and extends her arm out in a form of a fist, aiming at Botis.

  "Grand Punch!!" Rei shouted out.

  Rei cries out as she has reached her limit with enough energy inside. Botis comes down and Rei used her fist to penetrate through the body. Rei bypassed through the body of Botis and kills the demon on the spot. The body of Botis immediately forms back into a Sigil card. The Sigil card then burns out and went to ashes. Rei nds on her feet safely and then rubbed her right arm. The impact of her punch gave too much energy as she used enough force to kill Botis.

  I'd be damned! Bck Death thought to herself. That heart...that power...

  "Great job Rei!" Shokei calls out to her.

  "You did it!" Marie said happily.

  "Ooooh!" Rei tries to forgo the impact on her arm and said, "Won't be using my punch for a while."

  "What matters is that we managed to defeat that horrendous demon." Shokei said.

  "Yep." Rei said, looking at Shokei. "We did."

  The party turns their attention to Bck Death. The Necromutant appears to be disappointed.

  "Ugh!! Never would I have thought I had my chances on destroying all of you with just one demon!" Bck Death said with anger. "But no matter! What you experienced was a taste of my powerful summons!"

  Bck Death turns her attention on Shokei.

  "You..." she continued and points at her. "Consider yourself lucky that you were not killed in the fight. You're gonna remember the name of me, Bck Death, that will try to stop you at all costs! Until then!"

  Bck Death vanishes from everyone's sight. The party looks at each other once she's gone.

  "Who in the world was she?" Marie asked.

  "Another one of those dark forces." said Shokei. "But why did Bck Death want to go after me?"

  "Beats me, but I think they are trying to go after us in general." Saeko said.

  "It's fishy, but I can never be sure." Shokei said.

  "Aside from fishy, where did the princess go?" Rei asked.

  "Over here!" Antoinette calls out to everyone.

  The party turns to see Antoinette coming out from her hiding spot, running back to the group.

  "Sorry about that. I was hiding behind the bushes to keep myself away from that vile creature." Antoinette told everyone.

  "I see." Saeko said.

  "Shokei," Antoinette gets her attention and asked. "Are you all right?"

  "I'm fine." replied Shokei. "It's just a scratch, but I'm not badly injured."

  "Ohhh! I hope the rest of you guys weren't hurt badly!" Antoinette said with a worried look.

  "Of course not!" Rei said to her. "That demon we fought was tough, but we were able to defeat it."

  "There's no time to worry about safety." Shokei said. "We need to get to Senwald now."

  "Right!" Antoinette said. "Onward everyone!"

  Finally, after days of traveling, Shokei and her party have reached to the Kingdom of Senwald. The party is standing at the front gates of the Kingdom, sealed and shut. Traveling to get this far was not an easy task for the party but at least they have made it.

  "This is it everyone." Antoinette told the party. "The Kingdom of Senwald."

  "It's kind of big, isn't it?" Marie said and asked. "Why is the entrance shut? Are we not welcomed to walk in?"

  "My stepfather, the King, pnned this to keep invaders from entering the Kingdom." The princess said. "I find it odd to why travelers such as you guys are not welcomed to my Kingdom."

  "Maybe on lockdown?" Kichiro asked, taking a guess.

  "Not like that." Antoinette shakes her head. "I wonder why he blocked the entrance in getting into the Kingdom?"

  "That there is quite a mystery." Kichiro said.

  "Look, we all made it this far." Antoinette said to the party. "Everyone! Follow me."

  The party follows Antoinette as they moved to the other side of the Kingdom. They are all heading to the left side of the Kingdom's walls and are walking up to a mainstream river. There, the party sees an opening that looks like a sewer, streaming by under the castle.

  "Is thus the way you escape out of your home princess?" Shokei asked.

  "Right." Antoinette replied. "When I ran from this pce, this escape route was the way to my freedom."

  "Hmm, let's see..."

  Shokei looks at the entrance. By the looks of it, there are no bars surrounding the secret entrance. The water flowing down the stream was a small portion.

  "Looks good enough to go through here." Shokei said to the party. "Let's go."

  From a quick inspection, the whole party followed Antoinette and went underneath the watery tunnel. Walking through the tunnel, the party moves to the side to where the concrete is near them.

  "Oh good! Some walking ground right here." Rei said, seeing the floor.

  "The castle is just ahead." Antoinette told everyone. "All we have to do is to go down the passageways in the sewage to get there."

  "You'll have to lead us the way princess." Shokei said.

  "Of course, I will." Antoinette said to her. "Now, come on!"

  The party did as Antoinette led the way to the castle. The party must walk from different corners while navigating through the sewage. It takes the whole party for a while to reach up to where's the escape route is located. Soon, the party reached the spot where the princess is standing, which indicates where her escape route entrance is found.

  "Here we are." Antoinette said, looking up while near a dder. "The castle is right above us."

  "We should be careful if we are going inside." Shokei said.

  "As long as you don't get seen by the guards that are patrolling the castle, we should be fine." said Antoinette.

  "Let's head on up then." Rei said.

  With caution, the party climbs up the dder as they proceed to enter the castle.

  Once Antoinette opens the pothole lid, she inspects the area first to see if the coast was clear. Looking around, she can see that the room, which is a storage room with crates inside. Antoinette gets out first but signals to Shokei indicating her to wait. Antoinette quietly checks the door and she finds that the door is unlocked. Carefully, she opens the door and quietly inspects outside. There was no sign of guards in sight. Antoinette looks back at Shokei and gives her the "ok" signal. Shokei steps out of the hole along with the rest of the party.

  As soon as everyone was out of the sewer, the party waits for guidance under Antoinette's direction.

  "Now, my brother and sisters are upstairs in their bedrooms." Antoinette said quietly. "Do your best not to be seen by any guards while we make our way up there. Ok?"

  "Understood." Shokei nodded.

  "Follow my lead everyone." Antoinette tells everyone.

  The party leaves the storage room, and they are sneaking into the castle quietly while avoiding the guards that are watching the castle. Proceeding with caution, the party is making their way up to the top floor where the room is, and they are trying to be careful in the process. From walking down, the long hallway, through bypassing the chapel, and avoiding the castle's yard, the party was making process in getting through the castle without being caught.

  The party made their way through another long hallway. Surprisingly, there were hardly any guards in sight, but as they were approaching the stairs, two guards were coming downstairs. Quickly, the group found somewhere to hide immediately and shield themselves in a dark hallway. Hiding in the dark, the party waits for the coast to be clear as the two guards are going downstairs.

  "Did you hear something?" one of the guards asked.

  "Hmm?" his fellow guard looks at him, seeing him stop in his tracks.

  Both guards pause in their tracks and look by their surroundings. Neither of them did not suspect a thing. The guards look at each other and they shrugged. Thus, the guards move on to patrol the castle.

  Whew! That was too close! Antoinette thought.

  Once the guards left, the party continues their way up the stairs and reach the top floor of the castle.

  "My stepfather's throne is on the right side on this floor." Antoinette said to everyone. "We need to make two lefts in order to reach the bedroom."

  The party followed her lead as they continue to keep on moving.

  "I hope that neither of these doors will open in front of us. Otherwise, we'll be caught for good." Marie said.

  "You pray that doesn't happen." Shokei said to her.

  Luckily, it did not happen. Soon, the party made it to the door that leads to the bedroom and Antoinette opened the door.

  As soon as the party went in, Shokei gets a glimpse of the room. The bedroom is bright and huge. The floor is covered with an impressive oriental rug. The walls are grey brick and there was only one window. Inside, there are five beds in the room.

  Antoinette looks ahead and she can see familiar faces staring back at her. There, she founds her brother and her two sisters in the room. The princess was gd to see them again.

  "Big sister?" one of her sisters said to her.

  "Sister Antoinette!" said her younger sister. "You returned!"

  "Alexia! Paulina!" Antoinette calls out to them and gives Alexia a hug.

  "Antoinette! You came back." said her younger brother, going over to her to give her a hug.

  "Zeyek!" Antoinette calls out to her brother. "It feels so good to see you again."

  "Awww!" Alexia said as she embraced her with a hug tightly.

  "Speaking of that, who are they?" Paulina asked as she points out to a group of people that followed her.

  "Oh right!" Antoinette breaks up the hugs from her siblings. "These are my friends that brought me back here to see you guys again."

  "Cool!" Zeyek said, approving the new strangers. "Ehh, welcome to the castle."

  "Thanks." Shokei said, nodding back at him with a smile.

  "By the way," Antoinette goes over to Shokei and presents her. "Here's the leader of the group that brought me back here. Her name's Shokei."

  "Ah!" Alexia said, looking up at Shokei. "You're quite big."

  "Ummm..." Shokei smiled with embarrassment and giggled.

  "Hey!" Rei said to her. "At least she's making a compliment."

  Dang Rei, save me here, please! Shokei thought.

  Later, Antoinette is talking to her siblings while Shokei and her party are hanging around in the room, listening to the discussion.

  "Are you serious?" Antoinette asked.

  "Yup." replied Zeyek. "While you were away, there has been a new threat that's being brought to the Kingdom. An evil monster, that's very big and...and creepy looking, attacked here."

  "You said it!" added Paulina. "This monster looks creepy like a big bug that can breathe fire!"

  "You guys must be serious by telling me this news." Antoinette said. "I thought our Kingdom was tough enough to handle this kind of threat."

  Funny...reminds me of what I heard back at Itaea... Rei thought, listening to the conversation.

  "Come sister!" Alexia said, escorting Antoinette to the balcony. "Let me show you something. Look at what the hideous creature did to the Kingdom."

  Antoinette looks outside and gets a view of her Kingdom. There, she can see that many houses and businesses have been burnt down by the fming monster. The party views what they see and are looking at the same spot where the incident happened.

  "Oh my..." Antoinette said, observing the destruction. "...when did this attack occurred?"

  "It happened a few days ago." Zeyek replied. "A rainstorm had occurred in the Kingdom. The people were panicking and then I heard one of them yelling out 'MONSTER' so loud that we had to see what was happening outside. That's when we saw the fming creature, wreaking havoc on our Kingdom, breathing out fmes that killed many, many people."

  "Our stepfather," continued Paulina. "Ordered his men to stop the beast from destroying the city. To some extent, the guards lost greatly to that vile creature that they never seen before." Then, she turns her attention to the party. "That monster is still out there. If I remember, the monster lives in that mountain that's close to our home."

  "Wow..." Antoinette said sadly. "So many lives lost...I feel bad for myself."

  "Don't say that. It's not your fault anyway." said Alexia.

  "As if it wasn't odd enough, the mountains are beaming some strange light and there appears to be volcanoes forming from the mountains." Paulina said. "The volcanoes aren't causing a threat to our Kingdom; it makes me wonder why the mountains are acting up this way."

  Listening to all this, Rei had thoughts running in her head.

  A monster? A volcano? I know I have heard these things at the bar on that night. Rei thought. What they are talking about...no wait! If there's a specific treasure is found in that area, it must mean that...

  The door opened without warning. The party turns to see a maid coming in the room. The main paused as she was holding a tea tray and there, she sees the princess in the room, along with Shokei and her party altogether.

  "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!" The maid screamed and pointed. "INTRUDERS!! INTRUDERS!!"

  "Damnit! We're busted!!" Rei said through her teeth.

  "We need to escape while we can! C'mon!" Shokei shouted out to everyone.

  "Seize them!! SEIZE THEM!!" the main shouted out loud to inform the guards.

  "No! Wait!!" Antoinette calls out to everyone, but it was all too te.

  Together, Shokei and her party rushes out of the door, having Rei punched the maid and knocking her out. The party makes a run to escape from the castle. Ahead of them, an army of guards came by and the party can see them rushing with their weapons out, from axes, to spears, and swords.

  "Oh noes!" Marie said in a surprised look. "We're trapped!!"

  The party turns the other way, and they can see another group of guards coming after them, trapping them up at a wall.

  "Great!" Rei said, looking at both sides. "We're outnumbered!"

  The party is trapped in a very tight spot as they can't find a way to get out of the castle. There is an elite army of guards, about a hundred from both sides, armed with weapons. Shokei can see that with numbers from Senwald's guards, there was no chance at all.

  "Looks like we'll have to give up." Shokei said.

Recommended Popular Novels