Alicia's dark hair had turned into a short bob after a span of two years. Bart appeared like he was back then, with an undercut that his hand brushed over proudly.
There were two other people that I never met before.
A woman with a long, dark hair that looked like she didn't care to wash it. Her grin was creepy. If I laid my eyes on her long enough, a ghost would likely be a perfect description of her. Hunching forward, she sniffed the air and eyed Caesar.
Then there was the tall man beside her. He had an eyepatch over his right eye, with jet-black hair tied into a modest ponytail. He crossed his arms and looked at me warily.
Bart broke the tension. "You were here?" His smile annoyed me.
"We did know she was here though. That's why we came here," said Alicia casually. "Oops. That was supposed to be a secret. Isn't it, Relly?"
The man with the eyepatch, Relly, lifted his chin and breathed. "Is she... one of your experiments, Alicia? I can see that from her eyes."
"Caesar!" growled the weird woman. "Lily will take you back..."
A block of orange Aegis crystals abruptly smacked her body from the side. She stumbled awkwardly on the ground and I winced when her neck snapped.
Bart and Alicia struggled as orange crystals slowly devouring them, eventually locking the pair inside it. Relly, however, sensed the danger and stepped back outside of the room.
"Gheele Folami," he growled.
His expression turned sour when Gheele's crystals clamped onto his back and engulfed him in it within seconds.
I gasped from what just happened. It might be my imagination though when I heard Gheele yawn at the situation. All of that for him was just a performance that he indulged himself into.
"Slaves should learn how to knock first. The fact that you destroyed MY ceiling proved that you lack such common manner. Embarrassing..." said Gheele.
Caesar and Agatha were alert, but not too much since an Aegis User as powerful as Gheele was on our side. I could not contribute to anything due to my Aegis being weaker than it had ever been.
"She's still alive," I gasped.
That woman, Lily, glared at Gheele with her yellow eyes as she got back to her feet. "You..."
Gheele was unamused. "Who said you can look at me like that, slave?"
Lily lunged at him with two abnormally large, violet Aegis claws on her hands and swiped in a wide arc. A deformed orange sphere blocked the attack, but that didn't stop her assault. She slashed and slashed at Gheele relentlessly.
CLANG! CLANG! CHINK!
CLANG!
Gheele's crystals were gouged apart as Lily's claws almost reaching him.
A shattering sound caught me to look at Alicia and Bart. Their Aegis crystals forced their way out and they broke free from Gheele's crystal imprisonment.
"So it was true about what he's capable of..." Bart formed an emerald shield that protruded from his arm and parried Caesar's sword.
Caesar let go of his weapon and it shone brightly at Bart. He jerked his head at that and a yellow javelin pierced his throat.
"Aaaarrghh." Bart gurgled while Alicia stepped in to protect him.
"Caesar!" cried Alicia as she gestured with her right hand. Caesar knew what she was doing and barely avoided an invisible slash. His right hand was cut off but stitched itself in no time.
Caesar chuckled. "Your Aegis is still annoying as usual, Alicia."
It was relieving, in a good way.
Caesar was clearly able to handle two Aegis Users without my help. The people I wanted to hurt the most were right there despite my inability to produce Aegis crystals. My Aegis was still recovering, so it was not wise to use it.
"Why WON'T YOU GO DOWN?!"
Lily's claw swipes failed to reach Gheele even by a hair. It was clear she was frustrated by the development.
"When you're in front of me, you should bow," said Gheele. A large shard of his crystal formed in thin air and pierced Lily. And before she could lift a finger, her entire body was imprisoned inside the orange crystals and crashed on the floor.
"Foolish slave."
Gheele took a sip of his water and placed it back on his ebony chair's armrest.
Amaryllis and the other servants cowered behind Gheele's pedestal.
I found myself impressed by how easy he got rid of his enemies. 'How did he make his crystals appear out of nowhere?' I thought. It could be a part of his Aegis's specialty.
Agatha fired her plasma radiant gun at Alicia and her left arm took the hit. She grimaced and fell back behind Bart. "That gun... Dear, I need some time," said Alicia.
"I'll give it to you," replied Bart.
Emerald spikes propelled themselves at Agatha and Caesar's shield made it in time.
When the shield landed on the floor, it rotated like a wheel to charge at Bart fast. He retaliated with an emerald shield the size of his arm.
"Damn it," said Bart. A shard of orange crystal punctured his head, followed by two more piercing his body. Alicia met the same fate being deliberately imprisoned in Gheele's crystals again.
"Incredible..." I murmured. I felt useless in that situation.
"I know this is not enough," said Gheele at his chair. He raised his right hand forward to construct layers upon layers of crystals swarming around his Aegis prisons and finally put together. "This ought to do it."
"Impressive as Ava." Caesar clapped his hands excitedly only for Gheele to click his tongue. "Em, I mean, impressive as Ever!" corrected Caesar.
"We've got the fleet of ships to worry about. Let's help them," said Agatha.
"I second that," said Caesar.
"Wait, she's still moving!" I pointed at Lily as her hand burst out of the crystal.
"CAESAR!" She shattered Gheele's prison, leaping out of it unscathed. Her yellow eyes were glaring at us.
Something was different about her.
The whole body, from head to toe, was covered in pinkish crystals but it did not act as some kind of armor. Thoroughly, she looked as if she was made out of the crystals itself. Her military uniform had also turned into crystals, including her hair.
"What... is she?" It was an ironic question even for me since I belonged to the same category as Lily.
"That is her Aegis's specialty," said Caesar.
"You mean..."
"Yes, miss Ava. Her Aegis can turn her body into her own Aegis crystals. But, it is not that simple. Lily's crystals, as a whole, do not share the same traits as ours. If hers were damaged somehow by another User's crystals, she can just repair it back unlike anyone else." Caesar stopped his explanation when Lily walked towards us.
Gheele coughed for a moment. "I see. So merely restraining her is not efficient."
A crystal as large as a car took shape and fell onto Lily.
She held out her right palm and the crystal was stopped in mid-air.
"What?" As far as I knew, Aegis Users did not possess an unparalleled strength ability or anything of that nature. We were all thin one way or another due to our Aegis.
In less than a moment, the orange crystal had its color slowly shifting to pink before it shattered and pieces of it cracked the marble floor.
Caesar shrugged. "Yeaaaah, she can do that actually."
I glanced at him.
"You see, any object that her Aegis crystal made in contact with, it will be converted into the same thing. That is if she had turned her whole body into crystals beforehand. While she was merely using it as an extension, like her claws, its color shifted to violet," explained Caesar.
"So she can convert other User's crystals into her own." That was a frightening ability that her Aegis manifested. She could just plow through any obstacles in her path.
Basically, her Aegis suited the task of eliminating other Aegis Users.
In a glimpse, Lily was an Aegis User created solely for that purpose.
"Caesar... why don't you ever come back to us?" Lily had a confused expression on her face.
"Err, I have something to do, Lily. YES, that's it."
"Ohh. Why do you lie Caesar? Really... you're bad at lying," said Lily. She drew her eyebrows together and ran to us, specifically towards Gheele.
"You're the one I should take care of first."
"Slaves should just stay put." Clumps of orange crystals snapped at Lily only to turn into hers. The now pink crystals launched shards towards me and I took the blow with my arms. It was fortunate that my sense of pain was still absent for no reason. My fingers hastily pulled the shards out and my injuries healed.
"I still have my regeneration." My nose breathed out warm air at that realization.
Lily jumped and a square block punched her into the ground. Within seconds, that orange crystal too turned into hers. It split and propelled shards all over the room.
"Agh!" Tabetha shrieked when a few of it crashed into the wall behind her.
Lily reached out to Gheele but four orange square blocks crushed her body from each side. Lily shattered the blocks and went for Gheele's throat only to be pushed by another one from the front.
Lily landed about fifty meters away from the large room using her fingers to stop the momentum.
"You're a hundred years too early to touch me, slave," said Gheele. In spite of everything, his face showed no sign of despair but only a smile that portrayed his absolute superiority over everyone in the room.
"CAESAR!" screamed Lily.
"Uh, lady Lily. I'm here. That's Master Gheele you're fighting."
Lily's agility and swift movements while trying to reach Gheele were amazing. Each crystal that was thrown at Lily, she crushed all of them easily. But she was clearly being pushed as the time passed.
"Caesar..." mumbled Lily.
The man in question just shrugged. "As always you're blinded by your love for me, lady Lily. Oh! My heart!" He hugged himself passionately. I didn't know what else to say.
"Caesar! This is not the time for your stupid dialogue," scowled Agatha.
Gheele sent forth a torrent of crystals that appeared directly in front of Lily. Her measly figure was caught in the wave and forced out of the throne room.
That was not sufficient to hold her fury back.
Every crystal in the room that belonged to Gheele immediately turned into Lily's. And so, Relly, Alicia, and Bart got out of their cage easily.
"Miss Ava," called Caesar.
I understood what he meant instantly. Though I could not tell him my condition right then. "Aegis..." I whispered to myself.
"Ava." Its voice soothed my feeling. "I could only project crystals the size of your arm at max. I can't extend more than a few feet right now. Take that as you will."
"I see." I nodded at Caesar and both of us were running towards Alicia and Bart. Caesar's wheel shield from before crashed into Alicia and pushed her outside of the room. He proceeded to fight Bart on his own, so I left him for Alicia.
"Caesar!"
Lily leaped past me and darted to Gheele.
I knew that my involvement would only interfere Gheele and I pushed forward to the golden door. Alicia was rubbing her head after all that.
Seeing her open for attack exhilarated me. Crimson tendrils the length of four meters took the opportunity to strike at her.
"Ava--" My tendrils froze in mid-air as if they were stuck.
"Your Aegis is invisible, as a whole," I said. It would be plausible even her crystals were invisible. Alicia's scowl confirmed my suspicion. With my dark eyes, I glared at her. "I'll kill you..."
"I like to see you try, Ava."
A sharp object hit me in the head when there was nothing there. More of it punctured through as I struggled to stand. Alicia slashed from her spot and my left arm spilled blood.
"Your Aegis is weak right now. Don't expect too much okay," said Alicia.
My eyes follow through her movement and I avoided another slash. The golden door behind me cracked.
Bit by bit, the invisible sharp objects were pulled out. I thought about how hard it would be to fight against something that you could not see. There was always this dread that shadowed over you, anticipating where or when it struck.
'I have to get myself together,' I thought.
Alicia continued her slashes and I tried to dodge all of them. I formed a small shield from my palm once and her attack bounced off. My mind had all sorts of ideas and theories coming through.
Despite Alicia's crystals being invisible, there was nothing else to it. The fact that her attack can be blocked by my crystal proved my theory further.
I sensed a jolt of adrenaline pumping my muscles at the clear chance of victory.
'Stab her, Ava.'
'Rip her arm off, Ava.'
Those thoughts made me grin. It felt like I wanted to just that and hurt her even further.
Alicia was pushed forward suddenly and I took a glance at the perpetrator. It was Anuman. He had a pistol in one hand and a knife that sort of radiating blue light.
Alicia looked behind her as her arm healed from the previous plasma shot. "How annoying."
My short blade stabbed at Alicia's stomach while she was distracted. I twisted it around and yanked the blade out from her flesh. Blood spluttered forth.
Alicia groaned from it while keeping an eye on both Anuman and me. I stabbed her again, and again, and again,
And again.
Relishing the pleasure of making her suffer.
It felt good. My muscles throbbed from all the excitement that I was feeling.
"Miss Ava!" shouted Anuman. He fired his gun and the bullet hit something behind me.
I turned around.
Two machines taking the structure of a human's body had sneaked up. They were robots sort of, with the pale white outer layer made up of metal, and a red pair of eyes. One of it reached for me and I cut its hand.
"Don't you touch me..."
RETALIATION CONFIRMED. COMMENCING, COMBAT MODE.
It kicked me in a flash and the wall exploded from the crash.
TARGET SIGHTED. CONFIRMING IDENTITY. PRIORITY, OBTAINING USER AVA.
Anuman fired his gun multiple times at the one who assaulted me and it took notice.
"Get away from her," said Anuman. He dashed for it and swung his blue knife. A cluster of white crystals took the hit. It appeared from the robot's right arm.
I scrambled to stand. "Aegis crystals?"
It was definitely the crystals. My eyes knew when I saw one. It had to be.
Still, it was not an Aegis User yet it was capable of utilizing the crystals.
Anuman pointed his gun at the android's head and shot repeatedly. It amounted to nothing.
"Behind you!" I shouted. The other robot who stood by before had produced Aegis crystals from its palm to thrust it at Anuman. He dodged it and swung his knife again, the steel did not do any damage.
The robot was not creating the crystals from where I had seen. It seemed to be that the crystals were stored inside the android, and it sprouted out from the pores of its outer layer.
I held onto the theory.
Alicia was readying her invisible crystals when I struck her from behind with my crimson blade. She grunted and I succumbed to her jagged crystals that flared from her back. Her military uniform tattered.
I healed but the annoying dizziness hit me. Its timing was awful.
Those recent days must have pushed me and my Aegis to the limit. However, I wouldn't let it hinder me easily. Alicia was there for me to take her down and my blade itched for her flesh.
I stepped back a few meters from her while she regenerated. If I wanted to really kill her right then and there, I would need to release my limiters again. But as it stood, my Aegis was barely operating and perhaps one or two more days were necessary to get it back into shape.
Anuman struggled against the two Aegis-using robots as one grabbed his wrist. The gun dropped and I heard crunching sounds echoing from Anuman. He screamed from agony and the second robot slashed his arm with Aegis crystals resembling a knife.
I couldn't stand seeing him flail helplessly against the more powerful adversaries and ran to him. My Aegis was very limited so my four meters crimson tendril was not an option.
"No can do, Ava." Alicia's invisible strike got me and I stumbled. My left arm was torn severely.
"Don't--" I stopped.
The robot pierced Anuman's chest with its crystal and his mouth coughed blood. His eyes lifeless. The human-structured robot discarded his body to the floor and moved its attention to me.
PRIORITY, CAPTURING USER AVA.
Its monotone voice was like my Aegis's.
"Alicia..." I veered my body from her invisible Aegis and again, I struck her with a crimson blade. One thing occurred to me about her where she was not a close combat expertise. Her being a soldier should excel at that.
My perspective of Alicia gone lower than it had before. She was an Aegis User with no experience in fighting another User. Alicia was a person whose heart and soul resonated with interior works somewhat.
At least, all of that was something I gained when fighting Alicia.
"I'll rip you apart!" I said to her.
Bart's figure flew in the air and crashed to the floor about ten feet near me with a huge thud. He was overwhelmed by Caesar.
"Curse you, Caesar! You're a traitor to His Supremacy!" Bart's irises turned into the color of emerald and I felt a jolt.
A male servant from out of nowhere dashed to Caesar with a knife attempting an assault.
"Why is he--" I was interrupted by another male servant appeared from the corner of my eye and looked at me expressionless. Except for his emerald eyes.
"My Aegis! Did you miss it, Caesar?!" scoffed Bart.
Clearly, at that moment, I knew that Bart had somehow taken control of the servants in the palace.