- Log! - Locus shouted.
*Boooom*
The next moment, the figure of the jester and the navy blue haired woman were engulfed in flames.
- Noooooooo!
*Boooom* *Boooom* *Boooom*
Similar explosions were heard over the city as the alert bells were rang.
But Locus remained unperturbed. All she had in her eyes were the black fumes coming out of the crater in front of her.
-Ahh...Ahhh....Ahhh - she raised her right hand towards the fumes. Trying to catch something. But to no avail; it always escaped her grasp.
Even when Locus felt weak in her knees and fell down, her hand never tried grasping whatever was that she was trying to get.
*Boooom*
Then one came from the outer walls.
- KAAAAAAAAA!!!! - a monstrous shriek was heard following the explosion.
- Monsters!
- The monsters have entered!!!
Such cries were heard.
The city which was so full of happiness and gleam was now hell.
It had happened so fast that most people did not have time to process the change.
When they did, mobs of people started running outside the arena.
- Run!!
- I don't want to die yet!
Cloud wanted to go look for Logan. He still held some hope that he was still alive but....
- "That explosion....." - Cloud thought.
But the next moment, he threw all his doubts away. Yet, the moment he was about to jump into the arena and then to the flames, an anguished shout was heard.
It had happened too near to be ignored.
And another.
And another.
When Cloud turned to look, he was flabbergasted.
Blood dripped from the stomachs and necks of multiple people.
Inflicted by their own kind.
- Have you gone mad? Allying yourself with the Dark Frontier?
- Oi Alfonse what does this mean?
But the people who betrayed them never answered. Instead, a twisted smile covered their faces. Their complexions cold and their eyes lifeless as they approached those who they wounded to finish them off.
Soon, carnage descended as fellow human attacked fellow human.
- What are the monster hunters doing? Where are they?
- Save us!!
Count and Countess Wessex mourned their loss but kept it inside. They had bigger things to attend to. They had to guide everyone to safety
- What are you still doing here? Go help the people in the outside!!
- But Counts your lives are more important!!
- How so? Go help those outside! This is an order. Those who do not follow will receive severe punishment!
At their order, the guards joined the ones fighting outside to fend off the traitors.
When they were all outside, a shadow appeared near the Counts. Although sudden, they were not startled. That was because they were all familiar with the figure of said shadow.
- Father.... - said Count Wessex with bitterness in his eyes.
It was certainly Alicia's grandfather and her teacher.
- Do not say it. For now, we have to get everyone to safety.
In spite of the fact that he showed a cold exterior, his heart was grieving.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Soon, the monster hunters arrived and the situation was easily controlled.
Nothing but the corpses of those who had died was left behind.
That was erroneous.
Left behind was a silver haired maiden in her knees. Tears fell down of her golden eyes as she muttered " Don't leave me....."
Memories of her past life flashed in front of her eyes. She had lost another of her important people again. The pain was devouring her from the inside.
* Cough *
But it was at this moment that she heard someone coughing.
- "Could it be?!" She thought.
She got on her feet and swiped her hand in front of her.
With only that small action, the black fumes dissipated. The fire in front of her was dispersed.
At the bottom of the crater left behind by the explosion lay 2 bodies. One embracing the other as if to protect it. The body of the one who was getting protected was in prim condition. But the other was...
Charred. Beyond repair.
Alicia was alive but Logan...
At that thought, Locus lost all the hope that remained in her heart.
She materialised in the human realm and slowly approached the body in front of her.
Alicia was awake throughout the entirety of the events. Seeing that an unidentified girl was about to take the man who protected her, she slipped from Logan's embrace and spread her arms in an attempt to protect him.
- Why?!..... you....
Even so, when she saw Locus's face, she knew that there was nothing to fear. The girl in front of her grieved his loss more than she did. She let Locus through.
As Locus touched Logan's ashen body, a burning sensation filled her fingers. Nevertheless, she did not care.
She took Logan in her arms and gazed at his face longingly. She finally started to understand this sensation that filled her chest since the beginning. From the first moment she met Logan.
And that's why she grieved. Because she would never be able to express it to him.
- Log....Log...Log - repeated her as she mourned and weeped.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
- Ikaa!!!!
It was then that they were surrounded. Minotaurs, Lamias, Wraiths and more sealed all their escape routes. Harpies sealed the skies.
Negotiations were futile against them for if you looked into their eyes, all you'd see would be madness.
They were bloodthirsty savages. That's what his teacher told her since she was a kid. This only thought terrified her. She shouldn't have been able to move - that's what she thought.
She gazed into the figure in front of her that was in the maidens arms.
- Log...Log...Log.....
Is that what his name was? Log. That man had saved her life. She wouldn't give in without a fight.
Alicia stood up and positioned herself in front of Locus.
- Oh mother earth. Grant me the healing needed to go through life.
Her body was suddenly surrounded by bubbles of water. From her toes to her knees. From her fingers to the top of her head. Bubbles slowly surrounded her body.
*Pop* *Pop* *Pop*
Then they popped one by one. Healing the areas that were previously damaged with her fight against Logan.
- Oh Queen of Spirits, fill me with valour. Change me into a knight. So that I can protect those who are weak!!
The moisture in the surroundings hardened and transformed into pieces of armour that glued into Alice's body.
Finally, a pair of sculpted navy gloves materialised in her hands.
- I'm 11, I'm not going to die this young!!! - declared she as she grinned.
She then propelled herself forward into the enemy in front of her.
- These are not living beings. These are monsters.
As she advanced forward she conjured a spell. Water droplets spread around her as a centre. They covered a wide area. Surrounding the monsters, Locus and Logan.
The next moment, they evaporated, increasing the temperature in the surroundings, only to be cooled down a second later.
Mist was made. With their sense of sight disrupted, the monsters lost all their coordination with one another.
- Catch me if you can..... -Alicia's voice was heard from the side of a monster.
As soon as the voice was heard, the monster nearest to that place, punched to his side.
- Graaaa!! - only to be met by a familiar shriek.
Similar cries were heard throughout the battlefield.
Lacking enough intelligence, the majority of the monsters only followed their instincts, resulting in a lot of casualties in their ranks.
The centaur, having the highest intelligence of the bunch, tried to calm his companions.
- Graaaaa!!!! - the centaur shouted to direct the attention of his companions to him and pacify them.
*Splash*
Yet, before all the monsters recovered their composure, water fell from the skies and soaked them.
As if the water was alive, it moved from monster to monster, soaking them with its movement.
The fur of the majority of monsters were tough. As she stood now, Alicia had not enough firepower to penetrate such thick fur immediately.
If she stayed still in a place more than needed, it would be the end. She had to keep moving.
When every monster was soaked with water, Alicia murmured the words "Zero".
Suddenly, the water all over the monsters froze. Creating a strong layer of ice that sealed their movements.
Once this happened, Alicia spread her arms into the sky. The mist gathered above her and all the monsters and once again coalesced into drops of water.
These drops of water then mysteriously elongated into the form of spears and turned into ice.
When freezing the monsters, Alicia had made sure that the ice also sealed the movement of their eyes.
The monsters couldn't close their eyes even if they wanted to.
Alicia pointed down with her index finger and with that as the trigger, the ice spears accelerated towards the monsters open eyes.
* Splash *
Blood splashed and dripped from the monster's hollowed eyes after the impact. Alicia didn't stay to look at her achievement. She had used to much the power of elementals. Her body was fatigued and her contracted spirit was also so.
Alicia turned around to look at Locus. She remained unperturbed of the fight that had just happened. All she had in her eyes was Logan.
- This place will soon be plagued again by monsters... Let's go - Urged Alicia.
- Log.....Log...Log - Yet Locus ignored her.
- Oh? Leaving so soon?
It was at this moment that Alicia felt a surge of power from behind her. The quantity of it was humongous. It was at least 3 times stronger than the surge she felt when fighting against her grandfather.
Alicia slowly turned around. She was greeted by a monster in human skin.
The person, if she could be called that, was a woman of tremendous features. Horns like that of a sheep protruded from the sides of her head. Fangs fell sharply from the inside of her mouth. A black tail peeked out from behind her.
Even though she was a woman herself, Alicia couldn't avoid entering a trance when looking at her.
- No! - Alicia shouted as she took some water from the surroundings and splashed her face with it. The coldness of it had awakened her from her trance.
- Ohhhhhh. You sadden me. - said the woman as she seductively looked at Alice.
- Disgusting - responded Alice as she got into a battle stance.
- Oh Darling I am not fond of fights! So why don't you fight my minions instead.
As she said that, humans appeared from behind her. Their eyes were lifeless and a twisted smile was glued to their faces.
3 of the faces she was familiar with. She didn't know what she did to them but she couldn't leak anything that might be used against her.
- You do not have to force yourself to say it - said the horned woman with a mischievous smile and sarcasm - Father, mother, grandpa! What have they done to you?! Release them now!
- ....
- You're boring. That dull expression is boring. Let me see your other expressions! - shouted she with excitation in her eyes - You 3, play with her!
At her words, Alicia's familiars projected towards her.
- Dammit.
Alicia didn't know what kind of spell the mysterious woman had used against them, but all she needed to do was to knock them out.
That made it sound easy but Alicia knew how hard it would be. She had never once won against her grandpa or her Father after all.