The first day of the ten day time limit started with Alex trying his best to keep Arthur away from the Radiant Sword Mirror Cult, but the results of what whether he succeeded or not isn't as important as this event... One incident that will surely start the falling of many dominos. It didn't seem like much from the outside, but this event was like a trigger.
In the Silver Spoon restaurant where many Cultists frequented, the normally lively place was dead silent. Some lightly armoured Holy Knights in Medium Resistance Cold Steel had came in with a extremely menacing atmosphere around them...
Samuel Goldsun, who should've been watching over Alex, seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit as he slurped on a smoothie at small bar in the restaurant filled with alcohol, even going as far as to use his finger to clean out the milk left on the cup. He didn't seem bothered by people who came in... to the point of not even bothering to check why everyone suddenly stopped gossiping.
"Ah~ This is so blissful~!" The usually patrolling Knights paid no attention to how he was so moved by the taste of a beverage he made himself. The bartender in front of him had a strained smile.
He wondered what the hell this guy was here for...!
The golden-haired spearman didn't seem to care about what others were thinking. He was truly enjoying the aftertaste of the smoothie, but his eyes betrayed his interest in someone beside him.
There was a black-haired youth who was drinking a type of tequila of all things... His cheeks were reddened a bit as turned to look harmlessly at the Holy Knights who arrived. If it wasn't for Samuel having already experienced the future, he wouldn't have believed such an innocent-looking youth was the mastermind of a massive scheme against the Demon Lord. The youth reminded him of Alan...
Not the current him, but the two-faced Alan Stuman in his youth. This was a lot of praise coming from someone who knew the current leader of the Mirror Cult more than anyone else.
However, the main characters of this incident wasn't either of them. Instead, it was the five girls with nearly identical looks that were sitting at a table not far from them. The ten Holy Knights surrounded the table with icy and frigid eyes.
"You five are under arrest." The leader of the group spoke out towards the girls sitting at the table.
"Can you tell us what we did wrong?" Even though the Church was a strong power in the kingdom, this didn't mean they could be unreasonable. The five quintuplet sisters wanted an answer from them.
"You are all suspected of killing a Researcher who was employed by the the Royal Palace, as well as being Classless Beasts. Please do not resist... We will give you a fair trail and appropriate punishment after more thorough investigation." The leader of the Holy Knight group spoke while having his sword type Spirit Essence drawn beforehand.
One could tell from the shape of the blades that these people were of the special 'Knight Class'.
Let me display their stats for you readers:
{Spirit Essence- Templar Sword:
• Innate Ability- Gaia Affinity
Spell Slots- (Foundational Attribute- Light), Holy
Bestowed Class- State Knight:
• Class Skill- Sword Gift
• Class Skill- Regenerative Healing}
Compared to other Classes, the ones these Knights had were of the ones bestowed personally by the Church. This 'Bestowed Class' could only be attained by those who made an oath to gain a Holy Attribute Spell Slot rather than of any other nature.
Those with these Spell Slots would find themselves being true paragons of virtue without question. It was because the morals connected to the Holy Attribute were staunch in religious fanaticism, and also the clarity in equal retribution of evil deeds.
They could be considered open-minded in the respect that as long as no one did something that was truly 'evil' in their perspective, they wouldn't uphold justice without thinking of other citizens.
Even their methods weren't particularly barbaric as Classless Beasts were confined and given good food rather than being burnt at the stake. If these five young ladies were to follow them, they truly wouldn't be treated harshly despite being accused also taking someone's life. At most, they would be interrogated by Priests before imprisonment...
That said: They would go to jail regardless trial so long as they were revealed to be Classless Beasts.
"Isn't it illegal to arrest someone without proof?"
"All we want if for you all to accompany us to a Holy Sanctuary. There, everything will be clear. Is there a reason why you shouldn't cooperate?" The man looked at the eldest among them suspiciously.
All of these Holy Knights weren't merely 'Talented' at swordsmanship like Warriors, but 'Gifted'. Their fighting ability was higher and they had diligently practiced Radiant Swordsmanship in order to apprehend Classless Beasts as swiftly as possible.
The mix of undercover Cultists and regular citizens watched in interest as the girls secretly glanced at the real killer who they were acquainted with, and could only feel like their hearts dropped to the pits of despair as that innocent-looking youth smiled.
His black eyes were clearing saying: 'Take the fall for me.' Although they were Classless Beasts as the Holy Knights suspected them to be, they weren't bad people... Just unfortunate girls who had accidentally come across a true psychopath.
The black-haired youth moved his lips:
{If you tell them anything, I will torture you all to death.} He mouthed, causing Samuel to feel sorry for the young ladies were being pressured by the true murderer that was letting out an abnormal amount of killing intent. Though only he sensed this after reaching the peak of 'Magic Arts' and having mastered many Skills in his lifetime...
The black-haired youth had a Transcendent Burst exactly like Arthur, except this murderer had way better control of his True Aura to the point he could dominate people just by looking at them in the eye.
Even though the Holy Knights were unaware, all the young ladies could see were a threatening black skull of True Aura that forced the quintuplets into subservience. Though they were able to quickly break free from his oppression the moment they stopped focusing in his direction. The eldest sister hit the shoulder of her second sister, and that girl passed it over to her third sister, and so on...
This continued until reaching the fifth sister in a blink of an eye... before the eldest spoke up:
"Let's bounce!" There was a real old gangster-like vibe from the five sisters as they quickly agreed.
Even if they were Classless Beasts, they didn't deserve to go to jail and take the blame for someone else. The Holy Knights immediately slashed their swords in their direction, but quickly found that they had underestimated the siblings.
Their initial strikes were dodged. The young ladies leapt into the air at breakneck speeds. It was to the point that the Knights realised immediately what Attribute the Classless Beasts had changed their 'foundation' to, which surprised many of them.
'Light Attribute?' The leader of the group felt his jaw drop. He felt confusion on how to handle these girls. It was the first time he came across a Light Attributed Classless Beasts or even heard of them in his entire life. He couldn't understand them...!
Why become a Classless Beast if you aren't going to pick the Attribute of other Mystic Races? Why defy the laws of the Human Empire when they could have lived a normal life as Gaia Humans?
It didn't make sense to him...
Not that thinking about this really mattered... The quick-footed quintuplets bolted towards the exit after summersaulting over them. This action made the Knights curse inwardly. They were too fast...!
However, being light on their feet didn't mean they could escape the pursuit of ten Holy Knights!
[Movement Skill- Flickering Light!]
As they couldn't use up the only Spell Slot they had wastefully (since it takes an full/entire day to regenerate), they used the same Advanced Skill that Arthur had executed using Mana Burst once.
It was an extension of the 'Lighten' Skill that takes the equal bodily distribution of this Basic Skill and ignited one's power to give the user a burst of speed. It wasn't as fast as 'Leg Whitening- Light Movement', but it benefited from being cost effective. The sole drawback being that there was a small opening that happens from igniting Mana.
This opportunity was actually what the quintuplets were hoping to take advantage of! So they grouped together into a formation in front of the door rather than leaving. Their reasons for it was simple: How could they escape while being pursued by Knights?
Samuel realised that not only did they have a good head on their shoulders, but they were actually pretty lucky that the Church's manpower was busy fighting and investigating the Mirror Cult right now.
If not, they would have sent a bigger force to apprehend the Classless Beasts they suspected.
No, it was more accurate to say that the Church were skeptical on them truly being Classless Beasts in the first place. After all, they wouldn't have sent some unprepared Knights if they knew.
[Quint Style- Double Boxing!]
After getting into the 'V' formation with the eldest sister at the back, the second and third sister revealed their Light Attributed Body Enhancements to be on their arms. Both of them took a boxing stance as the eyes of their eldest sister glowed a pure white... Her eyes were a lot different from Lily's since she wasn't part of the Moonwolf Clan.
In that temporary moment where the State Knights had no Light Mana use after igniting the energy in their Magic Pathways, the girls used their swiftness to attack them just before they regained their Mana. The fists of the two sisters punched out!
With the Arm Enhancements in the middle, the second and third sister covered for each other's blind spots by keeping their Light Mana tattooed arms at front. The second sister took a southpaw stance while the third sister took an orthodox one.
As soon as the Knights came towards them while slashing their swords with all their strength, they approached them while throwing heavy jabs that hit the lightly armoured sword users squarely on their unguarded faces. The other sister assisted!
[Quint Style- Paired Savate!]
Before the numbers of the State Knights able to overwhelm them, the fourth and fifth sisters used their Leg Enhancements to kick the ones who were at the back. Their synergy was at the level of almost being misunderstood as 'one fighting as five' rather than five people fighting as one. Even Alex and Arthur had only barely reached this level!
The approaching Knights were all knocked unconscious one by one until only the leader of the group was left, who finally realised that he had to use up his Spell Slot against these powerful foes.
His Spirit Essence pulsed with Light Mana...
He was about to cut apart his enemies with one bisecting swing of his sword. However, he was unable to execute his Light Spell before the eldest sister with her Eye Enhancement charged at him.
She had been aiming for him in the beginning and didn't give him the chance to use his last resort.
[Quint Style- Strike Setter!]
Her hand grabbed his wrist after appearing before him at a speed the faster than him while he was using the 'Movement Skill- Flickering Light', then grappled fluidly using her abnormal base speed.
The Holy Knight felt her foot step on his back... both his arms were restricted behind his body after being grabbed, leaving him completely open. The glowing eyes looked down on the the person she had her feet on the spine of. Her sisters took this opportunity to beat him up. As he was wearing more armour than the rest, it took a little more effort for them to break through his defences.
[Quint Style- Blitz Cage!]
The third sister wound up her fist, then uppercutt his jaw before the rest also weaved their strikes into an extreme combination. The eldest sister of them also jumped off the Knight's back before she joined in at striking him until he spun in circles.
The only thing the people around them could see was the group of Knight being beaten down as soon as they tried pursuing the quintuplets, all before stopping for a moment with the Knight Captain. However, even that stronger Individual was swallowed into a cyclone of strikes after being grappled and thrown out in the direction of the door. They only stopped hitting him when he finally landed unconscious outside the restaurant.
Though it was only a matter of time before the citizens of this establishment alerted the authorities once the girls had their identities exposed. The Mirror Cult might help, but it was doubtful if they could interfere fast enough for it to matter. After all, not even THEY could do anything if the young ladies were captured by Holy Knights.
The real murderer who framed them seemed to not care about what would happen to them from now on, but Samuel smiled as he took this opportunity to follow them. He teleported right next to the eldest quintuplet before whispering in her ear.
Then he handed a note to her which seemed similar to what he had given Fear, the former Mirror Priestess. As he vanished like a ghost without a trace, the eldest sister looked at the note in her hand and read the name while she was running.
{Alex Stuman.} As they had no other options, she took the gamble and abided the advice of the mysterious stranger that spoke to her. She looked at the address in the note and followed it quickly.
Samual laughed after giving Alex another headache to take care of. These strong quintuplets were important pieces that may end up helping the prodigy in the long run. That is... if he could accept them, of course. Nothing was free in life.
He wanted to see just how his 'present' would act after seeing them. Only then would he feel at ease.
Samuel felt amused once his plan had initiated...