…
A few minutes earlier, Pio arrived and sent a powerful counterattack towards Queaz. But her efforts didn't last too long. Although being able to stun Queaz's movement, her ropes were ripped apart in the process and now…
Queaz is gripping on her collars tightly with one hand while the other holding his gun.
"You're quite powerful, but not too bright as she is," said Queaz coldly. "Now… die."
Suddenly, large streaks of lightning slammed at Queaz. He had no choice but to avoid the thunder magic and let go the girl in his grasp.
"…I can't believe you folks arrive here." Queaz stated. In front of him, Marco stood bravely while carrying Pio. His legs are filled with arcs of thunder.
"I'm so sorry I came late, Pio." Marco apologized. He stepped back a little and turned around. He passed Pio to a tall guy and told him to ensure her safety. The tall guy nodded and left without a word.
Marco didn't come alone. He is accompanied by both Nina and Scias. Nina quickly resided beside the collapsed Aily and tried her best to save her life, albeit being full of bullet holes in her body.
Marco turned around at Queaz. His eyes were blazing in rage. "I can't believe you did this, Queaz."
Queaz coldly replied, "Hoh, and I can't believe you were stupid enough to come here."
"Nina, take Aily and retreat, I'll fend off this man as long as I could."
Nina is extremely distressed upon seeing her dying sister. She nodded Marco's order and carried Aily along with her back into the tower.
"You folks really know no limit, huh?" Queaz coldly stated. Marco glared at him in a raged look. Marco clenched his fists hardly. Both sides had their guns ready in their hands.
"You know you can't win." Queaz added.
"I know." Marco agreed. "But at least I won't go down without a fight."
"Hoh… so much for a fight… well, then… I'll finish this in one strike!" Queaz boosted himself and flashed out of sight.
Marco retaliated and activated Thunder Step magic and shifted forward faster than Queaz. As a result, he saw Queaz's movement and aimed right at him.
"Gun Skill – Double Shot!"
Queaz nearly unable to detect his position, but just in time, he realized it and retaliated.
"Gun Skill – Scatter Shot!"
Marco dispatched two bullets at once while Queaz dispatched only one, but his bullet exploded and spread out in tinier shards. Marco overloads his foot with lightning energy and upon touchdown to the ground he gave a massive boost and evaded the scattering bullet shards.
Both sides received no damage. The two bullets launched from Marco's pistol missed while Queaz's barely hit the explorer.
"Interesting move, Istinggar," Queaz complimented. "By combining your Gun Skill and lightning element, you receive a massive boost in terms of speed and agility. But you lack accuracy, unfortunately."
"Well, thanks for the input. Never thought I would fight another gunslinger,"
"Hmph"
The battle continues shortly. Marco boosts himself into Queaz while the hat man dispatched four Scatter Shots at once.
"His bullet spread is as wide as a shotgun bullet. But it matters not. Scatter Shot technique can only be applied in close quarter combat, which means…!"
Marco changed course and boosted himself in reverse. His theory was correct. The bullets from Queaz couldn't reach Marco. Besides, Marco himself moved faster than the bullet's travel speed.
"Hoh… bold move." Queaz then boosted himself, giving him speed at the rate of subsonic speed to reduce the range within the two. Marco retaliated back in return. He evaded Queaz multiple times while trying to counter his shots.
Streaks of lightning element and rapid gunfire were seen atop of the bridge. Impossible if anyone in the castle would overlook the obvious rumble.
In the end, Queaz's bullet had gone dry. His stock of ammunition is also out of order. Marco, on the other hand, still had the special bullets that were specially made for the gun he own. He can destroy the hat man if he uses it.
But something was bothering him, as if telling him not to use them. He then pretended, "Ah, shite… it appears we both ran out of ammo."
"You were a hard target to hit, Queaz." Marco implied his difficulties in fighting him.
"How coincidence," Queaz replied. "You were also a hard target to hit. By having insane agility and speed, it will be impossible for anyone to hit you with a projectile." Queaz added.
Marco lowered his gun and glared at Queaz. The hat man got curious at what the explorer's up to. Learning from what Aily did to him, he stood cautious.
"Hey, Queaz… I've been wondering." Marco stated. "I saw a part of your cloth was holed."
"…So?"
"What happened? You okay, man?" Marco asked in a rather concerned voice.
"Hah?" Queaz retorted in disbelief. The explorer suddenly asked about his condition. "I'm fine. No worries. 'Tis but a small mistake that I've did."
"A small mistake, huh?" Marco replied. "I realized your cape was also holed. They seem like in line with the hole on your front cloth."
"I told you. It was just a small mistake." Queaz concreted his statement.
"Are you sure? Were you not 'impaled'?"
Queaz is surprised by his statement. "Why'd you come up with such instances?" he asked.
"Because I felt like it really happened that way. I wanted to think that I was wrong and all, but… it is true, right?"
Queaz got curious at what the explorer up to. He lowered his guard and replied, "…Yeah. I was impaled. Guess who did it?" He asked back.
Marco looked down, "I know." He surprisingly stated in a resigned voice.
Queaz thought about it, "This man knew about what happened by simple observations? Moreover, he's concerning for his opponent? Did he know that Aily was the one who did it, or he was trying to sympathize on me? What a strange human."
"It has nothing to do with you. You know that." Queaz stated.
"I know. But the faulty might've come from our side, man." Marco explained. Queaz got a bit confused, "Your meaning?"
"The only person that can do something like that would've been Aily. I knew because I've seen her doing the same thing to a slime monster that stole her shirt back in Areda Island. The slime was killed, and the cloth that she pierced had the same holes pattern like yours. Somehow… no matter what cane she had, it will be abnormally sharp on its tip."
"Oookay…" Queaz replied awkwardly.
"After seeing you like that, I believe there's a huge misunderstanding among us."
A flicker in Queaz's mind happened. He realized that the human in front of him is trying to explain things out. Queaz realized the potential outcome he wanted to achieve beforehand might come. So, he decided to sit down and crossed his legs.
"Fine, then. I'm all ears. Do explain what really happened."
…
..
.
"Aily, you'll be alright… don't worry, sister is with you."
Nina sat on the dusty floor beside Aily and Pio. Nina had set up a cotton sheet to nurse Aily and Pio back to health. Pio's injuries are easily dealt with. But Aily's are different. Nina relentlessly has her hands emanating light. It is her healing magic in work.
Scias leaned back on the mossy wall. He stared upon Aily in silence. "We were… too late, huh…?"
He watched her injuries being slowly recovered by Nina's magic. His mouth is gaped slightly while seeing the light healed her skin surface.
"…If we were a second later, her life would not be saved." Scias concluded quietly. "We've made a grave mistake to go on separate routes. None of us calculated that the hat man would be at the southern tower."
Scias walked slowly into the window. He realized that the banging jolts of thunder and gunfire had stopped. He concerned for his friend, but he was told to believe in him.
"Trust me, Scias. If it is really him, then I will be careful and I will return back alive."
Those words were etched in Scias' mind. "He always said those words when things are looking grim. He made us believe in him, entrusting him that he will come out victoriously. Meanwhile… I'm still a miserable man that couldn't even protect a small girl. I couldn't even keep up my promises. What is my becoming?" he grimly thought.
Scias veered his sight to the central palace. He fully realized that soldiers will come into the southern tower at any rate now. The situation where they're all cornered would've been unavoidable if they don't leave at once.
"Sean… where is that bastard, now…?"
Scias and Sean had found out the true killer, but it was unknown whether the killer was still here in the castle or not. High probability is that the killer had left. There's no merit in killing the entire royal family, Scias thought. Because if the leader dies, then the next most trusted man will take the mandate. If that man dies, then the next one will rise into power and so the cycle continues on infinitely, unless the kingdom itself is obliterated entirely.
"Tch…" Scias silently felt annoyed for his self-attitude.
…
..
.
Marco and Queaz were discussing things to the very ends.
"So… this 'Sean' guy indoctrinated you folks into going on the hunt for me?" asked Queaz.
"Calling it indoctrination is a bit too much, to be honest." Marco replied. "He was really sure that you were behind this mess."
"Well, too bad for him it wasn't me." Queaz replied. "…Your friend there is coming here." Queaz implied the tall guy's approach to them both.
"Oh, hey, Scias." Marco friendly greeted him. "U-Uh." Scias simply nodded.
"I don't want to be miserable forever. At least I must learn what's truly going on." Scias thought to himself.
"Anyway… about that Sean guy…" said Queaz. "Do you folks have any slightest idea on why would he pin me as an assassin?"
Both Marco and Scias reply simultaneously, "No."
"Well, he did explain something about you being a demon or something like that." Marco explained.
"Hm-hmm…" Scias nodded. "Sean stated that you were behind the monster attacks on Napre."
Queaz is stunned to hear those explanations from the humans. "That's just outright stupid." He responded.
"I am not from a demon race… in case you folks wonder. Moreover, who in the blue blazes would've thought that I was behind the insect strike on that boring kingdom?"
Suddenly, a short memory tickled his mind. "Oh, wait…"
He remembered he barely managed to escape the group of knights when he strolled down the well. When he investigated the cavern full of monsters, he discovered the monsters summoning tool and tried to destroy it, but it disintegrated before he touched it. In the same time, the knights rushed in and surrounded him. He quickly made an escape.
"One of those knight folks, huh?" Queaz muttered while staring off into sky. "It's hard to believe that he's very persistent on chasing me this far, and how foolish he is to not learn the actual truth."
"Just as I thought… you weren't to blame after all. Glad to know it right from you, mate." Marco said gladly.
"The d-demon behind the attack on Napre was that entomancer, Mothrui. How come he didn't know about it?" Scias wondered.
"Who knows?" Queaz spoke carelessly. "It's not my business, tho."
"Well, technically, it's YOUR deal, too, man. If you didn't do anything about it, you're a fugitive for life," Marco stated.
"Hoh, then I'll slay this knight to end it all." Queaz concluded scarily.
"No, no, and no. Not gonna let you do that. Despite him being dense and temperamental, he's still our buddy." Marco explained.
"Heffft… then I'll leave it to you folks to handle him personally. By ignoring real facts… that human sure is idiotic." Queaz felt disgusted. He threw his sights away from the two humans.
The wind blows breezily. The northern tower's fire has been slowly extinguished. And only a matter of hours till the sun appears on the horizon.
"Say… what were you really doing here, Queaz?" Marco asked curiously.