Are we not mad from the start?", The Prince's dark voice echoes throughout the Umbral City.
The teeth and brows of several participants immediately clenched, their hearts and thoughts shaking in fear as the royalty descended from above. Gypsy bore through, uttering out a command to Mely.
"Mely, 'Tidal Voices'! Now!", He shouted to Mely, which fortunately took her out of her daze.
"Let them hear the cries of the waves…", Mely chanted, with her and the Sky Merman's body glowing in wavy azure light as their voice and mind resonated, aligning into one.
Tidal Voices is one of the Sky Merman's special abilities, in which the summon and her contractor sends out frequencies that travel on water and moisture. Through this, the summoner can send out reports one-sidedly so long as there's water and moisture. It has even been theorized to replace other transmission signals, but its reliance on water, moisture, and vibrations has deemed it unable to do so.
Gypsy immediately spoke, in which Mely relayed to the other "Everyone, madness is not who we are, nor what we are. He is merely trying to further weaken our minds. Remember who you are, keep yourselves at check. A wavering will is a stain to us Summoners!", His words were loud and commanding.
"Do not be goaded by his words, it might feel powerful, but it is only because of the place that we are staying. This is the Umbral City… evidence of our kind's darkest moments… We might have been mad, but we have changed. We may have fallen, but we have continued to climb. We have betrayed our protector, but we are trying to make things right." Gypsy's words resonated with everyone, as they seem to have regained the steely glint of their eyes, akin to the glowing waters that transported their Leader's words of hope and reminder.
Randeir was the first one to act. With a deep breath, he leaped and brought forth his own summon.
It was the Armoured Iron Maiden. A unique summon fitted for defense, counterattacks, and trapping opponents. In its initial summon, it bears no difference from the ordinary iron maiden. However, it has the ability to transform itself into an armor to protect its summoner. In its armored form, it could reflect back a certain degree of physical damage done to its summoner, back to its attacker. Likewise, it could also imprison and damage its summoner's opponents through the main body or through the metallic traps it creates.
And just like now, the maiden wraps itself into the summoner, as he descended down from the sky like a meteoroid. Before one of the Class S could even notice, Randeir struck his ultimate attack on one of the Class S members.
The iron armor opened its frontal area and swallowed the target like an hungered beast. Immediately, Randeir disengaged from his summon's armored form and let it finish the job. After all, the summoner is also the weakest link, and the Class S is now beginning to stir from being caught off-guard.
"Got it!", Gypsy smirks and pumps his fist in elation, before relaying his orders to everyone.
"Gather!"
With the help of Mely, they quickly mobilized under their Leader's commands.
---
Class S, finally also moving, has decided to put on the defensive and analyze the scenario.
"Looks like the Third Prince's speech has intimidated their members for a bit… Still, there are losses on our side too… We should consider the weakening of our future plans…"
"Should we just go full force then?"
"No, we can't… The power of their Tales summon cannot be underestimated. We have seen how much damage it can do in a singular blow. Aside from that, there are also other strong members on the opposing side…"
"We cannot go all out, lest we know their full capabilities."
While the rest of the Class S set up their plans, the Third Prince merely observed them from his position. There was something so eerie with the way he gazed at them, that even they chose to not register his presence.
"Aren't they just Class D? We could just crush them if we go all out right now!", One of the brasher members spoke in arrogance, in which one of their tacticians simply glared at him.
"No matter the size of the blade, it can still cut and kill you.", He said, as his gaze swept from the man to the others.
"The reason that we are the Class S is because we are the best representation of what should a Summoner be. We simply do not take our summon's power and abide it to one single use. We delegate, we plan, we take advantage, and we discuss weaknesses. It's because of that on why we are considered the best. Class S is not about the summons themselves but is about the summoner. Likewise, Class D is doing the same what we do."
With those words, the rest immediately shut themselves up and listened.
The one who spoke was none other than the man beside the Third Prince. Abagnale, one of the aces of Class S. is a handsome teen with silvery grey hair and blue eyes. His appearance and behavior were truly like a perfect royal, and with him holding a Legendary Summon, he was one of the most idolized people in the Academy.
"First, we would need a plan to make them show their power, and at the same time, we would not be taking any losses. Through this, we can gauge their capabilities and figure out a plan of attack.", The girl besides Abagnale, named Dorothy, stoically stated their best course of action.
Most of her appearance cannot be discerned, as her face was wrapped. However, she wore a distinct red hoodie, while tufts of her blonde locks also stuck out of her hood.
"Hmm… I agree…", The Third Prince simply stated, to which his fellow team members looked at him in surprise.
"Let us continue the mind game… After all, this is a game of shadows…", A twisted grin came unto his face as his shadow writhed. Once more, the rest of the Class S couldn't help but shudder uncomfortably.
Far from the Class S, Class D has managed to regain their morale and continue executing its plans.
A defensive and counterattacking strategy. They would need to fully uncover the secrets of the Class S, so they could use Allen's Tales Summon with the full advantage.
"We need to be more careful in this, we already suffered losses and we're just one step away from the finals!", One of them cried out, despite the difficult and overwhelming competition.
"Yeah, but the Third Prince seriously gives me the creeps man… I mean, his words are kind of true, that we are trying to cleanse ourselves only to become mad because of doing so… Hmm… Something to ponder…", Someone added.
"The other's positions and roles… Everyone, we need to think of our actions the next time we have a confrontation. We are not the only ones playing mind games here, and the enemies are especially good at it.", Gypsy stated, sweeping his gaze to everyone.
However, his mind focused on Mely and Allen, as the two of them held an empty stare. The more they were staying in this place, the more stranger they became. Initially, Gypsy thought that perhaps they were more vulnerable to this place due to reasons, but they seemed to appear like normal people.
While Gypsy continued to worry about them, Kaide also noticed the oddness of his summoner and the lady Mely.
"Light? Where is the light? What did I bring? How long have I been here?", Allen kept hollowly mumbling out questions, as his empty stare flickered all over.
Meanwhile, Mely's eyes simply focused on Allen's eyes, also as empty as his. Even as she noticed Kaide's stare, she never did blink and attempted to pry away her eyes from Allen. Still, despite its emptiness, it appears to carry an eerie message…
'Hmm… How interesting… Not that I am a keen observer, but according to what the [Plotter's Discernment] stated, there's something more, something deeper to it…', I continued to ponder while nonchalantly observing them, unaffected by their strange behaviors.
Well, this keeps getting interesting and at the same time, more things are happening.
Is it actually true that I once again have met the main character?
"This kind of sucks…", I mumbled out, before sighing. I'm trying to brush off their words, but my mind instead began to list out and ponder each and every one of them.
While cliché tends to brush off minor details, this isn't some movie, so I do not. But while I don't like doing such a thing, it doesn't mean that I could just escape from clichés.
"HEY! Class D! Get everyone out and face me!!!", A shout out of nowhere suddenly resounded, making the Class D take up their positions and observe warily.
"You! Don't!", It appears that it was the Class S, as one of their members was shouting angrily at the man who provoked us.
"Who cares?! We can defeat these puny insects right?", Yelled back the other one.
"No! You moron, they have a Tales!", They continued to argue more. It was getting clear that one man has just decided to go into war. I guess not even they are immune to hubris eh. —?
All of a sudden, a figure suddenly came out and took hold of the shouting Class S' throat. Before anyone could even react, his neck snapped audibly… Class D looked in surprise, while some stared in shock. Gypsy immediately scanned for his team, as to know who did it. Surprisingly, it wasn't them.
"That means…"
"Morons, you really are mad.", The Third Prince suddenly came out, revealing himself to be the figure who struck one of the Class S.
His face was steely and cold, so as his voice and disregard for his member.
"Consequences are needed to be controlled.", He simply remarked.
However, before he could even finish, several figures came in rushing toward him. The Class D's full power was onto him, even Jack the Ripper, was ordered by Allen to attack.
"Take him!!!", Roared Gypsy, as he saw the opportunity. Shock suddenly came onto the Prince's face. All of them had thought that the Class D would never suddenly reveal themselves and just attack out of nowhere, full power no less.
However they did it, they caught the Third Prince off guard.
As the Prince prepared to raise his own defenses, Gypsy and Kaide saw something.
Their eyes widened in shock, as an insane smile formed on the Prince's face.
[•END•]
Revised by BaNaeNae.