Liza rushed to open the door, "Stop! Stop fighting! You have to stop, now! There's no need to fight anymore..." She shouted at her comrades and the Zodiacs battling at the Monastery's yard. The tender light of the moon shone upon her white armor, showing a little glint on the polished parts of it. Though Liza hurriedly put it on after she confirmed that the Saintess was alright, she still can't sully the reputation of the Saints Temple that shown not only kindness to her, it even gave her precious people that she cares about now.
The clashes of the swords hitting swords and the warriors' powerful footwork with their battle suits on sounded even more as if they didn't hear anyone shouting at them.
"What do you mean stop?! We are telling you we do not have anything to do with the Saintess' disappearance and then you guys started to blame us on behalf of your incompetence!" A woman wearing a red bandana on her head snapped back at her.
"What's going on, Liza? I was just starting to get heated up here. Don't you cut off my fun time." Holding back a sword right in front of his face, the young Paladin Captain, not older than Liza said with an enthusiastic tone. His excitement was shown allover his face as he was fighting someone other than his Paladin brothers and sisters.
"Listen to what I have to say first! Are you guys deaf? The Saintess..." Liza tried to say something again, but her voice was overwhelmed by the shockwave of blows created by Ralf's gauntlets and his enemies sword.
"Oh, shut up, woman! I'm having the best time of my life here! Stay there and keep watching. I'll come for you next." Behind the mask, carved with excellent craftsmanship, an arrogant and mocking voice came out from its design, a demonic clown smiling from ear to ear.
"Don't you dare insult her. Bastard!" As if he didn't even heard Liza's words and only his opponent's words, Ralf slammed his fists down on the ground, intending to crush the fool who dared to wound him behind the back.
Ignoring Liza as if she didn't passed by, the four of them started to go at it again. The blows of their weapons were violent and powerful, that seemed like they have just started the fight, but the battle started about an hour ago and no one has been defeated on both sides. Although that stalemate will won't last long and there soon to be someone falling on either side. And that will complicate the situation even more.
Two members of the Zodiacs were left here at the Monastery because they were already fighting the two Paladin Captains when the Lord Commander arrived and was separated from the others. Right now, Pierre is fighting three Paladin Captains at the outskirts of the city.
The situation suddenly got worse after Sir Ralf sent a warning to the soldiers outside the Monastery's gates and got stabbed by a sword, but fortunately, Ralf's regeneration abilities are able to keep himself alive and fought Jack Cruor, the Zodiacs' Cancer and the 'Executioner'. Things were not going to look good if they fought any longer, as these fights were utterly nonsense from the start because Liza only realized that Freya did not disappeared neither got kidnapped.
"I have to stop them from fighting first! They will not listen to me even if I shouted my throat out here! There's only that one way!" Liza thought, drawing her curved sword, hanging on her hips, releasing a yellow star core. The yellow star core floated behind her as she dashed forward between the four people fighting in front of the yard, gracefully strode at the center of the fight.
[FIRST STAR CORE: SWIFT CYCLONE]
Liza, with her sheathed sword, swung her sword in a circular movement while coating it with her aura as her ability manifested at the tip of the sword and flew towards the four persons around her, blowing them apart from each other while a thirty-foot high cyclone escaped towards the moonlit starless skies.
The four people were a little surprised by what Liza did. Just what did she have to say to interrupt them from fighting. All the adrenaline and anger filled them as if they were brainwashed and only focused clashing at each other without no reason at all.
There seems to be something strange on what happened to them and the other Paladins inside the Monastery, but their focus was now on Liza, seeing that she pulled them out of their battle frenzy earlier. No one was hurt from Liza's abilities as she only intended to separate them from each other and catch their attention.
The four of them was thrown away from each other, now looking at Liza with a little confusion and found themselves wielding their star souls and weapons. They had no recollection of what they were doing before Liza used an ability on them.
Liza's first star core ability was used to kill or decapacitate the enemy, but by using her unsheathed sword, the killing move can only be used to hit the enemy bluntly, making them unconscious or breaking an illusion and mind controls put onto them.
After they were thrown away from the cyclone, Liza saw something made of gracia dissipated in the air. She tried to focus her eyes on them, but they just vanished so fast so Liza didn't clearly saw what they were. Her attention then transferred to another, when one of the four she bluntly hit suddenly talked.
"W-what's happening..? Why am I here?" Yelena, the Zodiac's Pisces, the woman who was wearing a bandana over her head, muttered with a disoriented tone. The tattoos on her forearms glinted from the moonlight as she looked at her hands. Yelena couldn't remember when did she started fighting a young man, not even taller than her firm, toned shoulders.
Her being confused was only minimal and not too overrated, something that will be expected for being one of the heroes who killed the Demon King and conquered the inner ring, but the one that reacted the most was Jack Cruor, as he kneeled on the ground and cried on all fours, trembling and mumbling.
"No! No... not this, again! Stop! Stop it!!" He cried.
While the two heroes gathered their thoughts, Liza tied her curved sword on her hips and carefully assisted Blake, the young Paladin that she treated like a younger brother, and helped him stand up. Ralf was also shaken, but his mental strength is stronger than any others so he should be fine. "Ralf's a sturdy guy... He can get on his feet after a few breaths," Liza thought as she glanced at him while assisting Blake on her shoulders.
There was a subtle complicacy on Liza's glance towards Ralf. As if she wanted to help him, but she hesitating not to. The man's feelings for her had become a wall between their relationship.
Liza assisted Blake to get inside the Monastery and placed him on one of the pews to rest. "Sis... What happened? My does my hands hurt? Did I fought the Vice Commander or something?" Weakened, Blake still managed to ask Liza. Looking at the woman who he treated as his elder sister, Blake felt an unexplained guilt as he saw her worried face.
"Don't talk yet, just rest in here. I'll go take care of Ralf and the others," Liza said. She then proceeded to help the three outside the yard and left Blake alone on the pews.
Blake sighed as he stared at the painted ceiling of the Monastery, "What have I done wrong? I have no memories of fighting the Zodiacs at all. It was like my mind was manipulated." He thought.
Then, Blake heard a faint sound of small footsteps running on the corridor, connecting the sleeping quarters and the building that he was in right now. Blake did not give any attention to the sounds that seem to get louder as the person who makes that little footsteps came closer to him.
"Sir Blake! Sir Blake," but when he heard the familiar voice of a girl, that was supposed to be missing, he hastily kneeled on one knee and saluted.
"I greet the Saintess, Lady Freya!"
Right after he greeted her, Blake checked every parts of Freya's body, if there were any limbs missing, or if she got injured. "How is she here? I'm glad, but... I thought she just disappeared with that vile metal sphere called Bifrost on her bed!" Blake thought, using his aura to check for unseen substances and hidden bruises on Freya.
While Blake checked up on her frantically, circling her while checking every nook and cranny of her body to the point that his eyes were bulging, Freya couldn't help but giggle at the silly-looking Paladin in front of her, "What are you doing, Sir Blake? I'm not some artwork to be looked at like that."
She was happy that they all care about her, the Paladins guarding her all day. The thought of one of them dying left an ache on Freya's heart. All of them were precious to her, and she wished that she will grow up fast to protect them all and not the opposite anymore. They were all family to her, and Freya cared about all of them the most... Of course all the nuns of the Monastery, that she considered a little to strict on her, even the Abby, are treated as family for her.
"Uh, I'm just checking if you gained any injure or wounds when you were gone, My Lady. As one of the Paladin Captains, I, Blake Summerland, is at fault for not guarding you well!" Blake once again kneeled on one knee, this time, his guilt fully filled him.
He was the one that discovered some anomaly going on inside Freya's room before she was reported missing by her personal guard, Liza, and that one misdeed caused an unpredictable situation to happen. His laziness and obsession for training started an unnecessary feud between the Paladins and the Regulus Empire.
"Nobody is at fault of my disappearance, Sir Blake. I... the truth is, I awakened my star soul and caused you all a big trouble," Freya said while shaking her head. She also felt guilty because she thought that the fight started because of her, disappearing.
"I apologize! I'm truly sorry!" Freya bowed with her eyes closed, because she was embarrassed. She waited for a response from Blake, but nothing came so she lifted her head and saw Blake with a stone-like, shocked face.
"Ah! S-sir Blake, are you alright! Wait! Why are you looking like that, did you got stabbed in the back!" Freya asked in a flustered tone, but Blake still kneeled like a statue and wouldn't even blink an eye.
In Blakes mind, saw himself looking like a frog, looking up at the starless sky, his mouth was bloody due to a mouthful of blood being spitted out, "Ah... Lady Freya awakened her star soul at five? And here I am saying that I'm a genius of the century. So I'm just like a frog in a well, huh." Blake couldn't but smile bitterly at Freya.
"I'm alright, Lady Freya," Blake patted Freya's head and stood up that made her stop frantically circling around him. "Right now, let's just go back to your room. It's almost midnight now, so you should be resting. Let me be the one informing the others that you awakened your star soul for you." Blake said while attempting to strike a trustworthy pose when he heard somebody breathing behind his ears.
"Ahh!" Blake jumped back in surprise, losing his moment to look cool in front of the Saintess.
"Did I saw it right? You put your hands on the Saintess? Huh, Blake?" Liza suddenly appeared behind Blake and left him flustered and surprised. Her sinister aura and expression when angry were the things that Blake feared in Liza.
"N-no, I... I was just calming her. R-right, Lady Freya," Blake stuttered in an afraid tone and when he looked back to see Freya, his face turned to something that would only be seen to that of a cute puppy.
Freya just giggled and patted Blake's arm, "He's right, Liza, I was just worried about you guys hating me because I caused a big trouble." She said with pleading eyes.
As the personal guard and maid of Freya, Liza knew her kindness and generosity. Liza just sighed and said, "There's nothing that you're at fault at, My lady. It was all our fault for not realizing the real state of happenings. I am to blame for not assessing the situation and made assumptions and made the Paladins and the heroes to fight." Liza bowed her head.
Ralf, Yelena, and Jack were also resting inside the building and have calmed down. Although, Jack Cruor was still staring blankly behind his clown mask.
Yelena stood up when she heard their conversation and strutted towards the three. "I told you... we're not involved in any of this happening, at all. You guys started to attack us so suddenly and..." She said, but got interrupted by Blake.
"No, you attacked us first! Do you remember, Lord Jack attempted to stab the Vice Chief! He is a maniac, that guy!" Blake pointed at Jack who sat on the corner.
"Hey! Don't you point your fingers on my crew. Jack's just... a little complicated." Yelena snapped back, but she hesitated to finish her sentence at the end.
Ralf then got up, startling the others, due to his armor clanging. The size of it was nothing like the original size of his body, so his breastplate, all the way to his boots made clanking sounds as loud as they can. When Ralf stopped, the disturbing sounds ceased also spirited away, as he stared at Jack who was mumbling inaudible words.
Ralf grunted and lifted Jack by the neck, "This guy. Stabbed me on the back!" He shouted, unnerving the other three. They readied to protect themselves for the upcoming battle, because they knew, even if Ralf is a little strange, the power of his strikes were all powerful. Just the shockwave of his full powered punch can demolish a whole building.
But they were stopped by just an arm being raised. It was Jack who raised it and now, the atmosphere around him was not like from earlier. He stopped mumbling and shaking, he was calm and composed despite being lifted by the neck.
Jack used his raised left arm to grab Ralf's, "Hmm, this guy... He's also a freak show like me, huh." Jack's hoarse, disturbing voice behind his clown mask sounded with a fascinated tone. His voice was not that deep and low, but the way his voice sounded left shivers down Blake's and Freya's spine.
"What's with that guy?! Even his voice scares me!" Blake thought, as he protected Freya behind him.
"Wait, Jack! It's not what you think! Let him go and calm down!" Yelena said loudly, her rough accent and tone made her sound like a pirate or a bandit throwing away orders. Paired with her sleeveless shirt, a red bandana on her head, and finally, the tattoos on her arms, nobody would believe that she's a Zodiac if they first meet her.
In spite of her condescending tone, Yelena was nervous. She saw how Jack fights when he is angered, and it always ended with the opponent being ripped to shreds or slowing dying in agony, it didn't end well for them at all.
"What? You think he can beat me. Try me, then!" Ralf felt irked, because he saw that Yelena was worried for him, not Jack. "How dare you. Looking down on me," Ralf thought as he released his aura and tightened his grip on Jack's throat.
"No!" Yelena shouted in panic, rushing forward to stop Ralf.
But, she was met with a powerful shockwave that came out of nowhere, throwing her off balance. "What the hell was that," Yelena thought, as she lightly lifted her air that was on the air to see where did that unseen force came from, and she was surprised to see where it originally came from. "It came from a flick?!" This time, she said it out loud.
She landed on the pews gracefully as her dark copper brown hair followed her motions. "How is that possible?! He flicked me away and the shockwave was enough to throw me off!" She said.
Seeing that the situation got intense again, Liza stepped forward and tried to stop her fellow Paladin Captain. "Ralf, stop! The Saintess is alright, now! There's no need for you to fight again!"
"But, this guy! He dared to stab me!" Ralf did not back and still kept his grip on Jack's throat.
While Yelena watched them helplessly, she saw Jack's eyes looking at her, telling her 'you tried'. "Stop, Jack! You can't!" Yelena desperately rushed again, hoping that she could stop the fight with minimal efforts. She knew that Jack's going to use his abilities and that will put them on a bad situation as the Church of the Holy See permitted to enter Vider, in exchange for the condition that they must not use their abilities against anyone living inside the city.
As if the time has slowed down, Jack released all his star cores with precision and blinding speed, and activated one. His sixth star core glowed black, tainting the light of the lanterns of the building lighting everything.
[SIXTH STAR CORE: OATHBREAKER'S SCYTHE]
The baleful aura on Jack's right arm formed into that of a eight-foot long scythe, with it's blade reaching over a meter long with a curved design. Its razor sharp edge glinted from the light, despite it being formed out of darkness.
They say that a person's star soul reflects its owner. But Jack seemed to be controlled by the will of his star soul himself. All the bloodlust erupted from the scythe and he swung it, with the intention of reaping Ralf's head off like a grass on a wheatfield. A scythe was the perfect weapon for a farmer, but the Jack under his mask was not a simple farmer at all, his weapon soul itself is the reaper of souls.
"No, I won't make it," Liza watched Jack released all of his eight star cores and manifested a scythe on his right arm. But she was a second later and couldn't parry the deadly weapon even with her full speed.
At that moment, a silver light passed through all of them, blinding them for a minute of a second. And then, all they heard was a clang, and Ralf groaning, away from his original position.
When they opened their eyes, there, they saw the brilliant aura that pioneered all of the Paladins of their current generation. In the Paladins' eyes, this was a familiar aura, a salvation for them, and the feeling of seeing it again overwhelmed them that Liza couldn't stop her tears.
And for the Zodiacs, this light felt familiar as well, but they were not sure if it was the same aura they saw or its just similar to the aura of the man they only saw when they apprehended someone and failed.
"It became lively here when I was gone, eh. Would you let me join in?" Lumiere's voice sounded. His magnificent white armor that radiated a holy atmosphere only when worn by him, the long cream colored hair of his swayed on the air like it was being blown by the wind. His smile almost pierced the hearts of the women in there.
"Lumiere!" Liza shouted in her mind. Her knees gave up and she wept on the floor. The man that she loved the most has finally came home again.
"Chief. You're back." Ralf muttered while bitterly looking at Liza, crying on the floor. He also let out a tear, but no one could tell if it was because of defeat or happiness. Then, he passed out.
"You..." Jack said in the corner while pointing his finger on Lumiere as if he recognizes him, and lost consciousness. Out of the two that were instantly attacked, Jack took the more powerful punch than Ralf. It seemed as if Lumiere wanted for him to pass out.
Yelena stared at Lumiere with wide eyes, as she couldn't believe what she saw. Who would've thought the Empire's 'White Minister' is the Chief Paladin of the Church of the Holy See. "This is a news to be reported," she thought.
Lumiere just walked pass Yelena and kneeled in front of Freya, or rather, in front of Blake that was guarding Freya. With just a glance of Lumiere, Blake cleared his throat and stepped away, "I apologize, Chief. P-please, go on." Blake said, embarrassed.
"Lumiere Von Narulan Argent, the Chief Paladin of the Church of the Holy See, Paladin of the Saints Temple, the 'Silver Knight', greets the Saintess of the Holy See and the Saints Temple, Lady Freya." With elegance and fluent pronunciation of his words, Lumiere, with his fist on his breastplate, emblazoned with gems and runes, announced his return.
Just his appearance can shake the whole Church. Once he makes his move, a storm will brew upon Vider and all its subjects. The truth will be revealed upon his eyes.