"It´s a shame that I have to kill another irregular like me... But work is work, so please don´t hate me. I´ll be sure to make it quick~"
Just when she got the flute in her mouth I shot my gun. The bullet didn´t reach her since a barrier appeared, protecting her whole body.
"Tch. A magic item"
A fast melody embraced us. It reminded me of that classic song about bees, but this one was messing with my senses the wrong way.
"HAAAAAAAARR!"
An attack was coming, I lifted my gun but the world seemed to melt right in front of me, the sound became numb and the lights were too bright.
I wasn´t able to aim properly.
"Damn it!"
I tried to use magic but the results were the same, I either failed all my attempts or was too unfocused to sink into the shadows.
With minimal choice, I had to prepare for the impact with my sword.
Just when the blade was about to reach me, Twilight rushed forward and parried the attack with her claws, kicking the soldier in response and knocking him down.
"GREEEAAAaaaaa..."
Thumb.
My drake didn´t last long after that, she collapsed right in front of me with her eyes closed.
"Arrgh! Fuck this!"
Without many options, I leaned against the cart, held my head with my free hand, and clutched my teeth.
BAM!
Was the sound of my skull hitting the metallic vehicle. Heat assaulted my cheek as blood began to escape from the cut aside my forehead.
"Argh... That´s... better..."
Like a boxer that got hit in the jaw and whose brain started to jump everywhere, a hit with the same strength should be able to fix the problem.
When I regained consciousness I noticed how the whole area was filled with screams and the clash of metal.
William was somehow dodging death with her unsteady toes and the knights that still had their sanity were fighting with those who had lost it.
Not thinking it twice, I prepared to use my magic and capture everyone. But then it happened.
SHWWOOSH!
DOM!
The iron door standing between me and the interior of the cart was tossed away.
A chilling breeze assaulted the battlefield as a man stepped out of the vehicle with his gun unsheathed.
"You have to be kidding me..."
The first prince, Nicholas Winright Asphyxia, aimed his weapon at me with soulless eyes and a blank expression.
"... Very well..."
Accepting this reality with an ironic smile, I took my battle stance and raised my sword.
My heartbeat was fast, and my eyes sharpened.
You also wanted this, don´t you, Dominique?
He was not the prince that killed Verónica, at least not yet, but my knowledge, along with this butler´s heart was pushing me to do this; to enjoy it and brand the image into my brain.
After all...
"I wanted to punch you since we met"
"..."
BOM!
*
Just as those men began their battle, I knew that I did the right thing in hypnotizing the prince to fight that irregular.
My original plan was to force the prince into killing his people; that would raise his bad reputation and leave a mental scar in the process, but I had to change the order a bit since that man appeared.
Guns were fired, and the ice was constantly cracking with the monstrous shapes of shadows crushing and cutting on the battlefield.
I decided to light every corner of my position with the candle on my hip, it would be bad if one of those things reach me.
Focusing on both my hands and their fight, I noticed that even though the street was being wildly destroyed, there weren´t any dead people around, not even the soldiers or knights fighting each other.
Just who is him? How can he fight equally against that prince while holding and protecting everyone there from collateral damage?
As much as I hate to admit it, Nicholas Asphyxia is the first hybrid capable to use the combined elements of his parents. Not only that, it is said that his swordsmanship was given by the strongest knight of the kingdom, and his talent with magic easily makes him one of the most dangerous enemies that someone could face in this kingdom.
And yet, it´s not hard to notice how much effort he needs to even leave a scratch on that irregular.
I´m furiously burning my mana to keep him influenced by my song, but to think that today we would meet an equal capable to endure and dissipate my hypnosis...
If I don´t end him before I run out of mana, it will be my defeat.
I´m sorry, but for the sake of all the people that have suffered from this cursed kingdom and its rulers...
Jasmine of the chaotic song needs you to disappear!
*
As expected of the heroine´s lover and next king.
Nicholas is quite strong.
Every time I try to get close, a round of frozen blades go after me, and when I manage to reach his blind spot, he parries my attack with his ice swords or blocks me with a wall of ice.
Even hypnotized, his reflexes are sharp, and his movements well-aimed.
In normal scenarios, he would be stronger than me.
With a swing of his crystal sword, Nicholas shot at me a dozen giant pikes. They were hard to dodge since he predicted my routes to avoid them, but even so, I managed to prevent any damage.
Once I saw an opening, I counterattacked with some bullets that whistled as they were deflected when they clashed against his ice.
Nicholas saved his gun and pointed both of his palms at me, an orb of chilling mana began to grow as the temperature around us lowered its levels.
"Prince Nicholas, stop! You´ll kill everyone in this square if you use that!"
The screams of William assured me of the gravity that his magic had. I felt a little sorry for him since his hands were full with the other knights, his desperation to stop Nicholas was something far more unpleasant than most pleads for mercy would sound like.
"I guess the game is over"
I could dodge that with my magic, the problem was that doing so would sacrifice the people and the drakes.
And I can´t leave them to die when I know I can do something to prevent that.
While changing my empty magazine, I used the shadows to destroy all the lights inside the nearby buildings, and with my loaded gun, I shot at all the remaining sources of light above our heads.
I had created a little piece of complete darkness.
It would have been better if we were in a more enclosed space, but I had to manage with the current street.
Even so, it was enough.
Under this black veil, the only sources of light were the sparks of the swords exchanging strikes, the orb that seemed about to explode, and the golden moon watching us from above.
I wonder if she chose today to be our date because of the full moon...
Right after that thought, a sea of ice swept the field.
*
WOAH?!
HAAAAARGH!
HWAAAA!
The air filled with screams and sounds of despair.
A few seconds later, dead silence.
A vision of what happened was impossible due to the fog that all the ice had created.
I was already out of mana and my strength was just enough to keep me standing.
"Seems like I did it in time..."
Assuming that I had reached my goal, I began to walk away.
"You are not going anywhere"
"!!"
As soon as I heard that voice my body froze, I tried to run, but it was too late.
I was already trapped.
Pieces of shattered ice were falling from his shoulders; his silhouette with ripped clothes and bloodied limbs was standing in front of me, I felt his gaze right within my very core.
I wanted to move, to flee as fast as my legs could take me, but I couldn´t. The horrible shapes lurking around me were too terrifying to even flick. I could feel their groans close to my neck, the barrier was laying under my toes with the remaining candles, they were the victims of his black domain.
"H-How?" I mustered, both my mouth and throat as dry as a desert.
"First, I´ll be borrowing this"
"Wha-"
Before I could finish my complaint, my flute was kidnapped in an instant, I reflexively tried to retrieve it, but I was stopped by a claw.
"Hya!"
"Hzzzzz"
That hazing was accompanied by many shadows sliding through my body with liquid bodies of no temperature. They hold me down to the ground with great strength, once I experienced the feeling I knew why nobody was able to break free from this thing.
My heart was pounding out of my chest, cold sweat bathed my whole being and I became unable to control my breathing.
One of those things was slowly getting closer to my face, tears began to fall from my eyes as I closed them when fear took control over me.
Forgive me, everyone... I failed...
With regret sliding down my cheeks, I clutched my teeth and tried to prepare for my unavoidable end.
Each second was torture, the process was so slow that I felt disgusted by the sadistic methods of my killer.
"Just... Do it!"
Gathering willpower, I plead for a quick death.
"Now, now... Let´s not get ahead of ourselves"
Instead of a sliding shadow, the grip of a hand fell on my neck, I was forced to open my eyes and look at the torturer before me.
"I need some answers from you before we get to that" He said with predator's eyes and a calm expression.
Was I... Were we never a threat to him?...