The Presidential Office

“Lord Yu-jin, Lady Ha-eun, the Japanese have breached the building,” Bari said solemnly. Although, the information was obvious thanks to the sounds of explosions and gunfire.

“...Got it…” Yu-jin lifted his head and slowly got up. This was it.

“So the time’s finally come, huh?” Yang rubbed the back off his head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Yang began to walk out of the room as Yu-jin followed. However, Ha-eun remained seated, her head down and her arms crossed.

“Lady Ha-eun?” Bari leaned down to see her closer, only to recoil.

Ha-eun’s eyes were wide, her breathing was short and frantic, and she was shaking frantically. “I can’t… I can’t…”

“Ha-eun…?” Yu-jin looked over too.

“I don’t want to die…!” She cried out, her condition getting even worse.

“Ha-eun, what’s wrong!?” Yu-jin desperately asked as he ran up to her.

“I think it’s a panic attack,” Bari explained.

“Are you kidding me!?” Yang yelled. “Right when we’re about to fight the most important battle of our lives, she shatters like glass!?”

“Calm down, she can’t help it.” Bari tried to soothe her.

“If we don’t go and fight then we’re finished!”

Yu-jin understood the gravity of the situation, but some things just couldn’t be helped. It pained him to see Ha-eun in this situation at all. She didn’t deserve this, not one bit. He knew what he had to do. “Bari, you stay here with Ha-eun. Me and Yang will go and fight.”

Yang scoffed. “Oh, what a hero you are.”

Bari shot Yang a dirty look before turning her attention to Yu-jin. “That sounds good. We’ll come as soon as she’s calmed down, okay?”

“Got it.” Yu-jin said as he left, followed by a reluctant Yang.

***

The Battle for Seoul's Presidential Office began. The resistance from the Presidential Guard was fierce, but the Kurotai managed to push through, slowly taking the building.

However, as the battle still raged, Keitaro and Toko had already entered. Led by Musashi and Tomoe, they were looking for the Gray Knight and the Gray Maiden to settle this once and for all.

They turned a corner, entering a concourse and seeing an injured man limping away.

Before they had a chance to question him, however, he turned around, wildly firing in their direction.

“Get down!” Musashi commanded, directing everybody into cover behind some toppled furniture.

None of his shots hit, and as he ran out of ammo, he chucked his gun at them and started limping away again.

But Musashi immediately leapt into action, sprinting forward, quickly catching up to the man before diving, tackling him to the floor.

As Keitaro walked up, he heard the man cursing at them, barely intelligible. “Who’s this guy? He’s not dressed like a soldier.”

“I think I know…” Musashi tightened his hold. “That’s Du-han Kim, the spymaster of Seoul, and the likely mastermind behind the terrorist attacks.”

“What?” Keitaro stepped closer. “Is this really the guy?”

“That’s right! I did it all!” Kim spat out. “And my only regret is not doing more after seeing what you’ve done to our city! This is always how it is with you Japanese!”

Keitaro sighed. “What? It’s our fault even though you struck first? We’re the victims here.”

“Victims!? Don’t make me laugh! I saw how you toppled those buildings! Do you know how many people were in there!?”

“I had to do that to finish a battle that you started. You intentionally put those people in harm's way. Their deaths are your fault.”

“That’s just another excuse!”

This conversation was going nowhere, but their attention was soon caught by two men. Yu-jin Ahn and Kyoungjong Yang had arrived.

“Yu-jin!” Kim called out, his eyes filled with hope.

“Looks like Kimmy’s ticket got punched.” Yang slowly walked closer. “Poor bastard.” He threw up his hands. “It was to be expected, though. This is what happens when you don’t think with your head.”

Yu-jin followed, looking down at Kim with fear. His current state, beaten, bleeding, restrained, and about to be killed, that just might be him within minutes.

“It’s nice to see you again, Yu-jin,” Keitaro said, his voice laced with sarcasm. “I still think it’s a shame that we have to play this game, however…” He stood up tall, challenging his opponent. “I don’t regret fighting you.”

Yu-jin almost wanted to surrender right then and there, but it was far too late for that. Responding in kind, he held up his hand threateningly. “Neither do I.”

As the two continued sizing each other up, Musashi asked, “Where’s the Gray Maiden?”

Yang responded promptly, “She probably won’t be coming.” Putting his hands behind his head, he made a suggestion, “How about we settle this fairly then? A duel between Yu-jin and Keitaro.”

“Sounds good to me,” Keitaro immediately agreed, much to Musashi’s chagrin.

Yu-jin was much more hesitant, but a duel was his best shot at victory right now. “All right.”

Everyone else went off to the sides as Yu-jin and Keitaro faced each other in the middle of the room. Musashi pushed Kim to the sidelines where he couldn’t do anything but sit and watch thanks to his injuries while Yang didn’t seem at all concerned with the duel.

Before the battle started, Toko approached her brother. “Keitaro…” Fearfully she asked, “Are you sure about this…?”

“Don’t worry.” He brushed her off. “Even I can handle this punk.”

Toko retreated to the sidelines, watching with bated breath. Meanwhile, Tomoe looked on with intrigue and Musashi, despite his initial annoyance at Keitaro’s risky decision, now seemed impressed by his lord’s honor and bravery.

As the two Knights stared each other down, the only sound was the distant gunfire which just became white noise.

“Rules are simple, boys.” Yang explained, “No weapons, just your fists and Abilities, and you fight to the death. Sound good?”

They both agreed.

“Then let the battle begin!”