Know Your Enemy

We retraced our steps back to the castle, cautious as we approached, expecting to run into soldiers at any turn. Yet there was an eerie absence of soldiers. As we approached the walled outskirts, it became clear why. Corpses of guards lined the castle grounds, and the grey cobblestone footpaths were stained red with their blood.

As we rounded the corner from the courtyard into the palace's gardens, the accursed gem began to glow red.

Standing over the corpse of a guard was a cloaked figure wearing a pitch-black mask with a white sun and crescent moon where the eyes would be.

We locked gazes, or at least I thought we did. He didn’t appear to have any slots in his mask for him to see out of. Yet the position of his head and the feeling in my gut told me he was staring right at us.

He drew his sword, and it glowed with a radiant brightness as he slowly paced towards us.

“So you’re the masked…” I didn't get to finish before instinctively blocking the blade that swung at me. The force of the collision sent me flying into one of the courtyard’s marble pillars.

I coughed up blood. Thankfully, it didn’t feel like anything was broken, although it still hurt a great deal. I staggered, trying to stay upright.

“Captain!” Screamed Túta.

“I commend you for blocking that.” The man remarked.

Mel darted sideways and fired. He blocked the shots with his sword, not even taking a step. Pippa fired a small fireball, but with a flick of his wrist, he sliced it in half, the attack only briefly slowing him. Viola used this briefest of moments to criss-cross her arms as wires reached towards him, but in a spinning motion, he cleanly avoided them, too.

Raizel threw a knife at him, whilst he was still in the air. He drove his sword straight down, planting it into the cobblestone below. With his other hand, he caught Raizel’s blade between his fingers before he even landed on the ground.

He flung the knife aside, then kicked his blade free from the ground, gripping it with both hands just in time to block Elora’s two axe strikes from above. Without pause, he shifted his posture, which redirected Elora’s momentum to the ground and spun around to kick her. He barely missed, thanks to Viola’s wires pulling Elora back.

“You all are pretty tough. But you still have a long way to go.”

I didn’t even see him move. He was so quick as he sought to slash Pippa. She dodged by turning into her fluffball form.

Although it was for only a brief moment, I saw a hesitation as he tried to understand what had just happened.

He redirected his strike, and the ground split, leading towards Túta. Elora ran in front of the attack and blocked it. Viola didn’t hesitate to wrap her wires around his wrist. Her hands bled as she struggled to restrain him.

The man flicked his blade upwards, severing the cables without much effort, which was just in time to block another gunshot from Mel, who was kneeling with her gun in hand.

“Dang, I thought it would hit this time,” she sighed. The man momentarily shifted his gaze to Mel.

“A demon? Well, no matter,” he charged towards her, a radiant glow coated his sword. “Die demon!”

Thankfully, I had managed to regain my strength and slid on my knees between the two. My hook and blade crossed one another to block his attack. The ground underneath my feet cracked from the sheer force of his blow.

A shadow blocked out the sky. A large, lavender-scaled beast flew overhead. All gazes shifted to the large beast.

“Is that Valgroth? What is he doing here?!” the masked man asked out loud.

“Captain, is that a dragon?” Túta asked, her voice shaking.

“Can I fight it?” Elora asked excitedly.

“Oh my, what’s a dragon doing here?” Viola asked, looking concerned.

“Its tail looks tasty,” Pippa commented, drooling.

The creature landed in the gardens. A cloud of dust flew across the yard. I had no idea why the dragon was here. Kenji and my other classmates were supposed to be fighting it. How did it get here so quickly this time?

The masked man didn’t hesitate as he shifted his attention away from us to Valgroth. He swung his blade with its radiant glow.

The dragon spotted him and responded by blasting a ball of fire. The blade and the fireball collided, and the masked man went flying backwards, crashing into one of the marble pillars.

“What should we do Cap’n?” Mel asked.

“We have to hurry! If that dragon or the Masked Man attacks the Administrator, time will reset again, and we will have to do everything once more. For now, let’s try finding the duke.”

The rest of the crew scattered, running towards the main entrance.

“Oh, Mister Dragon~ Do you have any treasure?” Raizel asked, skipping playfully towards the beast.

“What the hell are you doing?” I screamed at her.

“I came here to find it! Where is it?!” Roared the dragon as it shot a breath of fire at the castle, engulfing it in flames. Any hope of reaching the duke before the dragon vanished in the blaze.

“What are you after, beast?” the masked man asked, staggering forward. Some of his robes had burnt away from the attack. His long, golden blonde hair flowed out from where his hood used to be. The mask he’d been wearing had partially cracked, revealing his sparkling aquamarine eyes.

The creature narrowed its eyes as it glared at the masked man.

“You aren’t the one.” He flicked his tail around, sending the man crashing through the stone wall in the courtyard. He turned his head to look around. “Why do I sense it here?”

“What are you looking for?”

“Did you creatures trick me so you could slay me?”

“Use words. We have no idea…”

“Fools! I will destroy this entire kingdom for trying to deceive me.”

The dragon fired its breath towards us. Pippa responded by firing off her own fireball. The two collided in a spiral of flames.

The dragon spun around, its tail cracking like a whip as it collided with my weapons. I’d been thrown around like a ragdoll many times, but this was unlike any of the other attacks. Although I managed to block the full force of the impact, I was still sent flying through the air.

As I hurtled uncontrolled towards one of the castle's towers, the familiar feeling of time being wound back sank in. Darkness consumed all, and as the castle returned to its pristine condition, I was busy smashing through one of the castle’s tower windows.

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End of chapter 42