A dark and ominous castle that stretches through clouds with its intimidating structure. The three were hesitant at first to enter the place, for it radiates waves of malice and evil, especially the foul presence that surrounds the entirety of the area.
But Morgan stepped in front of Billy and Genno. "Stay close and don't get lost," she ordered with a strict tone of voice. "This is where Seth likely entered," she said, having to remind them of their priority: "Do you two have your weapons with you?" The blond boy with his musket, while the Japanese youth has his hands clenched in show of his readiness.
All of this made her satisfied, for at least they have something to do with fighting the knights that are sure to attack them in there. "Good," she said, nodding with a smile, "let's go." As she said that, the group moved through the pathway up the hill, carefully watching any ambush that might come upon their presence.
Minutes passed, and the dark atmosphere continued to suffocate their spirits with heavy air while the mist became denser. Nothing but barren land led to an unoccupied entrance, with no guards to patrol this entrance. making them ever more on edge.
Entering the front entrance while walking along Morgan's side, they scan around the huge hall, which is filled with torches across the walls and hanging chandeliers in the ceiling that provide the illumination needed for them to see their surroundings.
The inside is adorned with several ornaments and paintings, along with stone pillars acting to support the high roof above. There are also other long halls connected to this main hall. Other than that, there is no trace of anyone anywhere, as silence looms around the castle itself.
Along with the fact that every hall was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, Everything appears to have been taken care of; there are no cobwebs, dust, or dirty floors; only polished wooden tiles glimmered under torch lights.
All this made them feel strange, for they had only known that these savages only cared about fighting; anything outside of it was left to rot or ignored by their bloodlust. Thus, their search for Seth and Seth alone is the only reason for their being here.
While the very floors, walls, and surfaces have a darkened rock appearance, there is little decoration or furniture aside from occasional armor stands placed near corners along with suits of armor lining the corridors. All of which bore a crest of star insignia upon them.
Everything is covered with a dark, menacing color that gives off sinister vibes that send shivers down their spines. They walked in caution while on guard for any surprises or attacks. "Where are all those bastards?" Billy commented, wondering why it was so empty.
The reasonable explanation for this is that all of them are currently fighting against Captain Holt and his crew, although he himself doubts that the Crimson Knights will fall to the meager number of men that were on the expedition, leaving their base of operations to be deserted like this is unnatural and borderline stupid.
Therefore, Billy believes that there is something bigger at stake here than using the distraction of sailors. No doubt, the Dark Lord and his minions must be aware of the idea in sending an spy to infiltrate this place while being distracted.
His sure this is also their home, judging by the way it feels around here, but if that is the case, then after getting Seth back, they will be sure as ready to finally avenge Guan Yu's death by killing the very prick who orchestrated everything since the beginning.
Genno spoke up in their midst, "Something is not right," expressing his thoughts as he gazed around the lonely halls, "nothing in this place makes sense." He was skeptical of the whole situation, in which he thought something was not adding up.
Just when Morgan was about to speak, a speeding knife hurled past in her stomach, managing to nick the skin, drawing blood while causing the woman to clutch her torso in agony. The pain caused her to fall on her knees in pain, as the two were caught off guard by this sudden attack.
Even the stoic teen was unable to react to how fast it moved, never expecting to have a projectile from someone out of their eyesight. He then spotted a silhouette hiding in the dark corner of a wall as she slowly revealed herself. "I managed to finally cut you, old hag," Rose snickered with amusement while holding smaller knives between each of her fingers.
Her hair swayed in the wind, revealing her blood red eyes and pale white skin that glowed under low lighting. Along with having a cheerful expression, "you magicians are so powerful but lack the timing to react to my knives," sarcastically insulted her while the two boys pulled out their respective weapons.
"Go," she said while still on her knees, "find Seth; I will take care of this little nuisance," groaning painfully as she continued clutching her own stomach; "go now or you will all be killed!" demanding for them to leave her to deal with the psychotic girl alone.
But Billy had a different plan: "We can deal with her ourselves!" He said with a bit of rage towards the one who hurt his friend, "It's two against one; the both of us have a better chance of defeating this shit!" Staring angrily at Rose, who was visibly not threatened by him,
Morgan at first was hesitant, but seeing there is no option and the wounded state that she is in, this may be the only chance in retrieving Seth before things escalated. "Very well," she agreed reluctantly to his idea, "I trust both of you to come out alive." Her eyes showed slight sadness but quickly brushed it away.
Genno responded on his behalf, "We will," positioning himself in a fighting stance while he eyed their opponent, waiting for her next move as Rose smiled widely in anticipation of finally getting the chance to revisit their duel once more.
"This is going to be fun!"
Exclaimed with a childlike tone in her voice, she threw her knives at them, causing Morgan to quickly and mysteriously vanish out of thin air as the boys managed to instinctively dodge the attacks with their lives intact, only managing to nick their skin and clothing.
Gritting his teeth in irritation at dealing with this unstable person, he asks, "How the fuck can we beat this freak?" The blond teen said before raising his loaded musket at her, "Especially how fast she is!" She shot a lead ball that was propelled from his barrel, but to no avail when she merely dodged it with ease like before.
The long-haired boy swiftly rushed in her direction, fists raised in preparation for melee combat, only for her to seemingly disappear into thin air just as he was almost in her reach. This gave Rose enough opening to slice open a gash across his back as if a bear were clawing his flesh away.
Immediately, he fell to his knees in agonizing pain, just like Morgan had done, but nonetheless stood up before swiftly turning with his raised back hand, striking nothing but the air itself. His blood was seeping from an open wound on his back, and he was groaning in anguish.
The immortal assassin reappeared in safe distance between them, not amused by their efforts in fighting back. "Really, I'm already bored of this," pouting with childlike disappointment, "do you wish for me to end this quickly or perhaps make it painful enough that you won't die from bleeding to death?" Giggling with devious intent
However, she didn't notice when Billy used his bayonet to pierce through her heart, smiling confidently while doing so. "This is for Guan Yu and Morgan," he whispered menacingly before firing a single round of ball. Resulting the bullet to blast through her chest cavity, spraying blood from the wound like a fountain.
Pulling his weapon back, he smiled triumphantly as she took a step forward with a look of surprise in her face, slowly placing her hand at her bleeding wound. "This is..." Then a small smile graced her lips, "all I wanted." With a loud thud, she fell to the floor at her front.
"Its over," sighing with relief while trying to steady his breath, the boy then rushed towards astonished Genno. "Come on, partner, we need to find them," he told in a supportive tone, helping him get up to his feet. "Can you walk?" I glanced at his bleeding injury in concern.
Nodding his head, he gestured for him to stop. "I'm fine," said the teen. "Is it really over?" Wanting to be certain of her demise, he looked over Billy's shoulder to see where the body was, in the same spot as the moment the girl had died.
Horror crept on his face, not finding the corpse anywhere, leaving behind bloody stains and puddles in her place. Panic started to rise in his heart from this, knowing this fight isn't over yet, as his show of confusion piqued the cowboy's interest.
"What's the matter, partner?" Turning around, he was met with a violent spurt of blood escaping from a wide cut on his very own neck. "Kkkkkhhh-" Unable to utter his words, Billy slowly moved backwards as he desperately tried to hold his throat, looking at the assassin with a bloody knife before falling onto Genno's arms.
Catching him, he watched with a look of terror as he saw a fellow companion die in front of him. "Oh, did I kill him?" She asked curiously, tilting her head, "If yes, then it's fine, right? He wasn't that important to you anyway," grinning with excitement at the mere sight of being victorious.
"T-t-tell Seth," before Genno could speak, Billy's words shook him to his very core as the dying blond softly smiled at him. "TELL HIM THAT I LOVE HIM!" With those words said, the life within him hurriedly left his body as he slowly closed his eyes, letting the blood pour out from his open throat as if it were a river.
Lowering the deceased body down to the ground, he stood up and stared at his own blood-stained hands before gradually looking at the one who was responsible for this. Finding herself satisfied in seeing his expression, "Now there is only one left," giggling playfully, she then waited for him to retaliate.
He didn't feel grief nor sadness over this person because they barely had considered themselves to be friends. Despite the fact that he was not overly saddened by his death, the trauma replayed itself over and over again in having to hold someone dying within his arms, having to be forced in watching the light fade within their eyes.
The memories of when the fox spirit killed his father in gruesome display were burned deep within his soul; only this time, they will stay forever until the day he dies himself. A memory he wanted to forget until Billy died by his side, making this the law straw for him to break free from his shackles that held him down for a long time.
Slowly raising his head, he stared deeply at her with his bloodshot eyes, filled with coldness and rage that he had never wanted to express for a long time. For she will not see any mercy coming from him, only the punishment that will fit this crime that she has committed.
"Whats with—"
Before Rose could even finish her sentence, he swiftly moved faster than she had ever anticipated; like a lightning bolt striking upon a tree, Genno appeared at her very eyes, showing nothing but the cold, unfeeling madness of hate and rage that emits from his very body.
One swift blow to the sternum sent the girl flying in the air, hitting the wall before landing on the floor with a harsh thud. She coughed and splattered blood from her mouth, surprised by how fast he was able to overwhelm her. Then, the next few seconds were filled with horrifying sounds of bones breaking, flesh tearing, and bones snapping as he repeatedly punched, kicked, elbowed, and smashed her like a rag doll.
Not even giving her the time to properly react, unleashing his hidden aggression upon her if he was wild beast. He felt his knuckles cracking from how hard he was punching her face, chest, and stomach, feeling the warm red fluid splashing all over him.
No matter how much she tried to stab him in the stomach or slice all over his body, he simply doesn't care about it, acting if he felt nothing about having to receive wounds upon himself. The enraged boy continued violently beating her relentlessly as the once-immortal girl began to choke on her own blood, spilling out from her mouth and nose.
As for him, tears were also streaming down his cheeks in feeling so much pain held up from inside, being let loose upon the world; he allowed this anger to flow through him, finding nothing to stop him from unleashing it out. All of this was pent-up emotion that he himself could no longer contain, for this girl deserved to pay for everything that she had done.
Yet, in spite of everything, she somehow began laughing hysterically before letting out her last words that would forever hunt him in the night: "We aren't so different after all." She uttered these haunting words in pure delight, causing him to wildly let out a scream of pure madness in response, slamming down her skull upon the ground, shattering it in pieces.
Before he continued on again until his vision became nothing more than blood being splattered across his eyes and his hands was raw with bruises, cuts, and dried blood upon his knuckles, the boy screamed again and cried uncontrollably, to the point where he didn't realize how long it had been or what he had done.
Once the deed was done, he slumped beside the decapitated and disfigured body, feeling fatigue and dizziness consume him, seeing the world around him spinning around in circles before darkness finally took over him. When the world itself collapsed on his back, his eyes closed as he drifted away to the realm of unconsciousness.
"What have I become?"