Back at the Lupus village...
The village chief, his elders, and a couple of other villagers rush under the half-moon night sky, following the sound of chaos that started just a while ago.
Once they get to the army camp, they find several soldiers in a frenzy, running around and barking orders at each other.
"What's happening?" One of the villagers asked.
The Chief looks around, just confused. He tries to ask a soldier, but the scary-looking man just ignores him as he goes to fulfill his order.
"Something's wrong." The Chief said, his shrewd instincts noticing the air of desperation around the camp.
"Chief!" They all turn to see two of the village's resident police running up to them.
"You're not gonna believe this!"
They quickly explain the situation...
"They freed her?" A woman asked with wide eyes, and the policemen nodded.
"And now they're even helping her fight the soldiers." Another villager said.
One of the village elders turns to the Chief. "They're going to be in trouble when the Capital finds out."
The Chief frowns at the thought as he looks in the direction of the forest...
Meanwhile... Back in the forest...
The army soldiers grit their teeth and pant as they find themselves not only fighting the wolves... but a powerful traitor as well.
"Damn it." A soldier said as he threw his gun aside and focused his mana into his hands, conjuring large metal gauntlets before charging at Dom.
The soldier throws a punch, but Dom weaves, evading it while he swings his foot against the man's ankle. As the soldier falls, Dom grabs him by the face and smashes him into the ground, knocking him out.
Dom then looks up to find more soldiers pointing their guns at him. He dashes at them, with his arms held up as the men opened fire, their bullets harmlessly pinging off his skin like pebbles against a wall.
"Stop! That won't wo-" Before that soldier could finish, Dom grabs her by the shirt and digs his knee into her gut, causing her to cough up some blood.
The soldiers around Dom shift away, their expressions filled with fear as Dom suddenly grins at his fist.
"That's more like it." He said before hearing the scream of soldiers being attacked by the wolves.
Following the sound, he suddenly leaves his opponents and charges at the soldiers fighting the wolves.
A soldier aims his gun at a wolf that corners an injured soldier.
But before he could fire, Dom slams his shoulder-first into the man, sending him flying into the bushes.
He then grabs the gun still mid-air and quickly flings it at the wolf's head, knocking it out.
The alpha, now recovered and already mid-fight, stares in confusion at Dom's actions while the soldiers glare at him.
"Whose side are you, kid?!" A soldier shouted as he swung his massive wooden club at Dom, who stopped it with one hand and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
As the man falls, Dom notices a pack of wolves led by the alpha about to launch at some soldiers and quickly hurls the club at them.
It lands with a heavy thud between the wolves and the soldiers, keeping the two sides apart.
"They're here!" A soldier shouted, and Dom turned to find soldier reinforcements arriving at their location.
A loud howling by the alpha then draws his attention to the other direction, where he finds more wolves pouring in from the woods.
"You've got to be kidding me," Dom grumbles as he jumps forward before doing a split kick, which hits a soldier and a wolf simultaneously.
As more reinforcements from both sides arrive, Dom continues to keep them apart while dealing with the different attacks aimed at him from both sides.
About 3 minutes later...
The chaos in the clearing settles, and Dom wipes his sweaty face as he looks around.
All the soldiers are motionless on the ground, with most of them still breathing, but among the defeated wolves, only a couple of them still live.
Dom frowns, clearly unhappy with the outcome, before noticing the few wolves still standing growling at him.
He looks past them and rests his gaze on the alpha standing quietly behind them.
"I can still fight if you're not satisfied." He said, his eyes glowing menacingly.
She narrows her eyes, her senses still picking up the powerful aura burning around his body. With a single bark, she commands the wolves to back down.
Dom smiles before turning to the sound of thunder in the distance. He looks around and notices that most of the visible flames he saw earlier are now gone. Not only that, but the explosions had stopped.
For the first time since he entered the forest, it is completely silent...
He turns to find the alpha on her knees, a hand on her injured thigh, which a cub licks.
Dom walks towards her, causing the wolves to growl, but she barks, stopping them.
They back away but still stare attentively as Dom kneels beside her, his eyes quickly seeing her new wound.
"I still have some left." He said as he brought out the remaining bandages from his pocket and prepared another alcohol swab.
Once he shows her, she frowns as she recalls the pain.
The moment he applies the swab, she groans and bites his shoulder again in the same spot.
But even though her teeth are seriously hurting him, Dom smiles once he feels how relaxed her body feels, unlike the cold stiffness he noticed before.
Within a few minutes, Dom stands, and a wolf curiously licks the new bandage while the alpha scratches the head of one of the cubs.
"Now... what next?" Dom asked himself as he walked away from the alpha, his eyes looking at the different bodies around him.
"Lu...cy..."
Dom stops and turns as the alpha speaks to him.
"Name... Lu...cy..." She said with a smile on her face.
Dom's eyes widen as a smile quickly forms on his face. "Lucy. That's a cool name."
Lucy's smile broadens a little... but it quickly vanishes once she senses something sinister. She turns and glares at the trees to the side.
The wolves do the same, and Dom turns in the direction of their eyes... where he finally makes out the shadowy figure emerging from the trees.
"Wow. You really went crazy." The figure said with a strange but confident tone in his voice.
In that moment, the clouds partially obscuring the bright half-moon move aside, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the clearing once the figure emerges from the trees.
Dom narrows his eyes at the 6'4" tall, pale, olive-skinned man. His long, wavy pony-tailed brown hair waves in the wind while his silver earrings jingle gently on his earlobes.
As he gets closer, Dom notices the man's attire, which seems to be a more body-tight variant of the Royal Knight Uniform, revealing his fit physique.
The Knight stops, his long, slim navy blue spear resting on his shoulder as he surveys his surroundings.
Dom clenches his fists as some sweat beads roll down his face. Dom thought as he saw the small but still dense red misty aura sizzling around the knight's body.
The Knight notices their glares and smirks. "Relax. I haven't even done anything yet."
"Who are you?" Dom asked.
The Knight raises a brow. "Seriously? That's a little embarrassing." He chuckled as he lifted his spear and hung it behind his neck with an arm resting on it. "But I know who you are... Dominic."
The ominous tone he used makes Dom's entire body stiffen.
"Who the hell are you?" Dom asked, his tone even more apprehensive.
The Knight shakes his head with a sigh. "You should really do your research, newbie." He said before looking at Dom with a confident smirk. "Xavier Martinez, Head Vice-Captain of the Magic Knight's 7th division. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Dom's blood instantly runs cold.
Lucy turns to him, a confused frown on her face once she sees how pale Dom now looks.
Even though he didn't know who this man was exactly by name, the title he bears means one simple thing.
Dom thought as he finally understood the sense of inferiority he'd been feeling.
He tightly grips his arm in an attempt to soothe his trembling nerves.
Xavier smirks once he notices Dom's reaction.
"Looks like you understand now. I'm one of the chosen mages closest to being a Monarch." He takes his spear and swings it around before pointing it at Dom. "I'm way above your class."
Disclaimer: Magic Classes are part of the grading system designed by the Capital using the specific magic type, proportional amount of mana reserve, and overall threat a mage or beast poses to the Capital as the basis of the classification.
There are a total of 8 Magic Classes. From weakest to strongest, the classes are E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS.
The 8th Class, SSS, also known as the X class, is the latest class added after the war, with the Monarchs being its only members.
"This is really bad," Dom grumbled under his breath.
Xavier chuckles at Dom's completely frozen expression before turning his attention to Lucy. A whistle escapes his mouth once his red eyes gaze across her exposed skin and curves.
"Now I understand why you're helping her. She's hot." He said.
Lucy growls, her eyes filled with murderous intent, but that only seems to make Xavier more interested as he approaches them.
Lucy stands only to stumble back down as she feels the sharp pain in her lap.
Xavier smirks at her helpless state just as Dom comes in between them, an arm held protectively above her.
Xavier stops, his expression now clearly confused. "Hey. Hey. Are you serious? Didn't you hear me? I'm an SS class. You can't stop me."
Lucy frowns. Even though she doesn't understand anything about classes, she could tell how much stronger Xavier is from his aura.
She looks up at Dom, her eyes softening at the slight tremor in his still raised hand.
"Are you really okay with this?" Dom asked.
Xavier raises a curious brow as Dom points at the soldiers around them.
"The Capital didn't send us here to save the village from these wolves. They only want to use us to take them out so they can mine that Rapore stuff in this forest."
Xavier's eyes widen as he glances over the defeated soldiers. "And since mining Rapore is basically an eco-hazard, it puts the village at risk." He commented.
Dom nods. "If we let them do what they want, the only ones who'll get anything are the capitalists. The wolves and villagers will-"
"So?"
Dom flinches, his expression shocked by the cold, emotionless look in Xavier's eyes.
"The Capital's the one paying us, right? Not the wolves or villagers."
A moment of silence hangs... and despite the sufficient time to process Xavier's words, Dom still stares, his expression completely clouded with confusion.
Noticing this, Xavier sighs as he turns and strolls to the side.
"I don't know what those Academy idiots taught you, but the knights are knights in name alone."
He stops with his eyes fixed on the wolf and the soldier lying unconscious on the ground in front of him.
"We're not righteous knights in shining armor like they say in books or stories." He raises his spear... and promptly stabs it through the wolf's skull.
Lucy and some of the other wolves growl at Xavier's act while Dom remains as stiff as a board.
Xavier removes the spear, watching the warm blood spill out of the now dead beast before turning to give Dom the same cold look.
"We're just glorified mercenaries. We get a job, complete it, get our pay, and go home. Simple as that."
He swings his spear, flicking the blood off before turning his attention to the soldier and stomping the man's head.
"Hey! Stop!" Dom shouted.
Xavier ignores him, his boot rubbing disrespectfully against the man's cheek. "If they weren't paying me for this, I wouldn't be here. And if someone paid me more to kill these guys here instead, I wouldn't have a problem with it."
"Stop!"
Xavier turns to find Dom now glaring at him.
"Oooh... Scary." He chuckled as he removed his foot.
"And you call yourself a successor?!" Dom's entire body trembles with each word. This time not because of fear... but fury... "You're a disgrace to the Monarchs!"
Xavier's grin widens. "You really have no idea, do you?" He spreads his arms out in a wide, over-dramatic gesture. "You can play hero all you want, rookie..." His teasing eyes suddenly grow cold, and his smile fades into a bitter sneer. "
"But the Knights, especially the Monarchs, are just dogs for the Capital to use. And that includes you..."