Edward quickly jogged to Johnathan's side, before quickly summoning a large neon green screen before him. The screen was updated significantly compared to the first initial use, where now the screen read:
Edward Arbor
100% HP
100% INFLUX
Offensive | Defensive | Support
—---------------------------------------------
Iron Sword | Rusty Shield | HP Potion
Steel Sword | Iron Shield | Amateur HP Potion
Steel-Tipped Spear | Steel Shield | Adept HP Potion
Out of that, Edward swiped his hand up at Johnathan, granting him a steel forged sword along with a floating iron shield. For himself, a glowing green swirl encased the air before him, conjuring up a steel-tipped spear with another green swirl summoning a steel shield that levitated around him.
Enforcer Barstadus seemed to relax upon the sight of Edward casually summoning a neon green screen out of nowhere. However that relaxed appearance only became even more tense as Edward and Johnathan felt something wasn't right.
"Hey…"
The Enforcer Barstadus began to show visible signs of anger, with the rather obvious twitching of his face, and him slowly clenching his fists, he would also bend down slightly, until he suddenly bolted at Edward.
The Enforcer Barstadus's brass knuckles collided with Edward's steel shield, however the impact was strong enough to force Edward back a couple feet from where he initially was standing.
"How convenient… You Truth Seekers have it all easy… Do you understand how convenient it is to just.. Have access to abilities that exceed even the greatest Merit Revelators? For Free?!"
He lunged toward Edward again, attempting to land an uppercut on him only for it to be blocked by the steel shield once again. While he was momentarily distracted, Johnathan quickly slashed down his steel sword, landing a decent wound on the Enforcer's forearm, causing it to spill blood onto the floor.
Johnathan was then countered, as Barstadus immediately swung his other fist that managed to leave a dent through the iron shield that defended Johnathan from the blow. Edward watched as this unfold, reflecting back.
That Enforcer before him is quite right, despite the modern day view on Truth Seekers as a whole, there are still noticeable amounts of hatred towards people like him. Historically, Truth Seekers were always perceived as rather dangerous individuals, and not the modern perspective of being people who have "badass" abilities that Merit Revelators cannot replicate no matter the advancements. He understood that Merit Revelators are far too expensive for people, and the risk is not worth it at all in some cases.
Edward then snapped back from his contemplation, watching as Johnathan was stepping back slowly as Enforcer Barstadus approached him.
"You, you are someone like me, but why are you relying on his Verity? Again, we are alike, we are not Truth Seekers, if we want to rival people like him, we have to spend our entire bank account to buy one half-assed Merit Revelator from some subpar Merit Revelator company.." He said to him, and behind him Edward shouted out,
"Back off of him—"
Enforcer Barstadus quickly turned, catapulting himself in a speed that was way more agile than before, landing a roundhouse kick that blasted him a good distance back. Fortunately, the way the levitating shields worked, was they react instantly to anything that is considered hostile, however the shield alone couldn't fully defend that blow, which required Edward to hold up his spear to block it. Despite all that effort, Edward's body collapsed from that impact, leaving him kneeling on the ground with his arms in agony from the force.
As Edward backed up he saw Johnathan jog to his side, holding his steel sword up. Across them was the Enforcer, who proceeded to rocket himself at them.
"You two retreat, I'll handle it."
A star misted streak sped past them, clashing with the Enforcer. Ludwig had arrived, exchanging a clash with the Enforcer, before the two of them retreated from that clash.
"Ludwig? Were you following us?" Edward asked as he slowly got up in fatigue.
Ludwig shifted his gaze back at him, responding to him with a sigh, "unfortunately not, this place is more strange than I had expected. I can't conceive a logical explanation for it other than this place somehow housing a liminal shard."
"Do you know where the others are? Or any opposing group?"
"That Enforcer and the dead Musicians are the only ones I had seen, which means the Section Leader lost his Music Set." He exhaled annoyingly, continuing to speak, "An Enforcer of the Jurisdiction Court, I presume you are also here to claim this territory?
Enforcer Barstadus scoffed, "Ask that other Truth Seeker, seeing the sight of another one of you Truth Seekers makes me more irritated, especially because you are of Azure Family blood."
Without a warning they charged at each other head on. Ludwig appeared to be having the upper advantage, blocking and parrying any attack that the Enforcer attempted to throw. Meanwhile Edward and Johnathan began to retreat, letting Ludwig take care of it.
After yet another set of exchanges, the Enforcer mustered all his strength to land an attack, only for Ludwig to swiftly block it, however the strength sent him against the wall, and while the Enforcer was lunging for a follow up, a gate opened on the wall, with Ludwig falling through it, avoiding a punch that completely obliterated through a portion of the wall.
Another gate opened in the air, Ludwig walked through it, seemingly indifferent before swinging his sword down, cutting through Enforcer Barstadus's chest then kicking him back.
The Enforcer touched his wound, looking at the blood on his hands, he proceeded to clench his fists, before screaming in rage.
"GOD DAMN IT! I was fighting you on even terms, and then you just had to use your FUCKING Verity! Fucking hell, I mind as well get help!"
"Hey Clemency!" He called out.
Ludwig's expression was still indifferent, however he was also curious about how the Enforcer before him would call for backup, and then he saw a dark feather innocently flutter past him, landing on the floor.
Suddenly, a woman appeared, as if she came here by a passage. The moment she had appeared, she emitted the same dark feathers that fluttered past him all around her. The woman herself was holding a lantern that lit a curious hue of warm light, and the clothes she wore were different from any of the Jurisdiction Court members he had encountered. She wore a rather ceremonial and religious long skirt, with the edges having a small design of Gavels and the Eloquentist Tree. Aside from the strange skirt, she wore a tuxedo of sorts, with the Jurisdiction Court symbol on her arm, that symbol being an upside down gavel, however one notable thing was how she also had a single white musical note beside the gavel.
"Yes, yes~?" The woman said, her voice was soft and rather enthusiastic, making Ludwig grow suspicious of her presence. She was indeed a Truth Seeker like him, however her influx was as alarming as his. There was another peculiar part, she seemed to not give a care in the world, smiling peacefully toward him, even her influx had no sign of hostility.
However Ludwig was left no time to analyze the woman further, as the Enforcer bolted himself toward him again, with the two fighting.
Is that woman going to act? Getting any injury in this moment is unfavorable—
Ludwig didn't have time to think, as the woman held up her lantern, yet nothing came out of it, serving as a simple distraction for the Enforcer to land a blow to the face, knocking Ludwig a couple steps back.
Blood slowly poured from his lips to his chin, he used his thumb to wipe the blood off, then wiped the blood off his thumb on his shoulder. He went into a stance, with his palm facing down, pouring a fall of mist that glowed an array of colors, while the Enforcer turned behind himself, facing the woman he called Clemency.
"Are you going to fucking do something? Instead of just standing there all innocently?!" He roared toward her, becoming so aggravated that a vein is visible on his forehead. The only response he got from Clemency was a shrug alongside a smug smile on her face.
While the Enforcer was arguing with her, Ludwig took the opportunity to take out a device from his pocket. It was a walkie talkie, in which he pressed on a button on the side, before putting it close to his mouth, uttering a simple request.
"Cover me."
Of course that wasn't the only thing he was intending to say, he was going to continue before a rather angry response was made from the other side.
"What the hell do you want? Oh greaaaaaaaat, are you asking me to send help?"
The voice was coming from Juliet Cerulea, with Ludwig replying with a simple "yes." After that, he took away the device, shifting his body back into a stance where his palm was facing down as it streamed down a hazy mist of stars.
Enforcer Barstadus noticed, preparing himself to fight again without finishing his one sided argument with Clemency. He began to charge at Ludwig, with Ludwig lunging forward for another assault, however before the two clashed, Ludwig opened a gate in front of himself, essentially sprinting into a gate, resulting in Enforcer Barstadus becoming rather confused on the retreat.
"What a fucking coward.." Barstadus said, until he felt the earth itself was vibrating rapidly, as if something was approaching. He didn't hear anything alarming until it had gotten closer, where he saw Clemency hold up her lantern.
Enforcer Barstadus immediately yelled in fury, "HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Unfortunately he was too late, as Clemency vanished in a swirl of dark feathers that veiled his sight, then as the dark feathers faded away, he saw a glacier approach him like an ocean wave, freezing him before he even reacted.
The hallway was now covered in frost, with a figure that was frozen solid at the edge. He seemed to be screaming something, but nothing was heard. Behind him, a gate opened, with Ludwig stepping onto the vinyl floor.
Some blood trickled from his lips again, he sighed tiredly as he wiped it off with his sleeve. Ludwig tilted his head up, watching as Johnathan and Edward return.
The atmosphere was colder than it was now, primarily because of the obvious glacier behind Ludwig. Johnathan seemed to pay no mind to it, while Edward was shivering rather uncontrollably. Ludwig then finally took out the walkie talkie again, pressing a button on the side before speaking into it.
"You only froze one of the adversaries, however I doubt the other would return."
"Wait, wait, wait, you had a walkie talkie? And we didn't?" Edward complained immediately after witnessing Ludwig take out a walkie talkie.
"I wasn't expecting you all to lose each other in such a quick timeframe, I only bought 2 for Juliet and myself." Ludwig said in a casual manner, sheathing his sword and walking away while motioning them to go with him.