Without a notice, Pandora started to swerve at her place until she fell off balance, and being the nearest to her, I caught her. I kind of felt guilty to touch a Guardian who still felt too high in ranking for me to handle.
"Is it an illness? Does it happen all the time?" I asked as my brows curved upwards and my eyes wanted to shut themselves from some reasons. I think it was just my eyes twitching. But I needed to narrow down my focus to the fact that as someone who is used to coughing up blood during intense battles, Pandora seemed to have been dealing with this for quite some time too.
Erebus rushed to crouch beside me and next to Pandora's head at my lap. "It's been happening since someone tried to flip the entire spacetime fabric upside down. We all just don't know what brat is..." He added while clenching his fist. I could tell he was quiet obvious about this situation right now, so I decided to conclude the fact that this was not the time to discuss such a thing.
I was still far too weak to deal with the competition owner to even tell them about it. I needed to be of a certain level, like ascending to the leader of the Aethalgard to face them off. So I stayed silent about the truth that I might know who is behind the downgrade of her health.
"How long has she been like this?" I asked to clarify, so I could assess the situation a little further.
"Since the previous Guardian of Death went missing. Like I said... Her dissappearance was the end of an era. She was the only person holding everything together from falling apart." Erebus instantly replied.
That just means eighteen thousand and a hundred years ago. Right... The spacetime fabric was cleared of any protective authority thanks to the dissapearance of the so-called previous Seraphina. I felt more binded to the mystery then ever in my past, and I couldn't quite tell why I was suddently so familiar with so many things.
"So what is it that can be done about her? We can't get immediate medical attention..." I muttered softly to myself while watching as Pandora finally flickered back to consciousness and tried to sit up. She was very exhausted and in pain, but I could simply do nothing right now. I was in a state that I couldn't control.
"They are at it again... Experimenting..." She spoke while clenching the side of her head with the same bloodied fingers. Her wings twitched behind her, and dropped to cover the ground with dreamy white feathers. She was very pretty herself too, just like her wings. I could sit by all day and just admire her without looking anywhere else.
"Do they experiment all the time?" I asked with an expression that was somewhere between concern and shock.
"No... There are certain intervals. They need to accumulate enough energy to do such a thing again and again." She answered while standing up. Then, I and Erebus shared a glance and stood up beside her. She started to get dizzy, and grabbed onto my shoulder to keep herself from falling back down. Anyone could tell her sufferings and through her stoic mask.
"Maybe it is not them this time..." She added a short while later, after stabilizing herself. "I sense something different... Like forcing the space fabric open between two dimensions."
"So... Space shifting... But a lot of people?" I asked with enough memory to tell that I had been doing it and knew just how painful it would be to carry through another person's energy along with you as you move through the barriers. I once did it with Cedric... And I had to go down with fever the very next day.
"Exactly... But they aren't humans."
"Then?"
I think it was about this time that I started to sense the certain shift in the presense. It was toxic and a bit of something I had faced back during my missions at Hellas with the others. If anyone else knew about this same presense... That would be Aritea and Helio. They both know what demonic presense are supposed to be like.
It stings, and stinks. Like a rabid racoon. I can already see why a person like Pandora would suffer this much. It is like you just arrived at the fish market at late night. As soon as I learnt about the current situation, I wanted to leave for the real world. They are Guardians with a lot of power... So they should be able to face it themselves!
Don't you dare drag your guests into this!
"These demons... They are a nuisance..." Erebus clicked his tongue while reaching at his side and checking that his sword is still there. "I am going to deal them down today. I swear, they are dead meat!" He shouted as if he was going to tear apart the demon king himself.
Now that he speaks that way, I think I can tell why he was the Guardian of Wrath. I honestly stood for him.
"Erebus... They aren't here yet." Pandora shouted behind him, dragging him by the collar. That is when I remembered that Pandora was the younger sister of the Guardian of Time.
I could tell she was trying to be a bigger sister to Erebus and ground him back from causing an unwanted massacre. I would have honestly done that too. But I don't ever want to do it because I am the troublemaker sibling. It was way more fun this way then the way other movie siblings do.
"Pfft... Just let me go finish them!" Erebus shouted in protest.
"They are way too powerful and too many for you to deal with alone." Pandora explained as she let him go, as soon as he stopped kicking the air. "You don't want to end up losing all of your limbs like the others did when they tried to attempt it. And don't do that in front of someone who looks like your sister."
I looked to Pandora with a surprised face, but then, smiled. I realized that she wasn't quite old looking herself too. At most... She may be as old as Lady Elanor. And Elanor always treated me the way she would treat Stephany... But not as harshly.
"Erebus... You might want to get Pandora out of here before falls even sicker. We can't lose another guardian. The Honorary Knights and the Aethalgard are here to deal with the intruders..." I added while diverting my attention to the kid. Almost instantly, he respected and rushed back inside the palace. She had regained her balance, so I didn't have to hold onto her for much longer.
Once inside, she was taken to her room, and I took that oppurtunity to run back to the garden. I knew there was a threat... Was I going to ignore it and let the others get hurt? No... They trust me with a thing or two... And I need to repay them for the amount of protection they had given me for a long time.
If I am being honest, they are the ones who exposed me to the truth of the competition first and helped me grow stronger without even my force. I would need to thank them for this at least. And then because of them... Most enemies hesitated against attacking me, that had me an easier victory.
I might as well be the only person who had a huge debt after having been under their care for so long and then choosing to sacrifice myself when they had to grab their attention away. They knew I was dumb... So they tried to put the knowledge back into me. All that for free and wanting nothing back. Sure I may have gotten their sympathy because I look like someone, but that alone is far too reasonable to think is a possibility... That I am only getting help because of my familiarity.
And there was another thing that I really wanted to know besides just helping them take care of these demons...
I had an alliance and history of a conversation with the demon king... Did I not?
I had long since suspected their weapon system, and I knew to one point of my life that they had been stealing it from a very powerful place. My arrowless bow itself... Was a relic that was once used by the Guardian of Hunt... And I knew well enough that after their death... Their relic was stolen.
It isn't just out of mere thought that lead the Guardians to store their relics in a shapeshifted form... They were trying to secure the lost Guardians' legacy from becoming a stolen good.
And now that the Guardian of Silence is gone, they have come to collect her relic. But unknown to them, I am the wielder of Spectrum...
Silence only ever had a stolen weapon for herself. The death scythe. And when I think back now, there is only one possible Guardian who could have wielded it. Of course... The previous Seraphina. I had stolen it back from her during the first time I had physically encountered her.
As long as the weapon is safe with me... I want to play around with their minds before I think about selecting a proper date to formally go and interrogate the Demon king of his doings. He had been on a lose leash for too long... It is time to get a metal collar for a dog who is far to arrogant and aggressive for a Chihuahua.
Once outside, I looked at the far distance where I felt the stare of so many confused demons. They were all using their own bone material weapons. I had a chance with them if they weren't skilled fighters. They were of so many sizes and the one that I really wanted to eliminate first was the biggest and fattiest one all the way at the back, acting as the main defender of the group.
"Were these insects sent to the wrong realm? Because I hate having to keep any pest who is bad for my fertile land." I muttered with a grin, which I knew the demons could hear from that distance away. "I will leave this garden with the thirst of my sword quenched."
At my side, Spectrum started to glow with a rare navy light. Not to show off, but just to make them more aggresive. That I was the one they needed to fight to get this weapon. I dropped the shealth to the ground, which went directly into my inventory before hitting the grass. Stared at the far distance where the leader of the demon army held out a finger of war. It was sign they made that could signal the enemy they won't go so easy.
I didn't mind... I knew I was completely outnumbered... But... I had a proper answer to that already.
"Puppet... Cindy... Head out." I commanded as my two beast ran and flew their way to the nearest bushes, to check on the situations inside the palace which I couldn't monitor for the time. In case they tried to fool me into thinking the environment was safe. As I noticed Puppet lance back at me to ensure I was alright, I felt a sudden need of motivation while my hands shook.
However, I was the one who asked for more hard battles from the Guardian of Justice. So I couldn't be reluctant or I would seem weak and suffer unwanted bullying.
It had been some time since I killed these powerful creatures and I wasn't quite confident I would ace it after having been in no battle for so long. But I wasn't hopeless.
At my left hand, I had my gun, and held it straight out to aim at the biggest one at the back. As soon as they started to advance, I continuously shot at the biggest beast, until it was knocked unconscious.
"I have taken down the defense line for the time being. I will now have to deal with these few and then move to the larger ones at the back. Why are there so many? Do they always come in large packs like this?"
I dropped the gun back into my inventory and reached in for another thing. I bit off the leather bind of the black blade that I was so fond of.
[Master! Why do you need another one! I am enough!]
"No... There are way too many for you to take care of alone. I rather have two for my own safety." I answered back while extending the black-bladed knife in front of me. I watched as the hilt and the blade grew bigger and then walked forward.
I had never used two blades at once. I wasn't a double wielder and I couldn't guarantee a win out of doing so too. So I decided to grit my teeth and move forward slowly. I remembered to keep my skills in check as I halted to count how many were advancing at me.
My mind wasn't used to such a severe battle for so long, so I was lucky that Spectrum had now become my guide.
"Spectrum... You have the right of my right hand." I spoke. Immediately, I felt its energy seep into my veins and share my vision.
[Master... Three paces forward. Walk.]
I did as it had told me. As I did, I watched my wrist darkened with the cursed energy from the weapon. At the same time, my right eye was forced black, along with half my hair turning the same shade of navy blue as Spectrum's blade, with stars that glittered at the silver edges. I looked like two halves of a two people forged together into a single piece.
[Jump. Three more paces forward, walking will act as a temporary momentum to keep you on pace with the advancing group. Lunge at the centre.]
I did as it had asked. Even when I didn't like the way it was telling me to move.