Day 03: The Masquerade Ball; Ceremony Proper [Open]

The atmosphere around Maia was tense and despite her shouting, Liseran didn't budge nor did her partner. Mephistopheles laughed.

"Oh, we both know she won't do that," Mephis said. A long sharp finger would trace down Maia's cheek, aiming to make the tiniest cut on it. "You know what could get you out of a bind, Maia? If you made a contract with me."

"Stop messing with her!" Liseran shouted.

At this, Mephis smiled, revealing sharp gray teeth. "On the contrary, I'm messing with you," he said. "Come now, Lise. We made a deal! I help your little rebel group mess with tonight and you let me go! It's not like you weren't going to unleash me tonight anyways, right?"

"You should have thought about that before trying to mess with Remi," Liseran spat.

"Oh, is THAT what you're mad about?" he said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. She just a LOT of energy. She'd make for a great pact. Maia would too, you know."

At this, he started pressing his fingers against Maia's cheeks as if he were pinching a baby. "That's also why you wanted to befriend her right?"

"Enough of this," Liseran's partner said.

With Mephistopheles too focused on Liseran, a sharp dagger made contact with the Incantus' eye, barely missing Maia in the process. At this, the Incantus shrieked and grabbed at the knife, giving Maia an opening to leave.

***

The culprit Cassima and Higini were chasing had ducked down to pick up her jewels, and when Cassima confronted her, she would lift up her head and reveal she was nothing but a young girl. With choppy short brown hair and brown eyes, she looked at Cassima and Higini with caution. There was a dagger aimed at her, but she didn't seem too perturbed by it.

"You think I'm scared of a little dagger?" the girl said looking at the two plainly.

Without warning, the girl used the back of her arm to knock Cassima's arm with the dagger away, hopefully diverting the blade away. Regardless, the girl would pull something from her back: a white crossbow, which she would use to jab into Cassima's stomach, hopefully landing the mark.

***

Back at the festival, the smallest hint of a smile would from on Eala's lips. She seemed amused that Mada had the gall to insult her mage.

"Don't worry, Archmage, I trust in the tutelage of your protege," she said. "You would not even fathom to try and humiliate our kingdom, now would you?"

It was hard to say if she was trying to comfort the Archmage or threaten him. She glanced at the other leaders. They seemed to be having their fill of their little Enkidu friend, but said nothing. Her eyes went back to Mada. She made no remark, but just kept her eyes fixed on him.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister spoke at last.

"Humans have limitations, yes," she remarked. "But magic is just a much a part of us as your weapons are to your species. Our magic extends to us what our bodies cannot. I hope you can understand that when you try to size us up."

"Alannis," King Leone warned.

The Prime Minister resumed to eating a bundle of grapes.

The giant golem let out a gargled roar, slamming down its giant fists downwards with the force and weight to pulverize bones instantly. Despite its overwhelming power though, its movements were not only slow and cumbersome but also monotonous and simple. They were simple to evade and avoid. No doubt this stone and fire construct would be a powerful unit against multiple warrior during a skirmish where moving around was harder, but against a single opponent its best actions are diverting and defending its caster.

"Gargolem! Hang in there!" Amber cried out as if the golem's performance could be boosted with moral support. Seeing the young mage scamper around with tears in her eyes with the much smaller girl chasing her with a spear, this duel was turning into a silly rodeo.

Archmage Winters strummed his fingers against his staff. He looked at Princess Eala, his covered up face and head betraying nothing of his thoughts, and he soon looked back at his apprentice. He tapped the end of his staff against the ground, a loud clack ringing out like a court gavel.

"Miss. Hearthstone!" Winters shouted with an authoritarian tone. For a brief moment, all attention was diverted to the aged wizard, who simply but firmly used it to say one thing. "You have my permission to use that spell."

The apprentice mage's eyes opened wide. She clutched her wand close to her chest and whimpered. "A-Are you sure, Master?"

She bit her bottom lip but nodded with tears in her eyes. "I'll try my best!"

She pulled out a what looked like a long card from her belt pack. She flipped it in the air and raised her wand up with both hands, swinging it down like a mallet. As the head touched the card, its shined with a bright light.

"Summoning activate! Construct Sender!" Amber shouted. Then with an anticlimatic puff, a small critter of sorts emerged. Its appearance was like like a white teddy bear that bounced around in the air like a balloon. Its big button eyes looked around curiously. Its true Senders can help mages in a variety of ways, but active combat was one of its weakest uses. Its miner frame and absence of physical presence makes it less than a distraction. The golem could clearly do a lot more than the small plush toy shaped companion.

And yet Amber continued to change, an intricate circle being woven at the end of her wand. Twelve layers? Twenty? Fifty? How complex was this spell??

"Go Wendy!" Amber commanded loudly. Her complex magic circle quickly collapsed, withdrawing within the sender's small body. Then like a shooting star, it shot upwards with great speed. A sender attack spell directed at Eun? No wait, it was arcing towards the golem??

The sender struck the back of the golem's head with its body and in a flash of light it seemed to disappear. Everything was still for a moment, when the ground started to shake. Gargolem let out a roar as its rock and fire form suddenly rose into the air. As if squished inward by a pair of giant invisible hands, its body collapsed into itself, crushing and pressing into a ball of stone and fire. The sphere crushed inward further, shrinking and pressing into a size far smaller than the golem's mass. The flames swirled and twisting around the sphere, heating it like a small sun. Then in a great burst, the the sphere exploded, chunks of earth flying all directions, pelting the walls of the Sacred Zone. From the exploding sphere, something fell downward. A stray rock? No, it had a humanoid shape?

The figure landed on the ground with a loud ground, cracking the floor beneath it. It remained crouched for some time before slowly rising up to full height of six and a half feet. Its body was made of a mixture of stone and metal, steaming hot and glowing shades of red as if pulled fresh from a forge. It branded a long sword with a serrated edge close to the tip. It rumbled and growled with its head bowed but slowly rose it up.

"Stand! Supporter Art: Berzerker!!" Amber shouted.

Supporter Berzerker:

Its jaw snapped, cracking left and right. Then it snapped opened and-

"ARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAGH!"

It let out a powerful roar, flexing its arms and brandishing its sword proudly. Steam gushed from its joints like an engine. The onlooking mages pointed and gasped, scurrying closer to the edge of the barrier for a better look.

"Behold the development of Cartic Arts in Eislyn," Winters announced, holding up a hand palm-up. "The fatal weakness to all golems is that its autonomous actions are limited by the complexity of its command structure. Even the most complex algorithms and commands can only manage to construct a golem with bare capabilities. Senders however are able to act and perform much more complex motions and actions while lacking in actual combat capabilities. However! What you see before you is a fusion of both. A powerful golem body utilizing a magical sender as a core for its command structure!"

The creation dubbly named Supporter gurgled, slowly raising a foot and stomping it forward, then repeated with the other. It lumbered towards Eun slowly.

"However, there are trade-offs," Winters further explained. "Even the most developed Senders can only manage to control a golem body of a much smaller scale than standard golem units, and controlling the golem body means the sender brain loses its ability for remote spellcasting and the range from the caster in which it can function. It also loses the advantage of the golem's size, weight, and defense. However...."

Without warning, Berzerker kicked off the ground leaving behind a footprint, shooting towards Eun blindingly fast like a cannon.

"...It maximizes in strength, agility, and autonomous action. Its priority is to act as the shield and sword to the caster! As such we have named this new breed of constructs as Supporters! This Berzerker is named for the ancient warriors that used to inhabit Eislyn!"

"Graaaaaaaaaaaagh!!"

Berzerker swung downward with its blade, its slash fast and powerful. Its blade would crash into the ground, cracking it and kicking up dirt. Using the distraction, it used its sword as an anchor and launched a knee kick at the small enkidu girl, the force comparable to a cannon. After that it would sweep with its leg and kick again, aiming for the stomach. Regardless of the results of its barrage, it would leap back turn its body, bending its legs, pointing its elbow towards Eun and raising its sword parallel to its defending arm. A golem that can take a swordstance??

Emperor Mada opened his eyes to a squint and shifted himself to sit straight. Did this development actually interest him? His expression was still stern and unmoved, but his attention was definitely on the duel now.

"Are you sure about this Winters?" Archknight Charmr question the wizard. "Letting all these curious eyes see your latest invention?"

"It is fine," the clocked mage stated. "While simple in principle, the formula for the spellcraft is extremely complicated. Merely seeing it won't be enough to mimic the same design. This weapon will remain the exclusive privilege of the most loyal and capable of our country for a long time."

"Oooooh?" Charmr murmured with a distinguishing eye and grin. "Then this festival just got a lot more fun."

Cassima looked at Higini. "This dagger? Like i'm going to actually use it." Cassima swung it forward, almost hitting Higini before moving the dagger away from him and confronting the thief, who appeared to be a girl.

Who had a crossbow. "Ha, you should." Cassima taunted the girl, before her dagger was knocked aside, causing her to gasp before looking back at the girl.

"Excuse me gi---However before she could finish. Cassima got jabbed in the stomach by an arrow and got pushed onto the ground by the surprise attack.

"Argh!" She cried as she fell onto the ground.

Maia stared into the Incantus' eyes as he dragged his ugly claw down her cheek. It took every ounce of her strength not to wince in pain as she felt the burning sensation and the blood starting to drip out of the wound.

"As if I'd make a contract with something as ugly as you." She spat.

With his following words, Maia's glare began to be directed at Liseran. She knew better than to believe the words of an Incantus, but something about them made her stomach feel sick. He was just saying things to rile Liseran up, right? Sure, she wouldn't say they were close friends, but they were still friendly with one another.

And she knew that Liseran was using Mephistopheles for the rebels, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what for. All she knew was that was probably a really stupid decision. And who was this Remi? Maia had a lot of questions for Liseran, but only if they survived.

She wanted to spit at the cat as he pinched her cheeks, but luckily, Liseran's comrade threw a knife at the Incantus' eye and made him loosen his grip.

Maia dropped the ground and jumped backward. She ignored the cut on her face, and the slight pain she felt in her wrist. Maia grabbed the masquerade mask and threw it to the side. Her eyes moved past Liseran and towards Will.

"If you have any more blades to spare, I'd happily borrow one from you."

However, his intervention proved futile, as the thief managed to not only knock the dagger out of Cassima's hands, but even managed to pull out a weapon of her own, and stabbed her with it! "W-What the!?" He let out, seeing the dagger fall on the ground, and Cassima hunching in pain. "L-Lady!" Higini, going quickly to her side, trying to help her stand from the strike. But now the two were at the mercy of the thief, who could easily run away, or make sure there were no witnesses.

However...

Whatever her choice was, something would happen behind the thief. The noise of something hitting the ground, coming from a cloaked figure. Thanks to the darkness, and the color of the figure's cloak, it was hard to even see them properly, as not an inch of skin was visible. The figure was crouching down, but would slowly stand up, her rather average height being nothing to write home about, despite the rather mysterious aura surrounding them.

The figure stood there, staring into the thief with invisible eyes, as if it was anticipating her surprise, and whatever action she thought of doing.

Eun dodged the golem's barrage with ease, though the fact that it was slowing her pursuit of the mage annoyed her. When the Archmage gave her permission to cast a new spell, though, Eun stopped her chase and stood back cautiously as she watched the spell unfold and transform the golem into a smaller, sleeker construct, her spear held up in front of her. When it rushed her, she managed to jump aside from the sword and avoid most of the debris, but the initial kick caught her off guard, her spear thankfully taking the brunt of the blow as she was thrown across the dome like a rag doll.

Thankfully, the creature had decided to pause after its initial assault, and Eun spit out a mix of blood as she rose to her feet. The Archmage's other words stuck out in her mind - maximized strength and agility, but at the cost of weight and defense. If she could land a blow, it would probably be effective. She just had to hope she could beat it in terms of speed. With a small flick of the wrist, she twirled her spear once before taking up her own stance, shuffling back towards the creature. She wouldn't be caught off guard again - this time she just had to dodge and counter.

"Here!" the boy with Liseran called out as he tossed a switch blade towards Maia. If she pressed the button, the blade would flip open from within the handle.

Meanwhile, the boy charged forward as Mephistopheles as the Incantus yanked the knife out of its eye, gold light flashing as it did.

"Liseran!" he called out.

As if understanding automatically, Liseran drew her bell, casting a glyph underneath Mephistopheles. The Incantus tried to shapeshift, but the glyph was slowing him down just enough for him to strike with a long iron spear. At this, Mephistopheles disintegrated into black smoke, flying upwards once again in the form of a winged cat. The wings would glow as he batted them and sent shards of light down on the three.

***

With Cassima down and Higini distracted, the girl could dupe them and make the run for it. But she'd then feel someone land behind her. That was...never a good sign, and as she turned to the newcomer, she'd make a steap back with her crossbow at the ready.

"Out of the ladder's way, now," she demanded, not showing the least bit of being intimidated.

The duel was getting heated and the crowd was growing more excited. Magic researchers and experienced mages always jumped at the word of new advances in magic. Now a live display of Eislyn's advances in the field was being shown. Utilization and mastery of magic arts required a lot of mental devotion. As such, it was no secret that in general, mages fell short in terms of physical ability. However, everything fell short to a golem. Eislyn and Saadedge always boasted the contribution of golems to their military might and rightfully so. However, even Golems had their weaknesses due to their slowness and limitations in complex movements. But now, right before them was a compact model golem boasting high efficiency and capability.

The enkidu's had three against mages: Physical ability and superior weapons. With this however....

Berzerker let out a low growl, shuffling his footing, inching closer to Eun. He defensive stance was one aimed for quick reaction and counterattack, but it looked just about ready to make an assault.

Everyone was focused on the Supporter, so they didn't notice someone walking towards the battle area....


"Hm?" Winters's head raised slightly as a glint of silver entered the corner of his vision. A figure casually walked in a straight line from the edge of the town square to the Sacred Zone battle area. He was wearing light armor plates on select parts of his body and  visor over his eyes covering the upper half of his face. Winters recognized the mix of light cloth and silver armor to be a preference of Saoirsian knights, but he didn't recognize the uniform to resemble any knight corps attire. The knight continued his leisurely approach without slowing down. In seconds he would walk into the edge of the Sacred Zone.

"I'm afraid you are too late to participate, Ser," Winters called out dryly, but the knight continued walking without pause. "It's a bother to explain this, but trying to enter the Sacred Zone is a futile attempt. It's not regular barrier magic. The spell separates the space inside from our own. Interaction from the outside in is inherently impossible until the spell is lifted or the magic energy runs out. So please go back to your seat and patiently watch--"

The man's foot tapped against the shimmering light dome that surrounded the sacred zone and in an instant, the entire dome and spell circle shattered like glass.

Everyone froze for an instant. Amber froze in place, her eyes widen and body shivering. Berzerker immediately paused, freezing in place as if responding to its caster's shock. The man walked pass Amber, Berzerker, and Eun without regarding any of them. The aristocrats, commoners, and scholars alike who were chattering excitedly before, froze and stared agape. The square had fallen silent with only the sound of the mysterious swordsman's metal boot clattering against the stone floor with each step.

It was Winters who disturbed the stillness, stepping forward and slamming the butt of his staff against the ground.

"Name yourself now! How dare you act to brazenly in front of the imperial houses! Are you instigating the wrath of the five kingdoms of Esterelf!?"

The man finally stopped, tapping his heels together.

"Instigate you? No." a voice as deep as a chasm and wispy as fog sounded out. "It was mankind who raised their arms against the gods. It was man who rebelled against gods. It was mankind's pride and complacency that made him think he had won. Now the gods have come to put mankind in its place."

"Gods?" Winters parroted vehemently. His gripped tightened around his staff. "What are you here for? Answer!"

The man raised his head for the first time, staring up at Winters and the Royals on their platform.

The Knight:

The voice sounded again, but the man's mouth did not move. "I want the artifacts of Scaath. I know at least one of them are here. Give them to me."

"You think we would cooperate with you!? Do you know whose presence you are in??"

"Your compliance is not a factor," he responded. "I will murder everyone here to get what I want."

"You dare!?" Winters shouted. "Do you have any idea who you stand before??"

"Mortals who descended from those who rebelled against the gods and placed themselves in their seats," the man answered plainly. "And soon, you will watch your world burn. You shall witness your world turn to ash. And then, only then, you will have my permission to die."

"HOW DARE YOU!!" Amber screamed, her eyes flared in furry. "YOU WILL NOT HARM THE PRINCESS! BERZERKEEEER!!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAGH!" the stone behemoth made a sharp turn and charged, sword held overhead. The colossal  warrior roared as it advanced to cleave the stranger straight in two. Then, out of nowhere, something fell from the sky and collided with the soldier of stone. A cloud of dust and debris blew out like the aftermath of a cannonball. When it cleared, the Supporter was smashed to pieces, in its place was some sort of polearm stabbed into the ground where it was standing and a young girl sitting on it with a horse.

The Witch:

"You did not need to help me," the knight spoke, moving his mouth for the first time, speaking with with a different voice, stern but gentle.

"...." the girl had a bored and blank expression, not even bothered to respond back. On its own, her pole released itself from the ground and with the girl still on it, they both floated up and hovered a meter off the ground.

"!!?" Winters and Amber stared in shock along with everyone else in the audience.

Suddenly, a man in a brown suit and bowler hat with orange hair walked towards the pair, tipping his hat  with a smile on his face. "That's an interesting sword you got there."

The swordsman turned his head slightly as if glancing at the ginger man with the corner of his eye.

"Let me ask ya something," Jinn asked calmly. "Where were you two nights ago around the time between 3 to 4 o'clock in the morning?"

"Oh. I killed some witch hunter and a young man." the swordsman responded as if talking about the weather.

"I see...." Jinn flicked his hands and his fists ignited into balls of fire. "Under the authority of the Expiate, I'm placing you under arrest!"

By his call, multiple officer stormed the clearing where the pair stood, all brandishing spears at the ready.

A pair of officers stepped up front getting between the knight and the royals, taking a defensive stance with their spears and shields. Then without sparing a second, the swordsman inhaled deeply through his nose and leaned forward opening his mouth where a pillar of fire erupted engulfing both officers at once. They barely let out screams of horror before they fell to the ground as ashen corpses.

The other officers gasped, stepping back waringly. It was then that the audience snapped, jumping off their seats and ran away in a screaming panic. Winters glowered and called out, "Amber!"

The young apprentice flinched but quickly hopped into the air, seemingly floating using her buoyancy spell and landed with a stumble next to Winters.

"It is a good thing I am as prepared as I am paranoid," Winters grumbled, rubbing his staff in a line against the ground. Suddenly a runic circle appeared, surrounding Eala and her court, glowing brighter as Winters scratched the final line against the ground. It was then that Duke Charmr stepped outside the bounds and walked towards the dark swordsman. "What are you doing, Arch Knight?"

"Sorry old man," the handsome man said with a wave off with his hand. "I just can't forgive anyone who threatens the princess. I'm an executioner afterall."

".... Fool."

In a flash, the entire Eislyn royal court minus Arch Knight Sir Duke Charmr vanished.

"Let's go, brother," Emperor Mada sighed boringly, getting up from his seat and walking off with a wave of his cape.

"Eh? We're leaving? But this was just getting fun!" General Byakuya groaned, but obediently followed along.

"Weren't you listening?" Emperor Mada scoffed. "This is Esterelf's business. Let them and their people handle it."

Cassima slowly rose up thanks to Higini's help. She blushed slightly before looking away. "Thank you for the help. I'll be fine." Of course, they weren't going to be fine soon if the thief continued to attack the two. Cassima turned when she noticed that the Thief did not escape yet.

Because something was blocking her way, which gave her an idea while the thief was distracted.

"I got an idea, i'm going to sneak up from behind her and steal back the things she stole." Cassima quietly whispered to Higini.

That is...Until she suddenly gasped when she started to hear screaming coming from the ball nearby. She was confused with what was going on.

"Huh, do you hear that?" Cassima asked to Higini and even the thief.

"You hear that too late?" Cassima asked the thief again. There was no way everyone in this alleyway was going to ignore that and Cassima feels as though investigating the screaming was now more important then getting the things that the thief stole back.

Besides if anything an Expiate Officer could come and stop them.

"We should go and check it out." Cassima suggested to Higini.

Maia snatched the blade out of the air and pressed the button on the handle. She held the knife out in front of her in a defensive position as she faced the Incantus. She watched as Liseran attempted to use a glyph on the creature, but unable to finish the job as the Incantus melted into black smoke and used a spell of his own.

She didn't have much time as the shards of light began to fly towards them. Maia jumped back to avoid the attack, which proved difficult in a gown and heels, but she managed. Though it hurt like hell when her feet hit the ground. She cursed to herself and kicked her shoes off and glared at Mephistopheles.

"Liseran, if we survive this, remind me to start studying magic again." She said. She turned to Mephistopheles. "Heh, come on, you stupid cat. Is that all you can do?"

She was prepared to throw the knife (despite having no experience doing that) but she heard the commotion happening down the street. "I think that's coming from the ball..."