Epiphany Of The Weak 79 Derrick Jones - Major Chapter - Unknown Threa

'Where did she come from?' I thought.

The door appeared to be locked, and around us, black tiles filled the entire bas.e.m.e.nt. That girl could've been inside that bas.e.m.e.nt all along, and I just didn't notice.

My body still had room to move, but her long peach-colored blade made it difficult to do anything.

"Are you an Aegis User? How do you get in here?" I asked.

She pointed the blade that stuck out of her right palm at me. "I'm not sure if I should do this . . . Ivar would be mad if he finds out."

"Ivar?"

When I thought about it, she didn't seem to have difficulty attacking me with her head wrapped in that white shawl. It boggled my mind how she did that.

"Warm up . . . Ivar can excuse me doing a few warm-ups." She nodded at herself and lunged at me. Her blade thrust forward as I rolled to the side. The Aegis blade made a crack at the black wall and she turned to me.

"My pistol," I mumbled.

Pulling a gun would be a wise choice, but it would also alert everyone in the villa. All in all, I needed a weapon.

"Guess I just have to use my fists."

The User proceeded to manifest another blade at her other palm. Her legs took a few steps toward me. "You're not needed. Please, go away."

I took a combat stance. "The problem is I can't, miss. An Aegis User should have no problem taking care of one general, right?"

She halted. A few moments pa.s.sed before she broke the silence between us.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Frederick."

She looked down at the floor. "A general named Frederick? Hmm." She raised her head when the blades dissolved into thin air. "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question, miss."

Numerous thoughts ran wild in my mind right then.

I could run past her and went down the stone staircase. The problem was that she stood between me and the exit. Another option I could take was to defeat her. She dropped her guard a few moments ago, but one couldn't be so sure when fighting an Aegis User.

"Expect the unexpected," I mumbled.

The girl approached me slowly and my feet shuffled as I backed away.

"This is weird," she said. "I know you're after the girls downstairs. To be honest, we don't need them anymore since the project was done."

'We?' I thought.

She stopped. "Maybe I can use you somehow. The others could use a few grunts."

"Are you from The People's Light?" I asked.

She slung her arms together. "Hmm. Am I? Hmm."

I stared at that girl as she pondered about something.

For an Aegis User, her combat prowess was below average. Her attacks were predictable, and the way she moved was stiff.

The girl coughed. "Then again, I lost the bet . . . Ugh."

"Bet?"

"Ah, you see. We made a bet that no one will discover this place. She has us after all. So, the time I've spent doing this has come to an end."

I shook my head. 'What is she talking about?'

"Mara informed me of your presence here. Then, I checked it out. It turned out to be true but I don't know what to do, other than I have to hide my money now since I lost." She nodded at herself.

My head was trying to wrap up the information she spilled out. So, she was only there because of a bet it seemed.

"Wait now. Who are you anyway?" I asked.

She tilted her head. "I'm an Aegis User. Hmm, I shouldn't casually talk to someone like you. Hmm."

A sudden boom shook the bas.e.m.e.nt we were at, and I stumbled. "What?"

The tremor grew stronger as time pa.s.sed when the wall to my left exploded.

Smoke and dust filled the s.p.a.ce as I struggled to get up. "What now?"

The girl flailed her arms to get rid of the smoke around her. "Where did this come from?" She turned to the large hole at the wall and walked towards it.

"Hmm?" she muttered.

A ma.s.sive magenta blade pierced her torso and split her in half. The blade shrunk as Alexander appeared from the hole in the wall.

"Alex." I went over to his side as he looked at the girl.

"I know something was wrong so I came," he said.

"An Aegis User. Maybe she's from The People's Light. I heard that rebel group has Aegis Users on their side."

Alexander raised his magenta blade. "Stand back, Derrick."

I took a few steps away from him. The girl regenerated, her body halves st.i.tched itself together.

Alexander dropped his blade and it pierced her skull. He took it further when a long blade from his left palm sliced the girl into seven pieces. His right foot immediately kicked at each one of it to put a distance between each piece.

"Now she won't be able to regenerate," he said.

I looked at the mutilated girl's body and grimaced. "So, she's dead now?"

"One hundred percent," replied Alexander.

"Oh, wait." I ran to the entrance that I'd open minutes ago. "I think the girls are down there, Alex."

He crouched and stared at the pieces one by one.

"Alex?" I called.

He faced me and stood up. "Sorry. I noticed the flesh turned to crystal form somehow."

"Eh?" My eyes scanned the pieces, and true enough, there were peach-colored crystals. The girl's body somehow reverted to her original form.

"What does this mean?" I muttered.

"I'll take those things back. Police officers are out there on the surface. I gambled that you've found the girls by now. If not, this search would bring a lot of attention to us," said Alexander.

I nodded. "Yeah, let's get the girls to safety first."

_._

_._

"Alicia," I called.

She and Aya turned to me as I walked towards them. Alexander was already there with them in that lab.

"I made sure that they allow you access here," she said as I halted just next to Aya.

My eyes trailed off at the woman inside a cylindrical liquid tank behind a gla.s.s window. "So, she's Amaltheia?"

Alicia nodded. "Yes. And those four behind her were the Aegis Users I mentioned."

My body tilted sideways as I tried to get a good look. There were indeed four of them. Two boys and two girls altogether. "How do we do this? Just break the gla.s.s and . . . kill them?"

Alicia shook her head. "I'm confused right now."

"Of what?"

Alexander turned to me and grabbed my shoulder with one hand. "The Aegis crystals from yesterday, Derrick. I handed it to Alicia and she spent an entire night trying to figure out why."

"It's still a mystery. I might have to spend more time in order to find out how the girl's flesh became Aegis crystals in the first place," said Alicia.

"So . . . Are we doing this?" I said.

Alexander let go of his grip and narrowed his eyes at me. "You three will just stay back. I'll do it alone."

My eyebrows drew together. "You want to take the blame for yourself?"

"The three of you can do much more inside here. You have a daughter, Derrick, and so do Alicia."

"Well . . . I'll help you out after this."

"Great."

Alicia fisted Alexander's chest. "You're being moronic as always, Alex."

"No need to worry about me. I know what I'm in for this entire time," said Alexander.

Alicia held his hand and put something in his palm. "If you need anything, this will help you."

He shoved it inside his trousers' pocket. "Thanks--"

Aya hugged him and buried her face in his uniform. "I can help you, Alexander . . . Don't go away."

He smiled. "I won't. I'll just disappear for a while." He looked at both me and Alicia. "I'll be in touch."

Alexander pulled Aya to the side gently as Alicia walked over to the only scientist at that time.

"Klaus. Can you get out for a while?" she said.

The scientist was skimming through a doc.u.ment. "Hmm? What is it, Alicia?"

"Get out."

He jerked his head before looking at her. "Eh? Alicia, why?"

She grumbled. "Never mind." She turned her head towards Alexander. "Alex, I think it's fine. I can shut him up after this."

Alexander nodded and both me and Aya put a good amount of distance away from him. He formed a magenta blade from his right palm.

"Alicia, what's he doing?" Klaus said.

"Close your eyes," ordered Alicia.

"But--"

"You know what my Aegis can do, right?"

Klaus whimpered and immediately shut his eyes tight.

Alexander raised his blade up high and swung at the gla.s.s window a few times. The large pieces of gla.s.s dropped onto the floor and shattered.

He stepped into the other side of the room and pointed his blade at Amathelia. "I'll take her down first."

With a long arc, his blade cut the liquid tank into two. Green liquid gushed out, drenching Alexander as Amathelia's upper half fell onto the floor.

"Wait, why are we--"

Alicia narrowed her eyes at me. "If Amathelia still exists after this, the same thing will happen again. We need to get rid of her too."

"Amathelia?!" yelled Klaus with his eyes closed.

"Don't say another word, Klaus," said Alicia.

Alexander moved towards the other four liquid tanks containing the Aegis Users and did the same thing. Their body halves fell onto the floor as blood shot up into the air.

"That should get the job done," he mumbled. As he was about to walk out, he stopped his track. Kneeling on one knee, he squinted at one of the body halves.

"What is it, Alex?" I approached him and he held his right hand towards me.

"This can't be happening," he muttered. A moment later, he stood up and glared at me.

"W-What?" I said.

He then proceeded to look at Alicia.

She seemed to know what Alexander had in his mind and grabbed Klaus by the collar.

"Wh-" He opened his eyes when his jaw dropped. "Alicia, what have you--"

"Don't lie, Klaus. Where are those people?" she said, gritting her teeth.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Don't you hear what I just said. Amathelia and the others are not there anymore."

"Alexander just killed them, and--"

"Those bodies are fake, Klaus. Do you understand that? Their flesh and bones have turned into Aegis crystals."

"What?! They're there, Alicia. You just killed--"

Alicia pushed him and he stumbled. "Stupid!" She proceeded to approach me and I tried to put up a serious expression.

"Y-Yes?"

"Derrick, they've escaped somehow," she said.

"Eh?"

Alexander walked toward me and so did Aya.

"Those are all dummies, right Mommy?" said Aya.

Alicia nodded. "It's a setup that had been there for quite a long time, I a.s.sume. I don't know when they've escaped, but this is clearly bad news."

"So, they put fake bodies to trick the scientists?" I said.

Alexander sighed. "Yes. Since Klaus doesn't seem to know, we don't have any lead. Those Aegis Users, including Amathelia, can be anywhere."

Alicia bit her nail. "d.a.m.n. This is really bad. Who knows what they're up to?" She looked at Aya and then me. "We have the authority to conduct a full-scale search, but we need a cover-up. His Supremacy doesn't know about their existences yet."

I stared at the whimpering Klaus. "I'll interrogate him, and perhaps all the other scientists working in this lab. I'm afraid this is a threat that could threaten the entire Great Corporate United itself. We don't know what they can do."

Alexander brushed a wisp of brown hair away from his face. "They must be targeting the country, or more specifically, His Supremacy."

"Revenge for taking everything away from them." I rubbed my dark hair. "Those four will put a huge dent to our military force here in Sweden. They're still here no doubt, watching over us."

"Ava," said Aya. The three of us looked at her. "Maybe we need her after all."