The Crazy Daughter of the Duke's Family - Book One: Pandora

Chapter 22: Painful Reminiscence

He couldn't fathom what had happened. Suddenly he was down, and after an onslaught of ranged attacks, he was lured into melee.

He tried everything he could, but the odds weren't in his favor. 'Is that it?' Alan wondered, 'After all this time, this is how I die?' Then again, it was better that it was him.

Lucan, on the other hand, felt like he was falling into a pit. It wasn't that he was a soft person, but this was his Empire, how could something like this happen here? And in the long run, it would sour the relationship between Lodden and Arlen as well, and he had to consider that as the next Emperor.

He had moved closer to the edge when he was suddenly pulled back. Several knights grabbed his arms and tried to drag him away.

"Your Highness, you must get to safety now!"

Neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince were enough to deal with this. Lucan knew better than anyone that he had to go to do his job.

But when he saw the young Duke being toyed with by a Grade 4 who obviously didn't aim to kill him, he felt like he couldn't sit still. It was too much.

"Lucan," a trembling voice stopped his thoughts as well as his struggling, "go."

She didn't want the Empire to lose its leader. After all, it would create a power vacuum of unimaginable magnitude.

Without much thought, she jumped down, bracing her legs for the impact before grabbing a sword left behind by its dead owner. Lucan could only watch in horror. He knew she was using Mana, so he knew she could take another fall, but why would she do that?

"We have to go now!" Trying to ignore her, they finally managed to get the petrified prince out of the area.

Of course, with the few Holy Knights they had, they were still able to help the two people. However, as they were about to follow the lady, a distorted voice echoed through the night.

"This is as far as you go," it said, "leave the two of them behind and run to the edge of the lake if you think you can make it."

"What?" Where was his voice coming from? It felt like it was coming from all sides.

"He who controls these Visitors is sending them all out of the lake's bed to attack the adjacent villages. Do you not want to help your people?"

Alan, who had barely been able to resist the Grade 4, who had not been able to grasp why it was so easy on him and yet not letting him go before, finally understood. He had thought that there might be a Master, but that ability was too great to even imagine.

"No!" Rowena shouted and looked up at the knights, "Don't be fooled! They can't do anything as long as they control the Grade 4!"

She knew as soon as she had arrived down there. VAULT codenames weren't handed out on a whim. When they didn't know the real name, they gave one to have it in a file, going by visible characteristics or shown abilities.

There was one file of an unknown Numbered who had only appeared once and was caught on camera. They didn't even know her number, yet they had given it a name because, even from behind, it stood out visually.

Lilith first appeared as an enemy power, and she was one of those who brought back information to write about it before they knew its name. The Pied Piper's power was gone, only traces were left, so she knew what that meant.

Most of those remnants were from the Grade 4 that was acting this way despite its nature, so it was clear that it was still controlled. But this ability was not unlimited; it didn't work that way.

Alan was shocked, he hadn't even noticed his sister behind him, and for the second time that day he felt... scared. Then her words hit him.

"How do you know that?" he said in a strained voice.