Day: 667
Days Left: 4813
Lives Saved: 3
As soon as the golden knight forced the mask to Salim's face, it instantly activated. The bronze and rusted metal that the mask was made of spread across the rest of the old storykeeper's body.
Salim writhed on the ground in pain from the transformation. "You need to... need to run!" he cried out to the others; Salim's voice distorted and crackled through the gas mask that was fused to his skin. "Run!"
Once the bronze and rusted metal had coated the old storykeeper's body, numerous pipes, tubes, and funnels protruded out, covering his entire back and shoulders, along with a pair on either side of his face. Salim's limbs clanked and clattered as cogs and wheels appeared, the gears turning and clicking that matched his own heartbeat.
The three imps whimpered in fear as they ran away and back into the centre of the village.
However, Rin and Calixte hesitated, still frozen in fear from the golden knight. They both looked to Sumit, who was still lying on the ground, unable to stand up due to his injuries, then to the others who had fallen and unconscious. Rin considered transforming to help, but the risk was too high; her mask form was too unpredictable; she could save everyone or kill everyone or not even do anything.
"I said run!" Salim shouted once more at them. A puff of purple gas spurted out one of the pipes on the clockwork man's back, then another and another, until all of them poured out the mysterious purple gas in a constant stream.
Pushing through her fear paralysis, Rin rushed over to Sumit and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to support him up to his feet.
"But what about the others!" Sumit attempted to resist as Rin hauled him away from the battlefield.
"We can't help everyone!" Rin bit down on her bottom lip, her stomach twisting in guilt. She glanced back and saw Calixte still tending to Calanthe's wounds. "Calixte!" Rin yelled out to him. "We need to retreat!"
"We cannot leave them!" the amphibian rejected. "I refuse!"
"Calixte, we-" Rin spluttered. The purple gas emanating from the clockwork man had spread and covered the entire battlefield. Rin choked and heaved as the purple gas entered her lungs and scratched her insides. She held her breath, but the noxious gas lingered and was already inside her, clawing at her lungs. Rin hobbled away whilst carrying Sumit, both of them coughing and hacking, their legs stumbling and then collapsed onto the ground. The young woman clutched at her throat, gasping for breath until she finally lay on the sand motionless.
"No..." the clockwork man blubbered as he saw Rin, Sumit, and Calixte collapse from the noxious gas he could not control. Salim glanced around and trembled, his clockwork body rattling and clattering. The other fallen prisoners were coughing and wheezing, unable to stand back up and get away due to their injuries.
The golden knight watched in interest, her curiosity clearly satiated as to wondering what Salim's mask transformation was and why he was so hesitant and refused to use it.
Now in his clockwork man form, Salim could move, his injuries gone or rather only on his human body. He could fight once again and would be even stronger than before, but...
He glanced around at the large cloud of noxious purple gas pouring out of him. If the other prisoners were exposed to it for too long, their brains might get damaged, and their memories might be wiped away. Salim stumbled up to his feet, then darted away from the village until he was a safer distance away from the other fallen prisoners.
But the golden knight did not chase him as he had expected. Instead, she remained amongst the fallen prisoners, the purple gas unaffecting as she did not need to breathe. It seemed that she had lost interest in Salim.
The clockwork man paused, hesitant to go back and fight once more, but that would endanger everyone else. He had to remain away from the others; that was all he could do to protect them. Salim shouted out and beckoned the golden knight for a rematch, claiming that he was stronger in his new form, but the golden knight remained unresponsive. She stood still for a moment longer before moving further into the village and around the corner of a building, now out of sight of Salim. The purple gas lingered in the area around the fallen prisoners, rendering them all unable to get back up.
*
The three imps that had managed to escape from the purple gas ran through the village, none of them caring where they were heading so long as they were far away from the golden knight. They rounded a corner and collided with something, and were knocked onto the ground. Still blubbering and trembling, the three imps gazed upwards and saw that they had bumped into Princess Alfreda with Pearl and Daina at her side.
Princess Alfreda looked down at the imps in mild disgust, examining her dress to see if it had become damaged or muddied from that incident. She wafted her fan in amusement. "So, those other imps were telling the truth?" the princess purred in delight. "Miss Warren has gone crazy and started attacking everyone? Finally, something fun has happened around here. Where is she then? The fight has not ended already, I hope? I would so like to-"
The princess froze, her heartbeat stopping for a moment, as she saw the golden knight turn appear from behind a building. She trembled slightly, as she always did whenever she saw that golden mask, the one that had belonged to her late mother. Alfreda's smirk disappeared for a quick second before she forced it to return.
"Well, I do not see the problem," princess Alfreda scoffed, resuming in wafting herself with her paper fan. "It is just Miss Warren underneath her, hardly a threat. I have heard that Miss Warren has not been present at Lili's training session in several months. I do not doubt that we can make quick work of her."
After gazing around in mild interest at the constructed village, the golden knight turned and finally noticed the new potential sparring combatants. She stepped closer, now only roughly ten metres away from Princess Alfreda, Pearl, Daina, and the three imps.
"Where are the others?" asked Pearl, keeping her head held high in fake confidence. "Are we the first to arrive?"
The three imps shook their heads, then cowered behind the princess, clinging onto her dress with their claws and burying their blubbering faces into the beautiful silk material. Princess Alfreda would have, on any other occasion, snapped them away, but her own fear paralysed her.
The golden knight twirled her spear in a skilful flourish and pointed the blade at Princess Alfreda, Pearl, and Daina.
That isn't her, Alfreda kept telling herself, yet something certainly was different about Miss Warren, how she walked, how she twirled her spear, and how untalkative the golden knight was. There was a particular air about her, one that the princess was all too familiar with. But it couldn't be her; it couldn't be her mother standing before her because she was dead. Miss Warren was just using her mask, that was all. And yet, no matter how desperately Princess Alfreda persuaded herself, she could not fight against the fear inside her.
"Is it a fight you desire, pet?" Alfreda smirked.
The golden knight nodded.
"Well, I hate to break your heart, Miss Warren, but I am not interested. But I will happily watch you fight someone else." The princess turned to Pearl and Daina. "Do either of you fancy the challenge?"
Pearl and Daina immediately shook their heads.
"Oh, how disappointing for you," Alfreda sighed dramatically in pretend sympathy towards the golden knight. "It also seems that the children do not wish to fight you either. So you will have to find a sparring partner elsewhere, pet."
The golden knight rolled her shoulders back and moved to an offensive stance with her spear, still focused on the three new potential sparring partners.
"Are you deaf, pet?" chided Princes Alfreda. "Go find your sport somewhere else. None of us are interested. I am sure that the other prisoners that live here would be keen to fight you; in fact, there are plenty of them-"
One of the imps tugged on Princess Alfreda's dress, then shook his head, tears brimming at the edge of his eyes and spilling down his cheeks.
The princess swallowed, hesitating to ask as she now already knew the answer. "The others..." she hushed to the imps. "Have they- have they already fought her?"
The three imps solemnly nodded, then returned to cowering behind the tall princess for protection.
"What about Lili? She can not have been defeated, certainly?"
The imps shook their heads.
Princess Alfreda let out a subtle sigh of relief. "And Oscar and Calanthe?"
After shared looks of hesitation, the three imps nodded.
Pearl and Daina glanced at each other, neither able to conceal their fear and concern.
"How many tried to fight her?" asked Princess Alfreda to the imps.
One of the imps counted on his claw fingers then, with a pained expression, indicated eleven.
The princess held her head high and forced a smirk on her lips. "You still do not seem to get the point, pet," she jested at the golden knight. "No one wants to fight you. It is indeed a pity, but I am sure you are used to disappointment by now."
Having lost her patience, the golden knight stepped forward.
Without thinking, Princess Alfreda raised her arms to the side, covering the three cowering imps with her long and flowing sleeves. "I told you that none of us desires to fight. And when I give someone a command, they follow it!" Alfreda spat.
The golden knight once again stepped closer, and Alfreda flinched away as she did.
She's not going to give up, is she? The princess thought to herself.
Alfreda sucked in a quick breath, maintaining her graceful poise. "Fine." She snapped her paper fan shut. "I shall just have to teach you where your place is, pet." The princess glanced at the three imps hiding behind her. "The three get out of my sight. You will only get in my way." She then looked to Pearl and Daina. "As will you two."
Daina's eyes widened, both relieved not to fight but also guilty, knowing that she could not leave.
"Your Highness?" Pearl whispered in confusion. "You wish to fight alone?"
"Neither of you can use your mask, not that they would be useful anyway. "The princess looked Pearl and Daina up and down. "Nor in your current state too."
Pearl and Daina's expression hardened, knowing their own uselessness yet despised it being pointed out.
"Go!" The princess ordered, and the three imps ran away, whilst Pearl and Daina retreated, out of the way but still close in case they needed to step in.
"Now..." Princess Alfreda pocketed her paper fan and reached for her fire demon mask, donning it; a bright light emanated along the edges as she activated it. "Allow me to teach some manners in eloquence. I shall have you grovelling at my feet after-"
Before she could even finish her sentence, the golden knight rushed at her and lunged forwards with her spear. Alfreda barely managed to block the attack in time with her arm, her rock-like skin protecting her from any serious harm, though the spear's blade made a shallow cut. The rest of Alfreda's body finally finished transforming; the fire demon dug her talons into the golden knight's shoulder, restraining her, then opened up her jaw wide. A jet of hot flames spewed out, consuming the golden knight, yet it left no impact on the armour, only a few wafts of smoke.
The golden knight broke free of the fire demon's restraints and retreated. She took a moment of pause as if reflecting on what just happened, calculating the next best move just from the information she had gathered from that one attack.
Princess Alfreda was glad for the pause as it gave her time to cool down as her rock-like body had begun cracking and splitting from the overwhelming heat. She recalled back to what the imps had relayed to her, that so many people had already fought the golden knight and failed. But this no longer deterred the fire demon, for she knew all the mask's weaknesses that her mother would dare to divulge.
Eager to begin the true fight, the golden knight rushed forward again, but the fire demon was prepared. Alfreda dodged the spear and lunged at the golden knight, swiping her hand underneath her chin.
But nothing happened.
Why?
It should have-
Too confused and shocked that the mask did not deactivate, Alfreda was left wide open and the golden knight's spear pierced into her lower torso. Fortunately, only the blade managed to penetrate through the tough rock skin. The fire demon clutched onto the spear, preventing the golden knight from taking it out. Then, with a twisted and delighted grin on her face, the fire demon breathed out another blast of fire directly into the golden knight's face. Meanwhile, the fire demon's body inside heated up, her veins igniting, and the spear blade lodged inside her torso also warmed up.
The golden knight eventually wrestled her spear back and jumped away from the fire demon to a safe distance. She examined her armour, finding it once more unscathed by the fire, but then noticed the blade of her spear. The metal had been heated up at a high temperature when it was lodged into the fire demon's torso and was now a glowing hot orange. It had become softened from the heat, likely to break if she dared use it against the fire demon's touch rock-like skin.
A pleased smirk spread across Princess Alfreda's lips. Though it was not a plan of hers to be stabbed, she succeeded in rendering the golden knight's weapon useless. However, she knew that this would not stop the golden knight, only hinder slightly, as the metal form was quite capable of dealing unarmed with how strong it was.
Alfreda was, however, somewhat annoyed and surprised that she ended up using a strategy influenced by what Miss Warren had taught her about metal and fire. The princess remembered Miss Warren rambling on about the qualities of metal and other materials when they were met with extreme heat whilst teaching her how to make mud bricks. It was rather annoying how she would just prattle on about anything, but Alfreda was somewhat relieved that she paid even the slightest attention as it had just helped her now.
It was just like how they defeated Bryce when he was transformed into the giant metal scorpion. As Miss Warren had taught her, metal was an excellent conductor of heat, and thus the fire demon's fire would do little damage unless the surface area was small, then it would weaken and melt.
Though the golden knight was made entirely of metal, it was still comprised of individual armour pieces to allow mobility. The smaller pieces appeared to be around the arms and legs, more specifically the gauntlets and boots. If Alfreda applied heat to those areas, they would likely weaken and be able to break. And there was one particular spot that was already significantly weaker than the rest- the princess's eyes focused on the golden knight's left arm that was entirely black.
However, it would be a risk. Whenever the demon princess used her fire breathing ability, it weakened her body temporarily. She would have to get the timing right otherwise, any attack she suffered from would be severe.
Realising that her spear was useless at the moment, the golden knight placed it down on the ground, the metal hissed as it touched the sand. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders back, then went into a boxer's orthodox stance.
Alfreda steeled herself as her opponent rushed at with a blaze of punches and kicks. The fire demon could only avoid a couple of them, but fortunately, her tough skin protected her from the rest. When she saw an opening, the fire demon let out a short burst of flames that engulfed the golden knight's black arm. The golden knight made another swing at her in retaliation, this time the hit causing a slight crack in the fire demon's rock-like skin whilst it was temporarily weakened.
Allowing her body to cool down a bit before she used her fire breath attack, Alfreda continued to do her best to evade the golden knight's punches. However, her opponent appeared pleasantly surprised at the princess's fighting ability and kept increasing how much force she used behind her attacks, holding less back as Alfreda proved herself to be perhaps a worthy opponent.
Once Alfreda felt it was safe, she once again spewed a blast of fire at the golden knight's left black armoured arm. After doing this a second time, however, the golden knight realised the princess' plan, and from then on, kept her weak left side away from danger.
The fire demon hissed in pain as the golden knight kicked her in the stomach, and a crack in her rock skin split open, revealing the smouldering liquid fire inside. Unfortunately, there were few openings now; she would have to risk being damaged if she were to defeat the golden knight.
Princess Alfreda chuckled to herself. Why was she even doing this? She said that she would not endanger herself; she was only still in the village to watch the alliance eventually burn and crumble. Allowing Miss Warren to go berserk and hurt her beloved friends would surely equate to that, so why was she trying to stop it? All she had to do was draw the golden knight to another opponent and run away to another sector.
And yet, she hesitated to do so.
Why?
This was certainly not worth her risking getting hurt or worse, her memories being lost. How could she survive in the Eternal Abyss without her hatred and spite towards her sister fueling her?
Alfreda shoved the golden knight back, taking a moment to catch a quick breath to cool down. She glanced back and saw that the three imps were hiding behind one of the buildings, watching the fight.
The princess almost cursed under her breath. They should have run away, the idiots.
She then looked to Pearl and Daina. Both of them were reaching for their masks, about to join in on the battle.
"Stay put!" Princess Alfreda snapped at them as she blocked another incoming attack. "Do as I ordered and stay out of my way!" The fire demon slashed at the golden knight's black arm with her claws, leaving a shallow cut into the metal gauntlet. "This is my fight!"