Navia gritted her teeth in annoyance. She dashed forward again, but was on the lookout for Matilda to appear somewhere else. As she thrust one dagger forward, she was ready for attack from a different side. This time, Matilda brought her saber up and parried the dagger. With a late response, Navia used the free arm to attack Matilda, and that was when she appeared behind her with a saber above her head. The wound would be severe if not for the loss of balance, forcing her to fall forward. A fine line of dark blood was made on Navia’s back, making her scream in pain.
Trying her best to ignore the pain, she spun around and threw a knife at the woman, but it seemed like she predicted that move since her saber was up and placed sideways to block the knife. Once she was out of harm's way, she dashed in the blink of an eye to Navia, swinging the saber as her opponent was down on the floor. Bringing the blood bracelet up to defend herself, she watched as chunks of the hardened blood flew away.
She didn’t dare to block the next attack; instead, she used her hand to push herself away and get back on her feet. Navia knew that Matilda would move after her right away, yet she wasn’t actually ready for that. Her eyes suddenly widened, hyper-focused on what was behind Matilda. Markiz was heading to the exit door to escape. She completely ignored the upcoming attack and moved forward right into the saber, throwing a knife at Markiz. The black knife went deep into his calf, making him fall to the ground. Matilda didn’t expect that kind of move, and her precise attack was thrown off balance, barely scratching Navia’s blood armor.
Matilda seized the opportunity for close combat as she knew Navia couldn’t compare with her in that kind of fight. She swept Navia’s legs and turned around, grabbing her arm and throwing Navia onto the ground with a loud thud. She grunted in pain, but her eyes were on Markiz, who was trying to crawl away; she completely ignored the armed woman above her.
The saber broke Navia’s armor and went deep into her chest, piercing her heart. She coughed out blood onto Matilda’s pants, her vision was becoming blurry, and her breath was shallow. “No… I can’t… I need to get him…”
“Are you sure about that?” Navia tried to turn her head toward the voice, but she didn’t have much strength, and her head hit the floor as she turned it. A single chair wasn’t damaged after Navia fell onto the table. The woman in a veil was sitting on the chair, watching her fight. “I’m warning you, this might not be the best choice for you…”
Those words echoed in Navia’s head as she was about to pass out; the echoes made her angry, made her blood boil. The heart should have stopped moving as there was a cut in it, but the blood hardened instantly, and the blood continued to flow. The blood burst out of her wound, enveloping her whole body. She could feel it, the gate inside her was almost fully open, it was forced open.
“It’s not the best choice for you… But it will turn out well for me.” The woman in a veil whispered with a smile as she watched Matilda take a few steps back, unsure of what was happening. The ounces of dark blood burst out of Navia’s chest and back, covering her whole body and hardening into a whole plated armor. The hat fell to the ground, and in its place grew a thorn crown. Navia looked as if she was going to pass out at any second, but she stood still. From her hand grew a sword with a rectangular guard; it was simple in shape, but compared to her previous creations, the blade was sharp without any chips.
“I pierced her heart… I am sure of it. Did she do something before she could die? Or was that the regeneration gate? I should cut her head off.” Matilda stood ready and had her eyes locked on Navia’s exposed neck, as she only had a crown on her head.
Matilda flinched as Navia began to move, except it wasn’t to attack her; she turned around to look for Markiz. He was nowhere to be seen, but there was a trail of blood on the floor.
“Turning your back on me? How foolish.” Using the saber’s power, Matilda appeared by Navia in a fraction of a second and swung her saber at Navia’s neck. She was able to cut her skin, but the very moment the blood came out of the wound, it hardened and created another layer of armor, blocking the attack. As she pulled the saber back, Navia suddenly spun around with the sword, aiming it at Matilda’s neck in return. The Baroness barely reacted, bringing up her saber with the use of its power as the sword was about to cut her head off.
Matilda held the saber and blocked the attack, but her arms trembled as the blades collided. She held strong to not get killed, but as Navia put more force, she was pushed, and in a burst of strength, she was practically thrown to the wall. The blood sword extended itself to reach Matilda even in the corner of the room, cutting the map and shelves on its path. She wasn’t sure if the baroness was killed, but just seeing her silhouette on the ground behind the dust was enough to lose interest in her.
The woman in a veil smiled so wide she showed her teeth, quickly covering her mouth as she realized how much she was grinning. “That is only a peek of the gate I bestowed on you. A fully opened gate should have the power to slay the gods. By pure chance, you showed the potential I was hoping for. I need to refine that diamond so it could serve its purpose…” The observer told her monologue as Navia left the bunker, following the blood trail.
She didn’t have to look far for the man as he was barely walking, limping with one arm on the wall to support his weight. The man turned around in terror as he heard the clunking of armor getting closer to him. “That can’t be Matilda… Maybe one of the guards. I’m here! Get your ass here and protect me!” Shouted Markiz, practically forgetting his fear and turning it into anger. He hit the wall with his fist in annoyance at how slow that guard moved. From around the corner appeared the guard in heavy armor and a mace, but at the sight of Markiz, he stopped moving.
“What are you standing there for?! Get moving and escort me!” Markiz took a step closer to the guard and prepared his hand to slap the guard in the face. Suddenly, blood spurted out of the guard’s helmet, and the man fell forward with a loud clunk. Then another lighter clunk and a woman in dark armor appeared around the corner. Her sword was stained red after killing the guard. The sword pierced the heavy armor without any resistance.
Navia looked like she was about to pass out, but her expression changed once she saw Markiz and his terrified face. She was ready to kill the man on the spot, but in the back of her mind, she silently reminded herself that she needed him to find Mira.
“Where… Is… The girl…” Mumbled Navia between heavy breaths, steam coming out through her mouth as her own blood was boiling and heating her body.
“What girl… What are you talking about?!” Belver trembled at first, but the longer he thought, the more confused he was. First, he heard a splash and looked at the wall beside him, stained red. Following the trail of blood, his eyes went toward his missing foot. With one swing, Navia cut off his left foot from a dozen feet away.
Belver screamed in pain, his trembling arms reaching for the wound as he couldn’t believe the sight. Navia repeated herself and ignored the man’s screams, “Where… Is… the girl… from the… auction?” Belver was more concerned about his injury than what Navia was talking about. To remind him of the question, she got a step closer and cut off his other foot. His screams turned into sobs and cries of pain.
As Navia lifted her sword to cut his hands, the man quickly answered. “She is at my mansion! She is at my place…”
***
Aguero ran through the streets of the red zone at full speed to catch up with Navia, remembering the president’s order to have an eye on her. “She seems reasonable. The president might have the wrong idea of her… I’m going to watch her, but I want to help too.” As he expected, Navia didn’t wait for him as he saw the busted doors to the storage house.
“You finally arrived…” The crispy voice echoed between the walls of the empty building. Danavan Slot didn’t leave the chair, but his hands were slightly shivering; each breath brought him more shivers. He was practically shaking without a second to rest.
“Who are you?” Asked Aguero, slightly lifting his hands up and looking around the room for any kind of trap.
“I’m the only one here. As for who I am… You could say I am an enemy of Belver Markiz, maybe even his whole sick family…” Davnavan began coughing, finally spitting a bit of blood out of his mouth. “I don’t have much time left, so I thought I would help you with getting him.” Danavan moved his sleeve to check the watch on his wrist. “If you’re looking for the fierce woman, she should be at his mansion already, and Belver might be close to death…”
“Why did you help her?” Something was odd about the whole situation for Aguero. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but the man was suspicious and at the same time honest.
“I don’t care if Belver dies or gets hurt, if he suffers, then I am fulfilled, but there is a second reason. Beneath his mansion is a ‘cage’ as he calls it. Prioson for the slaves he likes to torture. My brother is there… I don’t know if he is alive or not… But I want to save him. So if you would be so kind and bust the gates open for me?” That devious smile Danavan had on his face didn’t leave him; he knew that Belver was suffering right now, and he couldn’t stop smiling because of that fact.
“You’re crazy…” Whispered Aguero, slowly backing toward the exit.
“That’s true, but he is the reason I am that way…” Answered Danavan, unsure if the elite guard heard him, but it wasn’t his intention for him to hear it; it was more of a statement to himself.
“And he is gone… I was hoping to drug him like the woman… If it works out, Belver will be dead.” The potion given to Navia not only revealed a path to the vault but also slowly poisoned her mind to make her even more aggressive. Danavan did that to make sure the man would suffer. “If he doesn’t open the gates for me, I’ll take the path from beneath.” Danavan stood up and slowly walked toward the ladder to the underground tunnels.
He walked the same path Navia did to reach the bunker. The devious smile came back as he saw the dead guards and a trail of blood leading to the vault. “The lioness is not enough to describe her. Even a lion wouldn’t make such a massacre. A devil, maybe?” Entering the vault, he looked around, taking a look at each damage, being surprised by a long carved line on the wall where the map of the zone used to be. His eyes slowly moved to the corner where he saw unconscious Matilda.
“She left you with a nasty wound…” Whispered Danavan as he kneeled in front of the baroness. Her left arm was cut off from her body. “I don’t want our leader to die… This should help.” Danavan took out a syringe with yellow liquid and he inserted it into her shoulder. The bleeding slowed down, and he wrapped the wound using part of the map.
He spared no more time on Matilda and left the room, whispering, “That wasn’t part of the plan. Sorry.” Danavan felt bad about what had happened to Matilda, unsure if she would survive, but he stopped caring as he saw two shoes on the floor. Upon taking a closer look, he began laughing. “Belver… You lost something more than a mere pair of shoes? Great.” He then followed the trail of two bloody lines, knowing very well where they were leading.