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Chapter 2: Hollow Victory

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

I was unsure what was going to happen now that I was alone with Adela.

We were alone in what looked to be a utility room, and the dim light there offered a chilling effect to the intense staring that her green eyes were throwing at me.

“Your name is… Mattia,” She stated with a fascinated tone. “A strange name… you’re also not a Prime.”

I could only nod at that summary, but the following sigh leaving her lips suggested that she wasn’t inherently impressed by the matter.

“You don’t look much like a knight.”

Blinking, I regaled her with a shrug. “I wasn’t one before being summoned here.”

And that revelation got her to scowl.

“Then why have you been chosen if you’re not even capable of fighting?”

I frowned. “What? How does me not being a knight mean that I can’t fight?”

“Well, you don’t have the size and the appearance of a real warrior.”

Does a warrior need to be tall, bulky, and incredibly arrogant?

What a childish notion of fighters…

“Well, I guess I’m just not like the others,” I pointed out, ending up only aggravating her even more.

“Well, I don’t want some unprepared fool as my guard.”

Adela took a step forward, I was fully attentive of what she was trying to accomplish, and then I sidestepped when she suddenly threw a punch towards me.

The attack missed, but her intense stare was still on me.

Silence followed as she kept on trying to hit me. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I soon noticed that her pace kept on increasing each time she failed to land some damage on me.

Quiet, confusing, and terribly frustrating.

Dodging was something that I learned to master when I was targeted as an ‘easy prey’ back in High School during Dodgeball games.

The secret behind my ‘perfect’ evasion was the capacity to know when to move at the last second. Only then there are less chances of being hit once again so suddenly.

And just like that silly sport, my footwork was enough to unbalance and surprise my unexpected attacker.

Adela’s frustration proved legitimate since she seemed to have a decent understanding of how to brawl with her bare hands. But the more this one-sided spar went on, the more her irritation was replaced by a sense of confusion.

Ultimately the young woman paused, her body still tense but restraining from keeping on that senseless assault.

“This- This is a fight! Why are you just dodging?”

Wait, what? And how was I supposed to realize that this was what she was asking for.

Still, I wasn’t planning to sound overly rude. She was already angry, and I didn’t see a reason to antagonize her any further.

“If you tire out doesn’t that mean I win?”

The rebuttal only got the Coyote Prime to snarl, her fists tightening in a clear display of irritation.

“Then you’re not a knight, but a coward.”

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve allowed that childish slight to go by… but at this point, I knew that ignoring her about it was just going to worsen up my chances of being in a formally good relationship with my new ward.

I wasn’t even sure how this ‘knighthood’ was going to go since I barely knew how the moral code and duties were for knights. I was a novice, a rookie.

But that didn’t mean I was going to just bow my head to some arrogant brat.

So when she threw another punch out, stretching her closed fist towards me, I didn’t just dodge. I moved closer, and I took a brief moment to study her current position.

Dad once taught me how to restrain someone without hurting them. Having worked with people that were known for their vicious bouts of anger, the old timer was ultimately forced to learn how to defend himself without becoming himself an aggressive individual.

My opponent didn’t seem to realize what was going to happen as I got hold of her extended arm. In fact, Adela noticed that something was off over my approach when she suddenly ended up on the floor.

But as she tried to stand up and recover from that fall, she found her efforts voided by me suddenly pressing one of my knees onto her back. It was easier to regulate the weight with just that, and I knew that outright sitting on her would be way too painful than what I wanted.

Struggling, her legs kicked around while her fluffy tail whipped left and right. Her palms were pressing on the ground, trying and failing to push me off.

She snarled, her frustration revamped at that unexpected development, but there wasn’t much for her to do as I was positioned.

“Just yield,” I muttered.

“No!”

…

“Adela-”

“I refuse to surrender!” She remarked sternly, keeping on struggling for a couple more seconds.

…

“Why?”

The young woman tensed up, her head turning to face me with a confused glance. “What?”

“Why are you fighting like this? What did I do to deserve this much hate?”

She scowled. “As if I would hate someone for being what they are. It doesn’t mean I should accept the first wimpy kid that is summoned.”

“You mean the ‘wimpy kid’ that won this little spar?”

There wasn’t an answer to that, prompting me to sigh at her stubbornness.

“Okay, how about you just stop and we start this again with a proper-”

“No.”

I frowned, starting to get irked at that. “You’re quite rude.”

“And you’re a pervert.”

My frown deepened.

“What?”

“Do you enjoy this?” She pressed on without hesitation. “Do you feel happy to see me submitted and-”

“Chill! What the heck are you going for right now?!” I exclaimed with an embarrassed tone.

“Just stating how I see this-”

“You were the one that ‘started’ this spar, then you provoked me to move and win,” I started to say, pausing at her snort. “And I won since you’re unable to fight as you are right now. But I didn’t ask for this to happen, nor I take pleasure in returning frustration with my own.”

Her harsh look softened for a moment, and her sight darted away as the princess took a moment to evaluate what I was saying.

“I’m sorry.”

…

I blinked, slowly relinquishing the hold my knee had over her back and standing up.

Sighing, Adela shook her head as she kept on laying on the floor for a moment. “I didn’t admit defeat.”

“It’s a spar. Not a life-threatening fight,” I reminded her. “And as far as I’m concerned, we both win this fight.”

Her eyes widened at my words, but did even more as the Coyote Prime noticed that I was stretching a helping hand towards her.

“Please, stand up.”

There was silence at first as the young woman contemplated the offer. Then she sighed and took my hand into hers, helping herself up.

Instead of letting go as she was now standing up, she stared in clear surprise at my palm and squeezed a little bit at it.

“Mother was right,” She pondered out loud. “Your hand is soft… even though there is no fur on it.”

I blinked at the comment. “Well, your hand is soft and warm too...”

…

It took us a moment to realize the kind of situation that was unfolding, and my face warmed up a little bit as the truth struck me worse than a high-speed train.

The princess had some red hue by her cheeks, but she seemed to sobered up as quickly as I did.

“Sorry.”

Blinking again, I nodded at her in agreement. “Sorry.”

A tiny smile appeared on Adela’s face. “You’re… not that bad. Sure, you’re not much of a knight but-”

“I kicked your butt,” I remarked dryly, getting a faux gasp from her.

“Speaking so crudely to a princess? I wonder about what scandalous rumors that would emerge from this!”

…

We both chuckled, with her turning in a round of giggles as soon as I joined her up.

“N-Not gonna lie, but you don’t seem like the classic ‘damsel in distress’ kind of lady.”

A huff left her lips. “T-That’s because it’s more of a people. Prism was destroyed five centuries ago and… our family is always running from the Empire.”

I blinked at the final notion. An Empire, perhaps hellbent on evil stuff, was hunting down the small group of survivors of a planet that was destroyed ages ago.

For a moment I was reminded of the classic sci-fi movies, but then I reminded myself of how odd it would be to correlate Star Wars to this reality. Not because of the details available, but because of the chances of me being one of the characters.

Wait, since I was the one ‘called in’ for the job of protecting royalty, does that make me Han Solo?

The inner thought was suddenly interrupted as the entire building started to shake, prompting the two of us to tense up at the strange and unexpected development.

“Was that...” Adela started, her face showing some worry.

“An explosion.”

And a big one considering the tremor that went through the entire compound. I didn’t check the entire size of the place, but I was fairly sure it was a massive setting to house the large group of people.

The princess tensed up even more as something made her panic. “Wait, the Empire is here and- mother!”

The Coyote Prime rushed away from my proximity and through the previously closed door, slamming it open and running away while ignoring my attempt to stop her.

Gritting my teeth, I stared at the now open door and contemplated over the fact that I had to give chase considering my duties to her.

…

Then I groaned when I realized that I didn’t know where I was supposed to go, nor I knew my way out of this place.

“And where am I supposed to go now?” I muttered, grimacing the fact I hadn’t asked for directions before leaving for this private conversation with the girl.

Seriously, why can’t I be more decisive about these kinds of important topics!?

Just as I prepared myself to venture into the unknown and hope to survive any eventual panic attack or malicious assault, I found myself stopping as… something in my pocket started to burn.

I pulled out the gem that Apogeo left me, the bright yellow thing shining in a fiery display of light before it lifted itself off my palm and into the air.

The light intensified suddenly and soon… I was greeted with a relieved sigh.

“Finally, I managed to complete the materialization process!” The small being that had replaced the gem suddenly exclaimed. “And just in time to-”

He paused, taking a moment to stare at me with a bright grin. He looked similar to Apogeo in terms of a spirit-like frame and angel-like wings, but his frame was incredibly smaller than the example used and… his face looked similar to mine.

Yellow eyes greeted me with a mirthful glint.

“And you’re my boss!”

…

“What?”

He didn’t hesitate with my question, in fact he ignored it as he slammed himself onto my chest, depriving me of some of the air in my lungs.

“Boss! I can’t believe you and I are finally together.”

“W-Who are you?!” I finally snapped, my frustration merely fueling the amusement of this unknown spirit.

“I’m me!” He rebuked happily. “But if I have to be honest, my name is… Archimedes.”

I blinked at the strange name. “Well, nice to meet you-but what the heck?!”

“I suppose Apogeo didn’t tell you the truth about the gift,” The spirit muttered, his mood dampened by my lack of reconciliation with his giddiness. “Well, I’m your guide for this important mission. I’m your personal Nanozell Spirit!”

…

“A Nano-what spirit?”

“A Nanozell spirit- it’s quite complicated to explain the fine details that led to my creation,” The young being stated. “But in simple terms, I’m something of an assistant and support to any fights. Also, I’ve a good understanding of technology and… yeah, that’s it.”

I frowned at it, and, while I wanted to inquire some more about this new ‘helper’, I remembered that I didn’t have the luxury of time at the moment.

“Okay, mhh… Archie? You can connect to the surveillance system of the place and… can you tell me where Adela is- and the queen?”

The spirit tensed up, his golden eyes widened in a state of awe and eagerness. “Archie? This- This is an affectionate nickname! Thank you, boss-”

“Archie, the request is urgent!” I pressed on, getting the ‘assistant’ to snap out of his genuine happy moment, his stare growing serious at my irritated tone.

“Sorry, boss- and from what I can tell from the cameras, the princess is currently running towards the Hangars,” Archie quickly replied. “The Queen was last spotted there and… there is a large amount of tainted individuals storming the base as of now.”

‘Tainted individuals’? Another question that will have to wait until I reach the two royal members.

“Okay then, can you gave me the safest route to-”

“There isn’t a ‘safe route’ right now, boss,” The Spirit interrupted grimly. “The place is completely swarmed by the corrupted ones, and it would be advised to pick a weapon… like the sword behind you.”

Frowning, I turned to look behind me and I spotted an open crate with a couple of protruding out of its inside.

I took the first sword I could find, giving it a tentative swing… before gritting my teeth at how unpleasantly unbalanced it felt.

It’s still a blade, I guess.

“Archie, then give me the route with less enemies,” I muttered, preparing my mind for what was going to be truly a troublesome road to safety.

The spirit materialized a holographic map, further showing how useful his skills were to me right now, and he pinpointed where I was supposed to go to reach the hangars.

Nodding and allowing Archie to settle on my shoulder, I walked out of this utility room before running to where my destination was.

_ Time to see how terrible my… enemies were going to be. _

---------d-d-d-d----------

Things stayed rather uneventful during the first few minutes of my rush to reach the ‘exit’ and leave this dangerous place.

I could hear people clashing with each other from afar, and while I knew that while I could go and offer some assistance, I was more of a liability than anything else considering how weak of a fighter I was with a melee weapon.

The sword felt heavy, and I didn’t trust it to be able to help me through in a fair fight.

Despite that negative outlook, I was still hopeful to be able to survive and reach my destination without much of a worry.

What really got me this optimistic was the fact that I had managed to already avoid two fights with who were going to be my foes.

These tainted ones, the Narakhans, were surprisingly shorter than I was. Not enough to be considered dwarves by any mean, but I felt less threatened in fighting people that were a couple inches shorter than me and… also quite dumb from the way I outmaneuvered them.

The first time I dodged that kind of bullet was when two of the creatures had taken the role of garrisoning one of the hallways I had to cross.

They were hooded, malicious cackling-like noises leaving their covered lips from time to time, and while I would’ve been forced to confront both of them at once and take my chances of living through that unfair brawl, I was regaled a safe way out of that predicament by playing on their… lack of intelligence.

Archie once more proved his worth by opening two doors behind the two grunts, forcing them to turn around at the strange sounds and phenomenon, and driving them both to check.

Once they were far away, I quickly crouched-run to the other side of the corridor, never looking back at them as I quietly avoided that kind of fight.

Then I ended up dealing with five of them patrolling the halls in a somewhat ordered manner. It was a little more difficult to get a distraction going, but it all worked to my advantage.

Activating the anti-fire system, the halls were rained by the water accumulated by the simple system, drenching the group in water and forcing them to try and get hold of themselves as the floor became incredibly unstable to walk through with their bare feet.

A mad dash later that was seen by just one of the distracted Narakhans, I started to run again through the entire building, paying little attention to what was going on behind me.

I ended up dodging all possible problems much to my inner glee, but while I was spared to find obstacles of the murderous kind, I ended up arriving at my destination with a sense of dread taking over my entire being.

What I was supposed to find as a relieving conclusion to this scary trip from point A to point B ended up leaving me with a sense of strange worry.

Pushing the closed doors open, I expected to find a large group of people there waiting for the evacuation to begin. Maybe they had been waiting for Adela to be back, maybe also me, and now we could've left without dealing with the Empire any time soon.

But what my eyes were bestowed with was far from idyllic, and my jaws dropped at the horrifying sight I was granted.

I froze up as I noticed the numerous corpses littering most of the floor around, some of the Primes there were still alive, but just barely enough to make some desperate noises to try and receive medical help.

My breath tightened again, but before I had the chance to fight back the panic attack, my stare turned up to see that there was an ongoing fight within the room.

Adela snarled fiercely as she used her bow as efficiently as possible, with various arrows piercing through the thick skin of her opponent… which ended up being the very knight that was considered the Queen’s guard. Roland? I think that was the name the princess used to address him a while ago.

Speaking of Rehema, the older Prime was using her lance to keep her former ally at bay while her daughter kept on raining him with swift projectiles.

“You need to snap out of this!”

“_ He will not! ” A strange half-demonic voice shot back as the knight slammed the woman away through a brief clash of their weapons. “ He is gone now, the taint only proving how worthless his loyalty is to your petty cause. _”

The Queen gasped as she impacted on the cement wall behind her, a painful crack-like noise disrupting the silence while blood started to pour out of her lips.

It was at that moment that I noticed the taint that was spreading all over the guy, and I sighed as I prepared for what was going to be an unavoidable brawl now.

My hands tightened their hold over the hilt of the sword, but before I rushed forward to commence the inevitable battle, I noticed that there were a couple of open boxes around and… one of those was filled with explosives.

At first glance I saw lots of grenades, but the more I delved, the more I noticed other stuff that could make things go out in flame and utter destruction.

My mind grew intrigued by this detail, and a good idea manifested. I turned to glance at my trusted helper that was even now staying by my shoulder.

“Archie, I need you to do something for me.”

The spirit listened, his grin widening at the brilliant plan I got out of that simple detail and he nodded as he prepared to snap into action with the four grenades I gave him.

I would’ve liked to pick some more, but then I got part of the classic villainous monologue the corrupted knight was giving.

“Y-You can fight it back,” Queen Rehema said as she tried and failed to stand up. Her wounds looked severe from this far, and I was sure the situation was even worse from a closer perspective.

“_ Why would he need to fight it back if his duty is now forfeited! He already wounded his charge, he committed the sin of keeping quiet about this issue, and, worst of all, he will then slay your daughter and put an end to your line _.”

The voice seemed to not be his, as if the big guy was being possessed or something.

Still, I could tell that I didn’t have much time to act and create a distraction, and so I jumped in action.

“Hey, you!” I half-yelled, swiftly getting the big guy’s attention. “Yes, you! The guy that is literally allowing some creepy bastard to take over and do all of this crap.”

“_ And what are you? _”

“A smarter guy, I reckon,” I sassily snapped. “And someone that is going to beat you without even trying.”

…

“_ Is this common for your curious race, human? Suicidal tendencies? _”

“Right now I’m the one with a clear sight at victory, and you have nothing but instincts,” I rebuked fiercely. “Which is why I’m the one standing above-”

“_ I shall grant you a slow execution if you keep with this tune. I suggest you- _”

“What? Are you a coward or something?!” I snapped back with more ‘arrogance’. “I bet you got lucky with the element of surprise, or else you would’ve lost easily. That’s why you’re a coward!”

…

“_ I will kill you first then- _” The corrupted knight stated.

“Your next words are going to be: I hope you’re ready for an early grave!” I added giddily, feeling the need to express some more the inspiration that got me this devious plan.

“_ I hope you’re ready for an early gra- Wait, how did you- _”

“I should be the one asking, especially since I know you will come at me running like a stupid coward you are-!!”

I almost screamed when I saw the guy rush towards me, a furious roar leaving his mouth as he came towards me with a pace faster than I had imagined.

He lifted his blade up, ready to slam it onto me and… I rolled forward, allowing the bastard to charge over me. Swiftly turning around, I slashed at the exposed bit on the back of his left leg and cut his tendons.

Blood exploded from the new wound, but it didn’t seem to deter my opponent as it quickly tried blindly stab backward to kill me. I rolled again, allowing the attack to fail.

Soon I switched tactics to something a little less ‘mind-based’ and more ‘dumb’, trying to keep up with his attacks by using my own sword to block his strikes.

Like I had predicted much earlier when I first took hold of this blade, its body was quick to collapse under the furious attacks.

At first it was just some denting and the blade bending under the duress, but soon the damage increased the faster his strikes became.

He yelled angrily as he gave one last strike, perfectly shattering the sword in my floor and forcing me to trip on the floor with how powerful that last hit was.

“_ Where is your bravado, little Human!? ” The corrupted Buffalo Prime gloated. “ Where is your… Uh?! _”

He realized just in that moment that there was something off with his free hand. A small orb-like object that he was unconsciously squeezing and… he panicked as he threw the grenade back at me.

“A cheap trick! Prepare to die-!!”

His jaws dropped as he saw numerous strings coming from the explosive that were connected to… his mantle.

“H-How did you-”

Archie giggled as he quickly flied back to my shoulder, happily accepting a high-five as I happily waited for the big surprise to unfold

“A- A Spirit? You- how did you-”

KA-BLAM!

The explosion triggered by the various grenades attached on my opponent’s back was covered by his own body, but the blast was enough to get me to yelp just once at the magnitude of the grand finale.

The body was mostly vaporized, with some parts of his legs and legs surviving, and his sword tumbled down on the ground mere moments later.

I sighed in relief as I was spared from any shard from the shrapnel, but I quickly realized that the situation was far from over.

Standing up and picking the now abandoned sword to replace the one that got destroyed, I approached Adela as she kept on tending on… her dying mother.

The queen coughed more blood despite the best efforts displayed by her daughter to deal with the wounds she had suffered, her sight turning to greet her with a calm but happy look.

“You- You beat him.”

I merely nodded as I crouched, before I silently started to help where I could by pressing on one of the large wounds by her exposed thigh.

“You two… you should stop. There is- there is nothing to do for me,” The woman muttered quietly. “These wounds are too grave and… they got the last win.”

Frowning at her words, I merely turned to look at where she was pointing and… there was something on her neck.

A dark mark, like the tainted ones present on Narakhans’ bodies. Except this one was smaller… but still growing. It was like looking at a plague.

“M-Mom-”

“Now, my dear, I don’t want to- to see you cry so sadly when I’m passing away. I want to see a proud look on our- no, my hope of seeing an end to this bloodshed,” The woman interrupted her daughter. Her trembling hand reached for the younger Prime’s face, giving a soft pat at her cheek. “I know you will do it. You’re not someone that gives up and… Mattia will protect you.”

I flinched as my name was brought up and I was regarded by her slightly unfocused green eyes.

“You… you will protect her,” The queen muttered softly. “Promise me, on- on my deathbed, that you will.”

…

“I- I will never leave her side,” I said, my throat aching at the sight of someone dying like this. I didn’t know her for more than just an interaction, and yet the way she looked so genuinely concerned for her daughter, but also optimistic for a brighter future, I knew that this was a good woman. Someone that was condemned to an unfair life and demise. And I couldn’t just accept that. “W-What if we- we try to save you- what if-”

“The taint can’t be cured, my dear. Not by natural means,” The dying lady interjected much to my growing sadness. “And even if there was a way… they wouldn’t allow you if I burden you.”

I frowned at her last sentence, turning slowly to greet four armored Primes approaching us. From the way they were looking at us, with their stern eyes locking on both Queen and Princess…

Tightening my hold over my new sword, I prepared to fight but-

“You two need- cough - to go.”

“Mother-”

“There is not much to do with me, but… but I can delay them. Now, go- both of you!”

Adela looked incredibly reluctant to leave her mother’s side, and the big guys were still getting closer.

Gritting my teeth, I knew that I couldn’t take these bastards even if I used all the explosives in the hangar. No, for this once I had to accept the need of retreating against my opponents.

The young Coyote Prime tried to force me to let go of her arm, but my firm hold resisted as I pulled her away from the dying queen and towards the closest entrance of the large spaceship meant to be used for the evacuation.

“A-Archie, go and take control of the commands-”

“N-No, please- We-”

“Prepare the commands!” I stated fiercely as I found myself struggling to push the girl towards the small staircase that led inside the vehicle.

“Let- LET ME GO!” She screamed. “I DON’T WANT TO-”

She couldn’t finish that sentence as I ultimately shoved her inside, closing the door with the terminal inside and blocking her from reaching the panel to unlock.

“I-IT’S AN ORDER! LET ME GO, YOU-”

The spaceship rumbled as it went through a quick lift off, the ground trembling enough to force the girl to trip down and be unable to pressure me to get out of the ship.

At this point, I could feel my chest hurting at the fact I was forced to do this. I really didn’t want this to happen, but there was no chance for this to be a full victory.

Some time passed while the young woman struggled to stand up, but once the entire vehicle stabilized, she quickly rushed to the cockpit and I gave chase closely behind her to try and stop her.

But it was already too late for the two of us to do anything as Archie had managed to get us out of the planet’s atmosphere. The place looked like a massive forest-filled biome that had just a gray spot that was the large building we had just left.

“Take us back!” The Princess screamed. “We have to go back and-”

Her words died in her throat as a strange light encompassed the entire compound in what looked to be a…

…

“An explosion,” I muttered with a drained tone. “Did- was this the Queen that-”

“While I checked the database of the base, I learned that the remote control of all explosives was given to only Queen Rehema,” Archie explained tensely. “I didn’t think that… it would’ve come to this.”

Adela was deadly silent, her wide green eyes were locked on that bright spot.

“Ade-Gah!”

She turned quickly around and delivered a sucker punch square on my nose. The hit was more of a surprise than a painful attack, but I still stumbled back while she rushed away from the cockpit to another room in the ship.

“K-Keep an eye out for her,” I muttered nervously, getting a nod from the Spirit. But just as he seemed quite calm about this, his golden eyes suddenly widened in fright.

“B-Boss, the ship’s detection system has spotted numerous unknown objects coming towards us. I think it’s… the Empire.”

Panic swelled in my chest at that news. “Then get us out of there. Just take us away from this, no specific destination!”

The spirit nodded and soon the ship rumbled again as its speed started to pick up.

Sitting down in the cockpit, I decided to pay more attention to this problem instead of seeking out Adela.

But it wasn’t just concern for her needing to be alone that influenced my decision… no.

I stared down at my hands and I noticed they were still stained in Rehema’s blood.

Could I have prevented this? Is this actually my fault?

_ The next hours were wasted either checking on the status of the pursuit or debating whenever or not I was guilty of that death. _

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AN

The Journey begins...