Knightess

Everyone's awful insight was spread over the entire room. The evidence only served to highlight the chaos that existed inside the garderobe. They were able to deduce that Tem's mission had failed, but it wasn't because of her carelessness; rather, something else had caused their loss.

Their attention was focused on the Tem who had fallen and was bleeding from the back and shoulder. She was slowly rising to her feet as she covered the shoulder wound from the stab. But there was more going on than what first appeared, and only she could feel it. She lost all control over how to move her left arm since the nerves completely vanished to the touch.

"What did you do to my arm? I can't move it or feel it."

Gabi relaxed her left arm on the side of her hip as she elevated the needle nearly to her head. She always wore an expression of austerity on her face, like a mother worried about her own child.

"We are curious. I'll be pleased to present you to the poison contained inside this needle, which was developed by Master Muro, your one and only expert."

"The saliva of the Neel Snake used to manufacture this poison, binds your limbs from making any form of movement and is a very effective weapon that is beneficial in fight. Although the effect is transient, it is nevertheless convenient. Don't you think?"

Tem exposed the wound by slightly raising her palm. Despite the wound's modest size, a black liquid was encircling it. Although it appeared nasty to the eye, she was able to witness how slowly it vanished.

"You and your friends entered at the wrong time. I must say, your plan was a mess to begin with, but it would've been a very good one if it worked out. If only our lovely 'Sun Soldiers' could keep their mouth shut."

"You're kidding?! Don't tell me that those three outplayed us and pushed us into a trap?!" Yumiko asked.

"Why that is true. Really, you had believed those three? You expected them to keep Master Muro unaware about your secret, right? Yumiko, you really know nothing about the world. You have always amazed me; I honestly don't see anything exceptional about you other than the value of your blood to become one of the "Sun Soldiers."

"Again, your reliance on other people will lead to your demise. But don't worry; I'll get rid of your new "friends" quickly. I suppose I'll start with the person you trust the most. She will make the ideal choice for beginning your extermination and eliminating your arguable method."

Gabi moved forward before anyone else could respond. She quickly hurled the needle forward so that no one had time to react after spinning it in her fingers to direct its tip toward Tem's face.

Yumiko attempted to sprint for the needle as a loud scream of shock filled the room. She attempted to stop the needle, but realized that she was unable to do it. She could see Tem getting ready to duck right in front of her gaze.

She was unable to squat due to the injuries on her back, therefore she would instead be pierced in the forehead. Or that's what people thought would have happened.

Until a specific person made a change to the conclusion. Their savior once again guarded them after rising from the ashes of his sleep following the scene he had seen before his eyes.

Elliott's thunderous speed was more than enough to overcome the throw, and just in time for Tem to be hit by the needle, his devotion to his captain saved her once more. The needle was injected into his right arm, and he embraced it with his own body.

His arm immediately became numb, yet there was a difference. He hadn't been moving about; instead, his eyes were closed. He pulled out the needle while still wide asleep and then grasped the sword with both hands.

Yumiko dropped on her knees and turned to face the forth when she saw that Tem had been rescued. Elliott managed to move his numb arm and stood in front of Tem without any difficulties. They were all flabbergasted by it, including Gabi, whose eyes began to shake.

"Wh-What? How is he able to move his arm? He's been injected by the poison!"

Then everything became clear. The numbness was fully ignored in its tracks by Elliott's sleep. His brain was the only part of his body that was functioning, neither his limbs or body. He didn't need to worry about his arm going numb because all he needed to move was an active brain.

Tem eventually recovered her footing and stood up again while hanging onto her arm and smiling softly.

"I know you can't hear me, but I owe you! Guys, let's leave Gabi to Elliott, let's get out of here before we lose more than we've already have!"

Although they initially hesitated, the three of them eventually followed Tem out of the dressing room, leaving Elliott alone inside.

As she saw them, Gabi immediately alerted the entire castle about their escape by pressing the button on the clock that was set up on the side of the table after realizing the repercussions and that she had been unable to stop them from continuing.

"This is Gabi. There has been a brief hiccup with the task I was established to; four of the intruders have escaped the dressing room. Make sure no one in the castle allows trespassers to interact with Master Muro! Repeat..."

"Now that that's out of the way.... Looks like I'll have to teach bad boys like you a lesson."

She stared directly into Elliott's closed eyes, knowing that she couldn't get anywhere with him in the way.

Everyone heard the announcement. The four of them were already climbing the steps to the upcoming corridors, which would undoubtedly lead to Muro. They were aware that they would need to investigate every room since they didn't know where Muro was.

"So, what are we going to do the moment we find Muro? And wouldn't it be better if we split up to search for him?" Asked Ralphie.

Kou was immediately infuriated by Ralphie's remarks to the point where his face went completely crazy. He started complaining, pointing fingers into Ralphie's eyes, flailing his arms up and down.

"Are you dumb?! Splitting would be the worst idea possible! Tell him, Tem! There's no way we should split to go look for Muro! Am I right!?!"

"Sorry, Kou, but that's our best option. While we're more safe together, there's less of a chance to finding him by ourselves. We could look for him for a more than we first believed only to then realize that he'd escaped the castle from our lack of ground covered."

"You're going to kill us all..."

"Don't worry. We'll go in pairs, that way we'll have better chance of locating him while also a great chance in being capable to fight without one of us getting sincerely injured."

Kou quickly agreed with a big sigh after realizing that Tem's proclamation was true. They finally divided into pairs as they moved through the passageway; Kou and Ralphie chose to take on the castle's western flank while Tem and Yumiko chose its eastern side. Before you knew it, everyone had disappeared from view.

Tem and Yumiko hastily glanced at a number of opening doors along a straight hallway after running up the stairs to the third floor, but none of them had any sign of life inside, notably not Muro, whose current whereabouts in the castle were remained vague to nonexistent.

"How do you plan to fight with your numb arm, Tem? You're putting too much pressure onto your body! You need to wait it out and only then can you strike."

"There's no time to be bothered by one thing that's blocking me. If we don't hurry up, there's no way knowing how long would it take it to heal, not to mention, we'd most likely end up suffering from losing Muro off our trace."

"If we want to stop him once and for all, we need to do it fast and efficiently. We're so far in deep, running away now would be the dumbest idea ever."

Slowly, they ran out of places to look for Muro as more and more rooms continued to disappear. For a while, they moved quickly across the eastern side without incident, but then someone abruptly crossed their path.

Suddenly emerging from a corner, Kizu was holding his blades close to his hips. He had absolutely no interest in leading them through and was grinning with assurance.

They were forced to stop...

"So, my dear fellow intruders, I would guess that you reached a dead end of the maze. I was given the responsibility of guarding this location under Bow's orders because Muro works and resides in the scientific room up these stairs. This indicates that I have a duty to stop you from advancing."

"I am Kizu! The one and only, perfection! Thus said, I am here to eliminate such low-lives as yourselves. I'd advise you to proceed with caution. We don't want any of you getting hurt, are we?"

With a pointed statement that he wouldn't think twice about hurting Yumiko and Tem, he grabbed the sword's tilt and dragged it in front of his face. To the best of his ability, he was willing to puncture their bodies, insuring that neither of them would be able to flee unhurt.

Tem remained unmoving despite the fact that she couldn't predict when the numbness in her arm would wear off. The black muck surrounding the cut, though, began to get smaller over time after she checked on the wound.

She discovered that the poison wouldn't wear off quicker than she had thought. Eager to fight, Yumiko's arms simply moved in front of Tem's.

Yumiko's expression was more resolute than ever. The weird pressure made something in Tem's head appear. She could make out a fading blue aura that was encircling Yumiko, as if it were visible only to her.

She could only remember that the young girl who had been made to perform painful activities was actually a warrior who had undergone skillful and patient training. Someone whose life took a turn for the worst but who didn't give up.

"Tem.... I want to be there, so that I can finally see Muro's unreasonable goals come to an end. I understand that you're on a time limit, and that we have no time to waste. I know that I looked like a coward earlier, but I am willing to change."

"What greeted me in the past will never be forgotten, however, it will never be problematic to understand. The poor, lonely life that I've been given came to an end. I want to protect the homeless people, the poorly fed children that still have much to learn."

"Before you came, I was the only person the poor people could trust. I was the only person who had importance to their lives; somebody who would once be able to defeat Muro. Although, I never anticipated this outcome, it needs to be done."

"I will fight Kizu. You go on ahead and find Muro. The moment I am done with him I will catch up to you."

Tem maintained a serious expression on her face as she studied Yumiko's increased level of commitment. When Yumiko's eyes met her own, she saw a wide smile of assurance, which was quickly followed by a nod.

She nodded and then offered a big smile in exchange.

"I didn't doubt you once, Yumiko. You truly are a warrior. You are the knightess of this island, there's no doubt. Very well, I'll leave this guy to you. I know you can do this, Yumi!"

Tem's call caused Yumiko's eyes to spark. She was surprised to receive a nickname so quickly, but because she adored her, she had a peculiar surge of exhilaration. In that one unique moment, she felt special. She then carefully saw Tem run near Kizu, who was poking about in his ears.

"Look, I don't care about your special moment, but as I said, nobody will get past me."

His eyes only then opened. Tem was already ascending the stairs without making a turn. His eyes widened in shock, and he knew that it was foolish to close them.

"Yo! I didn't give you permission to go around me that easily!"

He took a step forward in an attempt to attack Tem but was stopped when he quickly twisted around and grabbed the handle of his sword.

Yumiko's feet moved momentarily. She drew the swords out by pushing on their handles while lowering her arms to her belt. She shot herself in front of Kizu's face by darting across the marble floor like a panther.

She sidestepped in front of her and raised her left-handed sword at once. The sudden collision of Kizu's two blades against her own resulted in a loud metallic noise.

All of Yumiko's blades began to tremble as Kizu's blades continued to pound into hers. He attempted to shove through her while they were exchanging physical force, but it was ineffective.

"Sorry, Kizu. But as a 'Sun Soldier' I have a duty of my own. And that is...."

She manhandled Kizu as she was clutching the sword. She slashed both blades in a cross with force so that she could press him back without any difficulty. When she was victorious, she summoned a strong force that rocked the room like a fierce windstorm and immediately threw Kizu through the corridor in reverse. She appeared to have lit up the night with the brightness of her beautiful blue eyes.

"To defend those who trust me!"

To be continued...