Mako's efforts to warn the people of Lower Galandria about the incoming soldiers had backfired spectacularly. The plaza, once alive with festival cheer, had turned into a slaughterhouse.
Most women and children were holed up in their homes, hiding, waiting for the chaos to pass. They didn't understand what was happening.
Meanwhile, members of the criminal groups led by Louis and other crime bosses had surrounded the area, lurking in every nook and cranny, ready to strike as one.
For every soldier taken down, ten armed men from Lower Galandria fell. Despite being surrounded, the royal castle's forces held a certain advantage…
Or they would have, under normal circumstances.
The Rebels, that group with owl masks and eerie abilities, were causing serious trouble for the nobles' armed forces led by Zork.
Men were knocked to the ground by heavy blows from the soldiers' massive shields, only to be trampled by the swarming crowd in the fray.
Others suffered horrific wounds and had to be dragged off the battlefield.
Zork, trying to find a way out, fought the owl-masked men with no success… He'd already lost one of his duplicates, and he and the remaining two were unraveling.
At this point, it seemed only a matter of time before the castle's forces were done for.
◇◆◇
While the plaza was a veritable bloodbath…
Mako stood on a rooftop, covered in dust, his suit partially torn. He was surrounded by debris from the very building he was on. Facing him was a figure brimming with vengeance: Rebecca.
'I have to stop this massacre,' was the only thought in Mako's mind.
His plan to gain control over Lower Galandria's crime bosses was going to hell if there was no one left. And if the soldiers fell and the crown's men lost, he wasn't sure he'd make it out alive.
In simpler terms… Mako was utterly screwed.
Even so, he gripped the hilt of his sword, his only weapon in that moment. His arm and leg still ached from the wounds Arthur had inflicted, and now, the daughter of the very man he'd killed was here to finish the job.
"Rebecca!" Mako shouted, pained from the harsh fall onto the rooftop. "Is this really what you want?! Your people are going to die… Call them off!"
Rebecca let out a small laugh. She descended slowly, floating close to Mako, directing her three energy swords with her right hand.
Mako couldn't see her face, but her tone dripped with rage:
"How insolent you are, dog. This is a duel! The rest doesn't matter—face me or die!"
With a swift motion of her arm, the three energy swords shot toward Mako.
Mako was battered, but his theoretical swordsmanship was always impeccable. What he'd always lacked was physical ability… but now he had it! With newfound confidence, he didn't hesitate to counter the attacks.
Mako's rapier pointed skyward.
Rebecca's first energy sword aimed straight for his face. Then, with a feint, it changed trajectory at the last second.
Mako kept his eyes locked on it. A flick of his rapier's blade, and the energy sword vanished in a burst of blue light.
Like a million turquoise fireflies, the energy sword dissolved. But it wasn't the only one.
Here came the second attack, with no time to breathe.
Mako pushed his muscles' reaction speed to the limit. Ignoring the pain as much as he could, he swung his rapier with a deft motion, blocking the next attack.
'Here comes the third,' Mako thought.
Having fought Arthur, he remembered the pattern: two diversionary attacks to set up a third in a blind spot.
And so it was!
Mako, ready for the strike, positioned himself just in time to parry the third attack with a third of his blade.
But as he moved, Mako felt a massive weight on his leg. Instinct kicked in, a gut-wrenching premonition hitting his entire body. Feeling that weight, he leaped.
The energy sword grazed his left leg, and where Mako had just stood, an explosion shattered part of the rooftop into a thousand pieces.
Mako barely avoided being flung into the void. He slid across the ground after landing, crashing into part of the building's ledge.
'Was that… Rebecca?' Mako thought, realizing something.
Rebecca controlled the energy swords with her right hand. The last one still floated freely. But her left hand…
It was clenched into a fist! Her ability, that crushing weight that pinned her opponents in place, had evolved into new uses. Or so Mako thought.
"My father was a very wise man, you know," Rebecca said, ceasing to float and touching the ground. "He taught us all sorts of dangerous techniques, always saying we could only use them as a last resort."
Rebecca glanced at the moon and sky for a moment. Her rage-filled voice turned melancholic. But despite this hint of sadness, her mind was focused on one thing:
Mako.
With great skill, as Mako struggled to his feet, Rebecca moved her left hand: opening her palm, then clenching it into a fist. Each time she did, Mako felt a powerful pressure on a part of his body.
Quickly, Mako dodged, and like an explosion in the air, something was hurled skyward.
These weren't explosions like Erick's, full of gunpowder and fire. This was a gravitational force so intense that anything in its path was mercilessly crushed.
Mako could still dodge it. That wasn't the problem.
The real danger was the energy sword slicing through the air at high speed, grazing Mako superficially. One misstep, and he'd lose his head.
It was a desperate situation, but despite it all, Mako stood his ground, noticing something in the energy sword's movements.
Mako smirked.
"What's so funny, you filthy mutt?" Rebecca spat furiously.
Mako looked at her seriously, wiping the smirk off his face.
"I can still tell it's a sword, or at least it's shaped like one," Mako replied. Rebecca didn't grasp his words until he added, "Your father was far more skilled than you… His attacks were invisible to the human eye."
Rebecca exploded with rage.
"You damned dog!" the Rebel leader screamed at the top of her lungs.
Her attacks grew more frantic. Rebecca struck with wild energy, fueled by anger.
Her sword's cuts, though superficial, burned unnaturally. Mako felt like they seared him with red-hot iron.
'I can't get close,' Mako thought, searching for a chance to land a precise strike on the sword. If he could, he might rush in and end this.
But at the battle's peak, when both were giving their all and everything could end in a blink…
A massive explosion erupted from the center of Lower Galandria's plaza.
One filled with gunpowder and fire. One that Mako had only ever seen one person create:
Erick.
Both Mako and Rebecca froze, stunned by the explosion's magnitude. A building collapsed, and from its origin, both soldiers and Lower Galandria's men must have been caught in the blast.
Then, Mako heard a familiar flapping behind him.
"Polyphemus?!" he shouted, shocked.
Confirming his suspicions, Mako's heart lifted. But his smile faded quickly. Polyphemus's face… was one of tears.
"Forgive me, Mako," Polyphemus said without preamble. Mako didn't understand what he meant.
"Forgive me!" Polyphemus cried again. "I had no choice but to tell him everything! The contract forced me!"
Mako didn't grasp the words. But the sound of explosions in the background…