Chapter 39

"Gusion, please," Lesley mumbles as she hurries towards the city. Her eyes reflect how the buildings and towers slowly collapse as both Gusion and the SABER squad are causing havoc. "Please, stop."

"Everyone," Odette announces through the Snores—acting like megaphones— scattered around the area, "retreat and protect the city at all costs."

Alice smirks for she could tell that the Swan Princess is losing her mind in this losing battle of theirs. She flies down and stands before the SABER squad who are still under her control. Flipping her hair with confidence, she faces the princess.

"C'mon, don't be in a rush," she says playfully, "let's have some fun a bit longer since this might be the last time for a great war like this."

Just by looking at her face, Odette is annoyed at the abyssal mage that she releases her swan magic towards her just to erase the smirk off her face. Alice is about to counterattack but Gusion—covered in blood and sweat— intervenes. He throws his daggers towards her that Alice has no choice but to fly back in midair to avoid him.

Clicking her tongue as she glares at him, she snaps her fingers and the SABER squad starts to act upon her command.

"Gusion, there are two persons involved in capturing Nephila," Angela reports as soon as she attaches herself to their leader. She wants to continue monitoring Nephila but she cannot bear to watch Emperor Scorpion to fight on his own.

"Tell me about it," Gusion replies before charging past Saber and Cyclops. Fighting the SABER themselves would only bring him no good and drain his energy. The wisest thing to do is kill the person controlling them.

"Kenshin was called Talon by a woman in a bronze armor..." Angela pauses for a while for she, herself, cannot digest what she saw and heard. She bites her lower lip, thinking if she needs to tell Emperor Scorpion what the woman said.

Gusion, while waiting for Angela's full report, jumps off a tower's roof to reach Alice. Releasing his first dagger cuts the abyssal mage's skin but it is only a small one. Yet she is already marked, letting the Emperor Scorpion to have the upper hand.

"And this woman just referred to Nephila as her daughter."

Alice releases her blood ode magic towards Gusion, wanting to suck every breath out of him but with just a blink of an eye, the male assassin is out of sight.

"Damn it," she curses under her breath and turns her attention to the SABER squad, "don't just stand there, you pieces of idiots! Kill everyone!"

"To defeat me, you should not turn your gaze to anyone else but me," Gusion states, sending shivers down Alice's spine for he suddenly appears behind her without getting noticed. And before she knows it, Angela's strings has crawled up around her, restraining her movements, and Gusion kicks her down, shooting her on the solid ground.

"We'll go after Nephila after we deal with these shits," Gusion states.

Saber suddenly charges towards the Emperor Scorpion but fails to land a hit on him, instead, Angela releases a poisonous wave that immediately freezes him. Gusion is about to pierce his dagger into Saber—reluctant to kill him—but his weapon screeches against someone else's.

Feeling the presence of bullets coming towards him, Gusion retreats.

"Behind you!" Angela yells. Emperor Scorpion is a bit late to dodge Alucard's attack that he gets a rather deep cut on his arm. Clicking his tongue, he still faces the new team that has gathered around and surrounded him.

"Monitor Lizard and Octopus, where the fuck are they?!" he curses under his breath. Seeing the Lightborn squad with Princess Silvanna, it is impossible for him to win against them with just Vespid by his side.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" Alice protests as Tigreal and Gatotkaca bring her forward to Princess Odette to invalidate her magic for a while. Doing such would also bring the SABER squad back to their old selves. Alice cannot accept this outcome for she trained and trusted Dyrroth that he would bring the abyssal demons to victory but this is what she gets in return. If he is defeated, then the war has come to a conclusion with the warriors of Land of Dawn as the victors.

When the Swan Princess succeeds in sealing Alice's power, she turns to the Moniyan Princess.

"It seems that you won against your brother," she states with a small smile, feeling happy for her.

With a simple nod, Princess Silvanna replies, "He is being monitored as of the moment. Though, it is still a mystery to me as to why Selena suddenly appears only to bring the demons back to the abyss. But as of the moment, we need to finish business with the VENOM squad."

It is a relief that Selena did not fight back or it will prolong the battle. This time, it is Odette's turn to report back.

"Nero Ton originally created the team to retrieve the SABER squad but he was found dead at the bell tower. The killer is still unknown, though. VENOM is hard to deal with especially that Gusion is with them. Thankfully, Lesley managed to bring Harley and Grock back here. Gusion's betrayal against Nero only means that he has other plans."

Silvanna creases her forehead as she stares at Odette. She barely knows the Paxley rebel but she is sure that he is someone to be watched out for because of his cunning personality.

"He is after the Magic Cube that the SABER squad is guarding. He did not get it up this very moment, we should be thankful for that or it'll be a different battle," Odette adds.

On the contrary, Johnson, who used to keep the Magic Cube, looks on the ground upon hearing Odette's words. He did not know when but it was no longer with him and all he has been keeping ,until their capture by the abyssal demons, is actually a counterfeit cube of the original Magic Cube.

"Johnson," Silvanna calls out to him when she senses the different vibe he is emitting, "is the Magic Cube in your hands?"

Full of guilt and disappointment towards himself, Johnson replies with a soft tone, "No, Your Highness."

Watching Gusion and Angela fight against the Lightborn squad on their own, Princess Odette takes the chance to interrogate the tank of the SABER squad.

"What do you mean, Johnson?" the princess asks, "Explain it slowly."

"Your Highness, I apologize for slacking off in guarding it. I... I, too, am not sure of where the real Magic Cube is. The one that I have kept was not the real one. Back in the abyss, Dyrroth managed to open it with ease when it is supposed to be decoded first. I do not know who has it and when he got it from me and I have no idea if I even truly held the real Magic Cube," Johnson confesses.

The two princesses, who were at ease just a moment ago, are now uneasy—afraid that Gusion has actually stolen it a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Hanabi wakes up from her state of unconsciousness. Slowly opening her eyes, she could hear two people conversing and she immediately recognizes Kenshin's voice. Before she could get up on her own, Kenshin notices her and helps her sit up. The first thing she notices is the change in him. Still unsure of what is in front of her, Hanabi holds a few locks of Kenshin's hair.

"Why is your hair as long as mine, Kenshin?" she asks, "And why did it turn silver?"

Sivir bursts into giggles at her reaction which she did not expect. She once thought that Hanabi would yell at him or throw a fit for being lied to but it seems that she is wrong.

"You should start calling him Talon. Kenshin isn't his real name," she states which reminds Hanabi that he lied to her.

Gritting her teeth, she tightens her grip on Kenshin's hair and pulls it.

"I trusted you but you only took advantage of me, asshole!"

Seeing her sudden change, Sivir takes back what she thinks—Hanabi is going to throw a tantrum now.

"You told me nothing but lies ever since we met at that freaking laboratory!" she yells. But this time, instead of pulling his hair, Hanabi lands a punch on his cheek. "When do you plan on feeding me with your deceitful acts?! Even your name, it is a lie! Die, you piece of shit!"

She grabs her kunai from behind and swings it with no hesitation. Talon dodges her attacks while trying to explain his actions.

"It is for—" He ducks when Hanabi summons her Higanbana and throws it towards him, "It's for your own safety."

Hanabi does not find such reason to be valid so she charges towards him and, instead of using her weapons, she grapples him down on the ground. She is about to make another strike but Sivir interrupts them.

"It seems that the Paxley guy is about to lose," she states. And just as she expected, Hanabi stops and lets go of Talon. She runs towards Sivir where she could overlook the town and her hearts skips a beat upon seeing their leader fighting on his own. She, too, knows that Angela's help is not enough to assure their survival against the large number of warriors against him.

Without having second thoughts, Hanabi jumps off from the balcony but the moment she steps foot on the ground, a hand was wrapped around her.

"Don't go," Talon says in an almost of a whisper, "you'll die if you do."

But Hanabi's resolution to go and aid Emperor Scorpion is firm and even Talon cannot stop her. She holds his wrist and removes his hand away from her. No words has come out from her lips as she walks away.

"The Magic Cube is the only thing that would assure Gusion's safety," Talon claims which made her stop on her tracks. Hearing about the Magic Cube reminds Hanabi that it is the one that their leader seeks and if it could also save him, then, she is willing to go and find it.

Talon walks towards Hanabi who slowly faces him back. A smile is drawn on his face as he opens his palm in front of her and the Magic Cube slowly appears. It is a bit tiny than Hanabi expected but she can feel some strange power from it.

"I'll give it you," he says.

Hanabi raises her eyebrow because she knows that he won't just give it to her without asking anything in return. And truth be told, the Magic Cube is too precious and powerful to just give it away for free.

"And in return?" Hanabi asks. Talon steps closer and before Nephila could react, his warm lips touch the corner of her lips.

"That would suffice," Talon replies, "now, go and save Gusion."

Burying the memory of his kiss at the back of her mind, Hanabi grabs the Magic Cube from him. Her spider limbs appears behind her and with fast speed, she rushes to Gusion's side.