'The Slaughterer'

"If that's true. We need to increase the amount of security here." said Diane.

"Yeah. We do. I'll rely on you guys to do that. Meanwhile, I'm going to head into town. I may have some leads." Louis replied.

Leo stopped in to give advice, "Just be careful where you stick your nose. Making contact with the wrong kind of people could make things worse."

This was something Louis took to heart. He would be sure to remember that.

"I'll keep that in mind when I ask around. Anyways, I'll head out now. See ya guys later."

Louis walked off, feeling confident that he would come across good info. He was going to head to the jail and ask Cruz about ways to find the guy called 'Faust'

_________

For every person Louis passed on the street, his gut feeling got stronger. He had a hunch something was going to happen. His eyes looked form left to right in a hurry, attempting to spot the problem.

'The feeling is getting stronger. Where? I don't see anything off, but I know something's not right.'

He stood still in a moment, caught in a trance of thought as he continued to scan the area. Every civilian on the street looked normal, and everything looked like a normal day. Still, Louis couldn't notice anything off.

Tmp.

A woman tripped over a pebble, stumbling over towards Louis. Before the lady came close to hitting the floor, Louis leaned forward, swiftly catching her.

Fwsh.

The woman moved her hair aside, uncovering her red-colored eyes as she gazed at Louis.

"Wow. Thank you. I was expecting to fall pretty hard. I'm glad you caught me." said the woman.

"Yeah, me too. What's your name?" Louis asked.

"Are you asking me out?" the woman asked.

Her accusation wasn't even close. Louis had a completely other reason. Reaching to his side, he pulled a small device off his shirt, holding it in his palm.

"Nah. I just want to know the name of the person who placed this tracking device on me."

In the second he caught her, she had placed it on him. This woman was definitely up to something.

The lady sighed, "Quite impressive. You really are something, noticing things no average person would notice. I knew this wouldn't be an easy task."

Louis grabbed a hold of the woman's wrist and questioned her.

"Did a guy named Faust put you up to this?"

The woman smiled while her eyes shined in admiration.

"Well, well. You're even able to figure that out? Truly amazing."

"Just hurry up and give me answers. I'd hate for a pretty lady like you to waste time on a guy like me."

"Oh you don't want me to waste time? THEN I WON'T" A murderous fury lit in her eyes as she pulled out a knife and lunged at his throat.

Louis gently moved to the side, firmly kicking her back.

Bmp.

Her figure slid before she caught her footing.

"Oh..oh oh oh oh oh oh. Just as I expected of the Royal Killer."

"If you think that's impressive then how about I guess what color panties you got on. Blue, right?"

"Oh. What good hunches you have. Here, have my name before I devour you. It's Alys. But I'm much more famous as The Slaughterer."

The Slaughterer. A name that's clearly given to a murderous criminal. Still, Louis couldn't recall the name from anywhere. He had no clue who she was.

"Yeah..I'm sure you're proud of imagining your fame and all, but I have to tell you, I've never even heard of you."

"Oh. My feelings, they hurt so bad. But...I LOVE IT! I can't wait to taste your blood."

Alys's pupils became smaller and she filled with a sense of Psychotic happiness. She slid her knife across her arm, letting blood poor out.

Slit!

All the citizens stopped to look at the crazy woman who was licking her own blood from a shining knife.

"Woah! You have issues, lady!" Louis couldn't help but throw out an insult.

"OH..YES! I don't quite like the taste of my blood at times, but it satisfies my cravings! But I'll need your BLOOD if I want to benefit."

Louis stood, cringing at this devilish sight.

"Yeah...you definitely need help. A Lot of help!"

Alys pointed at Louis as her fingertips lit up.

"I only need you to BLEED!!"

Blazing with scorching heat, a ball of fire shot out towards Louis. It only came close to him, before swaying aside and exploding against a building.

Booom!!

Civilian screams filled the air as they all started fleeing the area.

"Summon: Steel blade, come forth." Louis chanted.

A magic circle hovered below his hand as a sword, slowly materializing until he could lift it.

With a firm swing through the air, Louis pointed it towards the current threat.

"Even if you're a damn psychopath, I'll give you one chance to surrender because you're still a lady."

"Your kindness is your downfall."

Alys Jumped across the air, swigning her heel at Louis but missed as her ankle was grabbed.

Swsh! Slam! Crackle!

She stood still, stunned for a moment as her body was nearly engraved within a wall.

"You're even quick with counters." she said.

"Nope. You're just predictable and seriously a noob in combat."

"A noob. First time I've been called that. I usually beat my opponents with ease." Alys stated.

Louis shook his head and gave his honest opinion.

"Your opponents must've been mega noobs if you beat them so easy. I think you should start fighting better opponents if you wanna get better. That's if they don't kill you first."

"Oh. Now you're even giving me advice. How nice. I guess this experience will help me grow stronger."

Alys threw her blade at her target, but it suddenly changed direction, hitting a nearby wall.

Clink!

Louis nearly giggled as his eyes watered. "See. Even your ability to throw a knife is lame….Just kidding. Projectiles just can't hit me. It's an ability of mine."

Alys's eyes twinkled with a red shine.

"Projectiles won't work, huh. I know exactly how to handle you."

Her hand drew a knife from her pocket and hurled it into the ground by Louis's feet.

Louis examined the knife that had narrowly missed him. Sticking out his tongue, his mood grew cocky.

"Is that your idea? Throwing knives until my ability somehow fails, right? You even think like a noob."

"Oh, I know it wouldn't hit you. I have something else in mind." said Alys.

"Huh?" Louis looked down at the knife in the ground as it began to brightly glow. It definitely wasn't a good sign.

'Crap.'

Boom!

The knife exploded with such force that it threw Louis across the road, and even partially tore apart the ground.

Thump!

His limbs felt as if they were instantly bruised and his clothes were nearly blown off. He laid still, in pain.

'I..did not see that coming. But that was smart. Using an explosion since it's not necessarily a projectile. I'll have to give her credit for that one.'

Louis jumped back onto his feet, nearly tripping from his pain.

"Okay. Maybe your thinking isn't all that bad, you're just a little smart."

"Thanks for the compliment!"

Alys dashed across the road, slashing at Louis, but he dodged and caught her wrist instead.

"I'd rather not hurt a lady, but you deserve at least some effort from me."

Louis jammed his fist into Alys's chest, tossing her into the air, then kicked her into the ground.

Smash! Bmp. Slam!

"There! Now we're even! Louis shouted.

Tmp. Tmp. clink. Clink.

With each passing second, heavy armored footsteps came closer.

Knights came from every direction, surrounding Alys as she rose to her feet, wiping the blood from her face.

"Not bad. But sadly, our fight has reached its end. It's not good now that help is here."

Alys grinned as the entire area was swallowed by a thick fog.

She gave Louis one last look as she faded into it, saying her goodbyes for the time being.

"We'll pick up some other time."

This was bad news. She got away. There was no doubt that Alys would become a disterous issue in the future.

'Could she be the one responsible for the threat in two weeks?'

The mist vanished without a trace, along with the crazed woman.

The Knight's stood in confusion as the threat was nowhere to be seen.

"What? Where'd she go?"

"Did she escape?"

"Damn! That Slaughterer girl, she got away again."

One of them looked at Louis and spoke to him.

"You? You did good holding her off until we got here. Who knows who she was trying to kill this time."

"Ha..uh well, it looked like she was trying to kill me."

First, Alys's intention seemed to only be placing a tracker, but once Louis found out she tried to kill him.

"It's surprising she didn't kill you before she got here. She's one of the most deadliest assassins in the kingdom. You must've really scared her if she actually decided to retreat."

"I heard you mention something about her previous attacks. Is she always trying to kill someone?"

The knight nodded, "She's been doing a lot of assassinations lately. But she's done 3 mass-attacks in areas like this. Consider yourself lucky since you survived her. Seeing as she was trying to assassinate you, your best bet is to seek out help. If you head to a guard post, they wouldn't mind keeping you safe as a witness."

But Louis didn't really need assistance. He was more than capable of surviving a future conflict with her. Seeing the weakess of the military these days, Louis felt the responsibility to say something that will make them work harder to become stronger.

"I'll be fine. She wasn't really a big deal for me if I'm being honest. If someone like her is that big of a threat to you guys, then I'd rethink your career choice. Either that or just work so hard you get stronger"

The knight stomped his foot in rage.

"You dare insult us knights who put our lives on the line for the sake of the kingdom?! Who exactly do you think you are?"

"It was just a suggestion. A suggestion from a retired Royal Knight himself." said Louis, before walking off, leaving the knight surprised.