I took a step forward

*ping* another shot hit my chest but was deflected by the energy barrier

"Vicereine, you're alive"

*ping*

I took another step forward

*ping*

"Why are you shooting me, I'm your ally"

*ping* I moved closer and closer

She pressed something on her gauntlets

I saw a bluish energy head my way, it's from one of the windows of the houses, it's Vicereine's customized hybrid rail-AWP gun, it has an immobilized function where it can be left somewhere and be remotely controlled

I swung Azazel and destroyed the shot

"Vicereine, come on, we've missed you, both Alissa and I" I held out my hand towards her

She moved her hands and two energy claws appeared from her hands, she swung them and my left arm was grazed

"No, it is you who must come with me, let's go back to the Kingdom" She held out her hand

Back to the Kingdom? why? did they perhaps fool Vicereine into thinking that Arcadia is evil? alright, I'll go with her back to the Kingdom, I'll convince her that she's being fooled and pull her back here

I was about to reach out to her hand when Astarotia shot a fireball

"The church's holy maiden and dark stalker, what are you doing here?" Astarotia asked as she lit up a fire on both her hands

"Astarotia, she's my friend, don't fight her" I held Astarotia's shoulders

"What do you mean?" Astarotia looked back at me before staring at Vicereine, she seemed to have noticed something and chuckled

"Of course, your armor looks the same" But she still didn't kill the fire dancing on her hand, moreover, she even made them grow larger

"Enough of this, let's go back to the Kingdom Bladeknight" Vicereine walked towards me

She held out her hand, I grabbed her hand before taking her down

"I thought you might've been fooled but you already know who I am which begs the question, why would you call me Blade Knight?" I paused for a bit before continuing

"Which means you've been brainwashed"

Vicereine looked me dead in the eyes as I locked her on the ground

I detected another energy blast towards my back, how? I could've sworn I made sure she couldn't press the gauntlet

I had no choice but to block the attack since if I moved, the shot would've hit Astarotia. Vicereine took this chance and escaped

I want to chase after her but multiple shots were fired and I was forced back

'Lilith, hack into her Valkyrie01 suit and track her'

'I've already did ever since your arm touched her gauntlets'

'Good job'

'No problem, but I also downloaded some files from her left 'Eyeris''

'Wait, she recorded something?' I asked

'Yes'

'I'll watch them later, for now, let's move back'

"You're friends with the holy maiden?" Astarotia asked

"Yes, and her name is Vicereine"

"Not anymore, she's Akasha now, the assassin and holy maiden of the Church" Astarotia shot back

"What do you mean?" I asked, the church?

"Well, 3 years ago, a huge meteor fell from the skies" She paused before continuing

"Is what the news say but actually, that meteor was no rock and was instead a huge glacier of ice. The skies opened up and dropped that huge ice somewhere remote"

"The skies opened up?"

"Yeah, like a dark hole opened up and threw out that ice, anyway, the church was first to go there. They took the chunk of ice and secretly moved away. What's left of the chunk of ice? well, an unknown monster was inside it... wait, now that I think about it, it looks familiar to those that we are fighting"

"That's because they are! that's a Hercules King, where is it?" I asked

"No one dared to go close it since the church used their power to make that place their own, they even talked to the King into playing along with them"

"This is bad, who knows what will happen if they get a hold of a Hercules King carcass"

Astarotia doesn't know how dire the situation was but based on the tension in my tone, she knows it is something worse than she originally thought

She coughed and tried to talk about other things

"So, why aren't you chasing after her? you think she was your friend but was she trying to kill you?"

"She wouldn't at least the person in my memories won't, also, I have a feeling we'll meet each other again, for now, I've gotta make sure that Alissa and Cynthia are safe, things get out of hand just when the battle ends" I stated

"Have you had experience with those things? you seem to be overthinking to me"

"Well, once we've had a huge war for a little city. We won and everyone was happy yet at night, remnants of the enemy forces dug deep underground and feasted on everyone as they slept, regretfully, I was out on patrol and when I returned, our outpost was in flames, everyone, soldier or not was fleeing. I know I couldn't have done much even if I returned earlier but at least I could've saved more lives, even if it was only a little" I shared a bit of my past with Astarotia

"You" Astarotia paused, seemingly looking for words to say

"Not everyone can be saved"

"I know, I've had that happen to me too many times already" I sighed

"Would it cheer you up if it was your lover who said it?" She asked

"She doesn't have to say anything, I only need a small haven, I'm only human, even I fear, hate, and lose myself. All I need is her presence and a small gesture, a simple sign that she loves me and she's there for me" I looked at Astarotia as I ruffled her hair before continuing

"But you're different, you're annoying and a huge pain in the ass but I don't mind having you around"

"Sorry for being a huge pain in the ass when I literally helped you a couple of times" She sarcastically said as she removed the constraints of her and just set it free

"Thanks for all you've done, when you're in trouble, I'll be sure to help you out" I gave her my thanks

"Really? when I do, I'll be screaming your name with a fervent expression of love on my eyes"

"Please don't, I'd be embarrassed to death"

We both chuckled as we walked back to the feast, the night went by, for the nobles and the townspeople, it was an enjoyable feast, to some elite guards and myself, it was a night where we had to conduct a full-scale investigation

The next day, all the dead spies were buried, the prince was punched by Alissa until he spoke out what he knew of the church's holy maiden

Akasha, the name of the holy maiden, during the past two years, have been assassinating the Kingdom's threats one after another, she's also the reason why the demons can't advance through. She was away on a huge crusade to recover the north-western lands during my stay in the kingdom so we missed each other

There's also a reason why I didn't chase her, the only reason I could think of as to why she would attack me is either, she's not Vicereine which is highly unlikely or she's forgotten who I am

Alissa is currently tracking her, watching her from above, once she leads us where their base is, we'll go in and kill whoever is giving her orders and try to make her remember our past.

Whatever happens after that will be up to Vicereine, if she returns to us, I'll be happy, if she doesn't, then I will have to take. Her. Down. I need to live on the present and not on the past, I've got Alissa and Cynthia now and the Kingdom along with the church which Vicereine works with is a huge threat to their lives.

I might be acting cold but to be honest, I have no idea if I can really fight her. I know what I need to do yet once again, my emotions are getting the best of me