A gust of wind coursed through the manor. Hwoosh. The sound caught the attention of Gronica, the other lion. She was in the last room on the residence’s fifth floor, one door down from Clope’s study.
“Is a window open?” she asked.
Confused, the Seca knight beside her replied, “Sorry?” A split second later, his face hardened. There were no open windows.
The members of Arm drew their weapons. Schwing!
As soon as word of the intruders had reached them, they had closed off all the fifth-floor doors and windows and assigned Seca knights to guard them. No breeze should’ve been able to seep through—yet the wind swept past them once more.
Hwoosh.
Everyone gripped their weapons. That was when they saw it: a thick mist creeping toward them from the end of the corridor, where the wind had come from. It looked as if a white wave was splashing toward them in the night.
“Get back!” Gronica said, then rushed at the mist. She held a golden whip—one that matched her hair.
Her whip lashed out at the mist. Crack!
A tiny cry rose up from within. “Meow.” It was a cat.
Some time ago, Gronica had attended a meeting of Arm’s various battle brigades. She vividly remembered the childlike tamer—who was far older than he looked—grinding his teeth and muttering, “I’m going to kill those cats.”
“There are two of them,” the magic spearman had reported. “They’re skilled with poison.”
When Gronica heard another meow, she struck at the mist again. Thwack! A blade parried her attack, knocking the whip off course. Then a man appeared from within the mist. His eyes shone the same shade of black as his outfit, and a dark aura permeated the air around him. Right then, Gronica remembered some key intel Arm had acquired on the assailants.
“It’s poisonous!” she warned her subordinates, then faced her foe. “You must be the aura-wielding swordmaster.”
At that, the masked man’s black eyes crinkled in a smile. Gronica didn’t miss it, flicking her whip once more. Thwack!
The windows in the hallway imploded. Shards of glass hurtled to the ground outside, startling the forces below.
“Wh-where’d this glass come from?”
“What the…?!”
They quickly realized something was happening on the fifth floor.
Watching the poisonous mist spread beyond the windows, Gronica cocked her head to one side. One of the intruders was shouting outside. “What are you doing? Are you scared? You’re no better than these wyvern-flies! Hey, bristle-brain, are you running away? Ah ha ha ha ha! Good luck running!”
Bristle-brain? Gronica chuckled at the insult before charging at her opponent—Choi Han. As she ran past her subordinates, she barked, “Guard the door.” Then she flicked her whip at Choi Han anew.
Swish. Boom!
It wasn’t the sound one would expect from a sword blocking a whip. The windowsills shook from the impact. With a short dagger in her grip, Gronica sprinted at Choi Han. Her blade slipped in close, and their eyes met.
At that moment, Gronica heard the intruder speak for the first time. “Too weak.”
Her eyes widened. What?!
Then a familiar voice reached her ears. “Gronica!” Her cousin Edrich appeared at the other end of the hallway, flanked by knights. His face was swollen from an earlier punch, but he threw himself into battle nonetheless.
Cale observed all this from the hallway entrance, still invisible. They’re all here.
‹When do we do it, human?!› Raon asked, excited. Of course the dragon hadn’t forgotten his desire to get revenge on Arm. Still, Cale took his time gathering the Sound of the Wind beneath his feet.
Edrich threw a punch at Choi Han, sounding equal parts angry and shaken. “Son of a bitch! Who the hell are you?! What in the world…?!”
Gronica coordinated her attacks with his. The two of them worked together in perfect sync, striking high and low as if they’d planned the maneuver in advance. Unfortunately for them, their opponent was Choi Han.
Whap. Whap. He blocked both the fist and the whip with ease. Undeterred, Gronica jabbed her dagger at Choi Han’s shoulder while Edrich aimed a kick at his knee. Their agile movements were difficult to follow with the naked eye.
That was when an unknown voice spoke up. “Break it.”
Gronica froze. Who is—
A loud hiss, like the sound of a sudden downpour, drowned out her thoughts. Glancing about, she saw the mist roiling in the hallway again—only this time, it was the color of blood. The cloud of mist slowly expanded.
“Getting distracted?”
Gronica snapped out of her stupor and redirected her strike. Clang! Her blade clashed against Choi Han’s aura-covered hand. No sooner than their weapons clashed did the masked man seize Edrich by the neck.
“Ugh!”
“Edrich, no!”
Edrich flailed around. “Y-you dare lay hands on this future king?! Let—ngh! Let go!”
As the Lion King’s second son, Edrich was Gronica’s ticket to power in her family. She moved to save him but stopped short. The hissing sound was getting closer; something was coming. She jerked her head toward it, thinking of the owner of that unknown voice from before.
Wreathed in mist, the figure sprinted their way, bringing with him a fierce gale that absorbed vapor and poison alike. White, red, blue, and black—a kaleidoscope of noxious miasmas surged together.
It’s going to explode! Gronica thought.
“I’ll let him go,” said Choi Han, and Edrich went flying through the air.
“Dodge!”
The same instant, the cloud of mist detonated.
Boom!
The massive cyclone enveloped the members of Arm. The force of the explosion demolished the windowsills, blasting them out of the hallway, while cracks splintered across the walls.
Edrich rammed directly into the whirlwind. “Augh!”
He was somewhat resistant to poison, but the vortex was formidable. His body hit the ground. Wham! Despite the powerful impact, he seemed unhurt and swiftly regained his footing.
“Urgh!”
“Huh? M-my eyes!”
The lions showed no concern for the cries of the poisoned knights and members of Arm, making haste toward the room at the end of the hallway. The knight stationed in front of the door was paralyzed by the poison, uttering feeble grunts.
Choi Han swooped in to block their advance, earning a sigh from Gronica. The figure behind him turned the knob with a click. As the mist dissipated, the figure’s cloak of invisibility gradually unraveled, from his feet on up. He faced the lions, glee dancing in his eyes.
After that, Cale opened the door and stepped into the room as if he owned the place. The door clacked shut behind him, and Choi Han barred the lions from entry.
“You’ll have to get through me first,” Choi Han said cheerfully. He infused his sword with his aura; from this point on, he would fight without holding back.
“Meeeow.”
“Meeow.”
With twin meows from the cats, the mist reappeared in the hallway.