Episode 93 Another Betrayal: The Beast’s Hidden Fangs

Silver fights back tears as she stares down at Tide in amazement, even as her own poison overtakes his body. Shuriken and Sasha look on solemnly just behind her.

“Y-You’re still alive…?” Silver blurts out. “Use these last few moments of your pathetic life and rest in peace, please…you and I both know the battle’s long over. You lost, and now you’ll pay for it with your life.”

“Heh,” Tide grunts, “I have no intention of pleading for my life. I’ve just got a couple things to tell ya before I go. First—look around in my pockets, and you’ll find the plans you’re looking for. You wouldn’t have gotten your hands on them otherwise, it was sealed with a password only I and a few others know.”

Silver’s eyes widen instinctively, as she listens to Tide’s words. Behind her, both Shuriken and Sasha utter soft cries of alarm as Tide breaks this bit of news. Immediately, Silver reaches rather invasively into Tide’s shirt pocket, and whips out a scroll of parchment sealed with a thread of red string.

“This is…this is…!” Silver murmurs, as she opens up the roll of parchment. “He wasn’t lying! These are the plans the Four of Victoria Island used to seal the worlds from each other!”

“Heh,” Tide smiles meekly, coughing up blood as he does so, “you thought I was lying? Just like you to think that of me, Silver. But I promise you I’m not lying this time…I no longer have any reason to. I was hoping I could make a triumphant return and reveal to you that it’d been my plan all along, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be…

“Just so you know, Silver,” Tide interjects with a harrowing cough, “I never meant to hurt you, Lily, nor any of the others. Heh! Actually, I must sound pretty lame here, right on my deathbed, huh? But…there’s one more thing I’ve got to tell ya, Silver, it’s extremely important…”

Silver watches frightfully, even as she kneels over him. Tide coughs again, while his face grows pallid; blood splashes out from his mouth. He grabs Silver by the collar, clutching at her desperately. “It’s…extremely important, regarding the Fatalists…” Tide whispers hoarsely, “…their plan…”

“Their plan?” Silver repeats, as Tide grows paler and his voice more urgent. “What do you mean?”

“They came here to…” Tide gasps, “…to take the…” He suddenly screams out loud, and vomits a stream of blood onto his lap. Tide suddenly smiles, grasping Silver by the wrist. “Damn it, Silver…your poison works…too…fa…st…”

Tide closes his eyes at last, a faint smile still on his face, as Silver weeps over his dead body.

A youthful, brown-haired woman in her early thirties strolls down the neatly paved streets of Henesys Park, idly watching her two young children play just ahead.

She stares down the road, where her two boys are engulfed in a playful yet vicious fight. “Bradley!” the woman howls sternly. “Stop biting your brother!” She sighs resignedly, and makes to pull the two boys apart.

However, midway there, a large, looming cloud suddenly obscures the sun, prompting the woman to look up in curiosity. Overhead, the sky grows ever darker, gradually filling with storm clouds. A distant roaring, not of thunder, but almost as of some mysterious, monstrous beast, echoes throughout the park.

The wind picks up, and the woman cries in alarm as her hat is nearly whipped off her head. She turns and stares straight north, which appears to be the epicenter of the commotion. “What on earth is going on over there in Sleepywood?”

Kunai hoists a lightly packed bag onto his shoulders, and turns to stare indifferently at the darkened cell next to him. A young girl stands at the center of the cell, watching him intently from behind the iron bars.

“Brother…” she murmurs softly.

“Lily,” Kunai says out loud, even as he turns away, “I will be back to retrieve you later. I promise. Regardless of what happens here, I will return. However, for the time being, I have an urgent mission I must accomplish. But I promise that Lord Gilford will not lay a finger on you. If he does, I shall kill him myself.”

“K-Kunai,” Lily says softly.

“Hm?” Kunai replies, turning to her with limited interest.

“No, n-nothing,” Lily answers resignedly.

Kunai sighs, as he shoulders his enormous sword. “Things are starting to get out of hand again. It looks like I’ll have to hurry, or else they’ll—”

“Oh?” a voice suddenly interrupts, causing both Kunai and Lily to freeze in alarm. “And where do you think you’re hurrying off to?”

The wall to the holding cell abruptly explodes open recklessly, as Lord Gilford emerges from behind the wall in a flying rage. He boldly carries his axe with one arm, glaring at Kunai sneeringly. “Doesn’t look too good for you right now, Kunai. Do you think I’m actually going to let you betray me like that?”

Kunai smirks, lowering his sword from his shoulder and preparing for battle. “I’m afraid that was my intent from the beginning. It’s not my fault you’re such an ignorant fool that you missed it up until now.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lord Gilford retorts. “Unfortunately, it was your mistake in showing up here when I had surveillance on because of the intruders. It became even fishier when I saw you breaking into one of the storage rooms and taking some supplies with you! But if you’re gonna go up against me, then I’ll be more than glad to teach you a little something about respect, kid!”

“That so?” Kunai answers sneeringly. He calmly takes off his bag and places it on the side. “Then I guess I’ve got no choice but to remove you from my way.”

“Bastard,” Gilford drones on, “what did you take from my storage facilities?”

“Oh, nothing,” Kunai retorts, “just some of these.” He reaches into his bag, and shows Gilford a couple tubes filled with a blackish liquid.

“Hmm?” Gilford growls, staring at them half-interestedly. “Soul Potions? And what the hell do you want those for? A head-on offensive type guy like you won’t need some fancy potions to beat me.”

“I don’t plan to use them to defeat you,” Kunai replies softly.

“Oh, yeah? Then what do you need ‘em for?” Gilford inquires.

“That is not for you to know,” Kunai answers.

“Oh really then, huh?” Gilford replies, grinning with frightening glee. “Well, to be honest, I don’t particularly care if you steal those things from me. Never had a use for ‘em. Now, then…are we going to fight or what? You’ve been making me wait here with this stupid chit-chat since I showed up.”

Kunai disappears without a word, and Gilford calmly turns to counter his behind-the-back surprise attack. Kunai bounces off Gilford and soars through the air, landing gracefully on the ground just in front of Lily.

“Tch,” Gilford says, “that was a cheap shot, and I’m not gonna fall for those.”

Gilford raises his axe just a bit, and glances at it with a gentle malevolence in his eyes. “I’ll show you…how real men fight!” He pounces on Kunai, and Kunai throws his own sword back to counter the weight of Gilford’s, as his feet buckle from under him.

Ayame batters the Paradox attempting to consume Ryuu with several vehement rounds of Savage Blows. She slices off several of its scaly, snake-like tentacles, until it finally relinquishes its grip on Ryuu. Ryuu falls onto the floor on hands and knees, gasping fiercely.

He grabs his sword, just as Ayame rushes over to check on him. “Ryuu, are you all—”

“Ayame!” Ryuu howls, as the Paradox whips one of its long tentacles at Ayame, throwing her through the air. Ryuu grasps his sword, and slices apart the same tentacle that had approached Ayame.

Meanwhile, Ayame slowly clambers back onto her feet, just as the Paradox decides to launch another wave of tentacles at her. Ryuu leaps into the fray, cutting them down just before they hit Ayame.

“God damn Paradox!” Ryuu shouts, slashing apart the Paradox’s many tentacles. “Eat this!” A fiery splash of flames emerges from Ryuu’s sword, snowballing into a gigantic wave of fire. The Paradox shrieks in alarm as the wave of flames crashes down upon it, singeing its soft, sensitive skin.

After several moments, the Paradox sinks onto the floor, writhing about in a jumble of burning tentacles. The narrow hallway catches on fire, and Ryuu grabs Ayame’s arm as the ceiling begins crumbling above.

“Aw crap, this place is gonna fall apart!” Ryuu cries, almost dragging Ayame along behind him. “We gotta get outta here!”

Ayame glances back frightfully, just as the ceiling collapses completely onto a heap of already-burning waste.

Kunai’s sword clashes violently with Gilford’s axe, as the two continue to battle it out in front of Lily’s holding cell. Kunai disappears in spurts of blurry speed every once in a while, and while Gilford moves with the speed of a snail, he succeeds in countering Kunai’s every move and attack.

“Hahaha!” Gilford howls, delighting in Kunai’s strained effort. “Give it up! You cannot defeat me!”

Kunai comes to a stop facing Gilford, his entire frame drooping from fatigue. He pants heavily, watching Gilford with a look of intense hatred.

All of a sudden, Gilford comes right at him, and Kunai barely dodges, floating through the air and appearing at Gilford’s left at the last moment. Gilford strikes again, and Kunai steps out of the way just in time.

“What’s the matter? Getting tired already? We haven’t even been fighting all that long!” Gilford taunts, waving his axe through the air. “I expected a better performance from you!”

Kunai falls to the ground, worn out, as Gilford approaches him. He raises his axe over Kunai’s head, and grins evilly. “Oh well. Guess that’s the end of that end then.”

Gilford brings his axe all the way down, and strikes the floor. His eyes widen, as they scan the room. “What the—?! Where’d he—AHHH!” Gilford suddenly notices his left hand, bleeding profusely and sitting on the floor detached from his arm.

Kunai appears next to Gilford, shaking his sword to get the blood off its edge. “The hell? I meant to cut off your dominant hand. Guess you lucked out and raised your left arm just in time. Oh well.”

In another instant, Gilford falls to his knees screaming, as Kunai slices through his back. Kunai seemingly appears to have not moved, as he returns to the same spot.

Lord Gilford gasps breathlessly in his agony, as he turns to glare grotesquely at Kunai. “What…the hell was that?! Did you have that move on you all this time?!”

“Do you want to know?” Kunai retorts calmly. “Well, it doesn’t matter.” With a jerk, he tears off a piece of his cape, and throws it at Gilford. “Wipe away as much blood as you can,” he says coldly.

“Damn you,” Gilford growls, “you defeat me and tell me to wipe myself? You might as well kill me, you bastard!”

Kunai smirks, a dark smile that distorts his entire face. “I shall not kill you. No, you still have to greet our guests, remember?”

Gilford narrows his eyes, glaring hatefully at Kunai. “Why, you…”

But with that, Kunai disappears without a trace.

Next Time: Episode 94 The Masters of War Clash!

Arai: In our next installment of Tales of a Lost World, we have…a very boring chapter! But it’s pretty much the end of our heroes’ little adventure in the Maple World! Ooh, what’s next?!

Episode 94 The Masters of War Clash! coming soon!