Chapter 166: Step Ahead

"Sorry kid, but you're not going back," said the man who had just appeared through the teleporter, a man wearing all green garments, and someone who Clyde recognized instantly.

As the man appeared, he held out his hands downwards and crushed his open palm into a fist, crumbling the teleportation pad under him, rendering it useless.

"Galo?! What are you doing here?!" Clyde stepped back from him, to which Galo sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"My bad. I'm too tired to talk right now. Just hand over the girl quietly so I can get this shit over with," he held out his hand and waved it towards himself, motioning for Clyde to hand Xenia over.

Clyde furrowed his eyebrows and grit his teeth, tightening his hold on Xenia, and taking a step backward. He grunted, then slowed down time and ran away, jumping into the water-filled city and running away from Galo the green.

"Guess it won't be that easy," Galo sighed, then carelessly began walking after Clyde, clearly not putting any effort into this job.

Clyde ran between the houses and buildings, fitting himself through the narrow alleyways, the water on the ground going up to his ankle, which slightly slowed down his sprinting speed.

"The dorm… I must get to the dorm…" He thought to himself as he suddenly ran into Quint, who was conversely running towards the teleporter, the 2 almost bumping into each other.

"Clyde?! The hell are you doing running to the dorm?" Quint yelled, then noticed his sister passed out in his arms, an expression of deep worry invading his face. "The fuck?! What happened to her?!" He yelled over the sound of explosions and screams, the 2 of them standing between a hidden alleyway between buildings, out of sight of the enemies.

"I've no clue… That is why I must head towards the dorm and ask Raxo to heal her," Clyde claimed, to which Quint scoffed in anger.

"Are you a fuckin idiot?! All of their forces are focused on the dorm and the academy! The princess, Raxo, and the rest are stuck there right now. I was the only one who wasn't there at the time of the attack, so I'm headin' to the teleporter to warn you and Rein," Quint explained, then began looking around. "Speakin' of him, did he not come with you?! Fuck, then why didn't you—"

"The teleporter is broken, Quint. Galo the green destroyed it…" Clyde informed, to which Quint's heart dropped to his stomach. "Rein stayed behind in Tura to complete our commission. He asked Xenia and I to go back to the gulf ahead of him…" He continued, beginning to clench his fist in anger as he recounted the story.

"Well, that's really a shame…" They heard a playful and arrogant voice emerge from somewhere, cutting through the sound of loud, painful screams and explosions, followed by a loud thud.

Suddenly, a smiling red-haired man appeared between Quint and Clyde, standing on his ginormous hammer as he stared Clyde in the face.

"Roki?!" Clyde barely reacted in time, jumping backward, away from the danger that had just appeared.

"Hehe, not just me this time," he snapped his finger to signal something, suddenly, the buildings that surrounded them and covered their position crumbled to the ground, an entire battalion of soldiers surrounding them with hostile intent.

"Shit… I didn't even notice," Quint took out his battle axe and readied himself as he looked around at the soldiers in Econican armor.

"*sigh*, So you already got to him then, Red Reaper," Galo came floating from above on a platform of gold.

"Damn right. And I'm not as much as a pussy as you," Roki retorted, then looked back at Clyde. "There's nowhere to run, Clyde. Everyone in the city is dyin' here anyways, so hand the girl over already," he ordered as he got off of his hammer and stepped into the water.

Suddenly, Roki sensed a murderous intent behind him, turning around to see a morphed beast swinging a battle axe at him from behind, the animal seething with anger.

"Like hell we'd just hand her over…" Quint growled, to which Roki laughed in amusement.

"I was hopin' you'd say that," a twisted smile grew on his face, an opposite expression growing on Galo's.

"I wasn't. Man, this is gonna be a pain," he stretched his neck as he descended into the circle and dropped down into the circle, facing Clyde while Roki faced Quint. "So then, what's your plan, Clyde? Are you going to fight me with the girl in your arms?"

"..." Clyde racked his brain intensely, trying to think of a way out of the situation as Roki and Quint began their brawl, the circle of soldiers still surrounding them, cutting off his only escape route.

Meanwhile, at the dorms…

"Chloe! Father is still at the research facility! Please, we must go save him!" Saphrilla implored the princess, who was holed up in their luxury room.

"Yes…" Chloe stood up and headed for the windows, leaving Saphrilla and Emria behind in the room.

"Where are you going, Chloe?" Emria asked, standing up after her with a concerned look.

"We need to get to Rein… My brother and prince Sho are with mister Voron at the research facility right now, so they should be fine. Our top priority should be to escape," Chloe explained as she scanned the outside through the windows, trying to find a route to one of the teleporters.

Saphrilla furrowed her eyebrows and nodded sternly at the princess, affirming her plan of action with a sound of compliance, Emria also agreeing to the plan.

"If that's the case, we should check outside in the halls as well. I do not hear any footsteps within the building itself," Saphrilla went to reach of the door, but as she did, the door creaked open, and a swift stab of a rapier came through, Saphrilla closing her eyes as she saw the attack.

She heard the sound of metal clang, then opened her eyes to see Chloe standing in front of her, blocking the attack as she barely reacted.

"Heh, that was some good reaction speed," the voice of a woman could be heard from outside the door.

The 2 swords broke off, both of the girls jumping backward, Chloe picking up Saphrilla and placing her back into the room, then looking up to get a good look at the woman's face. Chloe's expression was rid of sudden shock and disbelief at what she saw, her mouth gaped open and her mind filled with confusion.

"You're the same one from Alwaaq…" She exclaimed, making the woman laugh.

"Haha, so you were the one who fought our clones then? No, I doubt it was you who was able to beat them so effortlessly. Those clones were just as powerful as us after all," the woman claimed as she walked through the door, the light shining on her bright yellow hair, and her silver rapier.

"But how… I saw him kill you…" Chloe uttered, her eyes trembling at the sight.

"Well, this time it's the real deal. And as long as you're not the one who beat our clones, I should have no trouble eliminating you…"