15 - Escape From Eura

Soon, it would be night. Soon, the Heisei would attack.

It was the perfect time to flee. While Aizawa was busy cleaning up the town and making sure all the battlefield was clear and prepared, and she, as the mistress of the stronghold, was ready to engage in combat with one of the most dangerous soulfuls alive, Nightseer had a real chance to escape.

They ran through the city as fast as they could, but also, as quietly as they could. Everything was large, the streets were long, at times, they proved themselves hard to navigate. They sprinted as fast as they could and they still felt like they couldn’t get away in time. Nightseer’s enhanced perception allowed him to sense threats from afar, but he was so focused on getting routes right he didn’t pay too much attention to them.

He got a warning sign.

He summoned his blade and looked at the source of the attack, which was the sky. He saw an artillery shell approach him at high speeds.

“What the hell is this...Prague is getting bombed?!”

“Naja isn’t playing around, they’re here to leave nothing behind...they’re cleaning up the infrastructure and scaring the population away.”

He successfully parried and neutralized the shell that was flying at him. He looked to his side, at Katya, and also stopped for a second.

“Nighty, we need to use LV3.” she said, catching her breath. “It’s faster than LV1. If we can just make a run for the Heisei’s camp and surrender...”

“What if she follows us?” Nightseer asked. “She’ll kill us with no hesitation, or worse...”

“She won’t follow us there.” Katya said. “She won’t challenge the entire Heisei alone. She’s comfortable sitting on her ass here and waiting for the Heisei to come to her death trap.”

“Stealth is more important.” Nightseer said. “Come on, just...don’t stop! Stay on the move!”

They sprinted, as the city around them got continuously shelled. Aizawa herself would probably enjoy the show a lot. It was official, the battle to decide the fate of mankind would start momentarily. Nightseer kept running, witnessing the dozens of civilians trying to flee, some of them being crushed under the debris, some of them straight up being reduced to mush after being struck with the ammunition.

Fires broke out in parts of the city due to gas stations and such being struck. The shelling stopped for a few seconds, and a new round began. The Heisei didn’t waste any resources to make sure the soulless population is gone completely, and if the shells hit any low-tier soulfuls and kill them, that’s even better.

“Katya, are you tired?” Nightseer asked, noticing that she was starting to fall behind.

“I’m good.” Katya replied. She was slower than Nightseer, but they were both trying their hardest.

The moonlight was fresh, blissful, and even intimidating. It was a full moon. The people around them noticed their superhuman speed and cursed them for being soulfuls - the species responsible for this war. The species that caused them to lose their homes, loved ones and lives. Nightseer tried to pay no attention to their upset screams. The city was facing inevitable destruction.

“Come on, we need more distance!” Nightseer yelled to himself. “Fucking hell, we need more distance!”

“How far until we can use LV3?”

“We need to at least leave the city.” Nightseer said. “Aizawa can’t abandon the castle for too long, if at all. She can’t abandon its vicinity. We just need to get far away to where chasing us down would be less beneficial for her than staying.”

“Yeah, that’s...smart.” Katya agreed. “That’s really smart!”

“The only problem is to not get intercepted on our way.” Nightseer said. “And we need to pray that Aizawa is distracted with something or someone else. I hope the Heisei is attacking as we speak, I hope they’re beating her teeth in right now...”

“Uhm, Nighty?” Katya said, in a scared voice.

“I hope she gets beat into an amnesia as bad as what she put us into-”

“Nighty!” Katya said, now sounding terrified.

“What?” Nightseer asked. He slowly faced the direction Katya was facing, and there, across the street, was Nachtvessel Omega, formerly known as Oskar. Nightseer should’ve relied more on his senses for some actual stealth...

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Nightseer said, stepping back, standing next to Katya. “No, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What do we do now?” Katya asked, watching Oskar slowly approach them.

“We lie.” Nightseer said. “Nachtvessels are a little stupid. They’re perfect soldiers, but they can’t decide for themselves.”

“You talk to him then.” Katya said. Oskar suddenly leapt forward and appeared right in front of them. His eyes were emotionless as before. He has seen and committed a great deal of atrocities under Aizawa’s command, but he didn’t care about all of that in the slightest.

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He just stood there, in silence.

“We are chasing down one of the Heisei’s agents that attempted to gather intel.” Nightseer said, confidently standing in front of him. “He’s going to escape. We can get her to Lady Aizawa and extract important information from him.”

Oskar didn’t move an inch. Instead, his soul presence flared up.

“The fuck is he doing?” Nightseer asked himself. “Is he gonna attack? Is he trying to call for Lady Aizawa to get here?”

“Ah, fuck it...”

“To hell with it!” Nightseer summoned his blade and swung at Oskar. Oskar, caught off guard, tried to catch the blade, and despite succeeding, had his hand damaged pretty badly.

“Katya!” Nightseer exclaimed, stepping back and attacking with his blade again. “Run!”

“No way, I’m not leaving you here!” Katya said. The ground quaked a little as her presence flared up. “I’m getting LV3 and getting us the hell outta here!”

“Good luck doing that with this guy around!” Nightseer said, referring to Oskar’s presence.

“Being a Nachtvessel means you fight with no restriction whatsoever, so this guy is even stronger than when I fought him back then...that’s just...unlucky...”

“Whatever. We ran out of luck the moment we got put under Lady Aizawa’s wings.”

“More specifically, when we got shoved there without ever agreeing.”

“Katya, how long until LV3 is up?” Nightseer asked, trying to fight on equal footing with Oskar. He was, to his surprise, keeping up thanks to his sheer concentration at the moment, but it was still not enough. Oskar kept landing strikes and dealing significant damage, and Nightseer was running out of opportunities to safely retreat and heal up. He pretended to have wounded his arm and let Oskar get closer, and once he did...

“Deflection!”

Nightseer deflected Oskar’s powerful electrifying strike back at him, wounding him pretty badly in the stomach.

“Gonna take some time...” Katya said. “I need to summon it at a further location so the Nachtvessel can’t instantly destroy it...”

“Then please hurry up!” Nightseer said, trying his hardest to hold Oskar off. However, he noticed a pattern he didn’t like. He saw that Oskar started to rotate more and more between his entrances, as if he was trying to get into a certain position.

“He’s trying to circle around me.”

“I know that trick. I used it against him before he got zombified.”

“His target is...”

“Katya, listen to me carefully.” Nightseer said. “He’s gonna try and hold you hostage or kill you off completely. I can’t guarantee I can protect you, so you need to be ready to dodge.”

“Wha...uhh, okay, I’ll try.” Katya said, tensing up.

“He has electric ranged arrows, he can launch prowess releases, and if he gets up close, it’s over.” Nightseer said, charging at Oskar, knowing full well he’ll take more damage during their exchange. “I’ll pressure him as much as I can, but you have to watch out.”

“Nighty, we have a problem...” Katya said, turning around and pointing at the emerging threat. At the end of the street was Nachtvessel Gamma. She had a blood red spear in his hand, and looked ready to toss it in her direction.

And that’s what she did. Katya miraculously managed to dodge it, she almost predicted when exactly it was going to be fired. Nightseer turned around and took notice.

“Nighty, we’re fucked...” Katya said, starting to panic.

“It’s the opposite, we might have a chance now.” Nightseer assured her. “We just need some luck.”

“All I need is to just get the timing right...”

“The right timing and position, and a stroke of luck...”

“Katya, stand behind me.” Nightseer ordered. “Right now. And prepare to dodge.”

“Got it!” Katya quickly positioned herself. The two had their backs up against one another, and Katya’s eyes that used to be scared were now filled with confidence and determination.

Gamma threw her spear. Katya dodged it, again, it was very close. And Nightseer, sensing the spear approaching them, stepped slightly to the side.

“Deflection!”

He struck the spear as it flew by and redirected it at Oskar, the body of which it pierced with no issue. He was paralyzed for a few seconds. Katya was fascinated by the maneuver, and Nightseer immediately saw an opportunity.

“Come one, let’s go!” He said. “Take the lead! Run to where LV3 will be!”

“Got it!” Katya said, and they took off. But their success was, unfortunately, shortly celebrated. Oskar, recovering from the unexpected attack, charged up an electric arrow with his weapon and fired it in front of the two. They had to stop. The infrastructure in front of them was destroyed.

Gamma, on the other hand, threw a pair of blood red sawblades at them, forcing them to dodge instead of focusing on running away. Sure, Nightseer managed to deflect one of them, but this time, Oskar was prepared, so he dodged the deflected saw. They slowly closed in on them. The moment the thought of escaping crossed Nightseer’s mind again, another electric arrow was fired at their escape route.

“This is it...” Nightseer sighed. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do anymore-”

“LV3 is two hundred meters away.” Katya said. “At least it will be by the time we get there.”

“Katya, if we can’t make it...I’m going to kill myself, and you should too.” Nightseer said. “I’m not willing to become like these two. I don’t want to forget you.”

“Alright, I...I will.” Katya nodded. “Nighty, I-”

The Nachtvessels charged in, and the two soulfuls, unable to finish their conversation, braced for impact. Until suddenly...

“What are you doing to my soldiers?!”

A supremely powerful presence entered the area. One of Aizawa’s blades pierced Oskar’s stomach and pinned him to the ground. The other one pierced Gamma’s leg and put her in place. The two listened like pets that had just been scolded.

“Nachtvessels Omega and Gamma, return to your positions and do not act on your own.” Aizawa said, sounding genuinely angered. The smile on her face had faded away. She approached Nightseer and Katya who were very close to accepting their fate and ending everything on the spot.

“Nightseer? Katya?” Aizawa asked, slowly walking up towards them, until realizing that it was best to stop. “What is going on?”

“Why are you here?”