Interlude: Cecily – Part 04
She had been unconscious for several seconds.
“You can’t rush ahead first just to pass out.”
A slap to her cheek jolted her awake. Cecily groggily looked up to see Reginald’s face above her.
Startled, she tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her body. Groaning from the indescribable ache, she glanced around.
“What happened?”
It looked like she’d been thrown out of the Knight Guard’s formation. Off to one side, she saw Hannibal tearing through their ranks, knocking knights aside like they were nothing. Watching her comrades hurled like garbage, she realized she had been tossed through the air just like that. Her face went pale.
The difference in power was too vast. Cecily could only stare in stunned silence.
Unbelievable.
Just like he’d promised, Hannibal was fighting with the strength of a whole army. He wasn’t even winded. In fact, he looked pleased as he punched, kicked, and flattened knights left and right, countering every attempt to stop him.
The difference in strength was obvious. Even with their numbers, they couldn’t match him.
What can I do in this situation?
“Hey,” Reginald said, shaking her by the shoulder. “What are you dazing around for? Get up. Don’t give up.”
“Reginald.” Cecily raised her head and looked into her senior’s eyes. “I want to beat Captain Quasar.”
Reginald’s eyes widened. Maybe it was ridiculous to even say it out loud, but she said it anyway.
“I want to beat him. I want to defeat the captain!” She said it loud and clear, as if saying it aloud could make it come true. “I need to get stronger. The way I am right now, I can’t protect the city. I’m still powerless. But if I can defeat Captain Quasar, I’ll have taken one step forward. I absolutely have to win.”
Hannibal Quasar’s strength was on a whole other level. Beating him seemed impossible. But Cecily didn’t see it that way. Everything she hoped to achieve would never come true if she didn’t aim for the impossible.
“So please, help me. I don’t want to back down after being knocked down.”
Reginald studied her face for a moment, then sighed. “Idiot. That was my plan from the start.”
“What?”
“The captain’s a monster. We already knew that he’s not someone we can deal with head-on. So, we’ll do what’s necessary. I’ll back you up, and you’ll back me up. Got it?”
Cecily blinked, trying to process his words as he quickly laid out the plan.
Annoyed by her slow response, Reginald scowled. “Well? What’s your answer?”
“Ah, y-yes, sir!” Cecily tightened her expression and bowed her head. “Thank you very much!”
He winced at the volume of her reply, then quickly gave her a few instructions. “Focus on quantity. You won’t land a decisive blow on the captain with your strength alone. So forget power. Just overwhelm him with sheer volume and restrict his movements.”
“Got it!”
“He’s incredibly fast, but so are you. I saw that charge earlier. Make tighter turns. Use your spear’s reach to stay out of his range and harass him with rapid strikes. Once you create an opening, I’ll go in.”
“Yes, sir!”
“That’s all. Any objections?”
“None.”
“Then go.” Reginald clapped her on the back.
Cecily sprinted off again.
“This is too easy,” Hannibal muttered to himself.
The knights formation had already descended into chaos. Swords came in from every direction. He dodged some, deflected others, and shattered a few outright, his iron spear, fists, and feet cutting through the mob of soldiers around him.
Some knights had shields, but they were practically useless. Very few could withstand a blow from Hannibal. One knight had just gone tumbling after Hannibal smashed his face through the shield.
I thought they’d put up more of a fight. Hannibal couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Was it his strength that was the problem? He wondered, not sarcastically, but with genuine thought.
If this was enough to crush them, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Imperial Federation. Against Valbanill.
“You’re all weak!” Hannibal roared. “You’re all too weak!”
Just then, a figure darted into the melee, moving with sharp speed. They zeroed in from his rear flank, thrusting the tip of a corseque directly at his torso, just out of his line of sight. But Hannibal sensed the killing intent. With a swift motion, he deflected the thrust using the midsection of his own spear.
It was Cecily Campbell.
You won’t take me down with the same trick, Cecily! Hannibal thought, but she wasn’t finished.
“Haaaah!”
Even after missing her strike, Cecily roared, refusing to back down. Instead of relying on power, she prioritized speed, striking repeatedly, relentlessly, with the spear.
Hannibal grunted. The assault was furious. Like standing in the heart of a torrential downpour, the spearhead came again and again. Even Hannibal was forced to focus entirely on defense, parrying with his spear, but several of her thrusts slipped through and struck him.
Each hit wasn’t particularly painful. But Cecily weaved left and right, staying just outside his range, and struck in rapid succession. Gone was the reckless charge from earlier. This time, she fought strategically, fully exploiting both her speed and her weapon’s reach.
Hannibal found himself fully on the defensive, his feet pinned to the ground.
“Now!” Cecily shouted.
A shadow streaked toward them like an arrow. A spear, but not Cecily’s, thrown from afar with pinpoint accuracy, aimed straight for Hannibal’s forehead.
In that split second, Hannibal’s eyes locked onto the thrower—Reginald Drummond.
That bastard!
Instinctively, Hannibal dropped the iron spear in his right hand and made an incredible move. Just before the incoming spearhead struck his forehead, he caught the shaft midair with his now free hand. His grip neutralized its momentum, stopping it mid-air.
A demonstration of tremendous skill, over in just a fraction of a second.
“Here!”
Cecily didn’t let that moment go to waste. She struck again. This time, with every ounce of strength behind it. The corseque’s tip thrust toward Hannibal’s side.
Hannibal used his left hand to grab the shaft, stopping it. But now both of his hands were occupied.
As soon as her weapon was seized, Cecily abandoned it and reached for the sword at her side.
Hannibal’s eyes widened. “So that’s what you—”
He didn’t get to finish. His words were cut off by the swing of her blade.
At point-blank range, Cecily unleashed a slash as soon as the sword left its sheath. With both his hands still occupied, Hannibal evaded by bending sharply backward, but he couldn’t completely dodge. Her blade grazed his chest, slicing it shallowly.
Then as he shifted back, Reginald appeared behind him, sword raised high.
“I’ve got you!”
The moment their coordinated attack worked flawlessly, Cecily suddenly understood. She finally realized why she had never truly felt drawn to the position of vice-captain.
This was where she belonged. At the front lines, where she could unleash her true potential. Not as a vice-captain, but as someone always at the forefront, where she could grow even stronger.
And then, just as quickly as the revelation came, she was blown back once more.
Like a storm, Hannibal, gripping spears in both hands, spun with the fury of a top, clearing everything in his path.
From a complete blind spot, one of the spear shafts smashed into Cecily’s side, sending her flying through the air. Before, she’d fallen in an arc, but this time, she crashed hard at an angle, skidding violently across the gravel. The rough stones scraped against her skin, and the searing pain made her vision flash white.
But Cecily didn’t give up. She sprang to her feet.
Reginald, sent flying as well, pushed himself up from the dirt. “Get up! We can still fight!” he shouted, rallying the fighters.
His cry was met with shouts of affirmation from every direction. Knights who had been knocked down, hurled, or pummeled by Hannibal rose to their feet one after another.
Cecily, alongside her comrades, charged forward again.
“We will win!”
Hannibal stood waiting, arms spread wide.
“Come at me!”
The entire squad hurled itself at the demon that was Hannibal Quasar.
In the end, the Independent Trade City’s Third District Knight Guard was utterly wiped out by their own captain.
The aftermath would have a massive impact on official duties the next day.
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