"I guess I have run the wrong way."

The bluish aura he received from Euphemia was starting to fade; the space he was given to flee from the Southwest Tower was running out. He would need to fight the pursuers very soon.

Kirk could still hear the footsteps coming from behind. There were three, six, or nine of them. That didn't matter. All of them were still going after him. He would have not survived the first few hundred meters if not for his shadow talents; going in and out of walls seemed to help him plenty against the hail of bullets loosed on him during the chase. He hoped that this diversion was more than enough for the pursuers to pay no attention to the canoness. The chance of them going after Euphemia was even greater after all; they had the numbers, and little could a trio of unknowns stand long enough against them.

That woman had strange light powers. She could probably blind those men or vaporize them. Maybe him nor Rook did not know that meek, delicate-looking Euphemia actually had a killer side. He shuddered at the thought. She did try to aim a rifle at Kirk the first day they met. This was not the time to be smirking about it; a small smile escaped his lips.

An open alley lay ahead of him; there was hardly anything that hindered his movement but few waste bins on the sides. This should be more than enough to funnel those chasing him into a more manageable number; nine people attacking all at once meant bad for his sword hand. He turned around to face the alley; red lights coming from the headpieces worn by his pursuers started to traverse the road.

"Looks like it's time for us to take them on. Macario." Kirk unsheathed his sword; both hands were at the hilt.

"Of course, Master."

Three of the attackers approached the end of the alley. Two of them took aim and fired at Kirk, while the other lunged at him with a spear. Kirk jumped out of the path; a pulse of purple-colored flame started to climb out of his sword hand, engulfing the weapon until it became something that looked like a greatsword of pitch black. The third man's spear point was blocked by the flat of Kirk's sword.

"These guys are stronger than the usual ruffian." Kirk took two steps back and blocked an upward strike from the attacking spearman.

"Those red gems on their heads are empowering them."

"You think smashing those things will make them stop?"

"It will more likely weaken them back to the 'usual ruffians'."

"Sounds like a plan."

Kirk was about to deliver his own blow to the attacker when one of those behind fired another round at him. He jumped out of the way and saw the bullet kick a small cloud of dust and pebbles upon striking the road.

"You were not... this hesitant when you faced that monster in the forest." Macario's voice was distorted by more shots fired by the enemy.

"Macario, these are humans. It's not very easy to go all out and raging when I, a foreigner, am about to kill a bunch of locals."

"You mean locals that brought one of their own cities to this state?"

"You have a point... but that doesn't mean it's right!" Kirk got near one of the shooters and batted his head using the flat of the sword, sending the man crashing face-first to the wall.

"I am but a mere blade in your hands, Master Kirk."

Another shot zipped past him from the alley; two more of the hunters caught up with Kirk. One of the men leaped and took the air; the long tip of a spear glinted in the light. Kirk shifted his body to the left; the opponent's spear plunging to the ground. Black fire formed on his left hand until a single spike formed on his middle knuckle. Kirk's punch hit the red gem on the attacker's forehead.

The blow dislodged the stone from its circlet; the once-violent glow broken into several specks, its light was lost when the fragments hit the ground. The enemy screamed, losing hold of his spear and completely ignoring Kirk that moment. Hands reached out for the circlet and tried to claw it out of his head, but in vain. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, the assailant lay still on the ground.

"It seems Master, that your guess is correct."

"He's not dead, right? A foreigner with a murder record isn't good for traveling."

"The witnesses to your act will certainly kill you for putting your mind too much on it. I do not think this country arrests dead people."

There were then three gunmen out to get him.

He wasted no time to get into a safer position; not far behind him were stacks of crates and all manner of wooden boxes that could help deal with the bullets. Shots rang out into the street; specks of dust and broken stonework formed thin gray strings that dissolved in the air. The swordsman evaded another volley of bullets - two of them zipped past where his knee would have been had he not moved right away. He sat behind the crates; two shots were fired but were stopped by whatever was inside the wooden containers. Kirk saw one of them climbing atop one of the flat-roofed houses to get a better aim at him, all while footsteps heading to where he hid were becoming louder.

With no Euphemia or Rook to watch him fight, Kirk's options were wider than before.

"Say Macario," a streak of pure darkness formed on the swordsman's free hand. It transformed into a dagger of obsidian-like sheen in moments. "When was the last time I used these?"

He did not wait for the revenant to answer and chose to face the enemy. Kirk rolled out of his hiding place and threw the knife-like object at the rushing combatant. The shadow blade came in contact with the attacker's headpiece; the gem mounted on it lost its light before the enemy hit the ground. Kirk kept on moving from one hiding spot to the next; the warriors on the rooftop struggled to fix their aim on him. He melded with the darkness, making use of walls and other obstacles to absorb bullets that were otherwise meant for him.

Kirk found it easier to deal with the enemies this way: rely less of swordplay and more on the shadow talents to dislodge the red stones empowering his opponents. Most of them tried to strike the walls with their blades rather than run, which made the circlets relatively easy targets for Kirk. All of his shadow projectiles hit their mark; each enemy fighter fell to the ground the moment the source of their strength was dislodged from their circlets. None of the warriors were left standing when he reappeared at a dark corner; threads of black twisted and faded as he reconstituted his human form.

"That was quite fast." Kirk approached one of the recently-defeated warriors. The body was still twitching; small sparks could be seen from the depression where the glowing red stone was once embedded. "Do you think they're dead?"

"Asking the same question doesn't make them more alive."

There was the sound of downward air going towards Kirk. He called it right: the flat of his blade stopped a sword strike meant for his head. The assailant jumped back and poised its weapon to engage Kirk once more.

Block left...

Parry right...

Jump out of the blade's path...

This new opponent was dressed in dark apparel; Kirk could not make out what it was due to its seemingly unearthly sleekness. All he could remember was the mask and headpiece that resembled a teardrop with eyes. This interloper lacked the glowing red stone the others before it sported. Its attacks did not have the brute force of the defeated pursuers, but they were much faster and were possibly just as deadly had they registered a hit on Kirk.

"I guess this guy is in the same league as the others..."

"...but is much more dangerous than those mindless minions you dispatched." Macario finished the sentence when Kirk's thought was interrupted after fending off another sword thrust.

Kirk began noticing that black objects started rushing into the place, each of them stopped at a places where the fallen enemies lay in place. There was a shrill noise, followed by blue beams fired at the bodies. Kirk attempted to break away from the aggressor and get close to the light pillars, dissolving into shadow as he merged with a building wall.

He noticed that the floating objects were actually disks when he closed in on one of them. A spike emerged from the darkness and shot forward to one of the flying contraptions, which was blocked by the new opponent. Kirk noticed the enemy's sword blade giving off a faint white glow.

"It seems this country has its own share of special people." Macario watched Kirk's shadow spike dissolve into the air.

"You said it yourself. Starting with Sister Euphemia, I'm not surprised if there are more of her lurking around here."

Kirk extended the shadow to where the opponent stood to set up a larger spike to be shot from underneath, but the enemy seemed to have felt his intent. It jumped right before the spike was forced out, landing a couple of meters away with one knee to the ground. The disks started to take off from their positions and farther from the ground; Kirk's opponent stood up, sheathed its sword and ran away.

"Should we give chase?"

"I'd rather not. Who knows if we're being led to an ambush...?"

"Sound thinking, Master Kirk."

None of the disks remained in the scene afterwards. Their job seemed to be restricted to collecting those he defeated not long before. Kirk wondered what kind of group Euphemia or Rook angered - and how he would get himself out of this mess. Meanwhile, explosions echoed from where Luminberg's Southwest Tower stood.

"Euphemia..."