"That's one very strong man trying to break through."

Kirk looked at the steady waves of ripples made by the armored man's sword striking the canoness' barrier. It was unbelievable at first, seeing that the force emanating from a single person was even greater than the barrage of cannonfire and small arms that at its full strength, Euphemia's forcefield managed to shrug off.

"I'm afraid my talent wouldn't hold him any longer if this keeps up." There were small grins that disturbed the calmness of Euphemia's face; several threads of light coming out of her body started to fade.

"It is time for both Rook and I to be of better use."

"So, what are we going to do?" Rook went to one of the open windows; Euphemia's barrier drained much of the surrounding's ambiance to different shades of amber.

"Split them up so that we can run out of here."

"Yeah, but aren't they after the rock-like thing on this machine?"

Rook pointed to the prismatic object encased in the tower's main mechanism. A light of varying colors was seen coming out of a metal cage, changing into a myriad of hues, swirling into varying intensities, and differing into random degrees of brightness. A wheeled device with an attached metal capsule and claw sat beside the apparatus.

"Looks to me the machines are bringing the city's energies to this rock-thing." Kirk approached the machine's controls, looking at the array of buttons, levers, and dials. "Say, any of you know how to operate this control panel?"

There was no reply from Euphemia, who was occupied in maintaining the screen of light that was in the way of the armed men outside. Rook went to the controls, eyes focused on the largest lever. Without a word, his hands shot forward and pulled down the mechanism. The glowing filaments atop the tower gave off a light brighter than usual, followed by an explosion that sent sparks and and threads of energy to the ground. Smoke came out of the machine before the mechanism's upper reaches revealed a blackened metal assembly.

"That looked like it worked." Kirk observed the reset of the machine powering down; more sparks trailed to the floor.

"You're welcome." Rook went away from the control panel and resumed looking at the enclosed colorful object.

Kirk went to the window and saw the gathering of enemies beyond Euphemia's barrier; the hulking armored man was still batting his sword against the dome of light. He returned to where Euphemia stood and said:

"Now that's a man with a lot of energy to spare. Do you think you can keep him and his friends at bay for long?"

"I do not think so."

"Leave the distraction to Rook and I. Find a way to not let their grubby hands get that rock thing."

Kirk drew his sword and pried the metal cage open, revealing a large object of ever-changing colors. He first touched the stone; an unfamiliar strength coursed to his body. He was able to lift the object from its enclosure and placed it on the claw-equipped cart.

"That green-eyed freak is mine." Rook went to the tower's right window. "I'll peel that smug smile off his face."

"Sure thing, Rook. Your enthusiasm scares me." Kirk looked at Rook one last time before opening the tower's left window. "Anyway, let's do our best to stay alive. We leave the escaping with that rock-thing to you, Sister."

"Please be safe, both of you."

†

Her eyes were rounded and widened when the unknown man fired at her. Though his projectile exploded harmlessly against the cleric's luminous field, it took Euphemia moments to recover from what seemed to be an actual attempt at her life. She saw beyond the fires that covered her shielding the weapon this "humble citizen of the Empire" wielded. His gun was also his arm.

Euphemia quickly conjured a beam of light to deal with the weaponized appendage; an explosion confirmed a hit while the wielder was thrown off his feet by the force of the blast. To her surprise, the weapon was more likely loaded. She would have not wanted this encounter to end with someone dying by her hand. Odd, she thought: the armored man who was incessantly pounding away at her barrier earlier stood still, as if merely spectating at the confrontation between her and his colleague.

"I am sorry. I mean no harm to you, but you left me with no choice."

"N... n-Knight, protect me."

The giant sword was lifted; its wielder sprang into action and lunged at the canoness.

Slide away from the sword strike? Too late.

The blade struck the barrier of light; Euphemia felt the ground gave way to the force of the blow. She almost lost her balance when she attempted to regain footing on the pothole that used to be part of the road. She was supposed to run away with the intent of meeting Kirk and Rook at the outskirts of Luminberg's southwestern exit. This confrontation was unnecessary, but there was something in this person that caused the canoness to completely drop and forget what she agreed with Kirk and Rook.

His stance and stature reminded her of the reason she was here in the first place. But then, Euphemia had not met many men the size of the one she was looking for. Her opponent lacked grace; she felt only a frightening, destructive force delivered with every swing and hammering of his massive weapon.

Euphemia fashioned her field of light in the form of an orb right before it received another powerful blow from the armored man's sword. She heard a groan coming out of the helm's mouth guard before the rest of his utterances was smothered by a loud clang. Violent ripples traveled around her barrier with each strike it took from the enemy.

The light of her barrier became more solid and much brighter than before, and the rising intensity of the "knight's" strikes matched the cleric's power. Both forces were canceling each other, but the canonness could not bring the battle to an end. She almost killed a man not long before this, and she knew no other trick than to try and break that disdainful blade with her power.

A red glow gathered around the blade: one that was much brighter than what was seen when the towering swordsman was trying to breach the Southwest Tower's shields. Death stood closer to the cleric with every second she allowed this confrontation. The man with the now-broken gun-arm was no longer nearby; Euphemia saw him limp to the safety of one of Luminberg's open buildings. What mattered now was how she would prepare to meet this renewed attack.

All her thoughts reacted too late.

The force-imbued blade struck at the barrier; the resulting explosion threw clouds of dust and specks of white light in several directions. Euphemia could only let out a scream before the force of the blow threw her off her feet and sent her flying to the Southwest Tower wall. The sphere around the cleric started to dissipate. Her vision was a blur at first, until she mustered enough focus to clear her sight.

That clash of power did not leave the armored man unscathed. The greatsword he held was burnt and broken with little of the edges remaining. Cracks were seen on the once-lustrous metal plating on his arms, chest, and head. He took a few steps towards her direction at first; smoke rose from the blackened parts of the armor. He suddenly dropped to his knees; sections of his breastplate and helm broke away and fell to the ground. The moonlight revealed a face Euphemia did not expect: that of an old man who was held firmly by his strength. His eyes bore that of a pained dream; a few words found their way out of guttural cries and groans.

"...you... are... here?"

That sight caused Euphemia to break into tears.

"F-father? Is it..."

It was the missing Cecil of Schild. Bulging veins ran across his cheeks, his mouth seemed locked in a tormented grin. A fading red glow was seen on the visible parts of his forehead. She wanted to rush to his aid. He was found at last. Her legs could not comply; all she did was to stand up, unable to make even a step farther. The last that she saw was a hovering disk-like object above her father's head. A light shot down and covered Cecil's body. He was gone in moments.

"Please... don't leave. Don't... take my fa-"

Impossible. Was her father in league with those behind Luminberg's misfortune? She had no chance to ask the old man when he was whisked away from the violence. The damned flying device coming in to deprive her of completing her journey. If she could only command her body to exert more, but much of her strength ebbed away after taking the full brunt of that sword blow.

Exhausted and hurt beyond what she could bear, Euphemia dropped to the ground.