Grey chuckled. "Welp, hold on tight, everyone. We’re going for a ride."
The engine of the Dark Kin Cycle roared, flickering ghostly flames of silver, white, and grey erupting from the wheels as they were enveloped whole.
BOOM.
The gates closed by Grey didn’t seem to care. That was, he didn’t care for a small moment before he most definitely did care.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Grey’s tongue practically drummed in his mouth as he spoke out the words faster and faster. Glyphs had begun to form over the city, casting a larger and larger dome.
"Come on, faster, faster, faster!"
The wind pressure was getting to the point that Brad was gritting his teeth in pain and Mauve was shuddering, but it was either that or death.
A screeching echoed out as the bike just barely slammed into the wall of the city.
They passed right through as though it wasn’t there and Grey swung the back wheel around, leaving fiery streaks in the cobblestone as they screeched to a stop.
"Holy fuck, that was close."
Grey took deep breaths as though he had been the one running here. Then he patted at his chest, his movement accidentally causing the rope to loosen and Amunet to fall to the ground.
She groaned in pain and Grey winced a bit before he chuckled.
"You’ll be fine, sport. Look alive. We’re probably going into battle soon."
"You go into battle. I hate you." She wheezed out.
"Now that’s not very nice. You should be trying to make amends to me every day, you know."
BOOM. BOOM.
The sinkhole bombarded against the outside of the city. The glyphs that covered it all in a strong dome flickered, but they held strong. The city itself, however, swayed from side to side like it was rocking in a boat.
The idea of an entire city moving as though it was on a slip and slide was definitely not the best for the heart. But Grey could only shrug at this point.
He had probably been through worse.
The second boom, however, didn’t come from the city or the sinkhole, it came from the knights that had pointed all their weapons at them.
"Listen, fellas, and lady—," Grey held his hands up with a smile, spotted the only female knight in the crowd and gave her a nod, "—there’s no real need for all this, no? We just need a little shelter for a little bit."
Amunet groaned again on the ground and her shadows flickered.
Grey gave her a subtle kick, but it was already too late for all that. Who was he kidding? It was too late the moment he used the bike to make it in here.
If it was a question before, it certainly wasn’t a question after he phased through the wall. The leaking Dark Kin aura was far too great.
They had basically jumped out of one danger and slipped right into the next.
The female Holy Knight pulled out a bow and stretched it taut. To Grey’s surprise, she radiated the aura of quite a strong Mid-tier Holy Knight, and she was a Vanguard as well. She definitely wasn’t an easy opponent by any stretch.
From what he could tell, she definitely wasn’t the only quality Mid-tier Holy Knight in this city either. And there was no telling if they didn’t have one or two High-tier Holy Knights stored away in there.
"Step off the vehicle or die." The woman said coldly.
It seemed she didn’t like Grey’s flattery all that much.
Grey thought about just starting a massacre, but his stamina was way too low for all that right now, and he preferred not to die if he could manage it. So...
He swapped to his Last Paladin Frame. The pressure he radiated made the Holy Energy of the Holy Knights before him all flicker wildly, dimming in the presence of his light.
"I think there’s been a misunderstanding here. Yes, I have Dark Kin items, but only because I’ve killed so many of them that I’ve just accumulated a bit of a treasury. It would be a shame to waste them, don’t you think? If not for them, I think I would have probably died just now."
The female Holy Knight’s eyes widened, and then she immediately fell to a knee.
"My apologies, esteemed Paladin!"
Grey’s mouth hung open with a bit of surprise. Even Amunet who was trying her best not to writhe on the ground in pain, mostly because that only made everything hurt more, couldn’t help but look over.
Honestly, she had been expecting another battle and she was looking forward to watching Grey struggle it out by himself.
But this was outside her expectations.
The other knights followed suit, falling to a knee and placing a fist on their hearts.
Grey’s surprise faded away into a grin.
"No problem, no problem, just a small misunderstanding. Nothing to worry about."
He gave Amunet another kick. "You can stop pretending now," he hissed.
"I’m in pain."
"Yeah, whatever you say, but you’re crimping my style right now."
"What are you? Fifty years old? Who still says that?"
Grey looked up from Amunet to the others with a smile.
"Just shut up and take the bike into your inventory space. I can’t let it enter my heart right now."
Amunet rolled her eyes, but she eventually struggled to her feet as Grey leapt off of it and walked forward to the Holy Knights.
"You guys can get up, I’m not such a stickler for rules. I’m more interested in something else. Do you have any idea what the hell is going on outside? Oh, and what’s your name?"
The female Holy Knight stood to her feet with a slight blush on her features.
"You can call me Joelle, Sir Paladin. As for what is going on outside, do you mind if I ask you a question first?"
"Sure." Grey nodded.
"Did you defeat the Rotting War Head?"
Grey blinked. "Rotting War Head? Oh, yes, I guess I did."
The female Holy Knight smiled a bit bitterly. "I see. That is likely the problem, then."