Through it walked Pita.
Four Artimancers followed behind him, staffs humming with faint blue-green energy. Their eyes were cold, rehearsed, soldiers of order.
Pita stopped at the edge of the ruined square, where the knights stood amid the rubble. His voice carried smooth and steady, almost kind:
"Fellow Knights, in the name of King Mr. Green, you have been sentenced to execution. Compliance may grant you mercy. Please... end this fighting."
Lanni stepped forward, sword trembling with rage.
Her shout tore through the silence.
"Mercy? You dare speak of mercy, monster? You and your men killed Jett! Hundreds of Zoners are dead because of your loyalty to that tyrant!"
Pita's expression didn't change.
"I only obey hierarchy. That is the practical thing to do. It is not personal."
He turned his eyes to her, calm and distant.
"Your fellow knight Jett sealed his own fate when he betrayed you, when he revealed the date at which you planned to overthrow our king."
Euly froze, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
"So it's true... the Artimancers killed Jett."
Pita inclined his head slightly.
"That is true."
From behind him, Delta Warden re-activated, its massive frame grinding as it aimed its new cannon toward the square.
Then, from the rubble, came a voice, low and shaking with fury.
"Pita..."
Naggi rose, her sword dragging sparks across the ground.
Her eyes burned with wild rage.
"Where is my son, Levy?"
Pita's jaw tightened, a flicker of recognition. He stepped back, calculating her posture.
Then, coldly,
"Artimancers... in the name of the King, execute them."
The four behind him raised their staffs.
Circles of blue Abi swirled in the air, splitting into portals of shadow. From them, enormous grave hands shot out, reaching, clutching, ready to crush.
Delta Warden's cannon glowed bright again.
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The ground quaked as the knights ran forward into the storm.
Lanni's voice cut through the chaos, rallying every trembling heart in earshot.
"Knights! If we fall here, this entire district will burn, our homes, our families, our dreams!
The laughter of children will be replaced by screams!
Let our swords guide us down the path of Joy!"
Euly gripped his sword. Sparks coiled around him like chains of lightning.
"Bronze Sword, Art of the Knight: Kydron Copper Sparking Centipede!"
A roar of energy exploded from his blade, a colossal centipede of light, its body made entirely of molten sparks.
It streaked through the battlefield, crashing into the Artimancers' grave hands, erasing them in a storm of blinding fire.
The imapct was too much for the artimancer catapulting them onto the ground and knocking them unconcious.
Naggi burst through the smoke, sword meeting Pita's staff in a violent clash. Sparks scattered like shooting stars as she drove him backward.
He hit the ground, rolling to his knees, breath heavy.
"You're a fool if you think you stand any chance against me, Pita," Naggi hissed.
Pita lifted his staff, voice cold and sharp "Mancer Scarf."
A badge scarf appeared around his neck "This will allow me to summon the working bugs of the earth."
"Mosquito."
A massive electric mosquito materialized, its stinger glowing like a thunderbolt. It dove toward her.
Naggi caught the strike with her bronze blade. The impact forced her to one knee, the weapon humming as she pushed back with everything she had.
Pita's voice came low, almost pitying.
"Naggi... you're an ungrateful woman. You had the chance to join the new order, to live, to be a stay at home mother spoiled in the gifts of royalty. But you threw it away... for this power."
"This power gives me life," she growled. "Look around you. Look at the destruction."
"You and your royals caused this," she spat.
"We don't choose the commands of those above us," Pita said flatly. "Only by being useful can we remain among the Elites."
Naggi's eyes flared, her Abi surging brighter. "That's pathetic."
Lightning arced across her bronze sword, the metal glowing molten electric orange. The electric pulse forced the mosquito back, and in a flash of movement, she sliced through it, the creature bursting apart in sparks.
Pita stumbled, raising his staff again.
"Spide—"
He didn't finish.
Naggi was already there.
She slammed the hilt of her sword into his face. Blood sprayed as he fell backward, crashing onto the ground.
She pressed her blade against his back.
Her voice was low, trembling with fury.
"You're going to take me to my son... or you'll join Asteroy ."
For the first time, Pita hesitated, his face registering the raw, unshakable force of a mother's wrath.
He slowly raised his hands.
"Very well, you win."
She nudged the sword deeper. "Walk."
He obeyed.
Mwanehil lanni had he gaze fixed on Delta Warden.
"Moon Armor!"
Her body shimmered with pale, celestial light, an ethereal shield rippling around her like a veil of stars. She pulled her weapon back, Abi flaring like a second moon.
"Gibbous Light!"
Her slash tore through the air, a radiant beam splitting the clouds and striking Delta Warden head-on.
The blast was cataclysmic.
When the light faded, the titan was gone, nothing left but twisted, burning metal.
From across the square, Lanni and Euly regrouped, watching as Naggi marched Pita into the distance, sword to his spine.
Lanni cupped her hands and shouted, "Naggi! Please, be safe!"
Naggi didn't answer. Her expression stayed hard, her stride unbroken.
She followed Pita's every move, eyes fixed forward, her fury leading the way.
Behind them, the ruins still smoked.
The district burned, but the Knights of Joy were not done fighting.
To be continued...