Another Vampire Hunter: Greylancer - Chapter 2

 Chapter 2

Under the Flag of Rebellion

1

"This is an offer I'm giving to you."

The guard's shouted at the man's half-hearted response.

"Insolent fool! That is not how you talk to us!"

The young man, Kurama, was undisturbed by all of the muzzles pointed toward him all at once.

They certainly had to be that good for them to enter the castle of the lord, the Nobility.

"If you like what you see, I can be added as part of your Bodyguards."

"I already have a sufficient number of Bodyguards. All of them Noble's, which you aren't."

"I'm a Human. I do not wish to be a Noble. I merely wish to be your retainer because I hear the pay is good. Do not worry, I will do my job completely, even if I have die for you so long as you hire me."

"But I do not see a weapon in your hands. What do you use then?"

"Nothing. Just these."

Kurama lifted up both hands.

"No kind of empty-handed assassin has ever come after me, for they have died by these hands."

"That is, if you're fine with me like this."

The air froze, and for a moment the guard's eyes irresistibly fell upon Greylancer.

"Insect!"

Greylancer spat out, yet his lips curled into a distorted smile.

"Yunus, were the ten men you sent unarmed?"

"No. They were armed with bows, spears, long blades, iron whips, knives, electromagnetic nets, weights, and armored hooks. Another two were an animal user and an armored man."

"And that was just over 3 minutes ago, yes?"

"That is right, sir."

"I hear you're as fond of warriors as they say, your Lordship."

Kurama spoke as he lightly waved his hands around.

"A normal Noble would have tried to kill me after I kicked ten of their retainers.  But these guys here won't do a thing to me, let alone shoot me. Surely I'd like for you to take me in too."

"I'll be more than happy to. Right after you die here, that is."

Right after uttering that creepy line, Greylancer swung his long lance.

The wind hits the young man in crimson.

"Oh?"

It was Yunus who leaked a word. Perhaps this was a tribute to the young man whose upper body shook as it was overcome by the 80 mph wind assaulting his rigid body. 

A new smile formed on Greylancer's lips. This was his praise to the young man, no, one of ruthless pleasure given to one that was knocked down to Hell.

"Come."

That was all Greylancer said. No more words were needed.

With a small breath, Kurama took a stance on his left toe, with both hands clenched close to his chest which made him resemble a cat.

Greylancer's lance sinks into the right side of his chest.

Not surprisingly, it had no sign of tension for it was such a casual thrust.

That made all everyone else associate it with the death of a human being skewered. However, the tip of the lance greatly shifted to the lower left.

"!?"

Greylancer's expression was more of admiration than surprise as he readjusts his lance at godspeed.

"What an unusual technique..."

He tries again, this time sweeping down from the side.

Both the lance's body and swirling wind flowed down diagonally to the right just before impact, and Greylancer's left shoulder echoed.

A sharp arc of a kick was delivered.

The Great Noble staggered, feeling as though they were pushed by a startling voice. He quickly thrusts his long lance into the ground to brace himself on it and places a hand on his ear.

"Ho? You starting to get it?"

Said the young man in wonder.

"That's right. My technique upsets the equilibrium of any living being's organs. Otherwise, I would have not been able to deal with multiple weapons with just these bare hands alone. But once I got used to it, nothing will ever touch me, not even a gunpower rifle up close or a laser cannon from a satellite."

The fact that his own technique doesn't affect him meant he was probably confident in boasting its unbreakability, giving off the impression that this young man could not be touched by any attack--that he was quite very immortal.

"So how about it, Lord Greylancer? What say you hire me, eh?"

"No."

He ran lance through three times.

"Uooh!?"

The young man cried out in surprise. Greylancer's lance had escaped the manipulation of his insane semicircular canals and struck him directly in the left side of his chest, the tip of the lancer punching out through the back.

Once more, a cry of surprise ran through the open space.

Even so, Greylancer continued to apply force to the lance. The lance itself did not move. Rather, it was the young man who held the tip of the lance in place with both hands.

"Good. I bestow my offer to you for your skill."

At Greylancer's words, the young man's bloodied-lips turned into a smile.

He retreated and looked down at his fallen body.

"I've gouged out his heart. Get him patched up, this instant."

The Great Noble walks towards in the direction from which they came.

"My Lord...there's blood in your ear."

Yunus, who followed him, pointed in fright.

His master had thrust a finger into his ear canal and destroyed the organ in order to avoid his defeat from loss of imbalance.

Shortly after that, an Autodyne flew into the Northern Sky.

- - -

"We will descend in 5 minutes."

Five minutes, said the voice from the cockpit.

It was spoken to Greylancer, whose eyes were kept locked onto the window.

"Are you still restless?"

Asked Yunus, who knew his Lord had no fear of flying.

"That's right..."

"It's been fifty years since you asked me that exact same question, and yet we've flown many times before."

"It's all been the same, so ask me no more."

"Understood, my Lord. Please excuse me."

As he bowed and sat back in his seat, Yunus couldn't help to think this man was a warrior at all. He couldn't bear to stand around, desiring to take over the cockpit, override the autopilot, and take hold of the control stick himself. However, this Great Noble, who can be likened to a dictator, did not dare to do so as he once made a maneuvering mistake and crashed landed to the ground. He and the passengers were safe,  but the machine was rented and, being it belonged to the one person who was Greylancer's sole weakness, he had to let go of one of his favorite horses. Deeply hurt by this, he has since not boarded the cockpit.

To hide his irritation, the man spoke to Greylancer.

"Right. It appears the Deputies' place is becoming tense every day."

"Those insects..."

Soon after saying that, he bit down on his teeth to conceal the residue of disgust in his words. But,

"This isn't about the Humans. This is about those in the Deputies place who can't maintain control over them."

"..."

"But if they're not covered by the security system put in place, it's safe to say that there are some sympathizers amongst those in the Frontier Sector."

"That is correct, my Lord."

"Then I'll give you a strict order. When it becomes known of who they are, they are to be beheaded without mercy. Take all of their blood to the arrested and executioners. Now go and notify all of the deputy stations."

"Understood."

"But I want them to kneel to me and tell me what sort of man Sunhawk is, someone who can lay waste to all but the North and remain untouched by the Officials. And I'm sure you know it in your bones about how I feel about those who assist the rebels, don't you? They've becomes allies by being soft with them. And the way Sunhawk and what he has achieved as a result should have taken at least a force of a thousand to do, yet I hear there is at most fifty under him."

"Correct, sir."

"Then that should have taken a year for the remaining 950 sympathizers to cooperate with them. However, according to the activity records, Sunhawk and his party was able to do within half a month of entering each of the Frontier Sectors. So what means did he use to accomplish this? Was it money?"

"That's one reason for it..."

"Perhaps it was through intimidation?"

"So is that one..."

"Is it our status they're after when they destroy us?"

"That too."

"What else could it be that they have?"

Greylancer's aide looks at him in the eye...

"Perhaps it's their charm."

And Greylancer nodded.

"Correct. That's what's needed in order to grasp the human heart. I trust that when left with a choice, you can decide on your own."

"..."

"If there's anyone that would weigh in their lives and chooses to abadon their lives for others firstly, then he is the real deal. Makes him a formidable opponent, don't you think, Yunus?"

"Ha?"

His aide's eyes narrowed.

"I was very grateful when I first came to manage in this Frontier Sector. Now we have other enemies besides the Nobility."

His aide quietly replied.

"Our enemy is the OSB. Humans are not. In fact, everytime they laid eyes on me, it was full of fear and their demonor was subserviant. Yet in just half a year, a foreign kind of hostile gaze has come to rise in these spineless beings. I can't tell you of how many times my blood boiled whenever I visited their villages and towns. Even an insects teeth can hurt when they bite. Imagine how one day, those will become the fangs of a beast. What can be more joyful than the rise of a new enemy?"

Yunus was terrified to his spine once more, and Greylancer laughed.

"But something that is new is not enough. What I seek a true enemy. One who has the power to make me look up towards the heavens and sigh in defeat. That is what I look forward to, Sunhawk."

The Great Noble's body trembled in his delusions. His eyes beneath thick eyebrows glowing crimson.

And then, it ceased.

"What is it?"

Yunus asked.

"It's getting close."

Said Greylancer.

2

"Aerial objects detected from above."

Said the annoucements at the same time.

"No way!"

But Yunus' surprise quickly faded, however. He understood it.

The Autodyne was descending down to a road in the air, which was blocked by solid rocky walls on either side. 

There wasn't any time right now to take aim, however, due to the 3D radar covering 360 degrees enabled the laser cannons, dimensional cannons, and missiles to attack in all directions, and what awaited the hapless assailents was a counterattack of death.

Behind the autodyne appeared a person flying a squirrel-like suit. It approached the autodyne along the rocky walls, with a speed of over 200 km/h appearing on the display.

The particle cannons crimson light pierces the body and is repelled, of which a defensive coating seemed to have been applied.

The repelled light hits the autodyne. Just like the enemy, Greylancer's aircraft wasn't protected with a barrier but with a defensive coating. Greylancer's lance poke through his shield.

"Main engine has been hit."

Greylancer mused.

"Inertia navigational engine has been hit. Ion Engine alternating system has been hit. The thrusters are down, and self-repair is impossible."

Said the announcer.

"Get ready to depart, my Lord."

Either he didn't hear Yunus' words or did not care for how calm of a sound it was, Greylancer responded with--

"He knows the machine's vital points. Don't let them leave."

He said.

The flying squirrel, which had already moved away from the ground, distorted into a shimmer and vanished.

"Dimensional cannon has been hit. Escape device is inoperational."

The aide looks back to him,

"Was this a calculated attack? Clever one you are, Sunhawk."

"My Lord?"

"It's unavoidable. Besides that, you know this won't be enough to kill us, Yunus. Beware, however, of spears, swords, and stakes. Look's like we're gonna have another incident here."

"Five seconds until impact on the ground."

The annoucement calmly said.

"Four."

Said Greylancer.

"Three."

As did Yunus.

"Two."

Even the annoucer.

Greylancer's word was swallowed up in flames and an impact.

The Noble's anachronism was evident in the vehicle and fuel they used. Although it was equipped with an Ion engine and solar energy absorption and converter system, it left a chemical fuel system as the main engine. Normally in case of a malfunction, the ion engine would be switched with the main engine without a moment's notice. However, enemy's counterattack had sabotaged all of these systems. The flight speed, the reflection points of the beams, and the angles it was reflected at...it was nothing less of a divine skill that caused the Autodyne to be fell from such a state, if even through careful and precise calculations.

Atop a megalith from about a hundred meters away from the crash site was Greylancer, wielding his long silver-grey lance as the name implies, as he observed the crash site.

Neither a hair nor a scorch mark was found on his clothing.

By all accounts, Greylancer should have been scattered along with Yunus and his escorts.

This was the strange part of this situation. If, for example, the body was repairable, such as if it were split apart, they can be quickly revived by putting them together, provided they are intact. If it only the upper half of the body that was intact, then the lower body will have to be converted into an organic machine, and the upper body will either have to be discarded or they may have to live as a cyborg.

In this case, it was preferable if, not only Greylancer, but all Nobles to be completely destroyed like this so as for their revival to go smoothly. If they were to lose half of their body in a battle, some would revive by blowing themselves. No...this was a mistake on the enemies' calculations.

Greylancer waved his right hand as he saw his subordinates appear on the rocks and on the ground one after another and being illuminated by the moonlight and flames.

What bounced off the long lance with a groan was a crossbow. The enemy had been waiting for him on a cliff, as though they predicated almost exactly where they would fall. The surroundings were immeadiately filled with the sounds of roaring arrows hitting down on the rocks.

The newly revived soldiers fell one by one, only this time vanishing into total death. It can be thought that they enemy was using night-vision equipment. The use of barriers were left to the soldier's disposal, yet Greylancer did not set his. This was due to his own toughness, but the soldiers had also not set them on unless they were on guard duty. This was due to them being completely enarmored with Greylancer.

As he was repelling all of the arrows from the cliff...

"One hand, two bows, and three spears. Not bad, Sunhawk."

He muttered and even smiled to himself not because of his faith in his immortality, but rather he was so full of joy. Yet he was also furious.

"But you've messed up. You can't kill me if you miss the first shot. Observe."

The lance springs forth. 

The side of the cliff disappeared in a blur. It was a flash from a dimensional cannon. Had the Nobility made full use of their scientific powers, humans would have been powerless to stop them.

The soldiers returned fire, silencing all attacks from the cliff.

As Greylancer stood still, Yunus and his escorts came to him using their gravity field belts.

"I'm glad you're safe."

Said Yunus out of courtesy, knowing his master wasn't the kind to be dealt with by an attack of this magnitude.

"We will assess the damages to the soldiers and arrange a formation to pursue the rebels--"

"Don't bother. They're well prepared that they wouldn't fail in securing an escape route. Instead, we should make haste."

"Understood, my Lord."

Just as Yunus responded, the sounds of iron hooves and engines came from below.

Soon, he saw a wagon, a truck, and several cyborg horses spilling out from the deputies magnetic transport vehicle parked at the bottom of the valley.

"Seems some of you humans have wits."

Greylancer bared his white teeth. Another word for teeth being fangs. 

As expected, both the wagon and truck were led by the chief himself from the village of Tutroje. 

The visit to the village was a covert action, but at the time of their descent, Yunus ordered the pilot to contact him.

"I'm suprised. It's one thing for your Lordship's flying machine to be downed, but to have it be done by the hands of a human! What foolishness! I swear to you, in the name of those in village..."

The chief put his hands together to plead with the head of the Autodyne Guard. No one was dead on the Nobility's side. All those who died and turned to ash were bottled up by the surviving soldiers, and staff of the deputies office.

The captain nodded annoyingly.

"I'm aware. It was the work of well trained men. However, if even one person from this village is founded to be among the rebels, be prepared for your entire village, regardless of those young and old, male and female, to be wiped off the face of the earth."

"Of course. I have strictly told everyone in the village that if they see anything suspcious, they were to immeadiately report it to the deputies office."

The captain nodded.

"First, take yourself back to the village."

"No, to the ruins."

Both held their breath and looked up towards the shadow of the giant looking at them.

"Your Lordship."

"My Lord."

"We have no business here in this village. There is only ruins and bodies of the deceased. Chief, I will be taking that horse."

"But it's already--"

Before the chief can finish his response, the giant had walked up to one of the cyborg horses, gave a kick to its side, and began galloping away while scattering moonlight.

"Ah, and they left so quickly."

Muttered the Chief, acting as though they were disemboweled.

"I must see this with my own eyes no matter the cost. That is our Lordship."

The guard let out as though they were enarmored, but simply let out a squeel.

"Where are you going?"

"What else is there for us but ruins?"

"You went off without asking for the location. Do you know where to go?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"No. But I do know someone who does. They would know."

The Chief spoke with a confused look.

"You sure you want to go without company?"

"Hmm."

After that good-natured response, the complextion of the guard captain's face changed like the colors of a page in a flash, and ran into the crowd to look for the second-in-command, Yunus.

The road to the ruins was recalled within the Autodyne.

The scale was 500 meters from East to West, and 650 meters from North to South.

Though the name of the Nobility who built on such a desolate, remote location was known around 3,000 years ago, there was still a mystery to it. The most popular theory to this is it was a religious site or laboratory. But there were no solid evidence found of this, not even a single statue of a god or cogwheel.

Heading up towards the main gate made out of megalitic stone and dismounting on the front yard, Greylancer proceeded with majestic steps toward the cemetary north of the plaza.

There was a small gate. After passing through it and going twice down the narrow passageway, he came upon a stone door with a 2 meter diameter hole in the center. Opposite to that was the main room.

It had appeared that the village and government officials had entered and exited through the door, and the lower part of the hole had been covered up with soil.

"Bombings from the old days. To have such a great weapon..."

He puts his foot on the edge of the hole and easily entered.

The stone floor was covered with burn marks and dents.

There seemingly was a heat ray shower. The form was different due to the output.

"Eleven people died in the battle between humans,"

Greylancer muttered.

"And two OSB's joined, according to what Sunhawk told me. To ungracefully join alongside the OSB, would you?"

Inside and beside his white mask, Greylancer's eyes flashed red.

20 meters away, at the depths of the west wall of the hall, he sensed a faint buldge. 

As he approached, he noticed one end of the paved stone had sunken down while the other was raised up.

It seemed that the forensics examiner at the deputies office had missed this slight millimeter detail.

Greylancer brought up his index finger closed to the lifted end. There was a long, sharp beautiful nail. 

He ran along the tip over the edge of the paved stone and, with a pull of a jerk, created an unresisted depression the size of the stone.

There, a small glow could be seen.

Once more, a long nail picked it up.

Greylancer looked at the crude brass ring.

On the back of it were words engraved on it:

To our love, Seneca

Was it something that was hidden?

No. The paved stone has displaced, but it couldn't have fit something as deep as this.

The ring fell from a place that was, or had been deviated from the start. He didn't know if it was intentional, but knew that the ring was human and that the last paved stone had been trampled on.

Greylancer placed it in his pocket.

Suddenly, his vision became distorted.

This was not a distortion of space, but the distortion of the burial chamber itself.

The next instant, thousands of tons of weight came crashing down over the head of the Great Noble.

3

"Pressurized round was a success."

A low voice annouced atop the hill overlooking the ruins.

For a moment, there was a heat wave ran through the dozens or so figures that gathered around it, yet no one spoke.

"Keep your aim on it."

Said another voice from a large man.

"Roger that."

Five shooters responded with large guns measured over 2 meters in length supported by bipods. This demanded the most when it came for accurate shooting.

Their finger was not on the trigger. Rather, the trigger itself was set to a feather's touch, meaning it would take no less than a 10-gram trigger pull to drop the firing pin.

"You were right, Sunhawk. Your calculations were accurate."

Said the sober man in his voice.

"Now comes the next problem."

The man who said this, while mindful of the night wind, was wearing a dark green coat with several scarves wrapped around it. In his right hand was a multibarreled, stake long gun. He was young, perhaps in his 20's. However, the black eyepatch on his right eye was proof that it wasn't just for show and his face, which can be described as beautiful, was fearless as a result as a result of going through a series of mortal battles that go against his natural qualities.

The voice of the first was of a dignified, imposing man with an electric telescope in his hand. Though he was no less from the other in the slightest.

"This may not be the end of him. He will come out soon, and then we'll see if our attack was a success. You can go away."

"Don't be like that, Gruden."

As his name implies, the young man turned towards his companion with the look of a bird surveying for its prey.

"You think we'd back off after what we've done until now? If you really want to back off, let one of them go."

"But think of the worst possible scenario here. I can't afford to lose you, here and now."

"If you end up here, then that is destiny. This is your chance to make up the mistake of choosing the wrong leader."

"On the contrary..."

Gruden shifted his left shoulder slightly with the strap over it that carried his composite rifle, a set of a gunpowder and repeating rifles.

"Everyone, Sunhawk is ready to die with you all here. Don't let that determination go to waste."

Then, a wave of passion rose in everyone's chests.

"Don't overdo it."

Said Sunhawk in a low but gentle voice.

"Don't mess up your aim. Once we kill Greylancer, let's all head to the bar in Lightmate village. The rum there is the best."

In the darkness, several shouts of "yay" rose up. Some even threw thumbs in the air.

--It's a big deal.

Gruden coiled his tongue.

--With just a word, I relaxed the sniper team, who were so nervous they were like stones. 

Suddenly, his voice rang out.

"The rock's moving. It's coming out."

The man was deeply impressed when he looked at Sunhawk, who was already looking at the collapsed ruins.

--What a man! Now that's a voice! Looks like he's enjoying himself.

Ah!?

A stifled voice rose from somewhere.

A corner of the mountain's collapsed stones, a common target of the five large sniper rifles, has hit a megalith out of the blue.

Before the sound of the earth was transmitted, the eyes of the night-vision gun reflected a ton of rock-thrown tools.

There was a long lance.

It was pulled back and once more, the rocks rose up like paper machie.

"They're coming up again. Take aim,"

At Gruden's command, darkness solidified around the surrounding party.

Just then, the world went white.

Up there!

Above their heads was a dazzling disc of light that came to a halt.

From the moment the light that came pouring down came to a halt, he knew that what awaited him was an anomaly. But Greylancer did not hesistate to go outside.

The long lance he had erected supported the stone slab that had fallen from the ceiling like an umbrella, with the body underneath it miraculously unharmed.

He knew what was the enemy's next aim was.

The moment he escaped from the rocks, countless stakes will rain down on his whole body. But without a moment's hesitation, he repelled the stone slab.

That's when the light came out.

The Noble, who didn't wait for a moment, leapt out of the hole and was greeted with a silence that made him wonder if he had lost his mind.

He looked up to the top of the hill and called out with his voice,

 "What are you doing? Are you going to attack?"

The voice sounded with a shout.

"We will strike you down!"

The voice rose up. The distance between them was big, yet the emotions in that voice made Greylancer's eyes sharpened.

By the moonlight itself, Greylancer could spot the one-eyed man standing stop the hill as though it were daylight.

A sudden gust of wind made his coat and cloak flutter wildly.

"So you're Sunhawk? You won't get any thanks or mercy for your last-ditch effort."

"Listen, Greylancer. Head of the Noble Beast."

Though Sunhawk's voice was low and gentle, it conveyed great hatred and anger.

"Before you came out, we saw a battle. A disk of light descended from the sky before being taken down by another flying object. The second did not tell us anything, Greylancer. But if only our weapons were melted, that means it was meant for us and not you. The first was the OSB, so who is it?"

Greylancer turned his thoughts to that point for a moment, but could come to no answer.

Then he said,

"There were two sides of people that fought here in these ruins. One of them was going to join forces with the OSB. The other that disagreed with it was you, no?"

"The only ones who should fight for supremacy on this planet should be those born on it. Is that not it, Greylancer?"

"Hm hm. Even for a mortal, you talk nonsense. But you're right."

"But to us, you and the OSB are monsters on the same boat. I bit down at the gathering here because I wanted to take down anyone who was associated with you. Even if you were OSB, I'd still have done the same thing."

Greylancer concealed the fact tha the Noble rebels nearly came into contact with the OSB.

Sunhawk's voice lowered.

"Humans are weak. I lead them, knowing of that painful fact. And every battle I go, it becomes clearer. Until we meet again, Greylancer."

Sunhawk's body hid behind the hill.

"You're not getting away."

As was natural, the lance's tip annihilated the top of the hill.

At the same moment, a great number of shadows rose in the air.

To Greylancer, they were thousands of Sunhawk covered in scarves.

"Inpudent man. A fan of illusions, are we?"

The face that quietly spoke this was already smiling.

The numerous rebels vanished into thin air, with Greylancer soaring to the air.

This was not the use of a gravity field belt, but a full-body leap. Easily clearing a 10 meter distance with a height of 5 meters, Greylancer arrived at the top of the hill he annihilated in less than 5 seconds.

The moonlight glinted purple on the glassy crystalinze surface. Because it was an energy for "annihilation", there wasn't any residual of heat. There was none of it, not even at the point of its beam.

Greylancer scanned the area from 5 meters above and said,

"It was an illusion to escape to the sky. That was all Sunhawk. How could a man of is stature not secure an escape route? If the illusion is a fake, then the real body should be..."

He moved along the slope of the other side of the hill.

Spread out was a wilderness. The creek of the water reflected the moonlight and sparkled in silver.

He leapt to the ground and thrust his long stone lance to the ground.

He quickly brought it back.

"...here."

Again, the stone lance being stabbed into the ground made a point.

The earth caved in at 3 meters wide. It moved down south, where it appeared to be a passageway to the ruins.

"You'll want to hurry, Sunhawk, to the escape route on the ground. Or you will end up in the dark, cold depths of the earth."

The sinking was interrupted by another hill.

"So much for that. You can bet your luck."

With that, Greylancer turned his back to the ruins.

And muttered to himself.

"He said that the OSB was about to attack me but something prevented it. But who or what was it?"

His eyes began to burn red.