The Marquess led us through the Palace halls in silence, her lips drawn tightly into a thin line as she took us towards where the other Knights had gathered.
From what I knew of the Knights, it was very rare for there to be large gatherings of them in one place, since a few were stationed away at areas that needed them, while others were given missions to do in secret, meaning...
Few people actually knew where some Knights were, if they were still Knights or even alive, and you certainly never see more than four or five Knights in the same place.
Their exact number isn't widely spread, since a few of the Knights prefer to work in secrecy, but others are very well known, like the Marquess.
She is, after all, the unofficial second strongest Knight; the only one stronger than her amongst the Knights would be the Knight Captain, Lady Fenryas.
So to say we weren't curious about the gathering happening on the Palace's training grounds would be an understatement, especially since this would be a gathering of the Empire's strongest warriors.
Throwing open the gates leading into the training grounds, the Marquess straightened her back and entered, leading us inside.
Roughly two and a half dozen men and women occupied the grounds, standing in neat lines as they all focused forwards, where Lady Fenryas prowled around with her scythe resting over her shoulder.
"Finally. I was beginning to think that life of yours as a Marquess was softening you up, Chordeva. You were almost late."
The tall Demon Wolf grinned at the Marquess before looking over the rest of us, her silver eye shining brilliantly as she approached.
"Well, that one is obviously your whelp. That would be her mate there... So why is a maid traveling amongst you?"
She pointed the end of her scythe at Jahi and Anput, before pointing it directly at my brow, a small frown on her charcoal black face.
"Hmm... Odd. For a maid, you feel too... conflicting. A perfect show of subservience hiding a rather entertaining woman beneath. Plus... her. You might want to drop the mask, dog. You won't be fooling anyone here."
Her frown deepened as I just stared at her, the thick stench of blood around her doing little to psyche me out as she looked closer at me, before shaking her head and making her way back towards the other Knights.
"If she wants to participate, she can. Otherwise, tell your dog to leave. I'm already annoyed enough that I need to retrain you lot. Pathetic, each and every one of you..."
Jahi glanced at me with a frown, while Anput's fur bristled slightly before she calmed herself, the two not enjoying the way Fenryas spoke at all.
As for the Marquess, she just silently made her way to the front, beckoning for us to stand beside her as she looked back towards the rest of the Knights, who all gave her a small nod.
After a few more filtered in from the doors - some running at breakneck speeds before screeching to a halt outside and walking in formally - the Knight Captain stopped prowling around and stood before everyone, looking towards the assembled Knights and Knight Squires with her lip pulled up in disgust.
"I can't say that I'm entirely proud of each of your reports. Giorni, three people died under your watch. That's three more than what I trained you to do. Izzy, there was an outbreak at the dungeon you were situated at, which was just barely contained by the Guild and other adventurers. Incompetent. Yuo Can, your Squire is barely up to scratch given the amount of time spent training. That's to say... each of you seem to need to be reminded that there is always room for improvements. If you think you can stop simply because you became a Knight, well..."
Slashing her scythe towards the ground, Lady Fenryas scored a deep gouge into the earth as she crossed her arms, disappointment and anger filling her single opened eye.
"I'll say it once more. Kindly take the blades you're so proud of and stab yourself in the heart. You're a waste and a stain upon the name of the Knights, and going forwards... incompetence is a death sentence. Either by my hand, or by the hands of our enemies, who only ever grow in number. If you understand that, either off yourself now and spare me the time, or show me the grit and determination that earned you your titles. Chordeva came back with a report from her little crusade. The first part is worrying, and I can verify it's true since we have a peeper who refuses to show herself..."
Lady Fenyras glared at the spot behind me, and I sighed slightly as I felt Cali hiss softly in annoyance as she appeared, surprising a few of the Knights.
"The Arch Fiends are reawakening, and with them so do the rest of the Fiends. They're all back, and each of them is something that you lot could barely take on on your own. That's the first part, and the more imminent threat to the Empire. The Fiends are coming back, and as such I need to whip all of you into shape. No Squires will be Knighted for a long time to come, and the process to recruit a new Squire will change. They'll need the approval of five Knights and myself to earn that spot; no point gathering new blood if they'll only be sent to their deaths worthlessly.
That's the first piece of information that Chordeva brought back. With the Fiends return, each of you needs to step it up if you want to continue to live. The second part... well, something in the Labyrinthian has the ability to summon Gates. That's how Tragon fell, and that's what Chordeva found. Creatures capable of ripping open Gates between the Labyrinthian and anywhere else. One silver, one gold, with a potential third lurking somewhere inside the Labyrinthian. This is, roughly, what they look like..."
Raising her hand, Lady Fenyras allowed her Metal Magic to spill out onto the sand and created two hulking monstrosities, making everyone frown.
"That right, Chordeva?"
The Marquess looked between the two before nodding, saying "Roughly so, yes, Lady Fenryas."
"This silver one; lean and mean. Built for speed and swift strikes. Impossibly strong too. This carapace is rather thick as well. Add onto that an insane healing factor and access to magics, and well... this thing evolved to be a perfect hunter.
The gold one, though, is more worrying. Defensive through and through, it evolved to be a proper shield for the silver one, if I had to guess. From the little Chordeva saw, it's a non combative variant, focusing more on retrieving and protecting the silver one. The worst part is, it has an ability to sap the mana from the air and your Cores. Which means..."
The Knights all frowned at that, focusing intently on the golden monstrosity as she finished speaking.
"This thing has some kind of weakness. Perhaps a spot on its body that is unprotected, maybe an elemental weakness, or it has some out of body weakness, something that can injure it severely without ever facing it. We don't know, but those were the things that Chordeva fought, and they barely managed to subdue the silver one. As for the gold one, they didn't stand a chance."
The training grounds fell silent, everyone staring at the creatures before Lady Fenryas dissolved them, picking her scythe back up as she said "Well, that's beyond our thinking for now. The Empress is inspecting some of the things brought back, and the Saints and Saintess' should be convening soon to discuss it. What we can do, though, is rather simple..."
A wolf like grin spread across her face, the red veins cracking through her skin flaring as she stared at each of the assembled men and women.
"We can start training!"
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