The Last Summoner Part 6

"So this is Wiltmar?" Gloria asked as she and Rose arrived at the town entrance. "Seems a bit run down."

Despite being the middle of the day, the town seemed dark due to the storm clouds appearing over it. The streets had pieces of housing and other debris all over them and some of the townspeople seemed to be living on those streets in front of destroyed houses. Some of the houses must have been destroyed during the fight against Duran's team.

"It was much better looking the last time I was here." Rose said. "It must look like this because of those fakes."

"I still can't believe I'm finally going to put a stop to them." Gloria said thinking back to the briefing Aslan gave them before they left.

***
“You sent Duran's team on a job that I specifically asked for!?" She had said to Aslan slamming her hands down on his desk.

"At the time, I didn't know the Demon Gate Key might have been involved." Aslan said. "The information I got for the job only mentioned the fakes. I told Duran to report back if he spotted a strange orb, then I would have sent you in as back-up. However he didn't spot the orb until he was already fighting against the fakes."

“Why'd you give the job to Duran anyway?" Rose asked. "He had only just gotten out of the hospital area after the beating he got from Gloria."

"He claimed he was fine and that he wanted to get out and do some jobs." Aslan said. "Besides, he had already overheard the details of the job by listening through my window."

"So what's the job?" Gloria asked impatiently. "Tell us the details so we can get on our way."

“The client for this job is the Mayor of Wiltmar himself." Aslan said. "He came to me requesting us to get rid of a group of three people who had arrived at Wiltmar with the intent on taking what they want. He happened to watch them come into town and overheard them talking about taking food and money."

“Looks like the rumors about them were true." Gloria said. "They've been going from town to town taking what they want and demanding they be treated like royalty."

"There is something else that the Mayor mentioned that I didn't find too important until now." Aslan said. "The fakes had mentioned that they were on some kind of mission. What that mission is, I don't know, but it's possible it has something to do with that Demon Gate Key they have."

“Oh no. Don't tell me there is a Demon Gate in Wiltmar." Gloria said.

“What!? A Demon Gate! In the middle of a town!" Rose said almost not believing it.

“Considering there was a Demon Gate in the Grand Church of all places. I'd say it's a high possibility."

“That could be a problem.” Aslan said. "If a Demon Gate is indeed in Wiltmar, and these fakes have the object that could open it..."

“I…if that happened then…” Rose started.

“…Then we’d be looking at another Sanctuary incident.” Gloria said seriously.

“Then we must stop them before that happens." Aslan said. "Now before you head out I have some things I would like to go over with you."

***

“This must be the Mayors house." Rose said looking up at the big mansion that stood before them.

The mansion towered over any other building at the back of Wiltmar. It was also surrounded by a brick wall and closed off by a metal gate. A single guard stood by the gate eyeing the girls carefully.

"Let me do the talking." Rose whispered as they approached the guard. "Remember Aslan's rules."

“I know, I know." Gloria said remembering the list of rules Aslan had gone over for them.

***

"First off. The fact that Gloria is a Summoner should remain a secret." He had told them. "You may get the urge to tell the fakes that you are they real thing but you must resist that urge."

“That would be difficult if when end up confronting the fakes in front of the townspeople." Rose said. "It would increase our odds of success if Gloria could fight at full strength."

“Don't worry about that." Gloria said. "I've fought in front of crowds before. I know how to hide my identity."

“Secondly. You must not tell anyone besides the client, that you are from this academy." Aslan continued. "We don't need word to spread through town and the fakes get the jump on you like they did Duran."

“Works for me." Rose said.

“Finally. I'm sending you two in alone. I will prepare a back-up team in case you need it but as far as your team goes it's just going to be you two."

“Just us? Are you that confident in my abilities?" Gloria asked.

“Actually, it's because of the secondary objective I have for you." Aslan said.

“Secondary objective?" Rose repeated.

"Mick." Aslan said which caused Rose to bite her bottom lip. "According to Duran, he has been captured by the fakes. You are to rescue him, give him medical aid, if needed, and he is to help you complete the job. Do that before you confront the fakes and it should be an even fight."

"And what if he's dead?" Rose asked trying to hide her concern.

"Then send a message back to me and I will send one of the members from the back-up team." Aslan said. "This plan was made in hopes that he is still alive. It's actually, Duran's plan."

"As expected of my brother." Rose said with a smirk.

"Do you understand what is expected of you?" Aslan asked.

"Yes Headmaster!" Both girls said.

"Very well. You may leave once you are ready."

***

Gloria and Rose approach the guard who raises his hand to stop them.

"Halt! What business do you have at the Mayor's mansion?" He asked them.

"We came to see Mayor Wiltmar." Rose said. "He has been expecting us for a while now."

"New in town are you?" The guard said with a smirk. "I suggest you leave while you still can. This town has three new Mayors now and they won't think twice about making you pay an outrages visitors fee."

"All we need is to talk with the old Mayor and we'll be on our way." Rose said.

"If it's really that important, then you should head for the tavern situated in the middle of town." The guard said lowering his voice to almost a whisper. "Ask the bartender to see the Mayor. Tell him I sent you but don't let anyone else know."

"Understood. I thank you very much." Rose said before they turned to leave.

"Mind the bartender though." The guard called after them. "He can be a bit of an old pervert."

***

Meanwhile Mick awoke to find himself in a jail cell. His body felt like it was on fire and when he tried to move he realized that his hands and feet were chained to the wall. His weapon was nowhere to be found, probably taken from him when he fell unconscious, and his armor was in ruins. He looked around the cell seeing if there was anything he could use to get out but the cell was empty apart from himself. He thought back to what had gotten him in this mess in the first place.

***

“Mick you’re coming with me to Wiltmar.” Duran had told him. “I understand you’re a little pissed that the fake Summoner that enrolled here turned out to be real…”

“Bah! I still don’t believe it.” Mick said. “She tricked them somehow. I don’t know what she did in that dungeon but she’s got everyone fooled.”

“Well then, if you strongly believe she’s a fake, then why don’t we go talk to her companions?” Duran said.

“What companions?”

“Apparently, a group claiming to be Summoners has appeared in Wiltmar. I’ve been ordered by Headmaster Aslan to flush them out and I would like you to come with me.”

“I see. We deal with these Summoners, get them to spill the beans about our little fake, and you still keep you’re title as strongest student in the academy.”

“…and you get to tell everyone that you told them so.” Duran said grinning.

“When do we leave?” Mick asked matching Duran’s grin.

***

Mick sighed to himself realizing the mistake he made.

“This was supposed to be an easy job.” He thought. “Get in, take them out, get a confession, and then head back to the academy as heroes. But here I am stuck in this damn cell and Duran is probably resting in a bed crying in pain from his wounds. Not to mention that useless idiot we brought with us died before the battle even started. I’m not surprised though, he even let that faker trip him up back at the academy. How did a weakling like that end up joining Duran’s group anyway?”

Just then Mick heard a door open down the hall from his cell. Footsteps could be heard moving closer and closer until a figure appeared in front of his cell. The cell door was unlocked and then opened and a young woman walked in and stood in front of Mick.

“You.” Mick said recognizing the woman as one of the fake Summoners. “What do you want?”

“Before our fight you mentioned something about another Summoner that arrived at your academy.” The woman said. "I want you to tell me all about this person."

“Still playing dumb huh?” Mick said. “Just give it up. It’s obvious she’s one of yours.”

“I assure you there are only three members to our group.” The woman said crossing her arms. “So you'll tell me what you know about this other fake and maybe we'll spare your academy as we hunt her down.

“Like hell I will!” Mick said. “I may not like having a fake roam freely around the academy, tricking everyone in believing she's real, but she's still a fellow student and I could get expelled for putting her in danger like that."

“Tell me and I’ll make sure the fake suffers for taking advantage of your precious academy.” The woman said. “She’ll also suffer for stealing our get rich scheme.”

“And as soon as you deal with her, you’ll start taking advantage of the academy.” Mick said. “It’s not going to happen.”

“Persistent, aren’t you.” The woman said. “In that case I’ll get what I want, by force.”

The woman turned her back on Mick and took a few steps before making a whipping motion with her arm. Magical energy began to seep out of her palm which started to form together into a whip.

“That whip isn’t made of energy.” Mick thought. “It’s the real thing. She’s definitely not a Mercenary.”

The woman turned to face Mick who prepared himself for what’s to come.

“I bet I’ll have you talking within the hour.” The woman said smiling as she lashed the whip towards Mick.

***

Aslan was looking out his window feeling very worried that he may have been too hard on the girls with the amount of rules he had laid down on them. Gloria especially. Gloria and Rose should have already made it to Wiltmar. Hopefully they don’t suffer the same fate as Duran and his team did. Aslan took a deep breath and sat down in his chair.

“Calm down Aslan.” He thought to himself. “She may be the last Summoner but she’s a strong one. She can do this. I didn’t send her to her death.”

Aslan jumped when there was a knock on the door. He straightened himself up before speaking.

“Come in.”

The door opened and a tall muscular man walked in. The man was carrying something long and thin in his hand however Aslan couldn't tell what is was since it was wrapped in some sort of brown paper. He looked into this man’s eyes as soon as he could. They were cold and dark Aslan wasn’t sure but he had the feeling this man was up to no good.

“Can I help you?” Aslan asked him.

“I may have a job request for you but first I have a question.” The man said.

“And what question would that be?”

“I am searching for a young woman." The man said. "She's a short blonde woman that goes by the name of Gloria. Did she enroll here?"

“And what if she did?” Aslan asked. “What is she to you?”

“I have been trying to track her down for quite some time.” The man said. “I have information she needs to know."

“What kind of information?” Aslan said making sure the man knows he’s not trusted.

“Information regarding the attack on the Grand Church that happened one year ago.” The man said. “The Head Bishop sent me to find her. He said I might find her here."

Aslan stared at the man wondering if he’s a threat to the academy or if he’s telling the truth and just wants to talk to Gloria. Aslan just couldn’t be sure if he could trust this man. Surely the Head Bishop would have sent word to Aslan if he had sent someone to pick up Gloria. Aslan figured he could find out more if he played his cards right.

“She came here.” Aslan said cautiously. “But she’s gone on a job at the moment. She should return tomorrow at the earliest. Why don't you sit down and tell me what is so important while we wait."

“I'm sorry. But it's for the Summoner to hear only." The man said.

Aslan took a sharp breath. So this man knows that Gloria is a Summoner. The only one who could have told him would be the Head Bishop. Maybe this man is telling the truth after all but Aslan needed to be sure.

"How do I know you can be trusted?" Aslan asked glaring at the man.

The man stepped in front of Aslan's desk and placed the long thin object he had down in front of Aslan who looked at it for a second before carefully removing the paper. Aslan looked at what was under the paper and his eyes lit up.

"Is...is this what I think it is?" Aslan asked completely surprised.

"Do you still wonder if I can be trusted?" The man asked.

"Not anymore." Aslan said wrapping the object in the paper again. "Please, sit down and tell me what you can while we wait for Gloria to return."

***

Gloria and Rose found the tavern with little difficulty. The place smelled heavily of booze and was filled with people drinking away their worries. The appearance of the fakes probably sent a lot of the townspeople here to do just that. Gloria and Rose made their way through the crowd of drunks to the bar where the bartender was standing.

"What'll you have?" He asked them.

“Actually, we were told to ask you about meeting with the Mayor Wiltmar.” Gloria said to the bartender.

“Oh yeah? And who exactly told you that?” the bartender asked.

“The guard that’s standing in front of the gate leading to the Mayor’s house.” Rose told him.

The bartender looked from Gloria to Rose examining them both from top to bottom. Gloria pretended not to notice as Rose shifted nervously.

“You two must be the whores the Mayor has been waiting for" He finally said.

"What!? Of course no-" Rose started but Gloria nudged her hard cutting her off.

"That's us." Gloria said acting as if Rose hadn't said anything.

"It's such a shame to be covering up such assets." The bartender said motioning to Gloria's chest. "You look like a Healer in that robe, but who am I to judge the Mayor's tastes? Come on. Follow me."

The bartender led them to a room at the top of a flight of stairs. He told the girls to stay here and the Mayor will come to them. Gloria walked over to the window and looked out at the sky as Rose sat down in a chair.

“What's the big idea!?" Rose asked. "Why did you tell him we were whores!?

"Because he wouldn't have let us see the Mayor if we told him differently." Gloria said. "Remember, we're to not tell anyone but the client that we're from the academy."

“Well next time, nudge a little easier." Rose said rubbing her side. "That hurt."

Then there was a knock on the door. Rose went over to open it as a cloaked figure quickly walked through and headed for the window immediately closing the blinds.

“Alright girls. Let's get started.” said the cloaked figure removing his hood.

“You’re Mayor Wiltmar, correct?” Rose asked closing the door.

“Yes. Now let's do this. I'd rather not have anyone else know about this."

The Mayor looked like a leader even with his hair and beard a mess, most likely because he was hiding from the fakes. The trip to D.A.D.S. Academy couldn't have helped his looks much. A trip like that for anyone untrained in any kind of combat can take up to two days. Anyone else can make it within a day and half a day if they ran.

“I'm sorry to say Mayor, but we're not who you think we are." Rose said. "We came from the academy."

“So the Headmaster sent another group?” Mayor Wiltmar asked. "But you both look like Healers. How do you expect to defeat those Summoners if the last group you sent couldn’t do it? They had one more member then you plus they weren't Healers."

“From what we were told, one from the group died before the battle even started." Rose said. "Another one was captured. We need to rescue him before facing against the Summoners. I can heal him and he's to join us in our fight."

“A good plan but I’m sorry it won't be enough." The Mayor said. “True to their names and reputation these Summoners are very powerful. And your last group only fought against two of the three. The third one just stood and watch from the sidelines."

“So we're going into this battle blind no matter what." Gloria said. "The student that was captured, where would they take him?"

"Probably to my house." The Mayor said. "There is an old yet functional jail cell in my basement. They probably have him locked up there."

"Then we need to figure out how to break him out of there." Rose said. "Preferably without having to meet the fakes."

Gloria leaned against the wall next to the window and caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye. She moved the blinds over and saw a bunch of townspeople running past the tavern in somewhat of a panic.

"Hey, what's going on outside?" She asked.

"Everyone is running past the tavern." Rose said after walking over to take a look out the window. "If I remember correctly, the town square is in the direction they're going."

"Seems like the Summoners called everyone there." The Mayor said. "They do that usually to lay down more demands or to punish someone."

"That's good." Gloria said. "We can sneak into the mansion easier if nobody is home."

"Actually, we should head to the town square too." Rose said looking at Gloria.

"Huh? But this is our best opportunity to save Mick." Gloria said.

"Trust me on this." Rose said. "If my hunch is correct, Mick's not at the mansion anymore. Mayor, try and gather as many people from the town square and lead them away to safety. I'm pretty sure the next fight against these Summoners is going to cause more damage to the town then the last one did."

"I-I'll do my best." The Mayor said unsure of himself.

Rose left the room and headed back down to the tavern floor. Gloria gave the Mayor a small nod and ran after her. The tavern had cleaned out since they had gone up. It seems even they drunks had gone to the town square. Bartender included. Rose headed out of the tavern and started following the townspeople towards the town square with Gloria right behind her.

“What's this hunch of yours?" Gloria asked.

“I'm pretty sure the fakes plan on punishing someone today." Rose said. "That's why they're calling everyone to the town square."

"And that person being punished would be...?"

"I thought you'd catch on by now. It could only be Mick." Rose said.

"Ah now I see." Gloria said nodding. "Then going to the mansion would just be a waste of time."

"Not to mention would probably get Mick killed." Rose said as she started walking a little faster.

They followed the townsfolk down the road and into the town square. In the middle was a stage of sorts and on it stood three menacing looking people who were watching the town gather around the square. There was a woman who had a nasty looking scar under her left eye and a man who looked like he would stab you rather than give you directions. The third one stood behind the other two however he was wearing a cloak like the others were yet his hood was up blocking most of his face from the crowd. Beside the third one was Mick who was lying on his side looking banged up.

“Your hunch was right on the money.” Gloria whispered to Rose. "Mick's here alright."

“Then those three have to be the fake Summoners.” Rose whispered back. "Looks like we won't be able to save him before we confront them."

“Don't worry about that.” Gloria whispered before sneaking off. "I have a plan."

"Wait! Where are you going!?" Rose hissed however Gloria kept going using the crowd as cover as she ducked into a nearby alleyway.

Soon after Gloria had disappeared, the hooded man standing next to Mick stepped forward in front of the other two. He lowered his hood showing his tired middle-aged face. He gave a satisfying smile and raised his hands looking at the crowd.

“Good of you all to come.” He said. “It seems the academy out there thinks all of you are worth trying to save. They foolishly sent a group to try and rid you of us. One from their group was killed way too easily. The other turned tail and ran. While the third one is right here. With us."

The woman with them had dragged Mick to the front of the stage so the people in front could get a good look at him. He seemed barely conscious, but Rose could tell he was definitely alive. Rose started looking around for Gloria hoping she would turn up with her 'plan' she said she had. She spotted the Mayor sneaking around leading people away one by one from the town square. Hopefully the fakes won't notice a small decrease in the crowd. The cloaked man continued.

“He refused to give us any information so I decided that we could use him to show what happens when you defy us.” he said before waving a hand behind him. “Victor! Do it!”

The other man on the stage stepped on Mick holding him down as he raised one of his hands and magical energy started forming a huge ax. The ax shined in the light of the lamps posted around town.

“Huh? That weapon is real." Rose thought. "Gloria and I had believed them to be Mercenaries, but that weapon is metal."

The man named Victor stood right next to Mick’s head as the other two held him down by stepping on him. Victor raised the ax in the air ready to strike when given the word. Rose looked around for any sign of Gloria, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Where are you Gloria?" Rose thought. "They're going to kill him if you don't hurry."

“You bastards.” Mick managed to say. “You think my Headmaster will let you get away with this?”

“He can try to stop us.” Victor said grinning down at Mick. “But it will be in vain. After all, we’re Summoners. The most powerful beings on the planet. You saw our power first hand and now you’ll die because of it. Have a good time in the afterlife.”

With that Victor swung his axe down. Mick looked out at the crowd. Things seem to be going in slow motion. He wanted to see a familiar face before he died and to his surprise he did. He could see Rose who was now pushing her way through the crowd of people trying to get to him. Even after what he did to her, she still came to save him. It was too late however. He was going to die here and now. Before the ax touched his neck a loud bang rang out and Mick felt something fly by and hit the ax knocking Victor backwards. His ax fell out of his hands and landed right behind him. Everyone looked around to see if they could spot where the bang came from. Rose had gotten the feeling she had heard that kind of bang before but couldn't remember where. Just then a voice spoke behind the crowd.

“Most powerful beings on the planet? The only ones who could ever say those words and be telling the truth were the Summoners.”

"Are you alright, Victor?" The cloaked woman on stage asked helping Victor to his feet.

"Yeah. It just startled me." Victor said before looking up on a nearby roof. "Who is that?"

Standing on a roof behind the crowd of people was a masked woman. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a small ponytail and the golden mask she wore only covered the top half of her face. She had a brown cloak over her body but you could see the armor she was wearing under it. Rose knew this armor well since it was a simple battle dress that only consisted of a sleeveless shirt and a skirt, both very well armored, that she use to wear when she was a Warrior. However the main thing about this woman was that Rose recognised her from somewhere. There was something familiar about the way she was dressed that Rose couldn't quite figure out until someone from the crowd piped up.

"I don't believe it! It's her! The Blonde Beauty!"

That's when Rose remembered. Until about a year ago, there was a famous fighting duo that had never lost a single battle. They had competed in battle tournament after battle tournament and won each time. The duo consisted of the Blonde Beauty, who was standing before them now, and the Black Beauty. Together they were known as: The Unbeatable Beauties. Rose had heard about them from a bunch of fans back at the academy. So much so, that Rose herself had become a fan of them as well. However she had heard a rumour that the Unbeatable Beauties had disappeared. They stopped showing up at tournaments and the last place they were seen was at the Grand Church when they defended it from bandits a year and a half ago. The cloaked man standing on stage simply sighed at the sight of the Blonde Beauty.

"So you finally caught up to us." He said. "I knew it was a bad idea to stay here for too long."

"So you knew I was trying to track you down." The Blonde Beauty said. "It wasn't easy with you moving from town to town. It may have taken me a year longer then I had hoped, but I finally caught you. So you three are the ones claiming to be Summoners, using that title to take advantage of people."

“We're not claiming anything we really are Summoners.” the cloaked man said. "I am Summoner Zotar. The young woman here is Summoner Niraya and the man with the ax is Summoner Victor. You can't just go around accusing people of such a crime if you have not met the real thing for yourself."

"On yeah? Well I have three very good reasons why you can't be real Summoners." The Blonde Beauty said pointing at the three fakes.

"And what would those reasons be?" The man called Zotar asked.

The Blonde Beauty gave a small grin before she started pacing back and forth on the roof she was on as she started listing her reasons.

"Reason number one." She said lifting up a single finger. "If you truly are Summoners, you should be focusing on getting rid of the demons not prancing around acting like kings."

Some of the townspeople began nodding and mumbling to themselves as they agreed to what they Blonde Beauty had said. They listened carefully as she continued.

"Reason number two." She said rising up two fingers this time. "Summoners were the protectors of our world. They would have never used their powers against us in order to take advantage of us like you do."

The townspeople suddenly got louder. Yelling out in agreement and they seemed to have gained the courage to step up to the fakes that had control over their lives only two minutes ago. The Blonde Beauty stopped pacing and pointed at the fakes once again.

"And finally, reason number three. That ax laying on the stage there. The one that, what did you call him? Victor? Well the ax he used is obviously made of pure magical energy. That makes you Mercenaries. Not Summoners."

Everything went quiet in an instant. The townspeople looked at the ax, which was still lying on the stage, in confusion. Rose looked at it again as well. It still looked like an ordinary REAL ax. Zotar broke the silence by chuckling to himself.

"You almost had everyone going with your convincing lies." He said picking up Victor's ax and raising it for everyone to see. "However this ax here, as everyone can see is real. Made of metal. The fact that we can call out real weapons, not energy ones, makes us Summoners."

"Oh really? We'll just see about that." The Blonde Beauty said before looking through the crowd. "Let's see....Ah there, you with the blue hair."

The Blonde Beauty pointed at Rose from atop the roof. Rose looked around at first unsure if it was her she meant but it seemed Rose was the only one here with such color hair. She felt a bit nervous and confused as to why she was picked out of the crowd. Maybe it was easier to pick out someone with such an unusual hair color.

"Y-yes?" Rose asked stepping away from the crowd a bit so that the Blonde Beauty would see her better.

"You look smart enough." The Blonde Beauty said. "Tell me, what happens when an energy weapon is hit with an energy attack?"

"Eh...well it would..." Rose said thinking hard.

Rose thought back to her classes at the academy. She learned about energy weapons and the damage they caused but only to humans. That way she would know how to heal it. However what an energy weapon would do to another energy weapon was not something she even thought would be taught to a Healer.

"I'll have to think way back for this one." Rose thought. "I faintly remember something about energy weapons when I was training as a Warrior."

"Oh come one. This should be an easy one." The Blonde Beauty said putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, I'd imagine nothing would happen." Rose said taking a guess. "It would be like throwing water at a waterfall."

"What does this have to do with anything!?" Zotar said getting annoyed.

"Just wait and you'll see." The Blonde Beauty said before turning her attention back to Rose. "Yes, you would be correct on that. Now what would happen if a real weapon got hit by an energy attack?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "We just saw what happened. The energy attack hit the side of the ax and...!!!"

Rose gasped and looked over at the ax in Zotar's hands. The ax was still reflecting the light of the lamps around town. Both sides where untouched and seemingly unscathed.

"Enough of this!" Zotar barked handing the ax back to Victor. "There is no way for you to prove that this ax is an energy weapon. Now we'll carry on with the punishment."

Victor stood next to Mick once again who had been listening all this time. He looked at Rose who had a smile on her face. A smile, Mick knew well. It was the smile Rose usually had when she figured something out that could help their situation. Victor raised the ax once more ready to strike. Rose looked up at Victor knowing the truth.

"Hey, your ax is pretty neat." She told him. "I like how there isn't a single scratch or even, a burn mark on it when it got hit by that energy attack earlier."

All three of the fakes gasped as they looked at Victor's ax. As Rose had mentioned, there wasn't a single burn mark where The Blonde Beauty had attacked with that energy blast.

"And since there isn't a burn mark that means nothing happened to your weapon when the energy attack hit. Apart from you losing your balance of course." Rose said.

"That means, that weapon isn't real." The Blonde Beauty said. "It's an energy weapon. This makes you Mercenaries! Not Summoners!"

The townspeople started yelling again as they regained their faith in what the Blonde Beauty was saying. The fakes looked around seeing that they had lost total control of the situation. The Blonde Beauty ran to the edge of the roof and jumped over the crowd and on to the stage where the fakes were. Zotar looked at her curiously.

"Tell me girl." He said to her. "What do you see when you look at this ax?"

“All I see is an ax made of pure energy.” The Blonde Beauty said.

“Oh? You see the weapons true form then?” Zotar said amusingly. “That’s interesting.”

“Master Zotar! Who is she!?” the woman named Niraya asked. “You said that nobody would be able to see our weapons true forms.”

“Relax Niraya.” Zotar said then he held up his hand. “You there. You see the rings Niraya and Victor wear? With these on they can make it look like they can use another class’s technique. In this case, a Summoners technique of summoning weapons. However, the ring’s magical illusion will not work on one of the same class we are trying to copy. If you can see their weapons in their true form than that means you are a real Summoner.”

The Blonde Beauty said nothing. She looked over at Rose who was looking back in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Either the Blonde Beauty was another Summoner who survived or...

“Didn’t take you long to figure that one out.” The Blonde Beauty said with a sigh. "Rose, time to get these people out of here. Things are going to get ugly."

"Gloria? You mean you're..." Rose started.

"Not now Rose! I'll explain everything later. Right now we need to get these people away from here.

Rose looked back at the crowd of angry townspeople. They seemed more interested in yelling at Zotar and the others to even notice that Gloria just admitted that she was a Summoner. The Mayor was now working in full force getting everyone to leave the town for the time being. Niraya and Victor stared at Gloria in surprise.

“A Summoner!? Here!?” Niraya said. “I thought they all died out.”

“It appears there are still some who walk this world.” Zotar said. “No matter. It’s just her against us three. Once we kill her, we’ll destroy this whole town with everyone in it. That way our little secret is kept safe.”

“And she won’t be able to fight properly since we still have a hostage." Victor said.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Gloria said grinning as she points to the stage floor. "But your hostage has other plans."

“What!?” Zotar said in surprise looking around.

Zotar looked down to see that Mick wasn't there anymore. Since they got distracted by Gloria, Mick must have sneaked away. Zotar looked down one of the roads and saw in the distance Mick being carried off by Rose. Mick had slipped away off the stage and Rose was trying to carry him away from the square so she could heal him and they both could head back to help Gloria fight.

“Niraya! After them!” Zotar ordered. "Don't bother capturing them alive, just kill them both!"

“Yes Master Zotar!” Niraya said jumping off the stage.

“I'm not letting you get away!” Gloria said jumping after Niraya.

Just then Gloria heard a loud bang and an energy ball flew and hit the ground in front of her. She stopped going after Niraya and looked over back to the stage however she didn't believe what she saw.

“No…is that a…it can’t be.” Gloria said seeing the weapon now in Zotar's hand.

“I thought you might like my weapon.” Zotar said. “After all, it’s an exact copy of the legendary Gunblade you Summoners used ages ago."

Zotar pushed off the stage and rushed towards Gloria to swing his blade at her in full force.

“Gunblade!” Gloria said as a card of light shot out of her hand to turn into her own Gunblade.

Gloria blocked Zotar's attack with ease. Zotar looked at Gloria's weapon and they grin on his face faded.

“What’s this!?” he said in surprise.

Gloria took this chance to overpower Zotar and push him back. Zotar flicked his blade and grinned once again.

“I see. So the legendary Gunblade still exists.” He said “This will be interesting.”

Zotar grabbed the rim of his cloak and threw it off of him. Gloria was surprised to see the armor he wore. It was a silver heavy kind of armor that bore an insignia on its breast. The insignia was a planet with a shield inside of it and a sword inside of the shield. Gloria recognized the insignia immediately.

“I was wrong then.” Gloria said taking a fighting stance. “The other two that work for you may be Mercenaries, but you, you’re a Knight of the kingdom."

The Kingdom of Tenalp is what the West side of the continent is usually referred to as. There lies Castle Tenalp which governs the entire West side. The soldiers there are all Warriors however they have been given shields and are known as Knights instead.

“Very perceptive.” Zotar said. "However, I am no longer a part of the Kingdom anymore. Yet I just can't throw away my old armor. It has helped me through many tough spots over the years. Now then..."

Zotar began another charge at Gloria raising his gunblade in the air before he said:

“Show me the power of a Summoner wielding the legendary Gunblade!”