Cross Conviction

"This is it, guys," said Max, "Whatever is past this door, we gotta meet it head-on!"

Eduard crossed his arms in apprehension. "No turning back now."

Just as he placed his palm on the main door, Max caught a glimpse of Emmy checking back toward the atrium out of the corner of his eye. The look in the girl's eyes made her worries apparent. Capitalizing on the opportunity to look calm and collected under pressure, Max turned, swept his hand back through his hair, and tried to put Emmy's mind at rest.

"I know you're nervous..." he started, "But they're fine. They'll catch up with us soon."

Emmy shifted in place, nervously. "It's just that... the armory isn't that far. They should have come back by now..."

"Well, they said they'd meet us at the training field, right?" Max replied, "So they're probably already there waiting for us!"

"Maybe... but it wouldn't hurt to run to the armory just to make sure, would it?" asked Emmy.

Angered, Magnolia stomped toward the girl and huffed, "It absolutely would! What if we run into more of those disgusting creatures?"

"But I-"

Eduard promptly cut Emmy off. "She's right. This time it was a dozen. Next time it could be thirty."

Though visibly bothered, Emmy ceased her protests. Empathizing with her, Max walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey..." he reassured, "I know Sturm. Even if there were a thousand mud guys, he'd kill em all, no problem. He's almost as good as me."

Softly, Emmy replied, "Yes, Whirlwind is no pushover either..."

A loud crash echoed from a hallway at the far end of the foyer's open second floor. Panicked screams soon followed. Without any hesitation, Max rushed by his allies and began to race up the stairs toward the source of the commotion. 

"Max, what in the Lord's name are you doing?! You just got through explaining that we had to meet Sturm at the field!" Magnolia hollered up at him. 

"What does it look like?!" he shouted back, now halfway up the stairs, "I'm going to find out what that was! Sturm would do the same thing!"

"This is an emergency, you dolt! The door is right here, all we have to do is walk through and regroup at the field!" the blonde raged on.

Upon reaching the second floor, Max leaned over the railing. "Yeah, and someone else is in trouble so I'm gonna save them!" he shouted back.

Magnolia sighed and placed her head in her hands. "More of this 'saving' people... you're the one who's truly helpless..." she groaned under her breath.

"I'm coming with you," Emmy spoke up abruptly.

With a gasp, Magnolia turned to the girl in exaggerated shock. "How ridiculous? You wouldn't..."

Emmy ignored the dissent and ascended the staircase to meet Max. At the top, she motioned for Eduard to join them. "You'll help, won't you Ed?"

"No offense," Eduard replied, "but I'm trying to get out of here in one piece, and running toward explosions seems counterproductive."

"I agree..." added Dominic quietly.

Having returned his frogs to his pockets, Gustavo slowly made his way to the bottom of the stairs. However, just as his boot contacted the first step, Max hollered down to him.

"Don't worry about it buddy, we got this! Besides, you gotta let Sturm know where we are if you meet up with him."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Gustavo glanced back toward the other still in front of the door before giving a subtle nod and stepping back away from the stairs. "Don't do anything stupid," he cautioned.

"Ha! Me?" Max inquired teasingly, "Never in a million years!"

"Um... Max," Emmy chimed in, "If someone really is in trouble, it's best we hurry..."

Max scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Y-yeah, sorry. Let's go."

With that, the two hurried down the second-story hall toward the source of the commotion. To their surprise, they found the way mostly undamaged as they raced through the corridors. Notably, there was no trace of the mud creatures that had run rampant on the first floor. 

"Little too quiet now, huh?" Max asked Emmy as he ran alongside her.

"We should be cautious..." she replied, "It could be a trap."

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from around the corner. "Is anyone out there? We need help here, fast!"

Max's eyes widened in surprise. The voice unquestionably belonged to Sturm. Had he and Whirlwind met an enemy they were unable to overcome? If so, was that enemy still present? These uncertainties were enough to make Max's heart pound as he approached the hallway junction.

Concern apparent on her face, Emmy began to ask, "Was that...?"

"Yeah," Max quickly snapped, dashing ahead and around the bend.

As soon as Max turned, he immediately came to a skidding halt. The boy now stood paralyzed in the face of the sight before him. There, halfway down the hall, laid Whirlwind slumped against the wall, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

Max's blood ran cold. "W-what?" he stammered in shock.

After turning the corner, Emmy gasped in horror. "Metzeld!" she shrieked before sprinting off toward her maimed teammate. 

Quickly returning to his senses, Max reached toward Emmy. "Wait! Like you said, it would be a trap!"

The girl, overcome with fear for Whirlwind's safety, did not listen. Instead, she charged ahead without reservation. Then, just before she reached her fellow member of the Recovery Team, a nearby door flew open, and out lunged a lightning-quick assailant who promptly booted her across the hall. Taken by surprise, Emmy slammed into the wall without a loud thud before collapsing to the ground unconscious. 

Shocking as the assault was, it was the perpetrator who caused Max to stare in disbelief. The aggressor who now lifted Emmy from the floor by her hair was none other than Arthur Sturm. 

Looking on, Max was filled with equal parts confusion and fury. "What the fuck are you doing, Sturm?!" he cried, "Get your hands off her, man!"

Sturm glared toward him with a chuckle before returning his focus to Emmy, who he now had pinned to the wall. The swordsman then raised his saber to the girl's throat and prepared to draw it across her flesh. Pushing through the overwhelming deluge of emotions swirling in his mind, Max burst into action with a roar. 

"I said get the hell away from her!"

Back in the foyer, Gustavo, Magnolia, Dominic, and Eduard prepared to exit the building. Standing before the great door, Gustavo turned to his allies and issued one final caution.

"We don't know what we're going to find out there," he explained, "Whether it's more mud creatures or something else entirely, I say our best bet is to make a break right for the fields. That way, even if something catches up to us, we might be able to get help from whoever is already there."

"Hold on," Magnolia spoke up, "I'm not as fast as you all! I'm going to be in serious trouble if you run off ahead."

Dominic shrugged. "You're probably faster than me."

"That's hardly any consolation," she snapped back.

"Wasn't supposed to be..." said the spectacled boy.

As the two bickered, Eduard walked up behind them and struck both lightly on the back with his left hand. 

Magnolia spun around aggressively ignoring the strange sensation washing over her body. "You'd dare lay a hand on a lady?" she hissed.

Unimpressed by her tantrum, Eduard half his palm toward Magnolia's face. "You're lighter now," he calmly explained, "Lean forward when you run and push off the ground with your feet. You'll move a lot faster that way."

Biting her tongue, Magnolia's face shifted red. She knew that she had reacted too quickly, but far be it from her to apologize to someone who, in her eyes, was of lower status. 

"Well, next time, you might ask permission before touching a woman," said Magnolia, falsifying her composure.

"Sounds good," replied Eduard, "Next time I'll ask permission to leave you behind as monster bait."

Gustavo shook his head and turned back to the door once more. "Alright, that's enough. We need to move now. Remember, as soon as we step outside, we rush to the fields," he reiterated. "Even if you see someone struggling out there, don't play the hero. We've already thinned out too much and, if anyone splits off, we're going to be in trouble. Once we regroup with the others, they'll probably organize a rescue effort."

After exchanging quick glances, Eduard and Magnolia shifted their attention to the door. 

"Push off the ground, you said?" the girl inquired.

Eduard nodded. "Correct. Lean forward, push hard with your feet."

Without further delay, Gustavo pushed open the heavy right door, exposing the group to the cool, early-morning Fall air. The sun was still low in the sky, obscured by the treetops as it cast the sky a dim, hazy blue. As agreed upon, the four knight candidates rushed out the door with the intention of hurrying to the training fields. However, as soon as they exited the building, a large object plummeted down from above the doorway and violently cratered into the ground, narrowly missing Eduard and Gustavo. The impact was so great that the earth briefly trembled beneath the young candidates' feet while dirt and dust were kicked several meters into the air.

Though she was furthest from the collision, Magnolia was knocked backward onto the ground. As she looked up at the cloud of dust, a hulking humanoid figure began to take shape. Then, as if just now activated, two inorganic red orbs began to shine, showing through the obstructing debris still lingering in the air.

Horrified, Magnolia began to push herself backward across the ground, putting distance between her and the thing responsible for such immense destructive force. This was no inanimate object, it was a three-meter-tall colossus of a man.