Arc Royale [Ch. 7]

Grimm recoiled visibly and threw more blood in Knight's path, but the hastily and half-formed Grimm that should have shielded him were all cut down in a single swing. The power of the blow brought his sword through, but Knight stepped with it, chambering and reversing as he moved in to cut the Jaune down. The Grimm-man hybrid flinched back, bringing both his arms and tentacles up to shield him. Ruby had seen Knight's strength first hand and knew it wouldn't make a difference.

Hot, white light exploded between the two of them.

For Ruby, a good distance away, it was bright enough to leave spots dancing in her vision. For Knight, who had been mere feet away with his eyes focused on Grimm, it was blinding. Her brave knight flinched back and thrashed his sword wildly before him to ward off an attack that didn't come. Grimm staggered back as well, dizzy and disoriented. Another white flash exploded in front of Knight, but this time Ruby caught the sparking cylinder a second before it went off.

Flash. Knight roared in pain and tried to retreat. White fluttered – but this time cloth. A tall man dropped down from a cargo container, landed in a crouch between Knight and Grimm, then leapt forward.

"Knight!" Ruby screamed. "Dodge back!"

He listened. Thank goodness he listened. Knight braced his legs and blindly trusted her, throwing himself back and avoiding the sword that cut through where he'd been. The attacker, a huntsman, followed through and swung down from above, but Knight had recovered enough to bring his sword up and parry it – to drive it away with so much force it spiralled out of the white-coated huntsman's hands.

Rather than panic or retreat, however, the huntsman brought a bare hand up and down, smashing something into the floor. Smoke ballooned outward, obscuring both him and Knight for a few seconds. The smoke only dissipated because a violent explosion ripped the cloud away, launching a smoking figure out toward them.

Knight crashed down onto concrete and skidded to a stop past Ruby.

"Knight!"

"I'm fine." He dug his sword down and used it to pick himself up. To her surprise, he was unharmed. His skin wasn't even blemished. The same couldn't be said for his armour, which was covered in soot and dust, but he as up and talking normally. Except for one thing. He had his eyes scrunched shut. "My eyes are burning. I can't – hngh! That wasn't normal smoke."

The faintest whips of the smoke billowed by them, and Ruby felt her own eyes water. Was that… tear gas? It was something like that. Ruby snapped her eyes shut until it was past. Knight kept scrubbing at his own eyes with his cloak, for all the good that would do. He'd need clean water to wash it out with. When Ruby told him that, he swore.

—Arc Royale [Ch. 7]