Drakengard: Demonic Flower [Demons Souls X Drakengard 3 Crossover]

Chapter 15 - Towards the Fortress

"Well, that's a problem."

"Is that so? Can you believe I didn't notice?" Dito responded sarcastically.

"Hey! Virgin Knight, tear down the barricade!" Zero demanded, pointing forward with her sword.

"What makes you think I can do it?" I asked.

"I don't know! Why don't you take another giant weapon out of that bag of yours or use your strange magic to clear the way?" Zero replied with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

I sighed irritably; apparently, Zero's good mood only lasts until the first inconvenience she encounters along the way.

We saw Four's fortress on top of a mountain in the distance, but to get there we would need to cross a long dark stone bridge suspended over an abyss.

The problem? The bridge was heavily fortified with barricades made up of wooden stakes, gigantic metal shields, and a large iron gate behind it.

How the hell does Zero expect me to deal with this? Looking to the side, I saw Zero and Dito staring at me impatiently. Sighing again, I approached the barricade with Eupherbia following me.

"Wow! Traveling with these two is a pain! They expect you to do all the heavy lifting!" Eupherbia exclaimed beside me.

"That's one disadvantage of having a wide variety of skills, people expect you to have the solution to every problem." I responded, pulling out my catalyst and conjuring a flame at its tip.

"I'm glad no one expects anything from me, being just one in the crowd has its advantages."

"I don't think a fairy would go unnoticed in a crowd." I laughed.

Concentrating. I dimmed the flame at the tip of my catalyst, accumulating all of its power in a single point, making the flame change to a blue hue.

"You know what I meant. Changing the subject, do you need help?" Eupherbia asked, looking curiously at what I was doing.

"Well, if melting the metal isn't too much for you, a little help would be appreciated."

"Hump! You can count on me! A little bit of rusty metal is nothing to the great Eupherbia!" The fairy responded, raising her nose, and placing a thumb on her puffed chest.

"Well then what is the great Eupherbia waiting for? Let's get to work!" I laughed, touching the first large shield with the flame on my catalyst, turning the metal orange and causing sparks to fly to the sides.

"Right!" Eupherbia spoke, concentrating her magic in her hands and firing a magic beam right after, melting the metal faster.

It was a peaceful few minutes, but that peace ended as soon as I heard a familiar set of footsteps.

"What do you want Zero?" I asked without taking my eyes off my work.

"How did you know it was me?" Zero asked.

"Who else besides our little group is around at the moment? Besides, I've gotten used to your step pattern; I know in advance when you're approaching."

"Creepy." Zero said disconcertedly.

"But useful. Careful, slow, and heavy steps usually belong to knights due to their training and equipment weight, hurried and out-of-rhythm steps belong to poorly trained soldiers, light and almost inaudible steps belong to merciless assassins, and so on..."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's say that some time ago; I had to choose which enemies I could fight directly, which ones I should ambush, and which ones I should avoid. Learning the noises your enemy makes is a good way to know what you're dealing with without seeing it."