Against the World II: Transgression
Chapter 51: Other Battlefields, Part 2
No one can escape death when that abstract thing comes along. And when his head crumbled to zero point for a few nanoseconds before the explosion occurred, Hekiel knew it was now his turn to death. There was nothing he could do to escape. History's over. He won't even have a chance to feel the pain when his body hits the floor.
At least, that's how it should be. However, Hekiel did not die. His head was not crushed in the explosion that swallowed him. He wasn't hurt at all. The pain in the back when it hit the floor was clearly felt. Hekiel is alive. His head was still intact; neither was the pain. The story is not over. But, how?
“...You owe me your life, Hekiel.”
The atmosphere instantly became silent as the piece of sentence struck out. Everything seems to stop. The thorny roots were covered in poison that attacked Dermyus and Hekiel as well in a motionless state. Bedivere stood still with unblinking eyes. If Hekiel did not know that Xavier did not have [Time Magic], he would have guessed that time had stopped.
Xavier— who stood about two meters in front of Hekiel— snapped the finger of the left hand, and instantly the roots were wiped to dust. Time (even though he knew he was not stopping) seemed to be walking back. Bedivere's pretty face that was dyed in arrogance had now been wrapped in shock. The same can be said of Dermyus and Alforalis.
“This battle no longer needs to continue,” said Xavier while once again flicking his fingers.
Hekiel had no time to question what the meaning of the sentence was. Xavier and Bedivere suddenly disappeared from before him. At least, that was what he assumed before he realized that the environment he was in had changed. It was not Xavier and Bedivere who disappeared from before him, but he who disappeared from before them.
And, it was not just him who had been forcibly teleported. Dermyus. …Elizabeth also. Reinhart too. The entire Imperial Army army (either living or killed) was also experiencing the same thing. They had all been forcibly teleported.
“What happened—Reinhart! You, your hand...”.
“Not to worry, Elizabeth, I'm fine. More importantly, what happened? Why are we in western Nevada? Who has forcibly deported us? The edelweiss? Can he do something like this? Or, Miss Kanna?”
“...I thought this was Commander Xavier.”
The answer was not from the mouth of Hekiel, but Dermyus. Hekiel was still lying down; he had only begun to sit down when Dermyus had an opinion.
“Xavier...Are you not kidding?”
Dermyus ignored Reinhart's question and approached Hekiel, leading Elizabeth and Reinhart to approach the Sixth Comander. “I'm glad you're not dead, Hekiel,” he said slowly—Hekiel couldn't judge if the commander was really happy. “What did Xavier have to say something?”
“Hm..Besides saying that I owe him my life, he said that this war no longer needs to continue.”
“War need not continue? What the hell does that mean? What is se—”
“I didn't think you guys would be brought here in such a short time.”
The voice that cut off Dermyus' speech belonged to Edelweiss. He had just appeared a few steps behind Hekiel.
“Deputy Commander Elizabeth,” continued Edelweiss without providing an opportunity for others to speak out. “Command that the soldiers collect the bodies of their fallen comrades. For the wounded soldiers, please take them all to Division 3.” headquarters
Edelweiss's eyes quickly moved to Reinhart. “Commander Reinhart, we'll treat you later. For now there is a commander's meeting that we must attend. Her Majesty Queen Verissinia is waiting for us all in the meeting room.” Edelweiss directly stringed the magic circle formula among the commanders.
“Your Majesty The Queen. What do you mean, Edelweiss?”
“Nona Verissinia coup emperor?!” reinhart asked in half-shock. “This is crazy!”
“Edelweiss, ..are you disloyal to Miss Kanna? What the hell's going on? How could Achilles let this happen?”
…No one prepared themselves for the news. Even Dermyus (who was usually minimal in expression) was made immeasurably shocked.
“...Where is Emperor Nueva?” Elizabeth's question was successful in bringing everything back from their shock.
“Emperor Nueva has been killed at the hands of Emperor Xavier. Enough explanation, we're leaving right now. Her Majesty Verissinia will explain in more detail.”
The commanders disappeared from Elizabeth's presence before she could say anything more.
...* * *...
Alforalis only fell silent with his mouth slightly open when he suddenly found himself in front of the very familiar gates of Evrillia City. He knew himself not to be alone; behind him were many sounds of shock that the elves let out. Alforalis and the elven troops he had brought (however) had been teleported back to their home country.
...* * *...
Bedivere did not say anything as his three opponents disappeared abruptly. He also did not make a sound when his arena was destroyed and disappeared into dust. Even he was speechless when he realized there was no one else as far as the eye could see other than the young man who had protected Hekiel from death. Even the bodies of soldiers (both soldiers and enemy soldiers) also disappeared from where they were killed.
Not because of anything, but because Bedivere knew the individual before him was just a clone. He could not feel anything from her, but Kramuel could feel every soul that was nearby. And, that young man had no soul in it. One hundred percent is a clone. Dame Bedivere does not serve any clones, no matter if the clone has done a very annoying thing.
“...You're the third prettiest and most charming woman of all women I've ever seen. It would be a pity if you had to die, let alone your power would be useful to Islan.”
But the statement was successful in making Bedivere put his stance aside. Clones or not, at this point it no longer matters. He had said the most offensive thing that was in Bedivere's living dictionary. For that reason, he cannot be forgiven. How could she imply that there are women who embrace her in terms of beauty and charm? That's really unforgivable.
“Dame Bedivere doesn't care anymore, Klon! You'll vanish from Dame Bedivere right now!”
Bedivere removed the distance between them quickly. However, the swing of the thorn whip he released was taken for granted by the commander. More than that, the clone had chained both his hands and feet without him noticing—ia was defeated before he realized it.
“Killing a beautiful and charming woman like you is a sin, so I won't kill you. But, make sure you keep this between the two of us, okay?”
Bedivere was not given a chance to say anything. He was suddenly not far from the south gate of Axellibra – the chain that bound him had disappeared without a trace. And, he's not alone. His soldiers and the remaining soldiers of the other orders had first been teleported here.
...* * *...
Xavier, more precisely the clone, let out a long sigh while combing his dark red hair with his fingers. He just did something bad. However, there was nothing he could do to change what had happened. Bedivere was too charming until she was a little drugged to praise; she reminded him more of Nizivia than anyone else.
Xavier will be careful not to see the woman again. He was worried that he would move his hand if there was another interaction between them. It's like when he first met Vermyna. The main reason he approached the vampire was because she was the first woman he met. Bedivere is different. Xavier was purely interested, and it was dangerous.
After the war was over he needed to talk about this with Artemys. Maybe this isn't fair to Monica and Vermyna, but really no one can tell her to do anything she doesn't want other than Artemys. Her feelings for Artemys were richer than her feelings for Monica and the others. It would not be wrong to say Artemys had already managed to master it.
Sighing once more, Xavier immediately teleported to Carolina. In an instant he barged into the palace. There was no time for the clone to seem to think about it any further; he would leave it to the original Xavier. Now it is his duty to talk to the king and decide whether he should be imprisoned or taken advantage of.
Xavier will rule all over Islan before night comes, and no one will stop him – he won't let anyone stop him.