Author's Note:
As always, a thank you to everyone for your reviews. And I apologize if you felt the delay for the fight where Wardes gets his ass handed to him was unnecessary, but... yeah, I wanted to write a chapter that showed that Negi's disappearance isn't ignorable.

There's lots of stuff depending on him and he knows it, which is why he isn't just standing still waiting for rescue. I think I've made it clear that he studies Halkeginian magic in an attempt to reverse the ritual despite the runes' effects.

Darkest Void

Chapter 14: He Totally Had It Coming

The room's lighting was perfect. The atmosphere was undeniably that of a romantic, private night. Louise had to, if nothing else, commend Wardes' ability to create a proper atmosphere.

"I don't intend to spend the rest of my days as the Captain of the Magic Knights." Explained the man who towered above Louise, holding his hand out and waving his cup dramatically to emphasize his speech. "I wish to become a noble that will inspire this kingdom, no, all of Halkeginia!"

"B-But... Getting married so suddenly..." Louise blushed, but she couldn't entirely tell why she was so darned opposed to the idea. She just didn't want to get married to him, but she didn't know why, and it was starting to overpower the embarrassment that the whole situation poured on her.

The rule of steel claimed focus. Hell be frozen over before she'd let herself be swayed like this. After all, even her familiar seemed to be able to keep his cool in almost any situation.

"I need you, Louise."

"It is still too sudden." Louise retorted, turning to face him, her face set in an almost entirely neutral expression, only the faint traces of embarrassment leaked through the mask.

Wardes cupped her chin and whispered her name, and she felt tempted to just let herself break under the pressure.

The Rule of Steel held firm, and she merely stared at him as his face came close to hers, past her lips and next to her ear. "I will protect you."

Protect her?

It was a stupid claim. Because she didn't need him for that. She didn't need him to protect her. She was working on becoming a better mage, on manipulating her faulty magic to be devastating. And even if she didn't go for those lengths, she still had something very clear in her mind.

There was someone else to protect her. There was someone who wouldn't ask for anything in return, who would take any punishment for her, who would gladly accept the pain of a thousand deaths if it meant she wouldn't have to put up with a stubbed toe, who would engage in a knife fight with God for her sake. And probably win, too, he was that damned broken.

Wardes The Lightning just couldn't hold a candle to him, no matter how much he tried. Their stories, their elements and even their personalities were close, but the difference was clear. They were at two completely different levels.

One was handsome, the other could make people faint merely by smiling at them.

One was a powerful mage knight, the other was outright broken.

One was an orphan who fought for everything he has, the other was an orphan who fought not for himself but for every single one of his friends.

In her mind, in the deepest, farthest reaches of the labyrinth of walls that she built around her heart, the choice was a clear one. There was no comparison at all.

She calmly placed a hand on Wardes' chest and looked at him with a bemused expression, shaking her head as the man pulled away from her. She still didn't entirely know nor realize why she just couldn't let him kiss her.

"I am sorry, but we have a responsibility to fulfill. We are on a mission. It's not the time for this." the pinkette said.

Wardes chuckled at the sight and sound, taking a step back. "It seems you are more like your mother every day, Louise." The man spoke, although to Louise it was clear his smile was not his usual smile. "Or is it that a young man is currently residing in your heart?"

Louise frantically shook her head, blushing like a tomato. "N-no! It's nothing like that!" she almost yelled.

"It's alright. I won't ask for an answer right now."

Louise remained on her chair, glancing at the glass of wine she currently held in her hands as Wardes calmly walked away, placing one hand on the door's handle. "It is alright. I know that your heart will lean towards me by the end of this journey." And if she hadn't been paying attention, she might have missed the fact that those words sounded fairly suspicious, even ominous.

Louise blinked. "Where will you sleep, then?" she asked, absent minded.

"I will just rent another room. Good night, Louise." His smile didn't falter, but it utterly failed to convince Louise. It was clear that Wardes was more than a bit upset.

"Good night, Lord Wardes." She replied, as the man closed the door and walked away.

"Just this once?" Guiche pleaded.

"No!"

"But I've wanted to try ever since Negi taught it to me!" The blond continued to plead, now getting on his knees in the dim light provided by the inn's main door.

"Never!" Montmorency continued, her denial absolute.

A few minutes, around fifteen to be a bit more precise, and we come back to our happy, if blond, couple.

"... Let's do it again." Montmorency said, blushing noticeably.

Guiche pumped his fist. "I knew it! Master Negi's techniques never fail!"

"You're gonna call him Master now?" Montmorency asked, tilting her head. To her, it sounded fairly stupid.

"Well, he called his teachers Master, so I don't see why not..."

"Makes sense, I guess, as much sense as that man ever makes, anyway." Montmorency finished, shrugging. "Let's get back to it!"

"Certainly!"

The next morning, in an alleyway...

Wardes and Negi stood at a few paces' distance from each other, Negi brandishing Derflinger, holding it in a casual stance meant for beginners. He didn't seem to be tense or even nervous, all he was was loose, and if Louise admitted it, somewhat handsome. Okay, somewhat was understating it, but she wouldn't be caught dead praising a man's looks... in public.

Wardes, meanwhile, was studying his stance without much subtlety about it, holding his swordlike wand in one hand, it's tip resting against the ground and his eyes narrow and concentrated. Guiche, Montmorency and Louise were sitting by a set of barrels, all three of them focused on the sight in front of them. For some reason, Guiche had insisted in coming to watch, because that kind of show is not given every day.

"Shall we begin right away?" Asked the man in the robe and wizard hat.

"Sure, why not?" Negi asked in reply.

"Ah, being a noble is a load. I can't help but compare myself to my peers."

"I know the feeling." Negi replied, slightly lowering Derflinger for a second. "However, my duties prevent me from freely sparring with those whom I wish to. It is nice to finally get a chance for a work out." Pre-fight banter, truly the technique of the gods! Regardless of how true the words may be, because Negi knew better than anyone that it was mostly his fault that he overworked himself to the limit, the chance to fight someone who actually knew how to fight was still something he appreciated.

"I do not plan on holding back." Wardes commented.

"That is fine." Negi replied. "After all, it wouldn't be fun for me otherwise." He added, focusing on Wardes, ignoring the trembling Louise.

"Ah! I don't know who to cheer for! The dashing magic knight or my glorious master!" Guiche wailed, prompting Montmorency to just smack him to shut him up. Though she couldn't help but realize that at some point, she'd have to start calling him Master too. After all, a lengthy explanation on Apprentice/Master relations had indeed revealed that that was the correct way to refer to him if he was going to train them.

"Let's begin!"

Wardes readied his wand blade not a moment too soon. The second he got a ward on, Negi had already dashed his way. The impact of Derflinger on his weapon rattled his arms. Wardes decided that his no holding back policy better be made use of, as he darted to the right to avoid an over head slash that would've split him cleanly as it left a noticeable dent on the ground, even past where Derflinger had landed.

Negi was fighting wildly, preferring to simply utterly destroy Wardes' guard with each attack instead of dashing in for the kill as would be expected in a real fight, even though that entailed only missing one or two opportunities, even accounting the times Negi could've landed a follow up, the man simply flowed from guard to guard, no matter how many times his weapon was slapped away. Wardes was pushed back by the continued rain of blows, even if his defense showed that he was, indeed, skilled. Anyone else would've already left themselves open if only because of exhaustion.

It was clear that the bearded man was a great swordsman. Surely way bellow the prowess of someone like Setsuna, Kurt or Eishun, but powerful enough to actively challenge Negi with the style he was using. So Negi switched to something a bit more fast and frenetic. Something that he'd learned a while ago was that his massive physical strength allowed him to wield a two handed weapon like Derflinger in one hand. It made the attacks harder to control and aim, but it made them more unpredictable as Negi had to break form to execute them.

He wasn't a Shinmeiryuu, he couldn't get a dozen attacks thrown in under a second under normal circumstances, but if he allowed himself to say it, he was pretty damn fast, even with a sword as heavy as Derflinger.

"You have great technique!" Wardes commented, letting a stab from Derflinger harmlessly slide away from him by courtesy of his wand diverting the attack. Taking that chance, he stabbed at Negi's face, but the redhead merely ducked under the attack and began to spin around, holding Derflinger out.

Wardes barely had enough time to stop Derflinger from smashing through his kneecaps by leaping back. It had been Derflinger's blunt edge. Still dangerous. "You, as well!" Negi replied, looking up as he finished the swing.

The older man hit the wall behind himself with his feet and jumped off to land behind Negi, who quickly spun around and brought the sword up to easily block an incoming attack. Wardes followed into a combination, having leaped onto the offensive, but all of the attacks met Derflinger's flat side or empty air.

The rapier-like wand was, surprisingly, quite versatile, as a simple spell would give it the ability to be a cutting weapon besides the stabbing weapon it already was. Even so it was still hard for him to get past Negi's defense, let alone touch him despite the flimsy guard. After all, Negi was far more used to simply dodging than blocking, and that was what he was concentrating on, the stabs making a fine impression of a sewing machine being simply incapable of matching the speed in which Negi's body swayed from side to side.

Negi didn't back away one bit, being dangerously close to a wall already, as Wardes closed the distance between them, preventing Negi from relying on Derflinger due to it's size. With a confident smirk, the man stabbed forward once again, only to find that Negi wasn't there. His eyes widened and he ducked as he heard the unmistakable sound of a rusty edge cutting the air.

"Impressive." Both said at the same time, as they took the small reprieve to leap and put some distance between each other.

"I admit, this has been quite fun." Negi said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. And only then did Wardes notice that throughout all the fight, Negi hadn't done anything but fight with his left arm, when Derflinger was clearly a two handed weapon, except for the warm up.

"You insult me by holding back." Wardes said, frowning noticeably. "Your skill, your speed and your reaction times are all beyond what most people will ever achieve, even while holding back. I admit, you become more interesting by the minute." The magic knight stated.

"You say so, but you lied when you said you wouldn't hold back yourself." Negi said, smiling widely. "After all, you are a Magic Knight, right?"

They both laughed openly. "Very well, then, I admit that I thought I could handle you with my sword alone. A great mistake."

Negi removed Derflinger's sheath from his back and sheathed the sword. "Oi, partner, what are you doing?" Asked the sword, clearly wondering what the hell was going on.

"Sorry, Derflinger, but I want to fight Mr. Wardes seriously, and while I am good with a sword, but, to quote a friend, I'm pretty damn hot at unarmed combat." With a grin on his face, Negi threw his sheathed weapon at Guiche, who caught it eagerly, still entranced by the frenetic dance that the two swordsmen had found themselves into, then turned his attention back to Wardes.

"Oh, is that so?" Wardes asked. "Wind!" Or something that sounded like that, anyway. Negi couldn't quite tell. He seemed to have been chanting.

An explosion of wind erupted from the tip of his rapier wand, as Negi had already dashed in to stop the spell before it went off, it almost caught him squarely on the face, but he jumped to the side at the last second. A spell specifically designed to be deadly in melee range, since it's area of effect made trying to dodge it by jumping away useless. Unburdened without a heavy sword and not confined to the range and limited techniques that his choice weapon provided, he was much faster and agile, Wardes realized, way too late. He could barely see Negi rush in again, and the blurs his arms were when he suddenly extended them like a pair of pistons.

Every time he and those two meteors made contact, his body felt like a freight train, not that he knew what that was, had plowed right onto him. And it had been an open palm hit. His grunt of pain was heard across the alley, but he didn't have time to dwell on it as he heard the sound of several steps way too fast to belong to a human being.

Negi, as soon as he'd been close enough again, unleashed a simple combination. Take a step forward and with the momentum punch the stomach. When the target is reeling from that hit, take another step forward, twist yourself so you mirror your previous stance and punch with the left, closing the distance that you had after the first punch.

Afterward, take advantage of the closeness to uppercut the target into the air. Follow into the air and use both arms to jackhammer him back down.

All of that, executed in less than a second. Truly a master's work.

Still, Wardes regained his footing, somersaulting so he landed on his feet. However, by the time he did, Negi was already in front of him again. He tried to stab before another flurry of attacks could come again, but Negi's hand shot to grab his wrist and yank him forward, at which point Negi crouched down and, using his legs as a spring, delivered a brutal elbow blow to Wardes' gut.

Without air to breathe, Wardes stumbled forward before dropping to his knees, his wand clattering uselessly in front of him. He spat, both his breath and saliva, before he could take another breath, coughing violently as he did. That had been monstrous. Such strength, speed and skill.

The speed was just ridiculous. The strength was tremendous. His reactions were flawless. There were no wasted movements. He hadn't used a single spell and Wardes had been incapable of even touching him. Was that the power of the Gandalfr? Was that the difference between himself and a true warrior, chosen by the legend and the void itself?

He couldn't accept being rendered so insignificant so easily, by a man that was completely unarmed! As he reached for his wand once more, Negi's strange shoe came down on his palm, making him hiss in pain, then look up at the face of his opponent. The redhead was still smiling, though it only sent further chills down the veteran's spine. Such a cruel and gleeful smile.

Growling, Wardes leaped forward to try to tackle Negi, who, almost flowing, slid out of the way and placed an elbow on Wardes' lower back as he passed by him, making him yell out in pain. A particularly weak spot of the spine had been hit that stopped his movement cold.

The Magic Knight unceremoniously crashed to the ground, though he felt his hand reach the handle of his sword wand. He began muttering a spell as Negi calmly walked in his direction. The moment he was close enough, Wardes unleashed another wind burst, quickly turning, holding himself up with one hand and pointing his wand at someone who wasn't there anymore with the other.

When Wardes turned around, Negi had a palm next to his face, a clear promise held on it. Had he continued with the attack and actually landed the hit on the back of his head, he'd be dead. Attacks with such tremendous amounts of power behind them were absolutely no joke. The feeling that he'd almost gotten his head chopped off right then and there left him with a cold sweat and the second that passed between that realization and when Wardes struck the ground in defeat seemed to last an eternity.

"It's over." Negi said, pulling his arm back. "It was fun." He said, offering the downed knight his hand.

"Our departure was delayed." Louise informed, propping her elbows against the veranda. "Lord Wardes needs time to recover from his injuries." she added, then she fell into silence.

Negi was giving his back to the beautiful sunset, his arms folded over his chest. "I... I'm sorry. I think I went a bit overboard..."

"You think?" Louise asked, glaring at him, but he only smiled sheepishly. "It was... well, it was amazing, really. So far I have only seen you using weapons or magic. That is the first time I've seen you fight with your bare hands."

"Well, I first learned to fight with my bare hands, then moved on to spears and finally moved on to swords, though I could never quite become as good a swordsman as I am with Kenpo." Negi explained, falling into thought for a few seconds.

"You get weirder every day." Louise commented, leaning forward.

"Thank you." Negi replied with an amused tone. "I have been told that weird is nice." And for all of it, Louise couldn't bring herself to disagree.

"Why are you here and not with us in the hotel?" Louise asked, returning to the sun sinking below the horizon.

"I needed time to think."

"About what?" Negi wondered if it was the trip of his exposition or something, everyone seemed hell bent on asking him questions these days. It came with the job of being a familiar summoned from an alternate dimension, but Negi didn't quite know that.

"About many things." He replied. Louise caught the cue, which was 'I don't want to tell you'. He hadn't wasted time building himself some respect from her independent of his social status, so she let it go. He seemed like he really didn't want to talk about that.

Neither of them really talked much. Negi seemed lost in thought, some times muttering something that was completely impossible to understand for her. Presumably his homeland's language. The purple moon was kind of pretty. Louise didn't notice she'd unconsciously closed her distance with Negi and was now actually leaning against him.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?"

The sound of a smack could be heard across the street. "Idiot! They were having a private moment!"

"But I got bored of just watching..." Guiche pointed out, causing Negi to chuckle and Louise to blush a little while glaring at the blond fop. "Anyway, we really should get moving."

"No need. Lord Wardes needs time to recover from that beatdown." Louise said, waving their concerns off.

Montmorency seemed stuck between amused and bemused, not knowing which way to go to. On the one hand, the fact that Wardes had gotten the crap beaten out of him so easily was actually kind of hilarious. The other, meaning she'd have to stay longer in that hotel where Guiche would ogle every skirt that passed by made her want to smack the blond again. Besides, for all of the insanely painful blows that he'd taken, she assumed it was just tiredness he wanted to deal with, because he'd been healed right afterward. Maybe he was still sore.

However, as the group chatted animatedly, nobody took notice of the cloaked figure that had been approaching them.

A wave of a wand had a spike exploding from the ground like a piston. Specifically targeted towards the pink haired mage. It took Negi all of two nanoseconds to shove Louise out of the way, reminiscing for a second how his vampiric Master had done the same a very long time ago. However, instead of piercing through his stomach, the flat surface of the spike bursting from the ground tossed him away. And then he realized that the move was meant for him specifically.

Truly an unexpected move that made him sail past the veranda, and as he flied through the air, he easily recovered mid-air to find two gigantic golems raising from the ground, menacing the party. It was kind of irritating. Two more? He'd already destroyed two. Those things were already getting boring.

Except this time, Kirche and Tabitha weren't around and Guiche and Montmorency where nowhere near ready for combat. Not to this level. Negi smiled slightly. "You again?" He asked, using Shundou to get back to the ground, only to see Fouquet, atop one of the golems, let out a cascade of swearwords at her master plan failing, something about a stupidly broken mage doing things that should be impossible.

Except it was a distraction, as the moment he actually touched the ground, he found his feet sinking and becoming wrapped in the stone chiseled to make the road. The fact that the lack of balance that standing on fluid rock provided made him fall on his ass was only further fuel to the fire.

Fouquet had made the terrible mistake of ignoring Negi's allies, however. Guiche's magic seemed very useful to get Negi out of his predicament, while Montmorency tried her best to break Fouquet's focus (simply tossing streams of water at her that she'd be forced to dodge was enough to do so, she was, evidently, halfway decent with projectiles mostly due to the training she had. Negi was sure he could teach her Sagitta Magica now), and Louise tore a chunk off the Golem on auto pilot with a quick explosion.

"Don't engage in melee. Those things are tougher than bronze." Negi pointed out to Guiche, who was already glowing with the energy Montmorency sent him through their pactio.

Louise could use any spell to trigger an explosion, and teaching her the most basic spell Negi knew allowed her to rapid-fire explosions by simply casting Ardescat over and over again. The Golem she'd targetted had been locked in place, since it was busy regenerating from the chunks that were being constantly torn off.

Negi sighed. "Well... I guess simply taking the golems out won't work this time. Let me show you, Fouquet, the difference between us." With care, Negi removed Derflinger from his back. He ignored how Fouquet's golems swatted away an army of Guiche's valkyries, while the golems took the earth in the cliff's face behind them to regenerate from Louise's abuse.

He pulled the sword out of it's sheath and stabbed it to the ground. "Well, Derflinger, you wanted me to show you the power that I alone possess?" He said, grinning. "Give me a second here."

Guiche nodded, and summoned a few more valkyries to help distract the golem Fouquet was riding on, trusting Louise's ability to maintain the other golem occupied through explosions. With aid from Montmorency's power, it was easy to summon a dozen or so.

"Duabus Emissae! Duplex Complexio! Supplementum Pro Armationem! Ταστλαπα Υπερ Ουρανου Μεγα Δυναμενε (Twin Vigour of the Thunderous Sky)!"

Everyone felt the touch of electricity. Lightning cracked, and the next thing Fouquet knew was that she was on the ground, specifically, on her ass, perplexed at the sudden location shift. She didn't get much time to ponder her situation, as she rolled out of the way of a water whip and shot to her feet as Guiche moved to engage her in direct melee.

And then the golems were still for a second, as what looked like a streak of lightning flashed visibility for a second. Countless gales of wind appeared as Derflinger's slashes became visible, way after they had been made. And then Negi placed Derflinger over his left shoulder.

Fouquet fell to her knees, and besides her own heard three jaws hitting the ground, as the golems became dust in under a second.

"Holy shit that was fast."

It was unanimous. Even Fouquet found herself honestly impressed by the insane speed. A figure of pure lightning took several steps forward, the ground exploding with lightning after every step. Negi's figure was completely devoid of color, being bathed in white, even Derflinger seemed to be affected by that.

And then her throat was dry, she tried to focus her wand on him once more, but it was pointless, as the second she did so the wand had already been sliced in half, only the distorted color of a sword slicing the air at speeds that were completely impossible to achieve was left behind.

"There's a reason they called me the Lightning God back at home." Negi said, smiling widely. "Ah, Miss Fouquet, I would've preferred not having to use this, but if you still think you can defeat me, I will be glad to face you in a one on one fight."

"... I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"No, though you are going back to the dungeon."

"Well, I'll be damned. We came all the way here to help and you were done in just one instant!"

Negi waved as Kirche dropped from the sky, sporting a far too perverted smirk. "Uh... sorry?" He offered.

"Ah, but what else could I have expected from my darling?" she seemed hesitant of touching him, however. He didn't blame her. He was sparking with lightning after all.

Tabitha looked at him questioningly for a few seconds, from atop Sylphid. The dragon had either been surprisingly stealthy in its approach or Negi simply hadn't been paying that much attention. It was most likely the latter.

However, Fouquet had enough juice to run the hell away, apparently, as she began to do just that. And then found herself facing Negi's chin. "Yeah, that's not going to work."

Fouquet growled, but surrendered, realizing just how outclassed she really was.

Louise blinked. "Zerbst?" She asked, finally getting over the shock that seeing two golems spontaneously turn to dust by her familiar's hand had brought. "Tabitha?"

A horn sounded in the distance.

"So, you're that middle aged thief?" Kirche asked, seemingly actually curious.

"Middle aged? I just hit twenty last year!" Fouquet snarled back.

"Exactly, middle aged." Kirche continued, clearly pleased with getting a rise out of the captive thief, who continued to snarl at her incoherent words that might've been insults regarding not looking like a teenager or whatever the equivalent was. The narrator apologizes for not being able to translate them.

On the flipside, it did get a nice blush out of Negi, Guiche, Montmorency, Tabitha and Louise. Apparently, it was graphic.

"And proud of it." Kirche finally replied. Fouquet was just left stupified. So was everyone else for a few seconds.

"Uhm, Kirche, not that I'm complaining, but..." Negi seemed nervous with the proximity he had to the redhead at the moment. "Why are you here?"

"I was just wondering what was going on and then I came to see myself." Kirche spoke, resting against a chair suspiciously close to Negi. Louise said nothing, just folded her arms over her nonexistent chest and glared at her. "It took me a whole day to find you!" She admitted, sitting properly. It seemed that she was distracted off his bones for the moment.

Louise was starting to reach for her wand and that could be fairly dangerous.

"As expected of you. I actually left you a note, you know." Montmorency said, shaking her head. Why was she friends with that moron again?

"I know, that is how I found you." Kirche spoke, puffing her chest proudly. Oh, right, that. It was hard not to be friends with someone who is the funny kind of moron most of the time.

"And then when I find you, you're fighting Fouquet all over again without me." She continued, pouting slightly.

Negi chuckled sheepishly. "Though it's weird that Wardes left without us, it is not entirely unexpected. As a politician, the first thing you learn is to distrust every other influential figure." Negi admitted, sighing. "Though I wished he was different, I guess."

"You were expecting it, Partner?" Derflinger asked. The sword refrained from pointing out the obvious on occasion, but today didn't seem to be such an occasion. "What do you think?"

"I knew he had his own agenda, everyone has their own agenda, though I do not know why he would want to go on alone."

"What is this mission, anyway?" Kirche asked.

Negi rubbed his chin and then pointed a finger at Fouquet. "Nebula Hypnotica." And the thief was out like a light. Everyone stared at him for a second, then he cleared his throat. "Well, we were supposed to obtain a letter that the Princess had sent Prince Wales of Albion, it is a top secret mission." Negi explained. Louise sputtered something about revealing such important information to a Germanian, but Kirche just shushed her. Then, Louise considered that if Negi thought her trustworthy, then she'd trust her for the moment.

The room wasn't secure at all, but the spells to disguise conversation weren't uncommon in his world and considering that he did most often talk about secrets that would be catastrophic if made public, he'd learned to cast it every time he talked about something important, like now. Again, politicians pretty much required having these habits.

"Then, why do you think Wardes wants to accomplish it alone? Do you think it might be too dangerous for us?"

Montmorency shook her head. "If it were that, we'd be way safer with Negi here. You saw his power, we saw his skill." she said, falling into thought.

"Hn... Why would he leave us behind?"

Louise then decided to man up for the moment and then turned to Negi. "Do you think he might be a traitor to Tristain?" She asked. She didn't like implying it. For as much as Negi was better, Wardes had been the man she'd admired since she was a little girl, and she couldn't bear to see him betray the kingdom she loved so easily. It took Negi a full minute of thought to formulate an answer.

"Yes." Negi said finally. "The letter is extremely important for Tristain's alliance with Germania. If he were to deliver it to the Germanians, then the alliance would become impossible. He might have betrayed us to the rebel movement within Albion." Negi said, frowning. "But with the boat gone, we won't get there in time."

"Can't you just do that Shundou thing?" Guiche asked, folding his arms over his chest. He couldn't get it quite right himself, but Negi had proven a master at using it.

"At most, my leaps are about a kilometer's length, more if I concentrate only on leaping distance, and I can only do two at a time before I need to hit the ground again. I could fly in with my Lightning Form, but I know absolutely nothing about the country and I won't be able to find my way around."

"Next flight will be tomorrow, early in the morning. We can't do much more than wait, then..." Kirche spoke.

"I know where Wardes will be, the town we were supposed to meet Prince Wales in has an abandoned church. That is the meeting point." Louise explained. "Wardes must already know, given he is in charge of this expedition. I checked my belongings before, and I didn't want to believe it, but he must have stolen the letter I was supposed to deliver to the Prince."

"I didn't know about that part." Negi said, sighing. Maybe that had been what the princess had wanted to discuss with Louise in private when she visited her alone? It made sense. He hadn't expected the princess to trust him so easily. Still kinda hurt. "In any case, I still can't get there in time. I can fly in Lightning Form, but it's not very fast, and I need a physical target to jump to."

Tabitha looked at them, putting on a "Are you fucking kidding me?" face. It was eerie how well she resembled it. "Oh. Right. Dragon." Negi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Tch."

Wardes advanced without problem, reducing the knights charging him to shreds of flesh. Wales realized, way too late, that simple knights stood no chance against the Captain of Tristain's Magic Knights. The man had earned his position through sheer badassery, after all. The swords meat and Wales was pushed away again, barely avoiding the blade that left a noticeable cut on his cheek. The razor sharp air covering it was a bit longer than the blade itself and completely invisible. A devious but effective tactic.

His wand sword was a much more useful weapon than a simple sword, as Wales found himself incapable of using his magic and having to rely on his sword skills that were not up to the bearded man's. The difference was very easy to notice.

Even trying to take advantage of the pegs to buy his knights time to regroup and strike from the back was useless, as Wardes just jumped over them, easily countered Wales' razor tornado with a flash of lightning and swung his sword faster than Wales could possibly react.

Their swords clashed time after time, but Wardes held the clear advantage and pushed Wales back until he made him crash against a wall. It was an easy victory, truth be told, as Wales, no matter how much power he had, was not an experienced warrior nor a particularly talented one. A quick stab had finally managed to slip past Wales' own weapon and into his left lung.

As Wardes pulled the sword back, Wales crashed to the ground, puking blood.

"Dammit! I'm late!" Wardes recognized that voice and flinched, his eyes widening. Seconds after that, a lightning bolt crashed against Wardes, though the man had been ready and blocked with his wand blade, though the arm he'd used to put more strength behind the block had been rendered useless and he'd been sent flying by the attack.

"Prince!" Louise cried, rushing into the abandoned church, rushing to the fallen prince.

"W-Who a-are y-you?" The blond man in knight armor said, spitting a few drops of blood with every word.

"I am Ambassador La Valliere! We will deal with this traitor!" The pinkette spoke, trying to put pressure in Wales' wound. And then the prince focused on her hand.

"P-Please, deliver this to Henrietta..." he said, taking his gauntlet off and giving her a small ring. "Tell her t-that... I'm sorry..." he said, closing her fist tightly.

"Don't talk anymore! You'll be alright! I promise!"

Wales shook his head. "I'm sorry... for making you be the bringer of bad news." He didn't spit blood anymore, but with a sad smile, his arm went limp.

"N-No! Prince Wales! Don't die on me!"

Negi was in a grim mood, as Wardes picked himself up from where he'd landed against a wall. The man seemed slightly nervous, because he was certain he wouldn't walk out of that one with ease.

Wardes once again felt a pair of meteors crash against his body time and time again, and even giving it everything he had in desperation was useless. Even unleashing all of his power in a massive lightning attack was met by Negi simply swatting it aside with Derflinger, the sword glowing as it was stricken by the magic.

However, Wardes was counting on Negi being angry and being more focused on destroying him than anything else. The abandoned church was a hideout, but not a fortress. It was a weak structure not helped by it's age, and Wardes had already been planning to bring it down if he had to.

His fight with Wales had already taken advantage of that, as he'd intentionally 'missed' several shots that had landed in the structure's weak points. He wasn't an architecture buff, but he knew that without anything to support it's weight, the chapel would fall.

Negi's obscenely powerful magic was the final nail that sealed the coffin, and goading him into using those spears of lightning he seemed to love so much had proven to be easy. He didn't even need to do it, Negi did so on his own. The last column was knocked down and the entire building trembled.

It was by abusing the confusion brought on by the falling debris that he blasted a wall open and escaped, having to duck under several spears of lightning coming his way as he fled to where his gryphon was waiting, not before helping the building burst into flames. When the majority of the ceiling came crashing down, Negi growled in anger and punched upward with a yell of Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens, a column of lightning and wind exploding upwards.

Another failure. Another failure to his name. He couldn't protect anyone. He was a failure. What kind of hero, what kind of world saviour fails on the task of saving a single human being? Everything burned again. And the assassin was running again.

A beam fell and crashed against his back, breaking on impact, the flames licking at his longcoat, as he loomed over Louise. "We have to go. Now."

He didn't miss the fact that a single, solitary tear dropped from Louise's eye as they mounted Sylphid.

It was the second time in his life in which he wanted nothing more than to see someone dead.