Just gonna be a little honest here and say that this chapter was a bit of a mess to get written. I'll go over it more in the end AN, but suffice to say you might have to deal with one chapter a month or possibly even less for the rest of the year. That may just be me exaggerating, but right now that's the way it's looking.

Enough of that boring shit though. Here's the chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 14: The Kingslayer Always Wins

When Ajax had lightly taunted the Agares Knight about holding back and not using the obviously very powerful demonic sword in her possession, he was expecting a good fight but one he would ultimately win in the end. With the way the fight was going at that moment, it was not looking so bright for him.

Bafeel Furcas did not stop her constant blows to the impenetrable shield Rho Aias. Every once in a while she would cut Ajax slightly. A nick on the shoulder, a small slash on the thigh, all the blood from these injuries used to fuel the demonic sword Anglachel. Every time she did so, the sword grew in power. Her slashes were faster, the cuts she inflicted just a bit deeper, the blocked blows staggering Ajax more and more.

All the while the sword Anglachel was reveling in the blood it was letting. Its demonic red aura growing with intensity.

A few more rapid fire strikes and Ajax was at the wall again. He was frustrated to say the least. He's been around for hundreds of years, and he was being cornered and wounded by a devil that was barely in her twenties. It was insulting. It was shameful. He was more disappointed in himself than anything else, though. The fact that this was happening was technically his fault.

He had to find a way to break through this onslaught. Every time he found an opening and went to exploit it, he was denied by a barrier. A barrier generated by the small dusty-haired boy who worked so hard to be unseen.

Unfortunately for this boy, Ajax had seen him, and he had been marked as a target.

Bafeel struck the shield again and again, the blows causing small shockwaves, sending books to the ground and toppling over bookshelves. She was quite impressed with herself, if she was honest.

That feeling was quickly replaced by cold horror as she saw Ajax, who had been almost solely on the defensive up to that point, throw the shield that was protecting him from her. The cold horror came when she heard metal strike flesh from somewhere behind her and a small whimper as a small body fell to the ground.

Against every instinct in her, she turned her back to Ajax to look at the fallen Thomas, who was bleeding quite profusely out of a large gash in his head. Rho Aias had returned to its master by then, and Bafeel realized too late that turning around was an obvious mistake.

The edge of Rho Aias dug itself into her back, snapping her spine clean in half. If she didn't have any armor, it might have completely split her in half.

She was sent to the ground instantly, and she could not help the screech that erupted from her lips as she did so. She could not feel anything below her waist.

"That was a bad move, Furcas." Ajax commented, wiping the blood off of Rho Aias. "If you had not turned around, you may have had a chance to strike me down. However, I do not blame you. You are still not as adept at fighting and combat as I am. I also did not have an obvious weak point such as the boy over there."

Bafeel gritted her teeth, Anglachel still firmly grasped in her hand.

"This mistake, however, is fatal for you," He said with a hint of remorse. "Truly sad, I quite enjoyed our small fight. I will probably take that sword you possess and see if I can get it identified. You would not believe the amount of contacts the Kingslayer has in the criminal underbelly of Hell." He raised Rho Aias up, ready to smash Bafeel's head into pieces. "Any last words, Furcas?"

If Roland was here, I'm sure he'd say something along the lines of 'that is so cliché'.

But Bafeel was not done in just yet. No, at that moment, she remembered something that Anglachel did when they first found it in the armory.

"Yeah," she coughed, attempting to sit up but finding it hard without some way to prop her back up. "I do actually."

"And what might they be, Furcas?"

"Here, catch."

She threw Anglachel.

She had no idea whether it would even work, but she didn't exactly have a lot of options at this point. With her broken spine, she had no way of using her Knight speed effectively. HSe cursed herself for her lapse in judgement, but she couldn't complain. Complaining would not ge her out of this situation, only the flying black sword would now.

And, damn, did it fly.

As if the sword had a mind of its own, it flew directly at Ajax, faster than what Bafeel's throwing strength would have allowed. Ajax didn't even have enough time to raise his shield, and even if he did, the sword might have flipped around it. Anglachel had been drained of blood for so long, and the little tastes it had been granted only served to fuel this thirst. With a grand flip that was quite impossible to do, it swung downwards as if held by an invisible hand-

-And Ajax's arm, still holding Rho Aias, fell down with it.

"-Huh." Ajax hummed, studying the stump that used to be his arm that was now spurting out blood at an incredible rate. "…It seems that I was not as adept at combat as I originally thought… Hah, my own stupidity did me in, then?"

"Personally, I wouldn't have given me a chance to say my last words." Bafeel commented.

Ajax nodded as if the loss of his arm barely fazed him. "True. That was where I went wrong. Perhaps the Kingslayer's theatrics have been affecting me more than I… thought…"

Anglachel twitched in his direction, the sword still not satisfied, slicing off his foot with surprising ease, causing him to fall.

"-I… I wish I could…" Ajax whispered, his skin growing pale from blood loss. "…This is not how I… end…"

Ajax fell down and was still.

Bafeel breathed a sigh of relief, and then began crawling. She didn't pay attention to Anglachel or Ajax anymore. Right now, she only had one more objective. Make sure Thomas was alright.

After quite a struggle to even get to him, she reached his small body. Bafeel checked his pulse, and breathed another sigh of relief when she felt it. He'd probably have a concussion, but they would all deal with that later.

For now, she felt strangely tired.

Bafeel closed her eyes-

Not much of a reaction came from Lucien, but whether that had anything to do with the fact that he was slowed in time or not was up for debate. Seekvaira wasted no time. Despite the throbbing from her stomach, she stood and ran up to Lucien. Without a second thought, she walked in circles around the area of slowed time, forming demonic energy in small pockets all around that were also slowed down. After a few seconds, the area of slowed time was completely glowing with demonic energy.

Seekvaira looked on with a cold gaze.

"Die."

Time returned back to normal, and the demonic energy surged towards Lucien, hitting him from almost every direction physically possible. Smoke rose from the area where Lucien stood.

Seekvaira kept her guard up, ready for anything to come out through the smoke. Her fight with Iudex was invaluable for expecting things like this.

She was right. Not but a moment later, a figure shot out of the cloud of smoke, headed straight for her. She saw something like this coming, so she was able to clumsily force herself to the side, avoiding the 'human' projectile. Demonic energy formed at her fingertips again, ready to tear into Lucien.

Lucien was maimed, burned, and missing an arm. His skin was almost black with burns, and most of his hair was gone. His clothes had been completely incinerated.

And yet, he was still standing. Defiant.

"That was a clever trick, Lady Seekvaira. Unfortunately, it is not enough. Do you not remember what I told you just a moment ago?"

Faster than Seekvaira expected from someone who was burned all over and missing an arm, Lucien shot straight towards her like water out of a firehose nozzle. She could barely form a small barrier in time to keep it from hitting her, but she was unable to stop the fist that swung from him as well, easily hitting her across the face and sending her sprawling. Even with only one arm remaining, Lucien was practically a living weapon.

Seekvaira wiped the blood from her lip and tried to get up, but a hand grabbed her by the lapel of her dress. Struggling as she was lifted up into the air, Seekvaira glared at Lucien, whose nonplussed expression annoyed her all the more.

"Now, I will have to knock you unconscious. Since you deprived me of an arm, I'm afraid I will have to make tactical use of the floor. My apologies if you feel any pain, as that is not my intention. Good night, Lady Seekvaira-"

"Put her down."

The voice, more like a snarl, was said with so much authority that Lucien nearly obeyed. He figured it out a moment later why he was compelled to let Seekvaira go. It was because he had been taking orders from the woman who spoke it for a long, long time.

"…Lady Ciarrai." Lucien identified the blonde-haired busty woman in a monotone. "You escaped. I would ask how, but you did always find a way to escape even the most vile of conditions. I should not be surprised that the replica of the chains that kept Fenrir down could not do the same for you. No matter. It appears we, or I this time, will have to deal with you again."

"You grossly overestimate yourself, Lucien Iblis. When I am done with you, not even elementary particles will remain." Lady Agares growled.

"My, it appears uncouth language is a genetic trait of your family, Lady Seekvaira." Lucien said, letting go of Seekvaira who fell to the ground. She quickly got up, though. She formed green demonic energy in her hand, ready to slam it into Lucien, but a stern stare from her mother stopped her instinctually.

"Seekvaira, I will handle this one."

"But-"

"I understand. But you are not strong enough to defeat him, even if by the looks of it you gave him a very good fight. For now, retreat. Your father is already looking for the castle staff. You can look for your servants." Ciarrai said sternly but kindly.

Seekvaira showed hesitation, which caused Ciarrai to continue.

"We will talk later. I understand we have not been the best parents, both of us. We realized as much during our time chained. For now, though, I would like to teach this rat why I used to be called the Bombshell of the Underworld."

After a few more moments, Seekvaira nodded. She told herself that the chance to get through and talk to her parents wasn't making her feel better, even if Roland suggested it and it ended up happening without asking. She told herself that many times. But as she ran down the hall to where she last remembered seeing her peerage, she still felt like she was lying to herself.

As Seekvaira left, Ciarrai's expression changed from one of warmth to one that would not be out of place on a grim reaper, perfectly mimicking the duality she maintained during her daily life in the castle.

"Hmm." Lucien hummed. "This does present some problems. But I suppose I will deal with them after I have gone through you. Prepare yourself, Lady Ciarrai."

Sparks and small firecracker-like explosions surrounded Ciarrai like an aura. "I may have been exaggerating out of anger when I said I'd reduce you to elementary particles. But rest assured, once I am done with you and you yourself are in chains, it will seem like what my daughter did to you was child's play in comparison."

"I suppose we will figure out momentarily, won't we?" Lucien said, getting into a stance.

"We shall." Ciarrai growled, the explosions becoming more volatile and violent.

Many explosions and screams were heard for minutes on end.

We crashed through another wall, this time ending up in the foyer of the large castle, the same one we went through just a few days ago when we first arrived. I rolled, the Kingslayer still in my grasp, and threw him, the greenish scaly wings on his back stopping him from slamming into another wall. Unfortunately for him, I was upon him again in just another instant.

I cocked my fist back and punched him in the cheek and heard the satisfying snap of bone as he whirled from the punch. Another kick, and he finally did slam into the wall of the foyer, rubble and plaster fell down with him, covering him in a thin dusting.

I was breathing heavily, and my fingers and arms would not stop twitching from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. A small aura of light green demonic energy and black flame still surrounded me, but it was slowly dissipating as I beat the shit outta the Kingslayer. Every punch, every kick, every snap of a bone felt amazing. I wanted to do it more, especially to him.

The Kingslayer shook his head several times as he stood up, his jaw hanging limply, unable to make noise except a slight gurgling sound. Once he was to his feet, he grabbed both sides of his jaw, a promptly popped it back into place with a sickening crunch. He regarded me with both respect and mirth, which only made me more infuriated.

"Ya know, Roland." The Kingslayer said, stretching his jaw purposefully to make sure it worked properly again. "When two dragons of the same gender meet, no matter the type or species, they inevitably come to blows to see who is the stronger and more dominant. It creates this sort of meritocracy, with the more wins under your belt the higher you are on the list. However, the fighting between two of the same gender is more instinctual, you know?"

"All I know is that I am going to tear off your arm and shove it up your ass."

"So violent, but I guess that's what I get for riling ya up so much! Have you thought about takin' anger management classes, old friend? Actually, you'd probably just beat the shit outta the teacher there, ha!" The Kingslayer laughed. "But you may wanna calm down a bit, bud. You're scaring the cat."

Perplexed for a moment despite my raging emotions, I turned to see the familiar timid but beautiful face of Akaibara, staring at me with her wide yellow eyes. She stood there in the hole I made, shaking like it was below zero.

My anger disappeared almost immediately. I could tell she was scared of me, even if she didn't want to be. She couldn't help it. She probably saw displays like that a lot back when she was with those stray devils.

I felt like a complete piece of shit.

Which was only exacerbated when I felt a strong punch to the gut, sending me backwards, through the hole, just barely missing the red-haired nekoshou.

"Roland-s-san!" Akaibara gasped, coming to my side despite her shaking. I coughed up a bit of blood, but now I was angry again.

Not as much as I was when he first brought up… that. I'd question myself later on how he knew that, although I had my suspicions. But I was still angry; that was a cheap move.

It was probably in retaliation for breaking his finger. That was a douche move on my part, I admitted it.

"Hah, don't let your guard down, old friend!" The Kingslayer bleated triumphantly. "Ya see, that's the issue with fighting with a friend or your crush. If they get hurt, or are otherwise inconvenienced in some way, it'll distract you! Just imagine if the cat wasn't here, and you still had that righteous fury you are so known for! Maybe then I wouldn't still be here! But you know what? You remember those crystals, right?"

I looked at him, slowly getting back up, ready to pummel him again. But the Kingslayer had this weird… air about him. The one that makes you want to listen to what he has to say, even if it is complete nonsense. I imagine it must be similar to listening to the leader of a Personality Cult.

"Well yeah, the last guy I was in control of would have been an inconsequential villain at most. Trust me, the bastard had at least a hundred murders on his hands, with absolutely no regret about it, either! I'm kinda glad you got rid of him, he was an asshole. But this guy?" The Kingslayer presented his body. "This guy's done nothing. If you kill me in this body, the only person you're killing is him. An innocent man, whose only crime is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, Roland, lemme ask ya a question!"

The Kingslayer's vessel leaned forward, all mirth and humor gone as his eyes almost looked like those of a dead fish.

"Are you a murderer?"

The only two people I 'murdered' before was the abomination and Iudex, who I think we could all agree deserved it. Oh, and plus those few peon devils that attacked the mansion.

But, for some reason or another, that question hit deeper than I was expecting. Would I kill him to get at the Kingslayer? Even if it would prove futile?

Wait a minute-

"I mean, I got no problem-o with it if you do decide to kill this guy. I mean, he's basically a nobody? What use would he be to you-"

"Shut up."

Surprisingly enough, that phrase did not come from me.

It came from Akaibara.

She had an expression that was unrecognizable on her face: anger. One I was intimate but one I imagined alien to her. In one moment, a white ball of energy surged forward from her fingertips, hitting the Kingslayer in the throat. It did no damage on the outside, but the effect was immediate.

The Kingslayer's lips were still moving, but no voice was coming out. The Kingslayer himself realized this a moment later. He held his throat, trying to produce sound, but nothing came out.

Akaibara had silenced the Kingslayer.

I think I'm in love again.

"You…" I gasped, looking at the fidgeting Kingslayer, still trying to get his voicebox to function. "I can't believe you were able to do that!" I exclaimed with glee.

Akaibara gained a bashful expression. "I-I didn't really m-mean to do that… I just wanted him to stop talking so much. His voice was very grating. B-But Roland-san! Besides that, are you okay!?"

I looked at myself. The chestplate I had was a bit dented, and there were a few chips and scratches on my armor, but otherwise I was fine. I dusted myself off a little, just to give her visual confirmation that, yes, I was not gonna drop dead in the next five minutes.

"I'm fine, see? But holy shit, Akaibara, that's amazing!" I said, grabbing her hands, shaking excitedly. "With a power like that, we can make anyone we hate just stop blabbering like morons! This is a joyous day! Huzzah!"

It took me a few seconds to get out of my excited frenzy, and when I did I noticed that Akaibara's face was almost as red as her hair. Maybe even redder than that, even. I was still holding her hands, although it seemed like she was enjoying the contact.

I let go, coughing into my fist. So this was another ability of Senjutsu. The ability to do shit like that. I wondered if we could even paralyze certain limbs? I had said earlier that Senjutsu made up what it lacked in raw power with utility.

I felt an idea forming.

"Akaibara." I called, gaining her attention. She was still a blushing mess, and I could hear her muttering something along the lines of 'That felt nice…' under her breath, but I ignored that. I needed her. "I have an idea, and I need your help. Can you use Senjutsu to paralyze certain limbs?"

"I-I believe so…"

"Okay. I'm gonna distract the Kingslayer. I need you to get his limbs, okay? Get him to stop moving or something close to that, alright?" I explained.

After a few moments of thinking, she nodded resolutely.

I smiled. "Thatta girl!" I praised her, patting her head.

She squeaked and leaned into my touch.

It was so obvious what this girl felt for me, but I was not gonna face that then. I had to save that for later, when we weren't trying to repel invaders from inside of a massive castle.

I closed my eyes and hardened my expression and looked at the Kingslayer.

He was doing a very perverted hand gesture.

I was very tempted to throw my plan out the window and just burn him into a black crisp right then and there. I stopped myself though.

The things that I will do to be morally right…

"Alright then," I said finally, getting into a stance. "Let's fucking do this!"

I charged, black flame surrounding my form, making sure that whatever damage he did to me hurt him as well as me. The Kingslayer waited for me, with a shit-eating smirk on his face.

I swung, knowing that he'd dodge it. When he went to punch my stomach again, I used as much of the Knight trait of the Queen piece as I could and raised both my fists in the air. Lacing my fingers together, I hit him on the top of the head with less than full force. He didn't make a single noise as he slammed into the ground. I grabbed him by the collar of his weird-looking shirt, and waited for Akaibara to send several white blasts of Senjutsu at him.

They hit him in the legs, arms, and head. And he went completely limp.

I dropped him, looking at the area at the back of his neck. There, just below the hairline at the base of the skull, was a glowing green crystal.

Please don't turn to dust, please don't turn to dust, please don't turn to dust…

With a deep breath, I grabbed the crystal, and yanked it as hard as I could.

It came out surprisingly easy.

In fact, I was left standing there as I held it, feeling like the entire thing was anticlimactic.

"Roland-san?"

I blinked, getting a hold of myself. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured her.

She came up to me and looked down at the body of what used to be the Kingslayer's vessel. He was breathing, although it was shallow breathing at best. I flipped him over to get a good look at his face. It almost looked… peaceful?

"Huh." I hummed. "That was… almost too easy." I remarked out loud this time.

"I would say that you did a fantastic job."

"Gah-!"

I jumped, predictably, to the voice that suddenly filled the room. I looked around wildly, until my eyes came upon Seekvaira, looking a bit beaten up.

"Oh, you're still alive." I observed half-heartedly.

"It is nice to see that you are still breathing too, Roland." Seekvaira deadpanned.

"Yeah, well, so is this guy." I said, pointing at the human-shaped dragon on the ground. "I removed this-" I held the green crystal in my hand that had since lost its glow. "-from his neck, so I didn't have to kill him."

"Ah, I see. You didn't have to burn him with your black flames again, like last time."

"You're never gonna let go of that are you?"

"I see no reason why I should let go of it. It was only a week and a half ago after all."

I sighed, slightly frustrated but quickly got over it.

And then I realized something, and my heart dropped to my stomach.

"…Where's Bafeel?" I asked quietly.

"I found you first," Seekvaira replied. "Now we just need to find her, and if she's still fighting, help her."

"We fucking better be." I looked to Akaibara. "How long will his limbs be paralyzed for?"

"A-A couple hours, at least…"

"Good. We need to find her. Now."

We went through several corridors, and it felt like we weren't getting any closer to where we last saw Bafeel and Thomas. I admit, I began to become anxious and somewhat afraid. Who wouldn't in that situation? I kept thinking about seeing her, or what was left of her and Thomas. Were they alright? Were they dead? Only one way to find out.

And that way was taking a real long-ass time.

"Roland, calm down. You will burst a blood vessel." Seekvaira commented, barely keeping up with me. Akaibara was even farther back then her.

"I'll calm down when we find them. How the hell are you not freaking out right now?" I asked, irritated.

"Because I have faith in Bafeel and Thomas' ability to dispatch a single opponent. Or did you forget she had that sword with her?"

"No I haven't, but I don't care about-"

That's when we saw a small splatter of blood, right next to a small crater in a wall.

My blood ran cold.

"That could be someone else's blood, Roland." Seekvaira theorized, although I could tell from the subtle changes in her tone that she was also trying to convince herself.

I had to find her, or else I might just go mad.

Near where we were was a hole in the wall, not unlike the one I made when attacking the Kingslayer. Rubble and plaster was littered everywhere, giving the whole area we were in a small apocalyptic and ruinous feeling.

I instantly ran for the hole. My anxiousness and worry going through the roof. The stress of not knowing was really starting to get to me at that point. Images of her broken body entering my mind more and more the longer I didn't see her.

We entered a library of some sort. I'd be a lot more comfortable if she was there.

I looked around wildly, searching in places large and small. After going through several smashed bookshelves, I finally found her.

And it nearly made me lose it.

She was curled around Thomas protectively, her back bent in an unnatural way that almost made me vomit. Thomas himself wasn't looking much better. One side of his head looked like it had been caved in and blood had coagulated around it, giving it a dark red hue. The man known as Ajax was nearby, his right arm and foot severed completely.

Just near Ajax, the demonic sword Anglachel glowed gleefully.

Before any words were said, I immediately ran towards Bafeel's broken body. I fell to my knees beside her, and checked her pulse and breathing…

…Bu-Bump…

A greater sigh of relief could not be possible.

I didn't care if anyone was watching. I didn't care that I heard a fuck ton of footsteps coming down the hall. I didn't care that I could hear Seekvaira speaking to somebody else. I could see Thomas breathing, despite his injury. All in all, I didn't care who saw this.

I cradled Bafeel's body to mine, my forehead against hers.

When the Kingslayer regained consciousness in one of the many bodies he possessed, he laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

He laughed so hard the body he was in died of oxygen deprivation, which only meant that he switched to another body and began laughing in that one. This went on for hours, unbidden of anything or anyone that was nearby.

Really, it was quite funny.

After several hours of that, the Kingslayer was finally able to come to his senses. He was back in his underground fortress, far in the uncharted regions of the Underworld. He possessed a completely unremarkable body, but that was completely fine. He'd just switch to the one he always used for combat. The strongest one, for when the time came.

And the time would come soon. Very, very soon. So soon he was not even sure how much. He realized that this line of thought made absolutely zero sense, but he didn't care.

He valued Ajax, he really did, and despite some misgivings he also cared for Lucien too. But they both knew they were expendable… Well, Lucien didn't really know, but Ajax certainly did. Big, strong, and blindly following Ajax. If he wasn't dead, they'd probably send him to Zartacar. And if that was the case, he would not be there for long. The Kingslayer would ensure he would not be there for long.

And if he was truly dead, well…

…

…

…

…Well, that would be sad, but a tolerable loss.

For now, though, the Kingslayer had some planning to do. Said planning also required the cooperation of a certain ice half-dragon.

The body he had possessed this time, after the last one died of asphyxiation on account of too much laughter (the look on the coroners face almost made the Kingslayer descend into another laughing fit), was situated in a room. A completely featureless room. He promptly walked out of the only door that was available and began wandering the underground complex. After a while, after he was done sightseeing his own home.

He walked to the throne one of his old vessels used, the corpse still being there from when it laughed itself to death. He casually tossed aside the body, letting it fall to the hard, stone floor. Once he was comfortable, he brought up a magic circle and proceeded to communicate with another old friend.

"Umm, Hello! Hello, Hello! Umm, I just wanted to record a message for you… to help you get started on your first-"

"If you are just going to babble nonsense then I regret ever accepting a call from you." The icy voice said, unamused.

"Jeez, can't ya let me have my fun!? I just got killed twice for Lucifer's sake! Granted, one of those times was my fault… Well, technically they were both my fault, but you get the point!"

"No, I don't."

"And that's the difference between you and me! Or is it you and I? I could never get those two phrases right, you know. It's like, why would I want to use one instead of the other? If use 'you and I' I feel like 'you and me' will feel lonely! And I don't want anyone to feel lonely like that!" The Kingslayer babbled.

"If you are just going to continue to speak nonsense like you have been doing, I am just going to hang up-"

"No, no, no!" The Kingslayer exclaimed, flailing his arms wildly in front of him like the person on the other side could actually see it. "Nah, but seriously, I do need ya for something. Something special! Did I ever tell you the tale of Darth Roland the Wise?"

"Stop it. Get to the point."

"You're no fun at all, you know?" The Kingslayer whined.

"And you are not getting to the point any faster than before I asked you too. Yes, I have heard about your little obsession with that friend of yours that you had before you got here. And I know that he is here now, and that you have a plan for him. Now, I want you to tell me exactly what you want, or else I am just going to hang up on you."

"Ah, that's the Raseri I know! Always so cold! Like, Antarctic levels of cold! It actually hurts you're so cold!"

"I'm hanging up-"

"And you are also boring, but that's neither here nor there. Now, you do know about my good pal Roland, and therefore you will be there when I confront him directly."

"It seems you are capable of sapient thought. And here I was thinking you were just a noise generator. You intend on fighting him directly?"

"I said 'confront', but I suppose fighting is inevitable with him. Perhaps I'll make it so I don't do that instantly. I'll probably put in a few twists and turn in there! And I have the perfect body to do that with!" The Kingslayer said happily.

"This 'Roland' sounds like a real piece of work."

"Ah, his personality and physique is more like an uncut gem than anything else. I'm sure you'll grow to like him! Maybe even looooooove him~!"

"I doubt it."

"Meh, he can't blame me for trying. He always had a thing for white-haired girls. Well, and black-haired ones."

"Now I really do not want to meet him."

"Tooooooo bad! You'll be there when I go to see him? Along with Blaine and Adrian! Well, I'll be controlling Adrian, so it'll just be me, you, and Blaine, and maybe Ajax if he's still alive, but yeah! It's gonna be looooooads of fun, Raseri! Just you wait!"

A long sigh came from the other end of the magic circle as the woman known as Raseri counted her options. Coming up with almost nothing, she replied.

"Fine. I will come along. It is not like there is much else for me to do anyway."

"That's the girl I know!" The Kingslayer fist-bumped the air. "They have this great territory up in Maine, you know? Nice forest, some caves. Perfect to set up a base of operations! I'll also have to move my original body up there. How else will Roland be able to recognize me, I wonder? He hasn't figured it out yet! Or maybe he has, and just isn't telling me! I dropped a pretty big hint with our last fight, as well…"

"Will you stop rambling? It feels as if you are talking to someone other than me."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, you'll never knooooow~!"

"You're insane."

"Sticks and stones, Raseri! Sticks and stones!"

"Whatever. Just call me when you find a suitable base of operations. In the meantime, I'll gather Blaine and that body you need. This better not be a waste of my time, Kingslayer. I still remember that Medusa descendent."

"Hah, those were good times, weren't they? I thought for sure that Ajax was gonna hook up with her, despite half her body being a snake… or did she just have sunglasses?"

"The half-snake part was an exaggeration of mythology. She did have glasses though. And purple hair. It was strange."

"This coming from the girl with long, luscious white hair? Ha!"

"Well, I am going to cut this off here. I imagine it won't be long until I hear from you again?"

"Yup! I'll call ya when I need ya! G'night!"

"See you later."

A moment later, the purple magic communication circle disappeared, bathing the small throne room in darkness once more.

The Kingslayer felt giddy. Nay, he was ecstatic. Things were quickly moving into motion. Figurative gears that had been long without a mechanism were now being used for the first time. It was a nice feeling. The feeling of a plan coming together, even if it was in ways you did not expect. The fact that everything was coming together, was working perfectly…

It was a feeling the Kingslayer had not felt in a long, long time. He was glad to feel it again.

In the darkness of the false throne room, the Kingslayer's vessel smiled. There was no stopping this now, no matter what. This would either make or break his friend. He knew that. It was a necessary evil, one he took no real pleasure in doing but one that had to be done regardless. Roland would soon learn one, very crucial thing.

The Kingslayer always wins.

How many of your were frothing at the mouth at the prospect of Bafeel possibly being killed off? Jokes on you! I'm not that courageous in my storytelling ability to do that yet!

OR AM I!?

So yeah, that was that. If you're wondering why I made such a grim prediction in the beginning AN, it's because college has hit me like a truck loaded with wet concrete. Add that with the fact that I'm looking for a job and that I've recently got into Fate/Grand Order and you have the perfect conditions for a hiatus to form. It probably won't happen for this story, at least. Updates will be far between but rest assured I will not give up on this story.

Here's the Discord link for those of you who have it: discord. gg/TGPM9pH

Well, that's all I have to say folks. Good Night!