Lelouch had no doubt that Leila had been telling him the truth earlier that morning, but he wanted to hear it from Shirley herself. Unfortunately, holding such a conversation was impossible during the day, when other students were around, and he wanted to keep on a tight timetable for stealing Gao Hai's heart.
True, being personally caught by Gao Hai in his office, and Euphemia's subsequent kidnapping right under the Consul-General's nose would guarantee that their target would be so paranoid about his inner sanctum being compromised that the Cognitive barriers would be down for quite some time, but there was little reason to delay. The sooner they could steal his heart, the better. The last thing they need was to give unforeseen variables a chance to arise and complicate things, especially after how his carefully laid plans at the masquerade ball had almost been completely derailed by such occurrences.
The Black Knights and Irregulars gathered after school around the same alley where they had first met Xingke. Their new ally was already there, waiting for them. Unfortunately, Euphemia was not able to join them as well, due to the increased security around her, but Lelouch had not expected otherwise.
"I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up," Xingke said. "In your rush to leave the consulate, you forgot to specify a meeting time, but I assumed you would show up at the same time of day as our last meeting." He shook his head. "You have no idea how difficult it has been for me to not simply execute that traitor for regicide and lèse majesté, among his other crimes, but I trust that you know what you're doing."
"We'll get you caught up to speed soon enough," Lelouch told him.
Lelouch took out his phone and activated the Metaverse Navigator, bringing them into Gao Hai's Palace. At once, their thief suits materialized.
"Another world can be accessed simply by using one's phone?" Xingke asked incredulously.
"I won't pretend to know exactly how it works either," Lelouch replied. "I admit that I used to be skeptical of such things, but that's the reality of it."
He proceeded to debrief Xingke on the essential aspects of operating in the Metaverse. Given how intelligent Xingke was, Lelouch found that he did not need to spend very much time explaining it to him.
"You'll need a code name in the Metaverse," Lelouch said at the end of his explanation. "We all have one."
"Whatever name you wish to call me by is acceptable, so long as it is reasonably dignified. My sole concerns are the well-being of the Empress and the overthrow of the High Eunuchs who would control her."
"What about 'Dragon'?" Kallen asked. "That's what your mask looks like."
"Zhuge Liang was also sometimes known as the Sleeping Dragon," Lelouch offered. "It fits."
"Very well, Zero," Xingke nodded. "Dragon I shall be."
xXx
They hadn't gone far into Gao Hai's Palace when questions started coming from his teammates, namely as soon as Leila summoned her reborn Persona.
"Wait just a moment!" Kallen snapped as soon as the enemy Shadows were dispatched. "Since when has your Persona been Freyja and not Jeanne d'Arc? It's been completely transfigured, like mine, but that only happened when... What exactly were you doing with Zero last night, Bishop?!"
"I said I didn't mind if you joined us, Bishop," Shirley gasped, "but you were supposed to wait until we had the chance to speak to Kallen about it!"
With sudden dread, Lelouch realized the extent to which his love life, and everything associated with it, was now subject to discussion between his girlfriends. Shirley knew exactly what Kallen meant.
"Ooh, so the truth comes out!" Milly grinned.
"Shut it, Diamond!" Kallen said crossly. "And don't think that you're off the hook either, Zero! She stays over at the Clubhouse, and the next morning her Persona has just so happened to evolve? The two of you had better have a damn good explanation for this!"
There was no way out of the situation that would avoid seriously damaging his relationships with both Kallen and Shirley unless he told them what had happened. But at the same time, it demanded a certain delicacy, especially where Leila's privacy was concerned. He didn't want to carelessly open her wounds of grief anew.
Leila nodded slightly, as if to signal her trust in him and give him permission to proceed. It still felt terribly awkward doing so, especially in front of everyone, but he managed to briefly and truthfully explain how Leila had stumbled drunkenly into his room, and how had decided to keep watch over her for the rest of the night, lest she hurt herself or do something that she would otherwise regret. He left out the most embarrassing details, though he had a feeling that Kallen and Shirley were nonetheless able to read between the lines and guess at the full story.
"You'll also remember that your own Persona transfigured when you had found a new sense of resolution, which served to redefine and strengthen our relationship," he told Kallen as he neared the end of his account. "That happened before... anything else," he said, similarly conscious of Kallen's own privacy, even as he noticed Milly smirking slightly as if she knew as well. "Likewise, Leila's Persona changed when she acknowledged her true reasons for fighting. I think that's what's really important in the process."
"So that's really what happened?" Kallen asked.
"Yes," Lelouch replied. Leila nodded in confirmation.
Kallen shook her head and sighed. "I believe you, Lelouch. That does sound exactly like what you would do in a situation like that."
"I agree," Shirley said. "I knew Lulu wouldn't betray us like that. He's always been a gentleman... even if he doesn't realize how much of an impression it makes."
"Still," Kallen said, eyeing Leila warily, "I get that she was drunk, and not quite in her right mind, but the first thing she does is to make a beeline to your bedroom and literally throw herself into your arms? I'm not psychologist, but that..."
"It's as you say, and I apologize," Leila cut in with a blush. "I will make no excuses for myself." She turned to Shirley. "I hope you will be able to forgive me, but I will understand if you choose to rescind your offer."
"Um, well, I might have done the same thing, if I were in your position," Shirley said sheepishly. "And it's not like anything came of it in the end... Well, except that you have a new Persona... that's pretty incredible! So... yeah... I forgive you, Bishop. Just don't..."
Leila nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Dame."
Xingke stood back, silently observing the scene. Lelouch couldn't see the man's face behind the dragon mask, but he suspected there was a look of amusement on it.
"Do you think this is funny, Dragon?"
"Your love life is none of my business, Zero, so long as it does not interfere with our shared objectives," Xingke replied evenly. "Though I see that the rumors of Zero and his five female companions-"
"They're not," Lelouch cut in.
Xingke's silence was proof of his skepticism.
"Not like that," Lelouch added. It had been just two until Leila had made her confession, with any luck it wouldn't go any higher than three, lest his relationships become impossible to manage.
"It was a common practice for the Chinese Emperors of old to have their own harems, some of which could have over a hundred women in it, all ranked in a strict hierarchy from concubines to consorts to the Emperor's official wife, the Empress," Xingke said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "The only modern world leader with such a large number of consorts is the Emperor of Britannia. I do not envy you, Zero, but I wonder if he made quite the impression upon you."
Xingke didn't know of his lineage, but Lelouch's face contorted at being compared to his father. He was about to offer a retort, but to his surprise, Nunnally spoke up first.
"As much as he hates him, I don't think my brother is aiming outdo our father there," Nunnally said cheerfully. "I think quality is more important than quantity." Her smile grew. "Now I have three future sister-in-laws to look forward to, all of whom I can count on to protect my brother."
"Excuse me?" Xingke said, doubtlessly wondering if he had heard that correctly. Lelouch was also wondering that, but for different reasons.
"Nemo!" Shirley gasped, putting her hands to her mouth.
"Aw, she's all grown up!" Milly beamed.
They were in for another long explanation, weren't they?
xXx
Xingke listened patiently through his account of how he had been exiled along with Nunnally following the death of their mother. In the end though, Xingke simply nodded.
"I admit that I was surprised when I heard your sister say that," Xingke said, "but in the end it makes little difference where our mission is concerned. Perhaps I would have a harder time accepting it if I did not already know that one of Charles zi Britannia's children was working with you, and that another seems to be investigating Gao Hai as well. But now it's clear to me why you wore such a concealing mask at the ball. Rest assured, if we manage to steal Gao Hai's heart, you need not fear me sharing your secret with anyone else."
"If?" Lelouch asked.
"True, failure is not an option for any of us," Xingke replied. "But in any case, it would become the least of our problems."
xXx
They made their way past the Cognitive barriers, bringing them to the final section of the Palace, the Ruler's innermost sanctum. It was well-guarded, but the Shadows were no match for two teams of Persona-users. Granted, they were down a member, but Freyja was more powerful than Jeanne d'Arc had ever been, and Xingke's fierce determination and natural skill as a soldier largely made up for his inexperience in the Metaverse. Even when a dragon like the ones they had seen flying over the city blocked their way, the Black Knights and Irregulars forced their way through.
"That was Seiryu," Kallen said.
"In the Chinese Federation, we know him as Qīnglóng, the Blue-Green Dragon of the East," Xingke replied. He clenched a fist. "To think that even Qīnglóng woud be perverted by Gao Hai's greed. Clearly, there is nothing that the High Eunuchs cannot corrupt."
"That will change after we steal Gao Hai's Treasure," Lelouch said. "Life will change throughout the entire Chinese Federation, no, the world. No one will be able to ignore us after this." He glanced to Leila. "How much further to the Treasure?"
"It should be right beyond here," she replied promptly. "I think that was the last guardian between us and it."
"I can confirm that," Lucretia spoke up. "There also appears to be some sort of passage nearby leading under the city. It may even lead all the way past the outer walls."
"An escape route, for that coward to slip away through," Xingke snarled.
"But one that we can make use of," Arthur said.
"Indeed," Lelouch nodded.
After a short gilded corridor, they advanced into Gao Hai's throne room. Mountainous piles of plunder lined the sides of the cavernous chamber, nestled between tall pillars, but at the room's far end was Gao Hai's true Treasure, shimmering indistinctly above the self-styled Huangdi's throne.
"Is that it?" Xingke asked skeptically. "That's the 'Treasure' you spoke of, Zero? Gao Hai's heart will change if we steal that... thing?"
"Exactly, Dragon. Of course, in order to actually be able to steal it, we need to give Gao Hai's Treasure a physical form. In order to do that, we need to send Gao Hai a calling card..."
He smirked.
"And you're the perfect one do to it."
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 19.6%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 13
xXx
"Consul-General, we found this outside," Xingke said, handing a red card, emblazoned with the emblem of the Black Knights to the traitor whom he was assigned to guard. It still took every ounce of his willpower not to draw his sword and cut Gao Hai down where he stood, but Xingke had been patient for many years, and could wait a little longer. "Per our standard procedure, the package it arrived in was subjected to a thorough check for explosives and harmful contaminants, but it came up clean." Xingke paused for a moment. "I think you should read it."
"What is this?" Gao Hai asked in that ever-irritating voice of his. "You had better not be wasting my time, Xingke, especially after your men were so incompetent to let a bunch of teenagers sneak into my office and then have Princess Euphemia abducted right under your nose. Do you have any idea how far that could have set us back? You'll be sorry if this turns out to be some kind of prank."
"My sincerest apologies." He had suggested that the "anonymous tip" had been from the beginning a ploy to ensure that the consulate's guards were elsewhere while the Princess was kidnapped, and Gao Hai had been the one to order them to the office, but Gao Hai would never let himself be blamed for anything.
"Anyway, let's see," Gao Hai said, holding up the calling card. He began to read, and grew visibly angrier by the moment.
"To the Golden Would-Be Emperor of Greed, Gao Hai, High Eunuch of the Chinese Federation: your crimes are almost too many to be enumerated. Not only would you oppress an entire nation and squeeze its people dry, but you plan to sell them and a young girl out, delivering them into the jaws of Britannia, and sacrificing them at the altar of your ambitions, while caring nothing for those you have already allowed to be sold into slavery and torment. Your venality and treachery, and that of the other High Eunuchs, knows no bounds, and so we have decided to steal your distorted desires. You will be made to confess to your crimes with your own mouth, and watch as everything you have worked for crumbles when the people rise up against you. Signed, the Black Knights and the Irregulars."
"How very rude!" Gao Hai seethed, and suddenly, the world distorted around him, leaving Xingke face to face with Shadow Gao Hai. Lady Breisgau, alias Bishop, had warned him that something like this might happen, recounting her own experience in personally delivering a calling card to Prince Clovis, but Xingke still couldn't say that he was quite prepared for it.
"I didn't expect you to act so soon, Xingke! And now you've even thrown in your lot with some ragtag thieves!" Shadow Gao Hai laughed. "Come and try to steal my Treasure then, and your precious little Empress with it! I'll be waiting for you, Xingke!"
The distortion vanished, and the world flickered back to normal. Gao Hai didn't seem to have noticed the phenomenon himself, but was just as angry as his Shadow had been.
"These uncouth thieves must not be allowed to disrupt our plans for Her Majesty's wedding!" Gao Hai shouted. "Xingke, I want you to double all the patrols! Kill any intruders on sight! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, it's all perfectly clear," Xingke replied.
It was time to bring the reign of the High Eunuchs to an end.
xXx
Euphemia had received Lelouch's message. The calling card had been sent. They were going to steal Gao Hai's heart. Thanks to the device fitted to her phone, there was little chance that the message could be intercepted, or even read without her password. But she had another, far more pressing problem.
How was she going to get past her new bodyguard?
Cornelia's wrath had been terrible to behold, not only at the news that her little sister had been kidnapped, but that Schneizel had assigned an 'Eleven' to an Imperial Princess's protection without consulting with her first. But in spite of Cornelia's prejudice, Euphemia had found that Suzaku remained assigned to her.
Schneizel had always had a way with words. Not only was Suzaku now seen as a hero among many Britannians, but he had succeeded at rescuing her and returning her to her older sister unharmed, where even the Knights of the Round had failed. Did that success not matter more to Cornelia than where Suzaku had happened to be born? That was probably what Schneizel had said to Cornelia, or something like it.
Euphemia didn't want to hurt Suzaku. He was just doing his job, and she felt that he had a good heart, even if he was sorely misguided. But, in any case, overpowering him wasn't an option. That was par for the course in the real world given that he was a trained combatant and she was not, but that gulf would only widen instead of turning the tables on him if she was to pull him into the Metaverse with her phone. She had seen the power of his Persona, Lancelot, firsthand. It vastly outclassed her own, a fact that was all too evident from how he had been able to fight off Loki, the Black Mask's Persona, which itself had appeared to be monstrously powerful.
She wasn't even sure if Kallen would be able to beat Suzaku one-on-one. Lelouch might be able to win, but that would only come from tactics and the versatility of his Wild Card, rather than overpowering Suzaku outright.
But she also had Suzaku's questions to contend with.
"Princess Euphemia, for how long have you been a Persona-user? I've been in the Metaverse by myself for so long that it's a relief to find another person who I can talk to about it."
She looked back at him, not trusting herself to respond, lest she let something slip and betray Lelouch, Nunnally, and their friends in the Black Knights and Irregulars.
"You can't tell me?" Suzaku frowned. He sounded gravely concerned. "Is it because... you're a Black Knight?"
"I wasn't aware that this was an interrogation!" Euphemia snapped, surprising even herself, as all of her pent-up frustration sought an escape. "And so what if I am?" she added defiantly.
"Princess, keep your voice down," Suzaku urged her. "I haven't told anyone that you're a Persona-user: not Viceroy Cornelia, nor Prince Schneizel. He doesn't have a Persona, nor any way to enter on the Metaverse on his own, so he has no way of knowing unless someone tells him."
"Are you threatening to tell him?" Euphemia asked.
"Not at all," Suzaku replied. "I just want to understand... why would you be working with them? I'd much rather change your mind than see you hurt. You have to know by now how dangerous that other world is. Even a lesser Shadow can be a deadly threat by itself, and if you're unlucky, a fight can turn against you in a blink of an eye."
Euphemia knew that to be true. If a Shadow were to hit Eilonwy with a psychic attack, afflict her with any of a number of harmful ailments, or even simply strike a lucky blow against her, she would be at its mercy.
"That said, it's not too late for us to work together," Suzaku continued. "Lancelot's pretty powerful, but I could do so much more if I had someone else backing me up. And as a Princess, you could make so much of a difference, not just in the Metaverse, but in the real world too. So why throw that away?"
"Let me ask you something first, Suzaku," Euphemia said softly. "Why are you working with Schneizel?"
"If I work within the system, I can change things for the better. The way the Black Knights go about doing things, they'll just tear everything down, out of a sense of righteousness, but far too many people will get hurt. Maybe my way of doing things isn't as quick as theirs, but it will last. You can change a few hearts, but you can't change human nature all at once. That takes time. Anarchy is the last thing any of us need right now."
"That's not what I asked, Suzaku," Euphemia said more insistently. "Why are you working with Schneizel?"
"He gave me-"
"If you're so convinced that I'm a Black Knight, then you know that what Schneizel said simply wasn't true. What would the Black Knights gain from kidnapping me? But he went ahead and blamed them anyway for it."
"And that's not all," Euphemia continued. "You were right up there on the dais with us, and you heard what Gao Hai said. He was selling out his own people! But that's only the surface of it! Do you have any idea what kind of a monster Gao Hai really is? You have to! You've been in his Palace! That you were even able to follow me there proves that you know the keywords to enter it, Suzaku! Gao Hai. Chinese Federation Consulate. Forbidden City. It's the Forbidden City of Greed! That's the sort of man Schneizel is working with! But you continue to stand by Schneizel! So what does that say about you, Suzaku?"
Suzaku looked as if he had been slapped.
"If I have a choice between following the law, even as it crushes countless people, or actually doing some good, I know what I'm going to choose, Suzaku! Yes, some people are going to get hurt. I struggled with that too! Really, I did! Knowing that still gnaws away at me. But we can't just take our time, and solve things through the existing system! Those people need help now, and it's that very system that's oppressing them, all in the name of security and stability. People like Gao Hai are never going to give up their power voluntarily, and so they'll continue to destroy more and more lives the longer we delay. So there! I said it! If you can't accept that, then feel free to turn me in right now, Suzaku Kururugi!"
"Princess Euphemia..." Suzaku whispered. He shook his head. "You really are something, you know."
"Suzaku?" she asked, suddenly unsure of what to make of him.
"As you know, I'm assigned to your protection. If you'd like to go out around the city, I can escort you. Of course, you're also known for your skill in slipping away from your guards. The settlement is a big place. It could take a while for me to find you."
"Suzaku-" she murmured. "Can't you-?"
He shook his head. "I can't. But you have friends that you can count on, right?"
She nodded, a feeling of pure gratitude warming her. "Thank you, Suzaku. I knew that you had a good heart."
xXx
"Suzaku let you go?" Lelouch asked incredulously.
"You should be more honest with him," his Euphemia replied. "You might actually get through to him that way. But I wasn't going to miss being there when you're all fighting to put an end to Gao Hai's crimes once and for all!"
She might be his favorite half-sister, but that was so reckless of her! Then again, perhaps it was that rash passion of hers and her steadfast commitment to what she believed in that made him like Euphemia so much over his other half-siblings.
"I'm glad you're here, Noire," he told her. "That could have gone very differently."
"You're quite different than your public image would suggest," Xingke murmured.
"But in so many other ways, she's the same as always," Lelouch smiled in spite of himself.
xXx
There was of course one last set of preparations Lelouch needed to make before heading out to take Gao Hai's Treasure, namely fusing new Personas in the Velvet Room. As always, Shi and Tsu guided him through the process, helping him see the possibilities within his soul, while Igor simply sat back, letting them do all of the work.
The Persona Scathach appeared to be quite promising, with no inherent weaknesses, immunity to curse magic, and the ability to repel ice spells. Scathach also had a good balance of potent physical and magical abilities, with a slight lean toward the latter. Moreover, it was from the Priestess Arcana. Igor told him that Scathach would be sure to receive a great deal of power upon fusion, but that wasn't anything that Lelouch didn't already know. He could feel it, through his bond with Leila.
There were many different combinations of Personas that he could execute to create Scathach. However, one in particular stood out to him. First he called up Koumokuten, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, which he had created the day before, taking advantage of the power granted by his bond with Nina. And then...
He brought forth Lilim.
"Wait! You're executing me already?!" Lilim cried. "I've been good! And I thought I had finally got through to you! Didn't you listen to what I said? If you think that killing me is going to-"
"You'll always be a part of me, won't you, Lilim?" Lelouch asked. He sighed. It really wasn't anything personal, but the immunity to bless magic that Lilim had acquired while in Lockdown was of great value, especially if passed along to more powerful Personas.
"I really do have to thank you, though," he told her softly. "You helped me be more honest with my feelings." He paused. "We'll be seeing each other again."
He felt it keenly as the guillotine's blade descended upon Lilim, ending her life, but at once her released essence began to fuse with that of Koumokuten, creating Scathach in a flash of light. She took the form of a pale-skinned woman, dressed in a red shamaness' hat and a revealing two-piece black outfit, over which crimson robes were draped, kneeling in midair.
The power that she had just received was palpable. Not only had Scathach inherited Lilim's acquired immunity to bless magic, but she had gained Koumokuten's ability to unleash the chaotic spirit of revolution in battle, granting friend and foe alike the chance to strike far harder than normal. Such a maneuver was inherently a gamble, but since they could usually choose their fights, the Black Knights and Irregulars would normally outnumber their enemies, tilting the balance in their favor. Scathach had also inherited Koumokuten's enduring soul, the will to fight on even after sustaining what would otherwise be fatal wounds, and the ability to channel his deadly fury into a strike sure to deal severe damage to the enemy.
With Scathach's creation, Lelouch realized that Isis, who had long served as his protector against both bless and curse magic, was obsolete. Scathach carried out the same function while offering additional protection against ice, and had far superior combat abilities on top of that. He felt another twinge of regret when executing her at the gallows, recalling how Isis had helped him save Shirley's life from her berserk Shadow, but her power would live on as part of Scathach, her successor.
Turning to his wardens, Lelouch paid Tsu to summon Lilim back from the Persona Compendium.
"It's not nice to execute a girl out of the blue like that!" Lilim said crossly.
"I brought you back, didn't I?" Lelouch said. "And I'll do so again."
"Wait, what?!"
Sighing, Lelouch had Lilim executed for the second time that day, this time fusing her with Kikuri-Hime, another Persona of the Priestess Arcana, so that he could create Girimehkala, of the Moon Arcana.
At least Rolo was useful for something as power flowed into Girimehkala from the bond that had formed between him and the detective. Rolo was hiding things from them, of that Lelouch was sure, just as he acted as a friend to Rolo while seeking to lead his investigations astray and exploit their bond for his own gain in the Metaverse. But was the essence of the Moon Arcana not deception and delusion? It summed up their bond perfectly.
The new Persona appeared, a demonic, one-eyed, bipedal elephant armed with a sword. Girimehkala had perhaps an even more impressive innate set of resistances than Scathach did, repelling both direct physical and projectile attacks, in addition to nullifying curse spells and resisting fire. Thus another Persona who had long served him well, Shiki Ouji, was rendered obsolete. Girimehkala's main drawback was a glaring weakness to bless magic... but Lilim conveniently fixed that for him.
Returning to Tsu, Lelouch paid once more to have Lilim returned to him.
"Are you done executing me?" Lilim asked. "I'm starting to think that you're some kind of sadist."
"I'm done for now, yes," Lelouch said. "I know that was no way to thank you. But I'll be keeping you around for a little longer."
"That's progress, I guess..." Lilim sighed.
xXx
Lelouch returned from the Velvet Room, rejoining his allies in the Palace. Xingke had already been filled in on how he needed a few minutes to organize his Personas before entering a Palace, during which he would appear to be zoned out, so the bodyguard did not react with alarm.
"Are you finished, Zero?"
"I am, Dragon," he nodded. "All necessary tasks have been cleared. Now let's steal Gao Hai's heart!"
xXx
The Palace was on high alert, but the Black Knights and Irregulars were able to bypass most of its defenses by traveling through the secret passage that Lucretia had discovered. All their heists up to this point seemed like mere games compared to what they were about to do, but no matter what, they would see it through. Their numbers had multiplied tremendously over the past few months, and as their power grew, Britannia's attempts to stop them would show that they might as go try to stop time itself. When they stole his heart, Gao Hai may well try to fight in vain against it, but in the end, his empire would fall apart.
They met the stiffest resistance after emerging from the passage, directly outside of the throne room, but they had all been through far worse together. All that remained was to defeat Gao Hai's Shadow and take his Treasure by force. From experience, Lelouch didn't expect it to go any other way.
"You really should learn some manners," Shadow Gao Hai said, seated on his throne and still wearing his ridiculous gilded robes. "You left such a dreadful mess outside my hall."
"You're the one who's going to have to learn some remorse for what you've done - and the meaning of pain!" Kallen shouted back.
"You think you can touch me?" Shadow Gao Hai laughed. "I have the backing of Prince Schneizel, and with it, the mightiest empire on the planet behind me, not to mention the manpower and resources of the entire Chinese Federation. What can a mere... dozen of you do against two-thirds of the world?"
"Hey, don't forget me!" Arthur shouted indignantly.
"You seem to forget who you're dealing with," Lelouch laughed maniacally. "I am Zero... a man of miracles! Together, with my friends, I'll make the impossible possible, and destroy this corrupt world so that it can be made anew!"
"You've got nowhere to run, Gao Hai!" Xingke roared, brandishing his blade at the Shadow.
"I beg to differ, Xingke," Shadow Gao Hai smirked. "Soon, I'll be far away from this place. It's taken so long to get here, you know. Leaving behind my worthless parents, who were simply common criminals... Sacrificing my very manhood to have a chance to rise above my station... And of course, having to constantly pay lip service to that china doll of an Empress and her parents before her. It all gets very tiring, I assure you."
"You're nothing more than a thief and a murderer!" Xingke shouted back.
"Says the thief and traitor," Shadow Gao Hai sneered. He began to laugh, his voice suddenly seeming far more menacing than before. "But at last, I finally get to reveal my true self to you all..."
Dark energy converged on Shadow Gao Hai. But to their surprise, they were quite underwhelmed by his transformation.
"Huh?" Milly asked.
"He's exactly the same as before, but now he's being carried in an Emperor's litter..." Kallen said in confusion and disdain.
"This... isn't what I expected," Shirley murmured.
"Be careful!" Leila called. "Something else is coming!"
"I am the Demon of Greed, Gao Mammon Hai!" Mammon giggled to himself. "It'll be a little while before the Second Prince arrives to transport me to Britannia, so I'll have to keep you busy until then. Fortunately, China has no shortage of expendable troops to throw at you." He snapped his fingers, and the ground began to rumble.
"There are so many of them..." Euphemia gasped. "And I thought Alciel had a lot of backup!"
An entire terracotta army now stood between them and Mammon.
"You mean, we get to smash all of them?" Dalque grinned. "No need to hold back then! Give the word, Nemo, and I'll charge right through 'em!"
"No matter how many you throw at us, you won't escape my blade in the end, Gao Hai!" Xingke shouted.
"Carve a path through them! Don't let yourselves get surrounded!" Lelouch ordered.
"Irregulars, crush them!" Nunnally snarled, her eyes turning golden as she let Nemo take over.
Nunnally and Dalque leapt right into the fray, while Guren Jigoku took flight, sweeping wide swathes of destruction over the battlefield, and Maid Marian fired barrages of projectiles that were sure to hit among so many targets. Medea's fire wasn't terribly effective on its own against terracotta, but she was able to use her charms to sow confusion in the enemy ranks, and cast Matarunda to weaken the opposing soldiers' offensive capabilities.
Further back, Arthur and Alice conjured powerful gusts of wind that toppled and shattered a number of terracotta soldiers, while Sancia carefully chose her targets, conjuring ice to open up cracks and burst the enemy apart. Euphemia was ready to heal on a moment's notice, and Leila cast Marakukaja, wrapping her allies in a defensive aura, before switching to exploiting the openings that Milly had created for her with psychokinetic magic. All the while, Lucretia provided additional support from afar, and Lelouch switched between Personas as needed to keep the pressure on the enemy.
"Archers, fire!" a familiar voice, but more gravelly-sounding, shouted, before breaking into a coughing fit.
So Cognitive Xingke was back. Of course. He would continue to appear for as long as the Palace Ruler had use of him.
A hail of arrows flew into the air. Guren Jigoku deftly dodged most of them, but a few got lodged in its side.
"Ugh!" Kallen groaned, though thankfully she wasn't badly hurt. "That pisses me off!"
"Queen, fall back!" He ordered. "There are too many of them!" Individually, each archer was posed little threat to Guren Jigoku, but together they would certainly overwhelm her.
"Got it, Zero!" she called back.
Those archers were a problem... The other Black Knights and Irregulars couldn't get near them for long without being shot out of the air. Girimehkala would protect him from the Archers, allowing him to pick them off in safety, but plenty of arrows would still be able to fly past his Persona to threaten his teammates. Lelouch knew that he needed a faster way to dispose of the archers. But as he quickly glanced around the room, he had an idea.
"Everyone not on healing, target and destabilize that pile of plunder in the rear! Hit it at range and with magic!"
The gold clattered noisily as the Black Knights and Irregulars barraged it with attacks, and once Kallen joined the assault, directing a concentrated beam of nuclear energy at the bottom of the mountain, it began to melt outright. In spite of gold's high density, it had a relatively low melting point, just 1,063 ºC when pure, and Guren Jigoku's fury far exceeded that. Without adequate support from below, the whole pile began to creak, and then they managed to dislodge the top, pitching it forward and causing it to gain large amounts of kinetic energy as it fell. It crashed down on the archers, smashing them in an inexorable wave of golden destruction, and quite possibly made for the most expensive avalanche ever.
"You used the very environment of the Palace against them, Zero," Xingke murmured next to him. "I could learn something from your tactics."
"You may have smashed a few soldiers, but I still have two Knights of the Round from Prince Schneizel," Mammon said, crossing his arms as two more terracotta Cognitions emerged amid the rubble, doppelgängers of Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim.
"Gino's mine!" Kallen shouted, uncomfortably reminding Lelouch of his nightmare, though he was immediately reassured by what she said next. "I can't wait to smash in that cocky mug of his!"
"Leave the Knight of Six to the Irregulars!" Nunnally called, still possessed by her Shadow. She let out a vicious smile. "I'll show her who really is Marianne's successor!"
The two Cognitive Knights of the Round were far tougher than any of the other terracotta soldiers, but they were still badly outnumbered. After a short but intense fight, Kallen triumphantly seized Cognitive Gino's head in Guren's Jigoku's claws and blasted him at point-blank range, while Freyja and Maid Marian followed up with their own spells for good measure.
Cognitive Anya and the Irregulars were more evenly matched, with Nunnally and the Cognition trading barrages of withering magical firepower at each other, mixed with brutal melee strikes. But as it turned out, Nunnally was using herself as a decoy. While Cognitive Anya was single-mindedly focused on destroying his little sister, Alice darted behind her and impaled the Cognitive Knight of Six with Bradamante's spear. Cognitive Anya's only reaction was to blink in dull surprise before Nunnally finished her off.
"You're awfully persistent," Mammon frowned, "and there's still some time before Prince Schneizel arrives. And I must say, this battle has gotten awfully close for comfort. I guess I have no choice. Xingke!"
"What do you want?" Cognitive Xingke asked.
"I'll give you one more chance... win, and I'll ensure the safety of the Empress. Otherwise..."
"You already know my answer."
"Splendid! Then let's introduce these thieves to that secret little project we've been working on, with the weapons research coming out of the Militarized Zone of India. It won't be complete for quite some time, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Xingke, I bestow upon you... Shen Hu!"
Suddenly, there was a tremendous roar, and the air around Cognitive Xingke distorted, dark energy swirling and forming into a gigantic terracotta tiger, over four meters in height. In another moment, its surfaces were painted a dark blue-violet, and then it gained shimmering fur as it fully came to life. Cognitive Xingke was seated atop the beast, holding its reins in his hands.
"Shen Hu... Divine Tiger," Leila whispered.
"I'll withdraw to a safe distance now," Mammon said, the throne room impossibly seeming to stretch back behind him. More energy converged, forming an enormous, pyramidal-shaped mobile fortress, armed with a massive central cannon and multiple smaller turrets. "Remember, Xingke," Mammon called back as he boarded the fortress, "the Empress' fate is in your hands! Don't disappoint me!"
"Zero, he's getting away!" Milly cried.
"There's no way that his Cognition of Xingke is letting us past until his last breath. We'll have to destroy him and Shen Hu first!"
"The Empress has no need for thieves," Cognitive Xingke declared from his perch atop the Divine Tiger's back. "I will see to her protection myself! If you would stand in my way, then you must die, without further delay!"
The Black Knights and Irregulars launched their attack upon the Divine Tiger. However, its armored hide was thick and far tougher than it had any right to be, rendering it impervious to physical attacks. Even when Euphemia tried lobbing a grenade at it, the Divine Tiger was unscathed.
Damn! Gao Hai knew just how utterly determined Xingke was to protect the Empress, and fully believed in that fact as something he could exploit, which had created an exceptionally powerful Cognition.
The Divine Tiger swiped its claws, but they weren't ordinary claws. They detached themselves from its paws, connected to them only by long cables, shooting forward like thrown daggers. Lelouch recognized what they really were.
They were a Knightmare Frame's Slash Harkens.
The Slash Harkens took the Black Knights and Irregulars by surprise, who hadn't expected the Divine Tiger to be able to attack at such a range, and inflicted heavy damage upon them. To his horror, Lelouch saw that Shirley had been struck by one of the Slash Harkens. It had only grazed her, but that it had still cut a deep wound across her stomach, causing blood to start pouring out of it, a scene almost directly out of his nightmares. Thankfully, those with Personas specialized in healing were close enough to help, and with prompt attention they'd be able to seal Shirley's wound and regenerate lost blood, ensuring that she would survive. But it was far too close of a call, and it filled him with rage.
"Scathach!" he shouted furiously.
His Persona promptly cast Magarula, blasting the Divine Tiger with powerful gusts of wind.
Lelouch had hoped that the Divine Tiger would retain the terracotta soldiers' weakness to wind, as it had been first created as such a construct. The spell did damage the beast, and Lelouch thought he could hear the sound of terracotta cracking under its fur, but it wasn't nearly enough to stagger the Divine Tiger.
Kallen was also enraged by Shirley's injury, and sent Guren Jigoku charging in, firing multiple bursts of concentrated radiation toward the Divine Tiger. In another moment, Cognitive Xingke would be in range. If she could strike him directly, then maybe...
With sudden dread, Lelouch saw Cognitive Xingke smirk. The Divine Tiger was raising a paw up in the air, leveling it toward Guren Jigoku.
"Queen! Watch out! He's going to-!"
The Slash Harkens fired once again from the Divine Tiger's paws, but instead of impaling Guren Jigoku, they wrapped themselves tightly around Kallen's Persona, causing her to writhe in pain as if she was the one caught.
Lelouch remembered his Persona being similarly caught by Leviathan's tentacles long ago, but unlike him, Kallen couldn't change her Persona into another form that might enable her to escape. Maybe she could have simply un-summoned Guren Jigoku, but in the next moment, the Divine Tiger sent electricity crackling up the cables, which reached Guren Jigoku in moments.
Kallen let out an agonized scream as her Persona was electrocuted, preventing her from doing anything else. It didn't seem to be a lethal voltage, meant to disable its prey rather than killing it outright, but that was in no way reassuring. Kallen was in pain, and he had to do something to help her, yet he felt like he was the one that was caught helplessly, and for a moment, his reason fled him.
Sensing victory, the Divine Tiger let out a roar and began pulling Guren Jigoku in, snapping its teeth like a predator long starved for a meal.
It would kill Kallen if the Divine Tiger managed to take a large enough bite out of her Persona, a thought that filled him with terror. He had to do something to save her! Kallen had always been his bravest and most skillful ally, and as a lover, she was loyal to him in a way that he wasn't entirely sure that he deserved. But his fear continued to paralyze him, depriving him of his intellect when he knew that Kallen needed him most.
"Freyja!" Leila's voice called out, as she acted without hesitation. There she was, leaping onto the chariot that appeared and taking her place alongside the Goddess of Love, who began driving it perpendicularly to the Divine Tiger. Hissing, the beast fired the Slash Harkens in its other front paw at Leila and Freyja, but the goddess's shield protected the pair from the worst of the blow. Lelouch could still see Leila grit her teeth in pain, but she remained focused on her mission.
As she neared Guren Jigoku's position, Leila raised the naginata that she had once pilfered from the Black King's Palace. It was a weapon that she rarely used, as Leila usually hung back to cast magic or analyze the enemy, but at once her plan became clear to Lelouch, and his mind went from shock into overdrive. She was going to try to use its reach to cut the cables binding Guren Jigoku. But those cables were electrified! Leila had a very good chance of getting herself badly hurt if she went through with it. The wood of the shaft might offer her some insulation from its effects, but if the voltage was too high it could arc down from the blade to strike her body, or the shaft might even burst into sharp splinters that would be driven into her face and hands.
Lelouch knew he had only seconds to act, for both Kallen and Leila's sakes. "Neko Shogun!" he shouted.
The feline commander appeared at once. "Dame!" Lelouch shouted. "Use your Persona to launch mine toward those cables!"
Shirley seemed shocked by the bizarre order, and she had only just recovered from her previous injury, but she complied at once. Lelouch tossed Neko Shogun so that he could grab the shaft of one of Maid Marian's arrows, who then released it, sending the cat flying. Knowing exactly what had to be done, Neko Shogun deftly swung one of Lelouch's knives, which it held in its mouth, and cut through one of the cables binding Guren Jigoku before Leila could reach it. Thankfully they, unlike the main body, were vulnerable to physical attack.
Lelouch felt himself shudder slightly in pain as electricity briefly arced to his own Persona instead, but Neko Shogun resisted electrical attacks, and so he was spared from serious harm.
Leila seemed as surprised as anyone else, but managed to catch Neko Shogun as he fell. It wasn't strictly necessary, as Neko Shogun would vanish a moment later anyway, but he let out a contented purr nonetheless, as if remembering that Leila was the one who had shown him such kindness upon his recruitment.
With one of the cables destroyed and the flow of the current interrupted, Kallen found enough strength to wrest Guren Jigoku's claw free. Aiming it down the length of the remaining cable, her Persona fired a beam of nuclear energy that melted them to slag and left one of the Divine Tiger's paws ruined. The beast roared in rage as its prey escaped from it.
"Thanks, everyone!" Kallen called. "I almost thought it had me! That was some pretty crazy driving there, Bishop! And you never cease to amaze me with the plans you come up with, Zero!"
"Anytime," Leila replied.
"Everyone, you saw what to do!" Lelouch ordered. He felt an almost indescribable relief that Kallen was safe, and that he had managed to prevent Leila from seriously injuring herself, when he should have been the first to Kallen's aid, only compounded that feeling. He didn't know what he would have done if he had lost either of them, or how he could have lived with himself afterward. But he didn't have time to waste trying to verbalize what he felt, not when there was a battle to be won, and his words would inevitably fail to express the true depth of his emotions. "Hobble that thing!"
"Right, Zero!" Shirley called. "Maid Marian!" she called, pulling off her mask once more. "Makouga!"
Spears of light appeared in midair, a pair over each of the Divine Tiger's remaining paws. Empowered by the Koh-i-Noor, they impaled them with great force, the magic piercing its physical defenses as if they weren't even there.
The paws weren't fully out of commission yet though, so Nunnally led the Irregulars to attack the Divine Tiger's rear legs, while the Black Knights focused on the remaining paw in the front. Nunnally, or rather, her Shadow, could be seen taking sadistic glee in using Nunnally's Personas to rip out the Slash Harkens from the rear paws, causing Arthur to shudder a little, as if empathizing with his fellow feline's pain.
"Zhuge Liang!" Xingke shouted out. "Ziodyne!"
A bolt of lightning struck the Divine Tiger from above, causing it to suddenly spasm. Of course. While the Divine Tiger had started as a terracotta beast, Mammon saw it as a reflection of a prototype Knightmare Frame, so it was as if the spell had overloaded all of its circuits at once.
"The enemy is incapacitated! Launch an all-out attack!"
The Black Knights and Irregulars descended upon the now-vulnerable Divine Tiger with all of their fury.
"To think that you would push me this far," Cognitive Xingke scowled. The Divine Tiger remained crippled on the ground, unable to move. "It sees you leave me no choice. Activate float system."
At once, four wings sprouted from the Divine Tiger's back, and it took to the air.
"It can fly now?" Arthur asked, as if not believing what he was seeing.
"No fair, that's totally cheating!" Dalque whined.
"Stay focused," Sancia reprimanded her.
"The enemy's affinities have changed," Lucretia announced. "Magic will be ineffective."
"I'm sensing a powerful energy buildup within it!" Leila called urgently. "Everyone, pull back!"
The Divine Tiger reared its head back and then opened its mouth wide, issuing a deadly beam of nuclear energy, not unlike Guren Jigoku's, but much wider. Thanks to Leila's timely warning, they were all able to avoid injury, even as it carved a deep gash in the floor.
At first, the two teams tried to target the Divine Tiger's wings, but while small arms fire could penetrate them, they weren't doing enough damage to compromise their overall structural integrity, and the Divine Tiger moved quickly through the air, making it difficult to aim. Guren Jigoku had some more success, and could attack without fear of the Divine Tiger's nuclear breath, but as soon as Cognitive Xingke realized this, he began casting Megidola. Those laser-like beams could effortlessly bypass Guren Jigoku's elemental defenses, and so Kallen's Persona was forced to pull up from what would have been several promising attack runs.
Time was running out before Mammon would make an escape with the arrival of Cognitive Schneizel, and they still hadn't destroyed the Divine Tiger. The damn thing only stopped flying about when it was charging up its big attack.
Lelouch smirked as a plan formed in his mind.
"Nemo, grab that Slash Harken you pulled out earlier, and give it to Queen!"
Nunnally blinked, her eyes returning to their regular violet color. "You got it, Zero!"
"Queen, use your Persona to throw the tip of that Slash Harken as hard as you can into that pillar over there!"
Kallen didn't question him.
"Dame!"
"Yes?"
"You're coming with me," he said, tightly wrapping an arm around her as he grasped the end of the Slash Harken's cable. "Trust me."
The Divine Tiger was looming over them now, building up nuclear energy within its core.
"Do it now, Queen!"
Guren Jigoku appeared and hurled the Slash Harken through the air, pulling Lelouch and Shirley with it high into the air. Angling their bodies, the cable wrapped around the pillar, bringing them around, and presenting Shirley with a clean line of fire at Cognitive Xingke, seated exposed on the Divine Tiger's back.
"Dame, it's showtime!" He shouted.
She knew what to do, and fired multiple rounds, aiming at the center of Cognitive Xingke's mass.
Her aim was true. The bullets punched through Cognitive Xingke's already weakened terracotta body, opening up gaping holes in it.
"My Empress..." Cognitive Xingke gasped. "I've failed y-"
The Cognition let out a violent cough, which shattered what remained of him. Suddenly without a rider or guiding purpose, the Divine Tiger fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, breaking apart upon impact as its fur lost its brilliant color and its body reverted to lifeless terra-cotta.
At the same time, Lelouch made his landing, and managed to catch Shirley under her waist to break her fall, though it happened in a way that made it look as if they had just completed a complex dance routine together. Lelouch could see a blush on Shirley's face, peeking out from under her mask, followed by a bright smile, but then she was back up on her feet, ready to continue the fight.
"Very impressive," Mammon's voice echoed around them. "I did not expect you to defeat my Xingke. But ultimately, he was expendable, and he served his role. I simply need to hold out for a few minutes longer in this mobile fortress, and then Prince Schneizel will arrive to save me."
"Rather it will be your tomb, as befits an Emperor of Greed," Xingke said coldly.
Lelouch glanced around him. Both the Black Knights and Irregulars were exhausted from fighting off the terracotta army, Knights of the Round, and the Divine Tiger without pause, and it was clear that Mammon's outer defenses would not be easy to crack through conventional means.
But they had already come too far to turn back now, and time was ticking.
"It's now or never, everyone," Lelouch said. "I know that you've all already made your decisions, but remember what we're all here for. When we defeat Gao Hai here, we'll create a new life for countless people in the Chinese Federation, who currently live in poverty and fear, and truly take our first step toward making a new world. No matter what we face before us we'll overcome it... even if we have to do what seems impossible, like creating a river in the desert!"
"That's right!" Euphemia nodded, dirtied from the dust and fragments of terracotta that had scattered everywhere with the fall of the Divine Tiger, but no less pure in her conviction.
"Hmm hmm hmm!" Mammon laughed. "A pretty speech! It's too bad you'll never come to see that be reality! Now come! Why don't you entertain me for a few more minutes?"
The mobile fortress, or as Xingke had put it, the Emperor's Tomb, advanced, lowering its main gun to aim at them.
"Take evasive action!" Lelouch ordered.
The Black Knights and Irregulars scattered as the shells the Emperor's Tomb had fired exploded, creating a large crater behind them.
"That's based on a Longdan," Xingke said as he ran alongside Lelouch. It was clear that the fight even was straining Xingke, a professional soldier, from the coughed up blood that Lelouch could see on his cheeks, but Xingke didn't let up his pace. "It's main gun is for siege and artillery use. It can't track small, quickly moving targets effectively. As long as you stay out of its firing arc, you won't have to worry about that one. It's the thirteen smaller guns, especially its point defense and antipersonnel cannons, that you'll have to look out for."
"Everyone, you heard him! Destroy those guns first! Bishop, Land! Help coordinate the attack and keep an eye out for weak spots in the superstructure."
As he ran forward, Lelouch changed his Persona to Girimehkala. He briefly cast Marakunda, to weaken the defenses of the Emperor's Tomb for his teammates, but then, in a move that anyone else would have considered suicidally overconfident, he purposefully stopped moving, allowing the main gun to track him.
"Zero, what are you doing?" Xingke shouted back. "Do you want to get yourself killed?"
"Keep going, I have a plan!" Lelouch called.
"You've led us well so far, but hope you know what you're doing this time, Zero," Xingke said darkly.
"Are you tired of running?" Mammon's voice echoed out of the Emperor's Tomb. "Or maybe you're admitting defeat? How very considerate of you! Just give me a moment, and it will all be over!"
The main gun fired on him. In spite of the shell being of a vastly greater caliber than the small arms fire that Shiki-Ouji had blocked in the past for him, the barrier held, causing the shell to reverse direction just before reaching him and rebounding on the cannon that had fired it. Everything in the Metaverse was based on Cognition, and Girimehkala's defense against anything that could be considered a projectile was absolute, even if it was an incoming artillery shell. Its size didn't matter at all.
There was an enormous explosion as the shell crashed into the Emperor's Tomb, disabling the main gun and opening a gaping hole in its side.
His teammates seemed as shocked as Mammon.
"Don't let up the attack!" Lelouch ordered. "Disable the rest of the guns so we can pull him out of there and take his Treasure!"
Mammon kept fighting, but it really was all but over. The two teams of phantom thieves fought with a second wind, seeing that the Emperor's Tomb was no longer as impregnable as it had first seemed.
Closing in on the Emperor's Tomb, Lelouch summoned Girimehkala again, who carried out a series of swift strikes on the nearest guns, critically damaging several of them. His teammates were similarly making progress. He watched as one of the medium guns on the flanks exploded under fire from Guren Jigoku and Medea, while Shirley used Maid Marian to snipe one of the point defense cannons from a safe distance as it tried to track Guren Jigoku's dizzying flight path. Meanwhile, Alice darted back and forth with inhuman speed, dodging machine gun fire from one of the anti-personnel cannons before summoning Bradamante to destroy it. Xingke was doing his part too, using his knowledge of a Longdan's construction to call down targeted lightning strikes, surgically disabling the Tomb's key systems with a minimum of wasted effort.
Unable to withstand the onslaught, the already compromised systems of the Emperor's Tomb finally failed, and it completely broke apart, dispersing into harmless black wisps. All that remained was Mammon, fallen from his litter and sprawled on the ground.
"You and the other High Eunuchs are finished," Xingke said, pointing his sword at Mammon, making sure that he couldn't rise without meeting a swift end.
"No," Mammon said, a smile on his face as his looked up into the sky. "You're too late. Prince Schneizel is here. I'm saved!"
Stray fire from the Emperor's Tomb had caused parts of the ceiling to cave in, and through the hole left behind, they could see Schneizel's airship hovering above them, looking just as it had on Kamine Island. Schneizel, or rather Cognitive Schneizel, had already appeared in the throne room, and was walking toward them. If viewed from a logical standpoint, it made no sense that Cognitive Schneizel could have safely disembarked from such a height, but they were in the Metaverse. Cognitive Schneizel was here because the Palace's Ruler wanted him to be here.
"Saved? In what sense do you mean that?" Cognitive Schneizel smiled. "Do you simply mean escaping with your life? If so, that may indeed be the case, if the Black Knights and Irregulars feel so inclined."
Mammon blinked, as if he hadn't understood a word that Cognitive Schneizel had just said. "What do you mean?"
Cognitive Schneizel shook his head and chuckled lightly. "For one who thinks he's so much smarter than his peers among the High Eunuchs, you're rather slow, Gao Hai. I suppose I will have to do my best to explain it to you in terms that you can understand. Britannia admires strength above all else. Yet here you are, sprawled at their mercy. What would I, or Britannia, have to gain by saving you now?"
"I'll give you anything!" Mammon cried. "The Chinese Federation, it's land, it's people, even my own fortunes... you can have it all! Just take me from these criminals!"
"I'm afraid you still don't understand the situation you're in," Cognitive Schneizel said. "As soon as the Black Knights steal your heart, you will have none of those things, and the people will rise up against you. The so-called Enlightenment philosophers weren't wrong when they said that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, even if they did believe in the potential of ordinary people too much. Whether that is overt approval or silent apathy makes little difference, as long as the government has that consent. But when you lose it..." Cognitive Schneizel shook his head again. "You simply become a liability."
"No! You're wrong! I can still make myself useful to Britannia! Please! Give me another chance!"
"Rest assured, Britannia will be there to pick up the pieces when the Chinese Federation crumbles."
Mammon was reduced to incoherent blubbering.
"You really are too emotional about all of this," Cognitive Schneizel said, calm as ever. "Surely none of the consequences of your defeat are a surprise to you."
Cognitive Schneizel looked up. "I must offer you my congratulations, Black Knights and Irregulars. You have exceeded my every expectation, for mere thieves to topple one of Britannia's principal rivals. That is not easily done." He clapped politely, but to Lelouch it seemed more mocking than anything else.
"You're not even the real Schneizel!" he shouted at his half-brother's doppelgänger. The thought that he may have played into Schneizel's hands, potentially offering up a weakened Chinese Federation for Britannia to conquer, infuriated him, obvious as it was now, and so he took his frustration out on the Cognition. "If you were the real Schneizel, you'd know exactly who I really am. But Gao Hai doesn't, and so neither do you!"
"That is true," Cognitive Schneizel replied, unperturbed. "I don't know who you are, and my own existence will soon fade along with that of this Palace. But in any case, you are a most remarkable individual. I'm sure that my real self will welcome the opportunity to match wits with you."
Cognitive Schneizel turned to go. "Until that day... Zero..."
The Cognition disappeared as if it had been just a dream, which in a sense, it had.
"Ow! Please have mercy!" Mammon, or rather, Shadow Gao Hai suddenly cried. Kallen had roughly kicked him, which was apparently enough to extinguish what little fight remained in him.
"No," Xingke replied coldly. "Mercy would be to end you right now. You will atone for your crimes - every last one of them! And you will expose those of your fellow High Eunuchs as well!"
"I'll die... either I'll be killed like the old Viceroy, or you'll kill me as soon as I've confessed."
"Yes, you will die one way or the other," Xingke said, glaring at him. "If you're particularly unlucky, it will be at the hands of the ordinary people of the Chinese Federation. My blade is much swifter and cleaner than you deserve. But cowards like you don't get to choose your deaths. I doubt you even have the courage to take your own life."
"Fine! You win!" Shadow Gao Hai moaned. "Take my Treasure!" Be looked up at them, a spiteful look suddenly in his eyes. "But remember... as Schneizel said, the Chinese Federation will crumble without us! And he'll be there to pick up the pieces! The Empress is but a young girl, who will be lost without her trusted advisors. What can she possibly do to hold the Chinese Federation together?"
"She'll have you, Dragon," Lelouch said. "You're the man your country needs to lead them into the future." Now, more than ever, the Chinese Federation, needed Xingke's strength and determination if it was going to hold back Schneizel and Britannia.
"I can only hope that you're right, Zero," Xingke said. "In truth, I only ever met the Empress once, years ago, when she spared my life for the crime of bringing medicine to a prisoner. I doubt that she even remembers me by now. But still, I must do whatever I can for her. I am forever in her debt."
"If you don't mind, I will be taking my leave now, and returning to my real self," Shadow Gao Hai said. "I hope you're happy with what you've done here today, Xingke."
With that, the Shadow vanished into light.
Lelouch walked over to the High Eunuch's throne, which had been knocked over during the fighting, and picked up the materialized Treasure that rested beside it. It appeared to be a small, very ordinary-looking jar, but it carried the weight of a Treasure. Lelouch could sense the distortion emanating from it.
His curiosity getting the better of it, he peaked inside.
"What is it, Zero?" Nunnally asked.
Lelouch blanched as he saw the shriveled object inside.
"You do not want to know," he told her.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps on the far side of the throne room. A group of several masked strangers walked in.
"Why, it appears that we've missed the party," a rosy-haired woman wearing an emerald-green mask and an elaborate black dress with gold trim and a short but similarly ornate hat, both of which had red stones set into them. In the case of the hat, the ruby gemstone in its center created the impression of a cyclopean eye. A black cape, lined with red, flowed behind her as she waked toward them. Overall, the outfit gave the impression of either an empress, or perhaps moreso, a wicked, vain, and beautiful witch.
"And I was so looking forward to giving that creep a little fire from Elphaba," the woman, who could only be Marrybell mel Britannia, continued. "But some other thieves have gone ahead and stolen his Treasure already, Oz."
"Indeed, West," Oldrin Zevon replied, dressed as a matador, much as she had been at the masquerade ball. "These must be the Black Knights. I was wondering why we faced so little resistance on the way here. They've clearly been busy. The place looks like a war zone."
"I'm sure we'd all love to chat," Marrybell said pleasantly, while managing to sound quite wicked, "but there's no time. As you must know, since you've taken that Treasure from the Palace's Ruler, this entire place will start to collapse at any moment now. I do honestly hope that you all survive. We'd have much to talk about."
She started to turn, but Lelouch suddenly called out to her.
"Wait!"
"Weren't you listening to a word I said?" Marrybell asked incredulously. "The Palace-"
"I'm not an idiot," Lelouch told her. "I know!" He smirked. "But it's not every day that one meets the leader of the Glinda Knights, Marrybell mel Britannia."
Oldrin's hand immediately went to the sword at her side, but Marrybell slightly raised her own, signaling for her Knight to stand down.
"It's been far too long," Lelouch continued. "Even if we did meet again just a few days ago."
"You..." Marrybell whispered. "You're... No... you can't be!"
Lelouch pressed a card into Marrybell's hands. On one side, it appeared identical to the calling card that they had sent to Gao Hai, emblazoned with the stylish logo of the Black Knights, but the message on the other side was markedly different. It simply listed login credentials for a special account on KnightWatch.
"Let's save the reunion for another time," he told her. "As you said, the Palace will start collapsing at any moment now."
As if on cue, the rumbling started.
"Glinda Knights, retreat!" Marrybell ordered without sparing him another glance, though she held onto the card that he had given her tightly.
Lelouch knew it was time for the Black Knights and Irregulars to do the same, and so they hurried out of the throne room, hot on the Glinda Knights' trail as the Forbidden City of Greed began to fall apart around them.
A/N:
And Gao Hai's heart has been stolen! I was able to write and revise this chapter quite quickly, probably because I had so been looking forward to the battle against Gao Hai for such a long time.
Very obviously to anyone who's played Persona 5, the battle was inspired as a cross between Okumura and Shido's boss fights. Okumura's in the sense that Mammon himself is a complete wimp and has a very underwhelming transformation, instead relying on waves of mooks to fight the thieves. And of course, the later stages of the fight deliberately parallel the Beast of Human Sacrifice, Wings of Human Sacrifice, and Tomb of Human Sacrifice from Shido's boss battle. That's actually something I had planned since the start of the story. Like Shido, Gao Hai is a political leader, with ambitions over an entire country. Also, "Shen Hu" does literally mean "Divine Tiger" which serves as a counterpoint to the lion-inspired "Beast of Human Sacrifice", and was the canonical name of the Knightmare Frame that the High Eunuchs gave Xingke in canon, again exploiting his desire to protect and take back the Empress. That the Chinese Federation had the Longdan mobile fortresses, with the same pyramidal shape as the Tomb of Human Sacrifice was just icing on the cake.
The chapter title, "The Bosses of Greed and Fear" is taken as an excerpt from a line in "Rivers in the Desert", the boss theme against late-game antagonists and optional superbosses in Persona 5, which also played during Shido's fight. It seemed to aptly describe the High Eunuchs, and the fact that the Black Knights had to defeat several powerful foes in a row to steal Gao Hai's heart.
In canon, Xingke used very similar tactics to Lelouch when they went against each other. While Xingke is brilliant in his own right, some of this is likely attributable to him having been able to study Lelouch's tactics during the Black Rebellion a year before and incorporate such unconventional strategies into his own, hence his reaction to the golden avalanche in this story.
Lelouch's joint attack with Shirley against the Divine Tiger is inspired by Joker and Kasumi's Showtime in Persona 5 Royal. Since Lelouch and Shirley's thief outfits are based on Joker and Kasumi's, it seemed a waste not to find a way to include their Showtime together, albeit in a way so that it's actually happening in-story and not simply a stylized cutscene for a special attack.
There are a few more loose ends to tie up in this arc before the next interrogation interlude, but very soon we'll be moving onto the sixth palace! Thanks for reading, everyone!