Chapter 17: The Blood on our Hands
"Release me."
Those were the first words she heard, the first sound that ever reached her ears and stimulated her still young brain; it was a plea for freedom.
She couldn't know who the owner of the voice was, as multiple white figures impeded her view; they were completely covered in white garments except for their faces, which were hidden by some kind of face shields that darkened their features. Those beings kept forcefully touching her body however they wanted, sometimes they flashed lights at her eyes or pierced her skin with needles. They didn't care about her, it was as if she were an unanimated object for them. They talked between themselves, repeating words like "prototype", "experiment", "success," and "weapon" words that hardly made sense to her.
But that didn't matter. She didn't care about them; she only wanted to know about the voice.
"Release me, now!" The voice shouted this time. Her tone was no longer of a plea; it was now a scream of impotence.
Why was that voice screaming? Was it because of the white figures? Were they also torturing her? Why were they doing something so deplorable, and how could she make them stop? She asked herself.
"Release me, now! It's an order."
An order…? Even though it was the first time she heard such a word, she immediately understood its meaning: orders were absolute, they must be followed.
But then why were the white figures not following them? Maybe it wasn't an order for them, but for her? Yes, that made sense. It was an order for her, and she must fulfill it at all cost.
At first, she tried to stand up and walk towards the source of the voice, but she was immediately stopped by the white figures. Their hands prevented her from moving.
Why were they stopping her? Orders were absolute. Why couldn't they understand that? No, that didn't matter. She had her orders; she wouldn't let the white beings stop her. She broke the shackles that imprisoned her with a single motion and moved her arms with force, trying to move the figures out of her way.
And it worked. The white beings around her were easily sent flying; a loud thump could be heard as they crashed into the room walls.
She was finally able to reach the voice.
And then she saw it, the source of the voice was a naked blond girl, she laid on a table surrounded by a group of those white begins. They looked at her while examining every part of her body, much like what she had gone through. The girl had a pained expression on her face.
Upon seeing that, she felt an inexplicable surge of rage coming from inside. She wanted to make the white things disappear, to make them pay for what they have done.
And as if her body naturally knew what to do, something solid appeared on her hand: a red and silver sword, the sword of a knight.
Instinctively, she knew what she had to do.
And so she did it. She swung her sword towards the white beings and cut them. Their previously white clothes were torn apart and turned crimson red with their blood. One, two, three, four, five…she cut the five of them in pieces, and they no longer moved. The room that previously had an ochre color now was stained red with the fluids of the fallen white beings.
And between the carnage of blood and guts that she had unleashed was the blonde girl, who looked at her with surprise.
"Warspite…." She muttered in a low tone, almost scared.
Warspite…yes, that was her name. And the girl was called…
At that moment, Warspite heard a loud noise, and something suddenly hit her head from behind.
It hurt a little.
She immediately turned back to find a man. He was different from the white beings, his face was actually visible, and he was wearing greyish clothes. In his hands was a metallic artifact, which Warspite immediately recognized as a weapon.
That meant he was an enemy.
Warspite didn't doubt for a second and, moving with incredible speed, she slashed the man before he could attempt to use his weapon again. She first cut his hands so he couldn't hold the weapon, and then she cut him in half so he couldn't move to attack them. The being didn't have an opportunity and was easily defeated. His gruesome pieces of flesh fell motionless on the floor.
The enemy was defeated; Warspite had successfully fulfilled her orders.
She turned again to the blonde girl, stabbed her bloody sword in the ground, and knelt before her.
"I fulfilled your orders, your Majesty."
"Clarke…so that was his name." Warspite thought as she slashed through the hordes of black drones appearing on her way, her body moving merely on instinct.
Although she didn't want to admit it, the Admiral's words had affected her. At that moment, her mind was deep into the recollections of that day, rather than on the battlefield.
The day her sword was stained red with the blood of mankind.
"…" Warspite gripped her sword with force; she couldn't forget what she had done, she couldn't forget the expression of fear and disbelief of that man when she cut his arms, an expression that never changed as the next swing of her sword robbed him of his life.
At that time, she didn't know. That man had raised a weapon against her Queen. She only could see him as an enemy, someone to be defeated for the sake of the Queen. She couldn't know that a pistol wasn't something lethal for them. If she knew, she would never have…
Or would she? Would she have really acted differently if she knew he wasn't a threat? After all, she also raised her sword against those researchers. They weren't even armed. If she had just wanted to free her Queen, then she could have simply knocked them unconscious; she didn't have to kill them.
But she couldn't take it; she couldn't bear to see them treating their Queen as an animal to be experimented with…no, for them she wasn't even a living being, but an object of study, something that could easily be discarded at any time; her desires to be released didn't matter, her suffering was inconsequential, because she was an object, a mere weapon for them.
And she just couldn't forgive them for that. What they did was an insult to the Royal Navy and everything they represented; they had to pay for that.
Were her actions induced by rage rather than a desire to protect her Queen? Were her emotions the thing that guided her sword rather than her duty as a knight? She dreaded the answer to those questions that lingered on her mind.
"Warspite! Edinburgh!" The Queen shouted, bringing the knight back to the battle. The Siren had separated from Belfast, and the Queen was pointing her cannons toward her.
What had she been doing? Why was she having doubts in the middle of the battlefield? She was a knight of her Majesty! She couldn't allow herself to be distracted! She had to be focused because she had to protect the Queen.
"Yes, your Majesty!" Warspite understood the situation immediately, so she swung her sword, destroying any drones in her Queen's line of view.
Her conviction must never waver. Even if she had made mistakes, she had to continue moving forward for the sake of her Queen because that was her duty, to be the sword and shield of Queen Elizabeth.
Once the path had been cleared of drones, the Queen shot her powerful cannons and hit her target; the Siren was quickly engulfed in a big explosion. After a couple of seconds, the black smoke dissipated, revealing a highly wounded Siren. As she was right then, she was no longer a threat to Warspite and the rest of the Royal Navy.
However, the moment Belfast moved to give the finishing blow, the Siren raised her right hand and finally spoke.
"Don't move an inch."
The voice of the "Siren" triggered something Warspite had forgotten. Memories of a distant place, of a distant time. But how could she have forgotten? It was the same with Dido and Sirius before, she didn't remember them, but as soon as she saw them, their memories together resurfaced.
"Formida-!" Warspite wanted to shout, but her lips no longer moved. No, it was her entire body that had become motionless; no matter how much she tried, she couldn't move even a finger.
However, her consciousness was still active as she saw with horror how the rest of her faction suffered the same fate as her; everyone was as still as a statue.
Everyone but her.
Formidable stood up with some difficulty, still a bit shaken by Elizabeth's attack, and began to slowly walk towards them. She quickly walked past Sheffield and Belfast and completely ignored Warspite and Edinburgh. They couldn't do anything to stop her. It was as if time had been frozen for everyone but her.
She kept walking until she reached a point where she was at an approximated equal distance from every member of the Royal Navy. Then, she raised her arms, and drones began to appear behind her, quickly positioning themselves near the frozen members of the Royal Navy. Warspite saw how the black and golden drones directed their canons towards her.
"...!" She tried with it all her might to move her sword, but it was useless. She was defenseless against it.
And then she heard Formidable talking, one more time.
"Fire." Was the only word she muttered, her voice devoid of emotion.
I instinctively moved Lord Camelot in front of me while both Dido and Sirius stepped forward at my sides, pointing their swords towards the Siren. It wasn't like with Purifier; I had them now, I was no longer fighting alone. Still, could we really face an enemy like this with just the three of us?
"Well, aren't you three cute? You really are ready to fight to the death, even if you know you have no chance against me." She looked at us with disdain, as if we were mere children trying to fight a full-grown adult. "But don't worry; I am here to talk, not to fight."
Even if she said that we didn't lower our weapons.
"You are like Purifier. I feel it." I said, narrowing my eyes. "We won't believe your lies."
"Fufufufu, she really did a number of you, hmm? For you to fear us like that…." She chuckled. "But it wasn't a lie; I am here to applaud your efforts, man of another world."
"Efforts...?"
"Indeed, you have given us quite an interesting show. Not only have you managed to stop our little plot, but you also made these two your own pawns." She shot a look at Sirius and Dido. "You certainly have the aptitude to be a Commander."
"W-Was that your doing?" Dido asked. "Are you the one that made us attack Master!?" She was furious.
Observer smiled maliciously.
"Yes, it was me." She laughed, overjoyed. "Although my role was minimum; I just gave our Admiral friend a little push in the right direction." She opened her hand, and a black cube appeared on it. "The cube that is on his hands right now is ours, and the reason he can command the pseudo-siren is because of us." She closed her fist, and the cube disappeared. "But don't be mistaken, unlike Purifier, I don't play favorites. The only reason we gave that man one of our cubes was that he was already defeated. We never had any expectations for him. You, on the other hand…" She looked at me, her golden eyes shined. "You have the potential for great things, man of another world."
"I have no idea what you are talking about. And frankly, I don't want to find out." Nothing good would come from dealing with the Sirens; as far as I was concerned, they couldn't be reasoned with.
"But you soon will." She said with a strange satisfaction. "The Admiral is just ahead following this corridor, waiting for you. Once you kill him and take the black cube for yourself, you'll understand what you must do and where your loyalty must be laid."
"Kill him? I am not going to kill anyone!"
"So you say, but let me tell you a secret." She laid her head on her hands and continued. "You will try, you will desperately try, but no matter how much you want to avoid it, he is going to die by your hands."
"No!" I shouted. I was right. She was just like Purifier. Why were these Sirens so obsessed with me killing someone? What could they gain with that? "I am not like all of you! I am not a murderer!"
"Fufufufu…is that so?" She never stopped smiling, as if everything was going just according to her plans. "But if you don't take the cube from him, your Queen and the rest of the maids might not survive past today."
"What!?"
"You don't know, so I will show you." She moved her right hand, and some kind of transparent screen appeared between the Siren and us. "Consider it as a token of friendship."
Before we could understand anything, images began to appear on the screen.
It was an aerial view from the big room we were in before. We could see the Siren from before walking among our faction, but for some reason, they didn't move to stop her, not even when her drones began to gather around them.
"Fire." She said, and a series of shots were fired.
Then the image was lost.
"That was…!" Dido started.
"Lady Formidable…!?" Sirius said, recognizing the Siren. "But why is she…?" She couldn't continue.
Then the image flickered again, and the next thing we saw was the Siren standing among tongues of fire and black smoke.
Belfast stood a couple of meters away from her, her body was full of wounds, and she barely held herself up. Warspite was in a similar state, holding her sword on the ground to keep herself from falling.
The rest of the Royal Navy, Sheffield, Edinburg, and Elizabeth, laid defeated on the floor, their bodies motionless.
"What are these images…!? What is the meaning of this!?" I shouted to the Siren.
"That is the result of challenging a Siren." She said with satisfaction. "But don't worry; they are not dead…not yet at least."
"Damn you!" I turned back and prepare to sprint back to the main hall. "Dido, Sirius let's-"
"You won't win just by foolishly smashing your head against the enemy." Observer said, stopping me. "Even if she isn't a complete Siren, that one is still quite special. I am sure your maids know what I am talking about."
"Eh…?" I looked at them for answers.
"Lady Formidable…." Sirius answered, her tone was broken. "Can stop other's movements at will. That must be why no one tried to defend themselves. They just couldn't do it."
"She is just like your little Queen, although her ability is far deadlier than hers." Observer continued. "You'll be at a severe disadvantage if you face her head-on."
"I won't stand idle while they are massacred!" I firmly declared.
"So you will fight a losing battle, even if not only your life will be forfeit, but your allies' too?"
"Tch…!" I gripped Lord Camelot more strongly in anger. As much as I hated it, she was right. If that woman, Formidable, could seal our movements that easily, then we would be at her mercy without a plan. We'll end just like the rest of the faction.
"But fear not, Observer has a solution for you." The Siren said, cheerful. "You only need to bring down the one controlling her, the Admiral. Once you have the cube, you can order her to stop, quite simple right?"
"You…!" This…this was all her doing; she created this entire situation just to trap us in it. She only helped the Admiral to test us, and she only appeared in this base because she knew we would come here. The Admiral, the Royal Navy, me…we were her puppets all along; we were on her hands the entire time."No! There must be another way…!" The words got stuck in my throat. My head was a mess. "You could have fabricated those images. How can we know this isn't one of your tricks?"
"You can't." She tilted her head, and her eyes opened like plates. The golden irises glowed. "But are you going to risk losing someone again, man of another world?"
"…!"
She knows…she knows everything.
"You will have to choose: Either kill the Admiral and take the cube, or fight an enemy that could immobilize you with mere words. Either way, if you don't hurry up, you won't have a faction left to command."After she said that, the giant octopus suddenly moved, opening its big mouth and releasing a dense black smoke screen that quickly darkened our view. "Whatever you decide to do, I am sure it will be something worth watching." Those were the last words she spoke before her figure was utterly swallowed by the black smoke.
We immediately stepped back and prepared to fight back, but the Siren was no longer there once the smoke had dissipated. She had disappeared.
We stood in silence for a few seconds, unable to even begin to comprehend the situation. Had Elizabeth and the rest of the faction really been defeated by Formidable or was it just a trap of that Siren? Whatever the case was, Observer was correct in one thing, I wasn't going to take the risk.
"Sirius, Dido, I am sorry for asking this, but we don't have time. You must go and help Belfast and Warspite to hold Formidable back."
"Master…? But then you'll be-"
"I'll be fine." I quickly reassured her. "If you can stall her somehow, then I should be able to get that cube."
"With all due respect, my honorable Master, I don't think that is a wise decision." Sirius interceded. "You'll be doing just what that Siren wants."
"She said I had to choose, but I won't. I'll take the cube from the Admiral without killing him, and then I'll destroy it; that should stop Formidable." I clenched my fist. "But I can't do it knowing I abandoned them! Sirius, Dido, please, I need you there before it's too late. I know I am asking you to go against a being that can potentially stand her ground against our entire faction alone. Still, if we don't do anything quickly, then they will….!"I stopped before saying it. I didn't want to; I didn't want them to die, even if we aren't exactly on the same side yet…. I couldn't bear to watch them die.
Because I cared about them...because they were my companions. Why did I realize that just now? Was it because I was afraid of losing them? Was it because the idea of not arguing with Sheffield or talking with Belfast ever again brought pain to my chest? I didn't know; I just knew I didn't want them to die.
Both maids remained silent for a few moments, no doubt feeling conflicted about my request, until Dido finally spoke.
"We'll do it." She said, decided. "There is a way to get past her ability. We will definitely stop her and buy time for you, Master."
"Dido…" Sirius looked at her sister doubtful but didn't say anymore.
"Are you sure?" I asked again.
"Yes." Dido nodded. Her gaze was full of resolution. "Don't worry about us. Focus on destroying that cube, Master."
Upon seeing her determination, I knew I didn't have to ask anymore.
"I'll beat the Admiral senseless if it's necessary, but I'll destroy that cube. It is a promise, Dido, Sirius!"
And with those parting words, I hit the floor and ran through the corridor.
I was alone, again.
But I was enough for this. I couldn't fight a Siren, nor could I defeat someone who could immobilize me before I could do anything. Still, I could take on a single man, even without lethal force.
"I'll prove it to you, Observer, Purifier. I am not like all of you."
I wasn't innocent by any means; I, too had dirtied my hands with blood in the past. The things I did in the singularities...the nameless people that tried to kill me only to die by my hands...there wasn't a day I didn't regret every single life I have taken. However, I had no other choice but to keep moving forward for my and humanity's survival.
That was why I was different from them; that was why I wasn't a murderer.
I repeated the mantra that I have been repeating since that day in the Orleans Singularity, the thing that made me keep moving forward despite what I had done.
I had to believe that a bloodless solution existed, that a peaceful end to this war was possible.
"Dido…" Sirius spoke again once Fujimaru had disappeared in the distance."Don't tell me you are thinking about…"
"It's the only way." She said, her tone sounded painful. "If we both try to stop her, then we would get caught in her ability, but if it's only one of us…"
"But it doesn't have to be you, I can-"
"Master likes you, Sirius." Dido interrupted her. "He would be sad if something happened to you."
"That's..." Sirius remembered when she kissed him. That precious moment for her seemed to have given her sister the wrong impression. "That doesn't mean I am more important for him than you, Dido. I'm sure he appreciates you too."
"But you want to stay with him, right? You want to continue sharing more moments like that with him…" Dido lowered her gaze. "You want to stay by his side forever."
"Yes…but don't feel the same?"
"I do, but I can't forget about my duties as a royal maid." She placed her hand on her chest, where her heart was. "I need to be useful, not only to Master but to her Majesty and the rest of the faction. That's more important for me than what I want."
"…" Sirius was at a loss for words. "Are you sure about this, Dido?"
"Yes." The other maid didn't doubt even for a second. "I'll be useful to Master, even if it cost my life."
"Ahhhh….hahhhhh….." Warspite tried her best to make air come to her lungs as she observed the state of the battlefield. The only ones that could still fight were Belfast and her, and they weren't exactly in the best condition to do so. The other two maids, Sheffield and Edinburg, were unconscious, and their bodies laid defenseless on the ground.
Queen Elizabeth was also out of commission; her injuries appeared to be more severe than the other two.
The enemy, Formidable, looked at them with an unreadable expression, but the knight knew it was a matter of time until she decided to finish them off.
She couldn't allow that.
She quickly looked at the head maid, and they exchanged glances. No words were necessary for them to understand each other. The two knew what had to be done.
They knew that the Queen had to survive at all costs for the sake of the Royal Navy.
And so, they moved. Warspite ran towards the fallen body of their Queen while Belfast manifested her rigging and shot towards Formidable, covering her retreat.
Formidable quickly sent her drones towards the knight while she herself went to face the maid head-on. While she had previously been bested by the head maid's strength, the situation was different now. Belfast had sustained multiples injuries and was in no shape to fight the pseudo-siren directly; that's why she had chosen to use the canons of her rigging.
However, Formidable dodged her shots and closed the distance in a matter of seconds. The maid tried to face her in close combat as she had done before, but her wounds slowed her down, and her fists never met their target. As a result, Formidable managed to slip by and take her by the face, only to slam the maid into the floor with such a force that made a hole in it.
By that time, Warspite had already taken Elizabeth on her arms and prepared to retreat. However, the moment she tried to leave the room, she felt a sharp pain in one of her legs that made both of them fall hard.
"Arghh!" Warspite screamed in pain. One of the drones' shots had hit her right leg; she wouldn't be able to move well any time soon. Even so, she didn't give up and began to crawl towards the unconscious Elizabeth; she would use her own body as a shield if it was necessary.
In the distance, however, the steps of their former ally could be heard closer and closer; at that rate, she would reach the Queen far sooner than her.
"Ahhhhhh!" Warspite released a scream of impotency. Was that the end for them? Could she do nothing to protect her Queen?
"Lady Formidable!"
And then, Warspite heard it.
Formidable's steps suddenly stopped, and she turned around to look at the newcomer. There she saw Dido, brandishing her sword towards her.
She was alone.
I ran as quickly as possible, I needed to find the Admiral, and I had already wasted a lot of time. Dido and Sirius must be about to engage with that Siren by now; I needed to destroy that cube before it was too late.
At the end of the corridor was a security metal door, but oddly enough, it was opened. Did he forget to close it as he passed by? Or was that his way of saying that he was waiting for my arrival? I didn't stop to think about it and quickly crossed the door; a snail staircase awaited me on the other side.
With a rapid motion, I jumped over the staircase's railing and fell a couple of meters until reaching the floor; my reinforced leg and feet made cracks into the floor as soon as I landed.
The area where I landed was poorly illuminated. Still, I could see another door also opened, leading to a small room.
Once I entered, I notice that it was almost completely empty, aside from a big window that occupied nearly the entire wall. On the other side of the glass was a bigger room, full of machinery I couldn't identify, and more importantly, the person I was looking for.
He was there, the Admiral. He was looking away for me, towards two enormous glass pillars that were the center of the room, which seemed to be empty aside for some kind of purplish liquid.
I wasted no time and entered the big room.
"This ends here." I stated as I walked toward the man. "Give me the black cube, and I promise I will do everything in my power to save your life from them."
"Yes, this ends here." He finally answered. "But not for me." As he turned back, he pointed a pistol at me; while holding the black cube with his left hand. "You won't leave this room alive."
"Don't try it." I raised Lord Camelot a bit, just in case. "You can't win against me, not even with a gun, because I am-"
"A magus, someone capable of wielding magecraft." He finished what I was about to say before I could. "You can increase your strength and speed to inhuman characteristics, you can even heal your own wounds."
"What!? How could you….!?"
"I told you already, I know more than you think, Fujimaru Ritsuka." He looked at me with disgust. "Your abilities, your involvement with the shipgirls, and finally, your plans to take over, I know all about you, you filthy traitor."
"Take over…what are you…?" It must have been Observer; the Sirens were the only ones that knew about me, they must have poisoned his mind with those lies. "Whatever the Sirens told you, it's a lie. I am a magus, yes, but I don't desire anything like-"
"They didn't tell me anything! I saw everything with my own eyes!" He shouted with anger, and at the same time, the black cube on his hand glowed with a golden light. "The black cube showed me it. I saw you commanding armies of those monstrosities, I saw you waging wars against countries that opposed you, I saw you standing proudly as your forces took control of entire cities!"
"Those visions were a fabrication of the Sirens! They are the enemy, not me!" I remembered what Purifier had shown me some time ago; those visions were nothing but mind tricks. "To begin with, I was dragged into this war against my will! I never wanted any of this!"
"Lies! I still vividly remember the sound of canons being fired by your orders, the odor of blood that emanated from your clothes, the cold-blooded stare as you abandoned your humanity to that demonic woman! That future was real; those were your actions!" He fervently denied it without an iota of doubt. "No….that future won't be real, I will never let it happen! As long as I breathe, you won't get away with this, Fujimaru Ritsuka!"
"….you leave me no choice then!" It was useless talking to him. The Siren had already convinced him that I was his enemy, and nothing I could say could prove otherwise.
In that case, I just had to take the cube by force.
I charged towards him, with Lord Camelot in front of me, blocking any bullets he might try to shoot at me. With the strength and speed the reinforcement in my arms and legs gave me, a single hit should knock him unconscious.
However, while I quickly approached, he remained still in his place, not even trying to move away from me or to shoot. Why wasn't he trying to fight back? Where did his desire to fight to go? That didn't matter, I wasn't going to stop; I had to take that cube from his hands.
And then, the impossible happened.
The moment I tried to lunge at him with the shield, he took a step to the side and dodged my charge at the very last second, then he moved his pistol to shoot at me from behind.
"…!"
I quickly throw myself to the side to dodge the shot, almost falling due to the sudden movement. The bullet grazed me dangerously close, but I managed to avoid it. However, I was still shocked. How…? How did he dodge me? It should have been impossible to…
He shot again, taking advantage of my surprise, so I continued moving sideways as I blocked his shots. Once I managed to recover my footing, I charged at him again. This time, I tried to bash him with the shield.
But the result was the same. With just one step, he moved out of the way of my attack and positioned himself at the best place for a counterattack: my back.
He shot, and I had to move quickly to block the bullets with Lord Camelot.
This wasn't normal. How was he able to dodge me that easily? I should have been faster than any average human while using reinforcement magecraft.
I tried taking into account that he would probably dodge my next attack, so I prepared a gandr curse on my left hand while hiding it from his view. Then I tried it again, waving Lord Camelot at him, but my attack only hit the air as he stepped to the left.
Now..!
I pointed my left hand at him and shot the gandr curse. It was practically a point-blank shot, he shouldn't be able to….
And then I saw the black and red gandr bullet, passing by his side at a hair's breadth, as he contorted his body just in the right way to avoid it altogether.
"…!" He shot again, and I stepped back while blocking his bullets with the shield. This shouldn't be possible. He didn't see me preparing the gandr, how could he have predicted that…
Predicted…? Could it be….?
"The cube….you are using the cube!"
"You don't seem to understand." He said as he dropped a magazine of his pistol to put a new on it. "I can see your future, no matter if it's the next two years or the next two seconds. I can see every move you will do even before you think about doing it." He raised the black cube on his left hand."As long as I have this, you won't be able to touch me." He pointed his pistol to me again.
"Damn you!" I charged towards him. I couldn't waste time like this, I need to beat him and take that cube before it was too late.
"Why are you doing this, Lady Formidable!? Don't you remember us!?" Dido shouted, with sadness in her voice. "We were your companions! We were…we were friends!"
The former Royal Navy carrier made no sight of understanding Dido's words and continued walking towards her without saying a word.
"Don't you remember when Sirius and I served under you? How you always invited us to the tea parties you celebrated with your sisters…? Don't you remember the conversation we used to have? The kind words you spoke to us?" Dido asked desperately, but her efforts bore no fruit because the being walking towards her was no longer the shipgirl she remembered.
She was an aberration, an amalgam of a shipgirl and a Siren without fully being either of them. She couldn't remember any of the memories stored on her Wisdom Cube, nor did she have feelings, desires, or even a personality. The only thing she was allowed to do was to follow the will of the one who commanded her with the black cube.
She was closer to what humans of the military thought about the shipgirls; she was a weapon, a tool.
"Please…stop this, Lady Formidable." Dido pleaded with a tearful voice."Please…think about the Queen, think about Master…."
Formidable didn't answer, and began to raise her right hand; the golden clock hands appeared behind her back, followed by roman numerals forming a clock.
"…" Dido lowered her head in pain for a moment, until she finally took a battle stance. "I am sorry for this, Lady Formidable." She then rushed toward her, wielding her sword with both hands.
"Don't move an inch."
But she never reached her, as Formidable's skill went into effect, paralyzing Dido's body on the place and making her completely vulnerable.
With a gesture of her hands, Formidable's drones moved toward the frozen figure of Dido and lined up their canons toward her.
"Fire."
And so, the machines opened fired without an iota of mercy. The barrage of shots found now resistance and pierced through her skin; not a single part of her body remained untouched, not a single part of her maid uniform remained untainted by red blood.
The torture only lasted for a couple of seconds until Formidable's skill finally ended. Dido's motionless body lost her balance and began to fall.
"Sirius…" Dido said with her last efforts, as she fell on the floor.
Not a second had passed after Dido began to fall when Sirius appeared from the other side of the room, moving with impossible velocity towards Formidable's back while brandishing her sword on two hands. The pseudo-siren, too occupied with Dido, noticed her presence far too later. She tried to dodge, but as Sirius sword was going to undoubtedly hit her, she moved her right arm to at least protect her vitals.
And then she lost it.
The sword made a clean-cut, separating her arm from the rest of her body. That was the first time since the battle started that the pseudo-siren showed what could be called an expression of surprise.
But Sirius wasn't stopping there; she had to watch her sister endure a direct attack from the drones just to give her that one and only chance, so she couldn't doubt. They both knew, thanks to the memories of their Wisdom Cubes, that Formidable's ability had one weakness: once she used it, she couldn't activate it again for a certain period of time.
That cooldown was the only advantage they had over Formidable, but to use it properly, one of them had to stay outside her skill range while the other had to act as bait for Formidable to use it.
And Dido had chosen to be that one.
"…!"
Sirius wasn't going to let the chance her sister had created for her be wasted, it pained her to do it, but she had no choice.
She had to kill Formidable.
Immediately after cutting her right arm, Sirius redirected her sword towards Formidable's neck. She had to kill her former friend, or everyone would be killed by her. For the sake of Dido, her Master, her Queen, and the rest of the faction, she had to kill her.
But what the two maids ignored was that, while the cooldown of Formidable's ability still existed, the owner of the skill was no longer a shipgirl. She was a pseudo-siren now; her abilities far exceeded what she could do as a shipgirl.
Yes, her ability still had a cooldown, but it was only of about five seconds.
And the time was almost up.
Sirius's sword managed to draw a droplet of blood from Formidable's neck before being stopped completely. Her body had become frozen, just as it had happened to her sister.
She had failed.
The first time Admiral William used the black cube to gaze into the future of Fujimaru Ritsuka, he arrived at two conclusions, which from then on would take as facts.
The first one was that Fujimaru Ritsuka was a threat, not only to his country but to the entire world. In a way, he was even more dangerous than the shipgirls themselves, being a human capable of standing on top of them despite being weaker. The Admiral didn't know how he managed to make them work under him, and frankly, he didn't care, all he knew was that he had to be stopped at all cost.
And the second one, less important in the grand scheme of things but the one that worried him the most, was that he wasn't anywhere in that future he saw. It was obvious that something had happened to him before Ritsuka started his conquest.
One didn't need future sight to infer what had happened to him. Even so, the uncertainty was still there, nesting in his mind and slowly driving him crazy.
He had been told by the phantom of his late friend not to use the black cube to look into the future again, that the ability of premonition wasn't something the human mind was prepared to experience; it was something unnatural, and harmful to every single cell in their brain.
But how could someone resist the temptation to look into their future? How could a normal person just refrain from knowing about the things that would happen in their life? The Admiral was never a person that worried much about the future, but even he was overwhelmed by the idea of knowing, of predicting every event before it happened.
And so, he ended up looking into his own future, and his suspicions were proven true. What the black cube showed him was his dead body laying on the very same floor he was standing at that moment; next to him was Fujimaru Ritsuka looking at him with contempt.
That vision filled him with dread. That was his destiny; Fate had told him that he would lose against that man, that no matter what he did from then onwards, he would inevitably reach a dead end.
Such was the reason humans weren't supposed to bear with the ability of future sight. Knowing for certain that they had no control over their life destroyed a normal person, it extinguished their desires and dreams, it made worthless all the effort they put on living; because the idea that everything was already written was crushing and maddening.
But did the Admiral give up?
No, he didn't.
Instead, he decided to cling to an idea, and convinced himself that it was possible. The idea that he could change destiny, that knowing about the future and acting differently would change his fate.
That idea was the only thing that allowed him to continue fighting, and so far, he had proven that it was possible: the man that was supposed to kill him couldn't lay a finger on him. That man, Fujimaru Ritsuka, despite all the advantages he had, looked exhausted and frustrated. That man, despite being stronger and faster than any normal human, hadn't managed to land a single hit.
"Ahh…ahhh…." His breath came out ragged. "You…" He didn't continue talking, the Admiral could almost mistake a tone of sadness in his voice, but of course, that was impossible, he was just infuriated that he was losing against him.
And it was all thanks to the black cube. The artifact showed him his every move, any swing of that oversized shield or punch he might normally receive could be easily avoided with the right timing. Even if the vision showed him getting hit, he could change it. Yes, he could change his destiny. As long as he had the cube, he wouldn't lose.
"Sicht…ist….klar…. Sicht…ist….breit…"
All of sudden, Fujimaru Ritsuka started chanting some kind of mantra in a language he didn't recognize. Was he using that "reinforcement" magic again? The cube showed nothing strange, so it wasn't a direct attack.
Once he finished, green lines appeared on the sides of his face, and his previously navy blue eyes turned to a glowing green.
"You really left me no choice." Fujimaru said. Then, he put the shield in front of himself and charged towards him.
"…!" Thanks to the vision, the Admiral managed to avoid him, and he passed by him, but something felt different. He felt that Ritsuka had been faster than before, in fact, he didn't stop when he missed him, he just kept running around the room.
He ran until he reached the other side of the room, and then turned back to charge at him again.
"Right!" The Admiral avoided him again, but when he tried to shoot him with his pistol, Fujimaru was no longer within his range, he kept running, maintaining a speed that not even bullets could catch him.
"He is definitely faster." The Admiral thought. "Could it be that he had been holding back before? Did he think he didn't need to go all out just because it was me? Such presumptuous-"
His thoughts were interrupted with another vision.
This time, he tried to lung at him from another angle, which gave the same result as before.
"Don't you understand it, bastard!?" The Admiral shouted. "Don't you understand that it useless to increase your speed? I can see your moves even before you think about them. I am one step ahead every time!"
The Admiral tried to shoot at the blurring image of Fujimaru as he moved away from him, but the bullets missed him for a long distance.
As it was right then, they were in a stalemate: neither of them could hurt each other, but that was actually good for the Admiral. It didn't matter that his own tries to kill that man were unsuccessful, he only had to survive long enough for that atrocity he controlled to be done with the shipgirls and come back to kill Fujimaru. As strong and fast he was, he would be no match for it.
As long as he kept dodging, he would win.
Once again, Fujimaru tried to run over him, and the Admiral avoided him again. Only that this time, he hit something with his back while doing it.
"What…?" A quick look to his back revealed that he had stumbled with one of the glass pillars he had used to create that atrocity. Was he pushed back that much while dodging? As he thought that, a new vision entered his brain.
"No…"
He quickly looked at Ritsuka, who had finally stopped. He was a few meters away, holding the oversized shield not by the normal grip, but by the long side of the cross, as if the shield was a blunt weapon. Then, out of nowhere, he spun on his own axis, giving momentum to the shield, just to throw it at him as if it were a throwable weapon.
"Son of a….!"
That shield was almost as tall as him, and by the look of it should weigh like a ton, it shouldn't have been possible to throw something like that, and much less for it to travel as fast in the air. But it did, and it moved so fast that it made a sound as it broke through the air of the room; the force needed for that must have been tremendous. If that hit him, it would surely rip his body in two.
The Admiral had to throw himself to the side to avoid the flying shield, which collided with the glass pillar and destroyed it completely.
"…!" And then, in the middle of the jump, he saw his last vision and understood everything.
Fujimaru had purposely pushed him towards the pillar, so he only had one side to dodge when he threw the shield, leaving him where he wanted him to be. It was never his intention to kill him with the shield, but with his next move: Fujimaru approached him with inhuman velocity, his right fist raised. He was even faster now that he wasn't holding the shield.
He had no time to dodge again, as soon as he touched the floor again, all would be over. So the Admiral pointed his pistol at Fujimaru, who was just about to enter its range. If he could pull the trigger before-
He didn't feel the punch, even if he saw it connecting to his chest, breaking completely his ribs and crushing his heart.
He didn't feel any pain as he was sent flying towards the nearest wall, but he lost the feeling of his extremities; his hands stopped responding, and dropped the pistol and the black cube on the floor.
And when he finally collided with the wall, his vision was so blurred that he could no longer see the man that had just punched him.
"Ah..."
It was said that everyone saw their entire lives when they were about to die, but the Admiral saw nothing but a blurred world, that slowly lost its color to turn completely dark. Instead of it, he thought about Clarke. Not about the phantom that gave him the cube, but the real Clarke, his friend. He asked himself if he had felt like this when he died. He wondered if he had suffered; if he had any regrets or if he was able to pass onto the next life peacefully.
The next life…
The Admiral smiled, feeling hypocritical. He never cared about religion after all, not until that moment when his life was slipping away. Still, at that very moment, he wanted nothing more than to believe another life existed out there.
So that maybe he could see him again, one more time.
Those were Admiral William's last thoughts, as he exhaled his last breath.
Formidable's golden eyes gazed upon the battlefield, the bodies of the Royal Navy shipgirls laid defeated on the floor, some of them on the brink of death. She then looked at his missing arm, and used her left hand to apply pressure and decrease the bleeding.
Even if she had sustained grave injuries, she had won. The only thing left was….
Suddenly, her vision began to blur, only to come back to normal in seconds. Had she lost more blood than she thought? Had she overexerted herself by using her ability again in such a short period of time? Either way, she couldn't afford to lose any more time; she had to kill everyone as she was ordered to.
"Formidable...!" A voice reached her ears.
"…?" The pseudo-Siren looked again and saw that one of the shipgirls wasn't totally crushed.
The one called Warspite stood up with difficulty, her injuries were as life-threatening as the rest of her faction, but she still managed to stand up with the help of her sword.
"I won't….I won't let it end this way." She said as she pointed her sword at her. "For the glory of our Queen…The Royal Navy will not be defeated until the last of us falls!"
"…" Those words meant nothing to Formidable; she only understood that she had to crush one last shipgirl, and by the look of her, it wouldn't be that difficult.
But as she was about to summon one of her drones to finish the job, her vision began to blur again, and this time it was followed by a sudden pain in her head.
"Ahhhhhhh!" The pain was so intense that it made her scream.
And the pain was followed by a torrent of images, of memories. Memories of each one of the shipgirls that were about to die by her hands.
Formidable started trembling as she looked at the massacre around her, her gaze stopping on Warspite.
"W-Warspite…?" She asked, her voice tearing down. "What...?" She looked at the knight, and then noticed the body of her Queen behind her. "What….what have I done?"
I kneeled in front of the corpse of the Admiral. Even though I knew it was useless, I still stretched out my hand to take his pulse, but I felt nothing. His heart had stopped long ago: he was dead; the last expression on his face was a smile, with a thin line of blood falling from his mouth.
I slowly moved my hand towards his eyes and closed his eyelids. However, I accidentally stumbled with the blood on his mouth, dirtying my hand.
I quickly retracted my hand and looked at the small bloodstain on my palm; then my entire arm started to tremble.
I did this to him, I killed him.
"I am sorry…I am sorry…." I apologize to him, as I tried to hold my hand with the other one to stop it from trembling, but failed. "I didn't want any of this…I…"
Suddenly, I could hear a sound coming from behind me; it was like someone was clapping their hands very slowly, the sound resonated in the entire room.
"You see, it wasn't that difficult, right?"
I knew that voice.
"Observer!" I quickly stood up to face the Siren. This time, she was alone, no giant octopus in sight, but not any less threatening for it.
"Sorry, did I interrupt your pretended mourning? My apologies." She made a small reverence. "I was just here to congratulate you, man of another world, you passed our test."She had a smile of complacency drawn all over her face. "I was honestly reluctant when Purifier proposed to add you to our ranks, but you have proved to have what it takes to fit right in."
"What…? No…." I instinctively stepped back. "I am not like you….I am different…"
"Really? You just killed a man to save your friends for imminent death." She looked at the body of the Admiral, and then back at me. "He was an obstacle in your path, and you crushed it."
"No!" I brought both of my hands to my head. "I…I had no choice! I had to do it! Otherwise, they would have died! I…"
"And no one will blame you for that." Her voice now was a whisper on my ear, as I felt her arms hugging my body from behind. "You did what was necessary to save them, just like we do."
"Eh…?"
"You see, I'll tell you a little secret." I could feel her lips getting even closer to my ear, her breath felt cold. "We also have no choice. If we are to save this world...this timeline, then "evolution" is necessary."
"Save…? You kill people! How can you call that saving!?"
"Evolution requires only the strongest individuals." She moved her hand in front of me and opened it to reveal a black cube. "As well as the strongest of wills."
The cube began to shine with a golden glow, and Observer continued.
"We need people like you, Fujimaru Ritsuka. People that won't stop at anything to save this world."
"No…you are lying, there is no way…"
"It's the truth." I felt her teeth sinking into my ear so forcefully that they drew blood. "And it will happen with or without you so…don't you think you should join us and save everyone?"
"Save…everyone?"
"Yes, if you join us, we can give you that power. The power to protect everyone you care about, the power to not allow what happened to Mashu to ever happen again."She licked the blood off my ear. "And that power is just in front of you, within your grasp." She whispered. "If you want it, you just need to take it."
"Protect everyone…" I tried to avoid it, but I couldn't help but look at the black cube's golden glow. It was mesmerizing and beautiful. I could feel energy emanating from it, it was different from the one that traveled through my magic circuit, it was overwhelming, but also comforting; it was powerful, but also inviting. If I had it, I would no longer be weak; I would be able to save those I couldn't normally save. I would never lose some again, what happened with Mashu would never happen again…
Mashu…
My eyes suddenly noticed a black and silver object in my field of vision. It was Lord Camelot; it had been embedded in the wall after I had thrown it in my fight against the Admiral.
To use it for such means…I truly wasn't worthy of it…
Even so, I still wielded it...just like Mashu did once to protect me…
"She didn't need it." I said, in a low tone.
"Hmm?"
"Mashu didn't need it." I repeated more firmly this time. "This power you offer me…Mashu didn't need it to protect me, or anyone around me. She only had her shield, and she didn't need to kill anyone to obtain it!" I declared, founding my resolution with every word. "And now I wield that shield, so I don't need your power."I turned back to look at the Siren directly."I have her by my side. That's why I don't need your power."
"And how did she end? Where did those ideas lead her? She died without achieving anything."
"That's not true." I said, firmly. "Even if she is no longer here, her ideals still live within me, and even if I am not as strong as she was…. I will follow her steps. I will protect everyone with that very same shield, even if it means finding my end like her…I would gladly die protecting everyone!"
"….ha….haha…..hahaha!" Observer didn't say anything for a couple of seconds until she burst into laughter. "HAHAHAAHHAHAAHA Purifier was right! You truly are interesting!"
All of a sudden, I didn't feel her presence behind my back anymore. She had disappeared in a black cloud.
Only to appear again in front of me.
"But then again, you humans are so stubborn." Observed shrugged."It seems like I have to give you a little push in the right direction." She dropped the cube, but it remained floating in the place, then she pushed it a little with her finger towards me.
And the cube was shot like a bullet.
"…!"
I didn't have time to dodge, and it hit me on the chest. Only that it didn't stop there. Instead, it began to enter inside my body as if it was made from liquid metal.
"What did you...Aaaaarrghh!" I screamed as tons of information began to be unloaded inside my mind. I could see it, just like the Admiral had said, I could see the future. A future of endless war between factions, shipgirls ruthlessly killing each other with no regard of who got caught into it, massacres everywhere the eye allowed to see, dead filling the streets.
And on top of everything was me. Watching, commanding, directing everything, with a cold stare on my face. I was the one moving the pieces; I was the one creating those wars. The entire world was in my hands.
That was the future, my future.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" The pain increased, and my vision began to darken, I could no longer see my surroundings nor maintain my balance.
"Don't worry, it will only hurt at first." Observer said. "But when we are done with you, you will start to see things more clearly, you will understand what we do and what needs to be done. I guarantee that you won't miss your humanity at all."
I fell to my knees, the pain started to run through my entire body, it was unbearable.
"Welcome aboard, Commander. Let's have a good time together, shall we?" Was the last thing I heard from Observed, as my vision darkened completely, and everything went quiet.
END OF CHAPTER 17