Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading... and picked out a pretty major plot hole in the original draft of this chapter.
Once again, special thanks goes to SmutWithPlot, who let me use his original characters (recreated by me).
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Mein's body briefly feels weightless as the floor underneath her feet gives out to a dark abyss. She starts falling the next moment. The bright light of burning flames gives way to darkness, as the light from the hole she's fallen through becomes more and more distant above her. It reminded her of that time long ago, when she was thrown off a cliff with Raphtalia by the starving wavehound as she was exploring the abandoned mine near Lute village. It takes her a few more seconds to realize she's screaming on top of her lungs.
"Yomi, get Shield Hero!" Mala flips around in the air, she kicks the raccoon demi-human agent working for Lord Noches towards the Shield Hero. Yomi manages to grab onto Naofumi's shoulder as she cuts through the air towards the wall in the opposite direction. The younger agent hit the wall with a quiet grunt of pain, but she somehow manages to stick to the stone bricks rather than sliding down.
The princess wasn't sure if it's some secret magic tricks developed by the raccoon people like the ability shown by Lautrec, or some specialized equipment that allows her to stick to the side of a surface. She doesn't really care which, or both answers are true. At least the Shield Hero wouldn't be killed by the pitfall trap designed by Father when they built the new Melromarc Castle palace.
Towards the opposite side, Mala isn't waiting for the fall to claim her life either. The elderly maid pulls something out from underneath her dress uniform, and flings them against the walls. All Mein sees are some sparks of reflection, as Mala seems to start flying in their confined space. She begins to leap all around, catching and throwing the fallen members of their group to the side. Before Mein has a moment to wonder where the people Mala tossing around disappeared to, it's her turn to fall into the maid's arms. Her personal maid didn't give her any preferential treatment than the rest, as she's tossed to the side like a sack like the rest of them.
Chapter 103: There are No Dreams, No Honor Remains
The princess expected to hit the side of the pitfall wall like a boulder fired out of a trebuchet, and ends with more than a few bones in her body broken. Which to be sure, wasn't that far from what actually happened. But instead of being slammed into something hard to her side or back, she ended up sailing through the air longer than she expected and landed on her back facing up. There is ground underneath her body again, Mein belatedly realized in the next moment.
A shimmer of golden light coats her body, washing away her pain. She turns her head to find Uranus placing his aged hand on her shoulder, likely casting a healing miracle. The freed princess tentatively moves her aching and sore body around, trying to get a feel of possible serious injuries that persisted despite the treatment she received from the elderly priest. To her relief, she didn't find another sudden wave of pain assaulting her body. Mein slowly stands up to better inspect her surroundings.
A passage made neatly stacked stone bricks in the floor, walls and the ceiling. They look worn and cracked just like the dungeon, but clearly man-made rather than a natural, or a carved-up 0
As Baldy and Blue Eye help her up, Mein sees Yomi's body sliding down the opening. She throws Naofumi into the waiting arms of the smith demon before jumping into safety herself. Mala leaps into the corridor last, while she's spinning something around in her hands. The princess squints her eyes, realizing it's a pair of something shaped like those spade shaped throwing daggers used by the queen's shadows. They both have a ring at the end of the hilt, and are connected by some kind of long string. So that was how Mala was able to jump around the pitfall as if she's flying. She threw this gadget into the walls, creating a small tightrope to provide her with a tiny platform to jump around on. Her personal maid didn't waste any more time as she pushed through everyone and got right down to business. "We are at the bottom level of the castle dungeon. There's a secret passage connecting to the city's sewer. Hurry up before our pursuers find us."
"Are we going to escape the city through the sewer?" Naofumi seems to recover from the shock of falling into the pitfall. He looks over at Mala. "Someone led us into the city through the sewer before… all of this mess started. Can we go the opposite direction?"
The incognito princess realized Naofumi was talking about the pair of Siltvelt spies who pretended to be members of the Raven Order. It was such a long time ago, she doesn't even remember their name anymore. And she found some irony in how they entered into the city at the time to acquire slaves from the slum… and now she has become a slave herself.
"We could if we are lucky. But the Three Heroes' Church had the Thief's Guild groveling at them, so don't bet on it. Every unsavory character in 'The Thief's Highway' will be looking for you to get into the good side of the Three Heroes' Churches." Mala hooks her fingers, beckoning everyone to once again follow her despite the precarious news. "We'll see how far we get. Lord Noches has planned a couple of contingency plans."
Mein can definitely hear the distant sound of running feet, but they sound both far away and muffled. Probably coming from a few levels above them. Despite being an arrogant idiot, Consevatie The Younger is well connected thanks to his Father having one of the highest positions in 's court. While others in his group might assume that Mein and her group had all fallen to their death due to the pitfall, he would likely know about the secret escape Mala used to get them into the deepest level of the dungeon.
They pick up their own feet and follow Mala to a section of the wall that looks strangely empty of either doors connecting to prison cells, or torches on the wall. The elder maid runs her hands along the bricks, till she pushes one of the unremarkable looking stones in. The sound of contraption turning can be heard, and the wall shifts away to reveal a corridor, and the stench of decomposed matter and feces assault everyone. There's no doubt what way this secret passage connects to. "All of you go through here, follow Yomi's lead. I'll go up the dungeon and draw the pursuers away."
"NO! I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for us! We can escape together if we just run like hell." Mein takes a step back and grabs Mala's shoulder, trying to drag her personal maid with them.
Mala's body slightly shifts, giving the impression of surprise despite her face remaining passive. She shakes her head and pushes Mein's hand away barely a moment later. "We are wasting time arguing. Someone needs to delay the pursuers. I stand the best chance to hold them back, and then escape myself."
"Your talent is better preserved later, in case we face resistance at the front." Uranus turns around to look at Mala. "Come with us, Mala. I'll collapse the tunnel behind us when we are through. I'm not a master martial artist like you, but my faith in the Chief God lets me do what you can't."
"...very well. Let's hurry. They are near." Mala's body tenses up for a brief second before she is on the move again, taking the lead of the group as she moves deeper into the darkness towards the sewer underneath Melromarc Castle. Behind her, Mein can definitely hear the approaching sound of armored footsteps. Consevatie The Younger has likely taken the guards or the church templars to the lowest level of the dungeon now. "Follow Yomi if we are separated. Or if you get separated from Yomi, go either to Beloukas' tent in the slum, or the magic shop. They are actively helping Lord Noches."
Mein quickly moves to follow behind her maid, letting her instinct take over while her mind wanders away. Once again, the princess finds some irony in how the self-proclaimed exotic good smuggler and general fixer, the same person who they first snuck into the capital to get slaves from, is one of the people they can get help to smuggle themselves out of the city.
As they move out of the tunnel and into the sewer, Uranus turns around to face the tunnel. The princess looks back, and sees lights in the distance, likely the torches or lanterns carried by their pursuers. The old priest takes a deep breath. If Uranus is disgusted by the foul air he no doubt inhaled into his body, he didn't show it. As his lung seemingly at the peak of its capacity, the elderly priest let loose a roar at the direction of the escape tunnel connecting to the palace dungeon.
For a brief second, a bright white flash of light makes Mein shield her eyes with her hand. The booming sound of Uranus' voice is coupled with the rumbling of earth crumbling and stone breaking. The princess can swear she also hears the shocked cry and angry scream of people deeper from the tunnel as it collapses atop of them. The sudden influx of experience tells her that yes, many of their pursuers are definitely killed by Uranus' actions.
She almost wishes Consevatie The Younger is among the ones crushed to death by the collapsing of the escape tunnel. It no doubt makes her a terrible person, but considering the suffering Consevatie The Younger caused her, she could probably be excused for wanting a painful and ignoble death for the smug fop. Especially since it would take out the one no doubt holding the leash of her slave seal…
Come to think of it… would the death of Consevatie The Younger free her from her current bondage, or would it trigger the death penalty of the punishment mechanics on herself and Raphtalia? As the princess of the nation, Mein certainly knows some more petty minded nobles would link the life of the slaves they owned to that of their own, just to force the slaves to protect them. And Consevatie The Younger are definitely on the pettier side of nobility. And even if he did show some discretion in slave ownership, Raphtalia and Firo's fate are still tied to him, and their lives might be forfeit anyway if their dubious protector is killed in action… Yeah. It's probably for the best that Consevatie The Younger isn't among the casualties. He probably isn't, since the coward would likely force his subordinate to give chase first. He deserved a much slower, and painful death than being crushed under a pile of rubbles anyway.
Oh, well. She's still alive. So there's no point wondering over such matters.
"Now they need to double back to the surface, or to another secret passage to give chase. I don't know the secret passages of the capital well, but It should delay them long enough for us to lose them." Uranus bends his back down, his breath becomes labored as he holds onto the corroded stone wall of the sewerage for support. Sir Oersted quickly moves over to offer aid to the old priest.
"It would. Assuming we don't encounter difficulties navigating the sewer. But I think we caught someone's attention when you collapsed the tunnel. Let's hurry, and make as much room as we can." Mala's tone is still neutral, but with a bit more regrettable undertune to it. She doesn't waste any more time, and takes the lead once again with Yomi as they start moving through the thief's highway.
The sewer underneath the capital is as miserable as Mein remembered from her short trip about a month ago. The place is both foul and also damp enough to give her the impression that stick slime is attached to her skin through her cloth and armor. The place is also dark, and more closed in than even the walkway of the palace dungeon, to the point where the princess completely loses her sense of direction and passage of time. But it can't be too long since she started to run behind Mala when she started hearing two voices in the distance.
"I told you, sticks. I heard a voice with that rumble." "It's probably nothing. Just another part of the sewer collapsed since the damned church people started this whole mess." It doesn't take too long for the masters of the voices to show themselves in front of their little group. Two emaciated men wearing tattered rags, maybe in their late twenties or early thirties at most judging from their faces. They walk right through a tunnel across the sewer channels to their right, and pauses in shock as they look at the unusual looking group in front of them. A very bad mistake for the pair of squatters.
Mala closed the distance between them within the blink of eyes. And with a swift motion, both of their necks are snapped, as they crumble onto the ground dead. Mein feels her eyes twitch, but Naofumi's reaction is much louder. "You, you killed them! They didn't do anything and you just killed them!"
"The squatters are the eyes and ears of the thieves' guild, and the Three Heroes' Church have their guild master deep in their pocket." Mala throws the dead bodies into the channel and leaps back to their side, easily clear over a distance that's wide enough to have two carriages race side by side without bumping into each other. "We aren't in a position to be merciful. It's us, or our enemies."
"Yes… I guess you are right." The Shield Hero gives another glance over to the spot where the dead squatters are tossed into the sewer. He shakes his head, and wordlessly follows the agents of Lord Noches as they resume their navigation of the sewer system underneath Melromarc Castle.
Their journey through the sewer progressively becomes more difficult, the stench and the enclosed environment become their least worry not soon after Mala kills that pair of squatters as they begin to encounter resistance. At first, it's more squatters in tattered rags, only a few of them wielding improvised weapons such as rusty metal pits, of cracked and corroded wood pieces that can barely fight back vermins infesting the sewer. Most of them tried to run away when they caught sight of Mein's group, in which Mala or Yomi chased after them and ran them down.
Not soon after, they are replaced by more well-built men in badly maintained, but proper clothing and wielding actual weapons. Enforcers and thugs of different slum gangs, pushed out to face them by their leaders that are most likely also in the church's pocket. Even these common lowlife soon fades out, as they are replaced by people in leather armor and hoods, armed with actual iron or steel weapons such as short swords and daggers.
While they fight dirty, such as kicking up water or other… indescribables from the sewer floor in an attempt to try knocking Mein's group off balance, they are also much better trained than the thugs from before. When multiple leather clad fighters come up to them, they clearly fight with some kind of coordination rather than all charge at once and get into each other's way: larger bruisers charge from the front, the much leaner skirmishers come from the side and some hang back throwing knives.
Mein never directly dealt with the thieves guild in the capital before by her own choice, even in one of her previous disguised escapades. Such lowlife, even well-organized lowlives are well below her social status. But she's willing to bet these are members from the thief's guild. Mala wasn't kidding when she said the guild master of the thieves are in bed with the Three Heroes' Church, and he's clearly throwing everything he had at them to delay their escape. Probably in an attempt to get to the church's good side.
Mein's group is much less than helpless against their superiorly numbered foes, thankfully. Her personal maid continues to be a force of nature, and the Shield Hero is surprisingly more than helpful in this situation even without his shield, or his balloon familiars. The Miracles he first learnt from Preacher Logarius, and has been practicing since then is surprisingly effective against thieves just like against the undead. Many flurries of throwing knives are stopped by a well casted [Barrier], and the enemy groups who decide to cluster together are effortlessly broken and thrown all over the walls, floors, and even the channel of the sewer by a well placed [Force] miracle. By this point, Sir Oersted had managed to scavenge an iron, and later a steel shortsword from the fallen thieves. Now armed with weapons he is actually skilled at, he was able to join the rank of actual fighters rather than being liabilities for everyone to protect. She helps out with her magic when she can, even if she still recoils at the idea of fighting through literal shit.
They managed to reach what looked like a more open rotunda after a while that felt both too soon, and also not fast enough. It's probably located somewhere underneath the Hero Square below the street. Here, the thieves are congregated in what looks like a final stand as they emerge from all levels, they surround a man with dirty blonde hair that crops slightly below his ears.
There's something about the man that's hard for Mein to put her fingers on. Perhaps it's his cheeks that seem to pack extra fat that makes it look like it bulges up, or perhaps it's the dark smear of grime on them that gave his face an extra shade. But he has the most punchable face the princess has ever seen on a man, even beating the arrogant, thuggish knight that follows the Bow Hero around like an aggressive feral dog or the smug Consevatie fop, which isn't an easy achievement.
Mala seems to know the man's identity, as she immediately tries to leap up the wall of the rotunda to attack the man. As she's about to sail her way to the upper platform, a giant fist suddenly parts the gathered men and swings down at her. With no way to change her mid-air trajectory, all Mein's personal maid could do was cross her arms in front of her head into a guard, and get smashed back down to the lower level.
"What's the matter, 'Strongest Tiger' of Siltvelt? Why are you trudging through shit like a common rat now?" Roger of Ajax sneers down at Mala as he stands up to his full height. Despite his giant size and crude demeanor, the man can apparently be sneaky if he wanted. They had apparently spent a lot of time down in the sewer fighting off squatters, gangsters and thieves for either Consevatie The Younger, or someone from the thief's guild to bring him in. "Going through all of this shit. Did the king spare you a second glance? Was it worth it for you to defect from your country of animals to pine for his affection, only to end up being used as a glorified servant by him?"
The battle saint's words explode in Mein's ears louder than any fireball spell. As if his previous revelation about her personal maid being a well distinguished Siltvelt warrior wasn't disorienting enough. Now Roger of Ajax is saying that Mala defected… betrayed her own people because she had feelings for Father?
"I see you learnt a few dirty tricks, pup." If Mala is mentally affected by Roger of Ajax airing her dirty laundry, she didn't show it. She simply stands back up again and moves into a proper fighting stance as the blessed battle master of the Romalia Four Heroes' Church jumps down from the upper platform and shakes the ground with a quake with his landing. "You still bark too much."
"I'll show you how much I bark and bite! You old mountain cat whore!" The battle saint charges forward like a gutter beak once again, forcing everyone behind Mala to dodge out of the way while she fights against the brutal giant once again.
The thieves on top of the rotunda didn't simply sit around. More throwing knives fall like rain drops, they are accompanied by metal bolts fired out of crossbows. Baldy quickly pushes Mein behind him, shielding her with his armored body and his actual shield. On the other side, blue-eye does the same with the Shield Hero, even as Naofumi conjures up another [Barrier] miracle above everyone's head.
"Yomi, you give me quite the trouble." Above them, the blonde man with a very punchable face narrows his eyes as he clicks his tongue at the raccoon demi-human. "I lost a lot of good men today. But I'm willing to give you a chance to work for me again. For old time's sake. Take the heads of the shield demon and his companion, and I'll pretend none of this happened."
"Sorry, Mercer. But with Russel gone, I'm the best agent of Lord Noches. And he's simply a better boss than you ever were." In between dodging fallen knives and bolts, Yomi finds the time to poke her tongue out at the now named Mercer. "Now I don't have to steal someone else's bread when I go hungry. I get to earn my keep with honest money."
"Such a pity. Very well." Mercer's scrunched up face shows that he doesn't feel bad about having to kill Yomi at all. He snaps his fingers, and the thieves atop the platform bring out glass bottles and some pouches. They begin tossing them down, the bottles shatter on the ground, creating explosions made of green fire, the pouches release clouds of brown colored dust as they smash against Naofumi's barrier. Alchemist fire, and some kind of homemade dirty bomb filled with some kind of powder, likely extracted from certain plant based monsters.
The Shield Hero's miracle barrier begins to crack against the constant pressure. One pouch of the dirty bomb managed to fall through and landed near Sir Oersted and Uranus. The Younger knight quickly pushes the old priest away as he's engulfed in the dust cloud. He began furiously coughing even as he limped out of the dust. The Younger knight covers his upper face, practically clawing around his unfocused eyes. "...can-, can't see!"
Thankfully, Sir Oersted isn't the only one who got caught by the dirty bombs of the thieves. Roger of Ajax, who was too busy taking swings at Mala didn't see the new waves of bombs falling atop of them all, and he's also devoured by the dust of harmful powders. His pained screeches are mixed with loud coughing, yet the giant only seems to become more dangerous as his sings and stomps become much wilder than before.
"Choke powder and blind powder, don't get hit by them!" Yomi quickly drags Oersted back by his collar. Her raccoon ears start fluttering as her face abruptly whips towards the direction they came from. "I hear armored footsteps… they caught up to us!"
"Yes! Lord Consevatie is fulfilling his side of the bargain! Too bad for you, Yomi. It's too late for you to change- GAH!" The punchable man's gloating suddenly stops as he makes some gurgling sound. Mein looks up, and sees a pointy end of a sharp blade coming out of his throat. For a brief second, the princess wonders if one of his underling decided to doublecross and literally stabs him in the back… of his throat, But then the thieves on top of the rotunda all started to shout angrily or screaming of pain as their bodies waver and flips down to the bottom.
A man in leather armor, very similar to them holding a dagger between each of his fingers is cutting them down. If the specific style he holds his weapons isn't enough, his ridiculous hair, which looks like he stuck a bundle of porcupine quills on top of his head and have them all point forward is enough to tell Mein his identity. The princess doesn't remember his name, but he's definitely one of the free fighters Coach Zellus… and Uncle Aldrecht brought with them to Eclair's ancestral home.
Mein didn't bother to show any acknowledgement of the rogue, neither did he while he fights for his life against a few dozen thieves. The brief moment of respite the porcupine haired man brought was enough for Mein to formulate a crude plan as she pointed her hands towards Roger of Ajax. '[Unstoppable Force]!"
"Did you get the wrong guy?" Naofumi shouts at Mein from across the room. He's more used to receiving this spell from the princess himself, rather than on the receiving side after all. But no, she definitely did not get the wrong guy. Thankfully, Mala seems to grasp Mein's plan, as she flips around Roger's body, throwing a flurry of kicks and punches. Not enough to get through the man's titanite armor and his thick muscles, but obviously enough to infuriate him even more. With a scream of pure rage, Roger of Ajax charges towards Mala's direction, who deftly dodges out of the way.
The direction also happens to be the same where the sewer tunnel Mein's group came from, which their pursuer is catching up to them. The first church knight barely had a moment to take in the sight of the rotunda before he's ran through by the battle saint of Romalia, literally. The heavy armor wearing giant pulverized the Three Heroes' Church templar, turning him into a bloody mess of metal scraps and gore. From the abruptly cut off screams behind him, the rest didn't fare any better.
"Don't stand around doing nothing, shield boy! Now's our chance! Let's go!" Smith demon picks up the stunned looking Shield Hero, as he quickly exits out the tunnel they came from. Mein didn't dare to look back and see how the free fighter rogue is doing, as she quickly follows everyone back out.
"There's no point running in the sewer anymore. Let's get up and run like the wave is chasing us!" Thankfully, Yomi clearly knows the sewer system well as she turns around into a small side passage. It seems to lead to the outside at the end.
"You guys go ahead. Someone needs to stay behind and hold the pursuers off." Once again, Mala stands behind as Yomi is busy climbing up the steel ladder to get the steel grate open from the topside. Mein wants to scream at her personal maid once again, but Uranus beats her.
"They will need you more when breaking out of the gate." The old priest puts a hand on Mala's shoulder. "I on the other hand… these old bones aren't built for all this running anymore. I'll just slow everyone down."
"Master Uranus- NO!" Oersted manages to force out a few words between his choking.
"Oersted, Lord Shield Hero, Miss Mein… remember. Don't hate people for how they mistreat you. Remember people for all the kindness and compassion they showed you. Go now! May the Chief God watch over you all!" The old priest pushes Oersted into Mala's arms, as he turns around facing the tunnel.
At the end, a giant monster of a man in heavy armor slowly stomps his way over, still bellowing puffs of steam from his body. Unlike Sir Oersted, his eyes are full open and focused. Perhaps some of the church pursuers who survived his blind rampage managed to calm him down and administered some cure. He bares his teeth and sneers at Uranus even from a distance. "Too tired to run, you old fuck? Step aside, if you don't want to lose all of your teeth today."
"I'm old enough to lose more than my teeth, Roger of Ajax. As for you. We'll all be judged for our deeds once we meet our lord." That's the last words Mein heard as she clears over the sewer ladder and climbs up to the street.
The princess looks around, and sees the street of the capital for the first time since they returned for Father's parade. It's even more messy than the aftermath of that affair, and instead of withered flower pedals and colorful confetti, it's rubbles and burning garbage lining up the street. Many of the buildings on the side of the streets have cracked lines, marks of burning or even flat out collapsed. Clearly, some kind of fierce battle took place between now and the end of the Third Wave. That, or the Three Heroes' Church were stupider than she thought, and they immediately sacked and looted the city they took control over before fully pacifying the entire nation from rival factions and nobles.
What little pedestrians on the street simply stare at them in shock. A group of the queen's men, and a maid suddenly emerge from the sewer is apparently an unusual sight even after what happened to ruin the capital. But their attention is quickly taken away when the very ground below them begins to rumble… and a large portion of the street simply caves underneath. Uranus… he collapsed the sewer right on top of himself to stop the pursuers. Mein feels her mouth suddenly run very dry, as she is once again reminded of Uncle Aldrecht's fate. Once again, a well meaning elder who helped shelter her has given up his life in the exact manner, due to her unchecked ambition.
Unfortunately for the freed princess, she didn't have much time for self-reflection. While the common people run away from the quake, more armed men from the church run towards them from the street. She feels Mala pushing on her shoulders, as her personal maid and the two knights charge right at their pursuers. "Go to the contingency! We'll meet you there!"
Mein opens her mouth to scream, but the air in her lungs gets squeezed out as she feels a large arm picking her up, and clamps her down between his armored body. The smith demon picks her up just like Naofumi, and he quickly runs after Yomi as the raccoon demi-human flies down the back alley. Mein feels the smith demon turn around over and over in the winding back streets, almost like he's running in circles before he finally heads right into an open door, and everything goes much darker once again. She is dropped bodily onto the floor, and hears a voice while her head is still spinning around. "What happened to the poor dear?"
"He got hit by choke powder and blind powder bombs thrown by the thief's guild." The smith demon's voice is much lower, he's probably trying to keep his voice down to avoid catching attention.
"Oh, you poor boy. Don't worry. Aunty Dolores will make it all better." The princess manages to push herself up from the floor and looks around. She sees books, reagents, and all sorts of trinkets and glistering gadgets with small gems lining up the shelves and realizes she's in the magical store. More specifically, the magic store run by the woman who was the Mother of Lute's inn keepers. She turns around, and sure enough sees the short and stocky woman fussing over Sir Oersted, who was placed on a chair presumably by Yomi. Probably much gentler compared to the treatment Naofumi and her received. She would feel quite indignant in a better situation, but now, she's just glad that The Younger Gallian knight is going to be okay.
Because… they have certainly lost enough already since they started on her doomed quest. Funny how despite her cover story of going on the pilgrimage of the five elements were false, the actional journey their Gallian escort went with her was just as perilous. She idly wonders if the spirit of Saint Brimir, or possibly even a deity of their pantheon deliberately made it so just for her heresy of falsely claiming to go on a holy quest.
Madame Dolores drops some liquid into the corner of Sir Oersted's eyes. The Younger knight blinks his eyes a couple of times, before fully opening them once again. He looks around, still clearly dazed by everything that has happened since he was blinded by the thieves. "Where is Miss Mala, and two of the knights who helped us?"
"There were more pursuers from Three Heroes' Church when we made it out of the sewer. They lead them away." Yomi kneels down besides The Younger knight, placing her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Don't worry. Miss Mala is strong. She was one of the strongest Siltvelt fighters back in The Great War. Sir Winchester and Sir Haven are tough too. They'll be okay. And they'll come meet us again as soon as they shake those bad people off."
"Oh, thank the Chief God! I thought there were- what about Master Uranus? ...oh." The Younger knight's relieved looking face slowly falls as he sees everyone suddenly avoiding his gaze. His body slowly begins to coil around itself atop the chair as he covers his own head. "At least it's a good death defending Lord Shield Hero, but… it should still be me…"
"Please, don't say that, Sir Knight. Mr. Uranus wouldn't want to see you like this." The raccoon girl leans her head closer, as she pulls Oersted into an embrace.
"All of you can stop and mourn after you are safe. For now, focus on getting to safety first. Consevatie The Younger was acting on his own, but the rebels at large will know once words of your escape come out. If they close down the city gate and activate the protective barrier, it'll be over." A third voice in the room makes Mein jump to her feet. She looks around, and sees a masked woman wearing red, tight cloth standing in the shadow of the magic store. More specifically, one of her Mother's Shadows… who most definitely knows her true identity. Thankfully, the Shadow didn't do much other than sparing her a glance. Although she seems to be one of the more… talkative Shadows. "We have mounts prepared at the back for you three. Get on them and ride out of the city. Your pursuers are surely near-"
Mother's secret agent didn't finish her line when a pair of arms suddenly burst right through the wall. They wrapped around the unsuspecting Shadow's head, and twisted. Snapping the agent's neck and making her drop dead on the ground like a sack of produce. A smirking face and the rest of the body burst through the broken wall next. Unlike Mercer, the princess would have described the man's face as attractive, but the wide, condescending smirk doesn't make it much less punchable than Mercer. Although considering the physical feat he just demonstrated… she doesn't foresee her attempt at punching the man's face to end well for her. The man chuckles at her startled group. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did she mean to say the pursuer is near, or is here?"
"Father Caleb!" Yomi screams out as she pulls out her short sword once again, preparing to fight. Madame Dolores was a step ahead of her, as the short and wide magic store owner picks something off the wall, and tosses it towards the now named Father Caleb. Mein hopes it's some kind of magical bomb that'll send him right back out of the hole he burst through.
Unfortunately, it's definitely not a bomb, or something that would explode as Father Caleb simply catches it in his hand. It's a piece of long feather, and doesn't look anything remarkable aside from the fact that a piece of feather that long shouldn't have traveled all the way through the air like an arrow. "A quill? Really? What do you hope to accomplish by throwing me a quill? Going to make me write some lines for being a naughty boy?"
"Oh, you are definitely a very naughty boy who needs to write some lines for destroying my shop, or branding my daughter." Madame Dolores' normally warm voice thins into a venomous hiss as she narrows her eyes. The quill in Father Caleb's hand suddenly glows red, as he starts screaming. "With your own blood!"
"AAAHHH! You, you old toady bitch!" The battle priest of the Three Heroes' Church tosses the magical, bloodsucking quill onto the floor and stomps on it. He pulls the giant wooden wheel off his back and glares at Madam Dolores as he steps forward. "You'll die first!"
The opposite wall suddenly bursts open as a dark, long shadow flies towards Father Caleb with the strength of a giant siege bolt fired out of a ballista. The battle priest had to abandon his plan to kill Madame Dolores to swat the attack away with his wheel shield. With a loud thud, it's batted away and then caught by a hand through the newly created wall as another large man steps through the newly demolished wall. Now that the object is largely stationary, Mein manages to recognize it as a giant sword seemingly carved out of one piece of some kind of blackened bone.
"Jung! You made it!" Yomi jumps on her feet at the new arrival: A very tall and broad man. While not as much a giant as the battle saint of Romalia, he is definitely much larger than most Melromarc men. His body is covered in a large traveling cloak similar to Yomi, which shows smaller pieces of improvised armor that also seems to be made out of different assembled monster bones. His short, black hair sits messily atop of his triangle shaped, sharp eyes. A red colored, fin shaped marking shoots diagonally up from each side of his face, making him look even more savage than Roger of Ajax.
"The Three Heroes' Church Redeemer, Father Caleb the Executioner." The man's free left arm slowly raises up to point his fingers at Caleb. It slowly moves backwards as he points himself with his thumb. "Melromarc Free Fighter, Devil Man Jung!"
"Devil Man, huh? Let's see if a heretic like you lives up to your title." Father Caleb sneers at Jung as he charges the free fighter with his wheel shield. Thick iron wood collides with the indescribable dark bone as both men are deadlocked together. Evenly matched as neither backs away a single foot.
"Hurry up and run, Yomi! Someone already sent a runner to the gate to have it closed, and Caleb killed all the mounts Lord Noches prepared. I'll hold him back." Jung doesn't have to say twice to Mein, as she quickly grabs Naofumi's shoulder and pulls him out through the wall Jung knocked through. It brings them right onto the main street, overlooking the city gate in the distance. It is most definitely closing down.
Mein runs as fast as her legs are able to carry her towards their last chance at salvation. Her vision becomes narrower, to the point where she can only see the gate in the distance. She's not sure if anyone else followed her through the wall, but she's determined to get the Shield Hero and herself through… regardless of what hardship will await them. Whatever their chances are outside the wall in the wild without any survival equipment, it'll be better than remain inside the capitol. But as the gate starts falling down, she knows that she wouldn't make it on time, especially since the guards start lining themselves in front, creating a second wall before them. She focuses her magic in her free hand, collecting it into a condensed ball of fire, ready to toss it to their assailant in a hope to knock them over.
A silhouette charges through the line of guards, knocking them flying every direction. Mein's sight suddenly widens, as she realizes it's Mala once again. Her personal maid doesn't look any worse for wear despite fighting through no doubt a small detachment of the church's private army, as she runs underneath the spot where the giant gate door closes down and extends her arms upward, clearly trying to catch… and delay its closing.
"NO! Mala! Get back!" Mein lets go of Naofumi's hand and reaches forward, trying to call off her personal maid's foolhardy idea. Gates of important cities that have strategic importance are specially fortified against powerful, prestige leveled combatants to keep them out. Surely, Mala would simply be crushed to death underneath the gate without accomplishing anything if she doesn't move out of the way despite what Roger of Ajax alluded to earlier.
Mein's personal maid didn't move as the gate fell into her hands… and then her shoulders. Her back and legs are bent down, and for a brief second it looks like she'll be squashed flat like Mein feared. But then her graying hair grows pure white, as a pair of feline ears with snow white fur sprouts out of her hair as she lets out a fierce roar that sounds like a hurricane rampaging through a forest. "KAI!"
The front gate of Melromarc Castle, the capital city of glorious Melromarc is ripped in half by a single maid. No, the 'Strongest Tiger' of Siltvelt twenty five years ago.
While all four saint families of Siltvelt supposedly reign over all the different beastmen great clans at the top as equal, the azure dragon and white tiger are most well known for their martial excellence. And every generation, their strongest warriors are respectively known as the 'Invincible Dragon', and the 'Strongest Tiger' respectively. And Mala… her personal maid, was the strongest tiger of her own generation.
Yet even for Mala, breaking the gate was obviously too much for her body. Both of her limbs hang loosely alongside her body, twisted and bending in the wrong direction. The princess wants to run over to her personal maid, to offer comfort… or maybe even take her maid with them. But the rebels didn't give her the chance.
"The gate is destroyed by the white tiger witch! Don't let the heretics and traitors escape!" Someone on the wall screams atop their lungs, breaking the stupor of everyone. The church knights, and army on the wall that's loyal to them quickly run down in an attempt to block Naofumi and Mein from getting out of the gate. With the way Mala is currently crumbling on the ground exhausted, they might even succeed if not for another group running out of different buildings near the gate.
"Take the gate, loyal men of glorious Melromarc! We need to ensure the safety of the Shield Hero!" Lord Noches is among them, fully clad in armor and waving a sword around. Their numbers are much lesser than their opponent, easily having to fight over ten times their numbers. Not enough to take back the capital, or even offer protection to Mein. Yet their timely arrival ensured a small gap of room in front of the gate to escape out of the confines of Melromarc Castle. "Run, Lord Shield Hero! We'll hold the traitors off!"
Among the chaos, Mein and Naofumi manage to break through with Sir Oersted. They don't stop, as they continue running through the plain, and into the forest as the sound of fighting slowly disappears behind them.
End Note:
Thus end the 'Loveless Arc'. Genesis' self created Act V not included.
XD
When I first started the first chapter of this arc, I didn't have any intention about using all verses from Loveless as the titles. The first one was just meant to be an one-time thing since I originally planned to introduce knock-off Genesis and knock-off Angeal. But then I realized the tone of Loveless actually fit the tone of this arc rather well, thus I went full Genesis, and started quoting Loveless with every chapter title.
XDDD
About the big plot hole picked out by Angel Wrath... yeah, it's the part where Malty was enslaved even though she was the vassal wand hero, and in my first draft I even had her pick up a sword and start fighting with it. That's totally a side effect of the wand being broken by the blood curse, and not because I keep forgetting I made Malty the wand hero to begin with. Yeah, you can totally trust my word of god just like Alenko.
Jokes aside, Commissar Gaunt was obviously correct in pointing out that making Malty the wand hero is the most logical solution to not have the church murder Trash and steal the wand away. But it's a plot point I have always seen more as a necessary evil rather than a plot point I was on board with. Because when I started this story, I always meant Malty to be someone who don't get growth bonus modification, or a self-growing vassal weapon and had to keep up with the heroes with genuine effort and hard work from her part. Because she is someone inherently lazy rather than a natural training junkie, I think forcing her to put genuine effort to stand besides Naofumi would be more meaningful.
Which is why I'm basically taking away every natural perk she would have gotten as a hero with that blood curse excuse as I can possibly get away with. While I certainly didn't invent this plot device for this explicit purpose, I'm glad it worked out here.
Uranus dies in this chapter, leaving Oersted the only Gallian member in Naofumi's party. And yes, the owner of the magic shop/Madame Dolores is meant to be this world's counterpart to Dolores Umbridge. Obviously I had to have her use her most (in)famous blood sucking quill somewhere. At least she's using it on a sadistic, mysongenist asshole who totally deserved to have his blood sucked rather than a bunch of school children this time.
XD
Next chapter will be the interlude all about Pope Balmus. Not going to lie, I'm hyped to finally get to this interlude, as he is the character I put most thoughts into behind Malty. I'm doing something a bit different this time, so I hope next week's chapter will be enjoyable.