CHAPTER XLVI.
Erica knew to some extent that she should be running to safety, the plan was to escape disguised as a commoner, she had, she dyed her hair to chestnut and applied enough makeup to look like a totally different person with the objective of being able to escape the capital towards her mother's homeland: The United Kingdom of Repard.
Along with her Uncle Lucas they would seek refuge there, supposedly with the hope of gathering support for her to get a future Holfort back to their rightful place…
She doubted her mother really believed that scheme would work, her mother's normally stoic facade failed her and she understood that her only desire was to ensure her safety!
Her parents and siblings all have a death sentence on them, the Redgraves will not spare anyone that can challenge their right to the throne, be it her youngest half sibling Richard who is just learning to walk or her father's oldest bastard Catherine who was preparing to enter the academy next year before this.
And if she stays here she will suffer the same fate as all of them, but she couldn't bring herself to fight the command the otome game protagonist had given her just a moment ago.
Looking up at her Image in the sky, her black and red dress contrasted greatly with Marie's, and after witnessing how her last hope was defeated Erica couldn't bring herself to disobey the command the real Saintess had issued to everyone in the capital.
NOT A STEP BACK, KEEP FIGHTING!
Her uncle has already left her to find an armor to fight against the Redgrave's, without his help, Erica knows she can't escape the capital, and even if she hides, she will be found eventually.
She lived a short but happy life and she really didn't have any regrets, falling alongside her family doesn't seem like a bad thing either.
She remembers that in her previous life she passed away earlier than her husband, so she didn't feel prepared to be the sole survivor of her Household.
0x0x0x0
Marie was shocked.
Julius has refused to flee, and the whole crew has supported his decision!
She looked at the image of the True Protagonist of this World, with resentment and hate.
But also with resignation, Marie meddled with fate foolishly believing she could change it to suit her needs and for a long time she thought she succeeded.
She had achieved every goal she set for herself, seduced the five most powerful men in the kingdom and got the title of Saintess for herself… She even succeeded against the Fanoss invasion!
She had truly come to see herself as the main character in a feel good story before Greg's death!
But now, after she overcame what she believed was her last obstacle in the form of a ghost that claimed to be the original Saintess she found the image of a harsh reality.
The girls she defeated in her first year of the academy had rallied together!
The idea of both the protagonist and villainess of the Otome game on the same side of a conflict was completely ridiculous!
Marie ignored the tears that escaped her eyes, she now realized that her efforts to secure a happy life by interfering with the fate of a… chosen one, were probably doomed the second she decided to interfere!
Fate is such a cruel mistress…
But what can she do trapped up here in an airship with a prince that is probably being mind controlled by the true saintess?
"Julius! Look around, we are losing and if we want to survive we need to leave!"
Marie will try her best to free her lover from the spell clouding his mind… or die trying!
"Your highness, we shot down one of the Duke's ships, it's the Gilbert's Red Moon!"
Marie paled, with this ray of false hope it would be impossible to get Julius to escape!
0x0x0x0
As the officers around her celebrated their first success Mylene cursed in the privacy of her mind and prayed Gilbert survived that crash!
Because if he didn't, she can say goodbye to any mercy Vince might have had had for her and her daughter!
Who the hell was that knight?!
Where did he come from and why didn't she know about such a knight when he was apparently hiding right below her nose!
No matter, she will keep doing her best to fight this battle
NOT A STEP BACK, KEEP FIGHTING!
0x0x0x0
Vince had been watching the battle with cautious optimism, everything was going well, hell! Some soldiers even betrayed Roland to him and now he is captive in one of his ships!
Then, what seemed to be a perfect day turned into a knightmare!
He has seen ships crash before in his life, and he was certain that there was no way for Gil to survive inside that his ship!
Taking the Lost Item Leon gave him to be able to give him orders in real time…
"Leon…" his son-in-law, might have said something to him but it was just a mere formality he ignored "GO to the Noble disTrict and kill the son of a whore that killed my son!"
"... I'll do it,, this crime won't go unpunished"
0x0x0x0
James watched as Lord Gilbert's ship crashed into the academy grounds and cursed.
Why?!
Everything was going so well, he had just handed the old king to the crew of the Duke's ship and now because he abandoned his spot the one that was supposed to become the next king was probably dead!
And the killer's knight armor was a model he has never seen before, likely a lost item like Lord Leon's Arrogance.
It is black too!
That was a scary thought.
He has never once won a spar against his brother-in-law, and he knew how powerful Arrogance is from first hand experience.
The knight was already attacking another ship and the armors escorting it simply couldn't stand up to it.
Determined to make up for his mistake he chased after him, with the blade Lord Leon captured from the Black Knight and loaned him he would surely be able to at least buy some time for reinforcements to arrive!
James did his best to get close to the unidentified armor from its blind spot, if he manages to get close enough he may as well land a killing blow!
He checks his six to avoid being caught unaware himself but there is no one on his trail
much to his relief.
The strange armor managed to make the shoot down the ship, but a wall of Knight armors appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
If that thing is truly a Lost Item then his allies won't last long, James knows he wouldn't survive for long but unlike them, he stands a chance to destroy it if the conditions are right!
Keeping calm he advances, always making sure he was out of sight of the enemy.
The Black armor mercilessly shoots down the Redgrave's Knights and one of the armors almost hit him when it fell, but he managed to get close enough to strike and he puts everything his armor has in a surprise attack!
His allies saw him coming and tried to keep the enemy knight's attention on them, he swung his unstoppable blade right at the center of the armor, where the knight is usually located hoping that he would manage to land a killing blow!
But at the last second an eye appears in the center of the armor's back, the unnatural phenomenon didn't end there, the eye shoots some kind of energy that not only blocks his attack but also manages to push him back and he ends up crashing due to the angle of his approach.
James checked his armor's integrity, it is still functional!
Thanks to the saintess blessings no doubt, but now he is in trouble.
His blade landed only a few meters away from him and retrieving it is no problem, but the black armor is now locked on him!
He manages to put his guard up just in time to block an attack. frantically he looks up and he finds that there are no Redgrave Knight's left in the sector of the capital!
The impact of the unknown armor was strong enough to throw him through the wall of a mansion and all the way to the luxurious estate.
A glance around the swanky house revealed so many colorful, luxurious and shiny stuff that he felt that he would get a headache if he stared too long.
Forcing himself to focus on his situation he grabbed the largest piece of furniture available and threw it to his right, and as he hoped his enemy charged in to finish him off.
James used to spar with an opponent much stronger than himself and he knew he needed to play dirty if he wanted a chance to survive.
So instead of flanking the Lost Item he hid himself behind a wall, James doesn't need to defeat his foe to win.
In this case he would win if he manages to get enough time for his reinforcements to arrive.
His heart almost jumped out of his chest when a black armored arm broke through the wall he was hiding behind and grabbed him before pulling him through said wall and then threw him out of the mansion!
He was feeling disorientated after that and even worse, he lost his blade there!
James did his best to think of some way to get out of this situation, but his armor isn't fast enough to get away from this enemy so he adopted a defensive position that would allow him to either dodge or block while rolling with the punches…
He reaaaallly, hoped this guy doesn't carry some kind of firearm like his lord does!
He is right, his foe doesn't carry a firearm, but in what undoubtedly is a mockery from the heavens themselves his enemy just shoots lightning from his hands!
While James would never admit it out loud, Jumping like a scaredy cat just saved his life!
Now, instead of losing his life he lost both right limbs of his armor and it's a sitting duck, He closes his eyes waiting for a, probably, painful death.
He would have liked to see little Barcus grow up and become a better man than himself, maybe have a couple more kids too.
Merce will be sad too… for a while at least, he knows she will remarry as soon as she can, and that will be soon, the half-sister of a powerful noble will be bonded to a man that can contribute to her house's prosperity.
A barrage of bullets it's heard and he opens his eyes to be reminded he isn't fighting alone, half a dozen armors he barely recognizes as the Holfort defectors that betrayed the old King were here to lend him a hand!
Not that it matters much because the enemy used his lighting magic against his comrades taking them down with them being unable to even react to the unorthodox attack.
James wanted to do something, anything to take down this bastard that came out of nowhere to fuck up things so badly!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGG!"
0x0x0x0
'What the hell is this thing?!'
Finn was about to finish the most problematic knight he found so far when a black metallic object pushed him away…
Or to be precise, is still pushing him up and away from his enemy, the force of the impact was so sudden and fast that it hurt him.
When he was some four hundred meters away from the enemy he finally managed to recover enough to separate himself from the strange object.
KABOOOM!
That hurts!
Even with Kurosuke's armor protecting him he still felt that!
He was just lucky the shrapnel didn't penetrate far enough to harm his actual body.
Taking a moment to recover from the explosion he was once again attacked by another black Knight Armor, this time the attack threw him upwards towards the sky but this time there was no explosion to stun him so he recovered in time to see the next attack incoming.
Finn realized he couldn't dodge it and blocked the incoming punch instead, Kurosuke took partial control of the body and counteracted with a kick, but the enemy armor managed to block it with his own leg and roll with the impact.
At least he finally got some breathing room and could really take a look at the armor that he has been seeing as a black blur.
It was almost entirely black with just some red highlights and a pair of reversed jet wings, it was much bigger than a standard armor too, which made the speed it possessed simply mind boggling.
Finn attacked with Kurosuke's magic lighting but the enemy managed to dodge it by closing the distance and striking at him yet again, but this time with his partner's help he managed to dodge.
He tried brawling with the armor for a few seconds but soon it became clear that even with his training he couldn't keep up with his opponent and he tried his best to disengage to attack from a safer distance.
tired of unsuccessfully gaining distance from his assailant he used one of the few attacks that targeted the area around him rather than the enemy, it is a spherical release of lighting, it consumed a lot of energy but it guaranteed to get rid of any pesky targets that got too close to him.
And it was precisely the effectiveness of the attack that made it surprising when the enemy managed to evade it by voluntary separation from him!
Was it instinct?
"Finn, I'm sure of it, that armor is being assisted by an AI!" Or he could be using a genocidal entity to cheat!
"Who are you?!" He asked in Japanese through Kurosuke's armor, but he got no answer other than his opponent circling around him as if trying to find a weak spot.
"Who are you?!" He tried again, but he still got no answer.
"Who are you?!" He asked once more, but this time in Holfortian.
"I'm Leon Fff Rapha Bartfort, I don't care who you are, just know that for the crimes you just committed against the New Royal Family I'll be executing you!"
So he was the Pirate's Bane? It made sense that this man was the reincarnated villainess husband, how else would he acquire an AI?
It also explained how he went undefeated all this time.
"Bold words, but I'll defeat you and ensure my charges' well-being!" he declared, there was no point in arguing with someone who doesn't even know he is being assisted.
Although it would be amusing to watch as his pride on his skills gets broken after revealing the truth to him.
Finn has more important things to take care of right now, like ensuring Mia's survival, and he sure as hell doesn't like their chances with them being in the Duke's custody. He feared what these brutes would do to her, and he doubted she could survive in her current state.
Out of nowhere a group of drones assaulted him, no doubt they are being controlled by the fool's AI, they moved constantly and their ammo was designed to pierce through armor, even Brave's armor was being pierced!
But Finn didn't lose his head in the attack, instead he used the spherical lighting to take care of all of them at the same time.
It was a trap!
The bastard was on his face the instant his attack ran its course with a strike ready!
Kurosuke took control again to retreat and he succeeded in getting out of the range of the fist that would have seriously damaged his armor…
"IMPACT!"
But neither him nor his partner could have anticipated this attack, it increased the range of his attack by projecting magic constructs in the form of prismatic columns.
The 'impact' almost killed him but…
0x0x0x0
Chris watched as the armor that had destroyed a couple of Redgrave's ships was defeated in a magic enhanced one-two combo and the Pirate's Bane went out to attack another ship closer to the palace.
He knew he should pursue, he was the strongest knight on the Holforts side…
But after witnessing the two knights fight he felt that such a title meant nothing!
He would have died if he fought either of them.
It was a hard pill to swallow, but he couldn't lie to himself after barely being able to follow the fight. What chance would he have to react in close quarters against either of them?
He was doing fantastic up until this point, he even managed to evade that Witch's curse earlier!
He can't win…
The Holforts can't win…
He needs to flee!
But not without Marie.
Instead of going after Bartfort he approached the Royal Family's ship, he would get Julius to retreat and take them both to safety, perhaps Repard was a good choice, they would surely do their best to install the son of Mylene back into the throne!
A/N: Happy new year everybody, this is the last chapter of the civil war. I hope to wrap up the story in the next two chapters.