'This is so cool. This is so cool! This is so freaking cool!'
Cid was on the verge of shaking. From excitement, of course. Rose Oriana, his second heroine candidate, has finally bloomed… Into dangerous (ha-ha) rose.
Instead of becoming a heroine like he thought she would, she chose the path of a Tyrant. And she started it with brutally killing that cultist guy… Uh, what was his name, again?… Right, nevermind.
Not only that, but the colors, Duke, the colors! Instead of white-and-golden usual hero colors, with occasional blue and red, she went full dark, clad in black clothes adorned with golden linings… Actually, her attire was somewhat similar to his Shadow persona one, but while he went for the more… clothing style, she morphed her slime (and it was actually a slime suit, he can tell that) into some kind of armor. Honestly, there's no reason for making slime suit into armor in terms of efficiency… But for the style points? Hell yeah, Rose, he's so proud!
Her large shoulder pads were nothing if not intimidating, her crown signified her becoming a bona fide Queen, and her boots looked metallic enough to make everyone realize that getting under the heels… would be painful.
In short, Rose Oriana stopped being the all-loving, kind hero and became a fallen one after experiencing the cruelty of this world. Yes, that was a trope indeed… Especially considering that the third heroine was actually the opposite; Annerose was cheerful and positive woman, only wishing to get a strong opponent to fight and talk.
Hmm, he also had Alexia, the first ever heroine… He kinda neglected her…
"…Rose, what is the meaning of all of this?" Iris' voice interrupted his thoughts, making him look at her.
Midgar Princess looked pale, staring in the distance and holding her sword. To be fair, Cid didn't even expect her to actually be able to fight back… He wanted to finish the tournament in a dramatic way where he one-shots Iris, but seems like she was actually good enough.
"Isn't it obvious, princess Iris?" Rose finally spoke as she let the now headless body of… cultist fall down to the ground, "I am cleaning up the trash. I am treating the illness that took over my country."
"By killing your own Chancellor?" Iris gritted her teeth.
"By killing the traitor that collaborated with Cult of Diablos, infiltrated the government, and drugged my father in order to gain political standing," Rose calmly retorted.
"T-That's…" Iris was at loss of words.
'Man, what a drama! Right, where's my popcorn…'
"P-Princess Rose!" one of the Midgar nobles stood up; people of lower ranks have long been escorted, "T-That's outrageous! Your nobility will surely not let it go like that-!"
"Nobility?" Rose cocked her head, "Ah, right, that scum that decided getting a hefty sum of money is a reason enough to close their eyes on abducted and brainwashed children, to give away their own princess just because she did not fit in their standards…" she mused.
"Y-You're going too far!" the younger nobles paled at her words.
"Well, I fail to remember when did I ask your, Midgar nobles', opinion on what to do with Oriana nobles," she squinted.
"Y-You-!"
"Unless you are in collaboration with them and just want to cover up your messy deals?" Rose raised her gloved hand with a chilling smile.
'More! More! Bread and circuses!' Cid cheered on her as he quickly shoved the still hot popcorn into his mouth. It seemed like no one detected his minute department and disappearance of Shadow.
"Do you know that such accusations have to be backed up by evidence, Princess Rose?" the elder noble calmly spoke up.
"Evidence?" Rose cocked her head once more, "What evidence?"
"Well," noble smirked, "unless you want to break the law-"
"Ah, it seems you misunderstand something…" she mirrored his smirk.
In the next moment, one of the cultist's fighters that was sneaking up on the King Oriana suddenly found his sword kicked away.
"Actually, you are wrong on two things…" she mused, staring at the terrified fighter, "One: I am Princess no longer. For way too long we stayed peaceful. Now, the country needs a strong ruler."
"P-Preposterous! Are you claiming that you will take over the throne?!" the youngest-looking noble lost her composure.
"'Will?' Well, do forgive me for this, then…" she walked to the throne and gently took the crown from her father's head.
"Rose…" Raphael weakly sighed, his face still pale after being subjected to drugs for so long, "Are you sure about what you want to do?"
"More than ever, father," for the first time, a sincere smile appeared on her face, "And I am sorry for taking it away like this, but…"
"I understand. I have grown stale and allowed our enemies to take advantage of me…" he weakly spoke, barely able to form words; however, he still finished what he wanted to say, "I just hope you will be a great ruler and don't make same mistakes as I did…"
She only nodded at him as closed his eyes. Moments later, two women in black clothes took him away.
"Not 'will', not 'would'…" she played with a golden crown, "Already did."
Cid realized that one bag of popcorn was not enough. He would need more. And something to drink.
"So, the first thing is out of the way. Now, the second one…"
"The ruler still needs support of his people; I thought you, of all heirs, should know this," she was interrupted by the same elder noble.
"Indeed. People," she chuckled at his realization, "Not scum that only cares about filling their pockets with money."
"Even so-"
"I am done arguing with you."
'Yes, finally, it's coming!' Cid emptied his hands and readied himself.
"You want to lead me in circles in hopes to stall time. That will not work."
She slowly walked over, not bothered in the slightest by the Cult fighters around her.
"You are lucky you are under Midgar's protection; if not for the fact that I do not wish to threaten my allies, you would all find your yourselves decapitated."
One of the cultists found his field of vision suddenly shifting. Moments later, his head has fallen over to the ground, detached from the body.
"Like this one."
"Rose, I would not allow anyone to threaten the people of my country," Iris finally found the courage to speak as Queen Oriana turned her head, "Not even you."
Rose blinked and smiled.
"I would never expect anything less from you; in fact, I deeply respect your, Iris…" she shook her head, "However, I will not take back my words."
"Understandable… However, there's one thing I want to ask."
"Do so, then."
Iris breathed in.
"How are you related to Shadow Garden?"
"Hmm?" Rose was taken aback.
"Only a fool would not notice that your current attire is the modified uniform of Shadow Garden."
"Well…"
'My time!'
"Indeed, you are spot on, Iris Midgar," everyone heard a calm, yet eerie voice interjecting in their dialogue.
Beatrix looked with interest at the warrior, clad in shadows. Nobody noticed how he seemingly disappeared mid-conversation. Nobody noticed how he reappeared once more, this time in lounge. Except for her.
"Rose Oriana asked for power to free her people from reign of terror. How could I not assist in such a noble goal?" he slowly walked towards the Queen Oriana.
Cult's fighters took a battle stance. He only sighed and raised his hand.
"I. Am…" he snapped his fingers, "Inevitable."
In the next moment, the number of cultists was cut in half; they seemingly were consumed by their own shadows.
Beatrix focused on him.
She wants to fight him.
She saw how he fought in the arena, seemingly holding back. She knows for sure he holds way greater power that he has shown. And she wants to battle it.
"Shadow, what are you trying to do?" Iris calmed herself down forcefully.
"Shadow Garden's whole point of existence is to destroy the Cult of Diablos…" he mused, "How could we miss a chance to catch them off-guard when they thought they were at their safest?"
Iris only gripped her sword.
"This is my second lesson to you…" he started, "Rarely anything goes as you wish it would, unless you have power to back your claims up."
Princess' eyes widened for a moment before she realized his words fully. Then, she sighed and relaxed her stance.
"I am aware of that… However, it does not make it any easier…"
"P-Princess Iris?!" nobles paled.
"I have long knew that I am not spectacular mastermind… However, I believed that with superior power I could just protect my country as a warrior."
"Hmm… Well, you do have a prime example of someone who reached political power with power of a warrior, don't you?" he inquired.
The longer Beatrix listened, the more it looked like… coaching. He was speaking to one person at a time, yet nobody dared to interrupt him; not the now Queen, not the nobles… and not Beatrix herself.
"I… don't think that I am capable of what she did…" Iris clenched her fists; Beatrix could see how much it hurt her ego to confirm that out loud.
"So… are you going to give up?"
"N-No…" she trembled.
"Then fight."
First droplets of rain fell on Iris' face.
"Fight. Fight to the last drop of blood you have."
Thunder struck across the skies.
"Fight. Fight until you have snatched victory from the Death's jaws."
Wind was slowly rising up.
"Fight! Fight and prove your worth to both yourself and the world!"
Even in the lounge, Beatrix felt soaking wet; it was no mere rain, it was the storm that is approaching.
"Fight!"
Shadow's body flared in magic.
"Or be forgotten!"
And in the next moment, rain was no longer.
The moment Shadow released his magic, Beatrix felt as if the world gained additional colors… In fact, she was not wrong.
Instead of grey clouds, a shining sun was seen in the sky. His burst of magic completely cleared the weather.
"S-Such power…" sighs of amazement were heard around.
"I hope you do understand that everything that transpired here is… Confidential information?" Rose Oriana smiled sweetly… though nobles paled at that sight.
Why? Beatrix herself can say that it was, indeed, a sweet sight.
"Should even the smallest bit of information be revealed… Well, you all will lose your lives. I am not in mood to try and find the culprit, after all."
"O-Of course, Your Majesty!" nobles completely lost any will to resist.
"Good. Then…" Rose looked around to confirm that Shadow has, indeed, disappeared, "I shall go. I have an important meeting."
Iris only watched as the now Queen went to the exit. Moments later, the remaining cultists were taken away by women in black.
Iris gripped her sword. If Rose could do that… And Shadow encouraged it… Then it was possible.
'Man, what a stage!'
Cid only wanted to play a bit with his third heroine candidate, yet, somehow, he actually managed to promote his second heroine candidate into a full blown Fallen Hero turned Ruler trope! Not only that, but he also met Alpha's aunt, actually found out Iris was not as bad as he thought, and made a Grand Reveal to the world!… Though he did not reveal who Shadow actually was, bu-u-ut it was a thing for the future!
Right now Cid was eating a burger from Tuna King (again; Gamma supplied a lot of these to him) and enjoying his well-deserved break time.
Surely, nothing can go wrong-
"Cid."
He slowly turned his head around and saw Rose Oriana standing in front of him with all familiar sweet smile on her face. It was as if she did not become the Tyrant Queen and was still the romantic obsessed Student Prez!
"Hi, Rose," she beamed at his greeting.
"Ha-ha, umm… You haven't heard… anything strange about me?"
"Only about the fact that you attacked your fiancee," and he showed the days old newspaper.
"Ha-ha, well…" she shyly twisted her hair.
This action broke his mind because she was still in her Tyrant Queen uniform all in black and clad in darkness like why the hell she acts like a shy schoolgirl confessing her love to her idol-
"Do… you remember your promise?"
"I believed in you, Rose," that's what he's supposed to say, right?
Her eyes sparkled.
"Ah, Cid," Rose took his hands into hers with a sweet smile on her face, "That makes me so happy… It's only because of you I managed to get back…"
She put him in her embrace.
Her behaviour still broke his mind a bit, but he concluded it was because Cid Kagenou was her last connection to the normal life she once had.
Well, he thought that because he did not want to dive deep into whatever was going on in her mind.
"Cid…"
"Yeah?" he mumbled into her neck; why were her heels so high?
"Come with me. I have arranged everything. We can now marry happily."
"Nah."
"Not yet…? Alright. I'll wait."
Huh, he didn't think she would actually agree with his words. Kinda unfitting for someone who wanted to become a Tyrant ruling her country with an iron fist, you know?
Eh, it's fine. Oh, he will also ask Alpha about the slime suit, because when he left Rose after granting the power, he did not give her any slime…
"You… look familiar," Beatrix squinted.
She wanted to find this Shadow and fight with him after he left the scene, but instead she found a group in black clothing similar to that of the new Oriana Queen.
And she also noticed that one of them reacted… with hostility towards Beatrix.
"It's fine. He said that you are living your happy life," the figure trembled at her words, "I will not take away that from you. I only wished to find you and ensure you are healthy and well."
The figure sighed erratically as others placed their hands on her shoulders in support. Some even took out their weapons.
"I do not know what happened between you and the others, but… I am always on your side," Beatrix smiled softly and placed her hands on her chest, "If you ever need help, I will be here."
She stopped for a moment.
"And, please, do tell him that he owes a match with me. Out of all people on the arena, I was the only one who did not get to fight him," elf finished in joking frustration.
She saw figure nodding in hesitation.
And, as Beatrix walked away, her sharp ears caught a faint "Thank you".
Victoria finally entered the Capital of Midgar. She felt the surge of familiar power.
Her smile widened. Her beloved Lord and Saviour was here. It is time.
Oh, it was also the place where she felt the disturbance in the force. Now, who was it that wanted to take the role of the most zealous Lord worshipper, she wonders?…
This chapter could be better, especially the nobles part, and you probably were waiting for Shadow dunking on Beatrix and other people…
But that one is for later. Yep.
Also Rose vs Victoria showdown is near. Who is the most cultish cultist of Shadow cult?