'Fuudgee! This pressure is no joke.'
Before the gate of the Main Dukedom stood all of Archduke Cade's children along with more than three hundred knights under their banner. Except the fourth child though.
However, no sibling had spoken or even exchanged a brief conversation with Seven when he arrived; all he got were glances of different types.
'What even is this family? With this many knights, they could erase a city before the people finished screaming, and maybe even purge a typical nobility territory in less than a day!'
Truth be told, whispers had already begun to crawl across the continent the moment the Harts started to move.
For instance, people were asking the same questions:
–– "Why is Cade marching again? Didn't the six-year war just end?"
–– "Is the Archduke really trying to claim the whole continent?"
–– "What about House Maxvlque? Are they just going to stand by and watch?"
After all, Cade, the Archduke of Hart, was one of the living seven Zeniths of this godforsaken continent.
He was the same man who crushed the holy stronghold of House Orfenze. The fortress that is said to be unbreakable. He wiped out the last traces of the old faith from the land.
Now, his children stood in perfect lines beneath the falling snow.
'C-cold… it's so damn cold. How are they just standing there like statues?'
Seven shivered, clenching his teeth tightly from the cold.
He glanced at his siblings. The cold wind brushed past their faces, but none of them moved or spoke. Their faces looked like they were carved from stone.
'Seriously? Do they not feel anything? My fingers are numb and my nose's about to fall off…'
He rubbed his palms together as quietly as he could, pretending to adjust his sleeves. His breath came out in pale clouds. Snowflakes clung to his lashes, melting into cold droplets that slid down his cheek.
Rumble, rumble!
The ground began to tremble. The sound grew louder and heavier with each second.
Soon, silhouettes appeared in the white distance. A wall of dark blue and black armor moving as one. Their banners fluttered against the wind, carrying the crest of the Hart.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The sound grew stronger as boots struck the earth and metal plates clashed.
They stopped just before the gate. Without needing a command, the knights split into two long lines and formed a path down the center.
"Greetings to the Archduke!"
"Greetings to the Archduke!"
The shout shook the snow from the walls and trees. The echo reached even the rooftops, where people watching from their windows inside the gates flinched.
Through that opening in the middle, one man walked:
Cade Maximillian Hart.
His cloak dragged through the snow behind him. He didn't walk fast, yet he didn't walk slowly either. The Zi around him flickered faintly, twisting the air like heat on a summer road.
Cracka, cracka!
Every knight bowed their heads as he passed. No one dared to raise their eyes.
His children raised their swords in salute as one.
"Greetings to the Archduke!"
…Only the youngest was late in doing it.
Still, Cade did not stop.
He walked slowly between the two lines of knights, and with each step, the ground crunched beneath his boots. Snow melted wherever his shadow passed.
His steps suddenly came to a halt.
Cracka!
A surge of Zi burst outward like a wave of lightning.
It rippled across the field. The air trembled, and snow scattered in spirals around him as if pushed away by an unseen force. Even the clouds above seemed to shudder from the pressure.
It rolled across the knights, across the banners, and even across the cold air that dared to touch him.
Where the wave touched each knight, faint circles of light pulsed on their wrists (even above their armors). The mark of their Zi Rings.
Where it hit Seris and Cyris, one Zi Ring gleamed.
Where it hit Nathe, two Zi Rings flared.
Where it hit Giselle, three Zi Rings blazed.
Where it hit Louis, three Zi Rings shone.
Where it hit Eden… FIVE Zi Rings burned.
Coming from the source of the sudden Zi rampage, the Archduke Cade Maximillian himself, SEVEN Zi Rings crackled around his wrist like chained thunder.
However—
Where it hit Seven, n…
N-n-n-n-n…
…none of the Zi Rings appeared.
'Fudge! Oh no, oh no, oh no. This is dangerous.'
Seven's eyes darted around.
He quickly tucked his wrists behind his back, trying to look casual but it was already too late as dozens of knights had already seen it. Even his siblings' gazes flickered to look at him.
Cade's gaze also turned toward the youngest.
'U-Urgh—! What is—this—'
Seven's blood boiled. His vision blurred. It felt as though his veins would burst. He couldn't breathe. His eyes stung as if they might pop out of his skull.
He felt as though his very existence was being crushed under that single glance.
He fell to one knee, vision dimming. His throat burned as though someone was wringing it tight.
"Hmm."
With a faint nod, Cade continued forward, passing through the gate as if nothing had happened.
The pressure vanished.
Air rushed back into Seven's lungs in one violent gasp. His fingers clutching at the snow for balance and steam rose from where he knelt.
"Y-Young Lord, are you alright?"
"Hah… I'm fine. Let's… go."
He staggered to his feet and followed after the Archduke just like his siblings, though his knees still trembled.
'Damn it… What kind of father does that? I almost died just from a look!'
His chest rose and fell unevenly. Every breath burned like his lungs had been turned inside out. His fingers wouldn't stop shaking no matter how tightly he tried to hide it.
Ahead, the massive gates of the dukedom loomed like the open jaws of some ancient beast.
'Should I really go in there? Maybe… maybe I could just turn back?'
He stopped and looked behind him, only to see nothing but cold snow and wind. If he returned to the Ascendance Lands now, he'd gain nothing…
That thought almost made him laugh, until Cade's eyes flashed again in his mind.
'That death stare…'
There was nowhere else to run.
He exhaled shakily and adjusted his collar, pretending to look composed even though his legs were screaming.
'Calm down. You just have to look normal. Everyone else is just a walking egg…'
Ahead of him, rows of shining eggs marched. Eggs lined the walls too. Above, eggs peered down from the windows, watching as though waiting for one helpless chick to break the shell.