That Winter (3)
Haigang Hills.
Betaphish Jeistin focused her mind as she looked down over the meadow spread before her.
"Father."
With a sound like livestock having its throat slit, a neck was severed right before her eyes.
"Mother."
They had been horribly violated.
"My precious family, even their families..."
Her life had been carpet-bombed overnight for reasons she couldn't fathom.
"I wasn't innocent either."
She had survived that onslaught because her own life mattered more to her than her family's.
"I'm sorry. Mom, Dad."
The instant she faced the one truth she had been avoiding, tears poured down like a waterfall.
"I wanted to live."
It was too much to excuse by saying she'd been a child; her life had been paved with every kind of cowardice.
"And someone nameless who died in my stead."
They had probably mistaken some child for Jeistin and so escaped Havitz's net.
"Jeistin, time."
Shirone and Minerva came up on either side.
"I'll finish this!"
Her eyes snapped open, filled with the most intense hatred imaginable.
"With this..."
When Shirone opened the lid of the red metal box, trembled, giving off the scent of blood.
"Is something wrong?"
Gai, the First Commander leading the assault on Bashken Castle, had come in person to report to Valkan.
"Yes. Even though the fortress is already isolated, they still won't activate Ex Machina or surrender."
"Hmm."
Gai was a madman.
But that was why Valkan trusted him. He might lack a cold knack for discipline, but his war instinct was almost as sharp as Valkan's.
"What are they planning?"
"There's no reason not to activate Ex Machina. Maybe they're preparing a decisive strike we don't know about..."
Valkan's eyes flared.
"Damn it!"
Gai looked up.
"What is it?"
It wasn't something to be announced lightly.
"Never mind. Take the mobile unit and move to the outer gate at once. Let no one into the capital."
"We've already breached the outer gate. No additional crusader reinforcements have been reported, but..."
"You're the only one who can do it." Valkan added.
"That's enough for me."
For Gai, Valkan's meaning was clear: as long as he could swing his sword, no questions asked.
Having sent Gai out, Valkan strode toward the temporary barracks.
"Ex Machina, and . Damn it! It was all part of the plan from the start."
All Abella had told him was that she'd sent someone from Kashan to kill Havitz.
"She must have deceived even her. The assassination of Havitz starts now."
Valkan shouted as he entered the barracks.
"Prepare for a full retreat! Commit every available man to bringing His Majesty the Emperor back!"
"What? But why retreat now..."
Valkan gave his subordinate no time to object.
"And the Empress?"
"She's resting at the nobles' quarters."
Valkan finished arming himself quickly, nodded, and stepped out of the tent.
'I hope it's not too late...'
Jeistin thought.
"I was afraid. I turned my back on the deaths of so many. I thought I could just look away. I thought I could run."
When target deprivation occurs, loses its aim and becomes filled only with endless, inscrutable hatred.
"Thank you for giving me this chance."
Jeistin gripped in her hand.
"So this is that short blade."
As the killing intent soaked into the blade, she let out a scream like the sky tearing apart.
Shirone swallowed.
'Maybe this is the scream young Minerva once let out.'
It was horrific.
"Starting."
Shirone took out an atomic clock made of Material and timed the strike against the Law.
"There are 41.331 seconds until the coordinates Iruki set."
The numbers on the display dropped below thirty.
"We can't hit this perfectly."
Even if Jeistin was skilled, measuring to the thousandth of a second was difficult.
"That's why we're here. We'll coordinate the Law while communicating with Iruki."
Minerva added, "So don't think about the time. What we want from you is hatred unmatched by anything else."
"I can do that."
With ten seconds left, Jeistin closed her eyes.
"Habitz."
In her mind, Habitz had turned into a vast flame, a demon's tongue lolling out.
"This isn't for the world."
It wasn't righteous hatred.
"It's only my personal grudge. So..."
A burst of flame detonated in her mind, and Jeistin's face was born, weeping blood-red tears.
"Die!"
Shirone said, "Four seconds."
Gritting her teeth, Jeistin clenched the short blade and spread her legs wide.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
She screamed as if her throat were being torn and snapped her torso forward, hurling like scattering seeds.
"...Aaaaaaaah!"
The most extreme expression hatred could choose.
Bang!
The air detonated like thunder, and 's trajectory stretched out like a taut clothesline.
"Go!"
Shirone and Minerva chased , but it had already vanished from sight.
'What speed is that? How in the world...'
Only the delayed, echoing scream—fourteen years of pent-up fury—filled the distance.
"Shirone! Ride!" Minerva, unusually, wedged the jet between her legs and rode up beside him.
"I'll fly at top speed. Hold my waist."
"You could fly faster?"
"Yeah."
Shirone frowned.
"Then why didn't you before?"
"The vibrations were too strong."
Peering down, Minerva looked back at Shirone with a bright smile.
"You won't be able to stop once you try it." Shirone, momentarily dazed, shook his head and let go of Minerva's waist.
"I have to stop this time."
"I'll bear it. And hold on to my waist. It'll feel a lot better than you expect."
All the more reason he didn't want to.
The jet hummed with after-vibrations and shot forward at tremendous speed.
As the sonic boom broke, Minerva threw her head back and groaned.
"Haaah..."
Just as Shirone was about to scold her, Iruki's voice entered his mind.
—Shirone! Can you hear me? It's the telepathy spell we practiced for nearly a year. Being of the detached type lets me communicate over long distances.
"I hear you. But there's some noise."
—It's the distance. Keeping the Spirit Zone is already hard. How's ?
Shirone turned and saw flying parallel to the jet.
"The projectile is intact. What are our orders?"
—A little too fast. Can you slow by about 0.8 meters per second?
"I'll try."
Shirone, shining with the light of Yahweh, formed a thin film of air ahead of them and began to vibrate violently.
—Right. A little more. Done.
When they entered the forest ninety-eight kilometers from Bashken, Shirone's eyes widened.
'You planned all of this?'
Even the slightest twig could have altered the Law's path, yet pierced through countless gaps untouched.
Over a deer drinking from a spring, under the stomach of a lynx pouncing on a rabbit....
—That was the easy part. Most of the data was concentrated on the capital. From the eighty-kilometer mark, we take over.
Iruki's voice came through clearly as they passed the village where Ex Machina was located.
"I'll follow, too."
He felt obligated to confirm the result.
—Gustav's forces are fully deployed. Mana-control devices are at full power. Break out from the capital gate.
"Understood."
After passing several towns, the outer gate of Bashken finally came into view.
"Iruki, troops are positioned."
—Doesn't matter. I've already tuned the Law to produce Habitz's death.
Iruki didn't handle computations beyond the tuning; Ex Machina managed the extra calculations, so he didn't even know the exact makeup of the forces.
"Someone's coming!"
Iruki's voice went hoarse.
—...It's okay.... anyway... the Law...
passed through the one narrow gap the massed soldiers guarded, penetrating the fortress gate with not a millimeter to spare.
"What, what is that?"
As the soldiers turned in bewilderment, an ironclad knight over two meters tall drew his sword.
"Yaaah!"
Just seeing the ground split open proved it was no human speed.
"Evade!"
Minerva twisted the jet's nose; wind rushed out and, cutting through that gust, Gai brought his greatsword down.
Shirone's head spun.
'This is???????'
Even while avoiding the strike by teleportation, he clearly perceived the opponent's will engraved on the blade.
'Ozent swordsmanship?'
The ground split with a roar; Shirone and Minerva landed on opposite sides of the fissure.
"Oh? You dodged?" The hulking knight straightened and shouldered his greatsword.
'They call it a greatsword, but...'
It was longer and thicker than Rian's daijikdo.
"Glad I joined Gustav. Being beside soldiers lets you have a lot of fun wars."
As he spoke and removed his helm, Shirone's shock grew.
"Rian?"
No. The frame was a bit sturdier, he looked older, and above all he had black hair.
Gai twitched his thick eyebrows.
"Strange. Never thought I'd hear my brother's name here."
"Brother, you say..."
Temuran's words came back to him.
"Ozent Gai?"
"Oh?"
Gai looked at Shirone with interest.
"Who are you?"
A terrifying killing intent swept through the air.
"UHAHAHA! I am Gai!"
Except for Valkan, Gustav's Fourth Brigade had been sent into the countryside and butchered civilians at will.
The killing technique was Natasha's forte; Zetar's acts were horrific; Smodo was outright evil.
"You fools! What are you doing here!"
Valkan arrived running with Abella at his side.
"Your Highness? Where's Habitz?" Natasha shrugged.
"I don't know. I was just watching to see who would kill more. He probably went into those cottages."
Predictably, screams rang out.
"Damn! Prepare to retreat quickly! We're leaving!"
"Is the war already over?"
"No. The fortress is on the verge of falling. But that's not important. Get out first."
This was the first time Valkan had looked so flustered.
"What's wrong?"
Before anyone could answer, Valkan and Abella rushed toward the source of the screams.
"Please persuade Habitz! The capital must be evacuated."
"All right, I'll try."
Since Habitz was where the screams were coming from, they opened the cottage door without hesitation.
"Come here! I'm the seeker!"
The house was a wreck. Habitz, wielding a crude sword taken from the smithy, chased down a family.
"Over here! This way!"
A mother clutching her child ran up the stairs; Habitz, changing direction, stumbled.
"Please, spare us. Please..."
As a husband clung to his wife and son and pleaded, Habitz jerked his head up.
"But it's a dead end."
Valkan shouted, "Your Highness! You must flee now! I swear, if you don't leave the capital now, you will die!"
A miraculous look of relief washed over the family's faces.
'We're saved. We're alive.'
Habitz, still hunched, looked back.
"You'll die?"
His pupils shone with a terrifying lust as he scrambled up the stairs in a panic.
"Kyahhh!"
Valkan sighed, pressing a hand to his brow as Habitz slaughtered the family before him.
"Like pouring oil on the flames."
For Habitz it was more fun to kill the relieved family than to die himself.
'No, perhaps...'
Abella shouted.
"Honey! Hurry! Some strange weapon will kill you!"
Valkan stopped her.
"No, it's fine. Leave them be."
"Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"The combination of Ex Machina and . And what we can bring to bear is perfect chaos."
Perhaps Habitz was the correct answer after all.