Lily's Point of View

Honestly, I am in a bad position.

I am surrounded by earth magicians, and the only thing keeping them from making a cage around me is the sheer lack of material... and this won't last for long.

One on one against Normand it might have been a somewhat fair fight, but this is different. If not for them fearing me cutting them in half, then they would've been dealing the final blow right now.

As of now they're trembling, fearing that they end up as the enemies they heard of on the battlefield, or their two comrades I've already cut apart... but it won't last.

I need to get out of here.

I know that things aren't going well. Even now I hear Lionel's booming voice from where I left him, yelling out orders to soldiers that arrived after I left. If not for them we'd likely already be dead.

This was never a fight meant to be won. This was a matter of taking Alstair or the king down with me... how did it turn into this?

I heard Eric's voice just now as well, but that little group of people won't be able to do much against the steady flow of palace guards. Even from here I can see the number of guards between us increase, and I can only hope that the water remaining from the floodwave will be enough to let them defend themselves longer.

Summoning elements requires a lot of mana, and both Normand and Lionel are suffering in that regard as they've both had to summon quite a lot of rock. I can only assume the entire hall is blessed with an anti-magic blessing.

The biggest thing bothering me is the report Gilbert just got...

Why is there an army here?!

No, that aside it changes our priorities rather drastically.

The palace isn't made to be defended, and it's surrounded by a water filled moat and has the river nearby. If they've secured the harbor then we might be able to withdraw afterwards if we manage to pull everyone together.

First things first, I need to get back near Lionel... had Normand or Gilbert been slower or more ignorant things would have been over, but they're both worthy of guarding royalty... even twisted as Gilbert is I cannot deny that he has good instincts. He's ruined my attempts at Alstair's life twice now.

A sudden wail from behind the Tepet soldiers draw's Normand's attention away from me.

What in the- Did someone get Alstair?

I snap out of it quickly. I can't afford to be distracted, and neither can Normand!

I change direction and dash back at Normand to take advantage of his distraction.

"Astolphus!"

Normand screams the name of the king with all masks of politeness being ripped from his face as it contorted in worry and then... anger. If I remember right then Normand and the king were childhood friends just like Alstair and Lionel.

The blood boiling fury of a bear takes over Normand in an instant, leaving no trace of the calm commander nor the once warm hearted father I'd known him to be.

"Emilia!"

His voice booms and my skin crawls at both the sound, but also the hundreds of stones rising into the air from the ground like the result of an earthquake stopped at the peak.

I swing at Normand, but his gleaming eyes turn towards me the same instant those rocks set off, hauling through the air with whines like wisps.

He steps in, using his shield as a one time defense to catch the sword and in the instant the sword is inside, twist it to the side to change the direction...

I try to step back and cut through but now within range his sword comes down on me with a crushing force.

Everything goes black.

Only a sharp, hot pain is searing through my body again though I just healed it. I gasp for breath, but breathing makes everything hurt more. I clench my hand tightly around the handle of the sword. If I let go I won't have time to summon it again.

I try to stagger backwards as my sight returns again, albeit blurry. I barely see the hand before it gaps me around the throat... and begins to squeeze.

I can't breathe.

The floor disappears beneath me.

Everything hurts.

Normand is holding me up, but his eyes aren't on me... they're in the direction the King's scream came from.

...Mike?

I can vaguely make out Mike cautiously looking up from behind his shield, and a tiny blonde haired girl peeking from his back at me.

On top of that the king is being pulled away from them by a palace guard... alive for now and grunting.

I don't have time for this.

Instead of gasping at Normand's hand first I cut... or I try to... my body feels numb. I can't feel my arm.

I just... need one good hit... just one hit while he's distracted.

I try to squeeze my hand, but my lungs scream for air much louder than any of my injuries scream in pain.

If Normand goes down... then Lionel won't have to fight him.

I want to kill Alstair.

I want to rip him apart for the betrayal and for dishonoring my family... but at this rate I won't be able to.

In that case, I shall take with me your last honor pillar of this corrupt country!

I clench my hand once more and finally confirm my arm is moving as Normand gathers another sky of stones around him-

Another cold hit goes through me, and this time I'm sure that I've been stabbed... I can vaguely hear the soldier's warning to Normand, but it's too late. I sink the sword deep into Normand's side, getting it stuck there from the lack of force... but Normand lets go, and I slide down on the sword that stabbed me like it was catching me in a cold and merciless embrace.

I gasp in pain and relief as I see Normand pull back. The shield hand he held me with is dripping blood down his fingers, but his side is rapidly soaking his shirt. The angered eyes locked on me again. With this Normand will die when his rage runs out, it's just a matter of when.

"Samurai-sama, cast the prayer you prepared at the mansion!"

A child's voice cuts through the blur of pain with a truly ridiculous request from the cursed princess knowing things only one person could have told her.

Yet, by the gods how am I to do that right now?

I look to Mike and the princess to see a sizable pool of blood at Mike's feet and a tormented expression on his face. However he got to the girl from Eric had a steep price... and he was already incapable of using a sword. The two of them are going to get killed.

Weren't you going to stay alive for Rudder, Mike?

I see a cold purple light spread from Emilia... and as though they forgot everything about me, Normand's troops charge at Mike that can do nothing but try to blast them away with water.

I look back to Normand, but glance one last time to Lionel. Our eyes meet just for a moment, and he's looking so pained... so frustrated and desperate.

The flames of the great hall are flickers violently.

"Get your hands off of my charge!"

A ghostly, rage filled roar sounds besides me in a language none of those the roar is aimed at understands, but it's nostalgic and causes a faint smile to rise on my lips. The loud cracking of bones and a broken scream sounds behind me, and the sword disappears from my stomach...

I peer up as a big cold arm wraps around me, and a... humongous version of Kenta towers over me, holding me up from falling down.

The void black eyes meet mine as he puts me on my feet in a somewhat rushed movement and faces the charging Normand with unwavering confidence.

"Cast!"

I try to stay on my feet though the room sways for a moment.

What a sly girl... giving me my bodyguard just to let me finish the prayer. Yet, Normand underestimates Kenta if he thinks he can charge in like that.

I awaken my sensing and the room lights up with the angered screams of fire gods all around me... they aren't sleeping.

"Rude! Rude! I will eat you! Devour you!" The fire gods roar in bright rage.

Their roars... Kenta's roar... the screams of the Tepet soldiers. Mike's desperate roar for his last stand, and the voice of a ghostly figure forming by Mike's side.

It all comes together... and I hear the song begin.

I start the prayer.

My body fills with cold and my clothes feel wet, but I'll put my trust in the girl Lionel chose as his new Lord.

Yet, I am too late.

I'm still mid-sentence as the great hall lights up with a golden red light, and with a deafening roar of fire Lionel and his soldiers become enveloped in a cyclone of roaring angered and tormented fire... and my heart sinks.

"Focus!"

Kenta's large hand grabs me and pulls me out of the way of Normand's sword, but my mind is going blank.

The chills turn to sweat and I begin to stumble over the words as other blasts of fire merge with the cyclone from palace guards.

The great hall lights up in flames, the banners too.

I can't even hear the screams beyond the flames.

Finishing only takes a couple of seconds, but by then I worry for what I may see.

The gods of fire turn to look at me once they hear my request. They twirl, and then scatter in the winds. The cyclone disappears with a smoky gasp as every bit of fire in the great hall is extinguished with a dry puff, causing gasps and screams from the fire mages feeding mana into it.

Thick, red hot walls of stone make my sight blacken.

They crumble.

Lionel is on the ground, stumbling weakly to his feet... but his soldiers crawl helplessly with foggy eyes, gasps and coughs.

Kenta's roar gets caught in his throat, ripping my attention back to him.

His sword has gone straight through Normand's leg, but Kenta is pierced by multiple stone spears as well.

Normand trips backwards away from Kenta who still moves despite being impaled, and a pale ghostly liquid runs down his body like water in a shower.

Drunk on rage and adrenalin Kenta cuts through the stone spears holding him back, and I note the multiple bodies around him.

Where I cut down two, he has either killed or heavily injured the rest of the Tepet soldiers, leaving only the palace guards to deal with Mike and the princess... even so Mike and the ghostly Rudder are in a far worse shape than Kenta.

Mike has retorted to simply hiding the princess in his arms...

Kenta looks at Normand, when Alstair's voice reaches through the room.

"William! Soleil!"

I look around and find Soleil stepping in with his father, with William, the prime minister and Bridgette along with a few other nobles.

They look down at Lionel who can only give a bitter look in return. His soldiers can't get to their feet, and he himself is just barely strong enough to stand. They're surrounded...

"I've reached my limit..."

Kenta speaks out with a surprising softness, though if not for all the blood he looks as though he was perfectly well.

William steps closer to Lionel with rage gleaming in his eyes as he condemns him for his actions with but a single word, "traitor."

[AN: Hello everyone! As some of you may know I had been writing my master thesis a while back, and thus I had to go defend it as well, which is part of the reason this chapter has been delayed as much as it has. I got through the exam and have thus graduated! To those that supported me through this: Thank you! ]