Chapter 17: New Ruler

Alice made her way back to Valkus and Lady Astra. Cleo had stayed back to guard the two. The King was escorted away by his guards while she was clearing a path out. " We have to get you two out of here," Alice said. Valkus looked against leaving but agreed. Alice guided them through the safe route, Cleo followed behind to make sure the disciples didn't follow. " This is a very bold move considering how they'll suffer heavy losses in this," Lady Astar noted, and she was right. Why make such a risky move? Alice gestures for them to stop, far ahead was a disciple who had somehow managed to get ahead. He appeared to be higher ranked than the rest. Rank aside, Alice was at a slight disadvantage due to the confined space; she wasn't able to use rupture. Regardless, she should be able to handle this. Alice rushed forward as the disciple lumbers toward her, dragging behind him a longsword. He swings first in a wide arc as his blade hits the wall and busts through it like it was nothing. She's able to duck underneath this swing and jabs her blade into the disciple's chest. The blade sinking into her opponent's chest made her feel awful. She had forgotten that the mental crutch the system had put up was gone. Alice pulled the blade out and stepped back, fighting the urge to just back off and let someone else handle it. The disciple kept fighting, regardless of his injury. She shifts her foot, causing ice spikes to form and freeze the blade in place mid-swing. But this was nothing, the disciple struggles against the ice but manages to break it, catching Alice off guard and forcing her to block the oncoming blow. Something was off with this one; it's breathing heavily despite the fight having just started. Carefully, Alice redirects an ice spike towards its head, not with the intent to kill, but to knock down its hood. Upon seeing the face underneath, Alice physically cringed. It was a grotesque, half-monster, half-human...thing. It roared as its neck rippled before the arms bulged, ripping the cloak it was wearing. Strange black vines intertwined with his arms, his attack power increased along with his level, sitting at a stupid ???. It continued to scream mindlessly as it swung its sword around aimlessly. Alice had a plan. Step one was to block the sword with her own and then pin it down using ice. Step two was to forget that thing has two arms. It slammed its free hand into Alice, knocking her back, but before she or the guy could do anything, a laser of pitch black flows past Alice and bores into the monster, leaving a gaping hole in its head. Alice stares in disbelief. She turns around to see Lady Astar flicking her wrist as a trail of smoke stems from her hand. " I-how long have you been able to do that?" Valkus asked, just as surprised as Alice. " I've always been able to do this, I just never saw the need to use it...Plus, I don't like using it," Lady Astar says, grimacing at the thought. Thanks to Lady Astars' assistance, they were able to move on, eventually reaching Valkus' room. The inside was a lot cleaner than she had thought it would be. Valkus plops down on his bed as Cleo drags over the chair from his desk for Lady Astar, " My father!" Valkus sits up, " The disciples are surely here for him, I need to go check on him," Alice manages to catch him by the shoulder before he could fully get up, " You three wait here, I'll go check on the king," Alice said, without waiting she triggers Hunters Surge and dashes down the hall, the Kings icon was a crown, which mad finding it a lot easier. The king wasn't far from them; he was in a part of the palace Alice had never been to. Alice manages to reach the door to the room where the King is, and her feet skid on the ground as she stops herself. Pushing open the door, Alice finds the King and a few others surrounded by disciples. A trail of ice followed behind her as she forced her way forward until she was next to the King. He was in rough shape, with multiple cuts all over his body. He had been protecting a couple of other people. " Please step back, your Majesty," Alice said, putting an ice wall to cover the others. The King, fortunately, stepped back, allowing Alice to protect all of them. The disciples in the room numbered about 5, all of them were ???. Alice couldn't be picky anymore, she'd have to use rupture at the right moment so it hits all of them, else she'd risk losing. She would throw a couple of ice spikes so that she could drop into stance. This time, she could feel the energy a little more fluidly, and when she drew, she could tell that it was stronger than last time. The arc of energy cut through the disciples and the wall behind them. Alice turned back to the nobles and the King, sheathing her blade. " You must be the Thousand Wars apprentice, I thank you, for your help," the King said. Some of the nobles got up and left in a panic. Alice would remain by the King's side, or that's what she planned on doing. A hand clamped her shoulder. When she looked, it was the king, " Child of the stars, you must live. For the sake of the world... When you see Valkus, tell him I love him, and that he is to not rule the way I did." He somehow shoved Alice hard enough for her to end up outside the room, but what he said made no sense. He called her the " Child of the stars"? The system mentioned something about the stars, but that was about it. She takes in a deep breath and takes one step forward before a blinding light flings her hard into the wall, knocking every bit of her conscience from her. When Alice came to, Lady Astar hovered above her, but she was looking elsewhere, yelling about something. The sound of footsteps rang through her ears. Alice's body ached, but she managed to turn her head enough to see that the room where the King had been was gone. An explosion blew the entire chunk of the palace to nothing, including everyone in it. Faint traces of entropy lingered in the air, the bomb used must've been laced with high amounts of energy. Alice would lose consciousness again.Valkus was numb. To himself and the world around him. He sat in a chair, his head resting on the back as he stared up at the ceiling. He felt the explosion, everyone in the palace probably felt it. When he arrived, he found a couple of nobles looking on in horror and dismay, the apprentice on the ground knocked out, and my father gone. It had been three days now, and he had been set to speak to the people about this. It turned out that the disciples had also attacked the people during the Subsequent festival. He let out a sigh as he rubbed his face, the last thing he said to his father kept rotating in his mind. The conversation happened three days ago, but it was still fresh in his memory. His father just wanted to talk with his son, but he had rudely told him off, blamed him for things he couldn't do anything about. "It's time, your majesty," He would never get used to that. Valkus, King of Yvrial. He stepped out to the shouting of the people as other members of his father's council tried to yell over them. When they saw him, however, the chatter died down. When he reached the podium, it resumed. People who have lost loved ones were here, yelling at him over something. He wasn't sure what to do. Valkus would lose himself in thought, staring off into the distance. He would only return to the present when one of the maids tugged on his sleeve while calling his name, the yelling had been reduced to a low murmur, and one person spoke up. " Where is the King! We demand an explanation for what happened THREE days ago!" The man yelled, the people backed him, the yelling picked up again, and this time they were yelling things about their King. Where was the King? Was he not standing in front of them right now? Right, the news of his father's death was kept under wraps until they could announce it at an appropriate time, and Valkus decided that now was that time. He held his hand up, demanding silence, silence they would give. “Do you wanna know where your King- my FATHER- is? He’s dead, my Father gave everything for this city, for his people- YOU People- and yet here you are acting as if he were a madman, as if he were a tyrant. He died a king serving his people, YOU people. You all should be mourning your dead, yet here you are pointing fingers like you're all children. The dead would be ashamed of you," Valkus left. He would confine himself to his room for the rest of the day. When Alice came to everything that had happened, it also came back. She was still in the palace, beside her was Cleo, fast asleep. " Are you alright?" Lady Astar asked in a soft tone, the way a mother would ask her child when they were hurt or scared. She had been seated on the other side of her. Alice nodded. Lady Astar filled her in on what happened. Turns out the bomb had affected her more than she'd like to believe, as she was out for three days, and that earlier today, Valkus announced to the people of the kingdom that his father was dead. Lady Astar gently placed her hand on Alice's. " It wasn't your fault, those disciples had immense traces of entropy in them. There was nothing you could have done," Lady Astar reassured her. Alice believed her, but she still couldn't help but feel like she could've done more. Alice would be let out a little later. Cleo asked her the same question, to which she simply nodded. They would run into Valkus in the hall, there were bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. He turned and walked off, and Alice followed. He walked into his room, and Cleo closed the door behind her. Valkus stood facing away from her, she couldn't tell what he was feeling. Anger? Was he mad at her? " What happened?" He remained facing away from her, the tone of his voice empty." I found your fath- the King, I got rid of the Disciples that threatened him. He pushed me away moments before the bomb went off, I...I'm sorry." She clenched her fist at her side, she kept her head down. " Thank you, you two can leave now." There was no anger in his voice, just...sorrow. Cleo left, but Alice stayed. " Your father wanted you to know that he loved you, that you shouldn't rule as he did." Alice gave the King's final words to his son before closing the door and walking away. The faint sound of crying lingered in her mind.