A Tactical Disagreement

The bright lime-colored grass swayed gently. I stood and watched the tall figure trudging toward us in the distance. I could hear the large sword being dragged beside him.

Princess, do you think you can get that sword away from him?

‘If you can get him close enough before he swings, I’ll try to remove it when he least expects it.’

Matthias came to stand beside me, drawing his bow. I removed the sword from my back and prepared to fight.

“Good thinking, Matthias. Let’s preserve our mana for now.”

“If it’s alright with you… I’d rather we not converse at all.”

I turned my head to look into his eyes that avoided my gaze. I hesitantly nodded and turned back to face the quickly approaching enemy. Behind him were what appeared to be five soldiers and two mages. I lifted my sword and pushed forward.

I could feel the dirt kicking off the ground with each step. The knight stopped and watched as his small army charged forward. I could see his cold eyes narrow as they neared.

“Hah!”

I focused on the memories of the soldiers I’d inhabited, analyzing the movements they’d been taught in the Royal Army.

Their movements are too similar. I can almost see their thought process with each swing.

A soldier approached from behind, taking a downward swing at my head.

Coward.

I leaned and pushed myself forward, grabbing onto the soldier to my right. I pulled them over me, and they cried out as their ally’s sword made contact. We fell to the ground, and I kicked them off of me, their body nearly causing the other soldier to trip over.

I rolled over as they struck the ground with their sword, then used the back of my leg to trip them over. They fell on top of my sword, and the blood that spewed from their mouth coated my eyes.

After worming my way out from underneath them, I hurriedly rubbed my eyes with my sleeve. I turned behind me and pulled my sword out from their abdomen.

I saw Vivian in the distance, facing a spearman and a mage. She held the spearman in place with a strange dark mass of tendrils. I pushed myself off the ground and charged forward as her magical assailant raised her hands.

“A pitiful waste of power. How could someone as revered as Burkhardt share the Goddess's power with a nobody like you?”

I saw Vivian make a disgusted expression before throwing the spearman in my direction. I swung my sword to strike, but he quickly disappeared. I was caught off guard, and I failed to notice the fireball flying my way.

After nearly being singed, I stepped back as something fell from above. The spearman from before fell to the ground with an unnerving thud.

“Did you just—?!”

The mage held her hand out again, and it became coated in a dark miasma. Vivian’s face twisted into anger, and she held out both of her hands.

“Oh, don’t act so altruistic. If he couldn’t strike down someone as weak as you, then what better use can he be?”

Tch.

I felt a suffocating anger rising within me. I could see Vivian waving her hands around, flinging spell after spell at the woman opposite her. The woman responded by blocking with a single hand and yawning with the other.

How cocky. You might be stronger…

I stepped forward and waited for the mage to respond. After deflecting another one of Vivian’s attacks, she moved her gaze to me. She moved her free hand up and snapped in my direction. A burst of light shot forth and twisted like a bolt of lightning. I twisted my body to dodge the blast, a sharp pain traveling across my side as it struck me.

“Thanks, Miss Velda!”

I saw a blast of light coming from Vivian’s direction. The enemy mage’s eyes darted back to her as she rushed to block the spell. I took the opportunity to close in and swing at her. Her left arm flew up and fell to the ground.

The mage clutched her elbow and stepped back, the blood still pouring from the open wound. I quickly stepped forward and swung my sword again, aiming to cut her abdomen. A chill burst down my spine, and my body twisted to avoid something behind me.

A large object swung down just before my eyes. I jumped back as it struck the earth and moved my gaze toward my attacker. The skeletal man had thrown his cloak aside, revealing the strange conglomerate of crystalline rock lining his inner body.

I stumbled as I reconnected with the ground. Endymion straightened up and stared down at me. I felt a strong fear overtake me as I looked into his eyes that held an intense hate.

“… Why do you… look that way?”

Hn—? Did Astraia… make me look this way on purpose? I’m finally seeing something… in those cold eyes of his.

‘Good. That means he’s still in there, somewhere.’

I moved back as the knight regained his composure. He pulled his sword out of the ground and moved forward like a blur. I struggled to block his hit, the sword in my hands tilting quickly to the side as he swung heavily.

Dammit. I’m not strong enough for this tactic. Astraia, you'd better have a good reason for doing this to me!

‘It hasn’t been too long since he became this way. I know he’s still the same man who trembled when his loved ones died. You just need to strike at that place, the one you protect the most yourself.’

What kind of—?

Another swing from the knight’s sword sent my own flying away. I stepped back and prepared for his next move.

Heart, right? That’s what you’re trying to imply? Tch, I was really hoping this would be easier. I’m really not a fan of soppy solutions.

‘At least this final time. For me, please!’

I lifted my hands and held my palms out toward the knight. Light enveloped my hands and shot forth like winding smoke from an extinguished candle. It wrapped around Endymion and held him in place. He struggled against the bindings, his eyes narrowing slightly.

I really wish you had given me more time. I hardly know what I’m doing here.

The knight lifted his left skeletal hand and pulled the threads of magic, ripping them off like cobwebs.

He can do that?!

I rushed to cast a shield of light as he charged forward and thrust his sword toward me. It collided with the barrier and caused it to shatter.

‘Lady Velda, you cannot do this with violence!’

Look Princess—

The knight attempted to grab my throat, and I cast a spell to blind him, creating a dark fog between us.

Instead of giving me nonsense instructions, how about you just tell me what to say?

A blue light appeared within the fog, followed by two blue lights above it. The lights moved toward me, revealing themselves to be the knight’s eyes and the gap within his chest. He stepped through the fog nonchalantly and held out his left hand. I could see the bone-like fingers stretch outward as he neared.

‘Very well, repeat after me: Even when we’re apart, the same moon will shine brightly above us. Look into its light and know that I will be, too.’

... Seriously?

I held up my hands to create another shield. As it formed, the knight swung forward his left hand to strike it.

“Even when we’re apart, the same moon will shine brightly above us!”

The knight’s fist collided with the barrier, shattering it immediately. He stepped back and stared at me, his eyes slightly widened.

“Eh… L-look into its light… and know that I will be, too.”

The lights faded, and the knight stabbed his sword into the ground. I stepped back and stumbled, allowing the knight to grab my face with his rocky right hand. He pulled me forward and glared at me as he tilted his head. I watched his eyes waver slightly as he peered into mine.

“Those words— did you take her…? No, that body is long gone. So how can you have…? Ah, I see.”

The knight lifted me up, and I desperately grabbed onto his arm. He tossed me aside, and I rolled along the ground before hitting a large rock. I opened and closed my eyes, struggling to keep myself lucid.

“She cannot save you. The longer you struggle, the more lives will be lost. You have already lost one, do you wish to lose another?”

“I… haven’t lost her yet.”

I pushed myself up again, ignoring the stinging pain that shot through my left leg as I stood. I stared into the knight’s eyes and raised my hands again.

Sorry, Princess, but I feel like your plan is only making him angrier. For now, let’s just try this the old-fashioned way.

The knight narrowed his eyes as if he could sense my resolve. He looked over at the sword still stuck in the ground before clenching his fist. He rushed toward me, and my hands became enveloped in light as I prepared my next spell.