Rescue

“Zephyr!”

Once again, that lone word had arrived to become their savior.

The air before the Walpurgisknight’s blade warped and twisted like torn fabric, revealing the gleaming blade of Carnwennan. The rest of Eris’ form soon followed suit, bursting out the once empty space like a painting coming to life. She smirked as she emerged from the torn fabric of space, stopping the black-clad knight’s attack from landing just in time.

As the Walpurgisknight pitted his overwhelming strength against Eris’ frail body, Scarlet’s form soon emerged behind her knight, standing behind Eris bravely as she fixed the Walpurgisknight with a furious glare.

“L-Lady Scarlet!” Viviane gasped, her eyes widening in shock not at the pair’s sudden arrival, but Scarlet’s appearance. In short, the normally refined noblewoman was simply a mess.

Scarlet had emerged from the spatial distortion with her normally immaculate raven hair in absolute disarray, parts of it hacked off by what appeared to be a crude blade designed more for thrusting than cutting. Her once elegant and opulent dress was severely torn and shredded, reduced almost to tatters around her legs. Worst of all, her right arm was tightly bandaged, the skin on her arm bruised and stained a deep red.

Despite her worrying appearance, Scarlet still somehow managed to exude a regal and imperious bearing, carrying herself with the utmost grace and pomp as she stared the Walpurgisknight down, her back arched straight in the perfect expression of indignant rage. Focused purely on her target, Scarlet did not even acknowledge Viviane’s presence.

“Pridwen.” Scarlet intoned, causing the space around Eris to ripple violently, expanding in an instant and throwing the Walpurgisknight backward. As there was no actual force exerted upon the black-clad knight, he was powerless to resist as he was slammed onto the ground by the sudden acceleration.

“I’ll leave them to you, Lady Scarlet.” Eris said without taking her eyes off the armored form of her opponent. Already, the Walpurgisknight was leaping to his feet despite the heavy armor weighing him down. There was no time for Eris to waste as she darted forward, her glowing dagger at the ready.

Only after Scarlet watched Eris descend upon the Walpurgisknight and press their advantage did she finally turn to address Viviane, her deep violet eyes gazing into Viviane’s golden. An eyebrow raised, she spoke with an almost haughty expression that was remedied by her lighthearted tone. “It seems you’ve found yourself in a right mess of things, haven’t you?”

Viviane managed to force a smile on her face despite the situation. “I should say the same for you, Lady Scarlet. Just what happened to you...?”

“I was attacked by Captain Vale and his soldiers during the cannonspawn suppression,” Scarlet explained curtly. “Those spineless ingrates and their false devotion... Gah! I do not wish to talk about it at the moment.”

“Captain Vale attacked you...?” Viviane’s eyes widened, incredulous. Sure, the captain had nearly drawn his blade on her as well, but he’d backed down in the end, even if only in response to a threat. Viviane simply couldn’t imagine the soldier having the gall to draw his weapon against Scarlet of all people, much less actually strike her.

“Captain Vale is no longer relevant. I have pacified the soldiers with the help of Spinel’s knights and Eris.” Scarlet said with an air of finality.

“And the cannonspawn?” Viviane asked despite already knowing the answer. It was the only way the captain and his men could’ve found out about Scarlet’s Crest which had been deemed heretical by the church for reasons unknown.

“Eradicated.” Scarlet waved her hand dismissively, glancing toward her knight as Eris and the Walpurgisknight’s weapons came together in a particularly loud clash. “But enough about me. I will recover in due time. What of Dame Medrauta? How did she even end up in this state in the first place?”

Viviane shook her head wordlessly, casting her gaze down at her still-slumbering knight. She honestly didn’t even know what to say at this point nor did she know how to explain Medrauta’s sudden collapse to Scarlet. Of course, she was aware that the raven-haired noblewoman was familiar with Medrauta’s episodes, but she herself wasn’t wholly familiar with the knight’s circumstances.

After all, the information she had gained from Emrys had been diluted, the bladelike woman recounting only the most important parts. Viviane pursed her lips and took a deep breath, deciding to start from the beginning.

“Lady Scarlet, you’re aware of Medrauta’s origins, yes?”

Scarlet nodded. “She is the daughter of Morgana, who was also known as the ‘Last Paladin’, yes?”

“So you knew...”

“No. She told me herself. I did not know before that.”

“...I see. Medrauta is a special case. She... She was the one who slew the last witch. It was an accident that never should have come to pass, and yet, it did. Her memories were sealed by someone named Emrys. Would you happen to know them?”

Scarlet shook her head, frowning. Her intelligence network was vast, but even she hadn’t heard of anyone named Emrys. “If there is someone in the Empire who goes by such a name, they are unknown to me.”

“No matter. Her memories were sealed, along with the trauma of witnessing her mother’s death, but as a Paladin, her strength of will is stronger than most. I’m sure you understand what that means.”

“Whenever something triggers her memories to resurface, it’ll chip away at the seal and cause her to fall into a coma.” Scarlet frowned, casting her gaze around their surroundings. Other than the shield tower, the rest of the area was just grassland. “But... What could have caused her memories to resurface this time?”

Viviane bit her lip. This was the hard part. In fact, not even she understood why or how a statue of Morgana was inside the shield tower, nor did anything Emrys told her imply such an encounter.

“Inside the shield tower...” Viviane began, directing Scarlet’s gaze toward the structure. Eris and the Walpurgisknight were still furiously exchanging blows in front of it, but the entrance was wide open and clear.

“Yes? I see a statue. What—” Scarlet’s eyes widened as she inspected the statue, recognizing its significance as she pieced together the situation. “No. You cannot mean to tell me that is her.”

“It is. The statue you see before you is one of Morgana. The very Morgana who was Medrauta’s mother.”

Scarlet shook her head, dismissing Viviane’s statement immediately despite knowing that it was the only plausible explanation for Medrauta’s sudden collapse. “It cannot be. These towers are old. Even from afar, I can tell these towers are at least a thousand years old from their architectural language alone. Morgana could not have lived during such an era and also mothered Medrauta.”

“But that is the only explanation we have, Lady Scarlet.” Viviane said despite nodding in agreement. “I do not know if Paladins enjoy an extended lifespan, but even if they do, I cannot imagine it being great enough to span millenia.”

The two noblewomen fell silent, both in agreement of the absurdity that was the statue’s presence. It was just illogical to think that anyone could live for so long. While Viviane was aware that those who cultivated ki in Higashi enjoyed greatly lengthened lifespans, even the most ardent of cultivators lived for several centuries at most.

Had Morgana truly lived for so long, the only comparable figure in history with such a great lifespan would have to be the Witch Queen.

No. There’s Emrys too. Viviane remembered. She must be much older than Morgana... and perhaps even the Witch Queen herself.

If there was someone like Emrys who existed, then it wasn’t a stretch for Viviane to imagine that Morgana might have some sort of ability like the Lake keeping her alive for so many years. After all, Emrys spoke of Morgana fondly, like an old friend with whom she’d experienced many trials and tribulations together over the years.

“...Instead of the past, perhaps we ought to focus on the present.” Scarlet said, noticing Viviane beginning to fall into deep thought. “Eris can only hold that damned Walpurgisknight back for so long. It seems he’s taken extra precautions against my knight since last time.”

Sure enough, the Walpurgisknight’s armor was now much heavier and thicker, making it practically impossible for Eris to actually deal any damage to the man even if Carnwennan was capable of leaving deep gashes in the obsidian steel. The blade simply wasn’t long enough, and it seemed as though there were certain conditions that must be met for Eris to trigger the enormous expansion it was capable of earlier against the behemoth.

The air shook with their latest clash, Eris barely managing to redirect a powerful whirling strike that knocked her into the air with its sheer force. Although she had been on the attack, the Walpurgisknight was quickly recovering from his earlier setback, and it didn’t look like Scarlet was in any state to help either.

Viviane hadn’t noticed it when Scarlet had first appeared, but now that she was no longer focused solely on the noblewoman’s wounded and disheveled state, she could see the exhausted look in Scarlet’s amethyst eyes. Her breathing came shallow as well, and she hadn’t moved her injured arm at all since arriving, which was concerning to say the least.

Developing her ki sensing abilities prior to the siege on Revelo Castle had also aided Viviane in strengthening her ability to sense mana. She closed her eyes now, focusing on Scarlet and finding the lady’s mana reserves frighteningly low.

“...That was the last thing I could do to help her, yes.” Scarlet suddenly said, breaking Viviane’s concentration. “Did you really think I would be standing here and speaking with you so leisurely if not?”

“...I suppose not.”

Scarlet shook her head, a faint grin on her lips. “It is not as if you are terrible at hiding your mana signature. Your face is simply too easy a read.”

Viviane pouted for a moment before turning her attention to Eris’ duel. At the moment, it seemed that the smaller knight was hopelessly outmatched. She had appeared confident and strong earlier with a smirk on her face, but it was clear that Eris was just as exhausted as Scarlet, if not more. After having to deal with so many cannonspawn on her own, she was likely forced to rush back in defense of her lady only to find Scarlet under attack by those who had been allies mere seconds ago.

The light of Carnwennan did not wane, but Eris’ strength certainly did. Even now, her movements were less adroit and energetic as they were when she’d first arrived.

Viviane gripped her bow tightly. She’d run out of arrows after that stunt with the silver dome, and though she had a dagger, there was no way she would be able to contribute to the fight against the Walpurgisknight.

All she could do was stare helplessly at her knight as Eris received blow after blow, her arms growing weaker and more tired with each passing second.