The calm after the storm revealed itself through a light rain, faint droplets almost imperceptible. As the capital settled again, preparing to end the day, the silence after the storm was consumed by noises and murmurs like a swarm.
Merchants returned to their posts; shops that had once sheltered people from the storm gradually emptied as time passed.
But in front of the gates of the Saint Mercury Tram Station, a crowd of thousands had gathered, shouting relentlessly. Arms stretched toward the sky, expressions of mourning masked by hatred.
"Come down here and take responsibility for your guilt!" they shouted at the Emperor.
A line of soldiers gathered at the foot of the wall; another defense line positioned itself above, aiming at the most suspicious individuals. Ethan walked among those guards, judging their posture one by one.
At times, he glanced at the crowd and felt his heart weaken.
Elderly women, weeping and abandoned, made Ethan think of another world. He drifted through memories—an old childhood dream, a fantasy…
He seemed to be the only one with that vision.
The only one who wanted change.
Awakening from that brief journey into a dream world, Duke Lawrence looked at a row of soldiers and resumed his inspection. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued muttering, occasionally correcting their stance.
"Sergeant… don't place rookies up here," Ethan said while walking beside Sergeant McTirney. "They might end up shooting innocents by accident."
"No offense, Grand Master—"
"Duke," Ethan corrected, grabbing one of the rifles.
He took it from the soldier's hands and demonstrated the proper stance—firm posture to avoid being thrown back by recoil, finger off the trigger to prevent an unnecessary death.
"It should be like this. You don't want to kill an innocent, do you?" Ethan asked.
The young soldier nodded that he didn't.
"My soldiers are well trained. Otherwise they wouldn't be on the walls. They wouldn't even have passed through these gates."
"I know people from the south—soldiers, cadets—more responsible than you… Sergeant McTirney."
"Duke Lawrence. I want you to understand—" he began in a firm voice, though not threatening.
"Ethan!"
A mature voice shouted—aged, slightly rough, yet intimidating. The voice of a true soldier.
The figure appeared at the top of the tower stairs.
It was a tall, robust man, his muscles softened by a layer of fat. His hair and beard were gray, though they had once been fiery red.
The only man whose presence could calm Ethan.
The leader of the most important squad of the Imperial Union—the squad that stood above the law established by the first emperors and kings.
"Titan Lincoln Durham… the Grand Master of the Five Orders," Ethan said with admiration, though tinged with automatic sarcasm.
"Duke Lawrence!" Lincoln said with a smile. "The Grand Master of Athenian—the strongest man in the world!"
"That title lasted only six months… you took it back again!"
They embraced like old friends. Though Ethan stood nearly two meters tall, he still had to stretch slightly to reach Lincoln.
"It's been a long time! But hey—you could've taken the title of strongest again."
"No… that doesn't pay well," Ethan joked, slipping his hands into his coat pockets.
Lincoln then slapped Ethan's back twice so hard it nearly knocked the wind out of him.
"Where's Luanne Darkmoon?" Lincoln asked as he walked beside Ethan along the wall.
"Up ahead. She's waiting at the tram."
"Then why did we climb all the way up here? You made me walk ten floors for nothing!"
"No… not for nothing," Ethan replied, pointing toward the crowd below. "They're the consequence of the debate we'll have in two hours. Remember them before you raise your voice, Lincoln…"
"You're not going to oppose the Emperor's decision, are you?"
"Yes, I am," Ethan replied firmly. "If he presents a decree that goes against mine."
The sergeant and his soldiers glanced at Ethan as he spoke in another language—one difficult to interpret.
Lincoln immediately stiffened, crossing his arms over his chest. The friendly expression vanished, replaced by immediate rejection.
"You're not going to defy Emperor Llorent, are you?"
"Absolutely."
Ethan turned and faced Lincoln, his gaze just as deep as the Titan's.
"Luanne is on my side. Having the leader of the Titans with me would strengthen my argument."
"You're asking me to oppose the Supreme Court…"
"Well, isn't that why the Titans were created?" Ethan replied. "When the Empire's justice fails; when human rights are ignored; when the Emperor chooses power over life… Titans are chosen for their strength because not even the Empire can stop them with its entire army."
"Only a Titan can kill or defy another Titan… and even so, we still follow the Empire. What you need is my alliance, and you assume the other Titans would follow immediately?"
"No. If I have you and Luanne, I won't need anyone else."
"That's a coup d'état, Ethan…"
"A coup? Well… he's about to propose an attack on life itself. To sow death in order to hide his own failures. I only want the balance to remain, Lincoln. I know Durham isn't part of Romerian and that you owe nothing to the Three States—but I hope I can count on your help."
A tense silence followed.
The sergeant quietly withdrew; he couldn't understand the language spoken only by Titans, and he certainly didn't have the rank to concern himself with it.
He knew that even if he understood the conversation, Lincoln would imprison him—or drag him to the Great Empire, where Emperor Llorent himself wouldn't be able to save the sergeant from the Titan's sentence.
Ethan noticed the tension he had created. He made a pleading expression before looking back at the crowd.
"Just… think about it, alright?"
He left the spot and walked the rest of the wall until he reached the next staircase tower that led directly to the Saint Mercury Tram.
Lincoln, however, remained for a moment, studying the crowd.
The pain emanating through the gathered mana twisted before his eyes like a battlefield he once witnessed.
But the coming scene would be worse.
"An attack on life, huh?" Lincoln murmured, laughing to himself. "You've become quite the speaker, kid…"