"What are you thinking about?.."
The beautiful Astria asked her companion, who sat in confusion.
He was sitting on a small hill, looking at the river that never went silent and never stopped moving.
"I'm thinking about thePrince."
"Hm? ThePrince? Now? Why...?"
The movement of the water reflected in his blue eyes, as if the blue of his eyes was what was moving.
"Well, to tell you the truth... I'm thinking about the last thing thePrince said to me."
She wondered, tilting her head to the side. She didn't ask anything else, realizing he would continue talking.
Bismarck remembered the lips of a young man moving under the sunlight. Perhaps that moment would never leave his memory.
Bismarck was fascinated by the beauty of the river's blue water; he wanted to listen to that flowing sound, but he kept talking. He had to finish what he started for Astria.
"When we were leaving the royal palace in 'Calipsia' after receiving the blessing of the Crown..."
Bismarck stood up from his seat, continuing his speech.
"...PrinceTheopold stopped me. He congratulated and praised me as usual. But when he finished all that, he grabbed my shoulder and said... 'Well, Bismarck...'"
Bismarck's eyes drifted into his imagination as he recalled the voice coming from those speaking lips in his memory.
A calm, reassuring voice. A very beautiful voice. It said with all warmth:
"...Well, Bismarck... do not forget to enjoy your Grace before it is too late."
Bismarck regained his senses and returned to the world he was in.
He turned toward Astria. With a smile that held a hint of fear and panic, he asked her:
"Hey, for heaven's sake... what did he mean?"
She chuckled a little.
"Are you serious, Freddy?! He must have been joking with you..." She continued laughing.
The terror left Bismarck's face, replaced by features of despair toward Astria after she mocked him. He muttered:
"Fine, I'm the idiot here for asking a fool like you."
Bismarck returned to contemplating the river. His eyes looked at the water, diving into it, but they were wandering. Bismarck Frederick... was still thinking.
__________
Vandall stood completely ready, as if he would dash everywhere at the same time.
"What do you mean, Vandall?!" shouted Tartar, whose patience had run out and who was overcome by fatigue.
"Just order our men to retreat quickly."
"What about you?! Come on, return with us!"
Tartar signaled his lingering men to speed up their retreat and return to the tents.
"Vandall, let's go back."
Vandall stood staring at the sky, appearing distracted.
"The same feeling... the same shiver that took over me that time!" Vandall spoke to himself, lost in his thoughts.
Tartar pulled him by the scruff of his neck.
"Talking isn't enough with you."
Even as he was being dragged, his eyes did not leave the sky.
The sky that was hiding very bad news for him and them.
The sky that was beginning to reveal its secrets slowly.
A slight ticking... a very low sound. Small pebbles, almost like crumbs and sand, began to fall.
Vandall noticed it. He pulled his shirt from Tartar's grip. Tartar noticed too.
"We're late!!!!"
The two stood looking toward the sky.
The Fallen Basilisk was preparing. Slowly, those huge rocks were losing their lightness. They seemed to be being pulled downward slowly.
"You fought well, men of Questia..."
The fall of the rocks began to accelerate.
"...but it's time for eternal sleep." The Fallen smiled.
"Take cover, men!!!!!!" Tartar screamed.
The falling rocks were close to impact. The army was about to be crushed again.
But..
"I think you need those rocks, honorable sir."
Basilisk could not believe his ears. Who was this interrupting the moment? And more importantly, how did he reach this height?
He turned to find himself facing a handsome boy. A boy standing on a giant plant branch,tree trunks and branches twisting and coiling around themselves.
Rodeln announced his entrance into the scene with total calmness and elegance; it was a normal thing for him.
When Basilisk froze, his rocks froze with him in the air and stopped falling.
Everyone below could see them floating as if they were threatening them. Everyone dashed, fleeing toward the camps in the rear, away from where the rocks would fall.
Kidman sighed. "I don't know what happened... but we survived."
"I think support has started to arrive," Wilhelm said.
The surrounding men agreed with him, as some pointed to one of the roads behind the camp,a road in the middle of the plain, almost crowded with soldiers coming for support.
Shouts of joy rose; the soldiers felt confident and happy to receive support and to have their comrades join them.
High above all this, a fateful conversation was taking place.
__________
"Who are you... what are you doing here?!" Basilisk said with anger and a lack of patience.
"What does my name matter to you? Let's take this somewhere we can destroy" Rodeln challenged.
Basilisk knew exactly what Rodeln meant. He thought to himself:
"...This brat got me. I have the power to destroy his comrades, but my comrades are also hostages to him."
Basilisk thought about everything.
"...And what is this power?! Where did he come from?! I didn't know they had a Grace like this."
Rodeln interrupted his opponent's train of thought.
"Don't think too much. I will end this so quickly it will make you regret wasting all this time thinkin"
Basilisk grew angry at Rodeln's arrogance,the arrogance that continued.
"Alright, I'll be honest with you, Mr. Fallen. I know your Grace very well. And I know you cannot lift anything that touches the ground, so..."
From the giant trunk, a tree crest emerged, twisting in the shape of a whip.
"Let's postpone the talk... because I'm in a bit of a hurry."
Rodeln struck with his whip toward the Basilisk.Basilisk defended quickly, pulling a rock to protect him, but its size was small compared to Rodeln's whip. The rock exploded. Through its cracks, Rodeln appeared, surprising Basilisk and lunging toward him.Basilisk didn't have enough time to defend and received a kick with his crossed arms that sent him flying backward. Rodeln's kick wasn't bad, but the Basilisk's speed in taking a defensive position saved him.
"Tch—" Rodeln was annoyed. He jumped. The huge plant arm coiled behind him in a spiral shape, then lunged toward Rodeln's floating body. The trunk launched Rodeln, who soared through the air in search of his opponent.
__________
A meeting on the ground.
The Oukosian commanders were arranging their lines.
"Finally, support from the North has arrived! The Southern squads were completely destroyed this morning. It seems we will fight even after sunset today!" shouted the Supreme Commander of the Oukosian ranks.
"They are also relying on the pressure from the support coming from the North," a commander said to him.
"It doesn't matter. We will camp here. If they advance, we will do our part and advance. And if they don't..."
He pointed his finger to a spot on the map, his face full of shame and disgrace.
"We will return to the capital."
..
While the Oukosian leaders were thinking of fleeing, a familiar voice moved the Questian camp.
"You look like you're in a miserable state, you fools!"
Everyone turned toward the blonde woman speaking with confidence and a smile.
"Canaria!!" The whole camp rejoiced at her presence,not just her men, but the soldiers and the commanders with them.
"Ah, Commander!! What's the matter? Is the agreement with the Authority over?!" Tartar asked.
"No, the plan has changed. We will press here with everything we have." She looked around, searching for someone.
"I'm here..." Vandall said in a cold, bored voice. He stood in the back a bit, amidst the crowd gathered around Canaria.
"You brat, come here!!" she shouted, baring her teeth at him.
With a face full of boredom, he pushed through the ranks and headed toward his commander..he knows how this ends.
"Is this how you welcome your commander?" "Booo!" "Eat shit, Vandall!" the mercenaries scolded their younger comrade.
"This is what you deserve, you stupid child," she squeezed him with her arms.
Vandall wished for death, thinking: "..Why did those damn rocks stop?.."
Someone didn't like this... "Wait, wait..."
Vanguard intervened. "Would you be so kind as to set my little brother aside, please?"
"Oh, Vanguard!!" Vandall breathed a sigh of relief. He headed toward his brother. They exchanged words, informations, and checking looks.
..
"Alright, alright," Wilhelm said. "This is enough. Let's get back to what's important."
Wilhelm was right. He stood with Vanguard, Canaria, and other decision-makers. Everyone gathered around them, listening carefully. Plans and tasks were being divided.
__________
"...Alright... focus. You can fight him. He's just a child."
While Basilisk was thinking that, he noticed something heading toward him with immense speed. With agility, he dodged it. It was that boy. He looked down and found the previous trunk piercing the ground quickly as if it were crawling, following Rodeln.
"...Damn... where did I get cursed with this brat."
A long plant vein emerged from that moving giant trunk, extending toward Rodeln to grab his arm while he was in the air. Rodeln swung. He placed his free hand around his mouth to shout:
"Come on!! Let's finish all this, Mr. Fallen!!"
Rodeln's voice and words provoked the Basilisk's anger; every word and every bit of arrogance provoked him more and more.
"Don't you miss your mother?!" He tried to provoke Rodeln in turn.
Rocks gathered around him gradually. He pulled two near him and launched them toward Rodeln. Rodeln was currently hanging from the tree trunk. He drew his sword with his remaining hand. The sword ignited with a calm yellow Lumen.
"Haaaaah!!!!"Basilisk was speechless , he looked so shocked.
Rodeln cut the two rocks with his sword, a mocking smile on his face.
"Are you kidding me?! Are you for real, you?!"
Basilisk threw more rocks, then even more.
"A Converter...?! Since when did Questia have a Grace owner who is a Converter?!"
He appeared in a state of confusion and extreme terror. The man lost all his pride and calmness.
Meanwhile, this talented boy prepared for more.
"Let's go..
... Sword of Zinterith."
He dashed toward his opponent.
Basilisk didn't know where the attack would come from.
"Tell me, Mr. Fallen..."
Rodeln's smile vanished from Basilisk's sight because of the light coming from the sword in Rodeln's hand.
"...have you ever seen anything like this before?!"
Basilisk had no idea what the attack he was about to receive would be. But the blinding light made things worse, leaving him distracted and without defense.
The light produced was clear even to the people below.
A striking wave of Lumen in one direction was enough to stop everything in the sky.
..
Rodeln was now searching amidst the pile of rocks that fell after Basilisk fell. There were some scattered trees here and there, some gathered near each other.
While Rodeln searched, there was a man leaning against a tree,a man slowly charring. Steam came out of him while he laughed; his laughter began to grow louder.
Until Rodeln heard some of it from afar.
"Fine!!" the man said. "Fine..." a second time. "FINE!!!" he screamed.
Rodeln made sure that his opponent was not finished.
"Just... remember... you are the one who wanted things to get to this..!"
Rodeln appeared shocked by something.
"His Lumen... it's disappearing! Could it be...?"
..
The charred man's smile stopped. He joined his palms together close to his chest, a position similar to a prayer،a prayer of the final moments when there is no other solution.
The cracked lips uttered the last thing Basilisk could say:
"The Empty Hand... come to me,
..O 'Bright Morning Star'..."
__________
It seems that even for the sky, you can be high.
The thing that floats far away from everything...
The thing that looks like a hammer... it shines, it glows, it moves. It moves slowly... until it accelerates... and accelerates.
It burns from its acceleration. It pierces space, it crosses, it falls, it plunges.
In the direction of the boy, who seems to be in some trouble... Some very bad trouble.