CHAPTER 5
As Paradise Begins to Fall
1
“Alice, listen closely.”
The hand gripping the communicator wouldn’t stop shaking.
It was getting hard to breathe. She’d never felt so panicked before. Reflected in the mirror was Alice, drained of all color.
“The Imperial forces? …The palace has been raided…?”
“It’s possible. It happened so suddenly, I still cannot completely grasp the situation. What is certain is that the palace has been bombarded.”
The queen was speaking on the other side.
Upon witnessing the outside world from the Queen’s Space, she had contacted Alice immediately.
…It’s customary for the queen to summon her direct reports when unforeseen circumstances present themselves.
…Collecting information is of utmost importance.
The queen had abandoned that procedure to call Alice…for obvious reasons.
She was requesting their trump card—in other words, Aliceliese the Ice Calamity Witch, the greatest weapon against the Imperial forces.
“Rin! Prepare the car!”
“At once.” The attendant practically flew out of the room.
“We do not know the enemy formation and cannot even guess how the Imperial forces crossed the borders. However, we must postpone those questions for later.”
“Your Majesty!” Alice managed to shout. “I will be there in two hours. Please stay safe!”
“I intend to.”
Bzt. The communicator buzzed audibly as the queen hung up.
They hadn’t even talked for two minutes. The queen had spoken in fragments, and Alice still hadn’t processed everything.
“…And at a time like this!”
Her body had been chilled to the core from the night breeze, but now, her blood was boiling.
What terrible timing.
Alice had left the palace and gone to the villa only the day before yesterday. In just those two days, the Imperial forces had attacked.
…Did they know the Ice Calamity Witch was away?
…How would they? The only ones who know my situation are related to the Lou.
She was going to assume it was a coincidence.
If she dived into conspiracy theories now, she might act in a way that wasn’t in accordance with the truth. There was one thing to do. To return to the palace and defeat the enemy as soon as possible.
“Hang in there, Mother!” She dashed into the hallway with her communicator still in hand.
From the third floor of the western wing, she raced down the stairs to the front entrance. Before she could turn the final corner, Alice failed to notice the figure coming toward her.
A boy with blackish-brown hair.
“Whoa!”
“Iska?!”
Alice couldn’t slow down fast enough. Had Iska not stepped back, they would have had a head-on collision in the reception hall. Alice reflexively turned around to face him.
There’s no way.
“Alice? What’s wrong? Why were you running so fast down the hall?”
The Imperial soldier looked at her innocently.
Alice stared directly back at him. With the raid underway as his unit stayed in the Sovereignty… They couldn’t possibly be unrelated. It would be too much of a coincidence.
…It couldn’t be you, right? This wasn’t the doing of one of your friends, right?
…Don’t tell me you helped the Imperial forces hide themselves?
Her face stiffened.
Iska must have picked up on that. “…Alice?”
“I’m heading back to the palace right now.” She tried to sound firm, barely managing to stop her voice from shaking. “Promise me one thing. I want to believe this has nothing to do with you. So if you want to prove that’s true, stay in the mansion. Don’t take a step outside.”
“Wh-what are you talking—?”
“Do not go outside under any circumstances. If you show any sign of collusion with the Imperial army, I won’t forgive you!”
“The Imperial army? What do you mean? What happened?!”
“? ”
He stretched his hand out to her.
Just before he could touch her, Alice shrugged off his hand, turning away from him. She bit her lip.
There was no time. She didn’t have the time to interrogate Iska here.
…You already know, Alice.
…Iska and his unit have nothing to do with this.
She had realized that at a glance.
His face said he knew nothing. That wasn’t the face of someone trying to deceive her. The Imperial swordsman had always been awkward, and she already knew he was a terrible liar.
That was why she needed to pick up speed and get to the palace right now.
Alice barreled down the front stairway to run away from Iska and headed into the dusky garden.
“Lady Alice, over here!” Rin beckoned her over to the parked car.
With Rin in the driver’s seat, Alice leaped into the back.
“I expect the road to the palace to be blocked by Imperial forces. Please forgive me. It will be a rough ride.”
“Where are my clothes?”
“Inside the suitcase. There is no time for you to change. Please do so while we’re en route.”
Her white royal battle dress was made to order, a custom fit for Princess Aliceliese. Its luminescent fibers would allow the astral corps to recognize her even in the low visibility of night.
“Rin, hit the pedal. Make sure we get there in under two hours.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Cadillac One screeched ahead.
After observing the night through the bulletproof glass, Alice closed her eyes.
The Lou Erz mansion. The foyer.
“Alice? What happened? And what was that about the Imperial forces…?!”
The blond witch had not divulged any details. In fact, she almost had, but she’d had to scramble outside before she could even start.
…There was obviously something panicked about her behavior.
…Plus, that expression on her face. It wasn’t like she was mad or sad or anything.
And she had said the words Imperial army .
“Iska? What’s the matter? If you shout in the halls at this time of night, it carries through the mansion.”
The youngest princess had come from down the hall. She was carrying a bag with a change of clothes as though she were just about to head to the bath.
“Sisbell!”
“Ahhh?! Wh-what is it, Iska…? Oh, wait… Have you finally decided to work for me?”
“I need to ask you for a favor. I want you to come with me to Alice’s room.”
“P-pardon me?” She blinked at him in surprise when Iska grabbed her shoulders. “Were we summoned by my sister?”
“…It must have taken place a few minutes ago. I want you to reproduce whatever happened in Alice’s room.”
2
The Planetary Stronghold rose over the Nebulis Sovereignty.
The castle had been created using crystallizing astral powers a century ago, when the country had become independent. The structure was organic and quite different from a human castle. If it could be likened to anything, it was like terrestrial coral.
Like a coral reef stark against the bright-blue ocean, the Planetary Stronghold glittered rainbow against the jet-black sky.
“Wow. That thing looks solid. It’s so bright that we don’t need any lights.”
Imperial machine guns hadn’t managed to leave a single dent on the outside walls of the palace. The few pieces that chipped away were restoring themselves instantly with astral power.
A soldier with the untamed air of a beast was looking up at that Planetary Stronghold.
“Names,” she called out behind her, where there wasn’t the presence of a single person.
The Saint Disciple of the third seat. Mei, the Incessant Tempest.
Her inhuman senses had gathered that some invisible entity was silently standing there.
“Aren’t you sixty-five seconds late getting to your post? Doesn’t seem all that like you.”
“It’s within the margin of error,” rumbled a low voice from right next to Mei. Not a single member of the astral corps had noticed Saint Disciple Nameless hidden in full-body fiber-optic camouflage.
“The area, including the gardens, is approximately five million square yards in size. Seventeen selected locations are being simultaneously bombarded. The number of weapons we could carry across the border, however, was extremely limited.”
“C’mon, we already knew that in advance. That’s no excuse to be late.”
“This thing is flame resistant.”
“Hmm? So it was hard to light this structure on fire?”
“This fortification is alive. You wouldn’t even be able to get a small fire started without dousing the place in gasoline.”
The Nebulis palace was a nest of micro astral energy. When it sensed fire, its powers would activate and concentrate to smother it.
However…behind the two Saint Disciples, embers like those from a volcanic eruption were raging.
The seventeen locations that Nameless spoke of were handled by each of the Empire’s assassination units, who had concealed themselves several hours prior and attacked at the same time.
“We made use of rush firebombs. Hence the sixty-five second delay.”
“Hmm. Well, I guess it’s fine, but weren’t we going to use those firebombs as a last resort to make the inner citadel fall? Like for the queen’s castle?”
“Possibly.” He was blunt.
It almost sounded as though he was shirking responsibility, but this unforeseen issue wouldn’t cause the slightest change to their plan. It was the first time the Imperial forces were seeing the stronghold; unanticipated events were to be expected.
They were Saint Disciples because they could find instant solutions…by force.
“Huh? Where’s Jo?”
“A whole step ahead of us. He’s heading to the Queen’s Shrine,” answered a Saint Disciple arriving at the bright-red battleground.
The Saint Disciple of the fifth seat. Risya.
“Apparently he’s taking the best soldiers from Special Division Six to crush the enemy’s defenses.”
“Fine by me. I’ll catch up to him anyway.” In her sleeveless battle uniform, Mei flashed a bright smile, baring her sharp canines. “Risya, are you joining in on the competition? Let’s see who can capture the queen first.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Then how about you, Names?”
“Do as you please—for as long as you can, that is.”
This master silent killer made no use of guns. He snorted.
“Every last being in this palace is a monster. If you let your guard down, the hunter will become the hunted. Your flesh in particular is top secret. Do not do anything foolish.”
“Me? Let my guard down? Never.”
In the night, Mei’s eyes slowly started to glitter. They looked ferocious, like an animal’s.
“We’re witch-hunting. I want to see what the real monsters—the Founder’s descendants—are like.”
For the first time in history, the Planetary Stronghold, the Nebulis palace, had been raided by the Imperial forces.
3
The Lou Erz mansion.
The door to Aliceliese’s room had been left ajar. She must not have had seconds to waste to even close it.
The queen’s and Alice’s voices had been reproduced, sounding strangely composed.
That was just a few minutes ago.
“Alice, listen closely.”
“The palace is under attack. It’s in flames.”
“It reminds me of the Imperial force’s bombardments. In all likelihood, it is.”
The video stopped there.
Not on its own. The girl casting the spell had been too shocked to focus, interrupting her astral power.
“…The…Imperial forces…?” Sisbell’s voice was hoarse.
She lost the ability to even support herself and crumpled to her knees on the spot.
“But…”
“W-wait a second?! I can’t believe this!” shouted Commander Mismis. “We didn’t know anything. I’m being honest here! I mean, we ran into you, Ms. Sisbell, in an independent state.”
“…I never said it was your fault, Commander Mismis.” The girl on the carpet weakly lifted her face. “I’ve been watching you. You haven’t received a single message from the Imperial headquarters, even when you were in Alsamira. I’m not doubting you really were on extended leave.”
“Th-then…”
“Please remember what my sister Elletear told us.”
“There was a time when I was close with the Imperial army.”
“As long as you obediently stay in the mansion, your attendant will come back to you.”
In other words…Elletear was implying she wanted Sisbell to bear it as the palace was raided.
That explained why she’d transported Unit 907 to this villa upon reaching the terminal: Unit 907 could have recognized the faces of the Imperial forces that were preparing to raid the central state.
Had they run into any of them, the plan might have come to light.
“Elleteaaaaaar!” The youngest princess’s shriek seemed to pierce through the night. “I…I don’t understand what you’re thinking! Are you trying to betray our motherland?! Why—?”
A gunshot fired.
They heard something whiz outside the walls.
“Huh?” Sisbell turned to the window in tears. She was inexperienced in battle, unfamiliar with the sound.
“Get down.”
“Ah?! …Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”
The youngest princess protested as Jhin forced her to duck.
“Don’t go near the windows. You raise your head, and it’ll be riddled with holes. Keep down until you get out of the room and escape through the hallway.”
“B-but what is going on?!”
“I heard an electrical sound with that gunshot. It’s an assault rifle, TH76…or an 87.” Nene leaned against the living room wall. Her expression looked grave as she peered out toward the balcony. “Meaning it’s an Imperial gun.”
“What?!”
“They’re casing this mansion. It wasn’t just the palace.”
“Th-this is no joke! Our servants are unarmed. Just how sick are the Imperial forces if they’re willing to attack civilians?!”
“Shut up and run. Boss.” Jhin shoved Sisbell toward Commander Mismis, who took her hand and tugged her out to the hallway.
Thunk.
They heard something landing on the third-floor balcony.
“They’re coming around from the rear garden, Iska.”
“Got it!” Iska unsheathed his black astral sword, charging himself up.
The sword flashed. The curtain was in shreds…and dropped to the ground.
Beyond the glass wall, they could make out the forms of Imperial elites crawling up the balcony, taking cover in the dark of night.
…Those are the battle uniforms from Special Defense Third Division.
…These are our colleagues. This is the worst thing that could happen!
They couldn’t fight against them.
“Eek!” shrieked Sisbell.
The muzzles of the guns aimed at her.
Before the Imperial soldiers could shoot, Iska launched himself at the glass wall.
“Hragh!” He swiped his swords twice.
They smashed the glass in front of the Imperial unit’s eyes. It wasn’t a clean cut on purpose; he purposefully hit the glass with the flat side of his sword to shatter it.
Glass came raining down on the three soldiers on the balcony.
“Wait! We’re part of the Imperial forces! We’re Unit 907 from the Third Division! We were captured on a trip in the independent state of Alsamira!” Iska yelled at the Imperial soldiers in night-vision goggles.
Please stop. He thrust his hands in front of him, hoping they would quit attacking.
“We can list out Imperial resident codes. You can check right now—”
“Out of the way, Iska!”
Had the silver-haired sniper not yelled at him…Iska would have been assailed by gunfire unleashed by the soldiers.
“These guys aren’t from the Imperial military !”
Their muzzles were pointed at Iska.
The members of Special Defense Third Division were pointing their guns at one of their own men.
A second round of gunshots was fired.
Crumpling to the ground with a shriek were the three Imperial soldiers, each shot in the shoulder. Jhin had gotten two of them. Nene had gotten the final one from behind. In seconds, they leaped over to kick the three soldiers in the jaw until they were unconscious.
“…D-did you save us?” Sisbell whispered, finally breathing again. She looked down at the three soldiers, trembling. “…It seems they don’t even show mercy to their own men.”
“Didn’t you hear me? These guys aren’t Imperial soldiers. They just look the part.”
“Huh?”
“Assault rifles like TH87 are standard for the Imperial troops, but the trick to shooting them is to lower their center of gravity toward the muzzle. That way, the astral corps can’t use them in the battlefield, even if they’re taken from us.”
“…Does a single gun have that many tricks?”
“And they didn’t know that.” Jhin stomped on the torsos of the soldiers.
Since he was the most familiar with guns out of everyone in Unit 907, Jhin had noticed that abnormality the fastest.
“You can tell from the way they’re holding these. They’ve never shot one before.”
“B-but their uniforms…?!”
“Just good fakes, or they were recovered off a battlefield. Same goes for the guns. Hey, Iska.”
“I know.” He pulled off one of the soldiers’ night-vision goggles. Iska took a good look at the middle-aged man with close-cropped hair.
He didn’t recognize the man.
There were many soldiers in the Third Division; it wasn’t as though they knew everyone.
“Iska, Jhin!” Nene had yanked the goggles off another of the soldiers and pointed at his cheek.
There was an astral crest that looked like a tattoo.
“That settles it. These guys aren’t part of an Imperial unit, little miss employer. They’re part of the astral corps. You recognize them?”
“…I don’t. I don’t think they’re even associated with the corps.”
“You better not be playing dumb.”
“I-it’s true! I feel no obligation toward rogues trying to kill me. I can affirm they aren’t members of the palace.”
If the princess didn’t recognize these assassins, they probably didn’t belong to the House of Lou. In which case, it had to be someone else who sent them here.
…But there’s something off about this situation.
…Alice heard from the queen that the Imperial forces invaded the palace.
It was different here.
These “Imperial troops” were the astral corps in disguise.
“Sisbell, do you think it’s likely that these guys are attacking the palace?”
“…I think the ones attacking the palace are real.” Her face was pale as she looked down at the collapsed assassins. “The queen guessed they were Imperial forces. She was on her fair share of battlefields when she was younger, so I think she would immediately see through any fakes.”
“So they’ve got real soldiers there, and we’ve got fake ones here? What’s going on?” Jhin asked.
Their next steps were obvious. They were grateful that this place had been cased by non-Imperial fighters.
“I hear gunshots coming from the first floor!” yelled Commander Mismis from her post down the hall. “They’re already inside!”
“Works in our favor. We can restrain them and make them spit out their leader. Iska.”
“Got it.” Iska jumped out into the hall along with Jhin, who shouldered his sniper rifle.
Footsteps thudded. They were coming close. Iska sensed them turning the corner, and he hurled himself at those people.
“Guh?!”
“Too slow.”
Before they could clumsily ready their Imperial guns, he kicked one of the fake soldiers from the chest, knocking him down. With that momentum, Iska questioned the other two.
“What happened to your astral powers ?”
“You little…!”
They were both frazzled that their identities had been uncovered and indignant from the Imperial swordsman’s provocation.
An astral corps member who had let go of his gun thrust out both his hands.
…That’s right. That’s what I need.
…You’ve exposed yourselves as astral mages.
As long as they had Sisbell’s astral power, she could reproduce everything that happened in this battle and use that as evidence that these were not Imperial soldiers.
“That’s more than enough.”
A bullet whizzed by Iska’s cheek.
The gunshots from behind shook the corridor. The astral mage, who had been shot in both arms, folded over himself. Iska had backup. Jhin and Nene had fired those shots.
“Sisbell, where are the servants?!”
“The gunshots will wake them up. Their rooms are toward the back of the residence, so they’ll be safe for a while.”
“In that case, we’re plowing ahead to the front entrance now. You stay behind us, Sisbell. Nene, Commander, we’re counting on you to protect us from behind!”
The hall facing the front door was connected to all the mansion’s corridors. If they could secure that location, they could obstruct the enemy’s invasion.
“Sounds like the footsteps have stopped. Have they switched over to launching an ambush?” Jhin asked as he ran down the hall. “If they resort to long-range shots, I’ll intercept them. If they try using astral powers at midrange, it’s on you, Iska.”
“Got it.”
There was a light coming from around the corner.
The entrance hall was illuminated, even after lights out. That meant there had to be someone there.
It was up to Iska to cut them down.
He launched himself off the ground and headed to the front hall of the second floor. He doubted his eyes when he saw the scene before him.
“The soldiers!” He looked down at the first-floor hall.
The lights were pouring down on assassins dressed as Imperial troops, all on the ground and with their guns out of reach.
There were seven in total. All of them had been incapacitated, unable to move in the slightest.
The only one standing in the hall was a middle-aged man smartly dressed in a white suit.
“Hello, Sisbell. That was very close.”
He was a burly man with dignified features, like a movie star. He had a mild-mannered, gentlemanly vibe.
“I’m the head of the Hydra, Talisman. I’m here on a direct order from the queen to rescue you. Sisbell, are you safe?”
“Lord Talisman?!” shouted Sisbell from the second-floor landing.
“You haven’t been hurt, have you? The queen was very worried.” As Talisman looked up at the princess, he broke into a cool smile. “But you’re safe now. There is a disaster going on in the palace, but I will protect you.”
“…You mean the one launched by the Imperial forces.”
“That’s right. Seeing that the Imperial units are after the palace, they must be after the queen and her close associates. You’re one of the targets, according to the queen.”
“The queen said that?”
“Yes. We must hurry. I’ve defeated the assassins here, but we cannot be certain if there are more on the way. Come on. Let’s get in my car.”
“Uh.” Sisbell’s shoulders started to convulse as she stood on the landing.
She was looking fearfully at her left wrist…which the silver-haired sniper had grabbed to silently tell her not to go .
“What’s the matter? Aren’t you Sisbell’s guards?”
“We’re just doing our job. This’ll be over in twenty seconds. I want to say two things to you.”
Jhin had Sisbell retreat to Iska’s side. Jhin stepped forward to the front line of the landing.
“If you’re the head of the Hydra, how do you explain Vichyssoise attacking us in the eighth state?”
“That was already settled with the inquisition with the queen. We have no way of knowing why, and even I have a difficult time believing the firsthand accounts of her transformation.”
“All right. Second question,” Jhin said.
“Ask away. We’re in a hurry, but I will answer any questions to prove my innocence.”
“You idiot.” Jhin’s lip curled up as he snarled.
He aimed the muzzle of his sniper rifle at the man downstairs.
“There were two people behind the coup. That was Elletear and you—the one who invited the Imperial forces here .”
That wasn’t a question.
It was a declaration of war against a sorcerer related to the Founder.
“…Huh?! W-wait, Jhin, what are you doing?”
“Shut up and listen.”
Sisbell went silent. She realized Jhin was telling her to hear him out.
“Right now, the palace is being attacked by real Imperial forces. So why send us astral mages pretending to be one of us? Why is it that Vichyssoise showed herself while these mages are in costumes? Aren’t they both trying to overthrow the country?”
“…”
“No one would question it because the timing was immaculate. Witnesses wouldn’t question whether these soldiers in Imperial uniforms were fake. They’d probably testify that they saw Sisbell being kidnapped from the mansion by Imperial units .”
What would happen then?
It would make Unit 907 out to be the perpetrators. Not a single person would assume the House of Hydra was behind this entire scheme.
“Now we know the culprits who planned the coup also arranged the Imperial raid. In fact, no one but the queen’s assassin would be so hell-bent on capturing Sisbell. After all, once this little girl gets back to the palace, it’ll be all over for the suspect.”
“Stop right there. There has been a terrible misunderstanding.”
The man did not move a single step. He calmly raised his hands to show them he had no animosity toward them whatsoever.
“I can explain myself, but I have a question for you: Couldn’t you apply your theory to the other family? Ours has not put up the most resistance to the reign of the current queen.”
“You’re saying you want to point the blame toward the Zoa? There’s no way. Lord Mask hasn’t got anything to do with this whole feud. He’s completely in the clear.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“’Cause we saw him at Alsamira. Based on your reaction, you’ve got no clue what he was blurting out.”
“I do not care about her reasons. That girl tried to deceive us.”
“She tried to bring in an Imperial-soldier pawn from outside the game.”
Lord Mask On had been enraged.
After all, Princess Sisbell had been tied to Imperial soldiers. He wouldn’t allow her to have a word of explanation, declaring it to be a crime.
“Seems like the Zoa are ultimate extremists,” Jhin admitted. “They despise the Empire and are just itching to bring the entire country down. That’s why there’s no way they’d be part of a scheme that involved calling in the Imperial forces.”
“That’s only a theory, however. What if the Zoa were simply pretending to hate the Empire?”
“There’s no way,” Jhin refuted with a snort. “If Lord Mask was working with the Empire, this whole thing would have ended in Alsamira. He would have bought us out on the spot, then dealt with Sisbell, and this would’ve been over. He never would have needed to go to the trouble of attacking this villa.”
“…”
“Also, Lord Mask wanted to take this girl back to the palace. He was going to drag her there to interrogate her for colluding with Imperial soldiers.”
“We came here to retrieve our kindred. We have no desire to play with fire in Alsamira.”
“Why would an Imperial soldier protect a mage?”
The Zoa had been trying to escort Sisbell to the palace. That fundamentally contradicted the move to isolate her in this mansion.
“They might have extreme ideas, but the Zoa have no ties to the coup. That means there’s only one group of descendants left. Now that it’s been revealed that mages cased this mansion, you can no longer claim that Vichyssoise acted on her own. It had to have been a huge plot that involved the whole family.”
“…” The head of the Hydra made no attempt to reply.
On the other hand, Iska and Sisbell had been listening to Jhin.
…That’s right. They dressed up as Imperial forces to pin the assault on the princess on us.
…But that let him figure out who was really behind this. No one can match you, Jhin.
Jhin had memorized every single one of Lord Mask’s words.
Otherwise, they never would have been able to spot the inconsistencies of this attack. They wouldn’t have concluded that this man was very dangerous.
“Got that? You’re the ones behind the revolution.”
Light applause echoed through the mansion’s hall. “Great deduction skills. I see. Your meeting with Lord Mask is a hard blow to us. It seems the fate of the stars has thrown a wrench in our plans.”
The unit could sense people stirring. The seven armed men dressed as Imperial troops rose to their feet.
“Let’s finish this quietly. The only things that will remain in this place will be Imperial gunpowder and bullet holes. After that, the servants will assume that the Imperial unit was behind it.”
“Lord Talisman?! Was it really you…?!”
“This was necessary. We require the Empire’s power to reach the planet’s core. Our goal will never be reached under the rule of the current queen.”
The head of the Hydra started to smile at the girl. His tone remained gentlemanly.
“Let’s join hands, Sisbell. The astral power in you can reveal the secrets of this planet. I would like you to work for me in the future.”
“…What?! Do you even hear yourself?!”
“Your guards are a separate matter. Things fall flat if too many actors join the stage.”
Seven assault rifles were pointed at the unit.
“So I hope you will make your exit here.”
“Now, boss,” Jhin instructed.
The walls roared from the blast of a timed explosion, swallowing Talisman and his seven armed soldiers.
“What?”
“Smoke?! This is not good. We can’t capture the enemies upstairs!”
The soldiers retreated to avoid the blast. They couldn’t even fire their guns as the dust billowed in the hall and limited their visibility to only a few inches ahead of them.
“Why are you so surprised? Those were bombs you brought with you. We might know a thing or two about weapons made in the Empire,” Jhin declared from the landing.
They were bombs that they had stolen from the three armed soldiers who had invaded Alice’s room. Jhin, Iska, and Sisbell had stood somewhere highly visible to distract the head of the Hydra and his men.
Meanwhile, Nene and Commander Mismis had come down a different set of stairs, planting the bombs in the hall.
…There was a reason why Jhin talked so much.
…He was trying to buy time to plant the explosives.
In the smoke, Iska shoved the youngest princess from behind.
“Sisbell, follow Jhin and run!”
“Iska?! Wh-what about you…?”
“I’m in the rear. I’m going to buy time, so you get to the back while I do!”
As the black smoke rose, Iska held his own on the landing.
The shortest path to following Sisbell up to the second floor was this front staircase. He would protect it with his life.
“Go!”
“B-be careful. Lord Talisman’s astral power can manipulate waves—” Sisbell’s voice disappeared.
Below Iska, the base of the stairs connecting to the landing creaked.
“Guh. Are you trying to blow us up ?!”
There wasn’t a blast, smoke, or fire. The landing itself and the central staircase were pulverized by a crushing force unseen to the eye.
“Humph. So you jumped before I could destroy the stairs. Excellent job.”
Iska landed from the second floor.
Had he been half a second too late, he would have been crushed by the surge of invisible power. Though he hadn’t been injured, sweat trickled down his face.
…He tricked us.
…He got us with the whole charade about only leaving behind “Imperial gunpowder and bullet holes.”
The sorcerer wanted them to think he wouldn’t weaponize his astral energy. But here they were. He had attempted to destroy Iska, mansion and all.
“Are you insane? You’re about to ruin this place.”
“All I need to do is burn the whole thing down using Imperial explosives. Then, it won’t be my problem anymore. Astral energy residue disappears after a few hours. All that will be left will be traces of you.”
The head of the Hydra snapped his fingers. The seven armed guards on standby beside him scattered, scrambling throughout the mansion.
“You need not concern yourself with this Imperial soldier. Make sure you secure Sisbell.”
The man in the white suit waved his right hand. The fire spouting up the hall’s walls was snuffed, held back by an invisible wave.
The astral power to control unseeable streams, released in invisible surges of mechanical energy. By making them collide with objects, he could manipulate them as he willed.
It was close to supernatural psychokinesis.
“Oh dear. It isn’t in my nature to do something so barbaric.”
“…Sure doesn’t seem that way.”
“I’m not kidding. I dislike fighting—extremely so.”
Of the bloodlines that were related to the Founder Nebulis, the head of the Hydra was the one who controlled the final bloodline—the Sun.
“But a catharsis is a different matter entirely. I am purifying this planet’s soul.”
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