"Oh man… Look at you. The world has tried to crush you, hasn't it?" Cedric said with a wide grin. "But I'm going to show you—it's still worth the fight."
"Up next!" the master of ceremonies called, catching the crowd's attention.
"Wait, wait—mare you mad… Are you trying to start a war?" he hissed as he turned toward Laplace. "He's a noble! What do you think you're doing, parading him in front of the people?"
"Shut up." Laplace's voice was ice. His piercing gaze made the MC stagger back a step.
"Do as you're told; perform like the monkey you are…" Laplace commanded. He then continued his gaze, sharp. "There is no need to think—I do the thinking."
"Y-yes… next…" The MC's hand trembled as he scanned the parchment.
"Hurry up!" someone in the crowd bellowed.
"Next… from the North—James, of House Arcturus! You stand accused of kidnapping and massacring over fifty souls!"
The crowd erupted with gasps and furious murmurs.
"What? A noble?"
"Shameful…"
"They're all monsters, every last one of them."
The Master of Ceremonies swallowed hard. "So… what say you? Do you deny these charges?" His voice shook with fear.
Cedric leaned toward James, studying him with a sly smile. "Ho… mate. Who knew you were such an important person?" He lifted two fingers, subtly, as though signaling someone unseen.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
"Order… order! I will not have such discourse again!" the judge thundered.
The crowd quieted at once, remembering the wrath of the executioner from earlier.
"I will ask you once more, James of Arcturus," the Judge said, voice cold. "What say you?"
James said nothing. He lifted his gaze, jaw clenched, veins throbbing at his temples.
"Ah… what a shame. Truly. Off with his head." The judge slammed the gavel.
The crowd erupted in ecstasy, chanting in unison:
"Death to the failed nobles! Off with his head!"
"Death to the failed nobles! Off with his head!"
Two guards stepped forward, unfastening the heavy bracelets that bound James's wrists. The moment they fell away, a rush of energy flooded him. His Sar flowed freely again, surging through his veins like fire.
The guards shoved him onto the platform, forcing him to his knees. His eyes fell upon the basket before him—inside, the severed head of Sarbath of Tar still rested, matted hair clinging to the rim.
"The law bends for no one… not even nobles," the Master of Ceremonies cried.
The crowd howled in approval.
"Glory to the King!"
"Long live the King!"
As the chants rose, a voice slithered into James's mind—Laplace, using a communication Hax only he could hear.
"What do you think, boy? I've already sent word of your capture. By now, the whole world knows. Do you believe your dear mother and father will come running to save you?"
James's breath caught in his chest.
"Go on then," Laplace laughed cruelly in his head. "Call out for them. Beg for them. Let's see if they care enough to save you. Or are you just so invaluable that they don't mind losing you?"
The executioner stepped forward, hands gripping the great blade as he raised it high. The crowd fell silent once more. James closed his eyes, pulling every last drop of power he still possessed into his core.
Through all his hardships, one lesson had burned itself into his soul:
"Nobody is coming to help you, child… stand and fight."
The words echoed relentlessly in his mind as his concentration locked onto a single goal—finding a way to escape.
The blade's edge, still crimson from the previous beheading, caught the light as it descended.
Dam da dum… dam da dum…
James heard the rhythm of his own heart. The hiss of steel through air grew nearer, hungering for his neck.
A voice snarled through the haze of his thoughts.
"What, boy? Is that all you have? You are choosing to give up and die!? You disappoint me."
It was Cedric, his laughter spitting venom, but James was not finished. He wasn't giving up—he was steeling his resolve.
Crack!
A thunderous bang echoed.
Screams erupted as panic ripped through the crowd. The executioner's blade missed its mark, halted not by James's flesh but by the heavens themselves. From the clear sky, lightning struck the platform, fire exploding across the wood.
The executioner stumbled back, cloak aflame.
And James—alive—propelled himself backwards with a burst of wind, smoke, and sparks curling around him.
"Hahaha… that's it," Cedric growled as the chains snapped free from his wrists.
In a blur, he lunged forward, seizing James by the coat.
"Follow me!"
They vaulted off the burning platform and vanished into the chaos of the crowd.
"Don't let them get away!" Laplace's voice tore through the din as he leapt down after them, cloak flaring like a shadow.
James stumbled alongside Cedric, weaving between fleeing bodies.
"Where are we going?" he gasped.
"Toward the docks—there's a ship waiting for us!" Cedric barked.
"Ahhh, help me!" A voice shrieked from the throng.
"You killed him—you killed him!" The cry was twisted and venomous. It was Laplace. He cut down anyone in his path, his blade carving arcs of blood as people scattered in terror.
"Damn it… This is taking too long," Laplace muttered, halting midstride.
Snap!
His fingers cracked the air. In an instant, the group of people blocking his way collapsed lifeless, their bodies hitting the cobblestones with sickening thuds.
Cedric's voice thundered back over the chaos:
"Look at them! The same people they praised are now butchering them! Go on—praise them more!"
A searing fireball roared through the smoke, forcing Cedric to duck and roll aside, the heat licking at his hair.
"Pheeeeeew!"
James whistled sharply.
From the distance, a shadow thundered through the smoke—massive wings beat the air, their gale-force winds scattering people like leaves.
"Raise your hand high!" James shouted.
Cedric obeyed, thrusting his arm upward just as Harald swooped in. The great beast seized them both in his talons, hauling them into the sky in a rush of wind and ash.
"Take us to the docks!" James commanded.
Harald's wings snapped wide, carrying them higher and higher above the chaos.
Cedric laughed breathlessly, eyes wild with exhilaration.
"What the hell? You had a familiar? You didn't need my help then, hahahaha!"
But freedom was not theirs yet. Behind them, a figure rose into the air—Laplace, his body suspended by levitation, dark cloak snapping in the wind.
"You're not escaping me, boy." Laplace snarled, hurling a blazing orb of flame.
The fireball tore through the air, but Harald surged faster, wings driving them beyond its reach. The spell fizzled uselessly in the wake, Laplace's fury echoing behind them as the beast carried James and Cedric toward the docks.