Kat's legs buckled, his boots scraping against the stone road. His hair fell over his face, hiding the fevered glare in his eyes as his hips collapsed against the stone. When he tilted his head, he caught the glimmer of lamps in the blade pointed toward him.
"Why, Arthur?" His voice was raw, broken.
Arthur didn't answer at once. The words came from behind Kat instead, steady and commanding.
"I told you not to kill him. We needed him as proof of the smuggling."
The vice captain's shadow stretched long over the road.
"Vice captain, I... I am sorry. But I can't..." Arthur's eyes gleamed.
Kat's voice faltered. A single drop of blood trembled at his lips, catching the pale light.
The vice captain's hand brushed Arthur's shoulder as he passed, heavy and understanding.
"Don't worry about it. I understand. Just don't tell the captain what you did. I'll handle the rest."
Kat's body twitched with rage. He lifted his head, his teeth bared. "So that's it? You were just a dog all along. Answer me, damn it, Arthur!"
"I...Kat, I..." Arthur's voice faltered, caught in the weight of betrayal.
"Don't say a damn thing, you traitor!" Kat coughed blood onto the road, the red spilling between the stones. "I can't believe I trusted you. Even your story about your family,was that a lie too?"
Arthur's eyes caught the light. His voice came low. "No. That was true. Everything I told you about my family was true."
"Then why? Why the fuck did you betray me?" Kat's chest heaved, every breath jagged.
Arthur dropped to one knee before him. "Kat, I didn't betray you. You were a criminal. If they had caught you, you'd be in hell. I freed you."
Kat's laugh was bitter, wet with blood. "Freed me? If I'm a criminal who sold girls, then what about you?"
Arthur's head bowed, his shoulders trembling. Tears dripped onto the dirt.
"You're no different," Kat rasped. "You sent the same smuggling money to your family. When the time came, you cast me aside."
"No, Kat..." Arthur reached forward, catching him.
"Don't touch me!" Kat shoved him back with a last spurt of strength. "I returned to the job only for you. I swallowed my pride for you. Is this what I deserve? You should have let Walter kill me,at least then I'd have died without knowing your true colour, without tasting the feeling of betrayal and with my dignity."
Arthur's tears mingled with Kat's blood. "I'm sorry. Please, forgive me..."
Kat's eyes narrowed. "Enough with your crocodile tears. Let fate toy with you as you toyed with me."
The shimmer of a shikigami blade flashed in the dark. It drove through Kat's skull, silencing the night. The air hung heavy, filled only with the iron tang of blood.
Far from the corpse, Walter flipped through a diary. The pages whispered in the stillness.
"Took you long enough." The diary shut with a clap.
Arthur unsheathed his sword. His voice was hoarse. "I'm sorry."
Walter unsheathed his own blade, his smile faint. "It's been a while since I've seen you in uniform. Welcome back."
Arthur's body shimmered . "It's been a while since we fought side by side."
Walter's body glowed in answer as he broke into a run. "Yes. We'll head straight to the top floor."
Arthur leapt first, bounding toward the looming tower.
The night split with the clash of steel and the dying cries of men in long blue coats. By the time the fighting ended, dawn had broken. The horizon burned gold, and the giant clock above the central tower tolled seven , each strike echoing across the silent city.
Arthur stood atop a heap of corpses, chest heaving.
"What now?"
Walter wiped his blade clean. "We return to the capital. Our knights can handle the rest."
They mounted their brooms and rose into the morning air. The central tower dwindled beneath them, the bell still echoing faintly.
Ahead loomed the great black wall. They soared over it and entered the Commoners' ring, where scattered villages dotted the vast expanse. Fields stretched wide, broken by gardens, forests and orchards, their leaves shining wet in the new light. Smoke curled from chimneys, and farmers already bent to their work.
A river cut across the land like a silver blade, marking the boundary. On the far side began the Magnet ring. Its squares stretched out in ordered rows, each block holding four buildings, roads running between them like veins. Compared to the villages behind them, this place looked sharper, denser, more alive.
The city stretched below them, quiet now under the morning sun. They descended toward the black stone of the goldsmiths' hall. Walter's hand slipped into his pocket, drawing his watch.
"It's already nine," he muttered, snapping it shut.
Two men in coats watched from the doorway, their gaze cold and unblinking. The glass doors swung open, releasing the murmur of a crowd and the glitter of jewels.
"How can I help you, sir?" a staff member asked.
"We're here to see the captain," Walter said.
The staff member leaned close, adjusting the single lens that sat on his own left eye, and studied Walter's reflection in it. Then he nodded. "This way."
They followed him up the stairs. Arthur ran his hand along the wall carvings, frowning. "This pattern... it looks like a skull hidden in the leaf."
"I don't know. I wasn't the architect," Walter muttered.
Golden light spilled from above. The floor shone with intricate designs that halted Arthur at the final step.
"This piece is for Lady Seraphina," a voice said.
A man in silk held a golden box studded with black diamonds. Across a gilded table sat another man, cloaked in a long coat, a sword at his hip. His voice was smooth and deliberate. "So this is the craftsmanship you spoke so highly of?"
Within the box rested three slender hair pins. Each bore a lotus at its base, the stems tapered sharp.
Walter approached and stood beside the man with long golden hair flowing down his back. "Captain. We followed your orders."
"Did you get the proof?"
The word struck Arthur like a blade. His chest tightened, sweat beading at his brow. His eyes flicked to Walter.
Walter met his gaze and for a moment Arthur's heart faltered.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Walter said. "I had to finish him. He tried a suicide strike."
Relief washed through Arthur, loosening the iron in his chest.
The captain sighed. "What a shame. Very well. You may leave."
Arthur wasted no breath. He turned, leaving the chamber.
Outside, the cool air swept against his face. "Those hair pins... they were something, weren't they, Vice Captain?"
Walter's voice was sharp.
"Keep your voice low. One wrong word and we're finished."
Arthur forced a smile, though his eyes lingered on the tall black building as they mounted their brooms again. His hand clenched tight around his fist. "If I had just one... I could end this."
"What are you muttering about?"
"Nothing," Arthur replied quickly, smiling again.
The evening sun bathed the capital in orange light.
"I should return to the base," Edward murmured,his
hilt coiled like tentacles around his blade, octopus face gleaming faintly in the sun. From the shadows of the square, a cloaked figure's gaze lingered, tracking his every move.