Глава 13

This is an ancient Royal Court method, and they have completed the preparations for it.

I need time.

We haven't exposed our position yet, so we might be able to buy some time, but... Wait—

What's that?

...Fire?

There's a firefight in the town there... but who is it?

Looks like they beat us here.

A rather choppy meeting.

The Doctor looks calm.

Right, after all we've been through, we finally get to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends again.

Lord Banshee, what... are you going to do? You'll take care of the enemy, won't you?

This, this power... it's a blessing from His Highness the Prince of Blood, is it?

The Sanguinarch... he's blessed the Sarkaz bloodline.

The Ursine miner swings his weapon and a sharp whistling sound rings out.

He looks a little frightened of his own strike, almost losing his grip on the weapon.

The driver and the Shopkeep gather around him, investigating his new strength.

Paprika moves a few steps toward me.

Um... Lord Banshee, I also feel a bit... stronger... a little.

Is it arm strength? Or my brains? I can't tell for sure, but I just feel kinda...

...It's a strengthening altar, witchcraft. We've seen this before. But this one is on a larger scale, and it feels different.

Logos, could this have any adverse...?

Quite unexpected.

It does not demand a price of us, at least not one drawn from our own bodies.

Then why—

Logos looks at the Sarkaz girl.

Paprika, was it?

What do you hope to use this power for?

Well...

The more skilled a Sarkaz becomes in war, the more efficient he spills blood on the battlefield. Doesn't matter if it's his enemies' blood or his own.

The ritual can continue.

The Sanguinarch has prepared for this decisive battle, but their... Theresis's plan was just for this ritual?

The Arts Circles seem to have come under attack, and the Vampiric creatures are going out of control.

Yes, a large colony of crimson worms is drilling out of the ground, rushing around in all directions.

A good number of them seem to have caught our scent.

Leave this to us, Logos.

Please look into the ritual for us.

Amiya, you and the Doctor could accompany me.

I look at Paprika's team in the distance, those Sarkaz unaware of the danger here.

Let's be quick.

...Roger.

Um—

What are you going to do with us?

What do you mean?

I realized a while ago that, well, the ones who've been captured... are us, right?

I know the Royal Court guys pretty well, and you give off a totally different vibe.

Your name is Amiya, right? You and this Doctor are in charge.

I think... you're about the same age as me.

And I can tell that Banshee is a pretty big deal, I can feel it, you can't fake that. But he's working for you?

A few days ago, I met a Caprinae lady who called herself a Sarkaz... is she with you too?

Just who the heck are you guys?

Do you intend to fight us, Paprika?

I can feel that the girl is not hostile.

Well...

I... don't know.

In the distance, the Sarkaz let go of the sudden surge of power they're feeling for a moment, and call out to Paprika.

Captain, how did the Banshee get away? What do we do now? The cracks in the earth are spreading toward us!

Why did they leave those two prisoners behind? Do the big shots from the Royal Court trust us so much?

Um... yeah! Be on guard for threats from that direction!

I'll keep an eye on these two!

You may be stronger, but you still don't know war.

Or I guess, none of you are ready to fight this war.

...Yeah. After all this time, how could we not know?

I get a little closer to her.

But she seems to misunderstand my intent, and retreats half a step. Then, as if making a difficult decision, she holds her ground in front of me.

And at this point, I realize she's about the same height as I am.

I'm the captain of the transport team! If you're going to do something to us, you have to start with me.

They're just regular people who answered His Highness's call to arms across Terra.

They don't even know what they're doing. They just transport the stuff General Manfred says to move—

The instant they answered that call... the Victorians would cease to call them regular people.

And that's got nothing to do with what they've actually done.

I think of the fires in Auchterigg, the factory pipes in Sudean, the street corners of Norport...

The survival of the Sarkaz means the destruction of Victoria.

The triumph of Victoria means the cleansing of the Sarkaz.

Those caught in the vortex no longer have the power to choose.

They're units put under my control by the General. No matter what happens, I have to guarantee their safety.

I swore as much to General Manfred.

The General, huh?

Then first thing's first, let's deal with these out-of-control blood worms together.

Tell your team to fall back. Don't take any chances, these creatures will suck dry any blood they can find.

Doctor, stick close to me.

I will use my power to clear the way for us, and for them.

The fractured, surging land spreads out before us.

The Vampiric offspring bathe in blood, indulging in the pain. Their bite is the touch of the Sanguinarch himself.

I raise my hand and close my eyes. I will stitch together this scarred land.

I will hold the whispered fate of the myriad souls in my hands.

A black rhombus, a black shadow.

Black Arts surge from my fingertips.

These twisted offspring deserve peace.

Hey little bunny, there's a faster way to seal those cracks, you know?

W?!

'Bang, bang, bang!'

It-It's...

Sarkaz mercenaries?

Watch your footing, Yarnball, that's not a great place to stand.

Huh—

My advice is to give that lunatic a wide berth when she's tossing bombs around. W's not the type a sweet little Sarkaz baby oughta be close to.

Oh, Ines?

Thanks, and, err, Ami—

Wait, over your head there, that's...

The Black Crown? You're the one General Manfred was talking about...