Aftermath (1/2)

Atop the palace walls, thousands of random shields, armor scraps, boots, and other random items are bobbing up and down in elation.

To the civilians and guards watching warily outside the palace walls, it looks like thousands of random objects are possessed by demons and dancing in the air in some dark ritual.

Instead of anything sinister or magical, the palace guard Wills are celebrating their victory. Through the long, hard battle, most of the bandit Wills have been worn out. They were either forcibly dispersed after being abused for so long, or they fled to the safety of Haalfrin's soul – shivering in defeat.

What matters is that they won, right? They did their jobs! Those bandit scum couldn't win against their strength! So, being consumed by pride and happiness, the victorious Wills shiver and bounce in the air chaotically as they chat and shout at each other in their own, strange way of speaking.

Just as they're about to march back into their barracks, they feel a powerful force pull on them, and their Wills are ripped out of their possessed bodies. All around the palace, thousands and thousands of Wills feel a great call and congregate in the west tower.

Every Will immediately sees a powerful spirit waiting for them in the tower… and they feel a strange sense of home just looking at Haalfrin. Without hesitation, they all dive into Haalfrin's soul – the one place they can finally rest.

…Even still, the guard Wills and bandit Wills notice each other in the same soul, and they scream in fury. "THIS IS OUR TURF!!" some of the bandits scream. "KILL THE INVADERS!" some of the guard Wills scream out in retaliation.

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Just when Haalfrin thought he had gotten all the errant Wills back under control, he feels a deep pain in his heart, and he falls over on the ground clutching his chest and spasming.

At this moment, Officer Kalkass runs into the room and sees the young boy struggling on the ground. With his trained spiritual eyes, he knows exactly what's going on.

King Kanus sees the Brancotte officer show up alone, and he points to Haalfrin. "Officer! Haalfrin is right here. I'm sure you already know by now, but all those Wills attacking the palace were his. I don't know what kind of evil he was planning, but I insist on locking him up and interrogating him. Can you help me subdue him?"

This seems to snap something inside Kalkass. Without warning, he stomps over to the king and slaps him upside the head. "You! This is all your fault!"

Kanus stares at the wall in shock, then turns his head slowly to meet the furious eyes. "What did I do wrong?" Kanus demands calmly. He almost spoke with a quiver in his voice, but he's a man who's grown to have a firm hold over his emotions for the most crucial times. Showing weakness here simply isn't a good idea.

Kalkass feels his fists shaking in fury, then points over to Haalfrin's shaking body, "If you're going to try going behind the empire's back to poison the man… you could've at least not been so stupid as to use the Soul Sealing Poison!"

The officer rubs his temples in frustration and explains, "You probably used the Soul Sealing Poison because you know he has powerful abilities written in his Names… But did it ever occur to you that those thousands of Wills aren't a part of him? They may rest in his soul, but they're their own individuals. Sir Haalfrin's ability normally keeps the Wills restrained and under control to some degree… But once his soul powers were suppressed by YOU, all the Wills lost their leash, then they went nuts!"

Kalkass looks over at the destruction still displayed on the surveillance mirrors, "All that death is YOUR fault! Once I help Sir Haalfrin get through the remaining poison, you're coming with me to the empire to face your crimes."

With that said, Kalkass turns back to Haalfrin, and the two mages start glowing white as the Empire's emissary is pumping mana into Haalfrin's soul to restabilize the boundaries of his soul realm.

During this long and intense process, Kalkass manages to keep an eye on the Alasta King to make sure he isn't trying to run away or attack them. Rather than any of that, he just notices that the king is standing next to the nexus crystal, leaning one elbow on it wearily.

'He doesn't appear to be using any spells…,' Kalkass thinks, 'so it should be safe to continue the operation.'

However… Kalkass wasn't paying enough attention to the king, for there's one important detail he misses. Kanus is only leaning on the nexus crystal not because he's tired, but because he's fiddling with the enchantments on the tower by subtly rubbing his elbow on the crystal's surface and injecting mana through a hole in his sleeve – the part where the skin is touching the crystal.

The tower is already humming with mana, so Kalkass doesn't notice the mana in the tower rise stealthily and move in a new pattern.

King Kanus spends about 3 minutes getting the tower's spell ready. It would've taken a lot shorter, but Kanus has to take his time in order to hide his movements.

After all his preparations are complete, Kanus stands there at the crystal, waiting for Kalkass to finish his operation. He doesn't want Haalfrin's Wills to be loosed from his soul realm and go crazy again, so it's imperative that the poison's damage be completely healed.

Kanus's lips twitch as he suppresses a smile as he thinks to himself, 'I admit that I was hasty in my decision to poison Haalfrin. I didn't know enough about his powers, and that was foolish of me. However…, it's always important to learn from your mistakes. In the end, the final victor isn't the one who never makes mistakes, but the one who can learn faster.'

He then looks down at Kalkass and thinks,'"In the end, you let your guard down, sir. You saw me make a mistake earlier and deemed me stupid. If you hadn't considered me defeated, then you'd have thought to keep me away from the nexus crystal.'

After 10 more minutes, the 2 mages finally stop glowing, and Kalkass stands up and looks over at King Kanus. Before he can open his mouth to give an order to the Alastan king, Kanus moves his elbow up, finishing the sequence programmed into the nexus crystal.

…And what happens next comes so suddenly that Kalkass doesn't even have time to blink, and Haalfrin doesn't even have time to open his eyes after his mind returns from his soul realm.

With a large flash of energy, an invisible force pulses from the nexus crystal, and powerful sleep magic hits everything around. Even the king's bodyguards that were about to wake up again are sent back to sleep. Haalfrin's head plops back on the ground, Kalkass's knees buckle, and he collapses to the ground like a puppet with broken strings.

Letting out a tired sigh, Kanus steps forward and picks up the enchanted sword Haalfrin brought in with him, and he raises it above his head. 'Goodbye, Officer Kalkass.'