Arc 10.146: Battle of fort Niall part 5

As the explanation finishes, Ronald stutters at the implication, and quickly sends a swarm of Briars towards Charles, who says, "You have noticed it haven't you, my spirit energy has been dropping at a quicker rate."

With a single slash Charles completely cuts through and destroys all of the briars, and then he says, "My Regalia, is Supremacy, it turns my will into a tangible force I can use for my benefit."

Charles closes his eyes takes a deep breath, and then his spirit energy drops. Soon after this an intense pressure emanates from his body and all those who cannot stand it are sent flying back like they were hit with a tangible force, human and beastkin alike, the only one who manages to keep his balance is Ronald Fuinseog.

"Impossible, if these abilities are so powerful, it makes no sense for you to have one."

"You can continue to deny reality, but that won't stop your head from rolling onto the floor."

Ronald forges his briars into a series of blades and sends them towards Charles while charging at him as well.

Charles meets Ronald and starts to clash with him, but then as Charles's spirit energy drops, then from the sword, a blue pressure like gravity surges forth from it, and Charles swings his blade right into Ronald creating such intense force that all of the briars are blown away including Ronald.

Trying to get up from the blow Ronald can't get his balance, and Charles says, "Supremacy happens to have to side effect of attacking my target's will and mind. So don't feel too bad."

Ronald smashes his fist into the ground, and says, "This is unfair, it is only because I have my legacy that I can't manifest my own Regalia!"

Charles kicks him, and says, "If only such a convenient excuse existed. People with legacies are blessed by the fact that they can manifest their own, while still having their legacy. Besides that, a legacies Regalia is far more powerful than one manifested by a living person."

As Charles walks towards him the pressure he exudes falls on Ronald incredibly hard, which brings the man close to tears, and in said state Charles says, "Give up, and I will spare you."

"What?"

"You have use to me alive, so give up and bend your knees towards me, and I will give you the ability to serve me."

Φ Lower my head I look down into the ground. Again, again, I am rendered in such a state. Right now, my army is being pushed back, my brother still hasn't come, my sister is waiting for my return, and that scum still sits on our family's throne.

So many things have gone wrong in this life of mine, but one thing I will never be ok with is letting a human take pity on me.

Generating as many briars as I can I send them towards Charles and continue to clash against him with the king gaining on me with each attack.

If I had one wish, it would be to have had a guardian. Someone who would tell me I am doing good, someone who would have watched out for me, someone who I could rely on in bad times.

Charles all but obliterates my briars and starts to clash with my body which is wielding a spear made out of briars.

Though I couldn't have such a thing, so I wanted to at least give it to both of my siblings, to be the parent they couldn't have. But I am scared, I am terrified, I don't want to handle this alone, I don't want to deal with this terror alone.

Charles cuts one of my legs which I quickly replace with briars.

War, politics, economics, marriage, there are many complicated things I had to deal with, and for them, I needed power so I could hold my head up high. So, I can sleep at night knowing everything will be alright. Though now that I think about it running away might have been the better option.

Charles cuts off my other arm and leaves another gash across my chest.

Did Dónal feel like this as well? Maybe that's why he was always a coward because he knew things would never be good here, though seeing the look in his eyes after he returned, I can't say that's true.

In the end, I still hate him. I will always hate him, because I loved him more than anything, and I really wish you could have been an older brother to me.

Φ With one final slice Charles cuts off Ronald's head, and takes it as his own.

As he holds Ronald's head, he notices that one of the two eye colours, the one in his right eye vanishes and becomes the same as his left eye.

Soon Charles Animus leaves the battlefield, and moving to the closest general, he hands him the head, and says, "Announce his death through the battlefield."

But then a messenger arrives on the battlefield, and says, "Charles there is big trouble."

"What?"

"The carriages behind Ronald Fuinseog were empty, Bricriu wasn't inside them like we thought. But worse than that there is a breakthrough at the top right corner of our encirclement, we think he might have used Ronald as a shield to escape."

Charles with a calm expression says, "It doesn't matter."

"But didn't we come for him?"

"The moment we came to this battlefield he had lost his chance to escape since a predator has kept him in her eyes since she came here."

-Break-

Φ Riding through the forest east of the castle with an escort of Merark rider, Bricriu laughs to himself a bit.

Ronald, you are a smart and powerful man, but you made the mistake of forgetting to truly understand the minds of the other on the battlefield. From the moment this war started, I had one goal, to escape.

Every action I took was for that sole purpose. The entire time during this battle I had been diverting troops away from the bottom left corner ( Top right corner from Charles's perspective)

I sent most of my hidden soldiers to the right side to disturb their chain of command making it hard for them to send reinforcements, I then set up two very plausible breakthroughs that would take a good bit of time to check the validity due to the power of the mammoths, and Ronald.

I also put Cillian with the calvary on the right side, because I knew they would be a far more important target to get rid of allowing the calvary on the left side to do more damage beforehand.

Throughout the battle I had made sure that all fronts except my escape route had some major threat that needed to be dealt with straight away, allowing me to break through at the last minute.

Earlier we sent owls to the castle behind us to send troops, even though it would be pointless. Now as I escape back into our lands, I will have some smokescreens as I try to reach a fort with the Cathal.

In the carriage I sent with Ronald, I placed all of the druids I used to create the smoke bombs with him. In actuality, I hope they all escape, as they will have further use by me, but for now, all I can do is hope the young bird I played with all those years ago didn't continue to be a prodigy.

Laughing, I say, "I wonder what kind of chaotic story will be told if Charles and Setanta were to meet, how fun."

Suddenly within my carriage, I notice a pink butterfly, and as I take note of it I hear screaming, and then my carriage flips around tossing my body inside of it.

I quickly kick open one of the doors of the carriage and get myself out as it lands, and then I look around to see all of my men and horses have been killed.

I turn my head around, and say, "An enemy, but how?"

My plan was impossible to tell. The only way one could know of me, is if they had eyes on me the entire time. As if I was being stalked like I am prey.

"It isn't fun, is it?" a young girl's voice says.

With a slight fear cropping up, I say, "Who is that?"

"I wonder who I am, I have always had to ask myself that question since I was young."

Picking up a sword, I say, "I don't enjoy games."

"But you do enjoy games, but only when you're the gamemaster."

Φ A cut appears on Bricriu's face, and he turns to see who it is but to his dismay, he sees no one.

Then feeling a pressure against his back, he hears, "I don't see how someone can enjoy doing such things to people. Even though you deserve this, I still find this activity utterly asinine."

Bricriu swings his sword, but as he tries his fingers are cut off and the sword he wields falls to the ground. Then on top of his head, two feet rest themselves.

Looking up Bricriu sees a young girl with a pink mantle over her shoulder with a giant butterfly on it and a veil over her head.

Bricriu starts to lose his composure, and says, "WHO ARE YOU!"

The girl steps off his shoulder then stares him in the eyes, and says, "Maugrine, the fantastical."

Bricriu stares at her face lost, and she says, "You don't remember me, do you?"

From her side, she brings out a light great sword and cuts one of his eyes out. Which causes him to scream in pain, and she says, "For someone who loves moulding people into statues composed of their body parts, you have surprisingly little pain tolerance."

Bricriu infuses his fist with spirit energy and tries to strike the little girl, but she continuously dodges his attacks again, and again, then trips him over and says, "Really is that all you got? Make this a little more invigorating."

Bricriu grabs a rock and prepares to throw it at her, but then one of the pink butterflies moves towards his fingers on his other hand and cuts them off.

Looking at his missing finger, Bricriu says, "A Regalia?"

"Yep. The Celestial Butterfly, my regalia allows me to make these little butterflies of super condensed spirit energy that can cut through lots of things. But more than that,-"

A butterfly lies in front of Bricriu's eyes, and after a moment it vanishes and Jupio appears, and she says, "They allow me to switch my position with myself and the butterfly at the expense of spirit energy."

"You were the one who cut down my soldiers?"

"Exactly. I am surprised you still thought you could escape after my showing last night, but stupidity is hard to solve."

Maugrine cuts his ear off, and he screams again, then she says, "You know you make a lot of enemies. That's how we were able to find your location, so easily."

"Impossible I made certain the only people who knew my location were the high king, Ronald, and my; Daughter."

Clapping her hands, she says, "Spot on, you get 10 points for that."

Bricriu sits there and laughs, then he says, "It looks like my daughter is going to grow up to be even more brilliant than I ever could have imagined."

With disgust, Maugrine looks at Bricriu and says, "You're happy about this?"

"How couldn't I be, Charles, Setanta and the little prodigy I met in the east were all born in the same era, and my daughter has even surpassed me. Oh, what a wonderful time to be alive, and it was all started by me, this world bends to the whims of a man such as me. In this moment I have reached the pinnacle of my existence, my life truly was wor-."

Maugrine slices Bricriu's throat, and as he holds it to bleed out he laughs, which enrages her more, so she cuts up and stabs his body with her rage increases as she does.

She continues until from behind her Charles grabs her and says, "Stop Jupio."

"Brother let me go! It's unfair even after everything he did, he can still smile like that. After killing both my mom and dad and all of your friends at the campsite he gets to smile like this!"

Holding Jupio against his chest, Charles says, "The fact that the little baby delivered in that plantation has grown up to be so strong, is enough payback towards this fool. So please Jupio don't look like that."

The fifteen-year-old girl turns into Charles's chest, and cries her heart out, and at the same moment with empty eyes, Charles looks at Bricriu's decaying body.

And like that, the battle of Fort Niall had come to an end with the utter decimation of the beastkin, and the death of Red branch members, Ronald Ó Fuinseog, Cillian Ó Fuinseog, and the head of the Sealbhóirs, Bricriu Ó Sealbhóir.