The Beauty of it All

Alex looked at Zivko, his eyes widened. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. It felt as if somebody had put him in invisible chains that bounded not his body, but his mind itself. 

Not only that, seeing Zivko kill her so clearly made him remember his duty to protect her. But it was how he failed to do that which made him remember. 

Zivko managed to play with his head using some trickery of his own, no wonder he was able to tell Alex about what happened in his past so calmly. 

Alex struck his forehead on the ground, groveling like a pathetic man. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he tried to stand up.

The Princess' corpse laid down on the ground, her blood dripping down the steps. 

Soon, after a painful moment of silence, dark-purple circles erupted from behind Zivko, portals to enable others to pass through. 

Zivko leaned down a bit, ignoring the portals. He already knew they were going to come. 

He extended both arms to get hold of the Princess and carry her lifeless body elsewhere. 

However, things did not go too well for him. 

Light-blue arrows rained down upon him from each direction, making him retreat backwards. 

Alex slightly moved his head left and right to check where the arrows came from, only to find nothing. 

He was so focused on the other matter at hand that he forgot to look back at the Order and see if anything had happened to them. 

Slowly turning his head back against the agonizing pain, he only found the golden brown haired woman run at him. 

Before even realizing it, a slim figure blitzed through the entire room as she carried a scythe that looked to be taller than her. 

'Kaene!' 

In a moment, the girl got closer to Zivko as she raised her scythe up in the air and swung at him. 

Zivko, who had already predicted this, jumped out of the way to the left behind the portal. 

Kaene stood as she protected the Princess' body. 

She held her scythe with both hands, then spun it in the air, as if recalling her abilities with the weapon. Quickly, she caught it with one hand and moved it downwards, slicing through the air itself, causing the air to blow inside the entire ceremonial room. 

"I shall not tolerate this anymore." She spoke, her tone firm. 

Kaene refused to look backwards and see the horrifying scene. While she tried her best to hide it away, her face spoke volumes of grief.

Not only that, what confused Alex the most was how she put up against the restraints on her mind. Was it truly just her physical ability to withstand pain? Or was it an ability of some sort?

Till now, Alex hadn't managed to find anything about their powers. He had no time at all.

She moved one of her eyes towards the Order who sat back all the way back, then she jumped at Zivko. 

Zivko casually blocked her attack using the small dagger made of pure steel. 

With that one look that Kaene gave, Alex understood. She was telling the Order to move already. 

She was asking for support. 

Alex's eyes twitched, knowing he's barely able to get back on his feet. 

Back atop the stage, the eerie, dark-purple spiral portal was still hovering mid-air. Its purpose could be to bring Zivko back to wherever he came from, or send in more reinforcements. 

Kaene ignored it then increased the grip on her scythe, making her presence seem only stronger. 

Zivko looked at her, unamused. He turned his head for a moment back to the suffering crowds of nobles, still irritated by their sight. The pain they were enduring was only trivial to him.

"You will pay for this, you cursed child!" One of the elders spoke, their voice full of pain and anger. 

However, this wasn't even directed at Zivko. It was at Kaene. Due to their lack of thinking, they had assumed it was Kaene that brought this pain into them.

More sounds erupted as some blamed Zivko, others blamed Kaene and many thought it was all the Princess' fault. 

The room thrown into chaos now, Zivko slightly smiled as he gazed at Kaene. 

Blinded by fear, they confused Kaene's weapon to be the source of the spell.

"Why do you still wear yourself out, protecting those selfish fools that care about nothing but themselves?" 

The corners of Kaene's lips twitched, her pale face and dazzling eyes stared back at Zivko's. 

"Because I like it." she replied.

A mere second after saying that, her scythe was enveloped in a jet black color radiating a weird aura. 

There were circles formed over the snath of the black scythe, all of which were colored slate blue and simple, small crescent moons hung over the circles.

She raised her scythe high in the air once more, knowing normal attacks wouldn't work on Zivko. 

She turned it downwards as a large line made out of a black fire erupted from the edge of the scythe's blade. 

Moving at him at a steady pace, making the entire room feel hot even in the snowy conditions outside.

It was too large for Zivko to dodge. 

Not only that, more arrows rained down upon him. But, he still seemed unfazed despite everything. 

In a sense, it felt to Kaene as if he knew everything that was going to happen already. 

Zivko extended his arm, then opened his palm to the fiery slash Kaene used at him.

The other arm was extended to the left, in the direction where most of the arrows came from. 

Having done that, he was quickly enveloped in what looked to be like a shield. 

A normal shield would not have been able to stop both of these attacks, but Zivko's shield was special. 

Both the arrows and fiery slash gradually disappeared as they got closer to Zivko who was enveloped in a shield.

As if wiping the essence of the spell itself, the arrows and slash vanished. 

While surprised, Kaene bit her lower lip. She was able to buy time for the rest of them to stand up once more.

"Thank you, Lyra." Kaene gratefully spoke. 

Lyra had managed to break the restraints holding the Order back, as Kaene finally felt she was able to move normally once more, her abilities were also ready to be used now.

She still hadn't appeared anywhere, despite being the one throwing the arrows and supporting the Order in breaking the chains.

Alex got up without looking back, but he knew the Order was following.

Linking his Concept with Lyra's, he managed to summon his sword the same way Kaene summoned hers. 

The hilt first came into his grip and then the rest of the blade was summoned. 

Kaene looked at Zivko, a slight smile on her face, hiding away her devastation about the tragedy of the Princess. 

At least, she still had her friends to support her. To Kaene, Aurora was like a caring sister to her.

Adelia got to the scene first, Cecilia and Clara stood next to her. 

In the lead now, Astra stood forward, facing Zivko. Behind her stood the other members of the Order. Cecilia, Kaene, Clara, Adelia, Aren and Alex. 

Now, Zivko had to fight all six members by himself.

… Or he didn't. His dagger extended into a large sword, quickly, before the Order even noticed, he turned his arm holding the blade and faced it at where the crowds of nobles were. 

The blade extended even further forward as the cold wind bit in every direction. He swung his blade that was as long as the entire room, cutting the entire place in half. 

With it, he also managed to cut down the nobles that were already suffering. 

Their blood splattered everywhere, covering the entire room in a bloody facade. 

Zivko had managed to do the impossible in a mere second. 

Taken aback by the brute force of his powers, the Order was in shock as they all were frozen, behind them the Princess' corpse.

At the same time, he put up a visible barrier that distanced him from the Order. 

The corners of his lips curled upwards, revealing a slight smile as he gazed upon the North Star Order. But, in reality, his eyes were fixated on one person. 

"I am the embodiment of the person I once would've died to become. Yet, here I stand, in agonizing dissatisfaction…" He walked up to his portal, Alex was punching through the barrier with all his might. 

Zivko continued, his voice echoing in everyone's ears as he entered the portal, "And therein lies the beauty of it all."