Crest of the Strongest Knight - Final Seven

Chapter 202 - Prophecy Encroaching

A single whispered word filled the silent pause.

"...Why?"

"Hm? What is it, little mousey? You're going to have to speak up if you want to chat." Amelia turned her attention to Viviane, eyeing the blonde-haired noblewoman with the gaze of a predator.

"...I want to know why, Amelia." Viviane said, raising her voice this time. She held the witch's crimson glare without wavering, undaunted by Amelia's sinister aura of bloodlust. "Was there a point to all this destruction and suffering... Or did you just do this because of some twisted whim?"

Amelia pursed her lips. For a moment, it seemed as though she was going to utter a snarky reply, but her next words only served to confuse Viviane. "What would you do if Medrauta died?"

"...What?" Viviane frowned, completely thrown off by Amelia's seemingly random question. She had expected an answer or a sarcastic quip, not a question regarding Medrauta's mortality.

"It's a simple question, isn't it? You'd cry, wouldn't you, Viviane?" Amelia shrugged. "You'd miss her. You'd yearn for her presence once more. Her warmth. You'd dream of her every night, only to wake up to a world without her. Isn't that right?"

"I don't see where you're going with this." Viviane said. "All I wanted to know was—"

"But what if I told you there was a way to bring her back from the dead?"

Viviane paused, considering the question. She recalled the final line of the prophecy Riku had divulged, but shook her head nevertheless. The prophecy had said that the Witch Queen would birth herself anew, but it was far more plausible to simply assume that it was referencing the rise of a new Witch Queen instead of reviving the one who ruled in ancient days.

After all, if it were truly possible to bring back the dead, the witches never would've lost to the witch hunters or the Paladins. They would've simply kept reviving each other until they were the only ones left standing.

"That's impossible. You can't bring someone back after they've died."

Amelia shrugged. "Not normally, no. But we've been gifted with a specific set of circumstances. Circumstances that allowed this very prophecy to exist in the first place. So tell me, Viviane... If Medrauta was dead, but you possessed the means to revive her, would you do so?"

"Don't listen to her bullshit, Vivi." Medrauta cut in.

"Of course I would." Viviane answered simply. If such a thing was truly possible, then she would stop at nothing to bring Medrauta back to her side. There was no other answer she could've given to such a question.

"Indeed. And it is the same for me, my dear Viviane." Amelia said. "There is someone who I long to see once more. Someone who should still be by my side, yet her life was extinguished years ago. Tell me, Viviane... And you as well, Medrauta. You were there when it happened, after all."

Medrauta's eyes narrowed, but she stayed silent as she waited for Amelia to pose her question. Though she longed to leap forward and decapitate the witch, there was little she could do when the princess was bound and being held hostage at swordpoint.

"Is it really so wrong for me to revive my mother when I have the means to do so? My childhood was unjustly stolen from me by the witch hunts of the empire. I was the one who suffered alone with not even a single soul to care for me. I was but a child. I had done nothing, yet I had already committed the greatest sin merely by existing. This nation mercilessly hunted my kind, and it is only now that I seek to pay them back." Amelia spoke with conviction, concluding her speech with a flourish of her sword, pointing it at Medrauta.