TBATE - The Help of a Certain Being

Decree

Arthur Leywin

I didn't even bother with the pain that pulsated through my sternum from prolonging my second phase as my hair hung loosely over my eyes.

Despite the pain I knew I'd feel, and the consequences of releasing my Beast Will, I couldn't feel anything.

I felt empty, like a void had opened and I'd fallen into it.

I felt nothing.

A low rumble shook the ground beneath me and only then did I return to reality.

A portion of the barrier above shattered into pieces as three people clad in white cloaks were revealed.

They radiated a heavy pressure, similar to what I could feel from Kuro when I sparred with him.

The Lances.

"Bro...ther..." Lucas's voice muttered weakly.

The air around me filled with an almost iron-like scent as the hairs on my body stood on edge and my instincts screamed to run.

Before I could react, a surge of light collided into my chest and threw me into the bell tower.

Shit..! What the hell was that..!?

I could feel blood drip from the sides of my mouth and my movements felt restricted for some reason.

One Lance eyed Sylvie calmly, watching her every move with a cold, calculating gaze.

Her white hair, which seemed to dance in the breeze, held an air of danger.

The Lance who attacked me landed and kneeled beside Lucas's body. He looked nearly identical to Lucas, eyeing me with an all too familiar disdain.

The last, clearly older Lance had already begun gathering the prisoners and questioning those who were there, nodding in response to their accounts and turning his head to look at me.

Don't do a thing, Sylv... We can't beat them...

'But Papa..!'

I'll be fine..! Just don't do anything! We can't win against them!

With a low growl, she hesitantly reverted to her miniature fox form, retreating to Tess's arms.

Between my disorientation and worry for Sylvie's safety, I recalled Lucas's last words. I'd just begun to piece it all together..

Before I could curse my own luck, the Lance that attacked me—Lucas's brother—stormed toward me, his body radiating a torrent of lightning.

"I had expected another meeting... And yet, it would be this way; to see my brother tormented so. To commit such an atrocity to a Wykes, to my brother..."

He wasn't loud. In fact, he sounded alarmingly calm, and his voice resounded with a strange clarity, as if he had spoken directly into my ear.

"The only payment worthy of redemption is death, and even that would never be enough."

Lightning danced around as if illustrating the man's rage, and I couldn't help but be impressed by his effortless control over lightning. He was easily one of the best I'd seen yet.

It really put into perspective for me the potential White core mages could have. What I could have.

"My, my, what a mess you've made."

A familiar but heavy pressure weighed down on me just as my body—which had seemingly fused to the wall—fell to the ground.

The Lance had immediately halted his approach and was joined by his comrades.