"Damn it. Agh! I need to find Caesar! He's not dead yet... He's not dead yet." I could just imagine Lily's face if she ever found out about this. She would never forgive me. Not to mention, this fragile body of mine couldn't hold a candle against Maltyie's hellish wrath. Just thinking about it made me shudder.
After taking a few deep breaths, my composure returned slowly.
I still have Breakthrough active, so perhaps, I could handle another Aegis Meister by myself. Then again, there was a simple fact that this third Aegis Meister managed to destroy rows of warships by herself, so she must be quite strong. Oh, I refer to Ernestine as she, since that name was basically a girl's name.
My feet shuffled as I walked across the golden platform. I glanced left and right, trying to discern a pattern out of Ernestine's seemingly random attacks on the warships. If I could predict which warships would fell prey to her next, intercepting her shouldn't be a problem. With that goal in mind, my eyes stared at the newest destroyed warship.
That warship's vessel exploded minutes ago, and from what I could make out from all the destruction, Ernestine seemed to be aiming for the warships at the forefront of the fleet only. She had destroyed quite a few, so if I had to guess, the remaining warships on the right side of the fleet would be her targets in the next five minutes or so.
"Hm... T-This is strange... What have you done to Namacui and Liu Yang?"
A low, shaky voice greeted me from behind. Instinctively, I looked over my shoulder to see who that person was, and something cold and hard slammed into my face.
"Ugh!" My balance barely shifted since the object was hurtled lazily. But, when I had my eyes focused on the little girl about ten meters in front of me, my jaw almost dropped. Hundreds upon hundreds of gleaming orange fragments were floating in mid-air, trapping both of us.
The sight of those orange fragments made my heart throb. There was only one Aegis User I knew that wield Aegis crystals with that specific color. So far, only Gheele himself used orange Aegis crystals.
"...Why are you quiet... Mister Hope..."
I eyed the girl warily. Like Namacui and Liu Yang, the little girl also had mechanical parts covering the left half of her body and a white robe draped over her shoulders. Those eyes of hers were covered completely by her bangs. And her shining red hair was absurdly long! As she stood still, I could make out the exact length of her flowy hair, which was about knee-length.
"..." She didn't utter a single word for a few minutes, and it somehow made me nervous. The sharp fragments under her command didn't move one bit ever since she appeared out of nowhere. Is she going to wait for me to answer her question first before attacking?
"Hmm."
"...?" Ernestine tilted her head to the right slightly, anticipating my answer.
"...A little girl?" I blurted those words out.
No... She looked like a little girl from a glance, but she was actually an adult. At least, an aura of maturity was emanating from her, one unlike any other I had seen from girls of young age. Of course, I was not counting Ava.
"..."
Ernestine's thin lips twitched from what I just said, a distort to her fair skin wrapping her cheeks. She slowly raised her head up high.
"...What did you do to Liu Fang? To Namacui? Please... Answer me, Mister Hope... If not..."
Her bangs still covered her face as she said that, so I couldn't make out her expression. Still, I didn't intend to answer her question whatsoever. She was an enemy, so I have to take her out.
'But she's just a little girl,' a thought came to mind.
"You..." I pointed at her. "Ernestine, huh? Those fragments of Aegis crystals floating around seem to resemble what Gheele has."
'There's no telling what other Aegis specialties she had up in her sleeve, so I need to be really careful to not make her snap,' I thought.
Ernestine was silent. She tilted her head as if trying to understand the words I just spat out. Is she really an adult? Her demeanor made me doubt myself at some point. She was indeed small to be considered an adult but that just meant she belonged to that group of people, who had their growth stunt.
"Hmm..." I took a good look at her face. "You are quite young for an Aegis Use— Meister. I guess you have it rough too... " My mouth curved into a thin smile. "Poor girl... At the very least, I want to avoid fighting you, if it's possible."
"Hm?!" Ernestine was taken aback by my statement. She tensed up for a few moments but quickly regained her composure. Right then and there, for some reason, I was convinced that the girl standing in front of me was very young.
"So you are a little girl?! That's..."
She was just like Ava then. A girl so young being thrust into a merciless world with no clemency for the weak, and to make it worse, forced to become a living weapon for someone else's sake. Even when she tried to look composed and emotionless, her body shivered every now and then. That little girl was actually scared being there on the battlefield. She must have been through hell.
"Why... are you giving me that look? Do I appear weak to you?" Ernestine's question was an earnest one. She wasn't offended or anything like that. Her tone when she posed the question already gave it out for me. In a sense, the little girl was just curious.
"You are strong without a doubt. You must have been through a lot, huh? I know a little girl like you."
Ernestine tensed up. "I-Is it Ava?"
Her hands over chest, she looked up at me expectantly. At least, that was how I pictured it if her bangs were not covering half of her face.
"Yes."
I could bring her over to our side without fighting. Despite what she had done— destroying the warships and perhaps killed a bunch of people— she was not like Namacui and Liu Yang. Those two were adults, with convictions and goals properly fixed, loyalty towards Amathelia unwavering.
However, a girl as young as Ernestine still had hope.
Adults tend to be obstinate in what they do, but kids are a curious bunch. Presented with new information or something they hadn't seen yet, most of them would try to know more about it. That was why... I had hope that Ernestine could be won over without any need for bloodshed.
Then I realized she must have wondered how I knew her name in the first place. Namacui and Liu Yang were her comrades, so if she found out what really happened to them, she would attack me come the chance.
"..."
I coughed. Reassembling the sentences I wanted to say proper to the new objective in mind, I steeled myself.
"Ernestine, hear me out! Ava... She is the same as you! That girl had gone through a lot... After being tortured and betrayed, she thought no one else cared for her in this world. She even resolved herself to take revenge against those who took away her loved ones..."
"..."
"And! She sought those who brought her pain... Dirtying her hands with blood, she paved her own way to reach her goal. In the end, she succeeded."
"...And then?"
"Despite everything she had done, the nightmares kept coming. It attacked her in her sleep time and time again... And to be honest, I pity her. Why does she have to suffer so much? She was just a little girl, and yet... and yet... to shoulder so much burden at that age, only time would tell if she ever loses herself and kills people for no reason. But in the end, she did not."
I shuddered. "She did not, Ernestine... Ava is strong. Even now, she wears a huge smile on her face. I want to protect that smile. More importantly, I want to protect her!"
Ernestine walked closer to me. Whether it was voluntarily or not, she clearly had gotten invested. Still, I was surprised by how quickly she forgot about her two comrades after I mentioned Ava.
"And then?" Ernestine repeated; her figure only a few meters away from me.
"She didn't lose herself because she has people now that she can rely on. She is surrounded by a lot of nice people... It is because of this that... that she managed to drag herself out of the dark path she had been walking. You can too, you know. After all, it must be hard living this kind of life, right?"
"..." Ernestine tilted her head.
'Just a bit more,' I thought.
"Your suffering will not end even after this war is over. I'm sure of it. Amathelia will use you, over and over until you break. Just imagine this, Ernestine... All those people that were with you during all the experiments— They were bound to Amathelia, stripped of everything."
"You don't have to follow her anymore. I... I can help you!"
I was actually gambling on this part of my speech. I didn't know exactly what Amathelia did to create the Aegis Meisters, but it shouldn't be far off from the Aegis Implant procedure. Not to mention, replacing flesh with mechanical parts can be excruciatingly painful.
"But I swear... I swear that if you come with me, no one will ever harm you again. There will be no more fighting."
Ernestine's lips parted slightly. "...I don't have to fight anymore? I don't have to... kill people?"
"Yes! I will make sure that you will be taken care of, far away from the horror of war and bloodshed!"
Ten seconds passed without a word from her. After a while, Ernestine turned her head towards the sinking warships, the ones she had attacked with her Aegis. "I was tasked to destroy the Neo African fleet. And Liu Yang and Namacui were tasked to..."
She looked at me. "To kill you, Mister Hope. For Ava's sake."
I took a few steps back when Ernestine's floating Aegis fragments started to move. Faint bloodlust came pouring out of her small body.
"...Amathelia said Ava will not have to suffer anymore if you are dead... She will turn to Amathelia once Hope Domitius is no longer in this world," Ernestine said in a low tone.
"No, you are wrong. Ava will never turn to Amathelia. She is happy with what she has right now. She would hate it if someone were to take everything she cares about away from her."
"...In the end, I can only do what I was asked of. I might not have to fight again if I come with you. But I can't see how Amathelia will ever lose. S-She's strong." Ernestine paused for a moment. "I can't disobey her... I can't..."
I could see her reasoning behind those words. To her, Amathelia was the strongest. No one who opposed her would live another day, and Ernestine was afraid of the consequences. She was only a kid after all.
"Neo Africa will not lose this war, Ernestine. I can assure you that."
"..."
The fragments slowly shaped itself into countless blades. The faint bloodlust from before spiked without warning.
"...You killed Namacui and Liu Yang."
"I had to. I'm sorry."
"..."
I was prepared to attack Ernestine if she decided to take me on. My Breakthrough still had some absorbed Aegis crystals left to use, so I could overwhelm her if I wish to do so.
Ernestine lifted her head up, seemingly observing my golden dragon. "...I can see how... Mister Hope, you really are strong."
I lowered my center of gravity, ready to multiply my Aegis crystals at a moment's notice.
"And since you are this strong... I... You can help rescue my aunt."
"Huh?"
Her words caught me off guard.
"Namacui and Liu Yang are not any different than the rest of them. They forced me into this whole thing... I-I never wanted to kill people. But if I don't, Amathelia, Namacui, and Liu Yang will surely punish me."
"You—"
Tears started to streak down her cheeks. "... Hic... T-They killed my uncle and told me that I can use this thing called Aegis. I... I never once wanted to kill people. They kidnapped my aunt as well, so I have no choice..."
"Ernestine..."
So she never really cared for her 'comrades'.
"Please... I just want my aunt back... Hic ... and go home."
Ernestine's hands brushed her bangs away, revealing a pair of green eyes filled with tears. The blades that she had under her command all crumbled at the same time, and the user herself fell on both knees, hands slowly wiping off the tears on her face.
I went over to her side and patted her head. She was really small, so it was no surprise when she told me that she was just ten years old.
"I'm sorry..." I could only utter those two words at that moment. "I'm sorry..."
Amathelia was indeed a scum for involving a little girl like her. Just because she was suitable to be an Aegis Meister, at such a young age, she had learned the reality of life the hard way. It was sad, honestly. She, Ava, and Aya were thrown into the dark side of this world, with no one to offer a helping hand to them.
My hand was stroking Ernestine's head, her cry subsiding bit by bit. "We will get your aunt back. Like I said, if you come with me, you don't have to fight anymore."