HOW IS THAT RELEVANT! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLY RELEVANT TO ANYONE'S LIFE!" I roared back.
"What was your job in your old world?."
"I-I-I…" I choked on my words, "I sold houses."
"HAH! You really are a Vampire!" Ikari laughed before clearing his throat, "Tell me, would you sell a house to a Japanese person over a foreigner?"
"N-No! Why would I- There are Laws against-"
"But foreigners have more money, don't they?"
I shut up.
"That's just what I'm suggesting. The Land and Resources should be for the people that live there!"
"YOU TURNED AGAINST THE LAND YOU CALLED HOME!"
"THAT CASTLE WAS NOT MY HOME!" Ikari roared back, "I could never call that place my home!"
"And this is your home now? An abandoned castle with a destroyed village and a well that stinks to high hell!"
"The Well? What about the Well?"
"You dumped bodies down there."
"Hmm… that's something that has to be solved quickly…"
"They tell you nothing, don't they?"
"THEY TOLD ME MORE THAN YOU EVER DID! You experienced the same thing, didn't you, boy-"
"IT'S ASH! SATOSHI 'ASH' AMAIISHI! At least my own countryman could get my name right…"
"Oh, you had to face that as well, didn't you? Hertz here always called me Ikri when we were training all those years ago, didn't you?"
"As if anyone cares if someone says their name wrong."
"You would be surprised, He-tsu. Names have power, He-tsu. You just have never had to experience how someone else pronounced your own name wrong for long enough, He-tsu."
The way Hertz scowled and twitched at every mispronunciation told me everything I needed to know. In the very back of my mind, I felt something. I felt validated.
"Amaiishi-kun, tell me, what ended the era of Knights in Shining Armor?"
I knew that much of history.
"Gunpowder, and Guns."
"And whoever had the most Guns won, correct?"
"Y-Yes? T-That's what I imagine…"
"So whoever gets Guns first in this world determines the fate of every other country and kingdom for the next two hundred years. The era of Knights will be over! So, Amaiishi-kun… I am giving you a choice. Live, on the side of the Gun, or Die, on the side of the Sword."
My Heart pounded in my chest, and I knew I could not decide. I was going to die here, regardless of which side I took. Everyone I knew at the Castle would Die, or I would die with them.
So Hertz took the initiative and chose for me.
I heard his Sword sing from his Scabbard, turning just in time to see the now helmeted Hertz raise his sword against me.
"I WILL NOT BE DISHONORED AGAIN!"
The tell-tale click of a trigger pull emanated throughout the room.
Then a blinding light glanced off Hertz' steel helmet.
Only afterwards did the thunderclap nearly shatter my ears.
It took an eternal moment for me to return to my senses, and when they did Herzt's helmet had been melted inwards, the molten blue steel glowing white and red hot.
Herzt collapsed, dead.
Nathaniel, Gareth, Mejg, Artyom and myself all turned our heads towards the one place where the lightning bolt had come from.
Ikari's Pistol steamed from its crystalline barrel, an ornate Turkic design decorating its side.
"I had to buy this one for demonstration purposes." Ikari smiled as he holstered it at his hip, before kicking up the Hoplite helmet at his feet to slide it on his head.
"FUCKING TRAITOR!" Nathaniel roared.
Blades sung from their scabbards as the other four, the soldiers I had fought alongside, turned against me and Ikari.
I brought my shield up to block Nathaniel's blade from striking up into my neckmail. I barely got it there in time, as Nathaniel began pushing me backwards to pin me against the Throne Room wall.
Ikari unsheathed his Hoplite Short Sword and brandished an Ornate Hoplite Shield, depicting a great bearded God, blowing the winds upon which Harpies flew. Just in time too, as Ikari and Mejg clashed swords.
Artyom appeared to my left and battered my side with his shield before sliding his sword towards my more exposed neck that I barely stopped by raising my sword hand to grip it.
"I knew you would go Traitor, ever since we started training together."
"I never liked you too." I spat, and repeated my technique from that time.
My magic spilled out of my armor, congealing into thick smoke that caught the two as they spiraled into a fit of choking and gagging as they disengaged. I did too, but I knew what would happen to my armor, so I left it.
My armor clanged to the floor in the smoke cloud as I exited to my right. I spied Herzt's body and blade, and rushed towards it.
Ikari laughed so hard he almost didn't block Mejg's next sword strike.
"You're a Ninja! Of course you're a stupid Ninja!"
Snatching up the blade, I turned just in time to parry Nathaniel's strike. Again and again our blades clashed, Nathaniel intending to push me into a corner while Artyom snuck around to slide his sword into my armorless body. Still, without armor I was slightly faster than either of them, and the stamina it took to move even in high grade armor was taking its toll. I had no upper hand, but the tides would turn in my favor. All I had to do was survive.
A torrent of lightning surged out of Gareth's gauntlet towards Ikari's flank. It struck home, and Ikari's Hoplite armor crackled with energy. But Ikari knew electricity. He let it flow through him, his armor glowing with power before it all congealed in his Hoplite Shield, the God's beard and eyes glowing with energy.
Ikari put his weight forward, colliding the shield with Mejg's, and the electric charge flowed through him instead. Mejg spasmed uncontrollably, giving Ikari the chance to slide his sword into Mejg's throat, and a jet of red rushed out as Ikari's sword withdrew.
Then Ikari turned his attention to a shocked and furious Gareth.
I blocked and parried, blocked and parried, again and again and again against my once training partners, but this time it was serious, real, combat. But I saw no openings, not while Artyom skirted around my flanks to see wherever he could slide a blade into.
He did so again, this time right at my face. I parried and turned my head, and I did not feel the gash that flowed down my cheek until minutes later. They were getting too used to this now, and I yet again had to use a smokescreen to retreat out.
But Nathaniel was fast. I ran out of the smokescreen, only for Nathaniel's blade to cut across my sword arm. It sunk into the gambeson jacket, and luckily glided off the chainmail, but the impact was enough to slow me down as his next strike swung hard towards my neck.
The Pistol fired, and the bolt ripped through Nathaniel's sword and head in a single penetrating strike. His momentum carried him forwards into a slump at my feet. I glanced quickly towards Ikari who was already holstering his pistol again, unsure whether to thank him or not.
In that single moment, Artyom plunged his way towards me. I panicked, and my foot stumbled against Nathaniel's molten remains, and I crumpled backwards. Artyom, his blade poised for a killstroke, missed my head and also stumbled over Nathaniel's body.
In full plate he fell on me and I gasped in pain. Artyom let go of both his sword and shield, hurriedly grasping for his meat dagger. He raised it high for the kill and I pointed my blade up towards his throat and desperately thrust it upwards.
Artyom gagged, red blood pouring down his chestplate. I turned, letting his body fall to the side of mine.
"We… welcomed you… Traitor…" Were the last words that creeped out of Artyom's throat.
"You never did." I said, gasping for air as the adrenaline flooding through me slowed. I rolled away from Artyom before sprawling out on the floor, panting.
"Welcome. You will never forget this moment of choosing the winning side." Ikari said, his hand outstretched.
"I never made my choice," I panted, "Herzt chose it for me, again."
"The world has an annoying habit of making choices for us. That's why you have to be insane enough to choose first."