"What do you want to talk about?" Albaric stared at Clover awkwardly.
Clover looked him over with their usual inscrutable expression.
"It's about this plan,"
"Haven't we gone over everything? "Albaric said briskly.
"There's one more thing," Clover glanced around, "About Ace. If this works I want you to take him back with you,"
"Clover, "Albaric began to shake his head with a sigh," he made his choice. I can't force him,"
" You can and you will," Clover said seriously.
Albaric stared at them in disbelief. He had never seen Clover so serious.
"What do you expect me to do?" Albaric scoffed, " drag him back kicking and screaming?"
"I don't care what it takes. He's not going back to the demon world. Ever. I will finish the spell myself and destroy the demon world but you have to promise me,"
"And what about Michael?"Albaric frowned.
" Take him back to the Empire. The court can deal with him," Clover dismissed, " but Ace stays with you. He needs to stay with you. The demon world is not good for him,"
"This isn't what we agreed. The Emperor..."
"Fuck the Emperor,"
"Clover!" Albaric admonished, " you already made an agreement. You can't just start adding whatever you want after the deal is done. Besides, if you just go off and do this by yourself it's going to make things worse. What Ace needs is closure. Tell him goodbye and then do what you need to do."
Clover stared at Albaric coolly, "I need to destroy the demon world. That much is true. But do I care whether the Empire wins against the demons? Not really. It would be a terrible shame if someone opened all the old portals into the human world before the demon world was destroyed. "
"Are you threatening us?"Albaric's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know the difference between a threat and a promise? "Clover smiled.
" Fine," Albaric spat begrudgingly, "but you're making a mistake!"
" I can live with my mistakes. Ace can't."
A distance away, Ace slowly walked back into the forest.
-------------------
Somewhere in the north...
"How much longer?" Kalandra complained. "It's cold,"
She shivered against the whirling wind. Michael was knelt down in the snow. He pushed aside the layer of snow from the rock face. Underneath were faint engravings. He took a blade and began to scrape away.
"You know we have to do this wherever we go," Michael replied flatly, " I have to close each portal. Otherwise, they can follow,"
"Clover can follow without the portal, using their own magic, "Kalandra said irritatedly.
"This isn't to stop Clover. It's to stop the Empire from following," Michael replied.
"If the Empire follows, we can just kill them," Kalandra shifted uncomfortably.
"I know you're an assassin but can't you be more original. Is 'kill them' your solution to everything?" Michael sighed.
"It's worked just fine for me so far," Kalandra retorted, "but you seem to have some hang up on it. You were a knight before you were a wizard. How many demons did you kill? Why are you so squeamish about it now? It doesn't suit you at all!"
"First of all," Michael stood suddenly, pointing a finger, "killing demons and humans are two different things!"
"What's different about it?" Kalandra shrugged.
"Secondly," he went on ignoring the question, "I'm not squeamish about it, but what do you think will happen if we kill the knights the Empire sends? Do you think they'll just back down? No! They'll send more with even more determination because that's how the Empire thinks. And since you are right, as you keep bringing up, that I was a knight - I know this quite well. The Empire doesn't wait. And the Emperor rarely forgives,"
"This is another thing," Kalandra replied equally as dismissive, "What's the deal with you and the Emperor? He treated you pretty bad right but in the end, he was the one that let you off easy."
"Easy?"
"Until you went and attacked the tower that is," Kalandra added with a smile. "So does he hate you or not? I can't tell,"
"Who knows," Michael smiled stiffly, "Whatever his personal feelings, they certainly wouldn't have influenced any of his decisions. He helped me for another reason,"
"What reason?"
"It's because I was friends with the Empress,"
"You having a friend, I find it hard to imagine," Kalandra stared at him dubiously, "never mind an Empress. Was it really just a friendship?"
Michael let out a sigh, "You may find it hard to believe but I did have friends before,"
"Well, what happened?"
"They all died," Michael turned abruptly, "Now if we're done with this useless conversation, let's go. Weren't you complaining about how cold it is? "
"Forget the cold. I want to hear more about this," Kalandra enjoined.
"It's another few miles till we reach the next portal. If you have so much energy to spare on pointless conversation, I suggest you save it for the journey," Michael walked on briskly.
"I thought the sword saint was your friend?"Kalandra questioned.
Michael inhaled sharply, "So did I."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back outside the capital...
"Can you explain it so I understand, Clover?" Albaric sighed.
"I thought I just did," Clover returned irritated. "Do I need to explain basic magic principles to the sword saint, the pinnacle of supposed magical discipline?"
"I'm a knight, not a damn wizard," Albaric said flatly, "Just explain it once more in a way I can understand or we're not doing it,"
"Mana is connected to the very essence of life. It is what fills the energy of every living thing in the human world. It's all around us. Whenever people use magic, they draw from this energy. It flows within and without seamlessly," Clover explained with a sigh,
"Dark magic on the other hand, although it is still a life magic leaves a scar when it is used. It sits in between life magic and its opposite demonic magic. The magic used to create portals is originally dark magic. Therefore, whenever it is used, it can be traced. For example, in the past, Michael used this trace to track me down.
However, though dark magic leaves a scar, this scar doesn't remain forever. It's eventually healed by the force of mana and reabsorbed into the world. This is why even if you can follow the traces of dark magic, it's often not timely enough to catch the user. Especially if they are moving around constantly. At best, most magic users can only detect the general area of a dark magic caster.
However, Albaric, as you know, holy magic is different. A skilled holy magic user detects not only the magic cast but the caster themselves,"
"I am familiar with what you are talking about, Clover," Albaric replied, "but even after a lifetime of training, I've never been able to use holy magic to that degree. The only person I've ever seen use magic like that was the Empress. And she went through training that we don't have time for,"
Clover gave a restrained smile, "What do you think the purpose of training is, sword saint?"
Albaric frowned, "To gain mastery over your magic,"
"Or to gain more mana," Rena said thoughtfully, "The greater your mastery, the greater your capacity to channel mana,"
"Ah," Clover smiled, "As usual sister, you know exactly what I'm talking about,"
"So more magic, more power?" Albaric huffed.
"Precisely," Clover enjoined, "Now, say we have enough magic to sense the location of a dark magic user rather than the dark magic itself. We also need to narrow down who it is we're looking for. Let's say holy magic users are like bloodhounds, they can sniff out the dark magic users in a given area but which one is the criminal they're actually looking for?"
"I'm not sure I appreciate you comparing us to bloodhounds," Albaric crossed his arm in agitation.
"You have the dogs," Clover went on disregarding him, "but you also need a person who can correctly identify the correct culprit,"
"That would be you," Rena surmised, "but Clover, it's one thing for us to merge our magic, but if you try to channel our magic, it would kill you wouldn't it? Holy magic is a demon's greatest weakness."
"If it was any other demon, probably," Clover shrugged, "but I'm a little bit more resilient than your average demon. I only need to momentarily direct the magic and you should be able to locate Michael,"
"Clover..." Ace began.
However, the instance he uttered the words, Clover gave him a look that silenced him completely. Any sense of sympathy from the night before was gone. There was a depth of coldness that Ace couldn't stomach. His eyes fell bitterly.
What did he expect? This was his fault...
Early in the morning, the group reached the Northern domain of the Empire. The mountain range was still dipped in snow. The valley which housed the Northern provinces seemed to stretch on forever, a spectacular white crown. This time, they didn't have to go as far as to ascend the mountains.
They reached a quaint village at the base still set in several inches of snow. The morning was spent enacting their plan.
First Rena and Albaric began to channel their magic. Albaric glanced up at Rena timidly as they joined hands. He had never felt intimidated by a woman before but her fearless resolve was so opposing to his own ambivalence.
Even now, he still had some doubts. As old habits die hard, he had gone along with the tide. He was doing what the Emperor wanted. And more importantly, he was doing what Rena wanted. Her moral compass would have to be enough to guide them both.
Although they had reconciled after the events preceding the attack on the tower, there were still things left unsaid. Now all those unspoken words were digging further into his heart and rallying against his own sense of injustice.
When Albaric had first discovered their plan, he had given much thought to Rena's words. A world without magic seemed inconceivable at first. After all, what was the role of the sword saint without magic? Yes, he would still be a knight. He would still have his experience and his desire to change.
Yet when Albaric had gone to confront the Emperor himself, he found much to be desired:
"If you don't like it, you're free to leave again," the Emperor had said.
"You don't deny it?"
"Why would I?"
"So Michael was telling the truth?"
"If you think for one moment his actions predicated upon the telling of truth or lies, you are mistaken. He acted of his own selfish volition. I suggest you do the same,"
"How can the court sentence him without the full facts?"
"Well, feel free to tell them, Albaric. I won't stop you. However, consider who will suffer if you do. Sister Rena went to great lengths to show her worth. You would throw that all away?"
"Her worth will not be altered by my actions. I know you that well at least. You don't change your mind based upon the words of others, only the facts,"
"It's not my esteem which will alter, only the courts. They will certainly protest but by then I will already have done the deed. She will be seen as ineffective. And as for Michael, it has been through my protection that he has so far been shielded. He will be punished by them regardless. Therefore, If his welfare is your chief concern, I will suggest that he receives life imprisonment over the death penalty. Will that suffice?"
"I don't understand you, your majesty. Why would you go so far as to destroy the demon world? The Empress wouldn't have wanted this. The court will crucify you. The world will never forgive you,"
"I know, but in this life, the longer we live the more we disappoint those who love us. And so, since she is gone and I have been left here in my misery. I am in need of some company."