"It was very noisy outside," Archibald mumbled while staring at the door. Although his face didn't show it, he was actually pretty concerned.
Returning his gaze to the woman who was still kneeling and earnestly praying a few steps away from him, Archibald began questioning whether it was right to trust her or not.
"Hey, you have been doing that for almost half an hour. How much longer will it takes?" Archibald asked impatiently. His tone became dangerously low as he put his hand on his sword hilt. "Did you forget what I said before? You better not pull any trick while you are under my watch."
However, Aisha kept praying as if she couldn't hear him.
Archibald was irked because it felt like he was talking by himself. From the beginning, he wasn't a patient person, and this woman kept testing his bottom line.
"Fine. Suit yourself. Come aboard when you are ready. I'm going out to check on the situation."
"Wait."
The soft voice stopped him on his track. Archibald's brows raised when he looked back and saw that Aisha had stood on her feet. "Have you finally finished chanting the mantra or whatever divination you are doing? If so, then stop dragging your foot here."
Aisha ignored his words and walked up to him with a grim expression. "Your Majesty, the malevolent energy outside is powerful. If you aren't careful, you will be affected too."
"Malevolent energy?" He frowned deeply, distrust written all over his face.
Aisha knew he wouldn't believe her, and there was no time for explaining either. She calmly raised both hands, then used the dagger to cut her palm, creating a long cut across it.
Archibald was taken aback by her sudden action. Then, his eyes narrowed down in a dangerous scowl.
"Are you crazy? Your body and soul belong to me now. Who allows you to hurt it?"
"Your Majesty, please give me your hand."
"My hand?" Archibald was skeptical but still stretched out his hand anyway. His gaze lingered on the wound on her palm.
Aisha took his hand and used her blood to draw a crescent moon on his palm. "There. You should be fine now."
Archibald eyed the symbol with incredulity. "Does this symbol supposed to protect me from whatever malevolent energy out there?"
"It will at least protect your body from getting affected by those spirits. Now, we must hurry. The more we let these spirits possess living people, the more it will affect the original soul in that body."
Archibald didn't quite understand, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
Together, they stepped out of the cabin and were shocked by the sight unfolded before them.
It was Leslie who stood beside the lying Captain. Blood oozed from the wound on the Captain's shoulder, and Leslie stood tall beside his body. He raised his sword in the air and pointed the tip at the Captain's back from above, ready to stab the flesh.
"No!" Aisha shouted and was about to stop him, but Archibald was faster.
He immediately lunged forward and kicked Leslie away from the Captain. But it was as if he didn't feel the pain because in the next moment, Lesli got up and slashed his sword toward Archibald.
*CLANG
Archibald pulled out his sword time, and the sound of the blade clashing filled the air as Archibald's swords met his. Archibald's eyes darkened, seeing the impassive look on Leslie's face.
He pushed Leslie's sword back with sheer brute force, causing the latter to stagger backward before he roared at his subordinate. "Leslie! Have you finally lost your mind? Do you know whom you are pointing your sword to?!"
"No, please don't hurt him, Your Majesty!" Aisha quickly interjected when she felt Archibald was going to attack him again. "He is possessed! He is not himself right now!"
"What?" Archibald looked at Aisha in disbelief before shifting his gaze to Leslie while maintaining his fighting stance.
As she said, there was indeed something off about him. Those eyes of his were devoid of any emotion or will to live. It didn't look anything like Leslie, who served him loyally all this time.
"Tsk!" Archibald clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Although he believed Aisha was the key to solving this problem, he actually didn't really believe these so-called malevolent spirits she talked about. How could he believe something he had never witnessed before?
But if it wasn't because of those spirits, how could Leslie stand before him and point his sword at him? He was his most trusted aide.
This was more troublesome than he thought. "Priestess, can your blood snap him to his sense?"
"I don't know, but it's worth trying!"
"Alright. You stay back first. I'll handle this!"
Leslie swung his swords at him again, but Archibald sneered. "Ghost or whatever, you sure wasted Leslie's trained body with your lousy skill. You are one thousand years too early if you think you can win against me like that!"
Archibald began to push back against him. It wasn't difficult because Leslie's stance was full of openings. He was relieved because fighting someone without killing them was much harder than he thought.
"Ah!"
He almost cornered Leslie when Aisha's scream distracted him. Turning around, he saw the Captain manage to get up and pin her to the ground.
"So he is possessed too? Shit!" Archibald cursed out. He wanted to approach them but was blocked by Leslie.
Using the moment when Archibald was distracted, Leslie began to close in on him.
"How naive!"
Archibald dodged to the side and flung his opponent's sword away with one wide strike.
Leslie lost his sword and couldn't attack anymore. Then, Archibald used the back of his sword and struck the back of his neck hard, causing Leslie to slump to the floor helplessly.
He didn't have time to check whether his subordinate was alright. After ensuring Leslie wouldn't get up again, he quickly turned around.
"Aisha!" Archibald was about to help her when he noticed the one lying unconscious was the Captain, not her.
There was a handprint mark on his cheek smeared with blood. Beside him was Aisha, who was panting hard but seemed uninjured.
Archibald was stunned. He didn't expect Aisha to be able to subdue the Captain by herself.
"Your Majesty, it's working! My blood can snap them to their senses!" Aisha smiled as she turned to him, and Archibald found this situation pretty funny.
Did she forget that he was the one who burned her land to ash? Why did she look so happy while talking to him?
Archibald shifted his gaze and went to lift Leslie by the collar before throwing it to her. "Wake him up too while you are at it."
"You can be gentler to him—" Aisha looked sympathetically at Leslie. He was treated like a sack of rice.
"Ah? You have a problem with the way I do things?"
"…No, Your Majesty."
"Be quick. There are still many people who need your slap down there," Archibald smirked menacingly. "In the meantime, I will teach them what pain means."