"Laws!? Are you ok? What happened?"
Laws answered while trying to catch his breath. "I... I'm ok. Thank you for healing me!"
I then turned back to look at Pax, who was quietly trying to sneak out of his chair, but stopped immediately when I looked at him. My expression turned into one of hatred. My eyes narrowed in on Pax as I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth in anger.
"You would do this to my friend? And here I had intended to spare your life", I said as I lifted up my hand, pointing my index finger at him.
"No! Don't kill him!", Laws cried out.
"Hmm... if you say so."
Using the hand I had pointed at Pax, I lifted him out of his chair. He squirmed about in midair as he screamed for help. I turned him around so that his back faced me, then, using earth magic, I created stone cuffs around his hands and ankles; then I dropped him down on the floor with a loud 'Thud'.
"Release me at once! Let me go! If my father hears about this, he'll have your head!"
"I don't think he will", I interrupted his ravings. "Once Ginger testifies to all your crimes he might very well have your head."
'Gulp', Pax stopped squirming as he realized I knew about his kidnapping of the soldier's families.
"Wait just a moment, Laws. Let me go free Ginger. She fell down into that pit."
I lowered myself down into the pit, but not all the way within range of the barrier. Using my Magic Power Eye, I could see the range of the barrier and the trail of mana feeding it, leading me to the location of the magic crystal that was powering it. It was hidden in the stone wall, behind a thin layer of stone. I fired a quick stone cannon, destroying it easily.
With the barrier dissipated, I grabbed Ginger and lifted us back out of the pit (I left her sword in the pit, just to be safe). Afterward, I used healing magic to cure her paralysis.
"Ginger, how do you feel? Are you alright now?"
"Y-yes. How did you know about our families being held hostage?"
"My father ran into an old friend who Pax seemed to have conscripted. He told us everything. Don't worry, my father is an S-Ranked adventurer and he's already left to free your families. In fact, they are most likely already safe as we speak."
Ginger breathed a sigh of relief, and Laws' face perked up.
"Paul is here in Shirone too? I should have guessed as much since you're here. I guess he must have found you!"
"He sure did. We met up in Milishion and came here to pick you up so we can head back home together."
"That's great news! I can't wait to see Hope and Sylphiette again! My goodness though, you sure have become quite the magician! I've never seen anyone wield magic like that!"
"Haha, yeah. I suppose I have", I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.
"Now that you've freed me, we need to gather the other members of the search group that Pax had conscripted and flee the city!"
"Can I trust you to take care of that?"
"Well, if I can manage to escape the Palace grounds, I think I should be able to."
I turned to Ginger and addressed her. "I was hoping to bring you with me to testify against Pax's crimes to the king, but for now could you please escort Laws out of the Palace grounds? You know where your family was being held, right? My father should have freed them by now. You can meet up with them after you help Laws."
"O-Of course! Yes. I will do as you say!", Ginger answered me with a serious look on her face, laced with a little bit of fear. Maybe I went a bit overboard with the theatrics. I hope Ginger doesn't hold it against me; I was just trying to scare Pax.
"Laws, go with Ginger. There is someone else in the Palace I need to find before I leave."
"Rudy! I can't just let you wander the castle on your own! It's too dangerous. Paul would never forgive me!"
"Don't worry. I can take care of myself, trust me."
Laws looked back at the two guards lying unconscious on the ground, and gathered his thoughts for a moment.
"Fine. I trust you. Just promise me you'll make it back safe!"
"I promise."
I gagged Pax using the same one he had gagged Laws with. Ginger led Laws and I back down the hallway towards the guards room where we entered. I was carrying Pax behind us using gravity magic. We started circling back around the Royal Palace to the front gate, but I split up from them before we got all the way around to the other side where we would be seen.
"Go on without me. I'll catch up soon."
Ginger nodded and continued leading Laws without me.
After about ten minutes, I made my way towards the front entrance of the Palace with Pax in tow. It didn't take long for me to be spotted.
"Halt! Who goes there?", a guard yelled as he ran towards me. "Wait! He's got Prince Pax!"
The guard blew his whistle. In just a minute or two, I was completely surrounded.
Calmly, I addressed them while holding a hand to Pax's neck. "As I'm sure some of you are no doubt aware, Pax has been holding the families of several of the King's soldiers hostage."
Several of the soldiers' faces betrayed them. I could tell they knew. Although not all of them.
"Your families have already been freed, there is no longer any need to worry. I demand an audience with the king, however, to address Pax's crimes."
I could see several of the soldiers relax in relief, while others pointed their weapons at me angrily.
"Who are you to demand an audience with the King! Release the prince at once or we will run you through!", one of them yelled out.
At this point, it was easy enough for me to tell which soldiers had their families taken and which knew nothing about it, so I decided to make things easier for myself. I blasted two of the aggressive soldiers away with a wind blast spell using one hand, and cast electric on another using my other hand.
The rest of the soldiers looked on in horror as I calmly addressed them again.
"Don't worry, I didn't kill them, but they were getting in my way. Now, could you please escort me to the King? I promise you, I do not wish him any harm. I only wish to reveal Pax's crimes."
The rest of the soldiers (five of them), looked at one another unsure of what to do. I could tell all five of them were among those whose families were held hostage. Eventually, one of them took the initiative and answered me.
"Very well. We shall take you to the king. Please, follow me."
The five soldiers escorted me through the palace to the throne room. I had set Pax on the ground and removed the stone cuffs from his ankles so he could walk. One of the five Soldiers escorted him along while we walked.
As we walked through the Palace, we garnered much attention. Several times we were stopped by other castle guards and the soldiers with me had to explain that Pax was being brought before the King for his crimes and that I was a key witness.
Once we reached the throne room and the soldiers explained the situation to the guards at the door, one of the guards entered and told us to wait here. About two minutes later, he returned.
"The king permits you to enter." The man's voice was trembling slightly as he spoke. "Be careful how you speak to the King", the guard warned me. "He isn't very happy about this."
I nodded as I entered the throne room, still escorted by the five soldiers along with Pax. Inside the throne room sat the king, with two other ornately dressed men standing at his sides. I can only assume these to be the first and second princes, granted their age. There were also several armored knights standing in the room at attention.
The king looked down at us scornfully.
"I hear you come forth with accusations against Pax. Tell me, what makes you think you can just abduct him and bring him before me in this state? You should have reported this matter privately through the proper channels! Instead you parade my son, bound and gagged, through the entire Palace based on the accusations of some random child! What have you to say for yourselves!?"
He was fuming mad. The soldiers surrounding us started to panic, while one of them removed Pax's gag. Pax smiled smugly as he pointed at me and pleaded to the king.
"Father, one of my imperial guards snuck this boy into the Royal Palace so that he could attack me in secret. He knocked out my other two guards and then bound and gagged me. He even attacked some other guards at the front gate and blackmailed these soldiers to accuse me falsely!"
"Which of your guards is guilty of this treason?"
"Her name is Ginger York!"
"Darold, take your men and capture Ginger at once! Bring her before me. Alive if you can."
"Yes sir!"
The knight the king was talking to started running towards us along with five other soldiers behind him. He presumably was running to leave the throne room through the large doors behind me, but I wasn't about to allow that. I reached my hand out, causing the court magician, who was standing behind the king, to reach out his staff in response and start chanting a spell.
I cast gravity magic spread out across the entire room. Using it across such a large area like this required a truly immense amount of mana. I couldn't make the gravity as strong as I wanted due to the strain, but thankfully it seemed to be enough as it forced the heavily armored knights and soldiers to the ground. If there had been any Saint-Tier swordsmen in their ranks I was sure they would have resisted the magic. The only people outside the spell's range were the king, the two princes, the court magician behind him, and the five soldiers surrounding me with Pax.
"What's the meaning of this", the King yelled out in confusion as he stood up from his throne. From his perspective, every one of his knights and soldiers fell to the ground at once and couldn't seem to get back up despite their struggle.
"Take up thy burnt blade and pierce through thy enemy! Flame Slice!", the court magician yelled out with his staff pointed at me.
Only... nothing happened. I had used disturb magic to counter the spell. The court magician looked around confused before trying to cast it again only for it to fail a second time.
"Stop wasting your mana", I said with a sigh. "Someone like you could never hope to damage me with magic."
"What's that supposed to mean!?", he yelled out in confusion.
"Allow me to introduce myself", I said as I performed a noble's greeting, "I am seventh among the Seven Great Powers. The Magic God, Rudeus Greyrat."