"You want to follow me back to Earth?" I asked, astonished. Vivian nodded.
"Yes. I believe I need to put some distance between myself and the source of the Abyss here in order to recover fully. Though you have purged the taint in me, I do not think I will be psychologically healed until I spend some time away. And I'm also quite interested in the world you come from."
"Okay." I saw no reason to refuse. I wasn't Chen Jun, and she wasn't Sandora with a whole Revenge Army needing relocation or something like that. "Let's go then."
"Ah, of course." Vivian realized something. "Yes, I think I've shared enough of my memories with you. Let us go."
She snapped her fingers and we appeared back on the lake. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of Shang Xiao and Lin Xue frozen, the world suspended in temporal stasis as time came to a stop. The whole sharing of memories must have taken less than a millisecond.
And then everything returned to normal.
"You did it," Lin Xue said, as if nothing had happened between me stabbing Vivian and returning from the whole mental exchange process. She was staring at Vivian in awe. "You…you saved her."
"Greetings." Vivian bowed. "I am Vivian Nymanne Morgana, a fellow commander of the Holy Terran Empire. I am grateful to you both for assisting Li Tian Xing in purging me of Abyssal corruption."
"Wait, how do you know my name?" I was astonished. "I don't remember introducing myself."
"We shared memories, remember?" Vivian smiled mischievously. "It wasn't a one-way exchange. I've seen flashes of your past too, and the important information I need about you. Do not worry, I did not pry into your privacy."
"Huh? When did you share memories?" Lin Xue asked, confused. Vivian turned back to her, and I could see that her expression was a little less friendly. She also stepped between me and my senior defensively, as if creating a barrier. Lin Xue was sharp enough to notice the Blade Dance Princess's body language and she immediately shook her head. "Ah, don't worry! There's nothing between us. I've no personal interest in Li Tian Xing whatsoever. I'm his senior."
"Greetings, Ms. His senior," Vivian said with a slight bow. Lin Xue gaped at her before glancing at me.
"She's…doing that on purpose, isn't she?"
"I think so."
"I believe her highness Commander Vivian is exhibiting signs of emotional jealousy. There is an elevation of hormones and…"
"Aegis," Vivian said with a bright smile that somehow looked terrifying at the same time. "I am not jealous at all."
"Of course, your highness." The shield loli fell silent. Then Lin Xue blinked and her jaw dropped as she pointed.
"Y…you are Pandora!"
"No, she's not!" I snapped, exasperated.
"Ah, I mean Pan Li Li!"
"She's not Pan Li Li either! Where are you getting those names from!? This isn't Xyrin Empire!"
"When did your sword and shield take human forms?" Shang Xiao asked curiously, staring from Aegis to Arondight in their new forms. "I thought they didn't have human avatars."
"They did not," Vivian confirmed. "I simply gave them human forms because I thought it was more aesthetically pleasing this way. Plus, like this, they can be sold as character goods. For merchandising when we get a manhua or animation adaptation of our own."
"Uh, you're jumping way too ahead of yourself," I protested. "I don't think we'll ever get a manhua or animation adaptation. Our author is too awful at writing, and our story isn't very interesting."
"One can hope," Vivian said with a shrug. "But enough of irrelevant dialogue. Let's proceed to the main task. Please bring me back to the capital of Avalon and arrange a meeting with the governor."
"Right. I'll contact Governor Pennydrake right away." I suddenly recalled that the population of Avalon was the descendants of Vivian's Celestial Corps. It was only natural that she wanted to speak to them.
I left it to them to discuss while checking on Lionel Johansson. His legion was getting ready to embark back onto the dropships as they prepared to return to Carmarthen. It appeared that there wasn't much for them to do now that we had defeated the Sagittaurs. The Avalon Army could handle the rest.
"The weapons they provided us are amazing and far superior to the primitive arms we used to wield. Excluding the swords and other close combat weapons, of course."
Johansson was impressed with the laser and plasma rifles that the Avalon Army and industries had provided them. With this, we wouldn't have to worry about arming them in the future.
"We'll still stick to this armor, though. The Avalon Army is formidable, but their armor isn't as resilient as ours. Their soldiers may be less weighed down and are more flexible, but we've trained in heavy armor and prefer the protection this gives us. But…it is obsolete."
"We'll figure something out," I assured him.
At that moment, Vivian exited from the governor's council room and greeted Johansson, Rex Luther and the other knights of the Order.
"You have a legion of your own, I see." She nodded to Johansson. "It is an honor to meet you, Knight-general."
"The honor is mine, lady." Johansson watched her carefully. I had briefed him on what had happened, and while he respected her, he remained wary.
"She'll be following me back to Earth," I assured him. The aged general nodded.
"That is for the best."
Within the next day, we were back on our shuttles and dropships, transporting troops and armaments back to both the Crusader and the Stalwart. Captains O'Connor, Turner and Mason had pledged the Avalon navy to my fleet, and vowed to warp to wherever my ships were if we ever needed their aid in a naval battle. Three destroyers more than doubled my current armada, and so their oaths of loyalty were more than welcome.
With that, Avalon was now part of my protectorate, along with Earth and Carmarthen. We proceeded to the latter to drop off Johansson and his legion, and Vivian had suggested that we change the name of our fledging army from "The Order."
"The Order just sounds…so generic. And confusing. Perhaps a better moniker is in order?"
"Just don't call us the Dark Angels, please." Lionel Johansson sighed. "We'll get into copyright trouble."
"I never suggested that."
"How about the Dark Knights?" I asked. Everyone stared at me as if I was dumb.
"If you're planning on turning the legion into a bunch of cowled superheroes, then sure," Lin Xue said sarcastically.
"Hang on, we don't get a say. This has nothing to do with us." Shang Xiao dragged her away, leaving just me and Vivian.
"Can't we stick to the Order?" I complained.
"Not a good idea, especially if you want to talk about copyright. The Order exists on Caliban in Descent of Angels, after all. If you want to avoid getting a cease and desist, come up with something more original."
"In this day and age, nothing's original anymore," I grumbled. Then I sighed. "How about Obsidian Knights?"
"I like that," Luther said, while Johansson nodded silently in approval.
"Let's go with that then," the knight-general declared.
Vivian shrugged. "It's your legion, you decide."
"Then it's decided." Johansson wasted no time. "The Order is now the Obsidian Knights."
And thus, the Obsidian Knights returned to Carmarthen. I watched the dropships descend from orbit, disgorging their passengers before returning to the huge hangars of the Templar class cruiser and Squire class frigate. Once everything was in order, we reactivated the Alcubierre drives and made for Earth. The journey took a little less than three days, and during that period, Vivian taught me more lessons.
"As the more experienced commander, I believe it would be best if I be your mentor."
"My mentor?" I repeated. Vivian nodded.
"To familiarize you with the workings of the Holy Terran Empire, and to train you in strategies and tactics. Though, from what I've heard from Aegis and Arondight, you seem to be on top of that. I suppose the only thing I have left to train you is swordsmanship."
"Oh, that will be helpful." I nodded. "Aegis's training regimen focuses more on building up strength and stamina, and while she did teach me sword techniques, they are pretty basic stances and I feel like I've hit a ceiling."
"Exactly. That's what I'm here for. Speaking of which…" Vivian produced a module and placed it on Arondight. He transformed back into a black sword before assimilating the cube-shaped module and glowed brightly.
"What…?" I was astounded.
"Oh, I'm giving you a reward." Vivian nodded with a smile. She drew her golden sword. "You've fought against my Excalibur and you've seen what it's capable of. Especially when I release exponential bursts of energy drawn from quantum vacuum, which is almost on par with a mini nuclear weapon. I am bestowing that same function to your Arondight, as a reward for rescuing and purifying me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I have the upgrade module anyway, and I can't think of anyone better to give it to than the very own benefactor who saved my life."
"Thanks."
"I'm the one who should be grateful to you. Accept it." Vivian placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, now that you have the same gear as me, I suppose I can expect excellent things from you during training, right?"
"Er…no, I don't think so…?" I felt a surge of panic well inside me. "Please have mercy…"
She didn't.
By the time I limped back to the bridge on the third day, Vivian had thoroughly beaten me up to the point I felt like a sausage pressed through a blender, got chewed up and spat out. Arondight looked just as exhausted as me.
By the way, Excalibur took the form of a beautiful blond girl who looked like Vivian's little sister when she wasn't being used as a sword. She was currently accompanying a cheerful Vivian who was staring out of the viewport at the growing blue and white marble of Earth.
"So that's your home planet?"
"Yeah. We'll be there by the hour. I'll show you around."
"Oh, there's no hurry. I would like to meet your parents first."
"What?! Why?!" I almost choked on that. That was the last thing I was expecting. Why the hell would a fellow Holy Terran Empire commander want to meet my parents first?
Vivian ignored me for the time being, instead staring seriously at the growing globe of my home world. "Do you have any childhood friends I need to eliminate…I mean be aware of?"
She said eliminate, right? Right? I didn't hear her wrong, did I?
"I don't have any childhood friends." I snorted derisively. "I'm not the protagonist of some manhua or manga or anime. Most people don't conveniently have childhood friends who are in love with them since they were young and continue pining for them for years or some bullshit like that. In reality, people grow apart and move on with their lives. Most of the friends you make at present aren't the same ones you had during childhood. You meet new people, make new friends, create new social circles and move on with your life, while growing apart from the people in your past. That's how it is."
"Excellent." Vivian nodded happily. "There is no need to bloody my hands then."
Bloody? Really? I was starting to get more concerned. I understood that Vivian was the Dancing Blade Princess, a commander who had led countless campaigns and vanquished thousands or maybe even millions of alien enemies personally, but I didn't expect her to be so…violent. Then again, I shouldn't be applying concepts of Earth's contemporary culture to her when she came from a very different civilization that had to fight for its very survival during a turbulent era of chaos.
"Please, for the love of the Holy Emperor, do not kill anyone on Earth. Anyone human, I mean. If you are going to stay on Earth, please abide by our laws, customs and cultures. The only exception is if someone is trying to kill you, then self-defense is justified, but otherwise avoid killing at all costs."
"Please do not worry," Vivian assured me with a smile. "I have already been briefed by Aegis and Arondight on what kind of societies have developed on Earth. I know the laws, and I promise not to cause you any trouble. As for the childhood friend, I was merely making a jest. If such a person really existed, I would be resorting to less barbaric ways to eliminate her."
"WHY ARE YOU BENT ON ELIMINATING HER ANYWAY!? Not that I have one, but come on!"
"I meant eliminate her as a romantic rival, so I will not be killing or threatening her. I'll simply tell her about your bad points and have her be disillusioned with you as a romantic interest."
That wasn't as bad, but it was still pretty awful. Suddenly, I wondered if it was a terrible idea to introduce her to my parents, but to my dismay, I realized that it was far too late to refuse.