Levi stared at the floor, one hand on his heart and one knee to the ground, the same way Grant did next to him.
After the king allowed them to rise Levi followed Grant's lead.
"Leviathan, Apostle of 'The Goddess of the Depths', Your Majesty," said Grant.
"Apostate, you mean," replied the King.
"My mistake, your majesty," bowed Grant.
The king's voice was powerful and assured. His crown while modest had Sungrove flowers represented in it.
Next to his throne reposed a scepter in a socle with its head looking like a dragon breathing fire.
The king looked old, his white hair and beard agreed with that observation. While he looked old, his expression and how he spoke felt young and sharp.
"And this?" asked the king, barely lifting his finger while pointing at Syllia.
"His lover, Your Majesty," replied Grant.
Levi glared at Grant, but found it in himself not to intervene.
Syllia, on the other hand, simply blushed.
"Ah, to be young."
The councilors who were further to the side of the king exchanged chuckles.
"We've had a visit from the church, Leviathan. You caused us some problems," said the King.
"Your majesty, they started-"
"-In this world, you speak once the king allows it."
"I apologize, Your Majesty, I was unfamiliar," replied Levi.
"How strong is he, Grant?" asked the king.
Grant took a step forward, bowing with his hand on his heart.
"Quite weak, Your Majesty."
"Hmm," hesitated the king.
"But, maybe with time that could change," he added.
Levi's face brightened as he hadn't expected support from Grant.
"That's high praise, considering you're the one saying it," replied the king.
Grant simply bowed again, as he took a step back.
"Unfortunately for you, Leviathan, you are to be executed."
Levi took a step back, slightly stumbling.
"But..." he started.
His eyes darted left to Grant who faced forward, then right, to Syllia whose arm was held by a guard.
She looked at him as tears slid down her face.
"This..."
He took another step back.
Grant slowly turned around, looking at Levi whose hands were shaking.
After another step, he lost balance and fell backward, only to get up swiftly but poorly.
"You can't do this, Thunder promised-"
"Thunder isn't here. What we do of you is not of his concern. That impudent individual will be notified of our ruling later. Grant."
Grant's expression did not change, as he apologized.
"At least get your Goddess out. Help me remember what it's like to survive," he said while slowly walking toward Levi.
His hand was previously empty, yet Levi just noticed he now had his halberd in it.
As Grant walked forward, his face was dark, void of emotions. Shivers went down Levi's spine, as Grant's cold eyes fixated on him like hunter on prey.
Levi's heart started beating faster, while his legs and hands started shaking.
"Father! Why are we doing this? We're not the church's executioners, for heaven's sake."
Next to the king had appeared a girl who must've been around his age, if not slightly older.
They didn't look alike, but Levi figured age must've been the cause.
The way she held herself upright, chin up, with her delicate way of moving around screamed royalty.
She truly looked divine, yet, as much as she looked attractive, Levi's mind was preoccupied.
Grant had also turned around, slightly bowing again toward the princess.
The king simply waved his hand back and forth, signaling Grant to continue.
"This ain't right," loudly said Levi.
"This isn't about right or wrong, Leviathan," replied the king.
"What is it about then? You often kill innocent people in this world?" confronted Levi.
"One innocent sacrificed for a lot more to live."
"Spoken like someone who doesn't realize he's evil!" yelled Levi.
"How dare you call me evil for saving the many?!" replied the king who was up, holding the scepter.
"Until the day you go mad, then you'll simply be a murderous king with a pile of corpses!" Shouted Levi, as his anger rose.
"SILENCE! Insolent Swine! I regret even giving you an audience, I should've killed you like a dog in that mansion!" Shouted the king as he pointed the scepter toward Levi.
"Kill him at once!" he shouted toward Grant.
The king stumbled.
As he put a knee to the ground, he quickly used his hands to keep himself from falling flat.
The guards, councilors, the princess and even Syllia. Everyone had a knee to the ground.
As the atmosphere darkened, embers floated.
Like impending doom, negative feelings slowly replaced any positive ones.
Only Grant remained standing.
His bored look was gone, his eyes looked alive as he watched the Goddess rise from Levi's shadow.
She went up his body, resting on Levi's back as she seemingly hugged him from behind.
She delicately rested her left hand on Levi's cheek, as her lips traced his neck, brushing it as they reached his ears.
She whispered, her cold breath gently caressing his skin.
He raised his hand toward Grant.
Two tentacles rose, yet almost instantly dispersed like exploding mist.
What?
Levi grunted, raising four of them, but they barely emerged as they dispersed again.
Grant was still walking toward him, only a few meters away.
His focused eyes had vanished.
"Is that it?" he asked.
Levi screamed.
As he did, he gradually got louder.
His voice became guttural. As his voice kept getting louder, a higher pitch mixed with his own.
The Goddess was raising her head with Levi, screaming with him.
Her loud shriek joined him.
Gravity was getting heavier, as Grant's next step had taken him twice the time to make.
His focus had come back.
As he took another step, the scream got louder, stopping Grant in his progress as everything cracked.
The sound of glass breaking and pillars cracking filled the room.
The floor fissured, while some guards grunted in pain.
Dust emanated from all the pillars severely damaged, creating a thin mist.
The damage only kept increasing. Grant looked around but quickly turned toward Levi again.
Before taking another step, a loud snap resonated. Grant looked up.
The ceiling was making debris rain, as heavy stone sections fell apart.
Grant took more steps toward Levi, his halberd now in reach.
As he realized gravity wasn't increasing anymore, Grant regained his blase expression.
"I'll make it quick," he said, raising his halberd.
Grant rolled his eyes, then turned his head left, staying immobile.
A sound came from the direction he looked at.
A loud crackling noise resembling thunder that repeated. It was far away but got closer. The sound gradually increased until it felt as if lightning struck the room they were in.
Levi stopped screaming, and so did the Goddess.
In front of him, faster than a blink, Thunder appeared.
His hand was on Levi's shoulder, while he smiled.
"I'm here now, it will be fine, Levi."
Thunder truly smiled with all his being. He nodded, trying to convince Levi it would truly be.
"You're hurting Syllia right now, Levi," said Thunder.
He had forgotten about her.
Looking past Thunder and Grant, he could see Syllia on the ground, the floor slightly cracked under her.
Levi released little by little the pull he had.
"There we go, just let me handle this," said Thunder, taking his hand off Levi's shoulder.
While some guards stayed down, some had gone to help the king and princess up while most of the councilors stayed put.
Levi's eyes fixated on Syllia who wasn't moving.
"She's fine," said Thunder over his shoulder, as if he was reading his mind.
The king barely stood up, wrapping his arm around the guard's shoulder.
Using the scepter in his other hand to balance himself, he quickly looked over his shoulder, glancing at his daughter who poorly smiled at him.
"Kill him!" shouted the king toward Grant.
Grant frowned as he received the order.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," quickly said Thunder with a smile.
"Grant!" yelled the king.
Grant sighed, raising his halberd once more.
Levi's hand barely had time to twitch before a thunderclap loudly echoed in the room.
The room changed before Levi's eyes, who couldn't keep up at all. To him, they just teleported.
Thunder who was right before Levi somehow got past Grant, and up on the platform right before the king and princess.
Grant had also moved but wasn't anywhere close to Thunder. He had reached around ten percent of the way Thunder had.
The floor under Grant was slightly caved in, while he was leaning forward, halberd in hand, ready to jump forward.
Thunder was holding a lightning blade. It wasn't long but electricity reached out of it, jumping to any surface around but causing no damage.
Grant's eyes were hyper-focused on Thunder, as he grasped his halberd tighter, not moving a single muscle.
"I believe we've arrived at a standstill," said Thunder without his cheerful tone.