The Gremory family lawyer was a thin man with silver hair and eyes that had seen too many courtrooms.
"Combat casualty," he said, spreading documents across the table in my temporary holding room. "The core of our defense. Rating Games allow lethal force. You delivered lethal force."
"After he surrendered."
"After an informal cessation of hostility that lacked proper protocol." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Riser Phenex did not formally yield to the arbiter. He announced his intention to yield. Crucial difference."
I stared at him. "Is that going to work?"
"Probably not. But it introduces doubt." He straightened his papers. "The secondary defense is more delicate. Diminished capacity."
"Meaning?"
"Your... unique condition. The Echo influence you described to Lord Sirzechs." He met my eyes. "We won't explain what it is. We'll simply establish that external factors affected your judgment during combat. Sacred Gear malfunction. Psychological trauma. Something that prevents full culpability."
Admit I'm broken. Great.
"Accuracy is not insult," the Fragment observed. "You were not in full control. This is fact."
The lawyer was still talking. " - Lord Sirzechs will advocate personally. The tribunal respects his judgment. But the Phenex prosecution will be... aggressive."
"How aggressive?"
"They're demanding execution." He gathered his papers. "So. Quite."
The Great Hall of Devil Justice was exactly as pretentious as it sounded.
Obsidian pillars stretched toward a ceiling lost in shadow. Crimson light filtered through stained glass depicting ancient battles. Three thrones dominated the far end - occupied by figures whose power made the air vibrate.
Serafall Leviathan. Ajuka Beelzebub. Falbium Asmodeus.
Three of the Four Great Satans. Sirzechs Lucifer had recused himself due to family connection. The remaining three would decide if I lived or died.
I stood in the defendant's circle - a ring of silver runes that suppressed magic and monitored lies. My shackles had been removed, but I'd never felt more trapped.
The gallery was packed. Noble devils filled the observation balconies, their faces ranging from curious to hostile to coldly satisfied. I spotted the Phenex contingent - Lord Phenex's expression could have frozen hellfire. Lady Phenex wore grief like armor.
Rias sat in the front row of the defense section. Akeno beside her, Kiba and Koneko beyond. Asia clutched a rosary that probably hurt to hold. They'd come. All of them.
The prosecution table held three figures in Phenex colors. Their lead attorney rose as silence fell.
"The charges," he announced, voice carrying through magical amplification, "are as follows. Murder during formal Rating Game. Violation of yield protocol. Destruction of a Pure-blooded noble house's heir." His eyes found mine across the hall. "The Phenex clan demands justice. We demand execution."
[TRIAL STATUS]
Defense: Combat casualty + diminished capacity (Echo)
Prosecution: Rule violation + premeditation
Probability of execution: 40%
Probability of probation: 55%
Probability of acquittal: 5%
The number floated in my vision. Forty percent chance of death. I'd faced worse odds in combat. *This is different,* I thought. *In combat, I can fight back.* **"Can you?"** the Fragment asked. **"You killed a man. That requires answering."** --- The prosecution's opening was surgical. "Riser Phenex announced his yield. Witnesses confirm this - including the defendant's own King." The attorney paced before the tribunal. "The defendant heard this announcement. He has admitted as much to Lord Sirzechs Lucifer. And yet, instead of halting his attack, he *enhanced* it. Used a technique of extraordinary power to deliver a killing blow." He turned to face me. "This was not combat. This was murder. Premeditated, deliberate, and witnessed by the entire underworld nobility." Serafall's expression remained unreadable. Ajuka studied me with scientific curiosity. Falbium looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "The defense may respond," Ajuka said. My attorney rose. "Distinguished tribunal, the prosecution presents a simple narrative. But combat is never simple." He approached the center floor. "Rating Games permit lethal force precisely because combat decisions occur in fractions of seconds. Ryder Cross was engaged in active battle against an opponent of superior power. His mind was flooded with combat stimulus, survival instincts, and - as we will establish - external factors affecting his judgment." "What external factors?" Lord Phenex demanded from the gallery. "Order," Serafall said mildly. The single word carried enough power to make the nobleman pale and sit. My attorney continued. "The defendant will testify to the state of his mind during combat. I ask the tribunal to consider: is a soldier who fires his weapon mid-battle guilty of murder when his target surrenders a heartbeat before impact? The bullet was already in flight. The decision was already made." "A Light Lance is not a bullet," the prosecution countered. "It can be dismissed." "In theory. In practice, during the heat of battle, with regeneration analyzers and power calculations running simultaneously?" My attorney spread his hands. "The defendant's mind was not entirely his own." Whispers rippled through the gallery. I saw confusion on many faces. Good. Confusion was better than certainty of my guilt. --- "The defendant will take the stand." I walked to the witness platform - another runed circle, this one specifically designed to detect lies. The magic settled around me like a second skin, cold and invasive. "State your name for the record." "Ryder Cross." "Your status?" "Pawn in the service of Rias Gremory." The Phenex attorney approached. "Mr. Cross. Did you hear Riser Phenex announce his yield?" No point lying. The runes would catch it. "Yes." "Did you understand what that meant?" "Yes." "And yet you killed him anyway." Not a question. A statement. My heart pounded. The runes hummed, monitoring every physiological response. I felt adrenaline flood my system - not fear, not exactly. Something sharper. More familiar. *Combat response. But there's no enemy here.* The feeling didn't care about logic. My body wanted to move, to fight, to survive. I gripped the platform's edge to keep my hands from shaking. "I couldn't stop," I said. "Couldn't? Or wouldn't?" "Couldn't." I met his eyes. "My body didn't respond. My mind was... somewhere else." "Somewhere else." The attorney's tone dripped skepticism. "And where, precisely, was your mind?" How do you explain Echoes to a courtroom? How do you describe the sensation of twelve different combat instincts screaming *kill him* while your own voice - the one that might have been yours, might have been borrowed - stayed silent? "In the fight," I said. "Still in the fight. The battle wasn't over in my head." "The battle was over the moment Riser Phenex yielded." "The decision was already made. The power was already moving." I felt the memory rise - golden light building, the Fragment's calculations running, Dohnaseek's satisfaction bleeding through. "By the time I heard him yield, the strike was complete." "You had seconds between his announcement and your attack." "Seconds aren't long enough." My voice sounded hollow. "Not when you're not the only one deciding." Silence in the hall. The attorney stared at me, clearly unsure how to proceed. My own lawyer looked cautiously optimistic. "What do you mean," Serafall asked quietly, "you're not the only one deciding?" I looked at the tribunal. Three Satans, each powerful enough to erase me with a thought. Each waiting for an answer I didn't know how to give. "I have... echoes. Influences from abilities I've absorbed. Combat instincts from enemies I've defeated." I paused. "When I fight, those instincts fight with me. Sometimes they make decisions faster than I can think." "And these echoes wanted Riser Phenex dead?" "Yes." The word dropped like a stone. More whispers. Lord Phenex's face twisted with rage. But Ajuka leaned forward, suddenly intent. "Fascinating," he murmured. "A form of combat-related personality bleed?" "Something like that." "And what percentage of the decision was yours versus these... echoes?" I hesitated. The truth? Or a comfortable lie? The runes wouldn't let me lie. "Seventy-three percent," I said. "Seventy-three percent was the echoes. Twenty-seven percent was me." "And that twenty-seven percent - did it want him dead?" I closed my eyes. Felt the memory of that moment. Riser's announcement. The golden light building. The part of me that could have stopped it. "I didn't want him dead. But I didn't want to stop badly enough to fight the rest of myself." "Why didn't you stop?" Serafall asked. I opened my eyes. "I couldn't." --- The recess was supposed to last an hour. I spent the first ten minutes in a side chamber, alone except for guards who watched me like I might explode. The trial had gone... not badly. Not well either. Somewhere in the uncertain middle. The second ten minutes, I spent staring at the wall, trying to process what I'd admitted. Seventy-three percent. The echoes had decided. I'd just been along for the ride. *Was that true?* I couldn't tell anymore. The third ten minutes - **"TWO DAYS."** The voice hit like a hammer to the skull. I staggered. The guards moved toward me, alarmed, but I held up a hand. Stay back. Don't touch me. Don't - **"Two days until extraction, little thief."** The side chamber vanished. --- Darkness. Not the absence of light - the *negation* of it. A void so complete that the concept of illumination had never existed here. I stood in nothing. On nothing. The darkness stretched infinitely in every direction. And something stood before me. Humanoid, but wrong. Too tall. Too still. A figure of absolute shadow wearing a shape like a borrowed coat. Where a face should have been, there was only emptiness - a void within the void. **"You performed well at the trial."** The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. **"Honesty. How refreshing. How rare."** *Who are you?* **"You know who I am."** The figure tilted its head - a gesture that shouldn't have been visible, but somehow I saw it. **"Your Fragment fears me. That should tell you enough."** The Watcher. I tried to move. Nothing responded. I was frozen in the darkness, pinned by attention that felt like weight. **"Two days,"** the Watcher repeated. **"Then I come to collect what's mine."** *I'm not yours.* **"Not yet."** Something like amusement rippled through the darkness. **"But you carry my mark. You've borrowed from my domain. And when the time comes, little thief, you will understand - nothing borrowed is ever truly free."** Heat bloomed on my left wrist. The twelve-pointed star - burned into the holding cell floor during the Restoration attack - was burning into my skin. **"See you soon."** --- The vision shattered. I gasped, stumbling. The guards caught me before I hit the floor. My left wrist throbbed, and when I looked - The mark was there. Glowing faintly beneath my skin. [WATCHER PRESENCE] Manifestation: Psychic projection Threat level: UNFIGHTABLE (PL 150+) Countdown: 2 days until extraction attempt Mark status: GLOWING (reacting to stress)
"The Watcher," the Fragment said, and for the first time since I'd known it, the ancient entity's voice held genuine fear. "He's watching."
No kidding. I straightened, waving off the guards. What does he want?
"What he's always wanted." A pause. "You. Me. Everything we could become."
*And in two days - *
"He comes to take it."
I looked at my wrist. The mark pulsed with each heartbeat, a timer counting down to something I couldn't fight.
The trial suddenly seemed very, very small.
"Court will reconvene."
I returned to the witness platform with the Watcher's voice still echoing in my skull. Two days. Whatever verdict the tribunal delivered, I had bigger problems.
One crisis at a time.
The Phenex attorney had finished his questioning. Now my lawyer stood.
"One witness for the defense. Rias Gremory."
Rias walked to the platform. She moved with the grace of nobility, the weight of centuries of political training in every step. But her eyes found mine as she passed.
I'm here, they said. Whatever happens.
"Lady Gremory," my attorney began. "You were present during the Rating Game. What did you observe regarding the defendant's mental state?"
"He fought brilliantly." Rias's voice carried through the hall. "And he fought for me. For my peerage. When Riser Phenex targeted our healer, Ryder intercepted. When Riser used regeneration to outlast us, Ryder developed counters. Every decision he made was about protecting us."
"And at the end? When Riser Phenex yielded?"
Rias paused. "The attack was already in motion. I saw... something in his eyes. Not cruelty. Not satisfaction." She looked at me. "Absence. Like the person I knew wasn't entirely there."
"Echo influence," my attorney said. "Combat instincts overpowering conscious decision."
"Objection," the Phenex attorney snapped. "Speculation."
"I'll allow it," Ajuka said. "Lady Gremory is describing observed behavior, not diagnosing it."
Rias continued. "After the Rating Game, I asked Ryder what happened. He said he didn't know. He said he couldn't tell which thoughts were his anymore." Her voice softened. "I believe him."
"Why?"
"Because hours later, when a Restoration agent attacked Gremory estate, Ryder fought to protect a servant he'd never met. While shackled. Against an opponent that outclassed him." Rias met the tribunal's eyes. "A man who murders for pleasure doesn't do that. A man struggling against influences beyond his control - he protects people even when it costs him."
Lord Phenex started to rise. Lady Phenex pulled him back down.
"He fought for me," Rias said simply. "He bled for me. He protected my people while locked in my family's cell. Whatever happened in that final moment - it wasn't murder. It was a soldier who couldn't stop in time."
Silence.
Then Serafall spoke. "The tribunal will deliberate. Court is in recess until we reach a verdict."
Outside the chamber, Rias found me.
The guards had escorted me to a waiting area. No shackles this time, but enough runes to suppress an army. She walked past them without asking permission.
"How are you?"
"I've been better." I touched my left wrist. The mark still glowed faintly through my sleeve. "Something happened during recess."
Her eyes sharpened. "What?"
"Psychic contact. The Watcher." I pulled back my sleeve. The twelve-pointed star pulsed with cold light. "He's coming. Two days."
Rias's hand covered mine. Her thumb brushed the glowing star mark, and I felt warmth against the cold.
"What is this?" she whispered.
"The Watcher's countdown." I met her eyes. "Two days until he tries to extract me. Or the Fragment. Or both."
Her eyes widened. "We need to tell Sirzechs - "
"After the verdict. One problem at a time."
"Ryder, this is bigger than the verdict - "
"I know." I squeezed her hand. "But I can't fight the Watcher from a cell. We need to win here first."
She stared at me for a long moment. Then nodded, once.
"The verdict will come tonight," she said. "Whatever it is... we face it together."
Whatever comes next.
The Watcher's voice echoed in my memory. Two days.
The verdict would come tonight. But whatever the tribunal decided, a bigger threat was waiting.
And it didn't care about devil law.