Even with Gaius's speed as an Ascended, it took them almost half an hour to cross the silent, empty plains of Casamir and reach the capital, where the royal palace stood. The entire ride, Ashoka sat rigid and silent, as if a guillotine hovered permanently over his neck.
Near the palace, Gaius left without a word. Ashoka did so too, slipping into the palace through the same hidden passage Oswald had used earlier that night. Somewhere along the corridor, he shed his current clothes for something cleaner and looser, a change of clothes he'd stashed here before leaving the palace's confines himself.
The palace was wrapped in an unnatural quiet, as if everyone inside had suddenly vanished. That silence broke only occasionally — a guard here, another there, standing at their posts with a tired expression on their faces. None of them gave Ashoka a second look. All of them answered to Gaius, and so long as he didn't draw too much notice, the Crown tended to overlook him as well.
Well that's at least what Ashoka hoped.
He reached Eldrin's chamber eventually.
There were no guards stationed there which felt odd, but he soon realised why as he neared the door.
Because as soon as Ashoka moved to grab the handle, a sudden, indescribable feeling of tension permeated his flesh. Even through the door, the presence could not be easily hidden.
Aha, an ascended...
His heartbeat quickened, but he soon calmed himself and put on a composed expression. He still remembered Gaius's iron grip around his wrist.
Then, he opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately, several pairs of eyes turned toward him at once.
There were three figures present within the room, a man, a woman, and a child.
The man was the source of the pressure — an Ascended Ashoka recognized from the dinner some nights ago, the one entrusted with overseeing the palace's affairs, whatever they might be. His presence here at this hour told Ashoka everything he needed to know about how seriously tonight was being treated.
The woman was unfamiliar. Awakened, though her bearing gave little away — plain clothes and an unremarkable face that could pass for a servant or a guard if you didn't feel the faint hum of her extraordinary presence.
And finally, the child. With a beautiful obsidian crown resting upon his head, which looked elegant and regal despite its crude and jagged edges, the boy held a royal and dignified air to him, making everyone around want to submit to him and follow his every word.
That boy was Eldrin, the young king of Casamir and the one beholden to the Black Crown.
A grim expression had been plastered over his childish face, but as soon as Ashoka appeared, his eyes suddenly lit up, as if a ray of hope had suddenly illuminated his world in a dire situation.
"By the gods, Ashoka, where had you been?!" He was the first of the four to speak.
"I saw a fire over the horizon from the window of my room," Ashoka said, bowing his head. "I went down to ask around, but got turned around on the way back — this palace still isn't easy for me to navigate."
His eloquence didn't betray him this time, unlike when Gaius had stood before him with a scar on his face. The lies came out smooth and easy.
Eldrin still gave him a suspicious look, as if not convinced of his lies but decided to not push further.
Ashoka waited for Eldrin to talk, but it was the ascended standing to the left who spoke up next, his gravelly voice grating against Ashoka's ears.
"That fire you saw is a result of Prince Oswald going on a rampage, possibly after what happened today in the royal court. There are already 12 recorded casualties even if we ignore other damages."
Ashoka's eyes widened when he heard that.
"Prince Oswald did what?!"
8 more people have died??!
Ashoka expression turned dark as he suddenly felt a bitter ache settle in his heart. All these deaths because he had foolishly believed that he could control an Ascended like Gaius.
He lingered for a moment, and then looked up at Eldrin before turning to the ascended.
"I need more information."
Nodding slightly, the ascended gestured at the unassuming woman sitting on the right, "she is acting as a proxy currently. She will tell you all we know so far."
Among the awakened of the army, there was one whose aspect ability allowed him to telepathically converse with people already marked, across a vast distance. This woman in front of him was one such marked, and was acting as a bridge for communication.
Ashoka knew about this awakened from Gaius and wasn't suprised internally. And so, over the course of a few minutes, she explained everything that had happened till now, from the encounter at the barnhouse to what was happening right now.
Of course, most of what she told him was things he already knew, after all, he himself had planned with Gaius on how things should go.
"And now, Sir Cathal and Sir Corvin are fighting with him on a shopping district in a small city state 50 kilometres north-east of the centre. There haven't been any deaths within this city till now, but the situation is dire and that might soon change."
The room fell into silence as the words lingered in the minds of everyone in the room. After some time, Ashoka opened his mouth.
"I understand the situation, but what have we gathered here for? We can't do anything substantial from all the way here can we? and in the end, it's all up to the ascended commanders."
The woman turned to look at the ascended with a solemn look, then faced Ashoka once again. "It's because we are contemplating whether we should kill Prince Oswald or no—"
"You are bringing this up again!?"
The voice that cut the awakened's line belonged to none other than Eldrin, who currently bore a look of deep fury. There was a hint of hesitation and fear mixed into his voice as well.
A ripple passed through the room as all the hidden emotions within that voice interweaved themselves with the lingering authority of the obsidian crown over his head, forcing Ashoka and the awakened woman to bow as if under a mind attack.
Only the ascended seemed to be unaffected.
The awakened's words should've been like a bombshell to Ashoka, and although he put on a look, inwardly he was smiling widely.
The plan has gone as intended, it seems!
Everything he and Gaius had done till now was part of a meticulous plan, all of it just to incite this exact discussion within the confines of this room.
Putting on a beautifully crafted expression of shock, Ashoka turned to the awakened with dread in his eyes. "Have you gone insane? Do you understand what you are saying, kill a Prince of Casamir? The thought alone should be considered treason!"
In front, Eldrin nodded vigorously. "That's right! I have been telling them the same thing for the last hour!"
Suddenly, the ascended turned to look at Eldrin with a dark expression. "Don't be childish, King Eldrin." His words cut through Eldrin's own, stopping him in his tracks, "You know why we are discussing this course of action while Sir Ashoka is still oblivious."
Saying that, he slowly stood up and took out a dagger from his waist. For a second, Ashoka dreaded the worst, but the ascended simply walked to the centre, where an ornate wooden table stood. Cold steel scraped against the polished surface of the table as he carved simple shapes into it.
Ashoka stepped in to take a closer look. The shapes consisted of a large circle, with a small square in the middle shaped to look like a castle atop a hill. At the top, bottom, left, and right of the circle, the names of the four cardinal directions — north, east, west, south — were written. Ashoka quickly realised it was a map of Casamir.
The ascended pointed his dagger at the northwest quadrant and marked a cross at the outer reaches. "This is where Prince Oswald started his rampage. On this, you already know most of what you need to." He dragged his dagger and marked a cross on the northeastern quadrant.
Taking a deep breath, he continued. "One of the patrol units in this section spotted a corrupted monster making its way through the empty forests. The monster, now identified as a Fallen Demon, is heading straight for a small city-state, and the forces sent to intercept it are insufficient. We don't know for certain how it got inside, but from the looks of it, the monster is a member of the horde of the Corrupted Tyrant that Prince Gaius and his cohort had been sent out to slay."
Finally, the ascended let out a heavy sigh. "Only an Ascended can stop it in a short amount of time, but the only two Ascended we could use have already been sent to deal with Prince Oswald. Though both of them are strong, Prince Oswald seems to be fighting with the intent to kill. If either of them were to break off to slay the Demon, it would likely mean the death of the other."
Hearing that, Ashoka quickly put on a mask of solemnity. After staying silent for a few minutes, he turned to Eldrin. "Can't you use the crown's power to restrict Oswald in some way?"
No one mentioned the sudden drop in honorifics for the prince.
In front, Eldrin shook his head, before looking down as if guilty of a crime. "I- I can't... I used the verdict of the day during the court session. It will take till dawn before I can use it again."
That was to be expected for Ashoka, after all, there was a reason why the plan had begun only on the night after Oswald's trial and not after.
After listening to Eldrin's response, Ashoka suddenly took a deep breath. Then, he moved to one of the chairs and sat down, covering his face with a hand.
Eldrin was currently leaning on his chair heavily, staring at him intently, as if waiting for him to say something. Ashoka stayed motionless for a few long minutes, before speaking from beneath his palm, "What? Do you want me to list the reason why Oswald needs to die?"
Eldrin almost toppled from his chair when he heard Ashoka's words. Stammering, he let out a choked voice. "W-what?!"
Ashoka looked up at Eldrin from between his fingers and then sat up straight.
"As your first and foremost advisor, I will explain to you the political implications." His voice slowly turned monotonous. "First of all, the verdict you gave on Oswald's trial is not sufficient. You can't forget that property was not the only thing Oswald took, there were also lives lost. The roads are still empty because it has barely been a day and people are still joyous because their voices had been answered to, but give it a few days and the streets will be filled with crowds and protest.
"If you keep showing the same leniency, protest might turn violent and Casamir will slowly become unstable. People will start leaving and outside trade will decrease steeply. This will be the reasonable course of events, but then, if you add in the fact that Oswald managed to leave the Palace under the Royal family's gaze and then went on to perpetrate a massacre. Not only that but the Royal family also failed to make the right decision which led to the deaths of hundreds somewhere else. The outrage that would spawn from this scenario would simply be too enormous, and even if you had any plans of giving stricter punishment to Oswald in due time, by then, the subject of the outrage would have shifted to the Royal family's incompetence."
Once again letting out a sigh, he looked Eldrin straight in the eyes.
Then, he noticed something strange.
At some point in time, Eldrin's light brown eyes had turned a mystical shade of black as if a cloud of pitch black charcoal was rolling within them.
Ashoka was almost startled for a second, but then realised what was happening. Eldrin was most likely using the Crown to gain access to his lawyer ability, using them to detect any lies or inconsistency in Ashoka's reasoning.
No, his intuition was telling him that something was strange. He remembered all the reactions that Eldrin had given every time the topic of killing Oswald was brought up.
He frowned as a guess appeared in his mind. Was... Was Eldrin trying to find counters to his argument?
No, that can't be right. Why would he try to defend or save Oswald?
But if it was... Eldrin would most likely bring up Oswald's value as an Ascended...
"Of course, these are only the political and economical reasons. As for the moral reasons, Sir has already explained them. Hundreds if not thousands will die if the Fallen Demon is allowed to reach the settlement. Chaos will only increase after it enters inside, making it harder to slay, even for an Ascended. If we decide to forsake Oswald, innumerable lives will be saved. If we don't, they will all be doomed, along with a few dozen more that will die as Oswald's rampage continues."
The room fell into a heavy silence. No one dared to speak without thinking because every word spoken here carried enough weight to alter the course of Casamir in many unforeseeable ways.
All eyes eventually drifted toward Eldrin, waiting for the boy-king to say something. Currently, he was sitting with his head lowered, face covered by shadows. He looked incredibly small in that instant, like a fragile vase, ready to fall and break into pieces by a simple gust of wind.
"... But he is an ascended—" his voice quivered when he finally spoke, still refusing to look up. "If we were to kill him, it would diminish our awakened forces..."
Then, his voice turned excited, "Right, Uncle told me once that he was one of the strongest warriors during the Great Raid two years ago! That should be enough of a reason!"
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ashoka almost fell off his chair, shell shocked. The eyes of both the awakened shifted to him momentarily.
There they were, the words Ashoka had dreaded hearing. It seemed that for some reason, Eldrin was hesitating on making the decision.
He felt confused.
Why?? I had listed every single vile crime he had committed, and he still wants to forgive him??
Ashoka opened his mouth, preparing to say something, but before he could, the ascended standing silently on the side spoke up in his stead.
"The mental scars Prince Oswald received during the Great Raid were too strong. He... has refused to pick up his sword ever since."
His voice slowly turned solemn.
"He's... very adamant in his choice. The Corrupted Tyrant that appeared two weeks ago is one of the few strongest dangers that Casamir has faced in the last two years, yet when Sir Gaius had gone to recruit him, he had still refused. I don't think he can serve any value as an Awakened, and as a mundane, his exploits are for all to see."
The words resounded across the chamber like the sentence of an executioner. Eldrin's shoulders imperceptibly trembled, before finally slumping down.
Then, he simply went mute.
That was when Ashoka finally understood the reason behind Eldrin's cowardice, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh when he saw this.
It truly was a tragedy, really. Eldrin's family had not always been such a mess, back when the first king still lived.
There was a time when Oswald had been a charismatic, valiant young warrior with wonderful tales to tell to his young nephew, and not a cruel greedon. There was a time when Gaius was still not as distant as he was today.
There was a time when his father was still alive.
Eldrin had basically seen his family crumble to dust and ruin in the span of a few years, with everyone turning into a mockery of their past self, holding malicious intentions for every other person.
In the end, the sweet nectar of power and the enchanting promise of authority — the Black Crown — had corrupted everyone. Who knew? Perhaps Eldrin was blaming everything on the band of jagged obsidian over his head at this very moment.
The Oswald and Gaius that Ashoka knew and what Eldrin remembered were so unalike that the difference between them might as well be as vast as heaven and hell. But even then, Eldrin clung to the memories of the past, refusing to forget them.
He had steeled himself when the day of the trial had come, but today, he cowered when the time came to extinguish one of those memories.
In this world, there were many kinds of cowardice, some more hideous than others, but the one that made a person freeze was the saddest and most pitiful of them all. It surfaced most often in the moments that mattered the least room for hesitation — choosing between a parent and a sibling, between one's own life and someone else's, between the person you loved and the hundreds you'd never met.
Cowardice was one of the things Ashoka hated the most, but when he looked at the quivering figure of Eldrin, he simply felt pity for the boy.
After a moment of silence, Ashoka stood up and walked to stand near him, "We are running out of time, Eldrin..."
There was no reply.
He changed his words, patting him on the shoulder. He felt the boy flinch under his touch. "As your advisor, I would still say that forsaking Oswald is the correct decision... but in the end, it's up to you."
He let the words hang. For a second, he wondered what Gaius would've done in his place. Perhaps, he would've been able to control Eldrin's emotions better than him, resulting in a better and faster outcome. But he knew for certain that Gaius's methods would be much more merciless on Eldrin.
And in the end, Ashoka wasn't Gaius.
It was too cruel a burden to have to decide whether a family member is to die... and Ashoka didn't want to burden Eldrin with such a decision.
That wasn't to say that he was going to let the hundreds of people die.
His original purpose here, atleast in the plan cooked up by Gaius and him together, was to fully convince Eldrin on choosing to forake Oswald's like for the greater good. But secretly, Ashoka had made preparations for the scenario in which he was either too late or if Gaius's words could not be believed fully. There were two reasons why Ashoka had started the bloodtrail to lead the Fallen Demon from Cathal's house after all, and one of those was about to come in handy pretty soon.
Behind him, the ascended was slowly turning agitated. He was most definitely turning furious over Eldrin's inaction.
Tick. Tock.
The faint tick of a clock continued to echo in the ominous silence. Time waited for no one, and it was running out for them.
At some point in time, the restless presence of the ascended had begun to clash with the emotions of Eldrin that had inexplicably fused with the aura of the Crown.
Ashoka felt the worst of it, but even then, he waited.
Tick. Tock.
Waited for the moment to arrive.
Just as he too began to grow restless, the awakened proxy that had been silent finally rose from her seat.
Her expression had gone tight and urgent. "We have a situation!"
Every head in the room turned. Even Eldrin lifted his gaze.
Aha... It's finally here.
Before she could say anything more, something shifted. An invisible ripple seemed to spread through the world and the air in the chamber seemed to tremble. Every particle vibrated, as if a strange, illusory heartbeat of an inconceivably gargantuan entity had interwoven with reality.
Everyone turned to the window that showed the scene of the moonless night sky, now hidden behind a veil of heavy, rolling clouds.
Something was glowing within vast expanse of white clouds, making it seems like the heavens itself had been turned into an incredible pyre above the whole of Casamir.
Well. Ashoka watched the glow spread, his expression unreadable. That's certainly a sight.