Chapter XIX: Saving The Empire.
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As silence filled the room, Donovan thought about how to respond.
He had been quiet for some time now, and was aware of the fact that Camillia was getting a little fidgety due to him being silent for a decent while now, but he, in all honesty, was barely paying attention to this, for he far too busy thinking about what he was supposed to say. It also didn't help that at the moment, he was feeling a bunch of negative emotions.
"I, I just don't know what to say!" He said to himself in an irritated manner as he put his hands on his helmet and fought back the urge to scream. "Most people would be happy that they got confessed to by someone, especially if that person was a princess, but I'm not happy at all! I'm not feeling a single shred of happiness; I'm just feeling regret, sadness, and anger."
The reason why he felt regret was because of some of the actions he had taken recently. He and the Dark Knights that were with him didn't have to kill all the guards that had got in their way, and could have let the ones who threw down their weapons go, but they didn't; the four of them killed them without compassion, and it was because of that, Donovan was facing some internal turmoil.
Sure, most of them had received a quick death, but that didn't change what had happened, nor did it excuse him of the actions he had taken. He had still taken the lives of the people who had yielded.
As for the reason why he felt anger, it was because of this whole situation. A part of him didn't want to come here and do these things, but he had to because there was no other way. If the Emperor found out that his daughter had been abducted, then he'd get blamed, and either lose his life, or resist and make the dwarfs join the human alliance.
What pissed him off more though was that the more he thought about it, the more he became certain that he was still going to get blamed for all of this. He didn't know why, but he felt the Emperor was going to say that he failed to protect his daughter, and allowed this to happen or something along those lines.
Just the thought of this happening made him let out a groan of frustration.
Camillia, who was starting to get very nervous now, had heard this groan, and couldn't stop herself from asking in a concerned tone. "Are, are you not happy that I have romantic feelings for you? If so, then I'm-"
"Wha-No, no I'm not upset about that." Donovan stated in a slightly annoyed voice as he fended off the urge to rub his brow. "I just wasn't prepared for a sudden confession like that, alright? It was unexpected, and if I'm being honest something I can't really respond to, at least for the time being."
"Oh..." Was all Camillia said in response.
"Yeah, I know that's something you shouldn't hear, especially after you told them that you have feelings like that for them, but please try to understand that there is a lot on my mind at the moment that is bothering me." Donovan continued in a slightly sadder tone as he took his hands off of his head.
"It, It's fine." Camillia stuttered in a voice that had both understanding and embarrassment in it. She had tried to play it off as if she was okay, and that she understood his reasoning, but deep down, she was upset. She didn't know why, but she felt like the emotions she has for him were just deemed as unimportant.
After this was said, a few seconds of what felt like awkward silence for Donovan passed.
"We should, we should probably get moving." Donovan stated with a bit of hesitance. He didn't have much more to say to her, and at the moment, he was finding it a little hard to talk to her.
"Agreed." Camillia affirmed, a tiny trace of hesitance in her voice. "As much as I wanna talk more about us, I do think it's best we return to the palace."
With that said, Donovan exited left the room with Camillia not far behind him.
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As they were making their way to the exit of Lord Pavus' estate, Donovan, Camillia, and the three Dark Knight could hear the sound of bells ringing.
"Lord Fane, do you hear that?" One of the Dark Knights questioned, traces of curiosity and concern in his voice.
"The bells? Yes." He asked before answering his own question.
"Yeah, so what do you believe to be the cause of them ringing?" The Dark Knight inquisitively asked.
At this, Donovan was silent. He wasn't exactly sure, but he could smell something burning. He had picked up this scent a while, and originally thought nothing of it, and assumed it to be the smell coming from the dwarves ashes/corpses but as they came closer and closer to the front door, the scent he was smelling had become stronger and started to stand out more.
"If I had to guess, I'd say it's because the Emperor's daughter is-" Another Dark Knight stated as they exited the estate before pausing abruptly due to the black smoke he was seeing off in the distance. He had also came to a complete stop along with everyone else who saw the black smoke.
"So, this is what I was smelling." Donovan thought to himself as Camillia took a few steps forward and fell on her knees, which was something he didn't notice at first.
Camillia didn't say anything, but tears started to form in her eyes, for black smoke wasn't the only thing they were able to see from their position. They could see dozens upon dozens of fires off in the distance, and while the bells ringing did block out the majority of the noises they were hearing, they could still hear faint sounds of screaming.
The Dark Knights had seen plenty of action, so they weren't as taken back by the sight they were seeing, but they couldn't stop themselves from wondering what had happened in the past twenty, or so minutes. It also wasn't long before they realized that Lady Nyx's safety could be in jeopardy.
As they started to voice their thoughts about her and their comrades, Donovan approached the Dwarven Princess and said in a low tone that was loud enough to reach her ears. "You alright?"
Camillia sniffled, and said, "Do I look alright?"
Her voice was filled with sadness and pain.
"No." He answered after a second or two. He may not be able to see her face, but it didn't take a genius to know that she was deeply troubled by what was happening in front of them.
"This is Lord Pavus' fault." Camillia declared after a while. "I don't know why he's doing this, but I do know it's his fault."
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Donovan remained silent.
"We're, we're going to stop him, right?" Camillia asked hesitantly. "We're going to stop this revolution of his, right Fane?"
"Of course." He affirmed almost immediately. "Did you think we were just going to stand here and watch all of this go down?"
Camillia smiled in a bitter manner upon hearing this. She, in all honesty, didn't need/appreciate that type of question, but was nonetheless happy that he was going to help stop all of this. "Thank you, Fane."
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Lady Nyx had a slightly annoyed look written on her face as she listened to the Dwarven Emperor rant.
"I considered him to be my brother, my fucking brother, and this is how he repays me!? He plots behind my back, and then abducts my daughter? Oh, he is gonna pay, I will make him pay. By the stone, I swear it!" Havel declared in a furious tone as he paced back and forth.
"Havel, my old friend, I say this with love, but you really need to stop your seething, and calm down. Otherwise, you're going to have a heart attack." Lady Nyx declared in a bit of a joking manner, knowing full well that this would most likely do the opposite, and just piss him off even more.
"Nyx, shut up. I am still in my prime, and your jokes are something I don't need at the moment." Havel stated as he shot her a look that would have easily intimidated others.
"And you fuming like this is something we all don't need to see." Lady Nyx said in response with a serious look in her eyes as she crossed her arms underneath her bust. "I understand your reasoning, trust me, I do. However, now is not the time to be doing this. Right now you should be focusing on dealing with the troublemakers outside of the palace."
At this, the Emperor said nothing, and sent a look to all those who had gathered in the throne room. He didn't notice it, but there were a lot of high ranking members of the Empire that were looking at the two of them with concerned expressions. Of course, he didn't notice this, but most of them were actually being directed to Lady Nyx, for they had believed what she was doing was suicidal.
After seeing their expressions, Havel muttered something under his breath before saying, "I have already done what I can, Lady Nyx. The royal army is being mobilized, and I have already given my commands to the Great General, so all I can do now is sit here and vent about my frustrations."
"Well, that's not exactly true. You could-" Lady Nyx said only to be interrupted by a sudden explosion that had reduced the throne room's doors into nothing, but bits and pieces.
"What the-" Havel started as he, and the others who weren't killed or injured by the shrapnel, recovered from the unexpected explosion and looked at the entrance only to watch the royal guards who had somehow survived the blast be killed by the people who had caused the explosion.
The people who had entered the room were dwarves in black armor, but what had gained almost everybody's attention was the seven humans who were accompanying them.
It was the Hero Party.
After they were done killing the royal guards, one of the dwarves in black armor looked up and said with a smile. "Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty, it is an honor to meet you! I do not know if you know this, but at the moment, your palace is currently being sieged."
Havel paid the man no attention, and simply glared at the members of the Hero Party while saying, "Did you guys decide to join their cause after I chose not to get involved in your war? Is this how petty you all are?"
"From what I see, it appears so." Lady Nyx stated in a neutral tone as the Dark Knights slowly formed a perimeter around, while members of the Royal Guard got in front of the high ranking officers of the Empire and behind the Emperor.
"Hey no, I was talking-"
"Shut your cunt of a mouth before I bash your fucking skull in, pipsqueak." Havel casually declared as he sent the dwarf who was trying to speak to him a death stare that made him stop talking. "When I wanna talk to you, I'll talk to you, but right now, I'm addressing those, quote-unquote, Heroes, so do me a favor and keep that hole of yours shut."
With his point made, and none of the other dwarves finding the strength to talk back to him, Havel directed his attention back to Angel, and said in a firm tone. "Well, did you?"
"Where's the Black Knight? I had heard he is no longer in the palace, so I came to ask where is he." Angel asked after a couple seconds of silence, which only seemed to upset Havel more, for he had been completely ignored.
"You, do you-"
"Why do you wanna know? Wanna have a rematch against him or something?" Lady Nyx questioned, which caused Havel to shoot her a terrifying look, for she basically talked over him. However, she paid little attention to this.
As for why, it was because she was secretly wanting him to enter a fit of rage, and go berserk, for when he does that, he practically becomes an unstoppable force, which was something they were going to need if the Hero Party did turn out to be on the side of the upstarts.
"At the moment? No, not really. I just wanted to know why he left you behind if I'm being honest." Angel casually replied as Havel's rage continued to build up, which was something that didn't go unnoticed by anyone.
Members of the Hero Party who were seeing this happen had a few drops of sweat roll down the sides of their faces as they looked at the Emperor with concerned expressions, except Marianna, who for some had an amused expression written on her face as she watched the dwarf's face become redder and redder.
A few of the Royal Guards tried to calm their Emperor down, but the man barely paid any attention to them or their words, and glared at those who were ignoring him, specifically the Hero Party.
Sir Azath, who had his hand on his sheathed sword, flexed his fingers one at a time starting from his pinky to his index. He was sweating a little, but that wasn't because he was afraid or nervous about what was to come. No, the reason why he had a small sweat going was because of anticipation and excitement. He didn't consider himself to be a battle maniac, but he wouldn't deny that it had been far too long since he had a good battle, and he had a wonderful feeling that this soon to be fight was going to be amazing.
"Is that so?" Lady Nyx said in response as she tilted her head slightly. "Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you that, and by that, I mean I just don't want to tell you why."
"God, you're such an annoying person." Marianna said in a peeved tone as her amused expression was replaced by an annoyed one. "Like you just have that personality that manages to irritate the hell out of me and I hate that."
As a few of the Dark Knights took a step forward, Lady Nyx raised her left hand, and had them stop moving while letting out an amused chuckle. "You're not wrong, I have been told many times I can be very annoying, but that doesn't bother me in the slightest."
While Angel opened his mouth to say something, Havel yanked the two-handed hammer out of the Royal Guard next to him and slammed it in the ground as he yelled in a very angry manner. "That's it, I'm tired of being fucking ignored by you two! I have asked you a question, Hero, and you have ignored me time and time again, which makes me believe that you're an enemy of my Empire. So unless you wanna get your head caved in, I suggest you answer me right now!"
Angel, who had been slightly startled by the noise Havel had made, shifted his attention towards him and watched as he ripped his weapon out of the small crater he had made.
"I should probably answer him before he goes berserk." Angel thought to himself as he felt all eyes were on him.
"Our loyalties, lie with you, Your Imperial Majesty." Angel declared, shocking practically everyone in the room, and causing Lady Nyx's eyes to widen.
The dwarves, who were standing next to the Hero Party, had turned their attention towards them, and began demanding them for elaboration while they pulled out their weapons.
Meanwhile, Angel barely reacted, and simply kept his gaze on the Emperor, who still happened to be glaring at him.
"You, you're telling me that you're not working with those trying to overthrow me?" Havel questioned with a dubious look.
"Yes." Angel answered in a calm manner, which managed to enrage the dwarves around him and his friends even more.
"Oh, really?" Lady Nyx asked with her own suspicious look written on her face. "And exactly why are you choosing to take his side over theirs? From what I have gathered, they want to rid the Empire of demon folk, so why not assist them with these efforts? After all, that is your duty as a Hero, right?"
At this, Angel remained silent. He had wanted to say that what she was saying wasn't true, but if he did think about it, his sole purpose in this world was to kill the Demon King.
As he gritted his teeth in frustration, Jacob spoke. "Those demons you're referring to haven't done anything wrong, unlike your king, who has."
"Oh, and what has My King, done that is considered wrong?" Lady Nyx questioned in a bit of a heated tone with a small scowl as she took a step forward. "Because if I remember correctly it was the humans who declared war on us, and started attacking our kingdom, not the other way around."
While Jacob opened his mouth to rebut her claim, Havel spoke in a loud and clear voice. "Enough! I have heard enough from both of you, and I honestly don't want to hear it anymore! Now, if you what you say is true Hero, then prove it by killing those traitors around you right now. If you don't, then I will deem you an enemy and remove you and your friends' heads from their shoulders."
If this was supposed to faze Angel, then the Emperor failed, for all, he said in response before unsheathing his blade. "Consider it done."