As soon as Three had stabbed the blue Judgment in the back, his body began disintegrating. Soon, there was nothing left of the program but a sphere of code and electricity.

Three sent the orb to X, who subsequently destroyed it, absorbing its contents. The entire room just stood there, with only two of the four understanding what truly just happened.

For the others: Prince Barett and the female C.U.H. member, it simply looked as though all three were still in a staredown, with Viina’s eyes fleeting left and right in paranoia.

Viina and Barett Secela were both wearing power armor that looked similar to Lucina’s, only in a scarlet red color, and no helmets or visors visible to the naked eye.

Hector and Lena were wearing less than what I had provided my own soldiers, with just a jumpsuit, a chest piece, plus a set of gauntlets and grieves dyed in the red and white of the Civil Union House.

“Hector…” Lena, the other C.U.H. member, held out a hand as the puppeteer fell to his knees. “Hector!”

She dashed over, and I couldn’t help but feel a disgusted sense of curiosity. Was she always a supporter of his, or does the hypnosis effect persist even after the Judgment has been dismissed?

“What’s wrong?” I walked over to Hector, who was kneeling on one knee. “I wasn’t even rough with you. Even the Crowned Princess could take more pain than you could.”

He grunted angrily, and got to his feet. “I swear I’ll kill you! Even if I have to throw away everything to do it!”

My eyes widened, and I let out a long, hearty laugh. Viina looked at me as if she was searching for where the screw was loose in me.

Hector and Lena were a little more liberal with their reactions, with the former fuming and the latter appearing unsettled.

However, the one I was the least concerned about was sitting next to Viina’s throne, smiling slightly. I frowned and started to move towards him, when a gunshot hit my armor. I glanced down at Hector, whose smoldering firearm had come loose from his grip, lightly clattering to the floor.

I walked up to him, and picked him up by his armored neck, lifting him off the ground. “That was a mistake.” I said calmly.

“Indeed, it was miscalculated.” Hector sighed. The armor was harder than I thought, and I was unable to just choke him out right there.

‘A shame.’ Un spoke in my mind. ‘That would have been quite the statement to rip out the throat of your mortal enemy.’

He was still locked in a staredown with Viina’s Judgment, and strangely still flexing his muscles. ‘I agree… but maybe there’s another way you can make a statement.’Three spoke this time, settling next to Un and staring at the red A.I.

“What?” Hector asked, a cocky tone in his voice. He apparently took my silence for indecision, and put on a smirk. “We both know you can’t kill me. We all know who my father is. You won’t do anything to me in fear of repercussion.”

X, who is his father? I was genuinely confused, and data flooded into my mind at the thought.

He… he’s a nobody? Sure, Hector’s father was a relatively high ranking member of the C.U.H., but being a high ranking member of a company was the same as being a nobody. If you were the face of the company, that would be a different story, but…

“Do you know what the best part about you not being of noble birth is?” I asked. Viina and Barett seemed to see where I was going with my point, and moved to stop me.

“Heel.” I said with authority, causing them both to kneel as X’s reprogramming stopped them in their tracks.

“The best part about that is… I don’t have to worry about anything happening to me if I kill you. After all, who’s going to mobilize an entire country for the sake of one slimy businessman?”

Realization dawned on Hector’s face as he struggled to escape my grasp. “You sick man! You’re a psycho! You’re insane!”

“Who do you think made me this way?” I taunted, signaling for Three to walk up behind the man. “All you people in power who think that the world bends to you because of how much wealth or status you have.” He must have seen her approach out of his peripherals, because he renewed his escape effort two-fold.

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“A shame. If you weren’t such a poor judge of character, we could have been partners.”

“Wait! You have it wrong!” Hector’s voice started to break. “We can still be partners! We can still-” I signaled to Three once more, and she tapped a finger to Hector’s back.

The C.U.H. member stopped moving, and blood seemed to seep from every single one of his pours. Lena screamed and charged at me, but I activated Un’s strengthening, and punched her face, causing her nose and orbital bone to crater into her head, and blood began leaking from the places that her eyes used to occupy.

Barett gasped, but Viina just stood there, a calculating look in her eyes. That’s why I thought you had potential. I smiled to myself, a gesture that was missed because of the visor obscuring my face.

I felt a slight bump on my chest, and looked down to see that Lena’s body had slipped from my fist and her head was now resting on my chest piece.

“Ew.” Quickly brushing the corpse off as Un laughed behind me, I looked around and saw X stifling a laugh of her own.

Barett backed up on his behind and took in the sight of the two murders I had just committed. Viina, however, did not take kindly to Un and X’s laughter, and had her Judgment begin to stir.

‘I think that makes it official.’ X whispered, and curled around me, hugging my back. ‘This world has truly broken you.’

Sadly, I couldn’t help but agree with her. I had just murdered two people in cold blood, and felt nothing for it. Perhaps it was a byproduct of all the bullshit I had been fed since coming here, but I’d found that my patience had regressed to childish levels of it.

“Sit boy.” X pointed a finger at Viina’s judgment, who obeyed her command.

“What in the hell are you doing, Prime!?” Viina shouted as she stood up, drawing a gun on me.

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you.” I said calmly, completely confident that Judgment had already jammed the thing by now.

Unfortunately, she didn’t heed my warning, and all she got from pulling the trigger was molten lead burning a hole in her laser rifle. “May the Starlords ream you into oblivion!” She cursed at me.

I sighed, and walked up to the princess, taking a seat beside her. “Listen Viina, that just then was personal. He tried to kill me. Granted, you were the weapon, but you weren’t really in control of yourself at the time.”

Viina frowned, but allowed me to continue. “Besides, I’m aware of how much revenue both countries could make from this broadcast. I have a proposition for you.”

There was a long pause as I assumed Viina was thinking. “... what did you have in mind, Paladin Cole?”

“A duel.” I replied. Viina tilted her head in confusion, and Barett became a bit paler. “By the way,” I said, pointing to the prince, “what’s been wrong with him? He’s been like that ever since I killed Hector.”

“Ah, the useless prince makes his appearance once more.” Viina sighed. “Do you mind?” I shook my head and stood back, allowing her to stand up straight once more.

“Do you know why all of our ‘elite,’ members stood back and just watched as your army decimated ours?” She asked me.

“No, but something tells me that it wasn’t your fault.” Viina massaged her temples at my response, and sent a death glare to her brother.

“It’s because this idiot can’t take death as what it is: a part of life. Put him in a cage with someone and tell him to box it out, or do mma, or just beat the shit out of someone, and he’s fine with that. But tell him that it’s a fight to the death and he just freezes up!”

Her breathing was ragged, and she extended a hand in the direction of Prime, her Judgment. The red being seemed to disintegrate, and red motes of light floated back to her palm.

Following that display, she walked back up the throne that she had been seated on previously, and looked down upon me. Her gaze moved to her brother, who flinched from the eye contact.

“Barett, go make yourself useful and duel the Paladin. He’s giving us a chance to at least look somewhat impressive in defeat. I’m already considered a failure by the public, but you should benefit from this.”

Barett opened his mouth to respond, but the look in Viina’s eyes told me she was never going to take ‘no’ for an answer.

So, the big prince grit his teeth and walked over. “What are the terms of the duel?” Viina asked once the useless lug had made his way over to stand beside me.

“He can do whatever he wants for a full minute, and if I can endure that then I win.” I stated. There was a small pause as she took in the information, and she sent me a subsequent message in Judgment’s messenger.

“What a farce.” She was clearly unhappy, not that it had much to do with me after we concluded this ‘farce.’

Blame yourself. I sent a message back to her. If your foot soldiers weren’t so inept, I wouldn’t have had to just take a beating in order to make you look somewhat capable.

‘Why?’ she replied. ‘Why are you doing so much to help a country that has no positive relationship to you?’

Because I want you aboard my team. At least, that’s how I’m reasoning it for now. I’m sure Lucina would have told you a much better lie.

Viina let out a laugh, and Barett looked over at her, confused. ‘Fine.’ She sent after she had calmed down. ‘I’ll be yours in exchange for this favor. You’re going to change the world, aren’t you?’

I took up a stance, my training using X’s time dilation kicking in. I wouldn’t say that. I just want a place to belong, is all.