PART 1

"…Come again?"

"I said, I think I'm the Narrative," I repeated myself, and my girlfriend was still looking at me like I just told her that… no. On second thought, coming up with a similarly dumbfounding analogy would've been just redundant.

Judy didn't get bogged down in the absurdity for long though.

"Literally, figuratively, or metaphorically?"

That gave me a pause, and after some consideration, I answered, "Somewhere between options one and two."

"That's not very helpful for understanding this."

"Sorry, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing as well."

After apologizing, I let out a long breath, and tapped on my face. Pudding-kun took that as a signal, and with a poof, he transformed back into his natural form and landed on my lap with a soft plop.

"I was meaning to ask about your face, but that explains it," my dear assistant noted before leaning closer. "So? Are you going to explain what just happened?"

"How much did you see?"

She paused to collect her thoughts, during which I absently patted the mini-shoggoth and he let out a series of purring sounds in return.

"At first, I only noticed that everyone slowed down, and then stopped. Except for Elly. After that, there was something like a hole in the world slowly approaching you, but when I blinked, it just disappeared, and you continued to play Bel. What was that?"

So, by the sound of it, she couldn't perceive the Predator Moon. Or at the very least, not the way I could; not as a 'person'. Shaking my head, I quickly explained the broad strokes of what just happened from my perspective, starting from the moment I decided to retcon Angie. The fractal world, my hazy memories of the affair, the appearance of the bone-man, and concluded by the brief encounter with other-me and the Red Sun. When I reached the end of it, she let out a thoughtful hum. Contrary to my expectations, she didn't fish out her phone to take notes and only stared at me in mild bewilderment.

"That's a lot to take in."

"It sure is," I sighed with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration, while she remained attentive.

"Exactly how much did you retcon?"

"I… don't think I went back too far. Probably just the last hour or so?"

"You're not sure?"

"Come on, Dormouse. Cut me some slack. Considering how frantic and out-of-it I was at the time, I'm just happy I didn't accidentally turn everyone into werewolves, or whatever…"

Judy eyed me for a moment, and seemingly made up her mind to broach a touchy subject.

"Since you brought it up yourself, let me ask: after you merged with this 'other you', do you feel any different?"

"No, not really." After pondering for a while, I shrugged. "I do feel a bit better, now that my headache is gone, but I don't think that's what you meant."

"I was more worried about your ego."

"I'm still myself, if that's what you're worried about. Other-me is… was… am. Let's go with 'am'. I am still me."

I was still thinking about a fitting analogy, like how if a glassful of water is divided in two and then poured back together, it's still the same water, but before I could get to voicing it, Judy moved on.

"I believe you, but once things calm down, we'll need to have a long discussion with some tests. Just to be sure."

"Be my guest."

She nodded, and it was only then that I noticed an odd glint in her eyes. It was a mixture of anticipation and curiosity, with just a hint of reservation, and I could guess what she was going to ask next.

"How much new information did you get from this 'other you'?"

"A lot, but not enough," I answered in a low voice and quickly shook my head. "No, that's the wrong way to put it. Let's say that I now know a lot of the 'whats' of the Simulacrum, and a few of the 'hows', but precious few of the 'whys'."

If given enough time, I was sure I could piece together a lot of the latter based on the former two, but this wasn't the time for it. We were still in the middle of a situation at the moment, so I decided to limit my explanation to the bare minimum.

"The Simulacrum is like… It's closer to a 'dream' than a computer simulation, but it's not a dream of a specific being. It's more like a collective phenomenon embedded in… uh… I don't think there's a good word for it, but I guess the closest would be 'space-time'? Anyhow, the Simulacrum is naturally a chaotic mess, so it's shaped by external entities into something more concrete."

"The star-people?"

"Yes, the Emergents."

"Are you one of them?"

I wanted to instinctively deny her, but the words were trapped in my throat, resulting in an odd, strained noise that made Pudding-kun look at me and worriedly tap on my chest.

"Maaaybe? It's more like… the current me you're talking to is a part of a bigger whole, but I don't really know what that 'bigger whole' is yet. It's kind of hard to put into words. It's like… very esoteric."

"A part of that red star you mentioned?"

"Maybe, but not quite?" Judy looked at me critically, and I raised my palms in a hurry. "Come on, Dormouse! I just learned all of this a few minutes ago! Give me some time to figure it out."

"Speaking of time." She tapped her gaudy communication glasses. "This probably isn't the best one to keep leisurely talking like this."

"Right." Saying so, I put down Pudding-kun, and after standing up, I shifted into my Polemos outfit. Then, after some more consideration, I switched to my Lion Knight armour instead. It just felt more fitting. "I should deal with that situation first, shouldn't I?"

"Things are winding down at Elly's end, so yes, that seems to be the most pressing thing you should resolve at the moment."

"Figures." I rolled my shoulders and turned to face her again. "And then, after that, I'll have to do something about Elysium too, won't I?"

"This is going to be a long night."

"Took the words right out of my mouth. At least we're over the worst of it. I think." I was just about to say my goodbyes and Phase away, but Judy also stood up and looked me in the eyes. "Is there something else?"

"Just… Chief? Before you leave, let's be clear on something. You're still Leo… my Leo, right?"

After the initial surprise, I emphatically stated, "Always."

"Good." There was a brief pause, and then she added, "Take off your helmet."

"Why?"

"I want to kiss you, and it's in the way."

Feeling some of the tension drain from my shoulders, I went one step further and turned off my Leoformer altogether. The moment I was back in my normal clothes, Judy rose to her tip-toes, put her arms around my neck, and pulled me into an unexpectedly tongue-y kiss. Our lips parted after a few seconds, and she let out an eminently relieved breath.

"All right. Back to business." She fixed her communicator glasses, which got pushed out of place when we were making out, and finished with a soft hum. "I'll update Elly, and investigate exactly how much your retcon changed events compared to what we remember."

"Please do so." I flashed a smile and donned my Lion Knight armour again. "I'm off."

"I'd normally tell you to be careful, but at this point, it feels pointless."

Was that because she gave up on me ever being careful, or because she thought that, after merging with other-me, I would be invincible? It wasn't exactly a power-up though, but I didn't correct her misconception, and simply Phased away.

Normally I would've teleported outside of the Purple (or in this case, Orange) Zone, and then asked Judy to convey a message to Lord Barnabas to 'let me in', but not this time. I've spent quite some time bringing Judy up to date, and I just wanted to get this stupid climax over with so that I could just sit down with a hot cup of tea and organize all my thoughts.

As such, I promptly reappeared inside the battlefield, startling the arch-mage. He was still looking after the injured Agrawain, in the company of the two senior Knights, and their faces lit up the moment they recognized me.

"Leonard! I mean, My Liege!" Arnwald greeted me in a hurry, standing up from the side of Raven Boy sitting on the ground, but I raised a palm to stop him while looking over the environment.

The copy of the warehouse, where all of it started, was pretty much in ruins by this point. We were all outside the building, where the group had taken shelter behind one of the few still stable walls. Judging from the sounds, there were still two hot spots nearby, and my consciousness automatically shifted towards them in a shallow version of Far Sight. Inside the ruins, my in-laws, as well as Naoren and Rinne, were still engaged with the Colossi. Much further back, close to the edge of the pocket space, Parcival and Sebastian were having a big, epic duel of epic proportions surrounded by my Abyssal sister's ice magic. After getting a rough outline of the situation, and seeing that no one was too badly hurt, I turned back to the group by my side.

"Let's leave the courtesies for later. What's the situation?"

Of course, I knew the situation better than them, but they didn't know I knew, so it was important to play my role here. It being 'a Leonard S. Dunning who recently arrived here after disengaging from a different battle and crossing half the city'.

"How did you enter here?" Lord Barnabas blurted out, looking at me suspiciously. "This is a Locked Restricted Field."

"I used the back door Bel of the Abyss left behind," I told him off-handedly and looked around. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"He left this combat zone a while ago," Arnwald told me, and I clicked my tongue hard, to feign irritation.

"Next time, then," I spoke mysteriously and turned to Morgana. "I'm still waiting for that report."

Morgana rose to her feet, and realizing that I was doing a bit, she obediently (and more importantly, succinctly) explained the events that took place here. I nodded along, displaying the appropriate amount of surprise at the twists and turns and just a hint of faux outrage over the destruction of Ascalon. Once she reached the end of her explanation, I once more turned my head towards the sounds of the still ongoing battle.

"You've done well, everyone." Infusing my words with as much solemnity as I could muster, I reached inside my storage enhancements and retrieved my swords. "I'll take it from here."

My declaration was, unfortunately, undercut by my swords immediately doing their usual routine in my head.

"{Ah! Where are we this time, young knight? Is it still an emergency?}"

"{Report: New battlefield registered. Entering combat mode.}"

"{Wait a second! What is one of the Celestials' statues doing here?!}"

"{Correction: The proper designation is Colossus War Platform, third generation, close combat configuration. Further Correction: There are also multiple individuals present, not just one.}"

"{That's not important! Young knight! This is the time! You must use this opportunity to master your beam attack upon the hides of these hideous creatures!}"

"{Even Further Correction: Colossus War Platforms were shaped and ornamented by the best artisans of Elysium. They are not hideous.}"

Ignoring them, as usual, I walked into the battlefield. Now that I got some of my compartmentalized knowledge back, I understood the structure of the so-called plot a bit better. In particular, how this whole encounter was supposed to go down, and how my interference shifted it. Not the retcon; just me being me and mucking things up as Bel.

Now, I needed to nudge the 'plot' to direct the events my way. It might've sounded like a daunting task, but in retrospect, wasn't it something I'd already been doing for a while? Subverting the Knights by taking Cal and capturing them through the duel with Penny, hijacking the tournament arc by supplanting my own climax with Bel as the main actor, the entire hot-springs arc… So long as what I did satisfied the Simulacrum's requirements, the 'plot' would bend to my machinations, no pan-Simulacrum reality-warping Narrative-me shenanigans required.

But what was the Simulacrum looking for? Other-me called it 'drama', but it was something even simpler than that. Drama was just the medium to induce stimulation. Stimulation for the… Submerged Ones? Yes, that's how I transliterated the term before. As for what that meant, I still wasn't entirely certain, but I was pretty sure I could figure it out soon. As long as I was given some room to breathe.

Speaking of which, while Abram, Emese, Naoren and Rinne were still holding the line, they didn't exactly have any room to breathe per se. By the looks of it, Mountain Girl successfully managed to temporarily take one of the Colossi out of commission with Onikiri, yet they were still outnumbered five to four, and the tenacious statue monsters had no concept of the words 'stamina' or 'exhaustion'. My allies weren't so lucky, and with the Colossi steadily adapting to their fighting styles, it was only a question of time before they would be pushed back.

Looking at them, several potential 'plots' rushed in front of my mind's eye. Ways to create 'drama' and generate 'stimulation'. Mom-in-law could overcome the last vestiges of her injury, and awaken her True Dragon Fire, just like Elly did under pressure, and burn them down to even the playing field. Surpassing a disability or a bottleneck to gain a power-up was a pretty common dramatic plot device. Or Naoren could get seriously wounded while protecting Rinne, and thinking that he's about to die, she would unlock the true potential of Onikiri to protect him. It was similar, but the source of the power-up being the power of friendship gave it a different flavour. Add in a dying declaration of affection (whether it was actually a 'dying' one or not was entirely beside the point), and you could even take it one step further, and turn the power of friendship into the power of love instead. As I have told myself in the past, it's a common trope because it works.

Shaking my head, I swiftly got rid of the images. Not because I still thought that the 'power of love' was a bit too trite, but because all of those potentials were moot. I was here, so there was no reason for them to come to be. However, I couldn't 'just' resolve this battle; I had to resolve it dramatically. It was… how to put it simply? As I said, the Simulacrum, or rather, the consciousnesses connected to it, longed for stimulation. The result was a kind of force, like a compressed spring. Just like a spring tried to release the energy stored within it, the Simulacrum would also try to release this 'tension'.

If so, what was the role of the Narrative? If this situation ended anti-climactically, all that potential tension would lead to complications in potentially unpredictable and possibly metaphysical ways. The Narrative existed to channel this tension, and weave it into a 'plot', where it could be released in the form of 'drama'. I was always part of the Narrative, and the Narrative was a part of me, even when I didn't realize it. Just like how it steered me through direct and indirect means, my own plots and actions created drama for the Narrative to utilize. But… that wasn't all of it. I peeled back a layer of the Simulacrum, the Narrative, and myself, but there were still many more left. There were still many things missing, and my understanding was still incomplete.

One thing I knew for sure though was that, by regaining my compartmentalized knowledge, the boundaries between 'me' and the 'Narrative' have blurred even further, to the point it would no longer be able to operate without me. And so, I had to orchestrate my own 'drama' to relieve the Simulacrum's 'tension' and create 'stimulation'. That was the way forward, and the only way to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Simulacrum, the Emergents, and my connection to the Red Sun…

…

No. That wasn't the right name. It was something I came up with, and it felt right at the time, but after what I saw in the hole punctured into the paused Simulacrum, the words no longer felt adequate.

******************** ******** ************

Sounds. Images. Impressions. A series of them thundered in my brain, and I kept repeating the core concept of the entity. With each repetition, my understanding became clearer. I discarded the miscellaneous impressions and focused on the essence of the being until I could slowly extract a true name that could be expressed in words.

"Crowned Coalescence."

My whisper made my mind tremble. Yes. That felt right. And it also made me even more certain of one fact; I was connected to this being. I had no idea how, or why, but I could not deny the truth. What did that make me then? Part of an Emergent? A Submerged One? The Narrative? Or a pawn thereof?

What a silly notion. I was Leonard S. Dunning. Blackcloak. Chimera Slayer of Critias. Regent of House Inanna. King of Knights. Polemos, the Second True Archon. Bel of the Abyss. Bel of the Tenebrous Flames. I was already so many things; did adding a few more titles and qualifiers even matter at this point? I was me, and it was time for me to make a dramatic entrance. That's all that mattered.

As such, I flourished my weapons as I walked towards the scuffle between the Colossi and my allies, and did something I should've done a long time ago: I opened my wings.

After all, I was Polemos. While I might not have inherited his memories or personality, I had, without a doubt, taken his role in the plot. It was one of the many paths Leonard Dunning, sleeper agent of the Narrative, was supposed to be able to thread before I forcefully took a sharp right turn on the first of September, and blazed my own trail. Depending on which of the myriad branches the plot took, I could've become the master of the Brotherhood, or Polemos of the Celestials, or Bel of the Tenebrous Flames of the Abyssals. I have already donned all three mantles, so why shouldn't I be able to use them?

It was but a simple (if slightly desperate) self-suggestion, but the effects were immediate and I could feel a source of mana, different from the one supplied by my swords, bursting from my chest and spreading through my body. As naturally as breathing, I focused on my back, and even though I couldn't see them, I could feel three pairs of ethereal wings sprout behind me, as much part of my body as my arms and legs. Except, no, not really. I wasn't supposed to—

"Haaah…"

I exhaled hard to keep the self-doubt in check. I repeated the mantra 'I am Polemos' in my head a couple more times, until the wings fully solidified. Well, as fully as these things could be. Even Angie's full-on burning Deus wings were pretty transparent at the best of times. Anyhow, after some further self-suggestion, I managed to fully manifest them. Because I'm the Narrative, and if I say so, then I'm Polemos, and I should be able to do something like this. And the Simulacrum listened.

I had no idea for how long I could maintain the self-suggestion though, so I had to act quickly. Channelling more power into my newfound wings, their light painted the otherwise orange ruins in a harsh blue, drawing the attention of the Colossi to the point one of them just straight up ignored Rinne, and she used the opportunity to nearly cut off its wrist. It didn't even flinch.

Ignoring that, I focused my attention on the monsters and continued to twist my own proverbial arm. I was Polemos. Second True Archon. The rightful military leader of all Celestials. These statue creatures were, before anything else, military war machines. Or war-beasts might've been better to— No, focus. No semantics!

Where was I? Right! I was the highest military authority in Elysium, therefore, I should've… No, I did have authority over these things. I absolutely did. That's just how things were, and I should know, because I was the Narrative. Therefore…

"Heed my command!" I shouted in the direction of the Colossi, and pointed Teeny at them, for extra theatrics. "Cease your attacks, and stand by."

The six creatures (including the bisected one on the warehouse floor) look at me as if they are expecting something more. What could it be? Shouldn't that be enough? Maybe they weren't following my orders because I wasn't really Pole—

Shit, I almost wavered there! I had to come up with something. Something that would fit the situation, like… Right, a secret code word! Since Colossi were big war-monster-things, they would obviously have fail-safes installed in them, so that they could be quickly disabled, and as Polemos, I obviously would know about that, because I was Polemos, and that's what it meant to be Polemos, which I definitely was.

"Execute operation sixty-nine!"

I put my whole being into my voice, and after a suspenseful beat, all the Colossi relaxed, as if their strings were cut.

…

Holy shit…! I couldn't believe that worked, especially when I'm not even really—

"Oh, there it goes," I mutter as my wings disappear and the odd source of mana disperses. "I need to practice this."

This time, the Simulacrum played along, probably because what I did just now was suitably 'dramatic'. However, if I wanted to exploit this kind of narrative influence in the future, I really needed to get my shit together. Though again, this whole self-suggestion thing might've worked much better if I wasn't so tired. Or it might've only worked because my brain was so exhausted. Again, I needed practice to figure it out.

Much more importantly, my little light show drew the attention of the trio fighting on the outside. Snowy, following my earlier instructions, was still keeping her distance in the air, while the two elderly men on the ground were looking at me. Sebastian seemed more startled than anything by my display, while Percival was… well, I couldn't read his face, because he was wearing his high-tech helmet, but he was also on guard. More importantly, he was wielding Morgana's flamberge. He must've picked it up after she fell off the roof and I broke his spear, and while his armour was scratched and dented at a few places, he was holding up pretty well, all things considered.

That would end now.

"Sir Percival," I called out to him while slowly walking out of through the fallen side of the warehouse. I took my time because doing it this was built anticipation. Then, once I was closer, I nodded at Sebastian before pointing Cal at Percival. "I now challenge you to Arbitration."

It was a meaningless gesture. Without the Colossi to take pressure off him, he was completely outnumbered and had no way to escape. There was no logical reason to do this… but the Simulacrum wasn't running on logic alone. I could not afford an anti-climax, and fortunately, there was a perfect way to conclude this event. We were both Knights. We had more than enough witnesses. And more importantly, the setup was perfect.

An old master and his pupil. The betrayer and the betrayed. Once as close as family, their bond now irrevocably broken and facing each other in single combat, with their histories and personalities clashing and emotions running high.

That… was drama.

PART 2

Now, after all that setup, let's take a step back. Honestly speaking, I really didn't want to deal with any of this.

No, really. I made a big deal out of drama, releasing tension, and so on, but what I really wanted to do was to just grab Percival, throw him into a volcano, clean up everything, sit down at home, and organize my thoughts in peace and quiet.

I was tired. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to do any of this. I still had to, and it was driving me nuts, so the best I could do was to get it over with as quickly yet theatrically as possible. As such, I walked closer to the black-armoured knight and pressed on before he could respond.

"As a traitor, I cannot allow you to choose the time and venue of the Arbitration duel, so we're going to fight here and now," I stated emphatically. "Since you can't reasonably be expected to produce a witness on such short notice, we'll overlook the protocol and Sir Arnwald and Dame Morgana will serve as our witnesses for the occasion."

The old bastard eyed me for a while (or at least I was pretty sure he was doing that behind his helmet's face plate), and while he let his borrowed sword down, his grip didn't loosen on it at all.

"Are you serious?"

"Quite," I responded curtly. In return, Percival let out a low chuckle.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not bound by the rules of the Brotherhood anymore."

He spoke slowly, probably so that he could draw out the conversation and regain some of his stamina. I wouldn't have that.

"No, you're not," I told him tersely and pointed Cal at him again. "You have already had your Oaths replaced so that you can ignore the rules of the Brotherhood, as well as the authority of the King of Knights, but think about it for a moment: who were the ones who replaced them?"

He remained silent, probably expecting that I was either trying to get him to further incriminate himself, or that it was some sort of a trick question. As such, I answered in his stead.

"It was the Celestials. However, while the Oaths in your Astral Body might be different, they are still based on the same Oaths as the other Knights of the Brotherhood, now Ordo Draconis." This was, naturally, something I'd learned when I examined his receptacles in the past, but I wasn't obligated to explain the nitty-gritty details. "Have you ever wondered whose authority replaced mine?"

"The Celestials'."

His annoyed response drew a chuckle out of me and I casually waved Teeny in the vague direction of the Colossi.

"And who's the highest military authority amongst the Celestials right now?"

Percival glanced at the statue creatures, and the moment the recognition hit him, he let out a low hiss and clutched his chest with his free hand. I also felt the Arbitration's constricting sensation settle in mine, though it was much less uncomfortable than when Penny challenged me in the past. It might've been because our Oaths weren't fully compatible, or because I was feeling a bit smug at the moment.

"Well played," Percival hissed, and he was damn right.

There was a reason why I made a big show about turning off the Colossi. It, and the Arbitration, was a vague idea I had in my head since the very beginning, but I couldn't act on it because I was here as Bel instead of myself. The trick was to make Percival acknowledge that I had the authority to challenge him, which activated his Oaths. It was the same kind of finagling I'd been doing for a while now, to circumvent plot devices, and…

…

Hold on. Something just occurred to me.

I merged with other-me, and I realized that I was a facet of a greater whole we called the Narrative. Plot devices were things set up by the Narrative for later use, so other-me screaming at me whenever I was about to touch them was comparable to building a house of cards, and repeatedly telling myself, 'Be careful, don't knock it over!'. Doing so would've also alerted the Emergents to my presence… or would it?

They seemed to be entirely uninterested in whatever I did, even if it was via manipulating the Simulacrum through my phantom limbs, so long as what I did didn't contradict the hard rules. No time travel, no resurrections, no direct mucking with souls, and so on.

However, even if they did care about my interfacing with these plot devices, they were now aware of my existence. Or, at the very least, they should've been. Unless the Predator Moon acted on its own, and the Crowned Coalescence did something to him to make the others unaware of what happened, of course. I sincerely doubted that, considering that flinging the bone-man out of the Simulacrum didn't feel like an especially covert operation, so they most likely already knew something was up.

In other words, at the moment there was nothing physically stopping me from interacting with Percival's armour or Oaths, and doing so wouldn't have made the situation with the Emergents any worse either, so… why did I go through this whole song-and-dance-routine again to establish the Arbitration duel?

"Right. Drama. Silly me," I whispered under my breath, and tried as I might, I couldn't keep the trepidation out of my voice.

As much as I hated this whole thing, I didn't have an alternative. The situation had to be settled in a way that resolved the dramatic tension in the air. If I were to do it anti-climactically by, say, locking up Percival's armour and then having Sebastian beat him to a pulp… while I would've found it satisfying enough, it wouldn't have fulfilled the Simulacrum's 'drama quota', and that would've made the Emergents start looking into things and mucking up the plot, which I needed about as much as a hump on my back right now.

In other words, I would have to beat Sir Percival the old-fashioned way, and then I could disable him in any way I wanted to. And maybe throw him into that volcano. Plans for later.

For the time being, I flourished my swords again and told him, "Once you're defeated, you'll face the tribunal of the Ordo Draconis for your crimes."

"Ha!" Percival let out a guffaw and hefted his sword. "Putting the cart before the horse, aren't you, kid? All right. In that case, if I emerge victorious, you'll have to let me go."

That was one of those conditions that would've only worked on a Lawful Stupid paladin type, but I didn't want to ruin the flow, so I just shrugged at his suggestion. That was apparently all the ritual of the Arbitration needed, and I could feel the constricting sensation in my chest settle into a less distracting, but still present throb.

"Since we couldn't uphold all the rules of the Arbitration, I'll let you have the first strike." Shifting my posture, I gestured at him with my head. "Your turn."

The old bastard didn't move right away. His head moved almost imperceptibly, likely glancing around. He must've realized that, even if he could potentially beat me, he wouldn't have anywhere to run afterwards. His Celestial allies were not only too busy with their own problems right now, but as I'd just proven, my position as their Archon made them unreliable even at the best of times, and he was surrounded on all sides by my family and allies.

Yet, he still raised his borrowed sword, both hands on the hilt, and adopted an offensive stance, with the blade held high and the point aimed right at me. As they say, a cornered mouse will bite the cat. Though, in this case, calling him a mouse was a bit of an understatement. Maybe a rat? Or a snake. That sounded much more accurate.

Before I could get bogged down in the animal analogies, Percival lunged at me, alerting my danger-sense. I tried to reflexively parry his thrust, but while I managed to do it, the shock felt like I just hit a stone wall with a pipe and made my hand numb. And that was with my physical enhancements already cranked up to be just under the red-line, and with both Cal and Teeny supplying me with mana.

"Look out, My Liege! He's formidable!" Arnwald chimed in from the sideline, and the only reason why I didn't yell 'Thanks, Captain Obvious!' was because I was too busy defending myself from Percival's assault.

He was wicked fast, borderline Penny-fast, and his strikes carried about as much force as a haymaker from Duncan, which was really, really… not that bad news, actually.

Deftly avoiding a series of quick cuts aimed at my upper body, I made occasional counter-plays to keep him on his toes while I was getting accustomed to his range. Honestly, this wasn't so bad. Sure, he was genuinely dangerous, and if I messed up, I could've been seriously injured at any moment, or worse, but as far as my goal was concerned, this worked out pretty well.

After all, I needed to have a proper fight with him. If he was much weaker, then it would've been completely unexciting, and I would've had to come up with some handicap for myself to make the fight more dramatic, and that was just a pain in the neck. Ironically, being an actual threat to me made things much easier on the 'plot building' front.

We exchanged blows a few more times, mostly just to test each other's limits, and I had to admit, in terms of physical enhancements, he beat my Leoformer's Lion Knight armour by quite a margin. It was to be expected though. On the other hand…

"Do you think you have the leisure to space out like that!" he yelled out to me and rushed forth with a series of wide slashes aimed at my head and torso.

"I have a lot on my mind," I answered calmly and deflected his strikes before extending Teeny in the way of his advance, forcing him to leap back, lest he would impale himself with his momentum alone.

So, while he was definitely stronger than me in a purely statistical manner, his weapons handling and judgement left much to be desired. It made me wonder why. Wasn't he supposed to be the big final boss archetype? He even got the OP armour to stand toe-to-toe with everyone… but on the other hand, he was using a borrowed weapon, and him not being a great combatant was consistent with his previous role as a midden manipulator. It made sense both ways.

Anyhow, while pondering over these things, I went on the offensive and rained a series of quick strikes aimed at his sword, just to keep him busy. It was pretty meaningless as far as subduing him was concerned, but our blades meeting and striking off magic-infused sparks was suitably dynamic to keep the onlookers on the edge of their seats, so it was good enough.

…

Actually, let's backtrack a bit. Magical sparks. They were visible to everyone, but it reminded me of the thing that wasn't; the colourless, hard-to-define glow of power leaking out of and enveloping anything and everything that had to do with magic. Could I see it because I was Narrative-adjacent? No, that didn't feel correct. Then what about my other abilities?

While pondering, our duel moved to a different part of the Orange Zone, and I soon quickly reached a few simple conclusions. First off, the phantom limbs, and anything related to them, were outside of the scope of the Simulacrum. Maybe that's why other-me always threw a hissy-fit when I used them to affect the plot. As for the rest… Hmmm…

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"Yaaah!"

I deftly ducked under a wide swing aimed at my head, and when I tried to move in to threaten Percival's outstretched arms, I found that he was already moving back and out of the way. He was adopting to my style pretty fast, wasn't he? Anyhow, where was I? Right, abilities.

Most of my powers were apparently things I was meant to have, but not in the way I ended up doing.

As in, I would've had a different set of powers depending on the 'route' (except there weren't pre-destined routes, but more like the Simulacrum ad-hoc adapting to developments, with my greater Narrative-self further steering things from the shadows, but I digress), yet I somehow ended up unlocking them all. Except… that still wasn't the whole picture.

"Too slow!" Percival yelled at me, and he wasn't entirely wrong, as I barely managed to get out of the way of a thrust aimed at my mid-section, his blade coming so close to my side that it momentarily triggered the wards.

Dammit, I should focus on what I was doing, but it was so hard when my head was full of all of these questions and answers and I had to pair them up. It was like an intellectual itch that I couldn't help but scratch, even in the middle of a duel.

For example, Far Sight wasn't supposed to work the way it did for me. It wasn't related to my phantom limbs, and that's why I needed to make physical contact, but in its original form, it wasn't supposed to let me spy on anyone I ever touched. It had much more stringent limitations, but because I was diffused in the Simulacrum—

"Wait, what?"

The words escaping my mouth startled Percival, to the point he redirected his last strike and adopted a defensive posture. However, when I didn't follow it up, he shifted his stance again, getting ready to deliver a vertical overhead strike, so I hastily crossed my sword and… Wait. Oh no.

Before I could reconsider, his slash fell on me and got caught between my raised swords. However, instead of pulling back, he doubled down, and we got caught in a classic blade lock scenario, both of us pushing against the clinch while rooted in place, and, and…

Goddamit! That's one of the dumbest clichés there is! Sure, it was a classic trope, and it's very dramatic, so I should've been happy about it, but dammit, I have standards, and this fell well below them!

But then again, since we were caught in the stalemate for a moment, maybe I should just go with it? I mean, it was pretty much a free license for me to ponder over more important things. Really, it wasn't that bad, right?

…

No. I changed my mind. This was stupid. It sucked. Hell, he wasn't even pushing against me anymore, just keeping our blades together, and…!

"You know, Leonard," Percival suddenly addressed me, and… Oh for the love of god, don't open your face-plate, you melon! I don't need to see your face, and contrary to common belief, talking is only a free action in tabletop RPGs, not to mention… "We're even more alike than you realize, you and I."

"… You've got to be shitting me."

"No, I'm actually quite serious," Percival continued in a grave tone, but I couldn't pay him any attention, because I was feeling like I was about to get an aneurysm.

He was seriously, one hundred percent genuinely giving me the 'we're not so different' villain speech! When Fred tried the same thing ages ago, I could let it slide, because he was playing the role of a silly sentai bad guy. This bastard was doing it sincerely.

"… the promise of power is hard to ignore, and it's easy to lose yourself in the…"

No. Shut up. I'm not listening to this. Where was I before this whole stupid situation arose again? Right, I was thinking about what it meant to be 'diffused' in the Simulacrum, didn't I?

"… torn between your allegiances, but one day, you'll have to make a hard choice, and…"

So, how did that work? It kind of made intuitive sense, in a way; the Narrative was operating across the entirety of the Simulacrum in a simile of omnipresence. Or at the very least it was omnipresent on this island, but let's not get bogged down in the logistics for now. Since me and Narrative-me had the same origins, it made sense that I would be diffused as well… but I wasn't. Not really.

"… gamble upon gamble, hoping to win big and change your life, only to realize you're too deep in and…"

I mean, yes, technically Far Sight allowed me to send my consciousness to other places, and the reason why I could do it without using any mana was that it didn't involve the magical stratum of the Simulacrum and it was more of an innate quality of mine, but… something was missing. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what, but my gut told me I wasn't seeing the whole picture. Not yet.

"… have nothing to say? Cat's got your tongue, boy? Or are you lacking the words to refute me?"

Was this something even other-me didn't know about, or did I already know the answer, but it was buried under so many other factiods I just couldn't connect the dots yet? What was the exact relationship between myself, the Narrative, and the Simulacrum as a whole, and how did it relate to…?

Hm? Oh, Percival stopped talking. Okay, let's put that thought on hold and continue the duel.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" I said in a casual tone and pushed him back a bit. "I wasn't paying full attention."

I received the mother of all flat stares in return, which was already disconcerting enough, but then it got even worse when Percival's lips slowly bent into a defiant smirk.

"So confident. So arrogant. You must think you've got me cornered, and you can take it easy now." His expression withered in the blink of an eye, followed by a venomous hiss. "I'm disappointed in you, Leonard."

Before I could react properly, his armour let out a high-pitched whine, like one of those big, bulky flash lights on old cameras, and he shoved me so hard I staggered back a bit. For a split-second I was wide open, yet I got no warning from my danger sense, because he took a few steps back and threw his weapon to the side. That was already confusing enough, but then the magical light surrounding his body intensified by at least an order of magnitude, and he adopted a strange pose. One palm was pointing at me, with fingers spread, while the other was doing the same, but pointing at the side.

"Getting stronger made you complacent, just as I knew it would happen! It always does! All that authority and power went into your head, and you forgot what I taught you years ago!" As he spoke, his feet left the ground and he slowly levitated a few centimeters up into the air, now surrounded by a visible red light that gave his black armour an even more sinister aura. "When it comes to survival, there are no rules!"

"Leonard, look out!" Morgana dashed in to pick up her sword, and she hastily positioned herself between the two of us. "I should've known! Percival still has his Mantle!"

Translation: despite being officially retired, he apparently still has his unique ability, like Morgana's power to momentarily freeze people after making eye-contact, or Penny's magic resistance.

"What does it do again?" I asked in a low voice, but Morgana still managed to overhear me, and she readily answered.

"He has the power to transfer all injuries and ailments he suffers to a designated target!"

I would've thanked her for the succinct explanation of what the heck the old bastard was doing, but then Arnwald also rushed in to stand between him and Morgana.

"Brother Percival! Are you out of your mind!? Even if you unleash that power upon Leonard, you will not escape unscathed!"

Oh. So it's also a self-sacrificial move. Neat. Just what we needed right now.

… For the record, that was sarcasm.

"Don't be daft, old friend!" the floating old man chuckled, and even though I no longer actively felt the irrational annoyance in his presence, his expression made me want to punch him all the same. "Think for a moment! Who do you think I'm threatening right now?" Hearing that, my head snapped in the direction his other palm was pointing, and I found Snowy at the end of it. "Ah. The kid finally got it!"

She looked startled by how everyone was focused on her and got ready to cast a spell. Probably a defensive one, I hoped. She wasn't alone either, as if looks could kill, my in-laws would've already turned Percival into mincemeat, and even Sebastian looked like he was about to finally unleash the full brunt of his dragon fire. However, I gestured for them to calm down and pushed the two senior Knights out of the way, approaching Percival.

"Okay, I bite. What's your plan?"

He let out a throaty chuckle and spread his arms again.

"Have any of you wondered why the vial of Udug Blood Amalgam I threw at Bel of the Abyss was empty?" That was a bit of a curveball, but before anyone could get a word in, he declared, "I drank it!"

"What did you say?" That came from Mom-in-law, and she hurriedly dashed over to Snowy, trying to guard her with her own body.

"Oh, please! She was marked the moment I pulled the trigger on my Mantle. Trying to shield her is meaningless," Percival scoffed, the red light surrounding him getting even more ominous, and he levelled a cold glare at me. "Now, tell me, kid? Do you see the three choices in front of you?"

"Three," I repeated after him, and the way he grinned at me in return had a spark of desperate madness in it.

"Indeed. You must be aware, but I'm already running out of mana. I have nothing to lose, so I'll leave the choice in your hands. If you don't stop me, I will transfer the poison to her, and you'll have to watch her die in agony. Cut me down instead, and with my dying breath, I'll mirror it back to you and take you with me. Or… you can forfeit this Arbitration, and then you'll have to let me leave, or pay with your Oaths."

"Percivaaal!" Arnwald shouted in pure outrage and aimed an arrow at the old man's face, but he only chuckled with a wide grin directed at me.

"You must've thought you were oh-so-clever by trapping me in the rules of the Arbitration, but you never considered how they could be used against you just as well. You're still too young and impulsive."

We locked eyes for a couple of crucial seconds, and I tried my best to read his expression. Was he really this desperate, or was this just a ploy? I decided to press him a bit, and see.

"… You're bluffing."

My flat response made the old man's eyes shake, but he quickly doubled down.

"Do you think I wouldn't drink the Blood Amalgam?"

"No, I'm not questioning that part."

If anything, that was the bit that made the most sense. The Blood Amalgam was a… well, maybe not a 'classic' MacGuffin, but a plot device in its more essential form. Closer to a Chekhov's Gun, really; just like the rifle on the wall established ahead of time, it had to be used at a later point, and since Percival was about to be sacked, there was no point later than this for him.

Of course, I didn't expect it to be involved in some status ailment transferring Knightly special ability bullshit, but to be fair, this evening was one outrageous unexpected development after the other, to the point this didn't even make it to the top ten.

So, I was just about to explain why I thought he was too much of a selfish cockroach to risk his life on a gamble like this, but I was beaten to the punch by Snowy.

"Sir… No, Uncle Percival." She stepped forward, out of the ring that Mom-in-law and the rest formed around her, and she came up to us, stopping withing my arm's reach. "Leo is right, isn't he? Even if you had the means, you wouldn't do it, right?"

"Don't test me, Abyssal!" he hissed, but the way his eyes kept darting between me and my sister told me he was knocked off-balance by her approach. "This is between me and Leonard."

"No, not anymore," Snowy said as she shook her head. "You involved me in this, and… I think I know why. I haven't known you for long, but… we are similar, aren't we?"

"Oh, for the love of god, sis…" I whispered under my breath, and the only reason I wasn't facepalming already was because my hands were occupied by my swords.

Meanwhile, Snowy continued to emphatically plead with the old man.

"You're just like how I was before I met Leo. You feel that you're set on a path you can't escape, that you have no choice in what you do, but I know that deep down, you aren't a bad person."

This time, I straight up had to send a flat stare at my sister. What the heck was she even talking about? No matter how I looked at it, Percival was a pretty terrible human being, and… Oh, wait. Is this…? Is she doing the 'Talking the Monster to Death' trope?

Actually, that made a lot of sense. She was the one who interacted with Percival the most over the past month or so, and they had built at least some kind of rapport. Maybe a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, even? Add in the whole 'Abyssal Seducer' connection thing she could be tugging at even at this very moment, and she actually stood at a good chance to do it. The real question was whether he even deserved that chance.

Which brought up a different question: what was I planning to do about the old bastard? I wasn't planning to kill him; while the fact that I was the Narrative, in a sense, allayed a lot of my worries about a tonal shift happening, the prospect of taking a life, even his life, filled me revulsion. Even though I still really, really hated his guts, and his threatening of Snowy didn't exactly endear him to me either, I wasn't quite ready to pull that trigger yet. It was a complicated feeling. At the end of it, I decided to leave it to my sister and see where the situation would lead us… though not before surrounding her with my phantom limbs to intercept any magical curse whatchamacallits. Just to be safe.

In any case, even while I was pondering, Snowy kept arguing with Percival.

"… Please. You know that all of this is meaningless. Don't make your situation even worse."

"So what? Do you expect me to just surrender?"

"Yes. You don't need to fight anymore, so please, stop."

"If you want to stop this, I'm not the one you need to convince."

Snowy shook her head, and wordlessly extended a hand towards him. She glanced at me, her eyes asking for support, so I let out a shallow breath and stepped up to her. It was time to flex my good ol' acting skills a bit.

"Sir Percival. Do you know why I challenged you to Arbitration?" He was puzzled for a moment, so before he could literally question it, I barrelled on and said whatever came to mind. "It was to give you the opportunity to fight me as a Knight, as an equal, one last time. To see the error of your ways. It was the last grace I could offer you, as my old mentor. Listen to Snowy. Don't throw it away, along with whatever remains of your honour."

There. That sounded like decently King of Knight-ish, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, my words had little visible effect, as Percival only glared at me while the red light around him went a step further and began swirling in erratic patterns, making him look even more sinister than before. I personally would've considered that to be the point where the negotiations broke down, yet Snowy remained steadfast.

"Uncle Percival. Please. Don't make Penny cry."

This was the pivotal moment, and I could see the red aura around Percival waver and undulate until it began to slowly fade away.

"You're right, girlie. I knew that resistance was futile since the moment Leonard showed up in person. So…" He turned back to me, and when our eyes met, I involuntarily froze up. "As your 'old mentor', let me teach you one last lesson! For old times' sake! I call it 'This is what happens when you're being too soft'!" At the same time, the red light enveloping him surged, and I reflexively stepped between Snowy and the desperate old Knight. "Consider this my parting gift, Leonard!"

At this point, things happened way too fast to properly think anything through, so I acted entirely out of instinct. The crimson aura surrounding him condensed into an indistinct red blob, like a small cloud, and it was already moving from his body and towards my sister. There was no place for hesitation, so I pulled back my swords, already covered in phantom limbs and swung them at the approaching thing with all my might while simultaneously shredding every single enchantment in his armour by lashing him with my remaining invisible tendrils.

When I made contact, the red cloud crumbled, but that wasn't the end of it. Still connected to Percival, the remaining fragments flowed back into him, but since the enchantments were busted, the power had nowhere to go. It started with a low, humming sound getting more and more discordant as the light around his body grew in intensity once again, and when the noise reached its crescendo, it was followed by an explosion, flinging Percival's body to the ground with a sickening crunch.

For a few seconds, I remained in the same position, with my swords raised high after I swung them, and I stared at the convulsing body on the floor. Arnwald reacted the fastest out of everyone present. He dashed over and grabbed Percival's shoulders. The old man's eyes were rolled back into his head, and his mouth was locked in a silent scream as both visible and invisible magical powers swirled around him.

"Oh, no…!" Snowy exclaimed, jolting me out of my surprise, and I dashed over to his side.

"Something's wrong with him," Arnwald informed me as if I couldn't tell it at a glance myself. "His armor must've been damaged and caused a mana feedback cascade!"

Staring at the still convulsing old man, for a moment I was tempted to turn a blind eye. If I didn't intervene, there was a good chance he would die. It was even a suitably dramatic circumstance, done in by his own power and whatnot, and he entirely deserved it for trying to hurt my sister with his last act of defiance, but… Yeah. Just as I thought; it just really didn't sit well with me.

I sheathed my blades, kneeled next to him, and placed a hand on his chest plate.

"Hold him still."

Arnwald nodded and grabbed hold of his shoulders while I stabbed the unconscious old man with my phantom limbs. At first, I tried to dissipate the mana rampaging in his body, but it was easier said than done. Before long, I came to a simple conclusion; I had to let the excess mana out, before it completely destroyed him from the inside, and I had only one way to do that. Well, two, but I really wasn't invested enough in him to warrant a retcon.

With minimal effort, I dived deeper into his existence. Not deep enough to get to his soul, but enough to interact with his astral body; the intermediary upon which his Oaths were carved. Normally, this would've been the moment other-me would've tried to discourage me, but not this time. Instead, I wrapped my phantom limbs around said Oaths, and plucked them out of his astral body one by one. It wasn't exactly a gentle procedure, but again, while I was willing to save his life for my own peace of mind, that was as far as my generosity went.

With the Oaths now 'unplugged', the excess mana, intertwined with the rebound of his ability, escaped his body in the form of a red mist. I couldn't be sure that didn't have trace elements of the Blood Amalgam, so the moment, I was sure she was no longer convulsing, I jumped to my feet and pulled Snowy away from the area.

"Is… is he dead?"

"Hopefully not." Seeing that my sister was still staring at him with a glum expression, I gently patted her back. "You tried your best. He made his choices, and they led him here."

"I know, but… Penny will be sad."

"Probably."

I continued to rub her back and reassure her for about a minute, but there were still things to be done, so I handed the baton over to my in-laws.

After taking a few deep breaths, I returned to Percival's side, where the senior Knights were busy taking care of his body by doing the standard first-aid practice of turning him to his side and ensuring he could breathe. However, before I could address them, I was flagged down by Sebastian.

"You should've let him die," the incognito dragon told me flatly, and after some thinking, I shrugged.

"Maybe."

"Being too soft isn't always a virtue, my boy."

"Maybe, but I like the soft me," I answered, and even allowed myself a chuckle. "I couldn't just let him become our Knight of Cerebus after all."

"Pardon?"

"It's complicated."

He watched me through squinted eyes, and after a long beat, he gestured at Naoren and Rinne. Or rather, the colossi the enthusiastic huntress was trying to dismantle, just to be safe, while the Feilong patriarch was trying to hold her back.

"What should we do about those things?"

"Leave them alone. Once this whole hubbub blows over, I'll have the Celestials clean them up."

"It's dangerous to let them lie around like that," he insisted with a clear sense of animosity towards the statue creatures. "We should destroy them."

"You had the chance. Why didn't you use your dragon fire?" I pointed it out, and the old steward exhaled an annoyed huff.

"My boy. You shouldn't ask meaningless questions like that."

While saying that, he subtly pointed at Lord Barnabas, and I had to grudgingly nod along. Right. While our relations were amicable at the moment, revealing his true identity in front of an arch-mage of the Assembly probably wasn't a good idea.

But speaking of him, since the battle was over, the dark-skinned man was in the process of casting spells in the back, manipulating and restoring the broken walls of the ruined warehouse. He probably had his reasons to do so, but it felt a bit frivolous. I didn't have the time to call him out on that though. While this battle might've been finished, the night was far from over.

"I have to go now," I stated in a loud voice so everyone could hear it, and Morgana immediately moved over to my side, waiting for orders. "Look after my sister, pile up the Colossi in one place, and wait for the cleanup crew."

"As you command."

She saluted to me and headed to the side of Mountain Girl, who was still arguing with Naoren about how beheading the Colossi 'just a little bit' should've been fine, and she was replaced by Lord Barnabas, coming over after hearing what I said.

"Please stay still for a second, and I'll let you out."

Normally I would've told him that I'd let myself out, but I was interrupted by Judy connecting to me, so I raised two fingers to my helmet.

"{Chief. The situation on Elly's side is fully under control. What's the situation at Site C, over?}"

"We wrapped things up over here as well."

"{Casualties?}"

"Agrawain broke an arm, but otherwise everyone's fine."

"{Sir Percival?}"

"Barely alive at the moment."

"{At the moment, you say?}"

"He targeted Snowy."

"{Oh… Are you okay?}"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

There was a short pause, and she clarified, "{Last time he did that, and you beat him up, you were out of it for a while.}"

"There are more important things to worry about right now." I was still waiting for the arch-mage to eject me from the Orange Zone while watching the others move the stiff Percival and the sprawled-out Colossi, and so I asked whatever came to mind, just to keep the conversation moving. "How did Elly take the news of what happened?"

"{If you mean the retcon, she asked if you can use it to make symphonic metal music more mainstream and increase Dragonflame Records' share prices, over.}"

Ah. Leave it to my draconic girlfriend to immediately reach for the most 'practical' application.

"Tell her that we'll discuss it after everything's wrapped up."

"{Roger.}" As soon as she said that, Lord Barnabas grunted, my environment blurred, and I found myself out of the ruined Orange Zone and in the slightly less ruined factory. The moment I showed up, the Celestial portal technician let out a startled eep, still sitting right where I left him as Bel, but I ignored him and walked out of his sight while listening to Judy. "{Are you going to head to Elysium next?}"

"That's the plan. You won't be able to reach me there, so focus on coordinating the others."

"{On it. Also, Chief?}" She paused meaningfully, then concluded with, "{I don't know what exactly happened with Sir Percival, but don't stress too much over it. He had it coming.}"

"He did," I answered with a mirthless smile, and mentally prepared myself to deal with arguably the most aggravating part of this whole climax fiasco. "Tell Angie I'll pick her up soon. I'll probably need her help with this one."

PART 3

"I'm back. How's the sit—"

"Leooo!"

As soon as I returned to Site B, I was nearly tackled off my feet by Angie, much to the surprise of the Praetorian Guards, Assembly Magi, and assorted Celestials in the room. It wasn't all of them, as there was no way everyone could be crammed into the main floor of a nearby coffee shop they commandeered as an emergency base of operations, but having dozens of eyes focused on me was still a bit awkward.

"I'm glad to see you're all right, but you better let me go before Josh gets jealous."

"I'm not gonna," her boyfriend declared with a huff but he still grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from me all the same.

Paying no attention to him, the Celestial girl kept staring at me with a mixture of relief and outrage, ultimately settling on the latter, and as soon as Josh deemed the distance between the two of us good enough and let her go, she pointed an accusative finger at me.

"Where did you go?! Do you know how crazy things got here!? Bel of the Abyss showed up, and…" She blinked, falling silent, and hissed to the side. "Yes, I was about to tell him!" She turned back to me and pointed even harder as she declared, "Grandpa Deus says he's definitely Bel of the Tenebrous Flames! Did you know that? Why did you work with him? He's super dangerous!"

"Yes, yes, I know…" I told her half-heartedly while looking for Jaakobah in the group. When I couldn't find him, I turned to Josh. "Did you get Judy's message?"

"Yeah. They are already making a portal outside."

He sounded downright exhausted, but he couldn't hold a candle to how I was feeling at the moment.

"Leo! Are you even listening to us?!" Angie stepped between the two of us with a pout. "This is an emergency!"

"It's not that big of a deal," I told her in a level voice and continued to glance around. "I'm more concerned about whether the situation is fully under control over here."

"I managed to conceal most of the fighting, but we can't do much about the collateral damage," an equally tired Lord Taika responded to me as she walked over. Her voice was raspy and her eyes weary, no doubt due to overexertion, but she was otherwise uninjured. "It's a small miracle that the authorities aren't here yet. Lord Endymonion must've pulled some strings to delay them, but we should vacate the area before they arrive and start questioning everyone."

"Good idea. Injuries?"

"The little miss gave us a few scratches, but it's no big deal!" Lord Ambrose's loud voice startled me as he joined the conversation from behind us, and it caused the previously fiery Angie to hide behind Josh. "I once again proved that the School of Invocation is not to be trifled with!"

"He says, but things got a bit dicey a few times," Lord Gulliver chimed in from behind the older arch-mage, and he got his foot stomped for his trouble.

"Silence, fool! You're making us look bad in front of the youth!"

Ignoring those two, my attention was drawn back to a visibly fidgeting Angie. Our eyes met, and after a few seconds, her face flushed and she stepped up from behind Josh to clear her throat and address the arch-mages.

"Erm… I'm… sorry for losing my cool like that and causing problems for everyone." She paused, her eyes glossing over for a second, and after a few blinks, she looked at the arch-mages and sheepishly added, "Um… Grandpa Deus says he's not sorry at all, but he acknowledges your strength. He also says that if he was in his prime, he would've easily ki— b-beaten you."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Lord Ambrose's eyes lit up at once, so I sent a glare at him.

"Back off. We don't have time for this."

"Well, of course…" the arch-mage muttered while patting his beard and pointedly averting his gaze. "But maybe later, we could—"

He couldn't finish his line, because he was almost knocked over by my draconic girlfriend, who beelined at me the moment she entered the coffee shop.

"Leo!" I was once against tackle-hugged, though this time I didn't mind it half as much. It only lasted for a second though, and she stepped back and began to pat down my whole body. "Are you all right? You're not hurt anywhere, right? How's your headache? Do you need a lap pillow?"

My lips automatically parted into a smile, followed by a soft chuckle.

"I'm fine, but thanks for the offer."

She exhaled a relieved breath and sidled up to me.

"What exactly happened back there? Judy tried to explain things to me, but I still can't follow what's going on."

She tried to speak in a low voice only for me to hear, but Josh obviously overheard her and let out a lung-rattling sigh.

"Join the club. Getting shot was bad enough, but then everything went nuttier than squirrel-poop, and before I knew it, there were arch-mages and Celestials and Bel of the goddamn Abyss running amok, and I could barely keep up."

His girlfriend turned to him with a toothy grin.

"Now, now. Don't say that, champ! You did great! Even Grandpa Deus says you weren't terrible!"

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yeah! It's high praise from him!" She tried to playfully punch the guy in the shoulder, but when he genuinely winced, her expression turned on a dime. "Ah! S-Sorry! Did I open your wound again? P-Poopie! Stay still, I'll heal you again!"

"It's not that bad."

"Don't move! I'll try a high-hymnos chant this time!"

While those two were busy, I scanned the people in the room once again and closed my eyes with a shallow sigh. Josh and Elly weren't the only ones out of the loop. I still wasn't completely clear on the effects of my retcon, but from context clues, I could gather the following.

One: The assassination attempt still happened, and Josh still got injured by it.

Two: Angie still went out of control while trying to catch the assassins, and the Ambrose-Gulliver duo held her back.

Three: The nature of Angie's possession by Deus was fundamentally changed. By the sound of it, it was no longer a body-snatcher situation, but more of a 'mental roommate' kind of deal, where she could freely communicate with Deus in her head while retaining full autonomy.

Furthermore, it seemed like it wasn't a recent development, but an overhaul of the relationship between the two of them from the ground up. It was certainly something I would've done when I had the chance to redefine things, so I was pretty sure I did just that, even if the details of exactly what I did were a little fuzzy. How that affected past events was still up in the air, but at the very least Angie seemed much more stable, and injuries were kept to a minimum, so I wasn't going to complain. I'd have all the time in the world to fill out the blanks in my understanding later.

I was also tempted to check Angie's soul now, but I discarded the idea. I'll have more than enough opportunities later, and after what just happened, I didn't want anything to do with souls, let alone touch them, unless absolutely necessary. But speaking of her, once she finished singing her aria, and Josh's face regained some of its vitality, the Celestial girl let out a satisfied huff, followed by an annoyed click of her tongue.

"Oh fine! But just for a minute, okay?"

With those words, she turned around and marched up to me, startling Elly in the process. Closing her eyes for a moment, I could see her softly glow with the familiar, colourless and insubstantial hues of magic, and with it, her whole atmosphere shifted. Then, the moment her eyelids popped open, she practically glowered at me.

"Polemos! What the hell were you doing!?" She reached out to my neck, as if trying to grab hold of my clothes, but because I was in my Celestial disguise that still included a chest plate, halfway through the motion she extended a finger and poked me in the chest instead. "How could you leave at a crucial time like that?! If you were still here, we could've caught that traitorous bastard in a pincer maneuver and put an end to this charade once and for all!"

It took inhuman effort to still my facial muscles, but I managed. Elly couldn't, and her mouth practically hung open with a classic 'What is this I don't even…?' kind of expression. Angie… or, based on the vocabulary, Deus didn't pay her any heed though, and she continued to glare at me like we were mortal enemies.

"I was busy."

"Busy. Busy?!" To punctuate her outrage, she repeatedly poked my chest like I was a vintage arcade cabinet, culminating in her stomping her foot in impotent rage. "What could be more important than killing that son of a bitch!? It's Bel, I tell you! The real deal! He must've also used that reincarnation technique he sold us, the sneaky bastard! And he even looked like how he did back then! Argh!" Angie/Deus held her head in her hands and grimaced so hard I was afraid her eyes would fall out at any second. "That bitch! He gave us a flawed method, while he kept the complete one to himself! I'll kill him! Killing him a thousand times over wouldn't be enough to temper all this unyielding rage! I'll beat the ever-loving shit out of him, and then scatter his ashes across the seven seas! But not before pissing on them! But firts, I'll—!"

"Quit it," I told her sternly and reflexively flicked her forehead. It was only after I did it that I realized it might've been a mistake, considering it was Deus we were talking about, but to my surprise, she immediately settled down. While also guarding her forehead the same way Angie would in the past.

"I'm calm. I'm calm." She repeated that a couple more times, but then her face turned red and she stomped her feet again. "No! I'm not calm! It's not fair! We both came back like this, while he gets to enjoy having his own body! Screw that bastard! I'll so kill him the next time I—!" When I raised a finger poised for a flick again, she immediately fell silent and doubled down on her forehead-guarding. We maintained eye contact for a while, and when I let my hand down, she let out a relieved breath. "I'm calm. Really, I am."

"Stay that way. Throwing a tantrum won't help anyone."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum!" she objected with a pout, while her hands remained on her forehead. "I'm justifiably angry! In fact, why aren't you angry? He screwed us over! Or… did you already know?"

She kept scrutinizing me, and while I was on the back foot and not sure how to deal with this Deus character, I had to say something.

"You must've noticed that he's quite erratic."

I wanted to continue and point out how Bel was unpredictable and whatnot, but she snapped her finger and suddenly flashed a triumphant grin, cutting me short.

"A-ha! You're right! Are you saying that it's a side effect of the technique he used? Did it drive him insane? Ha! Serves him right, that bastard! I guess being trapped in other bodies while maintaining ourselves is still better than that, but it doesn't mean that I won't kill him the next time I see him! I'll wring the neck of that fu—!" Before she could finish, her whole body shuddered, and after blinking a few times, her atmosphere mellowed out. It was only for a second though, before she glared at the ceiling and yelled, "That's it! If you're only going to make Leo mad at us, I'm not letting you out anymore! You even made him flick our forehead! It hurt!"

"Man…" Josh muttered behind his girlfriend and shook his head with visible trepidation. "She was always a handful, but this is really getting out of hand."

"It could be worse," I told him, with all the world-weary reassurance of someone who had literally seen a worse scenario.

Josh raised a critical eyebrow at me, but before we could get started, Jaakobah entered the coffee shop and I waved for him to come over. In a second, he was already in front of me and giving a salute.

"Lord Archon. The gateway to Elysium will open shortly, and the Praetorian Guard is ready and eager to provide support."

"Finally some good news," I whispered and inhaled deeply, adopting my usual Polemos persona. "The assassins?"

"In the custody of the Ordo Draconis, waiting for transfer."

"The civilians?"

"Already back in their homes. We told them there was a gas explosion near the apartment building, but the danger was already over."

"Good thinking. Anything else to stop us from heading over?"

"None that I can think of."

Exhaling, I turned to Elly next.

"I'll step out for a minute and do some long-overdue spring cleaning in the Elysium. Hold the fort while I'm away."

"O-Okay. Stay safe."

I really wanted to give her a kiss, or at least a peck on the forehead, but the mood wasn't right. I made a mental note to give it to her later, and turned to the childhood friend couple.

"You two. Come with me."

"Me too?" Josh blurted out in alarm, and it was one of the rare occasions where I was entirely justified to give him his own medicine by raising a single critical bow at him.

"Of course. I'll need you to guard Angie."

"Ah. Okay then."

He accepted my proposal quicker than expected, so I dramatically glanced around and raised my voice so that it could be heard over the noise floor of the room.

"Good job, everyone. Tonight was hectic, but you have performed your duties admirably and we successfully averted the worst-case-scenario. Thank you for all your hard work."

They clearly didn't expect that, most clearly seen by Lord Ambrose, who was alternating between harrumphs and huffs to make sure he wouldn't show his real feelings. The rest of the Celestials and Magi were either surprised, touched, or proud. Mostly a combination of all three.

There was no time to waste though, so I turned on my heel and walked out of the coffee shop, closely followed by the childhood friends and the Praetorian Guards. Once outside, Jaakobah took the helm and he led us behind the building, where a nondescript Celestial (by the looks of her uniform, one of the CIEL operatives who showed up in the first wave of 'reinforcements') was in the process of opening a portal. She momentarily froze up when she saw me, but then she hunkered down and worked her magical instrument even harder. It was a slightly more compact version of the weird xylophone/theremin/saxophone/balalaika/etc. hybrid tool they usually used for this purpose.

"Due to the chaotic situation within Migdál Glaukós, we only managed to secure an insertion point outside the premises," Jaakobah told me apologetically, and his words made Angie's ears perk up at once.

"Wait. Are we going back to Elysium?"

"Obviously."

"H-Hold on! I'm not ready!" she sputtered and tried her best to straighten her Deus-outfit. "Josh, quick! Help me put up my hair!"

"On it," her boyfriend responded without batting an eyelid, as if something like this was a common occurrence. But then again, maybe it was just another of those childhood friend things.

Meanwhile, the portal was gaining definite shape in front of us, so I turned to the guards.

"Once inside, treat it like we're in a warzone. Make sure to keep Angie… I mean, Deus, safe while I confront the directors behind it all."

The Praetorian Guards, visibly tired and scuffed, saluted in unison without a single complaint. Or any other word, really. Nodding, I turned to the portal-operator, and just in time for the gateway to open with a soft, humming sound.

"Let's go."

With those curt words, I headed towards the portal, with Angie and Josh hurriedly following behind me.

"Wait! I'm not ready! I need a minute!"

"Oh, come on!" the guy rolled his eyes and pulled her along. "You're pretty enough already, you don't need to overthink it."

"J-Josh!" she hissed and stuck to his back to hide her face. "Don't flirt in the open! Everyone's watching!"

Ignoring them, I stepped through, and I was nearly blinded by the sunshine raining down on my face. I have Far Glanced here to take a look at the situation before, so I knew that someone had manipulated the day-night settings of the pocket dimension (probably for better visibility to tell apart friends from foes), but my eyes needed adjustment all the same.

Once they did, I was startled by a new fact, and I turned to the dour Prefect on my side.

"When you said it was outside the tower, I didn't think it was literally just outside."

To be fair, he looked just as stumped by the sight in front of us as I was. We were standing right next to the ivory stairs leading to the entrance of the tower behind us, with its spacious gardens currently filled with thousands, if not tens of thousands of Celestials. Most of them were on the ground, carrying farming implements in lieu of weaponry; a picture-perfect image of a classic peasant revolt made infinitely less historically accurate by the hundreds of other Celestials flying over their heads.

Once we arrived, the crowd immediately focused their attention on us, clamouring and cheering from the top of their lungs. At first, I was confused about how they could even see us, but then I noticed that some of the flying celestials was carrying those magical camera orbs, and my enlarged face was currently projected on an enormous oval aperture hastily set up over our heads.

"Ah! There's a lot of them! What do we do!?" Angie tugged at my sleeve in a hurry, but then Deus must've said something to her, because she let go and took up a clumsy martial arts stance. "N-No? I'm not afraid! No, I'm really not!"

Ignoring her for the moment, Josh also came closer and yelled at me so that he could be heard over the background cacophony.

"Do we have a plan? I came here thinking you had a plan, so I would really appreciate it if you could tell me about it!"

"Of course we have a plan," I answered, only to pause as the tower behind us shook from an explosion or a heavy impact. "I'll go in there, and apprehend Savir, Mensah, and Tsephanyah to put an end to this madhouse."

"And what about us? What do we do?" Angie inquired, trying her best not to sound afraid.

"You're a core part of my stratagem." Without further ado, I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her in front of me. "They're all yours."

"Y-You want me to fight this whole crowd?!" she yelped, with an expression so comical I momentarily broke my Polemos persona and let out a soft chuckle.

"No. Look up there." I pushed her forward a bit so that she was in the focus of one of the magical cameramen (or orb-men, but let's not split hairs), her flustered face now filling the magic screen overhead. "Give them a nice speech, and make sure they don't riot."

"I… can try," she muttered, looking uncertain, so I gestured to Josh.

"Come and support her, will you?"

"Man… Just when I thought today wouldn't get weirder…" the guy complained, but took my place behind Angie, and she visibly eased up the moment he put his hands on her shoulders, much to the crowd's rather loud surprise.

I figured I'd let them deal with this side, and after a nod at Jaakobah, I turned on my heel and headed inside. He tried to follow after me, but since the Praetorian Guards were still busy securing a perimeter around Angie, he couldn't easily leave his position, allowing me to slip away and enter the tower without too much hassle.

The sight welcoming me on the inside was… rather tragic. The majestic main hall dominating the ground floor was in shambles, its winding staircases bent and broken, the marble floor and walls pockmarked with signs of magical arrows and explosions, and hastily erected barricades made of furniture and debris dividing the place into multiple smaller sections. I had no idea why they bothered, as the people inside were taking advantage of the high ceiling and fought in the air as much as they did on the ground. There were yells and cries and moans and explosions and thumps as people fell from the air, filling the hall to the point it drowned out the clamour of the crowd outside.

"Um… Hello, everyone!" Yet, for a moment, it was all out-blared by an ear-splitting voice. Angie must've used some kind of voice amplification magic, because she made the whole tower tremble with her words. "Ah, too loud! P-Please, stay calm while I figure this out!"

Well, not the most dignified first impression, but judging by how things quieted down, it still worked. More importantly, her voice drew everyone's attention to the main entrance of the building, and with it, to me. Just like that, things fell silent on the inside as well.

As such, I adopted my best 'disappointed principal looking over the mess the kids made in the cafeteria after a food-fight' impression and walked deeper into the hall with measured steps. This was a perfect opportunity to invoke Refuge in Audacity, and while I still had everyone's attention, I retrieved Teeny from my storage enchantment, shifted it into its spear form for better visibility, and as I raised it over my head, I inhaled so deeply it almost hurt. I held my breath for a long beat, but only so that the following bellow would have an even bigger impact.

"Shameful! Display!" I inserted another beat here, and continued with, "Everyone who's with me, form up by my side! The rest, lay down your weapons! You've got five minutes! Anyone who disobeys will be considered my enemy and will be dealt with accordingly!"

That was step one. Things were pretty chaotic, so before anything else, I had to clearly delineate my allies and my foes here. Once we've got that sorted, I would have them hold the line to minimize casualties while I ventured out to capture the masterminds behind this all. Yet, to my shock and confusion, everyone dropped whatever they were doing, and they rushed towards me at once. I was ready to brace myself, or in the worst-case scenario, Phase away, but then my confusion turned into outright bamboozlement when there was nary a peep from my precognitive senses. In fact, they all just gathered around me, knocking over the makeshift barricades and whatnot in the process, and it was happening so fast I felt like I was trapped in an impromptu mosh pit.

After a long minute, things finally calmed down enough for me to take a better look at the people around me, and it made me scratch my head. There were some familiar faces in there, including a few directors who belatedly ran over from their hiding spots, but most of them were either armed forces wearing the Seraphic Safeguards' crimson uniform, guards and common soldiers in their hoplite-cosplays, or some ragtag civilians in Celestial casual outfits holding old or makeshift weapons.

However, nothing gave me a bigger shock than when I noticed the latest arrivals and a specific face amongst them.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, and it made director Savir blink at me in surprise. She was dishevelled, her hair a mess and only wearing one shoe, and she was looking at me like I just asked the weirdest question she'd ever heard in her whole life.

"I'm coming over to your side, obviously," she answered, trying to sound as dignified as she could under the circumstances.

"Are you serious?"

Once again, she looked like she didn't quite understand the question, but before she could respond, a new voice interrupted us.

"Oh, finally! Someone sensible to put an end to this madness!" Mensah exclaimed as he also made his way over to me, completely unguarded and looking more than a little panicked. "Listen, Lord Archon! We very nearly managed to catch Bel of the Abyss, so I dispatched a squad of Colossi to the location, but we lost contact with them! We need to recover them before the wingless ones get their hands on—!"

"I really don't think that's the most important thing Lord Polemos has to worry about right now," Tsephanyah rounded up the trio, looking about ten years older and his golden locks singed and covered in sweat and soot.

"What could be more important than recovering the Colossi! And the combat data on Bel! It's vital that we—!"

"Stop! All of you!" My shout made everyone shudder for a moment, and when I looked over them, they seemed genuinely confused about my behaviour. "What are the three of you doing over here?"

"What do you mean, O Archon?" Tsephanyah asked, sounding downright baffled. "You asked everyone to gather here, didn't you?"

"No, I asked everyone on my side to gather up, so why are you…?" I began, and only then did I notice that the sound of combat within the building completely died down, and the crowd around me continued to keep growing. Did… did that mean that everyone was thinking they were on 'my side'? Even her?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Savir blurted out, trying to regain some of her dignity by tucking some stray strands of hair behind her ears and straightening her toga. "We might've had our… erm… differences in the past, but that doesn't mean I'm your adversary. I'm not suicidal."

Locking eyes with her, I was waiting for some kind of 'gotcha' moment… but it never came.

Oh god. She was serious. They were all serious.

"Bloody hell… you aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"Pardon?" Tsephanyah spoke up, still as confounded as before. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," I muttered in a daze, raised one hand to massage my temple, and pointed at the bodies on the ground with the other. "I need a moment to think. Take care of the injured first."

As if waiting for me to say that, everyone got busy, while I continued to blankly stare at the scene with the baleful premonition that Moose would rub this moment under my nose for the rest of our lives…