WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 49

“Gunnleif!”

The first one to die was the one I had originally struck with a bolt of lightning. I held back when I was attacking back then because I didn’t want to do anymore damage to my mother-in-law’s home than I had to, but I didn’t hold back this time. Appearing before the man within a flash of brilliant blue, I impaled him through the chest with my enclosed hand. My hand slid through his chest like it was made of mud, tearing through his clothes, and exploding out of his back.

Guunleif didn’t seem to understand what was happening to him, his expression one of confusion instead of shock. He stared into my eyes. I was not sure what he saw, but my face was the last thing he got to see before passing on.

With a snort, I removed my hand from Gunnleif’s chest and let his body fall. I didn’t pay attention as the woman among the group raced down to catch his body. As she cradled him to her chest, face streaming with tears, I stared at my blood-covered hand.

Lightning-Water Body was the name I gave to this ability. It was the technique that I had used when fighting against the Great Overlord of the Seventh Realm. The idea was to take my two strongest affinities and compress them within my body, rather than letting my body become those elements. I suppose it would not be inaccurate to say this was the next step up from transforming the body into a pure elemental force. Like this, my strength, speed, reflexes… all my physical abilities were pushed to the extreme, and because water was one of my elemental affinities, my ability to heal from even fatal injuries had reached an unheard of degree of strength.

“You!!!! DAMN YOU!!!”

I was pulled from my thoughts when five fire attacks soared my way. In front of me was a powerful dragon made of bright red flames, to my left was a fire serpent spitting flames like poison, on my right was a massive conflagration, behind me was a wave of fire, and below me was a sword so large it looked like it could split a building in two. The heat from so many attacks would have normally made me sweat.

But I couldn’t feel anything now.

Wearing a small frown, I began spinning around in a circle. Faster. Faster. I created an intense rotation even as the world became nothing but an indistinct blur before my eyes. While it was a little dizzying, the result of my continuous high-speed rotation was a tornado of water that erupted from my body.

The fire attacks were doused before they even touched me.

I stopped spinning immediately after destroying the Spiritual Fire Techniques. This ability of mine was great, but that didn’t mean it had no weaknesses. I could not use too much of the element I had compressed inside of me. Once I used it all up, I would be in a weakened state for some time afterward, and it may be possible for these people to finish me off.

In other words, I had to kill them quickly.

“W-what just… this is impossible!” One of the old men screamed. Did I ever learn this one’s name? I couldn’t recall.

Since he spoke first, I decided to make him my next target, appearing in front of him so quickly the world around me became distorted. Strange cracks appeared when I moved. I only paid them a cursory glance before grabbing the old man’s face.

“Gunheilm!”

One of the other men screamed. So that was his name. The old man was struggling now, hands on my forearms and trying to pry my fingers from his face, but it would not be so easy to defeat my strength like this.

Without mercy, I squeezed this man’s head until his skull cracked, then sent a burst of lightning straight into his brain. The brain is made up of billions of neurons and was composed of about 75% percent water. Neurons were nerves that sent electric signals to every part of the body. They were responsible for telling us how to perceive the world by affecting our five senses, sending commands to our muscles, and just about every other step. When I sent lightning into this man’s brain, I halted all those functions, essentially turning this man into a vegetable.

“YOU BASTARD! GIVE GUNHEILM BACK!”

“You want him? Very well. Take him.”

Spinning around, I threw Gunheilm at the man who’d been screaming. Either he wasn’t prepared for it or my throw was faster than I thought. The brain dead elder slammed into the other man’s stomach, which gave me the perfect chance to shift behind him. He didn’t even realize I was there until I slammed a fist into his spine. Lightning jolted his insides, killing the nerves in his spine. If he lived, he would have been paralysed from the waist down, but my attack had also caused his heart to explode.

Both Gunheilm and the unknown elder fell to the ground.

In short order, I had killed three of the seven people arrayed against me, but that didn’t mean my battle was over. The other four were now surrounding me. There was Gudbrand with his fiercely red eyes stained with vengeance, the woman who now looked like she wanted my head, and two other elders whose names I didn’t know. Unlike Gudbrand and the woman, these two appeared cautious and showed signs of wariness.

“Are you four not going to attack?” I tilted my head and goaded them. “It’s four against one. Surely you are confident in your chances of victory. Why are you not coming at me?”

I wasn’t in the habit of antagonizing my opponents. It didn’t really bring me pleasure, but I was hoping one of them would overreact. Sadly, these people were indeed elders of the Drage Family, and even the most angry among them wasn’t about to rashly throw themselves at me after I so casually killed three of them.

“Fine.” I sighed. “Since you won’t attack, I’ll just have to make an opening myself.”

I flicked my finger at them, producing a small spark. All four of my opponents flinched.

That was just the opening I needed.

Small black cracks appeared in the sky around my body as I once more shifted my position, appearing between the two most cautious elders. They would be more troublesome for me than Gudbrand and the woman.

When I appeared between them, the two started, their bodies instinctively jerking away from me, but I moved quickly and extended my arms out to either side. Spiritual Power erupted briefly as two strange sword-like beams jutted from my hands and impaled the two through the throat and chest respectively. These swords were not really swords. They were just beams of compressed lightning-water element shaped like swords. They looked like crystals almost, but they were far deadlier.

I retracted my Spiritual Power and turned toward Gudbrand and the woman as the two now dead elders fell from the sky. Gudbrand’s face was pale as if he’d lost too much blood, but the woman was shaking. Was she afraid? Angry? I wasn’t sure.

“Looks like it’s just you two,” I said to the pair.

My voice was still cold. It reminded me of how I’d been after Kari died, which made me uncomfortable considering I’d been a monster back then, but I knew right now I needed to be a monster. These people had attacked my family while I was away. They tried to kill my mother-in-law. That was not something I could forgive.

While Gudbrand hung back, the woman suddenly released a shrill scream and charged at me.

“I’LL MURDER YOU!!”

“Wait! Seiran!” Gudbrand shouted with an outstretched hand as though to stop her. Not that it did any good.

“So your name is Seiran, huh? I noticed the Drage Family has a different naming scheme among their men and women.”

The woman did not listen to me as I spoke. Her eyes were filled with madness, insanity. She charged at me with the reckless abandon of someone who already knew they were going to die.

I would oblige her.

Killing this woman was easier than killing the others since she wasn’t even paying attention. She tried to punch me with a flame-covered fist, but I caught her attack in the palm of my hand, the water element in my body dispersing her flames. With a firm grip on her hand, I slammed my other hand into her chest, right between her breasts. I sent an electric charge hurtling through her body. It slammed into her heart and made it burst.

Her death was relatively painless.

Letting the body drop, I turned to the completely pale and shaking Gudbrand.

“Looks like it’s just you,” I said.

“Gu… haa… ah…. AHHHHH!!!!”

Gudbrand’s eyes went wide with insanity, but it was not the insanity of the woman, who boldly charged after me to face her death. This was fear. Pure. Unbridled. Fear. Gudbrand didn’t even pay attention to me anymore as he turned around and fled, his flame wings flapping madly as if that would somehow increase his speed.

“You wish to run?” I held out my hand. “As if it would be that easy.”

I was almost out of Spiritual Power now, so I released the last bit I had left to create an imitation of the Dragon Tail Ruler, except this one looked like it was made from crystal. With but a single thought, I sent the segments sailing. The space around them began cracking. Black lines appeared in the atmosphere. I didn’t know what those lines and cracks were, but I knew it was something impressive. I would have to figure out what those were when I had the time.

Gudbrand was so frightened he didn’t even see my attack coming. The Dragon Tail Ruler’s segmented blades appeared behind him, curved up, and speared him through the chest. Blood spilled onto my weapon, but it evaporated the instant it made contact. The man’s body twitched several times before it went still. Once I was certain he had died, I released my Spiritual Power, letting the weapon disappear.

With a sigh, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and decided to descend. I had really overdrafted my Spiritual Power. It felt like my body was in the negatives.

Unfortunately, because I had nothing left, my ability to flight gave out as I was descending. With a grimace, I turned around just as my body crashed on top of a building. The roof caved underneath me as I plummeted through it. I was grateful for my sturdy body because this would have really hurt otherwise. With a body enhanced by alchemy and four spiritual states, there was very little that could truly cause me harm.

I sat up and tried to climb to my feet. My arms were shaking. My legs felt stiff. I was pretty surprised I hadn’t passed out. It was probably a good thing I decided to use this ability now instead of when I attacked the Great Overlord of the Seventh Realm. I could already see several ways this technique could be improved upon.

It wasn’t until I stood up that I realized there was a family of very shocked people standing in the room with me. They were all huddled in a corner together. The man of the house was standing in front of the others, as if to protect them, but his legs were shaking so badly I was more worried he might wet himself.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to drop in on you.”

“Uh… no… it’s… okay? I think?” the man responded, perhaps surprised by my apology.

I smiled at the family before limping my way toward the door. The family said nothing as I walked outside, closed the door behind me, and released an intense sigh. This reminded me of the first time I released my Spiritual Power after coming back to this world. It hadn’t felt pleasant back then, and it didn’t feel pleasant now. It was unfortunate that I still had work to do.

Most unfortunate indeed.

***

With the battles between myself and the elders concluded, taking care of everything else was much easier. Hilda, Valence, Dante, and Reiner led the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guard loyal to them against the Drage Family and the Spiritualists they bought off. The Drage Family not only bought off many Spiritualists, but they had also hired mercenaries. While this did tip the scales somewhat in their favor, that small advantage was obliterated when the Nevarian Braves led by Geirolf, Earland, and Mykkel arrived. Trapped between two forces, the Drage Family and their cohorts were defeated without my interference.

After the battle came several other matters. One of them was doling out punishment to those who betrayed the crown.

A man stood in the center of the room, bound in chains, with Hellen on one side and a man whom I didn’t know on the other. Both of them were wearing the armor of a Nevarian Spiritualist Captain. While Hellen and her companion’s face looked cold, the man in chains was shivering, his face pale with fear.

“Captain Sterk,” Empress Hilda said in a voice so cold it could have frozen lava. “You have been charged with treason against the crown, taking bribes, and betraying your fellow Spiritualists for the sake of power and monetary gain.”

We were standing in the audience chamber of the Imperial Royal Palace. Hilda was sitting on her throne, while myself, Dante, Reiner, and Valence stood behind her. This audience chamber had fortunately not been destroyed when I blasted a hole in the roof. I’d made sure to aim at a place that I could afford to destroy.

“I… I… only did it because they threatened me!” Captain Sterk screamed hysterically. He tried to squirm forward, but Hellen placed a hand on his shoulder and held him in place. “It wasn’t my fault! You have to believe me, Your Majesty! I never wanted to betray you! The Drage Family forced me to do it!”

“They forced you to accept bribes?” Empress Hilda smiled, but it was not a happy or pleasant smile. Cold and filled with disdain, this smile cut through Captain Sterk’s bullshit, causing the man to fall silent. “I have received a report from Hellen and Heilef. They found several hundred thousand valis worth of jewels in your home, along with letters from the Drage Family. Each letter is dated back to several years ago. We already know you have been colluding with the Drage Family long before Eryk even became my son-in-law.”

Captain Sterk… no, I guess he should just be called Sterk now… grew increasingly pale as Empress Hilda let him know that she was already aware of how long he’d been working with the Drage Family.

I was not as surprised as I thought I should have been. I now understood that the Drage Family had been planning this coup d'etat for many years. It was possible they’d been planning it for decades. My sudden appearance had put a halt to their plans, but that didn’t mean they had stopped. It merely meant they had to gather more forces in secret.

“I also did not give you permission to speak,” Empress Hilda continued in a commanding tone. An indescribable pressure was emitting from her body. If I had to call it something, I’d say it was the aura of a ruler. “This is not a trial. You have already been accused and found guilty. This is a sentencing. I have found you guilty of treason, and thus the only option for you is death. One week from now, you shall be led to the public execution site and beheaded for your crimes.”

“NO! P-please reconsider, Your Majesty! I’ll be good! I won’t accept bribes anymore! I promise! I’ll do anything! Just please don’t kill me!!”

Sterk was whining and sniveling as he groveled at Empress Hilda’s feet, but not only was the empress not moved, she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Of course you won’t accept bribes anymore. You won’t have the chance.” She looked at Hellen and Heilef. “Take him away.”

Sterk seemed to realize his situation was hopeless because he didn’t say anything. He didn’t move either. It was like he’d gone completely limp. Hellen and Heilef had no choice but to grab the chains and drag the man out of the audience chamber.

With Sterk gone, Empress Hilda’s strong front vanished. She sagged backward in her chair and closed her eyes. There was a weary expression on her face, which made her look her true age.

“Was that the last of them?” she asked, eyes still closed.

“It was,” Reiner said. “All of the traitors have been dealt with.”

“That’s good then.”

We had been inside of this audience hall for several hours now, dealing with the various traitors by sentencing them with punishments based on the severity of their crimes. Of course, I was not doing anything. I just stood there. The one who did all the work was Empress Hilda. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how exhausting her task was. Sentencing her own people because of crimes committed could not be easy, especially when there were so many people who had betrayed her.

“What’s next on the agenda?” asked Empress Hilda.

“We need to call a meeting of all the noble families to reestablish yourself as empress. We should also use that opportunity to weed out any other families who might be thinking of betraying you. Since it has already happened twice now, there is a chance it could happen a third time,” Reiner continued.

“This is so much more trouble than it’s worth,” Dante muttered with a tired yawn. “Damn it. Here I was thinking I’d be able to get some shut-eye once we finished dealing with the Drage Family.”

“Do not be lazy,” Valence cut in with a cold voice. “You can rest after our work is done.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Dante waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

It took several hours for the missives ordering all noble families to head for the Imperial Royal Palace to be sent out. I used that time to freshen up in the baths. Dante and Reiner ended up joining me, but Valence stuck to Empress Hilda’s side. I didn’t know what they did while I was cleaning off, but when the three of us arrived in the audience chamber again, the empress’ complexion had improved a great deal.

“Valence probably gave her one of his sex massages,” Dante whispered in my ear.

“Dare I ask what that is?” I raised an eyebrow.

Dante smirked. “It’s exactly what it sounds like.”

“If you two are done whispering, perhaps you can get up here,” Empress Hilda said. “The noble families are about to arrive.”

Dante and I made our way up the dias. While Dante took his place next to Valence and Reiner on Empress Hilda’s right side, I stood on the left side. This was normally Kari’s place, but I, as her husband, had been asked to substitute for her since she was not present.

The noble families soon began arriving one at a time; the first two families who arrived were the Valstine and Kriger families. Out of all the families in Nevaria, they were the only two I was not worried about, since they had marriage ties to myself and the Astralia Royal Family. Geirolf was married to Catalyna and Fay was my wife. Betraying the empress not only wouldn’t benefit them, it would actively harm them.

After the Valstine and Kriger families came the Eieran Family. Unlike the other two families who had suffered due to their loyalty to the crown, the Eieran Family did not seem to have suffered at all, though I wasn’t sure if that was because they had betrayed the empress or the Drage Family simply didn’t think it was worth picking a fight with them. Either way, they had not been among those who joined Empress Hilda when she was forced into exile.

Other families had arrived as well, of course, like the Aland Family, the Borg Family, the Haugrud Family, and the Mathieson Family. There were about thirty families in total. Each one brought two representatives. Stelys was standing alongside an elder of the family, one who’s name I couldn’t remember. It was the only woman on his council of elders. Catalyna stood next to Catherina. Feinrea of the Alchemist Association was also there, but she was alone.

I glanced at Feinrea, who had seen better days. Her eyes were not quite as lively as I remembered. Now that the Drage Family was gone, she had returned to the Alchemist Association, but I guess that was not enough for her to recover after losing her only brother. Even sentencing the people who had betrayed her did not seem to have helped.

“I have called you all here to deal with the issues left behind by the Drage Family and their betrayal,” Empress Hilda spoke in a firm voice. “To start off, the Drage Family’s betrayal has left a large gap in Nevaria’s defensive capabilities. The many traitors who have been punished consisted of nearly a third of the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guards. The Nevarian Braves and Alchemist Association have also suffered tremendous losses. We must deal with these matters now before they can become a problem later.”

I began zoning out as Empress Hilda spoke to the noble families. This often happened when I was in meetings back in my previous life too. Whenever I had to sit on a council meeting during the war against the Sekbeist, I would lose my focus and find myself unable to concentrate on what anyone was saying. I just wasn’t cut out for this sort of work.

Since I couldn’t concentrate, I decided to instead look at the noble families present. All of them were listening to Empress Hilda as if her words were gifts from the great overlords themselves. Even the Eiran Family’s head was paying rapt attention to what she said. I guess that meant he really wasn’t a traitor.

Most of the conversation inside the audience chamber consisted of Empress Hilda presenting each problem they were faced with, proposing a solution, and asking if anyone had a better idea or something to add. Most people didn’t. However, there were some instances when one of the family heads would speak up, such as when the Eieran Family head said he didn’t think using the national treasury’s funds to rebuild the destroyed buildings was a good idea.

“Let my family cover those costs,” he said. “Because we only found out about your situation after the Drage Family already usurped your position and forced you out of Nevaria, we were unable to come to your aid. Please consider this our way of making up for our inability.”

I glanced at Empress Hilda. I didn’t know how matters between nobles worked, but I was wondering if it was okay to just accept the Eieran Family’s help like this. They didn’t have any connection to the Astralia Royal Family. I could also admit, if only to myself, that having two noble families betray us had left me suspicious of a powerful family like the Eierans.

“We would be most grateful for your assistance,” Empress Hilda said. “However, this is also a matter for the Astralia Royal Family to solve. While we will accept your aid, we cannot in good conscience allow you to bear the full cost of repairing this city. Therefore, we shall ask only for half of the funds required, and in exchange, we shall ask that you continue doing your best for Nevaria.”

“Of course, your majesty,” the Eieran Family head said with a bow. What was his name again? Alexander? Alex… Al… something. I really couldn’t remember… probably because I didn’t care to.

The meeting continued for several hours, and even though I didn’t do anything, I was still exhausted by the time it was over.

Since my home had been destroyed, Empress Hilda said I should just remain in the Imperial Royal Palace until the Nevarian Braves headquarters was repaired. The room I used to stay in looked the same as it always had. Nothing had changed. I found myself lying on the bed, unable to stop myself from feeling lonely. Only twenty or so days had passed since I left the Northern Plains for Midgard, but so much had happened, and I really missed my wives.

Turning over on my side, I curled into a ball and tried to get some sleep.

It was harder to fall asleep than I thought it would be.