Chapter 987: Testimony of the Accused.
[Wait a minute…Executor, you do remember part of my existence consists of the ability to cast “Judgement”, right? I could easily just blast him with fire and be done with it,] Blazejudicator suggested while inside of Zhen Liu’s soul.
‘Keep that on holster. If I think he’s lying than you can blast him and we can determine the…actually…can you subtlety burn him?’
[Of course, Executor…why?]
‘Just want to see something…’
…
“Well?”
“…”
Cornelius was as silent as the grave in response to Zhen Liu’s inquiry. Granted, that could’ve also been in response to the giant claw holding his throat at this moment.
After several agonizing moments of silence though, Cornelius eventually answered. With a response that was less than desired.
“To be completely honest…not exactly.”
“Oh?”
“The thing about my splitting is that it leads to me having my memories all jumbled.”
<=Ain't that convenient,=> Logos and Pathos sarcastically replied.
“So my retelling may not be completely accurate!,” Cornelius argued back. “I just need to tell everything I know to put my memories straight. But…it’s kind of hard to forget a day like that… especially when it involved someone I cared for.”
“Cared for?”
“Before you ask, we were never lovers. So if you think that I might be Miavora’s baby daddy, that is not the case.”
“Okay,” Zhen Liu nodded while making a mental note that Cornelius was a surprisingly close uncle and not a deadbeat dad. Which meant he couldn’t smack him.
“Although…there were times I wish I was.”
“Hmm.”
Scratch that previous statement. Smacking him upside the head was back on the table.
_____________FLASHBACK!_____________
When I first met Mia-<=DON'T SAY HER NAME!=>-When I first met the Storm Queen, it is was about the third, maybe fourth, time I had undergone one of my splits.
I wasn’t used to splitting back then, so when introductions were being made between myself and her, I feel over like a pile of bricks. Fainting in front of her, and her entourage of Kaijin, was embarrassing.
…
“Seriously?”
“Yes, I’m certain.”
‘Logos?’
=Accessing relevant information…confirmed, [Time] entity did indeed faint like a bitch when he first [Storm Queen].=
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The Storm Queen at the time had this aura around her that made her seem unapproachable. Or, at the very least, made it feel as if she was untouchable.
So you can imagine my surprise when she just picked me up to my feet like I was an old friend in need of help.
Evidently, that was also the day I was first brought to Undertow.
And it was…very different from when what the myths and legends say about the place now.
…
“Different…how?”
“It used to be just a series of shacks and islands in the middle of the [Abyssal Lands]. Surprisingly safe though due to not a lot of deep sea beasts wanting to go toe-to-toe with a kaijin.”
“Legit?”
<=Accessing records...confirmed. Before Undertow was fully established as a walled city, it was a slum village. A place where the weak and expelled could gather in peace. Without fear.=>
“Huh…of what?”
“Retaliation.”
…
At the time I knew her, she was in the middle of her crusade against the Pearl Scale Empire and its alliance with the Floating Nomads.
And she was winning.
With the help of her kaijin, she had conducted numerous raids on enemy caravans, resource hotspots and the occasional military base.
Everytime she did, she came back with more resources, more victories and a lot more people.
I wasn’t sure as to why at the time, but she always seemed to have a grudge aimed specifically at the institute of slavery and made it a personal goal to free every slave she came across in her attacks.
She had done this so many times that her once quaint little village in the [Abyssal Lands] had expanded into a castle town, before turning into a huge castle city.
That was when Undertow was finally established as a proper power in Roaring Tide.
…
“Okay, I don’t mean to be rude,” Zhen Liu interjected. “But this is a whole lot of backstory. Mind focusing on the bit where you’re accused of murder or betrayal?”
“Alright, alright I’ll…wait a minute, murder or betrayal? Not both?”
“Those two crimes are easily conflated but I get the feeling you’re more guilty of the latter than the former.”
“Thanks?”
<=Betrayal by ignorance is possible...=>
“I think I just got called stupid…”
…
After she had established Undertow as a proper powerhouse, I ended up becoming a part of her life in a more active manner. Namely, I became her blood brother in arms and an active part of her raids and defenses.
Due to her reputation as the Storm Queen, and her massive winning streak, a whole bunch of other villages and towns in Roaring Tide ended up flying her banner in order to defy both the Pearl Scale Emperor and the Floating Khan.
More times than once, I accompanied her or the kaijin and defending these places or retaliating against the powers that be.
This…this is when I think I fucked up.
I don’t know who I talked to at the time or why I even said shit, but I somehow blabbed about the location of Undertow, namely how it was in the [Abyssal Lands].
Weeks after that one moment of weakness…you saw what happened.
The Pearl Scale Emperor and the Floating Khan managed to join hands with other factions that had problems with the Storm Queen and launched a coordinated effort to bring her, her kaijin and her whole city down.
Fortunately, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
The kaijin were just as powerful, if not more powerful than all the experts gathered by the Pearl Scale Emperor and Floating Kahn combined.
Unfortunately, the battle was so large and so chaotic that even the famed coordination of the kaijin got messed with.
Which is when the unthinkable happened.
…
[Twisting Hourglass!]
“Gah!”
Punching forward, Cornelius launched a fist full of [Time] aether and obliterated his opponent, turning them into dust as they rapidly decayed under the force of his abilities.
‘How many of these assholes are there?!,’ he cursed as he saw the battle unfold all around him.
The zakos and the kaijin were doing their damnedest to keep the enemy warriors out of the city, but it appeared that they had wised up to the nature of the [Chaos].
Multiple warriors had exhibited the ability to channel dragon force, or at least wielded weapons that were infused with the powerful energy that rendered [Chaos] defenses null.
While this didn’t affect Cornelius himself, the kaijin were definitely affected.
[Aw! You bastards!]
[A dragon harpoon?! Really?! Now that’s just offensive.]
[Watch the knives, watch the knives, watch the knives!]
Unsurprisingly, the kaijin managed to maintain a surprisingly upbeat demeanor despite the horrid situation.
However, Cornelius couldn’t share in this jovial attitude.
‘Okay evacuations are still underway. We just need to…wait a minute… something feels wrong.’
Cornelius wasn’t entirely sure why, but he had this feeling in his gut that something really, really bad was going to happen to Mia and that he had to be her side, ASAP.
Using the lull in battle to his advantage, Cornelius focused his senses to try and detect where the Storm Queen could be. He half expected her to be on the frontlines, but found to his surprise that she wasn’t there.
That alone was enough to get him to start worrying.
‘Where is she, where is she…there! Oh shit!’
When Cornelius threw his senses back towards the main citadel, he figured she wouldn’t be there due to all the fighting being out here.
Surprisingly though, she was…and she wasn’t alone.
From what Cornelius could sense the Storm Queen was fighting off several other enemy warriors that had somehow managed to sneak pass the kaijin and had her cornered…which was was weird.
Normally, the Storm Queen would lash out with an attack that would take them out and probably cause a fuckton of collateral in the process, repair costs be damned.
She couldn’t do that this time because of one tiny factor.
Directly behind the Storm Queen in a separate room, a tiny life force was slumbering, hopefully unaware of all the chaos and carnage all around her.
‘Oh no…’
This life force was the recently born princess of Undertow, and as of this, she was at risk.
‘Gotta move, now!’
Compelled by the danger, Cornelius flew as fast as he could to try and prevent the worst from happening.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stop the second worst thing from happening.
…
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