I'm Not Your Husband, You Evil Dragon!

Erza’s violet eyes shifted once toward Loid before returning to Fiona.

"I see."

She still didn’t fully understand what existed between the two of them, but something about Fiona’s desperate reaction bothered her. As Erza continued staring at the man hanging from her hand, his face gradually pulled an old memory from the back of her mind.

She had seen him before.

Not in person.

In a photograph.

It had been an old childhood photograph of Fiona standing beside a young boy. Erza hadn’t considered the image particularly important at the time, but her memory was far too sharp to forget a face once she had properly seen it.

Her eyes moved toward Loid again.

That boy...

Then she looked at Fiona.

The trembling sword remained pressed against Fiona’s abdomen, and despite the fear covering her face, she still refused to lower it. She was prepared to stake her own life upon keeping the same boy from that photograph alive.

The connection finally settled inside Erza’s mind.

The violet-black aura surrounding Erza began rising once again.

"I see..."

Her gaze settled upon Fiona with a coldness that immediately made the woman’s blood run cold.

"You cheating woman."

Fiona froze.

"What...?"

Erza’s eyes narrowed.

"I entrusted my human’s future to you, and now you stand before me threatening to die for another man."

Her voice became even colder.

Her voice became even colder.

"How shameless."

Fiona’s breath caught as Erza’s violet eyes remained fixed upon her. There was something different within the Queen’s expression now, something beyond the anger caused by Loid’s attack, and Fiona could tell that whatever conclusion Erza had reached had somehow made her disappointment personal.

"I am truly disappointed in you, Fiona."

Fiona’s fingers tightened around the hilt of her sword.

"I genuinely considered you a great match for him. Among all the women surrounding my human, you were one of the few I believed could remain beside him."

Erza’s eyes narrowed slightly as she glanced toward Loid before returning her attention to Fiona.

"But I see now that I made a mistake."

Fiona stared at her, unable to understand how the situation had somehow turned into Erza judging whether she was suitable for Yuuta. Before she could respond, however, Erza continued speaking, and the faint restraint remaining within her voice began disappearing.

"Moreover..."

Erza paused.

Fiona’s breath caught as those violet eyes settled completely upon her, and an instinctive warning immediately travelled through her body. The atmosphere around the Dragon Queen changed so suddenly that several soldiers nearest to the stage instinctively lowered themselves again.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME?!"

Erza’s voice crashed through the War Hall.

The reinforced stage beneath her feet cracked from the force alone, thin fractures racing outward before spreading into a spiderweb across the floor. Thousands of soldiers flinched simultaneously, while Fiona felt the sound strike her body hard enough to make her vision blur for a moment.

Her entire body stiffened as though death itself had shouted directly into her soul. Her hands trembled violently around the sword, and every instinct she possessed begged her to lower the weapon before Erza’s anger became something none of them could survive.

Even so, Fiona refused.

"I-I’m not threatening you."

Her voice trembled so badly that the words barely resembled the defiance she intended, but Fiona swallowed painfully and forced herself to continue. She could still see Loid hanging from Erza’s hand, and that sight gave her enough strength to keep the blade pressed against herself.

"I’m telling you what I’ll do."

Erza’s eyes narrowed.

Fiona took a trembling breath.

"If you kill him..."

Fiona pressed the point of the sword more firmly against her abdomen, forcing herself to keep her trembling hands steady.

"...then I’ll die too."

Erza remained silent.

For several seconds, nothing moved upon the stage. Thousands of soldiers watched the confrontation without daring to interfere, while Fiona waited desperately for some reaction from the Dragon Queen.

Then Erza spoke.

"Go ahead."

Fiona’s eyes widened.

"What...?"

Erza stared directly at her.

"Die."

Fiona’s mind went blank.

Of all the reactions she had expected, that hadn’t been one of them. She had expected Erza to become furious, order her to lower the sword or perhaps release Loid simply because Yuuta’s future mattered too much for her to take the risk.

Instead, Erza simply turned away.

Her attention returned to Loid as though Fiona’s life had suddenly ceased to matter. The fingers wrapped around his throat began tightening again, and the faint movements remaining within his body immediately weakened.

Fiona’s heart nearly stopped.

"Wait!"

Erza ignored her.

"Did you forget about Yuuta?!"

That name made Erza pause.

Fiona noticed the reaction immediately and desperately continued before she lost whatever small opportunity she had created.

"If I die, he’ll be alone!"

Erza’s violet eyes slowly shifted toward her.

Fiona swallowed, but she forced herself to continue.

"You were the one who wanted me to stay beside him! You were the one who asked me to be there if something happened to you!"

Her voice trembled.

"So let Loid go. Unless you really want to find out whether I’m serious."

Erza slowly turned her head.

Fiona immediately realized she had made another mistake.

The anger in Erza’s expression disappeared, replaced by something so cold that Fiona almost wished the Queen had shouted at her instead. Those violet eyes settled upon her with such absolute contempt that Fiona felt as though Erza were staring straight through her.

"You seem to misunderstand something."

Erza’s voice was frighteningly calm.

"Do you believe you’re the only woman left in this world?"

Fiona’s breath caught.

Erza gradually turned toward her while Loid remained hanging helplessly from one hand.

"Or did you somehow convince yourself that my human needs you?"

Fiona couldn’t answer.

Erza’s gaze moved over the thousands gathered throughout the War Hall before returning to her.

"Look around you, Fiona."

Her free hand rose slightly.

"My Yuuta is handsome. He is kind. He is young, and despite how unbearably foolish he can be, there are countless women who would gladly spend their lives beside him."

Erza’s expression hardened.

"I chose you because I trusted you."

Those words struck Fiona differently.

"I believed that if I were no longer there, you would remain beside him. I believed you could give him warmth, a family and the peaceful life I might not be there to give him myself."

Erza’s eyes moved toward the sword Fiona was holding against her own body.

"And this is what you do with that trust?"

Fiona’s fingers trembled.

"You place a sword against yourself for another man..."

Erza glanced toward Loid.

"...and then use my human’s loneliness to threaten me?"

Erza’s gaze returned to Fiona.

"So don’t mistake my acceptance of you for dependence."

Fiona’s face became pale.

Erza lowered her hand.

"Besides..."

Her attention shifted toward Loid.

"If you are willing to throw away the future I entrusted to you for this man, then perhaps I chose the wrong woman from the beginning."

Something twisted inside Fiona’s chest.

Erza’s expression remained merciless.

"Perhaps you two deserve each other after all."

Her fingers tightened around Loid’s neck.

"If you’re so determined to die together, then I’ll grant your wish."

Fiona’s eyes widened in horror.

"But we’ll start with him."

Erza squeezed.

A sickening series of cracks came from Loid’s neck.

His hands, which had been weakly holding Erza’s wrist, suddenly lost their remaining strength. His arms fell beside his body, and the faint movement remaining within his legs disappeared completely.

The War Hall watched in horrified silence.

Thousands of soldiers saw Loid’s body become motionless within Erza’s hand, yet not a single person dared to raise their voice. The aura surrounding the Dragon Queen had already taught them exactly how enormous the difference between themselves and the woman standing upon that stage truly was.

Fiona’s sword trembled against her abdomen.

Her eyes remained fixed upon Loid, whose body now hung completely motionless from Erza’s hand. For one terrifying moment, Fiona couldn’t tell whether he was still breathing, and panic consumed every thought inside her mind as she desperately searched for something—anything—that could make Erza stop.

There was nothing.

Fiona had already threatened her.

She had used Yuuta’s name.

She had even threatened her own life.

None of it had worked.

Her fingers suddenly loosened.

The sword slipped from Fiona’s hand and struck the stage with a sharp metallic sound, drawing Erza’s attention. Erza glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see that Fiona had finally accepted there was nothing she could do.

Instead, Erza froze.

Fiona had dropped to the floor.

She wasn’t merely kneeling upon one knee as a soldier would before a superior. Both knees were pressed against the stage, her hands rested upon the floor before her, and her head had lowered until her entire posture showed complete submission.

"Please..."

Her voice broke.

Erza’s violet eyes narrowed.

"Please spare him."

Fiona’s shoulders trembled as tears fell from her face and struck the stage beneath her. She no longer cared about her position as one of the five captains, nor did she care that nearly ten thousand Agency personnel were watching her reduce herself to this state before the woman who had nearly killed her childhood friend.

"Please... have mercy on him, Your Highness."

Shock spread throughout the War Hall.

Several soldiers stared at Fiona in disbelief, while even the other captains appeared stunned by what they were witnessing. Fiona Phoenix, one of the highest-ranking officers within the entire Liebus Agency, was bowing completely before Erza and begging for another person’s life.

Fiona didn’t care.

"I take it back."

Her trembling fingers curled against the floor.

"Everything I said... I take it back."

Another tear fell from her face.

"I did love Yuuta. I won’t lie about that."

Fiona’s voice became increasingly difficult to control, but she forced herself to continue without raising her head.

"But Loid..."

Her breath shook.

"Loid is family to me."

The words escaped through a broken voice.

"I’ve known him since we were children. He grew up beside me, fought beside me and protected me more times than I can remember."

Fiona pressed her forehead lower.

"I can’t watch him die."

Her tears continued falling silently against the stage.

"Please..."

She no longer sounded like a captain.

She sounded helpless.

"I’m sorry."

Fiona squeezed her eyes shut.

"Please have mercy on him."

Erza stared at her.

Irritation remained within the Dragon Queen’s expression, and the coldness inside her violet eyes hadn’t disappeared. Loid had attacked her, Fiona had threatened her and nothing about the situation gave Erza any logical reason to spare the man hanging from her hand.

She was about to answer.

Then something stopped her.

Erza’s eyes remained fixed upon Fiona’s kneeling figure as an uncomfortable sensation moved through her chest. There was something painfully familiar about the sight before her, although for a moment she couldn’t understand why.

Then a voice echoed through her memories.

Her own voice.

Please, Grandpa...

Erza’s eyes widened slightly.

The War Hall disappeared from her thoughts.

Spare him.

Her fingers around Loid’s throat stopped moving.

Please... have mercy on him.

A memory she hadn’t intended to recall returned with painful clarity.

Erza saw herself kneeling.

She remembered Yuuta being crushed beneath Isvarn’s aura, his weak human body approaching the point where it could no longer endure the pressure. She remembered the terror that had consumed her as she realized her grandfather could genuinely kill him, and for perhaps one of the few times in her life, her pride had meant absolutely nothing.

She had knelt.

The Queen of Atlantis had lowered herself and begged because Yuuta’s life had mattered more than her dignity.

Now Fiona was doing the same thing.

Erza stared at the woman kneeling before her, but for several seconds another figure seemed to overlap with Fiona’s body.

Herself.

The same submission.

The same helplessness.

The same desperate hope that someone overwhelmingly stronger would choose not to take away the person she couldn’t bear to lose.

Erza’s hand trembled slightly.

Her eyes moved toward Loid.

His body had already gone limp. Saliva had begun gathering near the corner of his mouth, his eyes were closed and there was almost no strength remaining within him after being deprived of air for so long.

For one disturbing instant, Erza didn’t see Loid.

She saw Yuuta.

She remembered how helpless his body had looked beneath Isvarn’s power and how desperately she had begged her grandfather to stop. Isvarn had possessed every reason and every ability to continue, yet when Erza lowered herself before him and begged for Yuuta’s life, he had eventually chosen not to take it.

He had shown mercy.

Erza’s teeth tightened.

She understood now what that mercy had meant to the person kneeling.

Her violet eyes returned to Fiona.

Fiona still hadn’t raised her head. She remained completely bowed before Erza, silently weeping while waiting to discover whether the person she had known since childhood would live or die.

Erza’s expression twisted with irritation.

"Tch."

Without another word, she swung her arm.

Loid’s unconscious body flew across the stage.

Fiona’s head immediately shot upward as Loid struck the floor several meters away and slid across the stage toward her. His body finally came to a stop only a short distance from where she was kneeling.

"Loid!"

Fiona immediately abandoned everything else and scrambled toward him, dropping beside his unconscious body as her trembling hands reached for him.

Erza remained where she stood.

Her hand was empty now.

She stared at it for a moment before slowly closing her fingers into a fist, visibly irritated by the memory that had forced its way into her decision.

She had wanted to kill him.

Yet when Fiona had bowed before her like that, Erza had remembered exactly what it felt like to be the one begging.

Erza remained silent as Fiona hurried toward Loid and dropped beside him. The captain grabbed his shoulders with trembling hands and desperately tried to wake him, repeatedly calling his name while checking whether he was still breathing.

"Loid... Loid, wake up."

Fiona lightly shook him.

"Come on... open your eyes."

Loid didn’t respond.

Erza watched them for several seconds before her violet eyes settled upon Fiona.

"Fiona."

The captain immediately froze.

She slowly looked over her shoulder.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness?"

"Remember what happened here today."

Fiona swallowed.

Erza’s expression remained frighteningly cold.

"If you truly intend to remain beside my human someday, then remember this very carefully."

Fiona lowered her head.

"If you ever make Yuuta cry..."

Erza’s violet eyes narrowed.

"If you ever hurt him because of your selfishness, betray the trust he places in you or become the reason that foolish human loses his smile..."

The pressure surrounding Erza became heavier.

"...then even death will not protect you from me."

Fiona’s breath caught.

"I will find you even in the deepest depths of Hell."

Erza’s voice became terrifyingly quiet.

"And I will drag you back myself just so I can tear you apart."

Fiona stared at her for a moment before lowering her head once again.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Erza gave no response.

She simply turned away.

Her heels struck the damaged stage as she walked back toward the thousands of personnel gathered throughout the War Hall. The soldiers who had witnessed everything remained completely silent, and the fear that had disappeared during Erza’s earlier speech had returned in a considerably different form.

They weren’t afraid of the demons anymore.

They were afraid of disappointing their Supreme Commander.

Erza stopped before them.

"All of you."

Her voice travelled throughout the enormous chamber.

"Remember what happened here."

Thousands of eyes immediately focused upon her.

"Under my command, I will not tolerate foolish mistakes that endanger everyone around you. If you believe I am your enemy and decide to raise your weapon against me, then at least possess enough courage to accept death by my hand."

Several soldiers swallowed.

"But if you choose to stand beneath my command..."

Erza’s gaze slowly moved across the War Hall.

"...then trust me."

Her voice became calmer.

"I told you I would bring peace."

The soldiers listened without making a sound.

"Whether you believe that promise is entirely your choice. I will not beg for your faith, nor will I force you to give it to me."

Erza’s violet eyes hardened.

"But tonight, when the enemy stands before us, I expect every person who chooses to follow me to fight without hesitation."

Silence remained for only a moment.

Then one soldier lowered himself.

Another followed.

Then another.

Within seconds, the movement spread across the enormous War Hall until nearly ten thousand personnel had once again lowered themselves before the woman standing upon the damaged stage.

"We believe you, Supreme Commander!"

Their voices struck the chamber in perfect unison.

Erza observed them quietly.

For the first time since entering the War Hall, something resembling satisfaction appeared within her violet eyes.

"Very well."

She turned toward the exit.

"You are dismissed. Eat properly, rest while you still have the opportunity and prepare yourselves."

Her gaze briefly moved over the soldiers one final time.

"When the battle begins tonight, I expect all of you to return alive."

The personnel straightened.

"YES, SUPREME COMMANDER!"

Erza walked toward the reinforced doors without another word.

Her heels echoed throughout the enormous chamber as thousands of soldiers watched their Supreme Commander leave. Nobody spoke until the doors finally closed behind her and the sound of her footsteps gradually disappeared into the corridor beyond.

The moment Erza was gone, Fiona’s composure shattered.

"Medical team! Over here!"

Several medical personnel immediately rushed toward the stage, with Lily hurrying alongside them. Fiona moved aside just enough to allow them access to Loid, although she remained close as they began checking his breathing and examining the damage around his throat.

A short distance away, Elga slowly turned toward Erika.

Erika was already staring back at her.

Both women remained silent for a few seconds as they glanced at the shattered tactical screen, the cracked stage and the unconscious Vice-Captain being surrounded by medical personnel.

Elga finally spoke.

"Now that is what I call a monster."

Erika nodded without hesitation.

"For once, we agree."

Raven, who had been standing nearby with her arms folded, opened one eye.

"She’s not the monster."

Elga and Erika looked toward her.

Raven glanced toward the unconscious Loid.

"That idiot simply decided to wake one."

Elga’s eyebrow twitched.

"Traitor."

Erika immediately nodded.

"Traitor."

Raven closed her eye again and folded her arms more tightly, making it perfectly clear that she had no intention of defending herself against either accusation.

Sara didn’t participate in their conversation.

The Chief remained near the stage, staring toward the doors through which Erza had disappeared. Of everything she had witnessed today, one particular detail continued bothering her more than the shattered sword, the crushing aura or even the ease with which Erza had brought nearly ten thousand people to their knees.

Loid was alive.

Sara had genuinely believed he was going to die.

Someone had attacked Erza with the intention of killing her, placed a blade directly against her neck and openly accused her of controlling the Agency, yet somehow that same person was now lying unconscious while medical personnel fought to stabilize him.

Erza had shown mercy.

Sara still wasn’t certain whether that realization made the Dragon Queen less frightening or considerably more complicated.

Movement beside her suddenly caught her attention.

Sister Mary was already walking toward the exit.

Sara blinked.

"Saint?"

Sister Mary didn’t stop.

"Where are you going?"

Sara’s eyes widened when she realized exactly which direction the Holy Saint was heading. Erza had only just left through those doors, and after everything that had happened upon the stage, deliberately following her seemed like the last thing any sensible person would consider doing.

Sister Mary paused near the entrance.

"I knew it."

Sara frowned.

"Knew what?"

Sister Mary’s expression had become unusually serious.

"Something is wrong with Her Majesty."

Sara stared at her.

Sister Mary looked toward the corridor where Erza had disappeared, and the uneasiness she had felt ever since sensing the approaching demonic presence returned stronger than before.

"I cannot leave her alone."

Before Sara could stop her, Sister Mary stepped through the doors and followed after Erza.

Sara remained where she was.

She looked toward Fiona kneeling beside Loid, then toward the damaged stage, the destroyed tactical screen and the thousands of soldiers still recovering from everything they had witnessed.

A long sigh escaped her.

Tonight, Thousand demons were coming for Liebus.

Somehow, Sara was beginning to think they might not be the most complicated problem she had to deal with.

To Be Continued...

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