Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"W-who are y-you?" Evin asked, stammering the whole time.

Fear and confusion dominated his mind, his whole body hoping that he wasn't facing an enemy of some sorts randomly.

"No one you should worry about… I was actually sent to save you," the easterner spoke. "Boss sent me over.

"Boss?"

"The Ruler… Boss Albin. Some scary people are coming over to the Labs, so he asked me to come and escort you out," the man said. "Ah, here, let me get you up."

"What scary people? Is this part of the test?"

"No-no-no-no. Nothing like that. Agh, why are you even asking so many questions? Boss told me to tell you to check the metal Talisman if you don't believe me, but something tells me that this isn't the time for that. Here, climb by back, and I'll get you outta here. Or do you want me to leave you here, so you can struggle outside by yourself?"

"No! Please get me out!" Evin replied, and climbed up the man's shoulders, trying his best to not think about his leg.

The man then brought Evin outside, using a secret path only known to the staff on the Island and the teachers. On the way outside, Evin saw a relatively normal looking room that had 'Type 13' written on it, which made him think that that must've been the reward for beating the Type 12, but of course, he didn't have the time to enjoy his rewards.

But just as the two were about make their way to the Infirmary, a loud voice resonated throughout the Island.

"All students on the Island, please stop what you are doing now and immediately gather at the Infirmary. The test has been canceled due to an unexpected accident… I repeat. All stu-"

The siren like voice continued to repeat the same words.

"What's happening?"

"Something bad. But I'm sure the kingdom will tell you a better story," the easterner said, smiling all the while.

…

Leanne was lying with his stomach on the floor of the control room, feeling Albin's weight on her back and his hands on the back of her head. A sense of dread filled the atmosphere, along with the distinct smell of blood.

"Now stay real nice and obedient," Albin was saying. "You know I can turn your brain into mush with a single stray thought, right? Just keep still and everything will be over soon."

Albin was a mage famous for his Conditional Absolute that allowed him to kill upon touch. He was also said to be able to impose pseudo-Oaths on people if he was allowed to have his way with them. But even so, he had taken on the Oath of Loyalty, which did not allowed him to betray the kingdom or harm its citizens… but looking at the concaved head of Lucien lying dead next to her, she had to change her beliefs.

"How come the Oath isn't working?" Leanne asked.

"Also. Don't ask questions you know I won't answer. If I do, I'll be forced to kill you."

Leanne thought about the five masked people who appeared through a blue portal out of nowhere, and Albin's sudden actions of ignoring his Oath's constraints and killing Lucien, who was about to attack the newcomers.

The masked men suggested killing Leanne as well, but Albin refused. The newcomers then headed outside, and had yet to return.

"What do those masked people want to do here?" Leanne's voice was adamant, though she wasn't sure where she was getting all this confidence from.

"Well, you'll know the answer to that soon enough, so I'll answer. They want the professor in the Labs."

"Type 13?"

"Yup. The very same. Me and a few of my boys are also joining the prof as a bonus."

"Are they going to kill the students as well?" Leanne asked, remembering that Evin was inside the Laboratories.

"No. They don't want to make a huge scene, so they definitely won't touch the kids so carelessly. I wanted to spare Mr. Lucien over there as well, but… well, shit happens. Oh, and you don't have to worry about Evin as well. I've sent someone to bring him out," Albin said calmly.

"Speaking of the kid… I don't think you should be so trusting of him, by the way. The way he fights… there's definitely something wrong about him. Is he a Child of the Empress?"

"I don't know."

"No. He can't be one of the Children… he dodges and aims without really seeing his enemies and he can even maintain three spells simultaneously using only Imagination Casting. A Child of the Empress would have impressive skills, but even those guys would struggle to perform as well as he does. Is he a vessel for one of the Godlings? Or is he something ancient and unknown?"

"I said I don't know what you're talking about."

Albin sighed, and ruffled Leanne's hair. "You're a terrible liar… but I trust the fact that you don't know what he is. You just know there's something wrong with him, but you don't know what it is exactly…"

Leanne fell silent at the remark. What was she supposed to do or say in this situation, anyway?

"Why are you keeping me alive in the first place?"

"No special reason… I've long since grown out of my habit of killing people randomly. Especially not a beauty like you. But if you want a reason… Well, I felt like you've grown as a person during the past year, so I didn't want to ruin all that progress by killing you so randomly."

"What?" Leanne asked, not understanding what Albin was talking about.

"Ha-ha, it's a bit funny to talk about this, but you know you were kind of a bitch during the previous two tests, you know? The first year you were so insufferable, even the Oath inside me sent me warnings. The second year you got a bit better but you were still pretty bitchy. But this year, you're like a completely different person. Although you didn't apologize for your past actions, you act genuinely politely towards me and you even began to show interest in Amera."

"…"

"I thought it was such a great character development, and decided it was a waste to end it all with some random death in a situation you had nothing to do with," Albin finished explaining.