Shackled Exalted

Emil

"Oh, it's you."

The words slithered out of Kleine's mouth in a low drawl. He spoke with a casual ease of someone greeting a neighbor. Calm. Composed. In control. As if he wasn't the one currently locked up behind the cells of Thanatos. "Miles, was it?"

Emil narrowed his eyes with discomfort, not expecting to be recognized. He had been masked when they fought during Aoife's rescue, and his face remained concealed even now.

Kleine let out a small giggle. "No need to be surprised, alright? Your pupils are a distinct blue. And your posture. The shape of your face. The curvature in your eyes. The frame of your body. I remember it all."

A chill crept up Emil's spine at the disturbing description. He shot a sidelong glance at Graf.

"He's been fed Archanum and stripped of all Azurite," Graf reassured, reading his thoughts.

Somehow, I'm not convinced. Even with Kleine behind barred doors, Emil's instincts still flared with danger. Memories of his violent engagement against Rohan was seared in his head. Kleine's Gift appeared to have allowed him to control distortions of space. He had used it violently to tear apart the monsters summoned by Rohan. The exact limitations of his Gift were unknown, however. Aoife was the only one who faced him in combat for a prolonged period of time, and her accounts of what happened back then were vague at best.

Still, if there was any place to interrogate the apparent leader of Vigil, it would be within the confines of Thanatos.

"I can confirm this is Kleine from Vigil," Emil declared as he stepped forward to face the crimson-eyed man. He swallowed his anxiety and recalled the aftermath of Vigil's Academy raid. His throat grew hot. The deluge of blood spilled on campus that day stirred the vengeful flames in his heart. And then there was the sight of Aoife in his arms, battered and broken.

"What the hell are you doing here? What's Vigil's plan?" he hissed.

"That's better. It's no fun speaking to someone who's afraid of me," Kleine drawled with confidence.

"Answer me!" Emil lunged at the steel bars of the door. The cell shook with a metallic ring as his weight slammed into the bars, and his voice screeched across the silent floor.

"Patience. I'm here for a reason, you know? I can promise you'll see our plan soon enough. I wouldn't want to ruin a surprise."

Without an incentive, the man wasn't likely to speak. Emil glanced back, eyeing the spear in one of the guard's hands. He wanted Kleine to react. The sight of his pale face and composed smile gnawed on his conscious. He hated how the man looked so in control despite being the one confined.

To his surprise, Graf waved him off and beckoned him to continue the questioning.

"…The recent proliferation of monsters in the Canticle. We found several carets of Azurite scattered around the sewers. That was your doing, wasn't it?"

"Ah, right." Kleine nodded knowingly. "It wasn't me to be exact, but yes, it was done by my associates. An accident actually, as embarrassing as it is to admit. The monster outbreak was just a happy accident from a mistake in our operations."

"And what exactly are these operations?"

Kleine's mouth curved into a sadistic smile. "Like I said, patience."

Before Emil could respond, a new voice suddenly interjected in the air.

"A-Ahem! Hello! Hello! Testing! Testing!"

It sounded distant. An electric buzz accompanied every syllable. The echo reminded him of the public announcements that occurred occasionally from Isarelle's broadcast towers. Did those devices had the range to reach Thanatos? A look at Graf and the Lionheart guards confirmed his suspicions. But what stunned Emil was that he recognized the voice.

That's—

"Ladies aaaand gentlemen! How is everyone doing on the fine, fine day?! As everyone likely knows, today's is the inauguration of the Aurous Festival! What fun! I'm sure the lovely citizens of Isarelle have many splendid activities planned for this joyous occasion. But I think we can spice things a bit and make this year's festival one to never forget!

"Now, who am I? Thank you for asking. My name is Melody! If you've heard of me, it's because I was formerly a second-year student at Exalted Academy and a commentator at this year's Clash of Dawn! But today I stand before you not as a student, but as the youngest and cutest member of Ardair's number one terrorist organization—Vigil! Our goal is simple! Cut! Tear! Rip apart the rotten roots of this kingdom and set it aflame so it could grow anew!

"For our opening act, we stormed the Clash of Dawn celebrations and exposed the fragility and arrogance of Azure City's institutions! Now, I'm happy to announce our second act, the Aurous Festival Extravaganza!

"Tell me everyone, what's a festival without loud noises and blood-curdling excitement?!"

As if right on cue, several deafening explosions thundered from the distance. They popped in quick succession; the shrill thunderclaps sent reverberating shockwaves that could be felt even from the top of the spire. Graf turned to the guards beside him. The inside of Thanatos was locked up without windows. They couldn't see what was happening.

"I-I'll go get information!" one of the guards stammered before storming down the stairwell.

After a brief second, the broadcast resumed with a haunting giggle.

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"Amazing! What a spectacle! Broken buildings, shattered rubble, and splattered body parts! If you're confused about what just happened, several bombs just went off! Across Isarelle, several neighborhoods have been painted in scarlet red and the charred rubble. How delightful! Don't you love the thrill of being on the edge of life and death?! What a rush!

"But don't worry if you missed out on the excitement! We have more explosive fun scattered across the city! It could be inside a building. It could be atop of a stage. It could even be beneath your feet! Who knows! It's all part of the fun!"

The broadcast was suddenly cut off by the blare of the clocktower.

"Hear that? It's the bell! For those in the audience who want to be heroes and ruin the fun, you have until the next bell toll before everything goes off! Good luck!"

The buzz of the public announcement system turned off. Emil stared blankly at the wall as the facts settled in. Once the shock wore off, he spun towards Kleine.

The Vigil leader wore a conniving wore. "See? Surprise."

Emil wanted to rip his face off.

"Open the cell. I'm going to break him until he gives us the location of the bombs," he hissed.

"Oh, you don't have to go that far. I'll share now that the surprise is over," Kleine said with a wave of his hand, "These bombs are an experimental weapon that we've created. It's called Borealis. But truth be told, even I don't know where my associates have planted the bombs. What I will say is that there are likely ten Borealis left." Kleine's eyes suddenly gleamed. "And that there are none planted in the Administrative District."

***

There was only an hour until all of the bombs scattered in Isarelle detonate.

The harrowing reality quickly settled in as Emil received his weapons and Azurite pendant back from the security managing the fortress. Ingrid had already departed after given orders from Graf to gather the nearest Couriers to the gated entrance by the base of the hill.

"Take this." Graf handed him a metallic stick roughly the length of a dagger. He could sense a lump of Azurite at the core of the object. "It's called a Pulsar. Channel mana into it and point the thin end towards the sky. It'll shoot a wave of mana into the air. Send a bit of mana if you want to call a Courier. Send a bunch of mana if you need immediate backup."

Emil grabbed the Pulsar and stashed it by the side of his waist. The two of them stormed out of the fortress and rushed down the hill back towards the city. Several Lionheart guards followed them to assist with the situation in Isarelle, but the bulk of them remained inside the fortress. Kleine's presence alone necessitated it—the man's nonchalant attitude towards being imprisoned within Thanatos kept everyone on edge.

"What do you think their overall plan is?" Graf asked.

"The scenario feels similar to what happened at the Clash of Dawn banquet. Vigil creates chaos and employs attacks on multiple fronts to divide our attention to hide their true objective. During the Clash of Dawn, the distraction was taking everyone in the banquet hall hostage while they moved to capture the princess and enter the Consortium."

"Then—"

"I don't know what their aim is this time. It feels too obvious to suggest that Thanatos is their goal when Kleine offered himself so easily. At the same time, I don't know what they're trying to achieve by just bombing Isarelle," Emil said.

And even if bombings are the distraction, it's not something we can just ignore.

Thanks to the Aurous Festival, the city was more populated than ever. The death and destruction caused by the bombs would be catastrophic without Steiger and the Lionhearts to intervene. Emil grimaced. He detested this reprehensible feeling. With the one-hour deadline, they had no choice but to play into Vigil's hands.

Emil felt a burst of mana bloom in the vicinity. Several presences emerged. Ingrid had returned with a group of Couriers.

"Give me what you know. Spare no details," Graf ordered immediately.

At the end of the Courier's reports, they learned that seven bombs detonated before Melody's broadcast. There were three spread out across from Arts and Commerce Districts while the rest were within the Noble's Quarter. The Black Shoal and Administrative Districts were left untouched.

"What's the situation with the broadcast tower?"

"A group of Lionhearts have already reclaimed it. The perpetrator is missing. It seems she's taken the amplifier device with her."

Graf sent the Courier back with orders to monitor any of the tall buildings and viewpoints within Isarelle. If Melody took the amplifier device, then she was likely going to make more broadcasts in the future. That implied she was somewhere observing the city.

"Do we know what Borealis looks like? How widespread are the damages?"

No one had visuals on the appearance of the bombs yet, but based on eye-witness accounts, those outside of the blast radiuses reported seeing a flash of blue lights before the explosion took place. Based on the distinct colors, it was reasonable to assume that Azurite was being used as the core material. The damages caused by Borealis seemed to vary—in some districts, entire blocks were decimated. In others, the destruction was limited to a small section of a street.

"The situation in the Noble's Quarter is stable for now, but panic is starting to spread in the Arts and Commerce Districts. We're unable to assess the full extent of the deaths and damages due to the chaos."

Graf grunted, falling deep in thought as he considered the various pieces of information.

The sky suddenly split with two flashes of blue. Emil's instincts shuddered at the deluge of mana flooding his senses. In the distance, he saw a circle of azure swallow up a portion of Isarelle. The thunderclaps arrived shortly after.

Boom! Boom!

The ground beneath them stirred with tremors. Plumes of smoke rose to the skies just over the horizon. Two more bombs had detonated. They came from the Black Shoal this time.

Shit!

Graf delivered his orders.

"Get in touch with the Belle patrols on the ground. Start directing the populace towards the Administrative District. Set up medical tents and checkpoints at the boundaries of the districts to ensure order. You two, get to the Bank of Ardair and get all the agents on standby to do a mana scan of the Administrative District blocks. We at least know the bombs contain Azurite, so make sure there's nothing in the places where the commoners will be relocated. I need the Lionhearts to make contact with the Belle family and other noble houses for additional manpower. Now go!"

Emil watched as the Couriers and Lionhearts vanished to execute their assigned orders. In an instant, there was only him and Graf. An insidious thought came to mind as he pondered on Graf's orders.

"Are you sure that was the right call?" he questioned, regretting that he didn't speak up earlier, "Unintuitively, the areas where the bombs have detonated might be the safest places now to relocate. If Vigil's goal is to maximize chaos, then I doubt they would have planted multiple bombs at the exact same places."

"I considered that," Graf replied gravely, "Unfortunately, people's first instincts are to get away from a dangerous place as fast as they can. Asking a group of panicked people to stop and think is nearly impossible. We don't have enough people to maintain order across the city. Instead, I rather give them a place to run towards."

Emil narrowed his eyes. "This is playing into their hands, Graf. I don't think it's wise to take Kleine's words as the truth. Herding everyone into the Administrative District might be their plan."

"I know."

Graf turned towards him. His eyes were hauntingly cold as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Then tell me, Emil. What should I do instead? What alternatives do I have? What fool-proof plan do you have in mind that can save as many people as possible?"

There was no accusation in his questions. No anger. Emil heard nothing but a genuine plead for help. And that disturbed him more than anything. Because he had no better solutions to offer.

After a few tense seconds of silence, Graf delivered his orders for him. "Head to the Black Shoal. Get to the blast sites. Use your Gift to examine the area. We need more information on what exactly Borealis is." He then whispered, "Don't make these people's deaths in vain."