Chapter 1816 - 1816: Say My Name

The music continued as though absolutely nothing had happened. Perhaps that's what made everything feel so eerie to Skullius. The singers were unfazed, the Generals had not moved. Only he and Gylliard had shot out of their seats, bewildered.

Thyrgga stumbled from the blow, staggering on his feet. The force of the punch had Skullius expecting a more visceral response from the Sovereign General. The angry woman must have expected the same.

Skullius recognized the woman at once. She was the same furious woman he'd first seen at the landing port in the Quadrosphere.

'What the heck is going on here?' thought the Hybrid. His eyes darted to Gylliard. The Grand General still did nothing but grind his teeth, restraining himself for some reason.

Was this why he'd been guarding the distortion? But… why wasn't he acting now?

The furious woman's Amras, magnitudes stronger than anything Skullius had expected from her, flared as she balled her hand into a fist and stormed towards Thyrgga again.

The long table was eviscerated, ground to sawdust.

"Ylva!" called Gylliard, but still he didn't move.

"Stay right there, you blonde mutt!"

Gylliard sighed, face ripe with frustration.

The woman, Ylva, landed another terrifying blow on Thyrgga's face, and he stumbled back.

Skullius gaped. He might have believed the Sovereign General was at the woman's mercy… if he detected even an ounce of damage on Thyrgga. But there was nothing – not a bruise, not blood. There wasn't even pain on his face. Instead, Skullius detected… shame?

Thyrgga's eyes never left the woman's visage.

Ylva stomped towards him again. Finally, she'd backed him against the wall. Ramming the length of her arm against his neck, she let loose, filling the whole room with her dense Amras.

Skullius tensed. He felt like he was being squeezed inside a giant mattress until he flared his own Amras and further reinforced himself with Focused Null Life Ota.

'What's with this freakish power?'

"What were you expecting, huh? Huh?! You thought giving me exclusive access to your oh so humble home would lull me, didn't you? What reason would I choose to be alone with a monster like you?"

Thyrgga's expression did not change. His eyes didn't even flicker. The shame was welded into his face.

"Your glow…" he said softly. "You tore away your Name?"

For some reason foreign to Skullius, this made Ylva so angry that she manifested some Treasure, a slender gladius. Limning it with Amras, she stabbed at Thyrgga's chest, screaming:

"You deplorable murdere—"

The sentence was cut short, and then everything changed.

Silence, and then Ylva's overbearing Amras vanished, replaced by something... worse.

Skullius was smitten by a sudden headache, and he felt blood trickle from his nose. Something that only faintly resembled Amras fell upon the room like a great, brooding cloud.

WHAM!

Something hit the ground hard – so hard that Skullius felt his feet leave the ground for a nanosecond. Ylva was on the floor, completely immobile. A foot was on her neck, threatening to crush her throat just as easily as it would have an apple.

A woman, glowing, and dressed in the same style of armour as Gylliard – transparent and foggy – but shaped into a scant battle dress, had appeared. Raven black hair, thickly braided and tied in an impossible knot behind her head. A perfect round face with perfect, slanted eyes sharper than knives.

Those eyes, scintillating green, which looked like they couldn't be bothered with anything they saw…

'It's her…' Skullius thought. Another woman he recognized.

The woman he'd seen on the throne.

Navvexr.

Even now, she looked down at Ylva as though she were as insignificant as the sawdust flying around the room.

…But Ylva was undaunted. She looked murderous still, meeting Navvexr's eyes with spite of her own.

That must have been why the Grand General fashioned her eerie Amras into a spear with shocking depth right then, and stabbed it at Ylva's forehead without hesitation.

"NAVVEXR," called Thyrgga.

…And the Grand General stopped just short of ending Ylva's life.

For a few seconds, all there was, was the strained, whistle-like sound of Ylva's attempts at breathing.

"How many times must you stop me from killing this stereotypical wench?" was Navvexr's first words. She slowly panned to Thyrgga.

"Back off, Navvy. It's not our place to interfere," said Gylliard, scowling. "We gave our word that we'd stay out of it."

"Fuck. You," said Ylva with great strain, eyes pointed at Navvexr. The Grand General pushed her foot further into the woman's throat, slowly. Ylva choked. The Immortal Physique attached to her skin did nothing to save her, but she was tenacious. Her eyes were still searing with lively hatred.

"NAVVEXR." Thyrgga sounded desperate. His face suddenly looked ten times older, his voice feebler.

Skullius was dumbfounded. Compared to the man who had been dominating their exchange just moments ago, this Thyrgga was…

"Ask me to spare this wench a third time, and you might as well tear my Name from me, Thyrgga."

The Sovereign General wilted at those words. The strength seemed to leave his legs, and he leaned against the wall for support.

"Navvy!" cried Gylliard, horror-struck.

"Don't…let…them…stop…you. Do… it!" said Ylva, and she attempted to spit on Navvexr's face, only to stain her boot instead. "Kill. Me."

"Sure," said Navvexr placidly. She brandished her Amras spear again. "But first, why don't you say my Name? Just once."

Ylva wilted. Her brows rose weakly, and her eyes turned foggy.

Navvexr scoffed, a small triumphant smile on her face. She stabbed with her spear.

"That's enough, Navvy!"

Gylliard was there, breaking apart the Amras spear with a whack of his hand, and gripping Navvexr's wrist tightly. All five of the luxurious rings on his hand were gleaming with different-coloured lights – concentrated power. Perhaps that was what it took to restrain Navvexr.

"STOP," commanded Gylliard sharply.

Navvexr turned and gave him a cool look, unblinking.

They contended silently for a while until Gylliard's deep frown softened.

"That was too cruel, even for you."

Navvexr swiped her hand from Gylliard and scoffed, but then she turned to Thyrgga. The man was taking slow, deep breaths, one hand covering his face.

The singers began vocalizing the hymn, Gegenne yei fiesces Amanthu, again. Louder.

Only then did Navvexr stop. She removed her foot from Ylva's throat, and the woman gasped and rolled over. Ylva raised her head, eyes dark and ugly. She had many things to say, but Navvexr didn't allow her a moment's syllable. One sharp kick to the temple knocked her out; sharply delivered damage rammed into her body, soul, and Broader Existence in rapid succession, causing enough shock to turn off her lights.

Gylliard gave a disapproving scowl as a lull slowly took over.

The singers sang, louder still, and everything seemed to calm down. Thyrgga relaxed, and Navvexr withdrew the pressure from her powers, as did Gylliard. The two Grand Generals continued to watch each other.

…That was until something made them turn sharply in unison. A suspicious activation of energy drew them.

Its source was a second pair of eyes suffused with puce and turquoise on a guest who'd been in the room, watching the chaos unfold.