Mako stood on the podium, an immense weight pressing down on his entire body.
It was Sir Arthur II's ability. The man faced him, still motionless in that strange hand position:
One of Arthur's hands pointed skyward, the other toward the ground, separated by mere centimeters.
"Others would already be crumbling under the weight of their sins," Sir Arthur II said, glancing at the battle between Zork and his daughter, Rebecca.
Mako hadn't fully collapsed, one knee on the ground, straining to rise. But it was futile.
Then, Mako noticed something…
"Wait…" he murmured.
"Oh, you're catching on now?" Arthur reacted.
Both Mako and Arthur were looking toward the orc—or rather, the orcs.
What had once been a single hulking figure in the square had now multiplied.
There were two Zorks!
That's what caught Rebecca off guard. While she dodged one attack, Zork's copy closed in to land a devastating blow.
Given their size, the strike came from below, arcing upward. It hit Rebecca's side, sending her soaring through the air…
"Ha, ha, ha," both Zorks laughed in unison. "Once you fall, it's over!"
Both Zorks spoke in perfect sync.
"Interesting," Arthur said, unfazed by his daughter's plight. "Is it a spell or an illusion from that flute he played?"
No. That blow was real. An orc's strength was no small thing.
Rebecca felt it in her flesh and bones. As she oriented herself…
She saw the square below shrinking into a circle, Zork as a large green dot, and even nearby houses fading into the distance.
"You're just going to let her die?!" Mako exclaimed.
"Nice try," Arthur replied, "but if I lift my verdict from you, you'll seize the chance to attack me."
Arthur watched his daughter, a speck in the sky, plummeting at high speed. For a moment, Mako thought he saw doubt in his face.
But that doubt vanished, replaced by a proud smile.
"She can handle herself," Arthur said, more to himself than to Mako.
Zork prepared to deliver the final blow.
Rebecca, however, began to react mid-fall.
First, she closed her eyes.
"Ha, ha, ha!" both Zorks laughed. "What, accepting your fate?"
Swiftly, Rebecca pressed her palms together again.
Zork and what seemed to be his copy braced to crush her with a barrage of lethal strikes.
But then, they noticed the speck in the sky—Rebecca—stopped growing larger.
In fact, she seemed to hover in place.
"Verdict," Rebecca said softly, her palms joined.
Like a predatory eagle, Rebecca snapped her eyes open. She was suspended in midair.
"You sinners," she continued, "will bear the weight of your sins."
Her right hand slowly began to rotate. Without breaking contact with her left palm, it turned 180 degrees.
"That's not fair!" both Zorks cried. "I can't fly!"
Arthur burst into laughter. Though tinged with mockery, it was a deep, joyful chuckle.
He wasn't mocking Zork—it was the proud laugh of a father.
Mako watched, still seeking a chance to strike, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't move an inch upward to attack with his rapier.
Then Mako saw it: one of the Zorks dropped to his knees.
"No! Not you too, Zork," Mako said pessimistically.
Like her father, three blue glimmers appeared around Rebecca, each manifesting an energy sword.
"Guilty!" Rebecca shouted.
Her hands parted slightly. It was the same ability as Arthur's, forcing Zork to feel an immense weight on his shoulders.
But with her shout, Rebecca clapped her palms together sharply, producing a loud clap.
With that, she fell again, now from a much lower height.
But she wasn't falling alone. The energy swords floating around her shot forward like spears.
"Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!" Rebecca screamed as she descended.
The three energy swords struck the real Zork like lightning. As the only one affected by Rebecca's ability, he was easy to identify.
"Zork!" Mako shouted from the podium.
"Ugh," both orcs groaned in unison, "this… is really unpleasant."
Both Zorks spoke simultaneously, but their plights differed.
The original knelt, crushed by the weight, while the copy stood before him, arms outstretched.
Rebecca landed gracefully, using her ability to fall as light as a feather.
Mako watched, stunned: Zork's copy had stepped into the path of the swords, shielding the real Zork.
But that copy wasn't an illusion.
"Incredible," Arthur said. "You nobles have some remarkable tricks with your spells and sorcery."
"We're not witches or anything like that!" Mako snapped, irritated.
But his frustration stemmed more from worry and helplessness.
Being unable to move was the worst feeling for Mako.
There he was, frozen, watching three swords pierce the copy Zork from back to chest.
The real Zork saw his copy, still standing before him, bleeding green liquid from the wounds. Blood.
"Damn…" both orcs said. "This hurts… a lot."
Rebecca glared sharply at her prey: Zork. Then, she felt the pain in her right arm—where Zork's initial blow had landed—more intensely.
"Don't overdo it!" Sir Arthur II shouted from the podium.
After calling out to his daughter, Arthur turned to face Mako.
Mako noticed instantly—he was next.
Arthur prepared to use the same ability. Though Mako didn't fear death, he feared his own ability more.
The fight with Catherine had made one thing clear: Mako couldn't yet control when he leaped through time. If he wanted to achieve anything, he had to act now.
But he wasn't entirely desperate. A strange calm settled over him.
Watching Rebecca fall and use her ability sparked an idea to counter his predicament.
'So, a normal person would be flat on the ground, like the guards,' Mako thought. 'That means one thing…'
He stopped resisting.
'If I can't go up, I'll go down!' Mako concluded.
Relaxing his muscles completely, he let himself collapse. He channeled all his energy into one motion.
Using the weight pressing him downward, he drove his rapier's blade in a plunging strike toward Arthur's leg.
"You damned Crown lapdog!"
Arthur screamed in pain, cursing Mako repeatedly.
Mako no longer felt the weight on him. This was his chance to counterattack.
Or so he thought.
As Mako withdrew his rapier from Arthur's leg, he noticed the energy swords around Arthur begin to move.
Though caught off guard by Mako's attack, Arthur managed to clap his palms together.
The first energy sword fell like lightning, but Mako reacted in time to deflect it with his own blade.
The clash produced a blinding flash, dissipating the energy sword into the air.
It blinded Mako for a second, but he managed to parry the second. Two swift, precise, elegant slashes…
But it wasn't enough. The first two were a feint for the third, which hurtled toward Mako's chest.
"Agh!" Mako cried in pain as a blue energy sword pierced between his abdomen and chest.