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The Golden Land had suffered immeasurable damage from the barrage of cannonballs that struck its surface and made the concrete structure crumble into dust, falling into the empty abyss where no man knew what laid there. A pit of bottomlessness, devoid of any life, and fall they shall, as the goats feasted upon anything that manifested into this game and ate its corpse of an existence until there was nothing.
There, a rampaging fire had broken loose and contaminated every leaf with its flashing flames to leave everything undone. So much chaos had occurred, and the remaining Ushiromiya family, including the army of goats, met their demise to this pool of blackness, or they were consumed by the fire and disintegrated into ashes. When hell flushed through and the hand of God ceased the armageddon as the smoke cleared, all that remained were two individuals.
The two that were left were none other...than Dlanor A. Knox and her "best friend," Erika Furudo.
Battler had set up this game board as a means to prove to Ange that the truth wasn't an objective one should always chase but not everyone is so keen on following that silly idea. After all, what could be greater than the truth? To suffer for 18 years, with a waxing pain tearing through your confused heart, who wouldn't want to know the truth?
But that was a mistake. All of the commotion now stirred the cauldron of skulls that were floating in vastness, and due to that grave mistake, all of the Golden Land laid in shambles. Violence had been bred, and there was a wrecking by Ange perceiving her brother to be withholding the irresistible truth she desired. Why had her brother did that? Wasn't she a figure that was supposed to grant her that simple wish of hers?
Well, it appeared that question didn't matter anymore. All that was left in the Golden Land had each member facing off on different sides to see who would come out on top from the carnage -- a battle to see what fate had in mind. Their blocks echoed through the hollowness, slamming in fury, with desperation to stop the other from prevailing. Everything was on the line, and none of them were willing to spare a shred of disgusting mercy for the other. That would only get in the way.
Afterimages, quick thrusting sword slashes, scythe throwing, and the like, the duel for victory neither made the two hesitate. The archbishop would block every attack, and as sparks flew, she would counterattack with a strong swing of her Red Key that caused a semi-explosion to erupt from the ground. However, proceeding afterimages would always be Erika's go-to, evading her devastating counters and utilizing another method that she hoped would gain the upper hand over her old friend.
"You can't possibly hope to defeat me," Erika jeered, dodging out of the way and landing afar. "What are you trying to accomplish, my old friend? Don't you know? The Golden Land will be destroyed! All will fall! Ahahahahahaha!"
Her laugh was sick, disgusting, and the Head Inquisitor couldn't help but bite her lip with a tighter grip on her Red Key.
"You are a creature hellbent on evil," Dlanor retorted, "and I will grant you a peaceful death to save YOU."
"Save me?! You actually think you're gonna save me?! I liked you better when you proving my truth rather than sticking with Ushiromiya Battler!"
"I only defended you because I could not bring to see you SUFFER. My friend, no matter how hard you try, the Golden Land will be under my PROTECTION. No longer will I try to prove your theories but instead will dismantle them ALL."
"Ahahaha! Good! It would be boring if you just came back flying to my side!" Erika cackled, gripping her scythe and sprinting towards her friend, as a kaleidoscope of rapid afterimages flew like a tsunami trying to overwhelm Dlanor. However, the archbishop would react in split seconds and reduce the intellectual rapist with alarming accuracy. An equal match of potent whiplashing and the unhinged animalistic desire to pave the road to victory never left their determined hearts, giving it their all to succeed.
And with the bullet of a gun fired into the air, the battle had begun.
As the sparks flew, the battle cries sounded through the air; the waters rippled, the emptiness of the air all too palpable, the battle was finally beginning to accelerate to a close. Erika panted with heaving breaths while clutching her throat, feeling cool drops of sweat pour down her blanched countenance. The ferocity of the Head Inquisitor was an unmatched force she wasn't prepared for; however, that didn't mean the detective was going to give up just yet.
Indeed, not yet at all.
Erika used her scythe to get back to her feet, trembling but grinning with the ill-fated plan forming in her mind to bring down her overconfident friend. Slamming her foot down, she threw her scythe at the ground as it ruptured a crater, blowing a vast steam of dust that irritated Dlanor's eyes. Blinded, the archbishop tried to block the oncoming flood but more corrupted her eyes with its repugnant filth -- a sight of nothingness and only instincts could be relied on to discover where the detective laid.
"Oh Dlaaaanooor," Dlanor heard that sickening voice ring her ears with her sword raised, "do you really think you're going to win that easily? By tiring me out? Ahahaha! Idiot! Didn't you say you were going to kill me?! What happened?!"
Their long fought scuffle had been carried out, but the detective could uncover and deduce that the Head Inquisitor was refusing to make lethal blows to her figure, only making medium lacerations into her skin at worst. It was a strange phenomenon that concluded Dlanor wasn't being honest with her promise, but that was the fascinating part. What was wrong with her? Wasn't she committed to resolving evil? Then if so, why does she only appear to be focusing on tiring Erika out?
Dlanor made no attempt to reply for the detective's mocking, trying to listen for any sudden movement that would reveal Erika's position. Should any whooshing sound be heard, the archbishop was more than willing to swing her treasured Red Key right where it needed to be. Long had she utilized this blade to decimate witches when need be, but with everything at stake, she readied her final slash to put this culprit down for good and protect the Golden Land. She would put everything on the line to-
"GOTCHA!"
"?!"
And then, the detective bolted and swung their scythe.
That was when tragedy struck faster than the eye could perceive; in an instant, flesh had been torn and an intricate laceration had been slashed across the skin of Erika. Indeed, the Head Inquisitor had managed to block the oncoming attack and deliver a taste of her own that sent the detective careening back into the ground of the Golden Land, as her weapon clattered and vanished without a trace.
But that didn't not mean Erika was going to give up. Still, the detective tried swinging to her feet, but her legs almost gave way to her collapsing to the stone -- she was far too injured to continue, but Erika couldn't forget the trepidation of how Bernkastel wouldn't tolerate her failure a second time. In the face of her determination, Dlanor could only look back at that torn face with pity rather than disgust.
"My friend," the archbishop positioned herself before her, "the battle is OVER. There is no use continuing this pointless ORDEAL. The evil you have lived up to today must come to an end, as I cannot allow an evildoer to live any LONGER."
"You think this battle is over?!" the unbridled rage in Erika's voice rippled, and yet, the Head Inquisitor did not flinch. "You're just furniture to me! Dust to dust, illusions to illusions!"
Her will unfathomable in strength, the detective roared and ran at her old friend with a rocket throttle of speed, summoning her scythe and going for another swing. In the midst of this fury, with pride extinguished by Dlanor's performance, the archbishop brought her Red Key to block the attack and deliver a kick to Erika hard enough to send her slamming onto her back right where she ended up the first time.
That was the final nail in the coffin that signaled Dlanor's victory.
Erika groaned in pain, attempting to understand what exactly hit her with blood-drenched gums and teeth streaming onto her dress. Her injuries were grave, but this was the last concern on the detective's mind when the sound of boots hit the ground, revealing the Head Inquisitor looking down at her friend, having the same expression she gave her before: Pity. To see a fellow friend fall into the depths of malignancy and rot in the violet branches of Bernkastel's influence, to blindly abide by her rules, how could she not?
"Miss Erika," Dlanor stepped on her chest, rendering the detective immobile, "that is ENOUGH. I apologize that it must end this way, and I'm sorry that I didn't take care of you when I could -- that you must suffer a sensation of pain before death -- but this is how it must BE."
"G-Get off me," Erika struggled underneath, "or I'll-"
But that was when the detective's words suddenly were brought to a halt of everlasting silence when Erika saw that familiar, dark countenance forming on Dlanor's face. Those constricted pupils, the alarming smile -- it didn't take Erika long to know Dlanor only made that face...when she was about to execute a witch.
With nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, her heartbeat beat on her chest and suffocated Erika when she saw Dlanor begin to raise her guillotine of a sword. Petrified, horrified, and absolutely terrified, she struggled with all the might she could muster. She twisted, she turned, this couldn't be the end! No no no no! This isn't over! There's gotta be a way to-"
"Die the death!"
"Sentence to death!"
"Great equalizer is the death!"
Those booming words rang into Erika's ears as the Head Inquisitor wasted no more time readying to thrust her trusted sword through her blackened heart. In an instant, the detective felt her nerves scream from the puncture that tore through her ribcage and flew blood into the air, drenching Dlanor's expression in its filth. It was a truly demonic sight -- a final indicator that mercy was no longer a consideration. Erika watched the world grow dark in the eternal night of death, and the perfect execution had been completed.
At least, that's how it played out in Erika's imagination.
When Erika came to her senses and realized there was no actual sensation on her chest, her eyes slowly opened to understand what had happened. Of course, the thought of Dlanor's promise for a quick death was the first go-to for an answer; however, the sight of what the detective was witnessing answered that question.
Dlanor was standing there above her, with her sword being inches away from Erika's chest. Shoulders shaking, breath flowing out at a rapid pace, the archbishop had failed to drive the pike through the detective's darkened heart -- all the while, Erika's pale face began to return to its color it was before. She was terror-stricken with frantic wonders sprinting around the merry-go-round of her demented psyche, but the allure remained from this one act of mercy.
"H...H-Ha...hahaha...ahahahahahaha!" Erika cackled, basking in the Head Inquisitor's inability to put her to rest. "You actually can't kill me?! That was all just for show?! How pathetic are you, my old friend?!"
That shrill laughter weakened the pride of Dlanor, furthering her hesitation whilst attacking the innards of her mind about duty. She was assigned her role as the leader of the Eiserne Jungfrau to abide blindly to commands without any questioning whatsoever -- but here, duty and following orders had their guts torn out by the archbishop's memories. She could remember how Erika laid there helpless, hopeless -- her theories debunked and defeat inevitable, but she couldn't bear to see her lose when she defended her truth with such a strong resolve.
So, she leapt to her aid and tried her damnedest, with all the determination packed in her heart, to protect the detective's truth no matter the cost. Loyalty could blind anyone, and it casted a long shadow of dread over Dlanor's eyes while peering down at the feeble detective. The Head Inquisitor stood there for a few moments battling the rampage of memories in her mind, but in the end, she stepped away from Erika and dropped her Red Key to the ground, clutching her head.
"W-Why..." the detective paused, with a flash of desperation for an answer. "Why would you not kill me?! Everyone in the Golden Land is dead! I killed them by my hand and ordered the goats to fire cannons that destroyed some of the Golden Land; I ended the lives of those two members of your team, Cornelia and Gertrude; and now, despite all of that, despite how much you lost, the one thing you can't lose...is me?"
Dlanor did not respond.
"So you're not going to answer, huh...?" Erika hissed, feeling her knees wobble as she picked herself up off the ground. "No need. I don't need one from you; after all, a deduction like this is trivial for Furudo Erika. Past sworn loyalty is just too hard to era-"
"Miss Erika."
Erika flinched, but her expression dwindled back into one where she couldn't keep her eyes off of what the archbishop had to say. What was her reasoning for mercy -- for sparing the life of a cold-blooded murderer?
"Go ahead and tell me, Dlaaaannor! Tell me what kept you from sending me back to the abyss!"
Dlanor let her hands fall from her head, but the Red Key remained on the ground, with the Head Inquisitor not acknowledging its existence. Erika could deduce Dlanor wasn't capable of understanding why she spared her too, but that was what interested her. What unconsciousness drives the human mind to not do what needs to be done? What could possibly be the answer?
"Miss Erika...I-I cannot kill YOU."
"You cannot kill me?! That's all you have to say?! That's your pathetic answer?! You cannot kill me?!"
"Yes...that is my ANSWER," Dlanor grimaced, facing away but she knew Erika wouldn't stop until she told the truth. "That is ALL."
The detective was baffled beyond belief. Here was the one sworn to Battler's side now refusing to pierce the heart of the one who was held on Bernkastel's leash and desired to see the Ushiromiya family brought to its knee in sheer agony. No happy ending, an eternal cesspit of despair and blood-curdling shrieks, and the one sole hope Battler could have to defend the Golden Land had failed.
"Why?!" Erika pressed the question in such sickening determination that the Head Inquisitor couldn't help but flinch. "I-I don't understand! What would you- wait...didn't I call you my old friend?" The detective's venomous grin suddenly spread across her devilish fangs as she beamed in enlightenment. "Ah...so that's why you cannot kill me -- because I'm your old friend! I said that earlier, didn't I? However, I think there's more to it than just that."
Erika's smile worn down Dlanor's posture, causing even one as stoic and unfazed by most phenomenon to have a bead of sweat drop from her forehead. She didn't want to admit it, but the detective investigated everything within her mind and deduced the reasoning faster than the archbishop had hoped. She should've known Erika's intelligence, even in situations where her back is against the wall, always helps her muddle through and get to the bottom of mysteries in the blink of an eye.
And now, all Dlanor could do is listen.
"But I'm not going to say it. Rather, you're the one who's gonna tell me, Dlaaaaanoooor! Tell me! There's no point in hesitating now! Ah, but you can't tell, can yooooou?! The shame is too much to bear! Your pride and what you stand for would just crumble, but don't worry! It's just us here, so go ahead and confess to me why you- GGHK!"
Erika suddenly bent over and began to hack, having a coughing fit as a small spool of liquid crimson splashed the ground from her mouth. She fell to her knees, clutching her throat and beginning to exhale more blood that painted the floor red.
"Lady Erika!" Dlanor screamed as she abruptly rushed to Erika's aid. "Please do not MOVE! Your wounds are grave and speaking too loudly will damage you even FURTHER!"
The detective was indeed wounded -- the many cuts and bruises across her arms, legs, torso, and elsewhere were painful and sufficient in bringing an average human to their knees. However, they weren't enough to kill Erika unless she dazzled around without a care and exacerbated her condition further, which is exactly what she was doing!
"G-Get off me, Dlanor! I'll be fi-"
"You will not be fine at all if you continue to ignore your CONDITION!"
"T-Then tell me, Dlanor! Why didn't you kill me?"
A cold silence persecuted the lips of the archbishop, recognizing the detective was giving her an ultimatum. Her commitment to justice, her firm belief in stopping those she was hired for, and her role in this gameboard of Lord BATTLER's were on the line but she would rescue Erika's life. However, if she stayed true to her role, she would lose none of those but must risk the death of her friend as she showed no hesitation for stopping. The Head Inquisitor was well-aware Erika was far more committed to the truth than anything else in her life, and if she must throw her life away to achieve it, so be it.
In the end, there was only one choice.
"Very WELL," the archbishop said. "If that is what you desire, I will tell you why I spared YOU," Dlanor replied, knowing Erika was awaiting her answer with baited breath and a ghoul-like grin that was mixed with a question mark. "My friend, when you were defeated in battle by Battler regarding your truth that Natsuhi was the culprit...I couldn't sit idly by and watch you be attacked by Lady Bernkastel without any REMORSE. That truth you clung to was everything you had on the LINE. You were weak and defenseless...and now you're in the same position as you were BEFORE. I apologize, Miss Erika, but I cannot kill YOU."
Now the fruit of knowledge was beginning to ripen with Dlanor's explanation, yet within its glory of a realization did the detective's expression become awash in utter shock. Her mouth opened agape, awaiting that expected elucidation she had been provided, but despite it, Erika still couldn't believe her friend would let her run rampant on golden soil and beat its roots until the weeds sprung and consumed its beauty into a blackening abyss. Everything was going to hell, and her friend was moronic enough to just let it happen all because of sentimentality?!
The self-proclaimed intellectual rapist's back was against the wall -- she didn't know how to respond, or even if her responses would matter at this point. The Head Inquisitor had already defeated her but refused to unleash the killing blow, leaving plenty of torn skin and bruises to a point where Erika had nowhere to go. Fighting Dlanor was pointless, taunting her was pointless, and out of all fragments in the sea, none that the detective grasped would get her out of this conundrum.
"T-Tch," the detective spat, "so that's your explanation? Even expecting it, to hear it coming from your mouth is strange. So then what, Dlanor? If you're not gonna kill me then what are you planning to do?"
"What I plan on doing," Dlanor kept a steady grip on Erika's shoulder, "is helping you to recuperate from your INJURIES."
"Recuperate from my injuries?!"
"INDEED."
"W-What are you?! A blithering moroooon?! I'm the one who tried to kill you! I'm the one who-"
"Miss Erika, please remain SILENT," the Head Inquisitor interjected. "None of that matters NOW. I know you're a friend who I thought I could sympathize with because of Lady Bernkastel's cruel words to you, but I am not giving up on YOU. It was rash of me to charge at you with such RAGE. Please, Lady Erika, come with me so I can show you that you're not a worthless PIECE. I remember the past that you told me about for a boyfriend that you accused of cheating, collecting evidence that led to you breaking up with HIM. Perhaps that led to the malevolent need within you to expose the truth of others, but you do not need to let this control your soul and turn you into a wicked BEING. So please, Miss Erika," Dlanor extended her arm towards the fallen detective, "let me help YOU."
Erika remained seated on the ground, staring into the relaxed eyes of her old friend while taking a few glances at the hand that was offered to feed her. Her mind wandered into the labyrinth of her past and her forced servitude towards her master without question nor free will that consumed her sanity and emotion over time. All those dreaded hours revolving around the great Lady Bernkastel who slashed and salted her wounds and licked her lips at the divine sight of her sobbing, Erika didn't want to throw away this opportunity. The hand to freedom, the hand to rehabilitation, the hand to friendship -- all of this from simply taking the archbishop's hand.
And yet, after taking one good look at her only friend, the detective stood up.
"I'm...sorry," the detective said, "but I cannot take your hand. No. It's far too late for that," Erika bit her lip, muscles trembling as the ambiance of the Golden Land showers poured on her head.
"What do you mean by THAT, Lady Erika?" Erika could detect the sheer pain in Dlanor's tone of voice for refusing to take her hand, and her heart shook with palpitation.
"You're the only one who understood me...and unlike my master, you did not abuse me. You were there to aid me when my Natsuhi culprit theory had been disproven...a true friend I could rely upon. However," the detective turned her back to the Head Inquisitor, "my fate was already sealed from the beginning. I am Lady Bernkastel's piece, and as long as she continues to exist, I will forever be enslaved to her. So...I apologize, Dlanor, but I cannot go with you."
Dlanor did not utter a word, yet her posture faltered at the hearing of those words escape Erika's mouth. It was the nail in the coffin to future questions she may have had for them recruiting together and becoming good friends, and these only made the ten wedges pierce the archbishop's heart and subject her to weakness. A long pause between the two friends flooded the Golden Land, as shock and awe manifested into every corner until the cracking of thunder rang across the skies from above.
"Then," Dlanor began, "where will you GO? The Golden Land hasn't been DESTROYED."
The detective finally twisted around to face the Head Inquisitor.
"I will have to return to my master to bring the golden heart of Beatrice. If I fail, I'll be likely sent into the depths of oblivion with no chance of recovery...so I can't remain here."
"I cannot go with you due to being on Lord BATTLER's SIDE. My presence would cause immediate HOSTILITY."
"It is as you say, Dlanor," Erika nodded, smiling bitterly at Dlanor with a tear streaming down her cheek. "Then if that's settled, I will depart and head to the City of Books. That's the best for the both of us..."
It was strenuous on the heartstrings of both detective and archbishop as the line between the two was severed by one imposing Voyager Witch equipped with more than enough power to separate and obliterate those two at will. Regardless of whatever hope Dlanor could hold, it fell through the small cracks of her palm onto the cold floor where despair laid in the puzzle pieces of logic. In other words, although sympathetic, the Head Inquisitor was forced to comprehend the dangers and couldn't help her old friend as a result.
Her lips were sealed shut by the golden thread of truth and defeat, standing idle whilst the shuffling of Erika's feet grew fainter and fainter. Those footsteps, albeit weak, tore at the soul of the leader of the Eiserne Jungfrau, flowing and brewing every instance of thought that this wasn't the end. She couldn't just let her old friend go! That wasn't right! What was she doing?!
"Well then," Erika said, "I hope we meet again in another time, Dlanor. Perhaps in a place where- wha?!"
Erika was suddenly interrupted by the gentle constriction of soft arms, catching her off-guard as she realized that the Head Inquisitor had embraced her in a warm hug. Her senses had been vanquished, not once having been hug except from the time spent time with her former boyfriend. All those days of puzzles, mysteries -- she had forgotten the value of two friends being close together.
And for the second time in her lifetime, she had returned the hug.
A blissful happiness and scented aroma of sweetness fell between the two friends, all with the sprinkles of past memories of their team-up together. No words were required to be exchanged, for the actions were of far greater value than what could be achieved verbally, and as rampant thoughts coursed through Erika's mind, her embrace grew tighter and tighter. She wish she could've thrown away the world to stay like this forever -- to no longer be a mere piece to the Witch of Miracles who fed her sadistic appetite -- to have meaning to the one person she desired to share a universe with.
But no matter how much she desired, she had to eventually let go.
"I...am truly sorry, Dlanor," the detective trembled, feeling her breath pick up with flowing tears. "However...staying like this would only risk having me thrown into oblivion and having the dust of the chess board be scattered all over my body until it covered me. All I can do is not destroy the Golden Land...so that when another game happens, I'm sure we can be there again."
"You do not have to APOLOGIZE, Lady Erika. I am fully aware of the consequences that would occur if you made that DECISION."
The scenery of depression and decline had catastrophic consequences that would only tighten the noose of unfortune, having Erika dropped into it with nowhere else to go. However, despite the detective turning her back and knowing this, a sudden smile spread across her face.
"Do you remember what I promised we would have after I lost to Battler and Beatrice in another gameboard?"
"Are you referring to having mysteries on the island that I would have to solve as we played TOGETHER?"
"Yes, it was that one. It would still violate those loser flags, wouldn't it? Then we will have to play a more intricate game coupled with mysteries, puzzles, and truths of our own. How does that sound, my old friend?"
"A mystery of our OWN?" Dlanor mused. "FASCINATING. I wouldn't mind tackling it HEAD-ON."
"Ah, no, actually" the detective shook her head, "perhaps it would be more interesting to include having me as a culprit?"
"That certainly would make the game more difficult but EXCITING. How do you intend on going about IT?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, I don't think I can do that because it violates Knox's 7th rule, right?"
"Pft-"
""Hahahahahahaha!"
Ah, it did bring back good memories -- the first discussion they had when their chances were 50/50 of either winning or losing. Both giggled with amusement, being more than capable of leaving the past of failure and the presence of some separation as a mere afterthought in their joy.
Still, at the end of the day, the suitcases had to be packed as time was growing dire. For the remaining time they had, the Head Inquisitor spent some time patching up the wounds of her best friend as they continued the discussion about what future lies ahead of them. When that was all said and done, the seagulls were signaling their cries.
"Well," the detective sighed, bowing with her dress, "it was fun, Dlanor, but now, I must be going with no exceptions. You don't have to worry about the Golden Land collapsing; I have no intentions of destroying it."
"Then when the next gameboard begins," the archbishop said with a small voice, "all of this will come to an END?"
"Yes, that's exactly how it will play out, so don't be afraid of what may happen while you are here. I'll be sure to report to my master that everything went along well."
"Thank you for GENEROSITY, Lady Erika," Dlanor nodded. "Be sure to contact the Great Court of Heaven and file a report so that I can be assigned to it with YOU. I would enjoy the limited time we would have rather than constantly stamping DOCUMENTS."
"Ahahahaha!" Erika laughed heartily, knowing she definitely would adore that. "Of course! I'll be sure to bully you on it and tease you all the while," the detective assured, stepping outwards into the distance with the fragment in her hand glowing sapphire. "I shall be saying my farewell, Dlanor."
"I bid you farewell TOO, Miss Erika," Dlanor responded back with a gentle wave, watching her only friend be encapsulated by a bright light before vanishing into nothingness as if a hallucination of her being here was present. However, the Head Inquisitor knew this wasn't the case, walking back to take hold of the Red Key before sitting down on a chair in the arbor of the Golden Land.
Soon, the gameboard would be over. She knew that much, but the exact time for when it would occur was unknown -- and yet, this hardly mattered at all to Dlanor as she set down her Red Key on the table and rested her back on the chair, ruminating about the future possibilities from their friendship now being restored.
Mysteries, discoveries, puzzles, theories, hypotheses, deductions, exposure, and truths were all bound to be omnipresent in every case from here on out once the darkness had closed in. What was the fate of Battler, Ange, and the "great" Lady Lambdadelta as they were traveling to the Sea of Books to carve a future for Ange? What future endeavors awaited the two friends in the vast infinite layers of space and time? There were many questions to be asked, but there was one true inevitability that Dlanor thought before her eyes finally closed as she drifted off into the comfort of sleep:
They would be friends together forever.