Valle

WE HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO ACT. JOHAN WILL RECOVER HIS COMPOSURE IN FIVE SECONDS! This was more than prediction; it was foretelling.

[Valle the King in Cresna]

[Legendary Eyes]: 1491

[Effect]: Accelerated thought process for the user and the ability to know what the target’s thoughts are just a moment before they are fully formed. Requires two wounds of any size to trigger.

IT MUST TRIGGER NOW!

I cannot say I fully understood what had transpired before us. My first thoughts were of annoyance regarding the destruction of the arena. The history here, the tradition—how could you—no, not now. The arena could be repaired later, to be certain, but we had more pressing concerns at the moment. Right now Johan stood shocked when the castleship crashed through the walls. This is our only chance to escape. He hasn’t fully understood his own powers yet and he is distracted.

Back when he activated his God Sphere, I made sure to cut him a second time with my blade as I retreated. It hardly amounted to much, as the bastard healed the damage nearly immediately. That was just fine with me. My intention back then was to fulfill the activation requirements of my skill. Johan said that any Skill usage will permanently reduce its effectiveness, I considered, so every use of Legendary Eyes will make it permanently weaker than the last. Still, I do not have a choice. That last level up increase its value to 1491—that means 1491 seconds where I can have the eyes active.

1491 seconds where I could read Johan’s thoughts just before the bastard himself had them, and increase my own thought speed to the point of being able to keep up with everything. Right now, it was as if things were moving in slow motion.

Now…what do I do?

Carr, Max and Fedal were standing roughly in the same place as me on the piste and only a few meters away from the castleship and its ladders. We could conceivably leap over the water and grab on to the ladder, but with our injuries it would be quite difficult for most of us to climb onto the ship—making us vulnerable for a long distance attack from Johan. Max definitely can’t move…and I am not certain my own arms would be enough to cling on to it. The Executioner was at the stands, just beside the giant hole the ship had created for its entrance. If he is conscious, he will be able to jump on it as we are leaving.

Harlock? Johan would soon think, looking up at the castleship in shock. But Reven was in charge of defending it—how come they have access to it now?

Johan was focused on his surprise…and to a degree, so was I. Had we rolled the dice nine more times, it is likely only now that my reflexes would have thought of activating Legendary Eyes at the right time. It was a nearly miraculous occurrence, but it wasn’t enough. What is Isabella thinking? Standing there looking like an idiot, the woman is only going to make herself a target.

Make herself…a target?

There was something to consider along those lines. So, that’s the line.

FOUR SECONDS LEFT.

Even with my accelerated thought process, time was passing by fast. If Reven is supposed to have been guarding Harlock, that means they got through him somehow. Moreover, Isabella standing there is proof that she was healed…so they must have stolen a sphere from him. This isn’t a coincidence. She is standing there with that ridiculous hat to draw attention to her existence. But why?

Let’s work backwards from that.

Why did they crash through the stadium with the ship? As far as they knew, there was no reason to get over here in a hurry nor to stage an escape of some sort. Unless they had watched the broadcast somehow. It was aimed at the Terra Inglesa, but surely Reven was able to witness it himself from the comfort of his manor. It makes sense if I assume that they defeated Reven, obtained Harlock and saw Johan on the broadcast, then decided to rush in here. Suddenly an urgent thought approached me:

Nevada would never allow Isabella to expose herself to danger recklessly like that. She was too logical for that. Celle wouldn’t have stood for it either. Gilder—well, he might have. So there is a purpose to this. They placed Isabella up there to distract Johan. But why? Two of them could be responsible for this plan: Celle or Nevada. Isabella was far too reckless and Gilder not reckless enough to pull off a plan like it. They had to know the distraction wouldn’t last more than a few seconds, and none of us except for me can think fast enough to react in this amount of time.

THREE SECONDS LEFT.

Only my Legendary Eyes allowed me to react fast enough to this. Meaning whoever drafted this plan knows about every detail of my skill. Nevada, then. Celle knew about the precognition but not about the accelerated reflexes and thought process. This made things easier…understanding the woman I meant to marry was easier than understanding a friend. If Nevada made this plan, then I can keep track of everything. Isabella was there as a distraction, they knew they had to rescue us and that they would need some sort of distraction. And knowing her, that meant—

I glanced over not at Isabella, who stood proud at the highest observable edge of the castle ship with her elbow resting on her knee and glancing at us maniacally, but at the water. If everyone’s eyes were looking up, my eyes should look elsewhere. And then I saw—a lifeboat. It had been lowered into the water by a pulley system, ropes still attached to its sides. It stood further away from us than the ladder, but it was on the ship’s right side, and our left.

Immediately I confirmed my suspicions by seeing what Johan’s eyes could see through Legendary Eyes. He could see the ladder, but the ship’s angle made it so that he could not see what stood on its right side. The castleship of Harlock stood perfectly between us, almost like a referee watching over our duel, and its pronounced V-shape with its rock face up front was just enough camouflage.

It’s further away but we will have some cover from Johan if we move fast. But—how? I could certainly make it there myself, but there was no time to warn Carr and the others. No, even if I could warn them…would Carr really step away from here right now? No matter. I have to think of a way—any way—to make them all move! That was the wrong way to think about it.

I had to trust Nevada.

At first, we had started meaning to use each other for our own goals…but the more time we spent together, the more we came to realize we had a sort of respect for each other. If this plan is from her, it means she thought of a way to get us out of here. But how?

Tried as I might, there was nothing I could see that would make it possible for all of us to get there. Did Nevada mean for me to escape and leave everyone else behind? Would she really think that? Frankly, yes, she would absolutely abandon everyone else for me. But I had to believe this not to be the case and would act under that assumption. It was better to bet my life on this possibility than to be correct on the other. Think…if she means to create a scenario for everyone to be saved, what would she have to do?

The lifeboat was attached by a set of ropes and had been nearly—but not quite—descended onto the water. It was damaged from the ship’s entry and I dared not think it would survive without sinking. The damage—that’s a hint! It means she does not plan for us to get to the water at all. I looked up at the top part of the rope and noted that there was still a lot of rope to unfold. No…it’s unfolding as we speak, I realized. The rope up top was loose.

I was thinking so fast that even the falling object hadn’t fully dropped into the water yet. No…that wasn’t quite right. It was hard to see from this angle, but it seemed like the rope wasn’t being attached by a device. The angle seemed too asymmetrical for it…mayhap the pulley device was damaged when the ship crashed through the stadium stands?

No.

That was not it.

TWO SECONDS LEFT.

How did they defeat Reven? Johan would soon think, and he would soon become dominated by a frustration flavored sort of anger. *He meant to stand across the bridge—*Johan’s thoughts stopped here.

All I need is a ray of light, I thought desperately, just one. That is enough. Just one ray of light will illuminate the path to victory.

Suddenly, I understood. That lifeboat…it was going to break the moment it touched the water at this point. It was swinging forward with a lot of momentum. Some of the debris would fall over the water…it would be risky. But it was the only way I could save everyone.

I saw her then.

Nevada stood just beside the top of the ropes—she was holding on to them, though the actual life boat was being dropped by the slightly damaged pulley device. And she had a dagger in hand.

ONE SECOND LEFT.

JUST—ONE—RAY—OF—LIGHT!

Isabella showed herself. Isabella is alive. They must have defeated Reven to use a Levelling Sphere. How had they defeated Reven? Nevada must have shown the secret of her stats. Isabella’s presence was also for me to know that Nevada’s stats were no longer a secret. If they aren’t a secret—I GOT IT!

There was a solid chain of thoughts in my head now and there was no choice left but to trust that my reasoning was correct.

[Valle the King in Cresna]

[Legendary Eyes]: 1491 → 932

I have pushed it too much already. It’s time to undo it.

Time started to move again.

Johan shook his head and raised his blade toward us. “I will deal with your friends later,” he said. And then, he attacked.

At that moment, like a giant pendulum, the lifeboat swung forward and shattered as it did so. Nevada cut the rope attached to the lifeboat then. As Johan moved to attack us, I called on my Swordsmanship to power my speed and my Walking for what I was about to do. In one move, I tossed Carr over my shoulder, who appeared entirely too surprised to object—his mind still on the castleship. He would object, of course, but not immediately. Not for a few seconds. That was all I needed.

“Just trust me!” I shouted. It was all I had the time to say, and it was enough for them to listen to me. They would have to trust me for this to work, especially as I continued running toward them. Johan was chasing after me and he was much faster—I had to trust that there was something to keep him from attacking us. A loud bang sound occurred behind me, but I could not see what had occurred.

Fedal appeared shocked, focused on something else when I approached him. He too did not object to me tossing him over my other shoulder, but my legs did. Swordsmanship! I cried out in my mind. Do not abandon me now! I would burn it all if I had to. It had to work now. How would I even carry Max?

“Let’s go!” Max roared, and he used his arm to wrap himself around my neck. It was an awkward pose and I had to nearly drop Carr to accomplish it, but he managed to find some space. My body wants to give up. It wants to drop down right now. No—NO! Swordsmanship, do not desert me yet!

With all three of them on my shoulders, I used my Swordsmanship to leap at the water—not toward the ladder, which Johan would be able to attack…but toward where the lifeboat had been. Toward the wooden fragments flying in the air.

Walking!

It took everything I had. My feet moved from one fragment to another, and I could feel my skill draining with each step. My Swordsmanship and my Walking were both slowly sinking to the depths of irrelevance, and each maneuver made it tougher. But I did not allow myself to falter. If this would kill a regular man—if this would drive anyone else to their knees—it matters not! My wounds felt as though they were reopening and both my magic and my muscles seemed to desert me. YOUR KING DOES NOT ALLOW FOR DESERTION! I told my body. YOU—WILL—MOVE!

That trail of broken wooden fragments meant nothing for anyone else.

To me, it was a staircase.

One that I used to climb all the way onto the ship, with the other three on my back.

[Valle the King in Cresna]

[Swordsmanship]: 735 → 290

[Walking]: 1597 → 102

“What the fuck just happened?” Carr asked, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He frowned as if his confusion annoyed him more than anything else. “I—where are we? Johan! He’s going to kill us if we don’t—”

It felt like a part of my being had been ripped from myself. Yet, even as I dropped the others onto the ship, even as the agony set in, even as the realization of my lowered stats haunted me, it was hard not to grin maniacally at the man who had proclaimed himself God and say, “We are aboard the ship where stats stop working—do you want to come give chase right now?”

The fury in Johan’s eyes should have made me feel fear. He wielded the power of a god and there was no one in the world he despised more than I. Were I anywhere else in the world, his Rules and stats would have been enough to kill me. But here he stood, powerless as any other man, unable to do anything to me. And the [Eye] was transmitting it all. The people of the Terra Inglesa, the people of Cresna would know that their king had not bent his knee to this blasphemous god. The ship can move in both directions…we are leaving now. And Johan can’t give chase. He knows it. And it kills him.

Carr stepped up beside me to look at his once friend. “Next time we see each other,” Carr said, voice surprisingly calm, “it will be the last.”

“Do not say that,” Johan replied. “You will join me yet. I will have my ideal life. My Rules—”

“I already told you, Johan. I already know how to beat your stupid fucking number. Next time we meet, one of us is going to die.” Carr paused, then shook his head upon considering his words. “Next time we meet, you are going to die. I’m going to live. You must know from watching my duel against Francisco—your Rules won’t affect me.”

“My stats will become stronger now. You will never be able to catch me.”

“Like I said,” Carr replied, grinning, “we will see about that.”

The ship was starting to disappear from distance now. Johan was not trying to give chase in any way. We were safe. We could relax now, tend to our injuries. But there is still one more thing to be done. The Eye was still broadcasting this to the Terra Inglesa after all and though the situation with the death of all stats would make it easier for some to ally with my rebellion, it was also possible that some would be scared and want to side with Johan for their life’s sake. Not everyone in those lands longed for independence, after all—some were extremely loyal imperialists, and those would in theory consider siding with Johan, despite his horrible actions, outwardly out of fear and inwardly out of a devotion to the Lusobritanio Empire.

Thus, it was vital to impose on them the appearance of legitimacy, that this rebellion was backed by the very Empire so many of them felt strongly about.

“Nevada,” I said, “it is good to see you.”

“Likewise, my lord,” she replied, smiling.

Her smile showed me there was little need to explain what I needed to do. Therefore, covered in blood and nearly dead, sparing one last glance at the furious lonesome figure standing on the piste, I glanced at the Eye to make sure it was aimed at us—then put an arm around Nevada’s back and pulled her close, before kissing her in a rather passionate manner.

I admit that the intensity was not entirely because of the plan.