“Do you know anything about her?” Ragna glanced at Ilias.

Ilias shrugged. “She used to be a Virtue in the Vaixian army. That’s a pretty high rank, but she was dishonorably discharged because of some rather unvaixian views.”

“Unvaixian views?” Hertha let out a bitter laugh. “Because I wished to put an end to the oppression of my people? Because I wished for justice against the true criminals that corrupted the kingdom I loved so dearly? If wishing for a secure world for my children is unvaixian, then perhaps it’s time to find a country where we can live in true justice. Without this degenerate scum.”

If Ragna could, she would have hidden in a corner and banged her head against a wall until she couldn’t think straight. Hertha’s words sounded all too familiar. Not too long ago, would she have said the same?

Hertha looked at the man under the hood. “Why does it take so long?”

The man howled at her. “Guess what? Trying to unlock the most secure security device next to Yggdrasil takes time. So, be a dear and make sure they don’t interrupt.”

Hearing his words, Ragna eased her worry a bit. So, they didn’t get to the Sea Mither yet. Then they had to make it quick.

“I was going to.” Hertha looked back at them, her voice gaining a rough edge. “I deliberately didn’t order to kill you immediately. All of you are responsible for the corruption and decadence of this once beautiful world. There’s no point in making it great again. The clock’s too far gone. But that doesn’t mean you’ll get away scot-free. Finally, you’ll pay for your crimes, and justice will be on our side.” She pushed her open palm against the air and stretched out her other arm, forming together a ninety-degree angle. “Death would be too easy, too quick. The hammer of justice shall fall on you with all its might. Richtiel: Blindes Auge Weißer Wille!”

Ilias’ eyes widened. Light shone onto Hertha as if Twice had selected her personally. “How?”

Behind her, a marble statue rose, resembling a slender woman whose head reached the ceiling. Toga wrapped around her body and slid between her breast. As it exposed and encircled them, it went up to her neck, around which it looped like a noose. In her left hand, she held a scale, and in her right, a sword. The blade, she had risen into the air. It loomed over them to cast judgment at any second and strike them down. A single eye glared at Ragna’s group while a blindfold concealed her right side.

Ragna’s expression started to mimic Ilias’ face, her eyes unable to let go of the statue.

Did she just summon a Kaa? But how could that be possible? She had made it clear that she came from Vaix, or was she perhaps born in Kemet-Raa?

“How…?” Ilias pointed at the statue. “How can you have an Engel?”

Huh? Engel? What was that? That implied she didn’t use a Kaa but a Vaixian ability. But Ilias seemed as surprised as she was. Had she used a technique she wasn’t supposed to possess?

“Ilias?” Ragna asked him. “What’s going on? What’s this Engel?”

“Engel are the special abilities of the Paladins,” Ilias said. “You have a Fylgja, the people of Glast have Ysbryd, those from Obelisk got their Kaa, and we have the Engel. But only those blessed by her Majesty, the Kaiser, can bear one.” He ground his teeth, his voice rising. “So, then why does she have an Engel?”

“How dare you?” Hertha growled, her eyes displaying poisonous spite. “How dare you…” she repeated, and her tone shot through the sky with all her might. “How dare you reveal the sacred secrets of the holy kingdom of Vaix to a foreigner? Only the status of “blood traitor” can befit such a crime. Your judgment shall be death, your rights to live and dignity revoked. There’s nothing in the world that can protect you, degenerate scum. Every living being within this world shall be allowed to exterminate you.”

Ragna gulped.

Hertha’s words sounded too serious for self-righteous rhetoric. Did her Engel have the ability to cast a death sentence on her opponents or turn them into Nidingr?

She glanced at Ilias without letting the statue out of her sight. His earlier shock was gone, and now, he seemed relaxed and displayed a smirk.

“I don’t believe you can do that,” he said. “Even the most oppressive regime has to have rules it can use to oppress. And even the most stigmatized group shall at least have the right to know the law before it can be used as a sham to trial them. How can I be guilty of a crime if you hadn’t even declared it as one yet?”

Hertha grumbled, and Ragna whistled. “You already figured out her abilities?”

“She had basically told them to us. What’s missing are just the specifics of the execution.”

Hertha shrugged. “Even so, justice shall fall on our side. But you’re in luck. No one’s allowed to attack during the hearing. It’s time we shall put an end to your oppression. Justice shall be on our side. The wronged shall be rewarded, the innocent protected, and the criminals punished, in an equal manner.”

Ragna lowered her eyebrows.

In what way were they oppressed? Weren’t they supposed to be xenophobic? Or perhaps the situation around the Judas Group was more nuanced than she had imagined. But how? They followed the ideology of a man who wished to burn Aes to the ground for his dreams of world domination and genocide. How could one find nuance there? Even if her opinions about Vaix might have been wrong, the Judas Group were extremists even by their standards.

“You foreigners have degraded our once beautiful kingdom, infecting it with your demented ideals. We once lived in unity and high culture. But now, it’s all gone. You came to the kingdom when no one wanted you here. You disregarded our pride and groomed our children to accept your perversion. And now, look how weak we’ve become. Gone are the strong men and the dutiful wives. You left us in shambles: A kingdom of useful idiots ruled by an invert that bows down to the west. And when we tried to resist, you used your propaganda to gaslight us. But that stops now.”

Ragna’s shoulders dropped at the sheer incredulity for Hertha’s ramblings and glanced at Ilias. “Is she for real? She’s complaining that the kingdoms recovered together from the Great War?”

“Quite a few people wish that Vaix becomes independent again and gets rid of the Wert and the global trade. And they hate that Kaiser Ende is speaking out for more diversity, social programs, and cooperation between the kingdoms.”

“She is?” Ragna had to gather her thoughts for a second to make sure she hadn’t misheard Ilias.

Ilias nodded. “Her Majesty’s wants to turn the kingdom into a capital for all people. Just like the Archipelago’s Pangea. People joked or ranted that she would propose to Princess Aurelia for greater unity. We’ve even gotten some immigrants from Kemet-Raa. But not everyone was happy. It’s one of the reasons the Judas Group has gotten more popular in recent years, and they made sure to take hostilities further.”

That surprised her. Ragna had presumed that the Kaiser was a warmonger who used the pretense of world peace to bully her hegemony piece by piece. But it seems she had misjudged her personality if the extremists in Vaix hated her that much.

“Isn’t that proof that we’re right?” Hertha’s voice hallowed through the area, the emotions rising by the second. “More and more people become aware of our just cause and the propaganda of the new world order. The world company’s spreading lies with the excuse that they want degenerates like sandworms and inverts to have self-respect. But the real reason is that they fear us because of the Great War. They see our greatness and become afraid. And instead of acknowledging it, they try to suppress us and our great history. They want to make us hate our kingdom.”

“That’s it.” Ragna clenched her saber’s hilt. “I’ve enough of this.”

Listening to her wasted her time since that woman had let these conspiracy theories fog her mind. Nothing would convince her. Her reality differed from anyone else’s. She might as well try to explain to a person with red-green-blindness that an apple wasn’t grey. But more than the hatred in her speech, something else made her squirm. Hertha’s rhetoric rang more familiar than she was willing to accept.

She activated her Fylgja, but nothing happened.

Dammit. Was that an effect of Hertha’s Engel?

“I can’t use my Fylgja,” she whispered under a heavy breath for only Ilias to hear.

“A court can’t really start before the case’s announced. As long as we don’t know why the court’s in order, we can’t attack. And even after that, I doubt we can kill her. As long as her ability’s active, the judge has to remain.”

In other words, as long as that woman was rambling, they had to wait. As Ragna figured, she was trying to buy time until the man in the dog-hood had finished his ritual.

“So, we’re gonna be here until she doesn’t need to wait anymore, or her lungs give out?” she asked.

“There’s only so much she can say. Braunsteiger’s a soldier, not a debater.”

Hopefully, he was correct. Ragna didn’t want to imagine what would happen if the man finished the ritual or how millions would die because a woman wouldn’t stop talking.

Hertha had continued her speech, not paying attention to her enemy’s discussion. “All the kingdoms are into it. They want to kill our Vaixian pride and sense of identity because they’re afraid of all Vaixian self-respect that stands in the way of their new world order. They want to rob us of our superiority and dilute it through degenerate ideology. And so, they teach us that we’re no better than foreigners. They emasculate our men, promote the idea of accepting inverts with their degenerate culture, and brainwash our children. So, these perverts can have their way with them, and we turn into generations of inverts so that we can’t repopulate. And then, they introduce these sandworms into our holy kingdom.”

She raised her arms for a large audience while her facial expressions darkened.

“They rape, steal, and try to suppress our culture, forcing us to accept their criminal ways from their kingdom and their false god. And worse, they mingle with us, dirt our blood. Soon, the Vaixian blood will die out, replaced by these sandworms. On the televisions and the Aethernet, on the streets, and in the school. They teach this propaganda everywhere under the guise of political correctness and equality. And when we try to defend and protect what is important to us, try to point the holes in their logic and show the truth, what happens? We get stigmatized. We become xenophobes. They call us evil monsters and deny us our rights to exist. They conspire against us, try to hunt us done under the guise of protecting the people. They misuse justice and change the law to get rid of us. But not anymore. Here in this special court, justice will be on our side. You will be protected. And it will happen now.”

The scales shifted, its right side weighing down as the left side rose.

Ragna braced herself. The second of relief she would get as Hertha’s speech approached its end couldn’t even set in once she realized that the Engel’s abilities would take effect.

“The verdict is clear. For your existence, you from the enemy kingdoms will be punished. Your power has been greatly reduced. You won’t be able to harm us anymore, and if you try, you’ll be sentenced to death. Your right to live will be stripped from you. Anyone can kill you; anything will kill you.” She faced the other soldiers. “My dear comrades in arms, the law is meant to protect you. But it had failed thanks to a weak-minded pedophile of a leader who is more interested in mutilating children and calling emasculated, perverted men women than restoring our glory against the invaders – and her cadre of useful idiots. Now, it’s time to give you back what you’ve been deprived of. Your power will increase. You’ll become stronger, and you can use your right to defend yourselves, your kin, and your nation without repercussions.”

Immediately, Agravaine and Ray started to groan and dropped to their knees. Their faces twisted under an invisible strain that pushed its weight against their shoulders. They tried to stand up, but whatever kept them kneeling increased its force. Beads of sweat formed on their faces, veins popped out beneath their skins as their foreheads furrowed, and waves of laughter emerged from their enemies, who must have felt a boon of strength.