How many times now had Lewis been deployed to the battlefield? It was quite a few by his count. Each and every one of them had him scared, and yet he still went. This time though, it was different. The Infected were always scary, that juggernaut that Charles piloted was two parts surprising and terrifying. But now, as he waited for the Unbreakable to open, he felt a different kind of fear, not for his life, but for his soul. How did that situation come to pass again? Of course, that old man's arguments were solid, even if he looked completely lost in fear.

“No, no, no, no! The Matriarch IS here! There are no ifs or buts anymore! It's not a matter of when she arrives, she has arrived, she is here, you saw! You saw that... thing, survive unscathed something that would destroy most... forget beings, it would destroy most things! Now, I am very grateful for what Princess Lia has done for me, but believe me when I tell you, whatever punishment you will face for abandoning your liege, it is nothing compared to what awaits us if the Matriarch catches us.”

Colonel Rommel, however, was still an old loyal dog, and whatever new tricks he might have decided to learn, treachery wasn't one of them. He was a man who would die for his principles.

“We are not leaving without the Princess, this is not debatable. We are sitting right here, waiting. The Princess will arrive, or our doom will.”

Egregius Jonah then let out one of the loudest sighs Lewis had ever heard and scratched his head in sheer exasperation, possibly looking for something that would ameliorate the situation. After a few moments, he seemed to have found it.

“Fine! You fashion yourselves noble soldiers, right? How about you go out there, and search for you beloved Princess? Throw away a few hundred lives and maybe you can come back with her, then we can leave this hell.”

Rommel had a puzzled reaction.

“What are you saying? There's a mob outside, we can't just leave the Unbreakable, there is no space left, I, what are you considering?”

Jonah sneered at Rommel, saying out loud what many were thinking, but couldn't consider.

“Mow them down. This isn't like before, just killing one or two people won't disperse the crowd. There are Infected at their backs. You will probably have to kill every, single, one, of, them. Do you understand?”

The shock was apparent in Rommel's face.

“How can you even consider that? This is lunacy!”

But the old Egregius did not back down. He was clearly desperate for an answer, any answer. He pointed an accusatory finger at Rommel and spit the harshest words he could think of.

“So does that make you some kind of benevolent person? Is that what you think will let you sleep at night? Let's just put aside the deeds of Prince Alexander, who you were taking commands from. Killing those desperate people out there, is a mercy, do you understand? Do you? Before, you could hold the illusion that some of them might hide from the Infected and survive the fall of their city, but with the Matriarch here? It's over, every single one of them is doomed, they're all taken, their only escape now would be through death. Make no mistake, your refusal to kill them here is the same as tying them up as sacrifices for the Matriarch. But you're too good for that, aren't you? You won't just kill a bunch of unarmed civilians, because you aren't a savage, right? Well, isn't that just convenient? You can just tell yourself that as you sleep: It wasn't your fault, you didn't just leave those people to an eternity of servitude to a deranged sadistic creature, but that would be a lie, wouldn't it? You know, deep inside, that it would be. Now, be a real man, order your men to mow down these people, liberate them from a fate worse than death and bring back you precious Princess so we can leave this forsaken place... Please, I beg of you!”

There was no denying Jonah's sincerity as he knelt before Rommel. For his part, Rommel averted his face with an expression full of shame. Was it the shame of being unable to admit the situation they were in before? Or perhaps it was the shame of being unable to argue with Jonah. Not a single argument. Lewis hoped it was the second case.

“Fine... Have it your way... I will do this. But remember, their blood will be on your hands as much as mine.”

“A price my people are no stranger to, and one I will gladly pay if it keeps me out of her grasp.”

“Lewis, prepare the Knights, you know what must be done.”

Lewis saluted.

And so he found himself in that situation, about to go into a fight that he could not possibly lose, that would be nothing but a one-sided massacre, or at least the start would be. Telling himself that it was an order didn't make things any better. He took a deep breath and prepared himself. The door opened.

“Advance! Kill them all!”

The words were as dust in his mouth. The first face he saw was that of a young adult's. He seemed scared, desperate. Was he just going after the last sliver of hope he could seize? It didn't matter as he was cut down by Captain Lewis' blade. From then on, he made sure not to pay attention to the people he was killing. Did they still have families? What were their hopes? What about their ambitions? Those were questions that might forever haunt him if he were to dwell on them too much. As expected, the people did not retreat, such was their fear of the encroaching Infected, there was nowhere else for them to go, no hope, no life, no freedom but that of the grave.

Captain Lewis and his men were as reapers, mercilessly cutting down everything in their path. Soon enough they had ended the life of every single person in Trestia's central station who had not been approved by the princes to ride the Unbreakable. Outside they faced the Infected, but bolstered by the grim resolve they had needed to go through with the massacre, they kept the same efficiency in destroying whatever opponent they found. With the help of Rangers, It didn't take long for a first success.

“Captain, sir! It seems that Princess Lia's Sword and Shadow have been found. They are both severely wounded and the Shadow is missing one of her arms.”

That was surprising. Lewis involuntarily let out a whistle. What could be so impressive as to take the arm of someone such as Chelsea Williams? Did they encounter the Matriarch? That didn't bode well, but he had to keep calm.

“Good work, contact the augment engineers on the Unbreakable. Any leads on the princess?”

“No sir.”

“I see.”

He clicked his tongue in frustration. They kept walking and searching and killing Infected, but it felt like whenever he turned his head, more of them turned up. It was a miracle that he did not have a single casualty yet. For how long could such a situation last? He needed to find the princess fast. As he pondered that, the sound of shots and a commotion reached his ears. It didn't sound like a regular takedown of an Infected. As he approached, a female voice could be hard above everything else.

“Ouch, fuck! I asked you all not to shoot, damn it. It barely wounds me, but still hurts. Also, what are you gonna do if you kill her? Jeez, what is wrong with you people?”

Richard Lewis could barely believe in what he was seeing. In front of him was that girl. The very same weird, creepily smiling girl that almost beat down Chelsea. Except now she was speaking, and she held Lia in her arms.

“Stand down, fools, do you want to kill the princess?”

“But, sir!”

There were a thousand questions swirling in Lewis' mind, but only a few of them were truly relevant in that moment.

“I said stand down. Now! As for you.” He turned towards the girl. “Are you hostile? Can you just hand over the princess to us?”

The girl looked relieved.

“Gotta have to go with double nos mister. I don't mean any harm, but I am not letting go of her so easily, she's my ticket out of here and away from the psycho bitch. If you want her, you're gonna have to take me with you.”

After a few moments of pondering. Lewis made a decision.

“I might consider it, if you give me a good enough explanation for yourself. Aren't you supposed to be under the Matriarch's control? You must admit it looks quite strange for you to be speaking and saving the princess out of your own apparent volition.”

Would she come up with a good enough story? If this was all just some kind of elaborate trap, Lewis liked to think that he would be able to tell.

“Well, you see, I was. But with all of this fighting, it seems the psycho bitch's concentration has lapsed, leading to me being able to free myself and landing a few good surprise blows on her. Please, you have to believe me! If I am too near her when she recovers I don't know what might happen, please, I have to leave this place. I figured, don't you even have a shred of honor? Aren't I owed a modicum of benefit of the doubt for having saved this girl?”

Lewis didn't like it. She was right. She did deserve something for showing up with the princess safe and sound in her arms. But something still didn't feel quite right.

“How do I know you're not fibbing me and this is just some kind of trap? In the first place, can you even escape the Matriarch's control?”

At that point, the girl's expression had shifted into one of intense annoyance.

“Come on. You have an Egregius with you, right? Ask him. The Unchained do exist. Pretty rare alright, but very real. Please! Come on... Fine, you need a show of good faith? Here.” She gently put Lia on the ground and held out her arms, as if asking to be cuffed. “Come on.. Please, be reasonable, if you just leave me here after this, I swear I will fucking beg the psycho bitch to let me hunt you down and kill every single person you love right in front of you.”

Was it a joke? It didn't sound like one. She spoke like a person, but there was a certain brutality to her tone of voice. Lewis didn't like it, he still felt like something fishy was going on. Still, he had to concede that the girl showed a fair amount of good will.

“Okay, restrain her. We will take her with us to the Unbreakable. Be careful with the princess!”

“You did what?”

Lewis did expect some reaction of the sort that the Egregius was showing him, but damn if he wasn't really annoyed by it. What would it take to satisfy the damned old man? Ever since the Infected attack started he has done nothing but complain the whole time, even when they are about to leave the city.

“I accomplished my mission. I massacred innocent people. I took back with me a person to whom I believe the Princess owes her life. I believe I have acted admirably and should be receiving praise for my actions, not this... shock and incredulity.”

Colonel Rommel didn't interrupt him, it seemed like Lewis wasn't the only one tired of the Egregius' attitude.

“It seems that the girl Captain Lewis brought along, the same one which gave the Shadow such trouble, calls herself an Unchained and said that you would be able to elucidate. Please do so.”

The tone made it clear that Egregius Jonah had to right to refuse an answer. He looked very uncomfortable. For a moment, Lewis thought he might just refuse altogether.

“Unchained... It's what we call Heir Maidens who manage to escape the control of their Matriarch. Most of the times that such a thing occurs... is when the Matriarch dies, before one of the Heir Maidens assert control over the swarm and becomes the new Matriarch...”

The Colonel gave him no time before following up with another question. After all, they had to know more about the situation they were in.

“So, is it possible that she is what she says she is? Could it have happened during this battle?”

The Egregius nervously inspected his fingers, clearly trying to distract himself.

“Maybe. If she was gravely injured, it could be a possibility. I just don't see how... Wu is just... even among the known Matriarchs, she is simply superlative. There's no way she was injured in any meaningful way.”

Lewis didn't want to consider the alternative. So he couldn't resist trying to craft a possibility.

“Well, right now, Chelsea Williams, Princess Lia's Shadow is unconscious and undergoing a procedure to replace a destroyed augmented limb, she is gravely wounded. Although he hasn't lost any body parts, Franz Mann, Princess' Lia's Sword is also gravely wounded. They are both alive. Couldn't they have fought off, perhaps even injured the Matriarch.”

The Egregius shot back at him such an expression of utter disbelief that Lewis almost felt bad, like he had been transported back in time to his Knight Academy days, as if he had said something so profoundly stupid that his instructor was simply stunned and unable to respond.

“Even after witnessing her crashing against a building and being unscathed. Can you really, truly believe that?”

The Colonel sighed impatiently. It seemed like that line of questioning wasn't doing any good, so he changed it.

“Fine, let's assume this is some kind of ruse by the Matriarch. Are Heir Maidens supposed to be able to talk while under control? I haven't seen any of them talk before. What would be the Matriarch's plan? She could have easily just infected the Princess and crushed us. Why wouldn't she? What does she stand to gain?”

The Egregius just shook his head.

“I... don't know. She... Wu is... so cunning and sadistic. I don't what her plan would be, but I wouldn't put it above her to do this just to mess with our heads. Be warned. Matriarchs can do anything with their Infected. There's no way to even know if we are really talking to that girl, or to the Matriarch as she directly controls her. You don't know if anything she says is true.”

Colonel Rommel nodded. Giving a feeling that he mostly grasped the situation, but still had his reservations.

“That's a fair assessment, but then again. We don't know if everything that you say is true either. How do you know that much about the Infected and Matriarchs... Education or Tal secret knowledge doesn't explain it.”

“I... Can't tell you.”

“Whatever, this might just be irrelevant. I will get the Captain to ask the girl some questions later. For now...” He glanced at the screen that showed the receding image of Trestia in flames. “I am just glad that we have left that place at all.”