Obtaining the location of the Throne Room was quite easy. Due to numerous modifications over the years by Emperors of various levels of sociability, the Imperial Palace reached a level of automation where any visitor was able to navigate through it even without human assistance. On a level, it disturbed Lia that the palace's defenses were so pathetic, but then she realized that for most Emperors social unrest just wasn't something to take into consideration, for how could the masses even considering opposing the Emperor? For a society that predicated succession on a civil war, the Empire sure treated it lightly and did not consider its full implications. The illusion that the enemy was only outside was a strong one.

With Franz at the vanguard, Delilah as the rear guard and Chelsea closely guarding Lia, they advanced through the angular corridors of the palace. After a small discussion, they decided to not take the most direct route, as being the most obvious it was the most likely to be filled with various traps. Aiming to also not get too close to the section connecting to the Golden Cage, they would have to go through the Knights' Quarter.

The first encounter happened not too long after they left the Lobby. They were attacked on the rear by a group of three Knights equipped with Blades. At that time, Delilah seemed almost uncontrollable. As the Knights' footsteps sounded closer and closer, from the very same direction that Lia's group had come from, Delilah murmured.

“Can I, can I slaughter them?”

Lia could not think of a single other answer she could give.

“Yes, go.”

Lia felt her heart stop for a moment as Delilah sprung into a sprint. That girl wasn't human, Lia had long realized that, but her strength, the weight she put into her strikes was way beyond even what an augmented human was capable of. So terrifying. For her part, Chelsea smiled nervously, which was quite rare.

“You know, I don't like to admit it, I am glad she's on our side and all, but that girl really, really scares...” She suddenly stopped speaking. In an infinitely short moment, her expression completely changed. Someone was above them. The ventilation system? “Down!”

It was the woman that was with Frederick, holding a knife in each hand. Chelsea had pushed Lia down to protect her, but she had made a huge miscalculation: From the start, the woman wasn't aiming at Lia. In a position unable to dodge the incoming slash, Chelsea put up one of her arms in defense. It should have been enough. Very few things could cut through an augmented arm.

“Gotcha!”

The woman shouted triumphantly as she jumped back. Chelsea screamed in pain, falling on her knees. Lia immediately drew her sidearm and attempted to aim at the woman who was now rapidly retreating, but it was too risky to shoot without care. She could end up hitting Delilah, who had already killed a Knight but was still fighting two others. It might not hurt her too much, but Lia was worried about how Delilah would react if that happened. She briefly considered shouting for Delilah to attack the retreating woman, but that distraction could put her in real danger, so in the moment she had to think it over.

“Careful with your back, Delilah!”

Her stance visibly changed, becoming more defensive. But it was completely unnecessary. The retreating woman simply ran by the fight, ignoring Delilah and the Knights. A pursuit was out of the question, they couldn't split up and they couldn't afford to waste time. Once the woman was past, Delilah took advantage of the Knights' more offensive stance, emboldened by her caution. In a moment, she cut the neck of one of them, quickly following up with a kick that likely crushed the other Knight's rib cage, along with hits heart and lungs. His back hit the wall with a savage thud that briefly reminded Lia of Alexander's death.

“What the hell is up with that?”

Franz was wincing as he injected Chelsea with a drug that would cut off all pain in her right arm, the one slashed by the knife. It wasn't big, but there was now a hole in it.

“Fuck. It just nicked me, how is the damage this big? Some kind of corrosive acid in that knife?”

It was the most probable answer. They did not have the luxury to stay still, so they quickly started moving again. One thing was clear with that attack: Their enemy had probably expected them to take another route, as the attack took a while to come, but still knew which way they went. As expected, they were at a severe disadvantage, somehow Frederick, or someone under him, was monitoring them.

However, as they progressed towards the Knights' Quarter, Frederick's Knights seemed to have completely lost track of them. Not only were there no more ambushes, Franz managed to pick off a few patrolling Knights before they even knew he was next to them. Justinian was stuck on Lia's mind. It merely awaits the one who has pushed all other contenders aside and is able to sit on it unopposed. She still remembered the contents of the letter sent to her just before the Great Race started. At the time, she thought those were words of encouragement, now, not so much. No, they might well be words of encouragement, just that it was not truly meant for her.

Lia's heart started beating faster as they approached the training courtyard, which they would have to cross if they wished to reach the Throne Room through that route. She suspected that the place might full of Frederick's Knights and had already resolved to a near suicidal charge through them with Delilah as the vanguard, but the large amount of noise that she could hear indicated that something was going on.

The courtyard was huge. Even if it was merely part of the Imperial Palace, it was the third largest structure with a retractable roof in the Empire. It was full of racks to hold training equipment and was reasonably close to the Imperial Armory, with hundreds of dummies and other apparatus for training, usually it wouldn't be strange to walk by it and hear screaming and clashes of weapons. However, in that single day, what one could hear was not the sound of people training and bettering themselves, but the sound of killing, of being killed. Screams of anger and screams of pain could be heard all around.

At first, Lia was confused, but by taking a good look at the people confronting Frederick's Knights, she got a pretty good understanding of the situation.

“So the words really were not meant for me...”

She could never forget that uniform. They were guards of the Golden Cage. So Justinian had subverted it to his will... Now the Emperors who were paranoid about it didn't seem so paranoid after all. Even if she was supposed to be a pawn, she wasn't completely sure if they would treat her as an ally or not.

“This does seem like quite a mess. Are we going with our first plan anyway?”

Chelsea asked Lia calmly. It was almost like she hadn't lost one of her arms twice in a row in the last few days. Still, that calm was good.

“It's probably a much better idea in this situation. We are charging through, don't stop for anything, Kill anyone that stands in our way, but let's not unnecessarily attack anyone so as to not waste time.”

So they did. Charging through the confused battle, they cut down a couple of men who distractedly tried to stop them, they ignored many people locked in duels and left to die more than one person moaning in pain on the ground.

As they passed through the courtyard, Lia realized that it was not the only place where a battle was going on. The palace was full of people killing each other, which on one side was quite convenient, as it would easily allow Lia to reach the Throne Room, but one the other side made her quite anxious. What exactly was going on? She hated not knowing. Justinian obviously had been plotting something for quite some time now, how big was his plan exactly? Was he just attacking the Palace? Did he have forces in the city, making use of Lia's and Frederick's forces distracting one another? Still, she pressed on, towards the Throne Room. Once she had taken care of Frederick, she felt she could just beat Justinian and be done with the Race. She would not lose, she could not lose.

“Finally. Here we are. The end is so close now.”

Lia could not not help uttering these words as she stood in front of those heavy doors that she knew opened to the Throne Room. A sense of excitement was taking her over. Right at that moment, she worried about nothing but finally fighting Frederick, her last legitimate rival for the Throne. In the moment that she opened those doors, she didn't really think much. She wasn't thinking about what she would do for the people of the Empire, she didn't think about how bad things would be if Frederick was Emperor, she didn't even think about the ever present menace of the Matriarch. In that moment, she was just someone who wanted to win. As steps behind them could be heard, Delilah asked a question.

“Shall I hold the line as you take care of your destiny?”

Lia did not hesitate to answer.

“Please do.”

It did not take long for them to reach the Throne, and what they saw was a mildly disturbing scene. Lia had expected to see Frederick arrogantly sitting on the Throne, but instead what she saw was a broken thing with a corpse sitting on it, a sword through its chest all the way to the handle. She had seen him very few times in her life, but Lia easily recognized her own father. To the left side of the Throne was the woman who had attacked them before, to the right side of the Throne was Frederick.

“Welcome, to the end. His end. Your end. The end of the Empire's weakness.”

Sure, he didn't lie, but Frederick had quite a brutal streak in him. Maybe surrendering wouldn't have been a very good idea after all. Maybe he just wasn't the kind of man who could be dissuaded.

“Is this how you do things? You kill a decrepit, lecherous old man who is not even a threat to you? You destroy the very symbol of an Emperor's power? How are you anything but a destructive barbarian?”

Frederick laughed heartily at her.

“Really? Are you really saying that? I see you can't understand my resolve. Don't you see?” He made grandiose gestures. “You should have read the history books! You should know! Every generation, instead of the young taking over the old, the young destroy each other in an attempt to latch onto and feed from this dead body full of useless traditions. This Empire has been feeding on a rotting corpse for far too long. It is time to purge weaknesses of old and forge a new destiny for humanity, one that does not involve slowly succumbing to the Infected while closing our eyes to the reality that it doesn't need to be like this. Trestia has fallen, you saw it, you were there, weren't you? Do you think this destiny is good? The nobility claims to be the best and that they protect humanity. But truthfully, how good were those lies in Trestia?”

You weren't there. You foolish blowhard. You think you would have been able to stand up to the Matriarch? You know nothing at all. Such thoughts went through Lia's mind, but she did not give voice to any of them, because they came from a weak Lia. If she allowed herself to voice these thoughts she might just fall on her knees and give up. She had to be strong.

“And what makes you believe that you're the one to do that? Sure, the Empire will have a new, better destiny forged for it, but it will not be by you!”

She threw her challenge. She could do it. She believed she could do it. She had to. Frederick extended his hand one last time.

“I'm sure you've seen what's going around in the palace. Justinian has made his move, he wants the Throne for himself, and he is taking advantage of our battle to back stab the both of us. Even now, the capital is erupting in riots and flames, caused by his agents. Confused by these new enemies, both your and my warriors are being forced to make more and more extreme decisions. Take my hand, surrender to me, and together we will bring a new, better order to this Empire.”

He was awe-inspiring. If Lia had not worked herself into a frenzy before facing him, she might well have surrendered spontaneously, without really thinking about it, but as she was, nothing, short of violence could stop her. It just so happened that Frederick was really good at violence and really scared her, but she was brave, at least in that moment, she was brave enough to face the fear and not blink.

“No, take me down if you can. Only then will you be Emperor.”

Frederick pulled back his hand. This time, he showed a tinge of regret.

“Stubborn, aren't we? I suppose that's why we are the two remaining legitimate candidates. Marine, let us end them!”

As soon as Frederick shouted the woman's name, everyone's attitude changed. Both him and Marine jumped behind pillars. Lia gritted her teeth in frustration. Of course they would do that. For some reason, the Throne Rom was ridiculously huge and filled with these pillars apart from the corridor that led to the Throne. Some might call it aesthetics of a different time, perhaps it was made that way in order to invoke a sense of grandeur. No matter the reason why, the fact was that it presented a problem for her, who depended almost solely on firearms. The pillars were near enough each other that carelessly peeking around one of them could lead her or any of her companions to an untimely end. Still...

“This is even better than what we planned for! The old man isn't here. Chelsea make sure to pressure that woman, Franz, keep Frederick at bay!”

While she said that, Lia knelt and took aim with her rifle. She didn't have many bullets of it right now, but it should be able to pierce even the thick pillars. Just one hit on either of her opponents. Her first target was the pillar that Frederick jumped behind. It would be too much to ask for a success right on the first try, but for now... Bang! The loud firing of a rifle echoed through the Throne Room.

“Too bad! A miss!”

Frederick taunted in response, and at the same time, Marine dashed from a pillar to another and threw something at Chelsea, a knife! As expected of her Shadow. She carefully deflected the knife without coming into contact with the edge, who knew what other tricks that woman, Marine, might have up her sleeves?

“Damn you! Such tricks...”

Chelsea pursued her opponent. On the other side, Franz patiently stood his ground. As expected. Frederick seemed to want to mostly buy time. He must believe that in the end his army will be victorious, he probably also thought that Lia agreed with him. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be wrong, but at the door to the Throne Room, a very real monster made sure that their fight would not be interfered with. Not even if every other person under Lia was killed. Still, a sense of urgency was felt by Lia.

“Are you not coming? I thought I might be able to finally cross swords with the greatest swordsman of this Empire. But he seems to be the kind of coward that prefers to hide.”

Franz taunted Frederick. Good one! Lia was ready. The moment Frederick showed himself she would kill him. A movement! Bang! Another miss. It was just a coat thrown. How could she fall for that?

“Getting nervous? Two misses in a row isn't a very good result for one of the best marksman of this empire, is it, little sister?”

Frederick taunted her as he jumped from behind the pillar and engaged Franz. He was unable to land a blow, but he was easily able to push Franz back. If things continued like that, he might get pushed into a pillar. No good, Frederick was clearly superior in swordsmanship. It still had bullets, but the rifle clearly had reached the end of its usefulness. She threw it between Frederick and Franz in order to create some space between them.

“Argh. Fuck! Would you... Stop with these kinds of fucking things?”

On the other side, Marine had just thrown some kind of substance in Chelsea's eyes. What was up with that style of fighting? It was like she was completely specialized in just fighting people and nothing else. Lia drew her sidearm. 9 bullets a clips, 5 clips in total, counting the one already inside it. Franz and Frederick had separated, Frederick was hidden.

“No reinforcements yet, huh? I don't know how they are being held up, but I suppose it falls to me to break this stalemate.”

Lia was carefully approaching the area which she last saw Frederick in, but before she realized, he was right next to her, about to slash her. In that split second, she raised her weapon and considered firing at him, but then she realized she wouldn't need it. At the last moment, Franz blocked that attack and prepared a counter-attack, Frederick easily dodged that, but couldn't dodge the follow-up. Lia's bullets missed his heart, but they hit his left shoulder. At the same time, Lia heard another scream from Chelsea. Was she losing? Not good.

“Don't worry, I'm coming to back you up!”

The voice belonged to Marine. Lia looked back. Chelsea was kneeling on the ground, now both of her arms were destroyed enough that they could no longer function. She showed an expression of intense pain. Still, she could help in one last way. She shouted through the pain.

“Her evasive style! That woman, doesn't have any augments!”

Now that Lia thought about it, none of the times she saw Marine move did she show the more absurd power and speed displayed by augmented limbs. Lia impeded Marine's advance by shooting at her, but she made very good use of the pillars and steadily approached where Franz and Frederick were. As for them, Lia had expected Franz to have the upper hand now that Frederick could really only use one arm, but he was sweating, he looked like he was in pain. She needed to take a more direct approach to stop Marine.

“How about... This!”

Lia was by no means a master in barehanded combat, but she wasn't a complete amateur, she could connect a solid punch. Combining that with her augments, she could be a real danger for anyone that did not have any augments. As expected, putting herself between the two who were fighting and Marine gave Lia a good opportunity. She was jumping, about to throw something, Lia could have stopped that, but she could only think of attacking. Her punch was aimed at the stomach, but Marine twisted herself enough that it mostly hit her ribs. Good enough, the sound of cracking ribs accompanied the attack.

“Ah, I can't, stand anymore, it hurts too much...”

At the same time, the knife Marine had thrown buried itself in Franz's back. It should have been a great opportunity for Frederick, but instead, he jumped to swing at Lia in order to push her away from Marine. He picked her up with his good arm and kept swinging a sword with the other one.

“Ugh, this is unexpected. I didn't think we would get this hurt from this fight. I have to give you credit little sister.” As he ended that phrase, a roar echoed. Lia knew who that voice belonged to, her victory was assured now, good. “I guess a retreat is in order.”

Huh? It took Lia a few moments to process that. Retreat? When she finally realized what was going on, Frederick had already created quite the head start. She started running after him.

“Running? Have you no shame? Weren't you going to crush me? Come back!”

She shouted, angry and confused. Frederick's response had an accusatory tone.

“Shameless? Me? When you brought with you some kind of monster that can stop dozens of my men? I return your question to you. Have YOU no shame?”

He wasn't wrong. Monster was the best way to describe Delilah. Still, shame? Lia did feel it, somewhat, but the heat of battle covered it. In fact, now that she thought about it. She was callously leaving behind Chelsea and Franz. She didn't even hesitate or stop and check on their injuries. When did she stop caring for others to that extent? But even as the guilt stabbed her heart, she remembered something else. She had to win, there was no other choice, she refused to lose, she would win, at any cost. Any cost.

“I suppose I might consider reflecting on my shame afterwards, when I'm Empress!”

She saw an open sliding door, probably an escape route, put there long ago. Maybe that's why the pillars were there in the first place. Maybe from the start it was designed to facilitate a single person escaping. She did not hesitate to enter that door. But it was a mistake.

“Plenty of time to reflect in hell!”

The door closed behind Lia almost immediately. Marine was standing, grinning as she held something in her hands. Lia closed and averted her eyes as the flash started, but in that moment she realized she would die anyway. She had fallen into such a simple trap. So regrettable, in the end she had lost, despite her trying her best. At least, if she died, she would be able to escape the Matriarch's grasp. She heard a clash of something. Huh, why wasn't she dead yet? Was she saved?

“Tch, close, but not good enough.”

It was a voice that she did not know. When Lia opened her eyes she realized that while she was saved, that wasn't the intent. The man who saved her likely intended to pierce Frederick's neck while he cut her head off. The man holding the sword in front of her was... A wolf? No, a Mutant! What was a mutant doing in the Imperial Palace?

“Now that's a surprise. I must say I got slightly nervous when you asked Lia to surrender, but in the end it seems you two have almost killed each other. Am I being underestimated here?”

This other voice belonged to someone who Lia knew very well. Someone who for the longest time, she had trusted completely. Oh how foolish she was. Justinian's voice now had a different meaning to her.

“Shall I kill her now?”

Of course. All her use was already spent. She had killed Charles, left Alexander to die and Injured Frederick. What other use did Justinian have for her now? None. He would just have to say yes and that sword's edge would be turned towards her, then used to mercilessly kill her.

“I told you already, I want to talk with her still, focus on getting rid of Frederick.”

The wolf nodded in response. Meanwhile, Frederick positioned himself in front of Marine, as if to protect her. A bitter expression could clearly be seen on his face.

“Now that's beyond ridiculous. Things have completely gone beyond my capacity now. Ookami Al Abn Awaa, Mercenary Prince of the Wildlands. How has my piece of shit brother managed to hire you?”

So that Mutant was an important person? Mercenary Prince was quite the impressive title to hold, perhaps he was somehow connected to Duke Prelestia? Would he seek cooperation with more than one candidate seeking the Throne? She recalled some of his words. Selfishness, huh. Of course he would.

“This garbage, hire me? No, no, no. Please, I am just returning a favor to that asshole, Prelestia, as well as ensuring that a future that favors my people come to pass. I wish we had met under different circumstances, Prince Frederick. I am flattered that you can recognize me, let alone know my name. I suppose that it is just the nature of those skilled with the blade to know about other masters. I would have loved to fight with you uninjured, but there is something I value more than a good duel: Making sure I do a job well done. Prepare yourself.”

Of course he was connected with Prelestia. It was all hopeless then. Immediately she felt tired, like the weight had finally become too much and she collapsed under it. Lia didn't even have the energy left to pay attention to their fight. With her back to the wall, she slid down until she was sitting on the ground.

“Marine go! Listen to me! I can't... hold this guy for too long.”

Frederick started to sound out of breath, was he tired too? Why would he want to protect that woman? Was she more than his Sword?

“No! I told you that I will never leave you to die!”

They were arguing, huh. Now that she thought about it. When was the last time that she had argued with or even talked with Franz or Chelsea? She wondered if they would remain loyal to her if she told them the truth.

“Go! I'm telling you, go! I have told you before, as long as you live, I will never die!”

Oh, how romantic. So they were more. Did it matter? Not really, Lia felt like things didn't matter much at all.

“Hey, I'm talking to you. Are you seriously going to ignore me right now? That's not very nice, you know?”

So Justinian was waving and trying to talk to her. Lia felt like that didn't matter very much, but she was really curious about something. She really had to ask it.

“So. Was he...” She gestured towards Frederick. “Lying? Or not? Was I just a pawn? If I won the Great Race, was it always your plan to betray and kill me?”

Justinian showed an apologetic face as he scratched the back of his head. That grin he showed which in the past warmed Lia's heart now profoundly irritated her.

“Uh, I don't think I ever really considered killing you, I don't think so. You know, you really do have a pretty good head for administrative matters I guess. With a plastic surgery here, a change of name there, I could definitely have some use for you.”

Beating around the bush and not really answering the question. Lia didn't feel like dealing with that and got a surge of motivation, Still, her voice remained flat as she raised her weapon in Justinian's direction.

“Was I just a pawn to you? Answer me.”

Taken aback, Justinian raised his hands, but that grin still wouldn't leave his face. Did he think she wouldn't shoot him?

“Well, you know. Not exactly, at first I manipulated information in the Golden Cage so you wouldn't know about the option of leaving behind your position to gain freedom. I actually wanted you as a subordinate, that's all. I told all of those political things so you would still accept me after I had subverted the Great Race and become Emperor through less than scrupulous ways. It was slightly nerve wracking whenever you talked to someone else who knew about it, but it in the end it's not like it was an option people talked much about. But then, one day you went and joined the Great Race. Imagine my surprise! It was regrettable, but I just decided to use you as well as I could, no hard feelings, right?”

No hard feelings? Was that some kind of joke? She could have had a reasonably normal life. She did not have to risk her life for freedom. She could have avoided meeting with HER in Trestia. Rage surged within her and before she could think of anything else, she had emptied a clip in her brother's chest.

“Fuck you.”

Was all she could say as she kept pulling the trigger even after there were no more bullets to fire. Give me back my life! Give me back my soul! Give me back peace of mind! There were so many things she wanted to shout. But she couldn't. Suddenly, she was thrown. It felt like it was another person. Her spirit was still there, uselessly pulling the trigger while it was just a marionette that had been thrown.

“Hey, are you okay? Don't die on me, garbage!”

Justinian got up slowly.

“Ouch, even with proper protection, getting shot sure does hurt, huh? Also, I might have asked before, but could you please not call me garbage? It's quite rude, you know. Also, did you get rid of Frederick?”

The Mutant had come back. Lia had lost her weapon when she was thrown. She was unarmed now. She could also see Frederick's corpse being dragged by the Mutant. She barely knew her,and moments before she had been an opponent who severely injured Chelsea, but in a corner of her mind, Lia wished that Marine had been able to escape. Still, everything was over now.

“I lost, huh. I... hate this.”

She tried not to cry. Charles didn't cry in the end, he accepted it. But she couldn't. She didn't want things to end this way. Why? It was unfair.

“Well, you should have prepared yourself for an end like this. Nothing to do but accept it.”

Justinian stood triumphant in front of her. Why? He wasn't even officially a candidate for the Throne. Why did he get to be Emperor? Why not her? Why not Frederick? Why not Alexander? They were dead, she was defeated. She hated it. She couldn't accept it.

“F-fuck you! Why you? You cowardly piece of shit! I don't know what schemes you used to take control of the Golden Cage, but know this, you don't deserve the Throne now, you won't deserve it tomorrow and you never will, nor will your descendants! I curse you and your lineage!”

She spit on the floor in the direction of Justinian, who didn't look very impressed.

“Does that mean you won't work with me? I guess so, but I guess I could at least keep you alive to spite you. I think will have you see how I will make this Empire the best it ever was, then let's see if you have the gall to say I don't deserve being Emperor. Never deserve it, huh, that's up for the historians to decide, not you, little sister.”

What? No. She can't be kept alive, no. SHE will come, now that Lia failed her end of the bargain, SHE will come to take her. Lia panicked. Who, how? How could she convince him to end her life? Wait, her brother wasn't the one who truly held her life in his hands.

“You.” She spoke to the wolf-like Mutant. “Ookami, right? Mercenary Prince or whatever, surely you know for the need of treating your opponent with dignity. Will you really deprive me of a dignified death?”

Ookami turned towards her.

“Sorry, as I have already said, I am just here as a favor to Prelestia, as well as other reasons unrelated to you. If Garbage here doesn't want you dead, then there's no reason why I should kill you.”

A loud strike could be heard. Something was hitting the door to the Throne Room. A chill took over Lia's body.

“What's going on?”

An opportunity, that's what was going on.

“My monster, the monster that killed more than a hundred of Frederick's men. As long as I am alive, she will come for me. So, do you still think it's worth it to keep me alive?”

Justinian almost immediately panicked. That was funny, she had never seen him make such an expression. For a moment she forgot the very real fear she was feeling. At least she was able to see something funny before she died. Of course he would be afraid, everyone should be afraid. Adding to that, she realized she wasn't afraid, at least of death. She didn't know what would be her ultimate destination. Hell? Eternal oblivion? The Flame? It didn't matter. Anything would be better than getting taken to HER.

“Kill her!” “Kill me!”

And so, she would get the last laugh. SHE would not have her. Serves her right. Lia's heart was full of spite, for Justinian, for the Matriarch, for the world, as she saw the sword swing for her neck.