***Tirnanog, Hochberg***

***Tianna***

“Magnus!” Astra chided her overeager partner.

“We accept!” Dejana was quick to agree to easy prey.

I cleared my throat and rose to my feet. This had to be stopped before the emissaries started killing each other. One way or another, losing foreign dignitaries under our supervision was not something I wanted our clan to be known for.

Not to mention, Magnus was the only expert for the old supercomputer. I had no intention of letting him go before he explained all its functions in excruciating detail. An afternoon of training was hardly enough to get our people caught up.

There were also the repercussions to our society that the unlocking of the UI brought with it. I hadn't truly believed Aerie's tale until the blue window popped up in my vision. But there it was, with all its complications.

“I am afraid it isn't within your rights to accept anything – for either of you. The Aerie are only guests, so it isn't their task to hold another delegation or to let them go,” I declared since Vanya didn't seem to be interested in stopping this madness. “This is a matter between Hochberg and Thich.”

I turned and glared at the hothead. “Not to mention, Dejana is what you would call an elder, Magnus. The outcome of such a fight would be fairly predictable.” She was a veteran of the war, giving her far superior experience compared to some newcomer.

“See!?” Astra pulled a reluctant Magnus back down onto his chair.

I ignored the scene of the squabbling pair and made eye contact with Dejana. Somehow, I had to save this mess. “Clan Thich requests a trial from Clan Hochberg. You can have it, but only if the stakes are equal. Having you fight some random warrior to gain your freedom would be nothing less than letting you go. Unless you decided to answer Aerie's accusations?”

“Their claims are nothing less than nonsense. We will leave and hope the Hochberg come to their senses,” Dejana replied nonchalantly. “I wouldn't have killed the brat. But since we already have a volunteer, why not have him fight one of my subordinates? A trial by proxy would be fair, don't you think?”

I looked towards Vanya for her opinion, but the girl just nodded away while looking distracted.

Sighing, I turned my attention to Magnus. His sudden eagerness to stop the Thich was concerning. Did he have more at stake than loyalty to this organization Peter spoke of? I found it doubtful whether he wholeheartedly accepted any misgivings his adopted clan might have regarding Thich.

Unfortunately, I didn't know Magnus well enough to weigh his actions against his character.

I was tempted to have one of our people answer the challenge, but Magnus had already claimed his willingness to stand against Thich. It would be a breach of tradition to exchange the person who already announced to defend their convictions with force.

At least a battle by proxy made it unlikely for Magnus to die.

“What do you think?” I asked the volunteer.

“I am fine as long as we don't let them run,” Magnus replied.

Astra was displeased. “This isn't smart. We have no clue about their abilities! This fight could be like rock, paper, scissors!”

“Yes, but...”

I groaned inwardly and stopped listening to the bickering pair. It looked like Astra was the more cautious one among the two, but her partner had some unknown motivation forcing him to take risks.

Dejana was known for her combat power. I wasn't sure whether Hochberg even had someone who could best her in a duel with arbitrary rules. Some of our warriors could force a mutual defeat if the fight was serious, but a duel to first blood placed all the cards in Dejana's hands.

It would be nigh impossible to completely dodge her main attack.

She wouldn't have suggested the trial if she wasn't certain of winning it. Insofar, handing the matter off to a proxy fight might be our best chance. Although, it was still within her right to choose the form of the trial – which meant she still held the advantage as long as she set the conditions right.

The one who wanted to prove his ability through trial by combat could choose the setting since the clan that would offer the boon generally had a much larger pool of representatives to choose from.

“We will allow a duel by proxy as long as the fight seems reasonably balanced,” I declared, not yet willing to commit fully. If we allowed the trial and something happened, we would share responsibility. “Naturally, Hochberg would uphold the outcome of the trial and grant the promised boon.”

Dejana grinned and gestured for an androgynous-looking guy among her entourage to come forward.

He wore light leather armour with a few heavy pieces mixed in. Just enough to give his vitals more protection while the rest protected him from scratches. He looked like a standard warrior type. Probably focused on speed with some minor strength enhancements mixed in. Except for the roughly-textured skin and lanky appearance, he was as close to a baseline human as one could get.

Dejana on the other hand looked like a lizard with a single horn on her forehead and small scarlet scales covering most of her body. Her primary evolution was a firehorn, which made her dangerous on its own.

Her grin revealed sharp, pointy teeth. “Hu, you are up. And we choose swords as trial weapons.”

I frowned. “Why swords?”

Swords were weapons of war, meant only against other humans. Did Dejana want to tell us something with her choice?

Dejana pointed at Magnus. “Since there is nothing you can do about it, I shall enlighten you. The calluses on the brat's hands belong to someone who is used to a staff or a spear and I've never known someone with finer sword art than Hu. At least among his peers.”

I couldn't prevent myself from frowning displeasedly and looked towards Magnus who was already jumping over the table.

“That's fine.” He drew a short sword which was nothing more than a sidearm. A well-made weapon, but not one intended to be used in a duel. “Mutations are allowed?”

“Of course.” Dejana raised an eyebrow while the people who didn't trust their strength to keep them hale began clearing the vicinity.

Vanya's guards edged closer to their charge and I followed suit when I saw the Aeries' reaction.

The way the Aerie delegation scrambled struck me as odd. They seemed unnaturally eager to get out of any possible crossfire and simply abandoned their meals, not trusting the fight to stay contained within the arena the tables provided.

“Don't you want a proper sword?” Hu asked before he drew what looked like a katana – though it was thicker and wider than its historical counterpart to make up for the holder's strength. “That slab of metal can hardly be called a sword. It's more of a hatchet.”

Magnus looked at his short sword which was indeed little more than a piece of steel with an edge and a pointy tip than anything else. “Naah, it will be fine. As long as you don't see it as a violation of the trial.”

“Just one thing,” Dejana interjected. “The armour must come off. This farce will hardly end with first blood if our fighters can only aim for the head.”

I pursed my lips in thought.

I wasn't happy with her reasoning. More places to strike would increase Hu's chances if he was indeed the more skilled swordsman. And Magnus's confidence struck me as odd.

Though, a smaller chance for someone to die would prevent a total diplomatic fiasco.

“Seems reasonable,” I admitted, unable to come up with a counterargument.

Suggesting training weapons would violate a trial's intended nature.

“I will show him the art of the sword,” Hu assured his liege and grinned while he loosened the straps which held his heavy armour pieces in place. It was designed to be easily discarded, a choice many warriors made who favoured speed and evasion over protection. Heavy armour could be your doom if you encountered a predator one could only run away from.

“I will show you my ultimate technique! The final art!” Magnus joked while his much heavier armour opened up and he stepped out of it. The now loose pieces rattled to the ground and Magnus swept them beneath the table behind him with his filaments.

Astra picked them up with her filaments.

I shuddered slightly at the sight. Among all the mutations, I found this one the most disturbing. Armour Weaving. It was the Aerie hunter's trademark skill. I had seen it often enough, but the squirming filaments weaving themselves over the black linen which Magnus wore beneath his armour still unnerved me.

Astra had tried to be inconspicuous about her much longer filaments so far, but her partner was actively trying to creep out the audience.

Dejana looked towards us. “Ready?”

“I will oversee the duel.” Vanya got to her feet, suddenly taking the reigns from me. “Ready. Three, two, one, begin,” she said quickly and sat back down.

I wanted to object, to consider the situation before jumping into cold water, but Vanya was the matriarch. Why had she suddenly decided to take action?

The impromptu start of the duel had the two fighters stumped, but only for a moment.

Hu took a normal ready-stance with his katana and speedily advanced towards Magnus who swung his sword at empty air before... he blurred and disappeared.

The Thich almost fell as he frantically tried to turn around. Hu blocked Magnus's already descending sword as he appeared behind him.

Sparks flew as the weapons collided and Hu barely managed to stumble out of reach while he blocked four more strikes in rapid succession. He had moved by instinct alone and prevented a premature end to the duel.

The reverberating clang of the two weapons had almost sounded as one.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. I hadn't even seen Magnus move. There had only been a faint trail of sparks. It was like... like... a zipper?

“Magnus isn't a normal speedster,” I stated drily and glared down at Vanya who had once again failed to mention some important details.

“No,” the girl answered cheerfully and took out her Rubik's cube to play.

A second staccato of clashing blades drew my attention back to the fight and I found Hu backing away from Magnus who was following by slowly walking after him. Hu had more reach with his longer weapon, but whenever his sword came close, Magnus's arm blurred and sparks flew as the Thich's weapon was bashed aside.

The Aerie's attacks were relentless. A flurry of motion whenever something entered his sphere of influence.

Each time they clashed I expected a limb to go flying.

As soon as Hu got used to the rapid attacks and found his stance, Magnus would blur and come at him from a different angle to unbalance his opponent once again.

Disturbingly enough, the longer the fight went on, the more Magnus seemed to enjoy it. There was no hiding the glee in his expression.

And Hu wasn't slow. In fact, it was Hu's speed which allowed him to keep up with Magnus. Hu's speciality lay in his agility and fluid movements. But where Hu was merely inhumanly fast, Magnus was an ungodly blur of rapid motion whenever he decided to act.

It was an elder's level of speed, whereas Hu was merely an excellent combatant. Under normal circumstances, Hu would have already nicked the skin of most warriors sent against him.

He was a swordsman of great skill. None of his movements were wasted and his weapon was always in the right position to block. Yet, he didn't get the chance to do anything but defend.

“What the fuck are you doing!?” Hu complained with a growl after finally gaining some distance. “This isn't some grand technique! You are just randomly swinging your sword like an amateur!”

“Oh, but it is!” Magnus objected. “You are using Precognition. An unfair skill in my opinion. When I trained against masters of this ability, I realized one thing. The more thought and skill you put into your movements, the better the opponent can anticipate you. So in this case randomly swinging away is the best thing I can do.”

“Don't mock me!” Hu firmed the grip on his sword. “You are trying to insult me by calling this a technique!”

“Yet you are the one backing away,” Magnus replied with an evil grin on his face. “When my father-in-law taught me the spear, he also tried to show me some sword techniques. But it quickly became apparent that there is no sense in training me on lightweight weapons. With a spear it makes sense. Inertia prevents me from moving it as I please, so I require technique and foresight. Small weapons are another matter. There’s is a point at which technique and skill become irrelevant. It all comes down to what I call 'chopping frequency'. As long as you can chop faster than your opponent, nothing he might try will get through. This doesn't help with big monsters, as the sword is likely to get dull before I can deal lethal damage, but human-sized targets can be chopped easily enough.”

Hu was done talking and stepped in.

Again, the katana and the sword clashed and Hu screamed while he tried to keep up with the shredding machine he was facing. All he had to do was to get in a single attack of his own and he didn't back away this time.

But like Magnus said, skill and technique weren't the deciding factors in this duel. No matter the beauty of Hu's skill, the efficiency of his movements, or his experience, it was all for nought in the face of a complete, dilettantish amateur who could simply... chop faster.

Thwack!

The sound of steel hitting an unprotected kneecap ended the exchange and Hu went down screaming. His foot was bending in a direction not intended by nature, but it hadn't been cut off.

Magnus didn't pause or hesitate. He laughed madly while his sword descended, again and again, hitting Hu with the flat of the blade.

Hu's katana went flying, bashed out of the man's hands by brute force.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Hahahaha!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“I will teach you people!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“Calling me a brat!”

Thwack! Thwack!

Befuddled, I looked towards the Aerie delegation for help, but they just stood there. Peter had his eyes closed and was massaging the bridge of his nose. Astra was studying the ceiling with a melancholic expression. Thalia looked at me but shook her head in apology. Her eyes said everything: 'I am so sorry, but there is no stopping him when he gets like this'.

The rest of the delegation looked like they direly wanted to be somewhere else.

Magnus was relentless in his attack, giving Hu no chance to recover. Any normal person would have stopped by now!

Meanwhile, Hu had begun screaming like a little child and was begging for mercy – which was denied.

Dejana looked ready to jump in to commit murder while her entourage tried to hold her back. Interference from the outside would mean an automatic loss for the offending party.

I turned to Vanya who had so grandly claimed she would oversee the duel. “Vanya? You have to stop this. It's over.”

The girl looked up from her Rubik's cube and blinked distractedly. She looked from me to the fight and squinted.

Inwardly, I corrected myself. This wasn't a fight. Never had been. It was a thrashing.

“I don't see any blood,” she stated. Then asked a little louder, “Does anyone see blood?”

“No?” I answered with a bit of tepridation in my voice while I tried to ignore the raging Dejana. This was a diplomatic incident of the highest scale! Why was Vanya allowing this?

“Then why are you asking me to stop this? Dejana wanted first blood. She gets first blood.” Vanya looked confused. “She stated the condition very clearly. It's not our fault if her terms aren't met.”

“He will kill him!” I gestured at the scene.

Vanya rolled her eyes and regarded the rising and falling blade as it worked over Hu's body like clockwork. “Do you think it takes a lot of skill to hit someone repeatedly with the flat of the blade without breaking skin? It doesn't sound like Magnus is holding back. By the sound of it, he is using the sword normally to cut through the air easier and shifts it only at the last moment.”

“No, yes. I don't know!” I squirmed. “Just stop it.”

This was an embarrassment and had to be stopped, but I couldn't jump in and let the Thich get away.

“I don't see any blood.”

“You already said that!”

Finally, it was Hu who ended the discussion by spitting out a big gob of blood. Not because he was inured externally, but because something important inside him was broken.

“Stop!” Vanya called out immediately. “Magnus is the winner of this duel!”

Magnus stopped his weapon mid-swing and somehow managed to look sad. “Aw, he was just getting tender.”

Tender?!

My eyes flicked to the sobbing mess which had been a proud man just half a minute ago. Magnus had literally beaten him to a pulp. It wouldn't be surprising if Hu's bruises turned green and blue over the next few days. I wasn't sure whether avoiding the face had been a blessing. A well-placed hit to the head could have sent the unfortunate Hu to the dreamlands.

“The trial has been carried out,” Vanya tittered happily. “In accordance with the result, I will allow the Thich delegation to return to their quarters and stay there until the state of affairs can be verified with their clan heads. So that there aren't any misunderstandings, regard yourselves under house arrest.”

“This is outrageous!” Dejana screamed. “A blatant dishonouring of the trial rite! We will bring this before all the clans! You misrepresented your fighter's power level and he violated the spirit of the trial!”

“Quit complaining and get yourself under control,” Magnus mumbled while he regarded his sword. The weapon hadn't been intended to be abused in such a manner and had developed a noticeable permanent bend. “If I had my way, you would all be tied to a chair right now while a telepath picks your brains apart.”

He walked over to the table to put his armour back on and Astra came forward to help him by holding out the pieces.

Surprisingly, Dejana only raised her chin at the threat and turned to look at us. “Do you even know who this man is? Who you are allying with?”

Magnus and Astra stopped and turned their full attention on Dejana.

Vanya shrugged. “He is a foreign emissary. Just like you. We aren't siding with anyone yet.”

Dejana gestured at Magnus with a grand sway of her hand. “This man killed over a thousand civilians back on Earth. Men, women, and children alike! His organization bombed a city centre to get at their enemies, not caring for collateral damage.”

I looked at Magnus who had finished putting his armour back on and was now holding his sword with a white-knuckled grip.

“Is this true?”

“It is. At least as far as my involvement in this event can be attributed to me alone,” Magnus replied without hesitation. “But my question is, how does Thich come across such information if not by talking with someone from Earth?”

Dejana hesitated, looking briefly confused before she steeled her resolve. “Does it matter whether we were informed about the support other clans have received? What Hochberg should ask themselves is whether or not they want to take the helping hand of such people!”

I frowned and the mood shifted as eyes turned to the accused.

It wasn't like Earth had ever done anything for Hochberg and Magnus hadn't hidden the nature of his benefactors. But had killing civilians been necessary?

“Ha!” Magnus snorted and spread his hands. “Such people? This is war, little miss! Anything less than extreme measures can't touch the enemy we fight. The other side of this conflict sends people to this hellhole of a world to take part in a grand genetic experiment for the betterment of Earth's elites. Normal people are barred from the medical advances from all of this!”

He gestured at the world as a whole before pointing at Dejana.

“And you are assisting them. Yes, I have killed people. Hopefully, more of the horrendous ones than innocents. But I haven't experimented upon anyone. I haven't touched anyone's freedom. Those who attacked me and mine got a clean death and I never actively aimed to hurt those I have no quarrel with. Don't try to sway others with morality when you hold none yourself!”

He turned to address the whole room. “I came to this world to uncover their plans in a single-minded effort for revenge! To give all of you a chance to fight back instead of being their guinea pigs. To strike a blow where it hurts them when other measures failed! In this world of ours, a white hero can't change anything. He will just be swept away by the schemes of those willing to commit anything!

“When I arrived in this world I thought it would suffice to do just that! One petty act of revenge. It would be enough, I thought, but I was wrong. I began to learn more about the people living in Tirnanog and came to care for some of them like family! Let's not pretend anyone in this room could take the moral high ground. Earth's government, me, the organisation, and as I recently learned even the clans are hiding more than a few corpses in their cellars. But tell you what?”

He paused, taking a deep breath. “That's fine.”

Magnus looked around. “Despite all its horrors and horrendous people, this world is still beautiful to me. Not because of the monsters or those who are willing to hurt others. I think it is beautiful because unlike on Earth there is still strife here. It still has the potential to change to be better. We can make something better of this world. Tirnanog has become my paradise. A Sinner's Eden!”

Vanya raised a trembling hand. “I think-”

“It's not like any of you could stop what's already in motion!” Sensing the mood shifting, Dejana suddenly screamed and charged forward to jump onto her side of the table. “We had a deal!”

Surprised, I stepped in front of Vanya to cover her with my body, as did the guards before a red, hot flame shot out of Dejana's mouth and washed over us.

The attack would have been devastating if one of the guards hadn't intercepted the searing flame to take the brunt of the attack.

She turned into a human torch and was writhing on the ground, screaming like a banshee.

All the guards drew their weapons and charged both delegations to subdue them. At the same time, the doors to the hall burst open and reinforcements with healers rushed in.

“Apprehend her!” I ordered the bodyguards while I manhandled Vanya out of the heavy, wooden chair with one arm. With the other, I picked up the chair and threw it at Dejana with all the force I could muster.

It was enough to force Dejana to stop breathing fire and block the chair. She knocked it aside with an arm, breaking the heavy furniture like a toy.

Her initial attack had failed. Likely sensing she wouldn't get to the matriarch by charging into a group of our best warriors, Dejana shifted her target. Inhaling again, she turned on Magnus and Astra.

And was answered with twin arcs of crackling lightning. The two lightning bolts danced and twirled over the floor, the table, and Dejana, rapidly cutting off and flickering back on. They connected the two Frosts and Dejana in a surreal display of power.

Parts of the heavy, wooden table splintered and the marble floor turned dark where the lightning wandered. The room was set alight with blinding flashes and everyone stared shocked and nearly blinded at the scene. A whole two seconds passed until the electricity abruptly cut off, leaving behind the smell of ozone and burned flesh.

Dejana twitched and fell like a sack of grain, toppling off the table before her head bounced unhealthily on the stone floor. Then she lay still.

“Mh! Ym moobs mout my mace!”

“Oh, sorry!” I quickly let go of Vanya and tried to make sure she wasn't hurt. Thankfully, only her dress had caught the edges of the attack and the smouldering embers were easily put out. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Vanya whined. “I am very, very tired. We should adjourn for the day.”

Frowning, I placed a hand on her forehead and realized she was burning up! “Have you-”

A quick survey of the room assured me the other guards had taken the remaining Thich into custody and surrounded the Aerie to prevent further fighting. The injured were tended to but everyone was still focused on Dejana's corpse, unable to compute what they had just witnessed.

Relatively sure their attention wasn't on us, I whispered, “Have you been using your abilities?”

“No,” Vanya lied. “Just wrap this up for today.”

I shot the girl a glare which promised violence and pain if she didn't have a very good explanation for what just happened.

Magnus stepped forward and kicked Dejana with the tip of his armoured boot.

To my surprise, the body twitched.

“Not willing to die easily, eh?” Magnus asked and grabbed Dejana by her horn. He lifted her and held her aloft with a disgusted expression on his face. “You know... I am tempted to end you right here and now. Hold your head and channel electricity through until all that remains is a charred skull.”

“I- c- c- an t- tell...” the twitching Dejana stuttered.

“Tell, yes. Tell us a lot you surely will. I know someone who can milk your brain till it oozes the truth. Or at least what you think is true. Nothing you say can be trusted. I've spent a few nights thinking about your presence here and all I can come up with is that you are a distraction. You are here to influence and delay, nothing more. They discarded a handful of people for the possibility of gaining time. If we hadn't come more than prepared, it might have worked. A small investment, unlikely to succeed, but with the potential to gain a lot. You are just a disposable pawn dancing on a puppeteer's strings.”

I steeled my resolve and approached Magnus, wary of the lightning ability I had just witnessed. “Please let her down. I believe this feast has already deviated from what was planned too much.”

Magnus snorted and tossed Dejana unceremoniously onto the table.

I forced myself to smile. “Thank you. Please wait for us with the Caravaners for now. You will soon receive an invitation. Once we've sorted out this situation.”

Magnus excused himself with a nod before he went to Astra's side and linked arms with her. Then the pair left together with their delegation without much ceremony.

I suppressed a sigh of relief and gestured for the guards to clean up the mess together with the Thich. “I believe incarceration is the better choice instead of house arrest.”

Then I went and picked up Vanya who was still holding her stupid cube despite not looking well. I carried her until we arrived at her private quarters where we couldn't be overheard.

“Explain. Now,” I ordered after dumping her on her bed with a little less care than I would have used normally.

“Nothing much, really,” Vanya admitted. “Just a little bit of inhibition lowering to get Dejana talking. I found what she had to say very interesting.”

“So you messed with a foreign dignitary's mind until she attacked you like a raving lunatic?” I asked.

“That part was a bit surprising. Certainly not intended, but informative. I am now sure which side we stand on.”

“What about this Thalia person you were so impressed with?” I continued. “Didn't she notice?”

“She might have noticed.” Vanya shrugged. “But I haven't touched her people, so she will stay silent.”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the stupid girl. “You haven't messed with Magnus?”

“No.” She grinned despite the headache. “That one is just a really troubled person.”