"If you make a mistake, you must accept the punishment. Your Majesty, don't you agree?"
Edwin's voice carried through the curtain of rain, echoing beside George III's ears.
Upon hearing this, George III froze for a moment, then burst into laughter as though he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
After a long while, George III stopped laughing and raised a hand, pointing toward distant Backlund.
"Wrong? Edwin Howard, you're talking to me about right and wrong?"
"Laws? Morality? Or perhaps conscience? Those are fences written on paper, meant to pen in sheep! They're stories told to idiots who don't even know where tomorrow's bread will come from!"
George III's voice suddenly rose, carrying a frenzied exhilaration. "In this world—in our world—there has only ever been one rule that needs to be followed! The strong devour the weak! How did the Evernight Goddess climb into the spirit world? How did the Lord of Storms crush the scepters of those ancient gods? Did They ever speak to you about morality? Did They ever abide by the laws of you mortals?"
"I only wanted to do what They did!"
He took a step forward, and the pooled water beneath his feet was pushed aside by an invisible force. "I only wanted to reclaim what should have been mine! What right do you have to stand there and judge me?!"
The instant his words fell, George III vanished from where he stood.
It was not teleportation, but the effect produced when his speed reached a certain extreme.
The air behind him compressed violently, releasing a shriek like tearing silk. A white shockwave cloud exploded from where he had been standing, instantly vaporizing the rain into a thick mist.
He broke the sound barrier and shot straight at Edwin like a cannonball