Bronya's Challenge: Why Should the Divine Court Explain Itself to You?
The heavy oak doors swung open to either side.
Wind and snow swept into the grand hall of Fort Qlipoth, carrying shards of ice with them.
The Iron Guards at the entrance forced the doors shut.
Bang.
With a dull thud, the metal bolt dropped into place.
The howling wind outside was cut off completely.
A massive Geomarrow Heater burned in the hall.
Its orange flames drove away the chill of the frozen plains.
March 7th shivered violently, her teeth chattering.
She briskly brushed the snow from her skirt.
Meltwater ran down her calves and left a small dark stain on the red velvet carpet.
Xingbao kicked her heavy Cold-Weather Boots together, knocking ice from their soles.
Welt shifted his cane to his left hand and took a checkered handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the frost from his glasses.
A red carpet ran down the center of the hall.
It stretched all the way to the tall marble steps.
At the top stood a gray-haired girl.
Bronya.
She wore a silver-and-blue Commander Uniform, its epaulets reflecting the firelight with a cold, hard gleam.
A long rifle hung loosely from her hand, its barrel pointing down.
Bronya looked down at the outsiders who had been brought in, her gaze sweeping over them like a searchlight.
Her brows drew together.
Gepard walked at the front of the group.
His right arm hung stiffly at his side.
Dried, dark-red blood still clung to the gaps in his iron gauntlet.
A half-congealed drop even slid off the edge of his bracer and fell onto the carpet.
Bronya glanced at Gepard's injury.
Her jaw tightened at once.
Gepard was the shield of the Silvermane Guards. For him to be wounded so badly, the fighting outside must have been brutal.
Her gaze moved past Gepard.
It finally settled on the little white-haired girl.
Little Satoru Gojo did not even give the Supreme Guardian's heir a proper look.
She had both pale hands tucked into the pockets of her black uniform.
Her little dress shoes trod across the red carpet, her feet splayed wide with every step.
She glanced this way and that, looking for all the world like a kid out for a casual stroll.
A metal statue of a Silvermane Guard stood along one side of the hall.
Su Chen walked over.
He reached out and tapped the statue's knee twice.
Clang, clang.
The crisp sounds rang out harshly in the quiet hall.
Still not satisfied, he leaned in to inspect the spear in the statue's hand and curled his lip.
The heater burned too fiercely here. His neck was starting to sweat.
Bronya tightened her grip on the rifle barrel.
The metal felt cold against her hand, but it did nothing to cool her anger.
Belobog was fighting for its survival.
Beyond the defensive line, Fragmentum Monsters claimed soldiers' lives every day.
Civilians in the city had to ration even the Geomarrows they burned for warmth.
And now a group of strangers of unknown origin were swaggering through Fort Qlipoth, the seat of supreme authority.
They showed not a trace of respect.
The child who was not even wearing winter clothes seemed especially strange.
"Defender Gepard."
Bronya spoke.
Her voice was clear, carrying the forceful authority of a soldier.
"Who are these people?"
Gepard opened his mouth, but his throat felt dry.
He swallowed.
"Lady Bronya, they claim to be..."
"We're Trailblazers from the Astral Express!"
March 7th hurried to cut in.
She raised a hand as if eager to answer a question in class.
The movement pulled at her frozen shoulder, making her hiss in pain.
"We're here to help resolve the Stellaron Crisis."
Bronya ignored March 7th.
She strode down two steps.
Her military boots struck the marble with sharp clicks.
"The Astral Express?"
She gave a cold laugh, her voice full of suspicion.
"Belobog hasn't seen visitors from another world in centuries."
"And you appear just when our defensive line is under the greatest strain."
Welt stepped forward.
He was about to try to ease the tension with a little diplomacy.
"Miss Bronya, we truly mean no harm. As for the Stellaron..."
Bronya raised a hand and cut him off.
She lifted the hand holding her rifle slightly.
The muzzle dipped.
It pointed straight at Little Satoru Gojo, who was still wandering by the statue.
"You, child."
Her sharp command echoed beneath the hall's vaulted ceiling.
"Look up when you answer me."
"What exactly is your purpose in coming to Belobog?"
Beside the statue,
Su Chen withdrew his hand and brushed the dust from his fingertips.
The strawberry flavor in his mouth had faded.
He bit down, cracking the candy's center with a crunch.
Then he spat the plastic stick into the soil of a nearby potted plant.
He turned around.
His small round sunglasses rested on the tip of his nose.
His bright blue eyes settled on the stern-looking female officer by the steps.
Su Chen gave a short laugh.
His childish voice rang through the quiet hall, edged with biting contempt.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
Bronya froze.
As the future Supreme Guardian, she had never, in all her life,
been spoken to in that tone.
Su Chen ambled forward two steps.
He stopped in the middle of the red carpet.
"You want to know our purpose?"
He lifted his chin, showing two rows of small white teeth.
His smile held the cold detachment of a higher-dimensional being looking down on an insect.
"Why should the Divine Court explain itself to you?"
The air in the hall seemed to turn to ice.
Even the flames in the Geomarrow Heater flickered.
Bronya stopped breathing for a second.
Her chest heaved.
She snorted through her nose, stirring her bangs.
Anger flushed her neck red and spread all the way to her earlobes.
The fingers of her right hand clamped down on the rifle's solid wood stock.
Her grip was so tight that her knuckles turned white.
The stock gave a faint creak, as though she might snap it in the next instant.
"How dare you!"
Bronya jerked her rifle up.
The dark muzzle pointed straight at Su Chen's head.
Her index finger settled on the trigger.
In half a second, a bullet could be on its way.
Gepard's scalp prickled.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
The undershirt against his skin turned clammy.
He had felt for himself how terrifying that invisible shield was.
Its force had rebounded off his heavy shield hard enough to tear the skin between his thumb and forefinger.
If Bronya fired and the bullet bounced back at her,
the Supreme Guardian's heir would die with a bullet through her head right here in Fort Qlipoth's hall.
Gepard's legs trembled as he lunged forward.
He reached out with his left hand, trying to push Bronya's rifle barrel down.
"Lady Bronya! Don't shoot!"
His voice cracked with tension as he shouted.
It sounded especially desperate in the cavernous hall.
Gepard's mouth hung open, his throat as dry as sand.
He wanted to shout that this little girl was a monster who could crush a Fine Steel spear.
He wanted to tell her that this group did not even fear Aeons.
She had to lower her weapon at once.
But he did not dare.
The words reached his lips, but then Gepard met Little Satoru Gojo's cold blue eyes.
His heart clenched so painfully that he doubled over slightly.
His tongue went numb. He swallowed, tasting blood.
He forced the rest of his warning back down.
Gepard stood with his mouth half-open, like a fish gasping for air.
His outstretched left hand froze in midair.
His fingers trembled, but he could not bring himself to touch Bronya's rifle.
He feared that one more pointless word or a single wrong move
would anger the white-haired girl and leave all of Fort Qlipoth crushed to dust by the power of space.
On the Astral Express Crew's side,
Dan Heng's fingers had already found the clasp of the storage case on his back.
Xingbao snatched a bronze candlestick from the floor.
March 7th gripped her Six-Phased Ice Bow once more.
The tension stretched as taut as a steel wire about to snap.
Gepard's reaction left Bronya baffled.
She stared at the Defender, normally so steady, now drenched in sweat and shaking all over.
He looked as though he had seen something too terrifying to describe.
But Su Chen's cold arrogance, the way he treated her as if she were not even there, had pushed her anger past its limit.
Bronya gritted her teeth.
The muscle in her cheek bulged.
His finger slowly tightened on the trigger.
He was just about to make his move.
Click. Click. Click.
From the spiral staircase on the second floor of Fort Qlipoth,
came the crisp sound of high heels striking marble.
The footsteps were unhurried.
But in the tense hall, each one landed like a hammer blow to every heart.
They carried an icy authority that overwhelmed everything.
The Iron Guards on both sides of the hall lowered their heads.
They stood rigidly at attention.
Supreme Guardian Cocolia, draped in a heavy white fox fur coat,
descended slowly, her face cold.