Bronya's Interrogation: Why Should the Divine Court Explain Its Actions to You?

The heavy oak doors swung open.

Wind and snow swept into the grand hall of Fort Qlipoth, carrying shards of ice with them.

The Iron Guard on door duty heaved the doors shut.

Thud.

A metal bolt dropped into place.

The howling wind outside was cut off completely.

A massive Geomarrow Heater burned in the hall.

Its orange glow drove away the chill of the frozen plains.

March 7th shuddered, her teeth chattering.

She vigorously brushed the snow from her skirt.

The snow melted and ran down her calves, leaving a small dark stain on the red velvet carpet.

Xingbao kicked her heavy Cold-Weather Boots, knocking ice from the soles.

Welt shifted his cane to his left hand and took out a checked handkerchief to wipe the frost from his glasses.

A red carpet ran down the center of the hall.

It stretched all the way to the high marble steps.

At the top stood a gray-haired girl.

Bronya.

She wore a silver-and-blue Commander Uniform, its epaulettes gleaming coldly in the firelight.

A long rifle hung muzzle-down from her hand.

From above, Bronya swept her gaze over the outsiders who had been brought in, like a searchlight passing over them.

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. If he had been wounded this 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 bother to look directly at the Supreme Guardian's heir.

He had tucked both of his small, pale hands into the pockets of his black uniform.

His little leather shoes trod the red carpet, his feet turned out as he walked.

He looked left and right like a street punk out for a stroll.

A metal statue of a Silvermane Guard stood to one side of the hall.

Su Chen walked over.

He reached out and tapped the statue's knee twice.

Clang, clang.

The crisp sound rang out sharply in the quiet hall.

That was not enough for him. He leaned in to inspect the spear in the statue's hand and curled his lip.

The heater in this place burned so fiercely that his neck was starting to sweat.

Bronya tightened her grip on the rifle barrel.

The metal felt cold beneath her fingers, but it did nothing to cool her anger.

Belobog was fighting for its survival.

Beyond the defensive line, Fragmentum Monsters took soldiers' lives every day.

Civilians in the city had to count every scrap of geomarrow they used for heat.

And now a group of outsiders of unknown origin were swaggering through Fort Qlipoth, the seat of supreme authority.

They showed no respect at all.

The child without even a winter coat was especially strange.

"Defender Gepard."

Bronya spoke.

Her voice was clear, carrying the hard edge and commanding force of a soldier.

"Who are these people?"

Gepard opened his mouth, but his throat was 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 though eager to answer a question in class.

The movement pulled at her frozen shoulder, and she sucked in a sharp breath of pain.

"We came to help resolve the Stellaron Crisis."

Bronya ignored March 7th.

She strode two steps down the stairs.

Her military boots struck the marble with crisp clicks.

"The Astral Express?"

She gave a cold laugh, her voice full of suspicion.

"Belobog hasn't seen visitors from other worlds in centuries."

"And you appear just when our defenses are under the greatest strain."

Welt stepped forward.

He was about to use some diplomatic language to ease the tension.

"Miss Bronya, we truly mean no harm. As for the Stellaron..."

Bronya raised a hand, cutting Welt off.

She lifted the hand holding her rifle slightly.

Then she lowered the barrel.

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.

"Raise your head and answer me."

"What exactly is your purpose in coming to Belobog?"

Beside the statue,

Su Chen withdrew his hand and dusted off his fingertips.

The strawberry flavor in his mouth had grown faint.

He bit down, crushing the candy's center with a crunch.

He spat the plastic stick into the soil of a nearby potted plant.

Then he turned around.

His little round sunglasses rested on the tip of his nose.

His azure eyes met those of the stern-faced female officer on the steps.

Su Chen gave a short laugh.

His childlike voice rang through the quiet hall, laced with biting contempt.

"Who do you think you are?"

Bronya froze.

All her life, as the future Supreme Guardian,

no one had dared speak to her that way.

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 indifference of a higher-dimensional being looking down on insects.

"The Divine Court answers to no one, least of all you."

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Even the flames in the Geomarrow Heater flickered.

Bronya stopped breathing for a second.

Her chest heaved.

She blew two hard breaths through her nose, stirring her bangs.

Anger flushed the back of her neck and spread to her earlobes.

The five fingers of her right hand clamped around the rifle's solid wooden stock.

She gripped it so hard that her knuckles turned white.

The stock gave a faint creak, as if she might crush it in another moment.

"How dare you!"

Bronya jerked her rifle up.

The dark muzzle aimed straight at Su Chen's head.

Her index finger settled on the trigger.

In half a second, the bullet could be flying.

Gepard's scalp prickled.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

The padded shirt against his skin turned clammy.

He had experienced firsthand just how terrifying that invisible shield was.

It had struck his heavy shield with enough force to split the webbing of his hand.

If Bronya fired and the bullet rebounded into her,

the Supreme Guardian's heir would die right there in Fort Qlipoth's hall, her head blown apart.

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 panic, the cry sounding especially desperate in the cavernous hall.

Gepard opened his mouth wide, but his throat felt packed with sand.

He wanted to shout that this little girl was a monster who could crush a Fine Steel spear.

He wanted to tell Bronya that these people did not even fear Aeons.

They had to lower their weapons at once.

But he did not dare.

The words reached his lips, then Gepard's gaze met Little Satoru Gojo's cold blue eyes.

His heart seized so sharply that he bent at the waist.

His tongue went numb, and he swallowed saliva that tasted of blood.

He forced the rest of his warning back down.

Gepard stood with his mouth half open, like a fish starved of 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 needless word or one more movement

would anger the white-haired girl and bring the full force of her spatial power down on Fort Qlipoth, crushing it to dust.

On the Astral Express Crew's side,

Dan Heng's fingers had already reached the storage clasp behind him.

Xingbao snatched a bronze candlestick off the floor.

March 7th gripped her Six-Phased Ice Bow again.

The tension stretched taut as a wire about to snap.

Bronya could not make sense of Gepard's reaction.

She stared at the Defender, usually so steady, now drenched in sweat and shaking all over.

He looked as though he had seen something too terrible to describe.

But Su Chen's cold arrogance, the way he treated her as though she were nothing, had pushed her anger past its limit.

Bronya gritted her teeth.

The muscle in her jaw stood out.

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 steps were unhurried.

But in the hall, where everyone stood on a knife's edge, each one struck their hearts like a hammer.

An overwhelming, icy authority filled the air.

The Iron Guards on both sides of the hall lowered their heads.

They stood ramrod straight.

Supreme Guardian Cocolia, draped in heavy white fox fur,

descended slowly, her face cold.