Zuria Kingdom

[Apollymi]

"I am a court mage, one who can actually use magic. Did you even figure out what kind of magic she used before you up and decided to make an Anti-magic circle to keep her in?" this was the question asked by Nerys who seemed to think about this more than most people. The Anti-magic circle was working, but this world was still based on a video game and that mechanic meant that Anti-magic didn't work on things that weren't considered magic, including conditions. Obviously there was something at work here. "Obviously you stopped the magic that was containing some condition of her being. And as long as it is in place the men around her will be hers. I would say the only thing to do would be to move her out of the circle and hope that whatever makes her so attractive to the group dissipates as her magic returns..." Nerys said. Kolin's eyes widened at this news. Was the situation playing out before her, truly her own fault? Lot was even on his knees before this woman looking more pleased than he had the other night when they'd been in the bedroom. Could this actually be? "They should all love me, and only me!" exclaimed Kolin. "Charles!!!" she called for her executioner. "He'll kill her and any other woman here who dares to between me and what I want!" After the death of Merlyn she'd make sure no other woman would do anything. She'd hold that death over their heads, she'd guarantee they'd go along with the head of this sorceress. And then when they arrived she'd force them to take her mark and work her brothels. None of them would ever receive more attention from her Knights than she did. Of course, her own madness kept her from realizing that Merlyn was distinctly inhuman and as such her natural condition couldn't be contained without magic. She didn't realize that anyone would choose to not have such a passive effect on others. Beyond all that she didn't realize that a man making a different choice from her, wasn't at all an affront to her existence. That was a major sticking point, but some people would never choose better.

"Playing favorites, me?? Have you really not noticed how that one was treating you? I am unable to use magic right now, I am not choosing who likes me. None of you would be affected by me at all if I was..." Merlyn said with a roll of her eyes. Being in Kolin's court was obviously not good for anyone's brain. "She sure does like them dumb. But I suppose only the dumb ones would keep choosing to stick it in crazy~" Merlyn said with a light scoff. Still her attention turned to Sir Hector and the words shared with Cador brought a light giggle to Merlyn. "There is little more to this than fear of the unknown, live a little... enjoy the mystery~" Merlyn said. "Besides, the rights of the Knights are important who Sir Hector follows should be his choice alone." She wouldn't have lead this man astray. If she thought anything negative would happen she wouldn't have given him the message she did. The oaths and enchantments made by a mad woman had to stop.

[Bloodedge]

Of all the potential answers Kolin had for her self-induced problems, her given answer was a single name: Charles. There was one member of Kolin's court who always kept in shadows. Close, yet distant. Attentive, yet oh so aloof. Charles-Henri Sanson was the man's name, and he entered the throne room within moments of his name being spoken. A form-fitting black trench coat with a billowing tail had the sound of its movements smothered only by the step of black leather boots, and the light clang of a flexible metal used to complete the design of... horse heads in his pauldrons, whose manes were in the likeness of guillotine blades. Gray eyes peered through unkempt, silver hair as this man looked to Kolin... and surprisingly no other, despite the presence of Merlyn. If his job wasn't clear to anyone present, perhaps it would be made clear by the appearance of an eerie, black executioner's blade ─ strangely with a guillotine blade at its tip ─ dragging along behind him. "What is it?" he questioned, his voice raspy and void of emotion. Damned be the respectful address of the queen's knights. This man had a single job: death. Anything else, such as fealty and oaths, meant less to him than the excrement of a stray hound.

Merlyn's words were meaningless. Whether there was sorcery afoot or not, to Lot, there was a clear exception being made for the two knights obviously favored by others. However, he would not yet go out of his way to strike Cador down. Little did he know, he should have. Cador was in the process of heaving a sigh, mockingly remorseful of a few specific words Merlyn was now using against him. She was right by all accounts, and he trusted the succubus beyond even her inborn ability to appear trustworthy. He knew Hector had been awaiting his release from that final order. The day was promised long ago... a day that would free him of that blasted queen's command, specifically by freeing him of his oath to the former King Cador. Today would be that day. "Sir Hector... I release you of your oath. You may do as you please," he said, much to Sir Hector's surprise. What would the red-haired knight do with this newfound freedom? Even he wasn't sure immediately, yet... something major was stewing in his mind.

[Apollymi]

The entrance of a new man made Merlyn shift her eyes. His lack of care about her wasn't unexpected. The name he bore was one familiar throughout history. A small smile came to the woman's face, though he still managed to face Kolin she seemed less than worried. Still, there was nothing but discontent in Kolin though the fact that the man still managed to look at her, made her quite relieved. Perhaps the world hadn't gone completely wrong. "Kill this sorceress she's an affront to my power, and she's somehow enchanting the rest of my men. I won't stand for this insolence!" Kolin exclaimed. Though this one wasn't nearly as respectful as she would have liked, his purpose was killing and in that he was infallible. Never had she told him to kill and not had it completed. He'd put an end to this sorceress and then she would hold the rest of Court. With Charles here, she'd force the hands of both Emilia and Guin. She'd haul them off with all the rest of her men and turn them over to Jason as trade fodder for their safe passage. As Nerys watched she wondered what would become of this, Charles was a strange one that she didn't get to see much, but in truth the man scared her so she was quite glad she didn't see him often. Oh well, maybe this whole thing would be behind them shortly.

Cador released, Hector and Merlyn watched with a happy smile. She soon enough turned her attention back to the front of the room, where the man known as Charles was. Her death had been ordered by the Queen, basically for just existing. "Oh, one small step for Knights Rights. Sorry boys but you'll have to excuse me~" Merlyn said content to shift her attention away from these men for a moment. "It looks like I have a date with the Executioner~" she said with a happy wink. She found this entire situation beyond funny, and didn't manage to be scared this annoyed Kolin. "Say that now but this man offers true death!" Kolin talked up Charles though it didn't usually work to manipulate the man, it usually put extra fear into the hearts of her enemies. How would she fare against one such as Merlyn though? Well, Merlyn simply looked ahead, giving a shrug of the most casual nature.

[Bloodedge]

The request, or rather demand of Kolin this time was... as per usual, another execution. Charles had no issue with this; it was his primary purpose in this world. What he did have a problem with, was the execution target. A sorceress was no issue; his ability to kill was spawned of the world itself. There were many things favored by the world they were in, and among them... was the creature Kolin ordered the execution of. With no more than a single glance, Charles could tell the perfect way of killing another person, even if he wished to do so without leaving signs of death. The very concept of death was his plaything, but then there were individuals like Merlyn, whose very nature refused to play his little game. He stared at the sorceress, and scoffed.

"Non." The answer was just that simple. He wouldn't execute Merlyn. He couldn't execute Merlyn. The guillotine could fall time and time again for the purpose of decapitating this woman, but he doubted her head would even be severed. "This one doesn't know death. La Mort Espoir rejects her, as she rejects it," the executioner clarified blandly. There was nothing to be done about the one called Merlyn. Charles' summoning was a waste, and he seemed quite miffed about it. "Who must die?" he asked. He never answered a call for nothing. If he was brought out to execute, someone had to die. This was the arrangement he made when determining that following Kolin meant endless access to his... trade.

[Apollymi]

"No?!" Kolin questioned. He might as well have spit in her face the amount of outrage that singular word possessed. According to Charles though, Merlyn simply didn't know death, and his weapon couldn't kill her. Actually what he said was that it rejected her and she rejected it. The Queen got huffy immediately, she didn't like being rushed or denied. Nor was she immediately prepared to choose someone else, though she would. "Well, don't use it then, use the fucking Angels. Just kill her, she's a problem. We agreed when I call you kill, don't go changing the terms of it now!" Kolin outright demanded. Though she would never be one to give herself up, if it wasn't the case that this death would do, she'd likely choose a different name to offer, after all anyone could die today as long as it wasn't her, her plan would continue on without a hitch. All the while, Nerys looked exceedingly nervous. There was only one thing this woman feared, and it was death. The sound of that man's blade scraping as he walked in, put fear chills in her. Beyond all of that, Nerys knew that Kolin was crazy, so if she felt even the smallest bit slighted she wouldn't hesitate to offer Nerys name to her personal executioner. She had no desire to be offered up to the man, if she could have disappeared without being noticed she would have, but she was summoned to this godforsaken throne room, she had to stay until dismissed. 'Stupid bitch, I swear to god if I die here because your crazy ass decided to apply anti-magic to some.... whatever the fuck she is, without finding out what kind of magic she was using. If hell exists, I'm dragging your ass with me...' she thought as she avoided any wayward glances.

All the while Merlyn seemed amused. She also knew the Executioner couldn't kill her. But... it was always fun to have someone find out that information. She truly didn't know death, she couldn't even kill herself if she tried. Ah, but no one really needed to know that information. She watched the conversation between this woman and her executioner with great interest. Who would she choose to have slain in Merlyn's place? Dagonet? Lot? Leorio? She supposed all of those options worked. Ah, but she'd have to choose someone she wouldn't mind losing and who would make an impact if she was forced to... for an impulsive decision she made while crazed.

[Bloodedge]

"Non," the executioner repeated. Unlike the rabble Kolin surrounded herself with directly, he hadn't a single care for her attitude, nor her ability. He was, and always would be, an object of death. Even his eyes held nothing resembling life in them, though he was very much a creature of flesh and blood. Some workers became their jobs─ these words had never been truer than with Charles.

Ah, the Angels─ Weeping Angels, to be specific. Charles himself created those things for special executions, when he and the world believed his targets could be spared... or perhaps even be less of an issue in a different time period. They killed not in a vicious manner, but by consuming the time of those they touched, sending them backwards in time to live themselves to death naturally. The Angels would then be sustained by the "time" their victims lost. All in all, it was something Charles designed as killing with kindness. Alas, Kolin was some sort of imbecile if she thought to suggest that. Would Charles be delicate in pointing this out? No. "Be silent, woman. She does not know death. If an Angel took her, it would only create two of her up to the moment it made contact. I am not here to add life to this world," he spoke. That weighted executioner's blade of his dragged along the floor, shredding through the carpet. Charles wasn't moving his position to make this occur, but instead simply brandishing the weapon. In doing so, those dead eyes were fixed on the queen. "We agreed. You call, I kill. The sorceress cannot die. La Mort Espoir has been drawn in honor of that agreement. You will tell me who must die. Now." His tone remained flat, but was creepily demanding. Inscribed on his blade, as it could be seen, was Epée de Justice. Justice would be served in the end. If ever he drew his blade without death under the rules of the agreement with Kolin, the world would take matters into its own hands... and she who captured the world's selections for death would be taken as recompense for committing a sin against the world. Charles knew this, and he had told Kolin once before.

A death was mandatory when she spoke his name.

[Apollymi]

Nerys could feel her own heart beating in her chest. Every word that Charles spoke, right down to his demand for a name of someone who would die made more cold sweat drip from her forehead. She was well and truly afraid. She didn't know what her sins amounted to in this world, but Nerys knew for a fact that Kolin was crazy enough just to name anyone to save herself from that crazy stipulation she undertook. 'Just not me, anyone but me...' this was exactly the logic that led to Kolin being in this place. Nerys had been the one to betray the King and Queen to Kolin. Nerys who wanted to own this Kingdom helped her takeover when it became obvious that Kolin couldn't just seduce the King. Nerys knew that her own hands were far from clean, but she'd done all this because she wanted what was best. Death at the hands of this crazed woman was the worst possible outcome.

At the same time, Kolin managed just to scoff. How dare he claim that this woman was simply immortal. What kind of person actually couldn't die in this world? Everyone could die, how does one even build an existence that cannot die? She needed to figure that kind of thing out, before she ran into another one of these people this man couldn't kill. Perhaps... she'd lost her temper a bit too quickly? Maybe she should have thought over it a bit more, now this man needed a name and she needed to make it someone whose death would make a difference. Dagonet? No, she wanted to torture him for a while before he died, he'd basically betrayed her by going to that immortal sorceress. It'd be better if she could punish the woman by dragging him along. Lot? No, obviously his tastes said he'd never choose anyone over her of his own accord. She could believe he wouldn't actually betray her. The same could be said of Cador and Hector as well, besides both of them were worth more in battle. If she named either of the girls she'd lose Cador so they were also both a no. Arthur was also her new favorite pet, and though it would hurt Merlyn... taking him along to her city of debauchery and using him would be much more wounding. "Fine, I guess take Elyan." she said with a wave of her hand. That man had the last real claim to this land, killing him would make things much easier, Guin would become more pliable and though he was a knight, he was far from top of her list. Surprisingly, she hadn't even considered Nerys and the woman exhaled a sigh, that choice was problematic. Nerys heart had all but stopped, death was still on the plate. She swallowed hard, looking around, fear was in her but she had to do... All the while Merlyn just shook her head, those glowing eyes of hers looking to Nerys and calming her in the moment. "That man has literally done nothing, you can't get your way, you do something irrational and then you sentence an innocent Knight to death?"

[Bloodedge]

A name. Just... a name. Every moment Kolin kept him waiting, was another stain of karma on her existence. Charles didn't care whose name it was, even if Kolin wanted to name herself as his target. That would be one hell of a day, actually, if she purposely brought about the end of their agreement. After an agonizing wait, the queen finally spoke. The name she offered was... Elyan. Ah, Elyan the White, crowned prince of Zuria and brother to the would-be queen, Guinevere. The white-haired knight had done great deeds and thoroughly cared for his family during this life. Charles gripped his weapon's hilt more firmly, closing his eyes and meditating over the weapon.

The world did not desire Elyan's life, but Charles would take it nonetheless. A death was owed by the call of his name, so there would be a death... and another counted sin against Kolin. "Un compte de plus," he chanted while glaring in Kolin's direction once more. She knew the cost she was accumulating, whether she accepted it or not. The day would eventually come, when the world would collect its debt. For now, he turned to view the knights─ Elyan in particular. The young man thrown to the chopping block had no intention of dying this day, and it seemed he was not the only one with this train of thought. Sir Hector's choice had been made. The red-haired knight placed himself between Elyan and the executioner, sword ready to be drawn. His violet eyes targeted not Charles, but Kolin while he stood ahead of the forward-marching death-dealer. "If Elyan dies, Kolin, your reign ends now. On my honor as a Holy Knight, you will draw your last breath in this castle if your killer isn't called off. No knights will fall unjustly," he announced, much to the surprise of Sir Cador. Ah, when did he forget? Hector had been like this in the beginning, upholding the Knights' Code above all else. It had been the very reason that first oath was taken, as well as the reason it was committed to so religiously. He'd been a fool to keep a man as honorable as Hector under the heel of this sultry queen.

[Apollymi]

Nerys was happy, it wasn't her. But she was conflicted. And Charles could now go about his task and disappear back to whatever dark corner he crawled out of. Fear was still there ever present, though Elyan had never really done wrong by Nerys. He was however, in her way along with his sister. To be rid of both of them would be the epitome of her good fortune in addition to not being on the chopping block herself. Or so the story could be told.

Hector's words made Merlyn smile but Kolin scowl. "Really?!" she questioned aloud. The absolute audacity. This man had never displeased her, never expressed even a wayward thought of his own. He was quiet, his manner reserved and his work was good. He only truly came in second to Cador because his combat potential seemed to be a bit limited. Why did he chose now to be upset. "There is hardly a thing you can do about it. I know you are close, but your honor as a Holy Knight be damned. You are my Knight. But, I'm feeling forgiving, so I'll ignore your outburst as a sign of grief," Kolin said, though she didn't bother trying to sound remorseful. "I cannot call him off. He's owed a life once he's been summoned, someone has to die today and it will not be me!" Kolin said firmly. "Now, if you want someone to blame, that immortal sorceress angered me, this is her fault, take your anger out on her. And stand aside unless it is your intention to offer your own life in the place of his..." she finished, she'd always give that option. Everyone had big things to say until it was their own lives on the line, which is why even if Merlyn couldn't die, she still felt like she was in control of this situation. No one would side with her if it meant they could die, and she could still have them killed even if she couldn't kill Merlyn. "And there it is... blame the chained bound woman, whose power you provoked unknowingly and make her the target of potential torture of whatever kind to avoid taking responsibility for something you caused. And you wonder why the King of Heroes didn't like you back~" she said. It was just a jab just a tiny jab, but it was enough to refocus Kolin's attention directly towards Merlyn.

[Bloodedge]

"I am my own knight," was Hector's immediate retort. Freed from his oath, he served no one. The only adversary he faced, was whether he could actually draw his sword against the executioner. Would his blade consider Charles a worthy opponent? Whether it did or not, something had to be done... but Hector didn't really have to fight to stop the other man, did he? "I'm willing to make an offer, Reaper." There were words spoken by Kolin which resonated with Hector. Did she think knights so lacking in chivalry? If there was ever a knight who wasn't ready to lay down his life for a comrade...

Hector was not that knight.

His sword was not unsheathed, but was removed from his hip along with the scabbard. Gently placing the tool onto the floor in front of him, he kneeled before the executioner. "That may be the most wonderful idea you've ever had, Kolin," he said, much to the chagrin of Elyan. The knight whose defense was being risen to was all but ready to stand against this motion, accepting his own death to avoid the death of another. Alas, Cador grabbed the white-haired male by his shoulder to cease his advance. Hector knew, that Cador knew... there was no better way than this. Arthur, seeing the exchange behind the redhead, also refrained from taking action. Lot seemed unfazed as long as it wasn't his own life, and Dagonet did not see a place for himself in this ordeal.

Everything was in place, so with the approach of Charles, Hector spoke firmly. "Your target, executioner, is Hector de Maris. I offer myself to your guillotine in exchange for the life of Elyan the White," he said. Again, Charles did not care whose life it was. He was under an agreement, however. The world wished for this knight's life even less than the life of Elyan, so it could not be on his head. The order for this exchange had to come from Kolin. "Woman. Speak the words, if this knight is the world's bounty."