2.7 Betrayal

If Kali was a man, she'd be swooned over by the princess right now. Thankfully, she was a woman and didn't have any interest in love. She was saying this because the princess, Hisui, had her hands wrapped around her arm. Who wouldn't want this situation to happen to them?

"Say, mysterious person, where are you from?" Hisui asked curiously.

"Do not call me a mysterious person, that title belongs to someone else." Kali said as Mystogan's face appeared in her mind. "I'm from a very faraway land, somewhere impossible to get to."

"That makes me curious, perhaps one day I'll be able to visit." Hisui said.

"Don't speak of the impossible, even if you have the most durable boat in the world, you'll never reach the place."

"You shouldn't doubt me, I'm a princess, a very capable one at that. I am confident I can design a boat that'll be able to reach where you're from. Though, what is the place where you're from called?"

"Strila, that's the city where I'm from." Kali said with a smile. "It was once a wonderful place to live, but a lot has changed since I left."

"Strila…" Hisui muttered. "I've never heard of a city of that name."

"Of course you haven't." Kali said with a chuckle. "After all, it's located in the south."

"In the south?"

"For example, the continent we're located in, Ishigar, is located in the west. Below that is the continent where I'm from, Astroa, is located in the south."

"I see, I wonder what life was like for you before you moved here. Perhaps it was wonderful? Do you wish to visit?"

"Wonderful…it's quite the opposite of that."

"Huh? I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing, I don't wish to visit since there isn't anything to see anymore. Most of the things are worn down, I'd rather not waste my time."

"But aren't you par-"

Suddenly, there was a dark figure that dropped from above them. Bright red magic could be seen emitting from the figure.

Kali sensed something dangerous, immediately, she put Hisui in a princess carry and wall climbed onto the roof of a building. She carefully placed Hisui down and peeked below to see the figure below her.

He had long black hair, a fedora, and a black attire. Kali's expression remained unchanged when she met his red eyes that were glistening in the night.

"Aren't you the mage that was with the king?" Kali asked. She was wondering why the figure looked familiar.

"You have keen eyesight. I made sure to hide myself among the guards so I wouldn't be seen. I guess it failed." the figure said with a laugh.

"Eh?! Quinn?!" Hisui exclaimed. Her expression was a mixture of shock and surprise. "Why are you here?!"

"Ah, if it isn't Princess Hisui. As you can see, I'm here to kill you. Though I failed since your bodyguard was in the way."

"I'm not her bodyguard." Kali stated. "I'm a regular wizard who was strolling through the city and came across the princess."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't care about any of that." Quinn said. "All I want to do is get my job done. So would you step aside so I could kill the princess?"

Kali shook her head and said, "I cannot allow you to do that, I still have business with her. Though if you insist, you'll have to get through me first."

"That's fine by me, I'll be able to get rid of another nuisance." Quinn said. Instantly, there was the sound of an explosion, and he was now coming towards Kali.

Kali recognized the magic instantly. It was Blast Magic, the ability to generate explosions from wherever distance depending on how strong the user is. She analyzed Quinn, in her perspective, this fight wasn't going to be difficult.

"Princess, if possible, can you stay near me at all times? I don't want you getting hurt, it'll ruin my reputation."

"Is your reputation more important than me?!"

"Just get behind me."

Hisui complied and gripped Kali's cloak, her grip wasn't tight enough to cause Kali's cloak to fall off which Kali was thankful for. Unfortunately, Hisui didn't know any offensive magic that was helpful in this situation so she had to rely on Kali.

With a quick swipe, Kali grabbed Quinn's wrists and threw him in the opposite direction of her. She planned to avoid the blast magic as much as possible to keep the princess safe. If things don't go the way she expects it to go, she'll stop holding back.

"You're more skilled than I thought you were." Quinn said with a grin. "That means I'll have to go all out."

"Do what you want, just know that you won't defeat me nor get past me. So do your best even if it's useless and fall into endless despair."

"Blast!"

Under Kali, an orange spell could be seen. However, Kali's speed was too quick. In an instant, she was able to dodge the explosion with Hisui in her arms.

"Maybe if you were stronger, your casting would be faster. You're too slow, at this rate, I don't even think you can touch me." Kali said in a bored tone. It was obvious that she was taunting him.

"Your words sure are harsh, but I haven't reached my limit yet. The fun is just starting!" Quinn said with a grin as several magic circles appeared in the sky. "Defend this!"

Kali mentally agreed with Quinn, the fun is just starting. She stared at the magic circles, it was truly a beautiful sight.

"Are you going to dodge or defend against that?!" Hisui exclaimed. "At this rate, we're going to be hit by that!"

"Calm down, princess. From the moment our fight started, everything had already been calculated by me."

"Huh?"

Kali pressed her palms together and closed her eyes.

"Are you giving up?!" Quinn shouted with amusement.

"The Essence of Magic, Counter." Kali said as her eyes opened. This time, the color of her eyes were the same as Quinn's magic.

Suddenly, the magic circles in the sky disappeared which caused Quinn to be stunned.

"What did you do?!"

Kali smiled and said, "Nothing, I'm just returning the gift to you."

The same magic circles that Quinn had casted were not below him. Although he tried to get away, the magic circles ignited before he could get past them. He didn't realize that since Kali was now the host of it, the ignition time was going to be a lot faster.

*BOOM*

When the smoke dissipated, Quinn's figure could be seen lying on the floor motionlessly.

"Is he dead?" Hisui asked with worry.

"No, he's only unconscious. I modified his blast magic so it wouldn't do that much damage, that's why the surrounding buildings are still in one piece right now." Kali replied.

"I see…thank you."

"What? Were you worried about him?"

"No, it's just that he was part of our bodyguards, a very trusted one too. He stuck by my father at all times and helped my father out anyway he could. It's just unbelievable that he would betray us."

"Ah, so that's how it was."

Hisui looked at Kali with a dazed expression. She was confused on what Kali meant by that.

"Princess, what do you think of when you hear the word loyalty?" Kali asked.

"Unconditional faithfulness or trust to one." Hisui replied.

"Your question was why he betrayed you, correct? I can give you the answer to that." Kali said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Of course, after all, I speak from experience." Kali said. "Let's head back while we talk. We'll bring him to question when he wakes up."

"Alright."

As they were walking back with the unconscious body with them, Hisui brought the question up again.

"Why did he betray me?"

"Well, it technically didn't betray you."

"Huh?"

"He was never loyal to you in the first place." Kali said. "Those who are loyal to us will hesitate to attack. Those who aren't will kill you without flinching."

"I see, but how do you know of this?"

"I've been betrayed and nearly killed by someone who was a close friend of mine. I've also experienced being betrayed but we made up later."

"You've had terrible experiences, I'm starting to question if you ever lead a normal life."

"Haha, don't think about my life too much. Just know that those who are loyal to you will risk everything for you."

When Kali finished her sentence, she stared into the starry night. She was reminded of her two previous friends who she no longer spoke to, though they were in this world.

"I wonder what're they up to."