Chapter 172 - Ninth Gate: Bolt Of Bronte (Part 5)

~ [Music Recommendation: "Listen to the Cries of the Planet" by Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy 7 Remake OST) - available in Youtube] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

The longest walk of their lives … was what the hooded men felt while walking Elliot towards their master - the one who ordered them to do all those unspeakable and vile things. With swords pointed at them in all directions, they slowly walked from the basement where they did their merciless killings, up to the hallways, past numerous rooms, and people. The knights who saw them wanted to rescue the hooded men but Elliot's ominous aura kept them at bay. It was like the scene of Moses parting waters, only Elliot parted the knights who came their way. Those who were brave enough tried attacking only to find themselves paralyzed in a split second. And the echoes from Elliot's boots, reverberated in everyone's ears … like the sound of judgement coming at them.

Elliot didn't bother moving his head from left to right when knights tried to attack him. His eyes were fixed on the hooded men in front of him, who was guiding him towards the mastermind. He wasn't a fool to trust them enough and allow them to teleport or use any forms of magic. The shackles they used to their victims were now found tied on their own wrists and feet. Their hearts sank at the very thought of "retribution" that came to them without warning. 'Were they finally getting the punishment they deserved from their actions?' was what they all thought. They had been so used to killing women that they didn't bat an eye anymore nor feel remorse. What a tragedy it was. 

After the long walk, the silently boiling Elliot, along with the hooded men, arrived at a certain room with a large door, around 20 feet tall, made of wood with intricate carvings on its surface. At the sides were tall pillars, and the floor they walked in, as Elliot just noticed, were all made of marbles. They seemed to be in a nobleman's place, was what Elliot thought at first.

"W-we're here," one of the hooded men said, trembling.

The other two opened the door for him and led Elliot inside. The very first thing Elliot saw was a long red carpet leading to none other than … the throne.

"!!!" The cold face of Elliot finally showed some emotion. He flinched at the realization of where he was brought into …

The throne room … 

The mastermind behind all the killings …

The one who ordered for those magical weapons to be made in exchange for thousands of lives …

Was none other than the country's very own … king!

The king, who had his back turned from them, tilted his head sideways, and spoke in a low and slow tone, such as a voice of someone well stricken in years.

"I have been waiting for you," the king greeted Elliot. He had wavy dark gray hair and wore a long red cape that extended to his feet.

Rage … was the first emotion Elliot felt upon meeting the king who was the mastermind to everything. He clenched his fists tight as he glared at the sinful back in front of him. Oh, how Elliot's blood boiled in anger and dismay!

"Why?" was the very first word that came out of Elliot's mouth. The deep fury and hatred he felt from the atrocity he witnessed could be easily distinguished from the tone of his voice. His jaw tightened as he continued, "How in the world could a king consent to killing his own people?" stressing every word he said.

The king sighed deeply and closed his eyes. Then, very slowly, he turned around to meet Elliot eye to eye.

Elliot raised his eyes to see the face of pure evil in front of him … but his piercing gaze suddenly widened in disbelief.

"W-what is the meaning of this?!" Elliot asked himself, unable to utter anything more. "Y-you're supposed to look evil and wicked! But … why? What is that … sadness in your eyes?"

Indeed, great sadness could be seen from the unknown king's gray eyes.

Elliot looked at the king's heart … 

Unsure if it was magic, or a gift from the Supreme, but Elliot always had the ability to see what was in a person's heart if he would look at it. Perhaps it was because of this that he discerned Caligo's loneliness, the people of Terra's suffering, the faith of those in the kingdom of Ventus, the depths of the last words of Ignis … and many more.

Beyond what the face or bodily actions expressed …

Beyond what people's masks tried to hide …

Beyond the lies that the mouth spoke …

Elliot saw past those deceptions.

And right now, with those same eyes, what he saw in the king's heart was …

Guilt …

Self Condemnation …

Regret …

Sorrow …

Despair …

And a wish …

A wish for his life to end …

A wish for his death to atone for his multitude of sins.

"I have been waiting for you" … Elliot now understood the real meaning of those words.

But what was the right thing to do?

He was the reason why all those deaths happened. Yet, here he was standing guilty of all the things he did - remorseful and even accepting and waiting for his own death. So far, the evil he witnessed had been really wicked people who only wished for power and destruction. But this king … what drove him to such extremes?

"Our land … was once on the brink of collapse," the king replied to Elliot. "This glorious kingdom you now see is but a fruit of all the sacrifices we made. Sacrifices we 'had' to make". 

"...," Elliot remained silent, fixed on his position.

Noticing his silence, the king continued, "Power - many kings of this time desired that power. So they did their best to conquer other nations. Planning, plotting, fighting amongst themselves. It was a battle of the strongest … But not the same could be said of us. We were but a humble city, freely living on our own, helping each other. We were happy with simple things. Well, until other kings came and conquered our land. We had no knights to defend us, only ourselves and our weak spiritual powers. Of course we didn't stand a chance. And so, our simple, happy days ended".

The king bowed his head and walked towards the throne, touching the corners of its arm rest.

"Do you know how we got freed from enslavement and managed to build our own kingdom?" the king asked Elliot. "No, of course you don't, since you're not from here". He sat down on the throne and looked back at Elliot's eyes once again.

Afterwards, he lifted his hand and from it, an octagonal black box appeared.

"This … is what saved us," the king continued. "When we were enslaved, we were often sent to dangerous places. Some would lose their arms, or their feet, all for the sake of gathering materials or whatever they wanted us to gather. Then one day ... one of our citizens discovered a parasitic monster who could absorb spiritual energy and keep it for himself. He got curious if we could … instead of killing it, maybe use it to our advantage since it can keep large amounts of spiritual energy? It was like a monster creating its own spiritual core. Surely, if we had more power, we would be able to free ourselves from our conquerors. They were only able to subdue us because they had more power. And so, we performed studies and experiments in secret, away from the prying eyes of our captors.

But we came across one problem - we couldn't tame the parasitic monster and have it channel the spiritual energy it took to us.

In our despair, another hope came up. Another citizen learned black magic from his master by being his own test subject!"

The king let out a hollow chuckle. He was reminded of the horrible 'experiments' done to that citizen. He sighed deeply for a second time.

"Through that black magic, we successfully tamed the parasite and made it into these … 'Exsorbeo' is how we named it since it sucks the energy of a person. Through this, we were able to turn the tables and killed our captors. Through this .... we were finally set free. We rebuilt our city and made it into a formidable nation. We improved Exsorbeo and managed to make weapons imbued with its power. And that weapon, we now use for defending our kingdom.

We can't stop making them if we want to defend our borders.

In order to protect the majority … we had to sacrifice the minority.

As much as I personally hate it, we don't have much choice if we want to save ourselves. That's why … if you are here to punish me, I shall take the responsibility of my actions. Only … please," the king was now desperately pleading, "Please ... save our people".