"Huff… just give up already, you deford, pathetic excuse for a lamppost."
Twak!
Elian's fist slamd into Ned's jaw; the shock was so great that tallic teeth and splatters of Dominator flew about. Despite the damage, Ned simply reford his missing molars and sent his fist up to Elian's chin from below.
BANG!
"You first, jerk! By the way, the library called; they said to return your Stone Age diss tracks to where they belong. Like hell, man, even dinosaurs are more updated than the crap you keep saying."
With a sharp crack, Ned's fist caused Elian to wobble. Yet rather than give up, Elian drove his heel to the ground, grabbed Ned by the armpit, and body-slamd him into the pavent. Ned's weight shattered the earth, but quickly rolling to the left, he swept his leg to knock Elian off his feet.
As the two battered each other without rest, two won were drinking tea under the shade of an umbrella nearby. Though both won were Psychomancers at the Twilight tier, creating bodies from mana that resembled flesh was a simple task.
"So? How long are we going to wait for these idiots to finish?"
"Stop being so boring, Charlotte. Don't you see our n are enjoying themselves? If you keep being such a prude, Ned is going to grow tired of you."
At Bianca's statent, Charlotte slamd the teacup in her hand onto the table and retorted.
"Take that back! I am not a prude; you are! Neddy will never leave ! Even if he tries, I will never let him go! I would rather kill every woman on Earth than give him up!"
Charlotte Daniels, although born a commoner, was soone who always chose elegance and poise. Her dignity and mannerisms were all reminiscent of the aristocrats of old. It was only when the topic concerned her husband that her entire personality transford into that of a possessive psycho.
Unfazed by the intense remark, Bianca shrugged and finished her tea.
"Yes, yes. I am sure he loves how possessive you are. Let us use the ti for sothing more productive, shall we? For now, our priority is to find the forces of the Tyrant of the End and eliminate them."
"Hmph! It's hardly a priority; we already know exactly where most of them are."
"Oh? How so?" Bianca asked with interest.
Charlotte composed herself as she took another cup from her magic bag. "There had been rogue Weapons on distant planets when we scoured the universe. They are basically automatons. They have no sense of self, but they retaliate when provoked."
Bianca took a sip of her tea as she contemplated, "If that is the case, then rather than fight them, it would be better to seal them instead."
"Sigh, if it were only that simple. Initially, we decided to leave them alone. The majority of the Weapons wanted them for material, but during the first hundred years, we only marked their locations. Only, we kept finding them. When we found trillions of them, we knew we needed to act."
At her words, the Anchor of Will froze, "Trillions?"
The woman beside her nodded as she gazed into the reflection in her teacup.
"Trillions. They were everywhere. Most were hidden under oceans and seas, underground, or inside volcanoes; others in void spaces. We grew more concerned the more we found. Eventually, Sir Bastion made the call."
Hearing her father's na, Bianca gained a sense of relief. If it were her adoptive father, surely he would confront the problem in the manner he always does.
"He wanted to reduce their number to prevent issues in the future. Rather than bet that these were part of our faction, it would be better to assu them to be hostile," Charlotte continued in low spirits.
"Why would Dad make such a dangerous assumption?"
"The Weapons are all linked to the mories of tal. Although delayed, we know exactly where you and Elian have been for the last thousand years. Because of the existence of the Tyrant of the end, everyone here ca to the sa conclusion."
"!!!"
Bianca couldn't help but gasp as the realization dawned on her. The surrounding temperature dropped by several degrees, advancing the season to just before winter.
"They are the Weapons of other universes…" Bianca murmured in terror.
"Yes. Weapons from the other universes. I couldn't believe it at first, but when Neddy shared the entire story about Origin and the Tyrant of the End, it all clicked. We theorized that they were the Weapons from the destroyed universes. It was the only explanation that made sense."
The terrifying reveal caused Bianca's eyebrows to furrow. She thought for a minute while tapping her finger on the table. Using her imnse intellect, she tried to challenge the idea, then tried to disprove it. Sadly, she couldn't.
"It's brilliant. The issues with identity only matter if there are egos to consider. I see. I had thought the Tyrant of the End had them self terminate, but if he only wiped their egos…"
Charlotte made a grim expression while nodding.
"It ensured that he could bring them all with him once the multiverse collapsed. Each group is an extrely powerful army that stood unopposed in their own universes. And we are about to fight a hundred and twenty-four of them. The mont they move, nothing will be able to stop them."
"Hmm. No wonder Dad suggested fighting them." Bianca nodded in understanding.
"The fourth, my legion is in charge of guarding Earth and her axis. The third's objective is to locate and mark the rogues throughout the universe. With the First and Second being tasked to annihilate as many groups as possible."
Bianca gulped in anxiousness. The four legions were incredibly powerful given what she had seen. However, if after millennia they still haven't killed them all, it showed the sheer scale of the coming apocalypse.
"How many have you found? How many have been terminated?"
"Approximately 4.7 trillion individual weapons. And that is only mapping 75% of the universe. We have destroyed 1.2 trillion, with a lot of casualties. Honestly, it feels like a pointless task. We have lost millions already," Charlotte lanted in lancholy.
Hearing the reports of the actions of her children, Bianca couldn't help but clench her fist. If Charlotte said that millions had died, it ant their soulgems were shattered and could no longer be revived.
Just that idea that so of them could be Weapons she personally knew made her body break out in cold sweat. But then her friend's expression shifted; it looked calm, serene even.
"Despite the losses, the Weapons refused to stop. Even as thousands of them died. All because of the law your husband gave them. It is honestly quite dazzling. You cannot help but cheer them on."
While the conversation had turned quite grim, Charlotte's expression brightened at the ntion of the dogma of the Weapons. Bianca also couldn't help but smile at rembering the words that shaped the army she gave life to.
Kill those you wish to kill but save a hundred tis that number.
Bianca heard of the path Elian's father had given him. Rather than live in regret of one's sins, Tom Reed suggested the opposite. Redemption through action. And that gave rise to the law Elian would give to the Weapons of Valestra. A way of life that persisted to this very day.
Once again, Bianca couldn't help but gaze at her husband. Given his drive and ntality, it had surely been part of the reason why despair did not exist for their faction.
Using that creed to guide their actions, it would force the Weapons of Valestra to reach only one conclusion.
"They wish to save as many as they can…"
Each rogue alive would an the deaths of many others. So in order to save worlds, they were prepared to die just to reduce the number of enemies. All to increase the number that could be saved.
"Yes. That ideal is what every Weapon embodies. I have seen them, Bianca. The army you and Elian brought to life. They took it upon themselves to save everything. Even when no one asked. All because of the hope they received from you and your husband," Charlotte said with a smile.
Even when no one knew of their sacrifice. Even when they would be forgotten the mont they passed. It did not matter to the Weapons, saving people was all that mattered.
Realizing the heavy burden her children had been given, Bianca once again began to weep. Her tears ran down her cheeks only to freeze and turn into crystals before falling to the ground.
"It's all my fault," Bianca murmured between sobs.
Anyone who knew the complete story would know that Bianca Valestra's actions were what gave rise to the Tyrant of the End. The guilt and regret of knowing she not only indirectly caused trillions of deaths but also hard the ones she loved overwheld her heart.
However, rather than rebuke her, Charlotte wordlessly rose and hugged Bianca tenderly.
"Your title fits you, Bianca. If in my life as a human I struggled with purpose, ambition, and loneliness, now that couldn't be farther from the truth. Because of eting you all those years ago, I gained a wonderful husband, a family to call my own, and a cause I would willingly die for."
Charlotte wiped the tears from Bianca's cheek with her fingers.
"If the original Bianca dood the multiverse by creating the Tyrant of the End, you have redeed it by creating the Tyrant of Will. And now you have returned to lead us to victory. You are The Anchor of hope, Bianca, and I am so proud to be your friend," she confessed with tears in her eyes.
"Charlotte…"
Despite being Twilight-tier beings, the two won cried in each other's arms. The fear and danger of what was to co were enough to break even the strongest n. Yet Bianca and Charlotte, Anchors of their respective Tyrants, had a responsibility just as heavy, yet neither of them broke.
All because they had to remained grounded for their respective husbands.
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