When Lucas’ voice rang out, despite all the hustle and bustle in the camp, everyone was sohow able to hear it clearly, and by the ti the old Commander had reached the Tartans and climbed onto one of them, all had figured out what was about to happen.
Everyone stopped.
Everyone fell silent.
Whether they were simple villagers who had never spoken a word to Commander Levins before, or soldiers who had fought under his command for decades, all of them clenched their fists and saluted, bowing their heads deeply in a show of respect.
No one tried to dissuade him or convince him to stay, they all knew that such efforts were both aningless and insulting to the old man’s determination. The old warrior was setting off one last ti, and they were to be his witnesses; their lives, their survival, a testant to the man nad Hubert Levins.
Pulling hard on the Tartan’s reins, the old Commander ascended into the sky, shouting out one last ti, "5 minutes. That’s all I can promise you. That’s how long you have to escape."
And with that, he soared off, heading west over what remained of Redwood Town to confront the monster baring down on them.
.....
Princess Christina woke up only a minute ago, in more pain that she had ever experienced before in her life. It was like soone had squashed her under a giant boulder, especially her head, and at first, she was so dazed she couldn’t even tell where she was.
Soon, though, her mory started coming back to her. Leaping through the Spatial Tear together with Lucas and Eris, rescuing Rebecca’s group, the climb up the cliff, then encounter with the Seventh Order Beast...
As for how she wound up passed out on the deck of the Sunchaser, Christina had so ideas. Obviously, she hadn’t escaped on her own, and since there was only one other person with her at that ti, who it was that saved her was fairly obvious.
Seems I owe Lucas even more now, the young princess mused to herself, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Thinking about all she had experienced since landing in Redwood Town, Christina swore to herself that she would never complain about ’wanting more adventure’ because life was ’boring’ in the palace, ever again.
Right now, all she wanted to do was collapse into a nice soft bed and sleep for the next few days; however, just as she was about to close her eyes, she heard a familiar voice call out
That’s Lucas, Christina imdiately recognized, But... what did he just say?
Still feeling dazed, Christina tried to get up, finding it a bit difficult as her muscles were all aching and her balance wasn’t steady.
Even so, sothing about the tone of Lucas’ words just now made her feel uneasy, like she would regret it if she didn’t get to her feet right now.
Struggling up, Christina looked around and was surprised to find that everyone, regardless of what they were doing or where they were standing, was now staring in one direction.
Casting her gaze in that direction, Tina saw Commander Levins jumping onto the back of a Tartan, his spear in hand.
Just as she was about to ask the people around her what was going on, Christina was stunned to see everyone lifting their arms in a formal military salute before bowing deeply, their expressions filled with mixtures of pain and respect.
Sensing that sothing terrible was about to happen, Christina desperately wracked her brain, trying to recall what it was Lucas had just said.
Sothing about... not squandering this chance? Christina sohow managed to rember. As for that ant, the princess was completely in the dark; until, of course, she heard a familiar roar coming from the distance and felt the deck of the Skyship beneath her shake ever so slightly.
Imdiately, everything clicked into place.
The Seventh Order Beast that had attacked her and Lucas on the other side had sohow followed them back, and it was still aiming for them!
Shifting her gaze to the now departing Tartan, Christina clearly heard the old man’s final ssage and finally understood what was going on.
Before coming to Redwood Town, Christina had never t Commander Hubert Levins before, and even after she arrived, the number of tis she had interacted with him was limited.
Overall, her impression of old man Levins was that of a friendly grandfather who was a bit too nosy, a bit too chatty, but otherwise a pleasant person to be around.
As for the way Hubert Levins treated her specifically, there’s wasn’t much to say. The old man didn’t seem to care that she was a princess or a once-in-a-thousand-years genius; to him, she was nothing more than another little girl who was still wet behind the ears.
He showed Christina the proper respect she deserved given her position, but no more so than he did to Eris or Lucas.
Rather than diminish her view of him, however, this impartiality and even sowhat carefree attitude only improved Christina’s opinion of Commander Levins. She had always hated when people were excessively friendly towards her or openly flattered her as it made all their interactions seem forced and fake.
Very few people, whether they were her age or 10 tis her age, treated her just as herself, so Christina cherished everyone who did.
Now, though, one such person, an old man Christina barely knew anything about, was flying off to face down a monster he could not possibly defeat, and who he would almost certainly perish against, all just to buy her, and the people beside her, 5 more minutes of ti.
The revelation of what had just happened shocked Christina Rockwell to her core.
As a princess, she had always known that people would fight and die for her protection, that fact was repeatedly taught to her by everyone around her.
It all seed perfectly normal to her, sothing that was a given, but it wasn’t until this very mont that Christina truly realized what soone sacrificing themselves for her really ant.
No longer was it so abstract concept, or an exercise on paper.
No longer was it so naless soldier on a distant battlefield who would die to preserve her life.
Today, it was the kind old man who had laughed and joked with her, who patted her head to encourage and comfort her, that was going to lay down his life so that she could live on.
All of a sudden, all the cramps and pain in Christina’s muscles faded away. Even the throbbing in her head no longer registered. All she could feel was a deep sorrow in her heart, and a sinking misery in her gut.
Despite not having t Commander Levins long ago, knowing that in just a few minutes he would be gone forever, there were so many things Christina suddenly wanted to say to him, so many feelings she wanted to convey, but it was all too late now.
All her life, Christina felt she had worked hard and studied diligently, doing her best to beco both strong and wise so as not to disappoint those who had great expectations of her. However, no training session, lesson, or lecture could have prepared her for today.
Christina thought she knew what honour and duty ant as it had been taught to her many tis since before she could even rember; but in Redwood Town, her concept of these ideals had been challenged by Lucas.
After losing their fight, she had accused Lucas of acting dishonourably.
In response, Lucas had asked her was honour really was.
At the ti, under his pointed questioning, Christina had been unable to answer that question.
Today, however, Christina had found that answer.
What was honour?
What was duty?
This was honour.
This was duty.
There was nothing stopping Commander Levins from just leaving. From saving himself. No one would fault him, a noble Spirit Initiate, for abandoning a couple dozen civilians and soldiers in order to save more than 100 others.
The only reason the old man was instead choosing to stand and fight, was that over 200 years ago, he had once sworn an oath to defend the people of the Rockwell Kingdom.
And for Hubert Levins, that was enough.
It was a painful lesson the young princess was forced to learn today, and for the first ti, she really understood just how much weight the words ’honour’ and ’duty’, words she had so casually spoken of before, truly carried.
Staring at the disappearing back of the old veteran Commander, Christina understood she had missed her only opportunity to thank him for his service to her, and to the Rockwell Kingdom.
She had even missed her opportunity to thank him for what he was about to do, sothing Christina knew she would regret for the rest of her life.
And so, she did the only thing she could do in this situation.
Clenching her right fist tight, Christina lifted her arm, struck her chest above her heart hard, and bowed as low as she could, joining everyone else around her in paying final respects to the departing warrior for his courage, and for his sacrifice.
Christina didn’t know how much ti passed after that. It might have been a second, or it might have been a minute, but eventually, a young, familiar voice broke the silence, "Everyone! Fall back to the ship! Commander Levins has bought us another 5 minutes! We can’t waste them!"
With Lucas’ call as the start signal, everyone began scrambling about again, and just 3 minutes later, everyone in the camp was either aboard the Sunchaser, or sitting atop one of the Tartans, waiting to depart.
Just as the final mbers of the outer defence team climbed up the ship’s boarding ramp, an explosion sounded from the west, followed by a terrifying roar.
The battle had begun.
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