A stab.

I drove my knife deep into the armpit of the motherfucking bastard that had walked into our house.

"AAAA!"

The man screamed and drove his magical sword or whatever straight toward Weiss.

Not only did this guy ignore me after meeting my eyes, he tried to attack Weiss right in front of my eyes. I was so stunned by the sudden invasion, flabbergasted, that I almost didn’t move. Even Weiss, for some reason, had not noticed this man yet.

Were they all blind? What the fuck?

I yanked his neck behind and made him move back. Weiss finally turned around.

"GRAH!" A scream, even she heard it this time. "Leave me you fucking bastard! I have seen you before!! UNHAND ME!"

The man, the CEF bishop without a doubt, tried to rush ahead and swing his blade at Weiss again.

Pissed. Me. The. Fuck. Off.

I jabbed his throat. The man fell on the bed. His maddened eyes finally snapped back to normal as he noticed his arms bleeding. I had gotten a proper tendon to stop him from moving much from now on.

Motherfucker.

"You...!" The man screamed.

"Butler!?" Weiss muttered. "What in the world are you—"

A spell formed in mid air. I read it all clearly. Circles, magic sigils. A divine spell, aimed at her again. Again.

I quickly pulled Weiss from her hand behind me. Spears of light formed in the sky and all planted exactly where Weiss stood, the spears cut through the walls of the Grim Palace and went all the way down.

The Palace was breached! The FUCK!

"Cunt, do you know WHO will have to FIX THAT!?" I yelled. My heart was racing. How did he even come in here?

"What is happening!?" Weiss muttered, her voice cold and low, almost as if she hadn’t registered any threat. Sure, you are the witch queen, but is acting this way even okay? 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Of course it wasn’t.

The Bishop of the CEF stood up. His eyes locked on me this time.

"You. You’re that Knight’s boyfriend, aren’t you?"

"What’s that voice, Butler!"

Voice? My eyes narrowed further (how?) as I took a stance. Was she not able to see him?

"I’ll kill you first."

He lunged in.

Hahh...

Scars all over my body.

I had had my fair share of fights.

Once someone came out alive from all of them, they deserved to be called strong in their own right, yes?

Was it just the fate of a butler to be dismissed so easily?

The Bishop snapped his fingers. I didn’t give him even a second and drove in. I took the handkerchief from my coat pocket and tossed it at him. His eyes moved, and I followed with a kick straight into his loins.

"OOOH!"

The Bishop spat out. Straight into the balls. The next hit was my knee to his face. Honestly, I wanted to kill him immediately, but there was no opening. None at all.

Weiss was here, but would she even be able to fight? Had she ever fought in her life?

She had spent her entire life here. All the people outside saw the Witch Queen as a single figure, not as someone who is successively replaced.

Weiss was young, and had never seen the outside world. Even if she was strong, she had never fought in front of my eyes in these last two years. Never even tried to attack anything.

My best bet was to wait for John or Jack to come in and help.

The Bishop started using his spells, and I had no choice but to engage. With a knife in hand, I started to fight. Divine magic flew from around and came straight at me.

He looked extremely exhausted, and that worked out for me.

That ball in his hand. Was that, by any chance, the Obscurer? I had stolen one of them from the Republic a long time ago and tossed it in the Empire. Torville? Were they involved in this?

My mind raced as I dodged the oncoming onslaught of attacks. A swing straight for my neck, I stepped back. I held his shirt to shake his balance.

The bishop slammed a foot down. I hopped to the left, a pillar of light shot from the ground up.

More of the ceiling was chipped away. Fuck this guy.

A back and forth went on. He attacked, and I tried to make openings. There was no way to say one of us was taking the lead, but if it went on I would lose.

I had to shake him.

Even if it meant taking a few blows. There was no other choice for a magic-less like me.

A second.

Was all I needed. Any single opening. Damn it.

That’s when it happened.

A book came flying from the door. I reached out for it with one hand, and summoned the mana butterflies with the other. They covered his face.

"Nice one, Grimoire!" I yelled and swung the giant sturdy book that had placed a steel plate on it’s spine straight into the Bishop’s jaw.

"GAH!"

He spat his tooth out, shook from the hit. And at the same time, his hand slipped. The obscurer fell out, rolling on the ground then out the holes he had made.

His hiding was over.

He was visible.

"Fucking hell," the Bishop yelled.

A spell was forming with his other hand even as the butterflies distracted him. My diversion tactic did not work against this crazy bastard.

A spear of light was forming in the middle of the air. Aimed straight for my stomach.

My mind raced. Rapidly.

Hit? Unavoidable. But this was good. Could I use it? Not flinching went both ways, motherfucker! I could take the hit and summon the fireball.

That was enough. The fireball was foolproof, even if it meant it would take me down...

"MISS WITCH!" I screamed. The world turned to normal speed again. My hand was being pulled back, the book fell from my arms as I started casting the spell. "RUN OUT OF HERE"

The bishop’s spell formed.

"[AXIS: LONGINUS]"

It drove straight for my stomach. In the time it fell from my hands, the book flew straight ahead to block the attack.

The spear of light tore through the Grimoire.

It’s sharp edge passed through it’s back, and came to my skin. It tore into my skin, poking it, then through my muscles, and into my organs.

Weiss...

I couldn’t see her.

I had to trust that she would hear me.

My feet flew high, the Bishop’s eyes came back to me, his lips curling into a small smile, slowly. No. He was looking toward Weiss.

Bastard.

That arrogance would be your demise.

As I fell to the ground, I finished summoning the spell.

And the world suddenly froze. To a standstill.