Chapter 2738: Chivalry
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Kingdom of Scotland, Lothian, Edinburgh, Palace of Holyroodhouse
In the face of Marthaâs revelation, Coryn and Revenâs eyes widened in stunned disbelief. The accusation struck deeper than the wound still mending in Revenâs chest.
They had always known there was something unusual about their birth. Whenever they asked their father about their mother, his answers were gentle but vague. Whenever they questioned why they were confined to their designated wing of the palace, he would remind them that it was for their protectionâat least until they awakened their Chivalry.
At the time, they had accepted those explanations as necessary precautions. Now, doubt crept in where trust had once stood. But they didnât totally believe Marthaâs words. Because they knew their fatherâs love for them was genuine.
Seeing the flicker of doubt cross the princessesâ faces, Martha seized the opening. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she released half a dozen throwing knives, each blade infused with her own condensed energy. They sliced through the air in a tight formation, aimed with lethal precision at vital points.
But before the knives could even cross half the distance, they struck an invisible surface and halted mid-flight. A translucent dome shimmered briefly around the sisters, distorting the light like heat over stone before stabilizing into a firm barrier.
It was their combined mental fieldâtheir combined psyche domeâmanifested instinctively.
The knives quivered violently against the translucent dome, their edges screeching as they scraped along the surface without penetrating it. Then Marthaâs fingers curled and the blades detonated all at once.
The explosions were sharp and contained, but the force rippled outward in a concentrated burst. Fracture lines spidered across the princessesâ mental field, fine at first, then rapidly spreading. The once-smooth surface of the dome now resembled stressed glass on the verge of collapse. A couple more detonations of that magnitude, and it would shatter completely.
Coryn and Reven felt the strain immediately. Their psyche was strongâexceptionally so for their rankâbut they were not naĂŻve. No matter how gifted they were, their mental field could not withstand Marthaâs Chivalry, Ignition. It could detonate anything infused with her energy within the radius of her mental field on her whim.
If Martha continued pressing the assault, their defense would not survive the next exchange. The sisters understood that much clearly. They stood exposed in the center of the open training hall, acting a larger target together. Though they were agile despite their condition, that agility meant little against a seasoned knight.
Retreat was impossible. Martha did not give them time to reconsider. She flicked her wrist again, sending another half dozen knives whistling through the air. The blades struck the strained surface of the twinsâ combined mental field almost simultaneously. Without hesitation, she triggered Ignition.
The explosions overlapped in brutal succession. The dome fractured completely, splintering apart with a sound like shattering crystal. The shockwave hurled the princesses backward. Their bodies struck the polished stone floor and bounced once before skidding across the tiles, friction tearing fabric and skin alike.
For a heartbeat, the hall fell quiet except for the fading echo of the blast and the dull scrape of their bodies coming to a stop.
"Reven! Reven!" Corynâs voice broke as she struggled to pull them upright, panic flooding through her veins. She could feel it through their shared connectionâthe uneven pull of Revenâs breathing, shallow and unstable.
The wound in Revenâs chest had torn open again. Fresh blood seeped through the torn fabric, spilling over their fingers as Coryn pressed down instinctively, trying to stem the flow.
"Donât worry, Princess," Martha said softly, her tone almost affectionate. The sadistic delight on her face was unmistakable as she savored the tremor in Corynâs voice. "Iâll reunite you both in the afterlife."
A thin throwing knife slipped smoothly from her sleeve and into her palm. She rolled it between her fingers with familiar ease. From the look in her eyes, she had no intention of ending it quickly.
She began walking toward them at an unhurried pace. Each step echoed in the training hall, deliberate and patient. It appears she intended to take her time enjoying herself. She believed it was due considering she took care of this abomination for almost two decades now.
Seeing the twisted smile spreading across Marthaâs face, and unsure whether Reven would even survive the next few breaths, Coryn did not collapse into despair. Instead, an unnatural calm settled over her. She slid an arm beneath her sisterâs shoulder and lifted them both upright in one steady motion, bracing Revenâs weakened body against her side. Blood still stained their robes, but Corynâs posture remained firm. If she had to fight a knight with one hand while holding her twin with the other, then so be it.
Across their shared consciousness, Reven stirred. Though barely conscious, she forced herself to remain present, channeling what strength she could into their psyche field. She narrowed the flow of pain, reduced the strain on their shared balance, and reinforced Corynâs mental stability with every fragment of will she had left.
They stood together, facing death without hysteria. There was fear, yesâbut it was controlled, sharpened, and focused outward. They would not beg. They would not flee. If this was the end, they would meet it standing, protecting one another until their final breath.
And in that momentâwhen resolve eclipsed fear and two hearts beat in perfect unityâsomething profound within them answered.
A soft radiance began to seep from their skin, faint at first, then steadily growing brighter. The light intensified until it spilled outward in waves, enveloping both bodies in a single expanding brilliance. Their outlines blurred as the glow swelled, merging into one immense, blinding sphere of radiant energy that flooded the training yard with searing luminosity.
"Reven... youâre not dead yetâawakening?" Marthaâs eyes widened, though the shock quickly twisted into disbelief. "At deathâs door? Did you two hoard all the luck in the world?"
Her expression hardened uttering, "It changes nothing." Without hesitation, she snapped her wrist and hurled the knife straight toward Reven, intent on finishing off the weaker half first.
The blade flew with deadly precisionâbut passed through the light without hitting the target. Marthaâs eyes narrowed, considering the distance and her skills, that was impossible. Yet... she had missed. In her astonishment, she had forgotten to trigger Ignition .
The blinding light began to recede, its intensity dimming from a searing brilliance to a steady radiance. As it cleared, the sisters were no longer as they had been
Where two bodies once stood, there now stood a single, naked, tall and powerfully built young woman with ample curves. Her posture was regal, her presence overwhelming. The immaturity of youth had been replaced by a composed, sharpened elegance. The wound Reven had suffered on her chest was gone entirely, as though it had never existed.
Marthaâs voice lowered, uncertain for the first time, "Coryn? Whereâs Reven?"
The woman before her lifted her chin slightly. Her gaze held both familiarity and something deeperâabsurdly intimidating.
"No," they replied calmly. "We are Coryn and Reven."
They flexed their fingers, then rotated their shoulders experimentally, testing the strength and balance of this new form. One foot shifted forward, toes pressing firmly against the stone as they adjusted to a center of gravity that no longer needed to be negotiated between two frames.
Every movement was smooth, deliberate, and instinctively synchronizedâbecause there was no longer synchronization to maintain. There was only unity. They appeared to have adapted to their new form instinctively.
"Our chivalry," they continued, lifting their gaze to meet Marthaâs, "is called Conjoined."
A faint pulse of power rolled outward from their body, spreading across the training hall like a silent wave. The air grew heavy for a brief moment before settling again.
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