Arc 1 Sands and steel

  Chapter 13 (No use to me)

  Eren stood over the tyrant, fury burning in his eyes, the severed arms still steaming against the cold stone floor. For a moment, neither of them moved. The torches along the throne room walls flickered, their light dancing across blood-slick marble.

  Then Eren broke the stare.

  Without a word, he stepped back, sheathed one blade, and lifted Avelin gently into his arms. She was still unconscious, her breathing faint but steady. He leapt away from the center of the chamber and set her down carefully in a shadowed corner, away from the guards and the chaos.

  For a heartbeat, he remained crouched beside her.

  Then he rose.

  No emotion touched his face now. His gaze lowered to the floor as if the world around him no longer existed.

  Behind him, the tyrant staggered, blood pouring from the ruined stumps of his arms.

  "You brat…" he snarled through clenched teeth. "You're going to pay for this!"

  Eren slowly turned his head, just enough for one eye to glance back at him.

  "Now you die."

  He drew his second sword.

  The next instant, he vanished.

  Not truly vanished—he moved so fast that the air itself seemed to tear where he had stood. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the tyrant.

  The tyrant flinched, startled, swinging wildly with what remained of his strength—but too slow.

  Eren was already gone.

  A flash of steel.

  He reappeared behind the tyrant and slashed cleanly across the back of his left knee, severing the joint. The blade carved through muscle and tendon.

  The tyrant roared and collapsed onto one knee.

  Even then, he lashed out desperately with a backward kick.

  Empty air.

  Eren was no longer there.

  Another blur—another shift in space.

  He stood now on the tyrant's opposite side.

  A clean arc of silver.

  The remaining arm fell to the ground.

  The tyrant screamed, falling forward. Before he could even hit the floor, Eren stepped in, drove his foot down onto the tyrant's head, and forced him flat against the blood-soaked marble.

  A blade rested at his throat.

  The once-mighty ruler trembled beneath him.

  "Answer me," Eren said coldly. "And I'll make your death painless."

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  The tyrant's voice broke. "P-please… spare me… I beg you…"

  "I didn't tell you to talk."

  Silence.

  The tyrant froze, choking on his own fear.

  Eren's sword pressed slightly deeper against his neck.

  "Tell me," he said. "Where is Silas's sister?"

  The tyrant's breath came in ragged bursts.

  "I—I don't have her! I sold her!"

  Eren's eyes narrowed.

  "To who?"

  "V-Volodov!" the tyrant stammered. "He's the leader of the Iron Hammer Brigade in Zemlyia! Please—please spare me now!"

  Eren's expression did not change.

  "Volodov…"

  A brief pause.

  "I see."

  His voice turned quieter. Colder.

  "Well then… you're no use to me now."

  The blade moved in a single, precise stroke.

  The tyrant's head separated cleanly from his body.

  It rolled across the hallway, leaving a dark trail behind it as blood splattered across the stone walls.

  Silence swallowed the throne hall.

  The tyrant's head lay several meters away, its vacant eyes staring at nothing. Blood crept slowly through the cracks in the marble floor.

  The guards who had been circling the prisoners turned toward the sound.

  They saw it.

  Their leader.

  Headless.

  For a split second, no one moved.

  Fear spread through them like frost.

  That was all the prisoners needed.

  Chains clattered.

  A boot slammed into a guard's knee. Another prisoner drove his shoulder into a distracted soldier. Weapons were wrenched from stunned hands. Steel changed owners in seconds.

  The guards who moments ago barked orders now found blades pressed against their throats.

  "Drop it!" one of the prisoners shouted.

  Helmets hit the floor.

  In the chaos that followed, the power inside the hall flipped completely.

  ---

  Minutes later.

  The same prison cells that had once held desperate captives now swallowed uniformed guards. Iron doors slammed shut one by one. Keys were thrown aside.

  The prisoners stood outside the bars.

  Free.

  Eren sat against a cracked pillar near the edge of the hall, Avelin resting beside him. Her breathing was steady, but she had not yet awakened. His swords lay across his lap, their edges still dark with drying blood.

  Footsteps approached.

  A short, long haired man stopped a few steps away, raising his hands slightly to show he meant no harm.

  "Thank you," the man said. His voice was rough but steady. "For saving us. We're… grateful."

  Eren glanced up.

  "I'm Mark, by the way."

  "Nice to meet you, Mark," Eren replied calmly. "Don't worry. We were just here to help a friend."

  Mark nodded, glancing toward the shattered throne and the headless corpse.

  "Well… you certainly helped."

  He hesitated before speaking again.

  "The big RV outside. Is it yours?"

  Eren tilted his head slightly toward the far end of the hall where Silas stood, leaning against a pillar, still unconscious.

  "It's his," Eren said, pointing at Silas. "And I don't know how to drive it."

  Mark's expression brightened.

  "No problem, sir. We've got an excellent driver."

  Eren shifted, sliding one arm beneath Avelin and lifting her effortlessly into his arms.

  "Alright," he said. "But first, we're making a stop in Zemlyia."

  Mark nodded immediately.

  "Number one priority. You got it."

  He turned and walked a few steps away, raising his voice.

  "Wade!" he barked toward a bald, muscular man near the entrance. "You're driving!"

  The bald man gave a sharp nod.

  "And Bob!" Mark shouted toward a heavy-set man helping secure the former guards. "Pick up that sleeping beauty! We're heading out!"

  Bob blinked, looking toward Silas.

  "Gently!" Mark added.

  Bob huffed. "Yeah, yeah."

  "Everyone!" Mark called out, voice echoing through the ruined hall. "Into the RV! Move!"

  Boots thudded against stone as the newly freed prisoners gathered what supplies they could. Some looked back at the throne room one last time—the place of their torment now reduced to a grave.

  Eren walked toward the exit, carrying Avelin without effort. His face remained unreadable.

  Behind him, the doors of the prison fortress stood open.

  The tyrant's reign had ended.

  Outside, the cold air of the wasteland rushed in.

  And the engine of the RV roared to life.

  ? Overpowers: Magical Girl Crossover [Grimlight Progression Urban Fantasy/Genre based Power System] ?

  by Moawar

  He, Life, had a simple job.

  His responsibility as an Overpower was to make sure that fiction stories and the characters in them follow their dictated path. He always did his job well enough, not more or less than was needed.

  His latest assignment, however, would, in retrospect, prove to be his most challenging one of all.

  He would find himself in a unfamiliar world. There he'll have to quickly adapt to guide Nozomi.

  The strongest magical girl with the potential to accidentally destroy those she seeks to protect in her fight against evil.

  What to Expect:

  -If you like the psychological aspects of Madoka Magica and the mixing of different genres a crossover story brings then this story is for you