Side Story Chapter 298
In the sky above Swallow’s capital, the fight between two Superhumans was nearing its end.
The palace roof was already as good as gone. There were holes all over it, exposing the inside of the palace to the sun, but no one could interrupt their fight. One Superhuman was the king of mercenaries, and the other Superhuman was the strongest in the empire.
Aaron took a hit to the abdomen and coughed blood, but Akshuller didn’t look too great despite his successes.
“Mmmm…” Akshuller looked at his completely frozen left arm and groaned. Since his primary weapons were his fists, this was a critical injury for him.
“Pah! Even if it’s been a long time, there’s no way to make up for your lack of talent.”
“…You’ve gotten stronger.”
“Of course. I was the best in Swallow even when you were in the empire,” Aaron sneered. Akshuller examined himself with a troubled expression and noticed that his mana was acting roiling like lava. That meant that he had put himself through quite a lot. Although he was confident that he would be able to rip off one of Aaron’s arms in this fight, he would have to pay for it with his own life.
“Did you know that our father summoned me to his room at night several days before the fire in the garden?”
“What?” Aaron frowned at the sudden mention of the past, but his eyes widened when he stopped to consider the question.
“I’m sure you already realize that it was to ask me if I wanted to be the head of the family.”
Akshuller was right, but Aaron’s expression didn’t change. Aaron let out a sigh. “Father’s mind must have gone rotten at the time to make you his heir just because you’re the oldest son. He didn’t consider his children’s abilities in the slightest—”
“That isn’t why he asked me.”
“What?”
“He was trying to save you. Father didn’t show it, but he favored you. It’s said that all children are dear to their parents, but there’s no way a father wouldn’t adore a one-in-a-million genius,” Akshuller answered.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Have you forgotten what the empire was like at the time?”
Aaron’s eyes slowly widened in realization.
“Grand Duke Lucifer never spared anyone who would be a threat to him. He wanted to take you hostage,” Akshuller reminded Aaron.
“...A hostage?”
“It’s easier than you think. You remember how you had to be trained in the palace for three years because you were the next head of the family? It was to instill loyalty to the emperor and learn the virtues of a family head.”
The longer Akshuller went on, the harder it was for Aaron to maintain his composure.
“Grand Duke Lucifer was a madman but he was still the de-facto ruler of the land. On the day Father summoned me, he ran into Grand Duke Lucifer. He asked Father who his heir would be. Father said that Grand Duke Lucifer seemed certain that you were going to be Father’s heir. There was no knowing what he would do to you if Father sent you to the Palace, so he called me that night to protect you—”
At this revelation, the resentment for his father that Aaron held in the corner of his heart faded away.
“That’s why you took the blame for the fire even though you knew the culprit…?”
“Yes. I like freedom and didn’t want to sacrifice myself.”
Although he had survived in the end, Aaron had constantly been struggling against other nobles and Lucifer ever since Akshuller had left the family.
“You cowardly piece of shit!” Aaron screamed at the top of his lungs. “After that pretentious good brother act, you just ditched the position of Duke Killian so that you could live!”
“You’re right.” Aksuller nodded. He didn’t regret the choice he made. If he had become the duke instead of Aaron, Akshuller wouldn’t have been able to raise the Killian family to the heights it was at now. The only way to stop the birth of an incompetent leader was to step down.
Just then, a battle cry was heard from the ground. The imperial army was holding out much better than Aaron had anticipated. Each and every one of the Killian knights was well above average, but the imperial army had managed to fend them off—although it was clear that the loyalist army was at its limit because the victorious battle cry they'd just heard was the west gate’s defenses being broken through.
“…Forget about the past. Just pay the price for your cowardice here.” Aaron released his ice aura once again.
Suddenly, a series of battle cries which were incomparably louder than the last broke out. They were coming from all four gates.
Aaron came to a halt, but his smile grew. “…I see that the reinforcements have finally arrived.”
The shouts came from Thran’s troops.
‘It’s only a matter before we take over the palace,’ Aaron thought.
But to Aaron’s dismay, Thran’s army started to attack his army from behind. The Killian army had thought that the Thran army was on their side, so they were helpless in this sudden turn of events.
“Wh-What in the world…?” Aaron gasped. For a moment, he even forgot about Akshuller’s presence.
“It’s simple. You can’t beat me.”
Aaron quickly looked up at the voice. In the sky stood a woman pompously staring down at him.
“Anna…!”
“My, my, what a shame. You put in all that work for this moment, but you lost that entire army to me.”
That instantly told Aaron what was going on.
“Those idiots…!” he growled.
“You have to admit that the tide has turned, don’t you?” Anna beamed. “Surrender now and you can at least keep your life.”
* * *
In the underground vault, Creshua continued his inner conversation.
-You’re putting me in a difficult spot.
Creshua frowned. ‘I don’t think this is the time for you to say that. If I die right now, you’ll have an even bigger problem on your hands.’
-…Didn’t I tell you this several times already? I’m about to complete the defrosting. I have to focus on that, which is why I said you need to take care of any problems on your own.’
‘Look at the humans in front of me and then tell me that again. Those people are strong enough to eradicate my race.’
Joshua sighed, knowing that Creshua was blowing the problem out of proportion—although he understood that Creshua wouldn’t want humans to sway him any longer.
-Two weeks. Give me two weeks.
‘Two weeks?’ Creshua became baffled. ‘How did that become that short all of a sudden? I thought it was going to take a lot longer than that.’
-If there was ever a time to push myself, this is it.
Creshua thought for a moment. It didn’t sound like Joshua was going to stop working on annihilating the Demon Spirit. In that case, Joshua was trying to speed up the defrosting at the same time; however, that would be significantly more taxing.
-…Are you—
‘I guess there’s no other choice right now.’
Before Creshua could finish, Joshua revealed himself. There was nothing difficult about it because Creshua had already given him permission to use his body.
A spear was created in Creshua’s hand using Lightning Spear, a Fifth Circle spell. Even though the spell was mainly used as a projectile weapon, Creshua spun the spear around in his hands. The Martial Knights instantly burst into peals of mocking laughter.
“Haha! Since when did the oh-so-mighty dragons start mimicking battle mages?”
“Out of all the weapons he could have chosen, he’s using a spear…?”
“Who knows? Maybe he was deeply impressed by the one human who uses a spear as his main weapon.”
Every Martial Knight was sneering except for one.
“Wa-wait, this presence…” Liper stammered, his face ashen.
Creshua—Joshua in Creshua’s body—simply continued to walk toward them. This kind of contempt had always been part of his life, so he knew better than anyone else what the most effective way to change it was.
“H-Hold on!” Liper shouted as his fellow Martial Knights were approaching Joshua, but it was already too late.
Joshua swung his spear, drawing a line in the air that bisected both man and space itself. Nothing in the path of this line could survive—it was the Magic Spear Arts Level 6: Obliteration Spear.
Hawke, the commander of the Martial Knights, was a few steps away because his instincts had warned him at the last moment. He stared, eyes wide.
“...Magic Spear Arts?”
It may look slow, but it was faster than anything else in the world. The moment someone thought he had avoided the attack, he would be split from head to toe. It was an absolute technique that couldn’t be blocked or dodged. Yes, Hawke was certain that this was a technique of the Martial God’s Magic Spear Arts, like he had seen some time ago.
The sound of the cut was only heard long after Joshua swung his spear.
At the same time, five of the Martial Knights rushing toward Joshua turned into dust.
Even in the suffocating silence, Joshua kept on walking. Only after Joshua had arrived in front of him did Hawke come to his senses.
Joshua’s voice was monotonous.
“I’ll ask you this only once: where is Bel?”
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