Seirei Gensouki ~Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni~ (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Attack

The next morning, shortly after sunrise. Barely anyone had started their day yet, making Rodania completely silent.

All of a sudden, the emergency alarm bell started ringing. Regardless of their social status, the noble class and commoners were equally roused from their sleep.

Princess Christina was no exception either. She awoke in the guest house that was separate to the consulate, dressed in a hurry, then allowed Vanessa to bring her to the central office where all the figures of importance had gathered.

“What is going on?!”

By the time Christina entered, several of the important noble figures had gathered already. Duke Huguenot and Marquess Rodan were among them.

“It’s an enemy attack. We have received word from the border fort that a fleet of enchanted airships have crossed the boundary from Count Savioe’s territory.”

The lord of Rodania, Marquess George Rodan, gave his report with a grim face.

“From Count Savioe’s territory...? If they fly at full speed, those airships will arrive at this city in around ten minutes.”

Considering the time it took to receive the report, the Beltrum Kingdom’s fleet was likely to take less than ten minutes to arrive. However...

“As you know, there is a lake located three kilometers west of Rodania. The fleet will probably land there.”

The appearance of enchanted airships didn’t immediately signal the outbreak of war. The airships had to land somewhere to let the troops down, after which they needed time to assume their formations and prepare for attack.

“Evacuate all noncombatants of the organization to the Galarc Kingdom while the enemy troops alight. Mobilize the army and order all civilians to take shelter.”

“Understood. An airship is already being prepared for you to evacuate to Galarc with Sir Hiroaki and Princess Flora,” Duke Huguenot said in regard to Christina’s evacuation.

“Are you telling me to abandon Rodania and flee?”

“It is a temporary evacuation. We will be defending ourselves with the intention to win.”

“In that case, please prioritize Sir Hiroaki and Flora.”

“Are you refusing to evacuate, Your Highness...?”

“It wouldn’t be right for the leader of the organization to flee first. If I choose to run, it will be after I evaluate the situation on the battlefield.”

It seemed that Christina intended on staying in Rodania.

“Very well... The question is who will take command of the defense...” Duke Huguenot wondered out loud, glancing at Marquess Rodan.

“With all due respect, may I be allowed to take command?” Marquess Rodan offered. If Duke Huguenot was second in power regarding the Restoration’s administration, Marquess Rodan was second in power regarding military affairs. The two were the lead advisors to Christina in terms of administration and the military respectively.

“This is your territory, after all. I’ll leave it to you.”

Christina easily yielded command to Marquess Rodan.

“Hey, what the hell is going on?!” Hiroaki burst into the central office. He was accompanied by Roanna and Flora.

“We are under enemy attack. The Beltrum army has crossed the territory border and is marching towards Rodania,” Christina answered honestly, seeing no reason to hide the truth.

“Are you serious...?”

“The enemy fleet will reach the city in a few minutes. There should be a small window before the fighting starts, during which you will be evacuated to the Galarc Kingdom. The airship is being prepared as quickly as possible, so you should head to the harbor immediately.”

“R-Right...” Hiroaki nodded nervously.

“Flora, Roanna. You two will be heading to Galarc with Sir Hiroaki.”

“What about you, Christina?”

“As the First Princess, I cannot flee before everyone else. If I do have to evacuate, I will do so on a later ship.”

“Then...”

“Roanna, take Sir Hiroaki and go now. Prepare for evacuation immediately.”

Christina cut off Flora to give orders to Roanna.

“Understood. Sir Hiroaki, let us hurry.”

“O-Okay.”

Hiroaki left the room at Roanna’s urging.

“Flora, there’s something I must give you. Follow me. Leave the rest to Marquess Rodan and Duke Huguenot.”

With those words, Christina took Flora and moved to another room.

◇ ◇ ◇

The chaos happening at Rodania was something Rio and Sora had noticed as well. They had set up the stone house outside the city yesterday, so they had also been woken up by the sound of the alarm bells.

The two were currently above Rodania to observe the situation from the skies. The bells rang loudly on the ground below.

“Everyone...”

With his mask in his hand, Rio spotted Celia, Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Roland moving from the mansion to the guest house. The sight of that alone was enough to fill him with the urge to rush down. Sora was watching Rio’s expression from beside him with a vexed look.

Until now, there had been no need for Rio to hold himself back from running to his friends. He could ask them what had happened and decide how to deal with things. But right now, Rio was unable to do that. His actions were restricted as a transcendent one.

That is, transcendent ones were forbidden from supporting the interests of a specific individual or group. They could only use their powers for the sake of everyone.

Now that he had become a transcendent one, breaking that rule and fighting for someone would result in Rio losing all his memories of that person. He could intervene without penalty as long as he had this mask Sora had given him, but...

“There are only five masks, Dragon King,” Sora warned.

Unfortunately, they were single-use items, and limited in number. Incidentally, this rule would activate even if Sora moved on Rio’s behalf. In terms of order, as the master, Rio would first lose his memories, which would then cause Sora to lose hers. Thus, Sora couldn’t go to save them either.

“Yeah... Even if we make a move, it’ll be after we assess the situation a little more.”

Rio calmed himself, continuing his observation of the situation unfolding in Rodania.

“Those people no longer remember you, Dragon King. They won’t feel any gratitude if you save them. If you intervene over every little thing like this, there’ll be no end...” Sora mumbled so quietly, not even Rio could hear her words. The reason why she didn’t say it louder was because she had seen Rio’s profile and understood. Rio truly cared about those people down below...

“...” Being unable to do anything but silently watch on had to be extremely painful. Rio clenched his fists without a word.

Meanwhile, seeing Rio like that pained Sora.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the Rodania guest house, Christina had invited Flora into her bedroom. There, she took out a ring from the safe hidden in her closet and showed it to Flora.

“Christina, that’s...” Flora blinked.

“You’ve seen it before. This is the regalia used in the succession ceremony of the Beltrum throne.”

“Y-You took it with you?!” Unaware, Flora was shocked.

“Yes. This is an extremely important item, so you must take it and leave for Galarc first,” Christina said, using a cord to tie it around Flora’s neck like a pendant.

“Okay...”

“I don’t have time to explain the details. This is an item to be used in the near future. Until then, you must not show it to anyone. And if anything happens to me, you will be the one—”

“N-No!” In a rare act for Flora, she cut off her sister in a rough tone.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I will look after this, but I’m returning it to you. So don’t say anything like that.”

Squeezing the regalia underneath her clothes, Flora objected to Christina’s unfinished sentence with a tearful look.

“...Fine.” Christina nodded with a gentle smile. Just then, a panicked knock came from the door.

“Come in,” Christina called out.

Vanessa opened the door and stepped inside. “We’ve received more contact from a nearby fort. The enemy fleet has been spotted in the distance. Please return to the central office immediately.”

“All right. Vanessa, take Flora to where Sir Hiroaki and Roanna are. Once you’ve escorted them to the harbor, return to the office.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Thus, Christina returned to the central office.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Professor Celia...”

Christina was greeted by the addition of Celia and Roland in the central office. Sara, Orphia, and Alma had accompanied them as guards.

“Duke Huguenot has explained the situation to us.”

“In that case, you should all head to the harbor immediately. The airship is preparing to depart right about now.”

“Okay...” Celia nodded hesitantly. She wanted to say she’d stay behind, but she didn’t know if she’d be of any use doing so. Besides, if Celia said she wanted to stay, Sara’s group might say the same. But they were outsiders—she couldn’t drag them into her personal matters, so she restrained herself.

“Count Claire, you head to Galarc too.”

“...Understood.”

Roland probably wanted to stay back as well. But after a brief look of hesitation, he nodded slowly.

With the situation as it was, there was no telling if Duke Arbor’s faction would adhere to their agreement. Yet at the same time, Christina’s side couldn’t act against the agreement either. If Roland offered his assistance here, he would be breaking the position of neutrality he previously agreed to.

“Go now. Everyone, Professor Celia’s safety is in your hands.”

“Right.”

Entrusted with Celia, Sara and the others nodded.

“I see them! It’s the main government’s fleet!”

One of the upper nobles in the office pointed out the window and shouted. The office window looked over not only the city, but far past the city walls. He was pointing at the fleet of enchanted airships in the distant sky.

“They’re here. Now hurry!”

“Okay!”

Celia and the others rushed towards the harbor.

“Deploy the Aerial Knights for contact with the enemy,” Marquess Rodan ordered. A sorcerer on the veranda fired a signal flare up into the sky using magic. Shortly after, a hundred knights on griffins rose into the Rodanian sky.

There were three hundred Aerial Knights in the Rodanian army, so exactly a third of them had been mobilized.

However, this was merely a demonstration of Rodania’s preparations to counterattack. The standard wartime strategy would be for the incoming fleet to stop on the lake, allowing their foot soldiers to disembark and invade the city. Once the main army’s fleet landed on the water, the Restoration would temporarily withdraw the troops over the city.

But something was wrong. The fleet of airships didn’t show any signs of deceleration. One and a half minutes later, they realized the fleet had passed the lake they were expected to stop on.

“Don’t tell me... Do they intend on charging forward like this?”

Unrest spread throughout the central office. It wasn’t because it was a bad move for them, but rather because they were unable to understand what the enemy was thinking.

To the Aerial Knights, an airship was an easy target. Capturing a city by rushing the whole fleet at it was considered a suicidal move. Even if a portion of the ships landed in the city’s harbor, the loss of all the other ships would be devastating. The foot soldiers would be isolated in the city with no cover in the air. Thus, rushing at a city siege with a fleet like this was considered one of the worst plans possible.

“Send the counterattack force to attack, but leave the backup unit behind. Concentrate fire at the approaching airships.”

Marquess Rodan followed the common practice of warfare, immediately giving his perfectly reasonable orders for the situation.

“R-Right away!”

The sorcerer on the veranda fired another magic signal flare, sending out the orders. Soon, eighty new Aerial Knights had joined the others in the sky.

“That’s...” Just then, Christina and the others noticed a group of people on griffins, approaching from a different direction to the fleet.

“That appears to be the enemy’s vanguard.”

“Such a small unit like that? Impossible, there must be more troops...”

The incoming enemy unit was formed of a mere twelve soldiers. Considering how Rodania was a fortress city, there didn’t seem to be enough force for them to be a special attack unit. In fact—

“They’re being far too reckless. Are they trying to die?”

As Marquess Rodan said, it was a suicidal act. They were completely outnumbered. The moment they neared the city, they would be surrounded by the counterattack force and suffer concentrated fire from every angle.

Sure enough, the Aerial Knights stationed above Rodania noticed the approaching unit. A few dozen knights moved to intercept them, creating a circular formation to surround them.

“Is that...a demi-dragon? Are they Proxian forces?” Duke Huguenot spotted a single demi-dragon among the enemy’s forces.

“But even so, a single demi-dragon can’t...”

One creature couldn’t possibly have any effect on the suicidal outcome, Marquess Rodan decided implicitly. However, this judgment of his had been made on the assumption that the twelve people approaching were all regular Aerial Knights.

“Wha...?”

It wasn’t long until the upper nobles of the Restoration would learn that someone could be so powerful, they could overturn their entire knowledge of warfare.

◇ ◇ ◇

Several minutes prior, once the city bells were ringing and the Beltrum fleet had drawn near, Charles and his squad began their attack on Rodania.

They all mounted up and departed from the camp by the spring, advancing towards Rodania ahead of the main fleet. They continued flying until they were on the edge of the detection range of the Rodanian troops, where Charles called out to Reiss in a worried voice. “W-Will everything really work out like this, Mister Reiss? If we continue charging forward, the enemy will notice the attack.”

Reiss scolded him lightly from the griffin beside him. “As I told you multiple times before we departed from the spring, just believe in the power of the heroes that dominated the Divine War.”

During the planning stages of the attack, Charles had received a detailed explanation of everything. However, as the fortress city of Rodania drew closer, the apprehension within him increased as well.

His hesitation was most reasonable as well. Invading a city with this many people was pure recklessness. The moment they charged at the enemy troops, they would immediately be surrounded and subjected to focused fire.

No matter how amazing the hero’s power was explained to him in words, it was only natural for him to have his doubts until he witnessed Renji’s immense power in person.

However, the defending Rodanian troops had already noticed their approach. The rhythm of the ringing bells changed. Griffin-riding Aerial Knights rose to the sky above Rodania.

“It’s too late to turn back now,” Reiss said cheerfully.

“Indeed so. I will believe in you!” Charles had also prepared himself.

“Move as planned! I will charge forward and draw the enemy’s attention. You all stay back!” Renji called out to his comrades, showing no sign of fear.

The mercenaries accompanying Reiss were all members of the Heavenly Lions. Among them were members who had participated in the attack on the Galarc Castle, such as Lucci, who had inherited Lucius’s sword, and Arein.

“Heh. That’s some confidence,” Lucci muttered bitterly, but he slowed down as ordered. It seemed he had some faith in Renji’s power. Reiss, Arein, and the other mercenaries also decreased their speed. Charles tugged the reins of his griffin to follow suit.

The winged lizard Renji was riding was the only one to accelerate towards Rodania.

The vanguard of Aerial Knights from the Restoration had already begun to surround their squad. They began to chant their attack spells as Renji came within range.

“Here he goes.” Reiss chuckled at the sight of countless spells closing in on Renji. In the next moment, Renji swung his halberd Divine Arms.

“Wha...?!”

The rain of attack spells was erased in a single wave of frosty air. That wave proceeded to swallow up the Aerial Knights, freezing them over in the blink of an eye. The cold air could be felt even by the squad behind Renji. Thus, as he watched the frozen enemies fall out of the sky—

“Ha... Ha ha ha!” After a brief loss of words, Charles burst into exhilarated laughter.

“Your woes were needless. See?”

“Yes, I can see now that they were completely unfounded worries. How wonderful! With this power, we could control the city all by ourselves!” Charles shouted excitedly. If the same attack was used on the ground below, the city’s defense would be annihilated in an instant.

“If damage to the city didn’t matter, then perhaps. But the hero’s attack hits far too wide of a range; it would cause devastation to the city itself. The best option would be to leave the ground troops to our soldiers, as planned.”

Was their goal to take over administration of the city, or to reduce it until nothing was left? The tactics behind a war naturally changed according to the goal.

“Indeed. Greater damages will hinder tax collection after occupation. I can’t believe such basics slipped my mind—my excitement got the best of me. We will continue with obtaining control of the air as planned and aim for control of the harbor before the main fleet arrives. Their top figures are most likely evacuating through the harbor right now.”

Charles repeated the plan out loud to calm himself.

“Very well. The enemy Aerial Knights are completely focused on Renji now. Things are about to get even more interesting.”

The enemy seemed to have realized Renji was a major threat, as they were facing him with far more than a single squad. Almost all of Rodania’s Aerial Knights had been mobilized.

“I will lure as many of the enemy out as possible, then hit them all with a large attack. Make sure you don’t move in front of me!” Renji warned, then charged into the enemy; he clashed with the Aerial Knights protecting Rodania all by himself.

“Guh! Stop him!”

“Surround him and fire your magic!”

The Aerial Knights flew to surround Renji, firing their attack magic with desperation. But each swing of Renji’s halberd created a frosty shock wave through the area, erasing every spell within its range; that shock wave would hit the enemies that cast the spells, freezing them over. The Aerial Knights carefully maintained their distance while they attacked, but Renji had more attack methods than just a shock wave. He created spears of ice one after another, firing them in every direction. One by one the knights fell to the ground, whether it was by freezing over or being pierced by an ice spear.

The entire aerial force of Rodania was completely preoccupied with Renji alone. The rest of the attack squad outside the city were able to watch on leisurely.

“Man, you sure picked up a bargain, Mister Reiss,” Lucci said to Reiss.

“Right? I almost want to scout him for us,” Arein added.

“Whether or not he joins the Heavenly Lions aside, he may be joining you on your missions more often in the future.”

“If every mission were like this, life would be a breeze,” Lucci joked lightly, making the other mercenaries laugh.

The amiable atmosphere around them made it hard to believe a massacre was happening several hundred meters away, but the death of enemy soldiers was of no concern to mercenaries like them. It was merely a daily occurrence for them.

“...”

In contrast, Charles’s subordinates were holding their breaths at Renji’s overwhelming power. Their expressions were closer to those of fear. What if he turned that power on them? That was the thought that flashed across their mind. Meanwhile—

“What a marvelous sight. To think that the heroes had this much power... Could Sir Rui learn this too?”

The change of position had provided Charles a change of perspective. He wondered if he could get his kingdom’s hero, Shigekura Rui, to be an active military asset as well.

While he was entertaining such thoughts, the battle continued. Rodania wasn’t the Restoration’s headquarters for nothing. Losing here would equal losing their base. Everyone seemed to understand that, as they all fought desperately to repel Renji.

“Heh. Your comrades are being defeated so one-sidedly, yet you’re still charging at me without fear. How gallant.”

Renji glanced around at the enemies with an impressed look. Then, he grinned boldly. Part of the reason was because he was purely enjoying the battle, but another part of the reason was because he was pleased that the enemies were deploying exactly as they had planned.

In other words, because Renji was currently deep within the enemy line, Rodania’s troops had completely broken their formation. Drawing the attention of as many enemies as possible before taking them all down with a single move was what Reiss had ordered of him.

“Fine... I guess I’ll test the power I’ve learned on this battlefield.”

Everything was set. Renji temporarily retreated to where Reiss and the others were to prepare his magic essence for his next big attack.

Rodania’s troops chased after him. But that was a mistake.

“O eternal cold, heed my wish and encroach upon the world.”

For some reason, Renji started chanting a line that differed from the other spells of their world.

This was a result of the lessons on spirit arts he had received from Reiss. After being taught that actions and words that enhanced the caster’s image of the spell increased the spell’s effect, he had come up with his own unique chant. He could control his Divine Arts even without saying anything out loud, but once he had confirmed that the chant actually had an effect, he decided to save it for before he was about to use his ultimate attack.

The strongest attack Renji could do was an ice elemental attack.

“Endless Force Blizzard!”

Renji released a fan-shaped blast the temperature of absolute zero air at the knights flying above Rodania. The atmosphere froze over where the wave passed through, and any knight that touched the air instantly froze as well.

“Wha...”

The Aerial Knights at the rear gasped at the sight of their comrades falling one after another before them.

“R-Retreat!”

When they noticed the visible wave of cold air approaching, the remaining Aerial Knights turned to run from the attack. But the cold wave moved faster than a griffin could fly.

“Ignis Iecit!”

Some of the knights cast one-meter-wide fireballs at the wave, but the flames that burned at over a thousand degrees shattered the moment they touched the air.

More than a hundred Aerial Knights were killed in an instant.

◇ ◇ ◇

Christina and the others in the central office were helpless as they watched the Aerial Knights being frozen by Renji’s powerful attack.

“Your Highness, Your Excellency,” Marquess Rodan said, addressing Christina and Duke Huguenot.

“Yes?”

“The reserve Aerial Knights will be deployed to protect the harbor with their lives. They will buy you the time to flee.”

“But Sir Hiroaki and the others only just left...”

The airship that Hiroaki and Celia boarded had left the harbor a mere one to two minutes ago. Christina found it questionable to leave so soon after declaring she wouldn’t be fleeing immediately.

However, it was clear her response was just a bluff. After witnessing the defeat of over a hundred aerial troops in an instant, Christina’s face was frozen stiff.

“As you can see, the airships in the rear guard are continuously deploying enemy Aerial Knights to attack. It is only a matter of time before we lose control of the air. Once that happens, we will have no means of retreat.”

As Marquess Rodan described, Aerial Knights on griffins were taking off from the enemy airships that had decelerated. It was clear that they intended on using those troops to take out the remaining Rodanian knights and seize control of the air, allowing the fleet to land in Rodania’s harbor.

“...”

“Above all, we must be wary of that man riding the demi-dragon. That man is bad news. The situation is clearly not in our favor, and any further delay in judgment would be dangerous. Please consider departing,” Marquess Rodan pleaded earnestly.

“What will you do?”

“This is my territory.”

That’s why he would remain. That was Marquess Rodan’s answer.

“The residents haven’t even finished evacuating yet.”

“Have you forgotten the agreement that you just signed?”

“And they’re doing this right after the signing of that agreement! There’s no telling if Duke Arbor will even follow the agreement forbidding any harm to the residents of the kingdom... If I flee here, I will be seen as abandoning the people. We will lose the justification of our organization.”

“That’s why I will remain as the territory lord. As I just said, this is my territory. Responsibility falls on me, not Your Highness. Besides, if it’s the main government that is invading, their goal will be to capture. There will be no justification to be concerned about if our defeat is finalized with your capture, Your Highness.”

“You will still have Flora,” Christina said hesitantly.

“I ask this with all due respect: Do you truly believe Princess Flora could serve as your replacement?”

“...”

“Please consider your own duty carefully.”

Marquess Rodan kneeled before Christina; he had held the number two position in Duke Huguenot’s faction for a very long time. He had done some questionable things over the years to protect that position, but his career was not just for show.

The nobles of Duke Huguenot’s faction valued their reputation and personal interests. However, they never looked down upon the royal family. Their respect for royalty was what allowed them to conduct themselves gracefully as nobility. Of course, not every one of them was like that, but Marquess George Rodan certainly was.

“I understand... I am grateful for your loyalty. But that is why you are too valuable to lose here. Thus, I order you to survive. Do not die. After we have escaped, find a way to live—no matter how disgraceful. When we are reunited, I vow to repay your loyalty.” Knowing just how difficult that would be, Christina chose her words carefully.

“It is my honor to hear that. Your Excellency, I leave Her Highness in your hands.”

“Indeed.”

Marquess Rodan and Duke Huguenot exchanged a serious look and nodded.

Thus, Christina and Duke Huguenot’s evacuation was decided, and they quickly set off for the harbor to board the airship departing after Hiroaki and Celia.

◇ ◇ ◇

Immediately after Renji used his attack to crush the Rodanian troops...

“...” The overwhelming display of power had left Charles and his subordinates completely speechless.

It seems the important figures have all evacuated to the harbor. Though Princess Christina still appears to be inside the main building...

Meanwhile, Reiss was keeping a close eye on the enemy’s movements. When he spotted Hiroaki, Flora, and Celia on the road from the guest house to the harbor, he sneered.

“Sir Charles.”

“...”

“Sir Charles. Sir Charles.”

“Wh-Wha? Oh, right. Yes, Mister Reiss?” Charles replied, snapping back to his senses.

“We’ve discovered a rat. Your former fiancée is with them.”

“What?” Charles stared in the direction Reiss pointed towards.

“Princess Flora and their hero are there, but our main target is not. Princess Christina is probably still within the building, taking command.”

“Hmm...”

“Our allied Aerial Knights will soon arrive to clean up their remaining troops. Would you like us to seize control of the harbor? You could perhaps go after Princess Christina in the meantime.”

If Charles could capture the leader of the Restoration, he would be commended greatly. It was an opportune chance to redeem his honor.

“Then... May I leave the harbor to you?”

“Of course.” Charles grinned.

◇ ◇ ◇

Some time before Renji used his powerful attack against Rodania’s Aerial Knights...

“I’m sorry... I’ve dragged you all into something terrible,” Celia apologized while she waited for the carriage to leave the guest house.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.”

“Yup, we’re escorting you out of our own will.”

“I’m glad we could be here for you.”

Sara, Orphia, and Alma replied brightly.

“Thank you...” Faint tears welled in Celia’s eyes. Roland was watching his daughter and her friends with a warm expression.

Shortly after that, the carriage for the harbor arrived. At the same time, the sky battle between Renji and the Aerial Knights had just begun.

“Wha...”

The spirit folk girls were wide-eyed at the sight of Renji blowing away dozens of attack spells at once. As skilled spirit art casters themselves, they could tell his ability was stupendous.

“Please get on board. We will run alongside you as guards.”

“Okay.”

At Sara’s grim-faced urging, Celia and Roland boarded the carriage. But soon after they departed, at the bottom of the hill...

“Celia, there’s a carriage stopped in front!” The report arrived from Sara outside.

◇ ◇ ◇

The guarded carriage that Hiroaki, Flora, and Roanna boarded had departed from the guest house a mere minute before Celia’s did.

“Are you serious...?” Hiroaki muttered, face twitching as he looked out the window at Renji’s fight.

Is that guy a hero? Who does he think he is, fighting like that...?

When he saw Renji’s face in the distance, he realized he was a fellow Japanese person.

What the hell, man?

A chill ran down Hiroaki’s spine as he watched Renji continuously use wide-ranged attacks, killing his opponents without a care in the world.

His sensibility was what should have been the norm for a modern Japanese person that grew up with no war or conflict. There were many who would enjoy a harmless mock battle, but this was a real war with lives at risk.

Any ordinary person would feel fear if their peaceful life in town was disrupted by war. Whether or not they had a means of fighting didn’t matter. Only those who had received military training would choose to participate in actively killing others—unless they lacked sanity or rationality in the first place, that is.

Hiroaki was an ordinary person. Whether or not Renji was abnormal aside, he was willingly participating in the battle here.

“Whoa!”

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

“What happened?” Roanna immediately asked the driver.

“We’ve found more subjects of protection. We were just about to explain the situation to them so that they can come with us to the airship.”

“Subjects of protection...?”

Roanna opened the carriage door out of curiosity, sticking her head outside.

“Oh, it’s Roanna!”

Someone called her name—it was Saiki Rei, one of the two boys who had been working with her a lot recently.

“Rei, Kouta.”

“What, is it just you two?” Hiroaki said, stepping down from the carriage.

“Hiroaki!”

The two immediately noticed Hiroaki.

“Things are a mess right now ’cause of an enemy attack. You should all get in the carriage as well—”

Hiroaki promptly invited the two to come along, when he noticed that it wasn’t just Rei and Kouta outside. Rei’s fiancée Rosa and her friend Mikaela were with them. There were others that Hiroaki didn’t know the names of, but they seemed to be a large group of noncombatant noble children.

“All right, Kouta and Rei will run. The rest of you won’t fit in the carriage. Rosa and Mikaela, was it? You two get in.”

Hiroaki decided on inviting the two he recognized by face into the carriage.

“Erm...”

They could see that the Second Princess Flora and Roanna of Duke Fontaine’s family were inside the carriage. Lower nobles like themselves couldn’t possibly intrude in the space of such important figures. Rosa and Mikaela attempted to decline the offer, but—

“Go on, get in. Kouta and I are basically friends with Hiroaki, so you’re allowed this much.”

Rei urged the two of them into the carriage, not bothering to give a proper explanation. Thus, the two of them boarded the carriage.

“So why were you all out on the roads?”

“All noncombatants were given the order to evacuate, so we were heading to the enchanted airships in the harbor.”

“Then we’re headed the same way. Let’s get out of here.”

While Rosa and Mikaela were boarding the carriage, Hiroaki exchanged information with Rei and Kouta. Just then, another carriage came down the road leading from the guest house.

“Everyone...?”

The people on board were the late-departing group from the guest house, Celia and Roland. Sara, Orphia, and Alma were escorting the carriage.

“Professor Celia,” Roanna called out as Celia got out of her carriage.

“Roanna... This carriage still has space. Those without a means of self-defense can get on first,” Celia offered to Roanna, immediately reading the situation.

The sky above Rodania turned into a world of ice shortly after that. Renji released his absolute-zero air wave, wiping out the Aerial Knights of Rodania. At the sight of a hundred-odd knights freezing over and falling out of the sky, Celia doubted her eyes.

“Huh...?”

And she wasn’t the only one. Although they hadn’t been touched by Renji’s ice wave, everyone with her was frozen in shock.

“This is bad...” Sara mumbled. As another caster of the ice element, she instinctively knew from that cold wave that he was a greater caster than her.

“Celia, please hurry to the harbor as fast as you can,” she said with urgency.

“Huh?”

“Hurry! If he comes this way, we’re doomed!”

“R-Right! Roanna!”

Celia whipped around to Roanna.

“E-Everyone, hurry to the harbor!” Roanna shrieked, causing everyone there to start rushing away. Hiroaki also made to board the carriage in a fluster.

But before they could set off again, Renji and Reiss rapidly descended to where they all were.

“They’re coming!” Alma screamed, bracing the mace in her hand. Sara and Orphia also prepared themselves for battle, grabbing their dagger and bow respectively.

“Damn it...”

Hiroaki hesitated over whether to get on the carriage or not. He felt like doing so would result in even more danger—so he took out his Divine Arms and readied himself for battle as well.

“Hah!” Renji accelerated on his demi-dragon, gliding rapidly through the air over their heads. He jumped down from the demi-dragon’s back once he passed them, landing gracefully in the middle of the path to the harbor.

He slammed the end of his halberd against the ground. A thick wall of ice immediately rose behind him, sealing the road off.

“The harbor is off limits. You shall not pass,” he announced to Hiroaki and the group before him.

“...”

The group stood there speechless, with one exception.

“Ah... I can tell how you’re a delusional punk trying to live his fantasy daydreams from that one line alone. ‘Off limits’? ‘You shall not pass’? You’re just saying whatever you think sounds cool. But being such a tryhard just makes you look like an idiot instead. Nice way to introduce yourself.”

Was it because he had ascertained that the other was Japanese? Or was it because he believed that other heroes had the same level of strength as himself? Perhaps Renji’s youthful face and small frame made him appear as less of a threat.

The first thing Hiroaki did after opening his mouth was mock Renji.

“What did you just say?”

“You’re a hero, aren’t you? An ice one.”

“And you’re the water hero. Your name was...”

Reiss must have given him information in advance, as Renji seemed to know Hiroaki was the hero of water. However...

“...”

“Well, whatever.”

He had apparently forgotten Hiroaki’s name.

“Then at least tell me yours.”

Renji shook his head in annoyance. “I have no reason to.”

“Then I’ll call you a delusional brat,” Hiroaki said with a smirk.

“I’m a high schooler,” Renji said sullenly.

“Ah? You’re so short I thought you were in middle school. Especially considering the fantasy delusions and all.”

“It seems you want to die today.”

“Ha. If you’re getting so worked up over being called short, you must really be a brat.”

Hiroaki saw straight through Renji’s insecurity and pointed it out. While the two heroes were bickering, Sara’s group got Celia and the others to move back.

“You’re looking down on me, aren’t you? Me, of all people.”

The temperature around Renji dropped even further.

“You’re the one looking down on others. What are you doing all of this for?”

“I’m a mercenary.”

“What?”

“You lot are having a civil war, aren’t you? I was just hired as a mercenary. That’s all I’m doing. But I now have a vendetta against you. That will be my new reason for fighting.”

With those words, Renji pointed his halberd at Hiroaki.

“What a coincidence. I’ve just decided I hate you too. Did you think you’d be a protagonist if you refused to belong to a kingdom?”

“You’d be the background hero that harasses the protagonist until he’s exiled.”

“Man, I hate types like you the most. You’re so in love with yourself, you think you’re the protagonist. You think you’re the most important person in the world, and you think you’re the strongest. Am I wrong? I’d bet you can’t use honorific speech either.”

“You’re not using it either.”

“Hey now, I’m already nineteen. But I suppose a middle schooler like you never spoke politely to your upperclassmen either, huh?”

They bickered back and forth like that. Insults drew more insults, creating a war of words between Hiroaki and Renji. But eventually—

“That’s enough.”

With his anger gauge reaching its limit, Renji readied his halberd for battle.

“Wait, Renji.”

Just then, Reiss arrived. He had descended with Lucci, Arein, and two other mercenaries.

“What, so your name is Renji.”

“...What is it?” Ignoring Hiroaki mockingly calling his name, Renji turned to Reiss impatiently.

“There are many people here who can make themselves useful, so please be aware of your surroundings when you fight. And ensure you knock out the water hero with a blunt blow,” Reiss ordered, getting off his griffin behind Renji.

“That’s a lot of orders.”

“I’m requesting this of you because I believe you can do it. Or is it too hard for you?”

Renji snorted. “Hmph. Piece of cake.”

“And so, please focus on dealing with the water hero. If the others try anything funny, we will deal with them ourselves,” Reiss said, looking over at Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Celia.

“Hello, ladies.”

“You really are a persistent lot,” Sara muttered in annoyance.

“Not always. But we lost Ven and many of our other comrades at your castle, so we’re here to avenge them today.”

Lucci glared at her fiercely, drawing the black sword he had inherited after Lucius. Beside him, Arein drew his sword as well. The other two mercenaries did the same.

“Everyone, stay back.”

Sara, Orphia, and Alma readied their weapons. They were up against four mercenaries, including Lucci and Arein, as well as Reiss. It seemed like they would be forced into a three-on-five battle, when—

“I will fight too,” Celia said, joining them.

“As a sorcerer like Celia, I will offer my assistance to the best of my abilities as well.”

Unwilling to let his daughter fight alone, Roland joined the rear guard. This made the lineup five against five, but...

“Hey, I’m going to take that brat on myself. If the others move, I want you to deal with them. That sound clear?”

It seemed like Hiroaki desired a one-on-one with Renji.

“Yes... But will you be okay?” Sara asked worriedly.

“I’m a hero as well. Leave it to me.”

It seemed that being up against a younger Japanese boy really had an effect on Hiroaki’s confidence.

“That boy is a formidable opponent. Please be careful.”

Sara was yet to have a good understanding of Hiroaki’s strength, so she hesitated over leaving the battle to him. But she didn’t have the leisure to worry about him either. The opponents they were up against weren’t easy opponents by any means either.

“I’ll let you move first. Use whatever move you want,” Renji said, still pointing his halberd at Hiroaki.

“Ha. Are you kidding me?” Hiroaki furrowed his brow in discontent.

“Not at all. You’ll never win against me. I’m going to teach you that shortly.”

“I’ll take you up on that challenge. Bring it on!”

“Hmph. You’ll soon see the difference between us,” Renji said with a triumphant smirk.

“Since you’re offering so nicely, I guess I’ll go first.”

Hiroaki readied his sword, increasing his magic essence.

Sara and Reiss’s groups were also waiting for Hiroaki to make the first move. They knew he had the tendency to use big and bland moves. The road wasn’t that wide, so they wanted to avoid unnecessarily colliding with his attack.

“Take this!”

Hiroaki shouted, swinging his sword vertically. Enough water to turn the road into a river flowed from his sword, rushing at Renji and Reiss. But neither of them bothered to dodge the attack.

Behind Reiss’s squad was the ice wall Renji had created. At this rate, the violent torrent of water would wash them away and smash the thick ice. But Renji pointed his halberd forward and froze the incoming water in an instant.

“Wha...” Hiroaki was flabbergasted.

Then, instead of running on the ice-covered road, Renji started running along the wall of the nearby building, drawing closer to Hiroaki.

“W-Wall-running?! Guh...!”

Despite his shock, Hiroaki attempted to intercept Renji with a slash of water. But even that was frozen in midair.

“Didn’t you know?” Renji called out as he leaped off the wall, swinging his halberd at Hiroaki.

“Huh?!” Hiroaki braced his sword to block the halberd.

“Water can’t win against ice.” Renji leaned right up into Hiroaki’s face and smirked.

“You really are delusional... Can you even last five minutes without spouting cliché bullshit?”

Hiroaki pushed back with all his might, forcing Renji and his halberd to fly back towards the wall.

“Oh? It seems you have some physical strength, at least.”

Renji used the wall as a foothold to kill his momentum, then leaped from the wall back into the air.

“Dumbass!” Hiroaki used another water slash while Renji was vulnerable in the air.

“Still don’t get it?” The water slash froze before it reached Renji, falling to the ground.

“Tch!”

If it didn’t work on the first try, it had to work eventually—that was what Hiroaki seemed to be saying by releasing slash after slash of water.

“We won’t be able to make a move like this...”

As expected, the clash of two Divine Arms was turning into a dull battle of pure power. They wouldn’t be able to intervene like this. Sara’s group backed away from the fight to avoid getting involved—with the exception of Orphia, who climbed onto a rooftop to keep an eye on Reiss, whom they couldn’t see clearly past all the ice. At present, Reiss and his underlings weren’t able to move freely either, so they were watching the fight. However...

Is he bothered by something?

It seemed like Reiss’s squad were on guard against something else. As though they expected to be attacked by a third party...

“Feel like giving up yet? You won’t be able to win against me.”

“Stop trying to make yourself sound like the superior one. You conceited narcissist.”

“But I am superior to a background character like you. I’ll teach you your place.”

“You’re not the protagonist! The ice element just screams of a gloomy loner anyway! Go home and dream of imaginary ice spells or something!”

“I already have—Endless Force Blizzard. The spell I used against those flying knights.”

“You seriously did it already? And with such a lame name...”

Their conversation sounded absolutely comical, but the two speakers were completely serious. After all, their attacks didn’t cease as they spoke to each other.

Hiroaki was desperate not to lose to Renji, but he eventually ran out of stamina.

“Hah... Hah...”

“Do you finally see the difference in our strength?”

In contrast to Hiroaki’s heavy breathing, Renji had a composed look on his face.

“You think you can look down on me?”

“I was ordered to knock you out, you see. I also needed to demonstrate the differences in our strength after you looked down on me. But...” Renji approached Hiroaki, leaning forward to get right in his space.

Here he comes! Hiroaki thought, bracing himself.

“Wh-What?!” But he toppled off-balance. His feet had been frozen, preventing him from moving. Hiroaki looked down at his feet.

When did he...?!

“It’s over.”

With Renji’s voice came a hit to the back of Hiroaki’s head. At some point, Renji had rounded behind Hiroaki, striking his head with the handle of his halberd.

“Wha...t...?” Hiroaki swayed. If his feet hadn’t been frozen, he would have stumbled on the spot. Instead, he completely lost his balance and collapsed unconscious.

“Urgh...”

When Hiroaki twitched, Renji struck him with the halberd once more.

“Go to sleep.”

“Sir Hiroaki?!” Flora and Roanna screamed, having watched the whole battle.

“Grr...”

Sara, Orphia, and Alma each readied their weapons.

“Hmm...” Instead of turning to fight Sara’s group, Renji pointed the end of his halberd at Hiroaki’s throat. In other words...

“Y-You’re taking him hostage?” The girls’ faces stiffened.

“Don’t bother calling me a coward. This is war. If you don’t care about this guy, then come at me. And just so you know, I won’t go easy on you for being women. If you’re armed with a weapon, then we’re equals,” Renji said to Sara and the others in warning.

“Oh, how wonderful. You’ve truly grown, Renji.”

The sound of Reiss’s applause echoed along the frozen street. He hopped onto the ice, standing firmly without sliding around.

“So what now?” Renji asked, looking back at Reiss.

“Well, it’d be nice if this were the end, but...” Reiss said.

Just then, bullets of magic essence dozens of centimeters wide came raining down before Renji.

◇ ◇ ◇

Far above Rodania’s skies, Rio was watching the fight between Hiroaki and Renji. Renji had swung his halberd, knocking Hiroaki out.

“...” At that moment, Rio put on his mask in silence. It was a silent indication of his intent to intervene. But just as he began his descent—

“Dragon King!” Sora called out.

“...” Rio paused and looked back at her.

“During the Divine War, the Dragon King used his powers for others many, many times. But all those cases counted towards fulfilling his duty. This conflict between humans is clearly unrelated to your duty. Intervening will definitely activate the rules.”

“Yup, I know.”

“There’s a limited number of masks. Will you still intervene anyway?”

“I’m sorry, Sora. I’m probably going to use up one of the precious masks you gave me.”

“That’s not something you need to apologize for... That’s not... That’s not what Sora wanted to say...”

As a transcendent one, Rio had already become a figure unconnected to the residents of this world. Even if he saved them, they wouldn’t express any gratitude to him. Or even worse—they might be temporarily grateful to him, but they’d soon forget about how he saved them. Like a worm-eaten antique book, only their memories related to Rio would disappear.

Sure, the situation might be fine this time. They had a mask on hand. But if he kept intervening in human conflict time and time again, the five masks they had wouldn’t last for long. Then, if he intervened without a mask, Rio would lose his memories. The people he saved today would one day become people he wouldn’t even think of saving.

Saving them would result in lost memories on both sides. There would be no reason left to fight for someone. It would leave a large, gaping hole within him. That was something Sora had experienced herself, which was why she earnestly pleaded for Rio to reconsider.

“Thank you. But if I don’t move here, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. That, I’m sure of. That’s why I want to go—that’s why I will go,” Rio said with a gentle smile. Even though the memory loss for both sides should have been terrifying, he knew he wouldn’t regret his actions.

“...” At Rio’s resolution to sacrifice himself, Sora swallowed her words. At the same time, she realized something—no, she remembered it.

“That’s right... The Dragon King has always been this kind of person. He would throw himself at problems for the sake of others, even if no one remembered him, thanked him, or lingered in his own memories. He was always kind to others. That’s why Sora...”

Sora recalled the days of one thousand years ago. They would save people even if it meant the people forgot them, and they forgot the people. They would lose all sight of what they were fighting for, yet Sora never felt empty. And that was because...

Because the Dragon King was there.

The overwhelming feeling of loneliness had been drowned out, replaced with kindness. All by the sole presence of the Dragon King.

That’s why there was no need to hesitate.

Just like how the loneliness of the disciples was filled by the transcendent ones, the loneliness of the transcendent ones could be filled by the disciples.

“Go, Dragon King! Sora will be with you all the way!” Sora said wholeheartedly.

“Okay,” Rio nodded. He then began his descent while firing bullets of magic essence downwards. The bullets that easily surpassed the speed of sound stopped right before Renji, who had just taken Hiroaki hostage on the ground.

“Huh?!”

At the attack that had seemingly come out of nowhere, Renji abandoned Hiroaki and leaped back.

“So he chose to intervene,” Reiss muttered with an annoyed sigh.

Immediately after that, the orbs of light disappeared. They were replaced by the sight of two people standing beside Hiroaki. The white-haired boy in a mask was naturally Rio, while the other was a hooded Sora. Sora stood one step behind Rio in deference.

So Reiss is alive... Rio stared at Reiss’s face from behind his mask.

“Who is that...?” Roanna asked in confusion. Based on the situation, she had deduced he was an ally, but she had absolutely no idea who it could be.

“Hssshaaah!”

Suddenly, the demi-dragon Renji had been riding hissed at Rio and Sora in fear.

“Silence. Whom do you think you’re in front of?” Sora snapped with a glare. The demi-dragon immediately quietened with a pathetic whine.

“How about we call it a day?” Reiss suddenly offered.

“A day...?” Renji echoed with a suspicious look.

“I can’t do anything about the squad invading the city, but we can at least abandon our post here.”

“Wh-What are you saying, Reiss?! We’ve already come this far!”

From an objective point of view, their victory was all but guaranteed. It was only reasonable for Renji to react to Reiss’s retreat suggestion with anger.

“The Beltrum Kingdom’s Aerial Knights far outnumber the remaining Aerial Knights of Rodania. We’ve already won. The city is all but seized already,” Reiss said, looking up at the sky to the west.

“Then why would we retreat here?”

“I mean, just look at him. Doesn’t he scream of trouble to you? We’re just participating in this battle as mercenaries, so there’s no need to overexert ourselves here.”

“Are you saying this suspicious guy in a mask could defeat me? He might have made a dramatic arrival, but he’s standing there completely unarmed!” Renji roared in objection.

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but you don’t want to fight us either, do you?” Reiss asked Rio, ignoring Renji.

Wait... Does he still have memories of me?

Rio stared at Reiss dubiously. His words implied they were meeting for the first time, but there was something fishy about his attitude. Reiss stared back at Rio with an unreadable expression. They sized each other up warily for some moments, but Renji was discontent with that.

“Reiss. If you won’t fight him, I will,” he said, pointing his halberd at Rio with hostility.

“Well, I won’t stop you if you insist,” Reiss replied with another sigh.

While they were speaking, Rio instantly defrosted Hiroaki’s feet and picked him up in his arms. But just as he turned back to face Sora, Renji attacked Rio from behind.

“Hah!”

He closed in on Rio’s back in silence, swinging his halberd with all his might.

“Huh...?!” However, without even a glance behind him, Rio stopped Renji’s swing. To be more precise, he summoned a barrier of magic essence at his back, blocking Renji’s halberd midair.

Spirit arts...?

The spirit folk girls instantly saw through what Rio had done. Their eyes widened at the skill required for such a technique.

It wasn’t only Sara’s group who were surprised. Everyone present at the scene could sense that Rio was a formidable opponent. But whether they all accepted that was another matter.

“Tch! Don’t look down on me!” Renji yelled. He immediately began to freeze the air surrounding Rio, probably intending to freeze Rio along with his barrier.

“...” It was at this point that Rio finally looked at Renji. He cast a solid essence barrier against Renji, directly interfering with his ice spirit art. The collision of two opposing spirit arts could only lead to one result: the activation of both arts, followed by the stronger caster overwriting the art of the weaker.

And so, the ice-cold wind never ended up touching Rio. The art that Renji tried to invoke merely dispersed into nothing.

“Ngh! No way! He overwrote it...?”

The exchange of high-level arts had the spirit folk girls astounded.

“U-Urk!”

Immediately after, Rio released his essence barrier, giving it a forward movement. The fixed obstacle became a shock wave, rushing at Renji.

“Ugh...”

As Renji flew through the air, Rio aimed bullets of light essence at his body without any casting motion. But Renji created thick ice to cover the areas he was most vulnerable, blocking Rio’s attack.

He’s good...

Rio’s eyes widened at how experienced Renji seemed at combat.

“Damn it...”

Unable to completely kill his momentum, Renji landed heavily on the ground. With that, he seemed to understand that Rio was far stronger than Hiroaki. He distanced himself from Rio warily, though he still appeared to have the will to fight.

“Sora.”

“Yes!”

“Can you bring this person over to the others back there?”

While keeping a watchful eye on Renji, Rio entrusted Hiroaki to Sora. They were the first words he said after arriving at the scene.

Incidentally, they had discussed whether or not to use each other’s names in front of the others, but they had ultimately decided on referring to each other normally, since everyone would lose their memories of them anyway.

“Okay!”

Sora accepted Hiroaki’s unconscious body and swiftly carried him over to Roanna and the others at the back.

That voice...

Where had she heard it before? Celia stared at Rio in a daze, trembling as her heart beat out of her chest.

“Here, look after him.”

“R-Right...”

Sora handed Hiroaki to Roanna to be cared for. After replying nervously, Roanna cooperated with Flora to begin casting healing magic on him.

“Hmm? You’re...” Sora noticed Celia standing still nearby and stared at her face as though she had realized something.

“Sora.”

“Right away!” Sora responded cheerfully to Rio calling her name and returned to him like a loyal puppy, forgetting about everything else.

“Sorry for making so many requests. You saw the lavender-haired girl boarding the carriage at the top of the hill earlier, right?” Rio asked. The lavender-haired girl was Christina. Before they descended here, they had seen Charles’s squad chasing after her while she boarded her carriage.

“Yes!”

“Can you go bring her here safely? I’ll clean things up here in the meantime.”

Saving Christina would probably be considered moving in the interests of a specific individual, but he had already come too far to turn back. Rio entrusted Christina’s rescue to Sora as well.

“Leave it to Sora! But with all due respect, if Sora could give one piece of advice...” she said before.

“What is it?”

“Please overpower him as quickly as possible. That’s the only way of minimizing the penalty from breaking the rules!”

“Got it.”

“Sora will be off now!” Sora saluted him before vanishing, heading for the top of the hill where Christina was. While everyone else watched her depart with open mouths, Rio almost seemed to be smiling in amusement.

“What are you smiling at?” Renji snapped, displeased by the smile he could see on Rio’s uncovered mouth below his mask.

“...” Rio didn’t reply. He remained silent, which seemed to annoy Renji even more.

“Hey, don’t ignore me. You seem to enjoy acting arrogant, but you haven’t won yet. This city is done for. Don’t think you can get away!”

Renji glanced up at the sky above while taunting Rio. Three hundred Aerial Knights from the Beltrum Kingdom were descending into Rodania.

The Restoration’s Aerial knights were being driven back, the one hundred and twenty knights already reduced to under one hundred. They were holding out the best they could in an outnumbered situation, but they would probably decrease in number even faster from here.

The state of this battle will be difficult to turn around, and I can’t afford to use any more masks here—I’m only going to use this one. I’ll have to limit my intervention as much as possible.

It wouldn’t be wise for Rio to fight to the point of turning the war around. Besides, what was more troublesome was Renji’s presence—without Aishia here, he would have no means of handling him if his upper high rank spirit woke up.

It’d be a pain if the hero strengthens his assimilation, so the best move would be to knock him out quickly.

As he thought that, Rio used spirit arts to create a simple dirt stick roughly one and a half meters in length. With the rule that removed memories of himself from other people in place, he had no need to worry about using spirit arts in front of others. In a way, that actually made it easier to fight than before.

“What are you going to do with a tiny stick like that?”

“I’m going to let the people here escape, that’s what.”

That was the first time Rio had answered Renji.

“Let’s see you try. Stop my Cocytus if you can, that is!” Renji snapped in a roundabout way. He then charged straight forward to close the gap between them, swinging his halberd sideways at Rio.

How youthful...

Reiss thought at that moment. He had trained Renji into a formidable opponent, but he still lacked experience.

“Huh?!”

As though to prove just that, before Renji knew it, the stick Rio had trusted forward was right before him. There had been no warning in Rio’s movements before he made the skillful attack.

But Renji hadn’t trained for nothing either. His body didn’t freeze at the unexpected move—instead, he evaded it instinctively.

“Hmph—Wha?!” Renji smirked triumphantly as he took a step back. But in the next moment, he was struck in the back of the head. A pillar of stone had risen from the ground, aiming straight at his skull. Rio had cast his spirit arts from a distance.

“Gah... Ah...” Renji toppled forward, stumbling over his feet.

“Guh?!” The thrust Rio made by stepping forward hit Renji in the forehead, sending him flying backwards to hit his head against the stone pillar once more.

“...”

Having struck his head in the back, front, and back in quick succession, Renji collapsed with a concussion.

“H-Harsh...” Reiss muttered, his face pale after witnessing the merciless chain of attacks. “But refreshing,” he added.

I should knock him out completely...

Rio touched Renji on the head, activating an art to knock him out. He then touched the ice that blocked the road during Hiroaki and Renji’s battle, melting it instantly.

“Wha...”

The disappearance of so much ice caused everyone to stir noisily.

And that leaves...

Rio lifted the unconscious Renji and flung him at Reiss roughly.

He was well aware of Reiss’s combat ability. If he chose to flee with wind spirit arts while attacking his surroundings indiscriminately, he would be quite troublesome to deal with. The other mercenaries couldn’t be underestimated either, and with the Restoration’s forces dwindling by the moment, Rio wanted to avoid a longer battle.

Taking Renji hostage would only create a standstill, extending this battle. That’s why it was better to force his unconscious body onto Reiss, reducing his mobility. If they chose to fight in spite of that, Rio would focus his aim on Reiss, who was burdened with carrying Renji. Rio summoned multiple orbs of light to express his intention to fight.

“Whoa, there.” Reiss caught Renji’s body. But just then... Rio’s mask creaked. The crack wasn’t visible yet, but the activation of the rules was clearly taking a toll on the mask in his place.

“...” Rio gently touched the mask. He had no idea how long it would last from here. He had to settle things as soon as possible.

But things went as he hoped.

“There’s no need to glare so fiercely. We will be retreating immediately—for today. If you all survive your escape, then perhaps we will meet again. Now, if you will excuse us.”

Whether Reiss was reluctant to fight Rio because he was carrying Renji or because he never intended on fighting to begin with was uncertain, but he ordered Lucci and the mercenaries to retreat.

“Tch...” The men clicked their tongues, but they mounted their griffins as ordered. They then departed into the skies. Rio considered sending his light orbs after them, but starting another fight now would be troublesome. Merely attacking could be considered moving in the interests of a certain group anyway. He quietly canceled the art around him.

“Master Rio!”

Sora came flying down the hill, carrying Christina and Duke Huguenot under each arm. Behind her, Vanessa and the other guards were chasing her in a panic, their physical abilities enhanced with magic. They were shouting things like “Hold it!” and “Don’t let her get away!” as they ran after her.

Well... I guess that counts as a mission accomplished.

It seemed like Sora had brought Christina here without giving everyone else a sufficient explanation, but he would have to overlook that. It was an emergency.

“Rio...?” Celia called Rio’s name.

“Huh?” Rio looked over at where Celia was being guarded by Sara and the others. Hearing his name had made him jump, but the rules of the transcendent ones should have applied to them. Neither Celia, Sara, Orphia, nor Alma should have had any memories left of Rio. She had probably repeated the name Sora had called him by—and once he removed the mask and some time had passed, she would forget that name again.

“Sora’s back!” Sora said brightly, landing beside Rio. She set Christina and Duke Huguenot down on the ground.

“Wh-What’s going on?”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Both Christina and Duke Huguenot appeared to be quite confused.

“Head to the harbor now, while you can. Get on an airship and get out of here,” Rio said to Christina, his mask still on his face.

“R-Right. And you are...?”

“I can buy you some time, but it may not be enough. Hurry.” Rio urged her to move while watching the skies.

“Thank you... Everyone, hurry to the harbor now! Run!”

Once Rio removed his mask, they would eventually forget this exchange as well—but for now, Christina expressed her appreciation towards Rio. The lack of time was also no lie. The thunderous sounds of battle could be heard in the skies of Rodania even now.

At Christina’s urging and the sight of falling Aerial Knights, the group made to depart for the harbor. It was at this point that Vanessa and the other guards caught up.

“Hey! What...” Vanessa shouted. She wanted to interrogate Sora for suddenly kidnapping Christina and Duke Huguenot, but—

“Vanessa! What are you doing? We’re going to the harbor, make sure you protect the carriage with Sir Hiroaki and Flora inside!” Christina interrupted as soon as she spotted her, scolding her harshly.

“Y-Yes, Your Highness! Everyone! We’re going to escort the princesses to the harbor!”

“Right away!”

Vanessa and the knights joined the group. The carriage with Flora, Roanna, and the unconscious Hiroaki went first, and all the other evacuees followed behind them.

“Let’s go, Sora.”

There was a need to protect Celia and the others, but he couldn’t go along with them. Rio shot them a single, lonely glance before turning to leave with Sora.

“Professor Celia, hurry...”

“W-Wait! Rio!” Christina called for Celia and the others still there to move, but Celia yelled Rio’s name instead.

“...” Rio and Sora paused, turning back around.

“I-I know you. That’s right... How could I forget about you? Rio, Rio...” Celia mumbled, tears rolling down her face.

“Wh-What’s wrong, Celia?” Sara and the spirit folk girls looked bewildered, unsure of what to do.

“Why? Why did everyone forget?” Celia cried, looking at their faces.

“That can’t be possible...” Sora muttered in disbelief. The rules were decided by god, so how could this happen?

“Wait, could it be... That face, that hair color. The resemblance to that homunculus... If so, could this also be Lina’s...?!” Sora gasped, staring intently at Celia’s face.

At that moment, a complex magic circle appeared around Celia’s body, causing light to flow from within her. Then...

It worked. It’s not possible to give you all of it right now, but I’m entrusting everything I couldn’t give that person to you.

“H-Huh...?” Celia was shaken. She glanced around in confusion.

What was that? Is something happening?

Rio was just as bewildered. Every time a transcendent one used their powers, the world would forget their existence. Any identifying information about the transcendent one would be erased from the memories of the people.

Even if the transcendent one interacted with someone while hiding their identity, it was hard for anyone to retain any memories of them. Only their disciples could remember them clearly. That was the rule of the transcendent ones that had been decided by god.

Yet Celia had remembered Rio. An anomalous situation had clearly occurred with the transcendent rules Rio knew.

Why? How?

Confusion and doubt flashed through Rio’s mind.

But there were other emotions that rose within him at the same time.

Hope.

Anticipation.

Wariness.

Delight.

A fountain of emotions swelled at the miracle happening before him.

The rules were decided by god. There should’ve been no way to resist them, so he had actually given up in his heart.

But...

Someone had made a wish.

Someone had tried to change things.

What did it matter if the power meant to be used for the interest of the world was only used for the sake of those he loved?

What did it matter if the person everyone should have forgotten was remembered by someone?

That’s why...

That’s why this was a tale of defying the somber rules set by god.

A story of regaining lost connections.

It had to be.

Rio prayed with those words from the bottom of his heart.