Part 2
Naturally, Ganoa, who had betrayed the Sunkwoll army and had murdered King Douglass, was also present for the battle. However, instead of being posted in the frontlines, where it was easy to distinguish oneself in battle, he was posted much further behind the main army…… To put it frankly, he was assigned to the supply unit.
To manage and protect the Zarmine army’s provisions. That was the position that he had been given. Because of that, his comparatively slower unit had been left stranded when the main army had moved to pursue the retreating Sunkwoll army.
I used to be a proud noble of Sunkwoll, damn it! Damn you, Garblake, for making light of me!
Ganoa glanced over his unit, which was mostly comprised of wagons, with a fed-up expression as he toyed with his curly blond hair.
He would not be able to distinguish himself in battle at this rate.
The men who had accompanied him were also moping about. Many of them were also nobles, albeit of different ranks, and were complaining incessantly.
Ganoa felt that some of the gazes that his men directed at him had turned somewhat cold.
I was planning to ask to have Princess Shelfa as my reward, but at this rate——
While he was worrying endlessly about his lewd ambitions, he saw a smoke signal suddenly rise up far ahead of him from where the Sunkwoll army was.
“What? What kind of signal comes this late into a battle? Though it’d be hilarious if it was the signal for Rain’s death.”
The whisper that escaped him had been his wishful thinking, rather than an actual conjecture.
All joking aside, from Ganoa’s perspective, the outcome of the war was already decided even if it wasn’t the signal for Rain’s death.
The unit directly under Garblake’s control had already cross the Jigrem River and was closing in on the Sunkwoll army. Even Rain’s devilish fortune must have dried up by now.
Being able to see Rain’s decapitated head would be his sole consolation from these dissatisfactory circumstances.
If it was possible, he wanted to hang up Rain’s head in his personal chambers. Ganoa simply hated the man that much.
“Could I really ask for……hmm?
Ganoa knit his eyebrows together.
He could hear a strange, faint sound coming from somewhere.
When he listened closer, he realized that the sound was steadily growing louder.
Is this……the sound of running……water?
“General Ganoa!”
“Hmm, what is it?”
Ganoa’s aide cried out to him as he continued to strain his ears,
“P, please look upstream!”
“Upstream? What happened upstre——what?!”
……Ganoa saw an enormous torrent of water rushing downstream.
A violent stream of water flooded the Zarmine army, which had been crossing the river. Unable to flee, the heavily equipped Zarmine knights were swept up in the rushing waters. They had no choice but to drown because they were wearing armor.
“Wh, wha……!”
As Ganoa looked on in blank shock, he saw that the unit that had already crossed the river had been forcefully cut off from the rest of the army.
Then, the unfortunate knights on the other side of the river were suddenly assaulted by the Sunkwoll army.
“This is……ugh, it’s Rain! How dare he play such petty tricks!”
Ganoa, who had recovered surprisingly fast from his state of shock, immediately understood. This was undoubtedly Rain’s plan.
To spell it out, Rain had dammed up the river, lured Garblake across it, and had released the dam when the signal had risen.
As a result, he would be able to take down Garblake (and possibly Luminas too, if he was lucky) once he was cut off from his allies.
“Damn you, damn you!”
Blinded by rage, Ganoa cursed Rain over and over.
However, he soon realized that he was in no place to do so.
Or rather, he had been made to realize. ——That Rain’s plan had a second objective.
“General!”
“Shit, what is it this time?!”
Ganoa had been on the cusp of yelling at his aide, but stopped short after being horrified by what his aide was pointing at.
A small unit was drawing closer to them at the speed of a gale wind.
It was Gunther’s unit, who had deployed before Rain’s and had concealed themselves in order to target their enemy’s provisions, but, naturally, Ganoa had known nothing of this. He could, however, imagine why they were here whether he wanted to or not.
Ganoa looked toward his allies in a panic.
Unfortunately, all of the other troops were far ahead of him because they had launched an all-out attack. Ganoa trembled once he grasped the situation that he was in. His allies were too far away to respond to his crisis, and neither did they have the leisure to do so even if they wanted to.
Besides, Ganoa was an outsider to the Zarmine army. He was not a comrade that they would care to save.
To add to his misfortunes, he would not be able to flee with a unit consisting of wagons…… A cold sweat crawled up Ganoa’s spine.
He saw that the enemy unit was carrying multiple flame torches.
Rain smiled in satisfaction when he saw smoke rising from the rear of the Zarmine army.
Gunther had done it as planned. That smoke was proof that the enemy’s provisions were burning up. With this, the battle drew closer to an end.
“Hey, you lot! All of your food just turned to ashes without leaving a single crumb behind! So stop your futile resistance!”
he declared to the Dark knights who were still fighting.
The results were remarkable.
The knights, who had been using the last reserves of their strength to keep fighting, dropped their weapons one after another. They could not fight if they did not have supplies (food). They knew this all too well.
As expected of the Zarmine army, there were none who believed that they could keep fighting on spirit alone.
But there were always exceptions to the rules, though not always in a bad way——
A lone, well-built knight calmly walked towards Rain from the sea of unarmed knights who were kneeling in defeat.
He held a blood-soaked sword in hand and his feet were steady. Unlike the others, gold embellishments decorated his pauldrons.
“——Hmmm?”
Recognizing who the man was in an instant, Rain unmounted Kris. After returning his magic sword to its original longsword size, he awaited the man……no, he awaited the overall commander of the entire Zarmine expeditionary force.
“You’re Rain?”
His black armor was dented here and there and was painted with crimson blood, though it did not appear to be his. The man in question was hale and hearty despite his age. He was a warrior that none could look down upon—as expected of a general of Zarmine, which had once been a complete meritocracy.
“Yeah. And you’re General Garblake……was it?”
“Exactly. I’m here to give my final greetings.”
Despite the content of his sparse words, Garblake looked refreshed as he took up his sword.
Leni and the rest of Rain’s men, who had gathered around in exuberance, stopped in their tracks. No one dared to say a word.
“Can I ask you just one question?”
Garblake curtly asked Rain, who had also readied his magic sword.
“What is it?”
“Is it true that you’re a Dragon Slayer?”
“……Yeah, it’s true,”
answered Rain, causing Leni, Senoa, and Yuri to lean back in surprise, Ralphus and Gwen to shake their heads in disbelief, and Nigel to look up with a glint in his eyes.
The least shocked of all was Princess Shelfa, who simply gazed at Rain in admiration. She did not seem surprised at all.
“I see, you’re someone who has slain a mythical beast. Hahaha. It seems that I’ll be able to cross blades with the strongest at the end of my life. In that aspect, it’s not a bad way to go.”
A broad smile broke across Garblakes face.
“Don’t you have the option of surrendering for now and coming back to fight us again?”
“No, I don’t. His Majesty is not a so forgiving. Even if I were to return to my country, I would be killed without a doubt.”
“Then don’t go back and just stay here. You can join us.”
“You say such odd things…… I did hear that you were strange, and it seems the rumors were true.”
Garblake tilted his head, mystified. He continued,
“but allow me to offer my thanks. Thank you, but I have to intention of accepting you offer. Now let us end our little talk. ……You’re willing to be my opponent, I presume?”
“Guess it can’t be helped……”
Rain was not compelled to encourage Garblake to surrender. It was because he felt that Garblake had been cut from the same cloth as Ralphus.
There was nothing more he could say to a man whose honor did not allow him to surrender to an enemy.
Rain faced his opponent while holding his sword in a what looked like an easy-going manner.
Garblake, on the other hand, held his sword straight upright before him as he stood at full attention. It was the stance and decorum of a knight about to challenge an opponent to single combat.
Rain couldn’t have cared less about decorum. He simply observed his opponent in silence.
With quick steps, Garblake slid his feet across the earth and closed the distance between them. Then, he slowly brought his sword to his side. The wind blew a cloud of dust between the two warriors.
Garblake took the initiative.
He dashed forward and closed what little distance remained between them. Chunks of dirt were kicked into the air as he unleashed an attack with his full weight behind it. His sword transformed into a flash of silver light that drew into Rain’s vitals.
Swoosh!
His nimble attack, which made his audience involuntarily hold their breaths, was truly befitting of the skilled knight that he was. His longsword looked like it had mercilessly burrowed into Rain’s abdomen. However, what the sword had actually cut had been nothing more than a shadow of Rain, which simmered away like a heat haze.
The wind blew again. However, this wind had been churned up by Rain.
Rain’s afterimage passed through Garblake’s side as if it was chasing after its original and settled behind him in one smooth flow.
The wind died down, and the two warriors stood still——meanwhile, Rain’s multiple afterimages converged into his upright figure.
Rain, who had been holding his magic sword in front of him, quietly relaxed his stance. And then——
“——! Gah!”
A crimson line split Garblake’s body open and guzzled with blood. Coughing violently, he staggered a few steps forward. Just like that, he fell forward with a heavy thud.
“As I’d thought……you are truly, s, strong”
Garblake said with his face half buried in the sandy soil.
Rain bowed to him in silence.
“You were strong too. As expected of someone who was tasked to command the entire Zarmine expedition army. And I’m not saying this just to be nice.”
Garblake seemed to let out a short laugh.
He opened his bloody lips and whispered something one last time. Rain thought that he had whispered a woman’s name, but Garblake had already passed by the time he had knelt down to listen.
Rain closed Garblake’s empty, open eyes with a sigh.
Good grief……this doesn’t feel good at all. Though I know there was no other way.
Rain flung off the blood from his magic sword with a single sweep and returned it to its sheath with a click.
“We won…… We were victorious,”
said Senoa, still in a daze.
“Ye, yeah! We won against Zarmine!”
A knight, who was standing stock still near Senoa, cried out as the realization hit him. His voice spread like wildfire and grew into a cheer that shook the earth.
“We won! We really won! We defeated Zarmineeee!”
The cheering spread like a tidal wave. The Sunkwoll knights grabbed each other by the hands and stomped their feet.
On the other hand, the knights of Zarmine, who had become prisoners of war, hung their heads low in dejection. The main Zarmine army began to retreat from the other side of the river. There was nothing else they could do, as their provisions had been stolen and their overall commander had been defeated.
“You did it, Rain.”
Ralphus had saddled his horse at some point and was looking down at Rain from it, as did his two aides.
“What’s up? Isn’t the fight over?”
“It is. But we failed to take down Luminas. So I’m going to try and catch up to him, and I’ll make sure the Zarmine army is withdrawing while I’m at it.”
“You’re gonna try to catch up to him……the waters are still pretty high, you know?”
“There’s a small bridge about five kilometers downstream.”
“……I’m not gonna stop you, but……you’re pretty diligent, aren’t you?”
“It’s in my nature. And more importantly, Rain…”
Ralphus leaned forward on his horse before continuing,
“you’ll have a round with me when I get back, yes?”
“A round? Of a game or something?”
“Don’t play dumb. There’s a Dragon Slayer nearby, so as a knight I simply must ask him for a match.”
“I straight up refuse.” [an immediate reply]
Rain disliked annoying things.
“Aw, c’mon Boss Rain! We’ve already decided that I’m goin’ to be next after our Boss here, ya know?”
said Gwen in an extremely matter-of-fact manner.
“Hey! Quit deciding things without even consulting the actual person in question! I don’t like doing things that’ll make me sweat, you hear?! And besides——you know what, I’m feeling a little under the weather right now.”
“I’ll have you practice with me to my heart’s content once we get back to my castle.”
“No, I’m really not feeling too great right now. How should I put it, my body’s been feeling pretty heavy lately and I’m starting to feel sick, and I think I should take a day off and visit a healer——”
“Hahaha! I’m itchin’ to test out my skills.”
“And plus, my liver’s been acting up all of a sudden.”
“I’ll get going now; and it’s a promise.”
Ralphus pulled on the reins and turned his horse around. He completely ignored Rain, who had pressed his hand against his abdomen to add credit to his story.
Then, even Nigel, who had been silent until now, absent-mindedly added,
“I would also like to have a match with you, Lord Rain.”
“……You guys need to learn to listen when someone tells you something.”
“Oh, and Rain?”
Ralphus looked back before he left and smiled.
“What?”
“You’re pressing down on your stomach, not your liver.”
“Shut it! And don’t come back!”
Ralhpus laughed loudly, amused, and promptly left with his men in tow.
“Tch! As if I’d do any sword training with any of them. I’m definitely gonna run away.”
“General~”
Now that Ralphus and the others had left, Leni and the rest of Rain’s men stepped closer.
“What now? Do you have something to say too?”
“I do! Why did you keep quiet about being a Dragon Slayer until now?”
“Because I’m a modest person, all things despite. I can’t just go around bragging about something like that.”
Leni was rendered speechless, as if someone had blurted out something indecent, at Rain’s curt reply. Then, Rain continued,
“……what’s with that face? Besides, haven’t you seen me use magic without an incantation before? Most people would’ve noticed that.”
“My body wouldn’t be able to keep up if I let myself get surprised at every single thing you do, General.”
“Don’t be stupid. You were just being careless.”
As he dealt with Leni, Rain saw that Senoa and Yuri were standing stock still with blank looks on their faces. It looked like their spirits had left them. The rest of his men were also generally in the same boat and had blank amazement etched onto their faces.
He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone because he knew that they would react this way.
“……Rain.”
But there was one person whose attitude had not changed. Princess Shelfa wrapped both of her hands around Rain’s and smiled with glistening eyes. Leni, who was standing beside her, was surprised.
He would have to warn her not to do things like that so readily in the future.
“Well done, Rain. ……Um,”
“Yes?”
“Th, there was something that I wanted to tell you……no, something that I must tell you no matter what now that the battle is over.”
The princess began to fidget for some reason.
She stole numerous glances at Leni and the rest of Rain’s men as if something about them had bothered her.
She’s not the type of person to ask for money (obviously). Then, does she want to discuss something with me in secret? thought Rain.
“Is there something you wish to discuss with me?”
“……It’s something similar to that, but not quite.”
I have no idea what she wants.
She’ll probably speak more freely when we’re alone. After all, this Little one (though she’s grown fairly tall, so she’s not all that little anymore) hasn’t really opened up to anyone besides me.
“Alright, Princess. I’ll listen to what you have to say once we make our triumphant return to Galfort Castle.
“Yes!”
The princess nodded repeatedly in relief.
After flashing a secret wink and a quick smile at the princess, Rain signaled to his men to prepare to leave.
But then.
A sudden chill shivered down Rain’s back.
Pressure.
Rain broke out into a cold sweat in a blink of an eye. Somewhere nearby——there was a person emitting waves of overwhelming power, like the water pressure caused by a great cataract.
Furthermore, these waves of power, this “Ki,” was unmistakably different from what he had felt from Princess Shelfa.
It was different in that it was not simply a wave of pure power, but also carried the bone-chilling feeling of bloodlust within it.
Rain surveyed his surroundings, searching for the source of this enormous power.
——Found you.
A man wearing a black cloak and a black outfit of first-class tailoring, who seemed to fill up the entirety of Rain’s vision, calmly came walking through Rain’s scattered men.
He had silver hair, which was characteristic of the people of Zarmine, but no one asked him for his identity.
It was a slightly strange scene because he carried himself in such an imposing manner. With his gazed fixed at Rain from underneath his long bangs, he continued to walk as if he was simply taking a stroll in his own garden.
“Rain……”
The princess had noticed the man’s presence before Rain’s men had. Feeling something ominous in the air, she clung onto Rain’s arm and held her breath.
“——Princess, please fall back a bit.”
“Rain…… When I look at that person, I——”
“I know,”
Rain interrupted before she could finish. He added,
“and he’s probably an enemy.”
“What are you talking about?”
Senoa asked in an irritated voice.
Rain silently pointed at the mysterious man.
Then, Yuri stiffened up and cried out,
“Ki, King Leygur!”
“Wh, whaaat?! Are you sure?”
“It’s the enemy king!”
Startled by Yuri’s remark, Rain’s men finally noticed the suspicious man and began to panic.
Flustered, Leni and Senoa attempted to draw their blades.
“Everyone stop! You guys are no match for him. This guy’s scarily strong.”
“Got it! I’ll leave him to you, General,”
said Leni as he promptly re-sheathed his sword.
Normally, Rain would have kicked him into next week for that reply, but today it was the correct response.
“Now, you should fall back too, Princess. Please watch from Leni’s side.”
“……Please be careful Rain.”
She understood that she would only get in his way. Thus, the Princess obediently fell back to Leni’s side.
“Don’t even think about drawing your blades, guys! This guy came here to talk with me…… Isn’t that right?”
Rain directed his last question to the man who had purposefully stopped with a little distance between them…… King Leygur.
“Indeed. I am only interested in you…… Though I must say, I’m surprisingly well-known.”
The corners of Leygur’s mouth lifted a little as he gazed in Yuri’s direction. She hid behind Leni with a shriek. There was no reason for her to panic so much, as there was no way that a king would recognize each and every one of his spies by face.
Leygur, who had frigidly glanced over all of Rain’s men, looked a puzzled once he saw the Princess. It was as if he had witnessed something baffling.
“To think that the other person who emitted such pressure other than Rain was this girl…… How odd.”
After thinking on it for a short while, he turned his head and returned his gaze to Rain.
“No matter. I had not expected Garblake to be defeated so quickly, but you are my objective for today.”
“I’m your objective, huh. You don’t know what it means to have the tables turned on you, do you? I don’t know how you got here, but it’s pretty convenient for me that you did.”
“I have a special skill that allows me to teleport anywhere that I’ve already been to at least once before. Surely it’s nothing to be surprised about.”
Of course that’s something to be surprised about, you fucking bastard, thought Rain.
I’ve never even heard about a spell that convenient, as far as I’m concerned. And Rain was well-informed about almost every type of magic there was, too.
“Incidentally, putting my army’s defeat here today aside, there is something I want to confirm,”
Leygur said in an indifferent tone, paying no heed to Rain’s misgivings. Clearly, he did not care about Zarmine’s defeat at all.
Then, Leygur quickly stretched out his hand in an unconcerned manner.
“Come, magic light!”
Without any incantation, a large explosion of light instantly burst from his palm and rushed directly toward Rain. The burst of light, which was bright enough to disorient onlookers, crashed into Rain before he could dodge.
“General!”
“Rain!”
Leni and the Princess’ cries of alarm overlapped with each other.
However, Leygur’s enormous magical energy had lost its momentum after being intercepted by something and was extinguished without a trace.
For a brief moment, something that looked like a transparent shield had materialized and glowed a myriad of colors after intercepting the attack, before vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.
It was as if the shield had absorbed the magical energy that Leygur had released. In fact, Rain was still standing around as if nothing had happened even after the light had disappeared.
“Hmm. Was that the anti-magic field that only dragons are said to possess?”
Leygur put down his hand; however, he didn’t seem displeased at all, rather, the corners of his lips were curving into a smile. He continued,
“as you are able to use an ability that only the strongest mythical beasts are said to possess, it would seem that you are, in fact, a Dragon Slayer.”
“Hmph. If you get it, then I suggest that you stop wasting your energy.”
Rain flashed a grin and showed off his pearly white teeth, which he had been complimented on so many times that it had started to become vexing. He continued,
“don’t underestimate me—I’ve inherited the power of a mythical beast. Half-assed magical attacks won’t work on me! Anything that doesn’t work on a mythical beast will also have no effect on me, you see!”
Leygur narrowed his eyes in apparent satisfaction without even bothering to reply. Rain glared daggers at him and continued,
“at any rate, you’ve sent assassins at me, suffered me a surprise attack, and now you’re starting to get on my nerves. You’ve got a lot of nerve picking a fight with me, dammit!”
Multiple beads of light instantly formed in the sky above Rain. The radiant orange mass of magic flickered as it grew larger and each bead began a crazed dance in the air.
“Be gone!”
Every ball of light rushed toward Leygur, leaving trails of light in their wake the moment that Rain pointed a finger at Leygur.
——A direct hit.
Leygur was enveloped by countless bursts of light that blossomed like a giant flower of magic.
The giant storm of magical hellfire enveloped his body and exhausted all of its energy to burn him to ashes. No normal human should have been able to withstand it.
“Alright! That’s the General for you!”
Leni pumped a fist into the air.
“No……not yet.”
“What’re you talking about? There’s no way that——”
Leni’s eyes opened wide in shock before he could finish saying, “he’s still alive after taking that to the face.” Even after the light faded away, Leygur was still standing around without a hair out of place.
“Hahaha……ahahahahaha!!”
Leygur suddenly broke out into laughter. He laughed as if he could no longer contain the joy welling up in his heart.
“This absolute power! What a surprise. To think that a mere human could obtain it!”
“Are you part of some freakish cult or something?”
Rain spat out with displeasure. He continued,
“I don’t get you. You don’t look like Dragon Slayer or anything, but you can use magic without incantations.”
“An accurate observation. You and I are very alike, in a sense. We have far surpassed the humans living on this continent.”
“What’re you talking about? I’m human too.”
“Just listen. I’ve had my eyes on you for a while now. Ever since I heard that you abandoned the incompetent King Douglass, I thought that maybe you would be able to understand me.”
“……What are you trying to say?”
“You’re unexpectedly slow on the uptake.”
Keeping his cool, Leygur continued,
“I want you to become mine. Considering how strong you are, I would welcome you to be as one of my own arms. You have that right.”
“And here I was wondering what you were gonna say……”
Rain studied Leygur in exasperation. However, Leygur’s handsome face was the very picture of sincerity, so he must have been serious.
“It’s not that preposterous of a proposal, now is it? You’ve already turned your back on the late king. What’s so strange about you switching sides now? Someday……I will conquer the entire continent. I will reward you handsomely when that time comes, but I’ll give you what was once Lunan for now. And soon enough, I’ll also give you all of Sunkwoll.”
“Hmm……well that’s quite generous of you……”
Rain crossed his arms with a tinge of surprise. Had anyone else ever evaluated him so highly before? No, they had not!
Numerous boos flew at him as he immersed himself in his thoughts.
“Wh, why do you look like you’re considering this seriouslyy?! You’re awful!”
“It’s exactly as Sir Leni says. It’s outrageous that you’d suck up to the enemy king!”
Rain’s two aides yelped in tandem. In the heat of the moment, Yuri also shouted, “you dumbass!!”
“I was just a little touched, alright?! ——And Yuri, I’ll pay you back for that later!”
Rain looked to the princess on a whim after responding to his men without a moment’s delay.
……Her clear, unclouded eyes looked back at him brimming with her wholehearted trust.
Looks like her trust in me is the real deal. In that case, I’ll bet everything on her, too!
Rain gave the princess a quick wave (he ignored the others because they pissed him off) and turned back to Leygur.
“Sorry, but I can’t. If I go with you, I’ll have to abandon the people who I can’t bring myself to abandon. So, I think it’s about time that you prepared yourself.”
Leygur’s face abruptly turned blank at Rain’s declaration. A cold, cold light dwelled in his black eyes.
“……I don’t understand. Why do you care so much for this pile of trash? Is it because, in the end, you’re also a fool tied down by emotion?”
Leygur narrowed his cold eyes and continued,
“come to think of it, you’re always clad entirely in black. Surely, it’s not because you’re grieving for someone, is it? I’ve heard that such pointless traditions exist out in the borderlands.”
Rain clenched his molars together. From the corner of his eyes he saw the princess raise her head in surprise.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I really don’t think I like you too much. I guess we have no choice but to fight. ……And you know what?”
Rain continued with pride,
“I’d take over the world myself rather than pick up after your leftovers!”
“……It appears that I’ll have to teach you a thing or two about arrogance. I’ll curb your confidence as well.”
“Well, my limitless arrogance and my unbeatable invincibility are my forte, you see.”
Rain drew his magic sword with his characteristically bold smile on his face. The blade emitted a light that was more glaringly beautiful than usual, as if it had sensed its owner’s strong will to fight.
In turn, Leygur threw off his cloak and drew his own sword.
Its blade swelled with an aura as crimson as blood. Leygur’s sword was evidently also a magical one.
“This sword is named Justice,”
Leygur said quietly as an inconspicuous smile crept at the edge of his lips. He continued,
“isn’t it hilarious? There is no such thing as justice in this world, where strength means everything.”
“Hmmm……I’ll have to agree with you there.”
“And yet you still point your blade at me? ……Very well. I will teach you the fate of a fool who has overestimated his own abilities.”
Rain readied his magic sword with a loose grip and declared with a war cry,
“for the past ten years since I left my hometown——I’ve defeated everyone who I’ve faced with a sword in hand!”
With Rain’s declaration, the two stopped talking——
and the final battle began.
Rain and Leygur stepped slowly in semi-circles. They were steadily attempting to circle around the other.
Not a single cough could be heard, despite their large audience. The only sound that permeated the area was the sound of two magic sword’s auras and the sound of the river’s waters.
Crunch
The sound of Leygur crushing a rock under his foot reverberated in the air.
Then, at the same time——
Rain kicked off the earth and pressed forward while swinging up his sword with amazing speed. In less than a blink, he had reduced the distance between him and Leygur from several meters to zero and moved to attack.
Rain had rushed at Leygur like a gust of wind, but Leygur had still maintained eye contact with him all the way.
And at that moment, Leygur had laughed.
“Ugh!”
The slash that Rain had aimed at his opponent’s upper body was easily blocked by the crimson magic sword.
Crackle crackle crackle
The two magic swords clashed and the magic imbued within each of them repulsed against the other with a terrible force. Sparks flew as the swords crackled against each other.
“You have great reflexes.”
Rain remained silent as he moved back and flicked his wrist.
The blue magic sword’s light changed directions as if it were alive and attacked Leygur yet again.
But this, too, was easily blocked. Leygur had easily brushed aside the attacks that Rain had made with his herculean strength not only once, but twice.
Still, Rain continued to attack.
He locked swords with Leygur and pushed him aside, aiming to swipe across his side once he staggered.
But, the tip of his sword met only with his opponent’s shadow.
Leygur had jumped into the skies just before Rain’s attack had connected, leaving afterimages behind in his wake, and gently returned to the ground after a backflip. He moved so lightly that it was difficult to believe.
Rain rushed against Leygur again the moment the latter had landed and barraged him with a storm of sword strokes.
Leygur blocked and parried each strike.
It was one thing for Rain, who was a Dragon Slayer——
But the black-clad king, whose slender frame did not appear to carry much physical strength, was able to respond to Rain’s fast and powerful attacks with room to spare.
Ten times, twenty times…… Blue and crimson mixed as the two magic swords clashed, their aura’s fiercely repulsing the other each time, as Rain and Leygur continued their violent dance. Rain, who had been able to finish his battles in mere moments for the past few years, was now fighting for his life.
Little by little, a single question took over Rain’s mind.
He’s not even a Dragon Slayer, so how is he just as, no, more powerful than me?
“Thinking about something else in the middle of a fight?”
an ominous voice whispered.
By the time Rain had returned to his senses, Leygur had already moved into Rain’s blind spot.
From the corner of his eye, Rain saw a leg approach him so fast that it was nothing more than a blur.
The leg bent like a whip and kicked him directly in the side. He had not had a chance to dodge it.
“——Guh!”
Rain immediately jumped to the other side to lessen the force of the strike.
Even still, his body wracked with intense pain as the kick connected with unbelievable force. Rain was sent flying for at least five meters before he slammed into the ground.
And even then, he was forced to roll several times over because the force of the kick had yet to dissipate.
If he had taken the brunt of that force directly, his bones could have been pulverized and his insides could have ruptured instantly.
Rain broke out in a sudden rush of cold sweat, but he did not have the leeway to care.
“Rain!”
“Oh no, no way——Ge, general!”
The voices most likely belonged to the princess and Leni. Rain could not afford to look away, but he heard their voices tremble. With either shock……or concern.
He tried to spring back up to his feet, but Rain unexpectedly found himself staggering instead.
Tch! That……hit home, huh?
“That’s pathetic, Rain.”
Leygur had not closed in on him, for whatever reason. With his magic sword in hand, Leygur stared at Rain with his black, abyss-like eyes.
“——! This match isn’t over yet! Are you trying to take it easy, you bastard?!”
“This match was over the very moment it began. No matter how strong you are, you’re still just a human in the end. A tiny little human living in this closed-off, confined world. Know that this is the very reason you have lost.”
Rain opened his eyes wide in surprise for a moment and roared,
“the hell are you trying to explain all of a sudden?! Or what, are you saying that you aren’t human?!”
Rain raised his head and glared as he shouted.
With his fighting spirit burning in his heart, he charged forward.
However——his speed, while still faster than that of an ordinary person’s, had decreased from before.
He brought up his sword from where it had been dragging along the ground to an upwards diagonal cut.
Leygur dodged it by taking a half step backwards, and Rain, who had missed his strike, closed the distance between them.
Leygur deftly twisted his wrist and leisurely evaded the magic sword that danced diagonally toward his shoulder.
The Unknown Genius Swordsman—— He left behind Rain, who was once known by that moniker, completely in the dust.
And with a voice that blended in with the blades of wind that violently scythed across the empty skies, Leygur said,
“you should already understand. You are no match for me. Become my subordinate. If you do, I’ll forget about how insolent you’ve been until now. ——Hmph!”
Giiiin——crackle crackle crackle
Leygur solidly caught the multiple attacks that were aimed at his eyes.
He stared at Rain from the other side of the blade emitting a crimson aura.
“You sure like to talk a lot in the middle of a fight!”
Rain was able to put just enough strength into the sword arm to push Leygur back. However, unlike before, Leygur kept his footing and did not move an inch, as if he had planted roots into the ground. As irritating as it was, Rain saw that Leygur had not even broken into a sweat. All despite the fact that Rain, who boasted more physical strength than even Gwen, had pushed him back.
“……There are limits to my patience, Rain. I advise you to give up already.”
“And become your subordinate?”
Rain……caught a fleeting glance at the princess who fervently looked upon him as earnestly as if she was in prayer and, in a voice that only Leygur could hear, enunciated word for word,
“as she is right now, that child needs me. Depending on how you look at it, it’s entirely possible that I need her too. But, you know what, neither of us need you at all!”
Rain quickly lowered his body. In the brief opening that was created when Leygur stumbled forward, Rain kicked Leygur’s legs out from under him.
“——! Tch!”
Leygur purposefully jumped to the side, jumped off the ground with one hand, and skillfully made his landing.
——Or at least, he tried to.
Aiming for the very moment that his opponent landed, Rain rushed in as if he was being drawn into something.
If the monster in front of him was ever to break his posture, even just a little, it had to be now.
Rain brought up his magic sword from the ground and drew an arc in Leygur’s direction.
The sword hummed and left behind a bluish-white strike in its wake.
Leygur’s expression broke for the first time. He tried to evade by bending back his body, but was still left with a shallow gash around his shoulder. A spurt of fresh blood gushed from the wound.
“You’re mine!”
Rain brandished his sword in pursuit of his opponent, who still managed to jump aside with his unstable stance.
And he struck down with his fastest blow yet, leaving a spectacular after-image in his sword’s wake.
But——Leygur had corrected his stance in a blink of an eye.
“That was insufficient, Rain.”
Swoosh!
Even Leni and the others felt the wind that his sword had stirred up.
Leygur had thrown up his crimson blade and had perfectly parried Rain’s magic sword, causing even Rain to stagger.
Without a moment’s delay, Justice altered its course and gouged horizontally into Rain’s defenseless torso. It was Rain’s turn to spout a fountain of fresh blood.
“Noooooooo!!”
Rain heard the princess scream as if she had taken the blow herself.
Rain’s side was dyed red as he rolled away from Leygur across the earth multiple times, spraying out blood all the way. He tried to get up immediately afterwards……but he couldn’t. He dropped back down to his knees.
“Shit!”
His eyes fell back to the princess as he struggled to force his body upright. Shelfa was trying to rush over to him, and was only being held back by an equally flustered Leni.
Somehow, he managed to stand up after witnessing that sight.
“General!”
Senoa, and the rest of Rain’s men, began to run over to assist him. However, they stopped in their tracks as if they had met with an invisible wall halfway through. It was likely Leygur’s doing.
“……It is certainly commendable that you were able to wound me. How about it, Rain? Won’t you change your mind? If you don’t, you will die here,”
Leygur said as he calmly walked closer.
“——I have to get stronger,”
Rain whispered after wetting his dry lips and shaking his head clear. He continued,
“……stronger than anyone else…… Stronger than anything else in this world…… That’s my only wish.”
“What? Have you lost your mind from fear?”
Leygur knit his brows in doubt.
Rain simply flashed him a grin.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing in this world that scares me. Now……let’s finish this.”
“So you were nothing more than a mere fool. What can you possibly finish when you’re about to die from blood loss? If you want to die so badly, then so be it.”
Leygur leapt in front of Rain’s eyes the moment he finished his chilling declaration. The wind whistled as his silver hair fluttered behind him.
A crimson blow approached Rain’s throat as the wind howled.
But then, time appeared to have stopped for an instant.
The two opponents froze perfectly in place——
“……Imposs……ible”
For the first time during the entire encounter, Leygur moaned.
The composure he once held had left his voice.
His black eyes, which had always kept their cool, opened wide in surprise.
Rain had stopped the crimson blade with his bare hand before it could reach his neck. Rain’s hand——the five fingers of his left hand were wrapped around the blade so tightly that it couldn’t even quiver. ……Though, it did dig into the flesh of his palm somewhat.
Then, he plunged the Siren’s Blade in his right hand deep into Leygur’s chest. The edge of the sword pierced through Leygur’s back. It should have been a fatal wound.
“With only——one hand?!”
“Heh. Never underestimate a genius!”
Rain smiled triumphantly, ignoring the blood that was gushing out of his hand and side.
……He had messed up a little, but he had managed to stop the blade with the flesh of his fingers, so all was well.
“I don’t use this killing move that often because I’d lose my fingers if it failed. But, how about it; you surprised!?
Keeping the fact that it was actually a move that he had thought of just now as an act of desperation to himself, Rain promptly drew out his magic sword. Copious amounts of blood burst of Leygur’s chest.
“What?!”
It was Rain’s turn to be surprised.
Leygur, who Raid had thought would collapse on the spot, voluntarily threw down his sword and broke out into a run.
And at his destination was——
“Princess!”
Rain did not even have the time to catch up to him. Leygur easily kicked aside Leni, who had attempted to draw his dual blades against him in a panic, and grabbed hold of Princess Shelfa.
“——! P, please let go of me!”
Leygur smirked as he held back the struggling princess.
“In the end, I won, Rain.”
“You dirty bastard!!”
Ignoring Rain’s disparagement, Leygur moved his free hand in a complex pattern. He and the princess began fading out once he was done, and they soon disappeared completely.
“Goddammit!”
Rain plunged the magic sword that Leygur had left behind deep into the earth.
“Kris, let’s go!”
Rain staggered onto Kris and tried to gallop away.
“General! Where are you planning to go?!”
Leni asked as he came running with an ashen countenance. He likely felt responsible for the kidnapping.
“Don’t ask me something you already know! I’m obviously going to Zarmine! At full speed, Kris can get there in half a day!”
“N, no way. That aside, you can’t possibly go with those wounds…… Even if it’s you, General.”
“Yeah, what he sai……I mean, it’s exactly as Captain Leni said! We should come up with a strategy first.”
“I agree with squire! General, please prioritize treating your wounds first!”
Leni, Yuri, and Senoa, in that order, fervently stopped Rain with worry etched on their faces.
“This is nothing. ——Hey, what’s wrong, Kris?”
His partner refused to budge an inch.
Then, the horse shook her head as if she too was saying, ‘no.’
“C’mon, Kris!”
At the very moment that Rain was angrily pestering Kris forward.
A sudden flash of light erupted high above Rain.
It was so bright that everyone in its vicinity instinctively shut their eyes.
“Wha, what’s going……whoa!”
“Rain!”
Rain tumbled off of Kris as “something” fell down from the heavens and clung onto him. Immediately realizing who that “something” was, Rain twisted his body mid-air so that he landed on the bottom.
“Urgk!”
It hurt like hell because he was already wounded as it was (any normal person would have long since perished). He was sure that he had definitely lost more than half the blood in his body.
“Owowow~ ——Little one!?”
“——! Rain!”
Shelfa broke out into a bright smile as relief flooded over her——
But the blood immediately drained from her already porcelain white cheeks as she saw Rain’s wounds.
“I, I don’t want you to die!”
She hurriedly pressed her hands against his wounds, despite that her actions would achieve nothing.
She couldn’t care less that she would get blood all over herself.
“No, more importantly, how did you——ah.”
It was truly about time.
Rain finally remembered the pendant that he had once given Shelfa. He had completely forgotten about until now.
“……Th, that was pretty careless……of me.”
And with that said, Rain passed out as a sense of relief enveloped him.
Part 2
Naturally, Ganoa, who had betrayed the Sunkwoll army and had murdered King Douglass, was also present for the battle. However, instead of being posted in the frontlines, where it was easy to distinguish oneself in battle, he was posted much further behind the main army…… To put it frankly, he was assigned to the supply unit.
To manage and protect the Zarmine army’s provisions. That was the position that he had been given. Because of that, his comparatively slower unit had been left stranded when the main army had moved to pursue the retreating Sunkwoll army.
I used to be a proud noble of Sunkwoll, damn it! Damn you, Garblake, for making light of me!
Ganoa glanced over his unit, which was mostly comprised of wagons, with a fed-up expression as he toyed with his curly blond hair.
He would not be able to distinguish himself in battle at this rate.
The men who had accompanied him were also moping about. Many of them were also nobles, albeit of different ranks, and were complaining incessantly.
Ganoa felt that some of the gazes that his men directed at him had turned somewhat cold.
I was planning to ask to have Princess Shelfa as my reward, but at this rate——
While he was worrying endlessly about his lewd ambitions, he saw a smoke signal suddenly rise up far ahead of him from where the Sunkwoll army was.
“What? What kind of signal comes this late into a battle? Though it’d be hilarious if it was the signal for Rain’s death.”
The whisper that escaped him had been his wishful thinking, rather than an actual conjecture.
All joking aside, from Ganoa’s perspective, the outcome of the war was already decided even if it wasn’t the signal for Rain’s death.
The unit directly under Garblake’s control had already cross the Jigrem River and was closing in on the Sunkwoll army. Even Rain’s devilish fortune must have dried up by now.
Being able to see Rain’s decapitated head would be his sole consolation from these dissatisfactory circumstances.
If it was possible, he wanted to hang up Rain’s head in his personal chambers. Ganoa simply hated the man that much.
“Could I really ask for……hmm?
Ganoa knit his eyebrows together.
He could hear a strange, faint sound coming from somewhere.
When he listened closer, he realized that the sound was steadily growing louder.
Is this……the sound of running……water?
“General Ganoa!”
“Hmm, what is it?”
Ganoa’s aide cried out to him as he continued to strain his ears,
“P, please look upstream!”
“Upstream? What happened upstre——what?!”
……Ganoa saw an enormous torrent of water rushing downstream.
A violent stream of water flooded the Zarmine army, which had been crossing the river. Unable to flee, the heavily equipped Zarmine knights were swept up in the rushing waters. They had no choice but to drown because they were wearing armor.
“Wh, wha……!”
As Ganoa looked on in blank shock, he saw that the unit that had already crossed the river had been forcefully cut off from the rest of the army.
Then, the unfortunate knights on the other side of the river were suddenly assaulted by the Sunkwoll army.
“This is……ugh, it’s Rain! How dare he play such petty tricks!”
Ganoa, who had recovered surprisingly fast from his state of shock, immediately understood. This was undoubtedly Rain’s plan.
To spell it out, Rain had dammed up the river, lured Garblake across it, and had released the dam when the signal had risen.
As a result, he would be able to take down Garblake (and possibly Luminas too, if he was lucky) once he was cut off from his allies.
“Damn you, damn you!”
Blinded by rage, Ganoa cursed Rain over and over.
However, he soon realized that he was in no place to do so.
Or rather, he had been made to realize. ——That Rain’s plan had a second objective.
“General!”
“Shit, what is it this time?!”
Ganoa had been on the cusp of yelling at his aide, but stopped short after being horrified by what his aide was pointing at.
A small unit was drawing closer to them at the speed of a gale wind.
It was Gunther’s unit, who had deployed before Rain’s and had concealed themselves in order to target their enemy’s provisions, but, naturally, Ganoa had known nothing of this. He could, however, imagine why they were here whether he wanted to or not.
Ganoa looked toward his allies in a panic.
Unfortunately, all of the other troops were far ahead of him because they had launched an all-out attack. Ganoa trembled once he grasped the situation that he was in. His allies were too far away to respond to his crisis, and neither did they have the leisure to do so even if they wanted to.
Besides, Ganoa was an outsider to the Zarmine army. He was not a comrade that they would care to save.
To add to his misfortunes, he would not be able to flee with a unit consisting of wagons…… A cold sweat crawled up Ganoa’s spine.
He saw that the enemy unit was carrying multiple flame torches.
Rain smiled in satisfaction when he saw smoke rising from the rear of the Zarmine army.
Gunther had done it as planned. That smoke was proof that the enemy’s provisions were burning up. With this, the battle drew closer to an end.
“Hey, you lot! All of your food just turned to ashes without leaving a single crumb behind! So stop your futile resistance!”
he declared to the Dark knights who were still fighting.
The results were remarkable.
The knights, who had been using the last reserves of their strength to keep fighting, dropped their weapons one after another. They could not fight if they did not have supplies (food). They knew this all too well.
As expected of the Zarmine army, there were none who believed that they could keep fighting on spirit alone.
But there were always exceptions to the rules, though not always in a bad way——
A lone, well-built knight calmly walked towards Rain from the sea of unarmed knights who were kneeling in defeat.
He held a blood-soaked sword in hand and his feet were steady. Unlike the others, gold embellishments decorated his pauldrons.
“——Hmmm?”
Recognizing who the man was in an instant, Rain unmounted Kris. After returning his magic sword to its original longsword size, he awaited the man……no, he awaited the overall commander of the entire Zarmine expeditionary force.
“You’re Rain?”
His black armor was dented here and there and was painted with crimson blood, though it did not appear to be his. The man in question was hale and hearty despite his age. He was a warrior that none could look down upon—as expected of a general of Zarmine, which had once been a complete meritocracy.
“Yeah. And you’re General Garblake……was it?”
“Exactly. I’m here to give my final greetings.”
Despite the content of his sparse words, Garblake looked refreshed as he took up his sword.
Leni and the rest of Rain’s men, who had gathered around in exuberance, stopped in their tracks. No one dared to say a word.
“Can I ask you just one question?”
Garblake curtly asked Rain, who had also readied his magic sword.
“What is it?”
“Is it true that you’re a Dragon Slayer?”
“……Yeah, it’s true,”
answered Rain, causing Leni, Senoa, and Yuri to lean back in surprise, Ralphus and Gwen to shake their heads in disbelief, and Nigel to look up with a glint in his eyes.
The least shocked of all was Princess Shelfa, who simply gazed at Rain in admiration. She did not seem surprised at all.
“I see, you’re someone who has slain a mythical beast. Hahaha. It seems that I’ll be able to cross blades with the strongest at the end of my life. In that aspect, it’s not a bad way to go.”
A broad smile broke across Garblakes face.
“Don’t you have the option of surrendering for now and coming back to fight us again?”
“No, I don’t. His Majesty is not a so forgiving. Even if I were to return to my country, I would be killed without a doubt.”
“Then don’t go back and just stay here. You can join us.”
“You say such odd things…… I did hear that you were strange, and it seems the rumors were true.”
Garblake tilted his head, mystified. He continued,
“but allow me to offer my thanks. Thank you, but I have to intention of accepting you offer. Now let us end our little talk. ……You’re willing to be my opponent, I presume?”
“Guess it can’t be helped……”
Rain was not compelled to encourage Garblake to surrender. It was because he felt that Garblake had been cut from the same cloth as Ralphus.
There was nothing more he could say to a man whose honor did not allow him to surrender to an enemy.
Rain faced his opponent while holding his sword in a what looked like an easy-going manner.
Garblake, on the other hand, held his sword straight upright before him as he stood at full attention. It was the stance and decorum of a knight about to challenge an opponent to single combat.
Rain couldn’t have cared less about decorum. He simply observed his opponent in silence.
With quick steps, Garblake slid his feet across the earth and closed the distance between them. Then, he slowly brought his sword to his side. The wind blew a cloud of dust between the two warriors.
Garblake took the initiative.
He dashed forward and closed what little distance remained between them. Chunks of dirt were kicked into the air as he unleashed an attack with his full weight behind it. His sword transformed into a flash of silver light that drew into Rain’s vitals.
Swoosh!
His nimble attack, which made his audience involuntarily hold their breaths, was truly befitting of the skilled knight that he was. His longsword looked like it had mercilessly burrowed into Rain’s abdomen. However, what the sword had actually cut had been nothing more than a shadow of Rain, which simmered away like a heat haze.
The wind blew again. However, this wind had been churned up by Rain.
Rain’s afterimage passed through Garblake’s side as if it was chasing after its original and settled behind him in one smooth flow.
The wind died down, and the two warriors stood still——meanwhile, Rain’s multiple afterimages converged into his upright figure.
Rain, who had been holding his magic sword in front of him, quietly relaxed his stance. And then——
“——! Gah!”
A crimson line split Garblake’s body open and guzzled with blood. Coughing violently, he staggered a few steps forward. Just like that, he fell forward with a heavy thud.
“As I’d thought……you are truly, s, strong”
Garblake said with his face half buried in the sandy soil.
Rain bowed to him in silence.
“You were strong too. As expected of someone who was tasked to command the entire Zarmine expedition army. And I’m not saying this just to be nice.”
Garblake seemed to let out a short laugh.
He opened his bloody lips and whispered something one last time. Rain thought that he had whispered a woman’s name, but Garblake had already passed by the time he had knelt down to listen.
Rain closed Garblake’s empty, open eyes with a sigh.
Good grief……this doesn’t feel good at all. Though I know there was no other way.
Rain flung off the blood from his magic sword with a single sweep and returned it to its sheath with a click.
“We won…… We were victorious,”
said Senoa, still in a daze.
“Ye, yeah! We won against Zarmine!”
A knight, who was standing stock still near Senoa, cried out as the realization hit him. His voice spread like wildfire and grew into a cheer that shook the earth.
“We won! We really won! We defeated Zarmineeee!”
The cheering spread like a tidal wave. The Sunkwoll knights grabbed each other by the hands and stomped their feet.
On the other hand, the knights of Zarmine, who had become prisoners of war, hung their heads low in dejection. The main Zarmine army began to retreat from the other side of the river. There was nothing else they could do, as their provisions had been stolen and their overall commander had been defeated.
“You did it, Rain.”
Ralphus had saddled his horse at some point and was looking down at Rain from it, as did his two aides.
“What’s up? Isn’t the fight over?”
“It is. But we failed to take down Luminas. So I’m going to try and catch up to him, and I’ll make sure the Zarmine army is withdrawing while I’m at it.”
“You’re gonna try to catch up to him……the waters are still pretty high, you know?”
“There’s a small bridge about five kilometers downstream.”
“……I’m not gonna stop you, but……you’re pretty diligent, aren’t you?”
“It’s in my nature. And more importantly, Rain…”
Ralphus leaned forward on his horse before continuing,
“you’ll have a round with me when I get back, yes?”
“A round? Of a game or something?”
“Don’t play dumb. There’s a Dragon Slayer nearby, so as a knight I simply must ask him for a match.”
“I straight up refuse.” [an immediate reply]
Rain disliked annoying things.
“Aw, c’mon Boss Rain! We’ve already decided that I’m goin’ to be next after our Boss here, ya know?”
said Gwen in an extremely matter-of-fact manner.
“Hey! Quit deciding things without even consulting the actual person in question! I don’t like doing things that’ll make me sweat, you hear?! And besides——you know what, I’m feeling a little under the weather right now.”
“I’ll have you practice with me to my heart’s content once we get back to my castle.”
“No, I’m really not feeling too great right now. How should I put it, my body’s been feeling pretty heavy lately and I’m starting to feel sick, and I think I should take a day off and visit a healer——”
“Hahaha! I’m itchin’ to test out my skills.”
“And plus, my liver’s been acting up all of a sudden.”
“I’ll get going now; and it’s a promise.”
Ralphus pulled on the reins and turned his horse around. He completely ignored Rain, who had pressed his hand against his abdomen to add credit to his story.
Then, even Nigel, who had been silent until now, absent-mindedly added,
“I would also like to have a match with you, Lord Rain.”
“……You guys need to learn to listen when someone tells you something.”
“Oh, and Rain?”
Ralphus looked back before he left and smiled.
“What?”
“You’re pressing down on your stomach, not your liver.”
“Shut it! And don’t come back!”
Ralhpus laughed loudly, amused, and promptly left with his men in tow.
“Tch! As if I’d do any sword training with any of them. I’m definitely gonna run away.”
“General~”
Now that Ralphus and the others had left, Leni and the rest of Rain’s men stepped closer.
“What now? Do you have something to say too?”
“I do! Why did you keep quiet about being a Dragon Slayer until now?”
“Because I’m a modest person, all things despite. I can’t just go around bragging about something like that.”
Leni was rendered speechless, as if someone had blurted out something indecent, at Rain’s curt reply. Then, Rain continued,
“……what’s with that face? Besides, haven’t you seen me use magic without an incantation before? Most people would’ve noticed that.”
“My body wouldn’t be able to keep up if I let myself get surprised at every single thing you do, General.”
“Don’t be stupid. You were just being careless.”
As he dealt with Leni, Rain saw that Senoa and Yuri were standing stock still with blank looks on their faces. It looked like their spirits had left them. The rest of his men were also generally in the same boat and had blank amazement etched onto their faces.
He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone because he knew that they would react this way.
“……Rain.”
But there was one person whose attitude had not changed. Princess Shelfa wrapped both of her hands around Rain’s and smiled with glistening eyes. Leni, who was standing beside her, was surprised.
He would have to warn her not to do things like that so readily in the future.
“Well done, Rain. ……Um,”
“Yes?”
“Th, there was something that I wanted to tell you……no, something that I must tell you no matter what now that the battle is over.”
The princess began to fidget for some reason.
She stole numerous glances at Leni and the rest of Rain’s men as if something about them had bothered her.
She’s not the type of person to ask for money (obviously). Then, does she want to discuss something with me in secret? thought Rain.
“Is there something you wish to discuss with me?”
“……It’s something similar to that, but not quite.”
I have no idea what she wants.
She’ll probably speak more freely when we’re alone. After all, this Little one (though she’s grown fairly tall, so she’s not all that little anymore) hasn’t really opened up to anyone besides me.
“Alright, Princess. I’ll listen to what you have to say once we make our triumphant return to Galfort Castle.
“Yes!”
The princess nodded repeatedly in relief.
After flashing a secret wink and a quick smile at the princess, Rain signaled to his men to prepare to leave.
But then.
A sudden chill shivered down Rain’s back.
Pressure.
Rain broke out into a cold sweat in a blink of an eye. Somewhere nearby——there was a person emitting waves of overwhelming power, like the water pressure caused by a great cataract.
Furthermore, these waves of power, this “Ki,” was unmistakably different from what he had felt from Princess Shelfa.
It was different in that it was not simply a wave of pure power, but also carried the bone-chilling feeling of bloodlust within it.
Rain surveyed his surroundings, searching for the source of this enormous power.
——Found you.
A man wearing a black cloak and a black outfit of first-class tailoring, who seemed to fill up the entirety of Rain’s vision, calmly came walking through Rain’s scattered men.
He had silver hair, which was characteristic of the people of Zarmine, but no one asked him for his identity.
It was a slightly strange scene because he carried himself in such an imposing manner. With his gazed fixed at Rain from underneath his long bangs, he continued to walk as if he was simply taking a stroll in his own garden.
“Rain……”
The princess had noticed the man’s presence before Rain’s men had. Feeling something ominous in the air, she clung onto Rain’s arm and held her breath.
“——Princess, please fall back a bit.”
“Rain…… When I look at that person, I——”
“I know,”
Rain interrupted before she could finish. He added,
“and he’s probably an enemy.”
“What are you talking about?”
Senoa asked in an irritated voice.
Rain silently pointed at the mysterious man.
Then, Yuri stiffened up and cried out,
“Ki, King Leygur!”
“Wh, whaaat?! Are you sure?”
“It’s the enemy king!”
Startled by Yuri’s remark, Rain’s men finally noticed the suspicious man and began to panic.
Flustered, Leni and Senoa attempted to draw their blades.
“Everyone stop! You guys are no match for him. This guy’s scarily strong.”
“Got it! I’ll leave him to you, General,”
said Leni as he promptly re-sheathed his sword.
Normally, Rain would have kicked him into next week for that reply, but today it was the correct response.
“Now, you should fall back too, Princess. Please watch from Leni’s side.”
“……Please be careful Rain.”
She understood that she would only get in his way. Thus, the Princess obediently fell back to Leni’s side.
“Don’t even think about drawing your blades, guys! This guy came here to talk with me…… Isn’t that right?”
Rain directed his last question to the man who had purposefully stopped with a little distance between them…… King Leygur.
“Indeed. I am only interested in you…… Though I must say, I’m surprisingly well-known.”
The corners of Leygur’s mouth lifted a little as he gazed in Yuri’s direction. She hid behind Leni with a shriek. There was no reason for her to panic so much, as there was no way that a king would recognize each and every one of his spies by face.
Leygur, who had frigidly glanced over all of Rain’s men, looked a puzzled once he saw the Princess. It was as if he had witnessed something baffling.
“To think that the other person who emitted such pressure other than Rain was this girl…… How odd.”
After thinking on it for a short while, he turned his head and returned his gaze to Rain.
“No matter. I had not expected Garblake to be defeated so quickly, but you are my objective for today.”
“I’m your objective, huh. You don’t know what it means to have the tables turned on you, do you? I don’t know how you got here, but it’s pretty convenient for me that you did.”
“I have a special skill that allows me to teleport anywhere that I’ve already been to at least once before. Surely it’s nothing to be surprised about.”
Of course that’s something to be surprised about, you fucking bastard, thought Rain.
I’ve never even heard about a spell that convenient, as far as I’m concerned. And Rain was well-informed about almost every type of magic there was, too.
“Incidentally, putting my army’s defeat here today aside, there is something I want to confirm,”
Leygur said in an indifferent tone, paying no heed to Rain’s misgivings. Clearly, he did not care about Zarmine’s defeat at all.
Then, Leygur quickly stretched out his hand in an unconcerned manner.
“Come, magic light!”
Without any incantation, a large explosion of light instantly burst from his palm and rushed directly toward Rain. The burst of light, which was bright enough to disorient onlookers, crashed into Rain before he could dodge.
“General!”
“Rain!”
Leni and the Princess’ cries of alarm overlapped with each other.
However, Leygur’s enormous magical energy had lost its momentum after being intercepted by something and was extinguished without a trace.
For a brief moment, something that looked like a transparent shield had materialized and glowed a myriad of colors after intercepting the attack, before vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.
It was as if the shield had absorbed the magical energy that Leygur had released. In fact, Rain was still standing around as if nothing had happened even after the light had disappeared.
“Hmm. Was that the anti-magic field that only dragons are said to possess?”
Leygur put down his hand; however, he didn’t seem displeased at all, rather, the corners of his lips were curving into a smile. He continued,
“as you are able to use an ability that only the strongest mythical beasts are said to possess, it would seem that you are, in fact, a Dragon Slayer.”
“Hmph. If you get it, then I suggest that you stop wasting your energy.”
Rain flashed a grin and showed off his pearly white teeth, which he had been complimented on so many times that it had started to become vexing. He continued,
“don’t underestimate me—I’ve inherited the power of a mythical beast. Half-assed magical attacks won’t work on me! Anything that doesn’t work on a mythical beast will also have no effect on me, you see!”
Leygur narrowed his eyes in apparent satisfaction without even bothering to reply. Rain glared daggers at him and continued,
“at any rate, you’ve sent assassins at me, suffered me a surprise attack, and now you’re starting to get on my nerves. You’ve got a lot of nerve picking a fight with me, dammit!”
Multiple beads of light instantly formed in the sky above Rain. The radiant orange mass of magic flickered as it grew larger and each bead began a crazed dance in the air.
“Be gone!”
Every ball of light rushed toward Leygur, leaving trails of light in their wake the moment that Rain pointed a finger at Leygur.
——A direct hit.
Leygur was enveloped by countless bursts of light that blossomed like a giant flower of magic.
The giant storm of magical hellfire enveloped his body and exhausted all of its energy to burn him to ashes. No normal human should have been able to withstand it.
“Alright! That’s the General for you!”
Leni pumped a fist into the air.
“No……not yet.”
“What’re you talking about? There’s no way that——”
Leni’s eyes opened wide in shock before he could finish saying, “he’s still alive after taking that to the face.” Even after the light faded away, Leygur was still standing around without a hair out of place.
“Hahaha……ahahahahaha!!”
Leygur suddenly broke out into laughter. He laughed as if he could no longer contain the joy welling up in his heart.
“This absolute power! What a surprise. To think that a mere human could obtain it!”
“Are you part of some freakish cult or something?”
Rain spat out with displeasure. He continued,
“I don’t get you. You don’t look like Dragon Slayer or anything, but you can use magic without incantations.”
“An accurate observation. You and I are very alike, in a sense. We have far surpassed the humans living on this continent.”
“What’re you talking about? I’m human too.”
“Just listen. I’ve had my eyes on you for a while now. Ever since I heard that you abandoned the incompetent King Douglass, I thought that maybe you would be able to understand me.”
“……What are you trying to say?”
“You’re unexpectedly slow on the uptake.”
Keeping his cool, Leygur continued,
“I want you to become mine. Considering how strong you are, I would welcome you to be as one of my own arms. You have that right.”
“And here I was wondering what you were gonna say……”
Rain studied Leygur in exasperation. However, Leygur’s handsome face was the very picture of sincerity, so he must have been serious.
“It’s not that preposterous of a proposal, now is it? You’ve already turned your back on the late king. What’s so strange about you switching sides now? Someday……I will conquer the entire continent. I will reward you handsomely when that time comes, but I’ll give you what was once Lunan for now. And soon enough, I’ll also give you all of Sunkwoll.”
“Hmm……well that’s quite generous of you……”
Rain crossed his arms with a tinge of surprise. Had anyone else ever evaluated him so highly before? No, they had not!
Numerous boos flew at him as he immersed himself in his thoughts.
“Wh, why do you look like you’re considering this seriouslyy?! You’re awful!”
“It’s exactly as Sir Leni says. It’s outrageous that you’d suck up to the enemy king!”
Rain’s two aides yelped in tandem. In the heat of the moment, Yuri also shouted, “you dumbass!!”
“I was just a little touched, alright?! ——And Yuri, I’ll pay you back for that later!”
Rain looked to the princess on a whim after responding to his men without a moment’s delay.
……Her clear, unclouded eyes looked back at him brimming with her wholehearted trust.
Looks like her trust in me is the real deal. In that case, I’ll bet everything on her, too!
Rain gave the princess a quick wave (he ignored the others because they pissed him off) and turned back to Leygur.
“Sorry, but I can’t. If I go with you, I’ll have to abandon the people who I can’t bring myself to abandon. So, I think it’s about time that you prepared yourself.”
Leygur’s face abruptly turned blank at Rain’s declaration. A cold, cold light dwelled in his black eyes.
“……I don’t understand. Why do you care so much for this pile of trash? Is it because, in the end, you’re also a fool tied down by emotion?”
Leygur narrowed his cold eyes and continued,
“come to think of it, you’re always clad entirely in black. Surely, it’s not because you’re grieving for someone, is it? I’ve heard that such pointless traditions exist out in the borderlands.”
Rain clenched his molars together. From the corner of his eyes he saw the princess raise her head in surprise.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I really don’t think I like you too much. I guess we have no choice but to fight. ……And you know what?”
Rain continued with pride,
“I’d take over the world myself rather than pick up after your leftovers!”
“……It appears that I’ll have to teach you a thing or two about arrogance. I’ll curb your confidence as well.”
“Well, my limitless arrogance and my unbeatable invincibility are my forte, you see.”
Rain drew his magic sword with his characteristically bold smile on his face. The blade emitted a light that was more glaringly beautiful than usual, as if it had sensed its owner’s strong will to fight.
In turn, Leygur threw off his cloak and drew his own sword.
Its blade swelled with an aura as crimson as blood. Leygur’s sword was evidently also a magical one.
“This sword is named Justice,”
Leygur said quietly as an inconspicuous smile crept at the edge of his lips. He continued,
“isn’t it hilarious? There is no such thing as justice in this world, where strength means everything.”
“Hmmm……I’ll have to agree with you there.”
“And yet you still point your blade at me? ……Very well. I will teach you the fate of a fool who has overestimated his own abilities.”
Rain readied his magic sword with a loose grip and declared with a war cry,
“for the past ten years since I left my hometown——I’ve defeated everyone who I’ve faced with a sword in hand!”
With Rain’s declaration, the two stopped talking——
and the final battle began.
Rain and Leygur stepped slowly in semi-circles. They were steadily attempting to circle around the other.
Not a single cough could be heard, despite their large audience. The only sound that permeated the area was the sound of two magic sword’s auras and the sound of the river’s waters.
Crunch
The sound of Leygur crushing a rock under his foot reverberated in the air.
Then, at the same time——
Rain kicked off the earth and pressed forward while swinging up his sword with amazing speed. In less than a blink, he had reduced the distance between him and Leygur from several meters to zero and moved to attack.
Rain had rushed at Leygur like a gust of wind, but Leygur had still maintained eye contact with him all the way.
And at that moment, Leygur had laughed.
“Ugh!”
The slash that Rain had aimed at his opponent’s upper body was easily blocked by the crimson magic sword.
Crackle crackle crackle
The two magic swords clashed and the magic imbued within each of them repulsed against the other with a terrible force. Sparks flew as the swords crackled against each other.
“You have great reflexes.”
Rain remained silent as he moved back and flicked his wrist.
The blue magic sword’s light changed directions as if it were alive and attacked Leygur yet again.
But this, too, was easily blocked. Leygur had easily brushed aside the attacks that Rain had made with his herculean strength not only once, but twice.
Still, Rain continued to attack.
He locked swords with Leygur and pushed him aside, aiming to swipe across his side once he staggered.
But, the tip of his sword met only with his opponent’s shadow.
Leygur had jumped into the skies just before Rain’s attack had connected, leaving afterimages behind in his wake, and gently returned to the ground after a backflip. He moved so lightly that it was difficult to believe.
Rain rushed against Leygur again the moment the latter had landed and barraged him with a storm of sword strokes.
Leygur blocked and parried each strike.
It was one thing for Rain, who was a Dragon Slayer——
But the black-clad king, whose slender frame did not appear to carry much physical strength, was able to respond to Rain’s fast and powerful attacks with room to spare.
Ten times, twenty times…… Blue and crimson mixed as the two magic swords clashed, their aura’s fiercely repulsing the other each time, as Rain and Leygur continued their violent dance. Rain, who had been able to finish his battles in mere moments for the past few years, was now fighting for his life.
Little by little, a single question took over Rain’s mind.
He’s not even a Dragon Slayer, so how is he just as, no, more powerful than me?
“Thinking about something else in the middle of a fight?”
an ominous voice whispered.
By the time Rain had returned to his senses, Leygur had already moved into Rain’s blind spot.
From the corner of his eye, Rain saw a leg approach him so fast that it was nothing more than a blur.
The leg bent like a whip and kicked him directly in the side. He had not had a chance to dodge it.
“——Guh!”
Rain immediately jumped to the other side to lessen the force of the strike.
Even still, his body wracked with intense pain as the kick connected with unbelievable force. Rain was sent flying for at least five meters before he slammed into the ground.
And even then, he was forced to roll several times over because the force of the kick had yet to dissipate.
If he had taken the brunt of that force directly, his bones could have been pulverized and his insides could have ruptured instantly.
Rain broke out in a sudden rush of cold sweat, but he did not have the leeway to care.
“Rain!”
“Oh no, no way——Ge, general!”
The voices most likely belonged to the princess and Leni. Rain could not afford to look away, but he heard their voices tremble. With either shock……or concern.
He tried to spring back up to his feet, but Rain unexpectedly found himself staggering instead.
Tch! That……hit home, huh?
“That’s pathetic, Rain.”
Leygur had not closed in on him, for whatever reason. With his magic sword in hand, Leygur stared at Rain with his black, abyss-like eyes.
“——! This match isn’t over yet! Are you trying to take it easy, you bastard?!”
“This match was over the very moment it began. No matter how strong you are, you’re still just a human in the end. A tiny little human living in this closed-off, confined world. Know that this is the very reason you have lost.”
Rain opened his eyes wide in surprise for a moment and roared,
“the hell are you trying to explain all of a sudden?! Or what, are you saying that you aren’t human?!”
Rain raised his head and glared as he shouted.
With his fighting spirit burning in his heart, he charged forward.
However——his speed, while still faster than that of an ordinary person’s, had decreased from before.
He brought up his sword from where it had been dragging along the ground to an upwards diagonal cut.
Leygur dodged it by taking a half step backwards, and Rain, who had missed his strike, closed the distance between them.
Leygur deftly twisted his wrist and leisurely evaded the magic sword that danced diagonally toward his shoulder.
The Unknown Genius Swordsman—— He left behind Rain, who was once known by that moniker, completely in the dust.
And with a voice that blended in with the blades of wind that violently scythed across the empty skies, Leygur said,
“you should already understand. You are no match for me. Become my subordinate. If you do, I’ll forget about how insolent you’ve been until now. ——Hmph!”
Giiiin——crackle crackle crackle
Leygur solidly caught the multiple attacks that were aimed at his eyes.
He stared at Rain from the other side of the blade emitting a crimson aura.
“You sure like to talk a lot in the middle of a fight!”
Rain was able to put just enough strength into the sword arm to push Leygur back. However, unlike before, Leygur kept his footing and did not move an inch, as if he had planted roots into the ground. As irritating as it was, Rain saw that Leygur had not even broken into a sweat. All despite the fact that Rain, who boasted more physical strength than even Gwen, had pushed him back.
“……There are limits to my patience, Rain. I advise you to give up already.”
“And become your subordinate?”
Rain……caught a fleeting glance at the princess who fervently looked upon him as earnestly as if she was in prayer and, in a voice that only Leygur could hear, enunciated word for word,
“as she is right now, that child needs me. Depending on how you look at it, it’s entirely possible that I need her too. But, you know what, neither of us need you at all!”
Rain quickly lowered his body. In the brief opening that was created when Leygur stumbled forward, Rain kicked Leygur’s legs out from under him.
“——! Tch!”
Leygur purposefully jumped to the side, jumped off the ground with one hand, and skillfully made his landing.
——Or at least, he tried to.
Aiming for the very moment that his opponent landed, Rain rushed in as if he was being drawn into something.
If the monster in front of him was ever to break his posture, even just a little, it had to be now.
Rain brought up his magic sword from the ground and drew an arc in Leygur’s direction.
The sword hummed and left behind a bluish-white strike in its wake.
Leygur’s expression broke for the first time. He tried to evade by bending back his body, but was still left with a shallow gash around his shoulder. A spurt of fresh blood gushed from the wound.
“You’re mine!”
Rain brandished his sword in pursuit of his opponent, who still managed to jump aside with his unstable stance.
And he struck down with his fastest blow yet, leaving a spectacular after-image in his sword’s wake.
But——Leygur had corrected his stance in a blink of an eye.
“That was insufficient, Rain.”
Swoosh!
Even Leni and the others felt the wind that his sword had stirred up.
Leygur had thrown up his crimson blade and had perfectly parried Rain’s magic sword, causing even Rain to stagger.
Without a moment’s delay, Justice altered its course and gouged horizontally into Rain’s defenseless torso. It was Rain’s turn to spout a fountain of fresh blood.
“Noooooooo!!”
Rain heard the princess scream as if she had taken the blow herself.
Rain’s side was dyed red as he rolled away from Leygur across the earth multiple times, spraying out blood all the way. He tried to get up immediately afterwards……but he couldn’t. He dropped back down to his knees.
“Shit!”
His eyes fell back to the princess as he struggled to force his body upright. Shelfa was trying to rush over to him, and was only being held back by an equally flustered Leni.
Somehow, he managed to stand up after witnessing that sight.
“General!”
Senoa, and the rest of Rain’s men, began to run over to assist him. However, they stopped in their tracks as if they had met with an invisible wall halfway through. It was likely Leygur’s doing.
“……It is certainly commendable that you were able to wound me. How about it, Rain? Won’t you change your mind? If you don’t, you will die here,”
Leygur said as he calmly walked closer.
“——I have to get stronger,”
Rain whispered after wetting his dry lips and shaking his head clear. He continued,
“……stronger than anyone else…… Stronger than anything else in this world…… That’s my only wish.”
“What? Have you lost your mind from fear?”
Leygur knit his brows in doubt.
Rain simply flashed him a grin.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing in this world that scares me. Now……let’s finish this.”
“So you were nothing more than a mere fool. What can you possibly finish when you’re about to die from blood loss? If you want to die so badly, then so be it.”
Leygur leapt in front of Rain’s eyes the moment he finished his chilling declaration. The wind whistled as his silver hair fluttered behind him.
A crimson blow approached Rain’s throat as the wind howled.
But then, time appeared to have stopped for an instant.
The two opponents froze perfectly in place——
“……Imposs……ible”
For the first time during the entire encounter, Leygur moaned.
The composure he once held had left his voice.
His black eyes, which had always kept their cool, opened wide in surprise.
Rain had stopped the crimson blade with his bare hand before it could reach his neck. Rain’s hand——the five fingers of his left hand were wrapped around the blade so tightly that it couldn’t even quiver. ……Though, it did dig into the flesh of his palm somewhat.
Then, he plunged the Siren’s Blade in his right hand deep into Leygur’s chest. The edge of the sword pierced through Leygur’s back. It should have been a fatal wound.
“With only——one hand?!”
“Heh. Never underestimate a genius!”
Rain smiled triumphantly, ignoring the blood that was gushing out of his hand and side.
……He had messed up a little, but he had managed to stop the blade with the flesh of his fingers, so all was well.
“I don’t use this killing move that often because I’d lose my fingers if it failed. But, how about it; you surprised!?
Keeping the fact that it was actually a move that he had thought of just now as an act of desperation to himself, Rain promptly drew out his magic sword. Copious amounts of blood burst of Leygur’s chest.
“What?!”
It was Rain’s turn to be surprised.
Leygur, who Raid had thought would collapse on the spot, voluntarily threw down his sword and broke out into a run.
And at his destination was——
“Princess!”
Rain did not even have the time to catch up to him. Leygur easily kicked aside Leni, who had attempted to draw his dual blades against him in a panic, and grabbed hold of Princess Shelfa.
“——! P, please let go of me!”
Leygur smirked as he held back the struggling princess.
“In the end, I won, Rain.”
“You dirty bastard!!”
Ignoring Rain’s disparagement, Leygur moved his free hand in a complex pattern. He and the princess began fading out once he was done, and they soon disappeared completely.
“Goddammit!”
Rain plunged the magic sword that Leygur had left behind deep into the earth.
“Kris, let’s go!”
Rain staggered onto Kris and tried to gallop away.
“General! Where are you planning to go?!”
Leni asked as he came running with an ashen countenance. He likely felt responsible for the kidnapping.
“Don’t ask me something you already know! I’m obviously going to Zarmine! At full speed, Kris can get there in half a day!”
“N, no way. That aside, you can’t possibly go with those wounds…… Even if it’s you, General.”
“Yeah, what he sai……I mean, it’s exactly as Captain Leni said! We should come up with a strategy first.”
“I agree with squire! General, please prioritize treating your wounds first!”
Leni, Yuri, and Senoa, in that order, fervently stopped Rain with worry etched on their faces.
“This is nothing. ——Hey, what’s wrong, Kris?”
His partner refused to budge an inch.
Then, the horse shook her head as if she too was saying, ‘no.’
“C’mon, Kris!”
At the very moment that Rain was angrily pestering Kris forward.
A sudden flash of light erupted high above Rain.
It was so bright that everyone in its vicinity instinctively shut their eyes.
“Wha, what’s going……whoa!”
“Rain!”
Rain tumbled off of Kris as “something” fell down from the heavens and clung onto him. Immediately realizing who that “something” was, Rain twisted his body mid-air so that he landed on the bottom.
“Urgk!”
It hurt like hell because he was already wounded as it was (any normal person would have long since perished). He was sure that he had definitely lost more than half the blood in his body.
“Owowow~ ——Little one!?”
“——! Rain!”
Shelfa broke out into a bright smile as relief flooded over her——
But the blood immediately drained from her already porcelain white cheeks as she saw Rain’s wounds.
“I, I don’t want you to die!”
She hurriedly pressed her hands against his wounds, despite that her actions would achieve nothing.
She couldn’t care less that she would get blood all over herself.
“No, more importantly, how did you——ah.”
It was truly about time.
Rain finally remembered the pendant that he had once given Shelfa. He had completely forgotten about until now.
“……Th, that was pretty careless……of me.”
And with that said, Rain passed out as a sense of relief enveloped him.
