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439 p2. Noble Faction and New School Year [12]

「Ugly people are rotten even to their flesh.」

After disposing of the two great nobles in a brutal way, Barrel snorted softly and turned his gaze to the entire venue as if he was assessing.

「The Phantom Spirit Fafnir and… Hou, how nostalgic… I never thought Vanargand would be in a place like this. Hmmm? Why is the 100 Million Year Sakura here?…I see, it’s a memento of that idiot, Bacchus.」

As he commented for a long time,

「…goho, gohogah…」

He suddenly coughed in agony as his shoulders shook intensely.

Fresh blood dripped down his black robe, and the surrounding aides became discomposed.

「Y-Your Majesty!」

「As expected, the condition is still not good enough to go outside…」

With one hand gesturing to his dismayed subordinates, Barrel wiped the blood from his mouth with his wrinkled left hand.

「I’m fine, just not used to it yet. I’ll get used to it soon.」

I couldn’t really hear what they’re saying because they were quite far away, but…

(…Bleeding…?)

Perhaps Barrel has some health problems.

When I was thinking about that,

「Barrel Ronelia, you must have some nerve to appear in front of me.」

Leia-sensei, who was right next to me, unleashed a terrifying bloodlust.

Her fist, true to her nickname, was dyed in jet black and she was almost about to jump at this very moment.

「Black Fist, huh… You who have overcome the curse of the button, are a little troublesome as a “transcendent”. But I will have you leave the stage this time.」

「What?」

At the same time as sensei raised her voice, a desperate female voice resounded from the venue’s speakers.

『E-Emergency message from Tenshi-sama! A horde of demons appeared through numerous black spots in the skies above the Ringuard Palace and have begun attacking! Black Fist Leia Lasnode must return to the palace immediately! I repeat! A horde of demons――』

「Bastard, using an underhanded method…」

Leia-sensei clenched her teeth, while Barrel kept his relaxed appearance.

『Leia-sama, please hurry! At this rate, Tenshi-sama might die!』

Leia-sensei made a quick decision in response to the ghastly voice coming through the broadcast.

「–Allen, I have to rush towards Tenshi-sama. Can I leave this place to you!?」

「Of course!」

As soon as I nodded, sensei rushed in the direction of the Ringuard Palace.

Seeing this, Barrel slowly stood up from his shadow chair.

「–Gauran, Dodriel, I’ll leave the rest to you.」

「Understood.」

「Rogeeer.」

Just before Barrel returned to the shadow, he glanced back at me.

「Allen… don’t misread the truth. I am not your enemy. The “Power of the King” exists to shoot down the real enemy.」

Leaving behind those incomprehensible words, he disappeared into a black whirlpool.

As if to replace it, a huge shadow appeared in the sky above the stone stage, and a large amount of “somethings” dropped down from it.

The feebly free-falling “somethings” was — humans.

「Swordsman… kill… kill kill kill kill kill…」

「Fuu– Fuu–….」

Swordsmen with abnormally protruding muscles and unstable soul dress.

「Swordsmen enhanced with the spirit pills…」

As I gritted my teeth, Dodriel clapped his hands.

「Ahaa, correct answer, correct answer, super correct! As expected of Allen, you’re a knowledgeable person… Oh, wait? Hmm, ah… that’s right! That reminds me, you’ve fought these guys several times already, haven’t you? It was written in the report from a while ago.」

After saying that cheerfully, he turned his attention to the numerous enhanced swordsmen wriggling below him.

「These are the enhanced swordsmen who were given the spirit pill…Yeah, it sounds good if you say “enhanced swordsmen”, but in reality, they’re just test subjects who couldn’t endure the experiment.」

「What do you people think human lives are?!」

「Nothing special, really.」

The answer that came out his mouth felt terrifyingly empty.

Perhaps Dodriel doesn’t really care about it at all.

「Whether they are strengthened swordsmen or failed experiments, the differences in that really don’t matter. More importantly, I have something I want to tell you today! 」

With his eyes sparkling like a child, he leaned forward and spoke.

「On this day today, the Holy Ronelia Empire “declares war” on the Ringuard Empire――」

In an instant, an ice spear pierced Dodriel’s face.

「…The heck?」

With the power of〈Shadow Ruler〉, he moved to the “Shadow World” and was completely unharmed. His eyebrows were raised so much that you could see it from afar.

「Shut the hell up, bastard! I’ll kill you quickly, so hurry up and come down here, trash.」

Sid-san, who is as impatient as ever, quickly beckoned with his finger.

「Cain Material shall sentence the death penalty to all fools who disobey Allen-sama’s will!」

「I don’t care if you’re the Empire or the Black Organization, take your bullshit elsewhere!」

「If you want a fight, you’re gonna get a fight!」

The swordsmen of Ice King Academy, including Cain-san, shouted furiously.

And then–.

「The enemy is attacking. Everyone, please lend me your strength.」

As Idol stood on the front line,

「Of course!」

「Everyone, follow Idol-neesama!」

「Scoundrels who bring chaos to the world, we shall fix you up nicely!」

The students of White Lily Girls’ Academy also stood together with her.

「Sid-san, Idol!」

The two most reliable combat powers rose up. But that was not the end.

「W-Wait a minute, Maddy-san! You have to rest!」

「You were on the verge of dying just a moment ago!」

「-Shaddup! How can I keep sleeping when the enemy is attacking! But thank you for healing me!」

Defying the restraints of the medical staff, the one who jumped out of the east gate was the vice-general of the Imperial Academy, Maddy Malm.

As she stood in front of the students of Imperial Academy, she raised a clear, beautiful voice.

「You guys, the enemy is here! No one here is shaking in their pants, right!?」

「Of course not!」

「Follow President Maddy!」

「We’ll show the power of the strongest Five Academies!」

In response to Maddy’s stirring, the voltage at Imperial Academy skyrocketed at once.

It seems that she is the de-facto leader of that academy.

「Kuh, don’t fall behind the other Five Academies! Now is the time to show our Flame Emperor’s Spirit of Justice!」

「「「Ohhhhhhhhh!」」」

The swordsmen of the Flame Emperor Academy raised their voices in a deep, bold voice.

Thousand Blade, Ice King, White Lily, Imperial, and Flame Emperor—the Five Academies stood side by side and pointed their swords at a common enemy.

(That’s right! I…We…are not alone!)

All the best swordsmen in Ringuard have gathered here together, boasting a tremendous fighting power.

「Ahaa, everyone seems to be warming up nicely! This is going to be a flashy party!」

With a sinister smile, Dodriel lifted his hands up.

「Come now everyone, time for the initial charge~! The joyful and exhilarating invasion of Orest…Start!」

At the same time as Dodriel clapped his hands, the members of the Black Organization began to manifest their soul dress one after another.

「Scorch it all out -〈Burning Cherubs〉!」

「Weave -〈Weave Wand〉!」

「Be Lost -〈Three Ridge Pass〉!」

We also released our respective powers.

「Destroy -〈Zeon〉!」

「Devour -〈Vanargand〉!」

「Fill -〈Neba Glome〉!」

Both sides prepared for battle, and when it was time for the battle to break out―for some reason, they turned their gazes to the “outside” and acted in a completely unexpected way.

「Hyaha! Burn up, Hell’s Music!」

「Go numb, Thunderstorm.」

「Ahaha… Become dolls, Doll Garden!」

The target of their attacks was the civilians living in Orest.

For some reason, they didn’t pay any attention to us and launched an all-out attack on the city.

「K-KYAAAAAAAAAA!」

「What, what’s happening… Guha!」

「S-Somebody… help me…」

Screams that pains my heart echoed, and black smoke rose from here and there.

「Ahahahaha! Let’s go! Let’s keep going! Let’s crush everything, trample everything, ruin everything!」

As Dodriel clapped his hands while laughing loudly, the four swordsmen who seemed like the 13 Knights of the Oracle scattered in all directions, accompanied by a large number of members and enhanced swordsmen.

「Tsk, you shitheads…」

Sid-san clicked his tongue hatefully, then turned around and raised a rough, loud voice.

「Listen! One of the enemy’s main objectives is to “cut down the power of the Ringuard empire”, so they are aiming for something here! From now on, Ice King Academy will slaughter the garbage scattered north of Orest. You bastards decide on your own divisions and head east, west, south… The rest, kill the scum left in this venue! Don’t fight the enemy alone no matter what! Coordinate with the Holy Knights on the site! I think you know this, but the soul dress users of the recovery-type and the control-type will be the logistical support! Therefore, the water users will gather with Sie Arcstria and split into four units to extinguish the fire in the city!”

If we ignore the extremely abusive language, his instructions were very accurate and above all, prompt.

Sometime during the summer training camp, Ferris-san said that Sid-san is smart, and apparently that was true.