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441 p1. Noble Faction and New School Year [14]

 

Rain, who suddenly appeared from the depths of the earth, looked around and frowned.

「The situation seems to be quite stormy… Hmm?」

His gaze stopped on me.

He seems to have noticed my existence.

「Oh, if it isn’t Allen! It’s been a long time, I’m glad you’re doing well.」

「Rain… Can I consider you an ally?」

「Of course. I owe you a debt of gratitude.」

「I see. Thank you.」

Although Rain Glad committed a severe crime in the past, he is by no means a rotten man.

Putting aside the fact that he broke out of prison, his assistance is extremely reassuring.

「So what exactly is going on?」

「The Holy Ronelia Empire has attacked Orest together with the Black Organization. Barrel Ronelia has withdrawn for some reason, but one of the Emperor’s Four Knights, Gauran Reisenberg, the troublesome shadow user Dodriel Barton, and a few other swordsmen who seemed like the 13 Knights of the Oracle’s have been confirmed.」

「I see. Understood.」

Rain nodded and narrowed his eyes.

「By the way, Allen, there is one thing I would like to confirm…」

「What?」

「That white-haired man must be the idiot who raised his hand against Serena, right?」

「Y-Yeah…」

Hidden within those words was pure anger. A scorching rage that made me shudder.

「Right. Then leave him to me.」

After saying that, Rain walked towards Gauran.

「Rain, be careful! He’s the one of the Emperor’s Four Knights, Gauran Reisenberg, and he’s the enemy’s strongest fighter!」

「No problem, it will be over soon.」

「……Eh?」

The powerful and short words were filled with absolute confidence.

「-Gauran, it seems that my daughter is indebted to you. So allow me to repay the “favor”.」

「You… Rain Glad, huh?」

「Hmm, you know of me?」

「Of course. The fool who was defeated by Allen Rodore, surrendered the important strategic base Dagrio, and was imprisoned in an underground dungeon. Well, you’re just a blockhead who wasn’t good enough to become one of the Emperor’s Four Knights.」

In response to Gauran’s scornful laugh, Rain had a complicated expression on his face.

「Hmm… it looks like you’ve misunderstood something.」

「Fuu, where is the misunderstanding? The fact that you were defeated by Allen Rodore, that Dagrio was recaptured, and that you were miserably imprisoned are all facts, right?」

As Gauran’s shoulders shook as he laughed, a swordsman wearing a black robe shouted as the color on his face changed.

「G-Gauran-san, he’s different! That guy is not a normal 13 Knight!」

「What……?」

「He fought with His Majesty in a death battle and survived. He’s a monster.」

At that instant,

「–Spring from the Root,〈Origin Drop〉.」

As Rain manifested his true soul dress, a super-gigantic spiritual power blew violently.

But it disappeared like rain and dew the next moment.

「Ha, after all, you’re just a 13 Knights of the Oracle. You can’t even manifest your true soul dress properly?」

Ignoring Gauran’s ridicule, Rain quickly pulled Serena’s hand.

「Serena, it’s dangerous, so come over here.」

「……? Okay.」

Immediately after–

「Huh?」

A mysterious drop fell from the distant sky.

It easily pierced the main〈Aurum Cubes〉floating above Gauran’s head, crushing all matter in its falling trajectory with overwhelming power and speed.

「My true soul dress is large in scale. If I leave it open for too long, this place will become a land of everlasting rain.」

A true instant kill.

With just one blow, he defeated Gauran Reisenberg, one the Emperor’s Four Knights.

(S-Strong….He’s a completely different person from that time…)

No, if I think about it calmly, it’s only natural that he’s a different person now.

Rain used the power of his soul dress〈Last Drop〉to change the Land of Sun Dagrio into a Land of Rain. He used his weather-altering powers nonstop for years and years on end.

When I fought him, he was probably suffering from severe spiritual power deficiency.

「Rain, you did it……!」

When I was about to run over to him,

「…Not, yet…」

Gauran slowly stood up.

He was mortally wounded, but seemed to be barely breathing.

「The next generation of Spirit Pill, given by His Majesty… With this, I can still…!」

With trembling hands, Gauran fumbled into his pocket and pulled out a blue pill.

「Don’t tell me… that’s a spirit pill!? Rain, don’t let him take that pill!」

「I know!」

Rain immediately closed the distance, but it was too late.

「Fu, fuhaha… you’re too late!」

The moment when Gauran chewed up the spirit pill, a dazzling flash of light swept through, and a tremendous explosion occurred.

「Did he blow himself up…?」

「…What the hell is going on?」

As Rain and I were confused, the rising dust slowly cleared away.

What we saw there was–

「Ah, ga…」

Gauran crawling on the ground, at death’s door.

「Your Majesty, why…why…why did you treat me like this…」

As though his entire world itself had crumbled, he shed large beads of tears.

(………I see now.)

It seems that Gauran received that pill from Barrel Ronelia.

The drug, which he thought was a spirit pill, turned out to be an explosive.

In other words, he was cut down by the Emperor.

(…T-That’s cruel…)

Even though we’re enemies, I felt sorry for him.

Gauran Reisenberg, whose internal organs were burned and was already full of wounds–

Was stomped on the head by Dodriel ruthlessly.

「Ahahahahaha! What a terrible face you’re making, Gauran-san…」

「Dodori… el…」

「You’re just too old, Gauran-san. Saying things like seniority, or absolute obedience to orders, or don’t break discipline, etc… Your moldy old-fashioned thoughts seem to be ingrained deep inside. No matter how much time passes, you don’t try to adapt to modern times. You haven’t updated your sense of values. That’s why you were abandoned by His Majesty…」

Dodriel stepped on the back of Gauran’s head over and over while laughing.

「…」

Gauran didn’t say anything back. He couldn’t.

Whether Dodriel’s words were true or false, there was only one fact. He was abandoned by the Emperor.

For Gauran, Barrel Ronelia must have been like a god.

I couldn’t feel anything from him now, neither his will to live nor his spirit.

「His Majesty wishes for innovation, reform, and change! There is no need for old-fashioned relics in the new era that he is creating! …Hello, are you listening? Oh, you’re already dead.」

Dodriel stripped the robe from Gauran’s already dead body and slipped it through his sleeves, humming happily.

「Now then… I am the new “Four Knights”!」

Wearing a blood-stained robe, Dodriel muttered, “It’s a little baggy,” and turned around.

「I really want to hang out with Allen more, but… I was able to achieve my “strategic goal”, so I wonder if it’s about time?」

Saying so, Dodriel jumped high into the air and landed on a platform of shadows of his own making.

At the same time, jet-black whirlpools appeared behind him and in various parts of the city.

「Are you planning on running away again?」

「This is not running away, it’s a “setting”. I want us to love each other on the ”grandest stage”, Allen.」

Dodriel’s face and tone of voice were unusually serious.

「Next time… It will be the next time we meet. Don’t die until then, Allen.」

Leaving those words behind, he disappeared into the shadows.

「…Next time, huh…」

The next time I cross swords with him, it will be a death battle―a real fight to the death.

(But for now, the immediate danger has passed.)

The dangerous spiritual power that was overflowing in the city disappeared in an instant.

All of them probably returned to their home base through Dodriel’s Spot ability.

「Phew…」

At the same time as I let out a sigh of relief, the Holy Knights who had been defending the city until now came back in droves.