Chaos gripped the royal capital.
Among the people fleeing the academy were Jenna and Finley.
“Why are you coming to the academy? This is a shelter! What’s your goal here?”
There were other important facilities, so Jenna couldn’t understand what the enemy was thinking.
Jenna held Finley’s hand tightly and moved through the crowd.
Finley kept glancing back and looking up at the sky.
“Nicks’s ship will be okay, right? It’s the new model Leon made, so it won’t sink easily, right? Right, sis?!”
They were firing on the distant monster, but it had no effect.
A flying ship that got close to the monster was destroyed, crashing down and setting the capital ablaze.
Then, numerous fireballs assaulted Nicks’s ship, triggering explosions.
“Sis!”
“Shut up! Right now, just focus on running away! We—can’t do anything.”
Jenna looked just as frustrated.
Finley noticed Jenna’s hand was trembling.
*So this is war.*
It was a world that had nothing to do with them.
They’d been taught that it was only natural for men to go to the battlefield, but experiencing it like this was terrifying.
Running away alone was frightening enough; Finley couldn’t even imagine fighting the enemy.
“—Nicks.”
She averted her eyes from the ship engulfed in flames.
Jenna wiped away tears.
Then, from within the crowd, a hand reached out and grabbed Jenna and Finley.
“Found you.”
A hooded woman pressed a gun against Finley.
“Come with me.”
Hearing the hooded woman’s voice, Jenna’s eyes widened in shock.
“You—Merce.”
“Long time no see. You been well?”
Finley, with a gun pointed at her, found her legs shaking.
*Wh-why is Merce here?*
“—Come with me. Try to run and I’ll shoot you dead without a second thought.”
Jenna gritted her back teeth and, together with Finley, was led away by Merce.
◇
“Ugh!”
“Eek!”
The two were dragged into one of the academy’s storage sheds.
Inside the shed, among the teaching equipment, was Zola, dressed in a tattered gown.
Her folding fan was also badly worn.
She looked emaciated and unhealthy.
“Mother, I’ve brought them.”
So said Merce, before kicking the two of them.
Both had their hands bound behind their backs.
Zola looked down on them, then stomped on Finley’s head.
“Ow!”
“Silence. The mere fact that you’re that mistress’s children is infuriating, and now you’ve pushed Merce and Lyutoart aside to become the true wife’s children—the kingdom is mistaken.”
Finley glared at Zola.
“Huh? Isn’t it because you didn’t give birth to Father’s child? Everything you do is dirty. Of course you’d be kicked out!”
“You little shit!”
“Ah—!”
Zola stomped on Finley again and again.
“You think I was truly worthy of a man like Balcus?! He should’ve just kept handing over money like I told him! But no, you let that useless freeloader Leon do whatever he wanted!”
Seeing Finley suffering under the kicks, Jenna panicked and opened her mouth to draw Zola’s attention to herself, provoking her.
“You’re the freeloaders! What did you ever do for our family!”
A vein bulged on Zola’s forehead, and she kicked Jenna.
“What did we do, you ask?! You don’t even get that? I ‘married Balcus’! It’s thanks to that you lot were treated as nobles. This is why I hate country brats—you can’t even grasp that!”
Back when the kingdom favored women, a marriage to someone of unequal status was looked at with scorn.
That’s why Balcus couldn’t wed Ryus, Leon’s mother, back then.
Finley looked at Jenna.
“Sis!”
Jenna murmured quietly.
“Finley, you keep quiet.”
Then Jenna egged Zola on.
“The times have changed. You’re not nobles anymore. Can’t you even understand that?”
“Shut up!! I’ll be back as a noble in no time, and then I’ll have you executed! I’ll line your heads up in front of Balcus and laugh! ‘This is what you get for betraying me!’ I’ll say!”
“Idiot. You were the one who betrayed us first!”
Jenna took a kick from Zola, and watching it, Finley’s eyes welled with tears.
Merce was laughing.
“No use acting tough. You saw outside, didn’t you? Lyutoart will kill your brother for us. You’ll get what you deserve for all your selfishness.”
Finley looked at Zola, who was kicking Jenna with a demonic expression, and Merce, who was watching and laughing in amusement, and thought—
*What’s wrong with these people? Why are they so screwed up?*
Watching the two, Finley felt a chill of dread.
◇
The flying ship was engulfed in flames.
Nicks had closed his eyes, but when the fact that he was still unharmed after so long felt strange, he opened them.
There, he saw the back of Arroganz, a container on its back.
“Leon!”
Leon turned and gave a thumbs-up with Arroganz.
*‘Big bro, sorry for the wait. I’ll take it from here. No, wait—I’ll hold him off, so you go on ahead? I guess?’*
He wondered what the hell he was saying, but that was Leon for you.
“Just as nonsensical as ever, you moron! You’re damn late!”
*‘I still rushed as fast as I could. Anyway, seriously, fall back. This guy seems a bit troublesome.’*
As Arroganz looked at Lyutoart, the target seemed to notice.
Lyutoart was trembling.
*‘Leon. Leon, Leon! LEEEONN!!’*
He flailed his long arms, smashing them into the buildings around him.
Nicks immediately gave the order.
“Pull back now! Prioritize rescue!”
“Roger!”
Nicks’s subordinates responded, and the ship began to move.
While pulling away from Arroganz, Nicks noticed the armor lined up beside it.
*What’s that? Same model as Arroganz?*
It was an excessively spiky Arroganz.
The two were so similar that he almost mistook it for another one Leon had built.
◇
After watching Nicks depart, I looked at the monster throwing a tantrum and rampaging.
“Why does it have Lyutoart’s voice?”
When I muttered inside the cockpit, Luxion promptly answered.
*‘Could it be that the one who used part of the magic armor brought into the capital was Lyutoart?’*
“He could use it too? Or rather, was Lyutoart that important a figure?”
Enough to be entrusted with using part of the magic armor? Did that mean the rebel group acknowledged him?
As I thought that, the fake-looking Arroganz floating next to me—Finn and KuroSUKE—spoke up.
*‘—Magic armor without a core can’t be controlled and goes berserk. And it takes the user’s life. Not a nice way to put it, but your brother was used as a disposable pawn.’*
*‘Seeing as he’s not dead yet, did he dope himself up, maybe? Swelled up ugly like that—hard to look at.’*
KuroSUKE seemed to be mourning the sad end of his companion.
And as for their appearances—I finally remembered.
“Finn, that armor… a paid item?”
*‘Hm? Oh, probably. I didn’t actually buy it, but I was lucky enough to find it.’*
KuroSUKE boasted.
*‘My meeting with my partner was fate! Paid items and past lives have nothing to do with it!’*
Luxion, on the other hand, was cold.
*‘You picked up some incredible trash, I see. I pity Finn.’*
*‘You—say that one more time!’*
Luxion and KuroSUKE started making a racket, but it seemed Lyutoart had run out of patience.
*‘LEEEEOOONNN!!’*
He came at me, but Finn’s unit also looked like Arroganz, which confused him.
He was struggling to decide which of us to attack.
We immediately dispersed to divert Lyutoart’s attention, and I pulled a rifle from the container.
“All we can do is take him down, right?”
When I checked with Finn, he confirmed it.
*‘If he’s been corrupted this far, it’s impossible. If you don’t want to fight, I’ll land the finishing blow.’*
“Don’t get the wrong idea. If we have to take him down, then he’s someone I’m glad to beat. Besides, this guy is an ex-brother. And a fake. He’s not family.”
Having said that, Finn was attacked by tentacles in midair, but he gracefully dodged and sliced them apart with a greatsword.
*‘It’s complicated. If you’re really all right, then fine—but be careful.’*
That spiky Arroganz looked like a paid item I’d bought in a past life.
“I will. Anyway—finally found it.”
I’d wondered where it was, but I never thought Finn would get his hands on it.
Brave—I think that was its name. I’d forgotten.
Luxion sought my orders.
*‘Master, the enemy’s magic armor is preparing a magical attack. Requesting permission to use missiles.’*
“Blow it away!”
One of the containers opened, launching missile after missile at Lyutoart.
All of them, controlled by Luxion, struck the eyeballs covering his body, engulfing him in flames.
*‘GYAAAAAH!!’*
As Lyutoart screamed, I roared at him.
“Lyutoart, I’ve got plenty of grudges against you too, you bastard! I’ll crush you without a second thought!”
*‘Why not use that momentum to turn that black one over there to ash as well?’*
“—Denied.”
Lyutoart stretched out his hand, and it extended toward me.
He tried to catch me, so I shot through it with the rifle.
But just shooting it wasn’t enough to stop its movement.
“Troublesome.”
*‘The effect is minimal. Recommending a change of weapon.’*
As I put some distance between us, Finn came my way and severed Lyutoart’s arm with his greatsword.
He then plunged straight down from the sky and, immediately after, sliced apart the other arm too.
*‘Don’t get careless. If you’re using a gun, you need to aim for the pilot inside, or else it’s useless. Or, you know—blow him away.’*
He seemed rather accustomed to fighting magic armor.
“You’ve fought these things several times?”
*‘This makes the sixth time with this one. First time for you?’*
“No, just once before.”
It’s a different kind of pain than dealing with that Black Knight old man.
*‘Something’s better than nothing. I’m counting on your support.’*
“Leave it to me. As long as Luxion doesn’t miss.”
Right on cue, KuroSUKE butted into the conversation.
*‘That guy’s the least trustworthy one here! Partner, let’s beat him just the two of us.’*
Luxion was irritated.
*‘You are unnecessary. Master, let’s destroy him ourselves.’*
“Don’t compete over stupid things.”
I readjusted my grip on the controls, worked the pedals, and flipped Arroganz in midair.
Lyutoart, who had regenerated new arms, swung them wildly, trying to swat us.
When tentacles came rushing at me, I pulled out an axe from the container and sliced them off.
“To blow him away, missiles won’t be enough.”
*‘Requesting permission to use the main body.’*
“Denied—too much collateral damage. Deploy the Schwert.”
Then, from Luxion’s main body hovering above, the Schwert was launched.
I purged the container and combined with the Schwert in midair.
*‘Whoa! You combined!’*
Finn, sounding slightly excited, was amusing.
He’s a boy at heart too, I guess.
“Cool, right?”
*‘Combining is pure romance. —All right, are you ready?’*
I pulled the greatsword from the Schwert and took a stance; Finn, on the other side of Lyutoart, did the same.
I looked at Lyutoart, screaming in his ugly form.
“Lyutoart, if you can’t be saved, then at least I’ll free you.”
At my words, Luxion made a sarcastic remark.
*‘How merciful. Do you have some pleasant memories as brothers?’*
“None. Well, even if I hate him, it doesn’t mean I wanted to kill him.”
Arroganz fired its boosters, accelerating as it charged at Lyutoart.
Finn did the same from the opposite side.
We sandwiched Lyutoart, rushing from opposite directions—and swung our greatswords through.
Then, when Lyutoart spewed black liquid into the air, we changed course and charged again.
Finn and I carved Lyutoart apart.
“Luxion, what’s his weak point?”
*‘Simply, the head. There’s a reaction there that seems to be Lyutoart.’*
“—I see.”
I moved Arroganz right in front of the rampaging Lyutoart, and a human face, twisted in terror, was visible.
*‘Why. Why am I—I’m the more important one! I’m a marquis! It’s all supposed to be mine! Status, honor, wealth! And women!’*
He seemed confused.
Same as that Black Knight old man.
I plunged the greatsword into that human face.
“Lyutoart, you went about it the wrong way.”
*‘LEEOOONN!’*
Lyutoart screamed, and Luxion muttered as if urging me to finish it quickly.
*‘Impact.’*
The greatsword glowed red, and Lyutoart boiled, bubbling and bursting as if seething.
Black liquid splattered into the surroundings, and sticky fluid clung to Arroganz.
*‘Master, someone is approaching. It seems their objective is to recover the fragments of the magic armor.’*
“One of Rachel’s people?”
*‘—Also, a report from the academy. It seems your elder and younger sisters are being held captive. The perpetrators are Zola and Merce. The elder sister is being physically abused.’*
“—What?”
Hearing that, Finn called out to me.
*‘Leon, you go save your sisters. We’ll take care of the armor fragments here.’*
*‘Using my comrades like this—unforgivable!’*
Leaving this place to Finn, Luxion and I decided to head for the academy.
“Th-thanks.”
But of all people, it had to be Zola and Merce.