Looking at Erica, who was covered in blood with a pale face, Marie pressed her hand against the wound and used healing magic.
"Why? Why isn't it working!"
Marie shouted, tears streaming down her face.
The magic she had trained so pointlessly hard to develop had no effect on the girl who was on the verge of death.
She couldn't handle it properly.
Leon called out to Marie from behind her back.
"It's pointless."
Turning around, Marie glared at Leon.
At the look on Marie's face, Eriya turned pale and trembled with a small "Hii!"
"—Why? Why would you, Bro, kill Erica!"
Clenching her fists, she charged at Leon and slammed into him with full force.
Pounding her fists against him again and again, Marie looked up at Leon.
His face wore a very cold expression.
His eyes were frightening too, but that didn't matter to Marie right now.
"I believed that you, Bro, would save Erica!"
Leon wore a smile that sent chills down her spine.
"You believed in me? Stop with the unfunny jokes. I have no obligation to live up to your expectations."
"I won't forgive you. I'll never forgi—!"
Struck on the head with the grip of his gun, Marie clutched her head with both hands.
Even so, she glared at Leon.
Pushing the wheelchair closer to Marie and Leon, Eriya was bewildered.
"Um, what is Marie-san so angry about?"
Marie was infuriated by Eriya's carefree attitude.
"About what? How can you stay so calm! If only someone like you hadn't been engaged to Erica—if only that hadn't happened—"
Trembling and shaking, Marie looked at Erica sitting in the wheelchair and was startled.
Though her clothes were stained with blood, her chest was moving slightly.
She was breathing.
"—Wh-why!?"
Unable to comprehend the situation, Marie watched as Leon pulled the magazine out of his gun and tossed it to her.
Catching it, Marie saw markings on the cartridges indicating they were magical bullets.
"Th-this is—"
"Sleeping magic bullets I had Luxion make. They even produce fake blood."
Leon snatched the magazine back from Marie, tucked the gun into his coat, and looked at Erica.
"You guys knew about this, didn't you!"
Eriya was the one who looked surprised.
"Eh? Why didn't you know about it, Marie-san? D-don't tell me, Bro—"
Leon laughed mockingly.
"It makes the performance more convincing. Even Erica completely believed it."
With that, Leon called for Cleare.
Cleare arrived on the rooftop, leading a group of work robots.
Upon arriving, Cleare looked at the sleeping Erica and gave instructions.
"Hurry and carry the princess to the medical capsule. Handle her carefully. If you scratch her, Master will shoot us all dead."
Watching Cleare crack jokes, Marie collapsed on the spot.
"Tell me sooner, dammitttt!"
Seeing Marie crying, Leon laughed and said something like "What a hopeless kid."
But Marie was bothered by that smile.
"Bro?"
"What?"
"Are you angry?"
"—I'm just mad at my pathetic little sister figure. Come on, go be by Erica's side. By the time Erica wakes up, we'll have to have finished everything."
"O-okay."
She left the rooftop together with Eriya.
But Leon remained on the rooftop, watching the Empire's envoy depart into the distance.
His back looked different from the Leon's back that Marie knew.
"—Bro."
Marie told Eriya to take Erica on ahead and tried to call out to Leon.
But Cleare stopped her.
"Where are you going?"
"Because Bro is—"
Gripping the chain-link fence, Leon collapsed to his knees and began to weep.
Marie had never—not in this life, nor her previous one—seen her brother like this before.
"M-move aside, Bro is—!"
"—Marie-chan, this isn't your job."
"Eh?"
Cleare's words felt colder than usual.
The sound of footsteps running up the stairs reached her ears.
Angie and Livia, brought along by Luxion, arrived on the rooftop.
They passed by Marie's side.
"Leon!"
"Leon-san!"
The two approached Leon and began to comfort him.
When Marie tried to say something, Noelle placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Maricchi, we'll handle the rest, so go be with Erica-chan."
Saying this, Noelle also headed up to the rooftop.
Luxion conveyed what was to come to Cleare.
"—Our comrades have awakened. They have begun their attack aiming for Arcadia."
"Did you call out to them?"
"They are ignoring our calls. Destroying Arcadia is their highest-priority order."
"Did you really try to persuade them? —I'll try calling out to them on my end too."
With Arcadia revived, the weapons of Old Humanity had awakened and begun their attack.
Even without a Master, they were able to reactivate because it was their top-priority order.
"Eh, ah—"
Cleare left, and Luxion watched Leon from a distance.
Noelle was rubbing Leon's back.
"Wh-what are you planning to do? Bro is—I've never seen Bro look like that."
When Marie murmured this, Luxion announced:
"War. Master has decided to wage war against the Empire."
"—Eh? B-but, the Empire has Mia-chan and Finn in it!"
"That's exactly why he's suffering."
Luxion conveyed the current situation to Marie.
"What's that supposed to mean? I never heard about this! I don't know anything!"
"—This is reality."
Luxion conveyed his own bitter feelings through his electronic voice.
"For Erica and the children to be born in the Kingdom from now on, Master is trying to break himself. —This country should have been destroyed long ago."
It was a voice that sounded frustrated and bitter.
Watching Luxion go to Leon's side, Marie hung her head.
"—Bro."
Looking at Leon's battered back, Marie clenched her skirt.
"I-it's my fault. I knew Bro would push himself too hard, but I relied on him with the matter of Erica."
Leon's back, which had done everything for her since she was little, now looked to Marie as if it were covered in wounds and crying.
And then, Marie remembered.
That she had been the cause of her brother's death in her previous life.
"I see. So that's it. Surely I—"
◇
—Several weeks later.
Charging toward Arcadia floating in the Empire's sky was an AI-equipped aircraft with a single eye on a spherical body.
It flew between airships, charging toward Arcadia.
Rust and barnacles clung to its hull, as if it had been submerged in the sea.
Its movements were also strange.
Even so, it headed for Arcadia.
"Stop it!"
"We can't catch up!"
"At any cost—"
Shaking off the pursuing Imperial armors, the fighter slammed into Arcadia and exploded.
But Arcadia was unscathed.
From inside the Imperial armors, the pilots grumbled.
"How many times has this been now!?"
"Those one-eyed machines keep ignoring us and ramming Arcadia."
"If it doesn't leave even a scratch, then I suppose there's no problem—"
As they were having such a conversation, they looked toward the distant sky.
There, a rust-covered three-hundred-meter-class airship was floating.
When they noticed light being released, they evaporated and vanished.
The airship continuing its attack was—a cruiser of Old Humanity.
It must have detected Arcadia's revival and emerged from the sea.
When the optical weapons struck Arcadia, they were blocked by the shield.
As the rusted cruiser tried to charge in, the Imperial airships moved to block its path.
And there—
"You all, stand back!"
"Partner, it's better to destroy it in one shot!"
—Finn, clad in Brave, appeared.
The rusted cruiser tried to put up a barrage of fire in defense, but it was useless.
Finn slipped through the barrage and cleaved the rusted cruiser in two.
Then, watching the sinking cruiser, he murmured.
"There were still this many Old Humanity weapons left?"
Brave answered.
"They were probably sleeping because their Masters were gone. But this is troublesome. If they gather in numbers, even the current Arcadia won't be able to handle them all."
Finn returned to Arcadia.
◇
An audience chamber built within Arcadia.
Seated beside Emperor Bartholt was Mia, wearing a dress.
When Finn appeared in the audience chamber, Mia raised her face as if she had something she wanted to say.
Ignoring this, Finn knelt before the two of them.
"Your Majesty, I deeply apologize for my disruption during the ceremony."
Bartholt did not reprimand him for it.
"It's fine. Those who fixate on the ceremony are the ones at fault."
The high-ranking officials were also gathered around.
Glared at by Bartholt, their eyes darted around uncertainly.
The knights lined up in the audience chamber were among the most distinguished knights of the Empire.
They were knights who had been given numbers—special ranks—according to their abilities.
Beside them, magic armor cores like Brave were floating.
A core similar to Brave also floated near the third-ranked boy knight.
"Senpai sure works hard~"
Finn stepped to the front of the knights.
Bartholt rose to his feet.
"Finn Lyta Hering—I permit your reinstatement to the position of First Rank."
"Yes, sir!"
"—In the Holfart Kingdom, there is a hero who rose to the rank of Duke in a single generation. Dealing with him shall be entrusted to the Empire's strongest knights gathered here."
"—I shall live up to your expectations."
"Of course."
Mia hung her head with an extremely sorrowful expression.
Finn could not bring himself to look directly at Mia's face.
Finn, the Empire's strongest knight, murmured in his heart.
(Leon, it looks like I'm going to end up fighting you.)
Bartholt raised his fist.
"Cores of magic armor in their complete form have also gathered to lend us their strength. No matter how many Old Humanity weapons awaken, as long as we have Arcadia, our victory is unshakable!"
Until now, the only complete magic armor had been Brave.
But now, it had been distributed to all twelve elite knights.
Brave, beside Finn, was happy to have more comrades—but seemed conflicted.
With the twelve magic armor knights now assembled, the interrupted ceremony resumed.
Then, a soldier came rushing in.
"I deeply apologize for interrupting the ceremony! Your Majesty, an airship that appears to be another Old Humanity weapon has appeared!"
Bartholt narrowed his eyes.
"Another one? There are a lot today."
One of the high-ranking officials made a suggestion.
"Your Majesty, let us prioritize the ceremony, and after it is concluded—"
"The ceremony is canceled. We have the magic armor at our disposal. Let us see them used in actual combat."
The knights saluted and swiftly exited the audience chamber.
The high-ranking officials tried to stop Bartholt, but ignoring them, he saw Finn and the others off.
◇
Returning to the battlefield once again, Finn thought today was going to be busy.
(One airship after another keeps showing up. Were there really this many sleeping?)
From who knows where they had gathered, the weapons of Old Humanity charged toward Arcadia.
Some weapons leapt onto the rampaging magic armors, trying to pin them down.
But—
"Ahahaha! Did you think you could do something with that level of power? Old Humanity's weapons aren't much of anything!"
The third-ranked boy knight was fighting clad in magic armor.
"You were getting to fight in such an amazing armor all this time, Senpai—that's unfair!"
Fighters, legless armors, and various other Old Humanity weapons were gathering.
After defeating all of them, Finn looked at a spaceship.
"That's the only one left."
"—Partner, that one's movement has changed."
The spaceship, which had been recklessly trying to charge in until now, suddenly began to disperse its attacks.
Without trying to break Arcadia's barrier, its movements became those of merely landing hits.
"What is it doing?"
"I've got a bad feeling. Let's take it down quickly."
"I know."
The Old Humanity weapons that had been charging in until now had suddenly changed their movements with some kind of purpose.
Drones flew around Finn.
"What is this?"
They kept their distance and didn't attack.
It was the same for the other magic armors.
"—These guys, they're probing for something. Disappear!"
When Brave released magic into the surroundings, the drones exploded and fell into the sea.
The other magic armors had destroyed the spaceship, and as Finn was searching for any other enemies—he spotted a small boat in the distance.
It was breaking away from the battlefield at full speed, making it difficult to pursue.
"Did it escape?"
That puzzled Finn.
Artificial intelligences that seemed excited, like Luxion, had fled.
Brave was also uneasy.
"Is something up? Partner, let's chase after it!"
Then, the boy knight approached.
"Senpai, we've received the order to return."
"No, but—"
"It's no use worrying about the ones that ran away. We can deal with them whenever they come back."
"—Understood."
Though Finn was concerned about the Old Humanity weapons that had escaped, he obeyed the return order and headed back.