Volume 4, 7 : Glory

Volume 4, Chapter 7 : Glory

Kaiser was shocked when he heard A familiar voice calling a name he no longer used.

“Meiji?” Liola looked at the source of the sound. Meiji was trying to catch her breath at the entrance.

“Sister?”

Kaiser suddenly turned his head. As soon as he saw Meiji at the entrance, he spoke. When Meiji ran towards Kaiser, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of Meiji and blocked her path.

Seeing him, Kaiser’s face sank, gritted his teeth and said, “Gladiolus!”

Liola carefully examined this man. This man’s body was shaped similar to Liola’s.

They were both slender, but his face looked far more serious than Liola’s. His long, brown hair was tied in a ponytail. He wore a fiery red gold-lined Knight’s uniform, and he had two weapons: in one hand he held a normal length sword, and in the other, he held a dagger similar to Liola’s Broken Silver.

At this time, Gladiolus was also examining Liola, and he was deeply surprised.

Before, he had already secretly observed Liola, and judged his strength should be far below Black Rose. But today, he easily defeated Black Rose, and Gladiolus could sense an incredible strength seeping out of Liola’s body. His power reminded Gladiolus of another powerful enemy of his, the Paladin Lancelot.

‘No! It’s not possible.’

Gladiolus completely denied that the man in front of him would be equally powerful as Lancelot. If Liola were really on equal standings with Lancelot, then wouldn’t it mean the Six Forbidden Sins messed with someone they shouldn’t have?!

“Diolus,” Meiji was almost crying.

She would have never imagined, as the leader of the Six Forbidden Sins, Gladiolus would be back in the organization so soon. Now, wouldn’t it mean her brother, who was exiled from the Dark Street by the organization, would be…

Gladiolus seemed to return from his thoughts. After glancing at Meiji, he turned to face the exiled man, and said coldly, “You shouldn’t have came back.”

Kaiser’s face sank, but then laughed lowly, “Heh, I am back, and I’m going to take my sister out of this dump.”

“Kaigleser, don’t be ridiculous!” Meiji was so scared her heart was pounding out of her chest, she didn’t think her little brother would actually talk to Gladiolus in this manner.

She didn’t know Kaiser had already nudged Liola, and asked with in whisper, “Hey, Assassin, though I didn’t know what happened, but are you back to your old self?”

Liola nodded, “Only for three hours.”

‘Only three hours?’

Kaiser cursed under his breath, then asked again, “Three hours should be enough to finish that guy over there, right?”

Liola said expressionlessly, “He is quite strong, but he’s not at the level of Lancelot or Mizerui. It will take at most twenty minutes to beat him.”

Kaiser immediately started laughing after he heard Liola’s response. He pointed at the opposing Gladiolus, like a fox taking advantage of an imposing tiger, and said,

“Do you dare to fight with me… and my Liola? If we lose, then our lives are in your hands, but if we win, then you have to return my sister to me, and you must cancel your hit on Liola.”

When did he agree to fight with Gladiolus? Liola glanced at Kaiser.

However, because of Meiji and the fact Kaiser added the condition of his hit being cancelled, Liola decided to turn a blind eye at Kaiser’s arrogance. Nevertheless, he was very shocked to find out Meiji was actually Kaiser’s sister.

Before Gladiolus answered, Meiji interrupted, “Don’t bet like this, Kaigleser! Diolus, please, I beg of you, let them go, please don’t harm my brother.”

Gladiolus looked at Meiji, with her face full of tears and she was grabbing the corner of his shirt, and his face actually softened.

Gladiolus then turned towards his enemies, and his face was still as cold as before. Gladiolus said, “I won’t kill Kaigleser, but Liola must die, it’s a mission.”

Meiji felt relieved and sympathy in her heart. If she could save her brother’s life, Meiji was already thankful.

After all, it was Gladiolus who said back then, that Kaigleser was to be permanently exiled from the Dark Street.

Now, for her, Gladiolus even broke his own word. Meiji was moved.

However, whenever Meiji thought about the clean boy, she turned her head away, trying to avoid Liola’s eyes. She was ashamed of not trying to save him.

“Your sister…” Liola looked at Meiji who turned her face away, and slowly opened his mouth,

“She looks nothing like you, Kaiser.”

“None of your business! Quick and finish off Gladiolus, I don’t know how long Daylight and others can hold up.” Kaiser pouted.

‘Different personalities, too.’

Though Liola didn’t say it out loud. ‘Why would such a gentle and kind girl have a brother who deserved so many beatings?’

“Let’s go.”

Liola said to Gladiolus, cutting to the chase. He was very worried about Daylight, and planned to quickly finish off Gladiolus and take Daylight and others out of the Dark Street.

Gladiolus grunted and unsheathed his sword and dagger.

Gladiolus sprang out like a bolt from a crossbow, and all that was visible was a red shadow dashing towards Liola.

Liola also held onto Broken Silver tightly. As far as speed goes, Liola had never run into anyone who was could match his. Liola stepped aside, and dodged Gladiolus’ attack.

Gladiolus was slightly shocked, but he persisted, and his sword and dagger followed Liola.

Liola was also shocked Gladiolus was actually able to track his movements, though Liola hadn’t hit his maximum speed yet…

* * *

“Oh!” Qiusi was standing in the box and… he was bored watching the duel. His feathered fan continuously tapped his forehead.

“Sigh This kind of duel is boring! I can’t even see anything! Seriously, why don’t they go slower? All I see are two shadows flashing around. But, the red shadow seemed to be clearer to see than the white ones, right?”

“Hehe, Liola is my most advanced play toy, the current Gladiolus isn’t even a match.”

A gold-haired man stood quietly in the corner. His unique clothing could be vaguely seen: it was actually a black and white robe.

Qiusi said with a smile,

“Ah, if you say he’s your toy, that means I can play too? Don’t forget we discovered him together. But, isn’t it a little over the top to treat someone whose power is on par with ours as a toy?”

Mizerui stepped out from the corner of the box, and raised his brows at Qiusi,

“Do you even have the right to say that? You purposely acted as if you didn’t know Liola, and then exposed that he knew the truth about the exhibition match, which made his plan to escape fail. You obviously knew Lancelot had sealed him, so his chances of beating the red Dragon was next to zero.”

Qiusi lightly waved his fan,

“You know, I am a vengeful person, because he used me as a hostage to threaten you.”

“But, I didn’t think he would use this method to win the Red Dragon. Is the master of a Sacred White Dragon really this powerful?”

Qiusi curiously asked Mizerui, who was an expert on Dragons.

“It’s not that the master of a Sacred White Dragon is powerful.” Mizerui looked thoughtfully at the white shadow outside,

“But rather the master of the Prince of Sacred White Dragons is. In fact, in the past, those who got the approval of the Sacred White Dragon Prince or Princess all uncoincidentally became the Emperor of the Dragon Empire.”

Qiusi answered with an “Ah”, and then pointed at Mizerui as if he was making an accusation.

“You’re toying with the future Dragon Emperor?”

Veins popped on Mizerui’s head, “Aren’t you too?”

Qiusi laughed, and didn’t respond to the question, but instead changed topic,

“Didn’t you come back to take revenge on Lancelot?”

Hearing the name Lancelot, Mizerui’s face sank. He said coldly, “Looks like if I don’t show a bit of my strength, that guy wouldn’t even notice me!”

Qiusi tapped the tip of his fan under his chin and contemplated, “Do you think sealing Liola was Lancelot’s idea, or the Dragon Emperor’s orders?”

Mizerui hesitated before he answered, “The Dragon Emperor didn’t seem to oppose what Lancelot did.”

“Then if you seek revenge on Lancelot, then doesn’t it clearly show you’re opposing the Dragon Emperor? Would that be proper?”

Qiusi said while smiling, and what he said clearly affected Mizerui, whose expression tightened and did not answer the question.

Seeing Mizerui’s rare expression, Qiusi laughed and said, “Why don’t you just play with him and call it a day? Don’t break your relationship with the Dragon Emperor because of this.”

Mizerui solemnly nodded, and then returned to his former, laughing self. He looked at his playtoy outside and said,

“And how did the toy get his Kung Fu back? Don’t tell me Lancelot is near.”

“Seems like it had something to do with the Dragon cross necklace. The necklace is quite the double-edged sword to Liola: on one hand his whereabouts are under the Dragon Emperor’s control, but on another, Liola seems to be getting quite a lot of help from it.”

Qiusi carefully thought, then he suddenly remembered something, he turned around and asked Mizerui,

“How is your investigation with Miluo?”

Mizerui did not hear Qiusi’s question; flames ignited in his blue eyes, because he felt a familiar power.

Mizerui looked towards the east and yelled, “Lancelot!”

As soon as he finished yelling the name, Mizerui disappeared, leaving Qiusi behind to scratch his face and murmured,

“Looks like Mizerui is really mad this time. It’s hard to blame him. His relationship with Lancelot had always been rocky, and sealing Liola was probably the fuse leading to this bomb.”

Qiusi’s attention was back on the arena. The two dueling seemed to have come to the end of a phase.

Gladiolus’ face seemed extremely shocked. When he looked at Liola, his eyes seemed to even show fear.

Liola, who knew his strength was greater than Gladiolus’, seemed calm, since winning was his prediction.

Seeing this, Qiusi smiled, “Be careful, Liola, this isn’t everything the leader of the Six Forbidden Sins has. After all, he is also… one of the rank-X people in this world.”

* * *

Gladiolus, who was catching his breath, suddenly seemed to calm down.

He said to Liola with composure, “I understand. Looks like I really did underestimate you. From now on, I should get more serious.”

Liola suddenly felt a strange energy coming off Gladiolus’s body, and his clothes fluttered around.

A red aura was vaguely emitted from his body, and slowly concentrated around his weapons. Finally, the sword and dagger exploded in a light, and they were engulfed in flames, even though there was no trace of Gladiolus from being burned by holding them.

“Magic Swordsman! Liola, be careful, he seems to be a swordsman who could use magic, and judging from his looks, fire magic. Be careful, I don’t know what moves he would use.”

Kaiser suddenly yelled, and explained to the frowning Liola. He then sat down again back in the audience, raised his teacup and said to the sister next to him,

“Sister, how about another cup of tea?”

Meiji picked up the teapot and poured her brother another cup of tea. She asked worriedly,

“Is Liola in danger? Isn’t he a Dragon Knight? Shouldn’t you return his Dragon to him?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. That guy is practically like a strange cat with nine lives, he wouldn’t die no matter what. And, sister, you have no idea, this Baolilong has always been a troublemaker and cause Liola more harm than helping. If I threw Baolilong over, Liola would hate me for life.”

Kaiser carelessly waved his hand, and continued to eat his jello and drink tea, but he didn’t forget to stuff a piece of meat inside Baolilong’s protesting mouth.

Liola and Gladiolus finally began their serious duel.

The fire on Gladiolus’ weapons grew wilder and wilder, and even Liola, who was standing quite far away, felt the heat.

Liola didn’t dare underestimate his enemy, so he put all his Ki in motion, trying to raise the speed of Windborne Blade to its limit, and have a showdown with Gladiolus. After which he can go save Daylight…

Boom!

The walls of the pyramid shook violently, and many pieces of rock flew this way and that. Even Kaiser, who was in the audience, raised his gun to break up the larger pieces of rock flying towards him and Meiji.

After the dust settled, a giant Red Dragon and an Angel Mecha appeared in newly created hole on the walls of the pyramid.

“Liola, great, you’re alive.” Daylight, whose body was covered in wounds, saw Liola. After seeing the person they were rescuing was okay, Daylight finally felt some relief.

Liola saw Daylight and Meinan were both on the Dragon, and Purity was in the Mecha waving at him. Liola finally felt a weight lift from his heart.

If something were to happen any of them, Liola would probably never forgive himself, just like he would never forgive himself for Anise’s death.

Though none of them died, Liola noticed they were covered in blood, even the timid Purity had a scratched forehead and blood on the corner of her mouth.

The beautiful Angel Mecha was also broken in various places, so it appears to be seen that their street fight was quite intense.

‘Wait just a bit, I will immediately take you all out of here, and get back to Aklan Academy to treat your wounds!’

Liola’s silver eyes ignited, and he looked Gladiolus, whose eyes had identical flames…

“Meinan! My dear baby, how can you be wounded like such? Tell me who hurt you, and I’ll seek revenge for you!”

Qiusi smashed the box’s fortified glass with his forehead, and ran towards Meinan with an affectionate expression.

Everyone’s face darkened hearing a middle-aged man saying such disgusting things.

At the same time they looked on at Dragon. Meinan, who was riding Flames, looked like he would rather hide in Flames’ stomach.

When Qiusi rushed to Flames’ side, Meinan finally burst out a scream, “Stop!”

Qiusi did actually hit the emergency brake, and twiddled his thumbs.

Meinan saw Qiusi, and cursed out in anger, “As a Prime Minister, look at yourself? How many times have I told you? You have to look majestic and imposing!”

“I do, but I just haven’t seen my dear baby for such a long time, so I just got a little too excited.”

Qiusi crouched in a corner depressedly and drew circles on the ground, and he often threw a “you misunderstood me” look at Meinan.

Meinan’s expression suddenly changed, “Don’t call me dear baby, don’t forget we’re still in a cold war!”

After he finished screaming, Meinan tilted his head, refusing to look at Qiusi. But by tilting, he saw Daylight looking at him strangely.

Meinan was baffled as he look at others, and everyone’s mouth was twitching and their expression were awkward.

Confused, Meinan opened his mouth to ask, “Why do you guys look at me with such strange expressions?”

Kaiser covered his mouth and said ambiguously, “Aiya, we’re just a bit shocked. I would never have imagined you and the Prime Minister actually are… in that kind of relationship!”

Meinan showed an uncomfortable expression, “Sorry for hiding this from you all. I do indeed have a relationship with him, but I didn’t hide it purposely. I just felt embarrassed.”

Everyone took a deep breath, and even Kaiser widened his eyes, “You are really in that kind of relationship with him? When did this start?”

“Yes.” Meinan looked strangely at Kaiser, “Of course it began when I was young. But because of Ally, our relationship had worsened, and that’s why we’re in a cold war.”

“Ally’s my wife.” Qiusi added with a laugh.

‘So that’s how it is. His wife found out, so things turned worse? What a complex relationship…’ Everyone thought.

“Damn!” Kaiser suddenly exploded with a yell, and he said as if he were in pain,

“When we were in Yaron Plains, I even slept in the same cave as Meinan, my God! My chastity!”

“Don’t worry, Kaiser!” Purity hurriedly said to Kaiser.

“Liola-dage is more handsome, has a better body, and more elegant than you. Meinan would definitely make a move at Liola-dage first.”

Tears flowed down Kaiser’s face, “Why are your words of comfort so uncomforting?”

“Make a move? What move would I make?” Meinan asked while baffled.

Daylight lightly patted Meinan’s shoulder, and his face was flashing an infinite amount of tolerance. He said firmly to Meinan,

“Don’t worry, I won’t against discriminate you as a result. Everyone has the freedom to choose.”

Purity nodded her head desperately, “Right, Meinan, don’t worry, we won’t discriminate against homosexuals!”

“Huh?” Meinan was stupefied.

“What is a homosexual?” Liola curiously asked Kaiser.

“Men loving men and women loving women are all called homosexuals.” Kaiser showed an ambiguous smile, “So people like Meinan and the Prime Minister would be called homosexuals.”

Meinan completely froze.

Liola thought for a moment then raised his head to ask, “Is that also called incest?”

“Incest?”

“Mhm.” Liola nodded. “Now I remember: the Prime Minister’s name is Qiusi Glory, and Meinan said his full name is Meinan Glory. If they are related, it would be incest too, right?”

Meinan finally understood, and yelled at everyone,

“That’s not how it is! This guy is my father, we are in a ‘father-son relationship’! Purity, didn’t you already know the Aklan Prime Minister is my father? How could you misunderstand?”

“Ah…” Purity shrank back into the cockpit, “I thought it was incest.”

With veins on his forehead, Meinan explained it to everyone word-by-word.

“Aklan Prime Minister, Qiusi Glory, is my biological father. My mother, Ally, was killed by the Six Forbidden Sins. Not only did he not seek revenge for my mother, he even came to the Dark Arena, and that’s why I’m in a cold war with him.”

“My child…” Helplessness flashed across Qiusi’s eyes, but he didn’t make any excuses.

Meinan walked to his father, and said with a low voice.

“Since you’re here, then fine, tell the Six Forbidden Sins to cancel their hit on Liola. If Liola also gets killed by the Six Forbidden Sins, I will never forgive you!”

Complex emotions seemed to have crossed Qiusi’s face, but he did not deny his son’s request.

He walked towards Gladiolus, and said in a casual manner, “Since my precious son said so, Gladiolus, do me a favor?”

Gladiolus carefully thought to himself. His eyes looked towards Meiji, whom was also giving him pleading looks.

Gladiolus thought about it some more with a frown, then said, “The target of this mission is far too strong, and unlike anything the employer had described. This mission is hereby cancelled.”

“Great!”

Everyone cheered, and even Liola listened in disbelief. It wasn’t until Meinan patted his shoulder, Purity being so happy she started crying, and Daylight showed a sincere smile, that Liola realized that this was real.

“Papa!”

Baolilong climbed on Liola’s back. Its cheeks were puffed up, still mad papa had abandoned him, and Kaiser also said uncomfortably.

“I really do have to thank you this time.”

Liola couldn’t understand what Kaiser was saying, and Kaiser tilted his head awkwardly,

“It’s just… I can finally see my sister is okay, and finally untied the knot in my heart about the Dark Street. Aiyo, you are always the one who always run to places you shouldn’t be, and this was no different… a-anyhow, just thank you!”

Though he couldn’t understand Kaiser’s speech, but Liola could at least understood that Kaiser was giving him his gratitude. It was rare to see Kaiser being awkward like this, and Liola couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Everyone else stared at him to see his rare smile.

“Oh! Damn, that cursed smile again…”

Bam!

A series of strange sounds came from the direction of the pyramid, and then the walls of the pyramid began to crack from the hole where Flames entered. Gladiolus raised his head and said,

“You guys broke the pyramid’s main supporting column.”

Boom!!!