Arc 7, Chapter 109 - 'Sword Wolf of the Empire”

Arc 7, Chapter 109 - “Sword Wolf of the Empire”

He was reminded of an aggravating affair.

As per his recollections, Petra had been the one talking.

Petra: [The Master has a very bad personality. His speech is shabby, he pesters people, and he seems to enjoy being scolded, which is weird at times, but he is really good at teaching.]

Being unable to unfairly demean a person because she did not like them was Petra’s nature, even though she was not willing to admit it.

Garfiel and Petra were close in age, so was it perhaps safe to say they were even friends? He liked Petra’s noble nature, no wonder Frederica was so taken with her.

In terms of loss-prone personalities, Garfiel’s love for Subaru and Otto was probably of the same vein. After all, blood proved the siblings.

If so, Garfiel had to admit that too.

Roswaal L. Mathers was a love rival, a malcontent in the camp who had plotted unforgivable misdeeds, and a natural enemy that he had never liked for a long time.

Still, Roswaal’s teachings were spot on, and that had kept him alive.

Roswaal: [Garfiel, that’s a shuriken. It’s coated with poison. Even if you avoid it, it’ll explode. What is the right move?]

Garfiel: [You’re a tad slow, ain’t’cha!]

Howling, Garfiel stomped on the ground, and immediately afterward, the earth rose up to protect the two of them as a shield. The light sound of a shuriken piercing into the wall of earth, followed by the sound of an explosion, scorched the atmosphere.

As Roswaal had predicted, correctly so, damage could not have been avoided had it been parried with his gauntlets.

His sharp fangs creaked due tothat fact――,

Garfiel: [Who’s next?]

Roswaal: [I am.]

With an immediate answer to his question, Garfiel turned to Roswaal behind him.

A moment later, Roswaal used the sai in both his hands to knock away a kunai thrown at him. Seeing a shadow flashing above his head, Garfiel launched his fist in its direction, bereft of hesitation.

There was a ringing sound, and the strike of Garfiel’s fist was met with a kick with the outer part of a foot, delivered mid-flip.

That attack had been unleashed by Olbart, who had ceased his skull-shattering attack on Roswaal’s head. The monstrous old man countered Garfiel’s fists with his legs, all while saying,

Olbart: [Damn, this really is turnin’ out to be a problem. Ain’t two against one unfair?]

Garfiel: [Don’t try to change the rules now, old fart!]

Olbart: [Kakakakka! I’m free ta say anythin’ I wanna.]

Drawing back his foot from where it had impacted the fist, and using it as a springboard, Olbart leapt towards the back. For a moment, Garfiel was about to step forward to follow up,

Garfiel: [――――]

A shuriken, swooping in from his side, passed right under his nose as he stopped, slashing through the air.

Letting it sail by, Garfiel exhaled deeply. Roswaal, right next to Garfiel, changed his expression as he re-gripped his sai.

Garfiel’s lips curved at the sight.

Garfiel: [What’cha smilin’ at?]

Roswaal: [Nothing, nothing. Well, I was just admiring the remarkable speed of your growth. Even without me saying anything, you’ve managed to anticipate the surprise attack just now. You’re learning things as you fight.]

Garfiel: [You’re sayin’ I’m just bein’ sly, ain’t’cha? And my amazin’ self ain’t gonna be as sh*tty as you or that old man.]

Roswaal: [It takes talent to be nefarious, you know. The way I see it, you don’t have the predisposition to be nefarious. You’re about on par with Emily.]

Garfiel: [Of course not! Don’t put me in the same basket as her!]

He snapped at Roswaal’s remark, but after he himself voiced that out loud, he reflected, concluding that that reaction would have possibly hurt Emilia had she heard it.

Either way, his mind was on Emilia and the other members of the Camp who were probably on the battlefield like Garfiel, and on those who were fighting alongside them. He took a deep breath as he thought of Heinkel and the Shudraqian women, as he thought of Ram’s safety as well, the latter having joined them.

Olbart: [Ya got a lotta time on yer hands, don’t’cha? Yer people are in a tough spot, ain’t they? I’m sure we got a stronger lineup than ya do.]

Garfiel: [――Hk.]

Olbart’s words frustrated Garfiel’s attempts to regain his composure and face the situation.

The feeling of having one’s mind read would make one suspicious that their intentions could be predicted on the battlefield, a situation most undesirable.

But next to the impatient Garfiel, Roswaal shrugged,

Roswaal: [Your opponent wants you to get heated. In your case, that could eliminate any hesitation, but it’s not good to mix impurities into your fervor. In addition...]

Garfiel: [In addition?]

Roswaal: [He’s been quite chatty to begin with, but haven’t the number of attempts to deceive us through words increased? Seems like the old man is also getting quite irritated.]

Olbart: [――. You’re a disgustin’ young’un, ain’t’cha?]

As he spoke, the glint in Olbart’s long, brow-covered eyes took on a shine of vexation.

And, after hearing Roswaal’s statement, Garfiel realized an obvious truth―― His opponent was as annoyed by this battle dragging on as he himself was.

Olbart laughed, provoked, teased, not because he could afford to, but because he wanted his opponents to believe that he had room to, so that he would gain the mental upper hand.

Whereas with Garfiel, his feelings could immediately be seen in his face, voice, and fur.

Thus, in this sort of psychological warfare, one could win in the blink of an eye by leading their opponent by the nose.

Roswaal: [Even so, you can win provided you surpass your opponent’s strength and they play on the same field you do. However...]

Garfiel: [I know. If a bastard stronger than my amazin’ self only fights in the field I’m good at, then no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to see a way to win. But...]

The fact that Garfiel was now fighting in the Vollachian Empire was the result of a rather unfortunate combination of various coincidental events.

However, what the dice had rolled mattered not; there was no denying the reality before him.

And in the years to come, battles comparable to this one in the Empire could befall him without end, as long as he was with Emilia and Subaru.

That was to say――,

Garfiel: [――Done with whinin’.]

Roswaal: [Mhm, that’s right. That’s good. This is the end of your boyhood.]

Garfiel wrinkled his nose at Roswaal’s histrionics.

For Garfiel, being congratulated or praised for his growth by Roswaal was nothing to be happy about. However, he liked that expression, “end of boyhood”.

From this point onward, Garfiel would continue forward as someone who had matured.

Olbart: [――Dear, oh dear. This is why I hate young’uns. Unlike this old man who’s got no room ta grow, y’all can reach enlightenment on a dime.]

As he twisted his neck and shook the ankle of the foot that he had off the ground, Olbart sighed.

However, the Vicious Old Man’s light-hearted derogation contained genuine hostility. ――Yes, hostility. Up till this moment, Olbart had considered Garfiel to be of a lower rank, aiming to eliminate him.

It was proof that Garfiel had finally been recognized as an enemy.

Garfiel: [Finally...]

Garfiel’s blood was red-hot with enthusiasm for earning the right to go toe-to-toe with Olbart.

He breathed in through his nose again, loudly and deeply, and exhaled through his mouth. Then, he became conscious of the blood circulating in his body and his power that could not be seen――.

Olbart: [Ahhn?]

Suddenly, a dumb-sounding voice was uttered, disturbing Garfiel’s concentration.

It had been uttered by Olbart who was standing in front of him; for a moment he believed it to be a shinobi technique to disturb his composure. However, it was not.

Because, that opening had been born in Olbart, rather.

Garfiel: [――――]

He was the head honcho of the shinobi. The opening that had arisen was as small as the eye of a needle, but Garfiel could not help but gasp, as he had never shown such laxness before.

What in the world had brought it about――,

???: [――Wait, wait, wait! It’s unfair to withdraw in the middle like this, it’s a waste, you’re not reading the mood! I’m sure I’m right on the mark on you being unable to read the mood better than I can, aren’t I!?]

There was a figure running across the battlefield, raising a noisy voice and leaving behind a cloud of dust.

A small boy who gave the impression that he was out-of-place on the battlefield was calling out in a shrill, high-pitched voice from a considerable distance―― However, the speed at which he ran was unusual.

The screaming boy was looking up at the sky, chasing a huge being as it flapped its wings.

Garfiel understood at first glance that it was the Dragon that had landed on another battlefield a distance away from here. He understood that, but this situation where boy and Dragon were playing tag was one beyond his comprehension.

A battlefield where anything could happen, although he had a strong hunch on that――,

Olbart: [...Why’s that bastard Ceci so small?]

Garfiel’s eyes narrowed at the incomprehensible sight, but a subdued voice reached his ears.

Olbart, standing on one leg and still yielding an opening akin to the eye of a needle, was distracted by the Dragon and the boy―― or rather, the screaming boy.

And then――,

Olbart: [Well, Chesshy, you’ve taken my style, haven’t’cha?]

The old man’s clouded eyes filled with surprise and suspicion, after which they eventually turned clear and were instead filled with anger.

It was an emotional change that had lasted less than ten seconds, yet he had no idea what thought process had brought forth this change in Olbart.

But, if it was one of only a handful of openings that the Vicious Old Man had made in his life, the devious Roswaal was not going to overlook it.

Roswaal: [――You must really be unaware of the situation if you can afford to look away from him with how he is right now.]

Thrusting the tip of the sai he was tightly grasping, Roswaal stepped into the needle-thin opening which had arisen.

His immediate reaction disturbed, the strike grazed Olbart’s left shoulder as he twisted around. The speeding mass of iron had connected with Olbart’s shoulder, causing the old man to gnash his teeth as his diminutive figure melted into the ground.

It was the technique of swimming through the earth, which he had displayed several times during this battle.

But――,

Roswaal: [Garfiel!]

Garfiel: [I know!]

As irritating as Roswaal’s advice was, he could already see the strategy in the making.

After all, Garfiel’s Divine Protection of Earth Spirits was a Divine Protection that drew Mana from the ground via the soles of his feet. In other words, it connected him to the earth.

Even if an opponent was under the ground, if he concentrated, tracking their position would be――.

Garfiel: [――Ah?]

Suddenly, all the hairs on Garfiel’s body stood on end as he was seized by a strange sensation.

He felt a repulsive sensation, as if his neck was being licked by a tongue which felt strangely coarse. That sensation was not coming from Olbart in front of him, but from a much larger, wider area.

Roswaal: [Garfiel?]

In response to the motionless Garfiel, Roswaal raised a questioning voice.

Not entirely in response to Olbart’s earlier comment, Garfiel also yielded an opening. An opening that the monstrous old man would surely have exploited.

However, there was no attack. On the contrary――,

Roswaal: [The traces of the old man, they vanished?]

Roswaal muttered, frowning his shapely brow and going without relaxing the grip on his sai.

He was correct; signs of Olbart’s presence were supposed to be there, but none were present. Of course, the opponent was a shinobi. He likely knew how to hide his presence to the greatest possible extent.

Yet, that was not the case. Olbart’s presence below ground seemed to be getting distant.

He was moving away from Garfiel and Roswaal at breakneck speed, and then――,

Garfiel: [What the fuck‘s this feelin’...]

Roswaal: [Garfiel, the old man is――]

Garfiel: [It’s strange, disgustin’ even, it’s like “the winds of Aihiya corrupts the water”...]

Roswaal, still wary of Olbart, did not share the sense of danger with Garfiel.

If he could not feel it, then it was probably not Mana that was causing the disturbance. It was a huge, tremendous sensation which Garfiel could feel underfoot drawing near.

――It was a feeling that Garfiel, who possessed the Divine Protection of Earth Spirits, noticed most quickly.

Garfiel: [The soil of the battlefield... No, the earth of Vollachia, is running wild?]

Garfiel could feel the horrifying screams of the vast earth.

Any resentment that the battle had been left unfinished, or that the opportunity to break one of the walls had been lost, dissipated before the weight of what stood in their way.

Garfiel: [Roswaal! Fly right now ‘n let everyone know!]

Roswaal: [――――]

Garfiel, forgetting the pseudonym he was meant to use in the Empire, called out to him; Roswaal did not interject, perhaps out of respect for the urgency of the situation.

Garfiel shouted with a sense of urgency, in spite of his hatred of the other party.

It was――,

Garfiel: [――All of Vollachia’s gonna turn into enemies!]

△▼△▼△▼△

――Lamia Godwin was one of the daughters of Drizen Vollachia, the Seventy-Sixth Emperor of the Vollachian Empire, an Imperial Princess defeated and killed in a conflict against Vincent Abellux and Prisca Benedict, in the Imperial Selection Ceremony.

In the Imperial Selection Ceremony, brothers and sisters were forced to kill each other until a single one remained; yet she had formed an alliance with her other siblings to defeat Vincent, who had been viewed as the one most likely to take the Emperor’s throne, as she excelled in cornering her opposition through the excellent usage of schemes and traps.

However, her plan had failed to disprove what had been speculated at the start. The alliance collapsed, and in the end, she had lost her life in a duel with her sister, Prisca, being that there was no love lost between the two.

Among those involved in the Imperial Selection Ceremony, it would often be stated that she would have won the throne given her age and capacity at the time. Had it not been, for Vincent.

The Imperial Capital of Lupugana―― or rather, the Sacred Vollachian Empire itself was in the midst of an unprecedented upheaval that foreshadowed its destruction.

And yet, despite these circumstances――,

???: [Are you His Excellency, or perhaps His Excellency? Either way, the Great Disaster has come around! Won’t you fight against the Great Disaster together with me!?]

The Stargazer, with his arms outstretched and a broad smile on his face, not looking at the crumbling streets of the Imperial Capital, was more than out-of-place, it was nightmarish, carelessly trampling on the understanding of ordinary people.

But alas. The one confronted with the Stargazer’s eccentric smile was the one person who had the least permission to be ordinary in this Empire.

Abel: [――――]

For a moment, Abel glanced behind the curtain at the miracle that had saved his life.

What had saved Abel from falling from a great height was a cloth stretched to the max placed exactly where he had fallen, an improvised cushioning material gathered from the rooms of the Crystal Palace and the surrounding buildings.

He could understand the mechanism that had saved him. The question was, why could it have been prepared?

This sort of preparation would be unfeasable unless one knew that someone―― no, that Abel would fall there.

Abel: [How much did you know!?]

The moment he reached that conclusion, Abel’s outstretched hand grabbed the smiling Ubilk by the chest. He pulled him to his feet forcefully, and Ubilk bellowed an “Owowow”, his eyes widening.

Face-to-face, directly in front of him, sparing no quarter Abel stared at Ubilk, and,

Abel: [Chisha’s plan... No, that is not it. How far in advance did you know whose death would bring about the Great Disaster? You said that it would be my death that――]

Ubilk: [Yeah, I did say that. ――That Vincent Vollachia’s death would be the beginning of the Great Disaster that will bring ruin to the Empire.]

Abel glared at him from a distance their breaths could be felt, but Ubilk’s relaxed demeanor did not falter. Perhaps it was not so much composure, but rather it was a different kind of disgusting anticipation or exuberance.

In fact, Ubilk was in high spirits, as if at last the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.

But――,

Abel: [Vincent Vollachia is I.]

Ubilk: [No, no! Your Excellency! That’s wrong. That’s nooot~ true. I’ll say it out loud; that’s incorrect, Your Excellency.]

Abel: [――――]

Ubilk: [General First-Class Chisha Gold has unquestionably fulfilled the role of Vincent Vollachia. His Excellency himself, of all people, had molded General Chisha Gold to do so.]

Abel: [I...]

It was not for that purpose that he had kept Chisha Gold by his side.

Upon the Great Disaster’s arrival, he would need someone with the ability to take charge of everything within the Empire to replace the helpless Emperor who would be unable to be present; that was his belief.

Someone who, after Vincent’s death, would cooperate with a worthy successor and save the Empire.

Abel: [Why did you take part in this plan?]

Ubilk: [What’s that?]

Abel: [As a Stargazer, you are only interested in the fulfillment and implementation of your commandment. Then, if you wished to ensure that the Great Disaster would happen, you should made use of my life. Why did you decide to go along with Chisha’s uncertain plans? It is nonsensical.]

A Stargazer was a commandment’s puppet in human form.

No matter how much they could possibly have pretended to be likable or accommodating, what lay inside was naught but an obsession with their commandment and a fanatical desire to fulfill it.

His priorities should have been clear. So, why had he sided with Chisha’s plan?

Abel: [What was your reason? Answer me.]

Ubilk: [Ummm~, I think you’d be offended if I were to say it, Your Excellency.]

Abel: [Speak.]

Ubilk: [Well, it doesn’t really matter to me whether it was His Excellency himself or General First-Class Chisha. It’d be good if the Great Disaster happened, and it’d be bad if it didn’t. If it didn’t happen even after General First-Class Chisha died in the guise of His Excellency, then I’d have to do sooomething~ about His Excellency himself... Do you get what I’m saying?]

Abel: [――. In that case, is this situation what you had hoped for?]

With that, Abel quietly gained an understanding, as Ubilk stuck out his tongue in a mischievous manner. At the same time, he comprehended that talking to Ubilk any further would be of no use.

Releasing his grip on Ubilk’s collar, Abel slowly turned around. Reflected in his eyes through the oni mask, were several figures holding the edge of the cloth that had saved Abel.

None of their faces had ever been seen at the Crystal Palace before, but――,

Abel: [These people, are they also a part of your faction?]

Ubilk: [There aren’t enough of us to call it a faction, though, areee~ there?]

Shrugging his shoulders, Ubilk spun around and spread his arms in front of his accomplices. The crowd of roughly ten-odd people, assembled without regard for their age or gender, were presumably Stargazers just like him.

Even if one were to try and cull them, their numbers would increase. Since it was unknown how the pawns of the Observers were selected, he had left them alone despite knowing of their existence.

Ubilk: [As I said, we’re moving in accordance with the commandment. What are you gonna do, Your Excellency?]

Abel: [What am I――]

Going to do? Abel tried to put his thoughts across his tongue as he pondered such.

However, in the middle of responding to Ubilk, the ground was shaken by a particularly loud impact. Some distance away from Abel and everyone else, a part of Moguro’s body fell to the ground, making a large sound.

The battle yet raged on. However, since it was two against one, Moguro’s disadvantage was undeniable.

Balleroy Temeglyph, a man who was supposed to be dead, had been resurrected alongside his beloved dragon.

The worst possibility one could deduce from this, was that it was just not limited to the two of them.

Ubilk: [The turmoil in the Imperial Capital and the crisis in the Empire, events that defy reason are truly a manifestation of the Great Disaster.]

As Abel shielded his face from the dust sprinkling down, Ubilk cocked his chin to point to the sky.

The resurrected dead and the Dragon ran amok, foretelling mounting damage that would probably not end there,

Ubilk: [The Witch of the Kingdom, the Night Weeping of the City-States, the Collapse of the Holy Kingdom, and the Great Disaster of the Empire... The four disasters that will destroy the world. Their time draws near. Even at this very moment.]

Abel: [――――]

Ubilk: [Oh, and Your Excellency, this is just my personal opinion, but...]

Ubilk deliberately clapped his hands as if speaking of something that he had failed to mention. Then, the Stargazer pointed overhead to Moguro’s battle―― No, he was pointing to something else.

He pointed not to the battle, but to the throne room bearing a sizable hole, which laid in the Crystal Palace, the latter being rocked by the shockwaves of the fierce fight.

Ubilk: [Why did I cooperate with General First-Class Chisha’s scheme, waaas~ it? I’m sincere in saying that I would’ve been fine with both, but... I thought that with Your Excellency, our odds would be better.]

Brazenly laughing, Ubilk lowered the hand that pointed to the Crystal Palace and, in the same motion, pointed it at Abel.

Ubilk: [I prioritize the fulfillment of the commandment. My goal was to start the Great Disaster, and theeen~ to hold back the destruction it’d bring. ――I haven’t wavered in my priority.]

A Stargazer was obsessed with the realization and fulfillment of their commandment, a living puppet enslaved to their goal.

That perception remained the same. And without that perception being altered, Ubilk presented the reasons for his actions, the rationale for his choices, and the future that he pursued.

He said that, in order to save the Vollachian Empire from the Great Disaster, he would prioritize Abel.

Abel: [――Chisha Gold, you...]

What kind of future, what kind of expectations had these disguised black eyes, imbued with the color of Vincent Vollachia, imbued with his color, painted?

Why had he not understood that words like “hope” and “dreams” were naught more but silly escapism from reality?

Ubilk: [――Oh?]

An unexpected explosion roared in Abel’s ears as he put his hand to his face and grabbed the cheek of his oni mask. Ubilk let out a silly voice in response, followed by a heavy sound of something falling beside them.

Upon looking at it, Abel came to see that something had fallen onto the cloth that had caught him earlier. However, unlike him, the cloth had not been stretched to help, and it did not fulfill its purpose as cushioning material.

However――,

???: [You were correct that this cloth would be laid out! Prime Minister Berstetz! Are you alive!?]

???: [That took quite the toll on this old body, but somehow... Hm.]

Shaking off the cloth that covered them, a large man with his upper body bare and a white-haired old man carried in the former’s arms emerged from under the cloth.

Both of them looked familiar; Abel had never thought that he would run into them here.

Ubilk: [Ohhh~, if that isn’t General First-Class Goz? And Prime Minister Berstetz’s safe, too.]

Berstetz: [One would think you would have long since absconded, yet you are still here...]

Goz: [You! You are the Stargazer who instructed General First-Class Chisha and Prime Minister Berstetz with all these superfluous things! Because of you, His Excellency... His Excellency is...!!]

As the large man―― Goz Ralfon, who had apparently jumped down from the large hole in the Crystal Palace, so stated, he approached Ubilk while carrying Prime Minister Berstetz in his arms.

Now that he knew what Chisha had been attempting to do, he thought that Goz would not have been killed, but how was it that he had appeared here in this state following the events that had taken place?

Just how much had been shared between Berstetz and Chisha?

Goz: [The turmoil in the Imperial Capital and everything else! It is all caused by your schemes! You should die in order to atone!]

Ubilk: [Wait, waaait~ a minute please! I wasn’t even all that involved in it, nor did I have anything to do with what happened to General First-Class Goz! Because, you see, as far as the commandment’s concerned, Goz isn’t someone to be pay much thought about...]

Goz: [How dare you, you bastard!]

By once again running his mouth, Ubilk incurred Goz’s wrath more and more. Berstetz writhed in pain, as if Goz had forgotten that he was carrying the former.

Moreover, the changes in the situation did not end at just that――,

???: [Uwah!? The closer I get and see, the more puzzling everything becomes! I ran after the Dragon that ignored me, only to find out that the one replacing it as my opponent was a big golem! Sure, it might serve as a decent show, but I don’t think it’s capable of acting as a substitute!]

Abel: [――――]

And right after he heard a yapping, high-pitched voice, the owner of said voice made their entrance wrapped in a tremendous wind while a cloud of dust spread behind him.

Gliding on the soles of the zori he wore, he looked up at the sky with his hands forming a brim. A boy who had been uncalled for, sporting blue hair and a kimono, had arrived―― everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of his raucous demeanor, speech, and conduct, but above all else, because he looked like the mere, shrunk-down version of a familiar figure.

Goz: [C-Cecilus Segmunt――!?]

Cecilus: [Hm? Did you call me just now? Well, I’m quite embarrassed for having managed to do something so grand that my name has spread with lightning speed. To be honest, I thought the best moment would be me cutting down that Dragon, but I hate just how much of a star I am!]

Goz: [...No doubt, it is General First-Class Cecilus!]

The boy, who was watching the battle between Moguro and the Cloud Dragon, turned around and uttered those words with an unmistakably unique sense of distance.

This was, without a shadow of a doubt, Cecilus Segmunt, the strongest of the Nine Divine Generals, the First, who stood at the peak of the Vollachian Empire’s military might; but his state that of a child.

It had been at about this age when Abel had first picked up Cecilus as a subordinate, taking him under his wing. Since then, his mind aside, his body was supposed to have grown up.

Abel: [But you, why are you small... I can only believe that this is the work of Olbart Dunkelkenn; but, if that is the case...]

Then, contradictions with Olbart’s behavior during their meeting at the Demon City of Chaosflame would arise.

Olbart was, someway or another, unaware of the fact that Chisha had been masquerading as the Emperor. But supposing that Olbart had been employing the same technique he had utilized on Natsuki Subaru, Medium, and Al, with Cecilus as the target, he could not help but cast doubts on the actions taken.

Why would the Emperor himself have Cecilus infantilized, he wondered.

A logical explanation to it seemed improbable. Cecilus had gone without being corrected for over a decade until now. At this point, nothing could shackle him down.

In other words――,

???: [You’re way too light-footed for a pipsqueak, ain’t’cha? Can’t believe someone’s gettin’ such a large lead on me, I’m really startin’ ta feel my age.]

Immediately after the thought crossed his mind, a petite shinobi―― Olbart Dunkelkenn, made his appearance right there and then. He had supposedly been entrusted with a bastion to defend the Imperial Capital, yet he had abandoned that role, returning to the Crystal Palace.

When it came to the reason as to why had Olbart, the shinobi head honcho, done such a thing,

Cecilus: [Huh, I thought I’d shaken you off, but I actually didn’t? That’s great, old man! Still wanting a stage role even at that age, how admirable! Bravo!]

Olbart: [So loud. At this point, ya forgot stuff altogether, haven’t’cha?]

Cecilus: [Forgot stuff? Well, I got no idea what you’re talking about though.]

Olbart: [Ceci’s small, so if I didn’t do it, it’s gotta have been that arse’s fault, Chesshy’s. Tho’ I like ta steal others’ skills, I don’t like it when they steal mine.]

Cecilus: [Ahahahaha, that’s an amazingly selfish complaint! I don’t dislike it, rather, I quite like it.]

The old man, his lips curved in dissatisfaction, was laughed at by the much younger Cecilus, who was barely taller than him.

The Stargazer, Ubilk, was still being pressed for answers by Goz, while Berstetz had been stolen of his freedom, being carried by Goz’s brawny arms, his mind more focused on whether the consequences of the still-raging battle between Moguro, the Cloud Dragon, and the resuscitated Balleroy were about to befall him.

Abel: [...Just, what is this?]

One after the other, people gathered at this place.

The majority of the Nine Divine Generals of the Vollachian Empire had come to this location, he came to realize.

Had this, too, been brought about by Chisha?

Having been trained to perform all that Vincent Vollachia could as well, just how much had Chisha Gold surpassed the latter’s expectations?

He had given his own life to keep Abel alive, and what was to come after――.

Chesha: [――My apologies, but I am afraid I would not.]

Abel: [――――]

Once upon a time, faced with a query from Vincent Abellux, Chisha Gold had replied thus.

Upon being asked if he was willing to die for Vincent, he had returned the frank answer that he would not.

Then, the one for whom Chisha had laid down his life, was not Vincent Abellux.

Certainly, it had not been for Abel’s sake, nor for Vincent Vollachia’s, either. It had not been for a play on words of the sort, for that which Chisha had laid down his life for was――,

Abel: [――Heed my words! The Great Disaster is nigh! From here on, you shall abide by my command!]

Grinding his molars together, Abel lifted his face, leaped atop the rubble, turned around. Then viewing the entirety of the ensemble present, he thus asserted for all to listen.

Upon Abel’s proclamation, each and all of those in their self-centered doings observed him.

At that moment, with the exception of Ubilk and Berstetz, who were in the know, the eyes of everyone, Divine Generals included, had the utmost doubt flash across their eyes―― Just who in the world is this man?

Taking that in, Abel reached for the oni mask upon himself, seizing its cheek. His visage had been covered with an object by Chisha, in the latter’s final moments; now removing it, Abel bared his real face.

And finally――,

Abel: [I am your Emperor, Vincent Vollachia. ――The apex, of the Sword Wolves of the Empire.]