Chapter 45 - Subjugation

“... What is that—?”

Beside him, Noel looked up at the sky and voiced her confusion. Aiden heard her clearly.

Rifts had opened in the dimension and disgorged ghosts before, but no matter how he looked at it, the scene before them was completely different from last time.

“Probably because whoever’s coming through is far from ordinary.”

The thing beyond that rift. If it was the enhanced spirit of the Lord Protector, simply summoning it could produce repercussions like these.

With that, Aiden sprang into motion.

“Aiden? Where are you—”

“There’s something I need to check.”

He strode down the courthouse corridor.

Come to think of it, there was something strange about what was happening out there.

However exalted the Lord Protector might be, even Meyer, a man who had stood at the pinnacle of superhumans and dominated an era, could exert little influence over the physical realm beyond inflicting some minor physical harm on Aiden.

And yet the Lord Protector’s soul he had seen last time had seemed to retain every bit of her martial prowess from life.

As if this wasn’t merely a spirit manifesting in the physical realm, but an actual resurrection of the dead.

And if he focused on that anomaly, he could make a fairly accurate guess at the identity of whoever had caused it.

‘... There’s no way bringing back the dead could be that easy.’

The problem was that there were people who could forcibly twist the natural order to summon them anyway.

The main scenario’s primary enemies.

And Aiden suspected that one of these two had ties to that faction.

He kicked the door open. Inside the waiting room, the prince and the minister of administration stared at him in bewilderment.

“... You, why are you here—”

Aiden’s cold gaze moved from one to the other.

The prince and his associates here were clearly responsible for that phenomenon. At least, that was what Aiden believed.

The moment the spirit first appeared, they had unleashed a barrage of attacks through the press as though they had been waiting for it. And now, the instant the tide turned against them, it had appeared a second time to attack Noel.

That was enough to take him beyond suspicion into certainty.

‘... Cunning bastards. Seriously.’

If the Pontiff had appeared and undermined their argument, the solution was simple.

Create an incident that would let them confidently claim that even the Pontiff was wrong.

It was the harvest festival, with enormous crowds already moving through the city. The sight of the Lord Protector’s vengeful spirit lunging at Noel in the middle of a main street would itself refute the Pontiff’s claims.

The prince tried to say something, visibly flustered, but before he could finish, an orb of light blossomed around Aiden.

It was a core formed from dharmic power. He had casually drawn out just enough to form a single one.

Keeping it afloat, he sent it circling around him and swept his gaze over the prince.

There was no reaction at all.

“Your Highness.”

Every part of this situation had come out of nowhere, but perhaps because etiquette was ingrained in his very bones, the prince answered obediently.

“... What is it?”

“You haven’t rotted all the way through yet.”

“...?”

Having delivered his verdict, Aiden immediately turned and approached the minister of administration.

And the instant he did—

-System Message

▶ ‘Skill: Savior’s Vow’ reacts.

▶ An ‘Enemy of the World’ has been detected.

▶ In accordance with ‘Prohibition: Protect the World,’ your supernatural power is enhanced!

The orb’s light swelled explosively. The minister grimaced and shielded his eyes from the blinding radiance pouring out of it.

Aiden let out a heavy sigh at the sight.

The vow he had offered Urgan was to save the world.

Which meant that confronting an enemy who threatened the entire world fulfilled his prohibition’s conditions and increased its power.

“Right. I thought it would be you.”

“... What do you think you’re doing?”

“Just checking.”

Aiden dispersed the orb and continued calmly.

This man knew nothing about Aiden’s prohibition. Aiden had just confirmed exactly what he was, but the man wouldn’t yet understand what that meant.

‘Then there’s no need to touch him yet.’

In truth, he would have to fight this bastard someday anyway.

But not now, at least.

The main scenario’s primary enemies.

The demons.

The forgotten ones who served Wornil, the sealed God of Devouring.

He had expected to encounter them eventually, but he hadn’t known they would intervene this early.

‘... So I’ll leave him alone for the moment.’

There was nothing to gain from stirring them up needlessly yet. They would only retreat deeper into the shadows, making it harder to root them out and eradicate them later.

For now, confirming his identity was enough.

That alone told Aiden immediately why the Lord Protector had ended up like this.

‘Sick bastards.’

Confusing, bewitching, contaminating, and corrupting minds was their specialty.

They must have done something of that sort to the Lord Protector’s soul. Probably planted a suggestion to kill Noel.

Aiden’s gaze lingered on the prince for a moment.

With the facts confirmed, his business here was finished. All that remained was to go outside and face that monstrous knight’s spirit.

“Your Highness.”

Still, he could at least say this much.

As a courtesy to an enemy who had tried to respect him to the very end.

“... Frankly, I think taking part in something like that already puts you beyond the pale. But I don’t think you knew all the details when you agreed.”

“... Pardon?”

Aiden pointed at the ominously colored sky.

Well.

As he saw it, the prince had accepted a proposal from this creature currently wearing the minister of administration’s guise. He had probably approved it in the end despite his misgivings.

So this was Aiden’s last chance to offer this advice.

“Once this is over, take some time to think hard about what you’re doing.”

“...”

“My advice is not to throw away the last of your humanity. From where I stand, you’re at a crossroads.”

“...”

“I don’t know what you want, but fall down that path and all you’ll find is ruin.”

Aiden glanced at the prince’s widening eyes, then left the waiting room.

▣

—...

Something’s hand thrust out through the rift in the sky.

Compared to the size of the rift, it looked almost like a pebble.

—...!

—!!!

As though breaking free of a shell under its own power, it seized the rift with both hands and pulled it apart. Through that torn void appeared the Lord Protector in her familiar armor.

Only now, something was different.

The armor, which should have been pure white, was stained pitch-black. The eyes visible through her visor flickered red, like two flames.

“... Wh-what is that?”

“Call the police! Hurry!”

“What good will the police do? Call the knights!”

As chaos erupted all around, the Lord Protector, now free of the rift, abruptly turned her gaze.

... Directly toward Aiden and Noel, watching her through an open window.

Merciless bloodlust flooded heaven and earth, emanating from the Lord Protector.

It was as though the very concept of death had been solidified and carved into shape.

Then—

—!!!!!!!!!!

The Lord Protector plunged from the sky as though leaping out of it. The instant she steadied herself, she fixed her gaze precisely on the window where Noel stood.

As though that were her sole objective.

“...”

And inside the building, Noel’s face twisted horribly as she looked back at her.

‘... Again.’

It was just like before.

Teresa’s spirit was after her.

‘Why, why, what am I supposed to—’

Her mind reeled. Her judgment clouded—

And at that very instant, she felt someone seize her shoulders.

Her slipping sense of reality came crashing back, and her vision snapped into focus.

Haltingly, she spoke the name of the man holding her firmly with both hands.

“... Aiden?”

“Dame Noel. Listen carefully.”

Aiden spoke in a hard voice.

In truth, he had more or less expected this ever since a subjugation battle had explicitly been scheduled, unlike before.

A much stronger boss. A much more urgent situation. Wasn’t that exactly what the term brought to mind?

So it had seemed obvious things would get intense right from the start this time.

... Even more intense than he’d expected.

And to escape that—

“Carry me on your back.”

“... What?”

“Let’s run.”

Before Noel could ask what on earth he meant, the Lord Protector kicked off the ground.

The ground shattered into fragments beneath every footfall. Charging toward them and radiating relentless bloodlust, the Lord Protector was the very image of a collapsing mountain.

“—!”

Naturally, the moment Noel saw that, what she had to do was clear.

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Aiden and hurled herself out the window. She had escaped the Lord Protector in much the same way before, so adapting was easy. The difference this time was—

—!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Their pursuer was a disaster incarnate.

CRRRASH!

A vicious crash rang out behind the sidewalk where they had just landed. Aiden glanced back, and gooseflesh raced down his spine at the armored figure bearing down on them like a fiend.

She crushed and smashed everything in her path, hurtling straight ahead regardless of what stood in her way.

She was nothing less than a tank in human form.

“Dame Noel, faster!”

“You can hurry me all you like, but...!”

Noel was already running with her energy deployed, so fast that the scenery streamed past in an instant, yet the distance between them and the Lord Protector showed no sign of growing.

That left only one option: slow the enemy down.

“...!”

Clenching her teeth, Noel drew her sword with her free hand.

Pure-white energy flared around her. With one hand supporting Aiden on her back, she couldn’t trace a perfect sword stroke, but even so, Aiden could tell exactly what level those attacks had reached.

Slashes swept out too quickly to follow, tracing dizzying arcs in every direction. Though he wasn’t their target, Aiden could barely keep his eyes open against the gale bursting from Noel’s arm.

Every single one was as powerful as the slash that had cut through a building before.

Attacks capable of carving away the entire landscape poured from Noel’s single arm, several every second!

‘What the...!’

He had no time even to gape at those attacks. An even more absurd sight followed.

The Lord Protector was drawing her own sword in response.

And a chill raced down Aiden’s spine as he realized those eyes, like glowing red lanterns, were tracking the path of every slash.

[“I am steel—”]

The words bubbled up from beneath the armor in a murky voice.

At the same time, pure-white energy pulsed around the Lord Protector.

[“I am the blade—”]

Slightly cloudier than Noel’s energy, but almost equal in its sheer force.

[“I am the scales.”]

That energy wound around her blade in exactly the same way Noel used hers.

[“Subjects of the Empire, fear not—”]

And then—

[“For I am here!”]

The Lord Protector advanced.

She approached, sweeping aside the mass of slashes Noel had unleashed.

Every sweep of her sword collided with Noel’s attacks, showering sparks in all directions. She advanced through that seemingly unstoppable storm of blades, deflecting and shattering every last one.

Her charge slowed little by little as she did so, but the sight of her approaching while scattering all those attacks was terrifyingly dauntless.

If he hadn’t been on the opposing side, Aiden would have wanted to applaud that skill. Clearly, she hadn’t raised the Empire’s strongest knight for nothing!

Even more absurd was Noel’s response after unleashing those attacks.

She had filled the air with blows that others would have treated as their ultimate trump cards, yet she was already moving on to her next action as though she had fully expected them to be blocked.

—!!

—!!!!

Exchanges followed like flashes of lightning, their aftershocks alone making it difficult for him to keep his balance.

Any one of those exchanges would have torn Aiden apart like cardboard if he got caught between them. It was absurd that they could keep fighting like this while both running at full speed...!

‘These lunatics...!’

Aiden gritted his teeth.

Come to think of it, he had never actually seen this before.

How superhumans—those at the very summit, no less—fought. How such people regarded the exchange that had just taken place.

Now he understood immediately why Meyer had scoffed at his request. If Aiden himself got swept up in a battle like this, surviving a few seconds would be an accomplishment.

His body threatened to tremble involuntarily. Faced with a clash between people so far beyond the bounds of common sense and comprehension, his survival instincts were the first to react.

“Aiden, do you have a plan?!”

... And strangely enough, one of the very people fighting that battle seemed to be relying on him instead.

Noel asked the question, looking at him with blazing eyes.

“... Why would you ask that?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t...!”

“Of course I do.”

“...”

“I’m just a little baffled you’d ask something so obvious.”

Aiden gave Noel a faint smile as she glared at him as though she wanted to punch him.

“... First of all.”

Still smiling, he continued.

“We have to take her down in the end. And that requires a little preparation.”

“What sort of preparation?!”

“A wide-open space.”

More precisely, somewhere without anyone who could get caught in the blast.

“That way, I can fire without feeling guilty.”

... Well.

What Meyer had crafted for him was, so to speak, a cannon that was extraordinarily cumbersome to fire.

Using it properly required all sorts of conditions. It was a simple, single attack with no flashy follow-up combinations, and there was no guarantee it would hit.

But when all those conditions aligned—

“Then I win.”

It was something close to a natural disaster.