Real Combat
Jun steadied his breathing as he gazed down at the assassin sprawled on the ground. It was a far too hollow end for the skill the man had possessed. For some reason, his heart felt unsettled.
"Incredible. To take down a Green-rank powerhouse so easily... Could your mastery be Yellow-rank or higher?"
The soldier he had rescued earlier approached and asked carefully. Jun shook his head from side to side, indicating that wasn't the case.
According to Robin and Leonard's assessment, if limited to any single ability—psychic power, magic, or aura—Jun's mastery sat at Blue-rank or higher, yet fell a little short of Green. When he linked all his abilities together, however, he could produce power at Green-rank or beyond.
That still wasn't the reason he had been able to finish the man so easily. The real reason he could take him down so readily was simply...
"He was all show and no substance. An empty shell of a man."
The stealth he had displayed before the fight and the physical ability he showed during it had certainly been Green-rank caliber. But his combat style and emotional control had both been worse than a Blue-rank amateur's. It was the classic case of the type Robin always talked about—the ones who trusted their innate gifts and ran wild on that alone.
It was obvious without even looking. Thanks to those gifts, the man had breezed through every assassination assignment handed to him until now. So he had trained only those gifts now and then, and neglected everything else. This might even have been the first time he had ever crossed blades with an enemy face-to-face.
Jun realized anew that gifts alone were not what mattered. And with that, he also understood why his heart had felt so unsettled.
Ah. I was seeing my own reflection in this guy.
Not to his degree, but lately Jun had been neglecting his training without quite realizing it. Years of life-or-death battles every few days. The stress of piled-up killings. The adults' consideration that followed, and the comfort of a certain someone wearing an angel's face who was actually a suc—
Eek! I'm not a succubus!
—not a succubus, but Fortuna's heated consolation. On top of that,
"Blue Flash, are you all right? Have you been injured?"
The embarrassing yet secretly pleasant moniker and the way everyone around him fawned over him. His resolve had naturally grown slack. There were plenty of excuses. But the one who had surrendered to those excuses and neglected his training was none other than Jun himself.
If he stayed like this, he might one day meet the same hollow end as the assassin lying at his feet. He would never be able to get Fortuna pregnant either. Anju was still far too early for him. For the happy future he shared with the angel he loved more than anything, he had to grow stronger with every passing minute and second.
Let's steel myself again. Just like the day I first decided to become strong.
Jun recalled his original resolve. And then—
Hummm∼
His three cores began to vibrate with a pleasant driving hum. A short while later, Jun was able to face a slightly more grown version of himself.
Our Junie! You're amazing! So amazing!
Yeah, yeah. I'm amazing. So give me lots of rewards later. Later.
He soothed Fortuna, who looked ready to materialize and rain kisses on him that very second, and inspected his grown cores. Larger size, stronger suction and output, higher conversion rate and density. He could now safely call himself a full-fledged Green-rank.
Can just recalling my original resolve once really produce this much growth?
Don't feel uneasy about it, Jun. What was supposed to come has simply arrived.
If anything, it was a little overdue. When mind, energy, and body all lock into place, a person grows at tremendous speed. That was why Jun—who possessed a spirit strengthened by reincarnation and love, top-tier cores with outstanding growth potential, a body remodeled by every kind of training and psychic power, and who every single day drank the Potion of Growth that developed, harmonized, and shed all of them down to the soul—could only grow at a shocking pace. This breakthrough was nothing more than his slightly off-kilter spirit finally locking into place and claiming all the growth he had been putting off at once. There was no need to worry even a little that he was getting it too easily.
...I see.
Jun, you're cursing me in your head right now.
...No I'm not.
At the delayed answer, Fortuna hurriedly cried out.
You are! It's not like I deliberately didn't teach you! Spiritual growth is something you have to achieve on your own!
I know that without you saying it. But instead of giving me even a subtle nudge of help, you tempted me with your body so I'd fall even further—doesn't that seem a little off?
B-but it felt good! You felt good too!
That's something only a succubus would say.
...I dunno. Fortuna's sulking. Don't talk to me.
Fortuna pretended to sulk out of embarrassment. Jun snorted a laugh, stroked the Stigma she inhabited, then sharpened his eyes as if nothing had happened and began staring in a certain direction.
So they want to meet.
At the far edge of his radar, the people who had appeared alongside the assassins were still holding their ground even after every assassin had been wiped out. As if they were waiting for someone. Jun's role was to finish off enemies the allies had not yet cleaned up, but looking at the aggressive presence he could sense through the radar, he felt reluctant to go.
No ambushes or special artifacts nearby, so it doesn't seem like a trap...
"Blue Flash? Have you really been injured?"
While he was hesitating over whether to go or not, the nearby soldier asked with genuine concern. The other soldiers who had drifted closer were the same. Only the one who seemed to be the squad leader was looking at him with eyes full of both admiration and dismay. He had apparently noticed that far from being injured, Jun was actually in better condition than before.
"No, I'm not hurt."
"Whoa, even his voice is ridiculously pretty."
"You crazy bastard, shut up. Ahem. But why are you still here? You usually head back right away. More importantly, is it all right for you to let us hear your voice?"
"I don't think there's any real need to hide it anymore. You seem to have roughly figured out who I am. Both of you over there, and those people over there."
"Th-those people?"
Instead of answering, Jun continued his deliberation. Then he made his decision. He would meet them once, the way they wanted.
Just you and me?
Yeah. If Leonard or Robin are with me, they might just bolt.
Capturing them... would that be hard?
When Fortuna inhabited the Stigma, she shared Jun's senses. Thanks to that, she could also perceive the people at the edge of the radar. There were five of them in total. One carried a presence roughly on par with Leonard's. Three wore auras a little short of Robin's. The remaining one—who looked like a noble—showed no sign of physical training and gave off no presence at all, yet he could not be underestimated. He seemed to be the leader of the group. Was he hiding his cores with a magic tool?
Just in case, Jun left a message for Leonard, then leaped through space before the man could stop him.
A flinch.
"Oh!"
Clap clap clap.
At the foot of the mountain, the man who looked like a knight and the three who looked like high-level assassins gave a startled shudder at the figure who had appeared as suddenly as a mountain spirit. The one who looked like a noble clapped his hands and let out a cry of admiration.
"Just what kind of magic was that? Sir Matthew said there was no one nearby, so it couldn't have been Blink. Then Teleport? But Teleport requires a marker at the destination."
The noble—a narrow-eyed man with brown hair and a face that called a wildcat to mind—asked in a thoroughly excited tone. Unlike the others, his attitude was full of goodwill rather than hostility, but Jun saw no need to answer his question. His demeanor might look that way, yet his heart rate was slow and steady. He was extremely calm. On top of that, every manga and anime Jun had watched in his previous life had taught him one rule: never strike up a conversation with a narrow-eyed character you have just met.
"Oh dear, you seem terribly tense. Everyone, smile. A child far younger than you is freezing up just looking at your faces."
The narrow-eyed man made a fuss and begged his companions to smile. No one obliged, yet he kept the smiling face and continued his pleas. Then, abruptly, his eyes turned to Jun. The narrow slits opened a little wider, revealing the sharp pupils hidden inside.
"There. Better now, right? Isn't that so, Jun."
Pupils glittering under the moonlight. A pressure that somehow pressed down on him. Was the guy using some kind of S-something Eye? Well, enough with the stupid jokes. So he really had been found out.
"..."
"Hahaha. Choosing silence, are we? Quite cautious for a child. But it's useless. We already know your identity."
Jun had kept silent just in case, but the narrow-eyed man's conviction did not waver. Seeing no change whatsoever in his body, it seemed he had truly and firmly identified Jun.
"Haa∼."
"Shocked? That your identity was exposed?"
"No. I was just thinking I managed to hide it longer than I expected."
He had hoped to stay hidden at least until Leon's coming-of-age ceremony if possible, but honestly that had been an absurd wish. With his body's growth and his unique abilities, anyone who wasn't a complete fool would have been able to pin down who he was. Lasting four years with nothing more than a hood pulled low and Fortuna hidden in the Stigma had been impressive enough. It simply meant that the awakening of a third core had been that hard to believe.
"I sighed for a different reason. Where did you spread my identity? The Council? The Church? My guess is one of the Council soldiers who got injured and rotated out, but am I wrong?"
"Who knows. It could be the Church, or else..."
The narrow-eyed man curved his slits into a sly smile and continued.
"It could even be this place you've been protecting all this time."
...This is why I hate narrow-eyed characters.