The Lion's Declaration
Clang!
The clash of steel rang out, sharp enough to set the ears ringing. Scarlet sparks flew from the impact, so close they seemed ready to sting the eyes. Yet Jun and Leon paid them no mind, swinging their blades in grim silence. Their focus had narrowed to a single point—each other.
Swish—
Just as the swords were about to meet again, Jun deftly flattened his blade and let Leon’s strike glance aside. A textbook parry. Admiration and shock flickered across Leon’s face for a heartbeat. Then, remembering this was a spar, he scrambled to recover his sword, which was still carving empty air.
But—
“Too late.”
Jun’s hand closed around his arm first. Leon strained to wrench free, but the grip didn’t budge. The next instant, sky and earth swapped places in his vision.
Thud!
“Ghk!”
Leon groaned as the impact slammed through his back. Jun looked down at him, voice cold.
“Leon, what are you doing? You watched Donald get wrecked and still didn’t learn?”
“…No. I learned. You’re strong, Jun. Stronger than me.”
“Then drop the stubborn act and use your aura already. Even a lion gives everything when it hunts a rabbit.”
“…Don’t blame me if you get hurt.”
Jun snorted and crooked a finger, beckoning him on. A hot, sticky emotion Leon had never felt before took root in his chest.
Whirrr—
Two vortexes of power spun into existence around Leon. The clear thrum of activation, the fierce suction—everything proclaimed that his rank was a fully matured Blue.
Hmm… stronger than I expected. Has he been holding back all this time?
No—right now the important thing was that two vortexes were radiating from Leon. Jun tested him with a mana arrow, loosing it in a blink. The instant it reached point-blank range—
Fwoosh!
A brilliant golden aura erupted from Leon’s entire body, like a lion’s mane. The mana arrow vanished without a trace the moment it touched the light.
“…Lion Soul.”
The super-ability first awakened by the founding empress of the Britia Empire, Elsa Lionzer. According to the founding myths, she had cloaked herself in Lion Soul—also called Lion’s Aura—and always fought at the front lines, eventually conquering her enemies and building the empire.
“You know what it means to show that, right?”
Every imperial bloodline that had ever awakened Lion’s Aura had revealed it to the world and declared themselves the rightful heir to the throne, then proven it with the power and symbolism the ability carried. Unleashing it meant Leon intended to walk that same path.
“I’ve been ready for a long time.”
As he spoke, Leon clutched his chest. Through the fabric he felt the necklace, and the photograph hidden inside it, and he renewed his resolve.
“Then show me. Show me how great that resolve of yours really is.”
“Haaah!”
Golden mane streaming, Leon charged. He looked every inch a lion.
Lionzer Secret Art—Lion Claw
Slash!
Razor claws tore through space, closing the distance. The crisp cutting sound told Jun everything he needed to know: the cheap iron sword in his hand would never stop that attack. He twisted his upper body just in time, dodging the claw-like strike.
But he couldn’t relax. A beast has more than one claw. The instant Jun slipped past, Leon’s blade warped its trajectory with unnatural flexibility and came for him again. Another twist of the torso saved him, yet the follow-up that was clearly coming would be impossible to evade by body movement alone.
Jun pushed Activation to its limit, accelerating his thoughts. With that accelerated mind he completed the magic formula for Blink in an instant and was about to trigger it when—
Lionzer Secret Art—Lion Howling
Clang!
A lion’s roar and a wave of golden energy exploded outward, shattering the magic formula that had been wrapping Jun’s body. Startled, Jun thrust his iron sword forward. The blade snapped clean in half with a metallic shriek—but the broken edge let him redirect the combo’s path. He decided that since it was already broken he might as well block the next strike with the stump… yet no further attack came.
Leon’s trembling arms told the story: three consecutive strikes was his absolute limit.
“That was an impressive combo. But techniques with side effects should be saved for the finishing blow.”
Jun delivered the advice with a blank face, then casually opened his subspace and drew a fresh weapon. To any third party he looked perfectly calm.
He’s really not, though~
Don’t tease me, Fortuna. Anyone would be shocked getting hit by a power they’d only ever heard about in fairy tales.
Jun took a quiet breath to settle his pounding heart and stared at the Lion’s Aura covering Leon with a weary eye. An ability that nullified other powers, plus the secret arts built around it, was far more threatening than he had expected.
My mana control is pretty high, yet it just ignored that and shattered the formula in one go. No wonder mages hate this thing.
Lion’s Aura nullified every supernatural power, but it was especially devastating against magic. Because mana naturally wanted to disperse, even a light touch of the aura unraveled an entire formula. That was why Empress Elsa had treated magic as a convenient tool rather than a real weapon—and why the Britia Empire as a whole had developed a culture of looking down on mages.
Enough daydreaming. What now? Want help?
Hmm. What should I do…
Jun considered Fortuna’s offer. The strength he wanted to show Leon and Donald was the kind that inspired the desire to improve and the refusal to lose—just one step ahead, reachable through effort. With magic and aura sealed, the gap between him and Leon was only half a step. Fortuna’s buff magic could widen it back to a full step, but if he took that advantage Leon might dig in his heels and refuse to listen to advice from someone who wasn’t even that much stronger. If that happened, Jun would be left with a bitter taste.
“Why?”
“Hm?”
“Why are you even doing this instructional spar?”
Leon asked, looking genuinely puzzled. Jun thought for a moment, then simply told the truth.
“So you don’t die. I can’t protect you anymore.”
“…You’re really not coming with us?”
One moment he had charged like a fierce lion; the next he wore the lonely face of an abandoned puppy. Any woman would have clutched her heart and wanted to hold him. Jun, however, was a sturdy, fully equipped man. The expression did nothing for him—if anything, it felt a little like Leon was putting on airs, and that annoyed him.
Whether Leon sensed that or not, he called out desperately.
“Jun, I really want you to come with us. Not because I need your power—because I don’t want to be separated from someone who’s like family. So stay by my side. This time I’ll protect you. Okay?”
Jun was briefly at a loss for words. Leon looked so much like a lion desperately trying to keep his pride together that even Jun’s heart wavered a little.
Does he have some kind of trauma? It’s sad, but…
He had no intention of being bound by it. Steeling himself, Jun shook his head coldly.
“Leon, everyone has their own path. I understand how you feel, but I’m walking mine.”
“I’m sorry, Jun. I will never let my people leave me. Even if I have to use force.”
With a resolute face, Leon leveled his sword at Jun. The blade began to hum with a clear, eerie light.
He’s going to use force to stop me from leaving? What is he, some kind of Naruto?
The sheer absurdity drew a hollow laugh from Jun. He kept laughing until Leon settled into a stance that said he was ready to charge at any second and pressed him.
“Swear to the gods that you’ll never leave my side, Jun. Otherwise you’re going to get hurt.”
“Hey, Leon. Are you even in your right mind right now?”
“Stop dodging and just swear it, Jun.”
Leon felt no need to answer the question. He believed he was thinking more calmly than ever. In reality it was the opposite. The hot, sticky emotions—jealousy and envy—that Jun’s superior skill had planted in him had been watered by Jun’s talk of parting, which stabbed straight into his trauma, and they had bloomed fully. He was more irrational than he had ever been.
Jun. Sparkles looks like he’s gone a little crazy. Seems dangerous—want a buff?
No need. Leave it.
Jun stopped Fortuna, then sheathed his weapon. He raised both empty hands for Leon to see.
“All right. Spar’s over.”
“…What?”
“Huh?” “Eh?” “What?”
His casual tone left Leon—who had been braced for a decisive strike—and Donald, Linda, and Heni—who had been watching anxiously in case something went wrong—all wearing identical blank expressions. While they stood there stunned by the sudden turn, Jun said,
“I’ve got no interest in playing along with pointless stubbornness to the bitter end.”
“W-wait! Jun!”
“Nope. See you later. Bye!”
And with that he coolly fled the scene.
Ten years earlier, on a winter night when snow fell thick and heavy.
“Dad?”
Leon finally met the father he had long awaited. The man Father Leonard had only ever spoken of looked so frail, so exhausted… so sad that it was hard to believe he ruled an empire covering a quarter of the continent.
Leon wanted to demand why he had been abandoned, why he had only come now; he wanted to cry and be comforted. But he was afraid that if he did, his father would break down in tears, so he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Dad, hang in there.”
He wanted to cry himself, but he swallowed it down and took his father’s limp hand. He had meant to offer comfort; instead his father burst into loud, open sobs.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Leon. I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
“D-Dad… hic!”
The tears he had been holding back finally spilled. His father pulled him into a tight embrace and wept without restraint. Father and son spent the tiny sliver of time granted to them drowning in tears.
When the moment of parting arrived, his father left him a single book, a necklace containing the photograph of a beautiful woman, and one last piece of advice that cut to the bone:
“Leon. My son, Leon. You—you at least must protect them. Your people, your love, your freedom—all of it, by any means necessary. Don’t end up regretting it the way I did.”
Then he was gone. Leon clutched the gifts tightly and swore to himself that he would do exactly that.