Chapter 26
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 26
From this moment on, I had to fight Ilay.
Objectively speaking, I had the upper hand. As long as I didn't make a mistake, victory was mine. But real combat never goes exactly as planned.
Whir, whir.
My right prosthetic eye whirred on its own, tracking the Ramones family.
I reminded myself of my objective. Amidst a flood of calculations and deductions, I constantly reevaluated the optimal course of action.
At this very moment, I was grateful I'd expanded my cognitive capacity through the Akies Combat Style.
There's no need to clash head-on with Ilay.
Ilay was trying to protect the Ramones family. More precisely, he was trying to protect Lillian Ramones.
I have to kill Lillian. Even if it breeds bad blood between us down the road, it's the only way to save Ilay right now.
It didn't matter if Ilay and I became sworn enemies, our relationship shattered beyond repair. At least this way, I wouldn't have to kill him with my own hands.
Kill the entire Ramones family and every witness, then cover up Ilay's rampage as if it never happened.
Even if suspicious circumstances remained, he was a scion of the Kartika family; they'd find a way to sweep it under the rug.
Having settled on a course of action, a wave of self-loathing washed over me. My resolve to bring Ilay to justice had been shoved to the back of my mind. Instead, my brain was working overtime, squeezing out schemes to save him.
...Guess I'm a pathetic, soft-hearted bastard too.
"Luka, you're planning to bypass me and go straight for Lillian, aren't you?"
Ilay spoke sharply. As perceptive as ever.
I scratched my head, pretending to work out an answer—then suddenly lunged forward.
Bang!
Ilay pulled the trigger to stop me. Gunshots rang out in rapid succession.
For men like us, with ballistic prediction hardwired into our systems, simple direct shots were useless. This was merely suppressive fire meant to slow me down. Not long ago, I would have hesitated, faltering to dodge the bullets.
But before stepping onto this battlefield, I'd pushed my limits to overclock the speed and bandwidth of my cybernetic signals. With those upgrades complete, I could move faster and with far more precision than Ilay could ever predict.
I pressed forward without losing an ounce of momentum. I could sense Ilay's panic in his erratic shooting. The final bullet went so wide I didn't even bother to register it.
I've got the lead.
Ilay scrambled to cut me off, but he was too late.
Avoid direct confrontation with Ilay.
Subduing him quickly would be difficult, and the Ramones family would use that window to escape.
"Fuuuu..."
Exhaling a heavy breath, I pushed my legs to maximum output. There was no significant difference in raw performance between Ilay's prosthetic body and mine. But because my reaction speed was superior, I held the advantage in acceleration.
Boom!
Accelerating in an instant, I blew past Ilay's defensive line. From here on, he would be the one chasing me.
Nothing stood in a straight line between me and the Ramones family. My gaze locked onto them. Two seconds, and we'd collide.
I could feel Ilay's presence closing in from behind. But I ignored it. I just had to finish this before he reached me.
The two Ramones sons raised their guns to face me. Trained soldiers, too—though not of Imperial Guard caliber.
"Don't fight him!"
Ilay screamed. In that exact instant, I reached the two sons.
Blade and pistol drawn, I lunged. Their eyes widened in panic as they scrambled to pull their triggers.
Slow. Painfully, agonizingly slow.
So slow it was almost pitiful. Idiots who couldn't even gauge their opponent's capabilities—failures who couldn't pass the Imperial Guard's aptitude test. No wonder the Ramones family had pinned all their hopes on Claude.
I pulled the trigger, putting a bullet between the eldest son's eyes. At the same instant, my blade split the second son's skull vertically. A brief flash of gray matter hung in the air.
Thud!
I landed lightly between the two brothers. They tottered for a fraction of a second before collapsing.
Three remained: the Family Head Hugo Ramones, his wife, and Lillian.
Hugo had just watched both his sons die in the blink of an eye. He opened his mouth to scream something at me.
Shlick!
Using the blade still slick with his second son's blood, I drove it up through Hugo's jaw, piercing all the way to the crown of his skull. The sensation of steel squelching through soft brain tissue was vivid and clear.
Twist!
I twisted the blade, thoroughly scrambling his brain. Hugo's eyes rolled back, his body convulsing from residual neural signals.
Hurry, Luka. Ilay's about to drop on your back.
There was no time to pull my sword from Hugo's skull. Deciding instantly, I hardened the edge of my hand and chopped hard into Madame Ramones' temple.
Crack!
Under the force of my palm strike, the noblewoman's skull split open from the cheek, shattering horizontally. The sight of her head, with only the lower jaw left intact, was chilling.
Stripped of all neural control, her body flailed like a broken toy. At a glance, it almost looked like a drunkard's clumsy dance.
Four lives snuffed out in a fraction of a second. Only Lillian remained.
"Ah..."
Only now did Lillian's lips part. Lacking the high-speed cognitive processing Ilay and I possessed, her brain was only just catching up to reality.
Her entire family had been slaughtered right before her eyes. It would have been an unforgettable trauma—had she any future to speak of. But there was no need to worry about that. She'd be joining them in a moment.
Any second now, she would let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Pivoting on my heel, I aimed my pistol at her head. I could have blown her brains out without even looking.
Yet I didn't pull the trigger immediately.
Lillian was a victim of circumstance. I knew that. And once, she'd been a girl who approached me with genuine warmth.
It seemed only right to look upon her face one last time—whether it was twisted in hatred or despair. Either way, I'd remember her for the rest of my life. Or at least until whatever conscience I had left completely evaporated.
...When reality defies expectation, the human brain freezes for a moment. That was exactly what happened to me.
She's... smiling?
I froze, unable to pull the trigger. Her eyes brimmed with tears, yet the corners of her eyes and lips twitched upward into a smile. The expression on Lillian's face was one of pure joy. The tears streaming down her cheeks were tears of rapture.
Why is she smiling?
Her reaction was so bizarre that I hesitated. And that split second of hesitation was more than enough for Ilay to close the distance.
"Luka—!"
Ilay swung his blade, forcing himself between Lillian and me. I had never seen him this furious. A cold, blue-white light flared wildly in his eyes.
Belatedly, I tried to pull the trigger and blow Lillian's head off.
Clang!
But the bullet was deflected harmlessly off Ilay's blade.
Calm down. It didn't go as expected, but the situation isn't bad.
After all, every member of the Ramones family except Lillian was dead. I could simply subdue Ilay first, then finish her off.
Ilay was the one who'd lost his composure. I would deal with him the way one deals with a wounded beast. Once I severed his limbs, he'd be utterly helpless.
...It was twisted, but I found myself grinning with anticipation and excitement. Right in front of me stood an opponent capable of matching my full strength in a real, life-or-death battle.
I knew this was no laughing matter. But I didn't deny the violence born into me. I refused to dismiss the instincts that had carried me this far as something evil. To put it kindly, I simply possessed the exceptional aggression a soldier required.
A dark, crimson bloodlust welled up inside me. But I couldn't let it consume me. If I lost control, I might actually end up killing Ilay.
"Don't smile, Luka."
Ilay spoke, shielding Lillian like a knight protecting his princess.
I'd slipped up. Seeing my chilling smile had snapped Ilay back to his senses. Now that he'd regained his composure, this wouldn't be an easy fight.
"Ilay, did you see her face just now? Her entire family was slaughtered, and she's happy. Don't you find that strange?"
I took a step back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Ilay must have seen her bizarre expression too. If I could shake his resolve with this, it would play right into my hands.
"...It's not strange. She's finally free."
Ilay spoke as if he understood exactly why she was smiling. His gaze remained unwavering.
I narrowed my eyes. The air between Lillian and Ilay was thick with a strange intimacy. This was clearly more than just a one-sided crush on Ilay's part.
"Lillian means far more to you than just a first love."
Ilay didn't answer. That silence was all the confirmation I needed.
I wiped the blood off my blade against my trousers. Ilay stood his ground, waiting for my next move.
Shring!
I extended my arm, pointing the clean tip of my blade directly at him.
"Well, fine. It doesn't really matter anyway. Let's begin."
* * *
As Imperial Guard Cadets, we were different from ordinary humans. Throughout our training, our nervous systems had been heavily augmented with chemical therapy and synthetic drugs.
A natural human brain could never handle a high-performance combat prosthetic. The machine's movements far exceeded human reaction limits, transmitting high-intensity signals that would tear biological muscles to shreds.
To an ordinary person, our movements were utterly imperceptible—let alone something they could react to.
Ilay and I clashed in a high-speed battle. Standing behind him, Lillian wouldn't even be able to track our movements.
Shring!
I swung my blade. The trajectory was so blindingly fast that the steel seemed to bend like a whip.
Clang!
Ilay raised his own blade to parry. The sheer impact vibrated through my hand, feeling as though it would shatter my fingers. It had to be the same for him.
A flurry of blows followed, so rapid our blades blurred into afterimages. Steel clashed against steel, over and over, chipping the edges of our identical weapons.
To an outside observer, we might have seemed evenly matched. But both Ilay and I knew the truth.
I'm going to win.
We'd been equals once, but Ilay lacked the hunger to grow stronger. While I had spent every waking moment honing myself into a weapon, he had wasted his time on strange ideologies and idle thoughts.
Desperation now won't conjure strength you never built.
Ilay was fighting desperately. Even knowing he was outmatched, he scraped the very bottom of his reserves, praying for a miracle.
Is Lillian Ramones really worth all this?
I wanted to scream the question at him. He was throwing away everything he had to protect her, even though his chances were practically zero.
"Haa."
I exhaled a short breath. I was barely winded. Ilay, however, was gasping for air, his shoulders heaving violently.
"It was fun, Ilay."
I said, stepping back to create some distance.
"Don't talk like it's over."
Ilay spoke, his hands trembling. He let out a bitter laugh, clearly aware of how hollow his words sounded.
"You're a smart guy. Don't be a fool. It's not too late. There's no reason to throw your life away over one woman."
My breathing quickly returned to a steady rhythm. Ilay, on the other hand, was still panting heavily. If I struck now, I could end this in seconds.
"Luka, you don't know anything."
It was clear Ilay had no intention of listening to reason.
"Haha, I don't care to know. Especially not the thoughts of a bastard who slaughtered his own squad mates."
At the jab, Ilay fell silent. He wasn't immune to guilt.
"The families branded as traitors—the Ramones included—never actually rebelled. The Empire fabricated a pretext. This is a purge, plain and simple."
"You're talking nonsense. Buying time won't change a thing."
"I won't deny I'm trying to catch my breath, but I'm not making this up. For a planned rebellion, their resistance is pathetic. All they have are their private house guards. If they'd truly intended to rebel against the Empire, they would have allied with Kora or Bellato! Or at the very least hired an alien mercenary group. These families certainly have the wealth for it."
I couldn't immediately counter his argument. As much as I didn't want to think about it, my mind began analyzing his words.
He's right. For a coalition of three major families, the scale of this rebellion is far too small. And there are no external factions involved.
Breaching the Arcane Fortress had been the only difficult part. Once we were inside, the entire operation had been a swift, one-sided slaughter.
The Kora Holy Nation and the Bellato Federation were always looking for a chance to fracture the Empire. If a prominent Imperial Family truly wanted to rebel, there were plenty of foreign powers eager to back them.
The answer to my doubts came from behind Ilay.
"Because this is the real reason the Empire targeted our family."
Lillian spoke as she rummaged through her father's corpse. She pulled out a cube—one that emitted a faint, ethereal glow.
I sensed that whatever was about to come out of her mouth was forbidden knowledge. I shouldn't listen to another word.
I needed to subdue Ilay and cut Lillian down immediately. My hardwired soldier's instincts screamed at the back of my neck to end them. Yet an equally powerful curiosity held my dark bloodlust in check.
I stood there, letting her speak.
"This is an Arcane artifact. It's the only reason we were able to reactivate this fortress after it lay dormant for eons."
Lillian released her grip on the Arcane Cube. It hovered slightly above her palm, spinning slowly. It looked remarkably similar to the Arcane artifacts I'd seen in the past.
"No, your family is still nothing but traitors. You stole an Arcane artifact and researched it in secret."
I kept my voice as cold as possible.
"Luka, the Ramones family was researching the Arcane artifact under His Majesty the Emperor's direct orders. They are innocent—"
Just as Ilay began to plead their case, Lillian shook her head, cutting him off.
"No. To call our family innocent would be a lie. My father was indeed preparing a rebellion. The moment he used the Arcane artifact to discover how to reactivate this fortress, he hid the knowledge from the crown. He believed he could obtain a power that would surpass even the Emperor."
"Lillian! Now is not the—"
Ilay shouted, turning to her in panic.
Honestly, I could have subdued both of them in the blink of an eye. But Lillian had piqued my interest.
Her entire family had just been slaughtered before her eyes, yet she was calmly assessing the situation. She didn't even play the victim. I'd never imagined she possessed such steel. I'd always written her off as just another spoiled noble girl.
"Luka, you care about Ilay, don't you? Ilay will never be able to live the life he wants within the Empire. But right now, he has a chance to escape. With me."
I hesitated. A memory from our past flashed through my mind. Ilay had once tried to flee the Empire, only to stay behind because I'd been gravely wounded.
My hostility softened slightly. Both Ilay and Lillian seemed to sense the shift in my demeanor.
"...But there's nowhere to run. The Imperial Army has the entire fortress surrounded. If you're counting on some secret passage, they've likely already mapped it out."
I spoke in a more conciliatory tone. Even if Ilay and I miraculously joined forces, escaping with Lillian in tow was an impossibility.
"There is a teleportation device in the depths of the fortress. According to the records my father deciphered, it's capable of transporting living organisms. It was designed as an escape route in case the fortress ever fell."
I tilted my head slightly.
"A teleportation device?"
"Luka, if you want to kill me, go ahead. I'm no fool. Ilay is no match for you. If my death is what it takes to end this, so be it—I have no desire to ruin his life. But if we can activate the teleportation device using this Arcane artifact... Ilay and I can escape the Empire forever. All you have to do is pretend you never saw us."
It was an enticing proposition. Whether Lillian lived or died was of no concern to me.
Ilay can escape the Empire. In the chaos of this battlefield, it would be incredibly easy to list him as missing in action or presumed dead.
That was the part that truly captured my interest.
Even if I killed Lillian and somehow spared Ilay, he wouldn't survive long in the Empire. Eventually he'd find himself in a situation where even the Kartika family's influence couldn't save him.
Shring!
I spun my blade once and sheathed it at my hip. Seeing my posture relax, Ilay's face lit up with hope.
"Lu—"
"Shut up, Ilay. Promise me one thing. If the teleportation device she mentioned doesn't exist or fails to work... you will not stand in my way again. You heard her, didn't you? She doesn't want you ruining your life for her."
Ilay bit his lower lip and looked back at Lillian. She gave him a reassuring nod.
For the first time, I actually found myself liking Lillian. Had I known she possessed this kind of resolve, I might have actually considered courting her.
"I promise, Luka."
The words slipped reluctantly from Ilay's lips.