The Truth Revealed (4)

Rillai and Shuri's heads were spinning.

...What did I just hear?

'Fight one-on-one... no, work them to the bone?' Shuri pressed a hand to his forehead. Wait a second, hadn't that brat just said Rillai's name... no, no, no! He must have misheard.

'Right. Even if that brat's a traitor to his own blood, he wouldn't go that far with his own uncles...'

But then Shuri looked at Rillai's face, and something clicked.

Yeah... I didn't mishear a thing.

Rillai had both hands buried in his face, deep in the throes of despair.

"Shuri."

"Yes?"

"I think this uncle's hearing has finally started to go."

"No, sir. You heard it exactly right."

"Our sweet, gentle Isaac would never do such a thing."

"No, sir. That brat has always been like this."

"It's the shock from everything with your father and mother, and with Kaya!! Isaac was just—"

"No, he's ALWAYS been like this, I'm telling you."

"There's no way that could be—"

"Shuri! Rillai! You bastards listening to a word I'm saying?!"

Isaac's furious roar drove Rillai to even deeper despair.

...Was it after the Saintess's awakening? So THAT was why Benjamin had been raging, screaming that he 'tried to die, but Isaac's education made him pry the coffin back open and crawl out!'

"No, no. Our Isaac would never..."

"Rillai! You're pairing off with Benjamin! When you lose, I'm going to work you to the bone!"

At Isaac's undeniable bellow, Shuri edged closer, watching Rillai nervously. Rillai, for his part, looked utterly shattered, crouched on the ground with his brow pinched between his fingers.

Well, it made sense. Rillai had practically raised Isaac from infancy — he was as good as the boy's true father. The scales were falling from his eyes, and no one could blame him for it.

"Uncle, are you all right? So, let me explain how this all happened—"

"The Skeleton Demon King... that wretched piece of filth..."

...I'm sorry, what?

"Skeleton Demon King! Corrupting such an adorable child!! I will never forgive him!"

...Um. So this is the Skeleton King's doing, is it?

Before long, Isaac's eyes flashed and he barked out an order.

"Go tell Benjamin and Joseph to get over here right now!"

"They're already on their way."

"!"

Benjamin and Joseph were walking toward them.

We heard an explosion from the training grounds, so we came to check, and... what on earth are we looking at?

Isaac scanned the group, then frowned.

"Where's Leah?"

As if in answer, a warm weight settled against Isaac's back.

"Isaac. Have you been well?"

Leah had wrapped her arms around him from behind.

Ever since her awakening as the Saintess, Leah's whole face had bloomed. She'd always been mature for her age, smiling with a grown-up serenity — but there had always been a shadow in it somewhere. Now, for the first time, she simply looked her age.

Leah had shown signs of caring for Isaac before, of course — but back then, anxiety and unease had run far deeper. Where her eyes used to see him as an ally working toward the same goal, now they looked at him as though he were her one and only savior.

'Well, I did save her father, so I'd say I pulled off the savior role quite adequately.'

It would have been a serious problem for him if Leah had gone dark on him, after all.

'Uh, no. That's just you imagining things.'

At that very moment, however, Benjamin turned to Isaac with a look of pure horror.

"By the way, Isaac... you're not planning to hide what you really are anymore, are you?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, 'what I really'... ah...!"

Isaac slapped a hand over his own mouth. His eyes darted to Rillai, who looked as though he'd just absorbed several consecutive body blows, and he knew he'd messed up.

'The act wore off!'

Dammit, you doglike Blue bastards! You shits ignored every word I said and pissed me off so much that I—!

"U-Uncle! My deepest apologies. I didn't mean to—!"

"No need. With this, I have one more reason to kill the Skeleton Demon King."

...I'm TELLING you I'm that Skeleton King, you bastard?!

"Anyway, good timing! Uncle Benjamin! Fight him, right now! These people won't believe my method works!"

Benjamin was dumbfounded.

Nephew. Honorifics or casual speech — could you pick one and stick with it...?

'And of course they don't believe it.' These were the Killer Whales, Blue's absolute elite, led by Rillai himself. The knights who took on Blue's highest-grade missions — in other words, the most elite warriors House Blue had to offer. And now Isaac wanted these top-tier elites to throw away everything they'd trained their whole lives for, swallow some bizarre nonsense wholesale... and fight on top of that?

"We're grateful you awakened us, but pitting 5th-tiers against 6th-tiers would be a tremendous insult to these men."

"No, sir! Not at all! If it is the Young Master of Life, the savior of our very lives, who commands it, we will do anything!"

When the knights' eyes blazed with devotion, Benjamin gave them a knowing look.

"Ah... you're the ones who got fleeced half to death in Delos, aren't you."

"Yes, sir! There are still curs out there who refuse to acknowledge Isaac, but if we can awaken like this? They'll be sick with envy!"

"Keep your family squabbles inside the family. Rillai, take these fools who spout nothing but nonsense and go back—"

"Very well. I accept."

"?!"

Rillai raised his sword toward his elder brother — without drawing it from its sheath.

"If I win, Isaac receives training from me to smash the Skeleton Demon King's skull in! This uncle will lead him down the one path that's guaranteed to work! And since you're 6th tier, big brother, I'll graciously keep my blade sheathed!"

Benjamin was speechless.

"A 9th-tier, going seriously against a 0th-tier..."

Isaac quickly whispered something into the ears of Benjamin and Joseph. The moment they heard it, both men's eyes went wide as saucers.

What? All we have to do is THAT?

"Fight like men ready to die — give it everything, all of you!" Rillai thundered.

But the knights, watching Joseph loosening up, could only exchange troubled glances.

"Give it everything...?"

"With all due respect, there's no way Young Master Joseph can beat us. Even if Isaac did awaken him hims— hm?"

Joseph drew his sword with a sharp ring — and vanished in an instant.

"Huh?"

"Wh-wh-wha—?!"

The knights whipped their heads around in panic. The vanished Joseph was nowhere to be seen.

'No... he didn't vanish...'

"Gahk!"

The moment they sensed Joseph's presence, they nearly stopped breathing. One instant his presence had been above them in the sky — the next, he was inside their guard, right in their very arms.

"Wh-wha-wha-WHAT???"

And then Joseph flashed a grin and swung his sword.

<Blue Fog>.

Holy power detonated like a bomb, and the knights went screaming through the air. The moment two 8th-tier knights went down in a single breath, Rillai's voice cracked like a whip.

"You lot, fight properly! There's no need to go easy just because they're of the master's blood—"

"We weren't going easy, sir!!"

"What??"

Going easy? No — the knights were the ones staring at Joseph in open bewilderment.

Nobody knew Joseph's swordsmanship better than the men who had trained him. Exactly 3rd tier. That was what he was. So how could he change this much, this fast?

"What is this? He's 5th tier now, but he's... completely different..."

What on earth did Isaac DO to them...?!

But Rillai, who could not bring himself to trust the boy, simply let out a sigh.

"All of you are getting group discipline drills later!"

With that declaration, Rillai charged straight at Benjamin.

Benjamin pushed up his glasses and activated a holy art — exactly the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way Isaac had told him to.

FLASH!

When the surging blue light came flying at him, Rillai casually moved to swat it aside with his blade—

'Huh?'

Swat it aside, nothing. The holy art pierced straight through his sword.

"Wait—! Kgh!"

The art that had punched through his blade grazed across Rillai's torso. Its power was no laughing matter.

'A penetration holy art, is it?'

That was an enemy-attribute holy art Blue rarely employed.

Then, pillars of light like towering rain came crashing down from the sky. A penetration art was certainly effective against holy knights who fought with swords, shields, and other physical tools — but it had one fatal weakness. Another holy art!

<Breath of Patience>.

Rillai threw up a defensive barrier. The blue barrier bloomed above his head, powered by holy power strong enough to command the great arts — he hadn't been named a candidate for the next family head for nothing.

'That art can't be chained one after another anyway. The moment this attack ends, I slip out and—'

And slip out...

...Huh?

SHWISH-SHWISH-SHWISH!

"Wait—! The holy arts pass through the barrier TOO?!"

As the volley of light-arrows punched straight through his barrier, Rillai let out a scream — a rare thing indeed for him.

"Lord Rillai!"

Rillai jerked back, barely weaving his body clear of the arrows. And then, defying every expectation that the arts couldn't be chained, a bolt of lightning came down.

Rillai panicked, his hand flying to his hilt for an instant— no, wait, if he didn't draw, he was in danger!

Rillai drew his sword and drank in every single falling holy art into the blade.

KRA-KOOM!!

The force was so tremendous that even Rillai felt himself being slammed down toward the ground.

THUD!

But he was hardly a man who would lose to something this paltry.

WHAM!

Having funneled the entire absorbed force down into the earth, Rillai laughed — only slightly strained.

"Truly impressive, big brother."

He had no idea what manner of "awakening" Isaac was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pursuing, but it was undeniably strong. And yet — for all that, it was still just a modest step forward!

"If an attack of that caliber actually strained you, it must have been your final trump card. What will you do now? You can't defeat me with tricks like these."

"Heh. And just what might you be misunderstanding?"

"...Pardon? Misunderstanding?"

"Something like that could never be a trump card."

"...What do you mea— gahk?!"

Rillai's jaw hung open as he stared at the crackling thundercloud materializing above Benjamin's head.

Benjamin pushed up his glasses and scoffed.

"Do it properly, Rillai. You'll make the very name of 9th tier weep!"

With those words, a blinding cascade of lightning poured down.

A colossal explosion erupted, flinging Rillai and the knights backward. And when the blast finally subsided, every last one of them could only stand there, souls drifting out of their bodies.

"Lord Rillai!"

It wasn't only the combatants.

Shuri and the knights who had been watching from the sidelines, convinced the outcome was obvious, all stood with their mouths hanging open.

'What...? What just happened here?'

"S-so let me get this straight... a 5th-tier just beat two 8th-tier knights... and someone who was ranked 0th-tier just beat a 9th-tier?!"

"Oh my."

Shuri could only stare at Isaac as if beholding some kind of monster.

'That brat — what in the hell did he do to the two of them...!'

Under that stunned gaze, Isaac flashed a wide grin.

"Well then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Uncle. You'll do as I say now, won't you? I did tell you — this is what happens when I awaken people."

Rillai stared at him blankly for a long moment. Then he smiled.

"Understood. This uncle will learn from you as well."

"!"

"I'll see to it that the other knight divisions follow your word too. Order them to forget every training method they've used until now."

Isaac let out a long, triumphant puh-heh-heh.

Even the family head himself was expected to respect the policies of whichever commanders ran each knight division — so until now, he'd had no way to touch any division but his own.

'My own division alone won't be quite enough in numbers. With this, I'll rebuild all of House Blue from the ground up.'

'That's part of it, but I've got the Pope's Stigma now. With that, I could even open the door connected to the God Realm — but more than anything, it's time to cut the Gold Pope loose.'

'What those bastards intend to do is obvious. Soon they'll hold the papal election — the <Conclave>.'

Did anyone have the faintest idea how much he had suffered, schemed, and toiled just to force this Conclave into being?

'I ran toward it, and I waited for it, with nothing else in my sights.'

The indispensable condition for his revenge against the gods.

'The Pope.'

And naturally, the Gold faction would put Kina forward for it.

'Well, the other Saint candidates will come crawling out too. They'll all be scrambling to pass the 1st-Grade Priest exam first, and tearing each other's throats out in the meantime.'

'What nonsense! Strike first and win! Assassination! Every last rival gets slick-slash eliminated!'

'Huh? What did you say? Yesterday's friend is today's enemy! Talk sentiment on a battlefield and you die.'

Though, truth be told, it was all to dispose of Noel and the Gold Cardinal — the two greatest obstacles standing in the way of the Conclave.

And as if summoned by the thought, that was precisely the moment it happened.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

"Magnificent. Simply magnificent. Truly worthy of the young family head."

"!"

Everyone flinched at the sound of applause and a voice they knew all too well.

"So THIS is how you've been awakening Blue, is it?"

Standing there was none other than Noel.

"Seeing it in person, it's even more impressive than I imagined. Then use that power to awaken our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠side as well. We're all Eshua here, aren't we?"

Benjamin and Rillai could only glare at him, utterly dumbfounded.

"Now that I take a good look... that thing there is..."

When Rillai moved to step forward, Isaac stopped him.

"You want me to awaken you? And why exactly would I do that?"

"Why? Isaac. You shouldn't be treating me this way."

"Excuse me?"

"House Eshua shows favor to whichever branch bears daughters. My father didn't exile me for nothing, you know. So you lot can't afford to treat me like this. Furthermore, becoming the family head in the end will require the Saintess's recommendation. Do you really think you can treat Kaya's father this way?"

At those words, the eyes of the brothers turned to ice.

And Isaac burst out laughing.

"Ah. So you're 'Kaya's father,' are you?"

Is this bastard trying to get himself killed?

At that laugh, Noel flinched.