45. You Betrayed Me, Andy
45. You Betrayed Me, Andy
Lucia was still frequenting the Private Bar.
She had no particular conversations with them or Hal, but the information that surfaced as they talked among themselves was extremely valuable.
As always, she was quietly sipping her drink in a corner of the bar when someone approached her.
"Russell."
It was Edgar Lemnos.
When Lemnos appeared with an intensely serious expression, the other three stopped their own conversation, sensing something was up, and focused on them.
"I'm going to duel Atlas again."
"Why are you telling me that?"
"I already got Atlas's consent. You're vouching for his safety, so it's best you know, isn't it?"
He had been defeated by Atlas just recently, and not much time had passed since then—a rematch already? Had he gained some kind of enlightenment in the meantime?
"...What do you want out of this?"
What on earth did he want from Atlas?
A duel was a dangerous act where you wagered something precious and could have it taken from you.
Last time, in order to duel Lucia—who was forbidden from dueling—Lemnos had dragged in Atlas, whom she cared about.
He had provoked him to make her break a promise to her family.
If he was harboring ill feelings and intended to keep provoking him, Lucia had no intention of standing by any longer either.
"Nothing..."
The words that came out of Edgar Lemnos's mouth were unexpected.
"In this duel, I don't want anything else. I simply want to defeat that guy with the sword of Lemnos.
I'm going to make everyone acknowledge that Lemnos is the strongest."
The look in Lemnos's eyes as he said that was blazing more fiercely than ever, like flames.
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"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh!!!!!!!"
.
.
.
.
.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
.
.
.
"Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh!!!"
"It'll definitely get better next time...!"
I screamed like a madman toward the blue sky.
I could feel people glancing at me from a distance at the succession of grotesque screams.
My mood today was so foul it was as if my high spirits from a day ago had been a lie.
Because I had taken the newly made drug again, and there had been no change whatsoever.
"...Well. Hitting a wall like this with anything is just how it goes, I suppose..."
I was dejected, but I already knew all too well that not everything could go perfectly.
'There's just not enough data. After the detailed examination is done, we'll check which part it affected, replenish the materials, and then start again..!'
I believed Professor Praha's words that she would conduct a detailed examination, purchase fresh materials, properly analyze the cause, and try again.
Lucia glanced at my dejected state and carefully spoke up.
"Atlas.. Did you decide to duel again..?"
".... Did I?"
After mulling it over, it did seem like I had.
"Seems like I did..."
"Lemnos's whole vibe was different from usual..."
"If he got beaten up that badly and still hasn't come to his senses, he deserves to get beaten up more.. Hey, the ship's coming."
It wasn't a great day, but time passed regardless of my feelings.
Today was the day Andy, who had gone up to the capital to receive his medal, returned.
To welcome the return of the hero who had saved the academy from an unprecedented crisis, several students had come out and were waiting for Andy.
Since classes were in session, not that many students had come out.
Still, the people who were here must be the truly fervent fans who adored Andy... There were a few guys, but women were overwhelmingly numerous.
"They're all students waiting for the instructor, right..?"
"Ugh.. I hate the sight of it."
I should have been in class originally too, but I had declared a personal holiday and come out confidently.
Lucia beside me seemed to have sneaked out because I said I was going.
As the ship drew quite close, Andy Robinson appeared on the deck wearing his Imperial Knight uniform and waved.
The moment they saw Andy wave, the fans gathered at the harbor let out a cheer.
Tall, well-proportioned, blonde, with a decent face, and even wearing the knight order's uniform—he was quite a sight to behold.
"Look at him, grinning so wide his mouth is tearing because he got a medal."
Senior Andy doing well was something I could concede—it was only natural.
The fact that he was thriving after handling what I had foisted onto him because I was lazy was a good thing for me too.
But watching him succeed like this made a creeping irritation crawl up from a corner of my chest.
Maybe it was because he had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as me and was even tall, looking like the version of myself at that age I had wanted to be. Or maybe the irritation born from the drug's inefficacy was just erupting now.
As I stood with my arms crossed watching Andy on the deck, my eyes happened to meet his.
"Huh?"
Senior Andy averted his gaze.
The very instant his eyes met mine, he turned away.
"Why is that guy avoiding my eyes?"
I had an extremely ominous feeling.
Did he cause some kind of trouble in the capital?
The moment I resolved to ask him what happened when he docked, a chill ran down my spine.
"...Goddammit."
A woman walking out onto the deck caught my eye.
She was wearing a neat uniform.
Like Andy, dressed in the uniform patterned with the white symbolizing the Imperial Knights, on the surface she merely looked like a beautiful female knight.
Her hair, black as ebony contrasting with her uniform, was tied up, but the strands beside her face fluttered in the sea breeze.
And she was staring straight at me with eyes as deep and dark as pitch-black darkness.
Directing her gaze at none other than me.
My mouth went dry.
I know very well who that person is.
I began to slowly step backward.
Seeing my reaction, a faint smile etched itself onto her lips as she stared at me.
There was only one thing that person being here could mean.
"So you betrayed me, Andy..!!!"
"..Atlas, what's going on..?"
She fingered the hilt of the sword at her waist as she stared at me.
About five minutes until the ship reached the harbor. If I started running now, escaping was plenty possible.
'If I... run away now... what happens to the Growth Potion in development...?'
Professor Praha was in the middle of analyzing the cause.
Should I leave behind the clue to growth I had barely found?
I could come back later and retrieve it, but once my presence is marked here, this place will be subject to surveillance too.
In the brief moment I hesitated, a change occurred in her body.
'The sword is gone..!!!'
The hilt she had been holding vanished, and only the empty sheath remained at her waist.
I didn't even need to think about where the sword at her waist had disappeared to.
It seemed she had no intention of waiting for the ship to dock, after all.
I drew the sword I had brought just in case.
From a distance, I heard the sound of something slicing through the air rapidly—Sshaeaeak.
A fierce sound, like a bird of prey descending from the sky to hunt, drew close in an instant.
It was right on me.
I immediately swung my sword up.
-Chaeng!!!!
"Kuh!!!"
And my body was sent flying.
"Huh? Atlas??"
From far away, I could see Lucia flustered at my sudden disappearance.
The reason she looked so small even though she had been right beside me was because my body was flying through the air.
Something was locked against my sword.
I had blocked it with the cross guard, but the thing fiercely advancing toward my chest was a sword.
A cold, hard lump of steel—a sword—had snatched me up and was flying me through the sky.
To a third party, it would be an utterly absurd situation.
A sword, just a sturdy-looking sword, had snatched a person and was flying through the air.
At an incredible speed, at that.
A familiar-shaped hilt caught my eye at the back of it.
It was the hilt the woman on the deck had been fingering earlier.
I had noted her sheath was empty, and she had flung it in an instant.
Wrestling with a sword flying through the air, I was slammed somewhere in the academy grounds.
-Kwang!!!
With a thunderous roar, soil erupted high into the air as if a bomb had detonated, but I took no particular impact.
The sword, which had been advancing with enough force to pierce my heart to the ends of the earth, detached from me and soared high into the sky.
I hadn't been injured from being ragdolled, but dirt got into my mouth, which was unpleasant.
"Ptoo, ptoo! What a flashy goddamn greeting..!!"
I spat out the dirt that had gotten into my mouth, and then I felt a chilling sensation from above.
When I raised my head, the sword that had slammed me into some remote corner of the academy was now held in someone's hand.
I didn't know how she had followed, but the woman from the deck had picked up the sword that had been relentlessly flying at my heart moments earlier and was slashing downward at terrifying speed.
The sword in her hand was wreathed in a blinding flash of light.
"!!"
If I thought before acting, it would already be too late.
I too wreathed my sword in a flash and met the attack head-on.
Two dazzling, brilliant flashes of light collided.
-Jjeojeojeok
Before the two Aura Blades that had reached the extreme pinnacle clashed, a sound of something tearing through the void was heard.
I don't know if it was the air tearing or space tearing, but something definitely tore, and
the two Aura Blades, condensed with colossal power, collided and exploded, sending heavy shockwaves in all directions.
-Kung...!!
The shockwaves flew into the void, rending the sky and splitting the earth.
That day, from just a single exchange of blows between the two, an earthquake measuring 3.0 on the seismic scale was recorded across the entire academy island.
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"Ha..!! It broke again!!"
The sword in my hand had crumbled once more into a black pile of ash.
I should be thankful it survived even one swing at full power.
How long could I last against that person standing imposingly before me without a proper sword?
Brushing aside the dust, the woman walked over with soft, measured steps.
Even after such an explosion, her attire and neatly tied hair were not in the slightest disarray.
No sword was in her hands anymore.
The sword she had been holding moments before was merely fluttering silently around her person once more.
Not throwing the sword, but making it move on its own—Sword Control Technique. (御劍術)
In the entire Empire, there is only one person who can freely wield this technique of making swords levitate without using mana.
The Commander of the Imperial Knights, Linda Westhaven.
She was one of the people I found most troublesome.
"Pick it up."
As she spoke, another sword fell from the sky.
It seemed she had not just one, but two swords levitating.
The one that fell right in front of me was a sword I was incredibly familiar with.
Because it was the sword I had received as a gift when I formally joined the Knight Order.
Given that she threw me a sword, it looked like nothing less than an invitation to fight properly.
Since I didn't want to die in a place like this, I picked it up without hesitation.
When I drew it, the jet-black blade made of the rare metal Adamantium absorbed the sunlight and took on a deep, dark gleam.
"Are you in good health, Commander?"
"I am not in good health, you troublemaker."
The moment she confirmed I had drawn the sword, the blade that had been quietly floating around the Commander attacked fiercely.