No Fleeing Before the Enemy
The air in the sparring grounds turned chill in an instant.
Then a single word dropped from Rionhart’s lips.
“Begin.”
The moment the word left him, Kairon’s figure vanished.
Fwit!
He was using nothing more than 2-Star mana. That was all—and yet his body had been driven to the absolute limit of human capability. Kairon shot toward Arteon at a speed the naked eye could barely track. Closing the distance in a heartbeat, he whipped his wooden sword upward from below as if it were springing off the ground.
Whoosh!
But the instant the wooden blade cut through empty air—
“……?!”
Kairon’s pupils flickered. Arteon had simply taken a single step back, and that alone had completely slipped him clear of the strike.
This is only the beginning……!
A fierce light flared in Kairon’s eyes as his wooden sword came crashing down toward Arteon’s head.
“Hup!”
Kang! Thwack! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sounds like metal grinding against metal rang out at intervals; weapons charged with mana collided and erupted with explosive force. Yet the longer the exchange continued, the more unsettled Kairon became.
This guy……?
What the hell is he?
Pouring on an assault of this intensity should have made even a solid defense a heavy burden. And Arteon was limited to 2-Star mana while wielding nothing more than a practice staff. So why—
Why is the recoil hitting me harder?
Was he using some technique that rebounded force?
Kairon’s gaze cooled and settled. Training under Rionhart had inflated his confidence; he had underestimated his opponent.
“……From here on, I’m taking this seriously.”
“Be my guest.”
Arteon’s calm reply shifted something in Kairon’s eyes. His body moved in a blur, closing the gap again. No matter how uncanny the man’s staff technique might be—
Once the range collapses, he won’t even be able to swing that pole properly.
You couldn’t ignore the basic nature of a weapon. Kairon meant to stick so close he would strip the man of his very soul.
But before Kairon’s body could fully press against Arteon—
Whoosh!
Arteon’s staff traced a soft arc through the air and brushed past Kairon’s ankle. It was the lightest of grazes.
“……!”
Kairon’s body lurched hard. He scrambled backward and reset his stance.
“…….”
He had clearly been the faster one. He could not believe a single, unthreatening motion of that staff had stolen his balance. His thoughts tangled.
And in that instant—
Ssshk.
The other man began to move.
Pabat!
Without a single footfall, Arteon gripped the staff in both hands and thrust it straight at him. A simple thrust. Watching the staff lance toward his chest, Kairon whipped his wooden sword across to block.
The very moment he thought he had stopped it—
Swaak!
The staff’s trajectory bent and snapped down toward his legs.
“Hahk!”
Kairon sucked in empty air and sprang back, opening the distance. But the staff clung to him with relentless precision, driving him hard. Left, right, high—then low. Those light, almost teasing motions were irritably exact, slipping into every gap.
Cold sweat beaded on Kairon’s brow.
Watching from the side, Rionhart’s eyes began to tremble faintly.
“…….”
This was not a matter of weight class or raw power. The gulf in real combat experience was so vast it felt overwhelming.
An eighteen-year-old?
Judging purely by the way he handled the staff, it felt as if the boy had spent decades rolling through battlefields. Rionhart muttered under his breath without realizing it.
“……This doesn’t make sense.”
The longer the bout continued, the harder it became to look away. At first Arteon seemed to be accepting every one of Kairon’s moves—but that had only been to map out the younger man’s fighting style.
After a thorough probing engagement—
The match is already decided.
Every one of Kairon’s movements was being read. Continuing the spar held no further meaning.
“That’s enough……”
But before Rionhart could finish the sentence—
“……?”
His gaze swung toward the region of the sorcery barrier. Deep creases formed between his brows. He murmured low.
“……It seems we have uninvited guests.”
No—unwanted ones, more precisely.
At that same moment—
“Just as the Count said.”
Sudden fog swallowed their vision, and the path itself seemed to twist out of true. Ziorkan recalled the “sorcery” he had been briefed on and drew a magic tool from his coat.
“Everyone, withdraw your mana. If you get caught in this, the damage could be severe.”
It was single-use, but the moment it detonated it would sever every thread of mana in the vicinity—an absurd level of power. At his order the knights hastily pulled their mana back. As he had warned, a single misstep could leave their mana holes badly damaged.
Once the knights had withdrawn their mana and stepped back, Ziorkan looked ahead with the tool in hand. Whether it would truly unravel this barrier, he could not guarantee……
“We’ll find out by trying.”
Remembering the confident face of the man who had handed it over, Ziorkan flung the magic tool forward.
And in that instant—
BOOM!
Light exploded, bright enough to blind. Ziorkan shut his eyes for a heartbeat and turned his head. When he looked forward again—
“Hah…… He had every right to be confident.”
The fog that had blanketed their sight and the disorienting mountain path were gone. Far ahead, a mansion stood with its lights burning. That had to be where Rionhart was.
Ziorkan drew his sword.
“Kill everyone inside and seize the criminal Rionhart!”
“As you command!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The knights drew their blades as one and began to charge toward Rionhart’s mansion. The man was an exceptional teacher, but his personal strength was nothing special. There would be no way for him to stop them.
Ziorkan’s lips twisted in a small, satisfied curl as he followed.
KRAAAAAASH!
A colossal explosion tore the barrier he had woven clean out of existence. Rionhart’s brow furrowed deeply as he looked at Arteon and Kairon.
“Something has gone wrong. Stop the spar—both of you, run.”
“What?”
Kairon flinched and stared at his master. He had never imagined the man who had always been an iron fortress would utter such words.
But—
“They are after me. Use the escape route I prepared inside the mansion and everyone can get out. I will buy the time.”
Every second mattered. From the point where the formation had shattered, a hard run would bring the enemy here in under five minutes.
Rionhart spoke to Kairon.
“Keep training everything I taught you. With the talent you possess, you can reach 6-Star and beyond.”
“6—6-Star? What do you take me for, some neighborhood mutt?! How am I supposed to reach a realm that high on my own?!”
“If you do not die here, you will reach it someday.”
Then Rionhart turned to Arteon.
“You came on Svein’s recommendation, and I am sorry to have dragged you into this mess. It seems…… something has gone wrong within the Imperial family.”
Rionhart’s eyes already accepted the situation. Reading that expression, Arteon turned his head toward the place where the barrier had stood.
“Do you know who the intruders are?”
“Most likely the Lacosta Knights under the Second Prince.”
Men known as hunting dogs. They cared nothing for honor—only for their master’s orders—and they would commit any filthy deed without hesitation. Knights in name alone.
Arteon asked,
“……Are they strong?”
“Yes. Their commander, Ziorkan, is a 4-Star. The rest of the knights are all well past 3-Star.”
At those words Kairon picked up the sword he had set down.
“If that’s all, I can handle them. I’ll hold them off, Master.”
“A few of the rank-and-file, perhaps. Facing the entire order is impossible. Especially…… Ziorkan himself. Even one-on-one I could not guarantee the outcome.”
To move this boldly…… It was almost as if they intended open rebellion.
……They chose the moment the First Prince is away from the capital.
A true snake. He never missed the instant his prey was weak, and he sank his fangs precisely into the throat.
Rionhart’s expression darkened further. He had already resolved himself, yet being dragged along by their scheme still sat poorly with him.
But—
“……The Second Prince.”
Arteon murmured the words under his breath.
To run into the Second Prince’s men here, of all places. Memories of the past flickered through his mind—using subordinates to pressure merchant companies, shaking the northern front, killing comrades. That same hand had already stretched this far.
If they simply withdrew now, the man would get everything he wanted.
I cannot……
leave that alone.
He could not know the exact movements of the Imperial Court, but if events were simply allowed to flow, the Second Prince would eventually seize the throne. Originally he had planned to first carve out solid power by crushing the Kar Tribe in the north—but
if the board is already laid out like this…… the story changes a great deal.
Arteon looked at Rionhart and said,
“We fight here.”
“……What?”
Rionhart’s eyes shook hard. The words were pure nonsense, and he knew it.
But—
“If we cut every last one of them down, there is no need to run.”
Arteon spoke with perfect calm. The words were anything but light. Rionhart shook his head firmly.
“Do not throw your lives away on empty bravado. Both of you possess talent that will take you far higher than this. You do not need to die here.”
He meant every word. The strange potential he sensed in Arteon—something even he had not fully grasped—if it bloomed properly, there was no telling how far it might reach.
But Arteon had already turned away. He spoke to Kairon.
“Kairon, was it?”
“……What?”
“Take the commander. I’ll handle the rest.”
“……What did you just say?”
In the distance the figures racing toward them came into view. Knights in black armor. Dozens—no, perhaps a hundred—were enough to make the heart seize by sheer numbers alone.
And then—
KRRRRRRUNG!
A vast force exploded from Arteon’s body. The aura pouring from him danced through Iglis, flashing gold like living lightning as it split the sky.
The full power of a man who had reached the 6-Star realm. Both Rionhart and Kairon froze solid.
“W-what is this……?”
“Insane……”
The wind twisted. The earth trembled. Then Arteon spoke, low and cold.
“On the northern battlefield, we never flee before the enemy.”
The words were both declaration and resolve—the decision to fight these men in earnest.
And the instant Arteon kicked off the ground and charged—
KRRAAANG!
A bolt of lightning began to fall upon the mountainside.