The Protagonist's Entrance
"A touching father-son reunion, indeed."
At the sound of the leisurely voice, Agoni Fidus slowly unwrapped his arms from around his son.
"I greet the Second Prince, Your Highness."
Perhaps his body had not yet forgotten its noble training, for he managed to offer a reasonably graceful bow.
"Did you fake your death to deceive everyone?"
At the word *deceive*, the compulsion never to lie reared its head once more within Duke Fidus's mind.
"No, Your Highness. When I opened my eyes, I was already at the bottom of the cliff. I merely survived by a stroke of luck."
His words sounded like an excuse, completely devoid of even a single hint regarding Amica's Space.
Ditto's eyes were cold as he stared at the Duke, who was struggling to master his unease over the hidden truth.
"I find that hard to believe. To fall from such a height and remain so perfectly intact."
"But I did nothing more than survive. You cannot punish me for simply staying alive."
As Agoni Fidus corrected Ditto once again, a subtle shift crossed the prince's face. Such words would have been unimaginable from the Duke of the past. Normally, he would have already been on his knees, begging for forgiveness.
"Since when does a dog of the Imperial Family dare to talk back?"
At the sharp question, the Duke fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Ever since I realized I was never a sword, but merely a dog."
Ditto's lips twisted at the sight of the Duke's unwavering gaze.
"I suppose we must add imperial slander to your list of charges."
"I will gladly accept any rightful punishment. But for now—" The Duke pulled the young duke behind him and adjusted his grip on his sword. "Please let my son and the other children go. They are innocent."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I will commit a few more sins to ensure you execute me on the spot."
Duke Fidus's heart hammered so violently that his ears rang, but he did not loosen his grip on his hilt. A sneer played on Ditto's lips.
"Just as the young duke said. Father and son are cut from the exact same cloth. But dealing with you individually is tedious, so I shall pass judgment on you all at once. Your limbs will be severed, and you will be dragged away from this very spot."
Ditto raised his hand. Instantly, a fireball the size of a human head shot toward Agoni's face like an arrow.
Duke Fidus shoved his son hard to the side and lunged in the opposite direction. The young duke rolled across the floor but quickly regained his footing. The missed fireball slammed into the wall, unleashing a deafening roar.
"W-what? What was that noise?"
Seeing the unconscious children begin to stir one by one from the impact, the Duke bellowed:
"Flynn, run! Take whoever can move and get out of here! I'll buy you some time!"
The boy hesitated, faced with parting from the father he had only just reunited with. He could never forget how his father's departing back, as he left for the hunting festival, had almost been his final memory of him.
When another fireball hurtled toward the children, Duke Fidus gathered his strength. The sheer wind pressure generated by his sword barely managed to deflect the sphere's trajectory. It crashed into the wall, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Screaming, the children scattered in all directions.
The Duke rushed over to his son, whose eyes were trembling as he watched the chaos. "Flynn, look at me."
The obedient boy raised his head and looked his father straight in the eye.
"We must always choose the path that allows the greatest number of people to survive. Right now, that path is for you to escape with these children."
The boy bit his lip hard and turned away. Agoni Fidus gripped his sword tightly, his heart aching at the sight of his son, who couldn't even bring himself to utter the words begging him to return alive.
Ever since he had entered the capital, a tormenting voice had warred against his desperate urge to run to his son. *Would it not be better for the family if I remained dead? Would my sudden reappearance undo all the hard work and sacrifices they made in the wake of my passing?*
Even now, having revealed himself, he still did not know which path was right. But one thing was certain.
"Flynn, I love you. I am so incredibly proud of you."
He was finally able to say the words he had failed to utter during their sudden, tragic parting.
At this final farewell from a father who had never been good at expressing such tender sentiments, the young duke grit his teeth and ran.
"Everyone, run! If you want to live, run for the door!"
Slinging the unconscious Seya—who lay some distance away from the Second Prince—onto his back, the young duke tied his outer coat tightly around them to secure him, shouting continuously as he sprinted toward the exit.
The panicked children instinctively began to flock toward the voice that had guided them throughout their entire escape.
"A pointless effort," Ditto muttered, turning toward the children.
But the Duke blocked his path.
"Forgive me, but you shall not pass."
"Do you truly believe you can stop me?"
Of course he didn't. But he could buy a few minutes. At least until the children—until Flynn—could escape this room.
Without waiting any longer, the Duke lunged at Ditto. Facing a Manis wielder might seem daunting, but the principle was simpler than one would think: do not give them the time to channel their power. Generally, the greater a person's Manis, the faster they could draw upon it and the more destructive their attacks became. Until now, there had never been an opponent against whom Duke Fidus's aggressive, close-quarters tactics had failed.
The problem, however, was that his current opponent possessed physical capabilities far superior to anyone else.
Just a few minutes... please...
Though the Duke unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes, Ditto's expression remained utterly unchanged. With a mere shift of a few paces, he effortlessly evaded or parried every single one of Duke Fidus's attacks. It was an utterly unwinnable fight.
Duke Fidus's breathing grew increasingly ragged. He could no longer tell if his breathlessness was due to his wildly racing heart or the futility of his attacks, which failed to graze his opponent no matter where he thrust or slashed.
"Is this all?"
He wondered if he had briefly lost consciousness, for the Second Prince's voice suddenly snapped him back to stark reality.
By the time Duke Fidus registered the sheer boredom etched on Ditto's face, Ditto's boot had already connected with his right knee. The next thing he saw was the ceiling. Only then did he realize that a single, casual kick had sent his entire body flying into the air.
"Father!" The young duke's scream pierced his ears. *Thud!*
The young duke stared in disbelief at his father's crumpled form on the floor. Halting his flight toward the door, the boy tried to turn back.
"Flynn! Keep moving!"
His father's commanding voice stopped him in his tracks. Only then did the boy realize he had been holding his breath. Gasping for air, he spun back around and ran for the exit.
Most of the other children had already made it through. Now, only he and Seya remained. *I have to get out. I have to find Jack and Tollin. That's the only way to save Father.*
"Leaving your father behind? How terribly filial of you."
Along with the mocking voice, a long streak of flame whipped past the young duke's ear. The whip of fire wrapped around the pedestal of the statue guarding the doorway. *Crash!*
The massive statue of Sierra Abaran toppled in an instant. The stone face of the deified emperor slammed onto the floor, completely blocking Flynn and Seya's path to freedom.
Flynn choked on his breath, overwhelmed by a crushing sense of despair, as if confronted by an impassable mountain. *What do the gods even exist for?* The half-shattered face of Sierra Abaran blocking the exit offered no answers.
"Seya!"
Mir's frantic shout from the other side of the rubble snapped Flynn back to reality. *Should I try to climb over?*
"I didn't knock that down because I missed," the Second Prince's voice drawled, instantly crushing the boy's last shred of hope. "The next flame will pierce straight through the both of you, so stay put. I would prefer to kill you right before your father's eyes."
Having delivered his threat in a casual tone, Ditto began to stroll toward the boy.
"You... you still have to deal with me."
It was Duke Fidus. Using his sword as a crutch, he dragged himself back up. Standing in a lopsided, awkward stance as his right knee refused to support his weight, he leveled his blade once more.
"Are you sure about this? If you had just stayed down, you could have died with far less pain."
Sneering at the Duke, who clearly couldn't withstand another blow, Ditto raised his hand.
Duke Fidus also channeled the remaining strength within his body. If he squeezed out every last drop of his Manis, perhaps he could deflect a single attack. His concentration reached its absolute peak as he silently prayed that the Second Prince wouldn't summon a flame large enough to consume him entirely.
*Rattle, bang!*
"..."
"..."
The suffocating tension in the air was shattered by the sudden, violent opening of the door and the entrance of an unexpected figure.
He hadn't slipped in through a hidden passage like the Duke, nor had he blasted the door to splinters, yet everyone's eyes locked onto him instantly.
A tall stature, pitch-black hair, and golden eyes. It was Ratel.
"Ratel...?" Duke Fidus muttered blankly, prompting Ditto to raise an eyebrow.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
Ditto demanded at the sudden intrusion, but Ratel merely furrowed his brow as if highly annoyed.
"You literally just heard my name, so why are you asking? And you saw me walk through the door with your own two eyes. What kind of stupid question is that?"
An icy silence descended upon the chamber, so absolute that it felt as though all sound had been sucked out of the room. Agoni Fidus genuinely wondered if the Second Prince was about to bring the entire tower crashing down in his rage.
Setting aside the casual, disrespectful speech, had the prince ever had his intelligence insulted like this in his entire life? Most likely not.
Ditto Abaran turned his entire body to face Ratel.
"You certainly have a unique mental state."
The flame that was meant for Zing shifted targets and shot toward Ratel. This also meant Ditto's attention was temporarily divided. With Ratel's skills, he would surely be able to dodge a single strike. Though Agoni had believed he would never live to see the day he felt grateful to Ratel, this was his chance. And the Duke was no fool to let such an opportunity slip by.
Agoni Fidus spun around, scooped up Flynn and the boy on Flynn's back, and threw them with all his might over the rubble. Flynn's mouth hung open as if to say something, but he was already airborne. Agoni's right knee felt as though it was shattering under the strain, but the agonizing pain was entirely eclipsed by the profound relief of finally sending his son out of this death trap.
"I believe I told you what happens when you scurry around like rats."
But his relief was short-lived. Along with a chilling voice, a streak of fire sliced through the air with the speed of an arrow.
Duke Fidus desperately reached out. He channeled the last remnants of his strength to conjure a small gust of wind, hoping to at least alter the flame's trajectory. But his meager power couldn't even nudge Ditto's attack off course.
Duke Fidus realized with crushing clarity how foolish he had been to think he could counter the prince's attack even slightly. Compared to the power of the Imperial bloodline, his own strength was nothing but dust. Terror consumed him as he prepared to watch his son die right before his eyes.
Then, a flash of light erupted.
Duke Fidus watched in a daze as a blinding, whip-like flash of light surged forward and swallowed the flames whole. He saw his son, having narrowly escaped the attack, safely clear the pile of rubble.
Agoni Fidus slowly turned his head toward the source of the light. There stood Ratel, still leaning casually, staring down Ditto with absolute insolence.