Chapter 56

Retribution (3)

Losing one’s composure in an emergency meant death.

It was a truth Damian Aslan had come to understand with certainty after surviving countless battlefields. The only reason he hadn’t lost his mind now was likely thanks to that same truth.

“Say that again. What did you just say?”

“All the outer fortress guards have been breached.”

“……”

Instead of folding the soldier in half right then and there, Damian took a deep breath.

His head was boiling with rage, desperate to lash out immediately, but the remnants of his composure whispered that it would all be meaningless.

Thankfully, there was still one option left.

“……Contact the standing knight order.”

The Duke of Aslan was part of one of the Empire’s representative martial families, which meant they maintained their own knight order, separate from the imperial military.

If they were superhumans on a different level from regular soldiers, they might be able to respond to this abnormal situation.

But before he could even act on that composure, as if to mock his restraint, something poured gasoline onto the fire of his fury.

One side of the corridor wall in the inner fortress where he stood blew apart. It looked like an explosion from a planted bomb had gone off but beyond the debris stood a person with a fist extended.

He let out a hollow laugh before he could even be shocked that a human had done what only a battering ram should be capable of.

Because the one standing there was someone Damian recognized.

“……Lionhearted?”

With a dumbfounded voice, he uttered her name.

Even before he had time to wonder what on earth she was doing here, the nearby guards all collapsed at once.

Lionhearted, who had just burst through the wall, conjured her qi into small orbs, and then those orbs scattered, firing directly and precisely into the foreheads of the nearby men.

The way they collapsed without even managing a groan left him stunned.

“……What the hell do you think you're doing—!”

“I have quite a few questions for you, my lord.”

And the moment he heard her voice, Damian’s instincts screamed that something had gone very, very wrong.

Lionhearted usually spoke in a cold, professional tone, her expression as unreadable as a mask. But now, the woman standing before him...

“The disaster of the Aslan Ducal Territory—the Night of the Hunt—is drawing near, and yet no preparations for the beast crisis can be seen anywhere in the domain.”

...She looked like something out of a nightmare.

It was clear she was furious, but this wasn’t just ordinary anger.

"Civilians are going to die. There will be an endless number of casualties. What preparations have been made to prevent that?"

"……"

"From what I saw on the way in, there’s absolutely nothing."

"…Given the way you suddenly forced your way in like this, I don’t think that’s the kind of question you have the right to ask, Lionhearted."

Damian let out a low growl, brushing off Noel’s reproach.

Of course, if they got into a serious argument, the facts would likely not be in his favor but anyone could see that it was she who had crossed the line first, and far beyond it.

"Internal affairs are for us to handle. It’s not something an outsider should interfere with."

"…Is that your entire answer?"

Noel responded in a voice full of disbelief.

"In a situation where people are about to be driven to their deaths, you're telling me not to meddle in your family affairs?"

"Yes. That’ll be all."

At that, the man standing next to Noel let out a long sigh.

"No need to hear more. That really cleared up any sense of guilt I had."

Before Damian could even ask what the hell the man was talking about, he stepped forward without hesitation.

Instead of snapping at the guy, asking who the hell this bastard was, Damian quickly turned his head to look for someone nearby.

The man was clearly walking toward him with intent to do something, but he didn’t seem worth paying attention to.

His focus was squarely on Lionhearted, who had entered with the man.

It didn’t matter who this guy was. What mattered was that he had come in with Lionhearted, and they seemed to be on familiar terms.

If he laid a hand on this guy, she might retaliate—

"I can see what you’re thinking plain as day."

Noel’s voice cut sharply through his spiraling thoughts.

And what she said next went completely against what he had been expecting.

"I’m not going to do anything, my lord."

"……?"

Damian stared at Noel, stunned.

The way she calmly crossed her arms made it clear she truly meant she wasn’t going to lift a finger.

"Please make sure you understand. I’m going to do nothing."

She even repeated it, as if to emphasize it thoroughly.

"As if that makes any sens—"

"It means there's no point asking for help just because we know each other."

The answer came instead from the man who had stepped forward.

He cracked his neck from side to side like he was warming up.

"Because I’m about to knock some damn sense into your head."

"……"

A thick vein popped out on Damian’s forehead, much more prominent than the one earlier.

Even if he wasn’t on the same level as Lionhearted, Damian was still the eldest son of the prestigious martial house, the Aslan Ducal Family.

Even a decent esper could dismantle flesh and bone while drafting their monthly schedule in their head.

"……Fine."

Grinding his teeth, Damian drew his sword.

At any rate, continuing a conversation with someone who’d barged into another’s domain like this was laughable in itself.

He didn’t know who this guy was or what powers he was hiding, but it was clear he meant harm.

Damian’s eyes narrowed as he saw glowing orbs rise around the man’s body.

Among supernatural abilities, that type was notoriously difficult to control—yet the man had conjured three in an instant.

Mana Arts of the Tribal Alliance. The man may have looked unimpressive at first glance, but as always, everyone had a hidden blade tucked away somewhere.

‘He won’t be an easy opponent.’

So judged Damian as he gripped his sword tightly, his entire body tensing. Every combat skill etched into his muscles was being sharpened.

Of course, he didn’t think he would lose. Even if the man wielded Mana Arts, Damian was still a formidable martial artist.

It was clear this was going to be an intense battle—

"Wait. Just give me a second."

"……"

…Or maybe not.

The man, speaking casually, then squinted as he glanced back and forth between Damian and the glowing orbs he’d conjured.

He was clearly waiting for something.

"There’s still a bit more left."

"……What?"

"It should be ready soon, I think. Just a bit more—just a little patience, if you don’t mind—"

Damian, stunned speechless, simply stared as the man—Aiden—stood still, calmly looking at him.

His unfocused gaze had no hint of tension. Rather than seeing Damian as an opponent, he seemed to view him as a “target” to take down.

"You don’t seem that weak just yet."

"……"

Damian stood still, wondering what the hell this guy was talking about—when suddenly, the sound of someone running frantically echoed from the side.

It was a squire belonging to the ducal knight order. Every movement was full of urgency.

Seeing that, another thick vein bulged on Damian’s forehead.

When the hell did he call them? They were far, far too late.

"Where the hell is the stationed knight order—!"

"M-my lord……!"

But even under that biting pressure, the poor squire forced the words out, trembling.

"The knight order has been wiped out……!"

"……"

"While facing one of the intruders who attacked the territory, they were all……!"

The veins on Damian’s forehead subsided.

At this point, more than anger, it was sheer disbelief that took over.

Let’s sum this up.

His territory had just been shattered by a mere three people.

And now he was being told that the knight order, essentially the last line of defense for his domain, had been completely destroyed—by just one of them.

Meanwhile, the man in front of him finally began to nod.

“No troops left to move, and they’re all weaker than me…”

As he listened to what sounded like the man going over conditions one by one, a chill ran up Damian’s spine.

This was when the instincts he had sharpened on countless battlefields flared to life.

Because now, from within the man’s body, not only the Mana Arts he had just used but other supernatural powers began to rise.

The pure white qi used by Lionhearted. And the high-temperature Holy Flame. Both appeared at once.

Damian’s eyes flew wide open.

‘He just used Mana Arts—how can he be pulling out different powers too—?’

But he didn’t even have time to fully process that thought.

“…Then I just need to punch now.”

A fist wrapped in those supernatural powers came crashing toward his face.

—That was, without a doubt, the last memory before he lost consciousness.

"…Mmm."

Aiden, having turned the opponent’s face into pulp with a single blow, looked between his own fist and Damian’s face.

What filled his chest was a fresh wave of surprise.

“You smash a guy in one punch and you’re the one who’s surprised…?”

Even Noel, watching from the side, couldn’t help but add a dry remark.

Still, that didn’t change Aiden’s reaction.

‘…Didn’t I get a lot stronger?’

All he’d done was wrap his body in pure white qi mixed with the First Vow. Without using Meyer’s techniques or any other skills, he’d purely overpowered his opponent in a single strike by sheer physical difference.

The memory of shrinking into himself while watching the fight between the Warden of the Realm and Noel wasn’t even that long ago.

He still had nightmares about not even grazing Meyer, and he was sure his skull would shatter instantly if he went up against Noel or Katya properly.

He hadn’t expected someone of this caliber to be completely flattened in one hit…

“Well, of course.”

“…Huh?”

“I don’t know what you think of yourself, Aiden, but if your comparison points are me or Her Highness the Princess, who could possibly say for sure who’s stronger?”

“…"

“The only ones I can think of who could definitely make that claim are His Majesty the Emperor in his prime or His Holiness the current Pontiff…”

"…Ah."

As Aiden nodded along, Noel calmly continued speaking.

“Aiden, your base capability is now easily enough to overwhelm an average knight. You're not quite one of the top elites, but you’re definitely no longer within the range of a typical esper.”

Well, that made sense. After gorging himself on so many Unique Skills, it would’ve been strange if he weren’t powerful.

…And as it happened, he was about to add yet another weapon to his growing arsenal.

“Hmm—”

Aiden glanced at the glowing orb in front of him.

“I’ve bullied someone weak, so all that’s left is for it to become tainted…”

“…Someone weak?”

“It seems the God of Ascension interprets the term ‘someone weak’ in a very broad sense.”

Words were truly strange.

The term “strong” didn’t just mean physical power—it seemed to include authority, the number of people one could command, and so on.

“So I had to strip everything away from this man that was around him.”

“……”

“Unless he’s left with nothing but ‘his own body,’ it seems the system doesn’t recognize him as weaker than me…”

“…So.”

Noel spoke up in a voice that sounded almost dumbfounded.

“You’re telling me you destroyed the entire standing army and knight order of a ducal territory just to weaken someone so you could corrupt a Mana Art?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

“……”

…Noel was starting to grow used to holding her aching head in her hands.

At least she didn’t push further. She understood by now that he only pulled this kind of stunt when he had some plan for cleaning it all up afterward.

Anyway.

“…At least it wasn’t in vain. Looks like it really is being tainted.”

She murmured as she stared at Aiden’s core of Mana Arts, now shrouded in a murky shimmer.

It had twisted in the same way as when a consecration had gone wrong before—radiating a clear sense that something had gone very wrong.

-System Message

▶ A distortion of the Geas has been detected. Urgan is enraged.

▶ Mana Art operation has been canceled. Due to the backlash, the ability is now corrupted. Bodily damage will occur.

The system message confirmed it all.

With that, the “preparations” could be considered complete.

Aiden took a deep breath, then injected one supernatural power into each of the hovering orbs.

The pure white qi and the colorless flame merged with the shadowy spheres.

The effect came immediately.

-System Message

▶ Due to the effect of 'Unique Trait: Omnipotence', combining abilities has resulted in a new development!

▶ By synthesizing 'Heart of Pure White' and 'The Savior’s Vow', you have developed 'Brilliant Radiance'!

-System Message

▶ Due to the effect of 'Unique Trait: Omnipotence', combining abilities has resulted in a new development!

▶ By synthesizing 'Heart of Pure White' and 'The First Vow', you have developed 'The Purifier'!

'…Oh.'

Just at a glance, they looked like something incredible.