Chapter 1

Turmoil spread throughout the royal castle, and angry shouts echoed.

The Royal Guard Corps and the Knight Order had trained over and over so they could move at any time in an emergency. However, they had never expected thieves to attack this royal castle directly… and from the front, no less.

“Request reinforcements! Contact the Mage Corps too! Damn it, what in the world is going on!? A castle being targeted is completely unprecedented!”

The man busily giving orders and shouting encouragement was Carlos Greed, the vice commander who oversaw the elite-filled Royal Guard Corps.

“Report the situation!”

“Yes, sir! At present, a mixed force of the Royal Guard Corps and the Knight Order is suppressing the intruders!”

“You fool! I already know that! What about the enemy’s forces!? Tell me the state of the battle!”

Normally, Baccus, the commander, would be in charge, but the timing was bad, and he was away from the royal capital. Carlos had been told it was because he was escorting the Third Princess, but he had not been informed of the details.

“There are two enemies! Shamefully, the nation’s elites are struggling against only two intruders!”

“!? Are you mocking me!?”

Attacking the royal castle with only two people was not normal. At first, he had thought they were either simple thrill-seekers or young people playing a stupid prank. But once the lid had been opened, their advance showed no sign of stopping. No matter how many people were assigned, no good news reached his ears.

As a result, he had been forced to send those with real ability to the scene, leaving only useless people nearby.

“In any case! Suppress them no matter what! If they get into the castle, it won’t end with mere embarrassment!”

“Understood, sir!”

Carlos looked bitterly at his subordinate, whose only good point was his reply. If Baccus had been here, he would have personally gone out to suppress them, and Carlos felt frustrated by that. But he could not very well leave these fools behind and depart from the royal castle.

When he looked out the royal castle window toward the great bridge, he saw the mixed force being knocked off the bridge. In the river below the bridge, there were many royal guards and knights. From the outside, it could even look as though they were enjoying themselves playing in the river. —Carlos nearly collapsed from a terrible headache.

Royal guards and knights filled the great bridge. The fact that soldiers could be immediately mobilized as soon as an abnormality was detected was indeed impressive. Luke gave a wry smile at their sheer number.

“Haha… Did we provoke them too much?”

“It makes no difference. If they’re going to keep appearing later, we’ll crush them all here now.”

There were easily more than a hundred of them, while their side had only two. But there was no fear or unease. Compared to countless monsters, this was nothing.

Zeke took one step forward. Seeing that, tension ran through the soldiers. All of them knew. They knew Zeke’s battle record up to now. They knew the difference between him and themselves. They knew his talent, violent enough to be called brutality.

“Listen, you pieces of trash. …Open the way. If you tuck your tails and run, I won’t chase you.”

“…No, that just made it even more provocative.”

There were a certain number of people whose faces twisted in anger at Zeke’s words. They were royal guards who protected the royal family and knights ordered to guard the royal castle. They had no small amount of pride. They could not stay silent after being mocked by a young man, and a Lagias at that.

“First, I suppose I’ll see what you can do.”

“…Very well. Burn it into your eyes.”

The soldiers had formed a dense cluster. From Luke and the others’ perspective, it was enemy territory… and Zeke suddenly appeared right in its center.

A knight’s mouth hung open. A royal guard blinked. By the time they recognized Zeke’s existence, it was already too late. They took a magically strengthened kick directly and were knocked off the bridge.

“W-What!?”

“You do not even have time to open your mouths. —Frozen Geyser.”

Ice pillars thrust up from beneath their feet, hurling the soldiers into the air, and they fell straight into the river. When they hurriedly tried to regroup and restore their formation, Zeke charged into them like a tackle and sent them flying.

In terms of numbers, the royal guard side had an overwhelming advantage, but they could not respond to Zeke’s assault and were gradually pushed into inferiority. When their numbers decreased, reinforcements came right away. But their morale visibly dropped.

“Now then, I’ll ask you again. Do you feel like tucking your tails and running?”

“D-Don’t falter! If we attack with numbers, they’re the ones at a disadvantage! Crush the traitor and Lagias!”

The commander encouraged them with a shout that sounded almost like a scream. The soldiers’ faces were pale, but they followed his orders.

Their battle had only just begun.

“Report, sir! The national traitor Lagias and the traitor Hartmann are too strong!”

“!? What kind of report is that!? I can tell just by looking!”

Thanks to tactics that made use of the royal castle’s structure, the enemy was still kept on the great bridge. If their soldiers were cut down, they only had to send in more. In addition, this was the royal capital. There were more military personnel here than anywhere else in the country. If they attacked with numbers, the battle would naturally tilt in their favor. …It should have, but anxiety crossed his chest.

(They shouldn’t be fools either. What on earth is their goal?)

Carlos had worked for many years as a member of the Royal Guard Corps. From the situation, he could tell that, from the enemy’s perspective, this was clearly a losing battle. No matter how excellent an individual was, there was no way they could keep fighting against the national army.

“Damn it. I honestly didn’t want to use him, but… shall I bring out our trump card? Deploy that Izosaar oddball! Fight poison with poison!”

He decided to send Aaron of the Marquis House of Izosaar, the foremost problem child who troubled Carlos, onto the battlefield.

He honestly had no idea what Aaron would do, since he could not be controlled, but if his opponent was Lagias, that was actually convenient. If madmen clashed, perhaps they would cancel each other out nicely.

“Your Excellency! Please check this! A sealed letter was left behind!”

“Who are you calling Your Excellency? Hand it over! Let’s see… Dear Mister Carl… Who the hell is Carl, you idiot? …Due to urgent business, I shall depart on a journey to become a ghost hunter. Please do not search for me. Ciao…? …!? What is this!? What is a ghost hunter!? Royal guards should not leave the royal capital on their own! Do every last one of them intend to make a fool of me!? Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

Carlos tore at his hair after seeing Aaron’s bizarre letter. Aaron was always doing whatever he pleased and disappearing at important times. Carlos had no idea what was going on anymore.

“Report, sir! The Knight Order’s regimental commander units have arrived!”

“!? Oh, finally! Which units came?”

“The Hares unit and the Eltia unit, sir! I believe they may be somewhat unreliable as fighting strength!”

“That’s not for you to say, you fool! …No matter. The main force will arrive soon.”

He felt as though he was overlooking something, but for now, all they could do was hold out. The more time passed, the more disadvantageous it would become for the other side.

Around half an hour had passed since the unprecedented event of the attack on the royal castle began.

The battle situation was one where the side seen by the nation as intruders had the upper hand. They had been allowed to advance about halfway across the great bridge. This was not an excuse, but the national army was not weak. The enemy was skilled and was making good use of the environment.

“—Divine Arrow.”

The knights were being toyed with by the varied light-attribute magic released by Luke, the leading young knight of the Knight Order, whose blond hair shone in the sunlight.

“…Hey.”

“I know. Don’t injure them too badly, right? Honestly, you’re overflowing with the mercy of a holy mother.”

“Keep talking.”

Luke clearly stated that they were holding back in a voice everyone could hear, perhaps as a provocation. The proof was indeed that there were no seriously injured people. …Most of them were simply being knocked off the bridge.

“Hartmann! Do you think you’ll be forgiven for taking that attitude with us, your superiors!?”

“…Superiors? Um, who might you be?”

“!?”

A knight who dodged the arrow of light rushed toward Luke with a sword in one hand, but Luke’s control of the magic was still ongoing. The arrow of light changed direction and caught the knight from behind. As a result, a new person fell from the bridge.

“Commander Hares! Lagias and Hartmann won’t stop!”

“Don’t charge in recklessly! If they’re mainly using magic, there are ways to fight them!”

No matter how excellent a mage was, they could not continue firing magic forever. After magic ended, there would always be an opening.

Luke’s long-lasting magic disappeared. Taking that as their signal, the knights charged. They approached Luke all at once from the front.

“As a strategy, it isn’t bad. But have you forgotten? The enemy has him.”

Eltia spoke somewhat halfheartedly. Her subordinates also seemed unmotivated. …However, their gazes were turned toward one person.

A demon appeared between Luke, who had entered a moment of stiffness, and the knights aiming for him. A black shadow clad in cold magic power ran across the battlefield at tremendous speed.

In that person’s left and right hands were masses of magic power compressed to their utmost limits. He thrust them out like spears and pierced the knights.

“You’re in the way. —Shock Pulse.”

With dull sounds, the knights were blown away by the impact. It was an abnormal sight, grown men—and knights wearing armor at that—flying through the air.

“At the crucial point where there is an opening, Lagias is there. —A demon protecting a knight.”

Luke’s artistic and endlessly changing magic caught the knights, and Zeke’s absurd speed and power mowed them down. With only two people, they were breaking through the dense formation by sheer force.

“No matter how strong they are, perhaps they can be beaten with enough people and enough time. …Those who made that mistake are already under the bridge.”

“Thanks for the explanation. …Then why did your unit come here? With a smooth talker like you, shouldn’t you have made up some convenient excuse and skipped out?”

“To be honest, I no longer wanted to fight him, but… with a farewell before us, I can’t exactly do that. Even if only for appearances…”

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about? …Hm? What’s this?”

A change appeared in the two, who had been attacking mainly with Luke’s magic. This time, Zeke stood in front and readied a sword. Perhaps as sarcasm, he ostentatiously raised a sword he had stolen from a knight. His stance closely resembled the swordsmanship of the Kingdom’s Knight Order.

“You’re mocking us!”

“Crush Lagias!”

“You great villain who killed the Sword Saint!”

Hares’s subordinates charged all at once, their faces bright red. Their momentum had clearly increased compared to when they were facing Luke.

“You idiots! I told you not to charge recklessly! Hartmann’s magic will—?”

Hares had been wary of a follow-up attack from Luke, but none came. In fact, Luke was nowhere to be seen.

“Impossible. Why has Hartmann… moved back to the front of the bridge? Why isolate Lagias?”

The knights surrounded Zeke. —The way they gathered in swarms looked like a school of fish crowding around bait.

“!? Damn it! Everyone, fall back! It’s a trap!”

“…I’ll teach you something. No matter how many incompetents gather, in the end, they’re still trash. That is why all of you are useless. —Delta Storm.”

Absolute evil that swallowed the righteous. A dark storm of malice caught every knight and swept them into the sky. After the storm scattered, only Zeke and Luke remained.

“Hey? Was he holding back with that?”

“…If they’re alive, I’ll make the ducal house people heal them later.”

Luke looked down under the bridge and felt pity for them. He had no intention of extending a hand at this point, but he did feel sorry for them.

“Leave the trash alone. …More importantly, they’re coming. The real ones. The elites among elites.”

“!? Father…”

The kingdom’s sword. The kingdom’s shield. The two pillars of the Knight Order.

Brink Hartmann, a master of magic swordsmanship who had deep connections with both Luke and Zeke.

Stork Lark, the effective top of the Knight Order serving as acting vice commander.

The two regimental commanders and the units they led stood in their way.

“They even brought the Mage Corps along so politely.”

“…So this is the main force.”

The battle situation was reaching its climax.

Time rewound slightly. This happened several hours after Zeke and Luke set out for the royal capital.

While they were eating breakfast at Lagias Manor, Selen found it suspicious that Luke was nowhere to be seen and asked a servant about it. She was told that someone had witnessed Luke leading a horse. After checking carefully, they apparently found that Zeke had also left word that he would be away from the mansion for a while.

“They got us. The two of them must have headed for the royal capital.”

“…Blond hair, sneaking ahead, eliminate.”

“Let’s chase them. I’m sure they’re going to the king, just as Brother Aktor said.”

With the cooperation of the private army, the group prepared a carriage. Just as they were about to head for the royal capital, a luxurious carriage arrived at Lagias Manor. —It was a carriage engraved with the royal family’s crest.

“It has been some time, Glanz. How many years has it been?”

“…Baccus-san. Then that person must be…”

A woman with silver hair fluttering behind her stepped down from the carriage. Bathed in sunlight, she glittered brightly. Her hair color was the same as Ciel’s. However, her somewhat more mature appearance was filled with dignity.

“It has been a while, Ciel. As for everyone else, this would be our first meeting, I believe.”

Arnica, the Third Princess of the Kingdom of Diabalet, her direct royal guards, and the main characters encountered one another at Lagias Manor.

“Is Zeke here? I came today because I have something important to discuss with him.”