104

Arc 7, Chapter 104 - "Bastions in Chaos (Part One)"

――Abel's black eyes narrowed behind his Oni mask at the sound of "Great Disaster".

The person responsible for this utterance, Ubilk, had a smile on his face and did not reveal the depths of his heart.

He was a gentle and affable man who treated everyone equally. His attitude and entire being had not changed since he first appeared before Abel.

This was nothing like the time that he appeared in the audience chamber out of the blue, without any collaborators, or a shred of concern.

As the so-called Stargazer, Ubilk correctly predicted disasters that befell the Vollachian Empire one after another, and no matter what events he foresaw, his own feelings never wavered at all.

Almost like――,

Abel: [――Is confronting me here just another event you anticipated?]

Ubilk: [Oh, no. Not at all. You're giving me way too much credit. I'm faaar~ from being such a big deal.]

Abel: [If all you have to say is nonsense, I will gladly cut out your tongue.]

Ubilk: [Ohhh~ dear, I'm so, so scared. What a stomach-turning thought, as usual.]

While shrugging his slender shoulders, Ubilk boasted this completely unfazed. When Abel sniffed at this attitude, Serena, who was standing next to him, said, "I don't get it."

She raised her hands while comparing Ubilk's profile with Abel's.

Serena: [I've seen you before. The Stargazer strolling in and out of the Crystal Palace… You must be one of the jesters that His Excellency the Emperor keeps at his side. Are you acquainted with him, Abel?]

Abel: [Irredeemably so.]

Serena: [Hmm. …I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers until all of this was over, but I can't help but ask: Whoever might be hiding his face behind this Oni mask?]

As Serena wondered about Abel's identity, a ray of rationality dwelled within her slitted eyes.

She must have harbored some serious suspicions about this from the very beginning. About this person who successfully assumed the commanding position of the rebel forces amidst this great civil war shaking the Empire―― including the fact that he kept his true face hidden, he was more than a match for Ubilk in the sense of not being able to peer into his mind.

However――

Abel: [Answering that question is not a priority right now.]

Serena: [There are means to remove that mask by force. I am also quite confident in my abilities in that regard.]

Abel: [Let it be. Consider this a warning.]

Serena: [Oh, you're warning me?]

At Abel's words, Serena slowly narrowed her eyes belligerently.

Serena Dracroy, giving free rein to what earned her the moniker of the Scorching Lady with a fierce stance, made it to this point because she had burned down all the scorn and provocations hurled at her.

Due to her creed, Abel's answer was more than enough to inflame tensions.

Ubilk: [Wait, wait, waaait~! Let's calm down a bit! How, how, how can you create such a tense atmosphere just by showing your face like this?]

Abel: [If you keep quiet and watch, you may contribute your fair share to this battle without lifting a finger.]

Ubilk: [Oh, I don't wish for such a thing. I would hate to have one, or even both of you bite the dust here, all the more if I~ would be the one to set it all into motion!]

Serena. [――I don't get it.]

As the two were at each other's throats, Ubilk raised a relatively flustered voice as he reached out to both of them. At Ubilk's reaction, Serena had the same response again.

Immediately after, she closed one eye as she played with the sword at her waist.

Serena: [If you graciously stand by the side of His Excellency the Emperor Vincent Vollachia, your duty should be to attack me and this man commanding the rebel forces. If you stay put, this man is as good as dead. Shouldn't this be welcome for you?]

Abel: [Who gave you permission to kill me? You can go ahead and die yourself.]

Serena: [I'm sorry, but I'm talking to this Stargazer right now. Please don't interrupt our conversation.]

Abel: [――――]

As Serena pushed her own subject, she stopped Abel from cutting in for the time being. When Serena looked at Ubilk again, he said with a blank expression,

Ubilk: [Interesting and intriguing spectacle. And please don't make such a scary face. I'm unarmed, after all.]

Serena: [Being unarmed is no reason to let our guard down. Go ahead and give me a reason to remove my hand from the hilt of my sword. Just to let you know, I do not hesitate to cut an unarmed opponent.]

Ubilk: [――I can't be cut down. By you, at least.]

Serena's tone became gradually harsher, and at the end, her words became a threat. Ubilk, who had been looking out of breath up until now, instantly denied it.

The moment he said that, the color faded from Ubilk's expression.

Even if the whole picture of those emotions cannot be seen, the intent behind these emotions he wanted to display faded away, leaving behind a merely blank, empty, and colorless face.

Serena: [――――]

Serena was not incensed by this provocative declaration, and neither did she draw her sword.

What weighed on her mind even more than anger was Ubilk's very existence ――No, rather it was this suspicious sense of eeriness and a touch of uneasiness of this being called the Stargazer.

It was as if this person before her very eyes was confronting her, without even responding properly.

Serena: […We should probably kill you right here and now.]

Ubilk: [Ah, how awful. I'm gravely hurt by this. What do you think?]

Abel: [I often share the same thoughts as Serena Dracroy. However, this man has survived to this day. That's a fact.]

To remain indifferent to everyone means to never know when you tread on someone's toes.

Ubilk, with his complete inability to adapt on the fly, trode on the toes of many in the Vollachian Empire, incurring the wrath of countless people, and sometimes even had a blade pointed at him.

Despite all of this, Ubilk had survived to this day――,

Ubilk: [It is the will of the stars. Oh, Ubilk… it's too early to die yet, waaay~ too early.]

Serena clasped her hands together in front of her chest and her cheeks hardened at the light-hearted way Ubilk said this.

There was no point in debating whether that was true or not. The fact Ubilk appeared here―― No, it was like that from the very moment he originally appeared at the Crystal Palace.

Ubilk would not die.

The stars he spoke of―― it was as if he was saying that his life was secured and that he was placed under the protection of the Observers, omnipresent as they ridiculed this world.

Abel: [――――]

In the middle of this thought, Abel exhaled as he was silenced by the feeling of a heated assertion.

Abel's personal feelings towards Ubilk and the other Stargazers were trivial. What was important was that Ubilk appeared before Abel's eyes.

This clown, who was coordinating the stars during every possible scenario, appeared in front of Abel――,

Ubilk: [You stepped off the stage once before; or rather, it is more appropriate to say that you were forced to, but do you plan to rise up once again?]

Ads by Pubfuture

Ubilk's gaze turned to Abel, completely ignoring Serena.

Unsure what to make of these words, Serena frowned her well-shaped eyebrows. But, Abel had no intention of responding to her neither in a kind nor thorough manner.

Above all, that question was truly infuriating for Abel.

Abel: [I shall tell you something.]

Ubilk: [Yes?]

Abel: [I never had any intention to step off the stage even once, as you call it.]

Folding his arms, he started with correcting Ubilk's misconception of his original proposition.

Ousted from his throne and driven far to the east, Abel had been put in dire circumstances on many occasions. However, his will to fight never wavered.

He never forgot the role he was supposed to play, nor did he ever think of letting go of it.

Abel: [You cannot comprehend, Stargazer. You have never once stepped upon the stage.]

Ubilk: [――. A painful thing to hear, isn't it?]

Abel: [Even you should be able to understand this.]

With a series of fitting words and facial expressions, Ubilk attempted to communicate with Abel. However, Ubilk's emotionless words did not convey an understanding of Abel's true intentions.

And, that already seemed to be the limit for Ubilk, as Abel had already dismissed it.

For that reason――,

Abel: [The time is near. That is probably why you have traveled here.]

Ubilk: […Indeed, but you already knew I was coming, didn't you?]

Abel: [Nonsense. I am nothing like you. I may speculate a second ahead of time, but I am not certain. ――Blind acceptance might be a more fitting way to describe it.]

Ubilk: [――――]

At Abel's comment, Ubilk's expression changed slightly.

The slight quiver of his eyebrows was derived from his seldom displayed negative emotions. Anger or discomfort, either way, it was nothing short of a rare response.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a calm satisfaction to be found in Abel's mind.

Serena: [What a predicament, you must be at His Excellency's side one way or the other. Shall I send your decapitated head?]

Abel: [The Emperor wouldn't even bat an eye. If anything, he would be a bit aggravated that he didn't issue the order himself, but that would be the end of it. More importantly…]

Serena: [More importantly?]

Even though Serena did not understand the details of the dialogue between Abel and Ubilk, she nodded her head as she saw it heading towards a conclusion.

Abel briefly paused as he saw her wavy brown hair sway over her shoulders in the corner of his eye.

And then, he declared.

Abel: [I leave you with a great role to play. ――A role that no one but you can fulfill on this battlefield.]

△▼△▼△▼△

Kicking off the white snow that had piled up, a shadow raced unhindered across the battlefield.

The ground, covered with a thin layer of ice, was slippery all over the place, the lingering temperature was so exceedingly cold that it seemingly cut through one's skin, and an enemy was looming from above who was so formidable that it paralyzed one's instincts; kicking away these varied circumstances he swept through at lightning speed.

Mezoreia: [You, you, you――]

Cecilus: [Ahahahaha! Instead of "you" you should call me Cecilus Segmunt! You are more than welcome to address me so loudly that you will echo all over the battlefield…]

Mezoreia: [Cecilus Segmunt――!!]

Cecilus: [Yes, that's it!]

Leaving behind a grinning afterimage, the very next moment the soles of his zori pierced the side of Cloud Dragon's face.

With an explosive sound, its head flamboyantly bounced back, and Mezoreia's giant body shook wildly in the air. Emilia was surprised by how a boy much smaller than her had accomplished this.

Emilia: [That boy, he's amazing…]

Not only had he stopped the dragon's breath which had been about to sweep across the battlefield, but also proudly stated what was likely his name as he began to fight the dragon without backing down a single step.

Emilia was captivated by the blue-haired child, who proclaimed himself as Cecilus.

It was exactly like witnessing him on the grand stage which the boy so boldly spoke of.

Emilia: [―――]

Cecilus' body moved in and out of Emilia's vision as if he were a phantom or an illusion. Cecilus repeatedly ducked in and out, up and down, the edge of Emilia's field of view at a tremendous speed.

He was much too fast for Emilia's eyes to keep up with, so they started spinning round and round.

And it was the same for Mezoreia, whom Cecilus coiled around.

Mezoreia: [――Hk! You are! This Dragon's! This Dragon's adversary!]

Flapping its wings in the air, the claws and tail of the Cloud Dragon swung about uncharacteristically recklessly.

This was directed at Cecilus, who cheerfully jumped around using a wall of ice that Emilia had built ――to keep Mezoreia from leaving the battlefield.

However, the dragon's attacks merely hit spots Cecilus had long since passed by, crucially leaving the real one unscathed.

On the contrary, as soon as Mezoreia's tail hit the wall, Cecilus jumped on it and ran up onto its back in one fluid motion.

Cecilus: [Go, go, go, go, go!]

With a swift kick, as if he had several more legs than he did, he knocked Mezoreia towards the ground.

Cecilus: [And, down you go…!]

Flapping its wings violently, Mezoreia was flipped over in midair and crashed into the ground.

After a tremendous roar and tremor, the snow-covered ground was torn away and scattered, and Emilia, while being showered with cold wind, was almost unable to withstand the breathtaking spectacle.

But admittedly, this was a ridiculously lucky situation that she could not afford to miss out on.

Emilia: [At this rate, we can defeat Mezoreia…]

Cecilus: [Oops, that won't do. You have to hold off on that.]

Emilia: [Huh?]

Though she thought it was a bit unfair, Emilia honed the mana around her and tried to drop a large block of ice on top of the fallen Mezoreia.

But when Emilia was about to do so, Cecilus slipped in front of her and stuck his finger on the tip of her nose; startled by his action, she stopped moving.

Cecilus, having quickly poked Emilia's nose, made her blink in surprise,

Cecilus: [Listen up. Just now, I saved you from a dangerous situation in the nick of time, didn't I? And now my one-on-one battle with the dragon that has begun… You know what you should do from here, don't you? Yes, you should have faith in my victory and nobly pray for me! That's the role of a princess.]

Emilia: [Umm… But I'm not really a princess? Even though I'm not entirely unrelated to the throne.]

Ads by Pubfuture

Cecilus: [Princess is just a figure of speech. More precisely, it's the flower of the story falling madly in love with me, the hero who came to her rescue. The perfect role for someone as beautiful as you, don't you think?]

Emilia: [Ah, I'm sorry. I've already decided on the person I'll fall in love with.]

Cecilus: [Ah, is that so? Then there's no helping it. Please continue.]

Despite being incessantly spoken to at a staggering pace, Emilia had not missed anything essential. Accordantly, Cecilus also immediately understood and backed away.

Since he had pulled back, Emilia once again raised her hand out towards Mezoreia,

Emilia: [Hiyah―!]

And with that, a giant block of ice fell at full speed from the sky, aimed at Mezoreia who had fallen to the ground.

A thunderous roar echoed after it stabbed Mezoreia's belly, who had been lying face-up on the ground. While hearing the Dragon's low cries of pain, Emilia readied the next one, saying "One more time,"

Cecilus: [Excuse my impoliteness.]

Right after that, Emilia had her legs swept out from under her as she braced herself, and as she screamed "Auh―," her body was softly lifted up and withdrawn with a momentum that seemed to pull her out of her spot.

The next moment, a strong wind raised up where Emilia and Cecilus had been, and the impact that the Dragon had transmitted through the ground had gouged and shot out all the earth in a circle in that spot.

If they had moved to the side any slower, they would have died.

Cecilus: [As expected―― with a dragon as an opponent, nothing is straightforward, but at least I got a chance to show off every second. But this came just in the nick of time because of all of my pent-up frustration from being paired up with all those extras.]

Emilia: [T-thank you, for saving me.]

Cecilus: [No, no, don't worry about it! Beauties who already have a loved one just need to be charmed in a different way. Just remember to invite me to the wedding!]

Cecilus, who had picked her up and saved her just in time, smiled heartily at Emilia's gratitude.

Strictly speaking, Emilia did not have a loved one, but rather someone whom she might fall for, but right now was neither the time nor the place for quibbles. What was important was――,

Emilia: [Use these, Cecilus!]

Cecilus: [Use what? Even if I'm told that, I don't know what I'd use… Ohh!]

When Cecilus tilted his head, his eyes sparkled at Emilia who had lowered herself to the ground to place her hands on it. In his vision were swords, spears, axes as well as various other weapons of ice which were growing out of the ground.

Ice Brand Arts, which created weapons out of ice, created a row of weapons in front of Cecilus all the way to Mezoreia.

Cecilus: [This is quite spectacular! I like it, it's cool! To tell you the truth, I only wanted to hold a suitably excellent legendary or magical sword of some kind, but…]

Emilia: [Then are these no good?]

Cecilus: [No, it's not like I told anyone about this rule, so let's just secretly change it! In this scene, it would be more flashy to swing around a weapon against a Dragon!]

While saying that, Cecilus stretched his small body's arms as far as he could and pulled out the two ice swords on either side. As soon as he did so, Emilia realized her mistake with an "Ah."

The ice sword was created by Emilia. Therefore, Emilia would not feel the cold, but it might be too cold for Cecilus for whom that was not the case.

Emilia: [Come to think of it, Priscilla never said it was cold either, but…]

Cecilus: [Rest assured. I can make up for this inconvenience with the Flow Method, so both myself and the people in the battalion are fine. Well, I tend to get out of my flow when the Boss and the others are involved, but it's a fact that I'm especially special for handling it naturally!]

Emilia: [Speshul…]

As unfamiliar words were let out one after another, Emilia could not help but ponder.

This abnormal sensation reminded Emilia of talking to Subaru, and when she thought about it, she realized, "Maybe."

Emilia: [Hey, Cecilus! Did you learn those words from Subaru?]

Cecilus: [From Subaru-san? Nope, sorry, but you're mistaken. It was the Boss who taught me these words, but his name is not Subaru-san.]

Emilia: [I see, my bad… Looks like I jumped to conclusions.]

Due to her hastiness, Emilia was disheartened by Cecilus's answer. However, not wanting to be discouraged, Emilia quickly slapped herself on the cheek to cheer herself up.

Then, like Cecilus, she picked up an ice spear herself,

Emilia: [I pulled myself together… Let's fight Mezoreia together!]

Cecilus: [That's a really nice change of heart. Come to think of it, I haven't even heard your name yet.]

Emilia: [Me? I am Emilia… No I mean, Emily! Emily!]

Cecilus: [I see you have your reasons! But I think it's best if I refrain from saying anything thoughtless here, so I'll do you a favor and leave it at that, Emily-san. This might be sudden, but I would ask you for one in return.]

Emilia: [A favor? From me?]

Cecilus: [Yes. ――When you are in the middle of dealing with that Dragon, could I ask you to move that thing out of the way?]

After they exchanged names, Cecilus asked Emilia for a favor in a hushed voice. Having said that, he pointed to the ground a short distance away from the spot on which Mezoreia had dropped onto the ground.

Seeing Cecilus's finger pointing at the snowy ground, Emilia's eyes widened with an "Ah."

And then――,

Cecilus: [Then please do, Emily-san. I'll do my job… and how about I do it so flamboyantly only the star actor of this world could manage it!]

After saying this, Cecilus kicked off of the ground without waiting for Emilia's reply.

The snow scattered, and Cecilus' body, gripping two ice swords, ran straight for the dragon. Mezoreia's scales instantly sensed the danger of the small threat rushing at it.

Mezoreia: [Don't push your luck――!]

A shudderingly enraged roar rose up, and Mezoreia clawed at the block of ice that was about to crush its torso. In an instant, the gigantic mass of ice which was as large as a small mountain, could not bear it for even a second, and cracks ran through its entirety with tremendous force, shattering it all at once.

Once the weight of the ice block was gone, Mezoreia immediately rolled over to face the ground, ready to unleash an attack on the leaping Cecilus――,

Emilia: [Hiyah!!]

Emilia threw her brandished spear at Mezoreia and struck it squarely on the nose.

The sharp ice spear did not bury a sliver of its tip into Mezoreia's scales, but the force of its impact was enough to repel the dragon's head and delay its attack on Cecilus.

Then, Cecilus dove in at a speed that nearly matched that of the thrown spear.

Cecilus: [No blinking allowed, or you will miss offering up the well-deserved applause!]

As he presented his spirited lines, Cecilus's twin ice swords surged with white light.

With a light sound, the Cloud Dragon was struck through its scales and bounced to the right and left while being blinded by the sword dance, deprived of its freedom as well as any opportunity to counterattack.

Despite being comparatively tiny, Cecilus's skills were still absurd.

Both in terms of handling her body and weapons, Emilia thought she had become quite respectable herself, but this was a dimension incomparable to her. Perhaps he even had the potential to become as absurdly strong as Reid, whom she had happened to meet at the Pleiades Watchtower.

Emilia: [But please don't become a meanie like Reid.]

Setting aside his ability with the sword, Reid had a terribly nasty personality, so she hoped that Cecilus would not turn out that way.

With that wish in mind, Emilia rushed to a point a short distance away from the battle, with a sidelong glance at Cecilus, who was attracting Mezoreia's attention.

The favor Cecilus had asked of Emilia earlier was quickly drawing near.

Emilia rushed to the destination, and there she found――,

Emilia: [――Madelyn! This is no time to sleep! Wake up, and persuade Mezoreia!]

Emilia held up Madelyn Eschart's motionless body, which was buried in the snow, and desperately called out to her.