“Big sister.”

For the first Telephone Conversation, I decided on Andromeda.

[Telephone Conversation (05:00/24h)]

[You may exchange conversation through electromagnetic waves within the caster’s Bio-radar radius.]

Thinking of her, I poured mana into my stigma.

For a moment, my consciousness dimmed.

It felt as though someone shook the depths of my head, and then a strange sensation surged forth, as though one mind had connected directly to another.

[Telephone Conversation (04:59/24h)]

‘Kyrie?’

I felt Andromeda’s delight.

‘You succeeded with Telephone Conversation! Congratulations!’

Emotion struck my heart before words did.

‘No matter how much mana someone has, this is impossible without control. Even among Astreos direct-line descendants, half go their whole lives without ever using it…… even I still can’t. You, you actually managed to surpass this big sister in at least one authority!’

That passionate joy was almost suffocating.

“Big sister.”

‘I’m proud of you. My little brother! Ah, honestly, I really am incredible. To think I raised an electric artist as amazing as you.’

Andromeda laughed.

Even though nobody could see me, I lowered my head.

She was still on my side.

Relief spread through me like a tide.

Both realistically and emotionally.

“Surely Tyren wasn’t clinging to me over something as petty as pride.”

I opened the conversation immediately.

‘Already talking about that? So you didn’t even miss this big sister?’

Andromeda shouted loudly enough for it to echo through my mind.

‘That’s right. It isn’t pride.’

But before disappointment, she understood there were emotions that needed settling first.

Her explanation seeped directly into my mind.

‘Our Astreos gives enormous authority and autonomy to each individual Blue Knight. Even at the tactical level, a single knight can take responsibility for local requisitioning, administration, and judicial matters. Because our authorities themselves are specialized for combat.’

I understood immediately.

I myself had already wandered all over, playing the role of a warlord.

‘But Terra is different. They can build a fortress overnight. They can reshape terrain and create battlefields. They can reclaim farmland and increase the population of their domains. But when it comes to directly taking up a sword and fighting, they aren’t especially helpful. At least, not compared to us.’

“So they somehow managed to preserve their place as a great house?”

‘Because they possess vast fertile lands and massive populations. That means countless knights, retainers, and attendants.’

“So in positive terms, their middle layer is thick. In negative terms, their top is thin.”

I nodded.

Andromeda let out a soft laugh.

“So that was it. Since I entered the council hall backed by you, the Flammerios twins, and Erica…”

‘Tyren is afraid.’

She gave the conclusion directly.

‘He’s afraid /Astreos/ will seize control of the mutant demonic beast subjugation soon to begin. Afraid the campaign will become a rapid war centered around superhuman soldiers. Afraid all the military exploits will be stolen away. That’s why he tried so desperately to block your speaking rights.’

I closed my eyes.

Tyren’s rough voice resurfaced in my memory.

Along with the shape of the battles I would have to prepare for from now on.

A moment later—

‘Hey, be honest with me. Your nerves feel like they’re overheating right now, don’t they? Surely this big sister isn’t annoying you, right? Hmm?’

“Of course not!”

‘I knew it. I figured you’d ignore your sister’s feelings and jump straight into business.’

Andromeda let out a long sigh of relief.

I wanted to sigh in relief too.

I had successfully used the neural overheating caused by a newly manifested authority with limited Telephone Conversation time as an excuse.

‘Hold still.’

Crackle!

At that instant, intense emotions surged backward from Andromeda’s side.

My head spun dizzyingly, and a bizarre sensation swept across me, as though tiny electrical currents had wrapped themselves around my entire body.

[Telephone Conversation (03:01)]

When I opened my eyes, the string of numbers showing remaining time had frozen as though struck by lightning.

“What did you do?”

‘I reverse-calculated it.’

Andromeda laughed proudly.

‘This big sister isn’t interested in delicate control, so I can’t initiate Telephone Conversation first. But if my little brother starts it for me, I can trace the mana backward and share the burden with him. Your big sister is amazing, right? Isn’t she?’

I unconsciously swallowed.

Weak control?

That was nonsense.

As expected of a direct-line pureblood.

I had become tremendously powerful thanks to my contract with the dreaming thunderous star, but there was still something beyond me.

I was glad the one showing me that “beyond” was Andromeda.

The entire way back toward our encampment, I chatted endlessly with Andromeda.

‘You’re listening properly, right?’

“Of course, of course!”

My head felt ready to bleed from sheer joy at hearing her voice again, but I enthusiastically played along.

Then suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

What if this connection were used in battle?

If Telephone Conversation was not merely an authority for exchanging words, but one that also connected emotions, then the possibilities were enormous.

A new possibility flashed before my eyes.

I returned to the encampment.

While reviewing today’s agendas and preparing countermeasures, the door opened.

Bang!

“My lord, Grand Prince Tyren of Terra has arrived outside the tent, yes it is.”

Joi peeked her head inside.

“Already?”

“Yes. His expression was hard as a stone slab, yes it was.”

I rose from my seat and draped my cloak over myself.

This had been expected from the beginning.

The council hall was never a place where decisions were made.

It was merely where conclusions were announced.

Negotiations, conferences, schemes—those all happened in private settings like this.

Step. Step. Step.

I walked outside the encampment.

Tyren stood there in the cold air.

A broad-built young man wrapped in a thick fur-lined cloak.

With every step, a force seemed to resonate from deep beneath the earth.

“Kyrie.”

He bent deeply at the waist once.

“Please forget my rudeness from earlier. I have come to discuss supplies!”

“Supplies?”

If I had been an ordinary Astreos blood relative, his forthright attitude alone might genuinely have made me forget the insult from earlier.

“That is correct. Terra shall take responsibility for the supplies of the coming mutant demonic beast subjugation. As the house that governs the earth, paving roads for armies, providing food, and constructing fortresses are originally our duties. If you entrust those matters to our hands, the speed and safety of the entire army shall be guaranteed.”

Meaning he had not forgotten at all.

“I understand the Grand Prince’s sincerity.”

On the surface, it was an impeccable proposal.

But I could read his true intentions.

An army marches only as far as it eats.

Whoever controlled supplies, roads, and fortresses also controlled the army’s direction and speed.

In other words, Terra intended to seize control of the entire campaign.

Smiling more gently than an Astreos should, I answered.

“However, I cannot place such a burden upon a single house. No matter how I think about it, the responsibility seems excessive. Consider it yourself, Grand Prince. If even the slightest mistake occurs during the supply operation, the criticism would be enormous, and the advance of the entire army would slow.”

“Haha, does that mean you do not trust Terra, Kyrie? It is not a million troops, nor even three million. Even combining all the armies of the Elector Princes, the total is only around three hundred thousand. At this scale, even one of Terra’s branch families could handle it alone!”

Tyren shouted heartily.

His violet eyes gleamed sharply in contrast.

Brazen, yet sharp.

An irritating man.

Beside me, Joi mimed grabbing someone by the back of the neck.

There was no helping it.

I would have to crush him with authority.

“Grand Prince.”

I deliberately emphasized his title.

“Who would dare doubt Terra’s strength? I merely mean the burden itself is too great to bear alone. When opening and closing, expansion and defense work together, the entire army can move flexibly, can it not?”

“Your words sound plausible. I cannot boldly call them incorrect. Yet to the ears of this lacking young man, they sound like excessive criticism claiming Terra’s knights united as one can never compare to the individually fighting Blue Knights of Astreos.”

A deep furrow formed between Tyren’s brows.

“I never said you were inferior. Merely different in nature. Everyone has what they excel at, no? Blue Knights open roads with their swords, while Terra closes roads with walls. Yet an army may advance through opening alone, whereas with only closure, it cannot move a single step.”

I layered a thin smile atop my words.

Tyren carefully chose his words for a while before speaking heavily.

“Kyrie.”

His violet eyes attempted to pierce straight through mine.

His persistence was inferior to Saint Deneb’s, and his intensity inferior to Nereus’s.

“If Terra truly seems so unreliable to you, then I would like to propose a small exchange here and now. The closure of the earth arts that I, Tyren, proudly wield, against the opening of the magnetism arts for which you are renowned. If we compete against one another, then all suspicion shall disappear.”

Tyren’s tone did not sound like someone requesting a duel at all.

It sounded more like academy phrases such as “let us engage in academic exchange” or “let us deepen friendship between knights.”

“Even if we compete, there is no need for you to use direct electric arts, is there? You are already widely famed as an excellent magnetism artist. Therefore, should we not test each other’s domains through a contest of pure qualities—earth arts against magnetism arts?”

To my ears, it sounded different.

“Show me the power of opening you possess, Kyrie. Since you claimed an army cannot advance through closure alone, would you not let me experience firsthand just how brilliant that opening truly is?”

Is this bastard playing games with me?

I nearly cursed aloud.

If Astreos Blue Knights were impulsive and violent, Terra’s Black Knights were arrogant and insidious.

He would use the earth arts he excelled in, while telling me to use magnetism arts, a mere auxiliary authority.

It was equivalent to demanding I fight with both hands and feet bound.

I nodded for now, thinking I would simply cut him down with lightning reinforcement once the duel began.

After all, among great-house superhuman noble knights, Terra Black Knights were famous for competing with Septentrios Guardians for absolute last place in direct combat.

Then a thought crossed my mind.

Tyren had specifically said, “You need not use direct electric arts.”

“Grand Prince Tyren.”

I raised my chin and smiled.

Sensing something, his eyebrow twitched.

“It would be terribly rude to say this before even witnessing the Grand Prince’s skill, yet I cannot help but ask one thing. If you fail to ‘open’ even me without electric arts… what then?”

Tyren hesitated.

I immediately continued.

“You declared that Terra would handle supplies for the subjugation campaign, so you must already have stockpiled considerable provisions. If you cannot surpass me, then sell those provisions to this army at cost. Would that not be the truest meaning of taking responsibility for supplies?”

Silence fell for a moment.

The surrounding air sank heavily, like Terra’s earth itself.

“As expected of Kyrie! Your boldness is magnificent. Very well. If I fail to open you, Terra shall sell its grain at cost. However, if you display your opening, then Terra’s achievements shall likewise be proven before the Myriad Star and all mankind. Would that not also be an honorable matter?”

Tyren soon burst into hearty laughter.

It was the smile I myself had wanted to wear.

Eastern Rebellion, Astreos Army encampment.

“What?”

Andromeda doubted her ears.

“Grand Prince Tyren has proposed a wager duel with Kyrie. If Grand Prince Tyren wins, Terra shall handle the subjugation campaign’s supplies, while if Kyrie wins, Terra will sell grain at cost price…”

The head maid Sepeia lowered her pale face.

“Obviously my little brother will win. He defeated Traisan and cut down Ortupios. I only hope he doesn’t humiliate the man too badly in public.”

Andromeda was about to sigh in relief when Sepeia’s next words froze her body.

“Th-that is… Kyrie agreed not to use electric arts.”

“What?”

At that instant, Andromeda completely abandoned all dignity as the head of a great house.

“Have you lost your mind?!”

Crash!

She immediately used Thunderstep and leapt straight through the window.

“Your Highness Andromeda!”

[“Descent of the Thunder God!”]

Flash!

Andromeda transformed into a streak of lightning and shot toward the southern plaza.

A massive crowd had already gathered there.

Boom!

Andromeda descended and returned to human form.

“Aaaaaah!”

“It’s lightning!”

“Save us!”

“What is happening?!”

“Kyrie cheated— ah, Your Highness Andromeda?”

The spectators fled in absolute panic.

‘Kyrie!’

Without sparing them a glance, Andromeda fixed her gaze entirely upon the stage.

“Hm?”

Soon, astonishment appeared upon her face.

A circular stage.

Upon its uneven surface, stone spikes jutted upward.

“Ghk!”

Tyren was crawling across the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

Kyrie looked down at Tyren with a distant smile upon his face.

“At that speed, you can’t open anything.”

Chapter 212

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