I advanced into Rebellion’s city streets, surrounded by Blue Hydrangea and the marksman school cadets.

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

Dark clouds covered the entire night sky, leaving not a single star visible.

It did not matter.

Because my Bio-radar already held every battlefield in this city in its grasp.

From the mutant demonic beast shouting atop the fountain in the broad plaza to the blood flowing along the gutter groove in the deepest alley.

“Four hundred meters ahead. Approaching rapidly from the intersection. Observable in three seconds.”

At my words, one thousand marksman school cadets raised their muskets at once.

Blue Hydrangea’s short command followed.

“Prepare to fire!”

Clack!

Cross-shaped radiance filled every marksman’s muzzle, and the night swelled.

Then monsters burst out from beyond the intersection.

Thududududu!

“Kyaaaaaak!”

Crow-like monsters with three or four heads.

Feathers that had burst messily through human flesh shone with a metallic gleam, and black drool stretched from the tips of their beaks like thread.

“Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Starlight descended to earth burst from every muzzle, illuminating the alley like broad daylight.

The monsters shattered into pieces and collapsed.

“Six hundred meters ahead. Enemy scout individual. Operating alone. Snipe it.”

I immediately issued the next order.

Blue Hydrangea passed the command to the sisters holding sniper muskets, and I sent Telephone Conversation to Frey.

“Frey, we’re in combat. Circle back a few blocks.”

Got it! Kiri-Kiri!

I looked at the shape rising on my Bio-radar.

Rumble!

Far above the rooftops, my escort knight Frey came running.

Whoosh!

Behind him, a gigantic moth-like shape spread its wings and reached out with its claws.

There was no time to speak.

I took up a throwing dagger.

Thung!

I wrapped it in lightning reinforcement and ionized gas.

Shweeeek!

The Magnetic Railshot cleanly pierced through a stone building, flew on, and impaled the mutant demonic beast.

Puk!

The pursuing mutant demonic beast burst apart cleanly.

More than twelve legs and wings scattered in every direction.

Step!

Frey flinched, then ran up before me with a bright smile.

Even though he was covered in soot, his face still overflowed with boyish charm.

“I’m supposed to protect you, but Kiri-Kiri keeps protecting me.”

“You came back safely. That’s enough.”

I smiled briefly and shook my head.

“Now you’re beside me.”

I meant it literally.

Now that even Frey had joined us, there was truly nothing to hinder us.

“All! Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cross-shaped light flashed from every muzzle.

The mutant demonic beasts that had filled the distant alley collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.

Whoosh!

“Kaaaaak!”

A few more mutant demonic beasts burst out from beneath sewer covers.

“Ugly things, where do you think you’re going!”

Frey brushed past my shoulder and charged out.

Whoong!

The Wall-Breaking Greatsword drew a semicircle.

Crack!

The metallic feathers and thick bones of the first mutant demonic beast were cut away in a single strike.

Frey lowered his body as if sliding, dodging the steel wingbeat of the second mutant demonic beast.

Then he planted his forefoot and pulled up his upper body, his arm, and then the greatsword.

Grgrgrgrk!

The back of the greatsword scraped along the stone floor, scattering sparks, then rose in a straight line.

Slice!

The second mutant demonic beast’s neck flew into the sky.

Splaash!

Its head rolled across the ground, drawing a red line along the stone pavement.

That line was the road of advance we would take.

“I am Kyrie of Peleusnata Astreion Astreos! All soldiers of the Empire of Stars, follow me!”

At my shout, warriors from the various forces scattered everywhere gathered.

“I am a sword of Terra! You have no authority to command us, my lord!”

A Black Knight in black armor raised his voice.

“I was ordered to hold this place, so I shall merely blaze like a wildfire and go out like a candle.”

A Red Knight of Flammerios shook his head.

“You came at just the right time! His Highness the Prince calls for Lord Kyrie. Hurry over and offer him your sword!”

A sworn warrior of the Royal Family calmly spouted words even he could not believe I would obey.

I fell silent for a moment.

I had not expected them to follow my words easily.

Of course I had prepared a countermeasure.

“I received the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’ from Saint Deneb the Inquisitor.”

I looked at every superhuman knight with a distant gaze, as though standing upon an altar and looking down.

“All who breathe in this city must be believers who serve the Myriad Star. In this moment, I have both the duty and the right to protect them all, so my orders are not those of the Grand Duke of Wind of Rikenta, but those of your guardian!”

I laid out an unbelievable argument at great length.

Meaning they would believe it.

A brief silence flowed.

“Very well.”

The Black Knights briefly searched one another with their eyes, then soon nodded.

“A few buildings near the central plaza have collapsed. Civilians are trapped inside and cannot get out. Go open that path. At this rate, they will all die or become mutant demonic beasts.”

With their movement, a path opened through the city.

“Thank you!”

“We’re saved now!”

The citizens left their thanks and fled toward the outskirts of the city.

“Moth-like creatures are flying around. Shoot them down with heat rays.”

“As you command.”

The Red Knights pointed their fingers into the air and fired heat rays.

“I saw ogre-sized ones here and there. Aim for their ankles and bind them. You can do that, can’t you?”

“I will try.”

The sworn warriors ran here and there with swords blazing with sword aura reinforcement.

Good.

I smiled coldly.

The one who resolved the situation was the highest authority.

I examined the Rikenta encampment and Astreos encampment with Bio-radar.

I saw two people standing among countless troops.

They must be Erica and Andromeda.

I turned my body that way.

At this point, victory was mine.

Now only the question of how to use that victory remained.

A night without visible starlight.

What is this?

Martin, a master of the Hall of Purity, frowned at the chilling sensation sweeping over the nape of his neck.

A counterattack itself had, of course, been expected.

This was a city where the six great houses, the Royal Family, and a cardinal were staying.

They had never expected to collapse it head-on in the first place.

The supervising professor wanted not victory, but symbolism.

It would be enough simply to show that the Hall of Purity did not fear the great houses.

The very fact that they had mocked the foremost authority of the Empire of Stars, the Elector Princes Council, was what mattered.

But the counterattack was faster than expected, and more resolute than expected.

As if saying, how dare the likes of you mock anyone?

“I do not understand.”

On the rooftop of an insula.

Step, step, step.

Wrapped in calm darkness, Martin approached the bachelors under his command.

“The state of battle.”

“We are still holding!”

“Even lower superhuman soldiers such as attendants and retainers are resisting… Their combat values exceed the normal range!”

The bachelors spat out figures as though reciting experimental notes.

Martin frowned once more.

A bachelor’s mental wave shook the mind, and a master’s mental wave shook the body.

Only someone at the level of a knight should barely be able to endure.

Yet now not only retainers, but even attendants were enduring.

The number of encroached was also far lower than expected.

This makes no sense. What did you do, Astreos?

Whoosh!

Just then, a group of shadows leapt over the rooftop railing and landed.

“As expected, it is exactly as my lord told us again.”

A silver-haired knight with foreign features.

Paisen held her sword, electric sparks bursting around both her eyes.

“Annihilate them!”

At Paisen’s shout, the retainers and attendants who had followed her all dug in at once.

“How dare you!”

Martin stamped his foot in fury.

At whom did those ignorant people dare point such hideous weapons?

He opened his mouth wide and loosed an intellectual’s roar.

[“-----!”]

A mental wave tore through the air once more.

The illusion of black tentacles ran through the night.

Yet even this time, the knights’ eyes did not break.

Slice!

Paisen swung her sword.

Martin’s head separated from his torso and spun through the air.

The afterglow of electric arts scattered like stardust.

Paisen lowered her sword and muttered quietly.

“Six.”

Then she leapt to the next rooftop.

“The values don’t match!”

Beneath an insula in northern Rebellion.

One bachelor scratched paper with trembling hands.

“The mental wave intensity clearly exceeded the standard value, but the results… why are those bastards all maintaining normal ranges!”

“There is no reproducibility.”

Another bachelor clutched his head and screamed.

“According to the standards we devised, bastards like retainers and attendants should all have turned into encroached. But look! They all endured!”

The masters gathered among themselves and quickly exchanged opinions.

“It is not coincidence. The same pattern has been detected. It is not individual mutation, but a common factor.”

“What is the factor?”

“The elixir of sacred radiance is highly likely.”

“Sacred radiance? How could those fools!”

Grind.

There came the sound of clenched teeth.

“It is still only a hypothesis. It has not been verified.”

“Then give me another explanation. I cannot accept this. A mere attendant endured my wave!”

Bang!

Just then, a bachelor kicked the door open and rushed in.

“What is it?!”

“Erica and Andromeda have joined Kyrie in the southern plaza! Tyren also says he will support them with troops!”

The masters clenched their teeth.

“Can we retreat?”

Someone murmured that.

Yes.

Retreat.

Now they had to consider retreat.

“No. If we retreat here, it will be over before it even begins. All our research funding will disappear. We have to show them something before we leave, at least.”

But another master shook his head.

“Let us call the supervising professor.”

“Yes. There is no helping it.”

“We cannot have our research funding cut.”

The masters nodded one by one, then layered their mental waves and made them resound.

[“-----!”]

[“■■■■!”]

A formless echo flowed into the abyss.

[“Report the progress of the experiment.”]

The Doctor’s voice came through.

“We cannot continue this research on our own. We are ashamed, but we need support. Please send the doctoral candidates under your command.”

[“……”]

After a brief silence, the answer returned.

[“Very well. I will fuse five doctoral candidates and send them. Retreat and prepare your report.”]

The connection with the Doctor was cut.

Only sighs full of relief and unease filled the basement.

“…We may be next.”

One master’s murmur.

No one refuted it.

The price of giving up on pursuing truth themselves was becoming sacrifices for someone else’s pursuit of truth.

They too might become someone’s doctoral candidates.

The night of Rebellion deepened even further.

Kyrie met Andromeda and Erica.

“Little brother!”

Andromeda hugged Kyrie tightly again, as if she cared nothing for dignity or anything else.

“You’re not torn anywhere, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Your limbs are all attached? Huh? Your, your eye!”

“My eye was always like that.”

The playful exchange softened the tension.

“You.”

Erica hesitated for a moment, then opened her fan and covered her face.

“I am glad you are safe.”

Unfortunately, they had no leisure to share their feelings further.

“The knights under Sir Nereus…”

“Three Navigators are isolated on Third Street.”

The situation was urgent.

“Damn, I’ll have to go personally.”

“This queen shall provide support.”

Andromeda and Erica also had to look after their scattered subordinates.

Just as the two were about to run out.

“I gathered them all.”

Kyrie raised his hand.

“What those messengers said is also true. I came here before the messengers who were going to come tell you they had joined me.”

“What?”

“What trick did you use? Tell me.”

Erica raised her eyebrows in bewilderment, and Andromeda nudged Erica’s side with her elbow.

“I’m grasping the geography of the entire city right now.”

Kyrie told them about linking Bio-radar and Telephone Conversation.

“Your Bio-radar range is wider than mine? I knew it had high resolution even before, but when did it get that wide?”

“In urban warfare, it has more value than even three stellar constellations.”

Andromeda and Erica let out hollow laughs.

“Now let us go help Tyren.”

Kyrie moved his feet.

Andromeda and Erica did not ask why.

Tyren was the one who had stood at the very front in denying the elixir of sacred radiance.

If they broke that Tyren, no one would be able to deny their business anymore.

“Look at these sky-soaring bastards.”

Tyren gnashed his teeth inside the fortress.

The fortress raised by earth arts was firm, but mental waves could be heard even beyond the walls.

The soldiers began to roll their eyes back and collapse one by one.

Thud! Thud!

The encroached climbed up the fortress walls emptied of soldiers.

Should I block the gate completely? But if we become isolated…

Monsters larger than ogres rammed the city gate up ahead.

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

Then the southwestern gate opened.

The red coats of the marksman school marched in.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The mutant demonic beasts toppled one by one.

Do not come.

Tyren rather wished Kyrie would not come.

In any case, he could hold out.

[“■■■■■■!”]

Just then, an absurd mental wave burst from the city center.

“Urgh!”

Even Tyren’s entire body trembled.

It felt as though thousands of snakes were crawling beneath his skin.

Creak!

Tyren urgently opened the city gate and ran out.

“Grand Prince! You were safe.”

Kyrie smiled as if telling him to go on and say what he was thinking right now.

Tyren overcame awkwardness enough to want to kill himself and opened his mouth.

“Do you, by any chance, have any elixir of sacred radiance left?”

“Of course.”

Kyrie nodded as if he had been waiting.

Chapter 215

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