【“You made an inefficient choice.”】

“No. It was an efficient choice.”

【“You had a paved highway right in front of you, yet you chose the road that crosses mountains and rivers. How can that be an efficient choice?”】

“Because I can do anything I want to do, and I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.”

He wasn’t sure if he’d truly been trading questions and answers with a constellation.

He’d merely thought it while his high-speed thinking scorched through his mind.

“Since when does desire need a reason?”

【“……”】

“Desire is an end, not a means. Efficiency is a means, not an end. The faster road isn’t always the more rational one. I won’t confuse ends with means.”

Still, there was one thing he knew for sure.

“I only wanted a rational life—an orderly, efficient life. And the Dreaming Thunderbolt Constellation chose someone like me far beyond what I deserve, and I gained this power.”

Rational.

It meant reason that fit—rightness joined to logic.

“If you ask me what rationality is, I can’t answer yet. I talk a good game, but when words fail me, I have a bad habit of drawing my sword.”

A life repeating betrayal after betrayal didn’t look very rational.

Trust was hard to quantify.

Sometimes it was worth less than a single coin, and sometimes it was worth more than a fortune.

Maybe it was more accurate to say it couldn’t be priced at all.

But sacrificing something you couldn’t calculate in order to gain something you could calculate was clearly a bad trade.

“If you cut off desire just to match efficiency, you’ve put the cart before the horse. If I may dare to ask what’s in your heart—Dreaming Thunderbolt Constellation, you too must have something you want to protect, or something you want to accomplish, if you descended even to an illegitimate child from a red-light district instead of choosing the main line of a noble house or a famed collateral branch. If that’s so, I believe you’ll understand me.”

He thought that might have been too much.

A mere Blue Knight trying to fathom a constellation.

It was the sort of thing that wouldn’t be strange to earn divine punishment.

【“Yes.”】

The Thunderbolt Constellation, in a way, responded with something even more startling than divine punishment.

【“How could I not know that heart?”】

All of this took only a few seconds.

Saint Deneve’s body still hadn’t even hit the ground and bounced once.

Thud!

The warhammer, saturated with “Gravity Wave,” struck the ground and kicked up an earthquake.

The earth split enough to swallow a person or two, and cracks spidered across the monastery walls.

“How dare you do that to Lord Deneve!”

“Kill him!”

“Strike!”

The first enemies to move were the Royal Family Stellite.

“Protect the inquisitor, and kill that wicked Blue Knight!”

Betelgeuse drew his sword and leveled it at him.

“By command!”

“Obey His will!”

“May the Twin Constellations of Fate and Infinity illuminate the path before us!”

Fwoosh!

Sword Aura Starlight.

The Royal Family’s Oathbearers drew their swords, igniting multicolored starlight, and charged straight at him.

A faint glow also clung to their limbs and bodies.

That light—that all-purpose starlight.

Injected into the body, it strengthened muscle, stamina, and durability all at once; wrapped around a blade, it raised the sword’s hardness and cutting power.

It was power that could cleave through even a Thunderbolt Longsword with lightning infusion in only a few exchanges.

Tsssss!

Right now, he didn’t have so much as a dagger—let alone a Thunderbolt Longsword.

He wasn’t afraid anymore.

【True Energy Guidance: 20%】

【Aura Transmission: Active】

A mound of black metal powder lay thick at his feet.

Tsssss!

The powder shot up in wild, scattered bursts like snakes with dozens of heads, repeatedly rising and dropping their heads.

Saaah!

At his will, it whipped around like a bladed lash.

“Sacheol blades?”

“Cut it down!”

The Royal Oathbearers swung their shining swords and severed the Sacheol blades.

Thud!

The metal powder’s connection snapped, and it scattered.

Now he understood: even if it didn’t look like one, it could still be one.

Tsssss!

He recombined the Sacheol blade in midair—something that had already been cut once.

“Huh?”

The Sacheol blade, which now looked as if it had simply passed through the Oathbearer’s sword, sliced the Oathbearer’s throat.

Krrrk!

The high-speed vibrating metal powder shaved through flesh and bone as if grinding them down.

“Aaaagh!”

“Gaaah!”

Swords fell from the Oathbearers’ hands.

He didn’t let those swords touch the ground.

Attraction and repulsion.

Woooong!

The swords floated in the air, trembling.

Thwung!

It launched out at triple the speed of sound, pierced an Oathbearer who had already closed to melee range, and shot up into the sky.

“Ghk!”

Only after he’d been flung more than ten meters into the air could the man finally fall back down.

“Help the Oathbearers! I’ll avenge my cousin!”

Arminan shouted.

Flap!

Rikenta’s Navigators threw off their hooded cloaks and lowered their stances.

Wind King Armor wrapped their bodies without a single gap.

An absurd suit of armor that could casually deflect most “Emission” and sword strikes—and a weapon that let them beat a Blue Knight to death with bare hands.

“You’re ignoring me?”

Flash!

One Navigator was shattered—armor and all.

Flash!

“Am I invisible or something? Is that it?”

Andromeda dropped Lightning Strike (Authority).

A refined yet overwhelming Authority, layered even with Heavenly Thunderbolt (light).

The ultra-high heat—and the shockwave born from it—burned and tore the wind armor apart and crushed the person inside.

Andromeda smiled.

It was a smile steeped to the brim in satisfaction, pride, and happiness.

Of course. That’s my little brother.

She dropped lightning from the sky in rapid succession.

This is our path.

If it was Heavenly Tribulation, lightning from the upper atmosphere, or Gathered Clouds, lightning gathered into a single strike, even she needed a measure of casting—but Lightning Strike (Authority) was effortless.

I won’t look over my shoulder and take the long way around. I won’t watch my own steps and choose the hard road. I’ll just go where this heart tells me to go—bending, leaping sharp when it has to, but stretching forward exactly the way I want.

Heavenly Thunderbolt (light), the technique that guided thunder’s shockwave so it burst in only one direction, had settled into her body completely; now, whenever she used Lightning Strike (Authority), it came out alongside it by reflex.

Like lightning, forever. That’s House Astreos.

Rikenta’s Navigators screamed and fled.

“It’s Andromeda!”

“Brace for lightning!”

“How are we supposed to watch out for that?!”

“That’s….”

Arminan—once counted among the youngest constellations—fell silent.

He had nothing to say to his subordinates.

When an ordinary Blue Knight and a Navigator fought, seven or eight times out of ten the Navigator won.

With Authorities like body reinforcement or Emission, you couldn’t pierce Wind King Armor.

Even with Bio-radar, you couldn’t see wind blades.

With Thunderstep, you couldn’t dodge flight.

A crushing advantage by affinity.

But the moment a Blue Knight used Lightning Strike (Authority), the affinity flipped.

Ultra-high heat and ultra-high pressure lightning blew apart the compressed air that formed Wind King Armor in an instant.

Just like what was happening right now.

Flash!

Another Navigator burst apart.

“Don’t block it—dodge! Glide! Glide! Rain down air cannons from the sky!”

Arminan barked frantic orders and stepped forward.

“I’ll hold.”

He, too, was a powerhouse who wouldn’t lose to anyone lightly.

Whoooosh!

A whirlwind rose around Arminan.

His body turned translucent and swelled.

Wind, mana, wind-force gathered in.

Oooooh!

Inside the gray vortex stood Arminan—translucent and enormous.

["Brace yourself."]

Spirit Form.

Arminan, transformed into a Wind Giant, swung his hand at Andromeda.

Krrrsh!

Five lines of wind blades plowed forward, ripping up the ground.

“Not bad.”

Andromeda clacked her fists together, sparks dancing between her white teeth.

Kwarrrumble!

A light-form Heavenly Thunderbolt (light)—not Lightning Strike (Authority), but a shield of Energy Burst manifested from Emission—unfurled.

Boom!

Blades made from compressed wind collided with a shield made by detonating wind.

Fwoop!

Andromeda reached toward the sky, trying to unfold a greater Authority.

Saaah!

Arminan immediately attacked her with an Authority he could deploy at once.

Vacuum Barrier.

A spherical whirlwind rose around Andromeda.

It scattered the oxygen in the air outward and packed nitrogen into a sphere to block her from escaping—a slow, cruel execution Authority.

Backed by the massively swollen mana unique to Spirit Form, Vacuum Barrier manifested in an instant.

“Ugh!”

Andromeda staggered hard.

["Die in agony, you filthy traitor, you vile invader. I haven’t forgotten how you used your little brother to invade the main house’s territory—ghk!"]

Right after that, Arminan staggered hard as well.

Kwak-kwa-kwa-BOOM!

All the storm clouds in the sky were gathering into a single swirling mass.

Gathered Clouds fell, nearly blasting away half of Arminan’s body.

Then Wind King Armor—striking as a follow-up—shattered half of what remained.

If Arminan hadn’t already abandoned his flesh, it would have been an attack that left nothing to bury.

Arminan shrank—from a giant taller than the monastery walls into a wind-body only a little bigger than a man.

He bounced away like a kicked doll and only stopped after slamming into the monastery wall.

“Kgh… kghhh!”

That body returned from a translucent spirit-flesh to opaque human flesh.

Because all the mana he’d sucked in during Spirit Form had burned away, he could no longer maintain that shape.

“Idiot.”

Andromeda clutched her throat, coughed a few times, then clicked her tongue.

“The higher wind arts go, the worse their affinity gets with lightning arts. What’s the point of using Spirit Form? You just get bigger so you get hit harder. Didn’t you know?”

Watching that, Kyrie gave a slight nod—praising himself.

Of course my choice was right. Picking a fight with Andromeda while trusting only a few adopted heirs? That’s insane. If you have a brain, you don’t do that.

Arminan, back in human form, and Betelgeuse, human from the start, quickly exchanged looks.

We made a mistake.

You finally realize it.

Oathbearers, who could reinforce their entire bodies with Sword Aura Starlight, matched well against Andromeda, a lightning caster.

Knowing now is enough.

Navigators, who could endure with Wind King Armor and hunt for a single opening with an air cannon, matched well against Kyrie, a Blue Knight.

“Follow me! You who swore your oath to the Two Stars!”

Only now did the two of them charge—finally choosing the right targets.

“W-what? Don’t come! I said don’t come!”

Panic crept into Andromeda’s voice.

Oathbearers who stuck to her at speeds rivaling Thunderstep were, for her, a fairly troublesome opponent.

And for Kyrie, Navigators were a tiring opponent, then and now.

“Pour it on!”

Puh-BOOM! Puh-BOOM! Puh-BOOM!

A barrage of air cannons came flying in.

The earth split, and dust exploded upward in a thick cloud.

It’s damn awkward when I can’t see the projectiles.

Kyrie chained Thunderstep after Thunderstep to evade.

Having to dodge ranged attacks by probability instead of precisely seeing and avoiding them with Bio-radar sent a chill crawling up his spine.

“Hand over my cousin!”

Arminan tore through the dust cloud and flew in.

His clenched fist held enough output to collapse a rocky mountain.

Boom!

“Ghk!”

Kyrie leapt back and barely bled the force away.

Insane.

If I didn’t have Traisan’s gauntlet engraved with Impact Sharing and Impact Reflection, my arm would’ve snapped in one blow.

How strong is Wind King Armor?

Kyrie lifted his head, ready to fire the Electromagnetic Railgun if it came to it.

Gathered Clouds won’t hit him anyway.

He spat blood-mixed saliva and went on.

“And if you take her, what then?”

“Whatever I do, will it be worse than what you did to that child? You prisoner abuser.”

“I fed her meat three times a day. I served fruit and sweets for dessert, too. I nearly broke my back treating her with courtesy. I’m not a prisoner abuser—I’m a pro-visor. Call me that.”

“How dare you insult Rikenta’s main line!”

“You’re the one. How dare you insult the heir of House Astreos?”

“Insult? Do you think I don’t know the atrocities Blue Knights commit?”

With a snort, Arminan flew in again.

Lightning alone won’t stop him.

Kyrie pulled every last grain of Sacheol in the area to him.

Tsssss!

The black metal powder spread behind Kyrie like a cloak made of torn sky.

Lightning infusion on the Sacheol blades.

White sparks snapped sharply through the gaps.

With a flick of Kyrie’s hand, the Sacheol blades shot toward Arminan.

Boom!

“I’ll rip your arm off!”

With the strength of Wind King Armor, Arminan pinned the blades down and closed on Kyrie.

“And I’ll crush your head!”

Kyrie added vibration to the Sacheol blades.

Don’t try to dominate each one. Make a flow.

The lightning snapping between the Sacheol blades grew even fiercer.

Wiiiiing!

The Sacheol blades’ cutting power rose even further.

“Crushing your head first would be more efficient than wasting time ripping off your arm!”

Crack-crack-crack!

Arminan’s Wind King Armor was consumed in an instant.

Chapter 161

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