Above the Avangarde Royal Capital
“What do you mean the Phantom isn’t finished yet?”
“I thought the Death Weapon Merchant was just a Ghost flaunting his weapons and having a good time.”
“Don’t act like it’s someone else’s problem…”
“Well, it is someone else’s problem.”
If I think about it, this was all a result of the trouble she caused. But the Death Weapon Merchant was a wanted criminal. Whether the Phantom was here or not, this situation would have eventually unfolded. Blaming Elmera for this would be unjust.
“Still, it’s pathetic that you can’t fly on your own.”
“Shut up, Elmera is the abnormal one.”
“Hey, Kurinka, why don’t you try shaking her off a bit? Let’s see if Lua-chan survives a fall from this height!”
“Of course not! Grrr!”
Elmera, floating in the air with a cute, open-mouthed expression, was being threatened by the golden Dragon. Using her Imagination Magic, she drifted in the air as if lying on a bed. By manipulating the gravity of wind and earth attributes, she made it look effortless. According to Kurinka, this alone puts her decades ahead in the magical community. While there are wizards who use wind magic for transportation, none can move as freely as she does. Whether it’s Elmera’s talent or the prowess of elves, I decided to keep quiet about it, fearing compliments would only inflate her ego—this was a conversation we had yesterday.
“You’re fine if you fall, right?”
“Not a chance.”
“Please, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime request! Just do it!”
“Absolutely not.”
Just dealing with her was exhausting. Back at the inn yesterday, I tried to convince Kurinka to put me in a separate room from Elmera, but she threw a fit, making it impossible. Elmera kept crawling into bed with me, and Kurinka was busy chasing her around with her staff, leaving me no peace.
“Oh, I see! You really like Elmera, huh? Good, good!”
“Grr…”
Elmera rubbed against the mane of the Blast Chimera, looking annoyed but clearly not going to bite. Did she instinctively know she couldn’t win, or was she actually a kind-hearted girl?
“Does this one have a name?”
“Now that you mention it, I never named her. Lua-chan, do you have any good ideas?”
“Hmm…”
I didn’t want to say anything. I could already picture Elmera laughing at my sense of naming. With the Royal Capital looming in the distance, I found myself grappling with a different kind of anxiety, one unrelated to battle.
East Street of Avangarde
“Hey, Seigel! Long time no see! How have you been? Haha!”
“J-Jag…! What are you doing here?!”
The man who had reappeared, my father’s nemesis, had transformed from a buzz-cut to long hair cascading to his shoulders. He was the same man who had once targeted Kurinka, the Dragon, at the Hunter’s Nest in Kashiram. Out of jealousy, he had killed my father. He was supposed to have been captured by the Kashiram soldiers and thrown into a dungeon. So why was he here?
“Watch your mouth! It’s Jag-san, got it? Haha!”
“How are you here when you were supposed to be taken to the Royal Capital of Kashiram…?”
“The Death Weapon Merchant, you see. He freed me from captivity. And it seems he also rescued the heir of the Matere Trading Company. Though, from what I hear, that father of his was killed.”
His mocking laughter grated on my nerves. Back then, I had pleaded with the King of Kashiram to show him mercy, but now, facing him again, dark thoughts surged within me.
“That disgusting weapon of yours… Have you fallen to the level of the Phantom? A pitiful ghost…”
“That’s a harsh thing to say! The Phantoms, including me, are just unfortunate souls who never get their due! Haha!”
“Ah! How pitiful indeed! Selling your very soul to become a ghost!”
I readied my great sword, prepared to strike at Jag at any moment. Honestly, I wanted to kill him; a scoundrel like him had no place in this world.
“Don’t get so worked up. Today, we’re not the only Phantoms here.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Let’s just say it’s an alliance. They should be arriving soon.”
Near the Castle Gates of Avangarde
I couldn’t make sense of it. The strong soldiers of Avangarde were supposed to be deployed, each squad stationed to guard the castle gates. The gates were firmly shut, and there were sentries on the walls. There was no way for anyone to infiltrate from outside. So they must have come up from below.
“A-Ai! They came up from below?!”
Heads, shoulders, and torsos emerged from the ground, one after another. No, it was dozens—countless figures filling my vision.
“So, which one should I beat to a pulp? Hey, you!”
“Tragedy! It has been revealed that the sixth squad captain, Bunarg, received no prior explanation! Aaaah! Truly a tragedy!”
“I get it, but I’m asking who I should hit! Verbal, hey!”
“The Phantoms, our allies, are armed with Black Weapons, so I was told to kill anyone else! This is truly a tragedy! Aaaah!”
I didn’t have the time to figure out who these people were. From their exchange, it was clear they weren’t friendly. So shouting here would be pointless. I shielded the bewildered Mai and hid Mi further behind me.
“W-Who are you?!”
“Oh, Avangarde soldiers. They say these guys are super weak, Verbal. Hey.”
“First, it’s customary to introduce ourselves… You don’t even know that? We are the Comet Wolf Brigade! Today, the Avangarde Royal Capital will fall into our hands… Don’t take it personally; all this tragedy is the result of the tyranny of the monarchy!”
“Ah, right! And this is Verbal, the captain of the eighth squad. Apparently, the first squad is the strongest, but I’m the strongest of all. Don’t get it twisted, hey!”
“The Comet Wolf Brigade…! They destroyed the Kingdom of Amur…”
A band of the strongest and most notorious thieves, united under the ideology of toppling the monarchy. They were said to rival even the Demon Lord Army in scale. Rumor had it that even their non-executive members were on par with the elite knights of the Kingdom of Amur. Given that kingdom’s fall, I believed those rumors to be true.
“Ah, speaking of the Kingdom of Amur, the royal women were quite delectable, huh?”
“The souls of the young ladies who were humiliated by such a man will never find peace! A tragedy, oh, what a tragedy!”
“They left the king and queen crippled and then toyed with their daughters before their eyes. Humans are amusing, aren’t they? They try to stop me, even crawling on the ground. I like to choke them unconscious, then wake them up, and finally finish them off while strangling them! The subordinates who couldn’t even protect their own lord ended up screaming and committing suicide! Pfft, haha!”
“Ai?!”
Before I knew it, I was swinging my axe at that despicable man. I felt no hesitation against a creature so vile, it was barely human.
“I’ll support you! Mi, stay back!”
“You’re too soft, hey!”
He dodged my axe and swatted away Mai’s arrow with his fist. I misjudged his movements; he had seen the arrow’s speed and countered it perfectly. No, this man was stronger than us.
“The sixth squad, also known as the shock troops. We break through walls and pave the way for the wolves. Listen up, everyone! No need to hold back! Let’s finish this job and have some fun!”
“Yes, Captain Bunarg!”
All of them wore knuckle dusters and fought barehanded. A horde of dozens of rogues charged at us and the soldiers. They shattered the soldiers’ spears with their fists, pierced through shields, and most fell without a chance to fight back. These weren’t just ordinary thieves; they were all masters of some kind. Their styles varied, but if they had lived honestly, they could have opened their own dojos and become masters. How could so many end up in the Comet Wolf Brigade? I couldn’t comprehend it.
“Didn’t you ever think about quitting thievery and living an honest life?!”
“What a pretty girl! Hehe, I’ll treat you well later!”
“W-Answer me!”
“How many people in this world live honestly and can afford a decent life? Do you think it’s a world where the beautiful are rewarded? Don’t you know that the cunning and filthy thrive while the good suffer?”
“Is that so…?”
I recalled how we had almost been devoured by Gametz, how without Lua, we wouldn’t even be standing here. We understood all too well that it wasn’t always the case. Even this nameless thief must have had a past. What kind of life had he lived to fall into thievery? What was I even saying?
“That’s enough, you lowly scum! This is Greyman speaking, and I shall be your opponent!”
“A-A-Rank has arrived!”
One of the soldiers looked on with desperate hope as Greyman made his grand entrance. With their squad already on the brink of annihilation, they must have been filled with a desire to cling to any chance of survival. I was barely managing to evade attacks myself, and with that massive axe, I was at a severe disadvantage against his fighting style. It wouldn’t be surprising if I got hit two or three times in the gap left by a single evaded strike. The speed difference was that significant.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Look at this bulky guy coming in!”
“You’re the most arrogant one here. Then let me show you this—”
“Too slow!”
“Ugh! Wait, wait, wait!”
Greyman was quickly forced into a defensive position, having lost the initiative in an instant. Each time Bunarg’s fist landed, Greyman’s large shield buckled, gradually transforming into a pitiful sight reminiscent of a battered old pot.
“W-What?! A shield made of 100% orichalcum!”
“My Custom Magic, Revenge Knuckle! The more I hit, the stronger it gets! By the way, I don’t even know the upper limit! What a shame; if I had this, I could have made that so-called Flash Strike Girl submit!”
“Rua-san…”
I thought I had become a capable adventurer. With the three of us together, I believed we could defeat anyone, but that arrogance was shattered by Habaku. And here I was again, hoping for her help. Expecting to be saved twice was selfish of me. I thought the best way to repay Rua-san was to become strong enough for her to feel at ease.
“A-Ai-neechan…”
“Mai!”
“I’m sorry…”
Mai and Mi lay collapsed, being trampled by the thieves. A chilling sensation ran through my heart, and my grip on the axe loosened. I wasn’t so naive as to not know what was about to happen.
“Mai, Mi!”
“I won’t let you go! Hey!”
I was immediately surrounded, and the path to my sisters was cut off. They were too fast, their footwork impeccable. I wondered how much training it took to reach this level; if they weren’t such formidable opponents, I might have asked.
“But Rua-san will surely—”
“You thought the Flash Strike Girl would come to help? She won’t. Because that brat has already been taken care of by the assault team led by Cancel.”
“No way! Rua-san can’t possibly lose!”
“Who knows? Cancel may be weak, but he’s clever. The S-Rank woman from the Kingdom of Amur was practically killed by him.”
“No, that’s impossible… It must be a lie…”
“Exactly! That little girl can’t possibly lose!”
“Greyman…”
Despite Bunarg’s relentless assault, Greyman stood firm, his shield cracked and dented. I had never liked this guy, who flaunted his expensive gear to gather party members. But even as his prized equipment was being destroyed, he remained composed. He even encouraged us, who were on the brink of despair. His indomitable fighting spirit transcended the performance of his gear. I couldn’t help but notice that his head, visible through the cracks in his helmet, was oddly bald, but he was still A-Rank. He was fundamentally different from us.
“What foolish fools. They’ve assumed Rua has been defeated and teamed up with Phantom, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Why? That brat is the one who first broke my gear during the Combat Tournament preliminaries! There’s no way she’d die so easily!”
“I can’t deal with this old man! Hey!”
“Ugh!”
Just as he managed to counterattack, his swift footwork allowed him to dodge effortlessly and slip into Greyman’s guard. Finally, the golden armor shattered, and Greyman fell to his knees.
“G-Gah… I can’t believe even orichalcum can be defeated like this…”
“Revenge Knuckle is now within range to pulverize your body with just one arm! Next, I’ll kill you, hey!”
“N-No! Stop! Don’t touch me! Nooooo!”
Mai, Mi. I’ll save you now.
“Berserk…”
“Ugh!”
“Yeeek!”
“Ugh!”
The screams vanished. Not just my sisters’ cries, but the breath of the filthy thieves as well.
“Thank goodness, I made it in time.”
“Mai-chan, you’re okay, right?!”
The thieves who had been about to humiliate my sisters lay defeated, and in their place stood familiar girls.
“Rua-san, Kurinka-san!”
“Yeah, be grateful.”
“Huh? Who?”
“Hey, Elmera, don’t just barge in without introducing yourself.”
“““““Flash Strike Girl!”””””
The soldiers and enemies alike erupted in a cacophony of cheers and screams. Hope and despair collided, releasing a wave of sound. Even the lion-like monsters that had descended alongside them paled in comparison to their presence. No matter how threatening they were, it didn’t matter.
“Huh?! What’s going on, Cancel?! You’ve messed up!”
“A tragedy! The plan of someone who boasted that no living being could withstand it has utterly failed!”
As the minions trembled in confusion, the two leaders approached fearlessly. Perhaps they were confident, as Bunarg was showing his eagerness to fight by pounding his fists together.
“Huh? What’s this? They’re in the waterway? Where’s Phantom?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. I thought Phantom was causing a ruckus.”
“Hey?! Why is the leader of Phantom here with you?!”
“Huh? Is there a problem, punk?”
“We have an alliance with Phantom, hey!”
“I don’t care, then let’s break it.”
“Huh?!”
I was utterly bewildered.
“Mai, you were almost stripped of your clothes… Did they take anything else?”
“Huh? No, I’m fine…”
“Thank goodness. I was worried since they were thieves. I don’t know why you’re here, but…”
“Yeah, yeah…”
As always, she seemed oblivious to the danger, almost as if she were doing it on purpose. I wanted her to remain pure and untainted.
“Rua-san, Kurinka-san. Phantom is still active. And suddenly, the Comet Wolf Brigade has appeared. Adventurers, including A-Rank members, are scattered throughout the Royal Capital, engaging in battle, but I don’t know the details.”
“Hey, why am I being ignored?”
“Those two are the executives of the Comet Wolf Brigade. That thug-looking guy uses Custom Magic that increases the power of his punches the more he hits. The one in the triangular hat is still a mystery.”
“Oh? Ignored? Just because I have a slightly bigger chest?”
“Elmera, could you please just be quiet for a moment?”
The pale-skinned girl with green hair kept interrupting, which was quite annoying. There were two executives right nearby, yet she had the nerve to act so casually. And what was with those pointed ears?
“You were late, Rua! If this Greyman hadn’t held out, we would have been wiped out!”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t get all cheeky and rebellious… Huh? Thank you?”
“Yeah, really, thank you. Leave the rest to me.”
The atmosphere shifted dramatically. The very air seemed to freeze, and the enemies before us were completely dominated by fear. The thieves who had been so bold just moments ago were now trembling, unable to maintain their stance.
“The townspeople are safe, right?”
“What if I said they were thoroughly violated? Hey.”
Yet Bunarg was now closing in on Rua’s face.
“B-Bunarg! This is bad… Run!”
“My fists can now crush orichalcum with just one arm!”
Bunarg’s fist was unleashed toward Rua’s face. Naturally, a dull thud echoed. That was to be expected; if I did the same to orichalcum, my arm would easily shatter.
“Y-AAAAHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Shut up.”
I barely caught a glimpse of Rua’s palm strike as it flew through the air.
“Ugh!”
A soundless scream, like that of a frog being crushed. And by the time I recognized what had happened, Bunarg was already embedded in the ground, his body convulsing. His neck was twisted horrifically, and his eyes were rolled back.
“……!”
Not a single person dared to voice their shock. How could they? They couldn’t bear to accept the reality that their boss had been taken down with a single slap.
“Bunarg? This is just the beginning, right?”
One of his underlings, still half in disbelief, called out, clinging to the hope that Bunarg still had some fight left in him. If there was a “next,” it might just be a future spent in bed for the rest of his life.
“Rua-Rua-chan. He’s not dead, right?”
“He’s barely alive, I think? After all, it was just a slap… And about the Comet Wolf Brigade—”
“W-What?!”
“Let me be clear, I’m angry now.”
In that moment, there was probably no other time I would witness such a childlike statement carrying this much weight.
◆ Shin Report ◆
I’ve thought up names for the blast creatures.
Candidate One!
Black Chaos Fang.
Candidate Two!
The Bow of Destruction Emerging from the Abyss.
Candidate Three!
The Destroyer’s Guardian.
What do you think? A true monster should have a name with this much flair, right?
So, why is the thief here?
That guy, Kiyansel, must have been trusted quite a bit.
Why, why do they seem so complacent?
Why can’t they choose to stay away from Rua?
It’s too complicated for Shin, and I just don’t get it.
Also, Elmera, don’t get carried away. Get a grip!