Episode 68: Settling the Score
Muscle Ripple Style.
The Muscle Ripple Style, which tempers muscles and elevates them to the level of martial arts, boasts absolute superiority in battles between Satella-Class individuals.
While it doesn’t have the power to drastically change the tide of battle like fights between Stella-Class individuals, it is still one optimal solution reached by those striving to reach the pinnacle of martial prowess with a Satella-Class body.
Or so it should be—
“My Muscle Meteor Leg couldn’t knock him unconscious…?”
Dadinga felt a sense of unease from his earlier attack.
Through tireless effort and training, he had acquired the skills befitting the title of master.
There was no way a mere Satella-Class could withstand his Muscle Meteor Leg.
“You’re going to do it, right? Dadinga-san!”
“Of course, we’ll accompany you!”
“If you didn’t do it, Dadinga-san, I would have.”
Three young Military Officials called out to Dadinga, but the earlier doubt lingered in his mind.
“Be careful, those Court of Justice men are acting strangely.”
Dadinga raised his guard to the maximum.
“…Die, Muscle Man!”
Uzelashi closed in on Dadinga in an instant, despite his staggering gait.
Dadinga took a defensive stance.
(What is this feeling?)
Dadinga’s unease grew stronger.
Uzelashi’s Magic Martial Arts were that of a normal Satella-Class.
He should have been able to handle it easily with his usual training.
However, Dadinga was now on the defensive.
(…My body feels heavy!)
Dadinga gradually became unable to deflect Uzelashi’s attacks.
He felt a resistance as if it wasn’t his own body.
“Kuhaha, you’re holding up well in that state. But…”
“Guh…”
His guard was forcibly broken open.
Dadinga was surprised by the loss of strength.
“…Your torso is wide open.”
A palm strike pierced Dadinga’s solar plexus, sending him flying.
Despite the pain in his solar plexus, he managed to regain his posture in the air and barely landed on his feet.
“Buha…”
He coughed up blood.
Dadinga recognized the change that had occurred in his body.
His movements had clearly become sluggish, and he had suffered an unusual amount of damage.
(Damn it… my internal organs are damaged…)
The power was unbelievable for an attack from a mere Satella-Class.
No, perhaps it was the opposite.
(Is my body weakening?)
A Satella-Class losing power.
There was only one thing he could think of that could cause it.
“…Could it be that my Magical Power Capacity is decreasing?”
“Kuhaha, you’ve noticed, have you? But it’s too late. Your subordinates will be taken care of soon enough.”
Uzelashi pointed to where the three young Military Officials were struggling.
They were probably experiencing the same phenomenon as Dadinga.
He wanted to go help them, but he couldn’t leave Uzelashi alone.
(First, I need to assess the situation.)
Dadinga took a deep breath and focused his consciousness inward.
Then, he felt a strange sensation in his right hand.
“What is this?”
An unfamiliar, ominous pattern had appeared on the back of Dadinga’s right hand.
It was like a “fang bound by chains.”
It was probably a type of cursed seal, but Dadinga had no memory of having a cursed seal engraved on his right hand.
“Kuhaha, it seems you haven’t been informed. Well, that’s to be expected. After all, that cursed seal is the greatest mistake committed by the first Marquis Ortenos, Illumina!”
A pattern like a “raging bonfire” was floating on the back of Uzelashi’s right hand.
A cursed seal that seemed to be the counterpart to Dadinga’s.
The weakening was probably due to this cursed seal.
(As long as this cursed seal is here, I’ll remain weakened… this might be bad.)
Dadinga…
Uzelashi’s fist was approaching his face.
◇◇◇◇
From there on, it was hell.
(Please stop… I’m going to die if this keeps up.)
Zoan watched Dadinga’s fight with bated breath.
The Military Official with the buzz cut, who had rushed to their aid, was being mercilessly trampled by Uzelashi.
“Enough! Just die already! You, muscle-bound oaf!”
Dadinga continued to be tormented, but he still stood.
“Gof… I won’t… fall…! I will never yield to you unreasonable fools…!”
Dadinga was bleeding from all over his body and looked like he could collapse at any moment, but he stubbornly endured.
This was solely due to his loyalty to Ortenos and Sharka.
“Sharka is the fool! Damn it, just remembering it makes me sick. Five years ago, he protected Dust with no place to go, and even defied our Court of Justice! It’s a disgrace for a noble to pander to commoners!”
“I don’t understand Lord Sharka’s profound thoughts. But I can see it by looking at those who have come to admire Lord Sharka. They all see a future in Lord Sharka. They are here because they believe that Lord Sharka is the one who will create a new era. You, who can only take, will never understand!”
Dadinga had interacted with Sharka since childhood, and among the Military Officials, he had paid more attention to Sharka than anyone else, supporting him from the shadows.
He knew that Sharka had an unusual ideology from a young age, but he had a straightforward conviction and had been working for Ortenos.
“Shut up! As long as Sharka was born in Ortenos, he cannot escape this ‘Orthodox Shackles Seal’! You people of Ortenos are all just slaves of us Lanecki!”
“I don’t know anything about that! Lord Sharka is the future of Ortenos! He worries and moves forward for the sake of Ortenos! If you try to get in his way, no matter what measures you take, Lord Sharka will overcome them all and surely sink his teeth into your throats!”
Dadinga’s desperate words struck the hearts of everyone present.
Magic Users were supposed to be avoided by Dust.
Even so, the fact that he was able to generate empathy beyond the difference in rank was probably because his figure of shouting back in the face of injustice was reminiscent of the small boy from the past.
“Ugh…!”
Uzelashi recoiled at Dadinga’s spirit, letting out an inarticulate groan.
However, no matter what Dadinga said now, Uzelashi’s superiority would not be overturned.
Uzelashi decided to quickly kill the annoying lump of muscle in front of him.
“That’s enough… just die in one breath!”
Uzelashi swung down his sword.
Dadinga resigned himself to death, but the sword never reached his neck.
What stopped the sword was a thick pipe.
Uzelashi looked at the owner in surprise and retreated warily.
“Ah… ah…”
Dadinga was engulfed in an overwhelming torrent of Magical Power, and his wounds healed in an instant.
An enormous Magical Power that seemed to overturn all unreasonableness.
Dadinga knew the owner of this Magical Power.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
What appeared was a black-haired, golden-eyed boy with an unremarkable face.
It was a familiar sight for the commoners like Zoan, but that’s why it was somehow nostalgic.
The boy was a mysterious existence to them.
Everyone knelt down and shed tears as they called out his name.
“Lord Sharka…!”
Dadinga noticed the abnormality.
It was on a different level than the small cursed seal on the back of his right hand.
On Sharka’s right arm, traces like “malicious, dark black chains” were engraved like a curse.
The ominous black aura wavering from it was clearly something that was corroding the person himself.
“Lord Sharka, that right arm…!”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, it’s just like hives.”
“Hives, you say?”
Sharka acted as if it was nothing.
Was it really true?
However, they all knew that this boy would resist injustice with a calm face.
“I see…”
Sharka looked around and roughly grasped what had happened.
Then, he suddenly turned his gaze to the main culprit of the disturbance, the Court of Justice.
Emotionless golden eyes pierced Uzelashi.
“Now then, gentlemen of the Court of Justice—”
A faint smile appeared on Sharka’s face.
A cold smile that was by no means friendly.
In an instant, the smile disappeared, and a deep voice was thrown out.
“—How do you intend to settle this score?”
Uzelashi’s face twisted greatly at the question from the boy with this overwhelming presence.