Aster took middle guard again.
He would keep matching his opponent, but he couldn’t drag things out forever.
If he could defeat Apollo without injuring Ludovic, that would be best.
“Alright, let’s continue.”
Pop!
All of his aura concentrated to a single point—an attack that arrived in the blink of an eye.
The path of the blade dropping from above to below became one single line as it crashed down.
'Ilseom.'
“[Krg...!]”
Apollo twisted his body and dodged the Ilseom.
That was partly because Apollo’s dynamic vision and reflexes were excellent, but also because Aster was moderating his strength.
By now, Aster could even “match” the opponent with Ilseom itself.
Tat!
Apollo sprang back. A motion to widen the distance from Aster.
“...?”
Aster still didn’t understand, but he chased Apollo anyway.
'Don’t tell me he’s running?'
A god, running from a human?
He hadn’t thought that lofty pride would allow it, yet Apollo clearly didn’t want to keep fighting Aster.
'After that exchange, his strength weakened. Is it related to that?'
It seemed certain Apollo’s goal had been to pin Aster down, but somewhere along the way the objective changed.
Fighting Aster was disadvantageous. That was Apollo’s judgment.
'I don’t know why, but...'
Aster’s task was clear.
Ludovic was unquestionably strong. Among the Zodiacs, the most similar type to Aster: an all-around swordsman with no particular weak points. The perfect vessel to wield a god’s power.
'This time I’ll be the one to chase.'
Clang! Kaaang!
Twice, their blades clashed in midair.
Apollo defended while retreating, flying back with each impact.
Tat-tat!
Aster went after him, feet tapping along branches one after another.
And when he sprang toward Apollo again—
Fwoosh!
“...Huh.”
Apollo, as if resolved to flee entirely, lifted into the air and flew.
Ordinarily, Ludovic couldn’t fly, but Apollo could.
Apollo turned his back completely to Aster and climbed high into the sky.
'Aster hasn’t learned flight magic. Let’s withdraw for now.'
Swallowing his humiliation, Apollo judged coolly.
If he kept getting drawn into Aster’s style of fighting, Apollo would be in greater danger.
Even Apollo hadn’t foreseen it, but Aster was a threat to him. No—whenever a god possessed a human, Aster was the natural enemy of them all.
“[Aster, one day with my own hands, I’ll—]”
He was saying the sort of stock line a loser would say—
Shwik!
Even that sentence was cut off by the wind.
'What?'
Something had flown; he’d heard the sound. Close enough for Apollo’s ears to catch it.
He glanced back without thinking.
'...A scabbard?'
His eyes registered the object—
The next moment.
—Ilseom.
“[What—!]”
Aster arrived where the scabbard had been.
In midair, directly below Apollo.
'Ilseom into the air! What are you thinking, Aster!'
By its nature, Ilseom could be used as a movement technique. From anywhere, to anywhere. But there was a maximum range, and Apollo was beyond it. That was why he had safely turned his back.
Ilseom could not be used consecutively. Whether from air or ground, once you used it, the strain on the body was severe and you needed to steady your breathing. Just like when he fought the Minotaur—he couldn’t kill in consecutive Ilseoms.
'Reset posture, calm the breath, back to middle guard. After using Ilseom, Aster has to land on the ground. Even if he made it up here, his blade won’t reach me!'
Just as Apollo thought that—
“One.”
Aster intoned between breaths, and—
Slide—
His foot rose onto the scabbard he had thrown first.
“Two.”
Both feet settled on the scabbard. Aster faced Apollo head-on in middle guard.
A landing.
“[...Nonsense—]”
“Three.”
'Ilseom.'
KWAAAAANG!!
“[Ghhh!!]”
Apollo crashed down from the air.
Dodging it on the ground would have been razor-thin; evasion in midair was out of the question. In the end he barely covered himself by sheathing his body in aura as a shield.
Thud! THUUD!
He tumbled across the ground, bounced twice, and got to his feet. There was no time to lie prone.
Aster descended from above.
Sus— One foot touched the earth with hardly a sound.
And that one foot—
BOOM!
Became the takeoff step—
Tat! Tat!
With merely three driving strides, he reached Apollo’s side.
'...Beautiful.'
Watching Aster rush him, Apollo thought that.
So this was the Hope of Humanity, Aster Evans.
Aster’s blade drew back. Compressed aura gathered along the edge—
'Right!'
Apollo decided in an instant—
Thump!
'?!'
He fell onto the ground.
Aster’s blade was at his neck.
“[Your eyes, your aura, even your muscles—everything read like a rightward cut, so how—!]”
Apollo had tripped over Aster’s foot hooking low. A neat, clean motion.
“If even a god’s eyes were fooled, the practice paid off.”
Well, Frondier was fooled too, so of course. Aster muttered to himself.
Apollo looked at the blade touching his neck. Aster probably wouldn’t actually stab this body. But the pressure of the tip alone was enough to immobilize him.
Yet at this point, Aster realized one thing.
'...This is a profoundly unpleasant kind of fight.'
Aster had all but completely overwhelmed Apollo. The outcome was decided here.
Even after the outcome, what to do next was not straightforward.
'If I strike Ludovic’s body now, will Apollo black out?'
Of course, he didn’t know. How could he know the state of a possessing god?
But if he couldn’t make the god faint that way, then how was he supposed to force a god to withdraw?
Did he truly have to kill Ludovic? Was there no other way?
'...No. If that were the case, why did Apollo run?'
Apollo knew Aster wouldn’t kill Ludovic.
So even with the situation like this, he had guaranteed safety.
If so, why had Apollo avoided the fight in the first place?
Even if he continued the fight, even if he lost, there was nothing for a god to lose. Simply holding Aster in place would achieve his objective.
...Unless—
'Maybe the idea that the god has nothing to lose is wrong?'
Just as Aster reached that thought—
TWAAANG—!
Aster heard a sound he’d never heard before.
It felt familiar and utterly foreign layered together.
It came from the sky, far enough that Aster had to tilt his head back to see.
“...That’s—”
A heavily muscled man, much larger than Aster.
Gray hair and beard.
A spear and shield strapped to his back, moving from air to air.
Aster had never seen the man.
But he knew.
“...Renzo?”
He muttered.
Apollo lifted his head and confirmed Renzo’s figure.
His thought was immediate.
“Ares!!”
Apollo shouted—and pushed himself upright. Aster’s blade was at Ludovic’s throat.
“!”
Startled, Aster jerked his sword back. It was Apollo’s gamble. If Aster had been slow, Ludovic could have died, but Apollo had counted on Aster’s faster reflexes.
Tat-tat!
Apollo rapidly backed away and headed for Renzo.
Aster could have chased—
'...What did that bastard just do?'
But the act was so absurd he stood there, anger surging up.
“He gambled with the life of the human who bears his divine power?”
Aster’s expression changed.
He remembered something Frondier had said.
—Demons and humans aren’t any different.
“Looks like gods are the same, Frondier.”
While Aster swallowed his anger—
“[Ares! Perfect timing! The two of us together can subdue Aster!]”
Renzo’s god, Ares.
One of the Twelve Olympians, the god of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} war.
In terms of rank, similar—but far closer to battle than Apollo. How could he not love the ideal body named Renzo?
A pincer attack with him would surely bring Aster down.
“[Look! Aster’s right there! Hurry—]”
THWACK—!!
BOOOM!!
Apollo flew diagonally and smashed into a boulder.
He didn’t move.
“!”
Aster looked up in shock. Ludovic—did he die?
Ares, who had slugged Apollo in the face, lightly shook out his extended fist.
“Who do you think you are, barking orders at me? You know who I am?”
No—that one sentence told Aster at once.
It wasn’t Ares.
It was Renzo.
Looking closer, the reason he seemed to “hover” was not that he was stationary; his body was moving up and down repeatedly, like he was stepping on an invisible trampoline in the air.
So that was the strange sound from before.
“...Damn.”
But Aster’s face grew even grimmer.
He’d almost prefer it to be Ares.
How could it be this depressing that a god couldn’t possess a human?
“Hey.”
Renzo looked at Aster.
He wasn’t here by chance.
Quite simply, he had come looking for Aster.
“Are you Aster Evans?”
“...”
Aster and Renzo had never met. Renzo didn’t know Aster’s face at all. Even if he’d seen it on some wizard-view, he would’ve forgotten it immediately.
So there was a possibility Aster could lie and fool Renzo—
“Yes. I’m Aster Evans.”
—But of course he wouldn’t.
“Oh. Found you fast.”
Renzo stopped his bounding in the air and dropped to the ground.
Thud!
A rough crash, the opposite of Aster’s noiseless landings.
He had absolute confidence that a fall from that height wouldn’t hurt him.
Step, step. Renzo strode straight up to Aster without a hint of fear.
It looked like a stride full of openings, but it wasn’t one of those “a veteran’s gait that only seems careless.”
It really was full of openings.
But he knew exactly how it would end if anyone tried to capitalize on that carelessness.
So Renzo indulged in his own carelessness and approached Aster.
Chk.
Renzo stopped right in front of Aster. Closer than Aster’s usual sword line—close enough for Renzo’s fist to reach him.
At the peak of Aster’s tension, Renzo said something unbelievable.
“I came to help.”
“...Pardon?”
“I got the gist from the noisy guy yammering next to me.”
'Next to him, yammering?'
Aster furrowed his brow, trying to parse it—and jolted.
Could Ares be right beside him now?
Not unwilling to possess—but unable to?
“You’re saying gods possess human bodies and charge at the demons, right? Can’t exactly sit and watch that.”
“...You don’t like gods possessing humans?”
Was Renzo’s pride refusing to tolerate this situation?
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Of course not.
“It’s a big event that looks fun! Gods, demons, humans! Three parties with completely different goals all wriggling and tangling like spaghetti! How could I just watch?”
“...Even war is ‘fun’ to you?”
“Well, yeah.”
Renzo admitted cleanly.
But he added one more line.
“Though from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like a war.”
“...What?”
“Alright then, let’s go. Once you’ve gauged the Zodiacs’ situation, you’re crossing the continent anyway, right?”
He was right.
If there were a way to neutralize the gods possessing the Zodiacs, then afterward Aster would also head to the western continent.
If an ally, Renzo was a powerful asset. He knew Renzo had made great contributions in the war against Manggot. He’d heard it from Frondier.
But Aster Evans couldn’t just let it pass.
“...Mr. Renzo.”
“What. Tell me on the way.”
Renzo took the lead and started walking.
“...Once we reach the western continent, you—”
“Whoa there, Aster.”
Renzo stopped and looked back at him.
“I’m offering to help you, you know. Me, Renzo.”
“...”
“Think very carefully about what you say next. If you flap your mouth wrong, it won’t be fun.”
A warning from Renzo. And a brief silence.
Aster, uncharacteristically, hesitated.
But Aster is, tediously enough, Aster.
“...What do you intend to do on the western continent?”
He had to ask.
“Do you intend to attack Frondier?”
“...Haa.”
Renzo dropped his head.
He shook it.
He raised it.
He turned his head—
And arrived right in front of Aster’s eyes.
KWAAAAANG!!!
