Aster cannot use flight or levitation magic.
When it comes to magic, Aster is nearly ignorant—except for counters.
And yet Aster is clearly floating above the lake right now.
A moment ago his feet at least touched the water’s surface.
But the instant he gripped that sword, the lake sank and Aster remained suspended in midair.
“...Marvelous.”
Renzo admired it, purely.
'He’s pushing the lake down with the pressure of his aura... No, is the lake yielding to the sword?'
It looked as if the lake itself were making space for Aster to exist.
'So this is Excalibur, said to be among the very highest of hero’s weapons.'
According to the tale of King Arthur, there are two Excaliburs.
One is the sword stuck in the stone, waiting for the qualified.
The other sleeps in a lake, bestowed by the fairy Nimue.
'So it really is a different sword than the one Frondier had.'
Renzo examined Aster’s sword.
Its shape was clearly different from the one Frondier had held. The aura it gave off was different as well.
Unlike Frondier’s Excalibur, which had been nothing short of ferocious, this one was far more tranquil.
Of course, neither was to be taken lightly.
“...Man, that’s noisy.”
Renzo suddenly bowed his head and sighed.
Then he turned his eyes to the side and spoke.
“Now you want to run? For a god, you ought to feel some shame.”
Aster saw that.
'...Don’t tell me he’s saying that to Ares.'
Ares is the one saying they should run?
The god of war?
'Does Excalibur have anything to do with Ares?'
No, that can’t be.
Excalibur and Ares have no point of contact in any story. Naturally—entirely different worlds.
'Let’s check.'
Aster raised his voice.
“Are you scared?”
“What?”
Renzo reacted immediately. Veins bulged at once.
“Who are you saying is scared—over a mere sword.”
“No, not you.”
“Oh, you mean this guy?”
Renzo pointed beside himself with a finger.
Aster thought,
'I’m glad it’s Renzo.'
Very similar to what Frondier had once thought.
“What’s Ares saying over there?”
“Mm, no, I’m in no position to tell you even if you ask like that. That’s something Ares hammered into me.”
I see. Conversations with a god are forbidden to divulge.
But since Renzo can’t converse with a god without using his mouth, Aster could unintentionally glean quite a bit just from Renzo’s lines.
“But he is scared, isn’t he?”
“Well, yeah.”
He answered the twenty-questions style prompts, and Renzo didn’t particularly lie.
'...If that’s the case.'
Aster set his stance.
Ares is frightened. He’d deny it if he heard it himself, but at any rate, he wants to get away from this place.
And that, from the moment Excalibur was gripped.
'I need to know why.'
Aster’s eyes changed.
'Hm.'
Seeing that, Renzo, without delay, took out his shield.
The god’s shield, Lynotoros. With the Aster in front of him now, there was no reason to hold back.
Aster’s middle guard. He stood in stillness within the hollowed space where the lake had sunk.
With cold sweat down his back, Renzo curled his lip.
“Ha, even with that sword in your hand, what you’re doing is—”
Ssut?
The blade touched Renzo’s forehead.
“?!”
KAAANG!!!
An instant later, Excalibur and Lynotoros collided.
KWAAAAAA!!
A wind blew all at once.
Stones, trees, and air burst endlessly between them.
“Y-You bastard...!”
“Urgh...!”
Renzo and Aster entered a contest of strength.
Juuuuuuk?!
At the same time, both sets of feet slid back. They pushed each other’s distance apart.
Even though the distance had widened, the clash refused to yield the center between them.
Blade and shield at an aura range where they couldn’t touch for a long time.
Renzo recalled the chill that had run through him a moment ago.
'It touched my forehead!'
Lynotoros is the shield that blocks everything in front of it, centered on the shield itself.
In other words—regardless of its outward size—it is the largest shield in this world. Even if Renzo doesn’t block precisely with the shield, if it’s the front, it stops any attack.
And yet, for an instant, Aster’s Ilseom had grazed Renzo’s forehead.
'His attack moved before the god’s property? How does that make any sense!'
Clench.
Renzo gripped his spear.
Unlike Aster, who launches Ilseom with both hands, Renzo has a free hand.
'Try this!'
In the midst of an aura clash with Aster, Renzo took his spear.
Aster was already mid-Ilseom; avoiding Renzo’s strike would be exceedingly difficult.
Above all, this much aura was colliding. If Aster broke his balance, the backlash would all come back to him.
'With this, he’ll...'
Renzo grinned.
And right before he threw the spear—
“......”
Renzo looked into Aster’s eyes.
Aster, come simply for a perfect head-on contest.
The very test of strength Renzo had longed for.
'...What am I?'
There Renzo felt something off.
Something was wrong.
What was wrong?
Did Aster pull some trick? Like Frondier?
...Frondier?
'?? So like you, Renzo.'
“...Hup!”
Renzo threw the spear.
He drove it into the ground right beside himself.
“...?”
At the same ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) instant Aster felt that question—
Whoosh!
“What!”
Renzo even threw away the shield he had been holding up.
In other words, Renzo was now—
'No!'
Aster’s Ilseom crashed down on Renzo, who had become defenseless.
Renzo’s divine power gathered to block that blade, but—
Psssshh!!
“?!”
The divine power scattered absurdly easily, and—
“Ghhrrk!!”
Aster turned his left foot back.
From his right shoulder, down to beneath his left hip, the entire track twisted.
He forcibly corrected Ilseom. His joints and muscles screamed.
Srak?!
Aster cut.
Renzo’s right arm—his prosthetic.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!
The excess aura, unable to find a path, slammed into the ground and scattered in every direction.
Behind Renzo, the earth and the surrounding trees were torn like sheets of paper.
“Haa! Haa! Khk!”
Thud.
Aster dropped to a knee.
A pain like being split in half, from his right ankle up to his left temple.
Aster’s Ilseom must fire in a straight line. It is a technique that condenses his every muscle and aura, his charging posture, and the whole art together.
If it were a technique that could be corrected mid-course, he would have done so long ago.
He forced a correction into something that, by nature, does not permit it. Like ramming a full-speed truck from the side.
Result—
'I don’t even know where or how I’m hurt...!'
Aster gritted his teeth. His body screamed. Whether that was muscle, bone, nerve—or all of it.
Renzo looked down at him.
“...What were you thinking.”
“What were you thinking...!!”
Aster shot back, fever rising. Then his face was quite angry. The pain made his voice intensify on its own.
“How do you suddenly turn defenseless in that situation—are you out of your mind?!”
At Aster’s indignation, Renzo asked instead,
“That would have been the perfect chance to kill me, wouldn’t it?”
“Killing you—ghk!”
Aster’s words halted from the pain. But even as he grimaced, he looked at Renzo.
From the first moment he met Renzo to now—
The look in his eyes hadn’t changed.
“How is that any kind of ‘chance’ to kill you...!”
“...What?”
“Why would I kill you!”
Clench.
Aster drove his foot deep into the ground and slowly stood.
Each span his body moved, it felt like it twisted in the wrong direction.
Renzo stared, eyes wide.
“...You have no intention of killing me?”
“When did I ever say I would? I’ve never said such a thing in my life.”
“If you leave me alone, Frondier will die.”
“You seem to be mistaken about something.”
Thump!
Aster planted Excalibur. Using it as a staff, he steadied his balance.
“Frondier isn’t going to die. He’s not someone who dies just because you want to kill him.”
“If you really think that, why are you stopping me?”
“What kind of question is that.”
Aster spoke as if he truly didn’t understand.
“Because you’re trying to commit murder, so I’m stopping you. What does it matter whether that succeeds or fails.”
“...You.”
Renzo started to say something, then shut his mouth.
If someone were to ask what he thinks of himself, Renzo would answer without hesitation.
That he’s crazy.
At least Renzo has that much self-awareness.
'...This guy is the one who’s insane.'
Yet Aster seemed to lack self-awareness—of how far gone he was.
To confirm it, Renzo said,
“Look at you now. You wrecked your body trying to save the man you were just fighting. Meanwhile, even having lost an arm, I’m fine. Killing you now would be very easy.”
“And?”
At Aster’s retort, Renzo twisted his mouth.
“In the afterlife, you’ll have learned something from this.”
Renzo clenched his fist. His aura settled into it.
Aster smiled at the sight.
He raised his sword—no, dragged it—and stood straight.
A trembling body, toes that held no aura.
“Even if I die here today, on this spot.”
So Aster said,
“I’ll make the same choice.”
“...You’d pull that same stupid stunt, fully aware this is the future?”
“Says the idiot who threw away his spear and shield first.”
Aster could not understand Renzo’s behavior.
Why he suddenly discarded his spear and shield.
Whether it was a ploy that wagered his life to wreck Aster’s body.
He didn’t know, but—
“My choice doesn’t change.”
There Renzo understood.
Aster’s eyes—devoid of killing intent for this entire fight.
This is Aster Evans.
Pure, and also simple.
And chilling for standing at that extreme.
'...I.'
Renzo lowered his fist.
From the beginning, he’d had no intention of striking the current Aster.
He turned his back and walked.
“...Where do you think you’re going?”
Aster asked from behind him.
“None of your business.”
“I’m going to keep an—urk.”
Aster collapsed again before he could take a single step.
For the little bit of cheer left to this situation, Renzo laughed.
“Kehaha. You’ll only be able to keep an eye on it from afar.”
It was a truly parched laugh.
Step, step. Renzo walked.
With one step, anger welled up, and with the next, killing intent swelled.
That just now—
Why Renzo had thrown away his spear and shield.
In truth, it was for the same reason as Aster.
'I actually chose something like that.'
In the midst of a test of strength with an enemy, he’d thought of landing a hit with his spear.
As if running away from a contest of strength.
The sort of craven act done by cowards who admit their power is less than their foe’s—
'That kind of petty trick...!'
How was it when he fought Frondier?
When Frondier attacked with the full force of his aura, what did Renzo do?
Did he run? Did he think to throw his spear, aiming for an opening?
No.
That’s not Renzo.
Only after blocking all that power did he finally reach his best state and become stronger.
But how about now?
'Is this fun, Renzo?'
Grit.
His teeth ground. Renzo’s killing intent swelled to the utmost, angered at himself.
KWAANG!
Renzo leapt into the air. As was his original mode of movement, he formed platforms of aura in the air and sped along.
He’d lost his prosthetic; he needed to equip a new one.
Meeting Frondier would come after that.
“...Haa.”
Left alone, Aster slumped completely, as if his strength had gone out.
“...Ah.”
Seeing what was in front of his own eyes, Aster let out a sound.
Ares’s spear and shield.
“...He left them.”
