Rocheforte Capital, Castle
After Asher left, Mei fed Hayato the vial of the healing serum and he recovered a bit.
Once Aria regained consciousness, she instantly took command and organized the chaos in the castle. The Guardian Force helped with the restoration of the Capital, setting up the temporary hospitals, of course, Hayato was also treated by Kayla and Charles. Aria dispatched people to find out what exactly happened.
It was discovered that Shizuku had turned close to 500 soldiers into her puppets all vanished without a trace. Aria surmised that they'd follow the retreating Devil army and were somewhere in devil territory now.
Her scouts had also discovered magic circles made of mana crystals buried in the nearby hills, which probably explains how they got close to the capita without being spotted, using teleportation magic. Chances were that Shizuku had made her puppet soldiers draw them in secret.
The king and all of the high-ranking ministers had been assassinated by Shizuku's soldiers days ago as well. At present, Rocheforte's throne was empty.
Until things settled down, Aria would have to take charge.
After the storm passed, it was likely that the prince, Randy, would be crowned kind. He'd survived the upheaval in the palace and was next in line for the throne.
The most pressing issue now that the devils had left was that the holy church hadn't sent any communication down.
No priest had arrived during the fight, nor had any of them shown themselves in the aftermath of the battle. The people were beginning to grow worried, especially the pope, hadn't appeared either.
Rumors were beginning to spread that lord Ouranos had saved the humans by sending down a strong wave of flames at the night of the battle, and most of the residents had only grown more devout since.
Many were advocating a search party be sent up in the mountain to see what happened. But everyone in the capital was busy with the eight-thousand-meter climb, the lift that went directly to the summit wasn't working, so that climbing would be the only way up the mountain.
Hayama's remains had been distance away from the castle.
His body had been half-devoured, making it clear that he'd been eaten by monsters after Asher kicked him out of the courtyard. There were traces of a struggle, so it was likely he'd been eaten alive.
His left arm was completely gone. The bloodstains suggested that after he'd lost it, he'd tried to crawl to safety, only to be caught eaten from feet up. A death so gruesome and painful that no one even wanted to think about it.
The more people searched through the wreckage, the more they came to understand how the devils had taken them so completely by surprise. Three days since the battle, most of the pieces had been put together. Hayato, who had recovered completely, and the others were assisting Aria in rebuilding the city, now that they'd fully recovered from the ordeal. Their thoughts often turned to Asher, who hadn't reappeared since that day.
Most of the students had seen Asher in action, so they'd had an inkling of how strong he was. But for him to completely obliterate a forest and field outside the capital. They were once again vividly reminded of the power gap between them.
His strength was shocking enough to Hayato and the others, but for the students who had chosen not to fight it was a complete eye-opener.
The other had told the stay-home group of Asher's strength of course, but now they realized they hadn't truly understood how overwhelming he was.
It wasn't surprising that he and his comrades were a hot topic among the students.
Another common topic of gossip was Mei.
She seemed to be doing fine, and completed every task assigned to her. But she'd often stop in the middle of her work and look off into the distance. Until now, Kaede hadn't woken up from her sleep which is what worries her, everyone knows that, but no one knew what they should do to comfort her.
Hayato was also down, because not only had he needed to be saved by Asher, he'd watch Noel die before his eyes. Not only that, the difference in strength between them was obvious now. All of that, combined with the fact that he believed Asher did something to trick Kaede into leaving him meant he wasn't very fond of Asher right now. That being said, even Hayato realized he was directing his anger at the wrong person. But he still couldn't help but be resentful of Asher.
Naturally, he was too dense to have realized his feelings stemmed from simple jealousy. Even if he had, he would have refused to believe it. It was likely he would have just reinterpreted everything to suit his own perspective… but it was also possible realizing it might have made him grow as a person.
Regardless, both Hayato and Mei were stuck dealing with their own complicated feelings, and Ryu was too much of a muscle-head for anyone to consider him reliable.
Normally this would have been where Haru took charge and kept everyone together, but she was as depressed as Hayato and Mei. Everyone could tell her smiles were forced, and she was still hurting.
Shizuku's betrayal had hurt her more than anyone. After all, Haru had thought they'd been best friends for years. Hearing that she'd just been used so that Shizuku could get closer to Hayato had stung.
As all of the people who could have potentially held them together were busy sorting through their own feelings, it wasn't surprising that a pall had fallen over the regular students.
Hayama and Kondou's friends had retreated into themselves, and the other students had started growing suspicious of each other. There was no telling who might be a potential traitor, and many stayed holed up in their rooms to avoid contact with each other
Shizuku's betrayal had lasting repercussions beyond just the immediate loss of a friend.
Still, none of them gave in completely to despair. Plenty of students threw themselves into the reconstruction effort to avoid thinking too deeply about what had happened, and the effort to avoid thinking too deeply about what had happened, and the efforts of Rika and Rin kept them, if not optimistic, at least less depressed.
Rika was of course as worried about Kaede as anyone else. if she could she'd be watching over her in her sleep. But she of course, knew that she had to prioritize taking care of the other students. She was a hard worker by nature, and she had gone to every student, listening to their worries and trying to cheer them up.
And even if they had grown suspicious of each other, the students all trusted Rika. She was in many ways their salvation.
Rin and the rest of Rika's guards were also a rock for many of the students. Especially those who'd lost the will to fight. They'd been one of them originally, so they knew how others felt. Without them, it was possible the non-combatants among the students would have been lost.
Of course, both the students and many people within the palace asked Rika what had happened up above the Divine Mountain, but she refused to talk about it.
She knew many people were wondering what had happened to the church, but she also knew now wasn't the time to talk about it.
In fact, the events at the Divine Mountain was an accident, the whole head of the church and its members were wiped out by Tetsurou with Rika's help, while fighting against Rasiel.
If people went up the mountain now it would interfere with the Guardian Force's work. At the very least, Artur and the others, Rika's templar guards, had survived.
They had used their position as templar knights to request an interview with Rika after she'd been kidnapped, however, the Pope had denied their request, so they'd tried looking for her on their own. tired of the knights snooping around, Ishtar had ordered them back to the capital and placed them on standby. In other words, he'd barred them from the cathedral. Their "standby" orders had actually consisted of being confined to a church prison in the capital, which was why no one had seen them until after the invasion.
No one knew why they hadn't been brainwashed, or turned into Shizuku's puppets.
Rika suspected that they'd been spared because they were also pawns Rasiel's god wanted to keep alive to play around with, but there was no way to confirm her hunch anymore.
Like most others, Arthur and his knights were helping with the capital's reconstruction in order to avoid thinking too hard about the future.
The only way everyone could keep calm was to ignore their problems by throwing themselves into work. Even the kingdom's remaining knights were currently undergoing a test to see who would serve as each squad's captain.
The new commander of the knights was a woman named Kuzeli Reil. She had originally been part of the Royal Guard, and Aria's personal bodyguard.
Her vice-commander was a man named Neyto Komold. He'd been promoted from his old post as captain of squad three.
The two of them had organized a test where everyone would fight against Hayato to determine who was fit to serve as the new squad captains. As the battles wound down to a close, Hayato wiped a bead of sweat off his brow.
"Thank you for helping out, Hayato-san." Hayato turned to see Aria smiling at him.
"It's no big deal, don't worry about it. You've got it way harder than I do. You've barely slept these past few days, Aria. It must be tough." Hayato smiled tiredly, and Aria let some of her own exhaustion show through.
In truth, neither of them had gotten much sleep recently. Though the reason for their respective insomnia was completely different.
"There's no time for sleep. We have to toll up the casualties, contact their families, repair all the destroyed buildings and homes, track down any missing people, repair the walls and the barrier, send out messages to the rest of the kingdom, restructure the army... It's not an easy job, but someone has to manage all of it. Complaining about it won't make the work go away. Mother's been helping out as well, so it's not that bad. The people who're really suffering are those who lost their homes and their loved ones in the fighting..."
"But you also..."
Aria's father, the king, had been killed by Shizuku and transformed into a zombie. But Hayato could tell bringing that up wasn't a good idea, so he trailed off.
Aria guessed what he was about to say and smiled sadly at him. "Really, I'm fine," she said, before changing the topic.
"How's Mei doing?"
"Same as before. She's doing her best to act normal, but whenever she's not doing anything she starts staring at the mountain."
Hayato looked over to Shizuku, who was currently discussing something with Kuzeli.
The two of them were actually quite close, and appeared to be engrossed in a discussion about how to organize the new knight regiments.
Whenever there was a lull in the conversation though, Mei's gaze would automatically turn upward, toward the Divine Mountain.
"She's... waiting for them to come back, isn't she?"
"Yeah. To be honest... I don't really trust Guren. I'd prefer if Mei didn't talk to him again, but..."
Surprised, Aria turned back to Hayato.
Hayato's brow was furrowed and it was clear his feelings on the matter were complicated. Jealousy, suspicion, fear, pride, gratitude, hate, and impatience all warred within him, resulting in a very difficult to read expression.
Unable to find anything to say to him, Aria looked up toward the mountain.
The weather was so perfect it was hard to believe the capital had been nearly devastated days before.
It almost felt as if the clear sky was mocking them, and Aria glared angrily at it.
Just then, she spotted a few black dots in the sky. She squinted, trying to get a better look. Before long, it became clear that these dots were growing larger. Something was falling right toward them. Panicking, she called out to Hayato.
"H-Hayato-san! What's that over there!? It looks like something's falling at us!"
"Hm? What do you... Guys! Be careful! Something's coming from above!"
Hayato followed Aria's worried gaze, and hurriedly called out a warning as he too saw the black dots descending. It was possible this was some kind of enemy attack.
Mei and the others rushed over to where Hayato was, eager to get out of the center of the courtyard. No sooner had they evacuated that the dots landed.
There was a tremendous crash and a huge cloud of dust filled the courtyard. From within it emerged Asher, Tetsurou, Stella, and Cecilia.
"How's the suit?" Asher turned to Cecilia who was wearing the Hallow Armor.
"Feels a bit better by now, I'll get used to it in a few more practice"
"Great! That means I can start upgrading it"
"What are you talking about? It works just fine now"
"How many times to do I have to tell you? Just because something works, doesn't mean it can't be improved"
"Give it up Cecilia, this guy's pretty stubborn on upgrades"
"Guren-kun!" Mei rushed over the moment she recognized them. "Kaede! It's Kaede, she still hadn't wake up!"
She grabbed Asher's arms and started shaking him back and forth.
"Calm down! What do you mean she won't wake up; she should be fine by now?"
Without waiting for a moment, Mei grabbed his hand and dragged her to Kaede's bedroom.
On there, Kaede peacefully slept on the bed, Asher walked up quietly beside her and checked on her. Then he signaled Mei to come closer.
The others had finally caught up to Kaede's room and looked at people in the room.
Asher let Mei lean close to Kaede.
"Eh…? G-Guren-kun? Kyaa! Wh-what are you doing! S-sto-stop!"
Mei let out a cute voice, but Guren kept doing what mystery he was doing, that was until.
"What were you trying to do to Mei-chan!!" Kaede yelled with an upstart at she stood up from the bed.
That was then she discovered she'd been tricked, Asher's hands were on Mei's hips tickling her, the victim was breathing heavily, however, Asher didn't even feel guilty as he stared at Kaede nonchalantly.
Noticing that she'd been outsmarted, she looked over the spectators on the door, she collapsed on her knees, blushed and covered herself in the bed covers.
"In case you have noticed Nishimiya, I've outsmarted your outsmarting" Asher said as he waltzed out of the room.
Despite the fact that Kaede was awake all along was trivial to Mei by now.
"Kaede... Aaaaaah Kaede!"
After a few seconds of silence, the realization that her best friend lived sunk in. Mei burst into tears and hugged Kaede.
Kaede hugged Mei back and whispered softly, "I'm sorry for making you worry. But everything's okay now."
"Sniffle... Sob... Thank goodness you're alive!"
The two of them clung to each other, burying their faces in the other's chest.
All the others present watched on in silence as the two cried their hearts out under the noonday sun.
"So, what exactly happened?" Eyes still red from crying and blushing slightly in embarrassment, Mei rounded on Asher and demanded an explanation.
They had gone from the courtyard to the feasting hall that Hayato and the others usually ate in.
After Asher waltzed out of Kaede's room, Aria had suggested they go somewhere suitable to talk.
Only the students, Rika and Aria were present to hear this conversation.
"Well… I figured; I better fix what I destroyed. So, we came back"
"Wait, did you mean that you really left the capital with as it was?"
Mei glared at Asher. Her gaze seemed to say "Did you really just left Kaede in that state? You heartless monster"
"Listen here, I got a lot on my plate, okay? I still need to fix the frame for my new armor, and then my super blade, then another suit, basically, I have no time to be hanging around"
"Says the guy who's been hanging around with Lily for the past three days…" Tetsurou cut in with exasperation.
"Ngh! Don't mention that! I'm supposed to be busy!"
Mei's glare turned ice cold over the course of their exchange, after the fight, Asher and the rest of the party had went back to Avalon and rest, but of course, with every member of the force trying to help in rebuilding the capital, barely anyone was around the base, also William ordered him to fix the landscape with the Key of Domination therefore he got the permission to use the original.
Up until now, no one had noticed that Asher's complexion was deathly pale, and crossword pattern appeared on his neck and all over his body, it was the burden of using Vulcan's Zeroth Power and the Key of Dominations restoration power.
The Zeroth power of Vulcan was most lethal of all Divine keys as it actually leaves the user exposed in a high-levels of Houkai radiation which will end up turning them into zombies or get charred by the super-heated flames of the sword.
Even though they recognized the weakened state Asher was, no one dared to even ask him. Then again, Cecilia was worried about him.
Realizing the atmosphere was starting to grow awkward, Mei quickly changed the subject. There was still a mountain of things she wanted to ask, so it wasn't hard to think of a new topic.
"By the way, Sensei. What was it you wanted to tell us the day you were kidnapped? Is it related to why Guren-kun is going around the world?" Asher silently turned to Rika.
"Go on" his gaze seemed to say. Rika cleared her throat and began explaining how the gods were crazy, why Asher was travelling the world looking for Divine Keys, the details of her kidnapping and the subsequent destruction of the holy church's main temple, and finally the Houkai.
The first to speak after she finished her story was Hayato.
"What the hell? So, we've just been dancing to their god's tune this whole time? Why didn't you tell us sooner, then!? Why didn't you tell us? You could've come to us and tell us!" Hayato glared at Asher, who silently stared at Tetsurou.
The two best friends were already communicating with eye contact only.
"What's this guy saying? Does he even understand his character?"
"He definitely has a screw loose somewhere in his small brain"
Infuriated by Asher's Attitude, Hayato leaped out of his chair and stalked over him.
"Say something! Why didn't you tell us!?"
"Calm Down, Hayato!"
Hayato was too angry to listen to Mei. Asher furrowed his brow and heaved a weary sigh. Annoyed, he stood up and walked to the door. "This is ridiculous…"
"Hey, wait!" Hayato grabbed his arm, but during the moment Hayato touched him, a fist came flying at his face, sending him flying across the room.
"Don't you touch me. Ngh!" Asher knelt down grabbing his chest and head, in worry, Cecilia ran over him.
"Asher! This is bad, I told you to get the serum first! Why won't you listen to me…"
"W-What's happening to him?" Mei asked in panic.
Tetsurou answered in a calm manner "it's the Houkai Infection, the price for fighting the Houkai"
"How can you be so calm!" Kaede yelled and knelt beside Asher casting healing magic.
"No…" Asher groaned, "Healing magic won't do a thing"
The door then burst open, a Middle-Aged man, William walked inside, following them was a blue haired woman, the head researcher for the medical team of the Guardian Force and another middle-aged man who was Charles Darwin VII
"Excuse us" William said "Charles, I'll be giving you permission to use that"
"Understood" Charles knelt in front of Asher and gave him a vial of green potion.
"This isn't another Activation serum, right?" Asher jokingly asked.
"It's a potion made with the joint effort of the Medical and Monster research teams" Charles said "Here. Drinkest thou this"
Hesitating at first, but Asher none the less drank the potion in full, soon after drinking the potion, the Houkai infection marks receded, the burden in his body quickly faded away…
"Drink it all, didn't you? Spoke Charles, a mischievous smile plastered in his face.
At the same time, Asher was suddenly attacked by a sudden, powerful headache.
"You little…!" Asher growled
The headache made him fall to him knees once more and grab hold of his head. Cecilia tried to help her but it was in vain, once more Kaede tried to recede his pain with healing magic but nothing.
The pain only gets worst.
"What did you make him drink Charles?!" Cecilia asked in urgency.
"Nothing, it's a prototype serum for the new Houkai neutralizer"
Soon enough, the headache became completely unbearable… and then it disappeared as if it never actually happened.
"Huh?"
What was that all about? Asher thought.
"Hey! Charles, what the hell did you make me dri-?!"
"A-Ash!" Cecilia cut him off "Ears! Your ears!"
"Shit Charles, you've sealed your grave" Tetsurou commented
In response to her words, Asher reached for his ears, but didn't find anything wrong with them.
"Not those ears! The ones above!" She exclaimed.
The ears above? Asher thought. But I only have on set of ear-
Suddenly, he felt something fluffy.
"Hm…?"
What was that strange sensation?
He once again reached for the place He'd just touched — the area between the temporal region and calvaria. And again, he felt something fluffy. It was actually kinda pleasant to the touch. It reminded him of the ears of a Siberian husky he used to have...
"YES! I knew those ears would look great on you!"
From seemingly nowhere, the Charles took out a full-length mirror.
In it, He saw myself... ...with dog ears — as black and white as his hair — sticking out of his head.
"..."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
Synergist, Asher Guren.
"I happen to research on the Houkai Neutralizing serum and stumbled upon a new one, I wanted to test it" Charles explained "I knew there were side effects but I didn't know it'd would be this perfect. My hypothesis was a success, and the dog ears look absolutely perfect on you! …I'm sorry, I am so sorry! I'll genuflect and apologize, so could you please withdraw your sword? You'll tear my neck! Please stop! It might reach my throat!"
I pushed Vulcan against the mad scientist's throat as I found out I'd been used as his guinea pig.
"I'm not too big on fashion, but there are three things I've decided to never wear under any circumstances," I spoke.
"A-And those are?" asked Cecilia.
"Glasses, girl's clothing, and animal ear headbands."
Naturally, this turn of events was quite upsetting.
"Ash," said Cecilia, "you are more averse to glasses than girl's clothing?"
"Glasses are great," said Charles. "This pair, for example, gives you various skills and—"
"Shut up!" I cut his words short.
"Th-That sounded like you intend to kill him," commented Kaede.
"I'm shorryy!" cried Charles.
No glasses, not ever, I thought.
"Well... what the hell do I do now?" I tried to cover it with my hood, but thanks to the serum, it seemed like my hair color's finally recovering back to its original, streaks of black hair started showing up on the roots. Then again, with the dog ears, I'm not pleased.
"How do you fix this?" I asked.
"It's growing out of your head, so you can't just take it off,"
Man, that's annoying, I thought.
"Oh, but it should disappear after some time," he continued. "If I had to guess, it will happen sometime in the evening."
"By the way, Ash, my boy," spoke Charles.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I have but one humble request." Charles looked at me with a serious face and stated what he wanted of me.
"I want to take a picture, so could you take off your clothes? Just the top would be fine."
Without saying a word back, I slashed at him. Charles evaded my attack and ran. For an old guy, he's pretty fast
"Get back here! I'll fucking kill you!"
I chased him around the room, this old man! He just revived one of my worsts traumas in life! I'm gonna kill him!
After Finally calming down, Cecilia plopped me back to my seat, Kayla and Charles went away leaving Will who was sitting beside us, Hayato was back on his seat, my fist was still marked on his face.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is William Sage" Will introduced himself "I am the owner of the Sage merchant group and the sovereign of the Guardian Force"
After a bit of pleasantries from William, the topic was brought back to where we left off, during the whole time, Cecilia was petting my ears which kinda feels pleasant. Murasame and Kaede was distracted my staring at my dog ears. I can't even focus on my ridiculous look.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Atsushi asked more calmly.
"If I'd told you, would you have believed me?"
"What?"
"We're talking about you here. The guy who only believes evidence that fits his worldview. If I'd told you the god everyone else believed in was crazy, and that what you were doing was completely pointless, you definitely wouldn't believe me. Hell, you'd probably get mad at me just like earlier"
"B-But if you'd explained it enough times, maybe…"
"Like I said, I have a lot in my plate. I don't have the patience to even tell this to you over and over again, and mind you, in case you didn't know, I had a partial amnesia thanks to the Second Angel."
Cecilia, Tetsurou, and Stella glared at Atsushi, but he was too distracted to even notice.
"But if we're going to be fighting the gods together from here on out, then…"
"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down Mac Queen, who said we're fighting together? It's not our job to fight the gods, we're a resistance not an attack force, we protect not attack! Once, I've got the Key of Void, I'm going back to Japan" Atsushi's jaw dropped open.
"Wha, you mean you don't care what happens to the people of this world!? If we don't do something, they'll be toyed around with the gods forever! How can you just abandon them like that!?"
"The people? No, I don't give a rat's ass about them, all I care about are those precious to me, I'm fighting to protect what's precious to me. I'm not so strong that I can just save everyone with a snap, I don't have the infinity gauntlet to do that"
"Why… why won't you help!? You're way stronger than I am! You could pull it off somehow, if you really wanted to! If you have power shouldn't you use it for the sake of justice!?" Atsushi screamed. As always, his single-minded adherence to justice reared its head.
But when those words were uttered by someone undecisive as Hayato, they weren't persuasive in the slightest. At least not to me. I gave him a withering look.
"Justice and all that crap, because you think like that, you always mess up when it really matters. Power should be wielded with clear intent, if you want something you gain the necessary power to grab it, not spout some nonsense as justice for the people without doing shit! If you really think you're obligated to do things just because you have the strength to, then for you, strength is nothing more than a curse. You lack resolve, Hayato. Anyway, I'm not gonna argue with what stupid choice you make, you do you, I'll do my thing" I've said my piece, and turned to the distance.
Having been thrust his biggest weakness against him like that probably shaken him enough to not argue.
Everyone probably wanted me to come back, sorry, but I'm not coming back.
"Is there nothing I can do to convince you to stay? If not permanently, at least until the capital's defenses are in working order again?" Aria asked in a pleading voice.
The capital was still reeling from the battle, still there was no telling when the devil might attack again. But I'm not some trump card to fend against the devils.
"Until the barrier's restored…?" I muttered.
"Yes, if possible, please, Asher-san"
"But I refuse!" I declared
"M-May I hear your reasoning?" Aria hesitatingly asked
"One of my favorite things is saying NO to someone who thinks they have an overwhelming advantage!"
Tetsu joined me in harmony as we posed bizarrely in front of them. At this statement, they definitely did not get the reference, they could only stare speechless at our duo.
"Bwa-ha-ha! Number Four on my list of lines I wanted to try saying sometime—I got to say it in real life!"
"…We looked like idiots but we pulled it off!!"
We gave each other thumbs-up. Aria's shoulder slumped, but her facial expression was splitting between "what's with these two?" and "how can I convince him to stay"
"In that case… that power you used to destroy the field, it came from an artifact, right? Could you perhaps leave that behind to protect the capital? In return, I'll do anything in my power as princess to aid you in your journey."
"Ah, well, that do anything part, I don't need it" I pointed over Will "We got a powerful company backing our trip. Besides, Vulcan's a Divine key"
I placed the two guns on the table and presented it to them. "no one but me is capable of withstanding it's heat"
"I see…" Aria's shoulders slumped once more.
Kaede, Murasame and Ri-chan all glared at me. The three of them already knew how I was. I'm not going to give up my fundamental stance on the world.
"Ash" William called me "give them an assist, at least a little"
"Wait, what about our non-interference pledge"
"Just this once, we can't let a country fall from this"
Well, if Will said so, I glanced at Cecilia, she nodded a bit. I took a sip on the tea, the glares from the three girls bored into me, I can't take it! I looked over Ranko-chan.
She wasn't saying anything, but her eyes were already pleading for me to do something.
"Fine, I'll repair that pathetic barrier of yours, before I go"
"Guren-san! Thank you so much!" I turned to Will for a bit.
"Will Avalon grade do or just standard?"
"Well, considering that we can't let our technology out in the world, the standard would do."
"Alright, the boss says so"
"By the way, where do you plan on going next, Guren-kun?" Murasame asked. "If you're searching for Divine Keys, then your goal would be searching for ruins, correct?"
"Yeah, but we don't have any info on the other ruins, it'll be weeks of searching before we could get another"
"Actually, that's why I'm here" William said "we've picked up a large Houkai energy reaction on the sea of trees in the east. And I'd like for the third squad to head there, also, Cecilia and Tetsurou will also be placed on the third squad as well. You guys will now be on the frontlines when an angel appeared, you'll have to strengthen your teamwork"
Well, we barely did any teamwork back then, but I suppose that would be a good idea.
Cecilia hugged me out of joy, "We get to be together again, I'm so happy!"
"Ahaha…thanks Cicy." even though I'm happy about Cecilia hugging me, I could feel jealous gazes from the boys and some angry gazes from Murasame, Kaede, Rin and even Ranko-chan.
What the hell, can't a guy be happy for once?
"In that case, you would be passing through the empire, would you not?" Aria said, the empire she's talking about was the chaotic empire of Romanus, L'arc's country if anybody could remember him.
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"Would you be willing to take me along, then?"
"Woah! Slow your roll, princess. Before we could go to the ruins, we'll have to prepare and we have to whip Cicy back to shape, she just woke up the other day."
"Mou! Ash! I took down the Angel easily, I don't need to train"
"You just caught her by surprise, besides, who said that training is a must?"
"uh…" She shrunk back as I threw her words back at her. I don't mean any harm to it; I just don't want her to get hurt. I patted her head and smiled gently.
"I can protect you, I'm not strong enough to protect my partner and everyone else" Cecilia looked at me with watery eyes, what was she moved by that?
"Anyway, we can't just take off all of a sudden, we need at least a week to prepare. Also, why'd you want to come with us all of a sudden?"
"There are many things I need to inform the emperor of. I have dispatched an official envoy already, but I would like to get this information to him as fast as possible. That mobile artifact of yours can take me to the empire far faster than anyone travelling on horseback, can it not? I was thinking of going to the empire in person to deliver my report"
I was taken aback by her boldness. A princess heading into a foreign country alone was a rather dangerous endeavor.
"I don't really mind taking you there, can you even wait for a week?"
"Yes, I don't mind as long as you take me there"
Hm… too suspicious, this girl's plotting something, her answer was too quick as if she's already expecting my answer.
"Also, I'm not gonna stick around with your talks with the emperor"
"Fufu, I wouldn't dream of imposing. So long as you can take me there, that's good enough"
Aria chuckled at my wary attitude. I knew she's planning something. Atsushi had remained silent after I raked him over the coals, but now he butted back into the conversation.
"Then take us too. There's no way we can leave Aria in the care of a guy who says he doesn't care about this world. We'll be her guards. Also, if you won't do anything to save this world, Guren, I will! But first, I need strength! I need the Divine Keys! If I travel with you, I'll be able to obtain it too, right!?"
"Give it up! You don't have the resistance to fight the Houkai Energy, your body will crumble as your mind collapse into madness, you'll just end up as another Houkai Infected Zombie"
"Wha!? Are you saying I'm not qualified, if Akagi got his own! I can too!"
This guy just makes his own decisions, the reason why we can't just give out the Key of Domination to anyone was because there's requirement, plus Houkai Resistance strong enough to defend from the energy that was leaking from the Keys.
"Tetsu got his own because he's compatible with it, plus he developed a resistance. You saw how I was moments ago, I was already dying from the infection, out of anyone in the Guardian Force, I have the highest resistance, even I can't completely negate it using the Key, how can you possibly survive that, besides, there's only a number of Divine Keys to go around"
There are only Ten divine keys in existence before the previous era met its demise by the Eleventh Angel.
I'm already doing them a big favor of defending this world from the Houkai, them doing their own decisions only complicates our stance on the world.
"What about the divine relics?" William suggested.
Is he really trying to uphold the non-interference pledge? He's just blasting off ideas like it won't endanger the world.
"well… Divine Relics are prototypes of the Divine Keys… but that also leaks Houkai radiation, it'll still kill them"
If it's divine relics, there's plenty to go around, from my count the last time I browsed in the Void Archives, there's about 500 of them. But all of which are either buried or locked up inside labyrinths.
"but still they can develop resistance to it" agh! I hate this! It's too annoying, I have no intention to babysit this idiot.
Murasame looked up to me, regret and frustration written all over her face. It was clear their recent defeats had weighed heavily on her.
"Guren-kun, please. Just one relic. If we can obtain even a single one of the divine relics, we'll have a solid chance at tackling the others ourselves. Won't you help us with just one?"
"You do realize that you can't just leech of me, right? If we're going around searching for Relics, we'll be fighting Houkai Beasts and Monsters. Also, there's a question whether the relic will accept you or not"
"I understand. But leaving the talk of fighting the gods aside for now, all of us want to go home too. We're more than determined enough to risk our lives fighting down there if that's what'll really get us home. So... please. I know you've already done so much for us, and I don't want to ask another favor after saying I'd repay my debt to you, but you're the only person we can rely on. Won't you lend us your strength one more time?"
Murasame knew they wouldn't stand a chance as they were, so they needed my help to make it. It was clear from her expression how pained she was for asking another favor without repaying him for saving her life before.
"Please, I'm begging you too, Guren-kun. I want to get stronger, so I can talk to Shizuku again. Please! I swear we'll pay you back somehow, so take use with you!"
Probably inspired by Murasame's dedication, Suzuya lowered her head too.
There were probably a lot of things she wanted to say to that bitch, and she wouldn't be able to unless she got stronger. She's really desperate.
"Come on, Guren. Just one. I wanna get strong enough to protect my friends at least. I don't ever wanna be helplessly forced to watch my friends die ever again." Even Ryu prostrated himself before me. This was the first time I had seen Ryu bow to anyone.
I really don't want to bring these idiots with me, I'll just end up covering their asses in the end, but then again, Will already suggested the Divine Relics.
I looked at Cecilia, she nodded firmly, then turned to Stella who didn't responded but confirmed with her eyes, my eyes drifted to Tetsu, he shrugged.
"Don't look at me, I do what you do, just slow"
"Fine, but don't expect me to cover your asses there"
After we finished hashing out the details, Will, Charles and Kayla all returned to Avalon briefly. Me, Cecilia and Murasame headed out into the city.
The main street was a lot noisier than usual.
Normally, all that noise would indicate a bustling, lively city. But most of the voices today sounded subdued. The capital had seen too much tragedy to be lively.
It's only been three days since the battle, and most of the citizens were still grieving the loss of their homes and loved ones.
But despite their despair, they still worked diligently to repair the city. They worked through the pain of their loss, repairing homes and clearing streets. That, more than anything, spoke to how strong humans were.
We walked down the street, with a large bag of something similar to a hot dog sandwich, it was popular in Terria, well, hot dogs were popular in Japan as well, but I rather prefer a burger.
Oh, since the effect of the damned potion still hasn't worn off, I've been keeping my hood over my head. I don't care if people saw me with the ears, but they'd probably wouldn't welcome as much. People in the kingdom were damned hypocrites and purist because of the teachings of the holy church, that humans are the chosen race of the god Ouranos, any other races is forsaken from his blessings and a bunch of bullshit like that.
Tetsu and Stella decided to stay in the castle to have some sparring session and further understand their own capabilities, I just hope they don't go wild and destroy the courtyard.
Aria still had a mountain of work, to pay back for faking her sleep for three days, Kaede helped Aria with her work along with Ri-chan.
"So… what exactly are we going to the adventurer's guild for?" Murasame took a bite of her hot dog and looked at me.
"Well… I was gonna check on some info about some high-level dungeons, normally those were from the Previous Era and probably contains a Relic inside"
Since the Adventurer's guild has information on those stuff, I'd figure that it'd be much better to ask them than have our intelligence group go around searching for them.
During the whole time, the sheltered Ojou-sama Cecilia had been watching around the city, but she didn't raise a fuss, probably because, most of the buildings were in rubbles and nothing would pique her interest.
"You've been taking care of Kaede, right?" Murasame said in a worried voice.
"We just met a few days ago, I can't possibly look out for her during that time"
We just met the day, I save them from a bandit attack, then later that night, we had to defend the Kingdom, there's no way I could take care of her in that short amount of time.
"Kaede's been itching to follow after you since you left, you know." Murasame said "We managed to convince her she could leave after the labyrinth exploration, but then a masked man named Dark Corsair broke in the castle and steal the armor that we got from the labyrinth"
The moment she mentioned Dark Corsair, I involuntary flinched. Does that mean she hadn't caught on my identity back then?
"Ever since then, Kaede became impatient and snuck out without us knowing."
I just noticed that she had took care of the katana that I left specifically for her.
"Really…?" I tried playing dumb "why would she leave after a sudden break in at the Castle? Shouldn't the castle be the most secure place in the capital, and you guys are there, how can you not prevent two guys from breaking in?"
"Well, Kaede said after the Dark Corsair left, it was you under the mask."
"Why would I be the one under the mask, besides I'm not that good for being a thief"
She looked at me suspiciously. "He did leave this Katana, I don't know if it's some sort of apology, but when I asked the best synergists in the town, they all threw respect out of the window when they saw the blade, and begged me to introduce the maker of the sword"
'Really? Well, was the blade even that good?"
"Yeah, it's so beautiful too, I could tell that the maker put some effort into it, it's also sturdy and sharp"
"Oh…!" Well, that blade was actually just a prototype for Sumerbrandr when I tested out my affinity with blades, I sucked at the Katana so I put it on storage, never thought it would be perfect for Murasame.
"Hmm?" She just then noticed something "Earlier, you just said two guys…"
"What about it?"
"I never said the Dark Corsair had any accomplice"
Shit! She catching up! Why did I have to open my big mouth!
"W-Well, it was just a lucky guess, come one, who would go around the castle without an accomplice, right?" I tried to play it off.
"That reminds me, the armor Cecilia-san was wearing had some semblance from the armor that was stolen"
"Eh…? That's possibly just coincidence, come on, who knows how many armors could like that be out there?"
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, damn it! This girl's too sharp for her own good!
"Also, the night of the party, you were there, right… I even called out to you and you pretended that you don't know me"
Ha! Idiot! You trailed off! I have a proper alibi for that!
"I still had amnesia back then. Also, I was there with Stella, we acted as bodyguards for the Captain making a deal for the Sage Merchant Company, weren't you listening to the talks of them back then? The company was about to support you then, with the latest magic tools, right"
"Yeah, you have a point. Maybe I was just thinking too much"
"Yes, you're just stressed out, don't think too much about it. Your cute face will get ugly if you think too much"
"How can you hit on a girl so nonchalantly…" She said in exasperation. "hmm!?"
She suddenly grabbed my wrist and pressed the button on my web shooter as a string of web shot out a few meters sticking to the nearest rubble.
"Ah!"
"It was you!" She grabbed my collar furiously in anger.
'Ah!! Wait! It wasn't me! I was forced!" I cried in fear covering my face. "They held my family hostage! If I refuse, they'll kill me and my family!"
"Your family is in japan! Stop spouting nonsense, why'd you steal the armor?"
"Ah!! W-wait! Stop!"
The Web shooter gave me away, goddamnit! I should've kept it in my pocket the whole time!
"Ash, you stole the armor!?" Cecilia who was quietly listening till now joined in on the conversation.
"Uh…" I said while slowly shrinking "Maybe…?"
"Maybe! Why'd you even stole it!?"
"AH!! I was threatened by the mafia! My parents left be a million yen of debt to pay! They'll kill me if I didn't steal the armor!"
"Cut the bullshit! Tell me the real reason!"
I guess playing my way around her won't work, huh. Wait just a damn minute! Why am I shrinking on Murasame's presence!? I'm not the same as my classmates!
"The armor pretty much useless on your side"
"What?"
"Ash, why'd did you stole it, that was criminal"
"Yeah, I know, and do I say, I enjoyed it! It was so fun I wanna do it again! Especially the part where I suffocated Atsushi by shoving water and ice magic at his throat! Oh yeah! That was really fun!"
"You almost killed him!"
"He deserves that for being a jerk"
"I can't deny that… but why would you even steal it in the first place?"
"Right, see, the armor powers on the Angel Cores, or Divine Keys, meaning without those, it's just a hunk of metal"
"Ash… did you steal it on your own accord?" Cecilia asked
"Of course not, even if I wanted too, I wouldn't be able to pull it off smoothly"
"You didn't, you trashed the castle and did some Shakespearean acting"
"Hey, it was all part of the act, I'm cosplaying as a phantom thief so that extravagant way of talking fits, also it would've gone smoothly if Stella didn't get blinded by greed"
"Ash…"
"Right, it was on Will's orders"
Cecilia sighed at Will's name. "Even though it was for the sake of strengthening the Force, I don't like it…"
I patted her head to console her "Well, just use the Armor. The crime is on me, you don't need to feel guilty, also, sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice something for the greater good"
"You…" Murasame exclaimed "You just said something so right it's creepy! The guy who doesn't care about the world but still talks about the greater good!"
"Hey, its basically all of your fault that I turned into a twisted personality"
"My fault!?"
"All of the class, if you have listened to my plea, maybe I would've stayed being the weakling, on the other hand, I should be thankful, otherwise, I wouldn't meet my beloved Cicy!"
Murasame stared at me in exasperation, I guess even dealing with my stupid attitude exhausts her.
By the time we reached the guild, the three of us have eaten through the entire bag of hot dogs.
The capital's Adventurer's Guild was even more impressive than Adera's. The grand double doors sat wide open, and throngs of adventurers came in and out. After the invasion, the number of requests brought to the guild had increased exponentially.
The three of us stepped into the guild and got in line at one of the reception counters. There were ten in total, and all were busy. But the receptionists were all consummate professionals, and the line moved forward at a steady pace.
For some reason, each and every one of the receptionists were beautiful women. Beautiful and cute. Very, very cute.
However, their looks didn't stir my desire in the slightest. As far I was concerned, there was no other beautiful girl than my Cicy. Plus, she was holding my hand. There's no way I'd let my gaze wander to other women in this situation.
I just wished that Cicy would stop pouting though, but it was cute so I guess, that was a reward on its own.
Murasame breathed an exasperated sigh, which I just ignored, and walked to the now free receptionist's desk.
I passed over my status plate, which was gold rank of course.
"Ah… Guren-sama, what can I help you today?"
"Well, I was just wondering if there were any dungeons or ruins that were sighted with rare types of monsters?"
With my hood covering my head, the other adventurers started looking at my direction, normally, you would show your face to avoid suspicion, but at this moment, I can't really do that…
"Um… well, let's see"
As if realizing what just happened, the receptionist turned back to me in surprise.
"Y-You are Asher Guren, correct!?"
"Hm? Yeah, that's me. Says so on the status plate, doesn't it?"
"My sincerest apologies, but could you head to the guild office? I was given instructions to bring you there if you ever appeared at our guild, Guren-sama... Please wait just a short while, I'll bring the guild master out right away."
"Uh, I just came to gather information about the dungeons and ruins. I need to go repair the capital's barrier after this, so I really don't want to waste too much time here."
"U-Umm, but I really can't allow... I promise I'll bring him out right away, so please just wait a few seconds!" The receptionist sprinted away with my status plate.
I slumped my shoulders and looked glumly at the floor. Cecilia and Murasame patted my shoulders in an attempt to comfort me.
I'm starting to think that coming here wasn't worth the trouble that's about to come, whatever these people wanted from me. The receptionist returned. She was accompanied by an old man with shrewd eyes and an impressively long beard.
Judging from his bulging muscles, I was certain that he was one of those buff old-dude stereotypes in anime and manga.
The moment the old man, who I assumed was the guild master, appeared, the main hall broke out in muttered conversation. News spread through the rest of the guild, and before long the guild master's appearance was what every adventurer was talking about.
Every time, I'll visit some adventurer's guild, it always ends up like this, something I wanted no part of, ending up to me getting caught to it. I still haven't done anything that would cause an incident… yet.
"Valter-dono, would you be so kind as to introduce me to you guests? If you hold them in high esteem, they must be admirable adventurers indeed. I would love to get to know them better. Especially those two pretty ladies over there. A gentleman such as myself simply cannot leave without learning their names." A handsome, blond-haired man sauntered up to me and the others. Four beautiful women followed behind him. The other adventurers all began whispering to each other as they spotted him.
My god, what a stereotypical development. Apparently, his name was Nabe, and he was a gold-ranked adventurer. Furthermore, he'd earned himself the nickname of Blade lord among other adventurers.
Valter, the guild master introduced me to the idiot. When he mentioned that I was also a gold-ranked adventurer, the others in the guild hall started whispering even more furiously. I didn't like where this was going one bit. I can already foresee what's gonna be the development. I hurriedly tried to usher Cecilia and Murasame out of the Adventurer's guild, but master idiot didn't leave us so easily. It was obvious his interest in Murasame and Cecilia were anything but pure.
Shouldn't this guy recognize Murasame? She's part of the hero party.
He dashed an irksome, blood boiling, dazzling smile. I honestly want to bash his face till it's unrecognizable. "Oh, so you're also gold-ranked. You look rather young... How did you gain such a prestigious rank so quickly? Let me guess, you cheated your way into gold... Oops, I probably shouldn't have said that in public. My bad." His perfect smile didn't even waver as he spewed vitriol.
At this point, trying to talk to this idiot in just a waste of time. Cecilia and Murasame met my gaze and wholeheartedly agreed, and the three of us once tried to leave again.
"Now now. No need to run away because you're up against a real gold ranker. I promise I won't bite. Well if you're too embarrassed to show your face here, I don't mind if you leave, but what about you two beautiful ladies? Could I entice you to join me for a meal? Let me show you what a real gold ranker is like." Moron, of course, blocked my way. Seriously this guy's way over his head. Should I break his legs, heal them and break them again?
It was obvious from his attitude that he couldn't dream of any woman ever turning him down.
His arrogance might have Impressed someone else, but Cecilia, Me and Murasame were far stronger than this idiot. We just found him posturing laughable.
Valter, who probably heard of how powerful I was, or how it was rumored, struggled to his chortling.
"I didn't want to bother Murasame, normally, handling this kind of annoying pretty boys were her thing, but considering that she was already exhausted by me.
I'll deal with the idiot; I'm already pissed anyway. I removed my hood, the whole guild stopped muttering as they stare at the dog ears in my head.
Those closer probably noticed that I had two sets of ears which they looked at me quizzically.
"Those ears…" he muttered.
"What about them?"
"No, forgive me, I shouldn't stress out the discrimination of you beastmen here in the capital"
He completely assumed I was a beastman. But I don't give a shit about that, I knocked him off his feet quickly.
For a gold rank adventurer, he got knocked down easy, maybe this was the one who cheated. I kneed his chest to prevent him from standing up.
I grabbed his nose and mouth.
"Create water"
Then started pumping water magic on his throat, yeah! This is fun!
He started flailing around, he probably starting to drown, he kept kicking, flailing about, but I didn't budge from my position.
"Freeze!"
Atsushi take down rewind! The water in his throat, mouth and teeth froze instantly, the brain freeze must've knocked him out, he went limp and unconscious.
I looked over at Valter, I didn't say anything, but my look already gave the idea.
this is the best of the adventurer's guild has to offer, they're definitely screwed.
The old man shook his head sadly, as if denying that the idiot should ever had been granted such a rank. Its really possible that he was the one who'd obtain his status through illicit means.
After my brutal knock out of Nabe, the silence was eventually broken when the adventurers started whispering to each other.
"H-Hey, that's white hair, is he actually…"
"Wait? Y-you really think that's the orc slayer!?"
"No way! Then he's also the one who killed the Fire dragon on the west!?"
"What kind of nickname is that?"
"You haven't heard of him? He's an adventurer who came out of nowhere a year ago. They say he brutally killed any orc he sees, he also slayed a fire dragon on the western island, the stories from the bard who came from Adera sang a song about him crushing a major gang in just half a day"
"That's terrifying"
Seems like some travelling bard had been spreading some stupid shit about me, well, it's not entirely made up though, I did kill a dragon a year ago, that was with the help of Tetsu and the others, also the brutally killing of orcs, that was true, they repulse me to no end, if I see one, I can't control myself, I want to rip them apart.
The adventurers shivered in fear and averted their gazes. They were fully convinced that I could kill them if they meet my eyes.
"What on earth… did you do?" Murasame turned to me, amazed.
I don't really mind the rumors, actually it helps me threaten people. But I just wish they'd find a better nickname like the reaper or something, Orc Slayer's too boring.
We then left the guild and headed for the barrier generator.
The building was heavily guarded by a contingent of soldiers who glared warily at me as I drew close. Though their expressions softened when they saw Murasame with me.
No one challenged them, so Murasame led them to a spacious marble hall inside the building. At its center stood a cylindrical artifact with magic circles engraved on its sides.
It would have stood two meters tall at its full height, but something had smashed it in the middle. The top half lay in ruins a short distance away.
A number of men and women milled about the artifact, scratching their heads and muttering to themselves. They were probably the people originally charged with repairing it.
"Oh, if it isn't Mei-dono. What brings you here?" An old man with an impressive mustache walked over to Murasame. He appeared to be in his mid-sixties, and had the look of a veteran craftsman. Judging from his tone, he and Murasame knew each other relatively well.
"Good afternoon, Volpen-san. I've brought a Synergist who might be able to repair the artifact here."
"Truly? Do you mean that boy standing next to you?" Volpen turned his gaze to me, examining my look. Though he didn't say it to Shizuku's face, he doubted I could do something so difficult.
Seriously! If it's looks I more than passed with my Void Archives goggles form.
Murasame told me this guy was the head synergist, and the best craftsman the country had. The barrier generating artifact was a relic from the past. Knowing that it was in the previous era, I already knew, these guys would have no way of repairing this one.
I ignored him completely and began weaving my way through the other craftsmen. I put the void archives over my eyes, and started analyzing the artifact.
The void archives had appraised the relic. It was just a weak prototype, the very first one for the Key of Frost.
"Huh, they call it tough, one blow from Rhongomiant is enough to shatter this shitty relic's barrier"
"Hmph, what can a brat like you accomplish?" the Old man harrumphed, dismissively, but I already had the basics of a barrier, I could make an Avalon grade barrier with cloaking system on it.
I grabbed a hammer from my pack and started smashing the relic.
"AH!! You brat! What the hell are you doing!!"
All the craftsman and the guards came rushing over to stop me, but I already smashed the relic into pieces
"Guren! What did you do!? I though you're gonna repair it!"
"Listen here, Murasame, Will said, I lend a hand, make a standard barrier. This relic is below that, it's too weak"
"What do you mean too weak!" Volpen roared "That relic protected the capital for hundreds of years!"
"Yeah, well, that's because no one tried to pull off an explosion magic on the barrier, just 10 or 20 explosions would be enough to destroy the barrier"
I pulled out the new material from my pack and started transmutating the metals from the destroyed relic and the metals I brought, even if it's a relic, it's still made from Soul steel which is hard to obtain.
Soon enough, blue sparks ran through the metals and started knitting together into a pillar.
"It's beautiful…" Murasame muttered, as she watched the sparks danced through the air. This was the first time she'd seen me transmute anything.
In less than a minute, I've already built a new and improved barrier generator. I set it up right, and grabbed the aether converter in my bag, then placed it in the center.
As long as the Aether converter, the barrier could last a lifetime. As soon as I put the activated the converter, the tech started running, particles of white light rose up from the cylinder, diffusing into the air.
A soldier ran into the artifact chamber and reported that the third layer had been repaired.
Maybe, but I'm not satisfied unless, I test it. I pulled out the RPG launcher from my bag and aimed it at the sky. Squeezing the trigger, the rocket flew up and exploded the moment it made contact, explosion filled the sky, but the barrier remained intact.
"Yep, that's what I call standard"
"Unbelievable... You repaired an ancient artifact so easily..." Murasame smiled wryly.
"This is just basic, the barrier technology was part of my silhouette project, this was just a miniature type. Building it from scratch is child's play"
"No wonder…" Volpen muttered, he'd probably guessed by now that I'm from another world too.
When Murasame mentioned that I was potentially the one who made the katana she had, though I didn't confirm it to her yet. A predator gleam appeared in Volpen and all the other craftsmen's eyes. I walked towards the next relic.
But they won't let me leave so easily.
"Please wait! Take me as your disciple! I'll do anything!"
"Whoa! Wh-Where the heck did that come from? And stop clinging to my legs! You're creeping me out!"
They continued begging for me to take them as students but I'm not into the shit of teaching anyone, besides I can't let out technology spread out! I was already disgusted by the fact that they were all old bearded men rubbing their faces in my legs, they're also shameless.
I used Icarus and launched myself up in the sky and landed far away, then covered myself with my hood then used stealth to sneak to the next relic.
During the whole day, even with my stealth mode, they were still finding me, I don't know why! I wanted to blast them away, but if I do that, the kingdoms finest would be lost.
The news of the commotion probably reached the castle. Aria was forced to take the stage and quell the synergists.