Chapter 45

Subjugation

"……What is that—?"

I heard Noel beside me voice her confusion as she looked up at the sky with me.

There had been times before when dimensional rifts opened and ghosts poured out, but the scene unfolding before my eyes now looked completely different from those times, no matter how I tried to compare.

"It's probably because it's not just some ordinary strong entity showing up."

What lay beyond.

If that was an ‘enhanced spirit of the Warden of the Realm’, then just the act of summoning it could very well cause this kind of shockwave.

Aiden said this and immediately sprang into action.

"Aiden? Where are you—"

"There’s something I need to confirm."

With that, Aiden walked steadily across the corridor of the courtroom.

Come to think of it.

The phenomenon unfolding out there was definitely odd.

Even though the Warden of the Realm was of a high rank, even Meyer—who stood at the pinnacle of a generation of transcendents—could barely inflict minor physical harm on Aiden and couldn't exert any real influence over the material world.

And yet.

The spirit of the Warden of the Realm we had seen last time seemed to retain the full might of her martial prowess from when she was alive.

It wasn’t simply a ghost manifesting in the material world—it felt like someone had actually brought a dead person back to life.

And if I focused on that abnormality—

I could draw a rather accurate inference about the identity of whoever caused that phenomenon.

‘……There’s no way something like resurrection of the dead can be done so easily.’

But then again, the problem was that there were those bastards who could forcibly ‘twist the natural order’ to summon something like that.

The main antagonists of the main scenario.

And as Aiden guessed—

One of the two must have ties with that group.

As he pushed the door open and entered, the Prince and the Minister of Administration looked at him in shock.

"……You—why are you—"

Aiden stared coldly at the two of them, one after the other.

Clearly, the ones responsible for this phenomenon were the Prince and the people in this room. At least, that was what Aiden thought.

The moment that spirit first appeared, they had immediately launched a media attack as if they'd been waiting for it. Then, as soon as they found themselves at a disadvantage, the spirit showed up again to attack Noel.

That was more than enough to go beyond suspicion and into the realm of certainty.

‘……Cunning bastards, seriously.’

If the Pontiff had come out and muddied their claims, then the countermeasure was simple.

All they had to do was create an ‘incident’ so compelling that even the Pontiff’s words could be firmly contradicted.

It was the Harvest Festival season—a time when crowds of people moved about restlessly. The sight of the Warden of the Realm’s vengeful spirit charging at Noel in the middle of the main street would in itself serve as a rebuttal to the Pontiff’s statement.

The Prince looked like he was about to say something in panic, but before he could even finish his sentence, a sphere of light bloomed around Aiden.

It was a core formed using Mana Arts. He had casually pulled one out and held it together in his hand.

While keeping it floating, Aiden made it orbit around him and swept a glance over the Prince.

There was no reaction.

"Your Highness."

Everything about this situation was sudden and unexpected, yet perhaps due to his deeply ingrained etiquette, the Prince obediently gave a response.

"……What is it?"

"You haven't rotted all the way to the core yet."

"……?"

With that assessment, Aiden immediately turned toward the Minister of Administration.

And just as he approached—

-System Message

▶ ‘Skill: The Savior’s Vow’ reacts.

▶ A ‘Public Enemy of the World’ has been discovered.

▶ According to the Geas: Protect the World, supernatural power is enhanced!

The light of the core surged explosively. The brilliance radiating from it was so blinding that the Minister of Administration winced and shielded his eyes.

Seeing that reaction, Aiden let out a deep sigh.

The vow he had made to Urgan was to "save the world."

Which meant, when facing a "public enemy" that threatened the world as a whole, the conditions of that Geas were fulfilled and its power increased.

"Yeah. I figured it was you."

"……What do you think you’re doing?"

"Just confirming something."

Aiden scattered the core and calmly continued speaking.

This man had no idea about the Geas Aiden had taken. Aiden had just confirmed his identity, but the man likely had no clue what it meant yet.

‘Then there’s no need to provoke him for now.’

Truthfully, Aiden would inevitably have to fight this man one day.

But now was not that time.

The main antagonists of the main scenario.

Soon to be the demonkind.

The Forgotten Ones who worshipped the sealed God of Devouring, Wornil.

Aiden had always expected to face them eventually, but he hadn’t thought they’d intervene this early.

‘……So for now, I’ll leave him be.’

They were not the kind of enemy that should be needlessly agitated. If pressed too soon, they'd only retreat deeper into the shadows, making them that much harder to root out and destroy later.

For now, confirming his identity here was enough.

Even that alone was enough to deduce the cause behind what had happened to the Warden of the Realm.

‘What a sick obsession.’

Disturbing minds, seducing, corrupting, and tainting—that was their specialty.

They had undoubtedly used that sort of ability on the Warden’s soul. Probably implanted a suggestion to kill Noel.

Aiden’s gaze briefly settled on the Prince.

Now that the truth had been confirmed, his business here was finished. All that was left was to go out and face that monstrous spirit of the knight.

"Your Highness."

But even so—

There were still some things worth saying.

Out of respect for an adversary who had tried to preserve his dignity to the end.

"……Honestly, the fact that you even took part in something like this already says a lot, but I don't think you were fully aware of the details behind it."

"……Excuse me?"

Aiden pointed toward the sky, now stained with a sinister hue.

Well.

From what he could tell, the plan had been presented by the thing wearing the mask of the Minister of Administration, and the Prince had accepted it. Probably reluctantly, but in the end, the man had still given his approval.

Which meant, this was his last chance to offer advice.

"Once this whole mess is over, take some time to really think it through. What you're doing right now."

"……."

"My advice is—don’t throw away the last bits of your humanity. From where I stand, this is the turning point."

"……."

"Whatever it is you're aiming for, if you fall in that direction, there's nothing waiting for you but ruin."

Aiden glanced at the Prince, whose eyes had gone wide, then stepped out of the waiting room.

▣

-…….

Through the rift in the sky, a ‘hand’ suddenly burst out.

Compared to the size of the rift, it looked like little more than a pebble.

-……!

-!!!

It forced its way out, almost like breaking through a shell.

Gripping the edges of the rift with both hands, it tore them open. And through that gaping void emerged the Warden of the Realm, clad in that same armor.

Only, something had changed.

The armor, which should have been pure white, was now dyed a pitch-black shade. The eyes visible through the visor blinked in constant red, like two flickering flames.

"……W-What the hell is that?"

"Call the police! Now!"

"You think the police can handle this?! Call the knights!"

While chaos erupted from every direction, the Warden of the Realm, having torn through the rift, suddenly snapped her gaze around.

……Precisely.

Toward Aiden and Noel, who were looking out at her through an open window.

Killing intent, raw and merciless, radiated like a storm. Its source—was the Warden of the Realm.

—As if the very concept of death had been carved and hardened into a form.

And then—

-!!!!!!!!!!

Like a bullet, the Warden of the Realm plummeted from the sky. The moment she landed, she immediately locked eyes on the window of the building Noel stood in.

As though that were her only objective.

"……."

And inside the building, Noel’s expression twisted into something terrible as she stared back at the figure.

‘……Again.’

Just like before.

Teresa’s spirit was aiming for her.

‘Why… why is this happening, what do I do—’

Her mind went hazy. Her judgment began to falter—

And in that fleeting moment.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and firmly turned her around.

The sense of reality, which had started slipping away, snapped back into place. Her vision focused again, clear and sharp.

She stammered as she called the name of the person gripping her with both hands.

"……Aiden?"

"Noel. Listen to me carefully."

Aiden spoke in a hard, serious tone.

To be honest, the moment he saw that this was being designated a ‘subjugation battle’, unlike last time, he had more or less expected this outcome.

A much more powerful boss. A much more urgent situation. Just hearing the term brought that kind of image to mind.

So it was obvious this time would go all-out from the start.

…Even more than he had anticipated.

And if they wanted to survive—

"Carry me on your back."

"……Excuse me?"

"—Let’s run."

Noel didn’t even have time to ask what the hell he meant.

The Warden of the Realm struck the ground.

With every step she took, the floor shattered into fragments. The way she charged forward, scattering raw killing intent, looked like a collapsing mountain bearing down on them.

"—!"

Naturally, there was only one clear thing to do upon seeing that.

Noel clenched her teeth, grabbed Aiden, and hurled herself out the window. It was easy to adapt, given that she’d escaped from the Warden in a similar way not long ago. The only difference this time was—

---!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was a disaster incarnate chasing after them.

A vicious, thunderous sound rang out just behind the sidewalk where they landed. When they turned around, the sight of the armored figure charging like a phantom sent chills down Aiden’s spine.

She was crushing and demolishing everything in her path. No matter what obstacles stood in the way, she barreled straight through them in a dead line.

It was, in every way, a human-shaped tank.

"Noel! Faster!"

"Even if you yell—!"

Noel was already sprinting at a speed so fast the scenery blurred past them. Yet the distance between them and the Warden of the Realm wasn’t widening at all.

Which meant, there was only one option left. Slow the enemy down.

"……!"

Gritting her teeth, Noel drew her sword with her free hand.

Pure white qi burst violently around her body. Though she was carrying Aiden on her back, preventing her from executing a perfect trajectory, even so—

Aiden could clearly tell the level of these attacks.

Slashes swung at untraceable speeds carved erratic paths through the air. Even though he wasn’t the target, the gales erupting from Noel’s arm made it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open.

Each of these strikes carried the same power as those that once sliced through buildings.

This level of attack—able to carve apart the entire landscape—was now pouring from just one of Noel’s arms, several per second!

‘What the—!’

He didn’t even have time to be shocked by the sheer force.

Because the next scene was even more absurd.

The Warden of the Realm was drawing her sword from its scabbard in perfect synchronization with Noel’s assault.

And then—

The moment Aiden realized that those red, lantern-like eyes were tracking the trajectory of every one of Noel’s slashes, a chill ran down his spine.

[I am steel—]

A coarse voice, rising from beneath the armor, spoke those words.

Along with it, pure white qi began to pulse around the Warden of the Realm’s body.

[I am the blade—]

It was slightly murkier than Noel’s qi. But the force behind it—undeniably, almost equal.

[I am the scales.]

That qi wrapped around the edge of her sword. In the exact same technique Noel had used.

[Subjects of the Empire, fear not—]

And then.

[—For I have come!]

The Warden advanced.

She came forward, batting away the cluster of slashes Noel had launched.

Each time her sword swept through the air, it clashed with one of Noel’s strikes, scattering sparks everywhere. The storm of blades that had seemed impossible to stop—she deflected and shattered them all, one by one, as she pressed forward.

Her speed slowed somewhat to match the weight of the attacks, but the sight of her brushing aside such force while advancing was terrifyingly bold.

If they weren’t on opposite sides right now, Aiden might’ve applauded her skill. It was no wonder her master had raised her to be the Empire’s strongest knight.

What was even more absurd was Noel’s response.

Each one of those slashes had the power to be someone's trump card, yet she carried on without pause, as though she had fully expected them to be blocked from the start.

-!!

-!!!!

The aftershocks alone made it hard to stay upright. The exchange of blows continued like flashes of lightning.

Any one of those strikes could’ve shredded Aiden like paper if he stepped between them. The fact that they could keep fighting at full speed and still maintain this level of combat was insane.

‘These maniacs…!’

Aiden clenched his teeth as the thought crossed his mind.

Now that he thought about it—

He had never actually seen it before.

How transcendents—especially those at the peak—fought. How such beings treated a battle like this.

Now it made perfect sense why Meyer had scoffed at his earlier request. If Aiden got involved in a fight like this, lasting even a few seconds would be an achievement.

His body was starting to tremble involuntarily. His survival instinct was reacting before his rational mind could keep up—this was a clash far beyond what common sense could handle.

"Aiden! Do you have a plan?!"

……And strangely enough—

It was one of the combatants who now seemed to be relying on Aiden.

Noel, eyes shining like lightning, looked at him and asked.

"……Why are you asking me that?"

"Don’t tell me you don’t have—!"

"Of course I do."

"……."

"I was just surprised you asked something so obvious."

As Noel gave him a look like she was about to smack him, Aiden offered a faint smile.

"……First of all."

Still smiling, he continued.

"We have to take her down in the end. And to do that, I need to make some preparations."

"What kind of preparations?!"

"A wide open space."

More specifically—

One without anyone else around to get caught in it.

"So I can fire without any guilt."

……Well.

What Meyer had given him was, in a sense, a cannon—extremely cumbersome to fire.

To use it properly, he needed the right conditions. It wasn’t flashy, had no fancy combo moves, and there was no guarantee it would even hit.

But when all the conditions were met—

"Then, I win."

That was—

Something close to a natural disaster.