Chapter 166

Nana Nereyades was one of the Ten Great Generals of the Empire.

This meant that she had absolutely no reason to be intimidated, regardless of whether the sword-wielding men surrounding her were the so-called experts of the West or not.

She felt no threat from anyone except me.

“What a suffocating ceiling.”

Nana thrust out her fist.

It looked rather ridiculous, punching at empty air, but no one could laugh as the ceiling was blown open with a tremendous roar.

She looked at the hole she had made and the sky visible beyond it, and chuckled.

The fleeing Gwaemos lamented the destruction of his family's mansion, but it went unheard.

“What suffocating humans?”

Nana thrust her fist out again.

Again, she jabbed into the empty air without making direct contact, yet a gale erupted, pushing back the people of the West.

Famed knights and all, they lost their balance and collapsed in a heap.

It was because the pressure of the wind had surged like a wall.

She leaped towards the fallen men.

She intended to crush them all as if they were insects.

She was going to be faithful to her declaration to crush them.

“What's suffocating… Yikes! I’m talking here!”

“How many times do I have to tell you that your opponent is me?”

I intervened.

I stopped her from killing the people.

‘Fantasy Finger’, ‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’, ‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’.

My three favored Ars prevented Nana Nereyades from achieving her goal.

If she were to ask why I was stopping her from killing the people of the West, I intended to get angry and tell her not to ask such a stupid question.

I had to use them in the fight against the Empire, so how could I let them die here?

“……”

The Regressed Prince was tense, but no longer flustered.

I was one who had turned back time, and I already knew that Nana was one of the Ten Great Generals.

From the beginning, I was prepared to clash with Nana.

Four Ars of the Septem Arcana, the Mana Armor Valziart, and on top of that, seven years of training.

I wasn't sure about victory, but I was confident I wouldn't be defeated.

“Hmph.”

Because of that, Nana did not try to face me head-on.

She moved here and there, and whenever she found an opening, she tried to kill the high-ranking figures of the West, like Grand Duke Pret.

If she had already lost Santia, she had to kill as many key figures as possible.

She was once an agent of the intelligence agency, and she had not the slightest interest in things like a fair fight.

Military might was merely a means to achieve a goal.

It was a dirty but efficient method that could not be justified, nor did she want it to be.

Nana slipped through the gaps in the iron bloodline.

As small as her frame was, her body was nimble and flexible.

She threw a punch before a Master from Maesh.

The sword that blocked the punch crumpled like scrap metal.

The man didn't even have time to lament the destruction of his family's treasured sword.

The next fist came to crush his chest.

I intervened again.

From a distance, I held Nana with hundreds of ‘Fantasy Fingers’.

It was only for a moment, a very brief moment, but it was enough for me to rush in.

As I swung the ‘Heated Iron Bloodline’, ‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’ pushed Nana away.

She failed to kill someone again.

“You are really annoying, Shion.”

Nana clicked her tongue.

She was looking down on the West, and indeed, their level was low.

That was why my existence was surprising.

She never thought there would be a man who could face her.

“You seem to know a lot about the Empire… Then you must know this too, right?”

“…I wish I didn’t, though.”

In her hand was a string.

No, for a string, it was too archaic and held too much power.

I sighed.

“…An Ancient Weapon, the ‘Sinew of the Great Sea’……!”

“You even know its name.”

“Everyone in Cordis knows about it, don't they?”

“But you’re not from Cordis.”

That was an Ancient Weapon, a human weapon made from the remains of the Ancient Gods.

Since there were thirteen Ancient Gods, there were also only thirteen Ancient Weapons in total.

Ten of them were owned by the Cordis Empire.

It had been that way for a thousand years. Cordis bestowed these weapons upon the Ten Great Generals, and now they had become nothing less than a symbol of the Ten Great Generals.

“I received this Sinew of the Great Sea along with the title of Nine Streams General from His Majesty Ferbias. I was really surprised back then.”

She wrapped the string around both her fists and then looped the center around her neck.

It was as if she was placing a yoke upon herself.

“Even if it’s the remains of an Ancient God… for a mere weapon to hold such power.”

Nana Nereyades placed the yoke on herself.

Scales began to sprout on the skin under the yoke.

The aura that was already pressuring the surroundings swelled even more, surging as if to suffocate people.

Even though those gathered here were all highly trained individuals, they felt fear in the face of Nana’s spirit.

She swelled.

Her power swelled, her size swelled, and her killing intent swelled.

She was still as beautiful as a girl, but a strange mystique given by the Ancient Weapon began to blend in.

“This is my victory, Shion of Merion.”

The Nine Streams General, Nana Nereyades, spoke as if declaring it.

“You are unbelievably strong for someone from the West, but I haven’t even used my Ars yet. How long do you think you can last when the Ancient Weapon and my Ars are combined?”

“No. It’s your defeat, Nana Nereyades.”

The Regressed Prince also spoke as if making a declaration.

An eeriness swept in from a distance.

Nana hurriedly turned her head, but a double-edged sword was already within reach.

I laughed cheerfully.

“Because my subordinate has arrived.”

***

Amethus fell from the sky.

It was thanks to the help of the mustached mage, Cornelius Merhes.

After evacuating Santia and Gwaemos, Cornelius met Amethus at the shelter.

The mustached mage recognized him as Ferbias’s former confidant, the man who had defeated Marina Debius in the Succession War.

However, without even a moment to be surprised, he had to bring him back.

It was because it was my will.

Amethus landed lightly through the hole Nana had pierced.

He gripped the double-edged sword tightly, swinging it with a surprising accuracy that was hard to believe for someone in mid-fall.

A few red scars were carved into Nana Nereyades’s skin, but they healed quickly.

It was the power granted by the ‘Sinew of the Great Sea’.

“You arrived just in time.”

“Somehow.”

Amethus and I exchanged casual speech.

As our opponent was from the Empire, I had to hide my identity as much as possible.

“Our opponent is one of the Ten Great Generals. And she’s even holding an Ancient Weapon. What do you think?”

“I’ve heard stories a few times, but I’m still not sure what kind of object an Ancient Weapon is.”

“You’ll know once you cut it?”

“No.”

The jade-eyed man shook his head.

“I have already cut.”

Wounds suddenly appeared on Nana Nereyades's body.

He had cut so swiftly and sharply that the cut body didn't even realize it had been cut.

Fresh blood flowed, and Nana gasped in shock.

There were no deep wounds, but blood flowed.

Very long scars remained even on the scales that had sprouted because of the ‘Sinew of the Great Sea’.

“These scales are quite hard.”

Amethus looked down at his double-edged sword.

The blade was chipped.

He did not hide his displeasure.

“I intended to cut off her arm, but I couldn’t cut it deeply.”

“You……!”

Nana Nereyades’s eyes widened.

She was seized by a powerful shock.

It would be a lie to say that the sudden wounds or Amethus’s strength did not surprise her.

But the most surprising thing was something else.

“This swordsmanship, those jade eyes……!!”

She pointed at Amethus with a trembling finger.

It was impossible not to know.

That double-edged sword, the Imperial swordsmanship style, the jade eyes.

Skills that could look down on even one of the Ten Great Generals.

“…You, you were alive…!?”

“It is not ‘you,’ but Amethus.”

Amethus did not hide his name.

Nana had already realized his identity, and it was now time to reveal it.

He opened his mouth confidently, with even a sense of pride.

“Amethus Aretion.”

The name Aretion gave birth to another shock.

The people of the West did not know the name Amethus, but they knew the Aretion family.

Because they knew the story of Arete Island, which had already met a miserable end.

Nana continued to point her finger.

“…Why are you alive? No, if you are alive, why are you here! His Majesty searched for you so, so much……!!”

“Enough.”

Amethus gripped his sword.

His voice was sharper than a blade.

“I am not fond of old stories.”

The double-edged sword flew.

It flew, cutting down everything in its path.

Nana Nereyades clenched her fists tightly.

As fist and sword clashed, sounds of kang, kang, rang out.

The clash was so fierce that it was difficult to say who had the upper hand.

Amethus cut and Nana struck.

As the jade eyes flashed, the fist did not reach him.

Even when the double-edged sword cut past, Nana’s body quickly recovered from the wounds.

In a very brief moment, unbelievably great powers clashed with each other.

‘…So annoying!’

Nana bit her lip hard.

Amethus was one thing, but I, who had taken a step back, was truly irritating.

I constantly provided support without interfering with Amethus’s sword.

Holding her with ‘Fantasy Finger’, or pushing her back with ‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’.

Yet, getting close was daunting due to the power of the ‘Heated Iron Bloodline’.

Amethus and I moved as if we were one body.

It felt as if we were people who had practiced combining their strength for years, and that was the truth.

We could know each other’s movements even with our eyes closed.

“Ugh!”

Nana let out a bizarre scream.

The iron bloodline struck her forearm, and it was terribly painful.

The reddened forearm healed quickly, but the pain did not easily disappear.

“…U-uuu—ah-!!”

She became irritable and raised her voice.

I couldn't help but recall the battle with Niko Nereyades seven years ago.

She gripped the Ancient Weapon, the ‘Sinew of the Great Sea’, even tighter.

The surging smell of the sea began to emanate.

“Fine, let’s do this! It would be beneficial for His Majesty if we all die here together!”

Ancient Weapons are the remains of the Ancient Gods.

They grant immense power to the user and every Ancient Weapon has a taboo.

If not observed, one’s life is forfeit, leading to irreversible consequences.

However, for a brief moment before one’s life is taken, one can truly become like an Ancient God.

That is why it is truly a taboo.

“Nana Nereyades.”

I stepped forward.

Nana tried to take my life even now, but I quietly placed a finger on my lips.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“…Why should I listen to you?”

“Amethus.”

I gestured with my chin, and Amethus took a mask out from his bosom.

A jade-colored flame flickered on the mask.

Nana felt a vibration in her palm.

The ‘Sinew of the Great Sea’ was crying.

She recognized that the mask was the same kind of object as her string and let out a cry.

“…An Ancient Weapon! How……!”

“Is ‘how’ important?”

Amethus slowly put on the mask.

The jade-colored flame surged even more.

The already monstrous man became even more like a monster.

Of course, Nana Nereyades was also a sufficiently monstrous girl, but her purpose was not in dueling.

She was the Nine Streams General, and she had the duty to carry out the Emperor’s command.

“…Ah, this is so irritating……”

She swept her hair back.

Her scale-covered body slowly began to shrink. Her distorted face was like that of a demon.

No one other than Amethus and me could breathe freely in front of her.

Such was her spirit.

“…Not a single thing went well.”

The seventy thousand fishmen she had prepared were reduced to twenty-two thousand, a third of their original number; she failed to kill Santia or Cornelius; and the West had become aware of the Empire’s threat.

And even though she knew that behind all this was that guy, Shion of Merion, she had to let him go.

It was so frustrating she was going crazy.

She scratched her head so hard it bled.

“…Amethus, and Shion of Merion. I’ll be satisfied with knowing that you two are in the West.”

Nana Nereyades stepped back.

No one could catch her.

Amethus and I seemed to intend to let her go, and no one other than us could stop her.

“Ah, really……”

She glared at me with all her might.

I responded with the most detestable face I could make.

Nana bit her lip hard.

“…I’m going to get a scolding from His Majesty.”