Chapter 138 - The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Arc 42: Deception Operation (4)

Everyone could already sense Heldre approaching. Before long, he came into view, flying toward them with Propelled Flight, his aging face rigid.

“Hmm.”

Ospreet reacted first, being closest to him.

But Heldre’s flight path curved steadily upward. He had no business with Ospreet. Not right now.

He had to tear the head off that wretch threatening his granddaughter’s life high in the sky—

“...!”

BOOM!

But Heldre abruptly swerved to a stop. An explosion erupted in the empty air directly ahead of him.

Magic manifesting out of nothing. Its caster’s identity was obvious. Heldre turned to look at Ospreet.

As expected, Ospreet had his thumb pressed to his chest. It was a fighting stance Heldre had seen him take many times before.

Ospreet spoke.

“Leaving without even a greeting, Heldre?”

“... Ospreet.”

Heldre’s bloodshot eyes flashed.

“I have no time to talk to you now. Later.”

With that, Heldre whipped around and flew toward Frondier again.

‘Oh?’

Ospreet pursued him, making the very air “explode.” Yet Heldre threaded his way between the blasts, sometimes even taking a hit as he pressed toward Frondier.

‘Heldre, of all people, ignoring an attack against him?’

Did that mean Frondier had been right?

His actions up to this point had seemed utterly sudden and impulsive, but judging by Heldre’s headlong rush, they appeared to have succeeded.

At last, Heldre reached Frondier. Ospreet flew up right behind him, leaving Heldre sandwiched between the two.

“...!”

Heldre’s eyes snapped wide.

Seeing it before his very eyes made it even harder to believe. Face-to-face with the madman holding his granddaughter by the collar, Heldre smiled. Murder lurked in that smile.

“Frondier de Roach.”

Heldre spoke the name, radiating a murderous intent that prickled the skin.

Frondier smiled too. His smile resembled Heldre’s.

“I’m honored you remembered my name.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I would not forget your name.”

Though he had meant something quite different back then.

Heldre briefly surveyed his surroundings.

He wanted to tear Frondier apart that very instant, but the situation was far too unfavorable.

His granddaughter, Kian, was in Frondier’s grasp, and an extraordinary sword rested in Frondier’s other hand.

The sword’s presence and appearance made its identity unmistakable.

“... Excalibur. So the reports were true.”

“No one believed them. That made things easier for me all this time.”

Frondier’s reply was shameless.

Heldre spoke.

“That little whelp has grown quite a bit. Using Aura, even learning ‘Flight.’ But your head hasn’t kept pace with your strength. Even with Excalibur, you dare bare your fangs at me—”

While Heldre was speaking...

“Aah!”

Frondier gave Kian’s arm a shallow cut. Blood welled from the wound and began to trickle down.

Heldre’s bloodshot eyes grew so red they seemed about to burst.

“What was that, Heldre?”

“Y-you... I’ll tear you apart...”

Heldre trembled all over. An immense Aura rose from his entire body.

Even with Kian as a hostage, Heldre could kill Frondier if he pushed himself a little. Kian would survive as well.

But even if he could manage that, there was still Ospreet behind him.

Ospreet alone was already a formidable challenge for Heldre, and now Frondier possessed an unprecedented power as well as a hostage.

“... Very well.”

Heldre closed his eyes. The trembling stopped. He could not entirely conceal his murderous intent, but he reined it in.

“What do you want? That is why you called me here, isn’t it?”

Behind him, Ospreet’s eyes gleamed at Heldre’s response.

‘As I thought, he foresaw even this.’

Ospreet was genuinely impressed with Frondier.

Not only had he taken Kian hostage to summon Heldre, he had first put Thompson and Skyler out of action. Heldre could therefore expect no meaningful support in battle.

In the end, he had no choice but to enter negotiations of his own accord.

‘If we can now secure his firm promise to leave Constel safe and abandon the revolution—’

That was what Ospreet was thinking.

But Frondier slightly opened the hand holding his sword. Something appeared between his fingers, and he swallowed it.

In an instant—

“!”

Powerful Mana erupted from Frondier. In sheer quantity, it surpassed even Ospreet’s or Heldre’s.

Radiating an overwhelming presence, Frondier spoke.

“What I want is simple.”

His voice had changed. As though the seething air all around them had become his voice, it rumbled like an earthquake.

“Your life, Heldre.”

“... Hah.”

Heldre let out a sound of disbelief.

However much Mana Frondier was emitting, even with his granddaughter held hostage, demanding Heldre’s own life was going far beyond the pale.

“You intend to kill me?”

“Yes.”

The moment he answered, Frondier extended Excalibur.

Heldre snorted.

‘Hmph. An impressive weapon, but that alone—’

That thought, too, was cut short without mercy.

Frondier’s overflowing Mana began pouring into Excalibur.

The sword amplified the Mana it absorbed, shining with several times its former power.

“... You bastard.”

This was no bluff.

Frondier truly possessed a weapon more than capable of killing Heldre.

But Heldre, too, was a Zodiac who had survived countless battlefields.

He studied Excalibur carefully.

‘The only way to hit me with that sword is to throw it.’

He did not know how skilled Frondier was at throwing, but with Heldre’s eyesight, he would have more than enough time to dodge after seeing it coming.

Heldre spoke.

“However powerful it may be, it is still a ‘sword,’ is it not?”

Not a bow. Not a wand, either. The ways he could hit Heldre with that sword were clearly limited.

“Do you know what will happen if you miss?”

It was a sword. Throwing it would naturally leave Frondier empty-handed. If Heldre could simply evade the thrown blade...

“You will die.”

Heldre meant it. There was no bluster in his words.

“You will die bleeding from your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears. Every opening. Your eyes will roll in their sockets until you cannot tell earth from sky. I will see to it.”

A murderous voice. An unmistakable warning. Frondier listened quietly before opening his mouth.

“President.”

Frondier addressed Ospreet.

“What is it?”

“Move back. That position is dangerous.”

“... Are you sure you will be all right?”

“Yes. Besides, you’ll be better able to help if you aren’t caught up in it, won’t you?”

After a brief silence, Ospreet moved aside as Frondier asked. He was right.

If Ospreet wanted to help him, staying close to Frondier would be better than surrounding Heldre.

“Agh!”

Frondier wrapped his sword hand around Kian’s neck. That alone made Heldre’s murderous intent surge even higher, but there was nothing he could do for now.

Keeping that hand around her neck, Frondier shifted the sword into a reverse grip, pointing its tip toward Heldre.

Even then, Heldre was too maddened by rage to grasp the true purpose behind Frondier’s actions.

Why had Frondier wrapped his hand around Kian’s neck? Why was he holding the sword in reverse? Throwing it from that position should be impossible.

Frondier smirked.

“You said you would dodge.”

Frondier had his sword hand wrapped around Kian’s neck. Naturally, his other hand was empty.

It should have been empty.

Yet as he slowly raised it, for some reason, it held something resembling a hammer—

“Go ahead, ‘Zodiac.’”

Frondier struck the end of Excalibur’s hilt with the hammer.

CLAAANG!!!

A tremendous metallic ring erupted, seeming to tear through the air.

In that instant, the Mana Excalibur had swallowed shot forth. It was a gigantic flash of Mana in the shape of a sword.

“What—?!”

Excalibur’s sword energy had devoured a staggering amount of Mana, amplified it further, and unleashed it.

Of course, the actual blade was not part of the attack, and Excalibur’s concentrated Mana dispersed under the impact, somewhat diminishing its power.

But did that “somewhat” really mean anything?

“Ghh!”

Heldre concentrated all the Aura in his body into a single point. He abandoned any thought of dodging. That was no longer a mere sword.

Something the size of a house, shaped like a sword, had been launched by the force of an unknown hammer. Its speed and sheer area made evasion impossible.

Heldre pressed the fingers of both hands together and thrust them forward. His Aura sharpened like an arrowhead.

It collided with Excalibur’s flash.

ROOOAR!

“Ghh, aaagh, aaaaaah—!”

Heldre screamed. The instant they collided, every joint in his fingers was shattered. He had known it would happen. From the beginning, he had written off his fingers—no, his hands entirely.

Yet even after that sacrifice...

CRACK. CRUNCH.

“G-ggh, grrrrrgh...!”

His bones screamed. All the skin on his fingertips had already split, exposing bone.

His fingers were barely attached to his hands. Now his wrists, elbows, and even his shoulders were slowly beginning to crack.

The force Mjolnir imparted did not easily fade from what it struck. It had been the same when Renzo first withstood Mjolnir.

At least Renzo had sacrificed his treasured weapon in his place. Heldre was bare-handed. And the power of the Mana within Excalibur already surpassed Mjolnir’s.

It might have been different had he been sufficiently prepared to withstand Excalibur. Instead, he had hastily scraped together whatever Aura he could for defense.

The result...

“G-ghh... Hah, haah...!”

After weathering it all, Heldre was a wretched sight. His fingers pointed in every direction, and countless burns and cut-like wounds covered his body, blood streaming from them.

He lowered both arms. He probably would not be able to raise them for some time.

“... Th-this... absurd power...!”

Even if the attack had been close to a surprise strike, even if he had let his guard down, it had ruined both his arms.

His face trembling, Heldre looked at Frondier.

... Excalibur was still in his hand.

Which meant...

“You blocked it.”

Frondier looked at Heldre with an impassive face. No—he even looked bored.

“Then here comes the next one.”

At Frondier’s words, Excalibur shone. What that signified was clear.

It signified “terror.”

“H-haah...!”

Heldre drew a ragged breath, giving voice to that very emotion. Looking at his face, Frondier spoke.

“Stop making that face. It doesn’t suit you.”

“W-wait. Wait a moment.”

“You are a Zodiac, aren’t you?”

Without even listening, Frondier raised the hammer.

The next attack was coming.

That fact alone made Heldre’s heart feel ready to burst.

He did not know the full extent of Frondier’s Mana reserves.

Suppose the next attack came, and he miraculously blocked it.

What about the next? And the one after that?

Heldre was consumed by bitter regret. Had he come fully prepared, he could have countered that attack. But he had come in too much of a hurry. And he had been far too careless.

‘I’m going to die...’

Die? Him? A Zodiac?

Yet the certainty that his time was running out already pounded through his head like a clamoring alarm.

Frondier slowly drew back the hammer.

And because there was not even a trace of murderous intent in his eyes...

“S-spare me! Please! I’ll do anything!”

Heldre begged for his life.

It was something he had never done once in all his life.