Kays Translations

Chapter 50: Battle of the Skyscrapers [Middle]

Seeing Ren and the others suddenly appear, a man shouts out.

“---- Oh?"

At the far end of the garden sits a stone slab, or monument, that seems to be made of obsidian. Surrounded by colorful flowers, it was a somewhat mysterious place.

Now, a person standing in front of the stone slab shouted out.

The man, dressed in a jet-black robe like the others, held a luxurious staff in his hand.

His hair was shaved like a monk’s and his scalp was tattooed with intricate patterns. His eyes weren’t white, but golden, with a reddish-black pattern floating in the gold. His skinny face and gaping eyes made him look reptilian. He was notably tall, if not twice as tall as Ren, and yet he walked like a cat, curling his back in a strange manner.

"Oh, well? I didn't think it was possible, but aren’t you the third prince?”

Radius, who had finished regulating his breathing, whipped his fatigued legs and walked.

The knights of the Holy Lion Sanctuary walked in front of him, and Ren walked next to them.

“...... Bishop Lenidus.”

Ren didn’t know the name Radius had uttered.

“Oh! You still remember me?”

“How could I forget you, you who served as a priest in the Great Temple of the Imperial City?”

“Hoho…I’m truly honored. It has been five years since I left the capital, and yet you still know me.”

As Ren listened to the conversation, he began to understand the situation.

The one thing that is curious is why such a person has become a Demon cult member.

Radius spoke for him.

“You were a well-known saint in the Holy Land, serving the Lord God Elfen. Why, then, did you fall into such a lowly position as a Demon cult member?”

Then, he said.

"---- Lowly? We?”

"Ah. You must not be unaware of your position as a member of the demon king's cult.”

Lenidus, who was taken aback, straightened his rounded back.

After all, this man is incredibly tall. Perhaps it’s because he’s not only a pure human being, but also of another race.

“I just noticed! It’s Elfen who is really stupid!”

"What’s stupid......?"

"Needless to say! I don't even think I should be lecturing His Highness Radius, who called the Demon King stupid, about how precious he is!”

No matter how much he is asked, Lenidus will not speak.

On the contrary, he let the Demon cult intimidate Radius and Ren, and Lenidus walked slowly with a smirk on his face.

"Your Highness.... it’s strange that the magic stone of the Grand Clock Tower is still old.... why?"

“You already know the answer. Because we knew what you were up to and were waiting for you.”

“If so, why? How is it that the defensive power created by the famed Mirim Altia is also missing?”

"Oh, you noticed."

No protective power?

Ren raised his eyebrows at the different story he had heard from Licia.

“But it is needless to say. I don't think I should explain the reason to a man foolish enough to give the Demon King his due."

Radius said, borrowing Lenidus’s words, and Lenidas stopped dead in his tracks. The Demon cult who had surrounded them stopped as well.

"Fine. All we have to do is to take His Highness to the head of the Order and ask him there. That’s more convenient."

The head of the order? Radius raised his eyebrows.

(...... that guy?)

It was as Ren was remembering something in response to the words “Head of the Order”.

Lenidus raised his arm and gave an order, which triggered the Demon cult, who seemed to be his subordinates, to close the distance between them and him gradually. Seeing this, the knights of the Lion's Head Holy Office who had come along with Ren and Radius stepped forward.

The same was true for Lenidus.

He was smiling fearlessly while being protected by the Demon cult.

“Your Highness, the men here are more capable than those below."

One of the knights said.

“It seems so. But still, I ask that you give priority to capturing them alive.”

Radius, who said these difficult things so easily, had no desire to be in the irresponsible position of just saying them.

He was with everyone who took part in this mission.

“If you are going to die, you will die with me. If you don’t have any complaints with that, show me the sword you have inherited from the Lion King!”

The proclamation was an honor for the hard-sword wielders. The knights of the lion's holy sanctuary would be none the wiser at the mention of the royal family sharing their lives with them.

The knights roared. They drew their swords and rushed forward like the knights of the High King.

The sound of swords clashing with swords. The sound of wind magic breaking the sky.

Magical flames dancing in the air distorted the scenery. In the blink of an eye, the rooftop garden, which should have been meticulously arranged, was transformed into a battlefield.

Radius looked at the scene and called out to Ren.

“Ren."

His voice was calm and quiet.

“I have something to apologize to you for.”

“To me?”

“Yes. You remember my powers and the way you shook my hand the next time you saw me."

With that being said, Ren realized what Radius was trying to say.

“My powers would be severely blunted if I wore armor that contained magic defensive powers. The other day you didn’t have it on, so I got a little peek at your power.”

But there is one thing that must not be forgotten.

It was an accident that Radius peeked into Ren's power. He didn’t shake hands with him with the intention of peeking at him from the beginning. At that time, he honestly wanted to shake hands with him.

“You saw it?”

“Yes. I was afraid of seeing through your power. As soon as we shook hands, I felt that I had caught a glimpse of a power that I knew was different from anything I had ever seen in the human dimension.”

It was supposed to be about summoning magic swords, but Radius couldn’t understand them.

The only thing he could understand was the sheer power of Ren. As Radius said, that power is a power that is not of the world of men and that is what he was made to believe.

But.

“Thanks to my failure to fully comprehend your power, I understood something else.”

As the knights and the demon cult fought.

They saw Lenidus at the far end reaching for a device on the Grand Clock Tower.

“Once before, a glow pierced the heavens from the Clausel domain. It was around the same time as the disturbance caused by Viscount Givens."

“............”

“The light reached the sky continent, let alone the imperial capital. I have heard that it crossed the Elfen Ocean and was observed on the western continent as well.”

Radius looked at Ren.

Ren also looked at Radius.

“Ulysses is no different. He’s still hiding his daughter's power. I don't doubt that if he reveals her power, it is as good as revealing her weakness, but even so, Ulysses' behavior has been bothering me.”

"......Ah."

The distance between the two narrowed by half a step.

With the fighting knights at his side, Radius was eager to say that this story was non-negotiable.

He was trusting in the strength of the knights because he had seen them overwhelm the Demon cult.

“The Baldor Mountains suffered unprecedented damage. I don't believe that it was all the work of the Demon cult. If they could do such a thing, they would have targeted the Imperial Capital from the beginning. If that is the case, it must be a disaster caused by someone else.”

They continue to listen to the sound of battle.

Until the third prince came to the answer.

“---- such as the Red Dragon Asval, which was believed to lie dormant in the Baldor Mountains.”

Ren no longer just hears the words.

It was an unchangeable fact that Radius had realized everything.

“If Asval had been resurrected, then everything would be consistent. If his daughter had the power that Ulysses was forced to conceal, then everything would be connected.”

“No, I don’t get it.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Then who defeated Asval? Asval is the legendary dragon. The seven heroes had to work together to defeat him.”

“....that's a given."

Radius made a clenched fist in one hand and pressed it against Ren’s chest.

“Ren, it's you."

He sounded convinced.

“The fact that you escaped the Baldor Mountains with the daughter of Ulysses and are alive today is proof of that. You are the key to everything, including Viscount Givens.”

Ren didn’t answer.

It was not an easy question to answer, so he turned away from Radius and looked at Lenidus at the far end of the garden.

“If you don't want to answer, I won't ask again.”

But then Radius drew back.

It was quick and sudden.

“However, Ren, you have risked your life against your greatest foe and survived death. You can't deny that.”

“If that’s the case, what are we going to do?”

“It’s not like I’m going to do anything about it. I just think that tonight, you will fight differently than you have in the past.”

Ren looked at Radius again.

This time, Radius looked at Lenidus, and his gaze didn’t cross with Ren's. Instead, Radius' profile was cool.

“I don't want a fight to the death like you’ve had so far. What you must do is as you yourself have said. This time, you will be the one to lay waste to the enemy.”

Ren was sure of what he said.

『I will be the lion that will overpower all my enemies.』

This proves that the battle will be different from the past.

This is not to say that Ren has been overrun all his life. He has risked his life to win, and it was him who won in the end.

But that’s not necessary in this fight.

All that is required of Ren, and all he has to do is show his power.

“Edgar said that your swordsmanship may be inferior to his own, but when lives are exchanged, you can't imagine the consequences.”

“I am honored that Edgar would say so.”

“No more modesty Ren, which is why...”

Radius calls the two knights back to his side and tells Ren.

"Show us the true power of the lion you claim to be."

All that is required is for Lenidus to be captured alive.

Ren himself had come here with the intention of doing so, and he was prepared to risk his life to accomplish it at any cost.

As soon as Radius told him, Ren took one step forward and then another.

“Will you guide me? Ren, my comrade-in-arms.”

“Yes. I will guide my friend Radius.”

It was a moment.

The knights and demon cult fighting ahead stopped, distracted by the approaching pressure. As Ren, the source of the pressure, approached step by step, the battle situation changed in the blink of an eye.

The knights realized something and withdrew to Radius. It was also to keep out of Ren’s way.

The Demon cult closed the distance between each other, swords and staffs at the ready.

“Kill him----“

“Kill him----."

The voices of the Demon cult.

Wind, fire, ice. Many attribute magics turned on Ren.

The same way, the knights didn't seem to be worried about the situation. Likewise, the knights showed no signs of concern as they recalled the day Ren was tested by Edgar.

(Far from the power of the red dragon.)

I'm not afraid of this. Even in the face of magic that cannot be broken by physical force, none of it is powerful enough to make me fear.

Ren lifted the iron magic sword with ease, looked up at the sky and ----

“The stars look good today."

He spoke these words, and then he flashed a sideways cleave.

Windstorm or a storm.

The wind created by the cleave turned into a wave of pressure, showing its might to the onrushing bundle of magic. What came next was a flash of light caused by the destruction of magic.

Radius and the knights closed their eyes for a moment, and when they next opened them, Ren was standing in front of them with two swords in his hands.

Radius shuddered.

Just like the tactics he mentioned earlier.

"---- haha. I've never heard of a boy who could handle the killing star.”

This is the art of martial arts in the hard sword that Edgar demonstrated to Ren last summer.

To use it is to be considered a great swordsman among hard sword users.

In other words, it’s the level of a sword saint in other schools. In the game, it is the same level as Licia's swordsmanship.

Of course, Radius couldn’t hide his surprise at Ren's rapid growth.

But what do we really think? It is true that Ren has grown as a hard sword user at an unusual rate, but considering his earlier efforts and experience, this rate of growth was even natural.

Ren has repeatedly fought to the death many times, which ordinary people cannot experience, and he has accumulated training that ordinary people cannot endure. These things began when he was very young.

The qualities he had cultivated and the skills he had developed blossomed greatly in his rigid swordsmanship.

The fact that he was able to grow at the rate he did because of his previous efforts and the fight for his life made him a force to be reckoned with.

The power was put into Ren's hands.

“Your level of magic will not be able to reach me.”

He can kill them. Without exception.

The scared Demon cult fired a barrage of magic, but none of it reached Ren.

Suddenly, Ren ran like the wind.

“---- Ho?"

The tip of the iron magic sword was aimed at Lenidus, who shouted pitifully. There was no need to deal with the other small fries first, and he started from the enemy leader to drop him.

There was no need for a front-runner.

Ren now had the power to act on his own will.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter