Hidden Power
The forces of the Lemberg Kingdom and the Eastern Alliance are facing each other in the eastern part of the Lemberg Kingdom. The battle is intensifying. Overall, the Lemberg Kingdom Army has the upper hand. The Lemberg Kingdom Army is superior in terms of military quality, and it also has an outstanding force, Jin. The Eastern Alliance was slowly retreating.
Supporting the inferior Eastern Alliance were troops dispatched from the Nord Empire. It is a force of 5,000 troops led by Kai. The quality of this force is superior to that of the Lemberg Kingdom Army. This was somehow preventing a full retreat of the Eastern Alliance.
"You! You're annoying!"
The current war situation is a big miscalculation for Kai. He's going to kill Jin in this battle. Kai had come to the battlefield with that intention, but in reality, it was not a matter of killing him. In fact, he was not even close to killing Jin.
"Don't complain, fight properly!"
And with Mai's help, too.
"I'm fighting properly! I'm fighting, but this guy..."
Jin had become stronger than Kai had imagined. Kai, who had been training hard, thought he had surpassed Jin long ago. However, when they actually fought, he felt that his abilities were stronger than before.
He was not mistaken. His ability is stronger than before. It is not because Kai did not work hard enough, but because Jin obtained this power without any difficulty. Though Jin may not think it was effortless.
"If you don't want to die, pull back! You guys are no match for me!"
But there is also impatience on Jin's part as he pushes them back. Kai and Mai's presence is proof that the Nord Empire's main army entered the war. While they were fighting like this, the main army led by Ren might invade. Jin wants to leave the battlefield in preparation for that. This is not the time to be dealing with Kai and Mai.
"Shut up! You're dealing with me!"
Although it takes two, Kai and Mai manage to draw Jin into a fight with them. This allowed the entire Eastern Alliance to continue to fight the Lemberg Kingdom Army, even though they were outnumbered. Kai and Mai, who were preoccupied with the battle against Jin, did not realize how important this was for the Eastern Alliance.
"I'm not going to keep fighting with you forever!"
Jin feels indebted to Kai and Mai. The two remind Jin of Kazuki's death and of his own sin. This is also the reason Kai and Mai have been able to keep fighting until now.
However, this hesitation may bring disaster to the entire Lemberg Kingdom. Jin also knew very well that it was not the time to hesitate to kill the two of them.
Before today's battle, Jin made up his mind. He is ready to kill them both.
"Y-you..."
"Kai!"
Jin's speed increased. It's not just about speed. His strength was different from before. Kai couldn't handle it and was blown away.
In addition, Jin pursues. The sword swung down at Kai, who was lying on the ground. Mai intervened to block it.
"Kyaa!"
Mai was lifted up lightly by Jin and thrown to the ground.
"Mai!?"
"You have time to worry about her!?"
Jin's sword turns toward Kai again. The sword is raised. At the same time, a blinding flash of lightning and deafening thunder spread across the battlefield.
"…………R-Ren."
The lightning struck his sword and his body. Jin doesn't think of it as natural. Thunder Emperor is one of Ren's many names. Jin knows that.
"Yeah... when did Takamiya-san stop being a human?"
Ren was not at all looking forward to fighting Jin. He was going to kill him with a lightning strike if he could. With Kai so close by, he did what he could, but even so, there was no way he would be able to stand still.
"Recently. It's been less than a year."
"You admitted it? I see... you're not a human?"
"Yeah, I abandoned being a human to win against you!"
Jin had been waiting for this moment for a long time. To win against Ren. This was Jin's goal. To achieve this, Jin gave up his humanity. He killed innocent, powerless women while raping them.
The time had come for him to use the power he had acquired to that extent. There was no reason to hesitate against Ren. The sword was swung with a speed that ordinary people's eyes could not catch. The sword was supposed to cut off Ren's head.
"Wha...?"
But it was Jin's arm that was cut. The sword was still in his hand, and from the elbow down, the rest of his arm fell to the ground.
"...I see. It seems that you're really no longer human, huh?"
But from the elbow, which should have been lost, it is beginning to grow back. Not only has the wound closed, but the arm is regenerating. Ren had never heard of such magic. Some demons have such power, but they do not regenerate so quickly. Naturally, humans should not have such ability, and the same goes for the people who were summoned.
"...That's right."
Jin is also surprised by the ability to regenerate. As Ren said, he was no longer human. Jin realized this.
"That's not good... I have made a promise, so I can't run away."
"I'm not going to let you run away."
"I thought I said you can't run away?"
Ren also intends to settle things here. Now that he's come to Lemberg Kingdom, he has to fulfill the promise he's been putting off for so long.
"Then die!"
Fully regenerated arm. Jin picks up the sword from the ground and attacks Ren again. The sword swung in all directions. The force of the sword did not overwhelm Ren.
"Did you incorporate a lizard gene in you?"
Jin's arm fell to the ground again. Then the regeneration begins again.
"...Ridiculous ...this is ridiculous!? Why!? Why can't I reach you!?"
Jin's attack doesn't reach Ren. He had his arm cut off twice. It couldn't be. Jin should have obtained power beyond human beings. No matter how hard he tried, he must have reached heights that could never be reached by any human being.
"Will you die if I cut off your head?"
"...Don't joke around! Don't joke around! Don't make fun of me, you lowly human!"
A non-human being rules over Jin's mind. He cannot allow himself to be looked down upon by Ren, a human. That should not happen.
"...Lowly human ...Is that what you really think?"
Words that don't sound like Jin. It's natural because it's not the original Jin. But Ren does not understand such circumstances. Jin removed the mask of a good man he had been wearing. He thought to himself.
"I don't care!"
Jin's body swelled up. His arms, legs, and body swell. His appearance was no longer that of a human being. In mind and body, Jin was no longer a human.
"...I remember seeing something like that in a manga. What a time to be thinking about it!?"
The vibration was so strong that it could have been mistaken for an earthquake. Ren, who leaped into the air as quickly as he could, did not feel it. Ren lands behind the sunken ground. But he would soon leave the area as well.
While blinking, Jin closed the gap between him and Ren. His lowered fist shook the ground again.
"...With this... guha..."
He can beat Ren. Just as Jin thought that, his whole body felt a shock. The dazzling light that obstructed his vision disappeared, and then there was Jin standing on the ground, still with a burnt-out body.
"Cure your burns too… you’re a complete monster."
The burnt skin regenerates at a tremendous rate. He doesn't know what the damage is to the inside of his body. However, the appearance is the same as before the lightning strike, except that the armor he is wearing is in tatters.
"Monster... how can you fight a monster!? Why!?"
Jin may be pushing the battle a little. But even if he fights with the power he had obtained by giving up being a human being, this is the extent of his fight. He could not defeat Ren. That was miserable for Jin.
"Even if you ask me why..."
Even Ren doesn't know why. He has tried his best to survive in this world. He has been fighting to survive. Now, it's still the same. He is just fighting to live.
"I threw everything! I threw everything away and got this power! And yet you! You don't understand my pain!"
"...I can't understand. What pain? Even if you throw something away, it's to escape the pain. You just kept running away."
Jin's words stimulate Ren's heart. He is angered by the selfishness of his feelings.
"What……?"
"You didn't save Kazuki. You abandoned Kazuki, who was being hurt by those scums and ran away. You didn't save her because you cared more about your own wounded self."
What Ren cannot forgive Jin for is that he abandoned Kzauki, whom he was supposed to love. He put his own heart, which was only slightly hurt, first and left Kazuki, whose heart was about to die completely. If not for Rin, Kazuki might have committed suicide at that time.
"...I-I."
"You had no right to blame Shizuku. You only tried to push your own sins onto Shizuku."
"No... I didn't think that!"
Shizuku was the one who cornered Kazuki, and Shizuku was the one who killed her. It was all Shizuku's fault. Ren, who has forgiven Shizuku and kept her by his side, is qualified to take revenge for Kazuki. Jin thought so.
"You also ran away from killing Hayashi. It was not out of kindness that you did not want to kill him because he was one of your comrades. You just didn't want to become the person who killed your former classmate."
"Wrong……"
Hayashi was going to go head-to-head with Jin. He was going to protect the people of his country with his own life. But Jin ran away from that. He had Ogawa kill him, and Ogawa ended up dying.
"Even in this country. You deceived Emperor Lemberg and killed him. Even Princess Rosa Linde, who has no power to fight. But that was because Katsuragi-san ordered it. Katsuragi-san is the one to blame. That's what you think."
"…………"
"Kanda-san, who disappeared... No, it didn't matter. Anyway, you didn't sacrifice anything. You just kept running away, protecting only yourself."
Has Jin ever sacrificed himself to protect something? At least Ren doesn't know. He is different from Kazuki, who even gave up her own life to protect the children. Even if it is unreasonable to compare him to Kazuki, he is also different from Shizuku, who faced her own sins head-on, regardless of how she did it. She did not run away from the children who hated her.
"…Wrong. Wrong. Wrong, wrong! You didn't save Kazuki either! How can you blame me!?"
"Don't get me wrong. This is not my revenge. I'm not going to kill you for my sake."
"……What are you saying?"
Ren is trying to kill all the hero candidates who were involved in Kazuki's death. Jin thought he was one of them. He also thought that Ren's grudge was out of line.
But now Ren is saying that it is not for his own revenge. Then why does he want to kill him? He doesn't know why. Jin has forgotten.
"I came to keep my promise. She may be angry because I made her wait so long... but I have to do my best to fulfill Princess Rosa Linde's wish."
"Rosa Linde... ah, that one..."
Jin remembered Princess Rosa Linde's last wish as she ascended to the platform. She made a wish to Ren. The death of a hero. And Luna responded. Ren will surely keep his promise.
"I see... that's how you say it. Do you even forget the last words of the person you killed? That's amazing."
"…………"
"That's also your sin. You turned your eyes away from Princess Rosa Linde's resentment. You forgot and didn't face it. And you're the king of this country? Don't joke around. The people of this country will not accept that."
"......I have done everything in my power to restore this country. That is acknowledged by everyone."
Finally, Jin got a chance to refute the argument. He is recognized by the people of this country. That is why they are fighting under him. He knows he has mixed feelings about it, but he is helping the Lemberg Kingdom. That's what he thought.
"Everyone... it can't be helped. That's what it means to turn away from reality."
But Ren knows it's an illusion.
"The reality is clear! Everyone is fighting with me!"
"What's the extent of your [everyone]? Is that [everyone] you're talking about?"
"That?"
Jin didn't understand what Ren was saying. Even if you suddenly say [that] in this exchange, he can't understand it.
"That's right. That army."
Ren knows that too. He pointed his finger and told Jin what [that] was.
"...Lemberg's flag ...Reinforcements?"
Ahead of Ren's finger was an army with a military flag. An army of over 10,000.
"You're really no good, you know? Lemberg is Lemberg, but that's the flag of the Lemberg Empire. And the Blue Dragon Knights' military flag."
"Empire? The Blue Dragon Knights..."
Neither the Lemberg Empire nor the Blue Dragon Knights already existed. It should have been.
"I don't think so, but haven't you heard of the Blue Dragon Knights?"
"I know. In the Knights of the Empire Era... Lucas Ruben..."
Jin finally understood the situation. The reason why the Blue Dragon Knights, which should have disbanded, appeared on the battlefield.
"That's right. The army is directly led by Heinz's father, his son who was killed by you, and by the Imperial Knight Commander, Lucas-dono. It is the most powerful knight order in the Lemberg Empire Army."
That strongest knight order is on the move. The strongest knights are moving toward the Lemberg Kingdom Army, which is led by Jin. The shouts that can be heard are those of the Lemberg Empire, swearing revenge on Princess Rosa Linde. They are about to fight for the destroyed Lemberg Empire.
"...They are alive?"
"Even though you didn't even confirm that they are dead. You may have intended to show mercy, but the other person won't admit that. He's been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge."
"Protected by the Nord Empire."
"Correct. You've got some brains, don't you?"
It was not that difficult. There are many people in the Lemberg Kingdom who are still in rebellion against the Izrim Empire. The suppression by Jin in the early days of the usurpation was not enough. Jin could not wipe out the rebels and kill them all. He did not want to be seen as a villain.
The fact that the rebellion against the usurpation did not take place violently was due in large part to the fact that the emperor was being held hostage. The rebellion also resulted in the rebels remaining largely unscathed.
"You thought you could drop the Lemberg Kingdom at any time, right?"
"There was no reason to drop it. Besides, if I dropped it, it would lead to an all-out war with the Izrim Empire, right?"
Even as they speak, a number of people are surrendering from the Lemberg Kingdom army led by Jin. Even among the army led by Jin, there were those who were rebellious. Those who had been following him, pushing aside their inner dissatisfaction, saw the banner of the Lemberg Empire, learned of the existence of the Imperial Army, and made their move.
"...You ...You always make fun of us like that!"
Ren is always ahead of them, sees what they can't see, and stays ahead. That was a humiliation to Jin. The complex towards Ren was being stimulated again.
"Do you know what it means to be self-sufficient? Leaving the occupied territories devastated by neglecting domestic affairs, even throwing out the internal affairs of Lemberg to suppress the devastated occupied territories. It doesn't make sense to me."
There was a way to prevent it. If he had calmly tackled internal affairs, conducted good government, and increased his loyalty to the Lemberg Kingdom even if the Izrim Empire could not, the place for the rebels would have been narrowed. Then the Lemberg Kingdom would be better than the days of the empire. He should have made an effort to make people think so.
"...That's enough. I know that I'm losing as an administrator. I've lost the war between countries."
"That's right. Imperial capital, royal capital, anyway, the capital is already falling."
That's why Ren came to this battlefield. The Lemberg Kingdom has already fallen with the help of the rebels. Rather than being occupied by the Nord Empire, it was the revival of the Lemberg Empire. There are things such as what to do with the system after this, but before that, the forces of the Izrim Empire must be completely exterminated. That means killing Jin.
"...Then all that's left is a fight between me and you?"
"That's why we're fighting like this."
"I will win this battle! I will kill you! That is my final will!"
Jin attacks Ren again. It's selfish to say, but it's true that he has no choice but to win the fight with Ren. And Jin has the power to do it.
Ren does not have as much time as Jin thinks he does. He can't afford it, so he pulls Jin into the conversation, all the while thinking of a way to win.
But he couldn't think of any way to do it. Jin just attacked with force. That [just] is the problem. The only way to counter it was to exceed its power. But Ren does not have that power.
(......After all, the simplest things are the most troublesome, aren't they?)
Just fast. Just strong. That is the most troublesome thing, Ren thinks. That is actually what Ren was aiming for. No special skills, just the speed to hit before the opponent does. That was his ideal fighting style. In reality, Ren is getting closer to that ideal, although he may not be happy with how far he has come. He is.
(Moreover, it regenerates whether it is cut or not. What is this? How did this happen?)
His attacks can hit. But even if he drops the arm or detaches the leg, it regenerates again. The same goes for lightning magic. Even if he inflicts a burn that could have killed a person instantly, they heal immediately.
If this situation continues, Ren will be at a disadvantage. Ren does not have the power to regenerate. The accumulation of small injuries will slow down his movement.
(Not good!)
Then came the moment. Just a slight delay. He manages to raise his sword and block Jin's attack, but it breaks his sword.
"Die! Ren!"
Seeing this as an opportunity, Jin came at him with an even more ferocious onslaught. Both of his swinging arms were only seen as shadows. The wind pressure that was created was like a storm, which further blocked Ren's movement.
"Dieeeee!"
Jin's fist reaches Ren's body. Ren braced himself to minimize the impact somehow.
"…………Huh?"
But Jin's fist didn't reach Ren.
"...Guh ...Guaaahh!"
Jin lost his wrists. The screams that he had never given before indicated that his injuries were different from anything he had ever suffered before. In fact, Jin's hand has not regenerated. Blood continues to flow from his wrist.
"...What, is this sword?"
Ren also does not understand what has happened. For some reason, the jet-black sword in his hand, with an eerie red pattern running down the middle of the blade, wavy with pulsating veins, told Ren that it was no ordinary sword.
"Ren!!"
Jin continues to attack even though he is injured. And Ren reacted almost unconsciously. The shadow of a jet-black blade runs through the sky. A little later, lightning flashed.
"...I'm sorry. It seems that I too had a power that had nothing to do with my efforts."
Both of Jin's arms were cut off, and he was hit by lightning. The body slowly falls forward. By that time, the jet-black sword had disappeared from Ren's hand.
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