Latifa and the others had been left behind in the rooftop garden of the Galarc Castle. Everyone was watching the battle in the sky with bated breath.
As a transcendent one and his disciple, Rio and Sora easily faded from the mind and memories of other people. But as long as the battle with the golem was ongoing, they were extremely noticeable, and everyone was able to perceive them.
“Hey, is he a hero too?” Hiroaki asked quietly.
“There are six heroes in total,” Roanna answered from beside him with a hesitant look. This was clearly stated in the legends.
Presently, there were a total of six known heroes: Sendo Masato, who became a hero just the other day; Sumeragi Satsuki of the Galarc Kingdom; Sakata Hiroaki of the Restoration; Sendo Takahisa of the Centostella Kingdom; Shigekura Rui of the Beltrum Kingdom; and Kikuchi Renji of the Proxia Empire. And yet...
“So how is he using a Divine Arms? That is a Divine Arms, right? Is there a seventh hero or something?” Hiroaki asked, voice turning harsh. He didn’t seem to be angry because of envy or jealousy, but his expression was closer to a panicked frustration.
“That’s...”
Roanna was at a loss for words.
If we’re both heroes, why is he so different from me? What makes him so much stronger?
Bitter memories of when Hiroaki lost to Kikuchi Renji while retreating from Rodania flashed through his mind. That defeat was what sparked his desire to grow stronger. Losing to a fellow hero—a cheeky brat younger than him at that—had been a trigger for him. And now, another man that was possibly a hero had appeared. He was fearlessly facing the monster that Hiroaki would have immediately turned tail and run from.
Damn it. I should be like him...
Indeed, Hiroaki was a hero too. But that thought only made him feel his powerlessness more keenly. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
“Do you know who he is, Professor Celia?” Christina asked.
Everyone had watched Celia call Aishia’s name and speak to her earlier. Their gazes gathered on her once again, wondering if she knew Rio and Sora as well.
“Yes...I do.”
“Who is he?”
Unsure if it was okay to reply, Celia hesitated before giving her affirmation. But when Christina questioned her further...
“That’s Haruto,” she replied clearly, no sign of hesitation left on her face.
“Haruto?”
Due to the effects of the rules of god in this world, only a handful of people could recall the existence of the transcendent ones. Everyone listened on in confusion.
“Haruto Amakawa. That’s the name of the boy you’ve all forgotten,” Celia continued, looking up at Rio as she spoke.
“The boy we’ve forgotten...”
No one tried to deny her statement outright. Everyone looked up at Rio fighting in the sky and swallowed their breaths.
However, there were three people whose eyes widened in shock when they heard the name: Aki, Latifa, and Liselotte.
“The peach-haired girl’s name is Aishia, and the smaller girl that was here earlier is Sora. Everyone here once had a connection to Haruto. That connection is severed right now, but...” Celia began to explain.
“W-Wait! Please wait a moment!” Aki shouted in a fluster.
Masato flinched. “What’s wrong, Aki? Calm down...”
“B-But that...” Aki’s lips trembled. “That’s the name of my blood-related older brother...”
There was no doubt she had forgotten the name Rio, who was born and raised in this world. But she could still remember Haruto’s name, who was born and raised on Earth. He was her biological brother who she was separated from when her parents divorced when she was four years old.
However, Haruto was a sensitive topic for Aki. Regardless of whose fault the divorce was, her earliest memory was of how depressed her mother was. This made her form a misplaced resentment towards her father and Haruto for leaving them, lasting until now.
Those feelings shouldn’t have changed since she came to this world. But for some reason, that sense of hatred was oddly faded right now. Aki touched a hand to her chest as though to confirm those feelings.
A short silence passed.
“Before my mother remarried, my name was Amakawa Aki.”
Aki hesitantly revealed her name from before her parents’ divorce to everyone while she stared up at Rio in the sky.
◇ ◇ ◇
While those in the rooftop garden were gazing up at Rio, the boy in question was in the midst of a fierce midair battle with the golem.
When he flew around and kept his distance, the golem naturally made long-ranged attacks. The feather blades approaching from every direction were annoying to deal with, but the light spears being released from its wings of light were even worse in the current situation where he had to worry about damage to the surroundings.
The light spears that exploded upon impact contained significant force. If the golem spread its light spears around while maintaining its distance, the residential area of the city could be destroyed.
Thus, he had to limit the golem’s choice of arms. In order to do that, Rio stayed within close range of the golem and challenged it to a close combat fight.
But even though he was able to push himself a little more thanks to the assimilation, the golem’s armor was much stronger than Rio’s physical body. It was impossible for him to throw direct punches and tackle the golem at high speed like Sora. Rio had to slow down after every approach and invite the golem into close-quarters combat.
When Rio got close and raised his sword, the golem created claws of light from its fists. The variation in weapons the golem could use at once was another issue when fighting at close range. It had claws on both hands, a tail that could extend and retract freely, and feather blades that could fly independently of one another.
Rio had no choice but to make up for his lack of weapons with his spirit arts. He deployed countless orbs of light around himself to deal with the approaching feather blades. He would handle the claws of light and eerily swaying tail with his sword and body.
But the golem still had the advantage of weapon number. As long as Rio lacked a dragon body like Sora’s, it wouldn’t be wise for him to get into a head-on slashing match.
Rio continued moving after getting up close to the golem, flying about rapidly to distract it. On top of that, he aimed a swing of his Spirit Arms at the thinner armor on the golem’s side.
In the next moment, the golem disappeared. To be more precise, it had moved at a rapid speed to be behind Rio in an instant. It swung its claws of light to slash apart Rio’s body, but Rio accelerated to avoid it and moved around to the golem’s side.
The golem responded to Rio’s speed by changing its direction to face him. When Rio swung his sword, the claws of light were in place to block him.
Not even the Spirit Arms can cut an area enhanced with magic essence, huh? In that case...
What if there was another spot where the armor was uncovered besides the claws? The thought crossed Rio’s mind, but the moment he stopped moving with his weapon pressed against the golem’s, a raging wave of attacks would rush at him. Rio swiftly resumed moving.
The golem seemed to understand Rio’s goal too, as it was moving around to prevent him from taking aim. As a result, both sides were flying about one another at a dizzying speed to ensure they kept their advantageous position.
Thanks to the assimilation, Rio was in his best condition. His body was light, and his flight abilities had improved tremendously. Part of it was thanks to the leeway created in his capacity for spirit arts, but his sturdier body also increased his ability to make impossible trajectory changes significantly.
Before assimilation, Rio and Aishia were able to meet its speed if they were moving in a straight line, but Aishia had been unable to make finer adjustments at her top speed, which was why she had struggled with her midair battle.
Rio made heavy use of trajectory changes he would have hesitated to make before assimilating in an attempt to tear down the golem’s defenses.
It’s following me without a problem at this speed.
He was putting up a better fight than a head-on battle of power, but he still wasn’t able to outspeed the golem. Since Rio’s physical body was inferior in toughness, if he were to make a proper strike while flying, he had to be at a faster speed than the golem.
There’ll be no end to things at this rate. Aishia, can you increase the degree of our assimilation? Rio asked Aishia telepathically while he moved.
We’re already at sixty percent or so...
The current number was already fairly high. Since the degree of assimilation and its effect on the human body was yet to be fully verified, Aishia couldn’t say it would be fine with certainty.
But at this rate, they lacked a decisive blow. Lina had instructed them to use their transcendent powers and defeat the golem on her signal. All they really needed to do was distract the golem until then.
If possible, make it seventy percent. Okay?
Rio wanted to test how far he could fight without using his transcendent powers. He asked Aishia to increase the level of their assimilation.
Fine. Tell me immediately if you notice anything strange about your body.
Got it.
Rio’s condition instantly increased significantly. It was a mere ten percent change, but the effect it had was night and day. As soon as Rio felt that difference, he wrapped a large chunk of his magic essence around his sword. The blade glittered silver and began to scatter crackling sparks.
Then, Rio raised his flight speed. The sudden change in speed caused a delay in the golem’s reaction.
If it’s like this, then...!
Rio moved behind the golem. He was already swinging his sword. The golem reflexively flicked its tail, but the Spirit Arms in Rio’s hand severed the tail. Without missing a beat, Rio flipped his blade and accelerated at once, slashing at the golems body.
The next moment, the golem turned around to face Rio, blocking Rio’s slash with its claws of light. But the path of Rio’s swinging sword was slightly faster. Realizing it couldn’t defend itself in time, the golem attempted to retreat backwards, but...
The sword that was swung fast enough to leave sound behind shot towards the wrist of the hand the golem raised in defense. The blade that was sharpened by an enormous amount of essence easily severed the golem’s hand.
Immediately after, Rio released the rampaging essence sealed in the sword.
In the pale azure sky that was dimly lit by the beginnings of dawn, a single shooting star fell... Or at least, that’s what it would have looked like from the ground.
The slash of light released from Rio’s sword became a blinding beam that swallowed the entire upper body of the golem. The golem’s upper body was melted in an instant, leaving only its lower body behind once the slash had faded.
However, the lost upper body was already repairing itself. There was no time for Rio to catch his breath.
“Guh...!”
Rio immediately closed in on the golem to prevent its regeneration. He had naturally predicted the golem’s regeneration and was already preparing more condensed essence in his sword. With that, he intended on erasing the golem’s lower half as well...
But the golem began retreating while repairing its body.
Damn this thing...
Rio immediately pursued it, but the flying feather blades got in his way. He intercepted them with light bullets, but the decrease in his speed was inevitable. In that time, the golem completed its regeneration. Its essence swelled dramatically, and it came to a sudden stop.
Rio reflexively came to a screeching halt out of wariness.
What’s going on?
The magic essence overflowing from the golem’s body was dense enough to be seen by the naked eye. That magic essence converted into light energy that wrapped around the golem’s body.
Is this a physical body enhancement? No... It’s the same as the light that grew from its fingertips. It’s using the energy from its attacks to cover its body.
Rio instantly saw through its actions.
There were some magic, enchanted swords, and spirit arts in the world that used light energy as a physical means of attack. It was most commonly called the light or neutral element. The most well-known example of this was the photon bullet magic Photon Projectilis and the magic cannon Magicae Displodo. The King’s Sword, Alfred, also used an enchanted sword that could release light slashes, and the light orbs Rio used had a similar effect. So did Celia’s Durandal magic, as well as the blow Rio and Aishia used to erase the golem’s armor in battle.
The more magic essence that was poured into it, the more powerful the attack would be. It was even stronger when that essence was condensed.
Furthermore, while Rio generally fought without releasing the light energy wrapped around his sword, he could theoretically release a more powerful blow if he released that energy with his swing. However...
Is that possible?
The sword could be wrapped in energy because it was a physical object. The energy could serve as an essence barrier from external attacks, but the sword within it would be subject to the burden of the energy. If the energy exceeded the endurance limit of the object, there was a risk the object would collapse under the pressure.
But if it’s the golem’s armor... It has both offensive and defensive force. How troubling.
This meant the golem’s essence consumption would also skyrocket, but when Rio considered how much sturdier the armor would become...
Is seventy percent enough?
His expression darkened. Just then, a change occurred to the barrier covering the capital. A huge sorcery circle large enough to cover the entire city appeared in the air.
“Is this...” Rio looked up. The surface of the barrier was glittering with a blinding light. “Is this the large-scale sorcery Celia mentioned?”
Rio gazed at the sorcery circle curiously, wondering what effect it contained.
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