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Seeing the imperial girl light up the moment she heard "fight," Sai Akuto couldn't help thinking this country might as well collapse already.
The Minister and the Grand General were clearly hiding things from her, and she still had the mood to watch a brawl?
Half an hour later, in the martial arena.
Up in the stands, Furina was practically vibrating with excitement.
She wouldn't get this hyped for an ordinary match—but this was General Budo, one of the Empire's strongest!
Usually, when Budo makes a move, he deletes his opponent in a second. This time, he finally had someone on his level.
At last, a fight worth watching!
"Minister, don't you think having General Budo bring his troops while facing Internal Affairs Officer Akuto is a bit unfair?" the imperial girl asked, eyes fixed on the army arrayed behind Budo.
"Heika," Minister Honest said, rolling his greasy cheeks while eyeing the grand general at center field, "the Budo clan has guarded the Empire for a thousand years—that is how he earned the rank of Grand General. Esdeath campaigned across the realm for years before she was promoted to Grand General as well.
"As for Internal Affairs Officer Akuto—while his merits are indeed impressive, his foundation remains insufficient. If we are to grant him a status on par with a Grand General, then he ought to demonstrate strength befitting that status. Otherwise, how will the court accept him?"
"I see." The imperial girl nodded as if she half understood.
"Right, since you and General Budo both interceded to request this new position for him, we do have to consider how it will be viewed outside the capital."
Her gaze drifted to the golden tray beside her—the very tray that held the imperial decree which Budo and the Minister had begged her to issue not long ago.
"Yes. So long as he passes General Budo's trial, he qualifies for the position that Heika prepared specifically for him."
Of course, that's only if he passes, the Minister added inwardly, his devouring mouth stretching into a twisted smile as he shoveled more food in.
Budo, don't blame me. I won't carve up my own authority to empower some "newcomer"!
If Akuto dies here and now, I not only seize the legacy he left in the Capital, I even get my hands on Anvale City that he built from the ground up!
Just the power that's flowed in from the western state has already supercharged commerce here in the Imperial Capital—how have we heard nothing about these developments for years? What is our intelligence bureau even doing?!
Originally, in exchange for all the convenient "gifts" Akuto kept delivering, the Minister had intended to draw him into his own patronage network.
But Akuto's move to invite Minister Tōri back into politics had deeply offended him.
By now, Tōri's rumored return was all the rage. If Tōri and Akuto really linked up, the Minister's seat would be in serious danger.
Worse, Akuto's power base in the provinces was simply too great.
Even after losing his prefect's post, he could still mobilize the resources of Anvale City on a massive scale purely by leaning on past prestige as the Empire's Internal Affairs Officer.
Thus, the Minister marked Akuto as a target for physical elimination.
From a pure power-struggle standpoint, the Minister's calculus wasn't wrong.
A provincial strongman who controlled resources rivaling the Capital's was too dangerous—he had to be strangled in the cradle.
Unfortunately for him, Akuto had long since grown beyond anything the Minister could suppress.
Center of the arena.
Akuto faced off against Budo.
Across from him, Budo's aura was weighty and mountainous.
But what drew Akuto's eye most wasn't the grand general clad in Teigu armor—it was the group of Imperial Guard soldiers behind him.
Through the Eye of Data, Akuto immediately spotted several… anomalies.
What's this? There are assassins from the Empire's covert unit mixed into Budo's Imperial Guards?
The question had barely popped up when a new prompt chimed in his mind.
Ding!
Story Quest Triggered
Quest Rank: Purple — The Minister's Tentacles
Quest Brief: Yesterday, General Budo approached the Minister to have him honor a promise from a month ago. Outwardly, they "co-sponsored" a new post tailor-made for the protagonist. In truth, this is just the Minister's ploy to slash Budo's military authority. Exploiting Budo's wish to promote his own candidate, the Minister agreed to cut a portion of power from both the Minister and the Grand General to hand to a "newcomer." But the Minister will never split his own power—he plans to eliminate you, Budo's favored pick, and install his man into the new office. To that end, the Minister has dispatched every elite of the Imperial Assassination Unit!
Quest Objective: Eliminate all assassins the Minister has embedded within the Imperial Guard.
Akuto nodded, enlightened.
So that's why the Minister's been so "nice" today—turns out it's last-rites hospitality.
Before ever coming to the Capital, Akuto had already prepared to clash with the Minister.
There was only one thing that could suppress the Minister at court: unite all the great families under a single, nationwide profit engine.
Over the past month, he'd shown the nobles exactly how he minted money.
Next, all he had to do was unveil his endgame—and the lords would flock to his banner out of sheer self-interest.
He just hadn't expected that Budo had already set things in motion a month ago, planning to push him up before he even made his move.
Budo, of course, didn't know what Akuto was thinking. He just wanted to show Heika how strong Akuto truly was.
As long as things moved in the direction he'd foreseen, he didn't care how large Akuto's power swelled.
"On your guard!"
Budo brought together his two hands, thick as tank armor.
Terrifying arcs of lightning crackled into being between his palms—the air itself trembling.
Though he intended for Akuto to win, he had no intention of pulling punches.
[Thunderous Gravity!]
Budo's Teigu didn't just command lightning—it could also manipulate gravity.
At the center of that crushing pressure, Akuto stood calm.
"General Budo, since we're both already here, there's no need to play kids' games."
With that, the Boosted Gear manifested on his arm.
"Welsh Dragon—Balance Breaker!"
"Forbidden Hand—Red Dragon Emperor's Record!"
(Boosted Gear: Scale Mail)
A surge of Maou-class power erupted, blasting the front rank of Imperial Guards off their feet.
If this hadn't been a "formal duel" and Akuto hadn't deliberately held back, those soldiers would have been erased by the mere shock of his Balance Breaker's activation.
"Imperial Guard, form up!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Budo's command, a pressure rippled across the arena.
"Hoh? The Capital's dragon vein just synchronized with the army's collective will—that's Cloud Qi, huh?"
Cloud Qi is the condensed manifestation of a unit's blood-vigor and spirit intertwined with the world's animus.
Ordinarily, only elite formations with both iron will and solid strength can wield Cloud Qi.
Once the Cloud-Qi Formation is raised, the army's power condenses as one, and the enemy it faces will find their strength, stamina, and spirit forced down to the bare minimum.
Even a regular elite unit's Cloud Qi is formidable. The Imperial Guard's Cloud Qi, under Budo, was outright frightening—because their formation can link to the Capital's dragon vein.
Too bad for them, when it comes to wielding dragon-type power, nobody does it better than—
Behind Akuto, a scarlet dragon phantom unfurled, loosing a roar that shook the heavens.
"—Aaaaooooo—!"
Under the Red Dragon Emperor's roar, the fusion of capital-dragon-qi and the army's will ruptured.
Budo and the Guard's momentum plummeted in an instant.
Akuto flicked his hand forward, seizing the opening.
"Dragon Shot!"
A simple, plain sphere of demonic power left his gauntlet—
—and swelled mid-flight into a dozens-meter beam of light.
"Tch! If that's all, it's not enough to crack my defense!"
Just as Budo said—augmented by the army's Cloud Qi, he was even stronger than when fighting alone.
At this timing, there was no one this version of Budo couldn't stand against.
Najenda knew that well—that's why she chose to withdraw before the Imperial Guard fully mustered.
In the next heartbeat, Budo brought his hands together to shield his vitals. Armor-like layers of lightning wrapped around his battle-hardened frame.
[Thunderous Bulwark!]
Encased in forged light, the grand general became a walking bastion, shouldering the Dragon Shot as he charged forward.
Hoh? Starting out at full tilt, Budo? Makes sense.
Even after using secret elixirs, he'd still need ten days to half a month of recuperation to reach true peak. Getting dragged into a long fight doesn't favor him.
Ordinarily, Akuto should be stalling—once Budo ran out of gas, the victory would be his, fair and square.
But both men knew: this battle wasn't about victory.
Budo was fighting to be defeated.
Akuto was fighting because enemies had already made their move.
If he was going to strike at the Imperial Guard—possibly lethally—he needed a reason.
This duel would provide it.
He stomped down, tearing the ground, and charged to meet Budo head-on.
Their eyes clashed in midair—
—and then their armored bodies crashed again and again across the arena floor.
"Den—den—den— caffeinated lightning!!~"
Armored plates slammed, skidded back, and slammed again.
"Yatta! So cool!!~" Furina clapped like a child as thunderflowers bloomed across the stage.
"Heika, please mind decorum." The Minister forced a smile, rolled his eyes away, and flicked his gaze to the assassins he'd planted among the Guard.
Even if the Cursed Blade Murasame is in Night Raid's filthy hands right now, ordinary poisons can still deliver 'one-strike kills.'
Gozuki, leader of the Elite Assassination Unit—this is your moment to atone.
Catch that split second when Akuto and Budo are at their weakest… then—one hit, one kill!
Green spirit light shrouded scarlet scale mail; white-gold thunder armor blazed as the two forces smashed together.
Boom!
In the end, Akuto held the edge—his power and staying power outstripping Budo's as he hammered the grand general into the arena wall.
Crack—crack—crack—
Budo emerged from the rubble, steady gaze unbroken.
"In that case, try this!"
"Internal Affairs Officer Akuto—if you can cross this ordeal, then you're worthy of this third pillar of the Empire!"
Behind Budo, lightning gathered like never before—
Arcs twined, fused, coalesced… until a humanoid titan wrought entirely of lightning took form.
This was General Budo's ultimate move—
Final Secret Art: Thunder Giant!
(End of Chapter)
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