Chapter 17
Liam and Isel
T HE ATTACKS OF HOUSE Banfield's mobile knights, beginning with
the Avid, chipped away at the Autocracy's formation. Of course, looking
at the enemy's forces as a whole, House Banfield was only damaging a
very small portion of them. Throwing a fleet of thirty thousand ships at a
force of three hundred thousand just wasn't going to do that much. House
Banfield had made an obviously foolish move.
The Autocracy didn't react as if they had, though. As Isel watched
the battle unfold from the bridge of the fortress-class, his heart raced at the
exploits of House Banfield's forces.
"I thought Sir Claus was just a skilled strategist, but it seems he's a
fierce warrior as well. Good...very good."
The goal of Isel and the Autocracy was to target Claus, not Calvin or
Liam. Why was that? Because, since Claus was a knight of the Empire
with a certain reputation, whoever took him down would gain a
corresponding notoriety.
That might make it seem like they were too focused on individual
achievement in battle, but Isel had another goal as well. He knew that if
the Empire lost Claus, it would be a significant blow in terms of
manpower. Knights like Claus, who could command millions of ships,
were valuable. Such commanders weren't easily replaced, and Isel was
excited at the opportunity to strike down such a foe.
His eyes shone with excitement, the thought of this one worthy
enemy all that filled his head. Isel felt electricity surge through him at the
bravery of this man who would challenge them with a mere thirty thousand
ships, and at his ruthlessness in using even his own lord, Liam, as a pawn
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on the battlefield.
"I like your style, using even your lord in your attempt to snatch
victory! You're a knight—no, a warrior who's wasted on the Empire!"
Isel wanted Claus. Leaving a warrior who could destroy the United
Kingdom as a mere vassal of House Banfield would be too tragic. The
strong must have a standing equal to their strength... Sir Claus is
absolutely wasted on the Empire.
As Isel tried to think of a way to poach Claus from his foe, a
subordinate delivered a report. "Sir Claus's lord, Count Banfield, is
leading the charge himself in a mobile knight and dealing heavy damage to
our forces."
Isel wasn't overly surprised by this news, but he commended the
count on his mettle to fighting on the front lines himself. "He can't
compare to Sir Claus, but the enemy's leader is a fine warrior himself.
He's more than worthy of challenging us! I'll engrave House Banfield's
name into my heart."
He thought of Liam as a fine warrior, but nothing more. That was,
until the next report he received.
"Prince Isel! One of the Twelve Devas under your direct command,
Mathe Haj, has fallen in battle!"
Isel's eyes went wide. "What did you say?"
At first, he couldn't believe the report. After all, the Twelve Devas
were warriors he'd personally selected. They were fearless, powerful
comrades who'd fought alongside him on countless battlefields. They
served as the central power of Isel's army and had buried countless foes
prior to now. They were armed with cutting-edge humanoid weapons
crafted by the Autocracy. It was ridiculous to even think them capable of
losing. Thus, Isel grinned.
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"Who took him out?" he asked, smiling despite just having learned a
dear friend had died.
"Liam Sera Banfield!"
Isel and all the other warriors on the bridge exchanged glances and
grinned as one.
"He's strong!"
"It's a waste to leave him as a mere count!"
"If I were a bit younger, I'd go take his head myself!"
It always excited the Autocracy's warriors when a powerful foe
appeared. Warriors dying on the battlefield was to be expected, and respect
for the enemies who killed them was just as natural.
Isel spread his arms wide. "Gah ha ha ha! I didn't expect him to be
such a strong foe! Well then, it's only polite that I face him myself, isn't
it?!"
The bridge crew cheered when their supreme commander
announced his own participation in the battle, not a single one of them
attempting to discourage him.
"Prince Isel is joining the fight!"
"The Autocracy's strongest warrior is entering the field!"
"Notify the rest of the fleet!"
The Autocracy's troops let out a great cheer even as the Avid
continued to tear through the humanoid weapons on the monitor before
them.
***
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I'd noticed something while racing around the battlefield in the
Avid.
"Are these guys actually crazy?"
In the Empire, the Autocracy was viewed as Shimazu or Kamakura
warriors were in my previous existence. They fought without fear on the
battlefield—and seeing this firsthand really made me understand how
unnatural it was.
In the Avid, I grabbed an enemy craft's head and crushed it, tossing
it away. The next foes swarmed around me. I swung my blade at them,
destroying them all in one strike, and yet more enemies crowded in. No
matter how I demonstrated the overwhelming difference in our abilities,
the Autocracy's mobile knights just kept charging.
I kicked the head of one mobile knight that had rushed me,
smashing it, and shot through its cockpit with the rifle the Avid gripped.
Enemies exploded around the Avid constantly, yet more kept racing at me.
If these had been space pirates, they'd have run for the hills ages ago.
These Autocracy guys were nasty, pressing down on me with glee
however many I took out.
"Do these guys have no fear? Clock the difference in our abilities,
already!"
I sliced an approaching mobile knight in two with my laser blade,
then sped away. When I got free of the swarms of enemies crowding
around the Avid, I narrowed my eyes, observing the state of the battle as a
whole.
"Looks like things are getting tough."
We'd dealt a powerful blow to the enemy while they were confused,
but our superior position wouldn't last forever. Eventually they would
overwhelm us with sheer numbers. House Banfield's mobile knights
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fought fiercely, but they were starting to be pushed back.
"Do I use my trump card now, or...?"
Before I could decide, I sensed something in the distance.
"That's going to be trouble..."
***
"Isn't it just great to be surrounded by enemies everywhere you
look?!"
The Ericius that Chengsi piloted was unique in that its inner frame
was exposed. It was a mobile knight so focused on offense that it utilized
only the bare minimum armored plating. Chengsi was probably just about
the only person who would choose to pilot such a craft.
The Ericius was also furnished with beam-firing weapons at various
points on its body. It excelled at both long- and short-range combat, with
its meager defenses being its only significant weakness.
Amid the chaos, Chengsi pressed forward, avoiding the enemy's
attacks. When an enemy craft got near her, she armed her mobile knight
with hedgehog-like beam needles that emerged from all over its body.
"You're in my way."
She zipped past the enemy craft, and it exploded, sliced to ribbons.
Slipping through the explosion, the Ericius engaged each new mobile
knight or enemy ship it came across.
However, even Chengsi was starting to get tired. Inside the cockpit,
she was covered in sweat and breathing heavily.
"Haaah...haaah... I'd like to play more, but my energy reserves are
getting a little low."
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In addition to its weak defenses, this "hedgehog" weapon was
actually another of the Ericius's flaws. It was a feature that quickly ate
through the craft's energy reserves, so it had to refuel via tanks stored with
spatial magic. The Autocracy's warriors were proving to be difficult foes,
though. In fighting them, Chengsi had expended so much energy that she'd
already gone through her reserve tanks.
"I'd like to at least take out a big target before I retire."
Chengsi set her sights on the Autocracy's fortress-class, which she
couldn't even see on her monitor unless she zoomed in. From its
positioning, she could guess that the enemy commander was aboard that
ship.
As the situation was now, however, the Ericius would run out of
energy before she reached the fortress-class. She considered giving up,
then licked her painted lips.
"Well, isn't that an interesting sight? I'll face you, then."
The humanoid weapon that had just launched from the fortress-class
had a unique eight-armed design. It was headed somewhere, ignoring the
Ericius completely.
"I don't think I like your attitude!"
The Ericius opened a section of armor on its thigh to reveal a
scattershot beam weapon. A number of thin beams shot out from this and
curved, heading for the eight-armed humanoid weapon. However, the
enemy craft swung a khakkhara-like weapon with one hand, deflecting
Chengsi's beams.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you. Count Banfield's
waiting for me."
Hearing Liam's name, Chengsi opened her mouth wide to laugh.
"There's no need for you to face him. You'll be dying here, after all!"
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The Ericius sped toward the enemy craft, which signaled the guard
craft around it to stand down.
"You appear to be quite the warrior yourself, but you're no match
for me."
The Ericius was equipped with sharp claws on both hands. Chengsi
extended those blades and thrust them forward, but the enemy craft
repelled the attack easily with its khakkhara.
"Ugh!" Chengsi attempted to pull away from the enemy, but it
chased after her.
"Is that all you've got?"
"You're good...! I'm getting chills!"
The Ericius deployed its beam needles and sped at the enemy craft,
which had advanced too close and entered the range of her special attack.
"Now, dance with me!"
The Ericius spun at the enemy with its needles firing, but the
enemy's khakkhara blocked each beam.
"Huh...?"
Chengsi was speechless. The enemy craft had repelled her attack
effortlessly.
While she hesitated in shock, the enemy approached once more. It
swung its khakkhara and severed the Ericius's left arm and both legs in an
instant.
"It's over."
As the enemy aimed its next strike at Chengsi's cockpit, she smiled.
"Well, it wouldn't be so bad to end things here, but... Nice timing,
Claus."
As the enemy's khakkhara swung toward the Ericius, a beam blazed
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between the two craft. When the enemy craft backed off to avoid it, the
Ericius fired something like a scale weight from its remaining right arm.
The weight attached itself to a ship that had just appeared on the
battlefield, and the ship sped away from the scene pulling the Ericius by a
cable.
The beam attack launched by the ship had destroyed several
humanoid weapons and enemy ships in the subsequent blast. The eight-
armed enemy craft seemed to consider chasing after the Ericius, but gave
up, since the ship had already gained too much distance.
The Ericius had attached itself to House Banfield's flagship, the
Argos. It had come to Chengsi's aid by launching a second charge on the
enemy. Once more, House Banfield's fleet punched a hole through the
enemy's formation.
Claus's face appeared on her monitor. "You all right, Chengsi?"
Chengsi shrugged. "That was a close one. That enemy was no joke."
"They've got somebody you'd take seriously, huh? I wonder who it
was."
"Who knows?" Chengsi replied with a grin.
Sensing that she had no more information to offer, Claus cut the
call.
"Now I owe Claus one," Chengsi muttered to herself.
***
House Banfield had succeeded in another charging maneuver. Once
again, the formation of the Autocracy's fleet was disturbed, and they fell
into confusion.
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"We got them again, huh?" I exclaimed in my cockpit, both
surprised and excited at this turn of events. I felt a fierce smile forming on
my face even as I realized I'd underestimated Claus's abilities.
I could command the fleet to charge, and they would carry out the
order just fine, but in a head-on collision House Banfield's forces would
have been crushed by the Autocracy's superior numbers. What Claus had
managed, however, was to thread the fleet through the enemy's ships. Of
course, this was space, so the distance between any given enemy ships was
thousands of meters. Nonetheless, Claus's charges through the enemy fleet
were disrupting their formation and throwing them into chaos.
"I thought it would be almost impossible, even with our fleet's
training, so I can't believe he's succeeded at it twice now." I was getting
jealous of Claus. "But my commander's getting so much done that I'm not
standing out."
If the war ended like this, Claus's exploits would be famed in the
Autocracy, not mine. I held my head for a moment, then brushed my bangs
back.
"Now that Claus has confused the enemy again, this is my chance.
Avid, summon the Griffin."
The Avid's movements altered at the keyword "Griffin." An
automated voice announced, "Spatial magic output at maximum.
Removing locks on subspace hatch. Activating Griffin."
A huge magic circle extended ten kilometers behind the Avid. From
it emerged the bow of a ship. The enemy realized the Avid was about to do
something major and concentrated their attacks on the magic circle, their
humanoid weapons charging at the Avid itself.
"Presence of enemy craft confirmed. Commencing counterattack."
The enormous ship exiting the magic circle began to attack even
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before it had fully emerged. The enemy's attacks bounced off its defense
fields, and the massive ship returned fire with beams and missiles.
Red trails from the missiles' rockets blazed across the battlefield.
When the missiles struck the enemy, ships and humanoid weapons alike
were caught up in the explosions.
Finally, the massive ship—the Griffin—revealed itself fully.
"Commencing transformation."
"Fast as you can, if you would."
"Acknowledged."
The enormous warship began to change in form to a humanoid
shape. Enemies attacked it thinking it would be vulnerable as it
transformed. They kept rushing at the Avid as well.
"You're being awfully careless on the battlefield!" someone
taunted.
As I met an attacking craft with my laser blade, I responded via the
channel that had opened between us.
"Careless? It's called poised."
I cut the craft in two before turning the Avid around to look at the
Griffin. It had finished transforming and was attacking every enemy
around it with both hands, each of its fingers firing massive beams. Each
of the beams—ten total—destroyed multiple craft. I'd dealt a considerable
blow to the enemies nearby.
The Avid headed for the Griffin's head section, where a hatch
opened to welcome it. The Avid entered the hatch, and several mechanical
arms fixed it in place.
"Connecting with Griffin."
The eyes of the Avid and Griffin flashed simultaneously, and I
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gained control of the massive machine. My screen switched from the
Avid's view to the Griffin's.
"The ships look so small now. Let's crush them all!"
The Griffin, which in the past had dealt the final blow to the
Berkeley Family, was a giant ship—no, a giant mobile knight—that could
probably be called a weapon of mass destruction. Turrets appeared all over
its body, firing in all directions, as missiles launched to intercept enemy
craft coming my way. The Griffin dealt a heavy blow to the enemy fleet.
"Pretty cool, huh? I'm told this is the ultimate mobile knight."
In attempting to give a mobile knight a ship's capabilities, the
Seventh Weapons Factory had arrived at the somewhat backward
conclusion that they should just make a ship into a mobile knight. One
might think such a plan was stupid, but I didn't hate that kind of stupidity.
The Griffin cleaned up all the enemies around it and headed for the
center of the enemy fleet's formation. Ships gathered in front of the Griffin
in an effort to stop it, firing upon it in unison.
"You work together well, but that's pointless with this thing."
The Griffin pressed its fingers together, and an enormous blade
formed from its beam launchers. I swung it at the enemy ships directly in
my path and struck every one of them—and a few off to the sides as well.
Despite the racket, I could hear enemy transmissions.
"Somebody stop that giant humanoid! Ignore the rest and surround
that thing!"
The enemy fleet altered its maneuvers, their ships forming a circle
around me and all firing at once.
"Not a bad move."
The Griffin was bathed in the enemy's concentrated fire, but its hull
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was composed of rare metals. I'd splurged on the components that made
up its interior as well, so it was basically an enormous version of the Avid.
Rare metals like orichalcum and adamantite, things that showed up in
games, were pricy, given their scarcity and quality as materials. Frankly,
they were in a different league entirely from the more common metals
typically used in the construction of ships and mobile knights.
The Griffin withstood a barrage of attacks from hundreds,
thousands, tens of thousands of ships. Not only that, its various weapons
demolished all the ships in its vicinity. I glanced at the state of the battle
on my cockpit screens and found that the enemy's formation had collapsed
once more. They had likely broken formation purposely in order to deal
with the Griffin.
"We've already destroyed a tenth of their forces, but they show no
sign of retreating."
One of the Autocracy's characteristics was that they paid no mind to
the loss of their own members. In the Empire, if one side lost twenty
percent of its forces, it was considered a rout. That wasn't so for the
Autocracy, which would keep fighting even after that point. When my
coworker Nitta in my past life had talked about the Shimazu clan in the
Sengoku period, or the warriors of the Kamakura period, he called them
"berserkers." This universe's berserkers were the Autocracy, for sure.
"I don't plan on losing to you. If you want to die that badly, I'll send
you to the afterlife personally."
The Griffin's chest armor opened up, and energy began to collect
there. I watched a meter fill, and when the weapon was sufficiently
charged, I instantly pulled its trigger.
"Destroy!"
The massive beam of light that shot from the Griffin's chest
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swallowed up the Autocracy's fleet. As I reangled the Griffin, that light
swept enemies off the battlefield like a broom cleaning up trash.
Its firepower was completely overwhelming. I was rubbing our
difference in strength in the Autocracy's face.
"Do you understand, Autocracy? This is what it truly means to be
strong!"
It's ten years too soon for you to be picking a fight with me! No... In
this reality's timespan, would it be a hundred years? Anyway, you people
picked the wrong guy to mess with!
"Now what will you do? Tuck your tail between your legs and run?"
As I laughed loudly inside my cockpit, a single humanoid weapon
raced toward the overwhelmingly powerful Griffin. It dodged the beams,
lasers, and ammunition the Griffin shot at it. Its crazy trajectory drew on
the canvas of space behind it with lines of light that trailed it.
"What's that...?"
While I watched the complex patterns of lines, almost worried I'd
get tangled in them, the enemy reached the Griffin. The humanoid weapon
announced itself through an open channel.
"I am the G'doire Autocracy's crown prince, Isel Balandin! I
challenge Count Liam Sera Banfield to single combat!"
A young man with spiky blue hair was excitedly asking me to fight
one-on-one. If he was telling the truth about who he was, the man before
me was the supreme commander of the Autocracy's forces.
Rather than assuming that this was a golden opportunity, though, I
was suspicious. Would the crown prince really show himself before me
like this? Normally, if the supreme commander was on the battlefield, they
were in the back giving orders. Would that person really challenge an
enemy to single combat? I thought he must really be an idiot, but then I
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figured maybe this was all just a big joke.
"What are you, a comedian? I don't like jokes that aren't funny. Get
out of here."
Inside, I was kind of rattled by the enemy's sheer stupidity. It was
just moronic to witness the Griffin's overwhelming capabilities and still
challenge me with a humanoid weapon. I found it hard to believe the
Autocracy could be that lacking in common sense.
"So you won't accept my challenge? Then I'll just have to
demonstrate my power to you!"
Isel's craft switched armaments to a lance. He swung the pointed
weapon about and struck a pose with it.
"I deem you a suitable opponent against whom to use my full
strength! This is my—"
"Shut up."
I interrupted Isel's speech and fired on him with the Griffin. The
chest beam had heavily drained its energy reserves, but it still had enough
juice to fire some beams from its fingertips.
"You seem a little sheltered, so here's a piece of advice. Only
announce your name on the battlefield to people weaker than you."
The Autocracy really was trash—or so I thought as the humanoid
weapon leaped out from between the beams I'd fired at it. At first, I
thought he'd just barely managed to escape, but his craft turned out to be
completely unscathed.
"It's low of you to interrupt a guy in the middle of his speech!"
"What?" I was getting pissed at him for insulting me.
Isel calmly went on with his explanation, regardless of whether I
was listening to him. "The Autocracy is ruled by the strongest among us,
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and the warrior best suited to taking over that position is the only one
permitted to call himself crown prince."
I'd been wondering what he was going on about, but he turned out
to be announcing himself as the second strongest person in the Autocracy.
"That's just within the Autocracy, though, right? The strongest of all
is the master of the Way of the Flash—my master, Yasushi."
Isel had no idea of the true breadth of this universe, so I told him my
master's name as a gift he could take with him to the grave.
"I've heard rumors of the Way of the Flash, but if you say it's the
strongest fighting method, you'll have to prove that to me here!"
Isel's humanoid weapon sped up even more. I was at a disadvantage
now, since the Griffin was so huge that it couldn't move quickly or make
fine adjustments in flight.
"You insect!"
I attacked with the Avid's weapons, but none of my strikes
connected with Isel's craft. I tried to swat him like a fly with the Griffin's
enormous arms, but he avoided my swipes with ease.
"Hwah ha ha ha! My trusty craft is the strongest! This craft bears
the name of the very Autocracy itself! Behold the G'doire—the
Autocracy's mightiest weapon!"
Isel's eight weapons launched powerful attacks. His spear spun end
over end when he threw it, building up its penetrating power until it
actually pierced the Griffin's armor.
"He broke through the Griffin's rare metal plating?" I hadn't even
thought that was possible.
One of the arms on the back of Isel's craft threw a chakram. The
ring-shaped weapon multiplied when released, and as each unit spun, it
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produced beams that formed wide blades around it. Hundreds of these
chakrams sliced into the Griffin, tearing up its armor and destroying
cannons, missile launchers, and beam weapon lenses embedded in its
body.
An alarm sounded in my cockpit.
"Oh, now you've done it!"
"My G'doire's armaments are all ancient weapons, and the craft
itself was built with the advanced technology of the ancients!"
As he bragged that his arsenal consisted of artifacts irreplicable with
today's technology, I grimaced.
***
The Guide wept with delight as he watched Liam and Isel's battle.
"An ancient craft that can't be replicated with today's technology!
Oh, it's brilliant! It's more powerful than the Avid, I'm sure!"
The Avid was a cut above most mobile knights, but Isel's humanoid
weapon was even above that. It encapsulated the knowledge humanity had
achieved before the uprising of artificial intelligence.
Observing the battle alongside the Guide, G'doire also trembled
with joy. It must have been unbearably exciting for him to see his beloved
Isel go up against a powerful enemy.
"That craft was a present from me to Isel. With it, there's no enemy
in the world who can best him!"
Isel was G'doire's greatest work—his strongest pawn. He had surely
sacrificed thousands, millions, billions of lives to produce Isel. To shape
the environment in which to birth and raise him. To orchestrate battles and
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worthy opponents for his growth. Countless lives had been expended just
for the sake of rearing the crown prince. It was no exaggeration to call him
G'doire's child, and G'doire had showered him with a truly staggering
amount of affection.
"When Isel wins this battle, I'll keep him by my side for the rest of
time. He'll be the ultimate warrior I finally perfected." G'doire planned to
make Isel into a being like himself and the Guide.
The Guide responded with applause. "Fantastic! The sheer number
of lives sacrificed, all to produce one sublime warrior..." As he said this,
the Guide watched the Griffin slowly crumble in his peripheral vision. He
could hardly contain his excitement anymore. As he praised G'doire, his
exhilaration reached its peak. "Excelleeeeent! Liam is finally finished!"
G'doire rubbed what must've constituted his chin as he observed the
Griffin's slow destruction. "That boy isn't a bad warrior himself," he
noted, complimenting his son's adversary. "A fine contribution to the
completion of Isel's journey."
Despite praising Liam, G'doire only saw him as a footnote to Isel's
story. G'doire couldn't imagine Liam recovering from his position.
Laughing, the Guide shouted at Liam, aware of course that the boy
couldn't hear him. "Well, Liam?! How does it feel to go up against
someone truly strong—in a full-fledged ancient weapon to boot?! You and
the Avid don't stand a chance against them!"
The Griffin was being slashed to pieces before the eyes of the Guide
and G'doire.
***
Meanwhile, the bridge of the flagship Argos was in chaos.
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"The Griffin's damage level is in the red! It can't take any more!"
"The mobile knights are all reaching their technical limits! No one
can assist!"
"The enemy fleet's still attacking!"
Liam had never once struggled on the battlefield before. The
soldiers who had previously had absolute faith in the Avid and the Griffin
couldn't hide their panic as they watched the enormous craft crumble.
The same went for Claus, of course, but he had to command the
fleet in Liam's place.
"We'll head to Liam's aid ourselves," he declared coolly. "Once we
collect Lord Liam, we'll remain on the battlefield as the fleet's rear
guard."
Claus had decided to slow the Autocracy down to give Lord Liam
the chance to escape. The bridge crew responded to Claus's command with
different expressions. Some were confused, others trembled. Most had
expected they would die one day as soldiers and wore looks of grim
determination. For the most part, the crew of the Argos consisted of elite
soldiers, so most stayed fairly calm in the face of this development.
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to throw away your lives along
with me," Claus told them.
It was natural that Claus would remain behind to command the fleet
as the rear guard, but this was not out of simple loyalty.
House Banfield is done for if we lose Lord Liam here.
Claus knew exactly what would happen, because he'd already
witnessed it once. House Banfield was completely unable to function
without Liam. Not only that, but Liam was heavily involved in the
Empire's succession conflict. Cleo would be in a terrible predicament
without him. The succession conflict would heat up again and the entire
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Empire could be thrown into chaos. Claus foresaw the huge influence
Liam's life was sure to have on the Empire's future.
Lord Liam just needs to survive. We'll do whatever is necessary to
make sure that happens.
Even if Claus didn't make it, House Banfield had plenty of other
skilled people able to replace him. Tia and Marie were more than
competent as long as someone reined them in. To put it somewhat
dramatically, there may have been replacements for Claus, but there
wasn't one for Liam.
"Contact Lord Liam. I'll explain the—"
Then they heard Liam's voice on Isel's open channel. "Now you've
done it, you ignorant little prince. If you're going to be cocky, I'll get
serious." Liam had lost his cool and still planned on fighting with Isel.
When he realized Liam intended to continue fighting, Claus
panicked. "Wh-what?! Lord Liam, you can't! Escape at once!"
Unaware of his head knight's agitation, Liam told Isel, "I'd planned
on capturing you and handing you over to the Empire, but I'm going to kill
you right here and now."
Isel was thrilled at this announcement. "You're something else,
Banfield! You're the only one who's ever kept up that attitude with me
once they saw me get serious! You're just the kind of opponent I've been
looking for!"
Thus, the bell rang for round two of Isel and Liam's match.
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