"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
By now, the knights who had arrived on Itogami Island alongside Lucas had come to their senses. Without a word, they surrounded Kaiser, weapons drawn and leveled at him.
"Stand down!"
The Special Administrative Zone's Security Corps, stationed at the airport, turned pale and reflexively raised their rifles.
"Senpai!"
Kanon Kanase called out in deep concern.
"Honestly, Father…"
Even La Folia seemed taken aback that her father had attacked outright. She gave a wry smile while shielding Kanon in her arms.
In the middle of it all, Kaiser and Lucas faced off.
Lucas still held his battle axe poised in a cleaving stance, muscles in his arm bulging, veins standing out with the sheer force he was applying. But no matter how much strength he poured in, Kaiser kept the massive weapon at bay with one hand, holding it effortlessly.
"Quite the unique welcome gift, Your Majesty."
Kaiser didn't spare the axe a glance. His eyes stayed on Lucas's face, narrowed in faint amusement.
"…So you're that so-called Beast King, the man who defeated Dimitrie Vattler?"
Lucas was clearly surprised that Kaiser had caught his blow barehanded, but his voice carried the weight of authority as he demanded answers.
"Don't call me by that ridiculous title." Kaiser's tone stayed calm. "I'm Kaiser, a special agent of the Lion King Agency. Currently assigned as observer to the so-called Fourth Primogenitor, Nagisa Akatsuki. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty."
"Hmph!" Lucas snorted, scowling. "A special agent of the Lion King Agency who dares lay hands on my daughter and covet my wife's younger sister—bold indeed!"
"Careful with your words, Your Majesty," Kaiser shot back, releasing the axe. "When did I ever lay hands on your daughter? Or covet your wife's sister?"
"Oh, you didn't?" Lucas stepped back a pace, keeping his guard up as he continued. "La Folia says you've seen her naked—was that a lie?"
Kaiser: "…"
"My wife's sister, I'm told, you've also seen naked—is that a lie?"
"…"
"That girl often falls asleep in your room in the middle of the night—fake, is it?"
"…"
"And the two of them live under the same roof with you—you never once felt anything?"
"…"
With each question, Kaiser's only answer was silence. Lucas's temper rose with every word, veins standing out across his forehead as he glared at Kaiser like a mortal enemy. His grip on the axe tightened again.
"So it's all true, then! Otherwise my daughter wouldn't be declaring she's found a man she absolutely must marry—after all, you've already defiled her!"
Bellowing, Lucas raised his axe once more and swung it down in a furious arc.
Kaiser slipped aside from the first strike, but Lucas was no amateur. The moment he missed, he reversed the blade, cleaving sideways with a whistle of air so sharp that the cold gleam of the edge seemed to reach Kaiser's skin before the steel did.
Kaiser's footwork was light, flowing—he evaded strike after strike, the axe cutting only air, whipping up blasts of wind and the howl of rending air.
Bang!
At last, Lucas's axe smashed into the floor, shattering it and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"You really should calm down, Your Majesty," Kaiser said lightly, still moving as if the weight of those attacks were nothing. "It was just an accident."
Lucas was having none of it.
"My kingdom's treasure—its future ruler—has been taken advantage of by you, and you think you can sweep it away with 'just an accident'? Not a chance!"
And indeed, in Aldegyr, La Folia was nothing less than a national treasure. It wasn't just her beauty, talent, and capability—she was also the designated heir to the throne.
Lucas had three daughters. La Folia, the First Princess, was seventeen and the most supported candidate for succession. The Second and Third Princesses were twin eleven-year-olds still in elementary school.
Naturally, La Folia was by far the most suitable heir in every respect, the almost-certain future queen. Celebrated as the reincarnation of the goddess Freya, the Silver Princess was adored both at home and abroad. Calling her a national treasure was no exaggeration.
And Lucas, the doting father, cherished her beyond measure.
So upon learning his precious daughter had been stranded on a deserted island and that some man had seen her naked—he'd nearly blacked out from fury.
Worse still, his wife's younger sister had suffered the same indignity, and both young women seemed to look at this man with special regard. And now his daughter was openly calling Kaiser the most suitable husband for her, asking her father to approve…
Lucas's rage boiled over. Approve? He wanted the man's head.
"If you're a man, stop dodging! Face me in a fair fight!"
He hefted the battle axe once more.
"If you can't even defeat me, I'll never acknowledge you as La Folia's husband!"
That made La Folia—who had been about to stop her father from making a further spectacle—pause in her tracks.
"La Folia?"
Kanon glanced at her in disbelief.
"Don't worry," La Folia said with a small smile. "Let Kaiser-kun show his stuff. It'll save us a lot of trouble."
She didn't want her father to embarrass himself too much, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. If Kaiser could win over her stubborn father here and now, it would make everything simpler.
La Folia was shrewd, and well aware of her position. She knew the royal family had already started arranging meetings for her to find a suitable consort to secure the kingdom's next generation.
Adored by her parents and idolized by many, she also knew that as a princess, she'd eventually have to make sacrifices.
Her marriage, for one, would never be hers alone to decide.
If she enjoyed the privileges of being a princess, she had to shoulder the duties. But that didn't mean she was willing to marry someone she felt nothing for, sacrificing her own happiness for politics or the state.
So she had resolved early on: her husband would be her choice, even if she had to be willful to make it happen.
Meeting Kaiser here, she had felt an instant spark. In every way, he seemed the most suitable man for her—not just strong and capable, but mysterious, intriguing.
The more time she spent with him, the more certain she became he was different from everyone else—mysterious, yes, but also fun.
Decisive by nature, once she grew curious and fond of him, she decided to groom him for the role of her husband.
Her confession to Lucas hadn't been to stir up trouble for Kaiser—she truly meant it.
If this man could pass her family's test, then he would be her husband. And she was sure: the man she chose wouldn't be daunted by her father.
"Take this!"
As La Folia thought, Lucas charged Kaiser.
A hum resonated from the axe in his hands, the weapon glowing with holy, dazzling light. Power surged—explosive, overwhelming—so great it was hard to believe a human could wield it.
"A Forged Holy Sword…"
Kaiser's eyes narrowed.
This was Aldegyr's pride, the Forged Holy Sword—created by their masterful Völundr system. By channeling massive spirit energy from a magically linked spirit furnace, a normal weapon's power could be raised to the level of a true holy sword.
And like La Folia, Lucas could wield it unaided—except, Kaiser realized, not entirely unaided. The immense energy flooding into Lucas wasn't his own—it was coming from the airborne battleship.
So, the spirit furnace onboard had been activated, feeding him power?
The thought flashed through Kaiser's mind an instant before Lucas's empowered axe came crashing down.
A strike that even powerful demons might not withstand; that could cleave a vampire and their summoned beast in one blow.
A Forged Holy Sword might lack the anti-magic properties of a divine artifact, but it was still a bane to demonkind. Kaiser wasn't a demon, but if he used something like Kidō arts to block, it could still be disrupted—perhaps even his – Silver Radiant Qilin's triple-layered spatial severance might be interfered with.
"Honestly…" Kaiser sighed, expression as calm as ever.
"…what a troublesome man."
As before, he reached out to meet the descending axe—
—dragonic power surging across his palm.
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