Chapter 7. Emilia Camp vs. Regulus
Perhaps because her mood was a bit down due to the failed negotiation, Emilia accidentally bumped into the person in front of her. "Ah! I'm sorry."
The man who accepted Emilia's apology gave an overall impression of white.
He had unpigmented white hair and white clothes, stood a little over 1.7 meters tall, and his physique appeared to be that of a normal high school student. In short, he was a man without outstanding features.
The man shook his head at Emilia's apology.
"There's no need to worry. I was careless for a moment, too. Because I was staring blankly for an instant."
"Huh?"
"I was captivated by your beautiful silver hair. I once wanted to marry a woman with beautiful silver hair just like yours. Remembering that, I accidentally forgot to step aside."
The man's reply sounded like flirting, but one could sense that he had no such intention; if anything, he was engrossed in his own world, talking to himself.
Emilia's eyes held a slight confusion; she felt like she had seen this person somewhere before.
However, in the next instant, the white-haired man disappeared, or rather, he was sent flying. Emilia saw Geuse blocking her way with a grim expression, and he let out a grinding sound from his teeth.
"Archbishop Regulus Corneas! Why are you here!?"
"I have come to take her. This is truly wonderful. I am Regulus Corneas, the Archbishop of the Witch Cult in charge of [Greed], and I shall make her my seventy-ninth wife. Since I have already decided to make her my wife, is it not only natural as a man, as a person, to take her hand?"
Regulus emerged nonchalantly from the collapsed building and said this as a matter of course.
Seeing this, Emilia finally remembered who the man before her was, and then she showed a confused expression.
"What do you mean, your bride?"
"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot something important! I almost forgot, you see."
Regulus, who had been completely deaf to the words of others, walked toward Emilia.
Then, a pillar of fire shot straight up from the magic circle beneath his feet. The stone pavement melted from the high temperature; it was an undeniable heat that surpassed what the human body could endure. But,
"I say, what kind of education did you receive, to set people on fire before speaking? If you have something to say, say it directly. Or do you think I am so stupid that I cannot even understand human speech?"
Regulus's voice came from within the fire, and then the scorching flames vanished completely. Regulus, standing in the center of the fire column, was not only unburnt, but he hadn't even broken a sweat.
"El Fula!"
Ram, who had appeared behind Regulus at some point, unleashed a burst of gale from her hands. The gale was still ineffective; instead, several bloody scratches appeared on Ram's hand. Regulus turned around and stretched out his right hand. Ram keenly sensed that being touched would result in death.
—So weak.
Ram showed a look of derision, as she noticed that the physical level displayed by the man before her was roughly that of a common thug. Ram quickly retreated, dodging the attack.
"Ice Art!"
A huge pillar of ice enveloped Regulus, and then, at Geuse's shout, countless invisible hands began to attack.
"Do you want to die that badly? Then queue up and wait your turn. Don't bother me."
The smoke cleared, and Regulus's voice was heard once again. Simultaneously, a hole suddenly appeared in the mist. In an instant, several ice walls appeared in front of the hole. These ice walls, each capable of withstanding a blow from a top-tier expert, all shattered instantaneously.
"Oh my, oh my, it seems we cannot directly intercept his attacks, I suppose."
Roswaal said with a laugh, then used a five-fold magic spell at once. On the other side, Geuse, whom Roswaal had moved underground, leaped out of the pit using his invisible hands.
"You should have realized by now. You people are not even worth a fart."
Regulus said with some annoyance in the face of the numerous attacks.
"Then let me see if your defense is truly invincible."
Roswaal, suspended in mid-air, smiled and waved his hand. At the same time, Geuse made the ground beneath Regulus's feet bulge upward, and a water dragon suddenly emerged from the nearby canal and swallowed Regulus, who was in mid-air.
—He truly is a monster.
Roswaal, who confirmed that Regulus's body was also impregnable, stopped manipulating the water flow. Then, a six-fold magic circle appeared in the air, and a beam of destructive, colorful light cut across the sky of the Water Gate City.
!!!
Roswaal's right leg instantly exploded. A will trained over 400 years prevented the worst outcome—fainting. Roswaal supported himself on the ground with one hand, urgently healing his right leg with the other, all while cautiously watching the completely unharmed Regulus.
"Although your attitude just now was rude, let's call it even. I hope that pain will encourage you to reflect. Also, there's no need to thank me. I don't do these things because I want to be thanked.
You should thank my wife. I thought about it, you see."
Regulus rotated his neck and smiled at the crowd.
"It would be too lonely if the bride's friends and relatives section were empty at the wedding ceremony. It would be too pathetic and heartless not to invite you. That's why I didn't kill you.
Please rest assured. In the past, I failed to uphold such vows. So, this time I will not yield. I will protect her. I will take her as my wife, cherish and love her, and let her enjoy the stable life she deserves. I won't ask for much, but as long as I can protect that tiny bit of happiness, I will not hesitate to use the power I was given."
Regulus said as if completely satisfied.
"Emilia-sama, you should leave first."
"No, this time, I'll stay with Geuse."
"Oh~ this girl is called Emilia. A beautiful name. A name that makes one want to call it with the affection one has for a little bird. Doesn't it suit this delicate girl?"
"You don't even know her name, yet you say you love her and will marry her. That is truly laughable. What gives you the courage to say you will marry Emilia-sama?"
"Her face."
Ram's expression turned to surprise. Not just Ram, but everyone wore an expression of disbelief.
Regulus seemed to misunderstand their silence, tilted his head, and continued.
"She's cute. For love, isn't that all that matters?"
"Just go die already."
Ram showed a look of disgust. At the same time, Roswaal stood up, but he suddenly noticed a change in the Mana in the air, and the spell he had prepared for retreat instantly dissipated.
No one other than Roswaal noticed her arrival. Even Roswaal did not see when she appeared behind Regulus—Reinhard's silent and instant lethal move.
Regulus's Authority instinctively activated; his neck resisted the sharp blade, but only just. His entire body was sent flying into the air, almost instantly moving out of his domain.
However, Regulus did not panic.
He first used his Authority to fix the surrounding air, stabilizing his body, and then glared fiercely at the newcomer.
Reinhild sighed.
"Leave the rest to me."
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