[287] 4. Teraze's Proposal (4)
"You followed me because you were curious anyway, didn't you? Do you know what an honor it is to enter my bedroom?"
"I already told you I don't want to."
"Hmph. How arrogant. You don't know your place."
Jion ground his teeth, then his smile returned as if a good idea had come to him.
"Fine. Then I'll give an order as royalty. Serve me tonight."
"No. Even if you're a prince, I am a noble of Tormia. I don't answer to a foreign command."
"Oh? You think you're so great, do you? Then how about this: if you don't come into my arms tonight, I will declare war on Tormia."
Amy stared at Jion in incredulity.
"You think that's impossible? Kazra will soon be in my hands. If I become king, the first thing I'll do is conquer Tormia. Your country will fall because of you."
It wasn't an entirely impossible scenario. If Jion became king of Kazra, Teraje would spare no aid to expand her influence.
Reading Amy's slow bow as resignation, Jion curled a contemptuous smile.
But at that moment, a cold voice slipped from Amy's lips as she looked down at him.
"Try it, if you can."
"What?"
"Declare your war then. I won't stop you."
"How absurd. You really want to take this that far?"
A noble refusing to use honorifics with the First Prince—that was insolent. Still, compared with Amy's willingness to risk war, his indignation was trivial.
"Do you think I'm joking? If so, you'll regret it."
Amy couldn't help but laugh.
"You're talking nonsense. You becoming king? Don't flatter yourself. You can barely even hold onto the position of First Prince."
"Is this—really—!"
"Yes, Empress Teraje might have been intimidating. But you're not going to be emperor, are you? Do you think I'd be scared of some useless brat like you?"
A murderous glint flared in Jion's eyes. He had never been looked down on like this before.
He changed his mind. He wouldn't kill Amy—he would leave her alive, barely.
And he would reduce Tormia to ashes and make her watch blood and tears flow from her eyes.
"You can stand by that, can you?"
"Stand by? No—I won't take responsibility for anything. Even if a war breaks out because of me. If you march on our kingdom—"
Amy's crimson eyes flared.
"In that case, I will fight and risk my life as a single subject of my country."
The killing intent radiating from Amy's gaze made Jion flinch.
It felt like his blood had chilled. He would never have guessed that the girl who had blushed at the banquet could harbor such absolute resolve.
'Mages really are strange…'
Amy's eyes widened and she stepped forward.
"What are you planning? Why did you bring me into this room?"
From everything so far, Jion hadn't brought her here merely to take advantage of her.
He wouldn't invoke Shirone's parents for so petty a reason—that didn't fit his character.
'So he has business with Shirone. But what on earth—'
Realization dawned and Amy's lips trembled.
Jion wasn't the point. Teraje's faction intended to settle things tonight, once and for all.
She had to find Shirone as quickly as possible.
As she entered the Spirit Zone, the door's position was conveyed to her through it.
'Can this be opened from the inside?'
She remembered it could, but it had been locked. Thinking she'd have to break her way out, Amy finished charging her Fireball and watched for her chance. Then, the moment Jion's face twisted like a beast, she bolted for the door.
"Armand!"
The magic sword flew, ignoring inertia, and landed in Jion's hand. Without hesitation, he swung and hurled the blade.
Sensing the trajectory through the Spirit Zone, Amy twisted her body. With a heavy thud, Armand struck the door. If she hadn't been in the Spirit Zone, she would have died.
'He really intends to kill. He's going all the way…'
Jion's smug expression grated on her. With his skill, this should have been the perfect chance to trap him—yet he showed no urgency.
Amy understood why almost at once.
Armand. From the sword buried in the door came a sinister aura she had never felt before. It was as if something repulsive clung to the door; even its proximity was nauseating.
"You think you can get away with this? I'm someone of note in my country as well."
"The Karmis family, huh. Obstinate. But once Shirone dies, everything ends."
Assassination is the most efficient way to overthrow power.
Not because the dead are valuable, but because the dead cannot speak.
If Shirone died, the living could fabricate hundreds of scenarios. Shirone's soul might wail in the void, but there would be no way to protest the injustice.
'I have to get out somehow.'
Amy bit her lip and gathered herself. The metallic taste of blood from her bitten lip steadied her, dulling the repulsion she felt from the cursed sword.
'Count to three, then move.'
She counted inwardly, but Jion reached out and drew Armand back.
Amy frowned at the unexpected move. Blocking her escape route only to return the sword was strange. It didn't seem like he intended to fight her with it.
She watched him warily.
There was no tension on his face as he stood holding the blade. Had he secretly trained in swordsmanship?
But his next words dispelled any hope of such a sophisticated twist.
"How disappointing. You could have had an electrifying night for the first time in your life. Now you'll die a virgin because of your petty noble pride."
"You won't die by your hand, but if you become a revenant, I swear I'll kill you first. If you see me in your dreams, feel free to believe in an afterlife."
Jion's expression contorted.
Mages were all talk; words rarely gained them anything. A show of force was the true remedy.
Comforting himself with the image of Amy's miserable future, he planted Armand vertically close to his body and murmured.
"Adamantine Armament."
Clang! The sound of metal rang out as Armand's blade split, cracking like spider legs.
The hilt popped, the pommel and grip separated. Following that skeletal frame like the bones of a building, a red fibrous substance—almost like primal flesh—seeped out like oil.
Amy felt an even more grotesque sensation than she had through the Spirit Zone. Centered on a red gem, Armand reshaped into something that evoked a giant spider.
What followed was worse. Dozens of leg-like blades split and began to enshroud Jion as if to swallow him from head to toe.
Amy frowned, but in an instant the monstrous mass began to cohere into a form more tolerable to human perception.
The handle became a visor protecting the face; the blade that passed the crown traveled down the back, clinging to the main muscle lines to form a basic skeleton.
From that skeleton, metal unfolded into full armor.
Metal reaching the wrists became gauntlets; metal running down the legs turned into pointed steel boots.
Once the armor covered the vital organs, the red fibers wrapped the joints, tightening the body without gaps.
Finally, an enormous amount of fiber spilled from the neck guard and became a flowing cloak.
To Amy it happened in a blink, like a transformation.
Jion's face hid beneath a cross-shaped helm as he lowered his arms and clenched both fists.
At that signal, an extremely thin filament pierced the back of his neck and connected to his spine.
There was no pain, but a surge of electricity ran along his vertebrae.
— user cerebral copy. Sharing. Linguistic cognition activated.
Armand's voice echoed in Jion's head and immediately began regulating his bio-signals.
— strength augmentation. Increased bone density. Endoskeleton reinforcement. Neural transmission speed maximized. Metal proliferation complete. Weapon generation and transformation enabled. Murder-specialized. Optimized for close-quarters combat.
Clang! Clang!
From both of Jion's gauntlets, 30-centimeter blades sprang forth.
Amy swallowed. Except for the eyes seen through the cross-shaped helm's slits, every part of Jion's body was concealed by the magic sword. From the looks of it, fibers covered most of him with armor layered over them.
'How can that be?'
Nothing made sense. Judging by feel, the mass was far heavier than the original magic sword. And what were those fibers?
If the joints were guarded by tough, muscular material, both durability and mobility would be maximized. No wonder Jion, clad in heavy armor, moved far more nimbly than before.
He savored Amy's startled expression.
"Hmph. Like you've ever seen anything like this."
The is an S-rank Object that paradoxically exists as a metallic living being.
It has two main functions. The first is direct control, allowing its wielder to manipulate the blade freely. The second is Adamantine Armament, bonding with the user to maximize combat capability.
In direct-control mode, its metallic traits are dominant; in Adamantine Armament mode, its living properties surface.
Crucially, Adamantine Armament shares the user's brain, enabling it to perform intellectual tasks as well.
"Did you think I was some pathetic prince who only trades on Teraje's name?"
Jion took a step forward.
Clack—the scrape of steel boots on the floor echoed ominously and Amy pressed her back against the door.
"Maybe. But so what? Before Teraje's name, everything else is trivial. I don't envy your family or your talents—none of it. Because I am—"
Jion thrust his palm toward Amy.
"I am a great member of the royal family."
The fiber glove writhed and a tentacle burst from the center of his palm, lunging at Amy.
Even in the emergency, Amy saw the tip hardening to a razor edge and flung herself aside.
Thud! The tentacle struck the door. At the same time, the section connected to Jion's palm snapped off like a severed tail.
Amy stared at the door in horror. As the tentacle's fibers seeped into the surface, root-like filaments spread and completely sealed it.
Amy ground her teeth. No ordinary force would break that fibrous seal.
"When are you going to use that fire you're holding?" Jion asked, advancing slowly. The pressure from him now was on a different level than before Adamantine Armament—Armand's ominous aura seemed draped over him.
"Don't tell me you actually think that would work."
Jion set his gauntlet blades upright. The smooth metal reflected Amy's face as she watched him.
5. All the Variables (1)
Running toward Jion's gallery, Shirone couldn't shake an odd image from her mind.
Even as she insisted it was impossible, a sight she never wanted to see filled her head.
'What on earth are you thinking?'
She had to judge this rationally.
First: Amy's motive for following Jion. She wasn't one to act rashly, yet she had once left Galliant out of fear for Gijs's safety and rushed into danger.