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Side Story Chapter 13

-Gackk!

Coal swelled from the size of Kireua’s fist up to the size of the balloon, its cheeks puffed up with air like it was about to burst.

-Paaaaaah!

Kireua’s eyes popped wide open in surprise—the wind that just blew out of Coal was black. It was the ebon wind, a rare and always disastrous phenomenon for anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with it while crossing the desert. Its whirlwinds churned the desert sands high enough to blot out the sky. Coal had amplified the power of the wind, and it didn’t even react badly with Kireua’s mana. If he could do this with all the attributes of mana…

“…Isn’t this cheating?” Kireua murmured in disbelief.

The storm of ebon wind gradually gathered around Kireua’s sword and then mixed with his innate fire mana, blending scarlet flames and ebon wind in a natural harmony before shrouding Kireua in a symphony of red and black.

“What kind of an authority is that?!” Anna shrieked. She stared at the whole thing with her jaw wide open. She believed without a doubt that Kireua had used an authority, the gods’ power. “I’m going to go nuts! Some random gods made the entire continent a mess!”

The White Wolf growled belligerently because it knew, as the highest-ranking wind elemental spirit, that the gale it was facing was just as strong as its own.

Another gale started to disturb the valley’s staid air.

Kireua’s face darkened. He knew who was behind this abnormal phenomenon. He was, after all, going up against the witch Anna bel Grace, one of the Three North Stars and the Wind Elemental Spirit Monarch. Kireua knew he couldn’t hold anything back in this battle.

Kireua drew all his mana from his mana hall and prepared to charge. He felt much lighter than before, which must have been because of the ebon wind made by Coal. Wind mana had always improved speed—that was the reason why most of the swordsmen that emphasized speed had wind mana.

Kireua shoved those thoughts aside.

He disappeared. He darted forward, adrenaline and power rushing through his veins, riding the black gale and exuding blazing fire.

“White Wolf!” Anna shouted.

The White Wolf threw itself into the fray and opened its mouth, wind gathering between its jaws. Then the wolf turned it into a ray of wind and fired it at Kireua.

Kireua felt like time stopped for a split second, but his mind worked as fast as always.

Kireua might not be the most talented person on the continent, but he was versatile with what he had learned. He knew a flow existed even in the White Wolf’s ray of wind. Kireua focused his mana into his eyes to read the flows of mana, his veins bulged around his eyes with strain. He could see the flow of highly concentrated mana in the center of the ray of wind.

It didn’t take long for Kireua to decide his next move and act on it. He swung his sword without hesitation.

“Th-Th-That crazy…!” Kireua’s response to the White Wolf’s attack nearly made Anna’s eyes pop out of their sockets. The White Wolf’s wind could pulverize a boulder; it was as powerful as Air Cannon, a Class 5 magic spell. Anna was certain that the greenhorn was going to go bouncing away and be crushed by the pressure of the wind.

“What?!” Anna shouted in disbelief. It turned out that she was wrong. Outrageous as it was, Kiruea cut through Anna’s elemental spirit magic attack with one strike. His sword had gone neatly through the core of her magic as if he couldn’t even feel the wind bending the very sky.

“White Wolf!” Anna yelled. “What are you doing?!”

The White Wolf immediately leaped high into the air. Highest-ranking elemental spirits had physical bodies. The wolf’s sharp teeth were as deadly as a Master’s aura, and the wolf could crush a troll’s head with a single swing of its giant front paw. A literal living weapon clashed against Kireua in the air.

“Kyahhhhh!” The shockwave their collision created knocked Anna onto her bottom. Her eyes widened. “Wh-White Wolf?”

She found the White Wolf writhing inside a storm of ebon wind and fire. The wolf’s white fur and skin was scorched and blistered and a long wound left in the wolf’s waist also caught her eye.

“How…? Anna gasped.

The sheer overwhelming impact of what she had seen pushed her past her limits, leaving her dumbstruck—she was in shock.

The people of the continent hailed her as the Wind Elemental Spirit Monarch, master of all winds. Although the only reason why she had gained the nickname was that Thetapirion Whitesox, the Master of the Magic Tower, became a Star…

“…He’s just a boy. It doesn’t make any sense.” Anna stared at Kireua as he stood there, panting, her lips trembling. “So a tiger’s cub…is a tiger indeed…”

“Witch, what do you want with this country?” Kireua asked.

“…Nothing.”

Kireua shook his head. “No, you must have returned to the Avalon Empire fir a good reason.”

Anna was silent for a moment. “I have the surname of the Imperial Family of the Swallow Empire, but I have no ties to them. Did you know that?”

“…It’s a well-known fact.”

“I was just the foster daughter of the late War God, and I spent all my childhood in the Avalon Empire.”

“So you’re telling me that you returned because you felt homesick all of a sudden?” Kireua asked with a slight frown.

“I’m sorry, but I always wanted to return to Avalon. If it hadn’t been for your freakishly strong father, I would have returned sooner.” Anna shot Kireua a wan glare.

Kireua closed his mouth. He had already heard the story about the Emperor of Avalon and Anna bel Grace. Draxia bel Grace, the War God, had been the Emperor’s enemy, and his foster daughter, Anna bel Grace, invaded the Agnus estate twenty years ago on secret orders to wipe out everything related to the Duke’s family, including the Emperor’s mother, who had been in the residence at the time. That was when the father and daughter bel Grace ran into the future emperor of Avalon. In the end, the War God was killed, and Anna bel Grace had been a fugitive ever since.

“I still can\'t believe that Joshua Sanders is dead,” Anna muttered.

“So you gave up on fighting and turned to badmouthing my father?”

“I’m being realistic here—it’s already been over ten years.” Anna shrugged. “When I first joined the rebels, I was pretty nervous because I was worried about your father showing up and butchering me.”

It became obvious that Anna genuinely wished to return to the Avalon Empire, but she couldn’t use normal methods. As long as the Emperor’s people held power, Anna would remain a fugitive. That must have been why Anna had joined rebels when the civil war happened to break out, but if that was her reason then Kireua couldn’t let it stand.

Anna flinched, feeling something cold on her neck. Kireua’s sword had cut her neck, drawing blood.

“You—!”

“Do I have a reason to spare you?” Kireua bluntly asked.

“W-Wait!”

“Keep in mind that I am not merciful. I am… the son of Joshua Sanders, the Emperor of the Avalon Empire, the most vengeful man in history,” Kireua said, slowly moving his sword closer to Anna’s neck again.

From the murderous intent in Kireua’s eyes, Anna instinctively knew that he was serious.

‘What…? He’s just a twenty-year-old boy…!

A name popped into her panicked mind.

“Duke Tremblin, the Sword Emperor!” she shouted. “Do you want to know where the man who used to chase me is?!”

Kireua’s sword immediately stopped. Duke Tremblin the Sword Emperor had been one of the Nine Stars; it had been a long time since Kireua heard his name. In fact, Kireua had seen the Sword Emperor’s sword techniques before those of his teacher, the Flame Emperor. If the Sword Emperor had stayed at the Palace, Kireua might have had a different teacher. However, after the Emperor’s disappearance, the Sword Emperor had also vanished.

“I think I can track him down,” Anna quickly continued. “He’d be the best reinforcements the national army could ask for! And on the other hand, I’m nothing compared to all the rebel armies!”

“…If you’re lying to avoid getting killed…” Kireua’s eyes narrowed.

“He tracked me for over ten years, like a cat and a mouse! Who else can track him down?”

Kireua pondered what to do. Realizing that she made a very tempting offer, Anna grinned.

“How does that sound? Do you feel like negotiating again?”

Kireua shook his head. “…I can’t let a witch go on an uncertain piece of information. If I let you go free, you’d be the most dangerous enemy for my army.”

“So yo-you are going to kill me no matter what? Think rationally. Look at the bigger picture! You’re the prince who may lead an empire one day!”

“Let’s change the terms. You’ll locate Duke Tremblin and become my lady-in-waiting for the next ten years,” Kireua offered.

“W-What…?” Anna’s jaw dropped to the ground. “That is too much! How can you make me a lady-in-waiting when I could have been an empress!?”

“Don’t talk like your fantasy is actually real. Besides, your goal is to stay in this country, right?” Kireua asked.

“W-Well…”

“And I’m telling you that I can make your dream come true in a legitimate way,” Kireua proudly declared.

In Anna’s eyes, the boy in front of her didn’t even look like a human. A demon would cry and run away in fear if they saw this boy while he was trying to enslave the best elemental spirit mage with only a couple of words.

‘…Let’s take the deal first and run away when I see a chance,’ Anna resigned herself.

“Oh, yeah. If you’re accepting the deal, you’ll have to write a pledge in your blood and make another pledge through your elemental spirit,” Kireua quickly added.

Anna trembled in irritation.

“I don’t trust promises without proper documentation,” he told her with a smile.