This was before the current situation.

Lucy had returned in tears after failing to ask Diana for help.

She found Erselica serving the food, Zack was there.

She ignored him despite knowing him.

"I want to go with you to save Rudel! Besides, I want to save Sara too, I want to tell her a few things."

Erselica wanted to refuse, but she knew Lucy would tell those two if she refused.

They at that moment arrived at the mansion after shopping.

Erselica's spine stiffened from fear.

"Rudel isn't here yet?"

Alisa asked, also ignoring the existence of Zack eating a hamburger.

Liam and the others stuffed the burger into their mouths to keep from talking, Erselica was trembling due to Alisa and Airi's cold stare, Lucy helped her.

"Rudel sent Ixion to say that he would be staying at Sara's house for a week. You shouldn't worry, he'll write to you."

"Ah ok... fine."

With those cold words the girls along with the maids went to their rooms.

Erselica's heart wanted to burst out of her chest.

She said to Lucy before taking a pitcher of water.

"Do you really want to go?"

"Sara is behaving strangely. She wouldn't do something like this, and more that I now know she loved Rudel."

Erselica nodded after scratching her head.

"All right, Ixion, make sure you get everything ready."

"Don't order to me, I know. Bell, take care of those two."

"Aye, aye~."

And so a week passed coming up to the big day.

◇◇◇

"So... how long were you planning on keeping this hidden, huh?"

After leaving Liam at the embassy under the care of Allen and Cana, Erselica's group arrived at the main body of Ixion hidden in the academy.

Opening the hatch, Alisa and Airi along with Felicia and Ada were waiting for them.

Alisa's expression was cold while Airi's had a dull look on her face.

Erselica and Lucy looked at Ixion, who said very angrily.

"Bell!"

Of course, Bell who was hiding behind Ada's back came out to defend herself.

"It wasn't my fault, Alisa-chan took me by surprise and after threatening to burn my collection of cute boys in skirts, I couldn't help myself!"

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell!"

"Help me Masteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

"Shut the mouth you two. Well, Lucy and... you. How long were you planning on keeping this hidden?"

Alisa said after turning and walking to a room on the spaceship.

◇◇◇

"From the day I spoke to the Acting Chairman I had Emma and Doyle investigate Rosenberg Household. The information they gathered was what Rudel told me."

Alisa and the others were in a room talking as the airship headed to where Aster's fleet was.

A group of airships that came to Aster from the Kingdom using stealth were escorting the fake pirate ship.

Alisa told them what she knew.

"The day after Rudel was locked up in the Acting Chairman's house, Doyle told me about the sacrifice."

A vein was streaked across Alisa's forehead, her hair was rising from the magical power while Airi still had a dull look on her face.

"I didn't expect Aster to have the guts to want to execute the Hero of the Kingdom. I will certainly enjoy telling them about the financial penalties they will have, at the same time. It's certain that the engagement between Rudel and Sara will be cancelled."

Lucy noticed how Alisa gave an attempt at a smile but to no avail.

"In any case, now that you are here, there is no choice other than to help you. With a call from Bell, the Kingdom embassy will send a fleet of airships to repel the attack."

Erselica protested.

"W-Wait a minute! If you initiate an attack here it will be bad for the future between the Kingdom and Aster!"

"Hah?"

Alisa glared with anger at Erselica for telling her the truth.

"Right now that doesn't matter. They want to sacrifice my man─ the Hero of the Kingdom, the palace won't allow it, the duke's family won't allow it either, let alone Rudel's allies."

"Even if we lose the orb sale, Ixion will make sure to somehow produce electrical power. right?"

"You're right, but, that will take time, several years in fact."

"That's why, Alisa, don't contact the Kingdom, let us handle this."

"Fine... but only if things progress well. I won't let anyone take Rudel away from me."

Lucy for a moment felt like that line was directed at her instead of the enemy fleet.

"Let's go to the hangar."

They all followed Ixion.

◇◇◇

"This is?"

Alisa asked after seeing a surreal image.

Arriving at the hangar, they found over a hundred pirates sitting as if they were punished children, all were dressed in pilot suits.

Ixion spoke after having the armed robots guarding them load their rifles.

"It's good to see you again."

One of them said "It's the floating metal eye!" alerting his companions.

"For months now you have all been in my social experiment to reintegrate you back into society. The time has come to make you earn your freedom."

"Earn our freedom?"

"That's right. All you have to do..."

Silence covered the hangar as no one could believe what he said.

"Die for the sake of Master. All you must do is go fight for us to rescue the Master."

"It is forbidden to kill Aster's knights like burning their airships. If you do so, the bomb embedded in your suits will explode. I'm not kidding just in case."

"You must be kidding! That's inhuman!"

The one who shouted that was not the pirates was Erselica. Ixion ignored her, the pirates backed her up.

"It's just like the board says, it's inhumane!"

"That's right, even if we're pirates, we're still human like the one with small tits!"

"This treatment is too cruel! The flat midget is right in saying it's inhumane!"

"Hey that was too much!"

Ixion's eye flashed and a robot shot into the air.

"It seems you didn't understand, this isn't a favor or compassion. It's an order, I care the lives of pirates the same way as I care the life of a monster. If you won't listen to me, I'll finish you off this instant."

"Fine with me, do it. We won't listen to you anyway."

Despite Ixion's threat, the voice of one of the pirates told him that they would not heed him.

Getting to his feet was Tyrant Jerico.

Jerico had survived Rudel's strike and was sent to the Kingdom jail where he watched how they tortured his rival, Bryce the Prudent before sending him to the guillotine as they did Gambino, the last member of the Cashmiro Family.

Jerico with a serious look was still replying to Ixion.

"What you propose is madness, no matter if you threaten us, we will not listen to you. Nor will we abide by your orders, you can kill us here and now since we won't die under your command."

"That's right!"

"Pirates have pride too!"

"Even if we die, let's have a riot!"

"Riot! Riot! Riot! Riot!"

Things were not going as Ixion planned, the robots were aiming their rifles at the pirates who were preparing to fight for their lives.

Bloodshed was inevitable until...

"Please stop!"

Airi stood in front of Jerico and the other pirates.

Her eyes released tears.

"There's no need to turn to this! I say this for you most of all Ix-kun!"

"... Airi, Master's life matters more than─"

"Rudel-san's life is important! But everyone else's life is important too!"

Erselica seeing Airi acting as the protagonist, couldn't help saying to her in her thoughts.

(This flower field head what is she saying?)

(You can't reason with pirates.)

Airi watched the pirates while squeezing her hand hard.

"I understand that you are bad people who have done unforgivable things. But isn't this the time to change your lives?"

"If you are alive, it means you have gotten a second chance to live it. This is your chance to be good people and stop the misdeeds!"

Jerico replied sarcastically.

"What this blonde says is very revealing.But child, we are dregs of society, we were all expelled from our islands, sold as slaves or fled our native places for lack of food. The world turned us into this, we didn't want to be pirates originally!"

Erselica reacted to what Jerico said.

"Wait... what are they saying!"

The pirates were starting to stand up.

"I wanted to be a farmer, I really like tomatoes and I wanted to sell the best tomato pie!"

"My father was a fisherman and I wanted to honor his memory by being the best fisherman in the world."

"I wanted to be a singer but my voice is horrible!"

The pirates were beginning to reveal their thoughts, Ixion muttered as he analyzed the situation.

"This is... mind control. Same as that time."

His lens shifted to Airi.

"Even without the royal ship, she managed to activate that ability she used during the war to get to everyone's heart. It's certainly more fascinating than the reincarnated theme."

Airi's power was influencing them, but Jerico wouldn't budge.

"What's in it for us helping the guy who defeated us?"

"I'll will ask him and Alisa to talk to the palace to get your sentence reduced, right?"

Airi looked at Alisa who felt a chill down her spine, she tried to look away, but Airi's pure eyes made her desist.

"... I'll talk to the palace to have your sentence reduced by half."

Airi was glad for that.

"You heard! You'll be able to start over after serving your sentence, that's why... I beg you!"

Airi folded her arms together, unconsciously causing her big breasts to flatten, combined with ducking her head and the buttons on the top of her dress were open due to the large cleavage she had. They managed to get a bit of her skin and swaying young fruit showing.

The pirates blushed and Jerico said.

"O-One more time. Do the same thing you did one more time."

"Huh? Sure."

"I beg you!"

Airi did the same thing again, Alisa's gaze locked on the pirates who were grinning dumbly.

Jerico said after wiping the blood from his nose.

"I-If a pretty girl says that we can start from scratch. There's no chance to miss the opportunity, right?"

"Yes!"

Raised the pirates their arms.

"Everyone, let's go save that brat!"

The pirates shouted as a voice shouted.

"Gyahaha! We are the pirates of the Kingdom, we have come to conquer this country!"

"...!"

Everyone except Ixion went to the cabin where that voice sounded.

◇◇◇

"Huh... this is..."

Arriving at the cabin, they found a mysterious man.

He was dressed as a superhero, wearing a cape and helmet with a visor.

He introduced himself as.

"I'm glad you finally came my friends. I came especially from the Kingdom to help you, I am the Masked Knight!"

The masked knight, which was evidently Liam.

Erselica who was touching her nose forehead said in a disappointed tone.

"Liam, what the hell are you doing here? Cana and Allen should be looking out for you."

Striking strange superhero poses, Liam─ the masked knight commented.

"I don't know who this Liam guy is, pretty lady. I am the Masked Knight, ally of the citizens of the Altfode Kingdom."

"I received an alert from the crown prince that there was─ Wait!"

Erselica grabbed Liam and led him to a different room.

She pointed to the door and indicated.

"Get out of here. Go home, this place is dangerous for you."

The Masked Knight took off his dipper.

"Hold on please... Erselica, it's me, Liam."

The eyes like expression on her face indicated that she felt like an idiot for waiting for another answer.

"Really?"

"I'm sorry to say it. But I ran away from Allen and Cana when I asked them to go get food, jumped out the window, went straight home to get this suit I bought days before, and hid when you guys were talking to Alisa."

"I'm more surprised you were able to do all that in an hour than the fact that Ixion didn't notice you."

Ixion did know it, he detected Liam with his radar, but didn't report it because it was convenient for him if Liam died.

"Please let me help you."

"It's dangerous for you to be here. Go hide somewhere safe."

"Erselica, I want to be helpful. Bradford will finally stop treating me like a child if he sees I did something useful at last."

Liam begged her like a child, because of his handsome face, Erselica was seduced into allowing it.

"Fine, you'll stay on board. But, you won't do anything dangerous! Your mother will kill me if anything happens to you."

"Thank you, Erselica! You're the best girlfriend in the world!"

"Y-Your flattery is of no use to me..."

She was saying that despite the fact that her red cheeks and W-shaped smile said otherwise.

◇◇◇

"Huh?"

The prince's entourage expressed so because of what they heard.

"As I said... this guy, the masked knight will be our ally for today. Which will never come out again since it's dangerous for him to do so!"

The masked knight flashed his thumb as a sign of catching on to what she said.

"Don't worry. I understand the situation."

Frey protested.

"I can't accept this, Erselica! We don't know who this guy is, we can't trust him!"

"That's right!" (Clovis)

"The prince is the only one who can be with us!" (Chlust)

"A guy who came out of nowhere can't be trusted." (Warren)

The idiots protested, Erselica gave them all a good punch.

After wiping the blood from her fist, Airi placed her hand on her shoulder.

Erselica looked at her as this was rare for her.

As if taking pity on her, Airi said.

"Emm... I'm sorry. You have it hard, I apologize for looking at you wrong all this time Erselica-san."

While Alisa covered her face with her hands and in denial spoke what her heart held.

"I'm glad I never got engaged to him. Really thank you, I thank you for sparing me from that punishment."

Anyone would have thought that their hatred for Erselica had been erased, but that only made her feel more miserable.

"D-Don't feel sorry for me! It hurts more than you think!"

"It's time!"

Who interrupted the pain of Erselica's misery was Jerico who was in his Tyrant repaired by Ixion.

The armed units were leaving to fight. Jerico was informing Alisa's group that they were ready.

"Dododo, girl, mark your words. You bastards, remember not to kill them! But don't let them kill you either, this will be a fight where we'll just have to prepare to leave them half dead."

"Let's go!"

The pirates were going to fight against Aster's armed units that were deploying.

Ixion who arrived at the cabin said.

"The boat that will take them to the flagships are ready."

Frey asked Ixion.

"Can't you use your rare magic to find out which one it's on?"

"... I can't since there is interference, I don't know what's going on, but there is something weird here that won't allow me to use my full power."

"For that reason you four will go to save Master, you will have two of you to go alone due to─"

"Please hold on!"

Darryl interrupted Ixion.

Both he and Dominique were dressed as pirates like Frey and the others.

"We also want to go to save Rudel-senpai. We want to prove our worthiness so that he will make us his vassals in the future."

"In addition to what Darryl said, I want to repay the kindness you have shown us. And this is the perfect time for that."

The new boys were irrelevant to Ixion, but any help was welcome to him.

"It makes no difference if one or two of join since the goal is the same. I also don't care if you survive, but it doesn't matter."

"Decide who you will go with."

"Go ahead everyone!"

Frey and the other three decided something so important in the same method they settled things... with a childish game.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"One, two, three!"

"Let's go again!"

It was finally decided after a while of starting the battle.

◇◇◇

On the first flagship where the leaders of the Herring and Exner Households were. Linus was ordering the armed units and ships to open fire.

"It doesn't matter where they came from! Blow them all away! Finish them off!"

Several blue veins stood out on his forehead, Randy was calmly eating at his side.

"For such a young man you'll grow gray hairs."

"This is no time to joke Lord Herring! A group of criminals are trying to ruin that moment that will decide whether our country will go to ruin or not!"

"We must achieve the wish of the sacred tree!"

"I get it, I of all people want that brat to fall hahaha."

"... My desires are not worldly like yours. I don't like him and I can't tolerate him, but he's the guardian and this is the will of the sacred tree."

"Sure, sure."

"Truly you are─"

A loud rumble shook the ship.

A sailor reported.

"I-Intruders! There are intruders inside!"

"What did you say!"

◇◇◇

"Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadfooooooooooooord! Whereeee areeeee you!"

Chlust, with his machine gun at hand, began to fight bravely.

A series of bullets were hurled over his shoulder.

The way he defeated the Asterian knights and soldiers who attacked him was completely reliable.

However, Frey had a very cold look in his eyes.

They met and worked together, but Chlust was almost naked.

"Chlust, aren't you ashamed of the way you're dressed?"

Frey had a sniper rifle with a scope, and several times, because of Chlust stepping forward, he could see his butt.

He couldn't help but want to pull the trigger.

"Sorry, my friend. I'm a little embarrassed myself."

"Then put some clothes on, please."

Frey was almost relieved that Chlust had some sense left.

But it was too soon for him to think that way.

"I don't have enough muscle in my back. I'm a little embarrassed."

Frey was speechless.

(T-This guy doesn't care about being naked and he's embarrassed about not having enough muscle on his back? Is he really that stupid?!)

Frey looked up at the sky and then thought about the others who weren't there.

(At least Warren is... no. You and Warren are far from decent and Clovis is only good as a human shield. I wish His Highness or that mysterious masked man could have come, why did I have to go through this?)

Chlust tried to move forward now that the enemy was gone.

"Hey, Frey. How long are you going to be looking up? Focus. We're in a war zone. I swear, this is why people with no common sense aren't good at this."

Frey put his finger on the trigger of the gun.

(Isn't it permissible to shoot this guy in the back?)

◇◇◇

On another airship they were being attacked by Warren joined to Clovis.

Wielding a wooden sword and dressed in a loincloth, he struck one enemy after another.

One enemy soldier shouted.

"Ugh! Despite being dressed strangely he's strong!"

"I´m not strangely dressed!"

Warren, whose loincloth was mocked, swung his wooden sword and knocked out the enemy soldier.

At that moment, Clovis was slowly advancing from behind.

Despite firing at them the bullets had no effect. That was because they were wearing a repellent shield in the form of sunblock.

"We can't hurt them! Call for reinforcements!"

"Fall back!"

"Damn! Damn pirates!"

Clovis laughed as he watched his enemies flee.

At that moment, the soldiers visible behind him disappeared.

"I had just started~, they're very impatient customers. Oh, and Warren, thank you for your hard work."

Warren fanned the wooden sword towards Clovis, who looked as if everything was simple, and hit him on the head.

"Ouch, what are you doing!"

"Don't make me fight alone, why don't you fight on your own?"

Clovis shook his head, saying "You don't understand~!"

"The main character is supposed to take a while to show up."

"... You were the main character? No matter how you think about it, the main character is Bradford. He's the one we're supposed to rescue so he can take care of finishing this. Clovis, I can only see you as a secondary character."

Clovis, who was treated as a secondary character by Warren, was pulling his cheeks.

"I-I'm the main character in my story. That's why I'll always be the main character."

"Well, that's good. Come on, let's move on quickly. If the enemy comes back with reinforcements, we'll be in trouble."

"Oh, wait a minute!"

Clovis chased after Warren as they moved forward.

◇◇◇

The ship on which the heads of the Lunor and Banfield families were on were also attacked.

Wenz, Lugh's father was frightened.

"W-We're being attacked by pirates!"

While Cliff was calm.

"It's time to put it to work."

◇◇◇

"*Sob* Guh! I can't believe I'm the only one left to watch the ship and the others can play."

The one who spoke was Liam─ the masked knight, guarding the deck and complaining in the cockpit of his armed unit.

Everyone else had left the ship, but he was the only one who stayed in the rear.

He was frustrated because he wanted to fight with everyone else.

"Hey, you masked good-for-nothing! Don't look down, enemies are coming!"

From Schwartz's bridge, Erselica called out to Liam.

The other girls inside the ship were Alisa, Airi and Lucy who were giving him a look of disgust at this serious moment.

"*Sob* The enemy has come here?"

Towards Schwartz was coming an armed unit with the Banfield Household emblem.

The other soldiers with an armed unit also tried to enter Schwartz.

"I won't let them through! Toooouu!"

Liam fired a warning shot, stopping the soldiers and the enemy's armed units that rushed at them.

Liam's armed unit drew his sword in midair.

He attacked the legs of the approaching enemy armed units and easily cut them off.

The enemy lost his balance and Liam stopped as he defeated him.

"What a force. The power of Bradford's lost item, did it have that much power?"

Liam, who had already dueled with Rudel, was terrified to learn that he had been fighting with such powerful armor.

At the same time, he had mixed feelings when he realized that Rudel was holding back.

(Annoyingly, though being clumsy, he was very careful not to take our lives.)

It was funny to think that the cheeky Rudel was looking out for them.

"If I borrow this armed unit and can't perform my duties, Bradford will laugh at me. I really wouldn't like that."

Liam's spirits flared as he imagined how Rudel would make fun of him.

The shout of soldiers rang out as he slashed the arm of another armed unit coming towards him and put him out of action.

"Come attack me you who want to die!"

Then, another machine... an armed unit came out from underneath the ship.

"Well, then I'll be your opponent."

It was Jude's voice.

He charged at Liam.

Seeing this, Liam dodged it as fast as he could.

"This guy... with this kind of attack is going to throw his life away!?"

There was nothing to fear from Jude's attack, but the problem was that he was throwing away his life.

He was a troublesome opponent for Liam and the others, who were willing to lay down their lives and had a policy of not taking the lives of their enemies as much as possible. For that was Rudel's oath.

Jude was desperate.

"I have heard your voice before. You're the prince of the kingdom, aren't you?"

"Y-You're wrong! I-I'm the Masked Knight!"

"Nothing... I just asked. If you want Sara, you'll have to kill me first!"

"Tsk!"

(It would be easy to knock him down, but if he made a bad move, Jude would die.)

Because of that, Liam was forced to have a tough battle.

◇◇◇

"I give up."

"Don't give up so fast! Open fire!"

On the Herring-Exner ship, Malcolm had dropped his weapon at the appearance of Warren and Clovis. Tom had ordered them to open fire on the soldiers with him.

As they fired and the bullets ricocheted off them, Malcolm calmly said to Tom.

"I understand that this is important for Aster's future, but I will not sacrifice my student. I'm not black-hearted like you to let her die."

"I do not wish her to die for revenge! The sacred tree wants her dead so it must happen!"

Clovis furrowed his brows as he heard how Tom spoke ill of his former fiancée. That annoyed him.

Running at full speed, Warren knocked out all the soldiers with his sword.

While Tom was hit hard in the stomach making him vomit.

Clovis approached him and said.

"Let's switch places."

Warren agreed and went to handcuff Malcolm.

He recognized Warren because he had taught him, sighed and said.

"Kingdom people seem to be the type that don't abandon their own, it's very enviable their situation compared to ours."

"We are not Kingdom people, we are pirates."

Malcolm flashed a smile and sat quietly.

"Right, right. I forgot."

Tom, on the other hand...

"Damn you! Don't think you'll get out of this one so easily, you scum of the Kingdom!"

"You took us by surprise, but now that we know it's you! No matter what you do, you'll get a brutal complaint and sanction! We─"

Clovis pulled a stunner out of his pocket and placed it in Tom's mouth.

"Shut your mouth, sore losers only know how to bark."

He turned the voltage knob to maximum and then pressed it.

"─────!"

Tom was convulsing from the massive amount of energy coursing through his body from his tongue.

He writhed on the floor, despite setting it to maximum, the energy was the same, a small amount. But that small amount was placed in his body at intervals when he stopped convulsing.

Clovis was having fun doing that.

Malcolm watching him thought.

(Maybe they are not so wonderful the people of the Kingdom...)

◇◇◇

"A red gorilla!"

Meanwhile, back on the Lunor-Banfield ship.

Cliff had come in person to take care of the intruders.

He had sent his son to fight the main pirate ship, while Lugh's father called out to him, but Lugh did not respond.

Since neither of them were present and the man next to him was shaking like a rabbit, he decided to put his pectorals to work.

"It's been a while since I've used my body for combat, don't let me down!"

Frey was shooting his subordinates while Chlust admired Cliff's muscles.

"I see. They're nice muscles, but..."

Chlust flexed his pecs and biceps to show off his masculinity.

"Those muscles are just for show off! Look at the real muscles made for fighting! A bodybuilding buff can't beat a real muscle workout! Uwooooooh!"

Chlust marched off to fight Cliff. Who spit out his cigar and took off his jacket.

"Come on, try to wrap me with all your power!"

Like antelopes, Chlust's hands intertwined with Cliff's fingers.

It was a muscular encounter.

Their muscles were clenched tightly. Chlust was losing in a duel of muscles.

Cliff laughed as he watched Chlust drop to his knees.

Frey called out to him.

"You idiot don't lose!"

"Hahahaha, I don't care if you're a pirate or the scum of the Kingdom, I'll never lose in a physical match!"

Despite saying that, Cliff used the emblem to gain strength.

It was a vile cowardly act but that was how great nobles fought.

Chlust at that moment burst out laughing as well.

"Hahahaha."

But not at his situation with Cliff, but to himself.

"If I'm being cornered by an amateur, it means my muscles aren't in perfect shape yet. I lack more training, thanks for showing me that I should keep training!"

Gradually Chlust's strength exceeded its limits and Cliff's arms were bent backwards.

"But how!!!"

"I can't be losing to someone like you!"

Chlust stood up as Cliff stepped back.

He pointed his hand at him to activate his magic.

"Don't fuck with me, a great noble! The head of Banfield Household can't lose! I'm the best and strongest of the six!"

A fireball was directed towards Chlust, who ran at full speed, he used his fist not only piercing through the fireball, but also destroying it.

"How did he do that!"

Cliff was confused by what Chlust did, which jumped straight at his face using his legs.

"This is the power of muscle training! Real muscle will never lose to a pretender may muscular! Let muscular justice fall upon you!"

Using all his strength in his legs, Chlust smashed Cliff's face, breaking not only his nose, also sending him flying several feet into the air against a door.

Cliff lay unconscious with his eyes rolled back in his head.

Chlust screamed as if he had just had the decisive battle of his life.

"Long live invincible muscle training! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

While Frey looked at him with a complex face about how to feel from what he heard.

(Someone, please switch with me.)

◇◇◇

"Things look troubled over there."

Lucian was commenting on the situation of the two flame-generating ships.

Beside him stood Randolf quietly.

Lucian wanted to encourage the man next to him, but didn't know what to say. Instead he said to a sailor.

"Hey, have they found Zack yet?"

"S-Sorry my lord, but there's no sign of him anywhere... we think maybe he escaped."

Lucian gritted his teeth.

"That good for nothing. If he wasn't the heir, I'd discard him like a dog."

Randolf listened as he talked about his adopted son like he was trash.

(None of you know what it's like to lose what you love.)

He remembered that day, the day the woman he loved left him for another man.

Despite being a political marriage, Randolf truly loved her.

He waited at the altar for hours if necessary for her to arrive, at last, a letter Baltort brought, which was delivered to him hours later.

The letter read.

"It's over."

With those cold words as if it were a discarded object, Randolf felt for the first time what it was like to lose what you most loved.

At this moment, even though the country might disappear, he prayed that his daughter would be saved.

(Please. If you wish to punish someone let it be me. But don't take my little girl.)

Randolf shed tears that he didn't know if they were for Sara or for his former beloved.

◇

"Take."

I had heard explosions for a while now.

I didn't have a window in my cell so I didn't know what was going on, most likely the guys came to save me.

I'm sure Ixion and Erselica are behind this, those useless guys are useless.

I'm worried about what Alisa, Airi and Lucy are thinking about Sara right now?

In the middle of the footsteps I heard outside the room that was a cell, a soldier entered.

I couldn't see his face, he had a gun in his waistband, I was scared to see him approaching.

What he pulled out of his pants was a key which he threw at me.

He took off his helmet and I could see who it was.

"Lugh! What are you doing here?"

For some reason Lugh came to save me.

With a smile he said.

"I'm sorry, I understand this is important to the sacred tree, but it still seems cruel to me."

"You are the fiancé of Lucy, who is Diana's sister. You are also the important man to Sara, who has been a very dear friend of mine since childhood."

"I don't want Sara die and Lucy be sad. So, I think it's okay to break the laws once."

What he was saying was too radical.

Opening the door, he handed me a pilot's suit and his dipper.

"There's an unused armed unit, that's the one I came in. You can take it and run."

"What about Sara?"

"Take Sara and run away with her. I will wreak havoc by revealing false information so they won't pursue. For that, take advantage of the opportunity I'll give you."

Lugh was a nice guy, I don't understand how that idiot Diana is complaining about him?

Could it be that like Erselica, pitiful women only look for useless men?

I feel sorry for Lugh, but I wish him happiness.

"Thank you. I will save Sara and prevent this crisis."

After saying that, Lugh smiled at me and walked out of the prison.

I undressed and was about to put on my suit when the door was suddenly opened.

"Rudel-senpai, you're here!!?"

"Idiot, don't yell out of nowhere─"

Two guys walked in, I knew them, it was Darryl and Dominique.

Seeing him I confirmed that without a doubt the idiots had come.

For some strange reason, I felt Dominique's eyes going to my lower part, but the turbulence of the ship made us lose our balance so I didn't care.

Darryl came in after closing the door and I was finishing changing.

"Rudel-senpai. We've come to save you."

"I see it. What about the others?"

"They've gone to the other airships similar to this one to look for him. We didn't expect you to be here."

"I see, there is more than one."

(I wonder where Sara is?)

(No, she's most likely here too. It's better for them to keep us together, but in separate places.)

I said to the guys.

"I'm sorry, but I need you to wreak havoc. I must go save Sara."

Darryl shouted in affirmation.

"Of course!"

While Dominique for some reason covered his mouth and nose.

"Understood. Be careful."

I waved goodbye to them after touching their shoulders.

"We'll all be back one we'll have a great party."

Before I left, I felt a strange look on my butt. It was strange.

◇◇◇

"Hey, Zero, is it okay if we don't do anything?"

A few kilometers away was Zack, who was waiting aboard Grappler.

Zero was telling him after he was analyzing the battle situation.

"The plan is that they will wreak havoc and we will save Rudel-sama when we see them on deck."

Zack was getting bored.

"But I don't like this. I want to demonstrate heroic deeds and being here doesn't help me achieve that."

"Please hold on, soon everything─"

"What's wrong?"

Zero moved his lens closer to report something strange.

"Something unexpected has happened, I guess we'll have to leave earlier."

Zack was curious about that.

"Something unexpected?"

◇◇◇

As Sara was about to leave her room, it was Romeo who greeted her.

With a frown, he observed Sara's figure.

"That's a lively outfit for a sacrifice."

Sara's outfit was a pure white dress as an offering to the Sacred Tree.

Depending on how you look at it, this looked like a wedding dress.

"... What are you here for?"

Sara was replying to Romeo in a cold tone, seeming to dislike that her sister was here.

It was strange that Romeo, the heir, was here, as he could be involved if something went wrong.

Romeo, with a spear in his hand, was dressed as if he was about to go into battle.

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't escape."

"You're a real jerk. You think I'd come in here and then run away?"

"Who knows? I just know that this is an unforgettable moment for Aster and for the future of the next head of Rosenberg Household, hahaha."

Romeo burst out laughing in a way that made everyone uncomfortable. The maids in her room stood with puzzled expressions.

Sara raised her right hand in response to Romeo's ridiculous attitude, but then paused to say the following with a smile.

"I get it. The child heir is afraid that his older sister will take his throne away from him, isn't he?"

Romeo felt a shiver as he noticed how Sara picked up on that.

He thought she should know by now, but it seems that wasn't the case.

"So you finally get it. That's right, I despise you not because you're my older sister, in fact, for you're capable of ruining my future."

"I... if you marry that guy, you'll make my position fall through the floor. You'll be the heiress, after all."

Romeo's smile was a very nasty one.

"Nothing suits this family better than to have someone like him on their side. That lost item will fall into our father's hands. For that reason aneki, you must die here."

"So that I do not lose what is rightfully mine."

Sara looked at Romeo with a very disinterested expression.

She heard over the loudspeaker that they were already at the top of the tree.

As she approached the door she said to him, in a very dark tone like her smile.

"You're right. A useless guy like you who is good for nothing has no right to be the next head."

Romeo's expression dropped that confidence to a look of dread.

"Just as you say, my father would have made me the heiress having married Rudel, but what do you think idiot boy?"

"Even without this, a failure like you would be of no use. The best thing you could have done in your life is to have died that day, hahaha."

Sara gave a terrifying laugh but her eyes were dull as she did so.

"Let's go, it's time. You girls stay."

Anger gnawed at Romeo who clenched his spear tightly.

As he walked behind Sara he muttered.

"I'll make sure this is a success."

He said as a small root came out of the black rose Sara had on a cloth necklace around her neck, which was tucked underneath her dress.

◇◇◇

Herring family territory.

Douglas found himself descending into the dungeon that was connected in his dungeon.

The reason for coming to this dank and smelly place was to look for a certain person.

After several minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination.

Two guards were playing cards with a flashlight, upon seeing Douglas they stood up.

He didn't care that they were wasting their time, he only cared about the person in that cell which was part of the cave.

"Yo, long time no see, how have you been?"

The lights shone on a young man who had been tortured relentlessly.

His pale skin had been that way since he was born, but now he was in a pitiful state where the sunlight hurt him.

His body was thin with a beer belly, but now it was so thin due to lack of food to the point that his bones were showing.

His fingernails and toenails were black from the clotted blood that stained them every time they were grown.

His hair was once green but was now brown from all the dirt. Likewise half of his teeth were pulled out after he was rescued for managing to survive in the dungeon.

The boy whose eyes were soaked in blood from all the torture he received looked at Douglas with a hatred so deep that it could be felt by everyone.

Since he was his brother. Derrick Zaja Herring.

"... What the hell do you want Doug?"

Derrick was speaking to his brother in a hostile but calm tone.

Since he hadn't eaten in days, only nourished with water and vitamins so he wouldn't die from some disease, Derrick was just like a domesticated wild dog.

Douglas ordered a servant to open the door as he licked a lollipop candy.

"Normally I would never have come to see you, you piece of shit."

Derrick wanted to use Ixion to take over his house, be the next head. Douglas didn't like that.

He sent his younger brother to die, but he managed to survive, got him out of there and started torturing him until he got bored.

He ordered the knights to torture him daily but not to kill him.

The servants removed the shackles from his hands.

Derrick could no longer walk, it was not due his limbs were cut off, it was due he had neither the will nor the strength for it.

Douglas was talking to his brother as they dragged him away.

"You see, for the past week we've been working on a certain product for our future."

"Future that you ruined. Everyone is mad at you, even our mother regrets having you, pupupu."

They made their way to the weapons factory after getting into a limousine.

Derrick was still being dragged by the servants.

There, Derrick's eyes opened for the first time in a long time.

He found two dozen of the same armed units outside Battler.

Douglas was telling him about these strange imitations.

"Thanks to this lost item, we were able to analyze the exterior so we could duplicate it. The inside is like any normal armored unit, but with the difference that we used pieces of this champion."

Douglas pointed to the mystery armored unit they found.

"Something interesting about this thing, every time someone climbs on it, for some reason it moves and turns it into this..."

Douglas showed under a sheet a box, it was a box in human form.

A person was converted to the size of a box.

Derrick's eyes widened from the fright he had.

"Pupupupu, this thing converts everyone who goes up is this. No one wants to do it anymore, so we'll do a new test and as a means of execution with you. Bring him up."

The knights lifted Derrick up into the cockpit to which it was open.

There were no controls or magic circle connecting to his eyes, it was impossible to see outside.

Douglas gave one last laugh at his brother as they closed the hatch.

"Pupupupu, goodbye, you piece of garbage, have a nice trip to hell, pupupu."

When the cockpit closed, Derrick who didn't even have the strength to scream after seeing something move inside thought.

(Just kill me already. There's no use thinking about escaping when I'm not strong enough.)

(Do you hate it?)

Said a voice in his head.

(How much?)

(I hate it so much!)

(Since I met that guy, the great Derrick's life went down the drain!

I lost everything, I'm no longer good for anything. My life was ruined!)

... (Do you want to kill them?)

"I do."

The voice in his head that he thought was his imagination began to distort as something resembling black roots coiled around his body.

Derrick slowly began to show strength in his responses.

(Do you wish to take revenge on those who did this to you?)

"I desire it. I want to destroy those who took everything from me."

(Hate them with strength. Detach them with more desire. Savor the feeling of seeing the despair when you see them beg for mercy.)

"I want it, I crave it. I want to see all those who despised me surrender at my feet!"

"I want to kill them all! Especially that son-of-a-bitch Kingdom and that damned One-Eye!"

"I'll rape their women, the women of their family! I'll kill their fathers, brothers and even burn the Kingdom to its ashes!"

"Then I will destroy Aster for despising me!"

Inside the armor, something showed a crescent-shaped smile reflected in Derrick's eyes.

(In that case... receive it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!)

◇◇◇

"What's wrong?"

Both Douglas and the others present did not understand what was going on.

The black armor was moving as if it had turbulence.

Out of nowhere, its body began to regenerate.

The missing parts put themselves back together.

The right arm regenerated as if it were the tail of a lizard.

Douglas shouted with happiness.

"I did it! Thanks to that useless guy, the armor moved!"

"Papa will now praise me───!"

Douglas' happiness that was jumping for joy vanished when the armored unit moved to grab him.

The nearby knights climbed into the nearby armor.

After climbing up, mysterious black tentacles in the shape of hands darted towards them.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"What is this?"

"It's engulfing me!"

The knights screamed as the armors were undergoing a transformation.

Derrick's voice echoed through the place.

"Do... ug..."

Anger and frustration showed in his voice.

"You've tortured me for months, you've humiliated me... it's time to make you pay."

Douglas was being squeezed to the point that he looked like a toothpaste about to burst.

The black armor hand moved to Douglas' head, using his index finger he gave it light taps.

"I'm going to make you suffer the same as you made me suffer. Did you hear right? Son of──"

Derrick's threat was cut short due to accidentally hitting Douglas' head hard making it explode like an egg filled with tomato sauce.

Douglas' tomato sauce shot out shooting everyone in the room.

They screamed in panic as they tried to escape.

"Don't run bitches!"

Giving an order, the nearby armed units moved in and began to crush or separate the body parts of those present.

Derrick was perplexed.

"Gyaha. Gyahahahaha. Gyahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

But that didn't last long.

"This is what I wanted!"

"The power to take revenge on those who mocked me, the great Derrick!"

"Gyahahahahaha!"

The armor now that it was regenerated, began to sprout huge eyes.

On the arms, on the legs, on the torso, on the shoulders, on the chest and especially to the copies around it.

Derrick wanted to deploy as something came to his head.

"How?"

"The bastard of the Kingdom is near?"

"This is a godsend!"

From its lower back a wire-like object, which was actually a pointed tail came out.

Then as if they were protrusions, fleshy bat-like wings came out.

On the copies it was similar, only in the middle of its back the tail and smaller wings came out.

Derrick and the others were at a flutter propelled into the sky.

Breaking the ceiling and as he laughed.

"Gyahaha, I'm going to kill you, you Kingdom scum, Gyahahaha!"

Both the armor and the copies were heading in the direction where Rudel and the others were.

What was really going on here?