Chapter 53: The So-Called Royal Selection Is Just to Wipe Out All Opponents (Patreon)

Under Julius's disbelieving stare, his rainbow sword deflected back the instant it touched the man.

"My attack... reflected back? That's impossible!" Julius blurted out before he could stop himself.

But by then the beam of light was already closing in on him, and he could feel the terrifying destructive power packed inside it.

You had to be kidding — was the finest knight in the realm really about to die by his own signature technique?

Just then, a fiery red figure snatched him up and sprinted hundreds of meters away, dodging the beam.

The beam tore through the spot where Julius had been standing, gouging a crater hundreds of meters deep into the ground.

"Reinhard, you—"

Julius, having just been saved, was about to angrily demand to know where the man had run off to, when he caught sight of the Sword Saint's furious expression.

It was the first time he'd ever seen Reinhard angry, and the sight left the rest of his words caught in his throat.

Without a word, Reinhard set Julius down on the ground and drew the Dragon Sword.

Ring!

With that single ringing note, the whole sky seemed to bleach white — a blade of light spanned heaven and earth, slicing the tornado apart in an instant and scattering it with a thunderous roar.

Staring at the palace now reduced to rubble, Reinhard called up to Daniel high in the sky, his voice trembling.

"What... have you done?!"

"Heh, isn't it plain to see what I've done?"

Daniel spread his arms wide and announced loudly, "I've had enough of all this red tape."

"Honestly, I think I've shown a lot of restraint. All I wanted was to enter the selection — why did everyone have to make things so complicated?"

"Roswaal, the Council of Wise Men, and you — my disobedient stray dog — why do all you self-important types insist on pushing me?"

"If I can't enter the selection, then let Lugunica burn!"

Listening to Daniel's declaration, Reinhard's anger slowly ebbed away.

He closed his eyes, pained. If he'd only listened to Daniel back then, would none of this have happened?

Had it really been wrong of him to obey the Wise Men's orders?

He couldn't kill Daniel, and Daniel couldn't kill him either — but the man could level the royal palace with ease.

If the fighting dragged on, the entire capital — perhaps all of Lugunica — might end up razed to nothing.

Should he give up, then — concede now, before the common folk got caught in the crossfire, and beg Daniel to stand down?

Before he could settle on fighting or making peace, the wild look on Daniel's face began to fade.

"Killing you just once doesn't really scratch the itch. After all, that was my first time dying."

"I'm not happy about it at all, you traitorous stray dog."

With a thought, Daniel began pressing down harder and harder on the vectors acting on Reinhard's body.

Crack!

Terrifying gravity slammed onto him in an instant, bowing his spine and then buckling his legs.

Reinhard's knees crashed into the ground, and his head was forced down and down until it struck the earth, pressed into a full prostrating bow.

"Tch. Don't even have the strength left to howl? You hollow-hearted overgrown baby."

The force Daniel had applied was immense, but it wasn't as if Reinhard couldn't have fought back if he'd wanted to.

"My apologies, Lord Daniel. If killing me would keep you from doing further harm to this country, then let me bear the brunt of your anger."

Reinhard had made up his mind. He didn't open his eyes, just held his prostrate bow and spoke to Daniel with earnest sincerity.

Before Daniel could respond, Julius, standing nearby, exploded.

He'd finally pieced together the situation — the earthquake and the tornado had both been that man's doing — and here was the Sword Saint, kneeling to beg forgiveness instead of fighting the enemy.

Was this some kind of joke?!

Julius grabbed Reinhard by the shoulder and tried to haul him up, but it did nothing — the man stayed locked in place, kneeling.

His face twisted with fury as he bellowed, "Reinhard, what are you doing?!"

"That man killed so many of our brothers in the Knights — even the Sages were killed."

"What about your duty as Sword Saint? Fight! That man is our enemy!"

At that, Reinhard clenched his fist, his fingers dragging furrows in the ground, but he didn't retaliate — he simply urged, "Stop, Julius!"

"Kneel down and apologize to Lord Daniel too!"

"Damn you — do you even deserve the title of Sword Saint, acting like this?!"

Julius let go, snapping his head up to glare at Daniel, both hands gripping the hilt of his knight's sword.

"This is all your fault. I will kill you—"

Before Julius could make a move, Daniel appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye, one arm punching straight through his heart.

Julius coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes going wide with disbelief as he stared down at the hole punched through his chest.

At that speed, he hadn't even had time to react.

"Pathetic little thing."

Daniel had killed Julius in a single exchange. He withdrew his arm, spotless, while the blood splattered across Reinhard's red hair, making his body flinch faintly.

Thud!

Julius collapsed to the ground, but even then he used his last ounce of strength to jab his sword at the hem of Daniel's pant leg — only for the blade's tip to be bounced away by his Reflection.

Disgusted, Daniel raised his foot and kicked the corpse to pieces, then with a casual sweep of his hand sent thousands of air blades slicing every which way, dicing the still-kneeling Reinhard into mango cubes.

Only after all that did he manage to vent a little of his irritation.

"What is this, painting me up like some villain? Is Reinhard about to have a big power-up moment next?"

Daniel stood there waiting for the Sword Saint to revive. He figured killing him another ten or so times ought to settle the score.

After all, there was no way to permanently kill the man — even if he sealed Reinhard away and hurled him into outer space, the guy could always beg the world for a self-destruction Blessing and revive at will, teleporting free of the seal via death.

But this time, five minutes passed and Reinhard still hadn't revived, which caught Daniel by surprise.

Daniel stared at Reinhard's corpse in astonishment. "No way. Don't tell me this guy actually gave up his chance to revive, just to let me vent — trying to appease my anger with his own death?"

As for actually killing the Sword Saint — forget Daniel, no one in this world could manage that, not unless one used the if-route's Pandemonium from the if-route to suppress his Blessing and trap him.

And even then, killing him wasn't an option — the Divine Protection of the Phoenix only activates upon death, and once dead, Reinhard would no longer be bound by Pandemonium's suppression, allowing him to revive.

He might even manage to snag a Blessing granting immunity to Pandemonium while he was at it.

But if the man wanted to die on his own terms, then the Blessing simply wouldn't kick in.

Daniel waited a while longer, and when the Sword Saint still hadn't revived, all his irritation melted away.

"Tch. Guess you actually found yourself a path that might lead to a good ending."

Daniel looked over the wrecked palace. With everyone who mattered dead, he could simply declare himself king on this timeline.

Then wipe out every rebel and dissenter, and the system quest should count as complete.

"Forget it, let's hurry this along. Get it done quick and go check on Save Point's location."

"Since you went out so decisively, if it's not too late, consider yourself lucky — I might try a different approach."

"But if it's too late, then that's just your fate. No one to blame but yourself."

With that, Daniel took off flying toward the Astrea estate.