Chapter 207

* * *

I even went to the trouble of stowing away the Peacemaker's robe in case he couldn't recognize me, but in the end, he blocked my path.

Gilbert.

Naturally, he was a burdensome opponent.

He was even holding the treasured sword of the Cosmos Imperial Family.

This wasn’t the level of a cadet duel assessment.

It was beyond that, the full power that the individual known as Gilbert could muster in his lifetime.

The true face of Crown Prince Gilbert.

“You, until the end….”

And on top of that, his escort knight, Lina.

She, who should have become a one-eyed swordsman, stood against me with both eyes intact.

She held an ordinary rapier without any holy relics or stellar force.

But because of that, she was strong.

It was proof that she had entered the realm of the strong with just a single sword in this crazy world.

“Are my stumbling block.”

I remembered the day we fought together against the Demon Lord Joverka while protecting the severely injured Nerjin.

I also remembered sharing coffee on the hospital rooftop the day after Elisha’s left arm was branded.

I never thought of it as a deep bond, but I thought we at least understood each other.

So, it was truly absurd to feel this way, but I even felt a sense of betrayal.

“…Hey.”

I slowly stood up from Sebastian’s back.

And gently.

I landed lightly as if I were a weightless person.

I checked my equipment.

The shotgun was intact.

The dual pistols in the holster were also fine.

The various defensive and auxiliary magic of the clothing were also operating smoothly.

My condition was fine.

Truly, not bad.

On the contrary… I was on the verge of boiling over and exploding.

“A final recommendation…, no. A warning.”

I was not standing alone now.

Lilac and Sebastian were with me.

And behind me, countless people were fighting a dogfight to send me on my way.

The opponent was a group of humanity’s strongest forces, gathered through the Buster Order.

Let’s say the Star Child, Lukfels, and Hectia were one thing.

But even the academy teachers, including Hailey, and Nerjin, Bianca, and Savo were using their full strength to grab onto the Platinum Knights’ coattails.

Anette had even defied the Buster Order to stand on my side.

I stood here, carrying their determination, sacrifice, longing, and desire.

“Get lost, Gilbert.”

However, it was the same for Gilbert.

As the Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire, he had heard a secret that he could not possibly ignore.

The identity of the disaster that originated from the Cosmos Empire, and the way to end the long-standing disaster.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“…Right.”

I knew it.

Yes, I knew it would be like this.

I knew this would happen.

“Then… I’ll defeat you and go.”

My record against Gilbert so far was two fights.

Naturally, both were my defeats.

I couldn’t use my full power.

Because my power had to be shrouded in a veil in many ways.

“Prepare yourself, Gilbert.”

But it’s different here.

I began to clad my body in the techniques that I should have originally used in the battle against the Platinum Knight Gulat, who had built a castle wall by himself.

“Black Knight Hound.”

The armor of the Black Knight was donned over my sturdy body.

“Peacemaker.”

A holy pure white robe was draped over me.

“Star Constellation Advent.”

The universe opens up above my head.

Soon, a constellation with great power descends.

The pure white robe and the armor of the Black Knight unify into a pure white color, becoming the constellation itself… The one who wears the power of the stars, becomes a ‘Star Constellation’.

- Skill, Star Constellation Advent, has been used. The constellation Canes Venatici resides in you. Your physical abilities increase explosively. Your senses are transcended.

- The Rosary of Grace resonates! The blessing of the constellation Canes Venatici is perfectly bestowed upon you! You have not just ascended to the Star Constellation, but have become one with it!

“You, you… Martin, that, that form is….”

“There’s no time.”

There was about 7 minutes left for the Buster Order suppression of the signaler made by Principal Lukfels.

- Know-It-All (Lv 4) focuses all its mind. The remaining amount of Stellar Force and Mana is sufficient. Muscle activity is at its peak. Entering a state of concentration until mental strength reaches its limit! The time limit is 10 minutes!

- Wild Instinct (Master) roars. It awakens all your senses. Your senses transcend to the point where you can glimpse the concept of time and space on the continent! Entering a berserk state that explodes all your senses and body! The time limit is 10 minutes!

Soon, time slows down.

The flying dust, the shaking tip of Gilbert’s sword.

If you ask if the world has slowed down, no.

I have become faster.

It’s not enough to say that I have transcended humanity.

There is something called a law.

Absolute laws that one is inevitably bound by, such as gravity, inertia, and thermodynamics.

Humans, no.

Everything that exists with a physical form cannot escape this.

It’s a difference in class.

Things that merely exist cannot defy or have insight into the great laws of the universe.

Just as you cannot understand the universe by looking up at the sky from the ground.

However, Martin’s senses had transcended.

He was fundamentally excellent, had mastered Wild Instinct, received the help of Hound, and even wore the constellation Canes Venatici.

And so he had reached it.

The laws of time and space that embroidered the world, at least to the point where he could raise his head and look at them.

Beyond the 24 hours given to everyone, he lives for a longer time.

If Gilbert moves for 1 second, Martin moves for 1.1 seconds.

“Ah…?”

To notice that gap, one would have to be at least a Platinum Knight, and a top-tier one at that.

Martin rushed towards Gilbert.

“What…?”

Gilbert also felt it.

There was a sense of dissonance in Martin’s movements.

‘Ah, I see.’

He had to admit it.

The fact that Martin had become a monster while he wasn't looking.

“…!”

With a dull pain, he belatedly realized.

The butt of the swung shotgun had been slammed into his temple.

Gilbert’s neck and cervical vertebrae snapped, and with the remaining impact, he flew like a golf ball and slammed into the wall with a thud!

The wall’s defensive magic shattered and cracked.

“Kugh…!”

“Lord Gilbert!”

Lina immediately raised her rapier and was about to go to protect Gilbert, but she stopped her movement and swung her rapier.

Thud!

With the sensation of deflecting a cannonball, her sword was pushed back significantly.

“You are….”

“You can’t go.”

Lilac, with her hair and eyes turned white, was aiming her anti-materiel sniper rifle from on top of Sebastian.

“Don’t interfere with Master’s business.”

“…Tch!”

Lina rushed in with an explosive movement, but Sebastian reacted well and dodged the range of her sword.

Soon, a bullet flew in.

Lina once again had to raise her sword to block the bullet.

‘Kugh?!’

Her fingertips tingled with pain.

It was so strong that it felt unfair.

Martin was a special case, but why could the firearm held by a maid be this strong?

‘No, rather than the firearm….’

The constellation that had descended upon the maid girl.

In fact, Lilac's body was currently clad in the constellation of the Hunter.

In that state, even a stone she threw would be strong enough to crush rebar, so it was no wonder that an anti-materiel sniper rifle fired by her was strong.

But by the time she realized it, it was too late.

Without a moment to reorganize, Sebastian’s counterattack began.

A gaping maw presented as he rushed forward.

The fangs densely packed inside made her certain that the moment she was bitten, it would be the end.

Even if she managed to dodge, the maid’s bullet, having finished reloading, would fly in.

‘No.’

Fighting like this was very wrong.

‘I'm being pushed back.’

Sebastian was faster than her, and Lilac's bullets were also, frustratingly, powerful.

If it became a long battle, she would be the one to run out of stamina first.

Above all.

“Gilbert!”

“Martin!”

His Highness the Crown Prince was fighting.

It was only a glance during the battle, but her heart almost sank.

Martin was just swinging his shotgun roughly without even using his specialty, sniping, while His Highness the Crown Prince was constantly being pushed back and seemed busy just blocking.

She knew it was reckless, but she would settle the match in one blow.

‘Ivlin Sword Style Secret Technique, Space Sever…!’

Lina’s sword traces a strange trajectory.

A blue trajectory is drawn.

Blue mana is overlaid on the steel.

The exquisite swordsmanship she has honed is unleashed.

The swordsmanship of the family that protected the Cosmos Imperial Family!

[Grrr!]

The startled Sebastian leaps back.

“Sebastian…?!”

Lilac, not understanding his movement, called out to Sebastian.

However, Lina’s sword did not stop and was drawn.

It wasn't that it didn't stop, but that it couldn't.

The sword severed space, and the severed area rippled like a wave.

It was the power of a single blow delivered with focused breath on one line.

“Haah! Haah!”

Lina gasps for breath.

And.

[Whimper!]

A long sword wound was also carved into the body of Sebastian, who should have retreated and dodged.

Blood splattered as he staggered unsteadily.

Lilac shouted in surprise.

“Sebastian!”

Lilac, who had hastily dismounted from the collapsing body of Sebastian, rolled on the floor once and immediately took a proper aiming stance.

Not missing the opportunity, she fired a bullet at Lina.

Lina struggled to raise her sword to block it, then collapsed backward with a thud.

“Sebastian! Are you okay?! Good heavens…! You definitely dodged it…!”

The moment she was about to heal Sebastian, she remembered.

This side was over, but the other side was not yet settled.

“Master…!”

“Lord Gilbert…!”

Lilac and Lina turned their heads at almost the same time.

Come to think of it, they hadn't heard any sounds for a while.

Although the anti-materiel sniper rifle and Sebastian's barking were loud, Martin and Gilbert were powerhouses several dimensions above.

Naturally, if they fought, even the clash of a sword and a shotgun should have made a sound like rocks colliding and collapsing.

However.

“….”

“….”

A quiet silence had descended.

And in it, only one thing.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Only a dull sound continued to ring out.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Martin, holding his shotgun upside down, continued to swing it.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The treasured sword of the Cosmos Imperial Family, which had shown a strong presence as if it had compressed the universe, was already rolling on the floor.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Gilbert, held by the scruff of his neck, couldn't even be pushed back and was being repeatedly hit in the head with the shotgun.

“….”

“….”

It was overwhelming.

She had thought the match on her side had ended quickly.

But the other side couldn’t even be called a match.

Ordinary people would call that ‘one-sided violence’.

“Ah.”

The bloodstained shotgun butt stops.

Martin turns his head and looks at Lilac and Lina.

“…It seems to be over.”

As Martin let go of Gilbert’s scruff, the bloodstained Gilbert collapsed powerlessly to the floor.

“Let’s go, Lilac.”

“Yes!”

Lilac, with her anti-materiel sniper rifle on her back, picked up the now-smaller Sebastian with both hands and followed Martin.

* * *

“Hmm, Sir Martin is stronger than Sir Gilbert.”

The Director nodded and wrote in cursive on a blank sheet of paper, as if intrigued.

The protagonist's party, who had been watching the hologram with him, were frozen stiff.

‘…Stronger?’

No.

The meaning of ‘stronger’ that Elisha knew was not used in this way.

The position of the hologram changes.

Passing through the corridor that Gilbert and Lina had confidently walked out of, they were coming this way.

Let’s say the maid, Lilac, was one thing.

But the presence of Martin, walking in the lead… was terrifying enough to make her knees weak.

‘This, we were very, very wrong about Martin!’

Bord also had an eye for people.

He couldn’t have not known that Martin was hiding his strength.

Even just casually handing over the Authority of the Jungle, one of the Nature Five, was originally an unbelievable thing.

But this was on a different scale.

Soon, the door opens.

He raises his head and looks at the entrance.

There stood the Star Constellation in a pure white armor splattered with Gilbert’s blood.

If he were told to hold a shield and block the front, he would, but he was scared.

Truly.

‘T-this is, Cadet Martin’s, t-true power…!’

Mary’s legs were trembling outright.

The cosmos was open above him, and he was wearing a constellation.

Even the robe and armor, dyed white with Stellar Force.

It was as overwhelming as if a Demon Lord were right in front of him.

He slowly approaches.

I want to kneel.

I want to close my eyes.

It wasn't that he was ordered to, but the overwhelming pressure emanating from Martin's body had brought this entire space under his control.

“Now.”

The Director gestures.

“Sir Elisha, Sir Bord, Sir Mary. You should go out and take care of the bloodied Sir Gilbert first. I didn't think there would be this much of a difference. Honestly, it's a wonder he's not dead.”