“You’re deliberately buying time.”
“…….”
“That opening I gave you a moment ago, there’s no way someone of your skill would miss it. But you stopped at a mere kick. And the same goes for your attack just now. At first, I thought you were focusing on defense to avoid spreading damage to this underground prison.”
As Mizonus spoke, his Aura surged more and more.
At first, he had made a fairly calm and composed deduction, but as he spoke, anger welled up inside him.
“How dare you conserve your strength and buy time against me!!”
“……This is something else.”
Azier shook his head as he received the intense aura of anger.
“You’re right. So there’s no need to be angry. Or is it that all the disciples of ‘Wrath’ are always angry?”
“……I didn’t expect you to admit it.”
Azier had a brief thought as he faced Mizonus’ momentum.
By now, most of the skilled individuals would have realized that something unusual had happened in this underground prison.
Since that Mizonus was revealing his absurd Mana without hesitation.
That wasn’t just a reckless display of killing intent.
Mizonus knew he would be discovered when he expressed his Aura in front of Azier. He knew it, and yet he fueled his anger to increase his strength.
In other words, Mizonus had chosen to be ‘angry.’
‘The thoughts of devils are difficult to understand.’
For Azier, who always acted based on composure, the idea of choosing anger itself had never existed.
But since that anger seemed to be the actual strength of devils, he couldn’t just laugh it off.
‘The problem is not him.’
Mizonus was definitely a strong opponent. If he tried to kill him, Azier would also suffer considerable damage.
But if he focused on defense like this, Mizonus wouldn’t be able to break through Azier’s wall.
Anger, after all, had the aspect of simplifying one’s thinking and actions, making defense even easier.
‘Is that monster still inside that prison?’
Azier was concerned about the monster, which logically should still be inside.
He couldn’t sense the monster’s presence at all now. It was natural since he was using his cloaking ability, but.
Then, why was he still maintaining his cloak even after realizing that it was impossible to leave the prison?
Azier had been warned by his younger brother beforehand.
– He might escape the prison on his own.
As soon as he heard those words, Azier said it was impossible. Yet, Frondier’s opinion remained unchanged.
– He is a monster from another world. The restraints created by the Empire do not take other worlds into account.
When he heard those words, Azier remained skeptical. Of course, Frondier himself had no proof of that, so Azier’s stance was correct.
Frondier knew that too. They had no information about the newly appeared konjac monster.
Therefore, from Frondier’s perspective, he had to be prepared to deal with both possibilities, no matter which way the situation unfolded.
– If he escapes the prison, please do not chase after him. If you are in the middle of some ‘work,’ please just continue with it.
Frondier said.
Ignore the monster.
– I will take care of him.
* * *
[Report.]
The second crow arrived.
[The monster inside the prison is nowhere to be seen.]
“……!”
Everyone tensed up at those words. But the tension quickly subsided.
Lily said,
“He’s just cloaked. No one can find him like that, right?”
That’s right. No monster could escape the monster prison. Knowing that, everyone relaxed.
“More specifically.”
Frondier said.
[When the monster’s hand touched the bars, an electric shock occurred. Then, the monster gradually became transparent, and the electric shock continued. And after a while, the electric shock stopped.]
“So, he gave up.”
Daisy nodded as if she understood the situation after hearing it.
“He realized he couldn’t get out and went back inside.”
Everyone was thinking along the same lines, but Frondier asked again,
“But he’s still not visible inside the prison, right?”
[Yes. From what we observed, for at least five minutes, the monster was not visible inside the prison.]
That was a bit strange.
If he had given up on escaping, there was no reason to continue cloaking.
However, he was still not visible inside the prison.
“──Your Majesty.”
After much deliberation, Frondier spoke.
“I will be leaving for a while.”
“What?”
“Hey, you!”
The Zodiacs shouted in surprise at those words.
“There is a possibility that the monster has escaped.”
“What are you talking about! No monster can escape that prison!”
“He is a monster beyond common sense. No one has ever seen anything like him. Something beyond our expectations could happen.”
Frondier didn’t explicitly say that he was a monster from another world. It would take much more time to explain that. And he wasn’t sure if they would believe him even if he did.
“Even if that’s the case! Why are you leaving here!”
“Yeah! He’s going to come here anyway! If something unexpected happens, it could happen here too!”
The fundamental premise for Frondier to stay in this place.
Because that monster, or something like him, could target the Emperor at any time.
However, Frondier said,
“He is not targeting the Emperor.”
“……What?”
“To be more precise, he is not targeting anything. And the fact that the monster is not targeting anything is what our enemy desires.”
Frondier continued with incomprehensible words.
However, as if that was all he had to say, Frondier looked at Bartello.
“Your Majesty, we must stop him. Please allow me to leave.”
Swish!
At that moment, three figures moved like lightning.
Ludovic, Daisy, and Monty.
They surrounded Frondier and aimed their weapons at him.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Frondier.”
Daisy said.
“Our top priority is to protect His Majesty, Frondier.”
Ludovic said.
Frondier looked at Ludovic.
“The longer we delay, the more people will die.”
“……Minor sacrifices are inevitable. Another Zodiac will go to assess the situation
“……Minor sacrifices are inevitable. Another Zodiac will go to assess the situation, so,”
“Minor sacrifices.”
Frondier interrupted Ludovic’s words.
Ludovic’s eyes flickered for a moment at the dark emotions emanating from his voice.
“I apologize, but I cannot make such a decision.”
“What……?”
“Such decisions are for the Emperor to make.”
Frondier said so.
That it was the Emperor’s place to make minor sacrifices.
In front of the Zodiacs, in front of Bartello.
“You bastard, how dare you say such a thing in front of His─!”
“Of course, I am not the Emperor.”
Frondier continued speaking, calmly accepting Ludovic’s anger.
“I am nothing.”
