Both I and the spectators made a—"Huh?"—at what this guy said. It was then that he pronounced words I never imagined hearing.
"My name is Liam von Altfode, crown prince of the Kingdom of Altfode."
Uh, today is a rather strange day for thinking unimaginable things.
I set aside my unnecessary questions to concentrate on the strange event before me.
I looked around, and everyone had their mouths open in shock. I amused myself a bit seeing that the girls were the same.
I've laughed enough, so let's get back to the point.
"Um... Your Highness, I deeply thank you for your heroic shout, and it seems the referee disqualified me, so you are the winner—"
"Don't talk nonsense!!" The prince shouted at me furiously.
"I saw perfectly what you did to your opponents!! Not only was it enough for you to destroy their precious mobile knights, you also hurt their pride and treated them badly. You are undoubtedly the worst!!"
The people in the stands looked at me, expecting a reaction. But what can I say? It's partly true, but they brought it upon themselves.
The prince continued.
"You were called Bradford, weren't you? I've heard you've committed more impious acts, like hitting innocent viscount students with some strange magic, or that you abuse students from different grades in your perverse gatherings, and..."
The prince stopped talking, but he seemed annoyed as his teeth made a grinding sound.
"You... not only do you dare to mistreat my childhood friend, but you also use a poor commoner as a servant and take her with you everywhere, and even now you have her acting as a maid for Alicelotte!! Unforgivable!! You are without a doubt the worst kind of villain my eyes have seen and my eardrums have heard!!"
The audience suddenly stood up to support the prince.
"It's true!!"
"This guy is scum!!"
"Teach him a lesson, Your Highness!!"
"..."
These damn... they're angry because they lost their bet. I don't think he'll swallow that—
"Bradford, fight me this instant!!"
He did it!! He really swallowed all that!! This guy is very gullible to any nonsense!!
"Referee, in the name of the crown prince, I ask you, no, I beg you to please make him continue so we can have our final battle."
The referee looked at the prince and me, then turned to observe some teachers who rather gave the impression of saying, "Do what you think best."
Then, the referee with his hand slowly pointed at me and said, "Bradford can continue as the winner of the semifinal. Now we will begin the final match—"
With those words, the public stood up and cheered for the prince.
"Give him a lesson, Your Highness!!"
"Show that poor peasant the power of the aristocracy!!"
"Crush him for the sake of my wallet!!"
Hey, that last one sounded very obviously bad!! Did you really not hear it?
I wanted to tell him that, but I watched him staring dumbly at the stands before turning to look at me.
"Bradford, today will be the day your crimes are judged by me. Prepare for the hammer of justice to fall upon you!!"
After his ridiculous speech, I asked him a question.
"I want to ask you something."
"Hmm, what is it? If it's asking for clemency, I won't give it to you."
"That's not it." I responded angrily.
I looked at the stands towards the direction of the girls. I saw Alicelotte crying, being consoled by Irisdina.
"Ixion. Can you get audio?"
I asked Ixion a simple question, and he responded so casually, "Of course I can."
Then Ixion played what some spy drones hidden among the audience were transmitting.
"Ahhh, ahhh, my life is undoubtedly the worst!!"
"Alicelotte-san, don't say that!!"
"Of course it is!! The prince himself sees me as a horrible woman and defends his friend!! My fiancé, who is the real culprit... I am a woman born in disgrace!!"
"That's not true!! Alicelotte-san is not a bad person, nor were you born in disgrace!!"
I watched that heart-wrenching scene and then cut the transmission.
Then I asked my question to the prince.
"Can I know on what evidence you base your claim that I have a commoner as a slave and that your childhood friend is a victim of mine?"
"...And also, why do you speak of Alicelotte that way?"
The prince remained silent for a while and then spoke.
"I say it based on the information I obtained from my friends."
"Hoo~ and may I know who your friends are?"
"The students of this academy."
"No, I asked you who your friends are."
"I already told you they are—"
"That's not a damn answer, you piece of imbecile!!"
The people around me fell silent at my declaration, and then I continued.
"Am I asking you on what investigation you base that?! Is your brain made of bird food or what?"
The stands fell silent again.
"On what evidence is there that I force a commoner student to be with me?! Show me your proof!!"
"I don't have..."
"On what verification do you know that Alicelotte has her as a maid?"
"I... was informed of it..."
"And finally. ...On what statements do you know that your childhood friend is innocent?"
Unlike the other questions, he answered this one without thinking.
"He is my friend, and I believe him—"
"Wrong!!! You have no proof to demonstrate anything!! You are just an idiot manipulable by others, it's clear!!"
Then all the stands in unison said loudly, "This guy is true trash!!"
I didn't care what they said. These idiots don't understand that their future king is a very manipulable man. It terrifies me to think that in the future he could be deceived by some corrupt person, thus harming the country.
"Ahh~ to hell with it... let's fight already. Listening to your stupidities makes my head hurt."
My cutting words made the stupid prince agree, looking towards a wounded Klein being carried on a stretcher.
When I turned my gaze back to him, I noticed he had something on his back.
His armor is platinum-colored with gold joints and touches of purple paint in different areas. Its appearance is that of a true mechanical armor with a semi-humanoid face.
Its bright green eyes were very radiant, capturing Ixion's interest.
"Master, I detect a great source of power from this individual, not only from his machine, but he himself also emits a great power."
Looking at him amazed, I said.
"Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter. With you here, I doubt I'll lose to anyone."
There was no response to my compliment; it was very strange, in fact.
When I turned my eyes forward again, I noticed my opponent's hand pointing towards me, saying more nonsense.
"Deploy. Vorpal Swords!!"
(Why do these guys have an eighth-grade syndrome at an adult age??)
From his back, six curved swords came out floating around him. I can note that they look like shotguns fused with cutting weapons. What a strange scene I was watching.
The floating swords danced elegantly around him. After a few seconds of stillness, the fight began.
◇◇◇
From the stands, Irisdina and Alicelotte watched Rudel's match.
Alicelotte had finished crying and was cleaning herself with a handkerchief Irisdina gave her. Her eyes and nose were red, but she still wanted to see this bizarre encounter.
Rudel had won his fight against Klein and with it his bet, but something inside her didn't feel right. She thought it was her feelings towards Klein, but she didn't know if that was it.
In contrast, now she has complex emotions seeing how her squire fought mercilessly against the crown prince for having insulted her name. She had a great outburst of happiness from her guts just for that.
◇◇◇
Erselica watched with a terrifying smile the encounter. Her small face made a malicious expression seeing the scene before her eyes.
Her mind was lost in her thoughts, so she didn't hear the people around her.
"Yeees~ we finally arrived at a key event in the story!! With this duel begins the development and growth of the main characters after their fight against the bastard villain!"
"It was very painful to see how everything was going well, but now is when things will no longer go as you wanted, Rudel. The prince will use that soon."
Several screams were heard at her sides, but Erselica didn't react to them.
"Your atrocious acts end today. On this day, you will die."
Erselica's fingers gripped her skirt tightly, and her cheeks were red.
"After the prince's victory, you cowardly decided to attack the audience in revenge. The prince could no longer tolerate your perverse acts and decided by force to put an end to you here."
"Using the lasers from his weapons, he blew up your strange machine, destroying it into pieces."
Erselica looked excited just thinking about seeing that scene.
"Soon I will hear your laments of pain at the protagonist's victory."
◇
I was covering myself with my arms so that the attacks of mysterious lasers wouldn't hit my chest.
From the curved part that looks like a shotgun, high-power energy rays were fired.
I wasn't attacking because they were annoying to receive. I barely received scratches since they were produced from pure aether.
I shouted exasperatedly to Ixion.
"Is there any way to avoid these pests?!"
The attacks continued without rest. A mobile knight is supposed to use the prana of its pilot to move and use magical attacks. Through the controls, the pilot sends his mana towards some conduits called magic circuits; these reach the core located in the head of the armed unit.
Ixion spoke after a while of being silent.
"Ready, Master. I finished analyzing the enemy unit. Now we will proceed to eliminate the enemy!"
"Hah? What the hell are you talking about? I don't want you to kill the country's prince; I just want to crush him."
Ixion clicked a virtual tongue—how was that even possible?
"Very well, I recommend doing this to achieve a crushing victory..."
I listened to his suggestion while covering myself. After finishing hearing it, I made a cheek-to-cheek macabre smile.
"Alright!! Let's do it!!"
I moved the controls to remove my defense and then, passing my tongue over my lips, I took out the machine guns from my shoulders and proceeded to carry out the counterattack.
"Eat this!!"
The bullets were fired at high speed while the lasers shot with more force.
It was such an epic encounter that the light became more intense with the clashes between both.
After a while, the sounds of gunfire stopped.
Ixion informed me that the machine guns had melted, but four of the enemy's weapons had been rendered useless since I had destroyed the magic circuits connected to its core, so they could no longer receive prana.
"Very well, now you have no choice but to resort to hand-to-hand combat."
The stupid prince grabbed the weapons he had left, and then the edges began to shine.
A sky-blue tone emanated from the edges. I saw that, but I didn't care. I extended my left hand, and a pipe shot directly towards my hand.
While making some ridiculous martial arts movements, I said to the prince.
"Hey, what do you think if we finish this?"
"I think it's fine."
Both of us ran out at great speed, and our swords clashed against each other. Large sparks were seen with each impact.
The audience shouted motivated, but I...
"Not bad for a manipulable prince, but let's level up!!"
I was relaxed.
I increased the force, momentum, and speed of my attacks, and my opponent made a crunch of discomfort from my attacks.
The people didn't notice, but the prince retreated little by little until he fell on his back to the ground.
Only then did the public fall silent, and I spoke.
"Is that all the crown prince can do with the best the royal family can offer? How pitiful you look."
There was no response from him.
Let's level up.
"I don't plan to surrender or be defeated by you, unless... you decide to use your authority as the future king?"
There I heard a sound of anguish from his cockpit to mine. The people in the stands supported my idea so that the prince would win.
(They truly are human garbage. I wonder if this guy caught my hint...)
"D-Don't you dare mock me!!"
It seems he didn't.
"I don't need your pity nor your mercy towards me. Someone like you never—"
I stopped him immediately.
"You're wrong."
"I'm not talking about letting you win just because you're the future king. I'm talking about you being able to win only if you use your decree as someone of superior status."
A "What?" is heard between him and the public in unison.
"That's right. I will not surrender nor lose unless you tell me, 'Lose to me, I order you—' as a royal decree."
A dry sound was heard from inside; he must be thinking about it.
"Don't mock me!! That is arrogance and abuse of power. Something like that is unthinkable for—"
"That's how I felt in this place."
"Huh?" said the prince in a silly voice.
"Since I arrived at this place, I have observed that nobles are scum. They abuse commoners and don't care about anything other than their personal satisfaction."
I continued expelling what my heart had stored.
"But aristocrats are even worse than them, acting as if their family is the best, doing as they please, and saying absurd and rude things to those of lower status!!"
Few sounds of complaints were heard, but I didn't pay them any mind. I leveled up even more.
"You call yourself a friend of that bastard Klein, but didn't you know that he abused his power at the academy? No, of course not. You are so dumb that you don't realize they are deceiving you."
The shouts became louder, and I silenced them with a blow of my pipe to the ground.
"Klein not only did as he pleased." Upon saying that, I looked in a certain direction and continued. "He also mistreated Alicelotte and treated her as if she were a pest." This time there was no reaction because they finally saw the point I wanted to make.
I looked again in that direction and observed how tears came from her. (I hate nobles and aristocrats, but I feel she is just a case of bad upbringing compared to the others.)
"You're wrong!!" shouted the prince.
"Klein is not a bad guy!! Since we were children, he always came to play with me. In the palace, when we played hide-and-seek in father's office, we always did it for fun. At mealtime, he always gave me his desserts and more gifts, and—"
This guy... (I don't want to jump to accusations, but doesn't all that sound very favorable for that bastard?)
I don't want to inquire further, but it seems he doesn't realize how suspicious the way he describes that guy is.
"In contrast, compared to him, that girl, Alicelotte, has only been arrogant!!"
"Hey..."
"She always tried to win over adults since I first saw her. There was never a single time she didn't flaunt her greatness as the daughter of a duke. Even here, she strives to polish her father's title!!"
This guy started babbling out of nowhere, but what he says sounds like her, and as I said, she only gives the impression of being raised differently.
I had Ixion investigate her background after what happened at the dance, and I discovered she has nothing bad.
She has never used her name to obtain special benefits or anything, never humiliated or hurt anyone of lower ranks or commoners. When she spoke with Irisdina, it was to check if she was up to the academy's standards; she would recommend a guide like the other girls to improve her composure. In part, this girl is just an example of a strong woman who wants to show that aristocrats are an example of elegance and motivation to others. My judgment is based on that.
But this guy, this fool who calls himself the prince, is just a moron who is as manipulable as a small child.
I've had enough of listening to him.
I lunged at him and with my two pipes, I furiously struck the prince's weapons.
One of them flew away along with a pipe; I did it on purpose.
Meanwhile, with my remaining weapon, I cornered the prince and gave him some final words.
"This is a good lesson for you. I'll show you what happens when a buffoon like you tries to play the hero."
I released my left hand, and with it free, I grabbed the head of the prince's unit tightly. I squeezed it as hard as a balloon.
Suddenly, he released his weapon and I released mine simultaneously.
Screams were heard from everywhere.
While holding him, I walked to the center.
Everyone was watching us.
I gave him one last chance.
"Come on, say it. Use your authority and tell me to lose, in the same disgusting way you speak of her. You too will prove to be an aristocratic scum!!"
"I refuse!! In the name of the king, even if the result is unfavorable, I will never allow the result to be... uh... I have never taken advantage of others!! This is between you and me; no one else will interfere, you heard!!"
With those words, the noisy coliseum fell silent, and I won a VIP pass to my escape route.
(I was thinking what to do after insulting the prince, but he spoke for me, achieving a wonderful result.)
"Thank you."
Upon saying that without sarcasm in my words, I pressed a button, and then...
"Huh, what is this?"
The prince sounded bewildered about why his machine was no longer moving. It's because I'm overloading the energy in its core.
To put it more clearly, I'm inflating it like a lithium battery left under the sun for several days.
Little by little, the head and then the body of the mobile knight began to inflate and crack. The fabrics it had tore.
The audience's screams returned, but I only cared about the one inside.
"Waah!! What is this?! I don't understand what's happening, help!!"
Screams of suffering were heard from inside, but that wasn't what I wanted to hear.
Come on, just say it. It's two words.
"Someone help me!!"
Not only do you contradict yourself, but you also refuse to acknowledge it, huh?
Ixion informed me afterwards.
"Master, I detect that the pressure levels are already at maximum. The heat reaches the cockpit; soon the radiation will be lethal for the human inside."
"Woo, that would be bad."
Immediately, I stopped my hand and removed it from his head. His body looked like an amorphous piñata, but he was still standing.
I waited for him to surrender now, but...
"I... will not surrender."
His annoying shout showed a sign of hope to win even in that unfavorable state.
"I admit it. Your only good point is that guts of yours."
But...
I pressed another button.
"It's over."
A red light shines in the palm of Battler's right hand.
I closed my fist and pulled it back.
He kept talking.
"I will not lose to an evil person like—"
"Shut up. Your words only disgust me."
I heard a slight "Huh?" from him before making the light in his eyes fade.
My right fist swung towards his body, which exploded into hundreds of pieces.
Among them, the cockpit was also shattered. I felt fear at the possibility that he was dead, but Ixion informed me he only fainted from the shock.
Among the debris flying in slow motion, I observed something unique about her.
It was a human. He had platinum hair, and his eyes were open and blank. He was heading towards the ground from several meters in the air.
"Ixion, now!!"
I shouted, and Ixion made a large bed inflate that had been secretly launched when my machine guns were making a lot of noise.
The prince fell there very hard, but it was a large inflatable bed, so the impact was absorbed.
After that, the referee and the medical team ran towards him.
The public also made an uproar. I heard absurd complaints about their lost money, etc. Only one screech caught my attention.
"It can't be!! Rudel was supposed to be the one to fall into despair when the prince won!!"
Once again, I heard a small voice talking about me, so I tried to identify who made that declaration, but guards and several military personnel approached me, pointing at me.
Ixion informed me.
"Master, it seems they wish to take you into custody for violence against the royal family."
"I imagined it would end like this."
"What do you wish me to do? Kill them?"
"Don't be an idiot. Obviously, I'll surrender. Make yourself invisible and protect me from the shadows."
After saying that, I opened the hatch and raised my hands. The guards were pointing at me.
"Hahaha, guys, you shouldn't be such sore losers."
A group of guards approached me from a small ship and took me into custody.
As I was taken to the ground, we walked slowly towards a teachers' entrance.
It was then that I saw two figures running towards me. They were Irisdina and Alicelotte.
"Rudel-san, why did you do all that?!"
"Bradford, I warned you not to do foolish things!!"
The guards stopped because Alicelotte asked them to.
"You don't need to worry about me." I said with an arrogant smile.
"More importantly, ojou-sama."
Upon calling her in an important manner, she made a face of discomfort.
"I have fulfilled my task as a representative. I hope you keep your word."
Upon hearing me say that, she made a complicated face and opened her red lips.
"... I know. I remember my promise."
With that said, she looked down, and Irisdina asked her what was wrong. Then, the guards continued with me towards the door.
Before arriving, I turned one last time to see Irisdina's sad face.
(It hurt me that she is sad. Couldn't she smile at me one more time? The place I'm going to is horrible and classless; that smile could light me up there.)
After entering, the door closed, and there was only darkness.