Shatter!
Glass fell. Fire burned through the Aldreach Laboratory. It was a scene of absolute chaos.
The rebels gathered in the laboratory gritted their teeth, finding the situation horribly unfavourable. It had only been an hour since they were suddenly attacked by Aethelgardian soldiers, and they were already in dire straits.
Their executive, Manori, was currently busy fighting off the one who was leading the Aethelgardians. It was Marcus, the Prince of Aethelgard. Naturally, he was a sworn enemy.
The rebels planned to kill the entire royal family, so how could they not feel hostility towards the prince? Some of them were even a bit happy that he came right to their doorstep.
Unfortunately, the army he brought was too large and troublesome to deal with. The rebels were currently utilizing the laboratory to its fullest, but it seemed futile. Even with the control mechanisms of other planets that held vast Vyr, they could not resist the army as they charged in and ruined their arrangements.
Belfer stood straight as a spear. His eyes glared into the rebels as he unleashed [Fire Mayhem] on the group of rebels before him. Their defensive methods, which were amplified by the laboratory, seemed to show no signs of being effective.
Many of these rebels began to suffer gruesome burns, letting their guard down as they tried to put out the fire, but how could they? If [Fire Mayhem] was so easy to dispel, why would he even use it against these rebels?
This fire used the ambient Vyr to amplify itself. Normal methods did not affect this fire, let alone completely put it out. The butler smirked, his eyes shining with a cold light.
His pristine robes fluttered slightly as he moved, dodging an icicle blade before throwing a [Fire Arrow], killing off the person who threw the icicle with one hit.
However, his advancement was cut short as Madoru arrived, stepping in front of him. His long, pink hair swayed, his bluish-red eyes glaring at him. His black robes looked pristine, with red linings added as a form of decoration.
"I can tell you were a handsome lad, once. Too bad you aged so much. I might have been interested in playing around with you." He snorted, stretching out his right hand.
Soon, Belfer's pupils shrank as he barely dodged a beam of light that had escaped Madoru's palm. Before the butler could get a breather, a punch landed on his gut, sending him flying.
The wall collapsed as he crashed into it. Bruised, he got up, his eyes narrowed. Madoru merely stared back at him coldly, raising his hand and firing another beam of light, which he blocked with [Fire Refuge].
A barrier made of pure fire was formed, absorbing the beam of light.
Madoru narrowed his eyes. The barrier soon dissipated as Belfer rushed forward, brandishing his thin sword and swinging it horizontally, aiming for his neck. Naturally, Madoru leaned back, dodging it with ease.
Taking out his own daggers, the two then began clashing their blades. As the blades were amplified with Vyr, each clash resulted in a humongous force. Belfer gritted his teeth as he struggled against Madoru's attacks.
Madoru showed a cruel expression, but was uneasy on the inside. He was amplifying his power using Karsawa's Vyr reserves, which he had mastered control over. However, they were still doing little against Belfer.
Just how strong is this guy? He couldn't help but wonder.
The two continued clashing until Belfer stepped back, his eyes revealing a dangerous glint. Madoru immediately tensed up, readying himself for an incoming attack.
"[Holy Flame]." He muttered under his breath.
Pure white flames covered his sword, the heat spreading throughout the whole chamber. Madoru's breath hitched, quickly using [Demonic Cold], which formed a barrier of darkness around it.
Belfer slashed the air. In response, the fire left the sword and advanced towards Madoru at light speed, making his eyes widen as he immediately added Vyr to the dark barrier.
This Vyr included that which he received from Karsawa. With this, Madoru was confident that he could resist this attack. Although these flames were made by a combination of Holy Magic and Fire Magic, they merely contained the Vyr of Varkana.
Meanwhile, the Vyr of Karsawa was better qualitatively. He had also imbued a large amount of this superior Vyr in the barrier. He even believed that the barrier would still be able to block future attacks after this one.
Just then, Belfer suddenly leapt forward, his sword crashing down on the dark barrier as it helped the flames deal more damage. Madoru gritted his teeth in response. The flames weren't fully dealt with, and now Belfer's Vyr-imbued sword also joined the fray.
Cold sweat trickled down his cheek. He immediately amplified the barrier using more of Karsawa's Vyr, but before he could reinforce it with another technique, the barrier cracked suddenly.
Oh no! Sensing danger, Madoru immediately jumped away, and not even a second later, the barrier collapsed. Luckily, Madoru was a significant distance away, so he was not hit by the attack.
However, his pupils contracted, revealing more of his bluish-red irises. Saying that he was surprised would be an understatement.
[Holy Flame] was a powerful attack, but [Demonic Cold] was fully capable of holding it back. This is without keeping in mind that the Vyr used to create that barrier of darkness was from Karsawa.
It was illogical for Belfer's [Holy Flame] to take down the darkness barrier like this. It should've at least taken far more effort, even if he hadn't used Karsawa's Vyr reserves. Yet, Belfer was still holding back as he dispelled the barrier.
He gritted his teeth as Belfer dashed towards him. Straightening his hand, Madoru slashed towards him, his stiff hand amplified by Vyr as it penetrated Belfer's chest, forming a shallow wound.
The butler's breath hitched, but before he could do anything, he suddenly coughed up massive amounts of blood. Looking down, he found his stomach pierced by Madoru's dagger.
"You unsettle me. If you were super strong, you shouldn't have been wounded by me so easily," Madoru muttered in a low voice, his brows furrowed tightly.
Belfer was clearly not strong. Madoru could defeat him, even without external amplification. In that case, how was he able to counter Karsawa's Vyr so easily? Of course, the quality of Vyr is not the only thing important, so it would make sense if the butler was able to advance this far thanks to specific types of techniques.
However, Belfer used techniques that relied quite heavily on Vyr. The duel so far had no attacks where Vyr superiority didn't matter. Because of this, Madoru initially assumed that this was because Belfer was absurdly strong.
Yet, he was proven wrong when Belfer was first injured by merely his fingers, which then startled him enough that he couldn't notice Madoru's blade rushing at his stomach. This meant that he was not absurdly strong and should be heavily inferior to Madoru.
So what exactly was the issue here? Were Karsawa's Vyr reserves not working well?
No, Madoru had used Karsawa's Vyr firsthand to cause massive damage to multiple laboratories in the Velsaber District. He understood just how vast this amplification can be.
So why wasn't it working here? The more he thought about it, the more his breath hitched. He felt immense pressure in his mind as a theory arose.
"That would mean..." Madoru's pupils and irises shrank to the size of a pin.
He immediately kicked Belfer in the face, causing the butler to be sent flying, unconscious. With a panicked expression, he immediately rushed upstairs, where another battle was taking place.
Clang!
"Hahahaha!" The sound of crazed laughter reverberated as Manori dashed at Marcus. She donned a maniacal grin on her face as she faced him, her daggers clashing with his sword.
Marcus grunted in response, gritting his teeth as he fought back, his sword amplified with Vyr.
"Is that all you've got, Prince? Don't tell me you're already struggling~," she muttered in a teasing tone, her bluish-red eyes holding a glint of bloodlust.
"Heh, you wish." Marcus snorted as he swung his sword, aiming for her neck, which she dodged by stepping back before lunging her dagger straight at his chest.
As the two continued parrying each other, the chamber they were in was already collapsing from the intensity of their clash. The top floor, where heavily important equipment was located, was in total ruins.
Karsawa's control mechanism was also here, but Manori had a barrier to keep it safe. Noran was there as well to control the mechanism and provide Karsawa's Vyr to the rebels.
Naturally, Manori was also receiving Karsawa's Vyr, which she found very convenient as she played around with Marcus, whose face was covered with sweat, and light wounds were on his body.
Meanwhile, Manori herself was utterly spotless. Not even a single wound had appeared, as her clothes also remained pristine. Due to this, she had the full confidence and advantage in this battle.
Marcus leapt back, his gaze sharpened. The golden tubes of magisprites in his sword began to glow as Vyr channelled within them.
Manori's smirk widened, her oathweight growing wild, as her eyes reflected her excitement.
"Great Sister Manori!" Just then, Madoru's shout rang through the room.
Furrowing her brows, Manori turned her head to Madoru, who seemed to have a panicked expression. Was he facing someone he couldn't beat? Or was he trying to cling to her for some other reason?
A vein bulged on her forehead, but before she could speak, a sharp pain reverberated throughout her whole body. Her pupils and irises shrank to the size of a pin as blood flowed ceaselessly from her seven orifices.
"H-Huh...?" Weakly, she tried analyzing herself, finding that her body was internally damaged by Karsawa's Vyr to a drastic degree.
Marcus huffed, a smirk forming on his handsome face. "It seems that you are struggling from the inside."
"Guh!"
At this grunt, Manori turned around to Noran, who was kneeling on the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood as his whole body trembled. However, when he slowly raised his head to look at her, his lips curled up to a faint smirk.
This man, he played me! Manori realized the truth.
Noran had intentionally sabotaged her by using Karsawa's control mechanism to make its Vyr suddenly attack her inner organs, wounding her severely.
However, since Manori had recently bound Noran using the [Vow of Servitude] to prevent any thoughts of betrayal, Noran received backlash from going against his 'master'. He was also internally wounded, but it was on a lesser scale than Manori.
"Damn it, I knew it! It was you!" Madoru shouted, pointing his finger at Noran.
"You have been sabotaging the Vyr that we received from Karsawa this entire time! You made sure that our strength wouldn't be amplified so that Aethelgard's soldiers could easily kill us. And now, you used Karsawa's Vyr to injure Great Sister Manori! You bastard!!"
Manori's eyes widened further at this. She felt confused since she had been receiving ample amplification from Karsawa's Vyr, which allowed her to subdue Marcus so far. What did Madoru mean when he said that?
Wait... Her body shuddered in realization. Since Noran had been in the same room as Manori, he decided to amplify her properly while sabotaging the rest of the rebels, waiting for the perfect moment to strike her.
And now, he had succeeded. She had fallen for this scientist's scheme, even though it also resulted in him receiving the backlash of defying her.
Looking at Marcus's smirk, Manori concluded that he knew this would happen. Did he plan this? No, she had made sure that Noran couldn't contact anyone from Aethelgard at all. This means that Noran had acted on his own accord, while Marcus was simply playing along and hiding his own surprise.
"You bastards... I am Manori the Greatest. You think you can beat me with these tricks— ugh!" Her words were cut short as a sword suddenly pierced her abdomen.
"Maybe you should shut up when you're wounded," the prince remarked, a mocking smirk on his face.
As she tried to retort, her body jolted from pain once more as Noran used Karsawa's Vyr to damage her internal organs further, making her bleed even more from her seven orifices.
"Great Sister!" Madoru shouted before turning to Noran, who spat out another mouthful of blood due to the backlash.
He then rushed at the scientist, beheading him with one swing of his daggers. As Noran's head fell on the ground, there was still a trace of a smirk on his face, as if he had won.
With a grunt, Madoru stomped on his head, crushing his whole skull like a smashed watermelon. Blood, muscle tissue, bones, and brain matter flew everywhere.
"You bastard!" Madoru dashed at Marcus, aiming to save his sister.
However, Marcus merely smirked as his sword, which was still lodged in Manori's abdomen, began to shine in a golden light.
Manori immediately grabbed the blade, her expression showcasing panic. "Oh no, you don't!"
"Oh yes, I do." Marcus chuckled as he used [Holy Blast].
As Manori tried to use a technique to protect herself, she found that Karsawa's Vyr inside her was interfering with her brain and her ability to use techniques.
Thus, the second she comprehended this, a huge explosion occurred, enveloping the entire chamber and destroying everything within it.
The laboratory shook, startling both the rebels and the Aethelgardian soldiers. They looked at each other, but before their fight could resume, the rebels all suddenly stiffened, bleeding from all seven orifices before dropping on the ground, dead. The soldiers were all alarmed.
In the upper chamber, Marcus stood alone, staring at Manori's corpse in front of him.
No, she wasn't a corpse anymore. She was simply meat paste. Not even her organs were left intact. As for Madoru, he was leaning on the wall, unconscious and bleeding from his head.
Marcus heaved a deep sigh. "Manori the Greatest, huh... and yet, you died a pathetic death."