Gunfire and cannon blasts echoed across the battlefield.
It was a ploy to divide the enemy — the best use I could make of guns, whose power was limited since my Skills were restricted.
"Dividing the enemy. Sowing chaos among the horses with gunfire... I see. Perhaps holding them in reserve for this moment was the right call after all. Though, if we'd had these earlier, we could have held them off more effectively with our defenses."
General Broa, who was standing nearby, shrugged as he said this. But it wasn't without its drawbacks. After all—
"Rejected. Even with funding from Baim and a large number of craftsmen, there are hard limits to maintenance costs and ammunition supply. In truth... this is a method we could never have employed without securing Baim. Since resources are finite, we have to use them where it counts."
Ammunition was crafted one piece at a time by the craftsmen, so even with money, the numbers couldn't be made up quickly. My father's decision to forgo guns made sense when you considered the realities of the battlefield. However, from the standpoint of a lord managing domestic affairs, it had been a reasonable choice.
Facing the divided and confused pursuing forces, I lightly tapped May on the neck. She stood in her Kirin form, bearing horse tack, ready to move out at any moment.
I glanced behind me. Our forces — deliberately withdrawn and reformed — were held in reserve. We had feigned retreat, luring the enemy to the very place where we would decide the battle.
Under normal circumstances, they might have grown suspicious. But these were people who called themselves the strongest. They had grown so accustomed to winning — to watching their opponents flee — that it never occurred to them.
...I needed to be careful of that too.
"Now, prepare to charge! Our forces are superior by any measure. While they're divided — we take Meizel Walt's head!"
I drew my katana and raised it high. The troops around me roared in response. Mounting May's back, I led the forces into position for the charge.
General Broa wore a troubled expression.
"I'd really rather the Supreme Commander not go to the front lines, you know. Your martial reputation is more than sufficient at this point."
As I donned my helmet, I spoke to General Broa.
"There are things I need to put across. ...This is something I can't back down from."
—— Meizel gritted his teeth the moment he realized the rear could not reach them.
(I missed this! They had this many guns and cannons prepared! To this extent—!)
In truth, even Meizel had never fully grasped the true scope of Baim's power. Baim had grown so vast that Lyle and the Successive Heads felt genuinely threatened — its productive capacity and financial resources exceeded all imagination.
Furthermore, Lyle had once destroyed Baim, but had devoted most of his abilities to securing funds and craftsmen in order to fight.
He had resorted to methods that would normally be impossible and had prepared in order to win. Meizel had underestimated Lyle.
"Lord Meizel!"
Bayle had been trying to regroup by gathering the surrounding knights and soldiers, but when he heard a deep rumble and looked around, he spotted the enemy charging toward them and screamed.
Meizel drew his saber and spoke to Bayle.
"...I will not surrender. I will tear through them like this and take Lyle's head!"
Bayle turned to the surrounding knights.
"You heard him, all of you! Show the pride of House Walt's finest! Charge formation!"
Meizel's unit, which had been split apart and reduced in number, found itself surrounded but locked its sights on the largest enemy force directly ahead. That was because a flag bearing what appeared to be Lyle's emblem could be seen there.
Meizel pointed the blade of his saber straight ahead and—
"You've driven me this far. I'll give you credit for that. But that head of yours—I will take it for certain! —Charge!"
The surrounded father's forces regrouped and launched their charge.
Riding on May's back, I watched the scene unfold while charging forward and issued my orders. Aria and Miranda flanked me on both sides, while the front was packed with elite fighters. The Valkyries on horseback, along with Number One, Number Two, and Number Three, were stationed around me as my escort.
"A charge? Is that like you, Father? Well, I figured you'd do something like this!"
I drew my katana and collided head-on with the enemy. Magic Shields were deployed across the front of my formation. The enemy had deployed theirs as well, which meant magic, arrows, and bullets would all be blocked. As we clashed head-on in a furious collision, I lightly kicked May's belly.
"You're going to charge straight ahead? Are you sure? I'm going all out, you know."
"Don't worry about it! There's no time to hold back!"
What May was worried about wasn't going all out. The ones standing before us were the elite of House Walt. In other words, some of them were people who knew my face.
"...Then I'll take you right to Papa Lyle's front door!"
May took off at full sprint, pulling ahead of the surrounding horses and surging to the very front. I gripped the reins in my left hand but nearly got bucked off. At that speed of acceleration, May extended her horn from her forehead and crackled with violet lightning. As the violet lightning interfered with the Magic Shield and a barrier born of lightning took shape, I could see the enemy knights directly before us.
"...! Scatter them!"
I won't say I felt no hesitation. After all, I had seen them — the knights, soldiers, and servants of House Walt who had once rejoiced at my birth.
In the Seventh Generation's memories, everyone truly had been smiling. But now they were enemies, and I had no way to set them free.
Our unit, wreathed in violet lightning, collided with the enemy formation — and the enemy went flying.
May usually slackes off buying snacks and taking naps, but she was a Kirin after all. When a Kirin led a charge, there was no falling short.
I probably shouldn't say something like "I wish you'd try this hard all the time."
And then May spotted him.
"Laiel!"
Following May's gaze, I found my father there.
"Aria, Miranda — make sure no one gets in my way. Valkyries, use them however you like!"
I urged May forward and cut down an approaching knight with my katana. The knight, armor and all, was cleaved in two and tumbled from his horse. Without looking back, I headed for my father, but knights and soldiers swarmed toward me from every direction.
However —
"You're not getting through!"
Miranda stepped forward and engaged a single knight head-on. And then...
"You're in my way!!"
Aria, swinging her spear from horseback, was truly scattering knights and soldiers alike, carving out a path for me. The Valkyries supported Aria and Miranda as they did so.
May galloped down the opened path, and I leaped from horseback, swinging my katana down toward my father.
My father blocked with his saber, lost his footing, and fell from his horse. However, he quickly rolled to his feet and raised his saber at the ready. I glanced at his left hand — the wind around it was whipping wild.
"To think you'd stand before me — the audacity. But at least it saves me the trouble of searching."
His voice, after so long, was just as cold as ever. The kind of voice no father should turn on his son. Bone-chillingly cold — he wasn't looking at me as his child, but as his enemy.
I raised my katana and generated lightning in my left hand, just the same.
"It's been a while, Father. No — Lord Meizel Walt."
"...A disgrace to House Walt. You should have died in a ditch somewhere!"
As Father charged forward, Baim, mounted on his horse, shouted.
"Lord Meizel! Someone, help Lord Meizel!"
But Aria sprang out in front of Baim. Pulling her from the right flank to the center and bringing her to this spot had been no accident.
"I won't let you interfere!"
Aria swung her spear from horseback, stopping the greatsword-wielding Baim in his tracks. Our allies had caught up from the flanks, and the interference was gradually thinning.
"Aren't you ashamed, being protected by a woman? You good-for-nothing!"
Father pointed his left hand at me and hurled a mass of wind in my direction. I immediately darted sideways to dodge, but Father had anticipated it and thrust his saber ahead. Its blade was drenched in killing intent.
I deflected it with my katana, and the two blades scraped against each other, sending sparks flying. Then I shot back.
"Who should really be ashamed? For the record, House Walt has been a family protected by women for generations! If you think otherwise — you're dead wrong, you lousy father!!"
I kicked Father away, but the impact felt impossibly heavy. The kick didn't send him flying as I'd hoped, and when he pressed forward again, a slashing blow came bearing down, so I caught it on my katana. But Father suddenly withdrew, and I lost my footing just slightly.
Father's fist, still gripping the saber's hilt, struck my head squarely. My helmet flew off, and I retaliated with a punch from my free left hand to Father's face.
Father's helmet also flew off, and faint but unmistakable lines of blue light were running through his body. The pattern-like glow was similar to what I'd seen when I fought Lyle.
Amid the swirling sand of the battlefield, Father and I — wielding similar weapons and fighting in a similar style — created distance between us.
Seeing Father again after all this time, he really did resemble the Successive Heads who came before him. The one he resembled most was probably the Fifth Generation.
Just as I was thinking that, Father vanished from before my eyes. He must have enhanced his physical abilities to attack from my blind spot. But I'd taken that kind of attack from Lyle countless times. Again and again — yes, countless times.
...Perhaps this was exactly what he'd been trying to show me all along.
When I caught the saber's thrust with my katana, Father and I were incredibly close. I could see his face clearly. On top of his irritation, there was surprise — his thrust had been meant to kill, and it hadn't landed.
"Can you even block this?!"
"I've been hit by this plenty of times. Besides... I've been trained by some seriously strong people. If I go down to something like this, I won't be able to face anyone!"
I headbutted Father to stun him, then swept my left hand to the side, generating lightning. Father leaped back and placed his left hand on the ground—
"You brat! Sand Wall!"
A wall of earth burst from the ground, but I raised my left hand toward the sky instead.
"Thunderclap!"
Thunder roared across the battlefield, destroying the earthen wall and blasting everything away. Spotting Father trying to circle around, I charged in with a slash.
Father blocked it, knocking my katana aside, then thrust his saber at my head. As I tried to dodge, the blade twisted like a living creature and came right at me.
But—
"Softer than the Fifth Generation!"
The Fifth Generation's snake-blade was truly the worst. Whether you dodged it or blocked it, it forced you to bleed. After taking it enough times, I'd often end up unable to move first from blood loss.
I caught it on my left arm. The metal on my arm was custom-made—special metal that Grandpa Ratata had prepared for me since I didn't carry a shield.
But even that special metal took a scratch.
"Tch! So it's tough, huh?"
I rolled along the ground to create distance. Father came charging in with a saber slash. I blocked it with my katana, but—
"You said I was soft, didn't you? ...I'll hand those words right back to you!"
The saber slipped past my katana, its tip finding a gap in my armor and stabbing into my right shoulder. It wasn't deep, but I couldn't process what had just happened.
I tried to pull away from Father quickly, but he kept unleashing slipping thrusts one after another.
"Come on, what's wrong?! Try blocking this!"
Was he raising his physical abilities and subtly shifting the blade's direction to create that illusion? I reached my left hand behind my hip, pulled a pistol from its holster, and fired. Father thrust his left hand forward, deploying a Magic Shield.
The bullet couldn't even penetrate the Magic Shield.
"That's not nearly enough to get through my Shield. You and your father both rely on guns too much. But that's the end of this!"
Father was about to step forward, but in that instant—I felt the line with Monica reconnect. The saber in Father's hand began to glow, and when I tried to catch it with my katana, it snapped easily. I tried to provide cover fire with the pistol in my left hand, but Father's movements were too fast to hit.
"Fool! Did you think I was only limiting the use of Skills? I showed you on the very first day that releasing them for just an instant is easy too!"
He must have lifted the restriction and gone all out using the Mana Tools he had equipped. When the pistol in my left hand ran dry, I tossed aside the katana's hilt and gripped the Jewel tight.
The Third Generation's voice rang out.
"—Now then, Laiel. Let him have it. The Seventh Generation's gift."
The silver ornamental piece on the Jewel swelled outward, wrapping around my right hand and settling into shape.
I felt a scorching current flow through my body, and the line of light that Laiel had arranged formed patterns just like Father's.
Pointing my right hand toward Father, I remembered.
—That was back in the Seventh Generation's memory room.
After Laiel learned of a past where he had been loved, what the Seventh Generation asked him was:
"Now then, let's get to the heart of it. Laiel... when you told me to disappear—does that mean you've absorbed everything? That you don't need my teachings anymore?"
The Seventh Generation didn't seem displeased. Rather, if that was what Laiel believed, he was ready to simply disappear and entrust his Skills to Laiel.
But Laiel shook his head.
"No. If I'm being honest, I don't want you to disappear. There are still so many things I want you to teach me. And besides... the Seventh Generation is still my grandfather, after all."
To those words from Laiel, the Seventh Generation said:
"Then why accept my Skills here? In a battle against Maisel, I'm not even sure you'll have an occasion to use them."
Considering Maisel's Skills as his son, inheriting the Seventh Generation's Skills at this stage didn't really mean much. The Seventh Generation's third-stage Skill was [Shuffle]—it allowed the user to swap positions with another person.
"...To be honest, the Skills aren't the reason. The Seventh Generation has been through so much. You struggled with your relationship with Father, yet you still kept fighting..."
From the Seventh Generation's perspective, both father and son were outstanding. Despite being caught in between them, he had still welcomed Maisel and raised him with affection.
That was precisely why Rael had made his decision.
"I don't want to show you a battle to the death between me and Father."
When Rael said that and managed a sorrowful smile, the Seventh Generation stammered, struggling for words.
"...I have already steeled myself as well. That doesn't change the fact that I want to support you. Even if Maisel is your opponent."
Rael turned toward the Seventh Generation.
"I will kill Father."
"..."
"But even though you can call it a memory, I don't want you to see that kind of scene. Just for the end... I want you to see me with a smile... It's selfish of me. But could you grant me this one last request?"
When Rael squeezed out those words, the Seventh Generation looked up at the sky. The sky in the memory was perfectly clear.
"I see. To the very end, worrying about your grandfather... I was a worthless grandfather, wasn't I? I left problems for your generation and couldn't even clean up my own mess. And I can't even complain when people say I was the root of all of it... Rael, you are remarkable. And kind. You have long since surpassed me."
Rael spoke with a smile to the Seventh Generation, who laughed weakly. Yet tears streamed from his eyes.
"Rest assured. I, as your grandson, will take care of the problems you left behind. You taught me so much, after all. Well, I suppose I've become a bit more stubborn than before."
The Seventh Generation laughed at Rael's joke.
"You have. At first, you were unreliable, but you were an honest, good child. But that actually made me a little happy. Maisel was so capable that he never needed my help. And precisely because of that, there were so many things I wanted to do for him, advice I wanted to give... Rael, you were the one who let me do that for you. You relied on me, and that truly made me happy."
Rael and the Seventh Generation faced each other with smiles, and the Skills were inherited. Particles of light emanated from the Seventh Generation and gradually faded away.
"Rael, you were a grandson far too wonderful for me."
"To me, you were magnificent, Grandfather. Kind and strong... You are my pride."
"Is that so. Then I'm no longer needed. Now go. Do as you wish. Move forward toward the place you aspire to reach."
As the surrounding scenery crumbled away like sand, a faint light formed around the Seventh Generation. Beside him stood Xenoa.
And then, the mouth was moving. Laiel couldn't hear the voice, but the Seventh Generation seemed to be able to.
"I see. I need to put this into words properly. Laiel, you are—"
The Jewel held in his right hand took the form of a gun.
The silver gun had a Jewel embedded in the grip, glowing blue. The barrel was wide, and a knife was attached to the firearm. It was a shape reminiscent of a fusion between the gun the Seventh Generation had carried and the one Mireia had wielded.
And then, he thought he heard the Seventh Generation's voice.
"—Laiel, you were truly loved. You were born loved by everyone. Claire, your mother, loved you as well. And—"
As he pointed the barrel, his father—who had been closing in—look startled. He clearly hadn't expected Laiel to draw the second gun after getting so close.
But his father recovered quickly.
Deciding there was no dodging it, he thrust his left hand forward and deployed a Magic Shield.
"No gun has ever pierced my shield, I've said it time and aga—"
It might indeed be blocked. Even a silver weapon would have difficulty piercing his father's Magic Shield. But there was no need to pierce through it.
"...You got flustered. Your win rate would have been higher if you'd kept my Skills sealed. —This gun is the Seventh Generation himself. You... Father, you lost to us, no—to Broad Walt!"
"Father, you say? What are you—"
His father was confused, but surely something had clicked. The tactics involving a gun. And the finishing blow Laiel had prepared was also a gun...
"And—Maisel truly loved you as well."
Laiel pulled the trigger. Blue light burst from the barrel, and a pale blue glowing bullet was fired toward his father.
He heard the Seventh Generation's final words, and in that brief instant, Laiel recalled the images of his father and mother from the Seventh Generation's memories. But the trigger had already been pulled.
——Warp——
Using the Seventh Generation's second-stage Skill, the bullet warped past the shield. It then pierced just below his father's chest, tearing open a gaping hole. The bullet continued through and smashed into the ground, scattering debris.
The battlefield was engulfed in silence in an instant.