77 â The Opportunity that theyâve been Waiting for
[First, letâs hear your name . ]
[Hati Skoll]
[I see, a pseudonym huh...]
He easily saw through that .
[...Well, yeah . ]
[Then, there must be some kind of reason why itâs necessary for you to hide your real name . It seems that even the Princess Knight had something like that . ]
[Civit-dono . ]
Schweiz suddenly barged in .
[Whatâs the matter?]
[I still canât understand . What in the world made you so concerned about that boy?]
[Itâs strange . ]
Civit answered .
[He didnât look frightened even when heâs in front of the Five Dragon Warriors . ]
[Is that so? It looks like heâs sweating in fear from how I see it though . ]
[Youâre wrong . That reaction is clearly different from someone whoâs frightened . Look carefully . That doesnât look like the eyes of someone who has lost his will to fight . Itâs like heâs trying to lay in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike . ]
[What will he even try to do towards you, Civit-dono? What could he even do? He wonât be able to finish any chant for whatever spells he knows in time, and it seems like you would be able to apprehend him even if he tries to take out some kind of magic tool . ]
[He knows that the instant he moves in some way I donât like, he will be killed by me . Even when heâs in such a situation, he still laughed and showed me his intention of wanting to talk with me . He didnât surrender, heâs not begging for his life, he just wanted to converse with me . Thatâs quite a fresh experience for me . ]
Schweiz looks like he understands a bit after Civit explained it to him .
Civitâs lips lifted into a soft smile .
[A person thatâs far weaker than me is, for some reason, taking measures to struggle his way through this place . He even knows that Iâm called âThe Humanityâs Strongestâ . ]
............... .
A man whoâs good at doing conjectures .
His eye for observation is quite sharp .
[How about it, Schweiz? Donât you think heâs quite interesting now?]
[...Indeed . ]
[A fresh wind had suddenly appeared in this place, and I think that itâs still too early for the curtains of your stage to quickly drop in here . I would like to continue to have this act with him . As for Seras Ashrainâ]
Civit continued speaking without taking his eyes off me .
[I no longer have any interest in her as my opponent . I donât think she would even come close to killing me based on her reaction when she had recognized me...]
[It seems that her heart was quite shaken, especially when she knew Ortoraâs real nature . ]
Their conversation is also valuable information for me .
Itâs better that I procure all of the information I could get .
However, itâs not good if I just stay silent in here .
[..................]
But well, though I say that...
I also need something that makes their caution away from me .
I canât find any gaps in Civit .
Itâs slightly different from that time with the Soul Eater .
...I must not be impatient .
If I make any kind of mistake in my choicesâ then Iâm finished .
[I have something to ask . ]
I checked the timing, and when I think itâs time, I opened my mouth .
[Okay . Say it . ]
[You are searching for an opponent that could satisfy you, right?]
[Youâre not mistaken . ]
[But, havenât you fought with people whoâs strength has transcended beyond what humans could?]
[I think I could already guess what youâre trying to say but... Continue . ]
[First of all, thereâs that Great Demon Emperor and his army . ]
[At the moment, itâs quite difficult for me to fight against the Demon Emperor . ]
[Why?]
[The problem is Magnar . ]
Itâs that northern country that Iâve heard of before huh...
The forefront force against the Great Demon Emperorâs Army .
[The King of Magnar doesnât want other troops to enter his territory . Even though his Great Fortress was already broken, as long as the White Wolf Knights were still alive, they will refuse reinforcements from other countries as much as possible . They are particularly more vigilant towards our Bakuos compared to the other countries, especially since weâve invaded Neia . But if I were to say it honestly, I would like to ask the leader of the White Wolf Knights to have a one-on-one fight with me . ]
[Then, why donât you just do it now? Arenât you the strongest in this continent? Canât you just do whatever you want?]
[Even so, I still have to look at things from the viewpoint of my position, the leader of my knights . I canât exactly say that Iâm loyal towards his Majesty, the Emperor . I have to consider for my House of Gartlandâs standpoint and itâs preventing me from acting too unreasonable . Especially when it may affect the diplomacy with foreign countries . Of course, itâs quite regrettable for me . ]
Schweiz adds in .
[The relationship between nations is really complicated . Even though we are the Black Dragon Knights, the strongest in the world, we canât win if we were to fight all the troops of other countries . ]
For example, if Civit were to kill the strong warriors from other countries as much as he likes .
As a result, Bakuos may receive attacks from all of those other countries .
So, his own family was functioning as his shackles huh...
Fumu...
Even the strongest werenât exactly unshackled .
In other words, you could even say that he has been craving for âopponentsâ because heâs in such an inconvenient situation .
I then inquired .
[How about Alion?]
[Hmm?]
[Have you tried fighting against Alionâs goddess?]
His stance against that f*cking goddess .
I would like to know about this too .
[Goddess Vysis huh... I donât feel like turning the gods into my enemies for now . Our Bakuos and Alion have a close relationship . Well, I personally donât like that goddess but... Butâ]
The radiance in Civitâs pupils increased .
[I have great expectations though towards those supposedly extraordinary Heroes that the Goddess summoned . ]
The Heroes of 2-C .
As expected, Iâm quite interested with them .
[Jonatoâs Saint, Miraâs Mad Emperor, Urzaâs âDragon Slayerâ... they are quite attractive opponents . However, as expectedâ]
Civit lightly smiled .
[Itâs the heroes from another world who have the most explosive power because of their divine blessings . They may also be the one whoâs closest to my position as the Strongest . I believe and expect that they will be arch-enemy of this Civit Gartland . ]
Somehow, I understood what heâs trying to say .
This man called Civit Gartland...
[But, do you think that the goddess would allow you to fight the heroes?]
[If the heroes were to finish their duties of defeating the Great Demon Emperor, I think that the goddess would allow it even just once . Of courseâ]
In a somewhat bouncy voice, Civit continues .
[If the Great Demon Emperor somehow defeats Magnarâs White Wolf Knights, exterminates Alionâs Heroes, tear that goddess into eight pieces, and march towards our Black Dragon Knightsâ then, I will welcome them . ]
Absolute pride for his own ability began oozing out from his speech .
Itâs fine for him if he just fight the strongest warrior who have survived until the end .
It doesnât matter who his opponent is .
The only craving that heâs eager to have is to battle with strong opponents .
However, because of his position, he canât fight freely against opponents that he wants to fight .
Civit doesnât know what to do .
...with his power, that made him known to be the Strongest .
At that time,
[Speaking of which... If weâre talking about Alion, didnât Seras Ashrain have a deep connection with them?]
Civit said to himself .
The despaired Seras looked upwards .
She looks quite angry .
[What do you mean? I have a deep connection with Alion...?]
Hmm?
What?
Seras reacted as if she has no recollection of what he said .
Civit exhaled a short sigh .
[You were supposed to be a tribute for the deceased . I will especially teach this ignorant you why the Holy Kingdom of Neia was destroyed . ]
Civit continued, though he looks like he doesnât hold that much of an interest in the topic .
[For a really long time, our Bakuos havenât assaulted Neia at all . However, Bakuos suddenly changed its policy and invaded Neia... And the main cause of why this all happened is you, Seras Ashrain . ]