Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Declaration (3)
I had to take down Tapas Aiola, the Pathfinder of the Lantern Gang. And to do that, first, I needed to have a longer talk with the president of Lunaseeker.
‘I thought Cecilia would have something more important to say.’
Looking back now, between the two who came to see Kairus, the more important person was Younia Fallon.
“I need more information about Tapas. Do you happen to know anything?”
It was strange that an organization like Lunaseeker didn’t already have intel on a big-shot criminal like Tapas.
“You’re asking for info that’ll help in a fight, right?”
Younia suddenly crossed her eyes and jerked her head around in a strange manner before looking at Kairus.
“Tapas is known to use a battle gear shaped like a broom and a few tattoos.”
The name of the battle gear was Sopor.
Lunaseeker had assessed that its output was about half that of Moon Sand… but the real problem was its ability.
“Mental strength is crucial.”
“Sorry? Is there even a fight where mental strength isn’t important?”
Younia made that same cross-eyed expression she’d just pulled earlier.
“In a fight with him, you’ll end up like this.”
Every living creature within a 150-meter radius would be hit with an unbearable wave of drowsiness. Simply put, if you weren’t careful, you could die in your sleep.
It wasn’t some powder or incense-based trick that put people to sleep. If it were, Swift Blade could’ve just blown it away—no problem.
“If you create some distance, does the effect wear off?”
“No. The fatigue only disappears if you sleep or kill the battle gear user.”
The broom called Sopor that Tapas used was a type of iris sword with a hidden blade inside.
His fighting style was to take advantage of his opponents being drowsy and unaware, then take them out quickly with his swift strikes.
“Honestly, when facing Tapas, the real concern isn’t just how strong he is…”
Kairus responded to Younia’s words.
“You don’t trust me, do you.”
“I’ve heard you can use the Veil of Plumed Mist, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes.”
Actually, it was something Kairus welcomed.
‘How strong am I now?’
He’d had that question ever since he started his recovery, but there hadn’t been a way to find out.
He couldn’t exactly go all out against Irena.
“Alright.”
Kairus stood up immediately. His recovery was complete. He was confident—even if he had to jump into a battlefield right this moment.
If they fought nearby, the mansion would no doubt be demolished, so Kairus and Younia moved to a different location.
An empty field with nothing but a railway. The Valorn Empire had plenty of open land—convenient at times like this.
“That’s Moon Sand, isn’t it?”
“Strange-looking, isn’t it?”
The battle gear was shaped like an hourglass with a 30-centimeter blade attached to the top. The hourglass appeared to serve as the hilt.
“Since it’s just a sparring match.”
Muttering that to herself, Younia slid the blade into its sheath and wrapped it up tightly with something like bandages. She actually meant to spar in that state.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“If you get struck by Moon Sand’s blade, my next attack can leap into the past.”
Kairus let out a puzzled hum and looked at Younia.
“I’m not sure I follow.”
He understood he shouldn’t get cut by the blade—but not why.
“Everyone has a moment when they were defenseless. Moon Sand allows me to target that moment from the second attack onward.”
“That makes no sense.”
Younia’s eyes, fixed on Kairus, were still smiling.
Leaping into the past. The meaning behind it was simple.
“I wonder… can the version of you who hadn’t even learned to walk yet dodge or block Moon Sand’s blade?”
It was impossible.
“…So, would the current me standing here vanish from the world altogether?”
“No. You’ll have lived up to now with a blade stuck in you. And you’ll only realize it just now.”
Kairus, upon realizing he’d already been stabbed long ago, would only then meet his death.
If Kairus received even a single wound from that blade, his life would hang by Younia’s decision from that moment onward.
“Why are you even telling me all this?”
“It’s a battle gear with tricky conditions. I have to inform my opponent about it.”
One must explain the battle gear’s ability to the opponent.
One must wound the opponent with Moon Sand’s blade.
These two conditions must be fulfilled in the set order. If not, Moon Sand’s leap into the past won’t activate.
“So, even now, you still want me to unsheathe the blade? I don’t mind.”
“No, I’d appreciate it if you left it like that.”
If Kairus got cut by that blade, Younia could kill him at any moment afterward. It’d be more strange if such a technique had range limitations.
He wasn’t about to let himself be leashed by the president of Lunaseeker he’d just met today.
“You’re not going to give me a heads-up next time, are you?”
To that, Younia burst into a cheerful “Ahaha!” then answered in a dry tone.
“Of course not.”
As long as she followed that order, there was no time limit to fulfill the two conditions.
She could casually explain it once, then ambush and injure someone much later—and that would be that.
Anyone who fell to Moon Sand wouldn’t be able to resist Younia.
“Let’s start the sparring.”
Kairus, having roughly grasped the situation, gripped the Veil of Plumed Mist in his hand. Younia’s gaze, however, shifted to the other sword, still sheathed.
“That one?”
“I’ll just say it’s a very useful piece of battle gear.”
He had no intention of giving up Flicker. A tool that could pick any lock would always be useful in the future, so he planned to keep it on him.
“If you say so. Then…”
Just as Younia was about to continue, Kairus increased the output of the Veil of Plumed Mist, and a deep turbine hum erupted.
“Let’s begin.”
The wildly grown weeds and shrubs were flattened by the wind, their heads driven into the ground.
Gradually, the sun was blotted out, and shadows spread. When Younia glanced up at the sky, she saw the storm clouds Kairus had summoned now consuming the heavens.
A fierce rumble rolled across the field, as if the sky were about to burst into rain at any moment.
“What a shame. Your Cloud Seizing Art is a bit lacking.”
With the sound of the heavens shaking, a sudden and violent downpour slammed into the ground. It was hard to believe that a person had created this entire environment using battle gear.
Even in that overwhelming moment, Younia calmly evaluated Kairus.
“You covered for it with output. For now.”
Her assessment was fairly accurate.
Kairus’s assault was fast.
With a gust of wind, Kairus rushed in, Veil of Plumed Mist aiming straight for Younia’s throat.
The ambush struck in an instant, aimed directly at Younia’s chest.
‘An illusion.’
There was no sensation in his hands. The strike had missed.
It was only a momentary illusion caused by Younia’s sheer speed. She now revealed herself behind Kairus.
Just as she was about to stab him in the back, the sound of turbines flared up again—this time accompanied by an immense blast of propulsion.
At the same moment, Kairus’s body lifted slightly off the ground.
“That’s right.”
Younia smiled and retreated several steps, abandoning the attack. Featherwing had claimed the Veil of Plumed Mist.
“Fly, Featherwing.”
Of course he had to fly. Wielding Veil of Plumed Mist meant he was the head of House Featherwing.
If he couldn’t fly, how could he call himself their head?
Hovering slightly above the ground, Kairus unleashed a tremendous roar—and then vanished.
The spot where he had floated above caved in, forming concentric craters.
…
The enemy had disappeared, but there was no need to look around. The only thing worth watching was the sky.
From afar in the sky, an eardrum-shattering explosion echoed—created by Kairus in flight.
Ripping through the air, breaking the bounds of sound, he dashed across the sky.
‘I see her.’
In the midst of it all, Kairus’s gaze fell toward the ground. He saw Younia.
“Hup.”
The air rushing into his lungs was thin, but for Kairus, breathing through his energy sacs, it was enough.
He flew toward Younia.
Acceleration. More acceleration. After piercing upward through the clouds, Kairus now descended again.
Even faster acceleration. It looked less like a descent and more like a fall—an uncontrolled dive toward the earth.
And there, standing firm with Moon Sand in hand, was Younia.
‘What should I do?’
Kairus hadn’t learned Moonwalk. But thanks to the Veil of Plumed Mist, flight was still possible.
In this situation, there was only one option he could choose.
Collision.
Kairus, without slowing down, rammed into Younia at full flight speed.
A deafening boom and a shockwave followed.
The ground beneath them screamed, and everything around them—except the two—shattered and scattered in all directions.
“Ah, how many years has it been since I felt this?”
Younia murmured with a smile. There was no victor at the end of this flight—only a standoff remained.
As their figures blurred and sharpened again and again, crashes and clashing metal rang out continuously around them.
‘Damn it, she’s ridiculously strong.’
Their exchanges were too fast. To an ordinary observer, it would’ve looked like Kairus and Younia were simply standing still, locked in a contest of strength.
But in reality, nearly a hundred exchanges had already taken place during this brief standoff. At last, the two separated and moved apart.
“Now then!”
With Kairus’s shout, the two vanished and reappeared.
Vanished again. Then appeared.
Over and over—vanishing, reappearing.
Their figures could only be seen at the moment their weapons collided.
The empty field was filled with afterimages of the two. It was like dozens of photos had been taken of them in different poses and layered over each other in the same space.
That was how ordinary people would perceive this sparring match.
“What the heck? You’re putting on a whole show and not even using Swift Blade?”
“It’s just a sparring match.”
As their conversation began, all the scattered afterimages around them vanished like illusions.
“You’re no different.”
“That’s true.”
This sparring session was carried out purely by leveraging the output of their battle gear.
No Featherwing swordsmanship, no distinctive Lunaseeker movements—just a clean, straightforward exchange.
“Shall we wrap this up? The place is a wreck.”
It was impossible to tell what this field originally looked like.
To call it a “wreck” was far too tame for the level of devastation in the area.
“I’m curious if this match gave you the confidence you were looking for.”
As Younia lowered Moon Sand, Kairus lowered his blade as well and responded.
“Yeah. Still about fifty-fifty.”
“Harsh score.”
Younia didn’t give a particular response to that.
“That’s the end of our meeting. Now it’s your turn to answer. Are you going to accept the Republic’s proposal?”
To Younia’s question, Kairus nodded.
“It seems there’s no better option.”
Kairus would head to Bennett City, take Tapas Aiola’s head, and seize his position.
“Great. Pick up Nora on your way back by train.”
“You’re coming with me?”
“What, you don’t want me to?”
It wasn’t that Kairus found Nora burdensome. It’s just…
“She’ll get in the way on this job.”
He was heading out to take down Tapas Aiola.
No matter how talented Nora was, there was no way she’d be of help to Kairus in this situation.
“Wow, how cold. After working together for so long, don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”
“I’m letting her live longer because of the time we’ve spent together.”
If she accompanied Kairus now, she’d end up with a short life. With Irena, it was different—he intended to train her, so she had to come along. But there was no particular reason for Nora to follow him.
“Nora’ll be sad. She said she wanted to go with you.”
“Were you planning to assign someone from the start?”
Younia looked at him like she couldn’t believe he was asking that.
“Well, who else is going to report back to Lunaseeker and relay your decisions?”
“If someone has to come, I’d prefer it to be someone I know. But I’d rather she join me after I complete the mission successfully.”
If someone from Lunaseeker had to accompany him, of course it had to be Nora.
“Alright, then it’s Nora. She’ll join you in Bennett City after the mission is done.”
And with that, their conversation ended.