It seems my words sound like nonsense to you.

Exon says to Shuon.

“Lord Nefmeiza filled your head with such ideas, didn’t he?”

“Weren’t you swayed by the humans of the Rebel Organization?”

At this, Shuon’s gaze turns to me.

“Or… is it this unfamiliar guy?”

“It seems you have no intention of listening to what I have to say.”

Exon asks. Shuon, still in a battle stance, remains silent.

…Judging by the situation, it seems Shuon has heard a lot from Nefmeiza. There’s enough basis for it that he won’t even listen to Exon… I’m curious, but I don’t think he’d explain if I asked him to talk.

Do we have no choice but to fight here…? I still don’t have a Dragon Demon Stone Weapon, so just like the fight with Exon, I can’t defeat Shuon. But this time Exon is on my side. There’s more than enough chance of victory, isn’t there?

However–knowing the characteristics of the “Dragon Blade Stone,” I don’t think I can let my guard down.

I take a breath. Then, I slowly reach for my sword.

“First, let’s see.”

Shuon eyes me and Exon warily—and then,

“Let’s take care of the obstacles first.”

He draws his sword. At the same time, magic power rushes towards us with a sword strike.

I immediately understood his aim. His target wasn’t me or Exon.

In an instant, I also swing my sword to match the opponent’s sword strike. Against the magic blade unleashed from Shuon’s sweeping sword, I unleashed a wind blade.

The two clash. A vortex of whirling wind and magic power rages throughout the room—at the same time, the roar of breaking glass echoes.

When I turn my gaze, I see that the windows have been shattered by the aftermath of the sword strike’s impact, and the walls are also heavily scarred by sword slashes. The surrounding furniture is damaged, and the curtains hanging over the windows are torn without exception.

It looks as if a typhoon has passed through. Who knows how long it will take to repair the room.

“Oh.”

Perhaps thinking it was interesting, Shuon raised his voice here.

“That clearly had the intention of canceling out my sword.”

“…Is your target the leader of ‘Sword of Heaven’ inside the mansion?”

Shuon laughs at my question. It seems I hit the mark.

The Dragon Blade Stone’s ability to cut anything affects even magic blades, as Shuon just demonstrated. If he wanted to, he could easily cut the mansion in half with the power of the magic stone—

Additionally, perhaps due to the Dragon Demon Stone’s influence, Shuon has a higher ability to detect magic power than ordinary people. While we were talking, he found a place with high magic power and unleashed his magic blade at it. With his Dragon Magic Stone Power, he could have easily destroyed the mansion’s structures, and Abel and the others might have been attacked without knowing what was happening.

“It seems you knew what I was aiming for.”

“Well, yeah.”

Searching for Sofia and the others’ whereabouts through the familiar paid off. The direction Shuon pointed his blade was where Abel was—which was synonymous with Sofia and the others’ location, allowing for a quick response.

But aiming for Abel first instead of us… did Nefmeiza put something into his head?

“I’m sad that it’s come to this,”

Exon says in a calm tone. Then Shuon starts laughing.

“That’s surprising. I thought you’d be furious if a room in the Mansion was trashed.”

“I apologize for not meeting your expectations, but I understood that the Mansion wouldn’t come out unscathed the moment I rebelled.”

Exon infused his entire body with Magic Power as he replied. He showed a stance of resistance, but… in a one-on-one fight, Exon was at a disadvantage.

His ‘Dragon Life Stone’ instantly regenerates from attacks by weapons that do not contain Dragon Demon Stone. So what happens with weapons that do contain Dragon Demon Stone? In that case, the opponent’s Magic Power and his own Magic Power cancel each other out, which reduces the regeneration speed.

Of course, even if it contains Dragon Demon Stone, if the Dragon Demon Stone’s effect is low, the regeneration speed will likely be superior. But that’s not the case with a Marquis like Shuon. It results in Magic Power being削り取られる by the amount canceled out, and eventually the ‘Dragon Life Stone”s ability, Regenerative Ability, will stop working.

If there’s a path to victory, it would be to fully boost his Regenerative Ability and launch a desperate attack… However, the ‘Dragon Blade Stone’ is a Dragon Demon Stone specialized in attack power. Even if he challenges Shuon head-on, Shuon would still have the advantage.

“You and I should be equally skilled.”

Shuon suddenly began to speak.

“I’ve known you for a long time, so I understand that much. That means it’s difficult to win in a technical battle. In that case, it will be a battle utilizing Dragon Magic Stone Power, but—”

“Then, it’s impossible for me to win?”

Exon’s expression seemed to say,

“Then, what will you do?”

Shuon’s question… Well, I know what Exon intends to do.

At this point, I stepped forward.

“So you’re my opponent.”

—I was a bit worried about Sofia and the others not coming, but their position hasn’t changed at this point. They must have heard the sound of destruction from the previous attack, and I thought Abel would move… Perhaps Sofia is holding them back, saying something like,

“Just so you know, I can’t defeat him.”

I said to Exon. Then Shuon reacted first.

“Oh, you can’t defeat him?”

“Because I don’t have any weapons containing Dragon Demon Stone in my possession.”

“…I would think hiding that would be part of the strategy of a fight, but you don’t intend to?”

“It’ll be found out soon anyway.”

I shrugged. Shuon looked somewhat suspicious at my reaction.

“Well, you’ll understand when we fight… Exon, so I’ll leave the finishing blow to you.”

“Understood.”

Shuon’s doubts grew stronger at Exon’s easy acceptance. However, he didn’t ask any questions and readied his sword.

“I don’t know how strong you are, but I understood from our conversation just now that Exon holds you in high regard.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’ll let your guard down.”

“Of course.”

On the contrary, he showed maximum vigilance… His gaze conveyed a determination to successfully complete his mission.

I think there are various reasons why Shuon came here… Perhaps Nefmeiza asked him to eliminate Exon and Abel. Or rather, if he intended to draw his sword from the beginning, that interpretation is more reasonable.

And he was told something by Nefmeiza. I’d like to persuade him to join our side if possible, but I wonder if that will happen.

“What’s wrong?”

Shuon asked. He didn’t seem to be attacking… or rather, he was observing my move.

Well, it’s natural to be cautious when I can give orders to Exon. I observed Shuon. I’ll also wait and see for now.

I don’t mind if we stare at each other for a long time… but Shuon probably doesn’t want to drag it out. While looking at me, he didn’t forget to pay attention to Exon.

When that time, probably about a minute… an endlessly long time in my perception, passed,

“…It can’t be helped.”

Shuon spoke—and delivered a Sword Strike to me.