/
Two people were walking down the avenue that led to the Imperial Palace’s main entrance—but in typical Emperor Marcus fashion, Joshua was blocked by hordes of Imperial Knights, accompanied by the knights of the various noble houses. There were easily three thousand of them, and all of them were fully armed and armored for battle. And the mages that came with them had already prepared their magic circles the day before.
“Master
 isn’t this too much?” Cain was leading the way, but stopped and broke into a cold sweat after seeing the “welcome party.” “How about we find another escape route? We don’t necessarily have to go through the main gate, do we?”
“If we do that, won’t we be treated like real criminals then?”
“Master?” Cain mumbled.
“Not once have I committed any crimes; why should I flee like a fugitive and not walk out of the main gates righteously?”
Cain fell silent.
‘Right. This is my master.’
A man that would bend but never break. Some might call him arrogant, but everyone knew that he had the means to back up his arrogance.
Joshua confidently resumed his advance.
“Stop!” the captain of the 4th Battalion, Paul, shouted. “Joshua Sanders! Immediately drop your weapons and surrender!”
“Get out of my way.”
Paul stared at him, wide-eyed.
“My spear is blind
”
“Huh?”
“From this moment on, I will cut down all who dare to stand in my way, no matter who they are or where they come from.”
An unimaginably powerful force filled the air around Joshua, making it difficult to even breathe. It was unlike any application of mana the knights had ever seen. Despite witnessing Joshua inhuman behavior several times before, Paul could not adapt.
“This bastard of a monster
”
Paul’s mumbling echoed the thoughts of everyone gathered there.
It was another application of aura: force emission.
“Keugh
”
“I can’t b-breathe—”
Soldiers that could not regulate their mana were the first to fell to their knees after being exposed to such tremendous power. Their bodies knew that this enormous mana was too much for them. Even in the rear, mages and knights alike dropped. They didn’t collapse, thankfully, but they couldn’t fight, either.
A shadow of doubt flickered over Paul's frowning face. The force that had been choking him suddenly faded—but it wasn’t that Joshua had stopped releasing it.
“Count
 Sten?” Paul blurted.
The Count had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was standing before Paul.
Joshua saw Arie and sighed before remarking, “You know that even you can’t stop me, right?”
Arie flicked his tongue over his raised rapier and smiled.
“But it’s manly to challenge situations that seem impossible. I decided that you’re my prey, after all. Do you think I’d let you go?”
Joshua hefted his spear. The red spear once again bared its fangs, engulfed in unquenchable flames.
“I will do this, Master,” Cain offered.
Joshua shook his head.
“We have no time.”
“...Then I’ll finish it quickly.”
“No. I can finish this in a single strike.”
Cain’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. A single strike? Count Arie bron Sten? The maestro of the battlefield?
“Besides, I have another reason to handle him personally.”
“HAHAHAHAHA!” Arie bron Sten let out a hearty laughter and slowly moved.
Joshua’s momentum rose in response. The young knight’s energy fluctuated wildly, making his earlier display look like a joke.
Arie shivered as he was immersed in the energy.
“Is this some sort of electricity?” the Count asked.
“I have a reason for choosing it.”
“You bastard. HAHAHAHA!” Arie shivered in ecstasy.
Joshua, though, only gave him a little brush on the shoulders.
The outcome was anything but little, though.
The ground below shook and cracks soon formed. The air howled in protest as flames erupted from the cracks and hovered near the spear. Electrical currents were summoned and soaked up by Joshua’s body like cotton absorbing water.
“This crazy basta
”
Someone could not help but curse upon gazing upon a man made god.
Joshua and Arie both kicked off against the ground at almost the same time. Who went first didn’t matter, because it was impossible to determine. Everyone just agreed that it was fast and powerful.
Arie’s sword conjured a flurry of attacks. His move was as surreal as its nickname, the Bloom of a Thousand Petals. And Joshua was more than willing to throw himself into the storm of petals

A blinding ray of light filled their vision. Everyone expected a booming explosion and struggled to see through it, but the scene ended with a crackle like stepping on a dry leaf.
The two of them stood with their backs to each other, their positions reversed from when they started.
Paul blinked and gaped blankly as he stared at Joshua standing before him.
“What was that?” Arie asked.
“It’s called ‘Lightning Flash,’” Joshua answered, assuming Arie was asking the skill’s name.
“Ah, yes
 true to its name, it was too fast to even see.”
Arie's hair tie gently fluttered to the ground, letting his hair hang loose.
Paul abruptly realized what seemed so strange about the scene.
“C-Count Arie! Yo-Your arm!”
Midway between Joshua and Arie, the Count’s beloved rapier lay on the ground. Despite being a piece of metal, it seemed alive
 almost as if it was
 moving.
Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.
But none of that mattered so much as why Count Arie had dropped his weapon: his whole arm had been cleanly severed. His right arm. And it was obvious that it was an irreversible wound.
“I would have preferred you cut my neck instead.”
“The cut is clean. If you hurry, you might be able to put it back.”
Joshua could’ve used the Flame of Annihilation to make the wound impossible to heal, but he decided not to. Even still, this wound would take years and years of recuperation.
“You’re awfully frivolous.”
“I called your son a friend for a few years. If you weren’t his father, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment.”
“So that’s it?” Arie laughed at Joshua and gestured towards the gate. “Go on
”
Paul stepped forward.
“C-Count!”
“Or do you plan to stop him, Paul mon Terod?”
“I mean
 Yes, w-we should
”
“Forget it. I assure you, even if everyone here attacked him together, we still wouldn’t be able to stop Joshua Sanders.”
“What d-do you mean
?”
The Count didn't spare the captain another glance as he looked further beyond where the captain was standing.
“Please come out personally now. You can choose: either let the Empire’s men die or let Joshua Sanders go.”
The crowd immediately split in two.
Two men then slowly stepped through the rift. Both carried the most noble blood in all of Avalon, signified by their golden hair and golden eyes.
They were First Prince Kiser and Second Prince Kaizen.
“I can’t believe that a brat could turn the situation like this. Damn it
” Prince Kaizen continued to unhappily complain.
“Just go,” Kiser quietly commanded.
Kaizen’s eyes widened.
“HUH?”
“Clear the way, knights.”
“Are you serious, older brother?” Kaizen looked at his brother like Kiser had gone mad. “He’s a criminal! And you’re letting him go like this? Do you think His Majesty will stay silent if he hears this?”
“He’s an Agnus. That ought to mollify the Emperor. More importantly, shouldn't we save our precious subjects?”
“Mhm. The older brother is wiser indeed,” Arie mumbled. “Not like the younger brother who throws puerile tantrums
”
“What did you say?”
Kaizen could clearly hear what Arie was saying despite the latter’s low volume. Count Arie just tsked and combed his hair with his remaining hand. Kaizen rolled his eyes, clearly lacking the energy to deal with the likes of Arie anymore.
“Take your subordinates and leave, Joshua Sanders. From this moment forth, you are no longer a noble of Avalon, you are a fugitive.”
“That’s just what I wanted.” Joshua smiled. “I can’t stand the rotten Imperial Family anymore.”
Kiser's eyes sank coldly.
“Let me tell you one more thing before you leave, Joshua,” Arie said. “Do you remember what I told you before?”
Joshua did not answer.
“Well, that sucks
 if you can’t remember, then there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Arie shrugged and looked away, clearly unwilling to finish.
Joshua eventually began to move, his eyes fixed on the gates. Knights gulped in awe as Joshua passed by them.
Cain, however, wanted to faint. The situation was unbearable. It felt like threading through a den full of lions. How many people could walk this confidently in front of their enemies?
‘Ah, I think none.’
Cain glanced around nervously.
While Cain was caught up in his thoughts, they arrived before the front gates. There, right before exiting the Imperial Palace, Joshua spoke.
“The next time I come back, I will be your enemy, not a colleague of you faithless.”
A cold wind carried his voice to over three thousand pairs of ears.