Chapter 11: Leon's Turn

Chapter 11:
Leon’s Turn

 

“I’M ACTUALLY a coward.”

The moment I professed that, the entire arena fell silent. Even Pierre shut up for a moment before he descended back into his usual raving.

“You’re really going to start begging for your life? It’s too late!”

“What part of that sounded like begging?” I snorted. “All I said was I’m a coward. Can your little brain not comprehend that?”

“Enough. You’re a dead man!”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a real good yapper. Maybe you should take some lessons from Elle. She’s a good girl. Barely barks at all.”

My goading set him off again—he came in swinging his scythe, trying to slice me in half.

Marie and her morons had saved the hostages. I had no more reasons to hold back, and one of the final participants in my ploy was doubtless about to make their move soon.

“Quit making fun of me!” Pierre howled.

I stooped to avoid his attack and ducked between Arroganz’s legs. As I passed, I tapped the Armor lightly with my hand.

It toppled.

“Ow!” Pierre hissed from within the cockpit. The fall had rattled him. “D-dammit! This stupid Armor fell over. How dare a piece of junk embarrass me!”

Hah! He thought Arroganz had failed him.

“It didn’t trip on its own,” I said. “I made you trip.”

“Huh?” Pierre blurted in disbelief. I could hear the real question on his mind: What are you talking about?

I couldn’t blame him for being baffled.

“I told you,” I said. “I’m a coward. I only fight battles I can win.”

“What do you…?”

“You still don’t get it? I knew I could beat you. That’s why I agreed to the fight. I knew you would use Arroganz and that I would have to battle unarmed. But I still knew I could win. That’s the only reason I’m here.”

“What?! Hah! It was just a trip. Don’t get carried away!” Pierre pulled himself back to his feet and lunged into another attack.

But as Arroganz reached for me, I grabbed one of its fingers and tossed it into the air. It was like something straight out of a comic book—the whole Armor rolled across the arena, rattling Pierre around in the cockpit.

“B-baaastard!” he screamed.

I stared down at the fallen robot and rolled my shoulders. “You really are a worm. The fact that you can’t even win in that Armor is proof that you have negative talent. Oh, silly me. That’s not it. It’s that you’re a fundamental failure as a human being.”

“That was just a fluke! Don’t think it’ll happen again!”

As Pierre got up once more, I closed in on him and used my momentum to slam my fist against Arroganz’s shell. It staggered.

“Third time’s the charm. You can’t keep calling it a fluke, Pierre. Best just admit that you can’t beat me.”

 

***

 

The spectators could scarcely believe their eyes. What exactly was going on down there? This tiny human kept throwing that massive robot around as though it were nothing. Some people had even started to applaud.

“With his bare hands?” Narcisse asked. “Is that even possible? Is it some manner of martial arts technique? Or is he using some kind of magic?” As shocked as he was, it only fueled his curiosity.

“Just focus on the match,” Louise scolded.

“I know, I know. But Leon’s still at a disadvantage, isn’t he?”

Despite this new development, Narcisse was still anxious. After all, Pierre remained tucked safely inside an Armor, and Leon was as yet unarmed. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Leon was surely exhausted. Moreover, he was taking advantage of Arroganz’s momentum to hurl it through the air, but there was nothing he could do if it stood still.

“He needs a backup plan,” Louise said.

She was worried too. No matter how much she wanted to declare Leon the victor, right now he was just slinging the robot around. Before she could recognize him as the victor, he needed a finishing move. Otherwise the crowd would question her judgment, and that might invalidate his win. No, Leon needed a clean, decisive victory.

Narcisse glanced at her. “Louise, he’s not your little brother.”

She dropped her gaze. “I know.”

“Then don’t get too invested. He’s not from here. No matter what happens, he will go home eventually.”

“You don’t have to remind me.”

As they talked, the most unexpected thing happened. Clement raced over to Narcisse, wheezing and covered in sweat. His expression was grim. “Narcy!”

“Professor Clement? What’s the matter?”

Narcisse assumed that Pierre had caused another mess, but he never could have prepared himself for the truth.

“House Feivel is under attack. It’s a battlefield over there!”

“What did you say?” Narcisse gaped.

Louise shook her head. “What do you mean they’re under attack? We haven’t heard anything about that.”

Given the current political situation, it was hard to believe that anyone would launch an invasion against one of the Six Great Houses of the republic.

Clement glanced down into the arena as Leon sent Pierre flying again. “My apologies. It’s an unconfirmed report, but from what I heard, the enemy is a single Holfortian ship. Although…I believe it is currently owned by a citizen of the Alzer Republic.”

Leon flipped Arroganz again, and cheers of applause rained down from the stands. Pierre’s lack of popularity spoke for itself.

“One ship? You mean Leon’s? Has it gone out of control?”

Clement clapped a hand to his cheek and wiggled bashfully. “Oh my, I have no idea. I don’t even know if it’s true. But there is definitely a battle breaking out over House Feivel’s lands. The republic has deployed its fleet. We should stop this duel and get everyone to safety.”

Narcisse frowned. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Had the Einhorn really gone so berserk that it was attacking its owners’ territory?

“I can’t watch this anymore,” said Louise. “By the authority of my name, I will put an end to it.”

“All right,” said Narcisse. “Let’s announce the cancellation.”

As they made their decision, Pierre’s frenzied cry echoed across the arena.

“Don’t you dare make fun of me!” he yelled at the crowd. “I’ll turn you all to dust!”

A container on Arroganz’s back opened and fired missiles into the stands.

Louise gasped. “That worm!”

Narcisse and Clement stood awestruck. Pierre wasn’t just attacking Leon anymore, he was after the spectators! The shield around the arena lit up as the missiles struck, but it wasn’t strong enough to withstand the ensuing explosion. It had protected the crowd, but now it shattered, and smoke poured into the stands.

 

***

 

Sometime earlier, just as the duel began, the Einhorn left its dock in the harbor. One of Pierre’s lackeys noticed the scenery slipping past the window and thought it was odd, but he wasn’t too alarmed.

“Is someone piloting the ship without permission? Or did Mr. Pierre give the order?” His head pounded with a hangover. He yawned and shuffled down one of the Einhorn’s corridors. “And where is everyone?”

No one else seemed to be on board.

The man walked until he came upon a robot. The robots managed the ship without the need for a crew. The legless robot hovered in the air, holding a broom. He approached it and slammed his foot into the machine.

“Hey, where are my buddies at?”

Pierre’s goons had all been particularly vicious toward the robots. Normally, the machines never uttered a complaint, but today was different. The robot turned toward him, its red eye shining.

“What’s your problem? Hurry up and show me where they are.”

The robot brought its broom down on his head.

“Y-you little bastard! You dare defy me?!”

As the robot continued to beat him, the man pulled out a dagger. He lunged at the machine—and therefore he sensed the presence behind him too late.

“Huh…?”

An even bigger robot loomed over him. It normally dealt with miscellaneous chores, but now it raised its two thick arms and slammed them down on the man’s head, plunging him into darkness.

 

***

 

Luxion hovered around the Einhorn’s bridge, giving orders to the robots bustling under him.

“We’re entering the next phase. Our destination is House Feivel.”

Pierre’s lackeys were tied up and lying on the floor. They could do nothing to stop the Einhorn as it headed for the center of House Feivel’s territory. Sadly, a security ship blocked its path.

“Please stop right there,” they called politely.

The security ship’s crew had seen the Feivel crest plastered across the Einhorn. More importantly, Luxion recognized the voice blasting over the loudspeaker.

“If Master were here, I’m sure he would call this ‘karmic whiplash,’ wouldn’t he?”

It was the same captain who’d frisked them when they first arrived. Considering how rude he’d been about Arroganz, Luxion was keen to serve up some ice-cold revenge.

“Fire.”

At Luxion’s command, the robots locked and launched a missile. The enemy vessel faltered in the sky, disabled and sinking slowly. As it erupted in flames, everyone on board began to flee. The captain was the first to rush for an escape pod.

“Continue firing.”

The Einhorn launched more missiles, hitting the captain’s escape pod. It plummeted toward the ground, although Luxion had calculated the attack to ensure the captain wouldn’t be killed. That didn’t stop the man from screaming and sobbing as he fell. Luxion considered that revenge enough. After all, killing wasn’t exactly Leon’s “style.”

“It certainly is hard work, tailoring this little performance to Master’s tastes.”

Luxion dismissed the sinking enemy ship and advanced toward House Feivel.

Some of Pierre’s lackeys had escaped capture and started beating on the door.

“Hey, what’s going on in there?!”

“You’ve gone too far! Take this ship back to the harbor!”

“Did Mr. Pierre really order this?! H-hey, what’s wrong with the robots? St-stop it! Don’t come any closer!”

Luxion tuned them out.

Once the Einhorn entered House Feivel’s lands, he began systematically destroying crucial locations, especially military facilities. But the fallen security vessel had apparently called for backup, because now enemy ships were everywhere. However, when they saw House Feivel’s crest on the Einhorn, they neglected to open fire.

“Get rid of them,” Luxion commanded.

The ships went down one after the other. Luxion was careful to make sure they wouldn’t crash into any buildings. After he’d dispensed with them, he fed prepared audio into the Einhorn’s megaphone.

“Bwa ha ha ha! No one’s stronger than us!”

“Hah, take that! We’ll destroy Mr. Pierre’s enemies!”

“Let’s head for the center of the region!”

The voices belonged to Pierre’s minions. At least, in a way. Luxion had recorded the men, analyzed their voices, and edited together some key stock phrases. Outside the door, Pierre’s followers were reeling.

“W-wait. What’s going on here?!”

“Stop! Hey, enough of these games!”

“Open the door!”

They seemed to think this was a prank that had gone too far, but it was too late to undo the damage.

A voice boomed over the loudspeaker of one of the security ships. “You fools! Do you understand what you’re doing? Men, ready your cannons! We need to hold this ship at bay until reinforcements arrive.”

They fired at the Einhorn, but Luxion wasn’t about to humor them.

“Sink them all.”

It only took a few shots to take every one of them down.

Suddenly, ivy grew out of the seal on the Einhorn’s hull. The Sacred Tree was trying to destroy the ship for defying Pierre’s will.

“That plant’s certainly slow to react,” said Luxion. “Does it honestly think such a petty maneuver will stop me?”

Multiple legless Armors deployed from the Einhorn, wielding chainsaws and flamethrowers. They burned and chopped at the roots and the ivy until lines lit up across the ship. After a moment, the Sacred Tree’s seal fractured and faded away.

“If that was all the power you had, I could have gotten rid of you whenever I wanted.”

Luxion slowed the ship, and once he’d destroyed everything of interest in Feivel’s territory, he turned the vessel toward House Feivel’s castle.

“There. No issues on my end. I wonder how Master is faring?”

 

***

 

Smoke filled the arena, obscuring Pierre’s vision as he gazed out of the cockpit, frantically jerking the controls. “Wh-what’s wrong with this thing? I didn’t do anything!”

He hadn’t known anything about the missiles stored on Arroganz’s back, and he certainly hadn’t fired them into the crowd. He didn’t care about harming the rabble, but Narcisse and Louise were nobility. He wouldn’t dare raise a hand against them.

And that wasn’t his only problem.

“Why can’t anyone hear what I’m saying?!” He was unable to broadcast his voice, but he heard someone speak who sounded exactly like him.

“I’ll turn you all to dust!”

As the fumes cleared, a number seals shone down from the stands. It wasn’t just Narcisse and Louise—other students associated with the Six Great Houses had also used them for protection.

“N-no! It wasn’t me! I didn’t attack you!”

Pierre bullied those below him, but he didn’t want to fight his equals—especially not when there were so many of them. He knew he would lose if he tried, so he never did so.

“Bwa ha ha ha! You’re all scared little chickens!”

He listened to the sound of his own voice, taunting the crowd.

“Stop!” Pierre hollered. “Quit it right now!”

He pulled at the controls, but they were locked in place.

Then a robotic voice echoed through the cockpit. “We’re entering the next phase of our strategy.”

“Wh-what? What strategy?! Hey, One-Eye! Can you hear me? Obey my orders! Hey! You better answer me!”

This time, it was Luxion’s voice that filled the cockpit. “Yes, what is it?”

“You bastard, what have you been doing this whole time? This piece of crap is moving on its own! Make it stop! You better have a good excuse for Narcisse and Louise. This isn’t my fault!”

“And?”

“Wh-what?!”

Luxion’s reaction was completely unlike his prior deference. He was ice-cold.

“Y-you stupid piece of junk!” Pierre shrieked. “I’ll turn you to scrap. Same goes for this Armor! It couldn’t even kill Leon, and he’s a total waste of space. You’ve humiliated me!”

“You seem to have gotten the wrong impression.”

“Explain yourself!”

“My master—my only master—is Leon Fou Bartfort.”

“What are you…?”

“You were never worthy of me. The only ‘waste of space’ here is you.”

Pierre ground his teeth. His face contorted into an ugly, hateful expression. “I’ll never forget this. Someday, I’ll kill you, I swear!”

“Absurd. If you cannot kill my master, then you certainly cannot kill me. At least you provided me with data. For that, I shall retract my earlier statement about your uselessness. I apologize.”

“You stupid scrap metal!”

“You shouldn’t have made light of my master.”

Pierre let out a shrill cry from the cockpit, cursing both Leon and Luxion for their deception.

Outside, Leon stood in front of the giant robot and grinned.

 

***

 

As the smoke began to dissipate, I stood steadfast before Arroganz.

“Arroganz! I’m taking you back now.”

Everyone in the stands was scrambling to escape.

“Leon, run!” Noelle hollered through the crowd. “Pierre has lost his mind!”

I didn’t believe that for a second. For all his bravado, Pierre was a wimp, full of ambitions he could never hope to achieve. He didn’t have a backbone—all he had was an unconscious inferiority complex about anyone on equal footing with him. That was why he went after weaker targets—he needed to feel superior. At the end of the day, he was more cowardly than I was.

Phew. Now that we’ve come this far, I can finally relax.

Arroganz whipped its ominous-looking scythe through the air.

“I’ll cut you down, obtain that sapling, and become the king of this country!” The disgusting, maniacal laughter that followed sounded just like Pierre.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that with my Armor, Pierre. This ends now!” I grinned, looking every bit the dapper hero.

In reality, all of this was a ruse. Armors were basically flying tanks. No way could an ordinary person match one. This duel? It was an act. I was no martial artist, and I could never fling Arroganz through the air with my own two hands. Ordinarily, I would never even attempt to charge into battle so recklessly.

But I knew I’d win!

If Pierre had brought a normal Armor, I would have been in a lot of trouble. I was truly grateful to him for striding in with Arroganz.

“Pierre!” Miss Louise shouted. “Enough of this nonsense! By my authority as a witness, I am suspending this duel!”

“Go ahead and try it!” Pierre’s voice shouted back. “If you do, I’ll kill this bastard and steal the sapling for myself. No one can stop me!”

Louise gaped. “Do you not recognize the oath you made to the Sacred Tree?!” She shook her head, flabbergasted, and turned to me. “Leon, hurry up and get out of there!”

“Too late now!” Pierre cut in. “It’s time to die, you waste of space!”

I took a fighting stance with my palm held outward, ready to strike. “Bring it, Pierre!”

Everyone left in the crowd was shouting at me to flee.

Ah, what heartwarming support. Back home, everyone had showered me with curses. By comparison, the Alzerians were the epitome of compassion.

Arroganz brought the giant scythe swinging down, and the blade sunk into the ground.

“This is…the end!”

I evaded the strike and slipped in close, thrusting my palm toward Arroganz’s chest.

Normally, punching an Armor would cause barely any damage, but when I struck Arroganz’s cockpit, the globe on its chest lit up. It dropped the enormous scythe as it was thrown back by the blast and slammed into the outer wall of the arena.

Silence fell over the stands.

I waltzed over to my fallen Armor, and the hatch to the cockpit cracked open.

Pierre glared out at me. “You bastard, you tricked me—ugh!”

I threw a punch straight into his mouth. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this duel is still on!”

Tears sprang to his eyes as he pressed a hand over his mouth. I grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the cockpit, throwing him down onto the arena floor.

“And now we’re on an equal footing!” I grinned. The best is yet to come!

Pierre hauled himself to his feet and launched a torrent of curses. “You conniving loser! You led me into a trap. You third-rate garbage knight! How dare you! I am a great lord. I hail from one of the Six Great Houses! The Sacred Tree chose me! You won’t get away with this. I’ll show you what happens when you mess with someone as great as—augh!”

His little rant was dragging on, so I swung my fist at him. The glove that Luxion had prepared for me was perfect. My hand didn’t even hurt as I pummeled Pierre.

I’ll have to thank him later.

Pierre pressed his hand over his mouth as blood poured out. His entire body trembled. One of his teeth fell into the dirt.

“My tooth! My toooooth!”

I cracked my knuckles and grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. Remember how badly you hurt Brad? His teeth grew right back. Magic sure is incredible, isn’t it? So really, your injuries are nothing.”

He glowered at me and thrust out his right hand. His crest began to glow.

“Oh? Are you trying to use the Sacred Tree’s protection? Guess you forgot the rules of this duel.”

“Ugh!” Even Pierre hesitated to break his oath to that tree.

“I’m going to take revenge for everything you did to us,” I said. “You better not give up too easily. I have a whole list of reasons to pummel you.”

“Y-you dare to punch me?! This will come back to bite you, I swear! I’ll wipe out your home. I’ll kill your whole family! You’ll see what happens when you make an enemy of House Feivel!”

“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots.”

When the crowd saw how quickly Pierre fell back on threats once he was cornered, they turned on him.

“What a sleazebag. He’s seriously going to bring his family into this just because he’s going to lose?”

“How did he even end up in this state? He had an Armor!”

“Can’t believe he’s about to lose after all that…”

Pierre whipped around to sling insults back at them. “Silence, you worms! You worthless insects should be grateful. The only reason you’re allowed to live here is because of us—the Six Great Houses! You’re nothing but a bunch of parasites. How dare you degrade me!”

The crowd grew colder. I clapped a hand on Pierre’s shoulder and yanked him around to face me. I smacked him with my right hook, and cheers rang out through the stands.

Wow. They seriously hate his guts.

“Not a good idea, getting distracted in the middle of a duel. I consider myself a kind person, but I never show mercy to my enemies.”

“What are you—argh!”

I grabbed his hair and bashed him with my fist. Most of my punches were aimed at his face. Once I made sure he couldn’t talk, then the real show could begin.

“What’s wrong? Why don’t you try to fight back, huh?!”

Pierre’s arrogant facade began to crumble. He started blubbering, “St-stop!” and “E-enough of this!” and “F-fine, I won’t use my family’s power against you!”

He really had no experience getting thrashed. After all, he’d only ever picked on those below him.

By the time I let go of his hair, his face was an absolute mess.

“Ah hill amish dehea—”

It seemed like he was trying to say something. Most likely, “I will admit defeat,” or something to that effect, but I chose to mishear him.

“Oh, you want to keep going? I would expect no less from one of the Six Great Houses! I respect your guts. Hiyah!”

“Ish huuursh!”

I had learned some martial arts at the academy, but honestly? Pierre was more of a weakling than anyone I’d ever faced. This felt like a joke. I took a couple of jabs at his chest, and he hissed in agony.

“Sht-shtop…”

“Incredible, Pierre! Even after all of this, you’re still standing!”

That clearly made him think I’d quit if he fell over, because when I punched him again, he toppled. He stretched out his hand toward Professor Narcisse, hoping that the observers would come to his aid. Before he could plead for help, I plopped down on top of him and started raining down punches.

“What, you thought it was over? Too bad. I won’t let you get away that easily!”

I pummeled him so badly that he couldn’t even admit defeat. His front teeth were knocked out, and he was sobbing, trying to shield his face with his arms. I aimed for whatever openings I could get and continued to whale on him. The duel was completely one-sided at this point, but the crowd kept cheering.

“They absolutely loathe you,” I remarked. “I mean, I’m practically bullying you here. I never expected them to cheer like this.”

Pierre sobbed, “Pease haff mershy. Ah hill amish deheat, ah shear!”

Sounds like he’s saying, “Please have mercy. I will admit defeat, I swear.”

I slammed my fist into his face again. My heart should have ached for a fellow human being, but this guy was a total sleazeball. I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse.

“What did you do to the people who begged you for mercy? Do you think you’re some kind of special case? You’re in for a rude awakening. But hey, at least this was a good life lesson, right?” I walloped him in the nose. Blood came spraying out, but I still didn’t stop. “You know what, you make for an excellent punching bag! Even now, I don’t feel even a pinch of regret. In fact, I feel like I’m exacting justice!”

If I had to compliment him for anything, it would be how easy it was to punch him without guilt. In the stands, the crowd was still cheering me on. I felt like some kind of hero.

But I’m definitely not!

“How does it feel getting a taste of your own medicine, huh?”

“Ah shear ah hill bake hu hey hor dis,” Pierre muttered.

“I swear I will make you pay for this,” hm? Guess I haven’t crushed his spirit yet. Kinda impressive. He really is the perfect villain.

“That’s it, Pierre! Keep fighting back!”