Intermission: The Transcendentals

The capital city of Yunmelngen.

An air transporter landed on a base located at the center of Sector Three. In peacetime,

members of the air force would have greeted the vehicle with a salute. But given the

current state of affairs, it was normal for no one to approach the plane. They had

grown accustomed to them.

"…"

The door opened to let out just a single person to the gangway. It was Nameless,

wearing a photochemical suit from head to toe.

After hopping onto the plane hidden along the Sovereign border, the Saint Disciple had

finally returned to the capital, silently trudging down the ramp.

"That was more of a hassle than I thought it would be."

Right next to Nameless came a man's voice from seemingly out of nowhere.

The air slowly shimmered until a distinctly human form became visible. It was as

though the newcomer were crawling out of a gap in the atmosphere—to reveal the

Saint Disciple Nameless.

"And it's odd. I heard that you would be disguising yourself when you invaded the

Sovereignty, but…"

"..."

"Are you trying to provoke me, Risya ?"

The two Namelesses faced each other. Though both were covered from head to toe in

dark-gray photochemical suits, there was an obvious difference in their heights.

The one who had come down from the ramp of the transporter was petite and slender.

"Pweh…!" The shorter one vented the pressure on the helmet and began taking it off.

The Nameless who pulled off the suit from the neck down was a bespectacled woman.

"Wow, it was so hottt in there. I thought I'd die from overheating. I'll never wear a

mystery-made metal fiber suit again."

Large droplets of sweat beaded on her forehead as the Saint Disciple took a deep

breath.

"This didn't work at all. An experimental adaptive camouflage suit with a strong

exoskeleton is something I can use, but I hit my limit fighting in it after a few minutes.

I was so exhausted that I just ran away."

"And your opponent?"

"The Ice Calamity Witch."

In the middle of the night before last, the one who had fought the Ice Calamity Witch

at the prison tower had been Risya in this disguise.

She had done it to help Salinger the Transcendental escape from the prison spire.

There had been one other reason for her fight, but for the purposes of gathering

experimental data on the adaptive weapon, a purebred was the worst kind of foe to

encounter.

"It was impossible. It augmented my physical strength, but a human body just can't

keep up with the pressure and heat in the suit. I thought I'd fall right over while facing

her."

"Your effort was wasted. I told you it would be."

They had been trying to mass-produce pseudo-superhumans.

Instead of training elite soldiers like the Saint Disciple Nameless and Iska, it would be

more efficient for a normal soldier to don a suit that would give them superhuman

strength.

It was a suit that Risya had risked her own body to test.

"We'll need another decade to improve."

"We'll see about that." Nameless snorted flatly when Risya casually lamented. "Risya

In Empire, you would never need that toy in the first place."

"Hmm? What are you trying to say?" The military adviser of the Lord studied the

assassin through her thin lenses.

The fifth seat and the eighth. Both tried to glean information by closely scrutinizing

the other's expression. That was the nature of their exchange. It felt as if an unyielding

hush separated them.

"Well, I like using these cheap tricks from time to time." The first to break the silence

was Risya. "And what about you? You came all the way here for a report."

"You successfully infiltrated the Sovereignty."

"I know what happens next."

"There were two special-mission units, and the infiltration into the central state was

a success. The guards at the royal palace are not ordinary. It will take some time before

we can conduct a raid."

"Oh, so what?" Risya smiled seductively with her entrancing lips. "I wonder if this'll

put the Eight Great Apostles in a good mood for about three days."

"And the report to the Lord. Are you giving it?"

"Hmm, right." She pushed up the bridge of her glasses.

The Saint Disciple Risya played up her childish tone more than usual. "How about we

save it for next time? The Lord is still enjoying a trip outside, after all. It'd be terrible

to put a damper on that."

Within the Nebulis Sovereignty lay the suburbs of the thirteenth state of Alcatroz.

Far from the center of the city, which was cluttered with gray buildings, was a nature

park. Avian chirps echoed in the woods before the sun had a chance to rise in the early

morning.

It was a nostalgic place.

Thirty years had passed since the last visit. This place had been a calm field of green

long before Salinger had attempted to attack the royal palace of Nebulis all those years

ago.

"It's been a while since it's been so quiet."

The bottom-floor room of the Orelgan prison spire had always smelled of stagnant

mildew. There was no way to erase the smell that clung to every sense, even by

dousing everything in the most expensive perfume.

As for this place… it smelled of the dewy meadows. Of the fragrant soil. Of the flowers.

Just breathing in purified one's lungs.

But at present, Salinger was not in a state where he could stay in the woods for very

long.

"I suppose I have about one more day. Until the other me at the prison spire disappears."

The guards would likely notice it, too—that the man they had thrown into the

underground jail was a fake. It was a second self he had created using his astral power.

"Heed me. Nothing can keep me contained!"

Right before he had fallen from the prison spire, Salinger had let his double plummet

to the ground, and he had escaped. He had deceived everyone who was watching.

"But…"

In the early-morning sun that filtered through the branches, Salinger the Transcendental

turned his handsome face to the depths of the forest. A smile that he couldn't hold

back played on his face, and his shoulders quivered.

"This is great. This is really great, isn't it?"

It seemed during the thirty years that he had been imprisoned, the world had become

more interesting.

"That Alice girl. I can't believe she's Mirabella's second daughter… Ha! That girl

Mirabella. You didn't have it in you to be an astral mage, but it seems you have the bare

minimum to know how to be a queen. Looks like the apple did fall far from the tree!"

Aliceliese Lou Nebulis IX.

He had seen all kinds of astral abilities, but he had never seen anything cold enough

to freeze lightning. It was probably a first in Sovereign history.

And speaking of firsts, there was that swordsman.

The Imperial soldier Iska.

Salinger had no idea why that boy had been in the Sovereignty and at the prison spire.

But he didn't care about that.

"I've got to thank you—will of the planet…!" He couldn't hold back his mirth, slowly

building into a roar. "The more entertainment, the better."

He wouldn't rush things.

All he had to do was wait. When the capricious whims of the planet's fate guided him

to the right place at the right time, he would see his amusing entertainers again.

And when that happened, Salinger had three more sanctusesleft to use as trump cards.

If he showed them everything, the battle at the prison spire might have gone in a

different direction.

However, Salinger had been reluctant.

He couldn't show his full hand yet. That was because it would reveal his hand to the

Nebulis family that he would be battling before long.

The one he needed to fear wasn't the current queen—for there were others to contend

with, true monsters who had received the unbroken power of the Founder.

"I had been tired of this world, but I wonder why. This seems like it could be fun."

He flipped his coat as he walked deeper into the woods, marching forward with strong,

sure steps. The edge of the nature park was connected to the twelfth state. If he could

leave the thirteenth state, his pursuers would give up for the time being.

"Hmm. Oh?"

It was eerily quiet.

Salinger smiled slightly when the birdsong stopped at once.

He noticed a certain wind that blew through the forest, causing it to stir. Though it was

a current of air, he surmised in an instant that it held a trace amount of astral power.

This wasn't the work of astral wind.

It was strong astral energy that embodied itself as a wave. It was an extravagant

crystallization of power.

"Who is it?" he asked the presence at his back without turning around.

It wasn't a pursuer from the suppression squads. There was no way someone who

possessed such palpable energy would be in such a lowly position.

"You won't answer? All right. In that case, I'll force—" The transcendental sorcerer

held his breath.

As he faced the wave rippling out from the shadows of the trees in front of him, the

man with white hair was unable to stop shaking… from delight.

There was no one there. No one had said anything.

But the power of the undulations was more than enough for him to realize something

was hiding itself there.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! It's you! I couldn't have expected you'd come to welcome me

here!" He opened both his hands.

Then the transcendental sorcerer leaped up, propelling himself forward with fervent

force.

"Lord Yunmelngen! The cost of showing yourself to me isn't going to come cheap!"