Chapter 83: Chapter 83

"Cain. You will become the hero who protects this Empire."

On the day his father-who had always roamed the territory with a mischievous grin-spoke those words, Claude Lorenz became Duke.

Because he was a son-in-law rather than the legitimate heir, Lorenz blood did not actually flow in his veins, yet Claude ascended to the head of House Lorenz without any resistance.

Not a single person remained who could oppose his rise to the seat of the head.

"Father... Where did Mother go?"

On the day he became Duke, and simultaneously the day of his mother's funeral, the child tugging at Claude's collar asked that question, and Claude smiled.

"Do not worry, Cain. She is resting peacefully in the flower garden she loved so much."

Years later, he would say that his mother had died in place of Father Claude.

It had been Count Belkuth's scheme, seizing the chaos of the colonial suppression war to bring about House Lorenz's downfall.

"Do not worry, Cain."

After the day his mother died, Duke Claude-who had devoted everything to destroying Belkuth-spoke those words like a habit.

"Revenge is my task; you will become the hero who brings glory to our house."

Unable to forget that single word, he became a knight.

He built his reputation on countless battlefronts, met the Emperor, and extended his hand to everyone he encountered.

He granted them the name of Lorenz, so they could live under his name.

And so, twenty years later, at the investiture ceremony for the new duke, Claude himself fastened the ducal seal to his shoulder.

His expression was one of almost careless lightness, freed from duty.

"In the end, I could not complete my revenge. That will probably remain the regret of my life."

"But the seed Camilla left behind-at least I could nurture it."

The sight of his father speaking his mother's name.

It was the first time in his life he saw his father's frailty.

I still remember how unbearably hard it was to accept the sight of Claude Lorenz, steeped in longing and regret.

"Well then. This is your age now."

Having said that, Claude patted Cain's shoulder.

Long ago, before the Empire absorbed it, Cain-wearing the laurel crown that symbolized the king who ruled the Duchy of Loren-stepped onto the castle balcony where the people of the territory watched.

Beneath a cloudless, clear sky, there were people looking up at him.

A great crowd had gathered to celebrate the birth of the new Duke.

"I lived only for Camilla's revenge. To them, I must have been a poor lord."

Waving to the welcoming residents of the territory, Cain opened his mouth at the voice coming from behind him.

"I cannot become the same lord as Father."

"Of course not. The thought of a lord like me gives even me goosebumps."

Duke Claude-who had just spoken in jest-nodded with satisfaction as he watched his son, who would not take his eyes off the people.

"Look. You are already a better lord than I ever was."

After saying that, Claude turned to leave, but Cain's voice halted his steps.

"I am not ready. Neither to become Duke, nor to become a hero..."

"No human in this world is ever ready."

Hearing those words, Cain fastened the ducal seal to his chest and draped the mantle bearing the crest of Lorenz over his shoulders.

"Opportunity, revenge, and even crises-they always arrive at unforeseen moments."

"And it is in those unforeseen moments, when the unexpected comes, that the things you have planted bear fruit."

To Cain's questioning, Claude answered with silence and left House Lorenz.

To a place no one but his son could ever reach.

- Don't let them bring up assault guns! Close the distance!

- Humans! Open the range! Get within the assault guns' reach!

As the House Lorenz contingent burst into the fortress, the interior turned into pandemonium.

Although the command structure was already non-functional, the fortress itself remained fully operational, and from every direction shells hailed down upon the Lorenz knights.

Colossus Four and the Equites colossus collided, and the metallic clangor spread everywhere.

Thanks to the tactic of sticking close to the close-combat Frames up front and disrupting the barrage, they could hold out for the moment, but the breach of the wall was taking far longer than expected.

Both the number of knights who had broken into the fortress and their fatigue levels were markedly low.

Even Cain himself, unable to hide his exhaustion, was locked in battle against the Alfraian colossi.

Though weary, he was still the Empire's strongest knight.

Dodging the sword strike of Colossus Six, Cain's blade pierced the cockpit cleanly.

A movement utterly devoid of waste.

And simultaneously, he moved straight to the next prey, blocking its line of fire.

- Humans, in a situation ...!

- Switch to close-combat loadouts! I'm with you!

'Good. Everything according to plan...!'

Up to forcing the enemy to use close-range weapons and maximizing the odds, it had been a success.

Yet when Cain surveyed the battlefield, his expression was far from bright.

More than ten colossi had been lost during the breach. Moreover, the irregular melee dragged on, and gaps began to appear in the Lorenz formation as knights succumbed to combat fatigue.

- Reform the line! Just a little longer, hold just a little more!

Shouting encouragement to his knights, even Cain's eyes trembled with anxiety.

The enemy numbers were beyond imagination, and friendly losses were worse than expected.

With the wall assault stalled and the knights' stamina exhausted, the situation was nearing the worst possible.

'Am I really leading them in the right direction?'

Had he wagered on an unwinnable gamble, blinded by the thought of elevating the name of Lorenz?

If the operation failed, could he make up for these losses?

How was he to face the decisive battle against Belkuth?

How would he answer for the deaths of those who had acknowledged him as head and followed him?

Even amid the fierce fighting before his eyes, these thoughts never ceased.

No, the graver the situation, the more urgent the battle, the heavier the weight of responsibility-both as Duke and as head-pressed down upon Cain Lorenz.

- My lord! Get out of the way!

At that moment, the sound that shattered his reverie made him lift his head.

For an instant, he could not grasp what it was.

A frame so enormous that it dwarfed even a colossus.

Red optics gleaming ominously.

Three mana cores glowing in its chest.

By the time he realized what it was, the arm was already descending toward Cain.

Cain's Colossus Six was flung away, crashing into a corner of the wall.

The overwhelming strength made his head spin.

- Damn it, shield the lord! Protect him at all costs!

- Alfraian knights, charge! Seize the captain's flag!

The Delta Colossus clad in dark green armor charged toward Cain's slumped body.

A force so overwhelming it seemed impossible to consider it a colossus like any other.

It's no good. I can't dodge it.

Having witnessed the steel giant charging at him like a beast, Cain dropped his head as if in resignation.

But when he felt no pain, Cain looked up in bewilderment and saw the scene unfolding before him.

- Ah, seriously... what are you doing? Ever since a moment ago.

Glaepnir's frame had stepped in front of him, blocking the Delta Colossus's powerful arm.

The shoulder armor that had taken the hit straight was crumpled and sparking.

[Warning: nano-machine activity has risen to dangerous levels due to damage feedback. Life-support mode requested. Continued combat endangers pilot-]

"Just...! Stay still. I feel like I'm about to die too."

With those words, Yaan, enduring the excruciating pain running down his spine, threw all his strength into a punch to the Delta Colossus's face.

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The Delta Colossus, having lost its reason, flailed at empty air.

Confirming that, Yaan's Glaepnir lifted up the silver colossus Cain was aboard.

- What are you doing, man! In that condition to me...!

- Please set aside those useless thoughts.

At the single line that cut Cain off, Cain's expression hardened as he looked at Yaan.

It was the most enraged face he had ever shown.

- What are you saying!

- The knights' lives rest in my hands; I must take responsibility for them. That arrogant notion-cast it aside.

At Yaan's words, Cain's eyes widened.

While Cain stood dazed, Yaan's words continued.

"You didn't choose them. They chose you. Not as Cain Lorenz, but by their own will! Then the responsibility for the outcome is also theirs, not yours!"

'I do not fight for the Empire.'

'The others are probably the same.'

Words Yaan once spoke to him when he had been blindly loyal to the Empire.

Hearing those words, Cain Lorenz shattered the Empire's flag and led everyone across the battlefield.

With a single colossus, on a hopeless front.

"Right. I was weighed down by hollow titles like 'head' or 'duke.'"

The tangled worries faded away.

Leading this battlefield to victory.

Before being head, before being duke, as a knight who cast his body onto the field-what could be more important!

While the Delta Colossus, now composed, glared this way, Glaepnir's eyes went dark as it lost balance and collapsed.

- Leave the rest to me; get some rest.

[Pilot consciousness lost. Switching to life-support mode.]

A brief exchange. But soon, looking at the motionless Glaepnir, Cain turned his eyes to the Delta Colossus before him.

The Delta Colossus charged with a roar. Yet Cain did not yield.

Parrying the swinging arm with his sword, he advanced, channeling mana through the colossus's body to match the monster's output.

Cain's attacks continued relentlessly.

Even as he thought his body's mana was exhausted, his colossus kept siphoning his power as if it were still lacking.

- The lord's colossus...!

- It's driving back that monster!

Now the sound was no longer of clashing blades but of thunderous roars-an overwhelming output like Glaepnir's moments ago.

The mana core of Cain's silver colossus swelled as if it would burst and began to spin furiously.

Once more, the Delta Colossus charged.

Despite the mass three times that of a colossus bearing down, Cain neither evaded nor deflected.

He raised his sword and faced it head on.

- My lord, surely not?

One of the older knights spoke in disbelief.

An old memory-the sight he had seen as a child-came back to him.

A pure blue mana light, now only visible from the colossus's mana core, surged into the empty air.

Then it gathered around Cain's silver colossus-around the sword he held-and rose as if to enfold it.

In that instant, everyone except the Delta Colossus froze.

A sight so legendary it now survived only in tales.

That name symbolizing the glorious, romantic age of knights, the age of swords.

The blue light cleaved into the green giant.

Not shattered or crushed by the sword-an impossibly clean cut. A power that sliced armor impervious even to assault guns like paper.

A voice muttered as if entranced, and behind it, the sundered body of the Delta Colossus fell powerlessly.