Chapter 10:
Successor—
Originator of the Way of the Flash
"I'M INVINCIBLE!"
Inside the Avid's cockpit, I couldn't stop laughing as I worked the
control sticks.
This is it—this is what I wanted! I have enough power to bend my
enemy to my will. I can destroy my foes with the weapon that I spent so much
damn money on.
I was up against pirates, a terrifying foe that reminded me of the debt
collectors I had feared in my past life, and I was vanquishing them with my
own strength. It was intoxicating. I had finally crossed over from the side of
the victim to that of the victimizer. This thought filled my heart.
"C'mon, c'mon! Keep 'em comin'!"
The Avid moved exactly as I commanded in the weightless
environment of space. Its black, heavily armored frame boasted two large
shields on its shoulders.
Not only were they physical barriers, but they also contained
technology that repelled laser beams and magic. Because of them, I could
fight without too much concern for defense. Then there were the Avid's other
specs. As restored by the Seventh Weapons Factory, the Avid had more
power than any common mobile knight. Incredibly sturdy and responding
perfectly to my piloting, it was the best craft I could have asked for.
"Good, Avid! You're the best there is! Now, crush our enemy!"
I bisected an enemy with my laser blade.
"You're so strong! You're a powerhouse, Avid!"
I was thrilled at how powerful the Avid had proven to be, and I was
eternally thankful for Master Yasushi's wise teachings. One training session
in particular came to mind. I was supposed to be learning swordsmanship, yet
Master had urged me into a weightless chamber where I dodged projectiles
141
while blindfolded. At the time, I'd thought, What use is this gonna be? Now I
felt embarrassed for wondering. Master's teachings were coming in plenty
useful—not just for sword fighting, but for piloting as well. He must have
known that I would be fighting battles like this, so he'd honed my skills for
piloting from a young age. There had been meaning in each and every one of
his lessons!
"I really had a great master, didn't I?"
I ran out of ammo for the bazooka in my right hand, so I chucked it
away. A pirate's mobile knight charged me, but I grabbed it with the Avid's
manipulator and crushed its head.
My craft was on a completely different level than the mobile knights
the pirates were using. They were practically toys compared to my Avid. It
was like a tiny kei car racing a sports car.
I manifested the magic circle near the craft's empty right hand and
drew a new bazooka from it. The Avid stood out from all my other mobile
knights floating about it, so the pirates crowded around me. Well, I've got no
shortage of enemies.
"Aw, you came all this way just to let me kill you? Thanks!"
I couldn't help smirking. When I pulled the trigger on a control stick,
several large magic circles formed around the Avid. Multiple weapons I'd
stored with spatial magic appeared from the circles, box-like shapes that
poked out and locked on to the enemy. These boxes were missile pods,
loaded with thousands of missiles. The pirates who noticed this hurriedly
turned their backs and tried to flee, but they were too slow.
"You're just a little too late."
Missile after missile fired from the pods and chased after my fleeing
enemies. When they reached their targets, they exploded, obliterating all the
mobile knights they struck.
"Fear me! Tremble in terror! Let your pitiful deaths spread the name of
Liam Sera Banfield through the galaxy!"
A number of the pirates' mobile knights managed to escape the sea of
explosions. Their maneuvers were different from the others, so I figured they
were piloted by knights.
142
"Pirate knights, eh?"
This was what people called knights who'd stooped to a life of piracy.
Many of them became mercenaries or took leadership roles among pirate
armadas. Knights played an especially important role in pirates' offensive
strategies.
The knights spread out behind, above, and below me—challenging me
to a three-dimensional battle only possible in space. They attacked the Avid,
but their beams couldn't penetrate the shields mounted on my craft's
shoulders. An energy field made up of sparkling particles of light enveloped
the Avid in a sphere and blocked every single one of their attacks. Even when
they tried physical ammunition, their rounds couldn't pierce the Avid's
armor.
"Whoa! This thing can't be beat!"
The pirate knights switched to close-range weapons, like blades, and
moved in. I had to dodge these attacks since even the Avid wouldn't be
unscathed if a knight's blade reached it. It kinda felt as if they were trying to
scratch up a new car of mine, so I tried to avoid being grazed by their blades.
Nobody likes getting nicks on something they just bought, do they?
I tossed my bazooka and took out a rifle, but the knights moved in a
completely different way than the enemies I'd been fighting until now, easily
dodging my shots.
"These guys are definitely not normal pirates, but still...not good
enough!"
One enemy got in too close, and when I passed by him with the Avid,
his craft was cut in two.
"You respond to me perfectly, Avid!"
Even though the Avid was difficult to handle, it could keep up with my
reaction speed and proved the perfect partner. As the pirates' mobile knights
came at me, I cut them down one by one. I slashed up, brought my blade
down, swept it diagonally, hoisted horizontally. Each time I swung my blade,
an enemy was sliced through, then exploded.
One of the knights rushed the Avid and challenged me to a contest of
strength, catching my blade with his own. When we made contact, I picked
143
up his voice on the com.
"What did you just do? What school are you using?"
Since studying swordsmanship and multiple other fighting techniques
was a core part of being a knight, they either belonged to a school or had
studied at one in the past.
This was the craft that had moved the best out of all the pirates' mobile
knights. Finding myself curious about him as well, I decided to indulge him.
Well, it's something I can do since I don't feel particularly threatened by him.
I'm the stronger one here, so I have the privilege of showing him just how
relaxed I am.
"It's the Way of the Flash. You haven't heard of it? I was taught by
Yasushi."
"Of course I haven't! You're pretty cocky for a guy who uses some
super obscure style! I've never even heard of your teacher either!"
That pissed me off, so I tossed the rifle in my right hand and crushed
the pirate knight's head instead.
"'Super obscure'? Fine! I'll just crush all of you and make the Way of
the Flash famous myself!"
Having lost interest, I let go of the pirate knight and thrust my blade
through its cockpit. I then sought a new victim, sending the Avid toward a
nearby pirate ship. As my boosters spewed flames, rays of light shot after the
speeding Avid. Racing through the hail of beam attacks, I charged at the
pirate ship and stabbed my blade into its hull. The ship exploded.
"Now where can I find my next prey?"
***
On his main screen, Goaz watched the black mobile knight that flew
unscathed through beams and explosions.
"Wh-what is that thing? Who's the knight piloting it?"
He thought for sure it was a named knight, one who was particularly
renowned. When the craft had first appeared, he'd believed it was just a large,
144
old-fashioned unit, and they were thrusting every chess piece they had onto
the board. But the craft had cut through all his pirate knights without even
giving them a chance to defend themselves.
Goaz had broken out into a cold sweat, so afraid had he become of the
black mobile knight.
"What is such an accomplished knight doing out here?"
He was panicking now, thinking that his enemies had an expert fighter
on their side, but his adjutant received a report that shocked him.
"Boss! It's the head of House Banfield who's piloting that mobile
knight! That's Liam Sera Banfield himself!"
"What?!" Goaz began trembling with rage. "Those mercenaries I paid
good money for lost to one little brat? The mobile knights I supplied them
with weren't cheap either!"
Goaz had paid a substantial amount to hire those pirate knights, and
he'd outfitted them with mobile knights from another nation's army, bought
through the black market. He'd changed how the machines looked, but they
should have performed much better than the crafts used by his other pirates.
He couldn't believe they hadn't even put up a fight against Liam.
"Well, if their boss is out there, good. Surround him and give him all
we've got! This idiot really is a kid, jumping into the fray just to make a
name for himself."
With his lackeys watching, Goaz had to maintain a brave face. Being a
pirate himself, he knew pirates were the least trustworthy bunch out there,
betraying one another at the drop of a hat. The more of them you gathered,
the more traitorous types you'd have. If his men thought they couldn't win
this battle, it was quite possible they'd betray him.
As he sat in his chair projecting confidence, Goaz watched his fighters
obey his order and crowd around Liam's craft.
Then his jaw dropped. "Wha—?!"
All the mobile knights crowding around Liam had been struck down in
a single instant. As soon as they'd gotten somewhat close, they'd exploded.
Pirate ships had been cut in half too. It was like a bad dream.
Th-this can't be happening! I know knights are strong, but this is
145
beyond that. What is he? What is this guy? He couldn't believe what he was
seeing.
Just like that, Liam started heading straight for Goaz's flagship. He
plunged through a crowd of pirate ships, and as his clamoring enemies tried
to shoot him down, they ended up firing on one another.
"Those idiots! Tell them to stop! Take him out with mobile knights!"
The pirates were panicking over a single opponent—but Liam was not
their only enemy.
"Boss!" Goaz's adjutant shouted. "The enemy's charging us!"
The enemy fleet was pressing forward, following Liam in a cone-
shaped formation. They pierced through the unorganized pirate forces and
made their way toward Goaz. The highly trained troops guided the ships in
perfect formation, and the ragtag bunch of pirates didn't stand a chance
against them. All their expensive equipment didn't amount to much under
failed management.
Goaz slammed his fist down on his armrest. "Those useless idiots!"
There were a lot of former soldiers in Goaz's gang, but most of them
hadn't been through proper military training. These weaker pirates were the
first to fumble.
Having lost his advantage, Goaz attempted to strategize. Things are
going poorly now. If I'm gonna lose, I should just get outta here and lie low
for a while. I was thinkin' this group was gettin' a little too big, anyway.
It was tempting to be the leader of a huge pirate armada, but he was
becoming tired of the responsibility. Deciding to throw it all away, Goaz
called his adjutant over and whispered in his ear.
"We're gonna run. Just tell those we can trust and leave the rest
behind."
The adjutant was surprised, but nodded nonetheless. "Gotcha, Boss."
With that, Goaz's flagship and its guard ships went on the move.
After I get away, I'll send some assassins after the kid. I can start over
as many times as I want. I've still got this, after all. He squeezed the alchemy
box in his hand.
146
"Come on!" his adjutant shouted. "Let's get out of here!"
"We can't!" the pirate piloting the ship responded. "Our allies are in
the way!"
The adjutant punched the man in the face. "Then destroy them! Hurry
up! The enemy's right in front of us!"
Normally, it would be unthinkable for the adjutant to act in this
manner, even if they were at a disadvantage and needed to retreat. He was
just that afraid of Liam, who was rapidly closing the distance between them.
All the pirates were terrified of the unrelenting lord.
"Got you."
The moment after they heard Liam's voice, the pirate ship lurched.
Goaz and his men went pale as they gaped at the monitor, which showed
Liam's Avid standing on their hull. The mobile knight then began taking out
all of the ship's guns.
"How's an old hunk of junk like that so strong?" Goaz hollered as he
fled the bridge of his ship.
***
I reached the enemy flagship, which was attempting to flee, and
alighted on it. Standing on its hull gave the other ships ample opportunity to
attack me, but none of them did.
"Guess even pirates won't attack their captain's ship."
As the pirates hesitated, I walked the Avid boldly over the ship.
"Escape pods would probably come from...there?"
I took some shots with my rifle, sealing up their escape route, and shot
down some fleeing pirates.
"It's too late for you to run away now. I'm gonna teach you exactly
who you tried to mess with. Then your treasure's gonna be mine!"
As I disabled this ship's capabilities, the other ships around it tried
running, but my allies had finally caught up. They confirmed my safety
through communications, though with heavy interference.
147
"Are you safe, my lord?"
"All good here. Leave a thousand of our ships here and follow those
fleeing pirates with the rest. Don't let them get away, you hear me? And
don't accept their surrender either—we're crushing every last one of them!"
"Yes, sir!"
My fleet pursued the escaping pirates. In any world, you take the most
damage in war during retreat.
One of my ships pulled up along the flagship, and its fighters prepared
to board. I wrenched open a hatch to get into the hangar. A mobile knight was
waiting for me inside. It shot me with a rocket launcher, but that wasn't
enough to destroy the Avid. The explosion enveloped my craft, yet the
cockpit didn't so much as shudder.
"Aww, you got the Avid dirty."
Seeing the Avid almost completely unharmed, some pirates within the
hangar, outfitted in space suits, panicked and fired at me with rifles.
"Outta my way."
Lasers had been installed all over the Avid and blew the pirates away. I
cut down the mobile knight, and when there was no one left to oppose me, I
donned a helmet. My pilot outfit itself was a powered suit designed for battle.
I equipped a blade to my belt and hopped out of the Avid with a rifle in hand,
boarding the pirate ship.
"Now, I'd say it's time for a treasure hunt."
Small crafts dispersed from my fleet were flooding into the hangar. My
troops poured out of them and gathered before me, assembling into a row.
These soldiers, taller than me and also clad in battle-ready gear, formed an
intimidating force. I was delighted that they all showed me the utmost
respect. There's nothing more important than social standing. Look at all
these adults saluting a kid like me.
"We've come to escort you back, Lord Liam."
They seem to have the wrong idea about why they're here, though. This
is the fun part, guys!
"Wrong. It's time for the treasure hunt to begin. You're coming with
148
me."
Hearing this, the soldiers raised their voices in protest.
"It's too dangerous, my lord! We've taken control of the nuclear
reactor, but the enemy could still launch a suicide attack—"
"You think an enemy cowardly enough to flee would blow themselves
up? Come on, let's go."
I headed deeper into the ship with my reluctant troops. All the soldiers'
powered suits were more rugged than mine, and they bunched up around me
as a living shield.
Their artificial gravity had been disabled or something, so loose objects
floated in the halls as we moved through them. The soldiers around me
pushed them aside to clear my path as I marched forward. Though there was
no gravity, the soles of my powered suit magnetized to the floor, enabling me
to walk with no issues.
"It's cleaner than I thought it'd be for a pirate ship. I figured it'd be
more squalid in here."
The commanding officer of the boarding party was still freaking out
about every little thing I did.
"Lord Liam, please don't get too far ahead of us!"
As I was surging forward, and getting plenty of complaints, I sensed
danger and ordered everyone to stop.
"Someone's hiding... There!"
Around the corner, I could feel several people lying in wait for us.
There were others hiding in the ceiling as well, so I directed my soldiers to
shoot them. They pointed their rifles at the ceiling and riddled it with holes.
Airborne beads of red blood floated out from the openings, so I assumed
we'd gotten them.
One of my men reported, "They were wearing suits that don't show up
on sensors. I can't imagine how pirates got their hands on such expensive
equipment, though."
Their gear was indeed pricey, and that told me I could expect some
sweet treasure from them.
149
"Rich pirates, eh? Well, that's to our advantage now. Come on, let's
go."
I had my boarding force take care of the pirates around the corner, and
then we all continued on, eventually arriving at a spacious room. Several
pirate knights in powered suits awaited us there.
"How careless of you!"
I rolled my eyes as the pirate knight shouted out his taunt during what
was supposed to be an ambush. Master had never revealed his location before
launching surprise attacks on me. These knights are second rate. There was
no need to even worry when they attacked us.
"Protect Lord Liam!"
My men, however, were in a fluster. They tried to get in front of me,
but I brushed them aside.
"There's no need." I walked forward, ignoring the pirate knights. My
men were confused, so I turned around and asked them, "What are you
doing? Hurry up."
"Huh? But—"
The backward momentum of the attacking pirate knights carried them
to the floor and walls, where their bodies splattered apart into chunks.
"Lord Liam, what did you just do?"
"I cut them."
My soldiers hadn't even been able to detect my slashes. I took some
pride in the improvement of my skills, but it didn't make me very happy to
cut down second-rate pirate knights. Master would probably scold me if I
boasted about something like that.
I'm still so far from his level. Just when will I catch up to Master
Yasushi? I still vividly remembered his slashes, how I couldn't even tell that
he'd drawn his sword from its scabbard. I felt like I was still just a child
playing copycat.
Of course, in current company, my skills seemed remarkable. My men
followed me in awed silence, most likely afraid.
That's right, fear me! Fear your master, and worship him!
150
***
The soldiers who'd boarded watched Liam as he walked in front of
them. He was wearing a powered suit, which made him appear a little larger,
but his immature body was still undeniably slight. Though surrounded by
adults, his presence was of the greatest among them. There was almost
something grand about his small frame.
"He's completely at ease facing so many enemies."
Normally, common soldiers cursed their bad luck if they ran into a
knight, but thanked their fortune if they had a formidable knight on their side.
This was how great the difference was for them now.
One of the soldiers expressed his admiration for Liam. "His school
granted him full mastery even though he wasn't even an adult yet. Is our lord
actually superhuman?"
Liam had long held a reputation for mastery of political management,
but no one had ever spoken of his military might. This was only natural.
Since he hadn't reached adulthood yet, he had never undergone formal
military training. How was anyone to know of his talents in that area? Of
course, now that he'd proven himself in the field, word of his abilities would
spread like wildfire.
"His strength is unbelievable. We're serving someone truly incredible."
The soldiers of House Banfield had never been outside of their domain,
so they had no idea just how remarkable Liam was. The only people they had
to compare him to were his last two predecessors, and compared to them,
Liam was entirely too perfect. Witnessing their lord in battle today, he came
out looking even more amazing than they'd already thought he was.
"He took out those pirate knights like they were nothing. He's got full
mastery in some unique swordsmanship discipline, doesn't he?"
A soldier muttered to his compatriot, "I think it's called the Way of the
Flash? There must be some incredible sword schools out there."
151