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Horizon, who had made an emergency escape, couldn’t contain his anger and unleashed magic in all directions. The rear base, painstakingly built, was destroyed, but to him, consumed by rage, it meant nothing.

The prelude to the conquest war was the mobilization of a massive army, including thousands of colossal mechs. Even though he had started the grand scheme earlier than planned, he never once thought of failure.

With overwhelming numbers and high-performance colossal mechs, Horizon could easily envision himself becoming the Lion King.

However, in the two battles that began in Obitus, he was defeated. Even though he personally joined the combat this time, he couldn’t overcome his opponent and ended up fleeing.

There was no worse defeat than this.

Fortunately, since his troops were still intact, he could rejoin the battle using reserve colossal mechs. Although morale might have been somewhat dampened by his defeat, the sheer numbers still exerted pressure.

Horizon hurried to where the reserve colossal mechs were stationed. Even though he had lost to Gilbert, he hadn’t lost the war.

“I will capture him and make him suffer a painful death,” Horizon thought, barely holding onto his sanity.

Having already vented his anger once, it was possible.

Arriving at the rear base where the reserve colossal mechs were stored, he blinked his eyes and vowed victory.

“Who’s there?!” Horizon shouted, startled by a voice that came from nowhere, despite his heightened senses as a Great Sage.

“Arrogant one. Did you truly believe you would become the Lion King?” the voice taunted.

“Who are you?!” Horizon demanded, frantically looking around while gathering mana. Even with his detection magic, he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the voice.

This meant only one thing: the owner of the voice had reached a higher level than Horizon.

And Horizon could never admit that. His years of effort and experience denied it.

“Show yourself, insolent fool!” Horizon roared.

“The insolent one is you. You can’t even locate me, yet you dare call yourself the Lion King?” the voice mocked.

“Show yourself!” Horizon screamed, finally losing control. His rationality snapped, and he began casting spells wildly, devastating the surroundings.

Fire and ice magic collided, creating massive steam. It felt like being in the midst of a battlefield where colossal mechs clashed.

But none of Horizon’s spells reached the owner of the voice. Instead, his actions were mocked as futile struggles.

Enraged, Horizon let out a roar. Massive amounts of mana began to gather around him. He was preparing a large-scale area spell.

His face turned red from the rapid mana accumulation, but he gritted his teeth, determined to kill the voice’s owner. Though rage dominated his mind, the spell he was weaving was flawless.

As the spell neared completion, a shadowy figure appeared before him.

“It’s you!” Horizon shouted.

“Lowly being, your antics end here. I shall carry out my master’s command,” the shadow said.

“You? Defeat me? You’re a hundred years too early!” Horizon retorted.

The shadow drew its sword, and Horizon unleashed his spell. Their clash resulted in a massive explosion.

***

Gilbert, who had declared Horizon’s defeat, immediately contacted Seraphina. He needed to report that Horizon, the leader of the rebellion, had escaped the battlefield using an emergency teleportation spell.

“If capture is impossible, killing him is acceptable,” Gilbert said.

Seraphina didn’t question the possibility. She naturally assumed Gilbert could capture Horizon and had granted him full authority, not even considering failure. It was a testament to her trust in Gilbert’s abilities.

Having already received confirmation from Fressia that Horizon could be tracked, Gilbert ended the communication, determined to capture him.

“Can you track Horizon’s mana trail?” Gilbert asked.

[I can. Horizon’s high level actually makes it easier to track,] Fressia replied.

Gilbert marveled at Fressia’s competence once again and prepared her and CT-777’s spirit cores.

“Then, let’s go,” Gilbert said.

[I’ll teleport us following Horizon’s mana trail. Get ready,] Fressia said confidently, casting the teleportation spell.

In a blink, Gilbert found himself in the rear base of the New Resistance, inside a colossal mech’s cockpit. He immediately drew his sword, Darbaragi, from his waist.

Darbaragi, a sword forged with Tears of the Moon, had been completed by Gwendolyn, who named it.

Gilbert hesitated, considering whether to use CT-777 with Darbaragi. He had already tested their combined power.

But realizing he currently had Fressia, he paused. Once this mission was over, he would have to return Fressia to Ian.

Though reluctant to return such a powerful spirit to the troublesome Ian, Fressia’s will was firm, leaving Gilbert no choice.

This might be his last chance to use Fressia with Darbaragi, and Gilbert wasn’t about to miss it.

[Gilbert, what are you doing?] Fressia asked as Gilbert took out her spirit core instead of CT-777.

Without answering, Gilbert inserted Fressia’s core into Darbaragi’s crossguard.

[Ugh!] Fressia groaned as Darbaragi emitted a bright light, different from when CT-777 was used.

The light grew so intense that Gilbert had to shield his eyes with mana, squinting to reduce the glare.

As the light dimmed, another anomaly occurred. Natural mana in the surroundings began to be absorbed into Fressia’s core.

Gilbert watched quietly. Though Fressia seemed to be in pain, it didn’t appear harmful.

After some time, the mana absorption slowed, and the light faded.

Gilbert noticed Darbaragi, now in the form of a longsword, began to dissolve.

Was Fressia’s effect weapon transformation? A brief question crossed his mind.

But his assumption was wrong. As the light faded, Darbaragi grew larger, taking on a humanoid shape.

Head, torso, arms, and legs—the form became clear as the light dimmed.

Gilbert, sensing danger, tried to drop Darbaragi, but it was too late. The light vanished, revealing a humanoid Fressia.

“Ugh… what is this…?” Fressia muttered, her eyes opening as she looked at her new hands and legs in amazement.

Then she looked down at her chest, where Gilbert’s large, scarred hands were gripping her.

“You… you pervert! Where are your hands?!” Fressia screamed, collapsing to the ground.

***

“Pervert,” Fressia glared at Gilbert, now wearing his shirt.

This was an unforeseen accident. Who could have imagined that inserting Fressia’s core into Darbaragi would transform her into a human?

And who could have guessed that he’d end up grabbing her chest? Gilbert tried to explain, but all he got was Fressia’s icy glare.

Of course, he understood. He had inserted Fressia’s core into Darbaragi without her consent.

If she had agreed, it could have been dismissed as an accident, but since her opinion wasn’t considered, the blame lay entirely with him.

“Fressia,” Gilbert called.

“Don’t look at me! Don’t talk to me!” Fressia turned her head away, covering her ears, making conversation impossible.

If they had time, Gilbert would have apologized properly, but they were chasing Horizon.

There was no time to waste.

“I apologize. This was unexpected for me too. Above all, I’m sorry for inserting your core into Darbaragi without your consent,” Gilbert said sincerely.

“…” Fressia remained silent.

Perhaps the genuine apology worked. Fressia, who had been adamant about not dealing with Gilbert, finally looked at him.

“Fine… I’ll let it go this time. But what is this sword? I didn’t know it could summon my original body,” Fressia said, examining herself.

“Your original body?” Gilbert asked.

“Yes, my original body. How is it? What do you think of meeting this legendary beauty from ancient times?” Fressia teased.

Gilbert’s eyebrows twitched.

This was new information. Despite completing all achievements in Tactical Combat, he had never heard of Fressia having a physical body.

If there was a hidden story he hadn’t uncovered, it must be another plot device like Horizon.

“Where did Horizon go?” Gilbert asked.

“You’re changing the subject on purpose,” Fressia accused.

“Fressia,” Gilbert pressed.

“Fine, I’ll check now. Wait a moment,” Fressia said, closing her eyes to sense Horizon’s mana trail.

“I found him. Let’s go this way,” Fressia pointed behind the rear base.

“Then, let’s go… huh?!” Fressia suddenly lost her balance as she tried to stand, her legs seemingly weak.

Gilbert caught her. It seemed she was having trouble controlling her new body after so long.

“Th-thank you…” Fressia said softly, embarrassed by her inability to stand.

“It seems your body isn’t fully under control yet. I’ll carry you,” Gilbert offered.

He briefly considered turning Fressia back into Darbaragi but decided against it, opting to carry her instead.

“Thank you,” Fressia said quietly as Gilbert turned his back, indicating she should climb on.

“We can’t waste any more time. We need to track Horizon quickly,” Gilbert said.

“I remember the mana trail clearly. No matter where he runs, we can follow,” Fressia assured.

“That’s reassuring,” Gilbert said.

“Of course,” Fressia replied, twirling her hair awkwardly.

Gilbert smiled faintly and began moving in the direction Fressia indicated.

***BOOM!***

Following Fressia’s guidance, a tremendous explosion and shockwave swept through the area.

Gilbert and Fressia’s expressions hardened. The source of the explosion was in the direction they were heading.

They instinctively knew something had happened to Horizon.

Gilbert enhanced his body with mana and dashed forward, guided by Fressia. The shockwave carried physical force, and the dust made visibility difficult.

But Gilbert, having experienced worse battlefields, navigated through the chaos easily.

Upon reaching the explosion site, Gilbert couldn’t help but frown.

“Is that… Horizon?” Gilbert asked.

In the center of the base, a mangled corpse lay—Horizon, the sage who had lived for centuries, aspiring to be the next Lion King.

 

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