# Chapter 97
Rite stepped back. For a moment, he felt as if time was stretching. Within his elongated vision, the saw blade cut through the air with a tremendous noise.
Having barely evaded, Rite put his hat back on. He didn’t have the composure to carefully adjust his appearance.
First, he needed to deal with that saw blade. Rite’s arm, which had swollen tautly without notice, grabbed the opponent’s right arm joint. As he pulled hard, the smell of rusty metal wafted over. The sound of the blade spinning vividly reached his ears.
His bright yellow pupils narrowed. He focused on the head where magical energy was reacting, pulling his senses higher. A small groove was visible on the back of the head.
Having completed his observation, Rite changed direction. He pressed the robot’s right arm against his side and flipped it sideways. Household robots were lighter compared to white buffaloes. The mechanical mass fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Amazing strength! The Monster Hunter has knocked down Neon!”
People stirred at the doctor’s commentary. Rite, undisturbed by the cheers, immediately climbed onto Neon’s arm. Ignoring his palm slippery with oil, he grasped the robot’s forearm. As he twisted it in the opposite direction, sparks flew before his eyes. When he gritted his teeth, the black scales on his body stood up in response. The robot’s right forearm was partially detached, but Neon pounced on Rite’s back.
“Neon’s shield strikes the Hunter’s back!”
Rite’s vision flashed. With a burning pain in his back, his body fell forward. Immediately, Neon pulled out the arm it had been lying on and stood up. Staggering, Rite also rose to face Neon.
The robot that had just confessed to self-harm was nowhere to be seen; instead, Neon in battle mode charged at Rite with its shield forward. Rite tried to grab the shield and resist, but he was pushed to the edge of the ring.
“The Hunter is cornered! Neon’s right arm is still intact!”
The tattered right arm was raised above Rite’s head. Though its speed had slowed, the saw blade was still spinning menacingly. Rite released one hand from the shield and grabbed the wrist with the saw. Just as the gap between the shield and Rite was about to narrow, Rite’s eyes silently cast a spell. As the weight pressing on Rite disappeared, he placed one foot on the restrained shield. Taking a deep breath, Rite pushed with the strength of his thigh and tore off the right arm completely.
“Neon has lost one of its arms, which was also its weapon!”
The saw blade stopped rotating. Rite threw away Neon’s right arm, which had served its purpose, and lowered his body. Sweat drops fell down his nose. His whole body felt uncomfortable from his own sweat and the oil from his opponent.
Rite wrapped his arm around one of Neon’s legs and stood up. The embossing of the shield pressed against his shoulder blade. Groaning in pain, Rite threw Neon outside the ring.
Amidst the loud cheers, faint screams could be heard. Glancing down, he saw that the people who had gathered around were frantically backing away, creating distance.
“Neon has fallen outside the ring!”
Rite also immediately jumped out of the ring. Neon’s eyes flickered unstably. Rite’s hand burrowed into the back of Neon’s head. He inserted his fingers into the groove, tore it off, and reached deep inside. A round magic tool came into his hand.
“Next time, may you be born as a human.”
Rite muttered quietly as he tore out the magic tool. Neon’s eyes lost their light. Rising to his feet, Rite stomped on the robot’s round head. Thud, thud, thud. After stomping several times, someone grabbed Rite’s arm.
“Rite, stop!”
Like a switch had been flipped, Rite halted his movements. Taking rough breaths, he turned around to see green eyes that still felt unfamiliar. At the same time, all the surrounding noise that he hadn’t been hearing rushed in at once.
The cheers were deafening.
“Match over! The Hunter wins!”
Arden’s face was a mess. He looked like he might cry, or perhaps like he was angry. Rite, suppressing his excitement that had yet to subside, placed the magic tool in Arden’s hand.
“There’s nothing you can do even if you look at me like that, Arden.”
“…You.”
“It’s because Arden is too hot.”
Arden frowned as if he had heard an incomprehensible language.
It was as Arden had described. Just thinking about it made him feel hot and his eyes sting. It was a brilliance and heat strong enough to melt all the white snow accumulated over a long time. That’s how Rite understood summer with his whole body.
His palm, damp with sweat, carefully wrapped around Arden’s wrist. With a light tug, Arden followed along. Rite’s face buried into Arden’s shoulder.
Through their touching skin, they could feel each other’s heartbeats. Rite smiled at the sound of Arden’s heart beating faster than usual.
* * *
Tap, tap, tap.
The man was surrounded by so many knights it might appear compulsive. Looking at all past emperors and kings, there was no record of anyone who had been accompanied by such a large group of knights for every schedule. This Emperor was obsessed with military power, but ironically, there had never been such a shortage of manpower.
Tap, tap, tap.
The knights didn’t make a sound. The only sound here was the Emperor’s finger tapping on the throne. Only the Knight Commander, in the closest position to the Emperor with ornate gold epaulets on his shoulders, didn’t bother to hide his bored expression.
Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps was added to the space. The large door opened, and a knight in a black uniform appeared. His disheveled hair showed how urgently he had come.
The knight stopped in front of the door and gave a military salute to the Emperor. Before the knight could enter, the impatient Emperor spoke.
“The result?”
“I report. We obtained rumors about Arden and that magician in Menden. They didn’t seem to know he was a magician, but the purple eyes and other descriptions match. The magician didn’t do anything special, but Arden modified an automatic carriage to make an unusual machine. The machine has been confiscated, and some, including Deputy Commander Daniel, have moved to Winterishe for confirmation. Team 3 remained in Rosmunt for search operations, apprentice knights were also deployed for the search, and the rest all returned to Moran…”
A vase thrown by the Emperor shattered with a loud noise. Blood flowed from the knight’s cheek where a glass shard had grazed him, but the knight didn’t move. “Returned.” He simply finished his report in a flat tone.
“There’s no need to look further. Two traitors have joined forces.”
The Emperor’s voice sounded too strange to be human. It was eerie and chilling, like noise from a broken machine.
A hero who saved the village from terrorists. That’s what the people of Idelven called the traitor. How far had that rumor spread? The Emperor’s blue eyes examined the map.
“First Menden, then Edelven, then Rosmunt.”
The Emperor’s index finger traced across the map. His finger, which had stopped at Rosmunt, now pointed to Moran.
“The next is obvious.”
A gray-haired engineer and a purple-eyed magician. The Emperor both hoped this day would never come and eagerly awaited it.
Not ready yet. No time. Time. The Emperor muttered quickly and softly. It was grotesque, like feeling insects crawling all over just from hearing it. The Emperor’s compulsive mutterings broke off unnaturally. His thin lips stretched into a long tear.
“Finally, they’ve come.”
Finally, finally! His laughter, soaked in madness, was precariously close to tearing.
* * *
Eden’s expression, when he arrived after dinner time, contained many things. Anyone could tell it wasn’t good news.
“I’ll proceed with the restoration right away. But more importantly.”
“…”
“Did you go outside today?”
Eden asked, holding the magic tool in his hand. Arden immediately shook his head.
“Your prediction was right. Warrants have been issued. For both Arden and Rite.”
Eden put the magic tool in his bag and pulled out a rolled-up paper. The two overlapping papers showed a photograph of Arden taken the day he entered the palace and a portrait of Rite.
As Arden had expected, unlike his wanted poster with a photograph, the portrait barely resembled Rite. Rite’s wanted poster only highlighted his purple eyes as a characteristic.
Seemingly uninterested in his own wanted flyer, Rite took Arden’s from Eden’s hand and examined it closely.
“Can we tell when it was issued?”
“Just now. I heard it as I was leaving the palace. The fact that Arden is also wanted means…”
“It seems Rey finally spoke up.”
Arden sank deep into the sofa. He pressed his fingers against his brow, trying to shake off fatigue, but it didn’t ease at all.
“It wasn’t Rey. He said that while others were making a fuss, Rey, acting like a leader, didn’t say a word.”
At Eden’s answer, Arden stopped his hand. It didn’t matter who had talked about Arden, but due to intense memories of the past, it weighed on his mind.
He hadn’t put forward clumsy justice, but he wasn’t originally someone who harmed others.
“What are you planning to do now, Arden?”
Arden couldn’t answer. The warrant had been issued before they reached Moran. Knowing that two traitors were heading to Moran, the tension within the knights was predictable.
“If you’re going to Moran, how about coming with me now?”
