Chapter 19
The advantage of striking first is that you seize the initiative. You choose not only your target and timing, but even how to attack.
By contrast, the one who moves second has nothing they can be sure of, and is ultimately forced to react passively.
The advantage of striking first is clear. But whether it can close even an absolute gap…… well, that’s another matter.
“Let’s see you do your best.”
Thud!
The heavy sound of a staff rang out. A moment later, the forest trembled, and a barrier surged up between them.
A barrier harder than steel blocked Ifrit’s path. Yes, she’d always been stopped by that wall, unable to get past it.
‘The wall of despair I couldn’t cross no matter how much I wanted to, and couldn’t break no matter how hard I tried. But now……!!’
Fwoosh!!
Flames flickered. With Zion’s buff behind her, Ifrit’s flames were giving off more heat than she could ever have imagined.
Even so, the difference between the Ice Emperor and the Blazing Flame was clear. Without the buff, she wouldn’t last five minutes before crumbling.
‘With Zion’s buff, I can definitely win now……!!’
Fueled by the power and confidence welling up inside her, the flames blazed. Their heat was more than even the Ice Emperor’s ice could withstand.
El’s eyes wavered as the ice barrier he’d been certain could never be breached crumbled in an instant.
The flames devoured even the last fragment of ice, then bared their scorching fangs at their next prey.
Before long, a massive wall of flames shot upward. Yet even amid the scorching heat, El’s eyes remained cold.
It was certainly an astonishing improvement, but if Ifrit crumbled over something like this, she couldn’t become a High Ranker, much less one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
The moment the Ice Emperor’s hand touched the flames, the heat that had been so intense went out as if it had never been there.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“Of course not.”
A sneer crossed El’s lips, but Ifrit’s fighting spirit remained unbroken. After a moment of silence, flames and ice clashed once more.
Watching from a little distance away, Rin was once again struck by the sheer power of Zion’s divine authority.
The gap between the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and the High Rankers was greater than that between Rankers and High Rankers. It was another heaven above the heavens.
‘The reason even a trivial restriction that normally wouldn’t count as a handicap is making a difference must be Sister Zion’s buff.’
If Zion hadn’t buffed her, the match would have been over from the start. The flames would never have made it past the barrier.
The Ice Emperor would have achieved his goal without breaking a sweat. That was how absolute the gap had been.
And yet, right now…… the absolute gap she’d thought could never be narrowed had meaningfully shrunk.
Even the Ice Emperor, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, couldn’t help but acknowledge it. El clicked his tongue and said,
“I thought you’d use some kind of trick…… but I never expected this. You seem like a different person.”
“……”
“But perhaps that’s why you can feel it so keenly. The gap that can never be closed.”
“Yeah, damn it, you’re right.”
Not only had her unreasonable request been indulged, she’d even received an incredible buff…… She’d been shown a kindness she could never repay, even in a lifetime.
But she couldn’t give in. If anything, the gap between herself and that being was clearer than ever.
Even after all this, the cold barrier still showed no sign of being overcome. Just like before, she felt her spirit beginning to break.
But this time was different. She’d received too much to give up on a whim. So she’d see it through to the end.
“The gap is still enormous. But…… ”
“……?”
“It’s not that I can’t win…… If anything, I feel like I have a much better chance than I did back then!”
The fighting spirit to never settle for the present, and to keep striving for greater heights—that was what made them Rankers.
Until now, Ifrit had unconsciously held back her flames, to keep herself from being consumed by them.
But now she didn’t have to. Zion’s buff had given her the defense to withstand her own flames!
Ifrit’s fighting spirit answered with flames. She pushed the fire she’d been holding back to its limit. The result was……
“……Blue flames?”
Azure Flame. The red fire that had flickered unsteadily transformed into a far purer, steadier blaze, beyond comparison.
With the flames wrapped around her whole body like armor, Ifrit squeezed out every last bit of strength and charged at El.
An ice barrier wouldn’t stop her. No sooner had El reached that conclusion than ice armor began to sprout on his left arm.
“Ice directly connected to my body is far colder and stronger than any other kind. You know that, don’t you?”
“……”
“That was a needless question.”
There was no hesitation in her eyes. The moment he saw that, El clenched his fist and swung.
A tremendous boom shook the golden sea of trees.
◇
Sizzle.
The steam rising from the melting ice began to thin. Only then could Zion and Rin finally see.
The Ice Emperor stood without a hair out of place amid the rising heat. By contrast, Ifrit lay cold and still……
“…Could Ifrit have lost?!”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Please look closely at the Ice Emperor’s left hand.”
Rin followed Zion’s gaze to the Ice Emperor’s left hand. There, she saw a slight injury.
Zion and Rin ran toward the fallen Ifrit. Even so, El made no move to stop them.
He merely gazed at the slight burn on his left palm. Looking at him, Zion said,
“Surely one of the great Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors wouldn’t go back on your word now, would you?”
“……Your words have a sting to them.”
“You did that to one of my few friends. Even someone as kind as me can’t help getting angry.”
Smile.
Her lips curved in a bright smile, but her eyes remained cold. At the sight of her, El gave a bitter smile.
“I’m glad she made a good friend. Unlike her pathetic father.”
“Rin, please take care of Ifrit and Fafnir.”
“Yes, Sister Zion. Leave them to me!!”
[Kyaaaah!]
Fafnir didn’t want to be separated from its mother and even resisted with tears in its eyes, but it was no match for Rin’s strength.
Rin carried Ifrit over one shoulder and gripped Fafnir by the scruff of its neck with her other hand as she headed outside.
Only Zion and El remained in the golden sea of trees. At last, El opened his tightly shut mouth.
“They say an adventurer who dies peacefully in bed isn’t a real adventurer. That’s the saying I hate most.”
“……So you were going to drag Ifrit away by force? To keep her safe?”
“You must already know. The guilds are waging a fierce behind-the-scenes struggle over the Starting Floor.”
‘W-was that happening? I had no idea.’
Zion knew nothing about the Tower’s ecology or political situation, but she didn’t let it show.
Fortunately, El didn’t notice. He was simply looking at his burned hand with a bitter expression……
“I lost my beloved wife because a close friend betrayed me. I only wanted to protect my daughter so I wouldn’t lose her too.”
“……”
“……I can’t believe that little girl has grown so much already.”
“How could I possibly understand a parent’s desire to protect their child? Still……”
“Still?”
“Someone once told me that children don’t belong to their parents. They’re companions who walk alongside them.”
At first, he wanted to deny it. No, it would be more accurate to say he’d bristled. Ownership…… Who would do such a thing?
But he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Convinced he was in the right, he’d forcibly suppressed his daughter’s freedom.
And he’d even tried to take her away by force. Even if it had come from good intentions, could he deny that those words were true?
“Of course, it’s also a parent’s duty to make a child understand when they’re wrong…… but haven’t you already proven that through your own actions?”
“……”
“Please trust her a little more.”
“And yet, most of the strength she showed just now came from the buff you gave her, didn’t it?”
“Th-that’s, well……”
“I’m joking.”
Zion silently looked at El. Reading the protest in her eyes, El found himself chuckling.
Of course, she still had a long way to go…… but even without her companions’ strength, the power she’d shown at the end…… Was it called Azure Flame?
If she could learn to wield it fully, he thought he might feel a little more at ease. There was still a long and difficult road ahead.
Still, it would be all right. The girl had such strong companions by her side, people she could trust and rely on.
“Please take good care of my daughter.”
Zion was startled. She hadn’t expected him to bow his head and ask her so politely.
But in a way, this was only natural. Though his methods had been wrong, he was still a parent, after all.
Parents can do anything for their children.