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Tennye had a unique hairstyle, with only the back of his head shaved and long braids falling down.
This hairstyle, rare in the Empire, was called a “bian” and was a symbol of the nomadic tribes of the Eastern Continent’s grasslands.
He was a martial artist who manipulated mana with his body rather than wielding a sword, and one of the few respectable figures among the pirate admirals.
Aquila’s lover, Feijin, suspected his true intentions.
One evening, the two admirals walked side by side down the mansion’s corridor, engaging in conversation.
“Tennye, why don’t you follow Lord Aquila?”
“What are you curious about?”
“Nana and Oungula were originally pirates, and Tarti is a fallen Eastern noble who left her homeland with her clan. But why did you come all the way to this island?”
“Is there a grave without an excuse?”
“Doesn’t it seem odd? You don’t seem to enjoy murder or plunder, yet you fight the hardest when you go into battle. And yet you refuse women, concubines, and wealth.”
Tennye hesitated for a moment before replying.
“…It’s not that I refuse wealth. I’ve just set it aside for later, to receive land when the king rewards me.”
“Land?”
“If one were to consider it, I’m similar to Duke Tarti. My clan was exiled, so I have to find a new place to live, don’t you think?”
“What about women or men? Is it some kind of taboo or regulation? I heard that nomadic tribes don’t have such restrictions?”
This hesitation took a bit longer.
“…I have a cherished partner in my heart, and I cannot indulge in carnal desires.”
Feijin leaned forward, playfully teasing him.
“A partner? Did you leave a lover back home? That’s quite the problem. We say that talking about such things is a harbinger of death. Those who say such things tend to die.”
Tennye’s face flushed red as he shook his head.
“That’s not the problem.”
“Oh! Did you meet someone here? Who is it? Who?”
Feijin asked excitedly, but Tennye shook his head emphatically.
“You are truly cruel.”
Feijin quick to pick up on his mood.
The mischief vanished from her face.
“I like our lord.”
Tennye nodded.
“I know.”
“You’ll forever remain in unrequited love.”
“I know that too.”
“A man doesn’t like that kind of love, you know? There are plenty of women who like you.”
“Everyone dislikes that kind of love. And if one can simply stop because they dislike it… is that love? Don’t worry. I won’t cause any trouble. I’ll also try to sort out my feelings. I am a great warrior. I must appear better than anyone to the king.”
Swaaaash!
The moment he saw a spear of fire flying over the city wall, Tennye kicked off the ground and punched.
“Hah!”
A green mana blade ignited from his shoulder, and a wide band coalesced into a single point at his fist, launching with a spinning motion.
Defense.
A translucent green mana blade expanded in a semicircle.
Bang!
The barrier that collided with the spear of fire shook violently but did not break.
Instead, it pushed the flames down toward the base of the wall, demonstrating its solidity.
Having tightly closed her eyes, Feijin was startled when she felt no heat and soon saw the broad back of a man.
“Tennye?”
Under the churning dark clouds, with the eastern sharks and white-uniformed superhumans tightening their grip, a man in martial attire stood before her.
“Go, Feijin. The fortress gates will close soon.”
“!”
“Admirals, including the Blue Robe Priestess, remain, so we can hold out. Cariosa wants to claim land, so they likely won’t lay siege indefinitely. If we hang on for a few days, I believe we can negotiate for survival.”
Feijin did not ask “What about you?”
From Tennye’s voice, she felt the warrior’s spirit of a man who had left his homeland for his clan and the resolve of a human wanting to stand tall before his beloved.
“…If I kiss you here—”
“It would be the worst harbinger of death. So don’t say anything and go. I will take care of this. Don’t say anything like what you will give me when you return.”
Feijin, smiling wickedly like a true pirate, responded, “You’ve fully adapted to our culture.”
Tennye nodded and drew up the energy of mana.
“I will go back and win it myself.”
Swaaaash!
With a terrifying sound, a spear of fire flew in.
Once again, Tennye unfurled his defense to block it, and Feijin dashed toward the fortress, leading several of her guards.
“Lady Feijin is retreating!”
“Wrong!”
“It’s over now!”
As a pirate was about to break away, Tennye shouted to the sky.
“Tengri!”
‘We must hold here.’
Valenciaunos.
An oddly beautiful man, humanoid in form but not quite human, must not be allowed to approach any farther.
“Bestow your wrath upon me!”
The ancient one, whom he served as a god and was revered by the warriors of the eastern plains, answered the warrior’s call.
Wooooo!
The veins of the grassland warrior erupted in glowing green.
It looked as if he was covered with thorny vines.
His eyes were also filled with a crazy green.
Woof, woof!
His already tall stature began to swell endlessly.
With every step, the already cracked city wall trembled.
Tennita lamented as she witnessed this.
“Oungula wasn’t even close to this. He could manage to fight as if he were human, but this is clearly monster-level.”
Valenciaunos also clicked his tongue softly.
“Larger than Ogor. This is a fully mutated infiltrator that can maintain self-control. Considering how little different the foreign gods and ancients are… this would be equivalent to the infiltrator priest and knight fought at Lanzo back then.”
Taaang!
Tennye kicked off from the city wall and jumped up.
Crack!
The wall could not withstand the rebound and crumbled down.
Despite its massive size, he moved with a speed that left afterimages.
Tennye ran down atop the fallen city wall.
“Uwooooo!”
Several eastern soldiers, pressed by the momentum, took a step back.
Valenciaunos narrowed his pupils and muttered.
“Burn, savage warrior.”
Whirr!
The will of the highest-grade fire mage and the Dragon Chanter wielded mana.
Flames erupted from the ground, larger than Tennye’s height, shooting forward like a wave.
It was a hellish flame that did not extinguish in water and would melt the fat layer as it seeped inside the skin upon contact.
However, Tennye did not slow his charge and ran headlong into it.
His fist spun again and was released.
Defense.
Boom!
The translucent green barrier blocked the “Flame Wave.”
The red flames scattered, and through the gaps, the grassland warrior rushed forth.
He threw his tightly clenched left fist into the air.
Veins pulsed green from his left shoulder.
The speed of the punch and the rising veins synchronized perfectly.
The moment Tennye extended his punch into the air, green light danced in front of his fist.
Boom!
It shot forward, taking the form of a translucent, gigantic fist.
The punch resembled that of a giant larger than an eight-story stone building, manifesting the advanced destructive spell “Wrathful Hand” in a green light.
Tennita gasped and drew her mana to block Valenciaunos.
‘Mana Blast?’
“Your Grace!”
Wooooo!
A red mana blade instantly ignited on his dragonbone sword, and Tennita struck head-on with the translucent fist.
Bang!
Translucent fists and swords collided, and the enemy knight stumbled as if hit by a carriage.
Kwah, kwah, kwah, kwah!
Moreover, the green aura shot out even after breaking once, knocking down the eastern soldiers standing behind Valenciaunos and Tennita.
“Guh!”
“Cough!”
“Damn!”
The soldiers groaned from the shock that penetrated deep into their bones.
Once again, Tennye, having paused momentarily to use his technique, ran down the city wall.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every step shook the ground and kicked up dust.
“Dragon! Blood! Royal! Clan!”
Valenciaunos gritted his teeth and summoned flames.
Once again, a wave of fire rose before him.
Whirr!
“Call me Duke! You filthy creature!”
It was a flame so hot it could kill anything alive.
But Tennye effortlessly slipped away from the range of the fire and attacked Valenciaunos with his punch.
Valenciaunos drew forth hellish heat over his left hand, but upon seeing his groaning soldiers behind him, he let out a low groan and dispersed it.
“I’m going insane.”
To be honest, it felt like death.
It wasn’t that I was low on mana.
But that guy deftly dismissed my flames, and the spear of fire was something I could barely avoid.
“Ahahaha!”
He flitted up and down the city wall, launching a fierce assault, and whenever I tried to create distance, he would sprint up to me in an instant.
Cariosa was dealing with the pirates who were crowded on the right side of the wall.
“I gathered spare parts for the ballista!”
“The mercenary mages are ready. Even if it goes out someday, let’s burn the last spark!”
“Forty-nine captains are set to charge! Let’s give that shark a good hit!”
In terms of a hammer-and-anvil strategy, I was basically the hammer, and she was the anvil.
While she held her ground, I had to clear out the inside and engage her, and we had to encircle the pirates from both sides, but I couldn’t afford to wait for her to arrive.
Boom!
“Hihihihi….”
The last of the six spirits I had summoned was struck by the green-aura-laden punch and burst apart.
I didn’t really know what kind of ancient being this Tengri was, but I understood that it could influence wind spirits, mana, souls, and bodies alike, a universal ancient being.
Moreover, it appeared to possess healing abilities, as Tennita’s few wounds inflicted when the creature drew near were healing almost completely.
Though not as much as the God of Radiance, it seemed to have value worthy of worship.
…Why did troubling situations give rise to such distracting thoughts?
Of course, I knew how to handle a nimble opponent like him.
I had to push in very closely and smother him in a brawl or scorch him with a strong area-of-effect technique.
But right now, neither option was possible.
That guy surpassed the size where a brawl would work, and using area-of-effect techniques wasn’t feasible with so many injured nearby.
Ultimately, there was only one way forward.
It had to be a technique powerful enough to surpass his defenses while avoiding collateral damage around.
“If only it were that easy!”
Kwah, kwah, kwah, kwah! Kwah, kwah, kwah, kwah! Kwah, kwah, kwah, kwah!
Translucent, massive green fists flew while carrying the wind.
The eastern soldiers climbed over the fallen city wall, battling the pirates, jumping around to dodge Tennye’s techniques.
Even Tennita was only able to swing and deflect the techniques just enough to disperse them.
“Your Highness Valencia! Do something!”
“Join us instead! If you clear a way, we’ll go inside and take the townsfolk as hostages!”
“Cut a few throats, and that guy will hesitate!”
Tennita and the eastern soldiers called out to me.
Tennita grew flustered upon hearing the eastern soldiers’ words.
“Y-Your Highness?”
It seemed the eastern soldiers could communicate with me very well.
But the village had probably been empty for a long time.
Of course, pursuing was possible, but even that wouldn’t stop that guy immediately.
…Did he know that?
I, like him, looked up at the sky and shouted.
“O proud soldiers of the East! Kill everyone in the pirate den!”
Then I summoned several fire spirits and sent them toward the place where the wall collapsed.
The difference in strength between pirates and soldiers was clear, and with Tennita joining us, we would soon break through.
And that accursed shark school would set fire to the village and take down all the pirate families.
That guy would think we would do just that.
“!”
He charged at me, his green eyes gleaming.
“The bandit rumor was true! How could you do this wearing a human mask!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook, green mana flickering in both of his fists.
I looked toward the towering stone fortress in the distance.
The woman he had saved earlier would have gone there.
“And I will burn that fortress, making all inside slaves in those mines! They will work until they die, and if they can’t work, they’ll die!”
“!”
He raised his fists as though he wanted to smash me into pieces.
I grinned wickedly as I drew up the energy of Az in my left hand.
After all, this was it.
Siiiiing!
Click, click, click, click!
The inner side of my forearm mutated into something foreign, a light, yet strange sensation coursing through me.
It seemed to be a partner after all.
Though one I could never obtain, merely something to look at.
I had told Tennita.
It’s not something that comes just because you want it, nor does it skip by just because you don’t want it, and when it stays, it seems like you could do anything for it.
“I guess it’s the same for me.”
The moment his massive form stood before me, I shot forth the flames of manifestation.
