“Who is the strongest character in the world of ‘She Heals the Wounded World’?”
Most readers of the original work would point to Rex, while a minority might choose the leader of Avatarara.
But this world is no longer a mere novel to me; it is my reality.
So, let’s change the question: Who is the strongest ‘Knight’ in history in this world?
And if this question were posed, there would likely be a variety of answers.
Some would say it’s Arthur Aakses, the founder of Akses House.
Others would say Roar Tonel, the 9th Commander of the Central Knight Order.
And some would mention Dait Rosen, the knight who participated the most in defeating A-Class Magical Beasts.
However, the majority would probably answer this way:
Ados Aakses, the current head of Akses House, is the strongest knight.
Of course, there’s no definitive evidence for that.
After all, during the time of Arthur Aakses, the founder of Akses House, there were no magical beasts, making comparisons difficult. It’s possible that even stronger individuals are hidden away.
Still, the reason people consider my father the strongest knight in history is simple:
He is the only knight to have single-handedly defeated an A-Class Magical Beast in the history of knights.
Some might belittle this by quoting my father’s words, saying it was just luck, but almost all knights would firmly refute such claims.
One cannot fight without accounting for luck.
Even if it was entirely due to chance, the mere fact that he defeated an A-Class Magical Beast ensures that the name “Ados Aakses” will not fade from history.
Well, to put it plainly, the reason I returned to the main family is to receive training directly from my father.
Four years ago, after the incident at Leon’s debut ball, I had a few sparring sessions with my father, but to him, it was probably little more than a game.
At that time, I knew almost nothing.
But now, things are different.
At least, subjectively and objectively, I have the skill of a low-class knight and have even sparred with the high-class knight, Arvain.
I had recently taken a break from training due to exhaustion, but before that, I had the pride of having trained every single day without fail.
In the end, what I want to say is:
“It’s good that you know how to maintain an appropriate distance, but you’re overthinking it too much.”
I thought that if I sparred with my father again, I could at least hold out for a while.
I never imagined I wouldn’t even be able to touch a hair on him for an entire week.
Once the sparring began, all I could do was get hit, get hit, get hit, and then collapse.
Isn’t this more like one-sided bullying than sparring?
That thought crossed my mind.
“Not a bad reaction. But your actions after deflecting the opponent’s attack are slow.”
But that didn’t make me want to give up.
“There are times when you make unnecessary movements. Always imagine yourself in a way that your opponent can see.”
There was an abundance of things I could learn from my father’s subtle movements, as he pointed out my every action during our sparring.
“Can you do more?”
By now, the sky was dark, and the moon was floating overhead.
We had been sparring since the sky started turning into twilight after dinner, so it seemed like it had already been over four hours.
But…
“Of course, I can do it.”
I had to get up.
“There’s no time to rest.”
If someone like me wants to fit in with geniuses, I have to put in efforts to the point of spitting blood.
★
The main body of Avatarara consists of seven executives and one boss.
Among them, in the final episode of the original work, Sophia and Leon face off against Rex, Es, Ed, Cron, and the leader of Avatarara, totaling five.
The other three executives are officially stated to have been defeated by various knights throughout the empire.
However, simply having knights without the Holy Sword couldn’t easily take down Avatarara’s executives, leading to considerable losses.
Is there really a way to reduce this damage?
“…Gather troops and take them on in a frontal battle?”
No, that’s impossible.
From the start, the executives of Avatarara, except for Ed, possess skills equivalent to high-class knights and have special abilities.
It would be impossible for Leon to incapacitate them all at once, so the moment a frontal confrontation occurred, the damage would surely increase.
Support would be around twenty, just like in the original, capable of fighting at the “frontline.”
That seemed appropriate.
“Is there really no choice but to resort to individual elimination?”
All eight would face Sophia and Leon.
It’s a roundabout way, but it minimizes damage.
The downside is.
“I don’t have any idea who the other three are.”
The three unknown characters whose names and abilities have not been revealed in the author’s settings.
I couldn’t be sure if fighting them would be a good idea.
I had no thoughts of losing simply because I knew they could be defeated without the Holy Sword, but the unease was unavoidable.
If only I could neutralize their abilities, I thought it might somehow work.
“…Wait a second.”
At least one, no, two possible methods came to mind.
After all, I was the one who witnessed it right in front of me.
Why had I forgotten this until now?
Realizing this, I immediately sent her a letter.
Asking if we could meet as soon as possible.
★
“Seems like we met again sooner than expected?”
“It’s an important matter.”
“I was lucky. I just happened to stop by Arcana right when your letter arrived. If it had been even a day late, I’d have had to wait at least a few weeks more.”
“That’s a relief.”
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders as she sipped her tea.
We were sitting in the reception room of the mansion.
“I see you’ve been training hard? You seem to have improved a lot since the last time I saw you.”
“Right now, the only thing I can do is to put in the effort.”
“Sure, sure.”
After exchanging brief greetings, we focused and got to the main point.
“The reason I reached out is that you have all the information on those guys ready, right?”
“That’s part of it, but I want to ask one thing first.”
“What is it?”
“You can’t use Teleportation Magic on people, right?”
“That’s correct. Teleportation is a magic that creates a path by utilizing magical power. To ensure proper measurement when creating that path, the target must be scanned once, but the flow of magic that occurs at that moment places an unbearably severe burden on the magical roads. It’s the only spell that causes magical power surges without being an attribute spell.”
Just as Charlotte said.
So, the only targets suitable for Teleportation Magic are inanimate objects and ordinary plants and animals without magical paths.
However, there was an exception.
There exist beings that have magical paths and yet can be subjected to Teleportation.
“But some magical beasts use Teleportation magic.”
“However, that’s fundamentally different from the Teleportation we use. They synchronize their bodies with the magic in the air to create the path.”
Of course, Charlotte was right that the basic principles differ, and more importantly, such magical beasts are classified at least as B-class, so their numbers are extremely limited.
But…
“Regardless, the fact that they can teleport, having magical paths, still holds true.”
“That’s true.”
“And the executive of Avatarara that ambushed us, Es Cruel, also uses Teleportation.”
“…!”
Charlotte’s eyes widened as if she understood my intention, and she looked at me.
“Is that even possible?”
She expressed doubt.
Her intuition is sharp.
“The way humans and magical beasts use magical power is fundamentally different. Humans automatically produce magical power from their bodies, while magical beasts absorb the magical power from the atmosphere. This means magical beasts can synchronize their bodies with the atmospheric magical power.”
“But when Dean Ender faced her, he said her Teleportation was exactly the same as the one used by the monsters.”
He certainly said that while blocking Es’s Teleportation and managed to seriously injure her.
“So does that mean Avatarara is, in fact, a group of magical beasts?”
“It might be similar.”
“What?”
“Since you asked me to share information, I’ll tell you one detail ahead of time.”
I had misunderstood from the beginning.
I had been relying too heavily on my knowledge of the original work.
What is necessary to confront Avatarara is the Holy Sword of Leon.
I had convinced myself that it was absolute.
“The executives of Avatarara we need to take down possess special abilities.”
Rex’s High-Speed Regeneration.
Es Cruel’s Teleportation.
Ed Cruel’s control over magical beasts.
Cron Illusion’s Body Transformation, among others.
Their abilities are all far beyond ordinary humans.
In fact, they are quite similar to magical beasts.
No, to put it plainly, exactly the same.
The reason for this is:
“They are Maijin, beings infused with the blood of magical beasts and their magical paths.”
★
“How are Es’s injuries?”
In response to the man’s question, Rex lowered his head and replied.
“Refined magical power and magical energy from four elements have stirred her entire arm, including the magical paths. Even after removing the internal magical power, we will likely have to wait for natural healing.”
“What’s the timeframe?”
“Ed mentioned it would take at least half a year.”
“Tsk.”
The man couldn’t help but click his tongue at Rex’s response.
Why did he go to such lengths to gain this power early?
It was to strike faster than the opponent expected and achieve the goal.
But since Avatarara’s strength was concentrated and elite, losing even a single member would spell trouble.
Especially if that member was Es, the only one in Avatarara assessed to be on Rex’s level.
“So he really is the man they called the pillar of Arcana.”
Objectively speaking, only three individuals in the empire could match Rex one-on-one.
The Archmagus, Ender Arcana.
The Empire’s Sword, Ados Aakses.
The Sage, Charlotte Izolde.
Originally, Avatarara’s plan was to ensure those three never participated in the battlefield and then assassinate them once everything was over.
Of course, if it came down to a one-on-one clash, Rex would ultimately prevail.
But fundamentally lacking in numbers, letting those three participate on the battlefield would surely lead to the worst scenarios for Avatarara.
“It was a good accomplishment to eliminate such a dangerous variable, but it’s certainly not something to call a good situation.”
From the onset, they were an enemy whose overriding strategy was to exclude them from the battlefield, and thus, the man’s judgment was that Es’s loss was more detrimental.
Especially since he was personally unable to intervene.
“Finish Es’s treatment as quickly as possible. Six months is too long. You need to complete it in three months.”
“Your Majesty. That would be too much of a strain…”
“It’s a must. Right now, we’re in that kind of situation.”
The man had a firm conviction that if this continued, there would be no hope for Avatarara.
While Rex and the other executives reacting to the news of Ender Arcana’s death might think they achieved something, the man could not share their optimism.
What needed to be handled was none other than “him.”
Even if Ender Arcana, Ados Aakses, and Charlotte Izolde all died, as long as he was alive, there would be no future for Avatarara, according to the man’s prediction.
“…Understood. I will relay that to Ed.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Rex said this, lowered his head, and exited the room.
“Huuh.”
A sigh escaped the man’s lips without thinking.
“…You must be the same as me.”
If it weren’t, the current situation wouldn’t be explainable, he muttered, rising from his throne.
