Where did I go wrong?

The one who had begun to constantly harbor this question was the Guide, hugging his knees atop a mountain made of piled-up trash.

"Liam has obtained the power to defeat us. What am I supposed to do now?"

Liam had defeated Gudwar with a True One-Flash?.

That meant his attacks could now reach the Guide as well.

"Should I just leave Liam alone? B-But that won't satisfy me! Didn't I swear I would have my revenge!?"

Liam had leveled up from an existence he couldn't easily touch to one that would endanger him if he made a careless move.

And it was all because of a school that shouldn't even exist—the One-Flash Style.

"That guy is the one who's strange! What's this 'One-Flash Style'? It's wrong to take a parlor trick like that seriously and actually replicate it!"

He had recreated a non-existent sword style through his own misunderstanding and skill, and his power was now on the verge of transcending human limits.

Normally, an existence like Liam couldn't be created even if one tried.

Liam's very existence was a miracle.

"But if I get any closer, I'll be erased."

The Guide shivered as he recalled the incarnation of power Liam had unconsciously created. A giant of light, the materialization of his own strength, would find the Guides and, without a word, slam its feelings of gratitude into them.

This was thanks to Liam's constant, daily gratitude toward the Guide.

Even if it was unconscious, the giant of light would force its feelings of gratitude upon the Guide.

Now that he had obtained power beyond human limits, Liam was not someone the Guide could easily approach.

If he approached carelessly, he would have gratitude forced upon him and be erased.

"—In that case, I'll have Liam eliminated in the physical world. That's more realistic."

If he couldn't do it himself, he would just have other humans do it for him.

Fortunately, Liam had many enemies.

Supporting them to defeat Liam was the most realistic plan the Guide could come up with now.

"But... I've failed so many times before."

Having seen every faction he supported get utterly destroyed, the Guide had lost his confidence.

The Guide slowly forced his heavy-feeling body to stand and looked up at the sky.

In the sky of the Capital Planet, which was encased in metal, a night sky was projected.

At first glance, it was a beautiful night sky, but it was all artificial.

The view of the Capital Planet from the outside was that of a planet enveloped in metal.

"The Capital Planet of this Empire, shut away in its shell, has such wonderfully stagnant air. Just being here heals the wounds Liam inflicted on me."

For the Guide, who loved negative emotions, the malice and desires of the people, accumulated over thousands of years, felt incredibly pleasant.

The metal shell meant to protect them only made the Capital Planet more stagnant.

It was the perfect place for the wounded Guide to heal his body.

"Well, I suppose it's about time I went to check on the situation. The one with the most potential right now is—Calvin, I suppose."

Calvin—the Crown Prince of the Algrand Empire, and an enemy of the Third Prince, Cleo, whom Liam was supporting.

In reality, Cleo had no power of his own; it was Liam, his backer, who was fiercely clashing with Calvin.

At present, Calvin was the only one who could stand against Liam, who had become one of the most powerful figures in the Empire.

However, Calvin had his own problems.

"Even Calvin pales in comparison to Liam. Can he win even with my support? In fact, it's doubtful if it'll even be a contest with my support."

The Guide had aided Liam's enemies many times before.

He had been defeated every single time, and had even considered that perhaps it would be better if he didn't help at all.

But if he didn't intervene, Liam would just win anyway.

"For now, I'll just observe the situation."

The Guide decided to investigate the state of affairs on the Capital Planet.

Having stayed in another interstellar nation for a while, he had grown out of touch with the Empire's internal affairs.

Curious about Calvin's movements, he set off to investigate with heavy steps.

◇

The building where Calvin lived, located in the Rear Palace, had the appearance of a grand palace.

Though called the Rear Palace, it was vast, with many skyscrapers and other buildings inside.

It was like a large city in itself.

In the great hall of that palace, Kukuri's subordinates lay fallen.

Vomiting blood, one of Kukuri's subordinates looked up to see Cleo.

"You've betrayed Lord Liam!"

He was a man with short red hair, characterized by the right side of his bangs being left long, creating an unbalanced look.

With his androgynous, handsome features, despite dressing as a man, some might mistake him for a woman.

This Cleo was looking down with cold eyes at Kukuri's subordinates, who had protected him until now.

"I'm grateful to the Count. There's no doubt I've survived to this day thanks to Banfield. But—he's served his purpose."

"At least you—!"

As Kukuri's subordinate tried to use a bomb he had planted on himself, dozens of blades flew out and pierced him.

The bomb failed to detonate, and Kukuri's subordinate breathed his last.

This was Calvin's palace.

Hundreds of Calvin's shadow unit members surrounded Cleo.

Calvin, descending the grand staircase of the hall, was surrounded by his knights.

Stopping halfway down the stairs, Calvin shot Cleo a suspicious glance.

"I never thought you'd go this far. Count Banfield won't stay silent about a betrayal like this."

The ones dispatched by Liam were Kukuri's precious subordinates.

They were skilled but few in number, with no prospect of reinforcements for some time.

To offer up three such guards was his show of sincerity towards Calvin.

"I am prepared for the consequences. I am incompatible with him."

(That's right. There's no turning back now. Liam—it seems I wasn't a big enough person to accept you.)

With dark eyes devoid of light, Cleo had come to see Liam, who held more power than him, as an obstacle.

He knew he would be secure with Liam's backing, but Cleo could no longer stand being a mere accessory.

It seemed Calvin couldn't trust this Cleo.

"Are you willing to throw away such a solid position for something like this? What do you want? In your position, you should be able to obtain the title of Crown Prince without doing anything. You could just ascend to the throne from there. Ousting Count Banfield would normally come after you've become Emperor."

If one planned to cast aside a loyal vassal who had supported them and aim for a dictatorship, it was best to do so after securing the Imperial Throne.

From Calvin's perspective, Cleo's actions were incomprehensible.

He himself was aware of that.

"More than becoming Emperor, I just can't stand being treated as his puppet."

But—he could no longer tolerate being treated as Liam's accessory.

"As a man, I want to leave my mark on this world. I just thought it would be better to oust that Banfield than to accept the fact that I was someone's accessory."

Calvin narrowed his eyes at Cleo.

He seemed to doubt Cleo's betrayal.

"Once in the Empire, there was a man who proved his betrayal by killing his allies. But there have also been cases where even the killing of allies was all part of a plan to deceive the enemy. I won't judge that you're truly on my side just because you offered up your guards."

Towards the ever-wary Calvin, Cleo just shrugged.

"You seem to be rather timid, brother."

At those words, the surrounding shadow unit members and knights raised their weapons, but Calvin stopped them with a raised hand.

"Stop! —Cleo, you do understand, don't you? Betrayal is a heavier act than you think. Especially given who you're betraying."

Are you truly going to betray that Count Banfield—Liam? In response to Calvin's question, Cleo gave a faint smile.

"You will take the Empire, brother, and I will support you from the side. The Empire will be more stable than if we relied on Banfield."

More than ascending the throne himself, Cleo desired victory over Liam.

Calvin's expression turned bitter.

Cleo whispered.

"Brother—you have no other options left, do you?"

That was because, from the very beginning, Calvin had no choice but to take Cleo's hand.

For Calvin, who had lost to Liam time and again, there was no path left.

"—Very well."

As Calvin made his decision, Cleo knelt.

"From this day forward, I will act as your hands and feet."

◇

Humans truly are wonderful.

The Guide, watching the two of them from behind a pillar, was even moved.

He had been dealing with nothing but eccentrics who forcibly pushed their gratitude on him, but humans were inherently irrational creatures.

Even in situations where everything would go smoothly if they just watched quietly, they would let their dissatisfaction build and drag each other down.

To the Guide, Cleo, who was trapped by his negative emotions, looked dazzling.

"There was still potential in humanity. Man's greatest enemy is, after all, man."

The Guide nodded deeply again and again at Cleo's twisted emotions, making a gesture as if wiping away tears.

"Cleo—and Calvin. If you two join forces, surely Liam will be in danger. He may be strong, but Liam is still, just barely, human. He cannot survive alone."

Calvin, an enemy within the Empire, and Cleo, who should have been an ally, had joined hands.

The reason: to subjugate Liam.

Joy welled up inside him that such a disadvantageous situation for Liam had been created without him lifting a finger.

"It seems I've underestimated the power of humans. I shall offer you two all the assistance I can."

As the Guide watched the two with a grin, Calvin immediately began to test Cleo.

"To defeat Count Banfield, the Empire's strongest swordsman. It's easy to say, but Cleo—do you have a plan?"

Even Calvin and his faction had failed repeatedly.

He was just asking if Cleo had a plan, but this was a test.

Was he truly on Calvin's side? And would Cleo be useful?

Cleo stood up and said to Calvin.

"To beat the strongest swordsman, you just need to pit an even stronger swordsman against him."

"True. But of the Empire's four Sword Saints, three have already been defeated by the One-Flash Style. The last one cannot be moved from the border. In this situation, who do you propose we send?"

Anyone could think of that, but when told the chances of success were slim, Cleo brought a fist to his mouth and chuckled.

Exuding an eerie aura, he spoke of his plan.

"Let's mass-produce Banfield's ultimate mobile knight, Avid."

"That thing is a lump of rare metals. You could build several fleets for that price."

"He is an opponent worth that much."

"Even if we could build them, we have no pilots."

"Then we just need to prepare the pilots as well."

As Calvin tilted his head, Cleo, who had been thinking about this plan for some time, projected an image into the air.

"We will install an artificial intelligence that has analyzed Liam's piloting data. And for the pilot, let's prepare a clone of Liam."

"W-What!? Are you insane!? Both of those are forbidden technologies!"

Artificial intelligence, which once nearly destroyed humanity.

And the forbidden technology of human cloning.

If it were just Avid, it might be one thing, but Calvin showed disgust at the idea of using those two.

To such a Calvin, Cleo spoke in a bewitching tone.

"There's no point if we don't win. I'm saying that Banfield is just that formidable an enemy."

A troubled Calvin asked Cleo about the current progress of the plan.

"How far along is the plan?"

"We have begun educating the artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, we have not yet obtained Banfield's genetic material. In the worst-case scenario, we will collect genetic material from Liam's parents and create an existence that surpasses Liam. What I ask of you, brother, is to prepare Avid—no, a mobile suit that surpasses Avid."

Calvin was conflicted, but if he kept losing to Liam, he didn't know what kind of future awaited him.

A simple death would be a blessing.

Terrified of his own future, and on the condition that he wouldn't have to touch the taboos himself, he promised to prepare a mobile suit that surpassed Avid.

"Very well. I'll prepare the mobile suit. But will Count Banfield even show up on the battlefield?"

"If he doesn't, we can just use the prepared suits to trample the Banfield family's army. With forbidden suits that surpass the limits of man, we will surely destroy Banfield."

As Cleo chuckled sinisterly, Calvin broke out in a cold sweat.

The Guide was impressed with Cleo, who would use any forbidden move.

At the same time, he also noticed the danger.

"Wait a minute? You haven't even gotten the crucial genetic material from Liam yet? Besides, Liam's current mobile suit is equipped with a Machine Heart."

The Guide was troubled.

At this rate, Cleo and Calvin would lose.

To raise their chances of winning even a little, Liam's genetic material was essential.

"I-In that case, I have no choice but to help."

Just as the Guide was considering cooperating with the two, Cleo gave an order to one of Calvin's subordinates.

"You there, shoot me."

"Huh? What?"

The subordinate was bewildered by Cleo's order, but Calvin, realizing Cleo's intentions, reluctantly agreed and had him shoot.

"Wounding yourself to deceive him—are you going that far?"

Asked this by Calvin, Cleo just smiled.

"I'd like you to praise my resolve for going this far. Besides, if I'm unharmed, he'll be suspicious. Well, he'll probably be suspicious even if I'm injured. If it makes him feel even a little bit indebted, it's a win for me."

Wounding himself to deceive Liam.

He could very well be killed right here on the spot, but Cleo showed no fear of it.

Calvin responded to Cleo's resolve with sarcasm.

"A resolve befitting a prince of the blood-soaked Empire."

"I am honored by your praise."

Calvin's subordinate raised his pistol, aimed at Cleo, and pulled the trigger.