Pirates fled in disarray.
Even the Pirate Knights resisted, but most were surrounded by soldiers and fell.
When surrounded by trained soldiers, the Knights could only be overwhelmed by numbers and fall.
The副官 (fukukan - adjutant/lieutenant), a man, was running around the ship.
"That bastard Goaz. He ran off alone."
He had made them fight the enemy's ground troops who had boarded their ship, and by the time he knew it, he was gone.
The副官 was also trying to figure out how to escape this situation.
He checked the ship's status on his terminal.
"No good. Everywhere is destroyed, no escape. Damn it—to die here..."
The副官 slumped down.
Then, he was discovered by an enemy unit led by a knight holding a sword.
He tried to escape, but there were enemies everywhere he turned.
The副官 raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
"W-wait! Listen to me."
A small knight, carrying a sword on his shoulder, stopped and seemed to be listening, ordering his subordinates, "Don't shoot."
Judging by his voice, he seemed to be a young knight.
(This is my chance. It doesn't matter if I have to beg. I just need to survive.)
"I-I was just being used by Goaz. Please, spare me."
The knight wore a helmet, so his expression was hidden.
"That's right! I know where the treasure is. I can't open the key, but I'll tell you the location, so spare me. Please!"
The副官 prostrated himself.
The knight said nothing.
However, one of the knight's subordinates was operating a terminal and reporting.
"Lord Liam, this man appears to have been the副官 of the Goaz Pirates. It's hard to believe he was merely being used by a high-ranking member."
Upon hearing "Liam," the副官 looked up.
"Liam? You are— no, was it you, my lord! No wonder I thought you had a kingly aura. How about it, won't you hire me? If you hire me, who managed this Goaz Pirates, I can be of service to you— of service—"
Suddenly, his vision changed.
His body couldn't move, yet his vision changed.
He saw his own body in zero gravity.
And it was from the front—
"—Eh?"
The副官's consciousness ended there.
◇
The guide watching the battlefield was stunned.
He was standing in space—above a destroyed pirate ship.
"Impossible. What is that? What is that strength!"
The guide was bewildered by the power Liam shouldn't have obtained.
There was no such school of swordsmanship as "Issenshuryu" (One-Strike Flow) in this world.
Besides, it was all a lie from Anshi.
Yet—Liam had reproduced it.
"Even with talent, what is that strength? What did that man teach him?"
In the time he wasn't watching, Liam had become stronger than he could have imagined.
He never thought he would be this strong.
The guide clutched his head with both hands.
"It hurts. My chest is tight. Damn it!"
He could feel Liam's hateful gratitude.
The feeling of Liam believing in him—it made him sick.
"If it comes to this, I won't hold back. Goaz, I will grant you special power."
As he swung his arm, black smoke appeared.
"This goes against my principles, but there's no other way. This is also your fault, Liam-san. Honestly, I've been through a lot."
He said such harsh words despite being the one who had been meddling.
◇
Goaz, hiding inside the ship, was trembling.
He clutched the alchemy box with both hands.
"No. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I won't die here."
The leader of the pirate crew, who had caused so much trouble, was weeping in fear.
After all, Goaz's weapon was his abundant funding source.
He was just a slightly strong pirate, so if he were discovered like this, he would be killed normally.
"Sh-should I beg for my life? N-no. I'll be turned in to claim my bounty. R-right, if I use this to prepare treasure—"
The alchemy box—if Goaz had been able to use it better, he would have gained immense wealth.
He wouldn't have had to be a pirate.
But because he had rampaged as he pleased, he had ended up in this situation.
It was his own fault.
Of course, no one would have expected him to lose to Liam.
Then, black smoke began to appear, enveloping Goaz.
"W-what is this!"
The voice he heard was—the guide's.
"Goaz, I will give you a chance."
"W-who! Who is it!"
The black smoke entered Goaz's mouth as he trembled.
When the guide revealed himself, Goaz clutched his throat in pain.
The guide spoke.
"Anyone is fine. I will give you a chance to defeat Liam. Do you want to lose like this?"
Goaz shook his head, and the guide smiled like a crescent moon.
"That's good."
Goaz, who had inhaled the black smoke, dropped the alchemy box but felt his body freed from pain and looked at himself.
"What? Power is overflowing. And I'm not afraid of anything! I'm not afraid!"
He felt no discomfort in his dark blue skin.
Rather, power was overflowing.
Goaz smiled.
The guide also smiled.
"Your skin now has the hardness of Adamantium. There's nothing to fear. You are now a being beyond human. Now, go!"
"You brat! I'll beat you to death!"
The guide watched Goaz run off and put his hand to his forehead.
"—I might have pushed myself a bit too hard. I played a little too much."
He had used the door that crosses worlds many times and taken risks.
The guide also showed signs of fatigue.
"Well, with this, Liam won't be able to cut down Goaz. Regret boarding recklessly."
As the guide disappeared from the spot, a small light approached the alchemy box.
That light was the light that had entered Avido—and the light that had been watching the guide.
The light transformed into the form of a black and brown dog and ran down the corridor towards Liam.
◇
As he walked down the corridor, he felt a familiar presence.
"—Huh?"
What seemed to cross his vision was a brown tail—a dog's tail.
His subordinate asked him.
"What is it, Lord Liam?"
"No, just now—wasn't there a dog?"
"A dog? No, there are no life signs, and it shouldn't be here. Surely, they wouldn't put special combat suits on dogs, would they?"
Was it my mistake?
He thought for a moment, then considered why he felt nostalgia for the tail.
—That's right.
It was the dog he had owned in his past life.
Incidentally, he also remembered the story of pets coming to greet you at the time of death.
No one came to greet him, so it was probably just a superstition.
Because the guide came to greet him.
"I had forgotten until now."
"What is it?"
"No, it's nothing. More importantly, let's go that way."
He walked in the direction where he saw the tail, and instead of a clean corridor, he emerged into a cluttered one.
It was used as a storage area, with things placed around.
There were many places to hide, and his subordinates proceeded cautiously, but there was no sign of anyone.
There seemed to be no dogs either.
He was a little disappointed.
He sighed and looked down, seeing something rolling on the floor.
"What is it?"
When he picked it up, it was a golden box.
It was small enough to hold in one hand.
It was decorated with various patterns and colors, and he felt lucky.
"Oh, I found something good. This is mine."
His subordinates looked at him, dumbfounded.
"It's true that you like gold, Lord Liam."
"I love it."
"What about Mithril and Adamantium?"
"Hm? Ah, I like them. But gold is the best."
His subordinates seemed to be somewhat taken aback, but Mithril was silver, wasn't it?
And Adamantium only gave him the image of a weapon material.
Even if they say it's precious.
As he gazed at the box, he saw a dog's tail cross his vision again.
"—Again."
"Lord Liam, don't go ahead!"
Leaving his subordinates behind, he chased the dog and arrived at a dead end.
However, it felt somehow unnatural.
He operated his helmet and confirmed that it was a hidden door.
"I smell treasure."
He had his subordinates blow it up, destroyed the hidden door, and entered. Inside, there was indeed a mountain of treasure.
However, it wasn't the gold and silver treasures he had imagined, but mostly antiques.
"—A bust, huh."
His subordinates were surprised.
"N-no, it's a huge success! Everything looks expensive!"
"I only have the impression that antiques are fakes."
In fact, most of the antiques owned by the Banfield family were fakes.
He decided to secure them for now and looked for something else.
"Oh, there's a sword."
It was an ancient-looking sword, like one from a fantasy game.
The design of the scabbard and hilt was very typical.
It was relatively simple and not flashy, but—
When he picked it up, the blade was very clean.
"Should I try using it?"
"Wouldn't it be better not to use it? It looks expensive."
"What's the point if I don't use it? It's fine. I took it from pirates."
He put the golden box into a large pouch on his back, had his subordinates carry his rifle and blades, and held the sword in his hand.
Come to think of it, there was no need for him to fight.
"Well, where to next—"
"Lord Liam, emergency communication!"
His subordinate shouted.
◇
The ground troops who discovered Goaz.
However, soldiers wearing powered suits were being thrown by black Goaz with one arm.
"Damn it! Why does it deflect bullets!"
"Optical weapons are useless too!"
"Fall back! I'll handle it!"
A soldier brought out a bazooka and fired it at Goaz, but Goaz walked out of the explosion and smoke as if nothing had happened.
The soldiers' faces turned pale.
Goaz put his hand to his neck and twisted it.
"You're rampaging around on someone else's ship. Don't think you'll all get back safely."
Goaz was intoxicated by the power he had gained and the feeling that he could do anything.
Now, he felt like he wouldn't lose to any knight.
When he clenched his fist, it made a sound not like a human hand—but like metal creaking.
"I'll make all of you my toys."
Goaz, empowered by the guide, blew away the soldiers.
Bullets, lasers, and explosives were all meaningless.
A soldier, acting quickly, manipulated the air pressure in the corridor—but it had no effect on Goaz.
"What kind of modification did this guy do?"
"Is he a cyborg?"
As the soldiers tried to distance themselves from Goaz, he chased them and punched them away.
He grabbed them and threw them, Goaz rampaging with his strength.
"Bring me that brat! I'll deal with him personally!"
One of the soldiers shouted loudly to the surroundings.
"Get Liam-san out of the ship! Absolutely do not let him meet this guy!"
As the soldiers began to attack, knowing it would be ineffective, Goaz rampaged through them.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got!"
He punched a soldier, crushing his head along with his helmet, and when he threw him, his body bent in an unnatural direction.
Using one soldier as a shield, the gunfire stopped.
"Now I'll—"
He threw away the soldier he used as a shield and took a step forward, and Goaz's body was covered in wounds.
"—Wh-what!?"
Goaz, surprised, looked at his own body and saw several wounds.
He didn't understand what had happened, when a person descended from directly above.
The man who landed slowly stood up, looking at a heavily chipped blade.
"This is too hard."
He seemed to be smiling slightly.
He wore a helmet, so his face was not visible.
Goaz reached out his right hand to grab him, but something fell off.
And his right arm was gone from the elbow down.
"—Eh?"
As he was surprised, the small man in front of him threw away the blade.
In his hand was a sword he had seen somewhere before.
He had seen it in the room where the antiques were stored.
It was a very valuable sword.
"Y-you, that's mine!"
The man was smiling.
"This? I received it. More importantly, you seem to have rampaged quite a bit."
Carrying the sword on his shoulder, Goaz reached out his left hand to the smiling man.
This time, his left arm fell off.
"—!"
Goaz didn't understand what was happening.
More than that, the man in front of him—had drawn his sword without him realizing it.
He was looking at the blade with admiration.
"Amazing. Not a single chip. What sharpness."
His two lost hands.
As Goaz was confused, black smoke erupted from the cut surface and turned into fleshy tentacles. A whip-like thing grew from his arm.
"Y-you!"
Without understanding why, he attacked the man in front of him.
But the man ignored Goaz.
"This is good. I'll use this from now on. Wow, it was a mountain of treasure."
The whip he swung down was finely sliced, and this time Goaz's leg was cut off.
Goaz, kneeling, had black smoke leaking from his body.
"Ugh—"
Without the bravado he had before, Goaz was trembling.
Black blood flowed from the cut surface.
Enemies gathered, trying to protect the knight.
"Liam-sama!"
Hearing that name, Goaz looked up.
He frowned and looked up at the man in front of him with a鬼 (oni - demon/ogre)-like expression.
"You—you are Liam!"
The man was engrossed in the newly acquired sword and wasn't looking at Goaz.
"That's right. I am Liam. And add 'sama' to it, you piece of trash. More importantly, who is this black guy? Is he a cyborg or something?"
His surrounding subordinates answered, with some doubt.
"Although the skin color is different, I believe it is Goaz."
"This guy?"
A sharp, horn-like object grew on Goaz's left arm.
"Don't ignore me!"
He thrust out his left arm to pierce Liam's heart—but this time, his left shoulder was severed.
Liam turned his gaze to Goaz, who was kneeling.
He rested the sword on his shoulder and looked closely at Goaz's face.
"Are you Goaz?"
Goaz began to tremble.
(What? What is this guy? How can he cut my body, which even bullets can't penetrate? This is wrong. This is wrong!)
Confused, Goaz begged Liam for mercy.
"—P-please forgive me."
"Eh?"
"Help me. No, please help me. I will never defy you again. I-if you spare me, I will give you tremendous treasure. So—please forgive me!"
Liam laughed at Goaz's offer.
Laughing,
"—No."