Striking him on the shoulder and waist and shattering his iron sword, the flurry of blows pushed Dill back. His rust-colored eyes rolled back in his head so only their whites showed. Unable to resist the impact, he bent over backward, raising both hands as if grasping at the heavens.
For a moment, his consciousness seemed to leave his head and depart to somewhere far away from him. He could hear children screaming. It was like this back then, with Iris. As new pain blossomed with each blow, fragments of Dill’s memory revived.
Blue rain had poured down upon the soldiers celebrating their victory in the Holy War. Their fallen comrades, returning to life, were no longer human—Reincarnators. Soldiers massacred by Skills. A series of defeats followed, and the deaths of his closest friends. The deaths of his comrades. The death of Iris. The god-father, Ex Machina Anxiety, baring his fangs at humanity. A woman with red eyes. An ominous prophecy. The defeat of the hero Aegisthus. A battlefront they could no longer maintain.
Amongst the withdrawing forces of the Terean Army, Dill already knew. The nostalgic capital city, Aspro Terea, had already fallen at the hands of the Reincarnators. He no longer had a country, nor any children, left to defend.
If that’s the case, why in the name of the gods am I—?
I’ll kill you. A nostalgic feeling boiled up from inside him, a dried fountain flowing once again, a remnant of his youth and a wellspring of strength. The water that gushed forth from this renewed fountain was pure anger. The tarnish of time had covered his heart like a scab, and Dill stuck his fingers underneath and ripped it off. Something oozed forth.
Dill’s irises reappeared. Their rusty hue now glowed with anger, like heated metal. Kill him! Kill the Reincarnator! Kill! Kill the bastard! Remember! Those maggots killed your daughter, stole your hope, crushed the peace you had won—your chance for atonement—and they laughed about it! Have you forgotten?! Those godless, pale, sneering bastards! Those unforgivable invaders! Kill the immortal enemy! Kill the Reincarnator!
“My name,” cried Dill, as he struck the Reincarnator with the hand holding his dagger, “is Dill Steel-Link!”
The Reincarnator brought both arms together to guard. In addition, at the moment of the dagger’s impact, he activated his Skill, dampening the force of the blow and pushing them both backward. Dill had gripped the dagger with such force that the hilt and blade were wrenched apart and fell to the ground. His stock of weapons was now exhausted. Dill grabbed a handful of his chain mail cloak from the inside and twisted it taut. His right hand was now a fist of iron, and he struck the Reincarnator with that fist. A high-pitched sound of metal shattering rang through the air.
Glittering pieces of the shattered visor scattered, falling to the earth like shooting stars.
“Such power... What a wonderful specimen,” muttered the male Reincarnator, whose face, underneath the broken visor, was pierced by fragments of metal and had been partially caved in by Dill’s blow. “I will remember you, Dill Steel-Link. Your body is—”
Dill did not wait for him to finish speaking. His fist, wrapped in chain mail, caved in the Reincarnator’s skull.
“Hm...” Behind Dill, watching the decisive moment intently, was the Reincarnator wearing a suit. Dill unleashed a powerful backhand toward him, but the Reincarnator was no longer there. He was three meters away, standing casually. Neither the suitcase he carried nor his dull-colored necktie were even slightly disturbed.
“Hm. Hm!” The suited Reincarnator stroked his chin with one hand and drew a circle in the air with the other. A glowing trail followed his gesture, forming a ring of light. A rumbling that sounded like the roaring of a beast could be heard from beyond the mysterious ring... It was in fact the exhaust of a motorized, two-wheeled vehicle!
With a mechanical cacophony, cavalry from another world came flying out of the portal. There were...five of them, it seemed. Their polished surfaces unadorned, motorbikes revolved in a circle with Dill at its center as the riders sized him up.
“Nue, Sid,” called Dill to the two children outside of the encirclement, readying his bare hands. “Time to run!”
Dill turned around and launched an assault on the rider behind him. At that moment, the other Reincarnators all fired their guns at him, the weapons’ retorts echoing like thunder. To avoid friendly fire, they had aimed at the ground, but the bullets just missed the fleet-footed Dill, pointlessly blowing holes in the dirt instead.
Dill jumped, and once he’d grabbed hold of the rider Dill then struck his foe before squeezing his opponent’s helmet in a headlock. He then pushed the Reincarnator, whose head was now crushed, off the bike. Revving the engine, he kicked off with a wheelie... He had mastered the steed from another world!
“Nue, grab on!” Dill leaned forward to rescue the children as he thundered past on the motorbike.
“Sir, yes, sir!” It wasn’t clear whether Nue was serious or messing around. Her eyebrows were raised sharply and she was brimming with enthusiasm. Sid, who was bewildered, suddenly found himself grabbed by the collar.
“H-Huh?”
“Sorry, Sid!”
“Huh?”
“Heave-hooooo!”
Nue planted her feet firmly on the ground, and lifted Sid high...then hurled him with the strength of a demigod!
The horrible floating sensation Sid felt only lasted an instant. Hard, heavy arms grabbed him and held him fast against a body burning like fire. Without looking up, Sid knew that this was the safest place in the world.
“Climbing aboard!”
“Ugh.” Squashed against Dill by Nue, who had jumped on after him, Sid let out a pitiful moan. The iron steed accelerated. Descending the slope of the crater like an avalanche, they barreled toward the castle walls of Vulcan.