There was a deep anger in his voice. This, Sain realized, was personal. He wasn’t about to back down without a proper answer, though.
“Why?”
Cain drew in a long breath before answering.
“Because Chaos murdered my little sister.”
Then, he told his story.
“As you surely know, there are seven special entities of Chaos known as the Founders. They are, of course, each bound by their own seal... but do you know when the last Founder was sealed? It was about ten years ago, before you became the holy knight. Your predecessor had subdued the last Founder, and he did manage to seal it, but not before a careless mistake allowed it to escape for a time. A minor mishap, you might think, and it only happened once. But once was enough for it to murder my little sister, who just happened to be passing by.”
Sain’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth but no words came. Cain continued, paying little attention to his reaction.
“I asked him. I went to him holding her lifeless body, and I asked him how it had come to this. And what do you think he said?” He let out a short, scornful laugh. “Because he looked away for a second. That was it. My little sister died because he couldn’t be bothered to keep his eyes in one place. It was so absurd. So profoundly stupid that it wasn’t even worth my rage.”
He looked straight at Sain.
“You holy knights hold great power, and that power makes you careless, the price of which is paid not by yourselves, but the ordinary people around you. I refuse to accept this as the way of things. That is why I sought power — the power to kill Chaos on my own.”
All the pieces finally fell into place. Sain now understood where Cain’s extraordinary power came from. He’d been certain that it had been the result of a great deal of blood, sweat, and tears. He just didn’t know the saying had applied to him literally.
“...I see where you’re coming from now. And you make a fair point. Still, it’s no reason to be going it alone— Wait, what’s that?”
His attempt at persuasion was cut short by the sudden presence of Chaos outside the school grounds.
“That... is what you call good timing,” said Cain, a hint of a smile appearing across his lips.
He walked over to the exit, picked up his sword leaning against the wall, and pulled open the door.
“I am not your ally, holy knight, and I have no intention of becoming one,” he spat before leaving the room.
“Huh? Cain?”
His sudden exit startled Emilia, who had been waiting outside.
“I’ll be out for a while. You’re in charge of handling my tasks until I return.”
“W-Wait! Where are you going?!” she asked, a trace of desperation in her voice.
He shot her a look of annoyance and said simply, “It’s none of your business.”
His wintry countenance forced her to swallow the rest of her questions, and she could do little but watch in despondent silence as he walked off. The sight of her made Sain bite his lip.
“Look, uh...” he said, approaching the crestfallen Emilia. “Don’t worry too much. It’s him we’re talking about. He’ll be fine.”
The Chaos he sensed were all Beasts, which occupied the lowest level on their hierarchy of power. While Cain had sustained significant injuries during the field exercises, that could be attributed to the presence of much stronger forms of Chaos. The ones that had shown up this time shouldn’t give him any trouble.
He turned away from Emilia, hoping his reassurance provided some comfort, and made for the building’s exit.
“Goddess,” he said as he ran down the stairs, “is it true that the previous holy knight let a Founder slip, resulting in the death of an innocent?”
“...Yes, it’s true.” Her ghostly form appeared beside him and nodded with a solemn expression. “It tormented your predecessor until the very end. Just a moment’s inattention — it really was just a brief moment — but in the end... it caused the death of someone who never should have died.”
“I see...”
Cain had said it was about ten years ago when his sister was killed. That placed the incident at about a year or so before Sain was given the power of the holy knight. Sain hadn’t been there. He wasn’t the one responsible. But he did inherit the title of the one who was, and that was more than enough reason for him to be the target of Cain’s ire.
“...One step at a time. Let’s solve the problem at hand first,” he muttered as he tapped into the power of his holy mantle.
Melia drifted in and out of sleep as she relived the events of the past few days. Ever since the end of her match with Cain, her mind had been ruminating on all the past memories it kept dredging up. She’d lived her life with few regrets, and she especially treasured the time she’d spent with Sain. It was of immeasurable value to her — value that Cain had refuted in only a few words.
“You and I, we both had our families taken from us by Chaos.”
His words echoed, their impact entirely undiminished. Never had she imagined his story mirrored hers. Both of them had lost their families to Chaos, leading to a deep-seated hatred that hardened their resolve to hone themselves into a lethal weapon of revenge. There was, however, a major difference between them.
“This, you see, is the end of your road — the ultimate consequence of relying on the holy knight. It is the difference between me, who has lived solely for revenge, and you, who have forgotten your vengeance and indulged in the false promise of peace.”
He’d declared that she’d reached the end of her road. In essence, he’d told her that her way of life was in error. And, somehow, she couldn’t manage to say a single word back at him. It wasn’t just because she’d blacked out soon after. Her mind was working now, and she still had no rebuttal. As she pondered the cause, the simplest answer became harder and harder to ignore.
Maybe it’s because he’s right.
She swam back up the stream of memories toward the day when she’d first become the holy knight’s attendant. Why had she done so? What was her original goal?
I remember now... My original goal was to—
“Melia!”
A familiar voice entered her ears as she slowly came to.
“Oh, good, you’re finally awake.”
“...We were worried about you.”
To her side, Alicia and Marni simultaneously breathed out a sigh of relief. She slowly sat up and looked around.
“...Where am I?”
“The infirmary. You, um, passed out during the match against Cain,” explained a hesitant Alicia.
“Ah... I did, didn’t I?”
After her loss, she’d held on to a thin strand of consciousness that was slowly recovering, which brought with it an improving awareness of both her surroundings and the fact that she hurt all over. It felt like the wounds she’d sustained during the match were waking up, as well.
“Hold on, I’ll go get a doctor,” said Marni as she got up.
Just then, a voice rang in Melia’s head.
“Can you hear me?”
It was Sain. He was using the holy knight’s power to telepathically communicate with her from somewhere else.
“Sorry. Emergency situation. Chaos just showed up.”
Melia glanced at Alicia, and the two traded a knowing look. Marni, not privy to the silent announcement, frowned at the sudden change in their expressions.
“...Alicia? What’s wrong?”
“It looks like some Chaos just appeared. I’ll go with Sain to deal with them.”
“...I’ll go too then.”
Alicia nodded and relayed Marni’s intention to Sain.
“Sain, Marni’s coming to help too.”
“Got it.”
Ever since the field exercises, Marni had joined them in hunting down Chaos on many occasions. As an expert in dark magic, her abilities proved extremely useful.
“Maid, you stay there and rest. The three of us will handle it this time—” echoed Sain’s worried voice before Melia quickly cut him off.
“No, I’ll fight too.”
“But you’re not fully recovered yet, are you?”
“Nothing hurts that badly. Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”
“...Fine. But don’t push yourself, okay?”
Their line of mental communication ended. Melia promptly got out of bed and started preparing for battle.
“Sain’s right,” said Alicia. “Don’t go overboard, okay? If things get a little crazy, remember that we’re here too.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be just fine,” answered Melia.
Her lips formed the crescent of a smile, but her eyes remained still.
There were a total of ten Beasts.
As Sain rushed out of the school grounds, he recalled the conversation he’d had with Cain in the student council office. The enemy was after the titan’s staff that was powering the academy’s barrier. That explained the frequency with which they’d been attacking. It was definitely true that Chaos had a noticeable tendency to show up around the school.
“Sain!”
The girls caught up to him when he reached the main gate.
“Alicia! Melia!”
He spoke their names, unleashing their latent attendant powers.
“What’s the plan?” asked Alicia as an aura of light magic emanated from her. “Should we split up?”
“No, the Chaos are moving around in groups this time. They’re to the west and south—”
He paused in the middle of his sentence when he realized the presence of one of the Chaos in the west faded as he spoke. Cain had probably killed one of them.
“We’ll head south.”
Alica, Melia, and Marni nodded at his instructions and ran with him for about a minute before they found their group of Beasts. He immediately pulled his sword from his waist and drove it through the closest one.
“Give me a hand with these!” he shouted.
“On it!”
Alicia caught one approaching from the right with her holy fire, reducing it to ash.
“Great torrent of darkness, drown the land in seas of black — Velle Darku! ”
A Beast charging at him from the left was swallowed by Marni’s dark magic. Another one leapt into the air right in front of him.