Chapter 256: The Brave One
“Because when people face death head-on, they often reveal their truest inner selves.”
A voice rang out from behind the commodore.
Due to the extremely close distance, the pure tone with almost no distortion directly brushed past this commodore’s ear, actually causing him to involuntarily daze for a moment.
Sacred, ethereal, warm… like the first ray of warm sunlight at the transition from late winter to early spring, a mere ordinary declarative sentence made one feel as if they were in an elven hymn of praise.
“—!”
His pupils suddenly contracted!
A moment later, that commodore broke free from the daze, then abruptly turned his head back before fear could catch up to him.
Although he was much taller than the other party, since he was paddling in the water while the other was standing on the sea surface, he needed to slightly look up to clearly see the face opposite him.
“You, you…”
What first entered his eyes was a touch of gold… golden hair, golden hair ornaments, even the eyelashes were golden, emanating a brilliant luster under the sunlight.
Further down, making eye contact with those gem-like crimson pupils, the commodore finally truly saw the appearance of this person whom he regarded as the source of fear.
Dignified and graceful? Overthrow Nations and Cities?
…Neither is accurate.
This was a countenance very difficult to describe with a precise phrase; perhaps compared to those ornate words, using the simple and most direct “beautiful” was the most fitting.
『Why?』
『Why am I enemies with such a person?』
『Are we, standing in opposition to such a person, really correct?』
For some reason, an extremely absurd thought arose in his heart; realizing what he was thinking, the commodore quickly shook his head, forcing himself back to a rational state.
Splash~
His arm swept across the sea surface, drawing the saber at his waist; since the hilt was completely soaked in seawater, the grip felt somewhat slippery.
But this had no effect on him, after all, he actually wasn’t skilled in swordsmanship; drawing the blade was just to declare his stance while drawing the attention onto himself.
“I’ll handle her—you two escape quickly!”
“Hurry!”
As he spoke, this commodore bit his tongue tip hard, using the intense pain to suppress the bodily instinct to abandon the two and flee alone.
“Officer!”*2
“Go! That’s an order!”
“Don’t be wishy-washy at a time like this!”
“…”
“Yes!”
This time the response was only one voice—that soldier who wanted to retire finally saluted, then swam straight toward the distance without looking back.
As for the remaining somewhat flippant and carefree soldier, he continued dog paddling a couple more times, arriving at the commodore’s side.
“You—”
“Eh eh eh~ Officer, you already knew.”
The soldier directly interrupted the officer’s words.
“I don’t have any parents or family to care for.”
“I’m just a single bachelor; one person eats their fill, the whole family isn’t hungry.”
“…”
The commodore officer fell silent, staring at the other’s flippant and punchable face for a moment, then laughed and cursed in relief:
“Tch~ You brat!”
“How many times have I told you, soldiers need to act like soldiers!”
“Don’t be so sloppy all day, spouting ‘I, I’ all the time!”
“So uncivilized!”
“Aiya~ Even at a time like this, officer, don’t be so strict~”
Combing a rebellious little braid to the back of his head with the seawater, the carefree soldier said in an indifferent tone, seemingly completely unconcerned that death was right before him.
“Hmph! What do you mean ‘a time like this’?”
“You disaster and I haven’t died yet, we might not fold here today!”
“Hm? Could it be~ this beautiful and kind-hearted little sister will show mercy and let us live?”
As he spoke, this flippant soldier turned his head, half-jokingly and half-hopefully addressing Ra who was quietly standing on the sea surface:
“If that’s really the case, I’d be hopelessly enamored with you, miss~”
“…”
“Truly interesting, people.”
Although strictly speaking they were still in battle, Ra still quietly watched this play performed by three ordinary people in one corner of the battlefield.
“One who clearly doesn’t fear death but chooses to escape due to concerns in his heart; another who is terrified to the extreme in his heart but still chooses to stay…”
“And you have no concerns and aren’t particularly afraid of death—why did you also choose to stay?”
“Because I want to stay.”
The carefree soldier said indifferently.
“Because you want to stay…”
“Yeah~ Not asking right or wrong, just doing what you want—isn’t that cool?”
“Mm.”
Ra surprisingly nodded in agreement.
“As expected, though not everyone has gem-level luster, even ordinary pebbles have their own unique patterns.”
“People, truly interesting.”
“So, can you let us interesting people off? I’ll remember your kindness for life~”
Seeming to think there was a chance, this bold soldier tried to continue showing his ‘interesting’ side, but Ra’s answer was very straightforward.
“No.”
“Eh~ Why~”
“Because all of you will die here today.”
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t even an answer; Ra spoke as if stating something irrelevant.
“Mo~ Can’t make an exception—”
“Are you waiting for that admiral rushing over behind me?”
“?!”
“Ah~ Ah~~ Busted~”
Though he said that, the carefree soldier’s face showed no particular panic or regret, after all…
“That’s enough already!”
Buzz——~
Sengoku’s voice abruptly rang out from behind Ra, golden light descending once more from above Ra’s head.
“You’ve done well, young soldier.”
“These brave few seconds you traded your life for will bring a sliver of turning point to the battle, no matter the outcome!”
With that, the golden great Buddha’s right palm swept in a half-circle high above its head, then slammed down fiercely!
“Adamantine Sky-Rending Palm!”
The fierce palm force, empowered by the Buddha Light, had power enough to split mountains and crack earth.
Splash!!!
The seawater below was instantly pushed aside in all directions under the palm wind’s pressure, forming a massive hemispherical vacuum zone.
And that carefree navy soldier and commodore, even the other soldier who had swum a good distance away, were all engulfed by the massive waves raised by the impact and sank to the seabed, their whereabouts unknown.
…
“Speaking of which, we’ve been out long enough this time.”
“I promised to bring everyone back before dinner.”
Under Sengoku’s extremely unsightly expression, Ra’s voice transmitted from under that massive golden Buddha Hand.
“What do you mean saying that now, you… monster!”
Gathering all the power in his body into his right palm, the golden palm heart erupted once more with terrifying pressure… but even so, it still couldn’t press down even a millimeter further.
A similarly golden hand adorned with fantastical flame patterns effortlessly blocked this sea-parting palm from afar.
Though it appeared excessively slender in comparison, Ra’s arm showed not the slightest tremor from start to finish.
“What I mean is…”
“Though it was an accident, since I’ve already seen an interesting performance, my interest has been satisfied.”
Just like stumbling upon three groundhogs fighting during an after-dinner stroll and stopping to watch with interest for a while.
Now the three groundhogs have all left the stage…
“Then… this boring war’s foolish play should also come to an end.”
