To become a king and a magician

Therefore, the Arthur that appears in Xia Chuanhu's eyes now is undoubtedly fake.

But why?

Why is there a fake Arthur here?

Following behind the fake Arthur, Xia Chuanhu stared intently at the silver-clad figure, his mind in turmoil. He had come for the special ancestor, but hadn't expected to encounter such an unexpected situation here.

"By the way...didn't you notice?"

As they moved forward, Natsukawa Tiger noticed something amiss.

Logically speaking, a blond youth dressed in silver armor walking openly down the street should attract the attention of passersby, whether it be his appearance or his looks.

But along the way, the pedestrians seemed not to see the fake Arthur at all. Instead, Natsukawa Tora attracted the attention of many young girls. A handsome blond boy who looked no more than twenty years old couldn't help but steal glances at the girls who were in their adolescence. Several girls had even mustered up the courage to ask him for his phone number.

"Maybe I should just wear a Mystic Code to conceal my appearance when I go out from now on?"

It was rare for Xia Chuanhu to have such thoughts. It wasn't that he thought being approached by people like this would be troublesome, but the problem was that his family members were quite prone to jealousy, especially the two Root Princesses.

However, compared to such trivial matters, Natsukawa Tora's attention was still focused on the fake Arthur not far away.

Suddenly, as he passed an intersection, for some unknown reason, the fake Arthur suddenly changed from walking normally to running at full speed, completely disregarding that he was in a crowd and running haphazardly through the sea of ​​people!

But strangely, not only did he not bump into anyone and cause a commotion, in Xia Chuanhu's eyes, the fake Arthur simply passed right through those people's bodies without the slightest collision!

(Untouchable... a phantom? Or a spirit? No, if it were a spirit, I couldn't possibly not see it; it must be a phantom...)

He quickened his pace slightly, and as he pondered, Xia Chuanhu began to sense the presence of the fake Arthur.

But in the instant he sensed it—

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

"Well....."

The static, like that that comes from a television screen displaying static, flooded into Xia Chuanhu's mind. His normally clear sensory abilities were now like a jumbled mess of static, as if there was no signal at all.

Is the sensor malfunctioning?

(No, this is interference...and it's not interference targeting me, it's interference targeting the environment? If that's the case—)

Xia Chuanhu quickly looked ahead and caught sight of the last glimpse of the fake Arthur entering the corner. He immediately gave chase. He had originally planned to rely on his senses to slowly catch up and even see if he could intercept him, but now he had no choice but to chase after him immediately to avoid losing him.

Turning at the intersection onto the left-hand street, following closely behind through two alleyways and across the road, before immediately entering the right-hand alley—the fake Arthur acted as if he were extremely familiar with the terrain of Misaki City. During the pursuit, Natsukawa Tiger could clearly feel the surrounding crowd decreasing.

(Were they leading me to a secluded place? They noticed I was following them back then.)

Since that's the case, Xia Chuanhu doesn't need to think about slowing down anymore, since there are almost no people around anyway.

"Bang----!"

With a sprint that brought him to his maximum speed, Natsukawa Tiger, who had been maintaining a relatively fixed distance from the fake Arthur, suddenly appeared in front of him!

As if he hadn't expected Natsukawa Tiger to be so fast, the fake Arthur was clearly surprised. In that instant of surprise, Natsukawa Tiger had already turned around to face him and kicked him directly in the face!

"Boom--!"

Raising his hand to block the kick and stepping back several meters, the fake Arthur shook his hand, a gentle smile familiar to Natsukawa Torato appearing on his face: "You greet me so enthusiastically right from the start, Master. If possible, I would appreciate it if you could use a more normal way."

"Provided that you are indeed the guy I know."

(Even the voices are exactly the same...)

His gaze turned slightly colder as Natsukawa Tora stared at the fake Arthur: "Who are you? Why are you impersonating Arthur?"

"Hmm, that's quite an interesting way of putting it. Do you think I'm impersonating that person?"

The fake Arthur smiled meaningfully: "Well, although the order is different, aside from that, our perception of my current situation should be the same. This time, I'll relax the standards a little."

"Judging from your reaction, the person I'm portraying must be someone very important to you. However, I didn't intentionally pretend to be like this; it just happened naturally."

"Just as formless water takes the shape of a container when poured into it, I have become this way largely because of coming to this city—"

Before the fake Arthur could finish speaking, Xia Chuanhu had already swiftly arrived in front of him and punched him directly in the head!

Dodging the punch at a dangerous angle, the fake Arthur patted his chest: "That was dangerous. Interrupting someone is quite rude, Master."

"Shut up." Xia Chuanhu responded in a cold voice. "You're making me a little uncomfortable. If possible, could you please change your disguise? If you continue to look like that guy, I'll be quite unhappy."

"Oh~~~~ I see, I see. So it seems I'm the one who needs to apologize. I'm truly sorry for unintentionally offending you—but I think it's also a kind of good fortune for you, isn't it?"

The fake Arthur, seemingly completely immersed in his role, spoke gently to him with the smile Natsukawa Torama knew so well: "To be able to see you again in this way, I think it's quite fortunate, [Master]—"

"Sizzle—!"

A massive wind blade sliced ​​through the ground next to the fake Arthur in an instant. Accompanied by the rumbling sound of a tram, a strong whirlwind began to surge around Natsukawa Tiger, who was standing in the underpass beneath the tram tracks.

"You really know how to make people angry, you imposter. Stop with your terrible imitations. Can you please stop tarnishing his image? That guy is my precious friend. If you say another word in his appearance and voice, I'll have to be rough with you."

"That's terrifying..."

Looking at the cracks at his feet, the fake Arthur smiled slightly: "Then—"

"Boom—!"

One word, absolutely only one word. The moment this word came out of the fake Arthur's mouth, the whirlwind swirling around Xia Chuanhu poured out, and the violent vortex of wind directly engulfed and swallowed up the fake Arthur's body!

"I already said, you're not allowed to say another word—"

"Hey!"

A sudden burst of golden light in the wind brought Natsukawa Tora's voice to an abrupt halt.

Wielding his sword to cleave through the storm, the fake Arthur smiled at Natsukawa Torato and said, "It seems that some special methods are needed to calm you down, Master—please forgive my rudeness, Master."

"asshole."

48. Traveling through time to come to your side

"Haa~~~Haa~~~Haa~~~"

In the alleys of Misaki City, Ayaka Sajou is running away in a disheveled state.

Behind her, Ayaka Sajou, floating in mid-air with her feet off the ground, was chasing after her at a leisurely pace. Several spherical magic spells floating around her would occasionally shoot out beams of light, forcing Ayaka Sajou to dodge in a disheveled manner.

"You can't keep running away, Ayaka."

As if she were educating her younger sister, Aika Sajou said with a light smile, "After all these years, you still haven't become a magician who can stand on your own? It was definitely a mistake to let you go from Tokyo. You still need me to protect you."

(Then please don't use magic to attack me, sister!)

Ayaka Sajou internally refuted this, but in reality, she was quite fast. Thanks to her two years of working for the Jewel King, she had become accustomed to fighting. Although her combat strength couldn't be said to be very high, it was more than enough to protect herself.

Dodging the barrage of magical beams with agility, Ayaka Sajou seized an opportunity to hide in a nearby corner. She crouched down, quickly catching her breath: "Huff... huff... really, what on earth happened? Why is my sister...?"

Her older sister, Sajou Aika, must have passed away six years ago.

Back then, her older sister did many incredible things in order to create a world where she could be happy, which almost caused the world to be destroyed. Fortunately, with the help of many people, Ayaka Sajou was able to stop her sister.

Since then, she has never seen Ayaka Sajou again. Although Natsukawa Tora said that she might still be alive, so many years have passed that Ayaka Sajou has given up on the idea of ​​seeing her sister again.

I never expected to see her again in Misaki City.

But this older sister is clearly acting very strangely!

(She doesn't feel like my real older sister, but rather closer to... her state at the very beginning.)

If that were the case, Ayaka Sajou wouldn't be able to defeat her on her own, which is why she's been on the run ever since.

Mingming wanted to prove that she could become an independent individual without her sister's help, but six years later, she still couldn't do anything in front of her sister.

(Wow, that's really amazing, sister.)

Ayaka Sajou didn't feel any sense of loss or inferiority; she had experienced those emotions countless times since childhood. Her older sister was a true genius—a fact that became even clearer to Ayaka after entering the Clock Tower and learning more about the world of magic.

There has only ever been one person like Aika Sajou throughout history.

Therefore, Ayaka Sajou does not believe that she can reach the same level as her sister. All she can do is try her best to get closer to her, at least to be able to see her back.

Of course, he wasn't just Ayaka Sajou's target; he was also Ayaka Sajou's target.

After two years, she finally gets to see him again. If she can't see him again because her sister has taken his place, Ayaka Sajou absolutely cannot accept it.

(So... sister, let me show you how much I've grown in the past six years.)

It wasn't just to see him, but also to prove to her deceased sister that she was no longer someone who needed her protection.

Slowly approaching the corner where Ayaka Sajou was, Aika Sajou said with a grin, "Ayaka, stop playing hide-and-seek with me. Come out obediently, and I'll protect you, just like before."

"I absolutely don't want that!"

Standing up from the corner, Ayaka Sajou firmly rejected Ayaka Sajou's proposal: "Sister, I'm no longer the little sister who needs your protection... I don't need your protection now."

"Oh dear, what are you talking about, Ayaka?" Ayaka Sajou smiled and frowned. "Are you trying to rebel against me? You can't disobey me, you know."

"I started disobeying my sister a long time ago, and now, in a way, I'm a bad kid."

The air in the alley suddenly began to move abnormally; the night breeze, which had been blowing gently, quietly became stronger.

Sajō Aika looked at her younger sister with a meaningful expression: "Elemental magic, Ayaka, you've learned this magic... Alright, then let me see what you look like after you've made the changes."

————————————————————————————————————

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

On a deserted riverbank, a fierce dance of swords is unfolding.

Continuously wielding the holy sword, the fake Arthur, disguised as Arthur, launched a fierce attack on Xia Chuanhu. The blade swiftly slashed at every vital point on Xia Chuanhu's body, and layers of sword light and shadow assaulted him.

Faced with this fierce attack, Xia Chuanhu remained calm and composed, blocking each strike with his steel sword with such precision that it seemed he knew exactly where the fake Arthur would strike.

"I don't understand."

After being blocked by Natsukawa Tiger once again, the fake Arthur suddenly stopped, took a few steps back, and looked at Natsukawa Tiger with a puzzled expression: "How can you do such a thing? According to the environmental information I have captured, you should not have any ability similar to foreseeing the future, and the weapon in my hand is the Star Holy Sword. Even if it is just a fake, it is not an attack that you can block so easily."

What did you do?

I can't understand why this person can fight against the shell they're wearing.

Xia Chuanhu's face was cold: "I didn't give you a reason, and you have no right to know. Compared to that, is this all you've got in the end? You can't do anything but swing your sword at me?"

"That sword in your hand isn't meant to be used like that."

With a slight increase in pressure, the steel sword's outer shell gradually crumbled, revealing its golden blade beneath the falling fragments.

It was the same as the Holy Sword in the fake Arthur's hand, but it was clearly a more realistic Holy Sword.