Maximilien, despite the overwhelming odds against him, burned with an intense fighting spirit. He had no intention of retreating, not even a hint of hesitation. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of disbelief.

What is he, the protagonist of some story? Why is he still fighting with such radiance?

Even after achieving so much, he still strives to go beyond, pushing himself further. I almost wanted to applaud him. If life is like a fire that will eventually go out, Maximilien's will burn everything in his path, leaving nothing but a colorless pile of ash on the ground. In the end, he will become the wind, soaring high. It's fleeting, but what a glorious life it is. Applause, everyone.

But when I remember that his goal is me, my applause turns into an awkward scratch at the back of my head. Watching someone burn brightly is great and all, but if the fire is coming to burn me, I have no choice but to either run or stomp it out.

That's the reason I like Maximilien but have no choice but to kill him. His ambition will consume me, probably turning me into that bizarre entity called the King of Sin.

I reacted immediately.

“We have to fight! Ria, remember the ‘no touch’ rule?”

I wasn’t sure if she would remember something so long ago, but Historia answered swiftly.

“Oh, that rule you forced on me the first time we sparred, trying to rack up points? I remember. Some tall guy made a ridiculous proposal, and I thought I’d humor him. But then, you kept targeting my insides so unfairly. Grr, I was so mad I wanted to kill you back then.”

“I see you remember all the unnecessary details too!”

As Historia laughed, the ground beneath us subtly shifted. Maximilien was using alchemy to turn the surface under our feet into a molten brass swamp. I was just about to jump away when Historia reacted faster.

With a mighty stomp, she channeled her ki through the ground. The force rippled out like an earthquake, denting the steel beneath us and knocking a few gears loose.

Alchemy requires a near-perfect understanding of the object being transformed. If the object changes during the process, the alchemy fails. That’s why using it in combat is so difficult. Historia’s stomp had foiled Maximilien’s transmutation, causing his mana to dissipate.

Without much reaction to her accomplishment, Historia asked casually, "So, do we go with that plan?”

“Not with you, but with him!”

Historia squinted at me.

“…Why would you want to touch an old guy like that?”

“I don’t want to touch him! That’s not the point! I’ve got a trick that’ll disable him if I can make contact!”

“Hehe, I know, I saw earlier.”

It seemed the herb was messing with her brain, making her blurt things out without a filter. We needed to wrap this up before she deteriorated further.

“Got it, Ria? I’ll cover you and create an opening. Please!”

“Hmm, you’re asking nicely… but no payment?”

“Fine, fine, let’s just do this!”

Even in a tense situation, she smirked with her eyes, but at least she wasn’t resisting.

Fortunately, my worries were unnecessary. Historia wasted no time and rushed toward Maximilien, attacking him fiercely.

Clang, clang, clang. The sound of metal clashing with metal echoed as her fists and legs collided with Maximilien’s body. While his arm was made of steel, I had no idea why her limbs were making similar sounds.

Historia’s movements were fluid and powerful, her fists and kicks extending with precise, natural flow. Her ki worked in tandem with her strikes—her foundation ki rooted her body firmly, and her strike ki surged forth with every punch, making her moves faster and sharper than ever.

In contrast, Maximilien's movements were systematic, like the ticking of a clock. When Historia’s fist shot forward, the gears in his joints spun at the perfect speed and angle to block it. His limbs moved unpredictably, redirecting her blows at strange angles, while he waited for an opening to unleash a stored-up counterattack.

Suddenly, his arm disconnected and extended by a meter without warning. His elbow and shoulder joints weren’t conventional—they were made of gears, enabling him to attack in ways impossible to predict unless you could read his thoughts.

‘Just as expected. He’s been building up power.’

But you don’t need mind-reading to see through some tactics. Historia gripped her gun tightly, flipping it in her hand. By holding the barrel, she turned it into an effective hammer. She brought the butt of the gun down on Maximilien’s arm with a resounding clang.

The strongest alchemist in the empire met the strongest ki-user in a clash of raw power. Sparks flew, but the outcome was a draw. Their forces collided and then both were repelled backward, their power too evenly matched.

However, Historia’s gun wasn’t just a hammer—it was a barrel for firing ki blasts. The moment she flipped it back around, her ki ignited, and a blue light flickered in Maximilien’s monocle.

Bang!

His head snapped back nearly ninety degrees as the ki bullet hit him, sending him skidding backward.

But he didn’t fall. Historia, crouching low, observed carefully.

‘A hit... or did he block it?’

His monocle dangled from his face, shattered, and a large bruise bloomed on his cheek. But he was still standing.

That monocle wasn’t just for seeing things—it was an artifact designed to protect him. The moment he sensed the gun barrel’s light, he had positioned his monocle in the path of the bullet.

‘Not enough time to gather enough power. Too bad, I thought I had him.’

Despite her disappointment, it was clear that Historia had the upper hand in close combat. Unable to keep up, Maximilien slid backward, scraping his fingers across the steel beneath him. The sharp screech of metal being sliced echoed as the steel floor peeled back like paper.

Beyond the torn metal surface lay countless gears, tightly packed together. Maximilien reached out toward them.

His hand acted like a magnet. The moment he got close, gears swarmed toward him like bees. The gears latched onto his arm, slipping from my control and spinning into place. One by one, they remembered their positions and reassembled themselves.

In a matter of seconds, Maximilien had a massive, functional mechanical arm. His fist was as large as Historia’s entire torso.

‘Is it just me, or did that arm get even bigger?’

You idiot, it did get bigger.

With a thud, the massive arm swung forward, crashing into Historia. It was several times larger and longer than before, far beyond the size she could deflect with her gun handle. She crossed her arms and leapt back, but still staggered from the immense force.

“Agh…”

As Historia reeled from the blow, I seized the moment, quickly shouting,

“Ria! Move 8!”

Without hesitation, Historia reacted.

Back when I was in school, I had exceptional skills with theory and written work but was terrible in practical combat. Despite my true abilities, the military academy wouldn't pass me unless I met certain standards. So, Historia and I devised a plan to make me look more competent in spars than I really was.

We pre-planned our moves, assigning numbers to them. I’d call a number, and we’d execute it seamlessly, creating the illusion of a high-level spar. Instead of wasting energy second-guessing each other, we put all our effort into moving fluidly together.

Just like now.

Historia pivoted on her left foot, spinning to the right. At the same time, I darted toward her back. We were bound to collide, but at the last second, we twisted our bodies, brushing past each other. In that instant, Historia shoved me with her shoulder and arm, launching me forward.

It was much faster than before, but that didn’t matter. Like it or not, Maximilien’s reliance on gears meant he was always bound to them. Alchemy could change matter, but it still required energy to function, and gears were his only option for movement.

All I needed was a touch. If I could grab hold of his gears, I could turn his unique magic against him, using it to destroy him from the inside.

‘The one to be most cautious of is not Colonel Historia but the Human King. His ability, even a glimpse of it, is illogical.’

I reached out, my fingers just millimeters away from his mechanical arm. One touch, and it was over. I would destroy him irreversibly, for his power was mine to control.

‘He’s going to reverse my power using the gears, and destroy me with my own strength before I can even resist.’

Maximilien knew this all too well. Though he fought Historia, his attention was solely focused on me, watching me through his monocle even as I emerged from behind Historia.

‘In that case, I’ll sever the connection before he can reach me.’

Damn, he’s going to cut me off.

I’ll need a new plan.

With a loud crash, Maximilien detached his prosthetic arm. In his haste, gears scraped and screeched as they fell out of place. Without a second thought, he abandoned the intricate machinery he had painstakingly assembled, rolling across the ground to put distance between us.

A shower of gears fell before me. I immediately called out,

“Move 2!”

Historia swiftly grabbed my cloak, pulling me to a stop mid-air. My feet scrambled against nothing, just narrowly avoiding the collapse of the massive mechanical arm in front of me.

“Gah!”

Maybe colliding would’ve been better—my cloak yanked at my neck, making it hard to breathe.

After coughing a few times, I steadied myself and asked,

“At this rate, we’re headed for a war of attrition. Ria, how much energy do you have left?”

“Hmm, not sure… If I push myself, maybe I can keep going?”

“And if you don’t push yourself?”

“Two more shots.”

Two shots left, huh?

If we were in top shape, drawing this out would be the best move. Maximilien had already cannibalized most of the Steel Beetle’s body to create his giant mechanical arm. And thanks to the traps I’d set earlier, he was running out of gears. Sooner or later, he would run out of resources to fight with.

But we were reaching our limits, too. We had to make a decisive move.

“What about your finisher?”

“If I push myself, I can manage.”

“Barely hanging on… but we’ll have to gamble on it. Alright, this time, I’ll make the opening.”

It wasn’t much of a plan—just brute force and determination. But that’s how it was for animals like us. You either ran away until you dropped, fought until you died, or made a fatal mistake that got you killed.

Not that I wanted to, but I’d fight to protect myself. Reaching into my pocket, I drew a card.