I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

Alderson had not actually wanted to add the self-destruct command.

But that was only natural. What kind of creator would want to engrave such a command in their own creation?

“It could be dangerous, Alderson,” someone had advised him—a green-haired man with hair flowing like seaweed.

Asad, the Guardian of Bednicker, the Archmage of Emerald, and a man Alderson held in high regard.

Not just because Asad was a higher-ranking mage or was older, but because of his quality as a mage, his accomplishments in the field of arcane arts, and his contributions to the empire’s peace before working under Bednicker.

“May I ask why?” Alderson had replied.

“Armored cavalry... they are essentially golems. Mechanical lifeforms are dangerous. Unlike humans, they can't make their own judgments, they can only follow orders. That won’t change even if someone else assumes command of them. Have you considered that possibility?”

“That will never happen.”

A strange look crossed Asad's face, a cross of mockery and boredom. “There is no such thing as ‘never’ in this world. That is one of the few things I’ve learned in my long, boring life.”

“Alderson, the decision is yours... but I’ll say it again: At the very least, be prepared.”

Now, Alderson smiled at the thought of Asad’s advice.

“...You were right, Sir Asad.”

All of the armored cavalry in the sky exploded.

Or... they should have.

...

...

Not a single explosion could be heard.

Alderson, who had closed his eyes, unable to watch the annihilation of the Platinum Knights, opened them and looked up at the sky.

“...”

He was speechless.

His composure as an archmage was cracking. Were his discipline any weaker, he would be utterly shocked.

The sight of the Platinum Knight Order, unscathed and unharmed, was enough of a shock.

“Why...?”

Unlike the command to cease all movements, the self-destruct command was much more straightforward in execution. All he had to do was extend mana to the core of the armored cavalry, then press a specific button.

Of course, he was the only one who knew those locations. Each calvary had its button in a different place.

At this moment, a voice close to a scream came from beside him. “They won’t self-destruct!”

“Princess Ferith?”

Headmaster Alderson had, of course, been aware of Ferith’s presence.

He'd overheard a series of conversations between her and Glenn Scarlett.

The conclusion: Ferith was definitely the cause of everything, but she wasn't the enemy right now.

“They won’t self-destruct?” Alderson asked. “What do you mean—”

Ferith was pale. “Oh... I... their self-destruct devices... I removed them all...”

“What?”

“D–Deathberry and I... were pulling apart and analyzing the armored cavalry for fun... and we wondered why they had such a function...” She suddenly collapsed on the spot and broke down crying. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry...”

Alderson had neither the energy nor the time to blame the princess. His vision seemed to darken.

“...This can’t be happening.”

BAAAAAAAANG!

But he didn't have the luxury to be shocked.

Suddenly, a loud collision rang out.

The armored knights had descended again, this time to hit the barrier at close range.

KABANGG...! KAABOOOM...!

The grand magic’s collapse was accelerating.

Alderson realized there was no time to despair. If self-destruction didn't work, only one option remained.

“Cadet Arin!”

“Y-yes!”

“Take the cadets below and leave this building immediately!”

Arin's eyes widened as she hesitated. “But—”

“Just do it!” Headmaster Alderson shouted, cutting her voice short.

Headmaster Alderson... he was the academy's greatest weirdo, but no one had ever seen him truly angry.

He had a nasty personality and questionable tastes, but not one academy student truly disliked him.

They all secretly knew, deep down, just how much this old man loved this place.

“I'm going to temporarily drive out all the dolls in this building! I won’t be able to keep it up for long, so escape as soon as possible!”

But, with a shaky voice, Arin replied, “I... won't go.”

“What?”

Arin didn't answer Alderson but instead walked over to the princess, who was sobbing on the ground.

“Your Highness,” Arin said. She looked the princess straight in her crimson eyes and said, “...I don’t know why Your Highness is here, but looking at you right now, I assume we’re no longer enemies?”

“W-well, that’s true, but...”

“Then please relay the headmaster’s message to the cadets below.”

...Ferith looked at Arin with quivering eyes.

“Please, Your Highness.”

“...What about you?”

At the unexpected question, Arin offered a small smile. “I have something I need to do.”

“...A-all right. Hic.” After a brief pause, Ferith rose to her feet and staggered down the stairs.

Headmaster Alderson, who had been watching this play out, asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Her Highness seemed to feel... guilty. That doesn’t undo her mistakes, but—”

“No, not that. I mean, why aren’t you leaving?”

Arin simply smiled and said, “I am the headmaster’s assistant.”

Alderson lowered his head at the cadet's trembling smile.

He should force her to leave too, but there was neither the time nor opportunity to convince her.

Alderson spoke, his voice solemn. “...Do you remember the construction for Platinum Bastion?”

“Of course.”

“There will be weakened points, areas the cavalry focus their attacks. If you’ve memorized the formula properly, you should be able to repair them, at least temporarily. I’ll entrust the other side to you.”

“Understood...!”

Arin dashed to the side opposite the headmaster.

She nearly tripped over herself from that short sprint, and she finally realized her body was trembling like a leaf.

Ha... hahaha...

She belatedly thought to herself, What the hell have I done?

Do I think doing this will make me look cool or something? How stupid...

In truth, she wanted to run away immediately. She wanted to leave everything to the headmaster, rush downstairs, and escape with the other cadets.

After all, she wasn’t some grand person. She was just an average student attending the academy. Someone like her would not make much of a difference.

So why didn't she? Because of this pesky thing called a conscience?

Or did she really just want to act cool?

...It was actually something a little different.

Somehow, the sight of the headmaster standing alone with his back to her was so lonely it made her heartache.

I must be out of my mind.

Who was she to pity someone else?

And the man in question was the Archmage of Violet, Alderson Maveur.

One thing had become clear, though.

I guess I'm not cut out to be a hero, she thought. She was already regretting her decision far too much.

Still, Arin didn't take her eyes off the magic. Her eyes darted around desperately as she focused all her effort on repairing it. If only she had studied like this in the past, she would have easily taken the top spot in her class.

About thirty seconds passed like this...

Just as she’d expected, she felt like her presence had hardly made a difference.

But that was only natural. This was grand magic cast by an archmage.

What could a mere academy cadet like her possibly do to such magic? It would be a miracle if she just didn’t get in the way.

Still...

Even if it was just for ten seconds.

Even if it was just for five seconds, that would be enough.

No, even just a second more.

If she could push herself to stay and help Alderson, and in doing so, the barrier held up for even a second more...

If that meant even one more cadet could escape safely, then it was a life well spent.

* * * * *

* * * * *

It was difficult to remain calm in the face of death.

Her parents’ faces came to mind, followed by the face of her older brother, whom she usually found annoying.

She also remembered that despite having lived in the capital for all these years, she had never once tried the pastries from the famous De Marlene’s Refreshments.

That was what life was. Once you looked back, everything was full of regrets.

Arin instinctively grabbed the coin in her pocket.

“...”

A dark coin.

What had the boy who’d given it to her said?

“A trump card,” he had called it.

Hope bloomed in her heart.

Maybe, just maybe, this coin would miraculously make this whole situation go away.

Perhaps it contained some amazing grand magic that would wipe out all the armored knights with a massive destructive spell.

Or maybe a portal would open up and Heroes and the empire’s knight orders would appear.

Please...

With trembling hands, Arin pulled out the coin. The featureless, symbolless coin.

Praying over and over again with the coin tightly clasped in her hand, she flicked it into the air.

Ting.

The coin soared into the sky before gravity pulled it back down.

When it landed on the ground, it spun in circles for a few seconds and rolled along the slanted rooftop before falling flat on its side.

[...]

For a moment, the armored cavalry turned their attention to it... but that was all.

As quickly as they’d been distracted, they once again returned to destruction, as if they sensed no threat from the seemingly harmless coin.

And... nothing happened. Nothing Arin had hoped for came to pass.

“Ahahahaha...” An empty, humorless laugh escaped her. She felt like crying.

Deep down, Arin had known: Something like a coin couldn’t solve anything.

Luan, the boy who had been kinder than he looked, had probably given her the coin as some sort of charm.

Because people pushed to their limits needed something—anything—to hold on to.

In fact, Arin had grasped the coin whenever she felt anxious, and somehow, it had always seemed to calm her down a bit.

That had probably been that tiny coin's only purpose.

Because it wasn't a magic item, or a divine artifact, or anything of the sort.

As a student of the magic department, Arin was also knowledgeable about archeology. She had at least an eye for discerning things, and as best she could tell, the coin held no special power whatsoever.

BOOM... BOOM...

A series of deafening explosions rang out.

Arin turned back to see the headmaster still glaring at the armored cavalry despite his injuries.

...Of all people, he had to be stuck with me as his assistant.

If he had someone more capable, at least they would have been helpful, unlike her.

CRAACK.

An extra-loud cracking sound rang through the area.

Arin hastily tried to focus on and repair that part of the barrier, but it was impossible.

CRRRRAAAACCCKKK!

Once that particularly large crack formed, it spread quickly through the entire barrier. It was a chain reaction she had no possible way to stop.

This is the end.

The exact moment that thought flashed through her mind, her mana depleted completely.

SHATTER!

The barrier shattered into pieces.

Headmaster Alderson and Arin's bodies were exposed to the enemy.

She watched as one of the weapons attacking the barrier, an axe, fell toward her in slow motion.

...I hope it doesn't hurt.

Even in her very last moment, Arin was fed up with herself for having such pointless thoughts.

All hope was gone, and she was ready to accept her end—

KWAA-BOOOOM!

Without warning, a dark lightning bolt struck. It seemed to pierce down through the entirety of Building 12, and with it came a deafening boom that left her ears ringing.

The armored cavalry, which had been about to destroy the building completely, froze in place.

The lightning bolt seemed to have cut straight through the building, but strangely, it had not destroyed anything.

[...]

Instead, where the lightning had struck, an unknown figure emerged.

“...”

Arin stared wide-eyed at the figure.

Size-wise, the figure was dwarfed by the armored knights filling the sky, yet the figure exuded an aura similar to theirs.

There was something inorganic about this new being. It felt almost lifeless, as if it too was armor moving of its own will.

[Unidentified enemy detected.]

[Eliminate immediately.]

Did the cavalry sense something unusual as well?

Although Alderson was their top-priority target, they turned their attention away from him to focus on the new foe.

[...]

At last, the face of the one who had arrived with the lightning was revealed.

The figure wore a helmet of a type she had never seen before. It was a strange design that not only protected the head but also covered the entire face.

The newcomer made the first move by stretching their hand toward the armored cavalry.

Whirrr, clank.

Without warning, that hand began to shift, transforming into what looked like the muzzle of a cannon.

Arin watched, transfixed, as particles of light began to gather at the muzzle.

Alderson's breath caught. He noticed that an unimaginable amount of energy was condensing into that single outstretched arm.

Then, after a final second of silence and nobody moving...

Release.

KWWWWAAAAAAANG!

The red glow that had blanketed the Veiled Side for their entire stay... momentarily paled, accompanied by a blast far louder than lightning.

An energy projectile.

That was the only way to describe the attack. It instantly erased dozens of armored knights from the sky without a trace.

“...!”

Arin’s and Alderson's jaws dropped at the sight. They couldn't believe their eyes.

The emotionless armored cavalry, on the other hand, did not react. Instead, their glowing eyes turned a dark red.

[Who are you?]

[Identify yourself.]

They were instantly on high alert.

[...]

At the center of both awe and caution was this being from another dimension... the fourth disciple of the Strongest under the Heavens.

Calmly loading his plasma gun, he replied, [Annihilator.]

____