Reborn As Noble

Chapter 451: Protests and Powerplays ( 451 )

Growl~

Javierʼs stomach gave a loud, undignified protest.

He paused, blinked, and looked mildly offended by his own body.

He turned toward the two girls still flanking him like persistent NPCs in an escort quest he didnʼt accept.

”You two, go away. Iʼm doing this mission alone.”

Mimi blinked, and Delya narrowed her eyes.

Javier crossed his arms, visibly cranky now.

”Besides, what can you two even do anyway?”

Delyaʼs smile vanished.

”…What did you just say?”

Javier glanced at her casually.

”The mission is to clear corrupted areas filled with dark mana.” He gestured vaguely in her direction. ”Your entire element is dark mana. How do you expect to fight corruption… with more corruption?”

Delyaʼs eye twitched.

”You think I canʼt purify corrupted darkness with sovereign-class control?”

”Can you?” Javier asked flatly.

”…Yes.” Her voice was cold and tight.

Then he turned to Mimi.

”And you. Catgirl.”

”N-Nya! C-Catgirl?!” She puffed up, her tail standing on end.

”What can you do? Kick things really hard? Annoy them into retreating?”

”I—wha—h-hey! I do way more than that!!” she stomped her foot. ”I have lightning spells.”

Javier looked unbothered.

”Iʼm still not impressed.”

Mimi gasped, clutching her chest.

”Y-Youʼre so mean!!”

Delya cracked her knuckles slowly, her shadow stretching unnaturally behind her despite the morning sun.

”You want proof of capability?” she said, her voice calm—but dangerously so.

Mimiʼs eyes sparked with electricity. Literally. Her hair lifted with static.

”You wanna see how far this catgirl can kick?”

The air crackled.

Delya stepped back, letting Mimi take the first swing while her own mana coiled in the shadows like a serpent.

Mimiʼs ears twitched, and her tail whipped behind her.

”Nyaaaaa—!!”

With a burst of speed, Mimi charged forward, her mana flaring with raw elemental force. She blurred—faster than most would expect from someone whoʼd been napping just fifteen minutes ago.

She jumped, twisting mid-air, and aimed a powerful spinning kick right at Javierʼs head.

”Pika cat dropkick!”

Javier sidestepped casually, coat fluttering in the breeze.

”…Too obvious.”

But the moment her leg missed, the real attack came.

A spike of earth erupted from beneath him, perfectly timed with his dodge.

His eyes narrowed as he pushed off the ground, flipping backward in midair. The spike grazed the edge of his coat.

He landed softly, his expression slightly more alert.

Mimi landed and raised her palm, her sleepy demeanor replaced by sharp focus.

”Still judging me, mister solo mission?”

Above her, ten lightning spheres formed in a perfect orbit, spinning like hungry little stars of destruction.

”Lightning Starfall!”

The spheres shot forward in a wave, converging in randomized patterns to make dodging tricky.

Javier narrowed his eyes.

His body moved before he thought. A smooth dash to the left, a side roll, and a lazy lean backward—one, two, three bolts missed by inches.

In his mind:

”Too slow. Lianaʼs wind magic is more powerful. Gloriaʼs hammer shockwaves cover more area.”

Another ball streaked past his ear, and he ducked beneath the last two, landing in a low crouch.

He glanced up at Mimi.

”…You done?”

Mimiʼs eye twitched.

Meanwhile, Delya smiled from a distance, her mana pulsing like a heartbeat—dark but controlled, wrapping around her like a protective veil.

”Oh no. Donʼt mind me,” she said coolly. ”Iʼm just waiting for my turn.”

Delya lifted one hand, her pale fingers glowing with deep violet mana.

”Shadow Bind.”

Dark tendrils erupted from beneath Javierʼs feet—twisting up like roots of pure night, wrapping around his ankles and wrists with precise, inescapable pressure.

The ground cracked where the shadows anchored, latching onto him like a cursed chain.

Javier glanced down at his arms, now caught in writhing black energy.

”…Sigh.”

He looked up just in time to see Delya stepping forward with serene, noble grace, now wielding a giant obsidian scythe—taller than she was, engraved with demonic glyphs and pulsing with layered mana circles.

Her voice was calm, regal.

”You underestimate me.”

She spun the scythe once, and the very air warped around its blade.

”Try handling this.”

With a single motion, she launched a triple-layered magical assault:

A dark crescent slash—

Soul Needle Bolts—

And a delayed explosive sigil trap appeared behind Javier, timed to detonate if he tried to retreat.

All lethal.

The guards watching from afar held their breath. Mimiʼs ears perked in interest. Even Buddy tilted his head.

But Javier?

He simply walked.

With a step forward, the shadow bind broke apart like wet paper, crumbling at his ankles as if it had never been there.

”...Cute,” he muttered.

He took another step. And another.

The dark crescent slash? He shifted his shoulder slightly—it missed by an inch.

The soul needles? They swerved past him as if theyʼd lost their lock.

And the sigil trap? He simply stepped over it, not even glancing back.

He just kept walking, unhurried, hands in his pockets, toward Delya.

”Youʼre strong,” Javier said calmly, ”but your casting timing is just a little off. Your needle spells hesitate by a half-second. And that sigil... you aimed it for panic movement. You assumed Iʼd flinch.”

Delya stared.

Delya and Mimi stood side by side now, their earlier frustration replaced by identical smirks.

Calm. Confident. Dangerous.

They didnʼt say a word.

The ground behind Mimi shimmered—fifty translucent spirit fighters appeared in formation around her, each shaped like a different beast-kin warrior, glowing with a battle-ready aura.

They roared silently and charged as one, feet pounding the earth, weapons gleaming with mimic mana.

Simultaneously, Delyaʼs shadow flared beneath her feet.

”Shadow Pact: Wolf Pack—Awaken.”

From her elongated shadow, a swarm of dark, wolf-like forms burst forth, sleek and fast, eyes glowing violet as they sprinted alongside the spirits. Ethereal but deadly, these werenʼt monsters—they were magic given shape and command.

The combined attack streaked toward Javier from both flanks, claws, fangs, and blades set to crash into him like a tidal wave of chaos.

The guards gasped.

But Javier didnʼt move.

Hands behind his back. Head tilted slightly in boredom.

”Haaah… Even Marcellus summons better than this,” he sighed.

Clang!

Suddenly, with a deafening metallic stomp, the earth around Javier lit up with formation runes.

And then—they arrived.

One hundred adamantite puppet knights dropped down from the air like falling stars.

Fully armed. Fully armored. Eyes glowing blue-white with binding mana.

They hit the ground in perfect formation, surrounding Javier in a shifting dome.

Shields locked. Swords raised. Every attack from Mimiʼs spirit fighters and Delyaʼs wolves collided with the adamantite wall—and stopped cold.

Metal met magic. The force rattled the air.

Then silence.

The dust cleared.

Javier stood inside the puppet formation like a true noble lord, hands still behind his back, not a single hair out of place.

He finally looked up, his expression unimpressed.

”…Next?”

( End Of Chapter )