With the negotiations complete, Aaron handed Leone over to Kiana and immediately took out his backup motorcycle.
[Yamaha YZF-R1]. It was one of his spare bikes. While not as fast as the [Kawasaki H2], it could still hit 300 km/h.
Of course, having exhausted all his strength, Aaron no longer had the energy to use the Knight of Owner buff to turn this bike into a D-rank Noble Phantasm. But just its speed alone was enough to escape the battlefield.
"Aaron, you... you were just bluffing them, weren't you?"
Kiana, who had just given Leone another chop to the back of the neck, looked at Aaron starting the bike and asked uncertainly.
"I just felt like there was something... strange... about your reasoning."
"Hey, I told the truth. How can you say I was bluffing?"
Signaling for Kiana to get on the bike with Leone, Aaron started the motorcycle and began accelerating toward its top speed.
"I just didn't... analyze the *entire* situation for them."
"...Isn't that just bluffing?!"
"No, no, no. I spoke the truth. I didn't use any misleading language. How is that a bluff?"
Feeling the bike pick up speed, Aaron said with a laugh.
"I just forgot to mention one thing—we... retreat faster."
"If Esdeath really is on her way, even if she's faster than us and *can* catch up, she'll definitely kill the people who are slower than us first."
"The reason I didn't keep fighting, besides Esdeath coming, was that I considered something else—we need some decent scapegoats."
"If Esdeath catches up and sees members of Night Raid, she'll attack them first. That's just her personality."
"And even if those three from Night Raid want to retreat, it'll depend on whether Esdeath lets them."
"You've heard the joke, right? I don't have to outrun the tiger. I just have to outrun *you*."
"...Wow. Your heart is so devious."
"Depends on who I'm dealing with."
Aaron scoffed, not looking back.
"They ambushed us twice. Am I supposed to risk getting you hunted by the Empire's strongest Teigu user just to repay their evil with kindness?"
"...Good point."
Hearing Aaron's words, Kiana didn't say anything more on the matter.
She knew Aaron's words were from the heart.
From the previous battle with the Three Beasts, she knew Aaron was genuinely thinking about her safety.
Even if Aaron's methods sometimes made her uncomfortable, Kiana didn't think it was his fault.
Except for the Three Beasts this time, the enemy had always struck first in their other fights.
It really wasn't easy for Aaron to think about how to defeat the enemy while also ensuring his own safety.
And more importantly—he'd basically succeeded every time.
The first time in the Imperial Capital, she'd felt some pain, but compared to Aaron gushing blood, her pain was basically nothing.
The second time in the suburbs, Aaron had risked ramming the enemy with the motorcycle, and then he'd gushed blood again.
The third time, the next day, they ran into Night Raid's "Green-Haired Turtle" and "Armor Guy." Aaron took on the stronger opponent, used all his strength to defeat the tough enemy, and then, after exhausting his power, forcibly used his Teigu to scare off the Green-Haired Turtle.
And then he gushed blood again.
This time, facing the Three Beasts and those two from Night Raid, Aaron had once again taken the greater risk.
Thank goodness. He finally didn't gush blood this time.
From these battles, even an idiot could see that Aaron always rushed to the front line, intercepting the toughest enemies for her.
She wasn't afraid of fighting, but after so many battles, Kiana no longer thought she could easily defeat every enemy like she used to.
When someone was constantly protecting you with their life, who would care about those little things?
"Wait, what is THIS?????"
Kiana, who had been reminiscing, froze when she saw the dark red liquid seeping through Aaron's cloak.
"How are you—*again*—"
"Couldn't be helped. That woman's ranged Teigu increases its power based on the danger the user is in."
Gritting his teeth against the intense pain, Aaron said.
"Before she fired that shot, I had already thrown the javelin. So for the gun Teigu user at that moment, she was clearly in immense danger..."
"Even though [Demon Armor: Incursio] blocked some of the damage, the rest was still... Anyway, I'll find a place to stop. After that..."
"It's up to you..."
Before his consciousness faded, Aaron managed a difficult emergency brake and collapsed to the ground.
Before he fell into darkness, he thought he heard a voice.
But right now, he had no energy left to care about the details.