After an entire night of Andrea Rhodea’s “trial by fire” training, Cain’s dancing had only improved from “painful to watch” to “able to finish one full routine.” Andrea, however, seemed to have an extraordinary amount of faith in him, and still insisted on making him the centerpiece of tonight’s finale.
What drove Cain even further into despair was the costume Andrea had prepared for him.
It was an exquisitely designed white knight’s formal suit, tailored close to the body, with silver pauldrons and a belt that gleamed beneath the lights, perfectly outlining his tall, lean, powerful frame.
But that was not the main issue.
The main issue was that the back of the suit was decorated with a pair of enormous, magnificent wings made from azure feathers.
With the matching silver half-mask covering the upper half of his face, only his sharply defined jaw and his clear, resolute blue eyes were visible beneath the stage lights.
“What do you think, my dear Azure Knight?” Andrea circled Cain after he had changed, letting out a deeply satisfied sigh of admiration.
“Perfect!
You are practically a work of art!
That upright, powerful, faintly melancholy aura of yours is a match made in heaven with this costume!” Cain stared at his absurd reflection in the mirror and felt as though his entire worldview was being rewritten.
He had lived through countless life-or-death battles, but never once had he imagined that one day he would appear before others looking like this.
He even felt that facing down Shinra’s entire army in this outfit would be easier than going onstage to dance in it.
“Does it have to be like this?” he asked, making one final attempt to resist.
“Of course!” Andrea said, leaving no room for argument.
“Art demands it!” When Cain forced himself out of the dressing room, Tifa and Aerith, who were also preparing, both froze at the sight of him.
Tifa’s outfit tonight was a fiery red Latin dance dress, passionate and blazing, showing off her beautiful figure to its fullest.
Aerith had chosen a pink princess dress, sweet and adorable, like a fairy who had stepped out of a storybook.
Their beauty came in two completely different styles.
But right now, both of them were staring at the “Azure Knight” before them.
“Wow…” Aerith was the first to exclaim.
She walked around Cain once, stars practically shining in her eyes.
“Cain, you look…
really handsome!
Seriously!
A hundred times more handsome than when you’re wearing your jacket!” “It…
it does look good,” Tifa added softly, her cheeks red.
She had to admit that, setting aside those exaggerated wings, once Cain put on the formal suit and mask, the guardian-like aura he seemed born with was magnified to the extreme, creating a heart-racing kind of appeal.
He looked like a silent, powerful paladin who had walked straight out of a heroic epic.
After receiving the two girls’ approval, Cain’s mood improved a tiny bit, though he still felt uncomfortable all over.
“All right, everyone!
Get ready to go onstage!” Andrea clapped his hands and gave his final speech.
“Remember, tonight, we are not here to please anyone.
We are here to show true beauty!
Let that bumpkin Don Corneo see what top-class art really is!” The stage at the Honeybee Inn was the most dazzling place in all of Wall Market.
When the enormous curtain slowly rose and the brilliant lights came on, thunderous applause and whistles erupted from below.
The audience was filled with the influential figures of Wall Market, and in the VIP seat at the center, a fat man dressed in vulgar clothes, holding two women in his arms, was staring impatiently at the stage.
He was the underworld king of this place, Don Corneo.
The performance began.
To the sound of stirring music, the Honeybee girls were the first to appear.
Their dancing was passionate and professional, instantly igniting the atmosphere of the entire venue.
Immediately afterward, Tifa and Aerith went onstage one after the other.
Tifa’s dance was filled with strength and passion, every movement precise and powerful, like a blazing flame.
Aerith’s dance was light and lively, her smile wonderfully infectious, like a breeze sweeping across a spring meadow.
Their performances won a storm of applause, and even Don Corneo’s eyes lit up as a greedy smile appeared on his face.
“Not bad, not bad!
That Andrea always manages to find some top-quality goods!” he said to the lackey beside him.
Finally, it was time for the finale.
The stage lights dimmed, leaving only a single spotlight shining at the center of the stage.
Amid elegant symphonic music with a faintly epic quality, Cain, the “Azure Knight,” slowly rose from the lift.
The moment he appeared, the entire venue fell silent.
Everyone was drawn in by his unique presence.
That magnificent and sacred outfit, the silver mask that concealed his expression, and those blue eyes that seemed to contain endless resolve all gave him an indescribably solemn charm.
The tempo of the music began to quicken, and Cain began his dance.
His movements still could not exactly be called professional or polished.
But after Andrea’s “trial by fire,” he was no longer that stiff block of wood.
He poured all of his emotions into the dance, his determination to protect, his fearlessness in the face of powerful enemies, and his hope for the future.
Every turn carried the resolve to cut through thorns.
Every leap seemed to break free from the shackles of darkness.
Every time he spread his arms, it was as if he were raising a sky above the people he wanted to protect.
This was no longer dancing.
This was clearly a hymn to a guardian, performed with his body.
The audience stared in a daze.
They might not understand the complicated techniques of dance, but they could feel that powerful, pure will striking straight into their hearts.
Aerith and Tifa stood at the side of the stage, also staring at him in a trance.
They had never seen Cain like this before.
The man who was always quiet, who always used actions instead of words, was now declaring his resolve to the world in a way they had never imagined.
Tifa’s heart began to beat faster without her noticing.
She seemed to see once again the boy beside the water tower, stubbornly telling her, “I’m going to become a hero who can protect you.” The man before her had suffered countless hardships and become powerful and silent, but deep in his heart, that vow to protect had never changed.
Instead, it had only become even firmer.
Aerith smiled, a faint glimmer of tears rising in her eyes.
In Cain’s dance, she saw a familiar shadow.
It was Zack’s shadow, that sun-like radiance of someone willing to burn away everything to protect the people he loved.
But Cain’s dance also had something that belonged to him alone, a steadiness and resolve as firm as bedrock.
The music reached its climax, and Cain made his final move.
He spread that enormous pair of azure wings, slowly dropped to one knee at the center of the stage, placed one hand over his chest, and performed a perfect knight’s salute, his head held high as his determined gaze looked into the distance.
The entire venue was deathly silent.
A few seconds later, applause erupted like thunder and continued without end.
Even Don Corneo, who had acted bored the entire time, stood up and clapped hard.
His tiny eyes shone with a light no one had ever seen before, and he kept muttering, “Talent!
That’s absolute talent!
I want him!
I have to have him!” After the performance ended, the three of them returned backstage.
“I…
I did it…” Andrea was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
He rushed over and gave Cain a huge hug.
“Cain!
You are my muse!
My god of inspiration!
You perfectly embodied the beauty of protection!” Cain went rigid in his arms and had to struggle for quite some time before finally pushing him away.
He removed the mask and let out a long breath, feeling as if he had just won a battle on the level of the Hell House.
“Can we leave now?” he asked.
“Of course, of course!” Andrea wiped away his tears and returned to his usual self.
“Don Corneo has been completely captivated by the three of you.
He has already sent word inviting all three of you to his estate tonight to attend his ‘bride audition.’ These are your passes.” He handed them three badges engraved with the Corneo family crest.
“Bride audition?” Cain frowned.
“Isn’t that only for women?” “That’s right.” Andrea gave him a meaningful, foxlike smile that was every bit a match for Aerith’s.
“So in order to sneak in smoothly, we need to make one more tiny little adjustment to your identities.” He clapped his hands, and several Honeybee girls pushed in two clothing racks.
One rack held a luxurious and elegant red evening gown, while the other held a daringly cut blue fitted dress.
“These two are for Miss Tifa and Miss Aerith,” Andrea explained.
“Once you put them on, you’ll be more than enough to make Don Corneo lose his mind.” Tifa and Aerith looked at the two beautiful dresses and nodded.
“What about me?” Cain asked, pointing at himself.
“As for you…” Andrea’s smile grew even brighter.
He snapped his fingers, and the final clothing rack was pushed out.
When Cain, Tifa, and Aerith clearly saw what was hanging from that rack, all three of them turned to stone.
It was a beautifully made, lace-covered, bow-adorned, extravagantly gorgeous…
pink princess gown.
“Are you kidding me?” Cain’s voice carried a dangerous edge.
“This is no joke, my dear Cain,” Andrea said solemnly.
“Don Corneo may be a lecher, but he is extremely wary.
His estate is heavily guarded.
For a man to get inside is almost impossible.
But a ‘woman,’ especially a ‘beauty’ who can catch his eye, is another matter entirely.” He looked Cain up and down.
“Your frame is a little large, but your body proportions are practically perfect.
As long as you put on this dress, along with the right wig and makeup, I guarantee you will become the most stunning ‘bride candidate’ of the night!
No one will suspect your gender!” “I…
am…
not…
wearing that!” Cain nearly forced the words out through clenched teeth.
His limits had already been trampled over and over tonight, and this dress was undoubtedly the final straw.
“Cain,” Aerith said, barely holding back her laughter as she walked over to his side and tried to persuade him with a perfectly serious expression.
“Think about it.
This is the best disguise.
Who would ever imagine that the man who defeated the Hell House in the colosseum, and the Azure Knight who stunned the entire stage, would be the same…
beautiful young lady in a princess dress?
The most dangerous disguise is the safest disguise!
For the sake of protecting us two helpless girls, make this little sacrifice, Mr.
Guardian.” “For everyone, and to rescue Barret’s friends…
please,” Tifa said softly, her face flushed.
She also thought this idea was far too insane, but she had to admit that this really was the only way to get Cain into the estate right now.
Cain looked at the two girls in front of him, one barely suppressing laughter and the other blushing, yet both of their gazes unusually “sincere.” Then he looked at the princess gown that made his scalp tingle.
In the end, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh heavier than the one he had made when facing the Hell House.
He knew he no longer had a choice.
Because this was part of the mission.
And because he could not refuse either of their requests.
Sometimes, a guardian not only had to face enemies.
He also had to face…
the “requests” of his teammates.
He also receives an Affinity Codex, a system that grants rewards whenever he unlocks character profiles and raises their affection.
Kotone protects key characters, pulls figures like Kobeni, Reze, and Makima into his orbit, and gradually builds his own faction while escalating into bigger conflicts involving later major Devils.