Chapter 95 - Five Great Powers and Thirteen Knights of the Oracle [2]

95. Five Great Powers and Thirteen Knights of the Oracle [2]

Following the surprise attack by the Black Organization, we went to the staff room to get a firm grasp on the current situation – due to the calm judgment of the president and Rose who are used to being in the field. After all, making poor moves would cause further confusion.

「-Excuse me.」

The president briefly said and opened the door of the staff room.

And then,

「Oh, Arcstria-sama! And…… Allen-kun!」

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Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1 Chapter 29

「Thank goodness… Our brains and brawn have come!」

The teachers patted their chest with relief.

(As expected, of the president, Sie “Arcstria”…)

She seems to have earned a great amount of trust from the teachers.

When I was thinking about that, the president went to the back of the staff room and called out to a male teacher.

If I remember correctly, this person is supposed to be the vice-director of this academy.

「-Excuse me, could you tell me the current situation?」

「Y-Yes! The enemy are swordsmen wearing black cloaks, about three hundred of them. Most probably the Black Organization! They have surrounded the academy buildings. Public Morals Committee and the Swordsmanship Club have gone to intercept the enemy!」

「I see… So, how’s that progressing?」

「…… It’s not very good. We are trying to stop them from invading into the academy building.」

The vice-director said with a grave expression. Heavy air began to flow in the staff room.

「I understand. By the way, have you contacted the Holy Knights Association and the Director?」

「About that… I’ve been trying to call them since just now, but… it doesn’t connect at all.」

「What do you mean by “doesn’t connect“?」

「It seems that Thousand Blade Academy is cut off from the outside world by some kind of

“barrier”.」the vice-director said, pointing out the window.

By straining my eyes, certainly a thin, hemispherical, transparent membrane covering the Thousand Blade Academy can be seen.

「A barrier… That’s quite troublesome, isn’t it?」

The president grasped the severe situation in which Thousand Blade Academy was put into, and

「…Allen-kun. I think you should be able to destroy the barrier.」she said, looking me straight in the eye.

「Me?」

「Yes. As you know, there are two main ways to break a barrier. You either take down the user or erase the barrier itself with overwhelming output. Right now that the user’s position is unknown, all we can do is destroy the barrier. And the highest output in this school is… Allen-kun, it’s you.」

She continued on with a serious look.

「This barrier is powerful enough to completely block connection with the outside world. If so, it must also have the effect of inhibiting perception from the outside. In other words, we can’t expect reinforcements from the outside. Only people involved with the Black Organization can come in here. If we don’t destroy the barrier as soon as possible, we’ll fall.」

「…I see. It’s quite a big responsibility.」

If I can’t break the barrier, a “hellish siege” without reinforcements will begin.

「I’m sorry, but you’re the only one whom I can ask right now.」

When the president said that, the gaze in the staff room gathered on me.

「Understood. I’ll try to do everything I can.」

I was『unsure』. But I had『confidence』.

If I use World Judgement, an attack that cuts apart even the Prison of Time, then any barrier can be cut.

「Thank you, Allen-kun. I thought you would say that. Ria and Rose, can you accompany Allen-kun? The enemy is not stupid either. They wouldn’t overlook him as he approaches the barrier.」

「U-Understand!」

「Roger!」

Ria and Rose nodded.

「What are you going to do, president?」I asked.

「I’m going to the frontline and hold the front. If we allow the academy building to be invaded, that’s when things will really get out of hand.」

As soon as she said that, she gave the instructions to the teachers.

「The teachers in charge of information remain here. Everyone else joins the battle line. The teachers remaining here, please contact the Holy Knights and the Director as soon as Allen destroys the barrier.」

「「「Yes!」」」

The teachers started to move quickly with the president’s orders.

「Allen-kun, I’ll leave the barrier to you!」the president said, and led the teachers out of the staff room.

As expected of the daughter of House Arcstria, an authority of the government.

The president, who is usually thoughtless, seemed very reliable at times like these.

「Let’s go, Allen!」

「This is the most important mission in this fight. Let’s move without delay, Allen!」

「Yes!」

Thus, entrusted with an important task, I rushed out of the staff room with Ria and Rose.

■

After that, we moved quickly towards the barrier.

Although the power of World Judgement is tremendous, the range is very short.

I cannot destroy the barrier unless I get extremely close.

「Yoshi. There is no sign of people on this road. We can go.」

Rose, who was used to “battlefields”, whispered, and we started running at once.

Our primary objective is to destroy the barrier. After that we will defeat the Black Organization.

So right now, it is desirable to act in secret as much as possible to avoid combat.

Then, as we ran through the shades cast by the buildings, a strong chill ran down my spine.

「Watch out, Ria!」

「Eh… Kyaa!?」

At a moment’s judgment, I pushed Ria towards the『sun』. And the next moment,

Seven slashes suddenly shot out from the『shadows』.

By pushing Ria, I lost my posture, and

「Guh…」

Although I managed to dodge six of the slashes, the last slash landed directly on me.

「A-Allen! I’m sorry. Are you okay?!」Ria ran up to me, colour drained from her face.

「Don’t worry about it. This much is no big deal.」

I concentrated darkness on the wounded area and healed it immediately.

And then,

「This ability to control the shadow… Oi, you’re there, aren’t you? Come out! Dodriel!」

When I shouted out loud, a man appeared from the shadow as though a shimmer of heat haze.

Damaged blue hair which was tied behind.

A large sword scar running on a well-formed face.

Dodriel Barton – a genius swordsman at the Gran Swordsmanship Academy, and now a dweller of the underground who has lost himself to the Black Organization.

「AHAHAHAHAHA! You splendidly saw through my attack just now! …No, I guess that’s only natural, isn’t it? Because you and I are mutually in love! Our hearts are communicating with each other! Isn’t that right… Allen?」he began to laugh like crazy, saying something incoherent.

「Aren’t you the guy at the Daido Commercial Festival?!」

「Aa. The swordsman who uses a strange soul dress!」

Remembering Dodriel, Ria and Rose immediately pulled out their sword.

「Allen, leave this to us and go ahead…」

「As Ria says, the destruction of the barrier is top priority! Don’t worry, we’ll catch up soon!」

The two of them stepped forward saying so.

But I was hesitant.

(Damn… Which one should I choose?!)

Do I stay here and fight together with them?

Or do I entrust this to them and give priority to the destruction of the barrier?

(Ria and Rose were once defeated by Dodriel.)

However, they have grown much stronger since that time.

(…It’s not just here that the fighting is going on.)

Even now, there is a lot of blood flowing in Thousand Blade Academy.

The longer I take to destroy the barrier, the greater the damage will be.

If I make the tactical decision, as Ria and Rose say, I should prioritize the destruction of the barrier.

「…Understood. As we’ve talked about before, Dodriel enters the『Shadow World』! Even though it is two-on-one, be on your guard!」

「Yeah, I know!」

「Fuu, don’t worry too much…」

「I’ll leave it to you!」

I entrusted it to them and started running towards the barrier.

「E-Ehh!? Where are you going by leaving me alone?!!!」Dodriel shriek.

And then,

「Your opponent is…」

「The two of us!」

The metallic sound of sword and sword colliding sounded.

(Ria, Rose… I’ll come back as soon as I destroy the barrier…)

Then I clad my leg with jet-black darkness and made a beeline towards the barrier.

After that, I arrived in front of the barrier without being intercepted by the Black Organization.

「…Is this it?」

I gently reached out to the thin, hemispherical, transparent membrane that wrapped Thousand Blade Academy.

It was kind of soft and hard at the same time. A strange feeling.

(I can break this.)

Somehow, I just had that feeling.

I pulled out my sword and unleashed an attack with all my might.

「Fifth Sword – World Judgement!」

At that moment, a big crack ran through the space where I cut.

It spread to the whole barrier in seconds, and with a high-pitched sound, the barrier broke.

「Yoshi, it’s a success…」

Now we should be able to contact the outside world.

If the Holy Knights Association and Leia-sensei come to our aid, it won’t be so difficult to intercept the Black Organization.

(From here on out, it will be “a siege with reinforcements”! The state of the battle has been reversed with this one move!)

Having succeeded in destroying the barrier, I hurried back to Ria and Rose.

The moment I kicked the ground and turned the corner of the second academy building, I doubted my eyes.

「…Ri, Ria? …Rose?」

There was the figure of Ria and Rose suspended in mid-air by a black shadow.

A tentacle-like shadow restrained both hands and feet, and the two do not even twitch.

「Ahaha… You were a little late… Allen.」

When Dodriel noticed me, he put on a villainous smile on his face. At that moment, the blood in my body boiled in anger.

「…Get out of the way!」

I closed the distance with Dodriel in one step,

「Wha?!」

And landed a strong kick to his side.

「Fast?! Ga, ha…」

He was blown off at a tremendous speed and crashed into the wall of the academy building.

Meanwhile, I cut his black shadow with my sword and broke the restraints on Ria and Rose.

Then I put my hand on their chest. A strong heartbeat came back.

「Thank god.」

They suffered some external wounds, but none of them are deep.

When I heaved a sigh of relief,

「Ahaa, that’s my Allen! It looks like you got even stronger again!」

Dodriel stood up, pushing away the rubble of the academy building with fresh blood trickling down his forehead.

「Dodriel. This is the second time.」

This was the second time he had laid hands on Ria and Rose.

「You’ve crossed the line. Today, here and now… I will cut you!」

I released the darkness from my whole body and clad myself with『jet-black robe』.

It was blacker than all previous instances of the darkness, and it firmly attached to my body.

「Ahaha! Ni〜ce, Allen! You’re the best! Now, let’s kill each other quickly!」

This is how the fated battle between me and Dodriel began.