Volume 4 - CH 5.5

Nao was grasping nervously onto her holy sword. Reito touched the sword, which he had used so much in practice, and had pulled so many strings to get. He told her how to use it.

“Focus on the blade… you just have to maintain the will to attack your opponent. Then, you just have to scream as loud as you can when you attack. If you swing the sword from above, it should work.”

“Will to… attack?”

“You have to be totally confident that you will defeat the enemy. That’s all there is to it.”

“Uh… Okay,” she nodded at his advice.

Nao was a “Knight,” the occupation most suited for longsword use. On top of that, she was a member of the Baltros Royal Family and had an aptitude for all categories of magic powers. She had the potential to draw more power out of the blade than Reito.

However, unlike Reito, who had elf-blood which made him good at magic, Nao was a pure human and may not have the magical capacity to wield Caledfwlch for long periods of time.

They gripped their swords and spoke to Maria.

“Auntie, um… young lady Maria!! When we give the sign, cut off the magic circle!! We are going to absorb the magical power into our swords.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear, a young lady. Got it… But, try to be quick.”

“ROOOOOAARR….!!”

The Rotten Dragon’s face had penetrated the magic circle, and the dark magic properties were beginning to permeate the magic circle making it turn black.

Kirau was behind the Rotten Dragon, and she cackled maniacally before giving a command to the Rotten Dragon.

“Kill!! Kill everything!! Kill all those who dare to defy us!!”

She was emanating black magic from herself, and her pupils were glowing red as she shouted.

If she were an ordinary necromancer, she would have gone crazy after just a few days of controlling the undead. Even though she was in the realm of heroes, it was starting to take its toll on her.

“This is getting hard… Are you guys ready?” Maria said.

“Haa… I’m… losing power,” Nao said as Caldewfch absorbed the magical energy.

『She has a cute voice. The Rotten Dragon’s core is in its head. Aim for that.』

“Haa… I’m… also losing power,” Reito added.

『You also have a cute voice! I guess you really are siblings!! Or, cousins, I should say!』

The two of them pointed their swords at the Rotten Dragon’s head as they absorbed the magical energy. They were waiting for the right time to attack.

After having absorbed enough magical energy into their holy swords, Reito shouted to Maria.

“Now!!”

“!!”

Maria wiped her hands to the sides.

The huge magical circle disappeared instantaneously. The Rotten Dragon had been furiously trying to break through the circle and lost its momentum in the whiplash. Reito and Nao’s swords approached its skull.

“ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

The Rotten Dragon tried to swallow the two of them, but Reito and Nao thrust their swords out and at the same time released a collective golden lightning bolt.

The lightning came out like a beam of light and hit the inside of the creature’s mouth. The Cursed Armor enveloping its body was blown away from the inside out.

ROOOOOOARRR….!?

The Rotten Dragon shrieked and roared. The light beam generated by Reito and Nao’s respective Caledfwlchs neutralized its armor entirely. The electricity ran through its body, and all its bones fell apart.

“We… did it?”

Nao fell to her knees. She had expended all her magical energy using Caledfwlch. She looked at the Rotten Dragon standing in front of her. Even though it was a despicable creature who had killed her soldiers, she felt a certain sorrow watching its body turn to dust. She silently watched the Rotten Dragon’s last moments.

“Did we beat it?” Nao asked again.

“No, not yet.”

“Sorry?” Nao was surprised.

The Rotten Dragon began moving before their eyes.

“Rooooaaarrr…!!”

“Wh… why can it move?”

“It’s okay.”

Nao was about to run away before Maria grabbed her shoulders.

“Leave the rest up to my nephew.”

“What…”

“So that’s what’s going on… Ullr!!”

“Woof!!”

Reito called out for Ullr.

Ullr ran up to Reito and propped him up on his back. They ran toward the Rotten Dragon.

“S, Stop!? What are you planning to do!?”

“Just watch. Believe in your stepbrother.”

Maria held Nao back and watched Reito riding Ullr from a distance.

The scene of them gallantly rushing toward the fight looked just like her older sister Aria. There was no doubt that Reito had Aria – the Battle Demon’s – blood in him. It was only inevitable that he would take up the path of the sword despite being a magician.

“Go. You can do it…” Maria said before Ullr jumped in the air and approached the Rotten Dragon’s head.

Reito used Ullr as a platform to leap off of and reached for the extermination blade jabbed in the Rotten Dragon’s head.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!”

“Rooooooooarrr…!?”

Reito gripped the extermination blade in hand and stabbed it in further.

His hands were numb from all the exertion.

“Fasten my hand down!!”

“Pururu!!”

Hitomin jumped out of his pocket and fastened Reito’s hand to the blade.

Reito used his last bit of strength to swing down on the dragon.

“Helmet Splitter!!” Reito used the last battle skill he had learned from Aria.

His pupils had turned red. It was, dare he say, the greatest attack he had ever mustered in his life. He truly looked like a “Sword Demon.”

“RRRRRRRoooOOOOOAAAAA…!?”

The rotten dragon let out a screech from the throes of death. It was a legendary immortal dragon said to have never been defeated. But, it was now greeting its last moments.

“RRROooooooaaaa!!”

The moment Reito had managed to pierce the Rotten Dragon’s skull, it turned to dust.

A stream of black magic was released from its skull and was drifting toward the heavens.

“Raaaahhh….!!”

As the black magic drifted toward heaven, countless living creatures’ faces could be seen. They were the victims of the Rotten Dragon.

The souls of those living creatures had been released.

Kirau was watching the Rotten Dragon from its side. She started to cry.

“How… How beautiful!!”

She was joyfully watching all the creatures she had killed float to heaven. For necromancers like her, it was a most sacred of sites. She even momentarily forgot her hatred for Reito for killing her underling.

“Ngh…”

“Woof!!”

The Rotten Dragon completely fell apart without its core. Ullr caught Reito, who was falling in mid-air. Nao and Maria were relieved to see he was safe, then turned their attention toward the last enemy remaining.

“Let’s take care of business,” Maria said.

“So, she was a necromancer this whole time…” Nao said.

“Master, leave this up to me,” Kagemaru drew his bewitched blade. He had managed to collect it when he was running away.

He was about to administer the final blow.

“Your fate ends here!!” Kagemaru shouted.

“You bore me,” Kirau didn’t even look at Kagemaru as she waved her wand and stabbed it into the ground.

Her shadow grew longer and grabbed Kagemaru.

“Ngh!?”

“Is that… shadow magic?” Maria said.

“What!! How do you have so much power…”

Kirau had restored her former magical power now that the Rotten Dragon was gone.

“I have no business with you. Die!”

“Nghaaa!?” Kagemaru writhed in pain. Maria readied her magic ring and released some holy magic.

“Flash!”

“Wahh!?”

“Ngh!?”

A flash of light was released, and the magic binding Kagemaru vanished. The shadow magic was weak to powerful light. Holy magic was even more effective.

Kirau grimaced as her shadow magic use was foiled. She got her wand ready and used some advanced magic.

“Dark Flame!”

“Splash!”

A burst of flame-like that from a flamethrower was released. Maria released a large volume of water from her ring. It extinguished the flames.

She used another magic attack from her ring.

How about this, “Thunderbolt!!”

“Sh… Shadow Man!!”

An incredibly high voltage burst of lightning came from Maria’s ring. Kirau stabbed her wand into her own shadow and produced a human-shaped creature.

The shadow, which was now its own entity, protected her from the attack. The electricity surged through it and then dissipated into the ground.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen that magic. Is that a kind of shadow magic?”

“We don’t have time to talk. It’s time for you to die. Dark Blast!!”

Kirau got her wand ready and used another spell.

Maria grimaced. The fireball approached her. She pointed her ring at the ground and chanted a spell.

“Earth Wall!”

“What!?”

“Take Refuge!!”

A huge wall of fortified earth rose from the ground and encapsulated Maria and Nao. Kagemaru also sensed danger and used his “Mail Carrier” skill to distance himself.

Taking advantage of the pause created by Maria protecting them, Kirau used “Wing” to fly away.

“That’s all I have time for today. But, I will be back!!”

She shouted one last time at Maria before flying off.

The black fireball left behind by her began to swell, reaching a size of three meters before exploding. The energy created was intense. The explosion created a crater leaving only a ring of black flames in its wake.

“Whaa!?” Nao was panicking.

“Relax!! I don’t want you to freak out in this tight space!!”

Kagemaru was blown away by the aftershock of the blast.

“Ngh!?” Reito was worried about Kagemaru.

“Woof!!”

Ullr jumped in the air to collect Kagemaru before landing on the ground.

Reito was holding on tight to Ullr and glared at Kirau disappearing into the black clouds in the sky. He clutched his Extermination Blade and sighed.

“What an annoying lady.”

『Things are only going to get more annoying from here on out.』

Airis let out a deep sigh. There was no doubt that there was going to be a lot of talk about Reito, who had just shown his true powers in front of a bunch of humans. Not to mention the problem of the holy sword and the Rotten Dragon extermination.

His initial goal of “living a normal life without standing out” seemed impossible.

◆◆◆

A few days later, a report that the Rotten Dragon had been subjugated was delivered to the Royal Capital. The residents of Adventure City were asking for emergency aid from the King.

The King had a large stack of documents in front of him. They were primarily letters critiquing him for not dispatching anyone to deal with the Rotten Dragon.

“His Majesty, There are letters from our subjects. They read…”

“I know what they say!! They are all just critiquing me!!”

“…Yes, His Majesty.”

A man holding a spear appeared before the King. He looked young on the surface but was actually about the same age as the King.

His name was Midoru. He was the general of the Baltros Kingdom. He was lauded as the strongest knight in the kingdom. Accordingly, no one was more popular or had higher strength than him.

The King had two other generals, but one was quite young, and the other had a personality issue, so the King avoided calling them and only kept Midoru by his side.

The King asked if he had any ideas about how to get the situation under control.

“Midoru, what should I do?”

“Your Majesty, you’re thinking too much. There was nothing wrong with your policy to protect the Royal Capital. There are far more residents in our city than in Adventure City. If we had dispatched troops to subjugate the Rotten Dragon and failed, there would have been far greater casualties.”

“You may be right. I should have at least sent Lamia… She could have taken on the Rotten Dragon, no?

“Lamia is a general, but she just turned 16 the other day. She may have talent, but lacks battle experience and couldn’t command a battalion of troops. I believe you did your best. Don’t blame yourself any further.”

“Hmm… Maybe you’re right.”

The King listened to his trusty right-hand man Midoru and was relieved he hadn’t made any errors in judgment.

But, that wasn’t the only thing affecting the current situation. The King was losing the trust of the people.

Midoru finished speaking with the King and then followed the Queen down the hall of the royal castle.

Midoru had a faint smile upon seeing her and bowed his head.

“Good Morning, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, General. Did you go to see him?”

“Yes, I was speaking with the king.”

The Queen had long flowing silver hair that went down to her waist, and an extraordinarily refined face like an elf. Her pupils were indigo – a rare color even in this world. She was nearly 40 years old but looked no older than 20.

Midoru’s heart leaped whenever he saw the Queen. He felt happy just being by her side.

The Queen smiled back at Midoru’s giddiness.

“General, do you have time? Let’s have some tea and talk.”

“Yes… Should we invite the King, too?”

“Don’t worry about him… I have something I need to ask you.”

Midoru was suspicious of her intentions, but he followed along anyway.

“You have some business with me? May I ask what it is?”

“I need you to look into a certain boy in Adventure City?”

“Boy?”

“Yes… A boy who may be my enemy.”

The moment she said that, the smile vanished from her face.

She looked out in the distance in the direction Adventure City would be. She was concerned about someone who would threaten her position.