3 bar menu

439 p3. Noble Faction and New School Year [12]

After that, Ice King Academy moved to the north, White Lily Academy to the south, Imperial Academy to the east, and Flame Emperor Academy to the west.

We, the Thousand Blade Academy, will remain in the National Holy War Arena to face off against Dodriel and hundreds of enhanced swordsmen.

「Eighth Sword – Yatagarasu!」

「Supreme King Style – Annihilate!」

「Sakura Blossom One-Sword Style – Sakura Flash!」

I, Ria, and Rose, fired three slashes that exploded into the group of enhanced swordsmen.

However–.

「「「UGAAAAAAAA”A”AA”!!!」」」

Without even flinching, they launched an immediate counterattack.

Perhaps they don’t feel any pain due to the side effects of the spirit pill or something.

「Eat this!!!」

The man in front powerfully swung down his abnormally enlarged right arm.

It was not that difficult to dodge a slash that was just thrown out blindly.

I took a light side step to avoid being cut down.

In the next moment, a terrifying sound of destruction and a shock wave erupted.

(What power…)

And that was not all.

At the same time as the man’s swing cracked the ground, the power of the soul dress was activated, and magma-like semi-solid substances were scattered in all directions.

(The ability to create magma!?)

…No, it’s not. That’s not magma, it’s normal flame which is highly viscous.

As I looked closer, the flame became silky, then changed blue, then started emitting light. It changed from moment to moment, becoming completely unstable.

This man was probably a soul dress user who controls flames, but… he can’t use his powers stably because of the spirit pill.

(Damn, this is going to be troublesome.)

The enhanced swordsmen were a difficult opponent to deal with.

It was not that he was strong. His simple ability as a swordsman was probably on par with, or even lower than, that of a normal soul dress user.

However, his unusual physical strength, body that doesn’t experience pain, and unstable abilities – the combination of these makes him a very difficult opponent to deal with.

And the most important problem was their ridiculous numbers.

(It would be different if it were only 10 or 20, but dealing with hundreds of them will be tough…)

I forced my exhausted body to keep moving and slashed the enemies in front of me one by one.

Just as I defeated 30 in one flow, I heard a voice from far above.

「Hey Allen, do you have a minute?」

「Sorry, but I’m in the middle of something right now. Even if I wasn’t, I don’t want to talk to you!」

「Aha, don’t say that. We were in the same swordsmanship academy and polished our swordsmanship together, didn’t we?」

I don’t know what was so fun, but Dodriel was laughing while waving his hands.

His expression, behavior, tone of voice, all of it seriously got on my nerves.

「Allen, do you remember the Principality of Theresia? You know, one of the former Five Great Powers. The place that I destroyed during New Years.」

「What about it?」

「All the enhanced swordsmen here are swordsmen who were captured there.」

「What……!?」

For a moment, I stopped swinging my sword.

Seeing my reaction, Dodriel smiled in satisfaction and spoke even more fluently.

「According to the clown scientist, “Scientific progress comes with sacrifices”. Thousands and tens of thousands of specimens are needed to upgrade the spirit pill. Furthermore, the bodies needed for the experiment were a little troublesome to procure. Apparently, one thousand swordsmen in their teens to thirties who are physically and mentally healthy and are also soul dress users were needed each.」

And that guy unnaturally crossed his arms on purpose and groaned, “Hmmm”.

「I mean, just raising a human from scratch is hard work, isn’t it? Training it to become a soul dress user would be ridiculously expensive, wouldn’t it? Even then, in the end, it will be almost useless if all were used in experiments, right? As expected, it was impossible to arrange this on the basis of cost, or rather, it was simply too wasteful. Just when the plan ran into a deadlock, the sagacious His Majesty came up with a solution. We should destroy a country and use the swordsmen there!」

Dodriel gave a crackling applause to a model of Barrel he made out of shadows.

「Once that was decided, everything else was easy. As a result of a rigorous investigation, the Principality of Theresia was chosen as the target of the invasion! Although it has the weakest strength among the Five Great Powers, its population and resources were unnecessarily abundant! After that, the Black Organization attacked the principality, succeeded in upgrading the spirit pill, and acquired the disposable enhanced swordsman… and lived happily ever after!」

Dodriel said so and laughed happily.

「You low-life…」

I spat at him.

「Ugaaaaa, die, die, dieeeeeeee……!」

After avoiding a series of attacks,

「Ha!」

I strike the back of the head with the hilt of the Black Sword to stun the enhanced swordsman.

Instead of slashing him down, I dropped him unconscious.

「Oorororo? I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s useless~ No amount of medical treatment can save a swordsman who went berserk with a spirit pill.」

「Don’t worry. We have a secret weapon.」

The Ringuard empire has the super-genius scientist Chemie Festa.

Although she has no decent character and is rotten enough to despise her from the bottom of my heart, Chemie-san is still a genius.

The development of gliders, the construction of a production system, the discovery of a cure for curses, the mass production of effective medicines, and so on…she has accomplished such incredible feats so far.

As long as you give her money, she can solve any problem.

(Chemie-san will surely find a way to reverse the side effects of Spirit Pill…!)

With that hope in my heart, I neutralized the enhanced swordsmen.

「Ah…that’s it, that’s it. Those straight eyes, the heart that won’t break no matter the situation, the endlessly positive way of thinking… From those days when you practiced swinging in the corner of the schoolyard, not a single thing has changed… Your eyes, your heart, your way of thinking… I’ve always hated you!」

Dodriel jumped down from the scaffolding of shadows and fell straight down.

「Die.」

「…」

〈Zeon〉and〈Shadow Ruler〉clashed. Pitch-black shock waves shook the air.

「…Not bad (He’s spiritual power can’t be compared to that time when we fought at the Daido Festival…)」

「Ahaha, we both became stronger~」

The robe Dodriel wore had a pattern that was only permitted to the top executives of the Black Organization.

「The Thirteen Knights of the Oracle, huh…」

「Fufu, isn’t that amazing? I was just a throwaway pawn, but now I’m a splendid leader.」

「Are you happy with that title?」

In response to my question, Dodriel narrowed his eyes. The usual faint smile disappeared from his face.

「…You’re mean, even though you already know the answer. I don’t really care about such a rubbish title. I just want you to die, as long as you die with more agony than anyone else, that’s all I want!」

Just as Dodriel opened his eyes wide and was about to unleash the power of his shadow, an angry voice that almost burst my eardrums came from above.

「Dodriel! Don’t go to the front line for no reason! Have you forgotten His Majesty’s words, you fool!」

「Ah… Fine, fine, I understand.」

Reprimanded, Dodriel scratched the back of his head.

「Sorry, Allen. I’m assigned to logistical support this time.」

After saying a cheesy apology, he jumped backwards.

As if replacing him, a man descended from the shadow scaffold floating in the sky.

「Really, just because he’s His Majesty’s favorite, he’s getting carried away… what a disgusting man.」

With a whisper of hatred, he turned a sharp glint towards me.

「I am Gauran Reisenberg, one of the Four Knights under the direct command of the Emperor. Upon receiving an imperial order from His Majesty the Emperor, I have come to take control of the capital of Ringuard, Orest. ―You must be Allen Rodore, right?」

「Yeah, I am.」

When I nodded, Gauran gave a belligerent smile and sucked air into his chest.

「Nuun……!」

At the same time as a manly cry resounded like the rumbling of the earth, his muscles were filled with a tremendous amount of spiritual power, and he grew more than a size bigger.

Gauran Reisenberg.

Short white hair, about 190 cm tall, and looks to be in his mid-seventies.

He is a man with sharp, pointed, jet-black pupils, a white beard under his nose, and a rugged, wrinkled face.

A large sword wound runs across his forehead, and his brown skin is carved with many old scars, giving off a dignified presence like a veteran soldier. He wears a jet-black robe over his black innerwear, and simple black trousers. An attire that emphasizes functionality.

(Emperor’s Four Knights, huh…)

A person of the same level as the former vice-president of Thousand Blade Academy, Sebas-san. There is no doubt that he is the enemy’s strongest force in this invasion.

Depending on how long I can hold him back, the scale of the damage will vary greatly.

(Fuu… this is pretty tough.)

In the battle with one of the Seven Holy Swords, Shin Rex, I have consumed a considerable amount of spiritual power.

(But well, there’s no use complaining at this moment.)

I quickly refocused my mind, cladded myself in white darkness, and held my black sword in the Seigan no Kamae stance.

Seeing that, Gauran raised his eyebrows slightly and put his right hand on his chin.

「Hou… that’s a good stance. And your spiritual power is nothing to criticize. You seem to be a better swordsman than I heard.」

「Well, thanks.」

「There’s no need to hold back with this level of opponent. I’ll crush you with the full might of my true soul dress! Sit in the subspace -〈Aurum Cubes〉!」

Gauran skipped over his soul dress and suddenly manifested his true soul dress.