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23. [Altora] Life’s Biggest Chance/Middle (2)

「We will now be unveiling the combat skills of our hero, the “Divine Silver Sword”. Please display the special skill that captured the “Abyss Where Evil Comes From”.」

The man in black, who is said to be Duke Abiku’s butler, began the ceremony as such

Even if the custom is to slay monsters in the audience of a noble, there is no way a noble would venture into the dungeon. It is instead customary to deal with monsters captured and brought in by A-class adventurers.

Considering Altora’s current situation, the ideal situation would be to have all the important monsters gathered in one spot. For example, there are enemies such as the four-armed magic ape and the great magic orangutan, which can be defeated with a single blow of the sword landed on a vital point. Even if he can’t see anything, he’ll probably be able to cut them down depending on his speed.

And the monster that Altora had requested was prepared on the stage for the unveiling party. “Underground Berserks” with a hard shell which will continue fighting even if it head is cut off as long as it has legs.

「A swarm of army ants…」

There were 50 of them lined up in the cage.

Altora’s [Sword Saint] is known for its high-speed, precise continuous attack that takes advantage of its high mobility. If he wants to show it off to the fullest, the best thing to do is tear apart a herd of small monsters – although their size is easily larger than that of a raging bull – in one breath.

That’s what he insisted on, and this monster was the perfect target for which he mobilized all the A-class parties to collect. The A-class parties, who ran around dungeons to fulfill the hero Altora’s wish, were watching over the situation as security in case of an emergency.

The lord and his wife had an air of composure. While the adventurers watched with bloodshot eyes. Altora says his greeting in that somewhat strange atmosphere.

「It is wonderful to join His Royal Highness the dauntless Duke Abik on the fine day…」

Thinking that the silence means it’s okay to continue, Altora continued speaking.

「What I am about to show everyone today is, uh, the skill of crushing those monsters with my sword. The way the skill paints with blood will be something that His Highness Duke Abik, who is known for his valor, will like. I can guarantee that.」

The Abik Duke House is a large noble house which rules over the land taken in war.

The duke gave a small nod. He noticed that the lady next to the lord was covering her mouth, but Altora didn’t have the luxury of worrying about her.

「H-Here we go.」

After Altora finished his greeting, Gordon stood next to him, carrying his shield. They both headed towards the stage.

「Why do I have to participate all of a sudden?」

「Shut up and listen. Gather as many monsters around you as possible.」

Altora pushed Gordon forward and drew his sword. This masterpiece of divine silver, forged by a master craftsman, shone like snow in the sunlight, eliciting cries of admiration from the adventurers. How many years ago was it when Altora wanted to buy this sword so that he could call his party the “Divine Silver Sword”? He even reduced Marge’s share for this sword.

After that, Altora remembered that he kept reducing Marge’s share.

「Combat skills display, begin!」

In response to the butler’s voice, the cage opened. Three hundred charging legs shook the ground.

「[Obsidian], activate!」

The hardening skill was activated, and with a bang – a sound like a stone hitting a lump of iron – was heard as the army of ants charged forward. Gordon held back the entire army even though he was pushed about ten steps back.

This was a great opportunity for Altora. He raised his divine silver sword and roared.

「[Sword Saint], activate!」

Acceleration as usual. Swordsmanship as usual. However–.

「Gyan!!」

Altora took a big step and collided with the monster’s cage far behind the army ants and let out a scream.

「A-Altora? What are you doing?」

Gordon let out a voice of surprise, but Altora immediately looked up at Duke Abik. Cold eyes as if looking at a pebble on the side of the road.

「N-No, hahaha! Looks like I’m not feeling too well hahahahaha! No, it’s okay! I’ll do it properly this time!」

Readied his sword.

「[Sword Saint], activate!」

Cut off one of the monster’s legs and rolled across the ground. Readied his sword again.

「[Sword Saint], activate!」

Cut off the antennae and rolled across the ground. Readied his sword again.

「J-Just joking, hahaha…!」

The A-class adventurers were buzzing as they saw Altora’s performance. To the eyes of these people, who were first-class adventurers even if they were not S-class, Altora’s problem seemed so obvious even if they were seeing the skill for the first time.

「I-Is he unable to see anything…?」

「No, Altora-san should have quite high points for [Hawk Eye].」

「I heard that Marge-kun lent him that skill. So I wonder if he returned it.」

「Huh? I thought Marge lent the [High-speed Chanting] ] and [Auto Mana Recovery]?」

「I heard that he lent a lot of skills to Gordon-dono too.」

「I think he lent about 10 skills to Tina-san.」

Information about the skills “lent by Marge” that each of them knew was accumulating.

「Just how many skills did Marge lend me…!?」