Chapter 35 – The Sword Demon [Part 1]

At last, the two escaped the magic circle and turned around.

Licia stared toward the center of the shattered, dust-filled stone plaza.

“Is that a guardian of the seal!? Or—one of the Demon King’s surviving soldiers!?”

Fragments of stone pavement rained down around them.

“That is probably…”

Ren narrowed his eyes and peered through the dust.

A colossal figure, at least five mel tall, wore jet-black armor engraved with gold. It had four arms and a cloth draped over one shoulder. The creature pulled the greatsword that had destroyed the necklace from the pavement, then caught the sword that had attacked Ren and Licia as they fled the magic circle.

It was plainly advancing toward them.

“A general who commanded the Demon King’s army.”

Ren could never forget the old book he had seen in the organizing committee’s room at the academy.

The creature was identical to the general depicted in that bestiary, except for the color of the cloth over its shoulder. Four arms held four crimson greatswords whose blades resembled enormous rubies.

Given the circumstances, there was little doubt it intended to attack.

Licia exhaled and spoke with weary resignation.

“Who exactly are we supposed to be angry with?”

“The Elfen Church, for a start. This seal has not been managed properly.”

“Agreed. But if we want to lodge a complaint, we first have to deal with that thing.”

Two questions troubled them.

First, why had the necklace abruptly fallen onto the pavement when they approached? Second, why had the two of them been drawn into the seal at all?

(We can only learn the answers if we survive and get out.)

Fortunately, their opponent’s movements remained extremely slow.

Its courage in plunging into the magic circle was impressive, but it had spent centuries inside the seal. It had likely become able to move only because the seal had weakened, and movement within this space must still have placed it under considerable strain.

(But how did it survive?)

Even a general of the Demon King’s army should not have endured hundreds of years within the Cage of Time.

Something special must have allowed it to resist the seal. Ren frowned and examined the cloth on the monster’s shoulder.

(It was blue before, even if it was filthy…)

Now it was gray.

Perhaps the cloth possessed a special power that had preserved the monster inside the Cage of Time, allowing it to pass the centuries as an animal passed the winter in hibernation. If that power was now failing, its fading color would make sense.

After sharing his theory with Licia, Ren said,

“We have two choices. We can fight and defeat it, or avoid it and buy time until the seal opens.”

Each step of the giant creature cracked the pavement. Through the dust, they saw it take up a second greatsword.

“We don’t know when the seal will open, but waiting might still give us a chance to escape.”

“Exactly. We should avoid fighting if we can.”

Licia nodded.

They turned their backs on the plaza of Roses Caitas and started toward the stone stairs. Their opponent was a monster that had served as a general in the Demon King’s army; choosing battle lightly would be madness.

Their route of escape, however, vanished almost at once.

The mountainside and the ground abruptly shattered. Torn chunks of rock rose and formed a ring around the plaza, while violet lightning leaped between them. Ren used Star Slaying, but the magic was too powerful to shear away.

Even the sky turned crimson, distorting the seal beyond it.

Escaping together as planned had become nearly impossible.

Still, a narrow opening might let one of them gain some distance.

(So we have no choice.)

Before joining the Demon King, the creature had apparently been known as the Sword Demon.

What kind of swordsmanship could four arms produce?

“I’ll draw it away somehow.”

Licia’s eyes widened.

The Sword Demon stood at the center of the magic circle, moving all four arms as it watched them.

They could not afford to surrender the initiative. If it wielded magic beyond Star Slaying’s ability to dispel, the difference in power was already obvious.

“I’ll buy time, so run! Get as far beyond its attacks as you can!”

The instant the Sword Demon began to move, Ren charged.

He crossed the dust-filled plaza to halt the colossal swordsman.

“I never expected to fight a general of the Demon King’s army after facing the Demon King cult!”

Ren swung the Iron Magic Sword at the figure towering more than five mel high. His slash left sound behind, wrapped in wind sharp enough to cut like a blade.

“OOOOOOOOOOOH—!”

With a bestial roar, the Sword Demon brought down a crimson greatsword.

Ren caught it from below and groaned. The possibility of being crushed flashed through his mind—then Sacred Magic flooded his entire body.

(This is…)

There was no time for surprise. He swung.

Looking up at the Sword Demon, Ren poured every measure of strength into his arms.

“HAAAAH!”

“—!?”

He forced the crimson greatsword back.

Before a second could descend, another blade knocked it aside.

“I told you to run!”

“I never agreed! I would rather die than escape alone and leave you behind!”

Licia’s voice held no hesitation as she deflected the crimson greatsword with Byakuen.

Ren seized the instant of opening, stepped beneath the Sword Demon, and swung the Iron Magic Sword. Cutting through the armor was impossible. His blade rebounded without leaving so much as a scratch.

Numbness shot through his hands. Ren frowned and clicked his tongue.

“As expected of a general of the Demon King’s army.”

He had never faced armor so hard. He could not imagine how to damage it, but the Sword Demon had only just awakened and remained weakened by the seal. Ren continued attacking, searching for a way to exploit those facts.

Then he noticed something wrong.

With every exchange, the pressure radiating from the Sword Demon increased.

“Ren! It’s coming!”

The Iron Magic Sword met one of the creature’s crimson blades at close range.

The Sword Demon was stronger than it had been moments ago. There was no mistake. Its sword pressure might itself have been magic; it raged through the plaza, raising dust that stole their sight.

“Guh…!”

Every sweep of those greatswords raised whirlwinds that sliced skin. Blood as red as the blades welled across Ren’s cheek.

He neither faltered nor gave in to fear.

“This is nothing!”

Ren slipped past the first greatsword, kicked off the broad face of the second, and used the Shield Magic Sword to deflect the third just enough to survive.

One remained—the fourth blade.

Ren’s Iron Magic Sword descended faster than the Sword Demon could raise its greatsword. Yet when the two collided, the overwhelming difference in strength crushed his advantage.

“…!”

“Ren!?”

As helplessly as when he had trained against his father Roy as a child, Ren was struck bodily by the greatsword raised after his own.

He flew backward. Licia caught him in midair and shielded him as they crashed into the failing magic circle.

Blood ran from a scrape across the back of his hand.

“It seems to be growing stronger as the seal weakens,” Licia said while healing him.

The magic circle beneath them had already faded to a frail glow.

“When it knocked me away, how extraordinary did its movement look?”

“…More extraordinary than anything I’ve seen even at the Lion’s Holy Office. Both its swings and its raw strength.”

Its footwork possessed speed wholly at odds with its huge body.

Recognizing the danger, Licia created layer after layer of brilliant walls of light. The Sword Demon brought down a crimson greatsword, and the barriers shattered like ordinary glass. They could do no more than purchase a little time.

“We can’t afford to worry about what comes afterward.”

Without fearing the collapse of her barriers, Licia invoked her full power.

Magic circles rose from beneath her feet, spread around Ren, and stacked from their knees to their waists and shoulders. The strength that filled them was so far beyond what they had possessed moments earlier that it felt as though Licia had called forth their bodies from several years in the future.

“Haven’t you become stronger again?”

“Hehe. I’ve been working hard too. Of course I have.”

The faint remains of the Cage of Time’s magic circle flickered in response to her.

Sacred Magic revealed its true worth. Licia’s dazzling radiance surpassed even the light of the Cage of Time. There was no room to consider the consequences; she had to wield the greatest Sacred Magic she could produce now.

The walls of light continued to collapse.

A crimson greatsword tore into the pavement as it fell, splitting and pulverizing the stone and throwing up another cloud of dust.

“Give me just a little longer to prepare.”

“Leave the front to me. I won’t let it touch so much as one finger of yours.”

“Yes. I trust you.”

Ren would have protected her even without being asked.

He nodded and positioned himself beside her, ready to step forward at once.

“…Ren.”

Licia looked up at him.

“Do you wish we had stayed at the festival in the Imperial Capital? If we had, our opponents would only have been students our own age in the martial tournament. Perhaps the two of us would be fighting in the final by now.”

“No. I don’t regret coming here.”

“Hehe. I knew that was what you would say.”

“Still, I’d like to add ‘Behind the Scenes’ to the end of the festival’s name.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

Who could have imagined that such a battle was unfolding behind the enormous celebration in the Imperial Capital?

Before plunging into a death struggle hidden behind the public stage, Ren smiled at the absurdity of it all.

“Perhaps this is simply like us.”

“Perhaps. Fighting away from the public stage does suit us.”

They spoke slowly despite the fierce battle waiting ahead.

Neither believed this would necessarily be their final conversation. Talking together was simply how they found calm.

“…It’s far too late to ask, but will you reconsider escaping?”

“Idiot. It is far too late, and you already know I can’t.”

Licia gave him an exasperated smile and tightened her grip on Byakuen.

Her hand never trembled around the famous sword that symbolized her, and no fear showed in the beautiful smile she turned toward Ren.

She looked through the sandstorm at the unreasonable enemy before them.

“Or are you dissatisfied with the person standing beside you?”

Ren swept the Iron Magic Sword through the oncoming storm.

Star Slaying dispersed the magically created wind. Licia stepped one pace ahead of him, turned, and extended her hand with a graceful, radiant smile.

A wave of light flowed from her fingertips and wrapped around Ren.

“How is that?” her challenging eyes asked without words.

“Even in a situation like this, you’re exactly as you always are.”

“If we die, having you beside me will be enough. It will only mean dying a few decades earlier.”

“…I see.”

Ren took Licia’s hand.

An even brighter flash surrounded them, filling both bodies with strength.

“Don’t be angry if I’m injured.”

“You’re being tedious. You took the White Saint’s hand, so prepare yourself as well.”

The countless divine statues around them had weathered away or been smashed by the Demon King’s forces. Amid those ruins, Licia smiled beside Ren.

She had no reason to doubt. If he was with her, everything would be all right. That feeling alone remained.

“Look forward to the Sacred Magic I’ve strengthened since we were younger. It may even make your magic swords a little sharper.”

The final wall of light shattered.

Countless greatswords approached—crimson despair given form.

Ren drew a breath, charged, and roared.

“HAAAAAAAAH!”

With strength he had not possessed—and had been unable to display—before, he knocked the greatswords aside.

A tiny opening appeared.

“Ren is strong.”

Proudly declaring his strength, Licia sprang from within the Sword Demon’s reach toward its neck.

“But have you forgotten? The White Saint is here too!”

No matter how powerful their enemy, they only needed to wound it little by little.

The Sword Demon tried to evade, but Byakuen, filled with Sacred Magic, pierced the shoulder of its black armor. Pitch-black smoke spilled from the wound. The giant body staggered half a step, and some of the armor’s sheen faded.

“Ren! Keep going—”

“Yes! Again—”

The two Mighty Sword practitioners stopped just as hope began to rise.

All four crimson greatswords became wrapped in waves the same color as their blades.

The sight alone conveyed what they were: mana distilled into pure, overwhelming violence.

It was a mass of power that declared their apparent progress had been nothing but an illusion.

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