NBAA Vol. 7 Chapter 1 Part 3
– Thus stood before Reito the opponent who had made her name as the strongest undefeated knight in history.
The memory of her days as a hero of the Empire was no longer in the Lich’s mind. She had become a murderer, killing every living person who came before her. She was no longer a “White Knight,” but rather a “Black Knight,” consumed by hate.
The most powerful hero ever summoned from Earth. The crowd was unaware of her resurrection as a Lich. However, upon seeing her terrifying visage, they instinctively sensed that this lich was no ordinary foe and that Luna (Reito) was in grave danger. Some of them cried out, urging Reito to flee.
But Reito, like the Black Knight, was a boy who had lived a special life. He had lived a life of hardship no less than that of the Black Knight before her death. And now, the power of his “Sword Demon” abilities was about to be fully awakened.
Blown into the air by the Black Knight’s attack, Reito was thrown back to the ground and vomited blood.
“Hahaha…!”
Even though he had increased his defenses with Limit Boost and even activated his Ukemi and Resilience skills, he was nearly knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the impact.
Reito knew that he needed to treat his body with “Ultra Recovery Boost” magic, but he couldn’t activate it because he was disoriented by the intense pain.
As Reito desperately tried to move his body to use the magic, he heard footsteps approaching.
“Diiiiieeee!!”
“Shit…!”
The Black Knight rushed forward with a cloud of smoke and sand.
Deciding that there was no time to recover, Reito stood up with all his strength. Then, as he was about to draw his sword, he realized that he only had his Extermination Blade. Apparently, he had let go of the Reflection Sword when he was blown away.
He had no choice but to use his Extermination Blade as a shield to catch the Black Knight’s rush again.
“Aah!!”
“Gwah!?”
With a stronger impact on his body than before, Reito’s body was blown into the air again, and he also let go of his Extermination Blade.
In his fading consciousness, he had a strange experience. The effects of the Enhancement Boost had already worn off, and his physical abilities had returned to their original state. However, he felt as if his body was slowing down as he fell to the ground, as if in slow motion.
(Is this the… the moment before death?)
He had heard that the nearness of death accelerated one’s consciousness and made everything seem slower. But he never thought he would experience it.
(Am I going to die in a place like this? No. What’s going on?)
As he slowly fell to the ground, Reito noticed something strange. Somehow, even though he was being blown away, his body itself was free to move.
(What? I can’t… talk, but I can use my magic.)
Not knowing what was happening, Reito moved his arms to apply “Ultra Recovery Boost” magic to his body. In an instant, his injuries were completely healed.
Still in slow motion, Reito landed on the ground.
(Is that…?)
He could not hide his bewilderment at the series of phenomena, but regained his composure and turned his attention to his surroundings.
The Black Knight who had pushed Reito away was slowly approaching him from behind.
Reito calmly took a few steps back.
The Black Knight, whose lower body resembled that of a horse, charged forward to the spot where Reito had just stood. To their surprise, she ran past them without noticing. Her equine lower half made it difficult for her to change direction quickly, so she ran past her target.
“What’s that? Oh, I can speak normally…”
“You shit lord…!”
“Whoa!?”
The Black Knight’s movements, which had seemed slow, returned to normal. Then she repeated her frontal attack on Reito.
But as expected, after the fourth time, Reito was able to react.
Reito pressed his palms to the ground and invoked the elementary magic of “Earth Block”.
“Drown!!”
“Gwah!?”
The ground gave way under the force of the magic, causing the Black Knight to lose her footing and fall dramatically. As the knight struggled, Reito took the opportunity to retrieve the Extermination Blade and Reflection Sword he had dropped earlier.
“What was that…?”
Picking up the two swords, Reito noticed something unusual when he saw his face reflected in the blade of the Reflection Sword. The eye patch he wore as a disguise had somehow come off, and both of his eyes had turned red.
The color of one eye had turned red before. But this time, unlike before, both eyes were red, and they showed no signs of returning to normal.
“What the hell is going on… oops”
“Aah!”
Stunned by the physical changes, the Black Knight, who had regained her footing, attacked from behind.
Reito calmly avoided her by flying sideways. The speed was tremendous, but the movement was linear and did not get through to the cool-headed Reito.
“You’re so persistent!!”
“Gah!”
As his opponent lunged at him once more, Reito grabbed his Extermination Blade and used the attacker’s momentum to slash across the human’s torso. This strike, amplified by the Interception skill, was significantly more powerful than his previous blows.
“Gah!”
“Oh! Finally, Luna’s counterattack landed!”
The Black Knight received a large wound on her chest and staggered unsteadily.
But the wounds healed instantly.
The Lich’s weakness was a magical stone called the “Necrostone” on her chest. Unless the stone was destroyed, it could not be completely defeated.
“HUMAAAANS!!
“You used to be human too!”
Turning to the Black Knight who had completely lost her sense of humanity, Reito held out his Reflection Sword, this time cutting off her leg.
“Ngahh!?”
The Reflection Sword, which had the ability to repel magic against a magically formed body, was very effective.
Reito launched an attack on the frightened and recoiling Black Knight.
The crowd gradually began to cheer his bravery.
“What a miracle… to think she almost died a minute ago.”
“That’s it! Get them, Luna!”
“Defeat them!!”
“Now it’s time to get excited! Luna has risen like a phoenix! The tide has suddenly turned!!”
Rabby’s voice echoed across the arena.
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The arena was filled with people eager to watch the match. Among them were swordsmen with the title of Swordmaster who lived in Adventure City.
All of them were sitting and watching the match, and all of them had sharp expressions on their faces. They all had the feeling that they were going to fight Reito in the main competition of the tournament.
“Damn… that bitch is still hiding some power.”
It was Shun, one of the swordmasters, who muttered this. He had fought Reito before.
“…………”
“Hmm? What do you mean… Master.”
Shun asked as he turned to the swordmaster sitting next to him – Hayate.
Shun was Hayate’s apprentice and she was like a mother to him. Her voice was too low to be heard by normal humans, but the ears of an elf like Shun could hear it without any problem.
“…………”
“You’re wondering what happened earlier? When she was sent flying away or ….? Was she glowing? A human body?”
“…………”
“Tsk, what the hell is that… I get it. Just shut up and watch.”
Hayate and Shun’s conversation seemed to the surrounding audience like he was talking to himself. They thought he was crazy.
But Shun, who was oblivious to such things, looked sharply at Reito on the stage of the arena.
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