NBAA Vol. 7 Chapter 1 Part 4
Meanwhile, on the other side of the auditorium were Jannu and Loga, also swordmasters.
They sat in the front row and watched Reito’s movements, but their eyes showed a hint of excitement.
Immediately after Reito was knocked down by the Black Knight’s second strike, he instantly used mid-air recovery magic to regain his stance, an action that surprised even the two swordmasters.
“I can’t believe it… she used magic in such a split second to get up from there.”
“But she actually did it. And her last move, I bet it’s…”
“Oh, what are you two making a fuss about?”
“Ngh?”
Suddenly, they were approached from behind startled Jannu and Loga turned around.
Before they noticed it, a beautiful blue-haired girl was sitting on the seat behind them.
Loga frowned at the sight of the girl, and Jannu reached for the sword at her waist.
In response to her reaction, the girl raised her hands to indicate that she did not want to fight.
“I have no intention of fighting you outside of work.”
“What does a bounty hunter want with us…?”
The girl replied to Loga’s words with a cold expression.
“I’m not interested in you… I’m interested in that girl right now.”
“No way…!”
They watched Luna and the Lich in the arena.
The girl just smiled and said nothing.
When they were about to go back to watching the fight without letting their guard down against her, the girl raised her voice as if she had noticed something.
“Oh? Isn’t that your master… over there.”
“What?”
“Look, there she is.”
Jannu and Loga looked in the direction the girl pointed.
Immediately, they felt a strange killing spirit behind them.
The next moment, a dagger blade was held to their necks.
The girl, who was supposed to be sitting in the back seat, had somehow moved in front of them and placed her blade against their throats as if to stand tall.
“There are too many holes in your defense… what if I really wanted to kill you?”
“Ngh…!”
“You bitch…!”
“Remember, if you are a warrior, you must always be on guard.”
The girl put the dagger back and walked away as if she had lost interest.
Jannu dropped to one knee on the ground as soon as the killing spirit disappeared, and Loga clutched his neck, breaking into a cold sweat. Even though they had been distracted by the fight, they were terrified by the girl’s ability to sneak up on them so easily and comfortably.
Still, Loga called out her name, trying to hold her back out of pride as a warrior.
“- – Shizune!!”
“Goodbye.”
The girl, Shizune, only answered Loga’s words with a wave of her hand and made no move to return.
Loga started to follow, but Jannu raised her voice.
“Mr. Loga!”
“Ngh!?”
In response to Jannu’s words, Loga looked toward the arena and saw Reito lying on the ground.
He could not believe his eyes that Reito had been defeated by the Black Knight, but he soon noticed something unusual.
It was a misunderstanding on Loga’s part that he thought Reito had fallen to the ground; in fact, he had only bent over in response to Reito’s two swords swinging down from above.
And behind him lay a black knight, cut in half at the top and bottom.
◆◆◆
“Gale Strike!”
“Ugh!?”
Reito slashed through the lower half of the black knight’s body with the full power of his combat techniques.
Looking back, the black knight was screaming in agony with only her upper body, while her slashed lower body had turned into a black mist.
“Uh-oh…”
“Even the undead suffer…”
“I… am… not… finished…!”
The source of the Lich’s magical power was the Necrostone in her chest, and she would continue to resurrect as long as the core was not completely destroyed.
However, unlike ordinary spirits of the dead, the Lich had inherited the memories of her past life. Perhaps because of this, when she was attacked, she felt pain and her spirit was drained like a normal human.
Because of her human appearance, Reito felt like he was fighting a human.
In his mind, he knew that no matter how human she looked, she was not alive.
Still, she screamed and struggled desperately every time she was slashed, and she looked just like a human.
“Let’s get this over with.”
“No… not yet. I won’t let you finish me off.”
The Black Knight, who once seemed to have lost her mind, now seemed to have come to her senses.
The Black Knight stood up and regenerated her slashed lower body, this time as a pair of human legs.
The Black Knight was indeed close to her limit, but the magical power that made up her body had faded, and her original skeletal parts were thinly exposed.
“Kuuuhhhh… ah!”
“A lance?”
The Black Knight thrust out her right hand, transforming her arm into a lance-like shape and holding it out toward Reito.
People in the “knight” profession are good with lances as well as swords. For example, Mina, an adventurer with the profession of Lancer, also wielded a lance.
However, the lance, which was made of magic power, was already quite faded.
“Thrust!”
“Aah!”
With the Reflection Sword in his left hand, Reito slashed a spear thrust at his own chest from the front.
The spear, composed of magic power, was repelled by the blade of the Reflection Sword and disappeared in an instant. The Black Knight’s eyes widened at the sight.
Reito immediately swung down the Extermination Blade in his right hand.
“Gale Strike!”
“Haaaa!”
The blade of the Extermination Blade swung down on her shoulder and bit into the Black Knight, severing her with a diagonal slash.
Slashed diagonally, the Black Knight looked at her own body and fell to the ground.
The lower half of her body disappeared into the mist, leaving only the upper half. Gradually, the rest of the body, except for the face, reverted to its skeletal form, as if it could no longer maintain its human form.
“Ow… it hurts, it hurts, oh… why can’t I die…”
“Ngh…”
“Help me… please, help me…”
Desperately stretching out her remaining arm, the Black Knight begged for help in a childlike tone.
At this sight, Reito looked pitifully at the Necrostone glowing on her chest.
This necrostone was so hard that it could not be destroyed by ordinary attacks, and even the power of a healing mage could not purify it.
Reito’s Photosphere and Enchantment Boost did not work, and there was no other way but to destroy it with powerful combat techniques.
“Don’t move… I’ll make it easy for you now.”
“Please…”
“Helmet Smasher!!”
Reito grabbed the Extermination Blade with both hands and swung it down with great force.
However, the moment the blade of the Extermination Blade collided with the Black Knight’s Necrostone, her body was blown away as if to repel the impact.
“Ngh!?”
Immediately after that, a large amount of black smoke erupted from the Black Knight’s chest, causing her to scream in pain.
As Reito, who had regained his stance, watched the scene with an astonished look, the Black Knight, whose body had regenerated, soon appeared out of the black smoke. The enormous amount of dark magic power within the Necrostone erupted.
“Gaaaahhhhh…!”
“Damn… we’re going backwards again!”
The Black Knight screamed, as if she had lost control again. Then she tried to grab Reito.
But just before she did, her hand stopped, and Reito, who was holding a large sword, frowned, wondering what was wrong.
“I’M NOT READY!!”
“What…?”
“You can save me… from… death!!”
As the magical power of the Necrostone consumed the Black Knight, she managed to regain consciousness just in time. She held out her hands to Reito, her demeanor a desperate plea for the Necrostone to be destroyed.
He could not let her thoughts go to waste.
“…ah!”
Reito used the “Limit Boost” to increase his physical strength. He then channeled the “Gravity Strike Blade” ability to manipulate gravity with his hand. Finally, he activated the Gale Strike combat technique, preparing himself for a full-scale attack.
At that moment, a crimson magical power appeared in Reito’s hand. He delivered a blow that turned him into a true “Sword Demon”.
“WOAAH!!”
“GRAAAHH!?”
The Extermination Blade struck the Necrostone, sinking more than halfway into it. However, the stone was not completely shattered. A surge of magical power erupted, deflecting the blade.
“Ugh…!”
“Not yet… just a little further!”
“Ngh!?”
Sensing the imminent recoil of the Extermination Blade, the Black Knight quickly reached out with both hands to stabilize it. Momentarily caught off guard, the knight quickly let go with one hand and grabbed the Reflection Sword. Reito then raised the sword above his head and launched a combined strike using both the Strike Blade and Gale Strike techniques.
“AHHHHH!!”
“AAHHH!?”
The blade bit deeper into the Necrostone.
But even then, it was not a complete amputation, and the Black Knight fell to both knees, screaming.
As if that wasn’t enough, Reito gritted his teeth and thought of another follow-up.
Then he remembered that there was a Magic Mark on the blade of the Extermination Blade.
“Here!”
Reito activated “Enhancement Boost” and aimed it at the Magic Mark to harness Earth Magic.
The blade and his hand were imbued with enhanced gravity, causing cracks to spiderweb across the Necrostone.
Seeing this, Reito grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and unleashed his fighting technique with full force.
“Helmet Splitter!!”
“…!?”
With a resonant crack, the Necrostone shattered into pieces. After that, the dark magic surrounding the Black Knight’s body dissipated.