TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 11 Part 1
Chapter 11 – Haruto vs. Damnatio
While watching from the sidelines as everyone else finished defeating the dragons, I, Haruto, and Damnatio engaged in a close fight.
“You are more resilient than I expected.”
“Well, thank you.”
“Hmph!”
Perhaps my aloof attitude was off-putting to him, but Damnatio’s sword struck with even more force than before, and I was flung several meters from the spot.
Damnatio’s sword was quite powerful, but not as powerful as my beloved sword.
Since my Black Katana Benizakura was a Divine-grade sword, I wondered if that sword was a Phantasm-grade, one level below it.
I was curious, so I appraised the sword that Damnatio was holding.
Name: Demon Sword Dimios
Rarity*: Phantasm
Notes: Increases the owner’s basic physical ability by five times.
The blade automatically repairs itself and becomes stronger each time it is repaired.
Those who are cut by this sword will receive the effects of a curse.
The curse details are 20 % of magic activation restrictions, physical abilities and the power of combat skills.
*(TLN: Item rarity = Common < Rare < Artifact < Legend < Phantasm < Divine < Genesis)
The curse seemed to be troublesome, but I was more concerned about the automatic repair.
Once you break it, can you see how it will be repaired?
“What’s wrong? Did you get scared looking at my sword?”
Damnatio said, perhaps noticing I was looking at the sword.
But I snickered at him.
“Do you think I’m scared of a demon sword?”
“How did you know it was a demon sword? Yes, if you get scratched by this sword, Dimios, you’re done for…oh, I won’t tell you what kind of ability it has.”
Damnatio boasted, looking impressed that Haruto had recognized the sword as a demon sword.
But alas, I already knew what that sword was capable of.
“As long as I don’t get hit, I’ll be fine.”
That’s right. As long as you didn’t get hit, it didn’t matter.
Well, to be honest, I’m interested in its ability, and I’d like to get hit by it a little, but I didn’t have the courage to cross such a dangerous bridge.
I could have died if I had been careless. There was no way I could do such a thing.
Damnatio looked unhappy at my words.
“I see. But how long can you afford to stay like that?”
Damnatio got close to me in an instant, and he threw a sharp thrust at my abdomen.
I easily evaded that blow by slightly turning my body.
“It’s no use.”
With a few words, Damnatio swung his sword sideways.
“Well, I guess so.”
But I was not surprised and jumped back a little and parried the sword with my arm that was hardened by my skill Diamond.
“What!? Even though you used a skill, you parried it with your bare hands!?”
“Isn’t it normal to be able to do this much? This time, I’m coming at you!”
I put my sword back in its sheath in front of the astonished Damnatio, and then I took a step forward and drew my sword with a flash.
“Gghh”
Damnatio blocked the blow with his magic sword and leapt backwards.
Damnatio tried to take up his stance again, but the next moment, with a cracking sound, the sword blade of Dimios shattered and fragments fell to the ground.
“What!? Dimios had never been chipped for many years, and was shattered instantly… I see, that thin sword you’re holding is a Divine-grade. No wonder Dimios shattered.”
Damnatio looked startled for a moment, but quickly nodded in agreement.
Then, holding up the remnants of the sword, which had been reduced to its hilt, he chanted hoarsely.
“—Demon Sword Dimios.”
As if in response to that voice, the fragments of the demon sword that had fallen to the ground floated into the air and returned to their original sword shape as if it was being regenerated in reverse.
If the results of the earlier appraisal were correct, it would become even harder than before.
Damnatio smiled smugly and raised the magic sword to the sky.
“Now, can you break this sword again?”
At the same time as he said these words, black flames enveloped the blade of the sword, and Damnatio swung the sword down.
The black flames from the sword flew toward me in a straight line at a tremendous speed.
I calmly evaded it by flying to the side, but at that moment, I felt like Damnatio was laughing.
“Are you sure? If you keep dodging like that, your friends will die.”
“You!?”
I quickly checked and saw that the black flame was heading straight for Finne and the others.
I then teleported in the direction of the flame.
“Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis!”
Damnatio’s black flame struck the large deployed barrier.
After a while, the flames subsided, and I could see that the ground in my path had been gouged out.
Damn, I didn’t expect him to target my friends. I had completely let my guard down.
I immediately teleported behind Damnatio and swung the sword in my hand.
But my blade didn’t reach Damnatio.
He didn’t avoid it. It was blocked by his demon sword.
However, the demon sword had a large crack in it again, and it looked as if it was about to break.
I readjusted my sword once and then slashed it upside down.
“Tch!!”
Damnatio, probably thinking that his demon sword would be completely destroyed if it received any more hits, flew backwards to avoid me.
However, the tip of my sword seemed to have grazed him, and fresh blood gushed out from his chest.
“Demon Sword Dimio——”
“Do you think I’ll let you?”
Saying this, I used my fast-moving skill, Ground Shrink, to close in on Damnatio.
However, the moment he was right in front of me, my Detect Danger skill was triggered, and I distanced myself again.
“Tck.”
“Hmph, I didn’t think you’d avoid it —Demon Sword Dimios!”
I clicked my tongue at the fact that I couldn’t attack, and allowed the demon sword to regenerate.
Thinking bitterly, I spoke to Damnatio.
“Well, it’s just a hunch. Besides, I’d like to take a break now, okay?”
“You can rest as you like. Only the Imperial City will be destroyed in the meantime.”
It would happen.
The only one who could deal with Damnatio was probably Zero or me.
Oskar, the strongest person in the empire, was also exhausted from the battle with the dragon.
It was the same for the others, and even if they joined forces, they would be no match for Damnatio.
I just realized that in this world, aren’t there many people who are stronger than the heroes?
Anyway, I have to somehow make Damnatio withdraw or defeat him.
I looked at Damnatio and asked him.
“…Are you going to withdraw?”
“On the contrary, do you think I’m going to withdraw?”
If you think about it normally, there’s no reason for that.
“Then, does that mean I have no choice but to defeat you here?”
“That’s it. Now, let’s fight until one of us dies. Hehehe, it’s fun!”
Apparently Damnatio was a battle fanatic.
I wonder if there were other demons like that too…
While thinking so, I readied my sword and checked the surrounding situation.
After defeating the dragon, Finne and the others all gathered together in a corner of the arena.
I’m sure they’ll be fine since Zero was there too.
However, the arena was already quite wrecked. There were no people in the seats, and it seemed that the evacuation had been completed before they knew it.
This way, I would be able to fight without worrying.
Just as I thought that, Damnatio swung his sword and sent a slash at me.
I sent out a slash in the same way, aiming to cancel it out.
The collision of the two slashes created a shockwave that swept over us.
I glanced toward the others and saw that Zero was protecting them with a barrier.
With Zero, I could trust him to take care of everyone. He really was an excellent butler.
Damnatio called out to me as I was impressed by Zero.
“Looks like you haven’t let your guard down.”
“Of course. You’re not someone I should let my guard down against, right?”
“Hmp, it’s good that you know.”
Damnatio then disappeared from the scene.
“He’s gone?”
I heard Finne’s surprised voice, but he was just moving so fast that he seemed to have disappeared.
From Detect Presence, I knew where he was, and without turning around, I held my sword out to my back and caught Damnatio’s sword.
“Oh, you can block this? You’re good.”
“Thanks.”
While replying, I instantly teleported behind Damnatio.
“Damn you, you little prick!”
Damnatio turned around and swung his magic sword, but it just passed over my head as I ducked.
I stood up and swung my sword, cutting Damnatio’s sword in two, then kicked him in the stomach.
“Ugh!”
Damnatio was blown away and slammed into the wall behind him, coughing up blood from his mouth.
He quickly picked himself up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and let out a loud laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Don’t you notice?”
After hearing Damnatio’s reply, I finally realized that my cheeks were hot and zingy.
My hand that wiped my cheek had blood on it.