Entering a Company From Another World! – Chapter 652

I sometimes unconsciously strain too much when it’s time to finish the opponent.

“This will be the decider.”
“This will be the end.”

Such unconscious actions lead me to exert unnecessary force.
This, in turn, results in large, sweeping movements that create openings, leading to fatal counter-opportunities.

At this very moment, if things continue as they are, my Ore Tree will behead Carter.

It’s precisely at such moments that maintaining a calm mind is crucial, a lesson hammered into me by my instructors.

Without haste, without strain, and with the next move in mind, I will sever his head.

Don’t think this is the end.
The opponent is desperately trying to survive; there’s no way they’d give up so easily.

It’s precisely because I retain that awareness.

I realized the blade of my Ore Tree stopped just at his neck and put even more power into my swing.

A slash attack, when successful, doesn’t produce a sound like a blow.
However, this was not the sound of a slash; it was the sound of a blow.
Instead of a beheading slash, it sounded like a powerful strike, and I saw Carter fly backward.

The instant I felt that resistance, my brain had already sent commands to my legs, preparing for pursuit.
Tilting my center of gravity, I charged towards where Carter had been flung, like a bullet.

Faster than me, Instructor Kio’s magic overtook me, unleashing a barrage of attacks on Carter.
Lightning, flame, ice, darkness— a relentless storm of the instructor’s favored attributes.

My creating distance widened the scope of the attack magic.
A barrage of advanced magic, condensing area-of-effect spells.
This obscured my vision, but it was no problem.
The magic power was too chaotic for magic detection.

The shockwave of an explosion struck my body.
The backlash from the magic injured me, but covering myself with magic power protected me.
Diving into such a place would normally be foolish.

However, trusting in my instructor’s magical prowess and certain that Carter was there, I took another step forward and swung my Ore Tree horizontally.
This magical disruption certainly lowered the precision of my sight and magic detection.
But how was Carter, exposed to such violence, faring?
Even if he were in full defense, or even intercepting, could he detect me, who plunged into this bombardment?

“?!”
The answer was no.
Carter, his vision completely sealed by the magic, widened his eyes in disbelief just before my attack landed, thinking, “Foolish.”
Certainly, plunging into such a storm of magical attacks would be foolish.
But that’s where I trust my instructors.
They deliberately created only the smallest gap for me to attack, employing a multi-pronged assault.
Slowing down detection with magical power, creating deafening explosions to mask sound, and blinding sight with spectacular magic spells.
Presence detection?
Such a thing is impossible when under attack with such overwhelming force.

Or rather, I have a feeling Instructor Kio would do it with a smile.
That demon, with his intuition, might adapt to this combination and even take Instructor Fushio’s magical attacks head-on to counterattack me.
Could Carter do the same? The thought flickered through my mind.
There was no definitive reason to rule it out.
But hesitating now would negate the entire purpose of stepping in.

“I’m going.”
“Ooh!”

I believe and push forward. Once my resolve is set, hesitation disppears.
Amaterasu might be blocked due to the Sun God’s protection.
Kagutsuchi is the same.

So then.
“Takemikazuchi, Type 3.”
I activated the familiar enchanted armor magic.
With the instructors unleashing such spectacular magic, a flash of lightning should blend right in.
I wasn’t using the area-of-effect Takemikazuchi, but the converging, condensed type.
Blue lightning crackled and charged my Ore Tree, and the blade itself gleamed in response to the light.

“One Strike.”
And then, stepping into the space where the magic was being poured, I once again swept with a horizontal slash.
Unlike magic, my strike, with its glittering blade, sliced through flesh with a solid impact.

“Gyaaa!?”
A scream echoed amidst the roar of magical explosions.
And one severed arm danced in the air.
I intended to slice through his torso, but he reacted at the last moment, managing to save himself by losing only an arm.
But losing an arm…
Such a debilitating loss could not possibly fail to be a fatal wound at this critical juncture.
Carter no longer had the momentum to press the attack.
Maintaining Takemikazuchi, I stepped into close-quarters range for the third time. In Carter’s eyes, the arrogance from before was completely gone, replaced by confusion, a mix of “why?” and the despair of impending death.
A white, fiery arm sprouted from Carter.
His hand gripped a sword, supporting him and balancing the fight so it wouldn’t devolve into further disadvantage.

“What are you doing!? Using me and losing to this level of enemy is unacceptable!!”
“Kukukuku! You, who lost to an enemy of this level once, are talking. If you’re so frustrated, try to turn it around. Hah, the name of a Divine Sword cries out if you falter from attacks of this level.”
“You undead bastard!!”

However, that balance was beginning to crumble.
A Vampire, possessing a superior physique to humans; a talented bloodline from a former Hero; skills honed through centuries of diligent practice; and a Divine Sword forged by gods.
While I have loaded my character with these traits, I too have incorporated them.
A body strengthened through an insane educational method; a body that is gradually shedding its humanity through repeated incidents; swordsmanship training in space, which Valse-san would jokingly compare to a “one-hundred-million-year switch”; and my partner, the Ore Tree, which undergoes super-evolution with every incident.
There are no elements for defeat.

The Divine Sword’s agitation and Carter’s pained expression no longer matched.
His desperate counterattacks felt neither heavy nor sharp when I blocked them with my Ore Tree.
He was consumed by fear.
It bled into his sword strokes.
He seemed to be having doubts. Carter, having blocked and been countered so many times, and knowing the difference in our strength, had probably assumed he couldn’t lose to anyone but a Demon Lord.
That inflated pride became chains binding Carter’s thoughts, and the high-performance weapon, the Divine Sword, became an additional burden, narrowing his vision with the pressure to win.

“Time for that.”
As I cornered him further, and began to feel confident that the end was near, Carter muttered something.
His mental state was so precarious that he seemed to be unconsciously voicing his next move.
However, I, who couldn’t understand the advantage of monsters allowing heroes to transform in sentai shows, stepped forward to end this quickly.
Not granting him even a second’s delay.
With a flash of my blade, far shorter than an instant, I intended to sever Carter’s head this time.
I thought that with the Ore Tree in its Takemikazuchi state, I could have decapitated him.
But what responded was, once again, a hard sound.
It was blocked by a barrier.
The moment I understood this, my danger sense sounded an alarm.

“Get away, Jiro!!”
By the time I heard the instructor’s voice, I had already leaped back and landed beside him.

“Couldn’t finish him, huh?”
“Instructor, that was…”
I readied my Ore Tree and, while keeping Carter in sight, asked the instructor for information. He replied with a grim voice, muttering that the situation had become troublesome.
“This is your first time seeing it, isn’t it? That’s a True Name Release.”
He explained what was happening.

“True Name Release? Was it sealed or something until just now?”
I thought it was a typical trope where the enemy’s transformation couldn’t be stopped.
But it seemed to be more than that.
A vortex of fire engulfed Carter, and upon closer inspection, it was even melting the castle floor.
“How much heat is that generating?” I chuckled wryly.
“It’s a similar state. A Divine Sword is, quite literally, a sword of a god. It’s too much for a mortal being to wield. Therefore, there are always limiters in place. These can only be removed with the consent of both the Divine Sword and its wielder.”
“So, does this mean the real battle starts now?”
“Indeed, but you don’t need to worry too much.”
“And why is that?”
“No matter how sharp a blade is, if the wielder is incompetent, it only makes a difference in how long the fight lasts.”
“I see.”
Hearing that the True Name Release of the Divine Sword had been invoked, I immediately refocused my attention.
Even without seeing it, I could tell it was dangerous fire, but skills aren’t acquired overnight.
I had a good grasp of his skill level from our previous exchange.
Through it, I could roughly understand why President had seemed so relaxed.

“Divine Sword, Unite.”
“Awaken.”
And then, as Carter emerged, scattering the flames.

“He looks like a protagonist.”
I couldn’t help but utter that thought.
A shimmering robe of fire, and golden armor. His divine hair and eyes were the color of flame.
It was the perfect template for the protagonist’s awakening state when challenging the final boss.
If this were a game space, I thought, it wouldn’t be out of place for a theme song to start playing.

“‘Hmph, how nonchalant. What awaits you now is annihilation.'”
However, his line delivery felt a bit like a low-level villain.

“Instructor, I’m going to ramp things up a bit.”
“Do as you wish.”
He might look like a protagonist, but that’s just an appearance. This is reality.
While the trope of awakening like a protagonist and making a comeback from a dire situation isn’t impossible, it only occurs when the combatants are evenly matched.
It’s not just the opponent who is suppressing their power.

“Partner, Dragon Blood Awakening.”
“Understood!”
My connection with the Ore Tree deepened, and my pulsating heart beat even faster.
And then, the blood of the异形, which mortals do not possess, awakened from its slumber.

“Oho, I always knew you’d eventually cease to be human, but I didn’t expect you to go this far.”
I heard Instructor Kio’s impressed voice beside me.
My eyes must surely resemble those of a dragon.
Seeing that, he must be impressed.

“It feels like it’s too late for worrying. By the way, I’m starting to worry I’ll sprout horns from my head eventually.”
“Kukukuku! Perhaps you should grow wings on your back too, wouldn’t that be convenient?”
“That would make you completely not human now, wouldn’t it?”
As if uninterested in the enemy’s awakening scene, we exchanged casual conversation.

“‘How dare you!? What do you think you are!?'”
Their angry shouts sounded like two voices overlapping. They probably expected me to be terrified by the power of the Divine Sword, but…
Fortunately, I’ve been trained not to fall into despair, even if I feel fear.

“‘What are you!? What do you think you are?!'”
“A new general.”
I blocked the flames with my Ore Tree, faster than before, stronger than before, and hotter than before.
An ordinary Ore Tree would undoubtedly melt at this temperature, but even blocking it with one hand, I wasn’t blown away, and the blade suffered not a single nick.
The danger has escalated, I admit.
But, conversely, that’s all it is.
If I release the power I’ve been holding back, I still have enough strength to maintain my composure.
I know it’s a deadly blade, but…
If I act so as not to be hit, that’s all there is to it.
Besides, the battlefield is the worst possible.
Normally, this divine flame would burn through rock, iron, or even water, but here, we are in chaos, and this castle is a space created by Instructor Fushio.
There’s nowhere for the fire to spread.
Therefore, there’s no risk of it flaring up.
I suspect the true power of the Divine Sword is its ability to spread flames and create an advantageous space to overwhelm the opponent.
Other than that, its effects are the power to generate flames, the ability to use fire magic, and a sword that is simply sturdy and sharp.
I acknowledge its power and performance as a sword, but conversely, it lacks the cheat-like abilities of Valse-san, such as severing space.
In other words…

“Simply put, I have the strength to beat you, so keep that in mind.”
It’s scary, but it’s an opponent I can normally defeat.

Today’s word:
It’s best to cut ties with unpleasant coincidences as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continued feedback and error reports.
If you found this enjoyable, please leave a review, rating, bookmark, etc.

I am currently serializing another work:
Pandora Pandemic Panic: Pandora’s Box Has Been Opened Again, but We’re Fighting Back with Various Things in Our Secret Base!!
Please check that out as well!!