We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Knight with Silver Eyes
“Eruru… you say? What a ridiculous name.”
The Knight with Silver Eyes glares at me, looking displeased.
“My name is none of your business!”
Although it’s not my real name, I retort inwardly as I close the distance.
Kicking off the ground low, I approach the Knight with Silver Eyes and lightly swing the Spirit Current Sword in my right hand.
“Huh?”
But my Spirit Current Sword misses, hitting nothing as it fails to touch either the shield or the sword the Knight with Silver Eyes held up.
That’s odd, isn’t it?
Even though he was right in front of me a moment ago…?
“Oh!”
Targeting my unbalanced state from the missed swing, a blow from a straight sword comes down from my blind spot.
I deftly swing the Spirit Current Sword in my left hand and meet the Knight with Silver Eyes’ sword strike.
With a sharp *clang*, a high-pitched metallic sound echoes, and the Knight with Silver Eyes’ straight sword is deflected.
“!”
The Knight with Silver Eyes glares at me with astonished eyes.
“Why? You reacted to my movements not once, but twice? Moreover, you deflected my strength without being outmatched, despite being human?”
I was surprised on the inside as well.
After all, I was the one who attacked first this time, but by the time I knew it, I was in his blind spot, and then he counterattacked.
Why can’t I read the movements of the Knight with Silver Eyes?
Yet, I, who couldn’t read the Knight with Silver Eyes’ initial attack or his current evasive movement at all, was able to react to his subsequent surprise attack.
It makes no sense!
The Knight with Silver Eyes glares at me with a murderous intent in his eyes, cautiously holding his straight sword and shield.
I also adjust my stance, being wary to not lose sight of the Knight with Silver Eyes’ movements.
It seemed like a stalemate was about to continue, with neither of us understanding each other’s movements.
“Whoa!!”
It happened again, suddenly!
I was sure I was glaring at the Knight with Silver Eyes, but suddenly I felt a killing intent from behind me, and I hurriedly took evasive action.
With a *swish*, the sound of air being slashed fills the surroundings.
Feeling the presence of a blade just where I had been standing a moment before on my back, I retreated towards the Knight with Silver Eyes in front of me, closing the distance.
However, at that moment, I lost sight of the Knight with Silver Eyes again.
Of course, the Knight with Silver Eyes was standing behind where I had been poised a moment ago, swinging his straight sword!
“This is ridiculous!”
I can’t help but shout.
It really makes no sense!
There’s no trace or sign of any magic like spatial jumps or illusions used by the Knight with Silver Eyes.
Yet, by the time I realized it, the Knight with Silver Eyes was in my blind spot.
“Damn you, three times! But!!”
With a fierce glare directed at me, the Knight with Silver Eyes unleashed magic.
His silver hair, like wire, became a thin, stabbing blade, extending towards me!
“I see!”
I swing the Spirit Current Sword to counter the Knight with Silver Eyes’ hair, which attacks like wire.
However, it’s not directed at the Knight with Silver Eyes in front of me!
I gracefully wield my twin swords.
With that alone, all of the thin, sharp strands of the Knight with Silver Eyes’ hair, which were approaching from my blind spot, were deflected and diverted from their path.
“I-Impossible!!”
I close the distance towards the Knight with Silver Eyes, who stands behind me, speechless.
I sweep the Spirit Current Sword in my right hand softly.
With a *clang*, a metallic sound rings out, and the straight sword held by the Knight with Silver Eyes is greatly deflected.
For the second blow, I swung the left Spirit Current Sword up from below.
Again, a metallic sound echoes in the night sky.
The Knight with Silver Eyes deflected the second blow with his shield.
However, with my two attacks, the Knight with Silver Eyes’ stance was greatly destabilized.
Into that opening, I gracefully unleash the right Spirit Current Sword anew.
With a *swish*, I feel resistance at the tip of my sword.
“Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous!!”
Nevertheless, he is a high-ranking demon, as expected.
The Knight with Silver Eyes breaks away from me, widening the distance, not allowing my follow-up attacks.
He’s probably glaring at me hatefully.
But I won’t meet the Knight with Silver Eyes’ gaze directly anymore.
“I see, it’s a Magic Eye, isn’t it? No wonder I couldn’t detect any sign of magic activation or the initial movements of any suspicious techniques?”
That’s right. The eyes of the Knight with Silver Eyes were a constantly active Magic Eye!
The moment I looked into the Knight with Silver Eyes’ eyes, I was being deceived.
It probably has the effect of making the target continue to see residual traces of one’s presence as long as their gazes meet, doesn’t it?
And then, the Knight with Silver Eyes himself approaches the target with his presence masked and delivers a surprise attack.
That’s why, even though I thought the Knight with Silver Eyes was in front of me, he had already moved to my blind spot by the time I realized it.
However, perhaps the Knight with Silver Eyes’ Magic Eye doesn’t work unless their eyes are locked on each other?
Therefore, the moment the Knight with Silver Eyes silently moved to my blind spot, the deception would be released.
When the illusion is suddenly broken from the state of being deceived that the Knight with Silver Eyes exists in your line of sight, it would naturally appear as if he disappeared suddenly, wouldn’t it?
However, once the silver-eyed illusion is broken, it’s all about combat experience and my own skill.
I, who can quickly sense the Knight with Silver Eyes’ surprise attacks, can take appropriate evasive actions.
“H-How could a mere human…!”
Even if you are enraged now, it’s too late.
It’s your fault for underestimating me as “just a human,” and only attacking by surprise while I was under the delusion of your Magic Eye!
The Knight with Silver Eyes must have wanted to see the despair on my face, being attacked from my blind spot while we were supposed to be gazing at each other.
But, too bad for you!
Once you know the effect of the silver Magic Eye, dealing with it afterward is easy.
You just have to avoid meeting the Knight with Silver Eyes’ gaze.
And with that, my attack this time split the chest armor of the Knight with Silver Eyes splendidly.
“Even though you’re just human, don’t get cocky just because you broke through my Magic Eye!!”
The Knight with Silver Eyes, exploding with killing intent, charges at me.
I let the flow of the Dragon Vein gently ride the Spirit Current Sword and prepare to face his enraged slash.
“Haaaaaa!!”
A powerful blow imbued with magic comes down from above!
I cross my twin swords and dance lightly.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!!”
The one screaming was the Knight with Silver Eyes.
His straight sword, now a mass of magic, and his right wrist, which gripped the hilt, were sent flying far away and fell.
“W-Why! Why am I being cut?”
He must have intended to bring down his straight sword, intending to cut me in half along with my twin swords that he swung to defend.
However, the result was different.
The Knight with Silver Eyes’ straight sword did not cross the Spirit Current Sword. Instead, his forearm was severed.
Just as I couldn’t understand what was happening when I was being deceived by the silver Magic Eye, I’m sure the Knight with Silver Eyes now doesn’t understand his own condition or my movements.
But I won’t reveal my hand to the enemy.
I point the tip of the Spirit Current Sword towards the Knight with Silver Eyes, who is writhing and screaming.
“You lose, Knight with Silver Eyes.”
If the Knight with Silver Eyes is a high-ranking demon, I’d like him to honestly acknowledge the outcome of the battle, wouldn’t you?
Or, does being defeated by a human hurt your pride, and you intend to resist until the very end?
Either way, I look down at the Knight with Silver Eyes, remaining vigilant so I can respond to any action.
“Ideally, I’d like you to surrender honestly? And then, I’d like you to tell me. Why is the mastermind behind the rebellion a demon? And what is the Demon Lord’s Court?”
My question causes the Knight with Silver Eyes’ shoulders to tremble.
He knows something!
“What is your objective?”
What are you planning by using the rebellion of the enslaved people?
Or, do demons truly desire the liberation of slaves?
How does the organization or ideology called the Demon Lord’s Court relate to that?
I have so many things I want to ask.
However, reality is not that sweet.
“Well, well. It seems the Lord of Silver Eyes is having trouble.”
“Who’s there!”
I sharply call out to a new voice that comes from deep within the night.
Then, from the crowd gathered around the mansion protected by a barrier magic, a man appears.
“And who might you be? You, and those two young men from earlier, have caused quite a few unforeseen events, haven’t you?”
I see. He had blended into the rebel army by masking his presence, which is why I hadn’t noticed him until now? I realize as I look at the man.
And one more thing.
“Is it your doing that the rebel army isn’t paying attention to us while we were making such a commotion?”
“Your insight is remarkable. You seem to be a very capable young man for a human.”
“You assume I’m human, which means… You are a demon, aren’t you?”
The man, revealing a malevolent smile, looked like a tattered slave at first glance.
However, perhaps he no longer intends to hide his presence from me, as he emits a completely different aura from the surrounding crowd.
“Nice to meet you, Eruru. And goodbye. It seems you are getting in the way of our plan, so we shall dispose of you here.”
The man in the slave attire points at me.
“Now, everyone, that boy is an enemy. ‘Kill him’.”
“!”
I sense something off at the end of the man’s words.
However, I don’t have the time to figure out the cause.
Suddenly, the rebels, who hadn’t paid any attention to the fight between me and the Knight with Silver Eyes until just moments ago, all turn their hostility towards me.
And, with eyes filled with madness, they attack me en masse!
“Hahahaha! Kill each other happily, fellow humans!”
The man in the slave attire disappears instantly into the throng of rebels.
But I don’t have the luxury of searching for the man in the slave attire.
“How dare you… how dare you, as a human!”
The Knight with Silver Eyes, who had been writhing in excruciating pain, seems to have regained his fighting spirit. He stands up, his magic surging.
“I will kill you! And I’ll present you as a souvenir to His Majesty the Demon Lord!!”
“The Demon Lord’s!?”
The demon pulling the strings behind the rebellion started by the enslaved people mentions the existence of the Demon Lord.
Does that mean the one behind this rebellion is the Demon Lord?!
But that man in the slave attire…
“Die, Eruru!”
“Is that all?”
The Knight with Silver Eyes, having lost his right hand and straight sword, swings his shield.
However, he is a high-ranking demon, after all, and the arms and armor he wears are first-class.
From the magic-imbued shield, an enormous blade like a curved sword extends.
I dodge backward with a large leap from the enormous blade that was meant to cut me in half.
“You won’t escape!”
“Kill that brat!”
“He’s an enemy!”
“We have been granted power! With this power, we shall annihilate all enemies!”
“Kill!”
“Kill!!”
The Knight with Silver Eyes, filled with killing intent, and the rebel people, controlled by madness.
My face contorts, and I retreat.
“This is bad. I wonder how things are going for Lise and the others!?”
If Listea and the others managed to achieve their objective and escape the mansion, I could retreat as well…
However, there’s no movement from the Lord’s mansion for now.
“In that case!”
I ask the Wind Spirit that Lord Reed had entrusted to me.
“As an emergency measure, could you search for that suspicious person and track them?”
“Leave it to me! I’ll go look for you!”
Gently, a soft breeze blows around my neck.
“Alright, I’ll do my best to make things easier for Lise and the others to act!”
“Let’s do it, let’s do it!”
Ares-chan’s presence, though not manifested, is always by my side.
As I hold up the Spirit Current Sword, Ares-chan’s presence floats softly as if to help.
I sense the Dragon Vein in the atmosphere and softly swing my twin swords.
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