We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Dancing in the great sea of the dragon veins.
“Incompetence that speaks without regard to the occasion and dampens the mood.”
Srain’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light. Then, he swung his magic sword.
“Srain!”
He hadn’t even shown a feint when we crossed swords, but Srain split his jet-black blade without hesitation.
The blade passed through me, who was confronting him, and was unleashed towards the giant demon at the entrance of the hall.
The giant demon could only watch the deadly blade approaching him with a dazed gaze.
Surely, he couldn’t understand why Srain harbored murderous intent towards him, and that’s why his body couldn’t react!
The demon sword’s blade poured down on the giant demon!
“……!”
Everyone held their breath.
The soldiers remaining in the hall. Not only Lady Mine and Lady Anna of the shooting stars, but even Slaton and Duranel. I, too, was slow to react to Srain’s unexpected move.
Just then, the radiance of the sun filled the hall!
“Lord Srain… no, His Majesty the Mad Abyss Demon Lord. I cannot overlook any further reckless acts! To turn your blade on a vassal who has sworn loyalty is not the act of a ruler!”
Slashing attacks clad in scorching flames were unleashed in all directions.
And then, all the blades Srain had released were deflected, saving the giant demon.
“A human defending a Demon General. How comical. But, I shall permit it. In exchange for your monstrous power and your excellent swordsmanship that blocked my magic sword.”
However, Srain continued, keeping a sharp gaze on the giant demon, the Demon General.
“Demon General Beardnaz. I am fed up with your incompetence. For now, you have bought yourself more time thanks to Rize’s quick thinking, but once this rebellion is quelled, you will pay for your incompetence with your life.”
“Your, Your Majesty… W-what…?”
Perhaps, the Demon General, he might not have realized it.
That the Demon Lord’s Army he commanded was acting like bandits.
But ignorance is no excuse. It is the duty of the person in charge of moving a large organization.
Srain did not answer the Demon General’s question and continued.
“However, I will give you one chance for absolution. If you can win against the avatar of the sun over there and the Earth Dragon Knight.”
“Wha-!?”
“His Majesty the Mad Abyss Demon Lord!”
Slaton and Listea cried out in shock and bewilderment. Srain laughed it off and then said to the two of them.
“Of course, I will give you a chance to live as well. The condition is…”
Then, Srain smiled maliciously at me and said.
“When I lose to Eruru, it will be the end of all our battles.”
“I knew you’d say that!”
No one could stop Srain’s arbitrary actions.
If anyone wanted to stop him, they would have to persuade him with their strength.
“Eruru, hurry up and blast that guy away!”
“So it has come to this, I see.”
Slaton yelled at me, and Listea sighed.
The Demon General, returning to his senses at the human’s insolent attitude, took out the great axe from his back, exuding murderous intent.
“Hmph, I don’t understand! However, if His Majesty tells me to die, I will gladly commit suicide. That is what we Demon Generals do! Nevertheless, I cannot offer my life in vain while watching mere humans act this way! Your insults and your disrespectful attitude towards demons are worthy of ten thousand deaths!”
“There was another demon who talked big like you earlier, only to be defeated by us without being able to lay a hand on us!”
Taunting was Slaton’s forte.
The Demon General, who was looked down upon by someone he considered beneath him, unleashed dense killing intent. And then, he summoned miasma.
“Those who are not involved, please evacuate to the side of the living room! We will definitely protect you!”
In response to Listea’s words, the soldiers who had been fleeing in disarray gathered at the edge of the hall, screaming.
But the Demon General would not idly let that happen.
“All the rebels will be annihilated!”
Shouting, the Demon General unleashed magic along with the miasma.
However, Listea, clad in the sun’s flames, would not stand by and watch at this point.
A roaring, crimson flame was unleashed like a wave.
The wave of flames swallowed the magic unleashed by the Demon General and burned fiercely, fueled by the miasma.
“Mere humans!!”
“Oh yeah, better try not to lose to those humans!”
“You forget about me.”
Slaton, riding on Duranel, charged towards the enraged Demon General.
And then, he struck with a giant blade of super high water pressure.
The Demon General met it with his great axe!
A clash of colossal power further escalated, with Duranel’s dragon arts and Listea’s flames joining in, turning the area into a fierce battlefield in an instant.
“An interesting fight. But Beardnaz is a Demon General. After the initial surprise attack, the battle could change drastically. It’s up to you now.”
“It’s up to me, huh? That’s right. Well then, shall we stop this tentative probing and get serious with each other?”
Srain and I looked at each other anew.
Gray hair. Dressed in gray-based equipment, he looked like a handsome young man, comparable to Listea.
But his true identity was the Mad Abyss Demon Lord, the ruler of this country!
I had a hunch, a vague suspicion, but I had been suspecting it!
Because, among demons, Srain was the most demonic existence of all.
I’ve always thought about it.
What kind of person is suitable to be a Demon Lord? In the dog-eat-dog society of demons, perhaps it is someone who, apart from the strength to dominate others, shows their existence most vividly as themselves?
Well, in my case, I was simply caught the interest of the true ruler of the demons, aside from those conditions!
Therefore, I am different from Srain.
I never go berserk, and I don’t treat life lightly.
For that reason, I have to stop Srain.
Him, the former strongest gladiator, and the current Demon Lord.
“You said my swordsmanship was strange? That means you haven’t reached the ultimate path like me yet!”
“You boast, do you!”
Srain swung his magic sword!
Immense magic power was instantly poured into the split blades that had been deflected by Listea.
The magic sword’s blades unleashed by the Mad Abyss Demon Lord Srain possessed the power to destroy the fortress’s barrier and trample the Demon Lord’s Army.
What if that were to rage here!
“If you keep acting so nonchalant, many sacrifices you don’t desire will occur!”
Srain smiled provocatively at me.
“My Lord Demon Lord!”
“Please stop this!”
Lady Mine and Lady Anna pleaded.
“Rest assured. As promised, I will not lay a hand on the Shooting Star. However, if Eruru continues to refuse to show me the fight I desire, everyone except you will perish here.”
“Srain, I won’t let you do that.”
It seems I’ll have to get serious now.
Until now, I prioritized stopping Srain’s rampage and investigating the various motives surrounding the rebel army.
Besides, I am still in training, you know.
Since last winter, I have been continuously learning the basics of dragon veins using the Spirit Current Sword, but I still haven’t acquired the techniques that Lord Reed would find acceptable.
But I can’t afford to be so lenient anymore.
If my hesitation here causes things to go in a bad direction, it would be unbearable.
So, Ares-chan. It seems the time has come to use that!
“Here it comes, here it comes.”
Ares-chan, reading my mind, merged with me without manifesting.
A warm yet powerful life gently permeated my being. At the same time, immense power filled my entire body.
Srain subtly twitched his eyebrows at the change within me.
As expected of a Demon Lord. His perception is amazing.
However, Srain wouldn’t notice what Ares-chan and I are about to do.
Those who cannot sense dragon veins will not understand our new art.
Just as Srain only felt it as “strange swordsmanship”!
I lightly swung the Spirit Current Sword, with a graceful flourish.
As if enchanting the opponent with the beauty of a dance.
This is my stage.
Srain is the opponent.
The battles of Listea and the others are the splendor that adorns the stage.
Lady Shooting Star Miko, the mastermind protected by them, and the soldiers cowering at the edge of the hall are the audience.
Now, let us dance.
I, who am learning the basics of dragon veins, will perform the best sword dance I can at this moment.
Srain quickly reacted to my movements.
He wielded his serpentine magic sword with skill, freely manipulating the split blades.
Deadly slashes flying from all directions, intending to carve me to pieces!
“Will you dodge this too? However, my magic power filling the blades will swallow and destroy anything it touches!”
How will you deal with it? Srain smiled as if testing me, and so I responded with my sword dance.
My Spirit Current Sword, swung with fluid movements, entangled three of the magic sword’s blades with a *shink* sound. With a subsequent horizontal sweep, I diverted the trajectory of twice as many blades.
I fluttered and danced. The blades were deflected.
However, those blades did not exhibit the power Srain intended.
“Why?”
To Srain’s bewildered question, I replied.
“Srain, you don’t understand. My sword is connected to the world. Your blades, they destroy everything they touch? That’s a lie, isn’t it? Because your blades have been touching the world, the very air, from the beginning, yet they haven’t destroyed anything. This means that my sword, which is connected to the world and embodies the will of the world, nothing happens when it touches your blades!”
“You boast!” Srain roared and swung his magic sword more ferociously.
I deflected all of them.
Srain doesn’t understand.
No, that’s not right.
He doesn’t even realize that he’s already in my grasp!
“Seriously, seriously. I’ll get yelled at by Reed later.”
Ares-chan, let’s get yelled at together, okay?
“It can’t be helped, it can’t be helped.”
Ares-chan and I gave it our all.
My swordsmanship is still unrefined.
I can barely manage to swing the Spirit Current Sword while channeling dragon veins; I cannot overwhelm my opponent with swordsmanship alone.
That’s why, until now, I’ve only managed to barely defend against Srain’s attacks and couldn’t land a decisive blow.
But, swinging the Spirit Current Sword gracefully, I reflected on the results of my training so far.
The Spirit Current Sword is so heavy that it’s difficult to even hold without channeling dragon veins?
If I use a technique, everything will be absorbed and destroyed?
In that case then!
During my training, I recalled something Luiseine had told me long ago.
When we were still fourteen years old.
At the ancient ruins near Armēdo Kingdom’s Royal Capital, where we visited for camping practice.
I performed a clumsy Dragon Sword Dance to protect Luiseine.
At that time, Luiseine, who possessed the Dragon Eye, saw it.
How power surged from the dragon veins in time with my Dragon Sword Dance.
In other words.
When I perform the Dragon Sword Dance.
Dragon veins, drawn by the sword dance, naturally emerge from beneath the earth to the surface.
So then?
“Let’s force it to emerge.”
That’s right. If the Spirit Current Sword requires the flow of dragon veins, then why not fill the atmosphere with dragon veins!
When I perform the Dragon Sword Dance, power surges from the dragon veins flowing beneath the earth.
When Ares-chan’s Spirit Tree power is added to that, it becomes nothing but my stage, doesn’t it?
And if the atmosphere fills with the flow of dragon veins, I can wield power freely.
No matter how much the Spirit Current Sword absorbs power from me and Ares-chan, since the surroundings are filled with power for us, there’s no depletion!
Furthermore, Luiseine also said this, didn’t she?
That movements in harmony with nature, like a fish swimming freely in a river, are important.
Now that I have filled the atmosphere with the flow of dragon veins, I can swing the Spirit Current Sword with natural movements, like a fish swimming in the sea or river, without resisting the flow.
Finally, I dissolved my consciousness into the world.
Then my will connects with the world.
This is a technique I have been continuously practicing!
Srain probably thinks he is freely manipulating the split blades with his own will and technique.
But, that’s not actually the case.
My consciousness is connected to the world.
The dragon vein flow fills the atmosphere.
I concentrate.
So that the released blades take a trajectory convenient for my Dragon Sword Dance.
So that the deflected and strayed blades do not move erratically.
Just as I channel the Spirit Current Sword along the flow of dragon veins, I incorporate Srain’s magic-infused blades into the dragon vein flow and, taking advantage of fleeting openings he’s unaware of, guide them as intended.
This is the true nature of the swordsmanship Srain has repeatedly felt as “strange” until now.
Srain’s blades destroy everything they touch?
If so, I can simply manipulate them secretly so that they don’t touch anything!
And the Spirit Current Sword, having become a part of the world, is not subject to the condition of destruction that Srain set.
Srain probably doesn’t understand what’s happening right now.
However, even so, Srain is the Demon Lord and a former strongest gladiator.
While being tossed about by my Spirit Current Sword, his eyes remain calm.
Rather, he seems to be enjoying this difficult situation, a smile playing on his lips.
“Interesting! I never had such an interesting fight even in my gladiator days. Your technique is unfathomable, the blades don’t become magic as I intended. But, it’s just the beginning! I want to enjoy this interesting fight even more!!”
Srain’s magic power surged! The overflowing magic power, now visible, quickly generated miasma.
The miasma writhed ominously, threatening to engulf the world.
The dragon veins that filled the atmosphere were defiled by an evil will.
“Now, show me more! The strength of yours, which I’ve heard of, is not just this, is it, Archduke Dragon Elnea Eris!!”
Gray magic dyed the world. Srain’s immense magic power, which enveloped not only the fortress but also the surrounding Demon Lord’s Army and Rebel Army, shook the world!
