Chapter 608 – Meteor Dance

“If you agree, I’d like to change locations.”

“That’s fine with me.”

I had no intention of saying something like you can’t choose the battlefield in real combat, nor did I plan to cause destruction in Claudia’s home.

“Did you see the training grounds on your way here?”

“The square where the Little Soldiers were training?”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting there. Please come when you’re ready.”

“Understood.”

As I nodded, Helvorte stood up, bowed, and left the room.

Quick to get to the point, or something like that. Probably, this was an area that interested Helvorte as well.

To gain Helvorte’s approval… in this case, I think it would be better to demonstrate my abilities rather than rely on words. If I could secure its cooperation after that, it would be reassuring.

I should probably explain my intentions to Claudia as well.

When I looked over at Claudia with that thought, she was smiling gently.

“You’re being considerate of Helvorte.”

“That’s the intention behind this conversation. Even though it said it doesn’t understand emotions, I thought maybe it does have them, they’re just hard to read.”

When I said that, Claudia closed her eyes.

“That’s right. It’s clumsy in how it interacts with people and doesn’t show much emotion. But it’s not just thinking about my safety – it’s trying to understand other people’s feelings too. The village residents are suppressed in the labyrinth, so they have few opportunities to learn about emotions.”

Right. So I think the best approach would be to gain its approval and actively engage with it. Since that’s its personality, Claudia seems worried about it too, so I’ll just do what I can to support Claudia.

“Having such small emotional movements… I wonder if that means it’s indifferent to being hurt itself. Some masters grieve when their knights are wounded.”

“That… might be true. In that regard, it’s a little similar to Theodore, perhaps.”

When Claudia responded to Rosemary’s words, everyone present nodded in agreement.

“Ah… Well, I am reflecting on it.”

Hmm… When I fought that high-ranking demon and other times, I’ve made everyone worry about me in various ways.

I might not be in a position to criticize others, but if that’s the case, then cooperating to plan the Last Guardian’s subjugation would likely result in fewer injuries for both sides. Yeah. Well, that’s how it is.

Anyway, even putting aside the matter of the Last Guardian, the goal is to gain its approval and create a situation where it will listen to what we have to say.

I headed with everyone to the corridor overlooking the training grounds. Helvorte was there.

The Beast Knights and Little Soldiers who had been training in the grounds also formed ranks and, moving in perfect unison with Helvorte, bowed to Claudia.

Their movements were like those of a knight order. Helvorte’s ability to command the castle’s monsters seems quite impressive.

“If you can command them like this, it might be good to train with the castle’s monsters after the mock battle is over.”

The Beast Knights seem quite skilled in martial arts and combat techniques, and the Little Soldiers would probably make good training partners for practicing three-dimensional movement coordination.

When I said that, Helvorte nodded quietly.

“It’s possible. As much as you wish. I can also assess everyone else’s abilities, and that should be part of the labyrinth’s original purpose.”

The labyrinth’s original purpose, huh.

“Theodore.”

Just as I was about to step out toward Helvorte, Claudia called out to me.

“Hmm?”

“I know that child’s capabilities, but I won’t say anything. I’ll just watch this battle.”

“Okay. I think that’s fine.”

I stepped forward from the group and faced Helvorte across the open space.

“This is my first mock battle, but if I handle my fighting spirit and magical power properly, even if I get hit, I shouldn’t die.”

Fighting spirit rose from Helvorte’s entire body as it took a stance with its large spear.

“As long as I don’t let my guard down too much, that is. We have healing magic and medicine prepared, so don’t worry.”

I responded to Helvorte’s words.

If one is proficient in handling fighting spirit, they can hold back even with a direct spear hit to avoid piercing through, but if it hits in the wrong place, it could be fatal. So don’t let your guard down to prevent that, in other words.

Helvorte nodded at my response.

“I see. As for other aspects – I intend to demonstrate my abilities as the Guardian entrusted with this castle without holding back.”

Right. That’s how it should be.

“Understood. Then, shall we begin?”

I also took a stance with Ouroboros and began increasing my magical power. Blue sparks of excess magical power scattered around us.

I could tell the other side was also increasing its power in response. A tingling sensation running across my cheeks.

The one who moved first was – Helvorte.

It opened its eyes that had been closed and slammed the spear’s butt against the ground of the square. From there, a Magic Circle spread out and magical power covered the surrounding area.

— Some kind of Barrier Magic. Not an offensive technique.

The true nature of the Magic Circle was unknown. But I could at least read its system and type. So what was the purpose of this technique? Before I could get the answer, we were both charging toward each other.

The spear tip wrapped in fighting spirit trailed like a comet’s tail as it was unleashed toward me. An exchange of attacks as we passed each other. I let the spear that grazed past my cheek with tremendous force pass by, then stepped in using that momentum to deliver a horizontal sweeping strike with Ouroboros. A blow aimed at the back from the front, targeting the wings.

But it didn’t hit. As soon as Helvorte saw that I had dodged, it ascended at an angle close to perpendicular. Using Nemea and Capella’s strength, I pursued.

Helvorte flapped its wings and turned back, staying in place to meet my attack. The spear tip and Ouroboros’s end tangled together as they collided, scattering sparks.

Both using pole weapons. It’s possible to amplify the movement of the weapon’s tip with hand movements and use it to entangle and deflect the opponent’s weapon.

As if reading each other’s intentions, we repeated thrusts while tangling our weapons together at each momentary crossing. Into this, I mixed in strikes while stepping in and dodging. Each time fighting spirit and magical power interfered and collided, sparks scattered.

Helvorte deflected my stepping strike with a Magic Shield deployed in its left hand. A sweeping strike with the spear wrapped in fighting spirit. I kicked through the air as if doing a cartwheel to fly in, maintaining distance to meet it at spear-tip range.

Exemplary, beautiful spearmanship. No, more like feeling out the situation to understand martial arts skill and habits for prediction. The way it calmly observes my movements is typical of it.

Then — how about this?

I deliberately made a large movement. Helvorte’s reaction was quick. It tried to predict my body movement and entangle me with its spear, but at that moment magical power exploded from the staff’s tip. The movement of the spear trying to entangle me was instead disrupted.

Not missing that moment, I deployed a slanted Magic Shield to deflect the spear tip and charged in. It managed to defend against Ouroboros with a Magic Shield. But –!

Magical Shockwave. Even though Helvorte received an unexpected impact through its Guard, it didn’t change expression in the slightest and moved without hesitation.

“Step back.”

Along with the voice, a shockwave of fighting spirit was released from its entire body. An omnidirectional attack that seemed to swell up.

Sensing the concentration of fighting spirit, I instantly deployed a shield to block it, but was thrown back heavily by the impact. Fighting spirit gushed out from Helvorte’s body all at once.

A charging stance. But at a distance where the spear’s reach couldn’t connect. Without flying in, if I unleashed the spear from that position, a massive fighting spirit projectile would fly toward me.

“Solid Hammer!”

While launching a large rock head-on, I activated Mirage Body. Maintaining my disrupted posture, I flew upward using Nemea and Capella’s strength.

The sound of rock being crushed echoed beneath my feet. Helvorte had — accurately pursued my main body. Or rather, the moment those eyes saw me, my Mirage Body clones were scattered. Not so much an Evil Eye as something like Pure Eyes. It seems to nullify illusion magic.

Since it mentioned heartbeat movements during our earlier conversation, I had disguised the sound with Wind Magic too. But that doesn’t seem to work either.

Acceleration. Helvorte’s figure charging in with tremendous force vanished in an instant.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t follow the speed and movement with my eyes. It truly disappeared from that spot.

With a premonition running down my spine, I twisted my body while deploying a shield. Just before I was there, Helvorte’s body itself charged in from the side with a sweeping strike that cleared the space.

“To dodge that one –“

A slightly surprised voice faded into the distance, and then it vanished again. The next moment, Helvorte was charging down from directly above. I expanded magical power greatly to create a wall and deflect the strike.

Appearance and charge from unexpected directions. Disappearance without warning, and acceleration upon acceleration. Helvorte appeared and disappeared from every angle, gradually increasing its speed.

The fighting spirit wrapped around its entire body. Probably a technique that combines offense and defense. Even if you target the charge itself, a half-hearted attack would be scattered and pierced through. Unless you properly catch it, you probably can’t stop it.

If I take one hit, the battle would be over. If this weren’t a mock battle, I’d be knocked back repeatedly with no chance to counterattack and would sink.

Short-range Teleportation Magic. But there were no signs of activation until the last moment. Instead, the barrier Helvorte had deployed earlier was showing magical reactions.

In other words, this was the true nature of that earlier barrier. The ability of a Guardian defending a special place – a technique that allows unlimited, high-speed teleportation within a barrier created in advance.

I don’t know if this is limited to within this castle or can be used elsewhere…

But — this is getting interesting. A smile forms on my lips.

“Balor!”

Creating footholds with condensed magical power, I flew using Balor as propulsion. Directly controlling Balor, I traced irregular trajectories to prevent prediction. And Helvorte — pursued with prediction using teleportation and charges, then unleashed massive sweeping strikes and thrusts with fighting spirit.

Sometimes it flew in from blind spots, other times it charged head-on. There were moments when I changed direction to face it head-on and exchange blows with staff and spear.

I danced with Helvorte through the rapidly flowing scenery. Momentary crossings. Ouroboros and the spear collided violently, scattering sparks.

Accelerate accelerate. Not yet. Not yet. The speed still hasn’t caught up. Circulation circulation. Refine the magical power, sharpen it –!

Different from Helvorte who repeated teleportation from linear movement. Unless I accelerate my speed enough to run parallel while dodging, I can’t catch that movement.

I compensated for the load generated by reckless trajectories with fine control of Levitation and supported with shields. I further concentrated magical power to increase Balor’s output. High-speed combat at absurd velocities. After a momentary clash, only sparks remained in that spot while the opponent had retreated far into the distance. Then the next moment, we were already crossing blades again.

After colliding, teleportation. As I twisted my body to avoid the fighting spirit projectile fired from directly above and unleashed a Lightning Strike, Helvorte’s figure disappeared before it could hit. When I slammed a Firestorm into the general area where it might appear, Helvorte wrapped in fighting spirit charged through it.

As we passed each other. Or at each moment of appearance. We read each other’s techniques, competing to take the initiative from one another.

“In this situation — you smile?”

Helvorte’s voice. Collision. Receding figure. Disappearance and appearance. And crossing.

“You’re doing it too!”

“Smiling? Am I?”

Yes, Helvorte had a faint smile on its lips.

Had it not realized it itself?

Though this is a battle, it feels almost like play. Part of it might be because this is a mock battle, but perhaps it’s also because the situation has developed into reading each other’s movements several steps ahead.

Reading each other’s thoughts, countering each other’s moves. Admiration for the opponent’s refined techniques. The effort to surpass them. What exists there is exhilaration.

It’s different from verbal communication, but this is also one method of understanding the opponent’s thoughts. That’s why Kagehisa preferred such close fights.

After several exchanges, my speed caught up with Helvorte’s. Running parallel, we clashed our weapons while flying toward the wall at the edge of the square. Just before collision, Helvorte teleported, and I flew along the wall.

Now –. I released and momentarily expanded the detection magical net wrapped around my body. Simultaneously, I deployed a Magic Circle.

A moment later, Helvorte appeared on the right side of where I had been and charged in. But my figure wasn’t there. Having detected the appearance location, I used Teleportation Magic to fly behind Helvorte. I can’t shake it off.

“If you’re of the Moon Folk’s lineage, then–!”

At that, moment. Helvorte roared without even turning around.

If you’re of the Moon Folk’s lineage, you should have Teleportation Magic as one of your cards.

Concentration of fighting spirit. Here comes that omnidirectional shockwave –!

Right. Anyone who uses Teleportation Magic should consider countermeasures for when it’s used against them. So I too, moved without concern. I drove a palm strike aimed at its back. Almost simultaneously, both our techniques exploded.

“Pierce through!”

Spiral Shockwave. On the foothold created with magical power, I slammed in a palm strike that synchronized my entire body’s movement with magical power. It collided with the opponent’s swelling shockwave — and we were both blown away. I was knocked backward by the shockwave, and Helvorte had crashed through the wall into the castle.