Chapter 100 – Dance of the Sword

I face Luceriage with Ouroboros at the ready. Behind and above her, golden swords line up in perfect formation—twenty-four in total. Can she summon more, or is that her limit?

On my side—I’m alone. I’ve stationed Caduceus on the other side for emergencies. If things go south, he can use the Red Transfer Stone to evacuate everyone. At the temple, Rosetta and numerous other healers are on standby in case of injuries.

“Shall we begin?” she says with a cool smile.

The golden swords shoot forth with ferocious speed.

The sound of blades slicing past my cheeks. One, two, three. I deflect their trajectories with Ouroboros, dodging while advancing. I can’t blow her away from a distance.

Closing the gap, I see Luceriage’s face contort with delight. Despite the chill running down my spine, my own expression twists into a grin.

Realizing a direct charge is impossible, I use Levitation to kill my momentum and leap to the upper right.

Just as expected, swords pierce through the space I occupied moments before, coming from the side and directly behind.

The golden gleam, which should have flown past, rotates like clock hands and targets me again.

From above, below, left, right—every direction. Sword bullets flying in with staggered timing, an assault that seems to dominate all space for evasion.

Swords piercing straight through the shortest path. Swords spinning as they approach. Swords sweeping in wide arcs.

Cartwheels, Form Shifts. Soaring to descending. I can’t get closer. I can’t get closer.

Luceriage waves her arms like a conductor, perfectly controlling the swords’ movements.

Intercepting with Ouroboros. I can knock them away, but I can’t shatter them.

I deploy a wider Shield to gauge their Attack Power, but the projectiles easily Penetrate a normally deployed Shield. While I can block “Slash Attacks,” I can’t defend against bullet-like “Stabs” with a half-hearted defense.

Moreover, the three-dimensional, multi-directional attacks. Their suppression and lethality are likely unparalleled in their viciousness.

Illusions through clones would probably be attacked along with everything else. That would be pointless—just a waste of control.

If I hit them with a large-scale Magic—depending on the type, I might be able to Crush the swords, but that would exhaust me. The Magical Power for such grand Techniques needs to be refined within my body.

So, what to do?

“Huh?” Luceriage’s eyes widen in a mix of surprise and delight.

I deploy an extremely thin Shield enveloping my entire body in all directions.

While I can’t rely on it for Defense, if the enemy’s swords touch it and I sense the contact, I can identify the direction and type of attack without looking.

A Barrier of magical defense. Sensing attacks. With that, I can parry the swords with the fastest, most minimal movements while closing in on Luceriage.

The sensation of blades grazing my cheek. If I dodge too widely, I won’t close the distance. I should accept some cuts as necessary expenses.

“Interesting!”

Seeing me close the distance, Luceriage deepens her smile and steps forward herself.

From her fingertips, swords that seem fused with her palms emerge, while two of the floating swords scatter like dust. The remaining twenty-two swords follow her like loyal attendants.

A Slash Attack as if she’s throwing a hand blade. As if linked to her arm movement, several swords align and flash together, forming a massive Slash Attack aimed at sweeping everything from the neck up.

I bend my upper body to evade and counter with an upward swing of the Dragon Staff. When Luceriage blocks with the swords in her hands, a metallic clang rings out.

Luceriage makes a move as if to press me down in a blade lock. Without resisting, I leap backward, and the deployed swords pierce through that space.

Distance opens. Luceriage swings her arm, and a golden Miasma, like a mist, spreads widely.

In exchange, several of the swords floating around Luceriage vanish, and as if replacing them, the Miasma condenses from various points, taking the form of swords and flying in. They disappear immediately after passing, solidifying and launching from some other coordinate.

It’s like a crossfire of swords, I suppose. The number of flying swords Luceriage controls seems fixed at twenty-four. Either way, what I need to do remains unchanged. As long as I can sense everything through the Shield, these attacks aren’t unavoidable.

Prepared for some hits, I deflect only the unavoidable attacks with Ouroboros and press forward. I crash into Luceriage as if to slam her with my entire body.

“With such youth—what kind of life have you lived? My interest is endless!”

Luceriage seems capable of close-quarters combat with swords as well. Her epithet isn’t just for show, it seems. She displays a fluid Sword Dance with both blades. If Zevion’s essence is power, Luceriage’s is skill.

Clashing staff against sword, I dance and leap through the incessantly flying blades. We exchange blows even while inverted, and as we separate, I slam a Fireball into her.

Swords spinning like windmills scatter my Magic. We Charge at each other again, clashing once more.

An attack that—cannot be blocked with swords.

“Go!”

Earth and wind composite, fifth-tier Magic: Grind Dust. By confining hard particles within a high-pressure ring of wind and releasing it, it becomes a war wheel of wind that grinds and scatters anything it touches.

Luceriage leans her upper body back sharply to avoid it at close range. In the direction she dodged—I deliver a blow with Ouroboros as if covering her.

“Guh!”

Luceriage couldn’t even block it with her swords. She crosses her arms, taking an instant defensive posture. Her body is sent flying, but I can’t pursue. A golden gleam sweeps through the space before me.

But it’s not over yet. My Grind Dust is still active. The war wheel, tracing an arc, returns, and Luceriage blocks it not with a sword, but with a Barrier Wall of Miasma. Sparks fly with a grinding sound.

She probably doesn’t have the endurance like Zevion, yet she comes forward laughing.

Since I can’t maintain distance, I have no choice but to engage in close combat, it seems.

She exchanges blows in close combat while simultaneously attacking with flying swords. She must be counting on wearing down my concentration to win.

So I laugh too and boldly step in. If I use her own body as a shield, even if she launches multi-directional attacks, the types of attacks become limited.

In short, my only path to victory is extreme close combat. I release three, then four Grind Dusts, forcing her to deploy Barrier Walls, mutually sapping our control abilities.

We dance and dance. Rapidly inverting heaven and earth, switching offense and defense. Parrying and being swept along, shifting forms, striking down and rebounding.

My thoughts turn blank with frenzy and pleasure. I’m not sure how injured I am, but no hit has affected my movement.

Slipping through at the narrowest margins, trading wounds for hits. My attacks are also connecting with her. We exchange minor injuries while trying to take each other’s lives. Grinding each other down.

I send Grind Dust skimming close from the side, forcing her to block with a Barrier Wall, cutting off her escape routes.

A Charge. A sword flying in from the side. Now. This is the moment.

If I dodge this, I can’t land my attack. That very Attack Power, momentum, and high Penetration—will be her downfall.

I let the sword Pierce through my left arm, extending it enough to reach Luceriage. Aiming at the flank of the wide-eyed Luceriage, I unleash a Lightning Strike.

I don’t check the extent of the damage. Putting my whole body into the motion, I bring Ouroboros, concentrated with Magical Power, down upon her. A direct hit to the left shoulder. A follow-up Stab to the abdomen. Each had solid impact, yet Luceriage didn’t stop.

She must have anticipated taking the second hit once she realized she couldn’t avoid the first. Gritting her teeth, she endures it.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

A spirited shout. Crossing the swords in her arms, she forcefully knocks me backward.

All the flying swords vanish. Above her upraised palm—a blade so massive it seems absurd to even call it a sword—appears. Having sustained wounds that tilt the balance, she must also stake everything on this fight.

“A human, with such training! For the first time, I genuinely want to kill someone!”

Pouring all the control capacity of twenty-four swords into this single blade, she hurls it.

A ferocious speed disproportionate to its size. I Dodge using multiple Air Blasts, but Luceriage grits her teeth and raises her arm. Blood spurts from her arm—perhaps this attack is reckless even for her.

She isn’t even considering her own defense. While her body is being ground down by the lingering Grind Dust, she launches a suicidal attack. The massive Slash Attack approaches from below with absurd speed.

Unavoidable. I concentrate Magical Power into Ouroboros and deploy multiple Shields.

“Ooooooooh!”

I brace Ouroboros with both hands to receive it. Though I have no sensation in my left arm, I forcibly support it, reinforcing with Shields. The Slash collides. I’m swept away along with my body, crashing into the outer wall.

Just before impact, I deploy a Shield on my back, enduring between the wall and the blade. Endure. Ouroboros lets out an irritated groan.

Creaking. A crushing pressure. I continuously layer and reinforce Shields one after another. Cracks form in the outer wall. Fine blood vessels in my hands likely burst, blood sprays, bones creak.

It’s the same for Luceriage. The blows to her flank and shoulder. Plus the wounds from Grind Dust. They’re not shallow either.

“Guh…!”

A waver, a fleeting moment. Seizing the chance as the pressure eases, I disengage upward. With the sensation of something sweeping at my feet, a roar echoes, and a giant crack runs through the outer wall. The massive sword disappears.

Luceriage lets her left arm hang limply, breathing heavily through her shoulders, yet still smiling. The swarm of swords redeploys. Even though her main body is wounded, their control shows not a hint of disorder. She probably can’t launch that massive sword again, but—.

I deploy a Magic Circle. The wound on my left arm—though forcibly, I’ve reinforced and stopped the bleeding with a Shield, so it’s not a problem.

But Luceriage specializes in lethality. Even in this state, if I misjudge the finishing move, she might overpower me. The Magic I should use in this situation. The Magic to stake the match on—.

Enveloping my entire body, a massive, multi-layered Magic Circle deploys.

Wind and lightning composite. Ninth-tier Magic: Tempest Drive. By cloaking the body in Barriers of lightning and wind, it enables ultra-high-speed flight for a Charge attack…

Originally, it’s a Magic that combines emergency evasion and attack.

“With such a linear Magic… do you think you can slip through my flying swords?!”

It should be a considerable High-Tier Magic, but does she know the Magic I’m about to activate? Luceriage roars in irritation. But don’t mistake this for the ordinary version used by a Battle Mage.

The moment it activates, the scenery flows past with violent force. Levitation and body Enhancement through Magical Power circulation. Using these in conjunction with Tempest Drive.

Tracing sharp-angled paths like lightning. Flying as if threading through the swarm of swords leaving purple lightning trails. Speed and maneuverability that make Luceriage’s eyes widen.

Luceriage, having just unleashed a grand Technique, lacks the brute force to repel this. With her main body that wounded, she probably can’t even Dodge properly.

She sends swords flying to meet my close approach. Though she can control them, they lack the power of before. I scatter most with the Magic’s force alone, but one breaks through the Barrier Wall and Pierces my shoulder.

But what does that matter now? If you can’t kill me—then you lose.

“Ah, how—wonderful.”

I’ve caught her. Two, three times I shuttle back and forth, sending Luceriage’s body flying like a piece of wood.

Turning at a sharp angle, I Charge straight toward Luceriage, who has a rapturous expression and spreads her arms wide.

“Pierce through!”

Ouroboros’s roar. The fatal impact transmitted through my arms.

Tearing her body apart with the storm and lightning strike, heading straight for the center of the plaza.

Together, we fly like bullets.

Shattering pillars, gouging and scraping the ground, we advance and Crush the wall of the Spirit Hall.

With the impact reverberating through both arms, I release the Technique. Tracing a large arc, I fly backward and land.

The recoil of the Technique. As the price for reckless maneuvers, a dull, creaking pain remains throughout my body—but she did not get up.