A Blade Lurking Within the Pleasure (3)

Thanks to Ellie and Fairy serving as escorts, and the imperial soldiers' swift response, the nobles all seemed to have evacuated safely.

The Emperor and Empress were inching their way toward the exit with Ellie and Sion guarding their rear and front.

Through the gaps of the shattered windows, demons were pouring in like a flood tide.

Khan and I dashed forward, swinging our spear and sword at the lower demons and mid-tier demons.

But their numbers were far beyond what the two of us could possibly handle.

They said the attackers included mid- to high-ranking demons, but there were simply too many of them.

There was no room for stray thoughts.

While we waged a siege against the demons that kept scaling the wall and crawling through the windows—

"Hyun. Get down!"

It was Rare's voice, calling my name.

When I glanced back, five balls of fire were hovering at her side.

The moment we saw those flames, Khan and I scrambled out of the way.

The demons spotted the opening and surged up triumphantly, delighted—

but what awaited them was five streaks of blazing crimson fire.

"Burn."

At Rare's single word, the fireballs shot forward at blistering speed and struck the demons, triggering a colossal explosion.

The shockwave that followed was fierce enough that Khan and I had to drive our weapons into the ground just to hold our footing.

A section of the palace wall had been blown apart, and as the smoke rapidly cleared, the scene around us came into view.

Every corner of the imperial palace was under attack.

Lower demons and mid-tier demons were throwing themselves into battle alongside the imperial knights, while the demonkin who appeared to have led them here were carving their blades into the imperial soldiers as well.

I called Rare and Khan over and threw together a plan as fast as I could.

Even with time in short supply, I figured a basic plan and divided responsibilities would fight more effectively than chaos.

The plan I laid out was this: Khan and I would handle the ranked demons.

Rare would rescue survivors and purge the demons and demonkin.

The situation was dire enough that every Successor—and even their contracted spirits—understood it, so I asked Rare to relay the plan to those we could trust.

Then we readied ourselves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to leap from the wall.

I activated Storm Formation and rode the power of the wind down for my landing.

As for Khan, the Black Tortoise's Successor with his superior defense, a jump from this height wouldn't so much as scratch him.

We stood roughly five stories up.

I turned my head toward Ellie, who was watching me, shaped the words I'll be back with my lips, and hurled myself down into the darkness.

I squeezed every thread of wind power from my body as I dropped.

Fortunately, both Khan and I landed safely, and the moment our feet touched ground, we sensed the sound of our own landing and began annihilating the demons that came swarming at it.

Demons springing out of the darkness.

As though this place belonged to them, they burst forth from every direction—and from where he stood, Khan shouted.

"Domain Proclamation."

I knew it.

I'd had a feeling he'd be able to use it by now, at his current level.

"Ocean's Heart."

A sea formed beneath his feet.

Truly an endless ocean, with no horizon in sight.

The ground we stood on, the palace itself—all of it was submerged, becoming a single Atlantis.

Of course, it didn't seem as though anything had actually drowned.

Khan would have no reason to launch an attack like this at the cost of threatening his own people.

Every demon that had tried to ambush Khan and me now swung its weapons sluggishly, as if submerged underwater, its strength sapped.

And in stark contrast—

our weapons—

with a swish!

grew deadlier and faster.

They had transformed.

After cutting down the endlessly swarming demons, Khan at last released his domain.

The sea drained away, and the land returned to its original state.

No matter how many times I saw it, the Black Tortoise Successor's authority was a marvel.

But this was far from over, so we had to hurry.

We had landed some distance from the palace's main entrance.

Just as we were quickening our pace toward it—

something blue came falling down over our heads.

I loaded my blade full of electric current and shattered the blue something.

With a crackle! the current scattered in every direction, displaying tremendous force.

Bolt from the Blue, evolved from Thunderstrike, had grown stronger in a way that let it leverage its advantages far better—namely, the power to ignore an enemy's defenses.

For example: unlike Thunderstrike, which needed seven points of contact before it could drop its lightning—

this one could call down a thunderbolt after only three.

I'd just used one contact shattering that unidentified something, so I had two remaining.

A demon stepped out of the darkness, accompanied by a thick, heavy voice.

That blue something from before must have been that creature's unique ability.

Just as I was taking my stance to face him—

Khan spoke to me.

"Go on ahead."

"......"

Khan's judgment was sound.

The main quest had mentioned ranked demons—plural—so there was no telling how many had invaded this place.

Which meant, as Khan said, fighting one-on-one was the ideal arrangement.

The problem was whether Khan could hold his own against that demon.

The demon's identity: Rank 34, Furfur.

The blue, unidentified something had been a dimensional portal—and by using portals to move himself and objects from place to place and launch attacks through them, he was a genius of spatial movement.

I was still wondering whether that was really all right when Khan looked back at me and said,

"I said go. If the other one goes on a rampage while we're pinned down holding this bastard in place, we're finished. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go do your job."

Perhaps what Fairy had said back at the banquet hall had been true after all.

I gave his words a light nod, turned on my heel, and sprinted for the palace's main entrance.

Running through the darkness, I rescued soldiers and knights who'd been surrounded by mid-tier demons.

I pulled nobles out of danger as well, and at last, I found the demonkin.

The moment they laid eyes on me, the demonkin began raging like mad.

"You!!!! Because of you, our brethren were all slaughtered!"

"That's right! The paradise we waited for so long—you trampled it underfoot!"

Listening to them, I felt my emotions slowly go cold.

In contrast, the current wrapped around my sword wailed ever more fiercely.

Give me their necks as its feed.

And I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would grant that wish.

A pale yellow space lit up beneath my feet.

Currents of electricity darted through the air, hunting for prey.

Crackle!Crackle!

"Let me tell you one thing."

"You hypocrites of the filthy Divine Beasts!"

"You all die here."

The moment those words left my mouth, I unleashed every skill I had and charged forward.

Seeing me come charging in, an unknown demonkin brought his blade down from above.

I didn't need to know his name. I didn't want to.

Riding the momentum of my sprint, I kicked the demonkin clean off his feet and sent him flying.

The demonkin beside him, witnessing his comrade soaring through the air, desperately managed to call out to their friends—

but that was all.

I permitted nothing more.

"Die."

My blade split his throat in an instant.

Calling out to his friends became his final act, and his final words.

Perhaps they had at least lived lives that weren't entirely wasted, because watching their deaths—

an even greater number of demonkin than before threw themselves at me.

"You bastard!!!"

"Successor of the Azure Dragon! We will tear you limb from limb!"

I glared at them and said,

"Go ahead and try."

With those words, they came charging.

To let the demonkin taste lightning with its stacks fully charged, I dropped a bolt straight into the earth.

BOOM!

Struck dead-on by the lightning, the demonkin could no longer move.

Unable to move from the powerful shock, I sent every last one of them off with plain sword strikes laced with electric current.

Watching the demonkin throw themselves at me again, I was about to raise my sword once more—

when something felt wrong.

My instincts... were screaming at me to dodge.

And Hidden Dragon's Aura sensed it too.

...Something long was flying straight at me, fast.

A spear...?

I dodged first, questions later.

I rolled my body forward, evading the demonkin's attacks—

and the crimson spear, having mercilessly skewered the demonkin in its path, smashed through three trees before it finally stopped.

I turned my head toward the figure walking toward me with heavy, deliberate steps.

An enormous frame, horns jutting from his skull.

And eyes with no whites at all—his species announced itself plainly.

An overwhelming presence, and an audacity to match it, announced his existence.

He had to be the ringleader behind the assassination of the Second Prince.

Even in a situation like this, the demonkin whose comrades had just been cut down didn't so much as glance at the demon who had killed them.

Instead, they were looking at me with eyes full of hatred.

One of the demonkin moved to attack me on the spot—

but Gaap, 33rd of the Ranked Demons, seized that demonkin's head and crushed it.

As if it were nothing at all, he flung the corpse down before the other demonkin's feet and roared.

At his words, every demonkin turned their blades elsewhere.

Toward the imperial knights and soldiers.

At this very moment, they were locked in battle against the tide of demons surging in.

Needless to say, they had no room to spare for the demonkin as well.

Just as I started to run—

screeching to an emergency halt,

a spear—not the crimson one, but a yellow one—planted itself directly in front of me.

One more step, and I would have been impaled from the crown of my head.

"What?"

"A complete lunatic...!"

With his roar, the attack began.

The yellow spear whirled in every direction, curving in from angles I couldn't possibly predict.

Like a serpent.

The curving attacks almost made me believe the spear itself was bending—

but that was merely the illusion spearplay created.

The spear couldn't actually be flexing.

I batted away the strike aimed at my face, snapped my upper body backward to evade, and swept low along the ground, closing in on Gaap's body.

His lowest point came into view.

Right now Gaap was bracing on his right foot, mid-thrust—so if I targeted that foot, I could break his stance and seize the momentum in one motion.

Just as I swung my sword—

Baram appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the back of my clothes, and yanked me bodily away.

It was only after the shock of being flung through the air that I came to my senses—and found a crimson spear embedded where I'd been standing.

...Unbelievable.

So fast that even Hidden Dragon's Aura and my instincts couldn't track it?

One had been an unmistakable skill use, and the other had proven itself reliable enough to depend on.

How on earth...

A pity my ass.

The absolute madman.

His eyes wore a savage, delighted grin, thrilled beyond measure.

I forced a fresh wave of tension through my body and took my stance.

Two massive spears hung in his two enormous hands.

Even Khan, a master of the spear, would struggle to properly wield spears that size—

yet Gaap hefted them lightly in both hands, throwing and snatching them out of the air.

Which meant there was an opening to exploit.

And to strike at that opening, I needed my greatest speed.

After all, it was the only card I had.

Evade a strike that could split me in half, and counter in the same breath.

I can do this.

Here I go.

I burst forward at full speed and struck.

Gaap hurled his spear at the spot where I'd been—but I was long past it.

Now I was certain.

In speed, I held the advantage.

I widened my movement range further to confuse him, and chose my target: his right wrist.

Sever the wrist, and I'd cut down his means of attack.

The instant I slipped inside his attack radius—

Gaap, having somehow already retrieved both the crimson and yellow spears, raised them high

and slammed them down into the earth in a single motion.

!!!!

A cataclysmic shock rippled up from below, and the ground, unable to withstand it, overturned itself!

"Shit!"

Crack!

I retreated, no other choice.

But it seemed I couldn't dodge it entirely.

"Ugh...!"

A long gash opened along my left arm.

My clothing tore away, leaving the wound exposed for all to see.

At the same time, Gaap's spear came hurtling at me.

A horizontal slash.

I leaned my upper body back to evade it, used Baram's assist to keep the spearhead at bay,

and unleashed my technique at point-blank range.

With the promotion to a regular skill, my casting speed had grown even faster.

Here I come!

So long as Gaap held his spear, there was no way for him to block my strike tearing in at close quarters.

He took my attack head-on.

"DIE!!!"

I carved through his upper body in a diagonal line, from above down.

An enormous spray of blood splattered over me too—but if it meant killing him, I didn't care how soaked in it I became.

"......"

He endured an attack like that...

He had unquestionably taken a fatal wound.

The pectoral and abdominal muscles of his upper body should have been nearly severed—

and still, he stood.

True Name Release.

The exclusive possession of the Ranked Demons—

a power that could be called their privilege.

By offering up their own True Name, they gain power in exchange for it.

However, the drawbacks incurred by a True Name Release are so severe that the norm is to use it only when truly on the verge of death, or in a battle about which they feel absolute certainty.

As far as I knew, Gaap was one of the demons with exceptional regeneration.

Granted, the wound I'd inflicted was a grave one—

but the reason he could rise like that was built upon his outstanding regenerative power.

An injury of that magnitude would have been lethal to any other demon.

For him, it shouldn't have been... and yet he'd still used his True Name Release...

"A battle-crazed bastard..."

He wanted to test just how far his newly strengthened power would carry against me.

Hoping that even greater strength would grant him even greater pleasure.

His voice had deepened into something far heavier, scraping against my ears.

Judging by both his movements and his words, he had indeed used the True Name Release to fight longer, just as I'd predicted.

At some point, the wounds that had ravaged his upper body had fully healed.

A monster with superb regeneration and a crushing advantage in raw strength—and I had to face him alone.

He's coming!

Trading blows head-on was the losing play.

If I tried to block his attack here, I'd be smashed into the wall and the momentum would swing entirely to his side.

Judging that evasion was the right call, I slid my body swiftly to the side and slipped past his charge.

I avoided the attack, but it was so powerful that even the space I'd just vacated wobbled and swayed—a mad sight unfolding right before my eyes.

One ordinary swing... and it nearly tore space itself apart?

How am I supposed to beat something like that?!

But I had to win.

Just as I steeled my heart and moved to continue my assault—

his spear came flying at me.

One to the left, one to the right.

I evaded the first spear by veering left.

I evaded the second by veering right.

Then I leapt skyward and landed an electric-laced strike on him.

To finish, I unleashed Thunder Dragon's Descent as I attacked.

Five sword strikes in total tore through the air, lighting up the space around us in brilliant flashes.

Gaap took those blows again and again, and still bleeding, he smiled at me.

I clicked my tongue and pressed the attack.

Keeping careful watch on the spears in his hands, I filled my blade to the brim with electric current.

But the attack that came from directly ahead—

was an unavoidable, unblockable, dead-certain strike.

....!!!!

By fusing Starlight Slash with Storm Formation, I barely managed to slip beyond its range!

"Aaargh!!"

My side was slashed open.

A scorching heat, and an indescribable pain, surged up from my abdomen.

Fortunately, nothing squelched beneath my hand—it seemed the wound hadn't gone deep enough for that.

But when I looked toward where I'd been thrown, the dust swirling around me revealed nothing but a scene of carnage.

The imperial soldiers and the demonkin alike had been swept up and left drenched in blood.

And before me, Baram was slowly dissolving into powder.

A reverse summoning and a dissolution are not the same thing.

A reverse summoning vanishes in an instant, gone in a flash.

A dissolution scatters, crumbling into dust.

That is how spirits die.

And right now, Baram was dissolving into powder before my eyes.

The friend who had been given to me, a mere child, as a wind spirit—who had helped me, who had comforted me...

was disappearing.

...Please, no.

"No."

Baram licked my face, telling me not to worry.

Lapping away the tears that had begun to fall without my noticing, the emerald wolf lost its form, just like that.

"Noooo!!! Baram!!!"

A spirit's death is different from a human's.

A human death carries the concept of reincarnation—memories are lost, and one may return in the next life.

Spirits do not die easily, but when they do, their existence vanishes forever.

A spirit fades from the world, remembered only by those to whom it revealed its true form.

And so, Baram crumbled into dust.

And vanished from my arms.

Tears welled up.

Please... stop taking them from me.

Why is this happening to me?

Thud.Thud.

That's right.

I'm weak, and that's why this happened.

Then the answer is simple—I just have to become stronger.

That's right, Baram... Even if you can't watch over me anymore, I will never forget you!

My domain of lightning had long since been torn apart.

The world around me had already been consumed by darkness.

His spear came crashing down upon me, just like that.

The ground shuddered with a deafening roar.

Ellie felt it—an inexplicable sense of dread.

A tremendous tremor had shaken the ground beneath the entire palace.

And most important of all, the second heartbeat she could feel within her...

was growing fainter and fainter.

And so she kicked off her shoes and ran barefoot down the palace corridor, cutting through every demon that barred her path, making for the palace's main entrance.

And what appeared before her eyes was something so drenched in blood that she might have mistaken it for a corpse.

She knew at once.

She knew that it was her beloved.

But she did not weep.

She raised her sword and pressed forward—

and she did not stop until a wind blowing in from somewhere filled the palace's main entrance.