The Sword That Tears Space
The vanguard fell to the Valhalla skeletons.
Clack, clack, clack!
Aligned in perfect ranks and files, the Valhalla skeletons descended the hill at a rapid march.
First rank: shield-bearers.
Second rank: spearmen.
The shield-bearers carried maces as their basic armament, and it was not long before they slammed into the swarm of lesser demons.
Kieeeeek—!
“Attack—!”
The instant my command left my lips, the shield-bearers swung their maces with brutal force.
Thud! Crack!
Kieeeeek—!
Weakened by holy power, the lesser demons shrieked in agony.
But a demon was still a demon.
Kaaak!
Even writhing in pain, they hurled themselves at the Valhalla skeletons.
A strange wave pulsed outward from the Vessel immediately afterward.
Ziiing—.
Was that wave the signal?
Clack.
The shield-bearers halted and raised their shields. Closing ranks in that stance, they formed a compact wall.
Clang! Thud! Clang—!
Lesser-demon attacks rang against iron shields in a chorus of metal. The Vessel vibrated once more.
The first-rank shield-bearers dropped lower. The wall sank with them.
And then……
Thrust!
Crunch!
The spearmen’s merciless stabs!
Kieeeeek—!
Still crouched, the shield-bearers advanced at a measured pace while the spearmen followed close behind, thrusting with mechanical precision.
Slowly, steadily, we pushed forward.
Lesser demons that slipped around the flanks?
“Leave them to me.”
Our reliable Brother Myuhan and the sword-and-shield skeletons handled the cut-off.
Brother Myuhan smashed lesser-demon skulls with practiced ease. The sword-and-shield skeletons, maces in hand instead of blades, followed in his wake and butchered everything that came near.
How far had we advanced when an obstacle finally blocked our path?
Grooooaar—!
Kraa!
Devourers—!
They came thundering toward us.
[Those things…… they’re devouring the demons! They’re eating the lesser demons to recover!]
Just as the Ancestor said, the Devourers trampled and kicked aside any lesser demons that got in their way while stuffing every one they could grab straight into their mouths.
Well then.
Can we stop that charge……?
The answer was no.
Even weakened by holy power and curses, each Devourer stood a full three meters tall. Their bodies—whether fat or muscle or something worse—were weapons in their own right.
Boosting output through the core was always an option if things turned desperate, but—
“Goltic— sortie!”
At my command, Golgol, who had been waiting in reserve, exploded forward. Twelve Minitons streamed after it at once.
Golgoooool—!
Golgol swept its greatsword in a wide arc, bisecting lesser demons, and charged the Devourers with ferocious momentum. The Minitons hugged its flanks, covering every angle.
Moments later—
Bang!
Devourer and Golgol collided.
The sheer difference in mass sent Golgol flying. The arm gripping the greatsword snapped clean off; ribs scattered like dry sticks. My mana flooded in and restored the body at once.
Golgol—!
Golgol reset its stance.
“I’ll assist as well.”
“Yes!”
Of the three knights, Low attached himself to Golgol.
And the remaining Devourers?
“We’ll take that side!”
Kahn and Havel!
With the only real obstacles eliminated, nothing stood in our way.
“Valhal—laaa!”
Smash. Smash again. Simply advance.
Perhaps because we had already tasted real combat once, the Vessel’s refined support let me reach the fortress while barely spending any stamina at all.
All that remained was to cave in the skulls of the wicked demon worshippers.
“You blind fools! Do you even know where you stand, daring to come here?!”
“Your mom—!”
“Wh-what?!”
The demon worshipper who burst through the fortress gate froze in confusion at my booming retort.
I did not waste the opening.
“Tuchaaaaang—!”
Whoosh—!
The spearman skeletons hurled their spears in a single volley. Subspace held plenty more; throwing every last one cost us nothing.
Accuracy?
Who cares.
Fifteen spears. One of them had to hit.
My prediction proved correct.
“Kaaak—!”
Spears punched through the wicked worshipper’s thigh and shoulder; he screamed.
My, that looks painful. Better put him out of his misery.
“Brother Myuhan—! Mercy upon the enemy!”
“Yes!”
Led by Brother Myuhan, the sword-and-shield skeletons charged as one and threshed the demon worshipper with merciless blows. “Threshing” was a polite word—maces that casually shattered skulls turned the man into pulp in short order.
“Ah… uh… aaa…”
“You will settle your debts in the afterlife.”
Brother Myuhan granted the pulpified worshipper his final rest.
And so—
Crack!
The body shuddered once and went still.
“He’s become a good boy.”
[Indeed.]
I left the newly reformed demon worshipper behind and started into the fortress.
Or rather, I tried to—until a strange sound brushed my ear.
“Guh… gurrrk.”
“……?”
At the bubbling, frothing breath, Brother Myuhan and I stopped and looked back.
And we saw it.
“You… blind… fools. You… will not leave here alive—”
Creak. Creak.
The pulpified demon worshipper rose with jerking, disjointed motions, like a broken puppet dancing.
What the hell is that?
[You idiot—dodge!]
The moment the Ancestor shouted, I flung myself sideways without a second thought. Pure instinct. The Valhalla skeletons threw themselves after me to shield me.
Then the rupture came.
Kwaaaadududuk—!
Bone fragments sprayed outward.
What remained was no longer human. Limbs replaced by writhing bundles of fiber—muscle or tentacle, no one could say—a form so grotesque it belonged only in nightmares.
Brother James’s voice carried from afar.
“Be careful! It’s a Fusion!”
A Fusion, he called it.
What that meant, I had no idea. One fact, however, was crystal clear.
This thing was lethally dangerous.
“Gurrrk, gurrk—”
Tentacle bundles shot straight at me.
“Lord, grant us protection—!”
Brother James’s prayer and a translucent barrier wrapped around me in the same instant.
Right after—
Kwaang!
That hit would have killed me outright. Ice slid down my spine.
“Valhaaaaaaaalaaaa—!”
“Kaaaaaaak—!”
The Fusion and I roared at each other as if competing for volume. At the same moment, skeletons clattered out of the Vessel’s subspace.
Ziiing—!
The Vessel resonated with my will; the Valhalla skeletons locked into formation and advanced.
The Fusion did not stand idle.
Charrrrk—!
Tentacles lanced toward me again.
“Fuck!”
It truly was a fuck situation. The Valhalla skeletons I had just summoned were reduced to flying bone shards by a single strike.
What now?
“Kaaaaak—!”
[Block it first!]
Yes!
I hopped lightly and thrust Kracion forward.
Thud—!
The impact should have pulverized every bone in my body. Thanks to Kracion’s absurd defensive power, I merely bounced a short distance away.
Distance… opened.
A glance around told me the Valhalla skeletons alone could never match this thing. Pure weight-class problem.
Then what?
While I scrambled for an answer, something slammed into the Fusion.
“Lord—!”
“Brother Myuhan!”
Our friend Brother Myuhan had driven a steel mace brimming with holy power straight into the Fusion’s skull.
The effect was spectacular. Splat!—the head burst apart.
Still unsatisfied, Brother Myuhan continued to mince the body with holy-charged blows.
“Young Master Khtun, get clear! It won’t hold lo—”
Kwaang!
Tentacles swept Brother Myuhan up and detonated him.
Dangerous. Brother Myuhan’s durability was barely better than Golgol’s. In one stroke, every high-value card I possessed had been neutralized.
“Young Master—!”
Golgol!
Golgol, the twelve Minitons that had finally finished the Devourers, and Knight Lokhan rushed in—yet the situation remained grim.
“Kaaaaak—!”
“Khut!”
Golgol!
Against the Fusion’s frenzied assault, even Golgol and Knight Lokhan were driven back helplessly. Golgol managed to deflect some blows with its massive greatsword, but that could not last forever.
“We’ll join you!”
“For Falaon—!”
The remaining two knights entered the fray. Nothing changed.
I forced myself to think.
The worshippers were mid-ritual, summoning demons. I needed a solution—now.
But how?
Brother James is…
At his limit. He was already gasping.
Ren?
Ren is…
A glance showed Ren already pinning lesser demons under dozens of layered curse circles. The curse mage’s inevitable ceiling: superb at weakening and tormenting, short on raw killing power.
That left only Manor Knight Builders…
Builders can’t.
He had to guard Brother James and Ren.
So what then?
In the end… only that option remains.
[What option?!]
At the Ancestor’s demand, I decided to attempt the idea I had only ever considered and never dared execute.
First—
Thung—!
I pulled a single Valhalla skeleton from subspace and immediately possessed the Ancestor into it.
[What……?]
Golgol would normally have been the ideal vessel for the Ancestor, but removing Golgol now would collapse the entire front.
My plan was simpler.
“Ancestor.”
[Speak.]
“Would you care to taste the mana of six Khtun… just once?”
[Six Khtun……?]
“Yes. Six Khtun.”
The Vessel currently held a full six Khtun of stored power. Half of it was holy energy, but I figured that hardly mattered.
If I just dump it all in, it should be usable, right?
[Huh.]
As if reading my mind, the Ancestor gave a short, incredulous laugh and settled into stance.
[Very well. Then I shall use it freely.]
Please do.
The moment the Ancestor assumed a drawing posture, mana began draining from my heart.
Immediately afterward—
Woom, woooooom—!
The Vessel went mad with vibration. I became the living bridge between Vessel and Ancestor, feeding mana in real time.
The sensation was…
I’m dying.
It felt as though my soul itself were being siphoned away.
One Khtun of heart-mana vanished.
[Not enough.]
Two Khtun.
Soon three Khtun of pure mana flooded into the skeleton the Ancestor occupied.
That exhausted the mana. What remained was holy power…
Will it even work?
[It will. Trust me.]
And truly, the holy power sank into the Ancestor without the slightest resistance.
Meanwhile the others were being driven back step by step.
“Khut!”
“Hold the line! Hold it somehow!”
Golgol, the regenerated Brother Myuhan, Tiktak’s Minitons, and the three knights poured every last scrap of strength into restraining the Fusion. A desperate, life-or-death struggle—fought solely for me.
Just a little longer… a little more…
I bit down hard on my lip while watching them teeter on the edge.
The Ancestor’s voice reached me an instant later.
[Bind it.]
What?
[Did you not hear? Bind the enemy and tell them to clear the path. Since we have come this far, I will cleave that fortress in a single stroke as well.]
Something like that was possible?
Doubt lasted only a heartbeat.
“Everyone get out of the waaaaay—!”
I roared with every ounce of strength I possessed. At the same time I shaped the holy power flowing through the Vessel into a spell.
Bone Chain—chains of bone.
The same binding that had once restrained the Shadow Demon to save Zeke was remade under holy power’s influence.
Chararararak—!
White chains erupted from the earth.
“Kaaaaaak—!”
Limbs snared, the Fusion bellowed in rage.
Our Golticmyu trio pressed the creature even harder so the three knights could withdraw.
And then—
“Clear—!”
The moment the knights left the line of the Ancestor’s cut—
[Behold. This is the sword that tears space.]
Grrrk—!
A blade no longer than a meter and no heavier than two kilograms carried the weight of a mountain.
[It is Falaon’s sword.]
The greatsword tore through space itself.