Underground Exodus (2)
I set Momo down on the table and sat in front of her.
Before I tell you my story, there's something we need to do.
“Do?”
The bare minimum of offensive power. I'm going to teach it to you now, so focus your mind like before.
“Wait, thinking about it… that’s weird too. What’s the principle behind how I can learn all this stuff?”
I brought up the window in my head again.
Emergency Dodge Maneuver: ON
“Momo, you explained it somehow before… but even if I don’t fully understand, I’d appreciate at least some kind of explanation…”
Fine… If I’m explaining from the beginning, it’s something like magic… It’s a spell I developed through a lot of painful effort, so the explanation is difficult. If you really can’t trust me, you can ask Zildred.
“…Okay. I’ll trust you.”
Yeah. When I thought about it, everything Momo had done was only ever for my sake. If I hadn’t gotten the Emergency Dodge Maneuver, I would’ve already been killed by that skeleton.
I sat cross-legged on the floor like when I first learned the Emergency Dodge Maneuver and focused my mind.
You don’t actually need to sit on the floor…
“You could’ve told me that a little sooner…”
Because last time there was only a floor…
“…”
Since I was already sitting, I didn’t bother getting up and just focused again.
Haa… Listen while you focus. I’ll… No, I’ll tell you why I was sealed here…
“…”
I discovered a certain truth at the very end of the Hero’s Journey, and because of it, the Goddess punished me… It’s the cliché ending to a cliché story.
“…Tha—”
Don’t ask. You mustn’t know. Ah, it’s not something that will harm you. So you can relax. It’s the truth, believe me. Okay? Please…
Momo suddenly pleaded with desperate intensity.
“I… I got it for now.”
…Thank you. You also asked why I want to leave, right? There’s nothing particularly special about it. My life has already failed… So take me with you and end this existence for me.
“…What?”
I’ll help you with everything I have… So later, much later, even if it’s right before you return home, I hope you’ll find a way…
This is why I want to help you and leave this place. I hope it makes sense.
The words were so shocking that I couldn’t react right away.
…Sorry, it’s complicated, right? Rest for a bit while you organize your thoughts.
The moment Momo finished speaking, that brain-squeezing sensation began again.
‘Ugh…!’
The feeling was still unpleasant and horrifying.
‘That’s right. Don’t tell me this time too…?’
I recalled the silhouette I had seen in that white space—or image, whatever it was—on the other side of my consciousness.
A version of me wearing clothes that looked years old and worn out. Just what was that figure? The future? Or…?
‘If I see it this time, will I understand something?’
I prayed inwardly as my consciousness gradually faded.
I was walking across red earth. The surroundings were filled with burning ruins, and from afar came intermittent sounds of weeping and screaming.
I arrived before a black castle that had crumbled so thoroughly it could no longer be called a castle. In the center of the ruined fortress, a figure sat upon a collapsed throne.
Both his arms were wrapped in bandages, and over them he wore pitch-black gauntlets. Blood that clearly belonged to someone else stained the gauntlets and bandages in several places. The skin visible above them was a vivid purple.
“Hero. So you’ve come after all?”
“Yeah. I told you I would.”
“…”
On the lap of the figure seated on the throne lay the corpse of what appeared to be an adult woman. She wore quite ornate and expensive-looking clothes, and her skin was the same purple as the man on the throne.
When my gaze fell on the corpse, the seated figure spoke.
“Hm? Don’t mind her. They say she was already like this long before I arrived…”
The figure on the throne gently set the corpse down beside the throne and rose to his feet. I unfurled my long black muffler and drew the sword at my waist.
“Oh… You’re handling it freely now? You used to fumble so badly before.”
“Haha, it took some work.”
With those words, I looked down at the sword I had drawn. It was a single-edged blade—a katana—and purple energy flowed along its edge.
The moment I drew the sword, the purple-skinned man blinked eyes that seemed to have white and black reversed and slowly approached, touching the broken horn on his forehead.
I gripped the katana with both hands and raised it overhead.
“Sword Arts First Form—Thrusting Slash.”
I spoke in a low voice and swung the blade.
“UAAAAAHHH!!!”
Are you awake? How do you feel?
Before I knew it, I was lying on the floor.
“Ughhh… I feel weird…”
I got up, feeling nauseous.
It’s fine. That’s normal.
‘What was that I just saw…?’
Unlike before, this time it had been in first-person perspective, and not in a white space but in some clearly unknown location.
How about it? Did it come to mind?
Once again, Momo seemed completely unaware.
‘What is this…? Is it some kind of side effect Momo doesn’t know about…?’
But for some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t tell her about it.
“Just a second…”
I tried recalling an image in my head like when I learned the Emergency Dodge Maneuver.
Emergency Dodge Maneuver: ON / Sword Arts: Acquired
Another line had been added to the image.
“Sword Arts…?”
Come to think of it, I seemed to have said something about Sword Arts in the vision too.
That’s right! That’s one of the strongest sword styles on the continent—Sword Arts!
“The name sounds kind of lame…”
What are you saying! There’s no sword style as strong and cool as Sword Arts!
“What are the others?”
Hmm… Longsword Arts, Quick Sword Arts, Dagger Arts, Twin Sword Arts, Defense Sword Arts, No-Sword Arts, Magic Sword Arts, Heavenly Sword Arts, Blood Sword Arts, Earth Sword Arts, Heavy Sword Arts, Great Sword Arts, Demonic Sword Arts, Water Sword Arts, Fire Sword Arts, Eight Sword Arts, True Sword Arts, Lightning Sword Arts, Spirit Sword Arts, Two Sword Arts, Sacrificial Sword Arts, Ruin Sword Arts, Spear Sword Arts, Curved Sword Arts, Divine Sword Arts, Imitation Sword Arts, Ancestor Sword Arts, Back Sword Arts, Reverse Sword Arts, Female Sword Arts, Divine Sword Arts, Hope Sword Arts, Multi Sword Arts, Heat Sword Arts, Half Sword Arts, Wooden Sword Arts, Bamboo Sword Arts, Yin Sword Arts, Yang Sword Arts, Strange Sword Arts, Mad Sword Arts, Dark Sword Arts, Night Sword Arts, Will Sword Arts, Dragon Sword Arts, Ice Sword Arts, Death Sword Arts, Sacrificial Sword Arts, Foot Sword Arts, Love Sword Arts, Drunken Sword Arts, Star Sword Arts, Outer Sword Arts… and so on?
“Why are there so many…?”
My head spun as I listened to the absurd parade of sword styles pouring from Momo’s voice.
And of course, the greatest among them is Sword Arts.
Momo declared it with absolute confidence, as if her words were gospel.
“So… what exactly is this Sword Arts…?”
Since you’ve learned the ultimate evasion technique, Emergency Dodge Maneuver, the next step is obviously to learn the ultimate! Invincible! Powerful! Crushing! Jade-sealing! Greatly-praised Sword Arts! It’s only natural!
Momo showered the technique with extravagant praise, as if she herself were Sword Arts.
“…Is it really that amazing?”
Of course! It’s the sword style I loved using in my lifetime!
“The sword style you used…?”
Just then, Zildred returned from patrol and entered the hideout.
“Hm. There was nothing unusual in the surroundings.”
“Ah! Zildred, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“I’m fine. Here, take this.”
Zildred held out an old iron sword he must have picked up somewhere.
“This is…?”
“I found one that should be decent enough. I figured you’d need a weapon too.”
“Ah, thank you…”
I accepted the iron sword.
“Ugh… It’s pretty heavy…”
“Swords are supposed to be heavy.”
Swords are supposed to be heavy.
“…”
Enduring their combined scolding, I tried assuming a stance.
“Hm… Is it like this…?”
“…? You don’t look like someone who’s never held a sword before.”
“I haven’t, though?”
“But that stance…”
“What about my stance?”
I had simply taken a pose that somehow felt like it would let me swing the sword well.
“That… is definitely not a beginner’s stance.”
“Really? Is it because of Sword Arts…?”
Since my body had moved on its own with the Emergency Dodge Maneuver too, maybe Sword Arts worked the same way.
“Sword Arts…? Could it be that the Crimson Blood Swordsman bestowed his teachings upon you?”
“Uh… I guess you could say I learned it…?”
“Hmm… The Crimson Blood Swordsman was a hero who wielded both Sword Arts and Blood Sword Arts with perfect freedom… Consider it an honor.”
Huh? He used two sword styles…?
“Blood Sword Arts…?”
Ah… That’s right. In the past I used to wield two swords, one in each hand…
“…Me too.”
Huh?
“I want to learn Blood Sword Arts too! Blood Sword Arts sounds so cool!”
…What are you suddenly talking about?
“Not that lame-sounding Sword Arts! I want to learn Blood Sword Arts!”
Both Momo and Zildred looked stunned at my words.
“That…”
Are you insane?
“But… I want to use cool techniques too…”
…Sword Arts is plenty cool. It’s one of the strongest sword styles on the continent.
“But… the name alone—”
Just swing it already! Why are you talking so much!
Momo exploded with frustration at my grumbling.
“Ugh… Fine.”
I took the stance and recalled the sensation I had felt in the vision.
Sword Arts First Form—Thrusting Slash. Say it while you move.
“Sword Arts First Form—Thrusting Slash.”
The moment I quietly recited it and swung the sword, my body moved with perfect naturalness, as if I had swung it hundreds of times before. Of course, since I couldn’t cut the hideout, the blade only sliced through empty air.
How is it? That’s—
Crack!
Right after I moved, the sword suddenly cracked and shattered.
“Huh? What? Why all of a sudden…?”
“Hm…? Even if it was an old sword, it shouldn’t have broken from a single swing.”
Zildred and I both stared at the sword in shock.
…It probably couldn’t withstand your sword style.
“The sword couldn’t handle the sword style?”
Yes. Just like with the Emergency Dodge Maneuver, it forces your body to perform the extreme limits of the sword style… I didn’t expect this kind of side effect…
“So you’re saying my Sword Arts was so strong that it broke the sword?”
Exactly. For now, it looks like we’ll need to find a decent sword once we get out.
Zildred, who had been watching my situation, frowned in thought before speaking.
“This is troublesome.”
“Huh? Why? Ah, the sword—”
“Even if we bring back another sword from nearby, if it’s old it won’t be able to display the full power of the sword style. The gatekeeper we have to face is not an easy opponent.”
“Um… By the way, who exactly is this gatekeeper? Can I really defeat the opponent who gave even you those wounds, Zildred?”
I didn’t know how strong vampires were in this world, but if it was an opponent that even Zildred—who was far stronger than me—had to run from, then I wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Ah, now that I think about it, I never explained. I arbitrarily called it a gatekeeper, but it isn’t actually guarding a door.”
“It’s not?”
“It’s simply standing in front of the exit passage. Think of it as similar to the skeletons you’ve seen so far.”
Now that he mentioned it, all the skeletons I had encountered until now had simply stood in place and only attacked fiercely when someone entered their territory.
“Then… the gatekeeper is a skeleton?”
“No. It’s a lich. To be precise, it looked like an Arch Lich.”
An Arch Lich…?
A lich is a magic-using skeleton. An Arch Lich… Just think of it as a much stronger version. From your perspective, they’re both the same anyway.
“I see…?”
The bigger problem is that most Arch Liches possess intelligence…
“Intelligence? You mean it can think?”
A thinking skeleton sounded even more dangerous, didn’t it?
“You don’t need to worry about that. That one didn’t seem to have any intelligence.”
“Oh, really? Momo said most of them do…”
“It looked like it was created from the grudges of many different skeletons mixed together. That’s probably why it lacks intelligence.”
Is that so? I still didn’t really get it…
Arch Lich… If it’s a lich… there might be a way…
Momo’s voice brightened slightly when she heard the word “lich.”
“There is a way. Listen carefully.”
“A way to…”
“A way to defeat the gatekeeper and escape this wretched underground.”