Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Magic Sword Forte (24) - Full Bloom
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The transcendent being known as the "Sage of the Skies" is composed of two elements.
One is the remnants of the Demon King once called "Massacre."
The other is the Sage himself who defeated that Demon King.
Currently, the Demon King holds the dominant will, and it's also the Demon King's intent directing the 'Black Knight' pursuing Pina.
However, the Sage's will hasn't vanished entirely.
No matter how corrupted or distorted it may be, even the Demon King can't arbitrarily control the Sage's core desire that those who strive deserve just rewards.
This was precisely the point Forte had seen a chance of victory in.
Defeating a transcendent being as a mere mortal is nearly impossible, but by borrowing the transcendent's own power, one could at least reach a realm where their blade could connect—even if not on equal footing.
"Huff... huff..."
Yet, possibility and actually achieving it were entirely different matters.
To grasp that theoretical chance of victory, the trials Pina Valestia had to endure were far from ordinary.
Her face flushed red, gradually turning ashen, while blood and sweat mingled and soaked her clothes from wounds all over her body.
And yet, no rest was allowed.
Slash!
A black slash grazed the spot where Pina had just been.
The building—not just a house, but a mansion worthy of the name—was cleaved in two without even putting up a fight.
Slow down even a little, and death.
Misjudge even slightly, and death.
Even devoting herself solely to escape left her on a razor's edge, but abandoning monster subjugation would halt her growth and erase any chance of victory.
"Ugh?!"
With a jolt, Pina lost her balance and tumbled.
Unable to control her ever-accelerating speed, she'd tripped.
Her limbs scraped against the rough ground, but without time to scream in pain, she quickly rolled aside.
Squish—something on her body was sliced open.
She tripped and fell again and again, crashing repeatedly.
Face-planting into dirt piles, flesh torn away.
A state truly befitting the term "battered beyond recognition."
Crackle!
Even Forte wasn't unscathed.
No matter how much it utilized the Sage's laws, processing and absorbing that power ultimately fell to Forte.
The recoil of granting Pina transcendent-level strength was steadily self-destructing Forte.
"......"
《.......》
Both Forte and Pina knew that, as things stood, defeat loomed closer than victory.
The magic sword and its wielder had realized a path with even better odds.
Kill people.
Easier than subjugating resisting, fleeing monsters one by one to build strength—simply cut down humans already brimming with accumulated power.
No need to kill that many, either.
The system deemed she needed to slaughter half the students to reach the pinnacle of 6th hierarchy, but that assumed permanent strengthening.
For just this moment, to survive right now, the required sacrifice was far smaller.
No one could blame them.
There were no eyes watching anyway, and if she failed to take down the Black Knight now, everyone was dead meat regardless.
Sacrificing a few to save the many—what could be more rational?
"Haaaaah!"
Knowing this, Pina silently pressed on with the fight.
Knowing this, Forte silently fulfilled its role as a sword.
So what if it wasn't rational? So what if it wasn't efficient?
If killing others, sacrificing them, and muttering "no choice" was wise, then they'd rather live as fools.
The Black Knight watched Pina and Forte's resolve.
A clear emotion of wariness flickered in eyes that had been utterly emotionless and mechanical.
The Black Knight's lips, which seemed forever sealed, parted.
No voice emerged, but the system reacted instead.
【Quest: Swing your sword at empty air】
【Reward: Instantly kill Pina Valestia】
【ERROR】【Quest: Stand still for 3 seconds without moving】
【Reward: Acquire teleportation ability】
【ERROR】【Quest: Stop breathing for 1 hour】
【Reward: Prohibit breathing for all academy lifeforms for 1 hour】
【ERROR】【Quest: Do not evade attacks for 24 hours】
【Reward: Your attacks auto-hit for 12 hours】
【ERROR】
Error, error, error.
The laws governing Sky Academy gathered and shattered repeatedly, unable to complete.
The scales of balance offered no exceptions, even to the Black Knight itself.
Just as it couldn't block the rewards Pina received, it couldn't grant the Black Knight disproportionate gains for effort.
Conversely...
【Quest: Force self-destruction on all monsters in the academy】
【Reward: Gain clone creation ability equivalent to points from self-destructed monsters】
【ERROR】【Quest: Relinquish control over academy monsters】
【Reward: Gain clone creation ability equivalent to half the points from freed monsters】
【APPROVED】
—The moment the scales balanced, the academy's laws smiled upon the Black Knight too.
Rumble rumble rumble!
All across the grounds.
Tree roots erupted, shattering bricks and finishing materials blanketing the earth.
The roots intertwined into human shapes, cloaked in black darkness like armor.
Thus born were hundreds of clones identical in form to the Black Knight.
Without any signal, they charged at Pina in unison.
Slash!
Pina's slash bisected one clone's waist in an instant.
Boosted to extremes by Forte's base enhancements, she also drew on memories of adventures as a hero.
The original Black Knight might be another story, but these degraded clones couldn't stop her.
【Defeated Black Knight (Clone)】
【Acquired #@#*& ( )】
Yet even defeating the clone didn't yield proper rewards.
Not absent entirely, but grotesquely meager compared to the clone's strength.
The system seemed to sense the anomaly too, parts of the message glitching, but it offered no leisure for contemplation as the next clone lunged.
One down, two attacked; split two, four flew in.
The Black Knights even used comrades as shields or impaled them alongside Pina without hesitation, steadily adding wounds to her body.
Judging she'd be overwhelmed in a war of attrition, the moment she pushed for a sweeping strike...
【Quest: Do not act in place for 3 minutes.】
【Reward: Physical abilities enhanced for 3 seconds.】
【APPROVED】
The main body, standing still watching the clones fight, powerfully kicked off the ground.
Light flashed, air followed.
Pina, yet unaware of the approach, was bisected by a pitch-black slash.
Crackle!
The attack landed, but no blood sprayed.
Instead, a third of Forte's blade chipped away.
Unfazed by the bizarre phenomenon, the Black Knight shifted tactics.
Instead of repeated slashes, it kicked her legs to unbalance her, then smashed her head into the ground.
Once more, Forte absorbed the damage—no wounds on Pina—but pinned under clone bodies, she couldn't budge.
The Black Knight raised its sword high.
The intent to pummel until Forte reached its limit was crystal clear.
Vmmm!
Forte's blade hummed.
Parts of its metal sloughed off autonomously, fragments swirling into countless blades.
The main body evaded effortlessly, but dozens of clones were swept away, their essence absorbed by Forte.
【Defeated Black Knight (Clone)】
【Acquired #@#*& ( )】 【Defeated Black Knight (Clone)】
【Acquired #@#*& ( )】 【Defeated Black Knight (Clone)】...
Rewards glitched again.
And the Black Knight calmly prepared its next move.
【Quest: Release all from the 'Temporary Storage' who've lost consciousness】
【Reward: Next spell's power amplified 'once'】
【APPROVED】
Thud thud thud thud!
Sky Academy—the island in the sky larger than most cities—trembled.
"Massacre's" signature spell: materializing mana into spears and hurling them.
But this one's scale differed.
The shafts thick and long as ancient tree trunks, tips massive enough to pulverize rather than pierce.
Hundreds of them.
From the lofty sky, plummeting toward the ground.
——! ——! ——! ——! ——! ——!
——! ——! ——! ——! ——! ——!
——! ——! ——! ——! ——! ——!
Sound vanished.
Overwhelmed by successive deafening blasts, hearing gave out.
A rain of destruction piercing streets, parks, homes without discrimination, turning them into pincushions.
Overkill for slaying one person, yet the Black Knight didn't stop.
Spear sides writhed unevenly, sprouting thousands, millions of thorns that pierced everything around.
Not even a slim chance of survival allowed—a thorough, relentless assault.
One-tenth of the academy's area instantly became barren wasteland unfit for life.
At its center, a single flower bloomed.
The Black Knight's body hesitated, just a fraction.
A sure-kill strike.
No evasion, no defense possible.
Even if damage shifted as before, this wide-scale devastation exceeded what could be endured.
There, the Black Knight sensed incongruity.
If it were pure "Massacre," the Demon King who judged all by numbers, it wouldn't attempt such an attack.
Freeing countless powerhouses in the academy just to kill one Pina? Risk too high.
Unnecessary for ending a single human life, too.
Why, then, had it pushed so hard to finish Pina and Forte?
No—before that, why rely on a system not fully under control?
Because they resembled.
The eyes of those irrational, unpredictable dreamers who once felled the Demon King mirrored the girl's.
Subconsciously deeming prolonged fight with spare strength risky, potentially leading to unknowns.
And if, in the Black Knight (Demon King)'s eyes, Pina overlapped with the hero...
The system (Sage)'s eyes would see the same.
【Quest: Do not let a single innocent get caught in the crossfire and die】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Bravely fight an unbeatable foe】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Shoulder unnecessary burdens】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Do not abandon a harsh, difficult path】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Take on cleanup for a fool's mess】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Watch over our story】
【CLEARED】
【Quest: Win】
Pina gazed at Forte.
Forte's state was wretched.
Broken, ruined, not even a proper blade remaining.
《...This is pathetic. A sword that can't even fulfill its role as a sword. Ashamed of the magic sword name.》
"No, it's fine. You're the best, Magic Sword."
Pina quietly gripped Forte's hilt.
Firmly, desperately, as if clutching the sand-like essence spilling from within.
A blue-glowing aura replaced the missing blade.
Not forcibly conjured by Forte—her own aura.
"Because the best for me is you."
Flower petals swirled.
From the ground, rubble of collapsed buildings, every element of the academy—light overflowed, mingling with petals.
More vividly, more brightly, more abundantly.
The hero's flower bloomed gorgeously in full, engulfing the Black Knight.
The Black Knight thrashed to escape the flurry, but soon silence fell.
Awakened people stared blankly at the sky.
Blue petals danced beautifully, endlessly.