The Sure-Hit Sword (4)
The message Thalia had received read: Come to the fountain plaza of District 4. Tell no one. She appeared at the plaza at the precise appointed hour.
"Thalia."
"You made it, my lord."
She had her violet hair tied back in a low ponytail and wore leather garb finished with a short violet cape. Seeing her out of uniform was a rare sight indeed.
"The Duke asked where Eden was. I didn't tell him, did I?"
"No."
"What's Srudal up to?"
"He went to the academy this morning and hasn't returned since. I understand he mentioned he had matters to discuss with the 'ecologists.'"
I briefly imagined the scholars of the Empire locked in a heated debate with a three-meter ogre.
Srudal was part of the delegation at my father's insistence. His appearance was far too conspicuous to include in the operation, so it was a relief that he was amusing himself so productively.
"Follow me for now. Carefully, and stay out of sight."
Thalia trailed after me with a skeptical look on her face. I led her to a second-floor room in an inn two blocks away.
Once the door was shut, I pressed a talisman against it to seal every crack where sound might leak. What looked from the outside like a shabby inn room was now a perfect soundproof chamber.
"One more person is coming."
"Someone I know?"
Shortly after, a tall, slender man in a white longcoat opened the door and stepped inside. With an adult male added to the cramped room, it was bursting at the seams.
"Is this the exception you mentioned?" Kalman asked.
"Let me introduce you. This is Thalia, Vice-Commander of Frost. And this is—"
"The Sword Duke, Kalman."
"You knew already?"
"Anyone who has ever held a sword would be hard-pressed not to."
Thalia's violet eyes burned with an ominous light. Kalman let her stare wash over him without a flicker of interest.
"Where did you serve before Frost?"
"The Steel Guard."
"And before that?"
"There is no before that. I was a refugee from the city of Lester."
"The city beyond the northern frontier line."
Kalman looked her over once, then leaned back against the wall.
"You won't be a hindrance."
By my reckoning, that was about as close to a compliment as Kalman ever got.
"I'll explain the situation first. A base of the demon race has been discovered within the Empire. We must neutralize it swiftly, before they have time to prepare."
"...The demon race, you say."
Thalia's breathing grew rough.
"They've been hiding in the Floating Castles. We know where their base is now, so all that's left is to sweep in and purge it."
"You called for me at just the right time. Those vermin have forfeited any right to breathe."
A faint violet mist began to seep and curl from Thalia's body, as if her rage itself had taken physical form under the name of an Awoken Ability.
Kalman pushed off from the wall. He strode across the room and spread a map out on the table — a chart of the Empire's geography divided into districts.
"This is the target."
"The Floating Castle to the upper right."
"Correct. There is no lift installed there. The only way in is through the air. Which means the first thing to consider is how we get inside."
I raised my hand to claim the floor.
"I can handle that. I'll transform into a big bird. You two just cling to my back and try not to fall off."
"...Transform into a bird? You?"
"Yep."
Kalman turned to look at Thalia, his eyes clearly demanding an explanation.
"You're better off not trying to understand," Thalia said.
"It's easier on the heart that way."
Truly the knight who had guarded my side for ten years.
Kalman pressed no further. He turned his gaze back to the map and continued.
"If we can fly, our tactical options expand considerably. We can bypass the lower levels entirely and enter straight through the upper floors."
He traced a finger to a garden.
"This is the ideal entry point."
It matched exactly the spot I had chosen on the previous Floating Castle.
"The structure doesn't allow passage to the upper levels except through the garden. We barricade the stairway, cut off any reinforcements climbing up from below, and focus entirely on the target."
"I'll hold the corridor."
Thalia volunteered at once, and I backed her up.
"Thalia's Awoken Ability is perfect for guarding a narrow chokepoint."
"That leaves Zephet to you and me. Don't grow careless just because he's only a viscount. The demons rank their nobility by strength and assign titles accordingly."
I'd heard that from Caroi. He had put it exactly like this: If you ever meet a Demon Duke, run. Don't even look back.
"Ideally we'd learn something about his Awoken Ability beforehand, but there was nothing to be found here."
"Zephet... if you mean Demon Viscount Zephet, I know of him," Thalia said. "He appeared on the northern front up until six years ago. His Awoken Ability was Spirit of Fire. But if he was reassigned from the front to the Empire, there's a real chance he's since awakened the superior ability, Avatar of Fire."
"And what does Avatar of Fire do?"
"It transcends the body he was born with and turns him into fire itself. He becomes immune to every physical attack — sword-qi and sword-gang included."
Immune to all physical attacks... wouldn't that make Kalman useless?
Kalman stood with his arms crossed, silently listening to our exchange. Reading anything in his expression was impossible.
"Still, he can't be invincible. He must have a weakness."
"Against Spirit of Fire, the opposing elements — water or ice — would suffice. But Avatar of Fire remains invincible for as long as the core supplies his power."
"Then we break the core."
"Possible, in theory — assuming one can withstand the staggering heat an avatar's body radiates."
Since the enemy was fire-attuned, I'd have to prepare water-arts among the Five Elements techniques. The real question was whether my Ice Heaven Strike could pierce the core cleanly.
"We move out now."
Kalman folded the map and tucked it into his coat.
"By now, word of Jarman's castle being assaulted has reached them. Not a moment to lose."
We slipped out of the inn and climbed onto the rooftops.
The Floating Castle hung high in the sky above and to the right of the inn, the dim glow of the streetlamps faintly tracing the underside of its foundations.
Seen like that, it feels even more unreal than in daylight.
I pressed my palms together and recited the incantation. With a muffled whump, my body became a great bird — the right size to carry two riders through the night sky.
This form was the Xiaopeng — the little peng — a minor version of the Great Peng, the mythical bird said to fly ninety thousand li in a single day.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Thalia gave a small bow of apology before climbing onto my back. Kalman boarded without any such ceremony, planting his boot directly onto my feathers.
I tore across the rooftop, and after two running starts, launched into the open sky.
The sprawling night city spread out beneath my feet. The wind sheared coolly between my wing feathers. I kicked off the currents of the atmosphere and rose above the Floating Castle in an instant.
BOOM.
The moment the Xiaopeng's massive frame settled into the castle's garden, chaos erupted.
"Wh-what is that?!"
"Intruders!"
Five demons stood in the garden. Before I had even released my transformation spell, two of them had lost their heads to Kalman's blade.
His sword was simply too fast to see. It dawned on me then that he hadn't used the Sure-Hit Sword when he first fought me.
"Gwaaaagh!"
A third fell to Thalia. He blocked her attack with his blade, only to melt horribly under the power of the Profane Mist.
And the last two?
"Aim for the runt human over there!"
"Grab a hostage!"
...Of course they picked the one who looked weakest — me.
I spread my palm toward them.
Wind-arts: the Invocation of Wind.
A mass of air compressed violently within my palm, then burst forth as a storm that hurled them clean off the Floating Castle.
"No... nooo!"
The Five Elements arts were endlessly versatile, depending on how they were applied. This technique had once saved a man suffocating to death; tonight it turned demons into wingless birds.
"...This is Lester's debt."
Thalia murmured it under her breath, old hatred seeping from every syllable.
"I'll guard the lower corridor now."
She began spreading violet mist across the passage. From this moment, even I would struggle to force a way through that zone of death.
"We're counting on you, Thalia."
Kalman and I entered the castle's upper levels through a balcony.
"Humans have invaded!"
"Well, I was getting bored. Good timing."
"Alert Viscount Zephet at once!"
The upper floors began to seethe like a kicked beehive. Before long, a horde of demons stood blocking our path.
Fortunately, there was a technique perfectly suited to narrow, confined corridors.
Flame-arts: Blazing Heat, Thousand Images.
A thick torrent of flame began to rage through the tight passage. Wretched screams mingled with the stench of searing flesh to paint a single panel of hell. The demons were skilled enough to wield sword-qi freely, but no martial art could master fire.
And clearing the corridor wasn't the end of it. Whatever wretches clawed out half-alive were finished off by Kalman's sword.
"Gwaaaagh!"
He drove in a pillar of sword-gang over two meters tall, empowered by his Awoken Ability, the Sure-Hit Sword. Not even a scream carried out. Anything the blade-light touched was disassembled down to its particles.
I couldn't help asking, half in admiration:
"We make a pretty good team, don't you think?"
"Talk less."
His tone was brusque. But all the way to the end of the corridor, the pattern repeated — I seasoned the way with sorcery, he cleaned up after — and frankly, he didn't seem to mind it much either.
We had drawn near the castle's heart when it happened.
"Nyahaha! The Empire's Seven Pillars, come in person!"
A mountain of a demon, well over three meters tall, had appeared.
"Move aside! The Sword Duke's head is mine!"
He shoved another demon out of his way and thundered toward us. This one wasn't Zephet — he was another powerhouse garrisoning the castle, and staggering demonic energy radiated off the axe-lance in his grip.
And once again, Kalman's strike landed without hesitation. The demon raised his axe-lance into a guard, but defense itself was meaningless against the Sure-Hit Sword.
"Ghurk!"
The demon's left shoulder was deleted. I assumed that settled the fight. But swinging his lance one-handed, he forced Kalman back.
"Nearly killed me there, didn't you? So the Sword Duke isn't entirely an empty name."
His severed shoulder was regenerating at an unbelievable speed. His Awoken Ability seemed to have something to do with durability or healing.
"But do you know what your weakness is?" The demon's face twisted into a vicious grin as he snickered. "Block the first strike, and you're nothing but a scarecrow!"
Kalman's Awoken Ability was simple: the first strike delivered by his sword always hits.
And this monster had just tanked that first strike through sheer toughness.
Lacking an Awoken Ability didn't disqualify one from Grand Master rank, but still — he had sealed away the frankly absurd power of the Sure-Hit.
I drew a talisman from my coat. Interfering might bruise the pride of an Empire Pillar, but the success of the operation mattered a great deal more than anyone's pride.
That was when Kalman spoke quietly.
"Sure-Hit Sword. Second strike."
"...What?"
Brilliant sword-gang erupted from Kalman's blade. The demon hastily raised his axe-lance — and once again, the defensive motion meant nothing at all.
"This goddamn ability—!"
With a howl of pure frustration, the demon was swallowed by the radiant sword-light and vanished.
The second strike hits too. Yeah — 'goddamn ability' sounds about right.
There's no such thing as 'Sure-Hit Sword, third strike,' right?
"Lord Baron has fallen!"
So the monster we'd just killed had been a baron.
The few demons left lost their will to fight and scattered. We didn't bother chasing them — there was nowhere to run. It was a Floating Castle, after all.
At last we reached the deepest part of the fortress: a vast, warehouse-like space, its floor blanketed with Ironshine roots fouled by demonic energy.
At the center of the chamber stood a demon wreathed in flame.
Demon Viscount Zephet.
He didn't look like a man consumed by fire. He looked like fire itself. Thalia had been right. What we faced was an avatar of flame.
— The Sword Duke, is it.
The heavy voice resonated directly in our minds.
— And that one... young-looking, but no doubt one of humanity's chosen blades.
He began walking toward us, unhurried.
— You've done well to come this far. But your luck ends here.
A colossal pillar of flame shot from Zephet's hand. I met the attack with wind-arts.
A ferocious gust knocked the blast off its course, and the long river of fire blazed red across the Empire's night sky.
— Impressive trickery. But...
He raised his other hand.
— How long can you hold out?
The flames he poured out intensified. For an instant, I focused the power of the wind-arts to a single point. The wall of flame split in two — and a path to Zephet opened up.
"Kalman!"
He sprang instantly. The sword-gang riding his blade stretched a full three meters.
"Aim for the core!"
Kalman plunged into Zephet's guard and slammed his blade down onto the core with brutal force. For a heartbeat, it looked as though the flames had swallowed him whole.
— A pointless gesture.
Even struck by that staggering sword-gang, Zephet's core held. The blow had done no more than startle a few drops out of him.
With the attack spent in vain, it was Kalman's turn to be in danger. I moved to cover him at once, holding the Invocation of Wind in my right hand while my left conjured the Ice Heaven Strike.
Shiiiiing!
Great ice spikes shot out in succession. As the demon staggered under their impact, Kalman fell back to my side.
"You alright?"
He looked far better than I'd expected.
"Make me one more opening," he said. "This time, I can break it."
— Insufferable vermin.
Zephet's fury ignited.
— I'll feed you all to my flames!
He began pouring out fire hotter and fiercer than before. The blaze swallowed the Ironshine roots on the floor and swelled in size within moments.
Hundreds of second-grade mana roots were transmuted into heat beyond any possible measure.
I snatched Kalman's sleeve and unfolded the Art of Displacing Anomalies. In an instant, the flames spread across the entirety of the Floating Castle's upper levels.
Zephet, fused with his fire, swelled without end. It was like watching the birth of a sun.
And at the heart of that sun floated the avatar's one weakness: the core. It hung utterly defenseless.
Ice Heaven Strike!
I rained pillar after pillar of ice down on the core, but they vaporized before so much as grazing its edge.
"...He's going to detonate himself."
Kalman's voice was dead serious.
He was right. This power exceeded even Zephet's capacity to contain it — the spreading cracks across his core proved as much. Having failed his mission, the demon had chosen to borrow the strength of the Ironshine and go out in a blast.
— Burn, all of you, to ash!
The sphere of flame devoured the upper levels completely and reached down toward the lower floors. I could feel the demons below being swept away by the heat.
"We have to stop it."
Kalman ground his teeth.
"If we don't hold it now, District 4 is gone."
He tried desperately to force his blade into the blaze, but couldn't even approach it, let alone attack. This was not heat a being of flesh could withstand.
— Hahaha! Crawl all you like, worms. It changes nothing!
Just as Zephet's mad laughter shook the chamber—
"Ruby!"
Ruby slid down from my neck to my wrist. I pointed at Zephet's core and shouted:
"Bite it!"
"Pip!"
Ruby launched like an arrow. I could feel Zephet's mind sneering.
— What could that pathetic little thing possibly—
"Watch closely. He's not all that little."
I released the shrinking spell. Suddenly, the true form of a magma dragon over four meters long burst into the open air.
— No, wait—!
The demon blasted Ruby with every ounce of fire he had. But the flames didn't scratch a magma dragon — if anything, they only got Ruby more excited.
"Ruby, dinner time."
Ruby swam freely against the torrent of flame and clamped his jaws around the core.