Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Battle for the Holy Grail (2)
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“You dare…!”
Kraus roared as he drew his sword.
He immediately unleashed his sword aura.
[Not bad.]
‘To serve as a border count, he has to be at least this good.’
The sword aura from a 6th-rank knight was quite threatening.
And moreover…
“Hah!”
Boom!
An enormous shockwave erupted as sword clashed against sword.
Just before colliding with my Ashurai, Kraus had compressed his sword aura into a sword beam.
[Impressive sword beam technique!]
‘Yeah, he’s pretty skilled.’
It seemed more adept than that of Madus, the 6th-rank knight I’d fought last time.
Madus hadn’t used his sword beam often, probably worried about mana consumption.
“The Holy Grail is mine…!”
Raising his voice, Kraus unleashed a barrage of attacks.
His sword beams were incredibly heavy. For a 6th-rank, he was almost at 7th-rank level.
‘But.’
In my hand was the Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai.
And I was the reincarnation of Archbishop Hausel.
“Ugh!”
My sword beam momentarily revealed a deep crimson-black glow.
It shoved aside Kraus’s sword, which had been locked against mine.
“Huh…!”
I didn’t stop.
The moment I slipped past Kraus like the wind.
Blood sprayed from his shoulder.
“B-Bishop Pertus!”
“Urgh…!”
Hearing Kraus’s urgent cry, the massive man who’d been biding his time sprang into action.
He wielded a greatsword larger than my height.
[That’s the 7th-rank mana I sensed earlier. Better be careful.]
Just as Igzard warned, Pertus exuded an overwhelming presence.
And wielding a greatsword like that…
“Tah!”
Boom boom boom!
The moment Pertus swung his sword through the air, red shockwaves burst outward in all directions.
It was a technique that released sword beams imbued into the blade, known in the Dialogue Church as the Tyrant Flame Sword Wave.
‘Using Tyrant Flame Sword Wave means he’s a disciple of Archbishop Ducles.’
Ducles was an archbishop of the Dialogue Church who had created many destructive techniques.
He was the elder and leader of the Final Battle faction, respected by many as a martial artist.
“You’re young to wield sword beams, and you seem quite skilled, but…”
Pertus stomped the ground forcefully, radiating his fighting spirit.
“With that scrawny body, you won’t withstand my sword!”
“By your standards, nine out of ten people in the world must look scrawny.”
“Insolent fool!”
Pertus’s attack came.
He had more mana. His physical condition was superior too.
If I took a direct hit from that greatsword, even protected by mana, my bones would shatter.
‘Worth the fight.’
I glared with wide eyes.
In the greatsword’s sweeping wide attack, I sought an opening.
I couldn’t just guard the path of the blade. As a Tyrant Flame Sword Wave user, his attack range was even broader.
‘And despite his size, he’s surprisingly agile. Rushing a blind spot recklessly would just get countered.’
An enormously wide attack range.
Amid it, I found a faint gap.
Without missing it, I thrust Ashurai in.
“Hmm?!”
Boom!
Sword beams clashed, unleashing a shockwave.
My whole body felt like it would be pushed back, but I barely held.
Then, to Pertus as his stance began to waver slightly, I launched a second attack.
“You bastard…!”
Blood gushed from Pertus’s thigh.
His face twisted in rage.
That was when Kraus intervened again.
“He’s no ordinary foe! Let’s attack together!”
“Mm, we must.”
Pertus and Kraus attacked simultaneously.
The relentless assaults from a 7th-rank and a 6th-rank cornered me.
[A bit burdensome?]
‘No, this is manageable.’
[Is it?]
‘I need to let him gain experience.’
[What do you mean?]
Right then.
A knight leaped up from below the ravine.
“Lord Sion! I’ll join you!”
It was Edwin, wielding the Grade 2 Shario I’d given him recently.
Edwin condensed sword aura on his blade into sword energy and charged swiftly.
“Another whelp appears!”
Pertus swung his greatsword, but Edwin dodged with clever footwork.
His perilously close evasion was almost artistic.
“Both of you wield sword beams. Are you confident?”
“With Lord Sion…!”
“Good. Match my movements.”
“Yes!”
Edwin swung his sword and began coordinating with me.
Still just a 4th-rank knight, Edwin was no match for Pertus or Kraus alone.
But fighting in tandem with me, he could hold his own.
“How do these bastards wield such crafty swordsmanship…!”
Pertus’s expression grew grave.
Truth be told, Pertus and Kraus didn’t mesh well. Both moved selfishly.
Meanwhile, Edwin instantly grasped my intent and adjusted accordingly. I guided him to move easily, so our coordination was seamless.
“Hah!”
“Ugh…!”
Edwin’s blade pierced Kraus’s right forearm.
A fairly deep wound. With his right arm like that, his combat power was halved.
“Border Count! We should retreat!”
“D-Don’t be ridiculous!”
“No matter how you look at it, the situation’s against us! Fall back for now!”
Finally, Pertus suggested retreat, but Kraus refused outright.
“You want me to lose the Holy Grail like this?!”
“That’s not—”
“Shut up!”
Kraus acted unexpectedly.
He shoved his ally Pertus aside.
Even I and Edwin were caught off guard.
“What are you doing?!”
“Get lost! You fake religion scum! I never meant to rely on the likes of you!”
“You mad…!”
Pertus spat curses.
Then, spotting my incoming blade, he hastily retreated.
“Do as you like! I’m out!”
In the end, Pertus abandoned Kraus and fled alone.
He vanished into the nearby woods in moments.
“Edwin, leave Border Count Kraus to you. Can you handle it?”
“Understood!”
Kraus was already badly wounded; Edwin could manage alone.
I left Kraus to Edwin and pursued Pertus.
* * *
‘He’s chasing…!’
Pertus sensed Sion Aleyas closing in.
Incredibly fast. No hesitation, and he’d catch up soon.
‘No choice… I’ll take his head at least!’
With that thought, Pertus surged his mana.
To activate the enhanced version of ‘Crimson Lotus’ that maximized physical abilities in an instant… the Great Crimson Lotus.
The Great Crimson Lotus was a technique mainly used by those trained under Archbishop Ducles, granting even greater power than the standard Crimson Lotus.
‘I’ll cleave him in two!’
For now, pretend to flee with my back exposed defenselessly.
Then, as Sion approached, twist and unleash Great Crimson Lotus for a devastating blow.
Steel resolve, Pertus sharpened all his senses.
‘Three, two, one… now!’
Timing it to Sion’s approach, Pertus activated his entire musculature.
Then, twisting his body surging with blazing mana, he swung the greatsword wide.
Just grazing that scrawny body would shatter bones and burst flesh.
“Haaah!”
A full-power slash.
But Pertus’s attack merely cleaved empty air.
“Huh…?”
In that instant.
Pertus saw it.
Sion, enveloped in blazing mana, diving into his side.
And a sword coated in deep crimson-black energy, piercing his heart.
‘Wait, that… I’ve seen it before…’
A memory resurfaced.
Long ago, on the battlefield, a man he’d glimpsed briefly.
That man wielded the Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai, spewing deep crimson-black sword beams, mercilessly slaughtering the Dialogue Church’s foes.
‘Archbishop Hausel’s…’
Cough!
Vomiting blood, Pertus knelt there.
* * *
“Ugh!”
Covered in blood, Kraus dropped to his knees.
Edwin wiped sweat from his brow and pressed his sword to Kraus’s nape.
“Surrender now, Border Count Kraus.”
He was the superior in rank.
Without my joint assault inflicting heavy wounds first, Edwin’s victory would’ve been impossible.
“I can’t… do that…”
Kraus panted, eyes still glaring fiercely.
“Why are you so obsessed with the Holy Grail?”
Honestly, Edwin couldn’t understand.
Colluding with the Dialogue Church to smuggle a holy relic was grave heresy.
If the imperial government learned, Kraus’s border count title would be stripped.
He could sympathize with wanting a sacred item like a holy relic. But going this far was excessive.
“You… don’t know… what the Holy Grail… is?”
“Pardon?”
“The Holy Grail is the Holy Spirit Church’s greatest miracle… the holy relic symbolizing ‘resurrection’…”
“Resurrection…?”
Edwin instantly grasped what Kraus meant.
“The legend of reviving the dead with the saint’s blood in the Holy Grail?”
“Yes…”
“Isn’t that metaphorical?”
Modern theology largely viewed it as symbolic, not literal resurrection.
“Don’t make me laugh. The Holy Grail truly… has the power… to bring people back to life…”
“That’s impossible…”
Another Holy Grail was kept in the Papal Vault.
If it truly had such power, it would’ve been verified long ago.
“I need it… to save… a person…”
“Pardon?”
“So I allied with those Dialogue Church bastards… and promised to aid their research…”
What was he talking about?
Edwin listened closely.
“Gather lots of pure children’s blood… put it in the Holy Grail… and it exerts power akin to the saint’s blood…”
“What horrific nonsense… Huh?”
Then a thought flashed through Edwin’s mind.
Come to think of it, back in the Hermel region, there were those kidnapping children and sending them to the Dialogue Church…
“Yes, no matter the sacrifice… I must revive my wife…”
“Your wife…?”
“To revive my wife… I need the Holy Grail…”
Some grave circumstance, perhaps.
Anyway, Kraus seemed delirious from severe blood loss.
Edwin reached out to staunch the bleeding.
“Huh?”
Then the anomaly occurred.
Red blood began leaking from Kraus’s neck.
“Huh…?”
Soon, Kraus’s head lolled off.
Someone had severed his neck.
“…!”
Edwin scanned the surroundings.
He spotted a woman who’d been lurking nearby, staring intently.
Kraus’s retainer he’d seen before.
Retina, was it?
“Wait, don’t tell me…”
The moment Edwin spoke.
Deep crimson-black energy erupted from her, engulfing him.