551 – The Truth of the Sorcery (side: Volk)

…[Destruction God Doldina] is broken, and [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch] has been taken.
I only have one sword left.
I didn’t plan on using it, but… It can’t be helped.

“[Dimension]”

I chant, reaching out.
In my hand, a dark red single-edged sword appears.

“That brilliance… Could it be, the Hero Miia’s Sword of the Unjust God?”

As Howgrey says, this sword was in the possession of the clay brave, one of Hero Miia’s subordinates.
Its proper name is [Laevateinn of Life-Cutting].
I picked it up after Irushia cleared the trial.
It grants the wielder tremendous power, but with each swing, it cuts away at the wielder’s life.

To be clear, it’s far too much power to fight Howgrey.
His physical abilities are no greater than any of the Holy Knights.
I would never fall behind him in terms of strength or speed.

His strange step and sword techniques are troublesome, but they aren’t his greatest weapon.
His greatest weapon is his talent with the sword, and the sharpness with which he reads the battle.
He accurately predicts my movements and uses them against me, leaving me with no recourse and making the fight feel unfair.

It doesn’t make much sense to pad my power further with my weapon, which was why I wanted to fight entirely with [Destruction God Doldina], whose lightness allowed me display my swordsmanship to the greatest extent.
However, this is the only sword I have left.

“…To think that, now I have become a minion of Saint-sama, someone would challenge me with that sword.
It might be faint.”

Howgrey murmurs.

“It’s the first time I’ve fought this hard in my life.
You’ve really have surprised me.
But, let’s bring it to and end.”

Howgrey points both swords at me.

“Did you not struggle in your fight with Irushia?”

“Do not mistake me, I did not say that out of disdain.
That dragon was not a swordsman, so I simply did not have to fight as hard.”

“…The only one in the world who can say something like that is you.”

I understand what Howgrey’s means.
Unless he is perfectly cornered, he is completely untouchable.
Wide range attacks and speed help, of course, but his irregular power prevents him from being caught by those who do do not see the world as a swordsman.

“Here I come.”

Howgrey lowers his stance, then kicks off the ground.
The instant he swings his sword, he disappears from view and appears in front of me.

He got me.
He used that strange movement of his to close the distance at the perfect moment to prevent me from reacting in time.
Battle intuition is all about predicting how your opponent will approach you based on their past movements.
But against Howgrey’s unprecedented cheat-like movement, my intuition works against me.

I block Howgrey’s longsword, but as I do, I feel a sharp pain in my abdomen.
His shortsword has cut my side.
To avoid the second slash, I need to twist away.

No, that’s wrong…! His second slash comes with heavy restrictions.
It can only appear at a certain angle, and his movements are restricted in the moments following.
So then I should strike at where he will be, and cut him in exchange for taking the second slash!

Spinning around, I swing towards where he will be.
He’s moving as I expected.

But then, I see it clearly.
His sword is glowing with familiar light.

It’s a skill I can use too – [Exorcising Blade].
It cuts through magical power, disrupting magical phenomena.
But why is he using it now?

“It seems I was a little too careless.”

With another distorted movement, Howgrey slips past my sword and moves away at high speed.

I don’t know how many times it is now.
Every time he’s moved like that, I have had a strange sense of deja vu.

As he begins his distorted movement, I somehow know where he’s going.
In the middle of his movement, our eyes meet.
He looks at me in surprise.

I have to bet on this.
Taking two big steps forward, I flash my sword out, cutting into his path.

His body shoots in the opposite direction.
A slight distance away, he falls to his knees with a blank expression.

I finally realise what I just did.
I saw through his step technique entirely.
I was able to match him, not just when he stopped, but while he was still moving.

It looks like he defended with the same strange technique that he used against Irushia.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him use it against me.
The mana cost might be rather high.

“…You really managed to break through it.”

Howgrey says, shocked.
But I am still far from understanding it.

There is one thing I know for certain, though.
His second slash ability uses the movement of [Godspeed Flash] and includes the effects of [Exorcising Blade] and [Armour Pierce].
His step technique, too, uses [Godspeed Flash] and [High Jump].

But, if he was simply using skills at the same time, the result wouldn’t look anything like that.
There is still much I don’t understand, but I’m at least able to follow his movements now.

From the start, my style of fighting against more powerful opponents has always been to leverage my toughness to prolong the battle and learn my opponent’s swordsmanship.
This time, I have taken that to the extreme.

But, the more I understand, the more I can see just how bizarre Howgrey is.
No matter how I think about it, I can only conclude that what he’s doing is impossible.

“What…are you…?”

I ask, not expecting a reply.
But, the corners of his mouth curve into a wry smile.

“This world has defects.
Having discovered the preciousness of life through war and so vowing to only kill in order to eat, that was the truth I arrived at at the end of my long journey.”

Despite the fact that I am in the middle of battle, I unconsciously lower my sword and open my mouth.