121. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [12]

  I maintained Seigan no Kamae and fixed my gaze on Rain, clad in a red『water robe』.

  (…It’s similar.)

  His Last Drop was very similar to Ria’s Dragon Soul and Idol’s Flying Thunder God.

  The effect is most likely elevating『physical ability』and『soul dress output』.

  「I’ll let you know in advance. I can’t hold back when I’m in this state.」


  「Aa, of course.」


  The match between swordsmen is a serious match.

  I don’t want him to go easy on me, and neither will I.

  The next moment, Rain, whom I kept in the center of my field of view, disappeared.

  「Over here.」


  I heard a cold voice from behind.

  (Fast…!)

  However,

  「I can see you.」


  I was able to catch his movement with my eyes, and I avoided the looming downward slash by side stepping to the right.

  「Naive! Guardian Style – Forest Sword!」


  Rain moved in a flowing motion, shifting from downward slash to a thrust.

  (As expected, he went for that!)

  As Rain moved as I expected, I unleashed the upward slash that I was ready with beforehand.

  「HA!」


  「What!?」


  Meeting the perfectly timed counter, Rain’s arms bounced straight up.

  Then, I shot a straight kick which contained my entire body weight at his defenseless torso.

  「SEI!」


  「Kuh…!」


  As he tried to avoid a direct hit by twisting his body,

  「Ka, ha…」


  My foot sank deep into his side.

  A huge body of more than two meters flew across the air.

  (…I still managed to inflict substantial damage.)

  Rain’s swordsmanship was true to the basics, that’s why his next move was so easy to read.

  (I should take this opportunity and… press forward!)

  And when I took forward bent posture,

  「Not yet!」


  He landed on the ground, and immediately counterattacked without faltering from pain.

  「What!?」


  An unexpected situation.

  My body stiffened for a moment. Because of that, my evasion was late by a fraction of a second.

  Rain exploited that slight opening with a thrust.

  「Sora!」


  「Kuh!」


  A sharp pain ran in my left shoulder as I jumped back.

  (What was that?)

  My kick definitely landed hard on him.

  (To stand up instantly after that… much less launching an immediate counter attack… is impossible…)

  I observed Rain’s body while healing my injured left shoulder with darkness.

  Then, I noticed a certain something.

  His water robe was thicker on the side where my kick landed.

  「I see… So, you can even use it in that way…」


  Rain seems to have circulated the water towards one side and made a cushion to greatly reduce the damage.

  As expected, one of the Thirteen Knights of the Oracle.

  He seems to be perfectly using the power of soul dress.

  「It’s a good『robe』that takes full advantage of the characteristics of water.」


  「Fuu, it’s not as versatile as your『darkness』though…」


  After that, our death struggle continued fiercely.

  A clash between basics and basics.

  We both knew the other party’s next move well.

  「HAAAAAAAAAA!」


  「NUOOOOOOH!」


  The clashing of swords which contained all our might, scattered sparks even in the middle of a downpour.

  「A-Amazing…」


  「It’s too fast… I can barely follow it with my eyes.」


  After receiving glances of hope from Ria and Rose, I increased my speed even further.

  「Sakura Blossom One-Sword Style Secret Technique – Mirrored Sakura Slash!」


  「Guardian Sword Secret Technique – Torus Sword!」


  Eight slashes and an arc-like circular slash clashed, and disappeared.

  「Kuh…」


  「Nuu…」


  Right now, our physical ability was completely even.

  (Last Drop -『Ability that reduces lifespan』huh …)

  It’s a really troublesome ability.

  Rain’s arm strength, leg strength, and agility were all elevated greatly.

  (But… I found one thing which seemed like a weak point.)

  Since invoking Last Drop… For some reason, it’s all about『physical slashes』.

  The ability of water he displayed until then, suddenly fell silent.

  So I drew up a hypothesis.

  (Perhaps… the only thing Last Drop can strengthen is pure『physical ability』?)

  If every ability had been strengthened, like Idol’s Flying Thunder God, he would launch a more versatile attack.

  In other words, if my inference is correct – excluding physical ability, my『soul dress output』 should still be superior!

  I immediately raised the output of darkness to test the hypothesis.

  「Dark Shadow!」


  I shot ten thinly sharpened darkness blades towards Rain.

  And then,

  「Tsk…!」


  He immediately gave up on intercepting the attack, and jumped far back.

  (I was right!)

  His evasive action was the most obvious answer.

  (That overly quick movement means… He did not consider countering or defending with water at all!)

  This made it certain.

  That red water robe seems to improve only『physical ability』.

  Now that I have understood that, the advantage belongs to me!

  「HAAAAAAAAA!」


  I spread darkness extensively and sent it towards Rain.

  「Kuh… this guy!?」


  He ran around desperately, but right now, my darkness can easily cover an entire city. It’s not that easy to escape.

  Then Rain, who was completely surrounded by darkness on all sides,

  「Fuu, so you can manipulate it like an extension of your hand, huh… It’s truly a wonderful ability with high application power.」he said, with a cold sweat.

  「This is the end, Dark Shadow!」


  At the same time as I swung the Black Sword, blade-like sharpened darkness rushed at Rain.

  However,

  「Guardian Style Secret Technique – Broken Blade!」


  Rain cut all of it down in one stroke.

  He circulated all the water from his robe onto his sword and increased its sharpness to the maximum, a supreme-grade sword.

  That technique which threw away all semblance of defence, boasted a formidable sharpness.

  With my Dark Shadow broken, I stepped into the certain kill distance.

  「You broke my Dark Shadow as I expected, Rain.」


  I recognized Rain’s strength better than anyone else.

  If it’s this guy, he’d surely break through Dark Shadow. I believed so.

  That’s why I had already prepared the『next sword』.

  「Fuu, to think you even read that… Magnificent, Allen Rodore.」


  The conversation ended, and Rain quietly shut his eyes.

  「Seventh Sword – Instant Flash!」


  The godspeed Iai-slash, cutting through the sound barrier, snapped Rain’s soul dress and engraved a deep, sword wound on his abdomen.

  His body convulsed greatly as he slowly fell back.

  That decides the match.

  And with his back on the floor and looking up at the heavens, Rain began to laugh quietly.

  「Ku, Kukuku…! Even after going this far… Even after cutting my life, I can’t win, huh…!」


  The laughter carried a hint of happiness, and at the same time, sorrow.

  「…It’s over, Rain. Obediently surrender yourself to the senior Holy Knights.」


  「Kukuku… I’m sorry, but… it’s over, Allen.」


  With a heinous smile, he painted a strange pattern on the floor with his own blood.

  At that moment, rays of red light shot in all directions.

  Strange letters emerged everywhere, and it looked like a huge magic circle which appears in fairy tales.

  「W-What is this!?」


  Looking around the surroundings – the mysterious red light shone even at the end of the horizon.

  It seems that this magic circle was spread throughout Dagrio.

  「R-Rain! What the hell did you do!?」


  「Fuu… I released all the spiritual power that I amassed in this land since the day I took control of Dagrio several years ago.」he said, with a refreshed look on his face.

  「W-What?!」


  Spiritual power amassed by one of the Thirteen Knights of the Oracle throughout the span of several years – to release all that at once, a great destruction on the scale of a『natural disaster』will occur.

  「Soon this whole area will be an empty land. Allen, Fafnir’s host, and all the senior Holy Knights lying there will die. And this matter, will come to an end with that.」


  「D-Don’t do something stupid! If you do that, even you wouldn’t be able to escape…!」


  「No problem. After all, that is all my spiritual power. It’s going to do some damage, but… I’m not going to die.」


  Rain continued to speak quietly.

  「Allen, you were too strong… It’s frustrating, but I’m not strong enough to beat you.」


  The guy admitted his loss and,

  「That’s why I decided to erase everything.」


  He started to say something absurd, as if he had given into despair.

  「Concerning Fafnir, it is certainly regrettable, but… A few other phantom spirits have been confirmed. Norma will be achieved on another occasion.」


  To Rain, who seemed to be convinced of that,

  「I won’t let you do that.」I declared clearly.

  「What do you mean?」


  「I don’t know how you’re trying to erase everything. But I will stop you at all costs! Ria, Rose, Ben-san and all the senior Holy Knights, I won’t let you kill anyone!」


  「Fuu, interesting… It looks like it’s about time. Do your best to struggle,〈Red Drop〉」


  The moment Rain said that, a『gigantic red drop of water』dropped from the depth of thick black clouds.

  「……!」


  At that moment, I understood.

  No, I was forced to understand what a reckless thing I’ve just said.

  「T-This is a joke, right…?」


  It was truly an『incarnation of destruction』.

  『Pressure』that pierced the skin.

  Spiritual power realms apart from anything I’ve experienced in the past.

  Explosive mass falling from a super high-altitude.

  Something like that will not only turn this whole area into a desolate land.

  The whole of Dagrio will become a desolate land.

  「Hahaha… This is impossible…」


  On one hand, the final ultimate attack that was kneaded throughout the span of several years by one of the most prominent swordsmen in the world.

  On the other, the mightiest attack that an exhausted, mere student can unleash.

  Even a child would know there’s no way I can win.

  As I dumbfoundedly gazed at the impending Red Drop,

  「Invade -〈Fafnir〉!」


  「Dye -〈Winter Sakura〉!」


  Ria and Rose, who were riddled with wounds, stood on either side of me.