Episode 144 – Flame Sword and the Sacred Beast

  If I only relied on the black sword Greed’s performance, I wouldn’t be able to even put a scratch on this beast.

  First let’s try fire magic. Canceling the cast, I infused the fire into my sword.

  As soon as I did, red and black fire blazed out from the black sword.

  『Getting serious now, aren’t you?』


  [Guess so. Not only martial arts, I’ve also trained on how to use elemental magic and pure magic.]

  『Indeed, the density of your flame has risen dramatically.』


  Why of course. While waiting for the news on Myne’s whereabouts, I wasn’t just sitting around the capital doing nothing.

  My magic skills were obtained from Gluttony skill, so it’s not something I originally owned. Therefore, with my little to no background in using magic, I had trouble handling it. Before, I compensated that by using Greed’s second form, the black bow, in order to ‘use’ magic.

  However, back in Gallia I was still with Myne and Eris, I was given a goal by both of them to train myself on how to handle the black bow.

  In a land full of foul smell, I had to manage to hit my target with the magic arrow shot from the black bow without Greed’s aid.

  And from there, I gained confidence in my control of magic power, and decided that I should learn how to cast magic freely on my own.

  Imagination was the most important when it came to casting magic. So it’s possible to train it while I was inside Luna’s spiritual world.

  Then Greed also joined the fray. So every night when I went to sleep, when I wasn’t training my martial arts with Greed or Luna, I would train my magic casting in the spiritual world.

  That’s also when I came up with the idea to turn the black sword into some sort of magic sword by infusing it with elemental magic.

  This time around, by using Fireball magic, I tried to emulate Miria’s flamberge. Though just imitation, the power actually surpasses the original.

  『Well then, shall we?』


  [Yeah.]

  I jumped away from under the sacred beast, looking for another chance to attack.

  Behind me, the darkness wriggled in trying to attack me, but I simply ignored it. Me being on Ares E already, regular monsters attack won’t bother me anymore.

  And also, because there was Roxy to clean the small fry up.

  [Fai!]

  [Thanks!]

  I heard someone calling my name followed by the swishing sound of a blade. Instead of looking at the direction of the sound, I simply said my thanks while keeping my eyes on the sacred beast.

  Cause I know Roxy would be there to cover, so that I could focus on my target.

  And also, one other person.

  With shrill sounds of gunshots, she shot several bullets into the sacred beast’ side.

  [Fate, thank goodness I made it in time.]

  [I knew you would. Keep it up, Eris!]

  [Leave it to me.]

  Blocked by the holy blessing, the bullets didn’t managed to deal any damage, but it still attracted the sacred beast’ attention away from me.

  Not missing that opening, I run in with the blazing black sword poised.

  Eris’ support didn’t end there.

  As soon as she realized her attacks won’t deal any damage whatsoever, she started aiming at below the leg area and began shooting. Creating holes right under the sacred beast’ feet.

  As a result, the sacred beast lost its balance and leaned its heavy body to the side.

  It was now full of openings. Desperate to regain its posture, the sacred beast won’t have any mind to counterattack.

  [Nice!]

  [Cut it down for real this time!]

  I took the opening Eris created to strike. While being careful not to let the sand obstruct me, I dashed forward with maximum power.

  Whilst still losing balance, the sacred beast actually had its eyes on me. Feeling a crisis all of a sudden, I realized that its tail was already poised to strike right above me.

  At the end of that gigantic tail was a sharp looking stinger, seeking to pierce my body. But I ignored it and kept dashing forward.

  I’ve chosen to believe in the effect of Eris’ phalanx bullet.

  Slashing vertically up, my blazing black sword collided directly with the tail.

  Sound of shattering glass followed by a shockwave could be heard. I was still intact. Meanwhile, the tail was knocked away.

  This is the moment where the defense buff from Eris’ Phalanx Bullet truly shined. It could defend against the attack of a superior enemy. A very good buff.

  Now, I had two defense points left.

  This really helped…… now I can focus to just go in a straight line and attack.

  [UOoooooooooo!]

  『Do it, Fate!』


  Everytime the stinger on the sacred beast’ tail struck, I lost one phalanx bullet defense point. By the end, there was nothing left on me, but I managed to reach my target first.

  I stabbed the sacred beast’ side with my blazing sword.

  [Kuh.]

  Again, the holy blessing blocked my attack.

  『What’s wrong, Fate? Is that all? More! More!』


  I knew that even without you telling me. If that still couldn’t pierce the holy blessing, then I just have to raise the firepower.

  I activated 《Spirit Unity》. It’s a skill I obtained from killing the Undead Archdemon, the monster that Rafal Burix had become after he was taken over by the fragment of Shin.

  To think, I would use this skill I obtained from Rafal…… it’s as if I’m working together with him now, which made me somewhat emotional.

  But I couldn’t say that right now.

  Spirit Unity was a skill that increase the power of a technique or magic by 5 times for a duration.

  For me who struggled to control the stats of Area E, using Spirit Unity would be too overwhelming. That’s why I never used it while I was around the capital, I’m afraid the power output would end up damaging the capital.

  But here I was in the middle of the desert, and I had Eris and Roxy to back me up. There should be no problem if I go all out.

  『It’s all desert up until beyond the horizon. You can finally use it.』


  [Yes. I can already feel my magic power is being amplified.]

  『You don’t need to control anything now. You can’t actually. Just let it all out.』


  As Greed said, it’s a power that very unlikely to be controlled. A great power I’ve never felt before.

  The blazing flame on my sword had turned gold. I have never seen a flame with such color before. It’s not something that exist in this world.

  Taking that aside, I tried slashing at the holy blessing.

  And…… it went through!

  It took a while, but the black sword was gradually cutting through the blessing.

  While I was distracted with trying to cut through the protection, I heard Roxy’s voice coming from behind me.

  [Fai! Behind you!]

  I felt a crisis coming from behind me. When I turned my head to find out, it was too late. The sacred beast tail had already inches away from me. Without Phalanx Bullet protection, at this rate that sharp stinger would inevitably pierce me on my back.

  Just when that thought flashed in my mind, I heard gunshots.

  [Quick, overwhelm the holy blessing! I’ll make sure the tail doesn’t harm you!]

  [Eris!]

  [Go now.]

  Eris had shot more phalanx bullet on me, letting me focus on destroying the blessing. Perhaps Roxy was busy covering Eris from the darknesses attack. I could hear the sound of sword slashes mixing with gunshots coming from behind me.

  At this rate, I have no other choice but to answer to their expectation.

  [Greed, are you with me?]

  『Naturally.』


  [Then…… Holy blessing or whatnot…… all we know is.]

  [ 『Cut it down!』]

  Push through with this strike. That’s all there was to it.

  The black sword now digging faster into the blessing. The golden flames danced, burning through the wall of light.

  When I completed my swing, the sacred beast’ holy blessing was finally broken.

  [Not yet! Right, Greed!]

  『Yeah.』


  Right, the effect of Spirit Unity still remained. And it’s not only empowering the effect of magic skills.

  Technique…… that means physical skills are empowered as well.

  I switched my black sword into one-handed grip. I’ve decided what technique I should use.

  Lowering my stance, I delivered the 《Sharp Edge》.

  It’s a high speed two-stage slash attack. The first slash of the black sword brought the large body of the sacred beast to float in the air.

  And the final slash, sprinkled with the golden flame, hit the sacred beast squarely.

  When the body hit the ground again, it caused a small earthquake.

  『Did that do it?』


  [Don’t say that……when you already know the result.]

  Good grief…… just how hard its carapace is? Up until now there is no other substance that the edge of the black sword couldn’t cut through.

  [I only managed to scratch that hard as hell shell.]

  『And this me hasn’t even been chipped at all. You know what that means.』


  [I know that already. Are you saying that there is more?]

  『That’s how it is. It’s like a warm up. Do you remember……this place?』


  Yeah……I remember. This is the place where I started training myself to withstand the urge of the gluttony skill.

  Having to kill the sandmen repeatedly to curb the starvation…… it’s like having a painfully ragged throat be moistened by a single drop of water.

  But once I got used to it, it’s really not a big deal.

  I’m different from back then……but the hunger was there alright.

  I took a deep breath and released half of the Gluttony skill’s power.

  [Kuh!?]

  An unprecedented headache struck my head, but it was nothing more than a discomfort as I automatically controlled my status.

  Under the semi starving state, I can now control my Area E status to the fullest without any problem.

  I felt a little uneasy about the sudden headache, but decided to ignore it as it subsided.

  Taking a look at the sacred beast, it has crawled out of the sand and regained its footing. It acted as if nothing had happened, but now it menacingly brandished its two large pincers that can also act as blunt weapons and its stinger towards me.

  Its attitude was different from earlier. It’s seething with aggressiveness this time. Probably because it’s been stripped off of its’ holy blessing protection, or there is something more.

  The reason why the sacred beast became more aggressive, is probably because I released half of Gluttony skill’s power.

  I still remembered how Eris was visibly upset upon hearing about the sacred beast for the first time. She is a holder of Mortal Sin Skill, so there must be a connection. And seeing how the sacred beast in front of me reacted――it’s gotta be because of Gluttony skill.

  Let’s think about it slowly after we defeat this sacred beast.

  And so, I reignited the flame on my black sword.