Chapter 60 Come Anytime
After that, I fought against numerous candidates for the ≪Extreme Sword≫.
"We're the real ≪Extreme Sword≫! You're just a sinner trying to steal the glory with a fake name! God once said, 'Lies are absolutely forbidden!' So, we, the 'Judgement Saver', will take God's place and punish you! Prepare yourself!"
"...Are you waiting for a tsukkomi?"
I crushed the youths wearing flashy, sparkling armor,
"...Hmph, we didn't plan to reveal our True Identity...but we can't let impostors steal the name of ≪Extreme Sword≫. This name is too dangerous...if you keep this up, you'll be erased by the 'organization'. I won't say anything bad. Stop pretending to be ≪Extreme Sword≫...or rather, I'll take it back for your own good...our Soul Name is 'Dark Flame Reunion'!! Now, die in the flames of darkness!!"
"...Are your hands and head okay?"
For some reason, I bound the hands of the 4 youths, who were magicians with long bangs, and defeated them (by the way, they used ordinary Fire Magic).
"Oh, it's an honor to meet you, Master Gale! We're the 'Wood Sword Fan Club'! Please sign for us later!!"
"Hmm...you guys have some potential."
I gently defeated the promising youths and signed their wooden swords after the match.
――Anyway, I fought against various explorers, but their strength was all over the place, ranging from those like the 'Invisible Shooter' who lacked power to the weirdos like the 'Sword Dance Maiden's Scorned Squad', and some who actually had real abilities.
It seemed that those with real abilities didn't aim to become ≪Extreme Sword≫, but rather wanted to join the ≪Labyrinth Conquest Team≫.
Some explorers who had been wanting to join a clan for a while now have received an offer from the Guild regarding this recent incident.
That offer, in essence, means that fighting me has become a test to join the clan, which they were informed of beforehand.
Well, that's one of the goals Lady Eva had asked for, so I won't complain about it now. But somehow, I feel like I'm being used conveniently by everyone lately.
Maybe I should say something about it clearly.
If you're going to use me, then bring it on――and see what happens.
I've realized that powerful organizations like the Guild tend to accumulate power and resources.
Maybe I'll get my hands on some unknown materials.
* * *
It's been a month since the Kirke family's declaration, and 3 months since the "Great Outbreak".
During this month, many people have claimed to be the ≪Extreme Sword≫.
However, the number of people making that claim has decreased gradually since the first day, and by the end of the first week, new claimants had become scarce.
But I, who had been the target of betting matches at the Guild's training ground every day, had become quite famous, it seems.
Especially since I took on 60 opponents on the first day, which became a big rumor, and those who doubted my abilities had almost all changed their minds――or so I heard from Lion later.
Anyway――3 months after the "Great Outbreak", when Nord was confirmed to be the true body of the Unique Individual, some people still had their doubts and objections, but the title of ≪Extreme Sword≫ had become mine.
And...
Two days before the scheduled day of Nord's subjugation.
Once again, I was facing off against an explorer at the Guild's underground training ground.
A large crowd of spectators had gathered at the edge of the training ground, their eyes fixed on us. The atmosphere was electric, and their excitement was palpable.
It wasn't because they were betting a lot of money――――not just that, anyway.
Today's match was completely private, not a betting target, and hadn't been announced beforehand. When we suddenly showed up at the training grounds, the onlookers who gathered were the true identities of the training ground regulars.
Lately, a lot of people have been gathering to see me fight, and some are probably here because of my opponent's name value.
However, this isn't the first time we've had a match at the training grounds. The onlookers were there back then too, but it's never been on this scale before.
It seems that the announcement of the Nord subjugation mission tomorrow has raised everyone's interest.
Everyone's wondering if we have what it takes to defeat the Unique Individual Nord, and that's what's got them so worked up.
Honestly, it's a pain, but I know I can't get rid of them even if I try, so I might as well just leave them be.
"――Let's go!"
My opponent, standing over 10 meters away (≈ 32.8 feet), said while holding up their sword.
The dual swords in their hands were Black Radiance, and my opponent was Fiona Ackerman, with her vibrant red hair tied up in a ponytail.
Fiona's sharp gaze pierced through me as she held up her sword, and I responded by holding up my own Black Radiance.
"Oh, bring it on――anytime!"
There was no signal to start.
The moment I replied, Fiona's figure blurred on the spot.
She quickly spun around, swinging her dual swords multiple times, creating a sword trail that etched into the air. The aura blade's sharpness and speed were already beyond compare to 3 months ago.
It was no ordinary slash; it was a dense, high-speed barrage of attacks, like a surface attack.
The sharpness of the aura blade and its flying speed were already unmatched, but...
This was still a restraining attack. It wasn't hard to deflect.
My unique sword technique――[Aura Blade]
I touched the aura-wrapped Black Radiance to the incoming blade, deflecting it in any direction I wanted, creating a chain reaction that deflected the slashes and opened up a hole in the blade's trajectory.
Right after that...
"――!?"
Several blades that were fired exploded magnificently.
Most of the blades that flew in were due to [Flying Slash], but it seemed that [Burst Blade] was mixed in among them.
However.
Normally, [Burst Blade] can't be fired. It's just a skill that detonates the blade of aura covering the sword.
In other words, what Fiona did was a combined technique of [Flying Slash] and [Burst Blade].
There's also a skill called [Flying Burst Blade] that exists, but it's not a skill that can be learned in 'Sword Dance Maiden', so it's definitely not that.
Even before I started making wooden swords, I had been focusing on raising my proficiency in [Flying Slash], which has good compatibility with 'Sword Dance Maiden'.
That's why I was able to fuse 2 skills in just 3 months, and I should be wary that there are other combined techniques with [Flying Slash] as well――but the power was weak.
A combined technique is something that combines the auras of 2 skills with different properties into one skill. And this is quite difficult. Fiona hasn't mastered it yet, so the aura was insufficient, and the power was lower than usual.
Even without deploying [Aura Armor], the blast was just a strong wind without killing power, and it only ended up fluttering my clothes.
But it seemed that the goal wasn't to deal damage.
The explosion scattered the shine of the aura, covering my field of vision for a few moments.
"――――."
At the same time, I sensed that Fiona was making a high-speed circular movement to my back, taking advantage of the moment when my line of sight was blocked.
"Nh?"
Normally, I would be caught up in Fiona's movements, but I felt a sense of discomfort.
It was a movement that seemed to intentionally show a glimpse of her aura, or rather, a movement that didn't hide her aura and drew attention to it.
Why?
The answer was revealed in the next moment.
The scattered aura's curtain exploded. If I had been caught off guard by Fiona's movement from behind, I would have been caught in a blind spot. But from the other side of the curtain, 2 high-speed swords flew in.
――[Dancing Aura Sword].
The aura sword wrapped in a storm flew in, its sharpness and speed making it a force to be reckoned with.
"――Hah!!"
I used my [Aura Blade], still deployed in Black Radiance, to deflect the 2 aura swords.
The heavy sensation was still there, but I couldn't help but smile. The deflected aura swords hadn't broken yet. They would probably come back at me again in a few moments.
But before that.
"You're coming at me again, aren't you."
I turned around and unleashed [Heavy Flying Blade].
Fiona, who had circled around behind me, was sending [Flying Slash] attacks at me like rain.
The blades seemed to weave a net-like pattern when viewed from the front. I cut through them with [Heavy Flying Blade] this time, but another explosion occurred in that instant.
There was no sign of Fiona moving on the other side of the aura's light.
But the 2 deflected aura swords came back, falling from above.
"Whoa."
Of course, I was on guard against the aura swords' movement.
I dodged the high-speed aura swords falling from above with a sideways leap, and the 2 shining swords stabbed into the training ground's surface, finally using up their contained aura and disappearing.
"――I see."
But I couldn't counterattack just because I had dodged.
Fiona hadn't moved, but in the brief moment I had dodged the aura swords, she had unleashed several [Flying Slash] attacks again.
I met those attacks with [Heavy Flying Blade], pouring more aura into it than before.
Somehow, my own aura control has been increasing lately. As a result, my sword techniques and combat skills have become much stronger, incomparable to what they were a year ago.
But if I compare my growth rate over the past 3 months, Fiona's is even faster than mine.
With each strike, the [Flying Slash] grew sharper and heavier, empowered by the already activated [Sword Dance].
I unleashed a relentless [Heavy Flying Blade] that filled my field of vision, but the number of slashes that ripped through the air was fewer than before.
And then――,
"Again..."
The [Burst Blade] hidden within the incoming blades exploded, once again covering my field of vision. Although I didn't take any damage, the shattered aura fragments scattered around me like dust.
The shattered aura would soon dissolve into the air. But with this amount, it would take a few seconds to disappear.
The essence of the 'Sword Dance Maiden's' fighting style lies in alternating between [Sword Dance] and [Dance of the God Offering] to enhance her basic abilities.
Considering that, it's not strange that she's stalling for time in the early stages of the battle――but.
"..."
I stopped in my tracks, and Fiona and I faced off in a clash of blades.
Fiona unleashed [Flying Slash] after [Flying Slash], and I countered with [Heavy Flying Blade]. Each time, the [Burst Blade] hidden within the blades exploded, creating a curtain of shimmering aura fragments.
However, with each exchange, the number of [Flying Slash] Fiona unleashed decreased.
That's why I could still keep up with [Heavy Flying Blade] for now.
It seemed that Fiona was getting tired from the rapid succession of skills, or so I thought――――.
The aura curtain blocked my view of Fiona, but I suspected that she had intentionally reduced the number of [Flying Slash] she used.
What was she aiming for?
As I waited with bated breath, it suddenly arrived.
"――!?"
――More than ten [Dancing Aura Swords] appeared, attacking me from all directions, including above my head.
What shocked me was that I didn't notice the aura swords being launched towards me until they were very close.
Probably, she tried to avoid detection by going around in circles, but it's strange that I didn't notice until now.
Aura is different from magical energy, but like magical energy, its existence can be sensed through means other than sight. When faced with a powerful aura, I get a sense of oppression similar to a unique pressure.
Of course, the accuracy of perceiving aura improves with training and honing one's senses, but I've always thought of myself as being quite sharp.
And yet, the Aura Sword managed to slip past my perception and attack me――,
(――That's why!)
It was because the scattered aura fragments around me were interfering with my perception of aura.
And, right after I released [Heavy Flying Blade], the Aura Sword flew in, leaving me no time to counter or dodge.
Perfect timing to catch me off guard after a technique.
The next instant, over 10 Aura Swords simultaneously pierced my body, and numerous [Flying Slash] attacks rained down on me like a finishing blow.
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