Chapter 143 It'S Gotta Be Easier Than Taking Down Our Master!
As I descended to the first floor of the guild's lobby, I saw a bunch of explorers gathered and buzzing around.
They must have noticed the overflowing magical energy reaction from the [Seal Temple], because the lobby was too noisy to even hold a conversation.
Just then, the guild master shouted from the top of the stairs.
"――Listen up, you lot!! It seems a stampede has occurred in the [God's Remains Labyrinth]!! The explorer guild is requesting cooperation from all explorers to stop the stampede!! Get out into the streets and hunt those monsters right now!!"
In an instant, the explorers rushed out of the lobby in a hurry.
Meanwhile, our group also descended to the lobby and joined up with our clan members.
"≪Wooden Sword Way≫ clan members, gather around!! It's true! A stampede has occurred!! We'll head to the [Seal Temple] and kill the 'core' of the stampede!!"
As I moved towards the exit, I told our clan members.
"Hey, are you serious, Aaron!?"
"That's crazy, Master!?"
"We're gonna die, man!?"
"Shouldn't we cooperate with other clans and parties instead!?"
Io and the other clan members raised their voices in opposition, their eyes wide with alarm, but I just laughed it off.
"What are you, stupid?! Don't you remember? The core of the last stampede was Ignitor, wasn't it?!"
"Alright! If it's the same as last time, Nord and Lich and their crew will be packed in tight! It's reckless!"
"Io, what's with the weak talk?!"
I turned around to face the clan members following me and said.
"You guys have all taken down Ignitor before, right?! And this time it's a stampede! Even if Ignitor shows up, it won't be as tough as the one in the volcano! And we're talking about Nord and Lich here... are they really opponents we should be struggling with?! Think about it!"
The members of ≪Wooden Sword Way≫ had each cleared the 45th floor in several parties in preparation for the Sky Floor attack. We even had experience taking down the volcano's Ignitor.
There's no way we'd struggle with Ignitor or Nord and Lich now.
"""..."""
The clan members fell silent at my words, as if they were taken aback.
Then, one by one, they started speaking up.
"Huh...? Now that you mention it..."
"Yeah, we might be able to take them down normally..."
"Our attacks on Ignitor were pretty effective, too..."
They started to sound optimistic.
That's when Fiona let out a sigh and pushed the clan members' backs.
"You're right... we're not fighting alone like some idiot. If we work together, we can take down Ignitor and its cronies! We're not going to lose!"
Wait, which idiot are we talking about...?
I'm not an idiot, so it must be someone else.
"At the very least, it's gotta be easier than taking down our Clan Master!"
Fiona said, punching my chest with her fist.
Is she talking about that thing we do once a month...?
I'm getting tired of you guys trying to kill me seriously. Can you please stop that?
"It's true... when you think about it, it feels kinda simple..."
"Compared to dealing with a Master who's tougher than a cockroach, this is a piece of cake!!"
"If our esteemed big sister says so, it can't be wrong!!"
"Woohoo! We'll follow Lady Sword Dance Maiden to the end of the earthhh!!"
The clan members are getting pumped up.
...Somehow, Fiona has become a threat to my position as Clan Master?
Anyway, since there are no objections, we all head out of the guild.
* * *
Our clan, ≪Wooden Sword Way≫, runs together towards the [Seal Temple] in the main street of Necronia.
Along the way, the residents are fleeing in the opposite direction, overflowing the streets.
From the city center, we can hear screams, angry shouting, and the sound of buildings being destroyed. There's smoke rising everywhere. We're not sure if the fleeing residents are in a stampede, but it's easy to guess that something has happened, judging from the "voice" that echoed throughout the city a while ago.
And the memory of the previous stampede is still fresh in people's minds.
We push forward, slipping through the panicked crowd.
And when we arrive at the plaza where the horse carriages are, it happens.
"――Stop!!"
"""!?"""
The pressure of the aura descending from above forces us to stop in our tracks, and a long, straight line is etched into the stone pavement in front of us, blocking our path.
The flying aura blade has deeply pierced the ground.
"Aaaah!?"
"What, what's going on?!"
As people around us were trying to evacuate, they suddenly screamed and ran away in panic due to the sudden destruction.
Instead of the citizens who were running away from the square, the person who had unleashed the slash and another person jumped down from the roof of a building.
They landed lightly on the ground from the roof of a five-story shopping mall and faced us.
"Well... it's been a while, I suppose?"
The one who said this with a smile was the famous swordsman Logan Abrams.
Standing next to him was Hermit Ail.
Although we knew them well, there was a noticeable change in them.
"What do you mean, Logan!! Ail!! What are you thinking?!!"
Io shouted at the two of them, his emotions exploding.
It wasn't just because of the "voice" that echoed throughout the city earlier. The two of them clearly looked like enemies now.
After all...
"Logan, Ail... you both have pretty interesting eye colors, don't you...!!"
Their eye color had changed to gold, just like Judas' had before.
"Ah, this? Don't mind it too much. It's just a little something I'm trying out."
Logan's response was flippant, so I drew my sword, "Black Radiance", from its scabbard.
We were acquaintances, after all. I didn't want to kill them by mistake and have a bad conscience, so I decided to confirm one last time.
"Logan, was that boring speech earlier... your doing?"
"Was it boring? I tried my best (Ail came up with it), but I guess it was a disappointment."
"...So, you guys are behind the Stampede, right?"
"Hmm... well, that's mostly correct."
"Hmm..."
In an instant――before Io could even open his mouth,
"――――then, die."
My unique sword technique [Flash Blade]――Super Technique [Splitting Light Flash]
With [Rapid Flash], I closed the distance in a flash and swung my sword down at Logan.
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