111. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [2]
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Instructor Don Gorg entered into combat position and glanced around at the darkness that covered the training hall.
ăWhatâs this strangeădarknessă?ă
ăItâs something like aăhalf soul dressă.ă
I answered, still maintaining Seigan no Kamae.
ăFuu, I see⌠Aăblockheadălike you does show up from time to time!ăthe instructor said, and started running with a loud war cry.ăKAAAAAA! Mountain Breeze Style â Mountain Cut!ă
An overhead slash filled with spirit.
I stopped it with my bare hands, clad in darkness.
ăWhat⌠the hell?!ă
The instructorâs eyes widened in surprise, but this was the natural outcome.
ăExcuse me, can you please take it seriously?ă
The attack was aăfake blowă.
A blow which stuns, and doesnât seek to end the match right away â a fake blow that was unleashed just to cause pain.
Itâs not the same as aăreal blowăthat you unleash to cut down your opponent â like those of Sid-san and Idolâs attacks.
ăThe match between swordsmen is a serious battle. I will cut you down without hesitation next time.ăI told him, and let go of his sword.
ăI-Impudent!ă
The instructorâs face dyed red and he jumped back.
ăShitty brat⌠You have some nerve to make a mockery of me!ă
And the next moment,
ăShave off -ăHilly Windă!ă
A brown long sword appeared out of empty space.
(âŚItâs finally out.)
Equipment that embodies a part of the spirit core â soul dress.
The power I am currently struggling to attain.
ăFuhahaâŚ! How do you like it? Youâre jealous, arenât you? Even if you make an effort all your life, this is a power that you will never attain!ăthe instructor roared, and showed off his soul dress proudly.
I observed the soul dress without responding to his cheap provocation.
(Wind and⌠is thatăsandă?)
Looking closely by straining my eyes, I saw grains of sand and wind swirling around the long sword.
It seems that the ability of his soul dress is to freely control two kinds of power â wind and earth.
(That is a good soul dress. As expected of an instructor of Senior Holy Knights.)
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As I held such impression in my heart,
ăKukuku⌠Oi, bastard! I will teach you theăcore weaknessăof a dropout swordsman who canât even use soul dress!ăthe instructor said, with a sadistic smile, and held up his long sword high.
ăWhat would that be?ă
ăFuu, thatâs⌠long-range attack and the number of hits! Sand Blast!ă
The moment he swung down his sword, more than twenty sand swords rushed at me.
The acceleration increased due to a sudden gust of wind, and each one cut through the air like an arrow which was released after being pulled back to the maximum.
ăCertainly⌠you are right.ă
Sid-sanâs Freeze Lance.
Claude-sanâsăAvio Troopsă.
Dodrielâs Dark Shadow.
Itâs their long-range attacks and overwhelming number of hits which is most troubling for swordsmen like me who donât have a soul dress.
However, I already thought up a countermeasure against those.
ă-Dark Shadow.ă
The twenty impending sand swords â were cut down by darkness as sharp as a blade.
ăWha?!ă
ăYoshi, that was a good response.ă
The three Dark Shadow moved exactly as I pictured.
This is a new technique I devised inspired by Dodrielâs dark shadow.
With enough concentration, I can control up to four at a time.
(The effective range is a little short of two meters, butâŚ)
It functions well as a defense against techniques with a lot of hits.
As I nodded to myself, confirming the success of the experiment of a new technique,
ăW-What is up with the crazy application range of your abilityâŚ!?ăthe instructor said, pointing to my darkness, wide-eyed.
ăAhaha. I like this darkness because itâs very effective in its application.ă
I cut the conversation short and assumed a forward-bent posture.
ă-Then, Iâll go next?ă
ăI can cut down a bastard like you in a single stroke!ă
As soon as I heard his answer, I invaded into the certain kill range in one step.
ă-HA!ă
ăFast!?ă
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A diagonal slash aimed at his right chest â he defended it by holding his sword horizontally
However,
ăNu-oh?!ă
Unable to stop the impact of the swing, he was blown back a great distance.
ăGuh, this kind of power⌠from that small frame!?ăthe instructor grumbled, performing ukemi with a smooth movement which did not match his large frame.
I identified the spot where he was about to land and shot a slash from a long distance.
ăFirst Sword â Flying Shadow!ă
ăFuh, an insignificant slash like that⌠wonât work!ă
The instructor swung his sword powerfully and knocked down the Flying Shadow clad in darkness.
But that was within my calculation.
ăCertainly.ă
ăWha?!ă
Hiding behind the large slash, I closed the distance without wasting any time.
In the first place, Flying Shadow is not a technique aimed at dealing damage.
Camouflage, Feint, Closing the distance â itâs an auxiliary-type technique.
And just like that, I easily stepped into his certain kill range, and unleashed a decisive attack.
ăEighth Sword â Yatagarasu!ă
When the flash which contained my body weight cut through the air, eight slashes bared its fangs.
ăNUOOOOHâŚă
He somehow managed to deal with five slashes, butâŚ
ăGah!ă
Three shots slipped past and caught his right hand and both legs.
The instructor, distorting his face in anguish, unleashed a crude, large swing on the spot.
I danced around it and avoided the attack with plenty of time to spare.
(The wound is deep.)
He canât keep fighting with that leg.
Anymore than this wonât even be aăbattleă.
I decided that and,
ă-That decides the match. Please accept your loss.ă
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I thrusted the pseudo-black sword to his chest and declared.
And then,
ăDonât screw with me.ă
The instructor, with his face down, trembled in small increments and muttered something.
ăWhat was that?ă
ă-Donât screw around! A shitty brat who hasnât even lived half as long as I have⌠and you prattle around like a big-shot!ăhe shouted, and thrusted his soul dress into the floor of the training hall and stood up.
At that moment, a tornado-like storm blew, with the instructor at its core.
Itâs not just a simple wind either.
It is a storm mixed with grains of sand and has high-killing potential.
(Thatâs a troublesome technique.)
I quietly observed the damage situation while repelling the whirling grains of sand with my sword.
The grains of sand flew around with tremendous speed in all directions. The glass windows were smashed and the floorboards of the training hall were twisted out.
Thatâs not all.
ăIt hurtsâŚă
ăH-Help me!ă
Cries of pain went up one after another from the Junior Holy Knights who were intently watching this duel from the side.
It doesnât seem possible for them to evade the grains of sand pouring down like rain.
ăFuhahaha! If you have a grudge, then hold it against the dropout swordsman over there for making me get serious! Letâs go then â Sandstorm!ă
When the instructor swung down his fist to the hilt of the long sword that was still stuck to the floor â violent wind and sand filled the entire hall.
An omnidirectional attack that has no room for evasion.
The sand grains collide violently with each other, producing a terrible sound which stimulates fear.
(Seriously⌠what a troublesome thing he has doneâŚ)
I had no choice but to raise the output of darkness right away. Ria, Rose, and all the junior holy knights in the hall, were clad inăclothes of darknessă.
As a result,
ăR-Ridiculous!ă
Everyone in this place weathered through the sandstorm unscathed.
If the power is only to that degree, even a thin dark robe can defend against it.
ăJudging by that reaction⌠Is that the strongest skill you have?ă
Indiscriminate attack of storm and sand.
Certainly, in a group battle it will be a frightening ability, but⌠it is not an effective technique for an individual match.
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ăI-Impossible⌠Me, losing to a third-rate swordsmanâŚă
He collapsed as though having given up.
ă-That settles the match. Now, please apologize to Ria.ă
And when I sheath my sword into it scabbard,
ăAn opening! Mountain Breeze Style Secret Technique â Collapsed Mountain!ă
Suddenly, he stood up with great momentum, and unleashed a diagonal slash filled with killing intent.
I sighed involuntarily as I had seen the attack coming from a mile away.
(Haa⌠Returning the sword to its scabbard is not anăopeningăby any means, thoughâŚ)
And then,
ăSeventh Sword â Instant Flashă
The sword accelerated from within the scabbard, and there was only a gleam of light â the instructorâs soul dress was hacked in two.
ăWhaâŚ!?ă
This time he became speechless and silently fell on his knees.
At that moment, applause burst forth from the training hall.
ăThat power, there is no doubt anymore! Youâre that Allen Rodore!ă
ăI saw you at the Sword King Festival! I-If you donât mind, will you teach me the sword!?ă
The junior holy knights gathered around, with sparkles in their eyes.
ăA-Ahahaha⌠letâs talk about that later, for nowâŚă
I gently turned down their wishes, and looked down at Instructor Don, who was on his knees, gritting his teeth.
ăInstructor Don Gorg, will you accept the defeat?ă
And when I asked again,
ăâŚâŚâŚ.S-Shit⌠I, I was wrong⌠Please forgive meâŚă
After a long silence, he expressed an honest apology.
Thus, I successfully defeated Don Gorg, the instructor of Senior Holy Knights, and heaved a sigh loudly.
(Haa⌠What should I do after this?)
Tattered training hall.
The instructor riddled with wounds
Myself unscathed.
(I donât know how Iâm going to explain this to the people of the association.)
I got involved in a big mess on the first day itself, and was worried about theăexplanation to the associationăandăconsequencesă.
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