Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

101 – Master of the Sword

The front of the armor opens with a creaking sound.

I immediately returned the spear to its original length.

A streak of silver ran past.

It was as fast as lightning, faster than the returning speed of the spear.

It wasn’t an attack.

It was Furcus herself.

Her white hair fluttering like streaks of light drawn by a meteor, she was simply running.

But there’s a hole in her heart…?! 

I almost missed it because she’s too fast, but you can see the afterglow of Magical Energy fluttering about the places that she passed by.

Our attack was a success.

Normally, she would have been defeated by now due to fatal injuries.

This can’t be explained by pure fighting spirit. She doesn’t have regenerative abilities. Even if she doesn’t have a heart, there should be a weakness. Her body should be the same build as Humans.

In this world, there are creatures that are extremely hard to kill, but there aren’t any that can’t di-…that’s it.

A creature that is hard to kill.

I’ve thought about her race, but now I’m certain of it.

Her resemblance to Humans, her massive appetite, her immense strength.

And her high vitality.

「This time, I’ll take it back.」

Furcus overtook the still returning spear, straightened her hand like a blade, cut the spear, and then grabbed it.

The side she grabbed onto…was the longer side.

「What about your sword?」

「Huh?」

Both I…and Berith said that.

Because the moment she got her spear back, Berith was defeated.

As she grabbed the spear, she adjusted the angle and made it elongate.

It pierced Berith’s head, who was still caught in the right hand of Furcus’ armor, and immediately returned to its master’s hand.

Without even looking…!

Berith’s body crumbles, turning into Magical Energy particles.

All of her accompanying silver disappeared as well. Including the silver that connected my right hand to the staff. The staff drops.

I throw away the spear that has now turned into just a stick and grab the falling staff with my left hand.

If I didn’t do that, I would have been skewered.

Furcus’ Magic Tool pierces through the space where my upper body was.

She defeated Berith, called back the spear, turned it around to face me, aimed, and thrust her spear.

All in less than a moment.

Just when I thought that the spear returned in the blink of an eye, Furcus was approaching me from the front.

Her silver eyes were trained on me.

Unconsciously, I utter.

「…You’re an Ogre.」

She bent her lips slightly into the form of a smile.

She thrusts.

Even though I could read its movements, my left ear was pierced and splintered.

「Correct.」

I lost my posture and she kicked my abdomen like it was a football, knocking me into the air.

The wind was knocked out of my Avatar’s lungs, which didn’t need to breathe in the first place.

I tumble towards the ground.

…Come to think of it, you said that you’d tell me if I was correct if I managed to guess your race.

I recall that in the corner of my mind.

It is said that in ancient times, many horned individuals were often mistaken for Majins, but Ogres cannot use magic. Some of them can use illusion magic called Witchcraft, but basically, they fight with nothing but their own bodies.

People would often say「The Magical Energy of a Majin, the Vitality of an Ogre.」.

As the words suggest, Ogres boast tremendous vitality.

If your Magical Energy organ is not excellent, then you can’t convert energy into Magical Energy.

In that case, where does that vitality come from?

Maybe the energy from the food they eat.

「What did you learn from your swordmaster?」

In mid-rotation, I stick my left hand out to the floor to catch myself. I adjust the stance of my unsteady body.

As I was thinking about how to dodge her attacks, she said that to me.

…With those few words, I understood her intent.

I have used the sword staff many times throughout this tournament, but the only time that I can honestly, barely say that I fought with the sword was the match with Mark. But the match was decided with my Black Magic and a sharp pointed bone.

If Furcus was defeated in that state…

If she chose to be defeated as the Reaper Knight, avoiding the exposure of her true form…

Everything would end without anyone knowing about the swordsmanship that was trained into the Black Sorcerer Lem by the Furcus.

If that happens, Lem would once again return to the Demon King Castle to work as Lemegeton.

It is a rare chance to stand on center stage as an Adventurer.

For that reason, you exposed your true identity to the public?

Even though the identity of the black knight has been a mystery for generations?

…Look.

That was the only praise I received from my sword master.

『That’s right, you have spent years watching your party. To ensure that they always win without discomfort. That is your polished powers of observation. That’s why you’re good at your job as Chief of Staff. You look closely and find the way to victory. This is good.』

Look closely. Even she isn’t invulnerable. There is no such living thing.

Look at her face that never breaks a sweat. Most people would only see an expressionless face, but it’s a face that I’ve seen a lot. Don’t miss the change. Isn’t it painful? Even if there’s no pain, the damage to the heart shows in her movements. She herself has a hard time moving.

Here she comes.

Fluid movements. Her upper body moves with the left step. Her left foot steps on the ground, the same time that force is put into her thrust.

A thrust as fast as the Hunter Lily’s Godspeed, aimed right at my chest.

I jumped diagonally.

Not to evade her spear.

But to block it.

With the staff.

A sharp thrust strikes the staff. The impact was so great that it caused my mid-air body to rotate.

「…」

Instead of opposing the attack, I use its power to rotate me in the air one time. Using the momentum, I swing my sword, aiming at Furcus’ neck.

I knew that her thrust would break the sheath of the sword staff.

Furcus’ eyes widened, but she immediately responded.

She avoided it by turning her upper body.

Then, I applied Speed Down again. I carelessly canceled the spell when I pierced her heart through the armor and it stopped.

Since it had already consumed a lot of Magical Energy, it was hard to regenerate it.

I landed on her spear. For a moment, it almost hit the ground but it didn’t.

A normal person would have dropped their stance, but Furcus won’t drop her spear for something like this.

「Shrink.」

Her spear shrank to the size of a short spear.

Of course, there is no space for me to stand.

But it’s too late. I saw that coming…I was already throwing myself at her.

『Those eyes go well with Black Magic. Make the enemy slow, weak, and brittle. Avoid their attacks and hit with your own.』

I add on Defense Down on her and slash Furcus from her right shoulder to her left flank as she was returning her upper body.

Magical Energy particles danced in the air.

For the first time, on that day, I was able to strike my master down. The master that I couldn’t even hit during training.

『Adjust those eyes for one-on-one battles. If you can do that, you’ll get a little bit better.』

「…Good…」

I felt like Furcus smiled.

「…but not enough.」

「Gck-…?!?」

Her left hand tightened around my neck.

Throwing away even the spear she’s so proud of, she restrains my left arm with her right hand.

If she breaks my neck like this, I’ll be eliminated.

「You shouldn’t lose focus until the very end.」

「I know.」

「…?…!」

My right hand was shoved into her chest.

It is true that after getting hit by the spear that Orobas threw, my right hand was damaged to the point that I couldn’t hold a sword by myself and I didn’t even pretend to lift it during the fight with Furcus.

So it’s not strange for her to think that I can’t move my right hand. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But I can shove my hand into the already gaping wound, into the wound in the heart that was made bigger by the previous attack.

The spear wound penetrated her all the way to her back, but the gap wasn’t big enough to pierce her heart.

So I just crush her heart with all my might.

「It’s nothing personal. I just want to win.」

I know. Nobody wants to lose. When she lost to Fenix, she wanted a rematch, albeit as a helper.

It wasn’t for me, it was for themselves, is probably what they wanted to say.

Both of my masters are strict, kind, and dishonest with their feelings.

If they themselves say so, I won’t deny it. That’s what a disciple is.

As my neck bone starts to creak, a sound that should not be made rang out.

The strength in Furcus’ hands abruptly leaves.

「…Black Sorcerer…Lem…」

「…ye…ah?」

I couldn’t speak well.

「…Well done.」

My view clears.

As the opponent right in front of me became particles of light.

「Haa…haa…」

Such…such strength. Such vitality.

Despite a hole wound on her heart, she continued the battle. She boasts a speed that surpasses that of the expansion and contraction speed of her Magic Tool, and her skill with the spear reaches the very pinnacle of martial arts.

I was able to handle it at the very end, but just barely. Because I had the opportunity to see her spearmanship again and again. I was her disciple in the ways of the sword.

My own strength is no match for her.

But…at least for today…

Only for this match, because of the Tag Tournament…

Berith and I VS. Furcus and Orobas, we…

『…and the winner is LEM AND BERITH TEAM…!!』

…won!