kscans

Chapter 27 - Magic Sword vs. Sword, Magic vs. Magic

It was Ichigo-kun who saved Adolnel from mortal danger.

"What’s this Ghoul? Think you’re a real swordsman just ‘cause you’re holding a blade?"

Despite his taunts, the man’s gaze was fixed on Ichigo-kun’s sword. It was obvious he was on high alert.

"But! Don’t you forget I’ve got a hostage!"

The man once again tried to stab Adolnel.

"—!"

But a flash from Ichigo-kun’s sword deflected the man’s blade, sending it off course and away from Adolnel. However, a large chip was taken out of Ichigo-kun’s own sword.

"Tch! You’re annoying! But my sword is a magic sword! A piece of junk like that is no match for it!"

A magic sword! Like the one Ichigo-kun used to have!

"Hah! I’ll cut you both in half!"

The man lunged at Adolnel with tremendous speed, but Ichigo-kun blocked him again. Another piece of the sword chipped away. But the man didn’t stop, relentlessly targeting Adolnel again and again.

"Not bad. But how long can that sword hold out?"

The man obsessively aimed for Adolnel, and Ichigo-kun continued to fend him off.

"Th-This thing?!"

"I-I can’t believe it! He’s parrying Golova’s sword?! And with just a regular sword against a magic sword’s onslaught?!"

"Th-This guy… at this speed, he’s deflecting the trajectory of my blade?! With minimal force?!"

"What in the world is that Ghoul?!"

Calmwell and his men cried out in shock at Ichigo-kun’s swordsmanship. To be honest, I was shocked too. Ichigo-kun was effortlessly handling the attacks of a knight from the kingdom’s secret weapon unit. Seriously, who is this guy? The adventurer I met before mentioned a sword…

Flick.

Amidst the battle, I thought I saw Ichigo-kun glance at me.

Flick, flick.

Nope, not my imagination.

Nod, nod.

He was signaling me. Ah, I get it. This is my chance.

But I couldn’t move just yet. I had to keep Calmwell’s group in check. Still, I had to hurry, or Ichigo-kun’s sword wouldn’t last.

So, I sent a silent command to the other Undead. Ever since I became able to sense their will, I could give them orders without speaking. The Undead received my command and quietly approached the man called Golova from behind.

"Golova, behind you!"

"—!"

Golova immediately cut down the Undead, but in that instant, Ichigo-kun lunged.

"You—!"

Golova managed to block Ichigo-kun’s sword at the last second, but the opening allowed the other Undead to snatch Adolnel back.

"Damn it!"

But the cost was high. In that final exchange, Ichigo-kun’s sword finally shattered with a crack, and his movements slowed visibly.

"Sister!"

"Adolnel!"

I hugged Adolnel as she ran to me, checking to see if she was hurt.

"Thank goodness. You’re not injured. Thank you, Ichigo-kun!"

"Thank you very much."

Ichigo-kun, receiving our thanks, waved his hand as if to say it was nothing, and then turned to face Golova again with his half-broken sword. Sorry, but I’ll have to leave that guy to him. I sent a command for the other Undead to provide support, just in case.

My problem was Calmwell and his men. I had no idea how strong they were. But since they were the kingdom’s secret weapon, they had to be incredibly powerful. Yep, I’d still stick to the plan of escaping at the first opportunity.

I’ll throw the remaining Undead at them and use the opening to run.

"Let’s go, Adolnel!"

"Huh? Ah, yes!"

I sent the Undead swarming towards Calmwell’s group and, at the same time, grabbed Adolnel and headed for one of the many tunnels.

"You won’t escape!"

A voice from behind sent a chill down my spine. I grabbed Adolnel and leaped sideways. An instant later, a wind unlike anything that should exist underground swept past, and the Undead were torn to shreds as they flew past where we had been and slammed into the wall.

"Magic?! And powerful wind magic at that!"

The Undead slammed against the wall looked like they had been put through a meat grinder.

"Continue the attack!"

Spells flew towards us one after another. Whoa whoa whoa, this is bad, bad, bad!

"Kyaaaaa!"

And I have Adolnel with me. I have to protect her!

"—! The girl! That Vampire is protecting the girl! Aim for the girl! Prioritize casting speed over power!"

"What—?!"

Are these guys serious?! Adolnel is just a normal human! I dodged wildly, making sure none of the attacks could hit Adolnel.

Thump!

"What—?!"

Suddenly, my legs felt heavy. I looked down to see a black haze clinging to them.

"What is this?!"

"It’s a debuff spell to slow you down, Sister!"

"They have spells like that too?!"

I thought magic was just for attacking and healing. Damn, this is troublesome. I need to dodge with plenty of room to spare to make sure nothing happens to Adolnel. A single hit could be the end for her!

"Ugh!"

I pulled Adolnel into my arms, shielding her with my body.

"Sister, what are you—?!"

"It’s alright. The spells are weak, so it’s nothing serious."

True to their word, the speed-focused attacks didn’t do much damage. It was a gamble, but trusting Calmwell’s words paid off. Thank goodness for a Vampire’s toughness. I’ll use this durability to get us out of here fast.

But it wasn’t that simple. A wave of intense heat washed over me from behind. I turned to see a blazing orange arrow, shining like a miniature sun, materializing in the air.

"What is that?"

I could feel tremendous heat and magic power radiating from it.

"That is an arrow of flame, infused with the maximum amount of magic power and further amplified by a magic staff. If an Undead, weak to the sun, were struck by this, even a Vampire would not escape unscathed!"

Damn it, the weak attacks were a bluff! A camouflage to prepare for this one big shot.

"Melting Arrow!"

The arrow was fired. I held Adolnel and leaped into a corridor with all my might.

"It’s useless! That arrow is a homing spell that will follow you to the ends of the earth! Did you really think we would fire a simple magic arrow?!"

It’s no good. No matter how much I leap around the corridor, it corrects its course and comes right for me, just as the Magician said.

"Then—!"

"Sister?!"

I gently rolled Adolnel to the side of the passage and then leaped to the opposite wall. The flaming arrow changed its trajectory towards me.

"Yes!"

It came after me, just as I thought!

"Then I’ll use magic too!"

I held my hand up before the approaching magic and fired an arrow of ice. A Vampire is living magic; I don’t need chants to cast spells! I just have to will it to happen! So—!

"Ice Arrow, now!"

I created an ice arrow to counter the flame and shot it right at the fiery projectile. I’ll cancel out fire with ice! The trajectory is perfect!

Swoosh.

"Huh?"

Incredibly, just before my ice arrow could hit, the flame arrow gracefully dodged it.

"Wait, what—?!"

I forgot, their arrow can move on its own. This is bad, this is really bad! A dodging arrow is cheating.

"In that case!"

This time, I imagined my signature blizzard within the corridor. But the blizzard’s power seemed to diffuse, melting away before it could even get close to the flame arrow.

"More concentrated!"

Leaping backwards, I condensed the blizzard, making it smaller and smaller, focusing it only around the flame arrow. The melted blizzard touched the arrow and instantly evaporated. But I kept creating the miniature blizzard. I maintained the magic power—no, I poured in even more. Soon, the flame arrow couldn’t evaporate the melted water fast enough and became enveloped in hot water. The arrow, continuously bathed in an ultra-focused blizzard, had its temperature forced down by the endless supply of chilled water until it could no longer vaporize it, and finally, it fizzled out.

"Haaa, it worked."

That was close. I somehow managed to pull it off.

"Alright, let’s get Adolnel and get out of here."

After using a spell like that, they must be out of mana. Or so I thought, until my gaze fell upon several new orange lights flaring to life.

"Huh?"

My Vampire vision saw the scene clearly. There stood Calmwell and his men, holding staffs that glowed with a pale blue light. Before them hovered not one, but many orange flame arrows. And at their feet lay several small vials.

"Are those… mana recovery potions?!"

The kind you see in games! That’s cheating!

"To withstand that was impressive, I’ll admit. But can you withstand this many?"

And with that, the condensed brilliance of multiple suns was unleashed upon me.