Episode 89: The Realm of Martial Arts
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When the light subsided, Leoriel had undergone a significant transformation.
His skin had darkened, and his eyes were bloodshot.
The left half of his face, which had been severely damaged, now had a hard, horn-like protrusion, giving him a demonic appearance.
He could no longer be called human.
“Power is overflowing…”
Leoriel casually swung his right arm.
The overflowing Magical Power became a wave, shattering the rubble.
Looking around, the church ruins, once a cultural heritage site, were no more.
Before anyone knew it, it had turned into a mere mountain of rubble.
Battles between Stella-Class individuals were often like this.
“…Wonderful. This is the power of ‘Demonization’ that The Guide has bestowed upon us, the Star Generals. With this power, we can easily destroy the western countries, the nests of you nobles, and rule this continent. And the incident that occurs in this land will be the prelude to the collapse of the nobility.”
Leoriel no longer seemed consumed by the rage he had shown earlier.
This ominous Magical Power was similar to when Aquila went berserk or when the assassin at Bangwall lost control, but it was much heavier and more stable.
“Demonization? Is The Guide conducting human experiments or something?”
“Do not insult The Guide. Now, I possess power equivalent to a Demonbane Warrior. Even you can no longer defeat me… And this is the power to destroy the nobility!”
Leoriel pointed his right arm at Luna.
“Die, Princess Luna—Diable Roar!”
A black tornado-like wave of Magical Power was released horizontally from his right hand.
It was the first time I had seen this magic, but it was quite vicious.
The magic tore into the ground, mincing it like a mixer as it approached Luna.
(I’ll need a strong Shield for this.)
I instantly moved in front of Luna.
“Did you think I’d let you? —Magical Barrier.”
A thick Magical Barrier appeared before me.
The good thing about this magic was that it could summon a barrier as strong as the Magical Power put into it.
Leoriel’s magic collided with the Magical Barrier.
A roar and a blast.
“Kyaaa!”
Luna screamed, buffeted by the blast.
“It’s useless. Diable Roar temporarily draws out the ‘erosion’ effect of Demon Beasts. Magical Barriers are meaningless before this magic… Huh?”
Leoriel wore a puzzled expression, as if he had noticed something strange.
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but my Magical Barrier was completely unaffected.
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“…Why? Why can’t I break through?”
Leoriel was agitated.
Even a Demonbane Warrior’s Magical Barrier should be helpless before ‘erosion.’
If he had to guess…
“!”
Suddenly, he felt a chill.
Leoriel retreated instinctively.
—Intense pain.
Leoriel’s right arm was severed and fell to the ground.
A Thread Star Tool? Corvus, you left an unnecessary souvenir.
“Guh… You…”
“I was aiming for your head, but you dodged it?”
The noble in the form of a young boy before him said nonchalantly.
His eyes held the cunning to strike for the kill at any opportunity.
“You coward.”
“Says you—weren’t you so proud of your own body and martial arts?”
Leoriel held the alias of ‘Swordsman.’
The fact that Leoriel was using magic was proof that he had become intoxicated with his own power.
Because Leoriel was the type to take pride in his words, he was struck where it hurt, and his face twisted greatly.
“Shut up!”
Leoriel, enraged, cast Healing Magic on his right arm.
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The surprise attack with the Thread Star Tool had failed.
This wouldn’t be a decisive blow.
Even so…
(Drawing out the power of Demon Beasts… huh?)
I recalled the ‘Calamitous Hand of the Karma Demon’ that Evelyn had mentioned.
It was the same or a similar type of thing.
(Now, what should I do?)
I didn’t want to use magic in this chaotic situation.
Should I take him down with my bare hands?
“Nebula Arts.”
I drew out Magical Power from the back door.
Nebula Arts flickered on my arm.
“Demonbane Ray, is it… Very well, I’ll show you the pinnacle of martial arts as well.”
Leoriel’s trump cards were a buff from Fighting Spirit and Demonization.
The blow from the swung longsword Star Tool looked heavy.
However, I could clash with it using Nebula Arts.
“‘Hardening.'”
I gave Nebula Arts an instruction.
“Die!”
“Hah.”
A shockwave spread from the clash of each other’s trump cards.
I had the advantage in the exchange.
However, I could tell that Leoriel himself had reached a considerable level of skill.
He probably had more talent in close combat than Barbat.
As long as he had the potential to inflict a fatal wound on me, I couldn’t let my guard down.
“Damn it! Why can you clash with a Star Tool with your bare hands?!”
“I trained.”
Seeing an opening, I unleashed a chop.
Just swinging my arm down with all my strength from above.
“Guoooooh!”
Leoriel received my chop with his Star Tool and sank into the ground.
My chop was deflected by Leoriel’s desperate cover, and this time I sank into the ground.
(Crap.)
Looking sideways at Leoriel, I saw that he was trying to behead me with a horizontal sweep, seeing an opening.
I arched my back to evade.
I could clearly see the sword’s trajectory cutting across the tip of my nose.
However, since I had lost my balance, I kicked Leoriel and temporarily retreated behind him.
Even as I rotated in the air, I didn’t avert my gaze.
An attack came, but I parried it in mid-air.
And then I landed gracefully.
“…Why does a noble like you possess such skill?”
Leoriel must have wondered why he couldn’t take me down in that opening just now.
However, I wouldn’t make a mistake that would allow me to be easily picked off.
I hadn’t trained in a weak way, and I always had multiple cards prepared.
“…I was once taught to abandon my heart. To obey all orders without complaint, and not to take paid leave because it would dull my body.”
“…Paid leave?”
“But that was fundamentally impossible. I also have a heart, and my body has its limits.”
“…Then how did you reach that realm?”
A question from a troubled martial artist.
Since it’s the end, should I answer him seriously?
“Patience, perseverance, and… obsession.”
“…Obsession?”
“That’s right. There’s something I absolutely have to achieve. I decided that I would do anything for that.”
“…What on earth drives you so much?”
Leoriel swallowed hard.
“It’s decided—to spend my life with a lovely princess and live happily ever after.”
“…”
I appealed to Luna behind me.
Luna was gaping with her mouth open.
“…D-Don’t be ridiculous! You’re saying you reached the pinnacle of martial arts with such a trivial ideology! I won’t accept it, I won’t accept it!”
Leoriel was enraged and approached me.
I guess he was from a different sect after all.
Nobles would understand this feeling, but Heroes have a different sense.
“…Hmph, shall we end this?”
I focused my mind.
From the previous exchange, I had been continuously striking one point on the Star Tool.
—Constant dripping wears away the stone.
Finally, my fist shattered Leoriel’s Star Tool.
“What…!”
“It’s my win.”
I struck Leoriel’s Tanden, which was now open, with a palm strike.
“‘Burn.'”
Nebula Arts gushed out from my hand with great force, enveloping Leoriel.
Leoriel’s body began to disappear.
I had won the martial arts showdown without any danger.
“So, I lost… I’ll warn you. Sharka de Ortenos. The age of the nobility will end within a few years. Everything is decided…”
“…”
“There’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll know your own powerlessness and despair… that’s what will happen…”
Leoriel left those last words and vanished.
It was like a weasel’s last fart.
There’s no point in worrying about it.
Leoriel’s Magical Power disappeared into the sky.
“Lord Sharka…! Are you injured?!”
Luna, who had rushed over, anxiously touched my body.
“Yeah.”
“I’m glad…”
“Shouldn’t we check on Nicholas’s condition instead?”
“Y-Yes!”
In conclusion, Nicholas was still alive.
However, he was still being invaded by the Demon Beast Poison.
“Brother… is there no way to save him…?”
Luna said in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.
“No, there’s someone who can do something about this situation.”
“R-Really?!”
“Just in case, I brought her along. I’ll have Nicoletta call her.”
Our course of action was decided.
Next was Roa and the others.
The sounds of battle could no longer be heard from the surroundings.
Everyone is skilled and I think they’re safe, but…
“Brother, this is terrible!”
Suddenly, a beautiful girl’s voice was heard from behind.
Turning around, I saw Roa with a desperate expression.
And on his back—my injured father was being carried.
“…What happened?”
“Well…”
Roa began to speak with a serious expression.
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Let’s rewind time a bit.
A Stella-Class man clad in black appeared before Roa and Radnock, and a sudden battle began.
Roa was dominant throughout the fight.
However, against an opponent wielding a Star Tool, he lacked a decisive blow, and the battle was at a standstill.
The man in black unleashed a barrage of attacks with his spear Star Tool towards Roa.
Roa dodged them with graceful steps.
“…”
“Rough, isn’t it? Compared to Brother and Mr. Ukrane, it’s nothing.”
“…Hiss!”
The man in black swung his spear in a wide horizontal arc.
Roa evaded it with minimal movement.
In a perfect stance, he brought three fingers of both hands together and pointed them at the man in black.
“Stun Bolt.”
“Guuh…!”
A thin pillar of lightning burst from the tips of Roa’s fingers, piercing the man’s body.
The man in black had been eerie from the start, never uttering a word.
His eyes were somehow vacant.
“Now, Father!”
“Well done, Roa.”
Roa’s Stun Bolt had the effect of paralyzing even a Stella-Class for a moment.
It was only a brief instant, less than a second, but it was enough for Radnock.
Enveloping himself in a red aura with body enhancement, he thrust his hand like a spear towards the man’s heart.
“Guh…”
House Ortenos excelled at techniques to destroy Stella-Class bodies.
It was easy for Radnock to strike down a Stella-Class whose movements had been dulled.
“…My role…is to stall…Marquis Ortenos.”
The man coughed up blood and was left waiting for death, but something was off.
The area around the man’s Tanden emitted a remarkable light.
“Damn it, Roa, run!”
“All for the sake of the Hero Alliance…with this death…disaster upon the nobles!”
The man emitted an intense light and caused a Magical Power explosion.
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“The enemy self-destructed?”
“Yes, the enemy possessed multiple hidden weapons coated with Demon Beast Poison. Father shielded me and got hit by it… Uuu…”
Roa burst into tears while reporting.
It seemed he was experiencing his own inadequacy.
“No, Roa, you did well considering it was your first real battle.”
“But, but Father!”
“Father is fine. He can be saved.”
“Huh?”
Stella-Class who are exposed to Demon Beast Poison die.
Roa probably thought so too.
“Lord Sharka.”
“You’ve arrived, Nicoletta.”
“Yes, I’ve brought Neoneph.”
Nicoletta brought a bald man wearing a tengu mask.
The tengu mask was proof of the secret organization I had newly created.
“Lord Sharka, I have come at your summons.”
“Good to see you, Neoneph. Straight to work. Can you make a serum for Father and Nicholas?”
“As you wish.”
Neoneph made a cut on his own wrist and let the blood flow.
Then, he poured Magical Power into his wrist, and the blood glowed emerald green.
He dripped it into Father’s mouth, making him swallow it.
Then, the pained expression on Father’s face disappeared as if it were a lie, replaced by a calm one.
“I-Incredible, he’s really completely healed.”
Roa’s eyes widened in surprise.
Next, he poured the serum into Nicholas in the same way, averting the crisis.
“Brother Nicholas! I’m so glad… I’m really glad.”
Luna was sincerely happy about her brother’s recovery.
I was truly glad that I didn’t have to make her sad.
“Brother, just who is Neoneph?”
“Don’t pry into Neoneph’s identity. Keep his existence off the record as much as possible.”
“…Understood.”
“…Yes.”
Roa and Luna nodded with solemn faces.
Neoneph was the first man to ever survive Demon Beast Poison.
His former name was Nephthys.
He was Naia’s former operations staff officer.
On the day Nephthys was attacked, I used Bio-Lightning Magic on Nephthys.
Bio-Lightning Magic is a magic that evolves living beings.
It wasn’t something that could be used easily, but I had no other choice.
The result was a success. Nephthys acquired antibodies against Demon Beast Poison and survived.
His appearance wasn’t that different from before, but Nephthys had evolved into a human who transcended Satella-Class—’Neonephthys’.
–However, there was a price.
Nephthys had lost all of his memories up until now.
It was unclear whether this was due to the effects of Bio-Lightning Magic.
However, if that were the case, it goes without saying that we would be even more hesitant to use it on humans in the future.
“Alright, next is Grandfather. Roa, do you know the situation?”
Roa made an awkward face at my question.
“About Grandfather…”
Roa took out a cube-like ornament.
I believe it was something the attackers handed over to Hoshiros’s group.
–Why does Roa have that?