The scene returns to Aria.
“You’ve come, Aria.”
[Grave] [Race: Human Male] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 245/250] 30 Up [HP: 402/410] 60 Up
[Overall Combat Strength: 2025 (Body Enhancement in progress: 2565)] 600 Up
Grave’s combat strength has increased considerably. Judging from the intimidation I feel, I believe he is Rank 5, but his combat strength surpasses Feld, who is also Rank 5, and he has gained power comparable to Dolton, who has been fighting for over a century, and my master.
“Didn’t you heal that left arm?”
In the vast stone room, I called out to Grave, who was waiting for me alone. Grave slightly raised one eyebrow and creaked his Demon Iron prosthetic hand as he lifted it, moving its fingertips as if to show it off.
“If I were to regenerate my arm with 【Cure】, it would take half a year. To make that arm usable as before, it would take another half year to a year. I don’t have such wasteful time. Neither do you, right? Aria.”
“…That’s right.”
The minimum information gathering is complete. I took a stance with my Black Knife and moved forward silently. Grave moved forward as if to make deliberate footsteps.
“Now, Aria. Show me your way of life.”
Thump!
At the same time, I and Grave, who had jumped out as if kicking off the floor, crossed in mid-air. I evaded the Mana Sword swung by Grave’s living arm with spatial maneuverability, kicking up into the air, but even so, I couldn’t dodge completely and was shallowly cut on the shoulder.
Grave used to use two swords, and both swords seemed to be quite the masterpieces, but now he only uses one. What happened to the other sword? Did he throw it away because he couldn’t handle it with his prosthetic hand as before? None of those are correct. He no longer needs a sword in his left arm.
In a world where both of us are floating in the air and only our thoughts are accelerated, Grave slowly turns his left arm towards me.
“Tch!”
At that moment, the Slashing Style Pendulum that I left behind (….) as I jumped out from my left hand attacked from the side as if drawing an arc. Grave flicked away the Pendulum’s Blade with his Demon Iron prosthetic hand, and we landed on the ground, taking distance again.
“You’re quite cautious. What happened to your specialty, poison? Show me all of your power.”
“…………”
Can I really fight head-on against an opponent with a combat strength difference of 1000?
Even so, I understood something in this short exchange. The reason for Grave’s increased combat strength is that Demon Iron prosthetic hand.
In this world, prosthetic arms and legs are not well developed. If you have a certain amount of wealth, it is common to heal with 【Cure】, and only those who do not have the wealth to spend half a year on treatment attach prosthetic arms.
But Grave’s prosthetic hand even moved its fingers. Originally, the superiority or inferiority of equipment does not affect combat strength, but judging from the Mana visible to my eyes, it is a very high-performance Magic Tool prosthetic hand that integrates with the user. Its strength and power surpass even the original arm, and there is probably some kind of gimmick like my boots.
Analyze it, expose its power. The only things that can help me compete with Grave right now are my trained speed and observation skills.
“If you’re not coming, I’ll come to you!”
Grave, who had readjusted his one-handed sword in his right hand, jumped out. Immediately, I threw the Knife that I pulled out from my thigh as if flipping my skirt, and Grave flicked it off with his left prosthetic hand without slowing down.
“――【Dark Mist】――”
“Useless!”
The Dark Mist I released was brushed away by a swing of the prosthetic hand. From the beginning, my Dark Magic was not very effective against Grave, but that prosthetic hand, like the sword before, seems to have the effect of diffusing a certain amount of Mana.
“Haaaa!”
Dogon!
Grave’s one-handed sword, swung down at the same time as I evaded, shattered the stone floor.
“What’s wrong, Aria? Don’t run away, fight me!”
Grave repeats easy-to-understand provocations.
Grave, who was originally a light warrior type, has switched his combat to a pure warrior style. The Shadow Unit is often thought of as a scout type due to its nature and the presence of people like Sera, but its original basic combat form is that of a ‘Knight’.
My fighting style is not designed to fight against knights. But even against knights, I have my own way of fighting.
“――【Shadow Snatch】――”
“Nuh!”
Grave is wary of the original Dark Magic I released. He was there when I used it on Nero before, but he shouldn’t know the effects. But Grave cut down several shadows drifting around with his one-handed sword and stepped in without hesitation.
Use the first-time trump card effectively. I can’t waste a single one. Grave’s sword and my Black Blade collided as he stepped in, and my light body was blown away into the air while sparks scattered.
At that moment, Grave swung his sword back greatly.
“――【Vorpal Blade】――”
One-handed sword level 5 Combat Art, Vorpal Blade. It is a series of attacks that unleashes five slashes in an instant, making it difficult to evade, and if I take it head-on, I will be pulverized.
But at that moment, I released the Crossbow that I took out from 【Shadow Storage】, aiming for that moment, and the arrow that had been sucked into the shadow of my skirt attacked Grave from directly below.
“Gu!”
Grave barely evaded it. But the released Combat Art does not stop. But if the timing of the Combat Art is off even for a moment, I have this.
“――【Iron Rose】――”
My hair changes to a scorched ash-iron color as if burning, and I twist my body as if evading in the midst of scattered remnants of light and thoughts accelerated to twice the speed. I kicked off the ceiling and aimed my Blade at Grave’s neck like a released arrow.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 4]
[Mana Capacity: 232/300] [HP: 221/250]
[Overall Combat Strength: 1339 (Special Body Enhancement in progress: 2520)]
[Combat Art: Iron Rose /Limit 232 Second]
“Ooooooh!”
A look of astonishment on his face, Grave’s widened eyes reflected my expressionless face, with the remnants of light fluttering like wings, as I held my Blade.
Grave cannot move immediately after using the Combat Art. But only the prosthetic hand on his left arm showed an unnatural movement, and something that opened the armor and jumped out (..) tore me apart.
“Kuh!”
I twisted my body on the spur of the moment to avoid a fatal wound, but even so, I rolled while bleeding from several places where I had been torn. Still, as I took a stance with my Knife on the spur of the moment, Grave looked at me with a distorted smile.
“Is that your true power, Aria!”
“…………”
The slashing wounds themselves are not deep. But if I keep bleeding like this, my HP will run out first.
What was that attack just now? Is it a gimmick built into that arm? Grave, seeing me glaring like a beast, did not launch a follow-up attack and reached out his hand to me.
“As I thought, you are interesting. If it’s you, you can understand my beliefs and become both a shield and a Blade to protect this country. I’ll say it again, Aria. Take my hand.”
Grave regarded me as a “mad dog” like himself. That’s why he targeted me, and if I have the conviction to survive, he thinks it’s natural to take his hand.
“I refuse.”
But my answer is decided. You are my enemy. Certainly, there may be some similarities, but I have no “empathy” for you.
Hearing my words filled with such thoughts, Grave narrowed his eyes for a moment and pointed the sword in his hand at me.
“If that is your will, then prove it, Aria. If you can stop me with your beliefs, then stop me.”
“…Needless to say.”
I take a deep breath and absorb the light Mana, dye the Mana enhanced by Iron Rose with the Magic Stone in my heart, and stop the flowing blood.
“I’ll have you show me. Your true power. I saw that your technique has a time limit. Can you evade my ‘threads’ with that?”
Threads…? The moment I thought that, the armor of the prosthetic hand opened again and something invisible (..) was released.
“Tch!”
I jumped away with just a bad premonition, but even so, something I couldn’t dodge tore my shoulder and arm. But that blood showed me its true form for a moment.
“…Blade threads?”
“That’s right. I investigated the weapons you use and acquired the 【Thread Manipulation】 Skill as well. This is called Steel Blade Thread, and it cannot be handled with bare hands, but this prosthetic hand allows me to use it.”
“…………”
Steel Blade Thread… I heard from my master that it is a weapon used by a family of Evil Race Assassins. It seems that it cannot be handled without special skills, but Grave, who obtained it from the Evil Race, made it possible to use it by incorporating it into his prosthetic hand. This is a weapon specialized for assassination, and it is not much of a threat if you wear armor, but I understand that this is Grave’s trump card against me, who does not wear armor.
How to see through it? As I was thinking about how to capture it in my head while glaring at each other, I suddenly heard a noise from afar, and Grave frowned.
“Is there an interruption?”
“Grave!!”
At that moment, four members of the Evil Race with scorched clothes burst out from the back door. The man leading them, who had lost an arm, was holding Grave’s other sword, which led me to believe they were Grave’s comrades.
“…What’s wrong, Gostola? What’s with that state?”
“Guh… We were attacked… Lend us a hand!”
“Hoh… For someone of your caliber to be so badly hurt.”
Grave muttered, seemingly uninterested, and glanced at me for a moment.
Carla must have done it. It’s unlike Carla to hold back, yet also like her. Grave understood the identity of the attackers from the fleeting expression on my face, and he suddenly adopted a friendly attitude towards the Vampire members of the Evil Race.
“Then that’s convenient. This girl here is the biggest obstacle to your plans that I mentioned before. If there are skilled individuals like those who attacked you in this land, things will be much easier.”
“That is…”
This Evil Race member has a combat power of around 2000, huh? The Evil Race member called Gostola widened his eyes as if he saw my combat power, and nodded as if he had made up his mind.
“…Can we leave the task of stopping that girl to you?”
“Of course. I promise to keep those who attacked you here as well.”
“…I’m counting on you.”
I had a bad feeling. The Evil Race’s plan? And I’m the obstacle? Feeling that premonition, I started to move to stop the Evil Race, but Grave unleashed his Steel Blade Thread again.
“Tch!”
“Your opponent is me.”
Seeing me being held back by Grave, Gostola, who had been looking at me with resentment, spoke as he left.
“Grave, with this, our desires will be fulfilled. As promised, we will definitely take the Princess to our country.”
“What…”
Princess? Hearing that Elena was going to be taken to the Evil Race’s country, I turned to Grave, but he started talking as if he had no interest in it.
“It’s a long-term plan for those who live for hundreds of years. Eliminate the capable Princess and put the incompetent Crown Prince on the throne. In a few decades, the national power of this Claydale country, which is a nuisance to the Evil Race, will decline, but it doesn’t matter. At that time, they can kill the king and make a capable person the king.”
Certainly, given the current situation of the Crown Prince, that is highly likely to happen. Grave believes that even if the country is ruined by that, it won’t be as chaotic as if Elena were to compete for the throne.
“Grave… What do you intend to do with Elena?”
“I’ll keep her alive. Her blood might be needed when replacing the king. Now, what will you do, Aria? If you’re not by the Princess’s side, there’s no one in the lax academy who can stop the Evil Race, you know?”
“…………”
Probably, the probability of success is low. That’s why the Evil Race thought so too, and increased their followers and prepared usable pieces. But the Evil Race members, who had suffered so much damage that they had to flee from Carla, were cornered and resorted to the drastic measure of attacking the Princess.
“Come on, show me your true power. If you want to protect the Princess, you have no choice but to kill me and chase after them.”
There are guards in the academy, and there are also the Royal Knights who guard the royal family. It should be difficult for the Evil Race, who look different, to even reach the academy. But even if they were to break into the academy by some chance, ordinary warriors wouldn’t be able to stop them.
Even if I were to chase after them, I would need to defeat Grave, who is holding me back, as quickly as possible, and I haven’t even been able to fully grasp the Steel Blade Thread that is holding me back.
…You told me to show you my true power, Grave. I’ve been prepared for this for a long time. Until now, I was fighting to settle things with you, but if that’s what you intend, I’ll stop “fighting” you.
“Grave. I’ll show you the ‘true power’ just to ‘kill’ you.”
Next time, true power for killing.
Fighting only occurs because there is an opponent, and if you are just killing, you don’t have to think about the opponent.
In that process, Aria acquires a new power.
The Evil Race’s plan takes a long time, doesn’t it? Probably on the scale of fifty years.