Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The operating sounds of countless Companions rang out like a chord. Atop the Defender’s shell, three-legged Companions were embedded densely across its surface.
What is that?
ㄴTruth Scholar: The Companions, Connectors, and Defender are tangled together.
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: Since they can’t kill it, are they trying to coexist with it instead?
Looking closely at it from beyond detection range, I saw that the Connectors were gripping tightly between the Companions and the Defender.
I didn’t know why it looked like that. The problem was…
‘How am I supposed to break through that?’
To enter the central building, we had no choice but to take down that fused thing.
And there wasn’t just one of them. Three were wandering around near the central building.
As I frowned at the sight, Eosollujeun whispered softly.
“If Ju-i gets rid of the Companions on the outside first, it should be a little easier to take down.”
“You mean we should have her wipe out some of the Companions with her breath before we go in?”
“That’s right.”
Ju-i’s breath. Last time, she’d erased the Companions in an instant. So she should be able to clear away at least some of the ones on the surface.
As I was thinking that, Ju-i stared blankly at me from beside me. Her eyes seemed to ask if I was really going to send her in.
It pricked my conscience quite a bit, but… there was no helping it. What could I do when Ju-i was stronger than me?
“Piiiii…”
“I’ll give you covering fire, so please just fight a little…”
Perhaps because she had already unleashed her breath once before, Ju-i stepped forward listlessly. I also took out the rifle I had been carrying on my back.
The target was, of course, the fused entity before us. Mana began to flow out.
“Huuup—!”
Wooooong!!
Green mana burst forth, and the muzzle of the mana rifle began to melt. The crown on Ju-i’s head radiated a brilliant light.
When that light poured out brightly enough to hurt the eyes, a green beam and a white beam shot forth.
Kwaaaaang!!
The explosion struck with an impact so immense that my body trembled. Through the hazy smoke, I could see the Defender staggering.
But…
“…Ha, we didn’t even get rid of half.”
“The Defender twisted its body right before impact. I don’t know if it was trying to protect the Companions, but it took the hit on a part where there weren’t any.”
As the rising smoke cleared, the fused entity was revealed. Some of the Companions attached to its shell had disappeared, but only a portion.
I threw away the rifle, whose muzzle had completely melted, and gripped my sword. Mana immediately filled the blade, and green light shimmered out from the scabbard.
Beep. Beep. Clack.
The Defender’s gaze fixed on us, and the operating sounds of the Companions grew even fiercer.
Focusing on its movements, I spoke.
“For now, if we can’t take it down, we run immediately.”
“Understood.”
“And Knight… I guess that’s what I should call you. You’re coming with me as a shield.”
—Executing command.—
The white knight, Knight, walked with me toward the fused entity. There was no need to run. The Defender was rapidly approaching us from that direction.
With my hand resting on my sword, I focused. Strength naturally gathered in my grip.
‘I’ll cut just one.’
A burning sensation flickered in my hand. At that moment, a flashing draw followed.
Sword Qi: Flash Severance 劍氣·閃光兩斷.
Slash!!
The green sword qi carved an indelible wound into the Defender’s leg. Severed.
But… I hadn’t managed to cut off the massive pincer I’d originally aimed for. It moved much more swiftly than an ordinary Defender.
“…Hoo.”
As I endured the searing pain rising from my hand, the fused entity had already closed into close range. Soon, it would reach the distance where the Companions could detect us.
If we stayed still like this, an explosion would erupt, but that didn’t particularly matter.
After all, I had a machine as reliable as Eosollujeun with me.
—Executing command. Defensive mode.—
At the same time blue light leaked from the eyeholes of its helmet, liquid metal shifted and drew out a massive shield.
A huge shield blocked the way forward. The fused entity’s pincer crashed into it.
Dooooong!!!
Like a giant bell being struck, a heavy vibration rang out along with the heat of the explosion.
Knight swayed, as if the impact had not been light. Similarly, the fused entity’s movement also stopped. A clear opening.
Tap!
Dust scattered as I rushed in sharply. My target was the leg I had cut earlier.
Before the Companions attached to the shell could perceive me, I arrived with the acceleration device and immediately drew my sword.
A movement I had repeated thousands of times.
Heizen Style, First Form.
Flash Severance 閃光兩斷.
Slice.
A short cutting sound. Along with it, masses of white flesh poured down. The Companions’ operating sounds rang out sharply.
In moments, a tremendous explosion would engulf this area. So I accelerated to get as far away as possible and sheathed my sword in a reverse grip.
Chain Slash 連鎖斬.
Kwaaaang!!
The simultaneous explosion of the Companions met the mass of mana bursting from my sheathing motion.
The impact was offset at the point where they collided, and even pushed back.
“Kuhup…!”
Shit, I guess completely canceling it out was impossible after all. The Companions’ explosion pushed through my mana, and part of it reached me.
In return, the fused entity’s body completely collapsed. Now it was nothing more or less than a well-roasted crab.
I frowned for a moment at the pain battering my whole body.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Clack.
The gazes of the two fused entities that had been keeping some distance fixed on me.
Facing two fused entities in my current state was obviously impossible. Then what should I do?
‘Run, obviously.’
My keen instinct’s judgment was always right, and I immediately fled toward the area where Eosollujeun and Ju-i were.
Knight stood there blankly, then, when I shouted, immediately began walking toward the Sphere.
“Pii!!”
“…At this rate, they’ll catch us.”
We were all running, but the fused entities were faster than us. They would catch up in ten seconds.
Just as I wondered if we’d have to fight again—
“I’ll do it. I prepared for situations like this.”
“…Eosollujeun?”
Eosollujeun, who had been running, declared calmly. She immediately drew up the mana within her.
Her red eyes deepened, and magic manifested into reality.
“Shatter, void.”
The moment a short incantation flowed from her lips—
Crack.
A fissure appeared in midair. It was like a pane of glass forming between the fused entities and us.
At a glance, it seemed like magic that did no damage at all.
Clack. Clack. Beep.
Bang! Bang!
The fused entities couldn’t break through the fissure and merely struck it, trying to pass through.
Even though it clearly consumed less mana than my magic, she had produced something better than mine.
“…You had an ability like this?”
“There simply weren’t any situations where I could use it. It’s a spell meant for running away, or for when your opponent is beastlike.”
I saw Eosollujeun in a new light. To think she had this level of magical skill.
Well, apart from that, we still had to run.
We quickly moved our feet and headed straight for the area where the Sphere was.
Before entering the Sphere, while we were taking a brief rest, the Draw-Sword Saint gave an unexpected compliment.
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: It doesn’t feel like much time has passed, but your swordsmanship has improved further.
“Has it? I feel like I’m always the same…”
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: No, your skill has definitely improved.
It was true that recently, my mana had increased, and I felt like I could handle my sword as naturally as my own hand.
‘Of course, because of the mana, there’s also the downside that the rifle melts faster…’
What I used to be able to fire three times, I could now only shoot twice. Damn it, what a waste of materials.
In any case, it was an objective fact that I had become stronger.
Perhaps that was why, while we were riding the Sphere back to the original city—
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: I’m going to be busy from now on, so it would be best to teach you in advance.
“What is it?”
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: The Third Form, of course.
“…Oh!”
The Third Form he hadn’t taught me for more than a month. I had been curious too, so I’d asked about it midway through…
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: I’ll teach you when I judge that you can learn it.
‘And all I got back was that I was being too clever by half.’
So I had set aside the thought of moving on to the Third Form for a while, but to think the opportunity would come like this.
Along with anticipation, I felt a faint tension.
……Honestly, it had taken me a long time to memorize Chain Slash. What kind of technique has more than thirty applications?
As I was thinking such idle thoughts, we arrived back at the original city.
After getting off the Sphere and finishing a brief cleanup, the time finally came to learn the Third Form.
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: This Third Form is one of the sword techniques that follows together with Chain Slash.
“…It doesn’t end with Flash Severance?”
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: Have you ever seen a sword art that ends at the Second Form? If so, it would hardly be worth calling swordsmanship.
Since he was right, I said nothing and waited for the Draw-Sword Saint’s chat.
Perhaps he was organizing his words, because there was no chat for a moment. Then a message appeared all at once.
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: The Third Form is close to a kind of mana sleight of hand. It is a sword technique that achieves acceleration and deceleration by exploding only a portion of the mana wrapped around the blade.
“……Only a portion?”
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: Yes, only a portion. That is why I have delayed it until now.
Even now, I found it difficult to control a large amount of mana, so I used a method of wrapping it around my entire body. And now he wanted me to make only part of it explode?
Before I even learned it, worry came first.
Fortunately—or perhaps I should say fortunately—the Draw-Sword Saint gifted me a second book.
[Reference Text for the Third Form.]
…It was still an extremely straightforward book.
In any case, I took out the book and read through it carefully first. Once the general concept settled in my head, I immediately tried it.
The result was…
Puuuung!!
“Uwaak!!”
…a disastrous failure.