Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 10 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

RESONANCE

Heavy rain beat down the cold back alley. A boy in rags sat on the ground, shoveling crumbs of muddy bread into his mouth in feeble mechanical motions. His eyes were absent of light, which was why it took Riselia a moment to realize she knew him.

Leo?

Driven by an urge to wrap her arms around him, Riselia sprinted for him, only to realize her legs wouldn’t move. In fact, she didn’t have a body at all. She was an inactive part of the scenery.

Is this a dream?

It felt much too real, and her consciousness was perfectly lucid and awake.

A young man in knight’s clothing strode into the alley and stopped before the boy. The golden-haired young man knelt before the boy and took his hand.

A sense of vertigo overcame Riselia, and the scene went dark. The next thing she saw was a devastated wasteland. Dark clouds brewed overhead. The boy she’d seen a moment ago was now covered in blood, desperately swinging his sword as he fought monsters that vaguely resembled Voids.

Again, the world was plunged into shadow. When it returned, Riselia saw the boy riding a white horse down a city street. People were gathered on the sides of the road, cheering for the boy. However, he didn’t look happy about the adulation.

I get the feeling Leo looked happier when he was with us…

And then…

Huh?

…it was raining again. The boy had collapsed into rust-colored mud. Several stab wounds decorated his body.

Leo!

Riselia screamed, but her voice produced no sound. She couldn’t even hurry over and embrace him.

Leo… Why, Leo…?!

She knew this wasn’t real, but even so, why did he have to be put through this?

As the boy lay on the ground, bleeding to death, a girl appeared before him. She had sleek black hair and a beauty that struck Riselia as transcendent—superhuman. She offered a hand and spoke.

“Tell me, boy. Do you think this world is just?”

Everything went black once more. The next scene to take shape was of an army of undead. Skeletal warriors filled the grasslands, charging for human forces. The one leading the undead was a wicked monstrosity wielding a staff. The fires of war spread from those plains across the entire continent, threatening to consume all.

Amid the sounds of battle, Riselia’s consciousness sputtered like a candle and was extinguished.

The heavy, rhythmic sounds of footsteps beating against the ground filled the air. Machina Soldiers marched through the streets of Ur-Shukar.

“Pathetic. The Deus Machina’s troops impeded us for so long, yet look at them now,” Nefakess remarked with an air of pity as he marched alongside the Machina Soldiers.

Seraphim flew above him, her wings spread as she hummed a beautiful tune.

More and more Machina Soldiers appeared from teleportation circles to engage the intruders, but they were confronted by their own. Eventually, all that survived the battle came under Seraphim’s thrall.

Machina Soldiers lacked souls. The Voids couldn’t corrupt them. That made them the ideal troops to guard these ruins. However, at their cores, they were magical apparatuses that relied on mana for power. Ironically, humanity had created Artificial Elementals, which were capable of controlling magical apparatuses.

And so a shard of the goddess’s soul had been fused with the product of humankind’s advanced magical technology. This was the fruit of one man’s obsession—Deinfraude Phillet. Seraphim was the outcome, an Artificial Elemental that could take control of the Machina Soldiers from the Deus Machina.

The Machina Soldiers meant to guard the ruins now marched forward like a surging wave, destroying the buildings in their path. Their target was Ur-Rognasia Palace, located atop the hill. The apostles desperately sought the prize that waited far below the structure.

I wonder, could Gazoth Hell Beast, the Lord of Beasts, be sealed there?

Even a high-ranking apostle like Nefakess didn’t know who slumbered here. For all their power, the apostles lacked a complete interpretation of the goddess’s prophecies.

“Lord Nefakess.” The blue-haired girl suddenly stopped in her tracks, as though she’d noticed something.

Nefakess looked over his shoulder at her. “What is it, Setsura?”

“I sense the living.”

“Hmm. It must be whoever the Machina Soldiers did battle with.” Nefakess considered this, although only briefly. “I’d be ill at ease if we ignored that threat. Go dispose of them.”

“As you wish.” A surge of wind surrounded Setsura, and she vanished.

A sneer worked its way onto Nefakess’s face. “We can’t permit anyone to interrupt us now. No matter what.”

“…?!” Riselia’s eyes shot open.

The terrible vision of war was gone. She was back in the chamber with the giant crystal.

“What was…that?” Riselia breathed heavily and raised a hand to her throbbing head.

Why did I see Leo?

And who was that beautiful girl? Was that dream merely a delirious hallucination? The crystal’s glow had faded. Riselia only saw her reflection in the smooth darkness.

The light orb hovering overhead announced, “Dark Lord awakening failed. Cause unknown. Restarting resonance with qualified individual—”

“Dark Lord? Awakening? What are you talking about?” Riselia narrowed her eyes at the odd sphere.

Ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple…

Rather than answer, the orb trembled oddly.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Enemy…intruders… Inter…cept…”

The artificial voice broke and crackled with static.

“Master must be…temporarily protected…”

“Wh-whoa?!” Riselia’s body floated into the air like she’d suddenly become weightless. A barrier of light formed around her, trapping her inside.

“What are you doing?! Let me out now!” Riselia demanded, but although she beat against the barrier with all her strength, it wouldn’t yield.

The hovering sphere ignored Riselia’s shouting and vanished.

“Didn’t you say I was your master or whatever?!” she shouted into the lonely dark.

No amount of complaining would free her, though.

“Fine… In that case…,” Riselia whispered. Summoning her courage, she called, “Holy Sword, Activate—Bloody Sword!”

Riselia manifested her Holy Sword.

“Hyaaaaaaah!”

Her slash traced across her prison, yet it was deflected easily with the crisp sound of a pebble against glass.

“Ugh… Why, you…!”

“Farga! Farga! Farga!”

Boom, boom, boom!

Leonis launched fourth-order spells in succession, blasting the swarming Machina Soldiers and sending them flying.

“Tch, there’s too many of them! Farga!”

His latest spell destroyed one of the Machina Soldiers, but that only made room for more to appear from teleportation circles.

“Hey, kid.”

“What is it, Miss Sakuya?” Leonis turned to look at her after she tugged on his sleeve.

“Aren’t you kind of going overboard now that I know the truth?” Sakuya looked a bit put off by the piles of Machina Soldiers littering the ground.

“Uh, you think so?” Leonis couldn’t deny that it was liberating to wield his power openly.

I’m still not in peak condition, though.

Since he needed to conserve his mana, the strength of his spells was greatly diminished. His magical power was far from exhausted, but given that he’d need to dispatch whoever had abducted Riselia, he couldn’t afford to use spells indiscriminately.

“What is this place anyway? It’s like a maze,” Sakuya muttered as she scanned her eyes across the dark underground passage.

Leonis, however, already knew where they were.

This must be part of the Great Arakael Library.

The Great Arakael Library sat beneath the palace, but the Archsage of the Six Heroes had surely been unsatisfied with that alone and had expanded and changed the structure of the place. The maze that was his library likely extended under the city proper.

“We should hurry.” Leonis looked down at the seal on his left hand. Its reactions were growing faint. That could suggest Riselia was locked somewhere that blocked mana or perhaps something worse.

Before he could mull on that for long, a terrible howling caught his attention.

“Kid!” Sakuya reflexively grabbed Leonis by the collar and used her acceleration power. Less than a blink later, the spot where Leonis had stood was crushed by something.

“You saved me, Miss Sakuya,” Leonis said, still held by his collar. His shadow’s automatic protection might not have reacted in time against such a quick attack.

“…”

Sakuya glared into the darkness, Raikirimaru held at the ready. A ghostly sort of girl stood in the gloom. Like Sakuya, she also had blue hair and wore Sakura Orchid traditional attire. Her face was a close match for Sakuya’s as well.

That girl…

Leonis recognized her. She’d killed Zemein back in Necrozoa.

What could this mean? Why is she here?

Sakuya released Leonis and took a silent step forward.

“Kid. Leave her to me, okay?”

“But, Miss Sakuya—”

“I need to talk to her.”

“…”

Sakuya gripped her Holy Sword tightly.

She must have some history with that girl.

Undoubtedly, this wouldn’t be an exchange of words. Sometimes, one could only speak to another by locking swords.

“I understand,” Leonis replied. “Be careful.”

“Yeah. I’m counting on you to save Miss Selia.”

Leonis hurried into the dark while Sakuya saw him off with a nod and a smile.

“What exactly is happening here?”

Scaling the ruins of a crumbling belfry, Arle took in the sight of the city. By relying on the natural stealth of elves, she’d concealed herself from the patrolling Machina Soldiers. A vanguard of the constructs was assembled on the ground below. The nightmarish sight reminded her of the battles from a thousand years ago.

I thought the Machina Soldiers ceased to function alongside the Dark Lord Schwertleite.

But that wasn’t the only surprise. The one leading these Machina Soldiers, walking like a king protected by an honor guard, was a white-haired priest.

“Nefakess? Why is he here?”

This man had ordered Voids to attack her on the Third Assault Garden. Why were the Machina Soldiers, servants of the Deus Machina, obeying him?

Arle watched as the force of Machina Soldiers marched toward Ur-Rognasia Palace.

“I have a very bad feeling about this…”

“Hyaaaaah! Bloody Petal Spiral!”

Blades of blood converged at the tip of Riselia’s sword, then exploded with a mighty thrust.

Krnggggggggggg!

The crimson blade bore into the barrier, which flickered violently under the stress, but ultimately, this attempt to escape failed like the others. Riselia’s attack dispersed.

“Haaah, haaah, haaah… Even that…didn’t work…?” Riselia glared at the spherical shield holding her in place.

She was already wearing the True Ancestor’s Dress. It was in its Scarlet Tyrant mode, which converted her vast Vampire Queen’s mana reserves into physical prowess. But since it consumed mana rapidly, she couldn’t wear it for long.

“I have to get back…to Leo!”

Riselia slammed her fists against the barrier in frustration. The fact that nothing worked served to make her more desperate.

“You’re wasting a lot of mana. If you continue like this, an eternity won’t be enough time to break free.”

A voice spoke directly to her mind.

“Huh?” Riselia looked around.

It wasn’t that light orb, Schwertleite. However, she recognized the voice.

“Focus your mana on a single point,” the voice carried on. “You’re not dealing with a moving enemy here. It’s just a wall, so there’s no need to strengthen yourself.”

Riselia gasped slightly. The voice was right. Instead of empowering herself, she might shatter the barrier if she focused her mana on a single point.

“I-it’s not as easy as you’re making it sound. What am I supposed to do?” Riselia asked the voice in her head.

Riselia instinctively understood the principle behind focusing her vast pool of magical power into a point, but employing that much control in practice was difficult. She was still a novice at being a Vampire Queen, after all.

“You’ve got the likes of me lending you aid, so just do as you’re told.”

“Huh?! E-erm, okay…,” Riselia responded earnestly, still unsure who was speaking to her.

Riselia was confused, but following instructions promised to be simple enough.

“First, close your eyes and take a deep breath…”

Riselia did as instructed, shutting her eyes and taking a long inhale.

“Imagine all the mana in your body converging in your sword and hold that image.”

L-like this?

She imagined all her power gathering in the Bloody Sword in her right hand. It was only a thought, however, and it didn’t help her control her mana.

“Good work. Now think of yourself as the strongest dragon in the world.”

D-dragon? The word made Riselia suspicious. What is this voice getting at?

Dragons were creatures from the distant past and spoken of only in fairytales.

I can’t imagine what being a dragon is like!

“Oh, fine. It’s like this!”

As Riselia froze from confusion, a vivid image flowed into her mind—a dragon with crimson scales like raging flames. The sight of the creature seemed to set Riselia’s blood ablaze.

A dragon… Yes, I am a dragon!

Riselia repeated the words in her mind like a mantra. She felt the mana circulating through her body collect in her sword.

“Good. You really do have potential. Now hold up your sword…”

Riselia obediently readied her weapon, its blade glowing from all the mana stored within.

“And now invoke the words—Final Dragon Attack!”

“Huhhh?!”

Riselia’s shock almost made her lose all the mana she’d channeled.

“What are you doing?! I’ll say it one more time. Final Dragon Attack!”

“F-Final Dragon Attaaaaaaaack!” Riselia shouted, more out of desperation than true conviction, and thrust her sword at the barrier.

Its tip gouged into the luminous wall of her prison and…

Shatter!

…smashed through it easily.

“I—I did it!” Riselia cheered, still confused. “I, um… Thank you…”

As she touched down on the ground, she thanked the voice that had given her advice. However, she received no answer. Only she and the black crystal were there.

What was that voice?

Riselia was still baffled and unsure of what to make of what had happened, but she was free now.

“I have to hurry and get back to Leo!”

She sprinted to the entrance of the mausoleum, but before she left, she turned around to look back a final time at the pitch-black crystal.

All those scenes that had flowed into her mind didn’t feel like a dream. Still, Riselia couldn’t delay, so she ran off, although with some reluctance.

“Third-order spell—Vras Raiga!”

A bolt of dark lightning streaked through the air, drilling through the swarm of incoming Machina Soldiers.

“Haaah, haaah, haaah… Where do these things keep coming from?!” Leonis pushed himself to keep running through the underground maze, even as he gasped for air.

He still had the frail body of a ten-year-old, and his short legs meant his stride was shallow. Worse yet, he was still recovering from the effects of using the Demon Sword.

“Haaah, haaah… Curse this…weak form…” Leonis rested a hand against the wall to catch his breath.

No sooner had he done so than more teleportation spell circles flickered to life around him, summoning more Machina Soldiers.

“Begone, you bothersome vermin—Gira Berton!”

Using a fourth-order gravity spell, Leonis crushed the armored Machina Soldiers under their own weight.

Kuh! I was known as the greatest of Dark Lords, and now my mana is nearly depleted!

He had enough to handle these foot soldiers, but his power was reaching its limit. It was a blow to his dignity as a Dark Lord, even if it was the result of using the Demon Sword.

Normally, he would’ve relied on his minion to guard and escort him, but he needed to rescue her.

Blast! Where is she?!

Leonis slammed his fist against the wall in frustration, when suddenly, the seal on the back of his left hand throbbed in pain.

“…?!” Leonis’s eyes widened. This was a different reaction compared to before. “Has the situation changed?”

Perhaps Riselia had awakened after being unconscious, or maybe she’d managed to free herself. Leonis couldn’t tell.

“Hmm. It seems she’s on a lower level…”

He did vaguely sense her location, though. And with that information, there was no need for Leonis to waste his time running around the Archsage’s labyrinth.

“Gouge the earth, hammer of fury—Ru Galde!”

Boom!

A fissure ran under Leonis’s feet, which expanded and made the stone floor cave in. Leonis floated in the air for a moment before descending down the newly formed shaft. After a short drop, his feet touched solid ground again.

He illuminated the area with his staff’s light. This wasn’t a corridor but instead a spacious room. The walls were covered in books from top to bottom.

Arakael’s collected tomes promise to be fascinating, but I’ll have to leave them for later.

A teleportation spell circle appeared in the room in apparent response to Leonis’s presence.

“Tch. More of them…?” Leonis clicked his tongue and held up the Staff of Sealed Sins toward the circle. “Wait. What?”

Leonis frowned in confusion. The thing that emerged from the array wasn’t like other Machina Soldiers. It was a gigantic snakelike construct that stood two meltes tall. Its slithering against the floor produced a low rumble.

“Oh, so there are more than just weaklings among your ranks. Farga!”

Leonis instantly blasted it with a spell. The explosion shook the chamber, and hot air raced past. However…

“What?”

…before the spell connected with the serpent Machina Soldier, a barrier had formed around it.

“It must be some kind of specialized anti-magic type. How bothersome…”

This was the kind of opponent Leonis was least equipped to handle.

Sixth-order spells or higher should be able to pierce its shield, but…

Leonis’s body felt sluggish. He was nearly drained of mana. The Machina Soldier let out a howl and moved in to ram Leonis with its hulking body.

I’ve got no choice!

Leonis prepared to fire a nonverbal sixth-order spell, but before he could…

“Grooooowl!”

…a black wolf sprang from the dark and pounced on the Machina Soldier’s neck.

“Blackas!”

The Machina Soldier’s large body collapsed, knocking down bookshelves in the process. Countless tomes spilled in a paper landslide, kicking up centuries-old dust. Blackas howled, clenching his jaws on the Machina Soldier’s neck joint and tearing it off.

“Forgive me, Lord Magnus.” Blackas faced Leonis and hung his head. “The Queen of Shadows terminated herself, and I failed to take her captive.”

“I see… Don’t worry. You’ve done well. Thank you.” Leonis shook his head and patted the black wolf’s smooth fur. “The Deus Machina’s troops are proving tricky for me. My mana is almost depleted.”

“I’m surprised you have any left after using the Demon Sword.” Blackas stomped on the defeated Machina Soldier’s head and looked down on it. “What is the meaning of this? Why are there Machina Soldiers in this place?”

“I don’t know. We can talk about that later.” Leonis sat atop Blackas’s back. “Someone took my minion captive. We must rescue her.”

“Understood.” Blackas nodded and sped off in the direction Leonis indicated.

“Mikagami-style swordsmanship—Thunderflash Flurry!”

Sakuya’s katana cut through the air, scattering blue lightning in its wake. Within the darkness of the underground passage, her Holy Sword’s blade clashed with her opponent’s.

“Setsura!” Sakuya gritted her teeth, glaring at the person holding the sword locked with hers.

Her blue hair billowed, kicked up by the sorcerous wind she produced. Her eyes were a malevolent, ominous crimson. Her skin was as pale as the dead’s, but her features were otherwise a mirror image of Sakuya’s.

The Sakura Orchid had met disaster nine years ago. Had Setsura survived, she would’ve been twenty-two now. However, this girl looked not a day older than how Sakuya remembered her on that fateful day.

“Setsura, why?!”

Sakuya wasn’t asking one question in particular. Too many came to mind for her to voice them all. Why was her sister alive after being killed nine years ago? Why had she unleashed Raijinki from his seal in the Seventh Assault Garden’s mana furnace, beckoning the Void Lord that had destroyed the Sakura Orchid? And why was she here now?

Ultimately, Sakuya swallowed her questions. Asking now was meaningless. If she allowed herself to be distracted, she’d surely die. She would converse with Setsura by crossing blades.

“Hyaaaaah!”

Sakuya stepped forward, unleashing a slash charged with electricity.

Bzzzzt!

A sphere of plasma ruptured, leaving a singed scent that tickled the nostrils. The two katanas flickered, and the sleeves of each girl’s Sakura Orchid robes flapped violently in the wind.

She’s reading my moves!

Both sisters were trained in the Sakura Orchid’s Mikagami style, specifically the powerful sword techniques passed down in the royal family.

It feels like Setsura still has the edge over me in terms of swordfighting skill…

When they last fought on the Seventh Assault Garden, Sakuya had been helpless against her sister. Setsura had outmatched her in technique and also demonstrated superhuman capability.

Perhaps she wasn’t human anymore.

“…!”

Sakuya broke their latest clash and leaped away. With her eyes fixed on her sister, Sakuya slowly edged forward, gauging the distance between them. Her left hand throbbed painfully. She’d overused the mystic eye of time’s powers while fighting on the surface. She got the feeling using it needlessly would result in her burning her nerves.

—But Setsura isn’t someone I can beat without this eye!

Her clear-blue eye shone crimson.

“A mystic eye…,” Setsura said. “Where did you get that power?”

“All questions are asked and answered with sword strokes, Setsura,” Sakuya said curtly. “That’s the way of the Sakura Orchid swordswoman, isn’t it?”

“—True.” Setsura held her Holy Sword overhead. “Mikagami style, ultimate sword technique—Demon Wind Maelstrom!”

A small tornado brewed around Setsura’s blade, forming an intense swirl. Pieces of rubble kicked up by the wind flew about, one of them nicking Sakuya’s cheek. This was the power of Setsura’s Holy Sword, the ability to command the wind.

But before she could swing her sword down…

“Mikagami Style, ultimate sword technique—Savage Lightning Slash!”

…Sakuya lunged forward, moving through accelerated time.