Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

THE TWO QUEENS

“Roar and bellow! Drag Howl!”

Boooooooom!

An explosion rocked the air as Regina’s shot blasted through a bulkhead made of military-grade enchanted steel. The Carbuncle soared through the air in a hurry, with Leonis and Regina following after it. Naturally, all the elevators were inactive, so to reach the bridge, they had to use either the central staircase or the emergency one.

Busting through the ceiling with magic would be so much quicker, Leonis thought. Such a tactic put the princess at risk of being caught in the crossfire, however.

“Miss Regina, don’t run too far ahead…,” Leonis insisted.

“I’m the older one here.” Regina turned around to face him as they ran up the stairs. “I can’t let you take the lead.”

“No, it’s just that I, erm…I can see your…”

“…Huuuh?!” Regina went red and pressed her skirt down over her behind.

Excalibur Academy’s uniform stressed mobility, so its skirt was very short. Leonis got a good flash of Regina’s mature, black panties.

“Y-you’re a perv, aren’t you, boy?!” Regina scolded him with her eyes narrowed scornfully.

“I-it was an accident!” Leonis insisted, claiming innocence.

“I’m going to have to report this to Lady Selia, aren’t I—?”

“Please don’t,” Leonis hurriedly implored.

Their exchange was cut off as a new voice echoed from above.

“Who the hell are you?!” someone shrilly called out to them.

A pair of beastmen had appeared on a landing just ahead.

“Miss Regina!”

“Holy Sword, Exchange—Drag Striker!” Regina quickly loosed a barrage.

“Accuracy Augmentation, Curse Blast!” Leonis matched Regina’s timing, applying augmentation magic to her.

Booooom!

The shots hit their mark, exploding and sending the beastmen flying.

“Wh-whoaaaa?!” Regina teetered slightly at the force of her own attack.

Oh, curses, I bolstered her too much!

“Th-that was amazing, Miss Regina!” Leonis said, quick to feign ignorance.

“Those weren’t explosive shells. They were normal blasts. I think their trajectory changed slightly, too…,” Regina replied, clearly unconvinced.

“Y-you must have imagined it.”

From the landing, Leonis and Regina continued down a corridor, handily defeating any beastmen who barred their way. Again and again, Regina loosed fiery shots from her Holy Sword.

“Over there, that’s the bridge of the ship!”

The Carbuncle turned transparent and passed right through the door.

“Drag Howl!” Regina launched another powerful blast that blew the door in. “Princess Altiria!” she cried as she burst into the room. What met her eyes was not the scene she’d expected, however.

“…What’s… What’s going on here?” Regina whispered in shock.

The bridge was completely deserted. The ship’s control system was operating without anyone in the room.

“Look!” Regina beckoned Leonis over as her eyes caught sight of a console’s screen. Her expression went stiff with fear and despair.

“…What’s this?” There was a large blip on the display Leonis assumed to be the Hyperion. It looked to be on a course for a cluster of numerous, smaller dots.

“That’s a Void reef.”

Sharnak and her subordinates had gathered on the Hyperion’s deck. Lightning flashed through the sky as a storm raged. Several beastmen were carrying Princess Altiria into a fighter plane’s cargo hold.

Each of the foolish beastmen who had accepted the power of a Demon Sword were by now Sharnak’s marionettes. More precisely, they were under the control of the Demon Sword clutched in the dark elf woman’s hands.

Between Sharnak’s fingers rested Zolgstar Mezekis, one of the Dark Lord–slaying weapons collectively known as the Arc Seven.

It was a different sort of item than the ones Sharnak had given the beastmen. Zolgstar Mezekis was a true Demon Sword and had been granted to her by a priest of the goddess. As a legendary weapon, it was said to have been wielded by a hero a thousand years ago.

Yes, I have been chosen by her…, Sharnak thought confidently.

“…Where are you taking us?” Princess Altiria asked in a faint voice.

“Heh-heh, oh, someplace wonderful,” Sharnak replied with a sadistic smile. “You should consider yourself honored. Once I dissect your brain and pick apart the royal family’s powers, I’ll make you the plaything of the cult’s sadists. Or maybe I’ll let you serve as a seedbed for the monsters of emptiness. Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“…?!”

Letting out a maniacal laugh, Sharnak held the Demon Sword aloft.

Under the moonlight, the masterless Hyperion charged through the waters, moving ever closer toward the reef shrouded in a blackness that surpassed the darkness of night itself.

“Now, let us hurry,” Sharnak ordered the beastmen under her command. “Assuming you don’t want to be swallowed, too, of course.”

Riselia and Sakuya hurried down a corridor lit only by the flickering emergency light. There was no sign of anyone else in the hall. The echoing sound of the Hyperion’s creaking hull was interrupted by the occasional peal of thunder.

The floor wavered and shook beneath the two young women. It was likely the ship was nearing its maximum cruising speed.

“Look over there. The bulkheads have been destroyed,” Riselia observed, pointing ahead.

There was a large hole in the center of the massive, military-grade barricade. Debris and shards of metal littered the floor around it.

Did Leo do this…?

“Miss Riselia…,” Sakuya called as she ran to catch up.

“What’s wrong?” Riselia stopped and turned around.

“They’re coming.” Narrowing her eyes, Sakuya turned to face what appeared to be empty air. Despite the apparent lack of any opponent, she drew Raikirimaru.

“…Huh?” Riselia wasn’t aware of any unusual presence, but it seemed obvious the younger swordswoman could see something. There was a heavy rumble of thunder from outside the Hyperion, and then…

Crack, crack!

The sound of fracturing glass began to ring out, as though the air itself was starting to give way.

“Voids?!” Riselia manifested her Bloody Sword and wrapped her hands tightly around its grip.

Crack, crack, crack!

Countless fractures tore themselves into being, and as they widened, a creature robed in dark-gray vapors began to emerge.

“…Urrr… Rggggl…”

Sturdy limbs with claws and fins pulled a slippery gray body from the fissures in space. What should’ve been the Void’s face bore no nose or eyes, only a large, horizontal tear lined with teeth.

“…A merman class…”

This was a type of Void that appeared on the seafloor. It was highly intelligent and capable of moving rapidly not just underwater but also on land.

“It’s coming!” Sakuya called out, and she kicked off the ground.

Unsheathing her sword, Sakuya loosed a horizontal slash in one elegant motion. The Void dissolved into a miasma and disappeared before it could even let out a final cry of death. Surges of electricity ran across Raikirimaru’s blade. Unfortunately, there were already new tears forming around Riselia and Sakuya.

“…?!”

Once more, the electrified katana flashed forth, cleaving another Void that had appeared from a floating fissure. Sakuya then used the backswing to move into another swipe and from there into a rising horizontal cut. With each swing of the blade, Sakuya’s movements grew more agile.

“Ultimate Blade Technique, Third Form—Sakura War Flurry!”

Sakuya’s blade roared. The ability of her Holy Sword—Raikirimaru, Blade of Lightning—was acceleration. The electricity it produced was just a by-product. Its true power was that it enveloped Sakuya in super-electromagnetic energy, allowing her to move faster the more she cut into her foes. The girl herself looked like a blade of blue lightning as she sped toward the swarm of Voids.

“Hyaaaaaah!” Riselia let out a battle cry as she charged at the Voids as well, Bloody Sword in hand.

A merman class emerged from the wall and was immediately cut clean in half. Riselia thrusted the tip of her blade into the special fissure, slaying another Void that had only just started to crawl out.

Using her superior vampire strength, Riselia leaped into the air, instantly closing in on a new group of Voids as she brought her Holy Sword to bear. Her training with the skeletons had proven fruitful; she was clearly far more accustomed to fighting groups now. As she struck, Riselia unleashed the large stores of mana coursing through her body, fighting in a manner truly befitting a Vampire Queen.

Why are Voids appearing inside the ship?! Waving away the miasma that clouded the air, Riselia peered out the window…

A timely bolt of lightning illuminated the water’s surface, revealing a thick layer of gray vapor hanging over the sea.

“Is this a Void reef?!” she exclaimed, incredulous.

Void reef was the term used to describe a Void nest that formed in the sea. They were said to be hellish places from which there was no escape.

What are those beastmen thinking…?!

The Hyperion should’ve had a radar capable of detecting and evading the Voids. Riselia could only guess at whether the hijackers had plotted an incorrect course or if they’d done this intentionally.

Thankfully, for the moment, only smaller classes of Voids seemed to be appearing. If the Hyperion was drawn any deeper into the reef, however, the risk of a larger class showing up was high.

“At this rate, we’ll—!”

Yet another crack formed in the air, from which a new type of Void crept out. It was humanoid but larger than the merman-class Voids. Disgusting, mollusk-like tentacles grew out of its head, as if multiple sea creatures had made their home inside its cranium.

“A Brain Eater!” Riselia exclaimed.

It was a much stronger type when compared to the merman class. Not only was it more intelligent, but it was also capable of using mysterious powers. It was said Brain Eaters had a high likelihood of becoming Void Lords.

Excalibur Academy classified them at a rank-A danger level, meaning it was a Void considered too dangerous to be challenged by a single Holy Swordsman. Riselia swallowed nervously as she stood facing the creature. Sakuya slashed at another Void and leaped over to Riselia so the two young women were now standing back-to-back.

“Miss Riselia, you should go on ahead. Leave these guys to me.”

“…No. I’m going to stay and fight with you,” Riselia declared.

“Go find the kid. Isn’t that why you came in the first place?” Sakuya asserted with an intensity that left no room for argument.

“…!”

“Don’t worry. I live to hunt down Voids.”

Riselia felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Please, Miss Riselia…”

“…Okay.” Riselia nodded and charged into the swarm. Listening to the fading sound of her friend’s footsteps, Sakuya readied Raikirimaru. Sea-devil Voids appeared one after the other around the Brain Eater, yet even in the midst of such a daunting situation, Sakuya remained collected.

“Good. I didn’t want you to see what came next,” she said coldly.

A black stream of miasma rose up from Sakuya’s small body, the same kind of vapor that Voids expelled.

“Demon Sword, Yamichidori… Grant them the silence of the grave.” Sakuya brought her fingertips to her lips and gave a bewitching smile.

“…A Void reef?” Leonis asked Regina, whose expression was frozen in abject terror.

The various luminous icons on the screen meant nothing to Leonis. He trusted Regina could read it, however.

“It’s a closely packed force of Voids that inhabit an area of the sea. Unlike hives, reefs are constantly moving, so tracking their position is difficult…” Regina trailed off and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Even a ship like this won’t be able to escape if it’s swallowed up by a Void reef.” The pigtailed girl’s voice was thick with despair.

“…And the ship is heading straight for it?” Leonis inquired.

Regina nodded solemnly.

Hmm, I don’t understand…, thought Leonis. The people who’d seized control of the Hyperion had presumably done so to use the hostages aboard as leverage in negotiations with the Integrated Empire. If that really was the goal, Leonis failed to see how abandoning the bridge and setting the vessel on a suicide run would achieve anything.

Suddenly, a shrill alarm began to blare from somewhere nearby. Regina jumped at the startling sound and turned to look in its direction.

“Knight Dragon takeoff…approved…?” Regina slowly read aloud the words displayed on the screen.

Knight Dragons were the larger kind of fighter plane stationed on the Hyperion.

“They want to escape with the princess,” Leonis stated, having pieced things together.

If that’s the case, though, they’ll be abandoning many of their own people and leaving them to die.

Had this always been the terrorists’ plan, or had there been some kind of disagreement that had fractured the group during the hijacking? Either way, those fleeing aboard the plane clearly wanted to make the Hyperion sinking into the reef look like an accident. That way, the empire would believe the princess had died while, in truth, she’d secretly been spirited away.

And they’ll leave no sign that whoever planned this ever existed.

The emptiness of the Voids would consume all the evidence, and the Hyperion would sink to the depths.

Is that really all, though?

Leonis got the impression there was some irrational, bottomless malice at the root of this plan. Everything about it felt terribly out of character for an antiestablishment group.

Now’s not the time to think about that, though.

“Miss Regina… You can’t steer the ship, right?”

“No. I didn’t take any sailing courses in my curriculum…” Regina bit her lip, her expression thick with dismay.

Leonis could summon a Ghostship Captain from his shadow, but it wouldn’t be able to commandeer a warship made with such advanced magical technology. They needed a solution, fast. Every second spent idling moved them closer to the Void reef.

“…No, at this rate, we’ll all—” Regina clenched her teeth and slammed her hand against the controls.

But then…

“Is…someone…there…?”

“Huh?” Regina turned at the sound of a weak, static-filled voice.

It hadn’t come from the bridge’s microphone. Surprisingly, it was emanating from the Origin Spirit sitting on the operator’s seat.

“…Carbuncle?”

“Can…you hear…me…?”

The sound was feeble, as if it could cut out at any moment. With so many Voids nearby, the interference was incredibly severe, distorting the voice the spirit was emitting.

“That’s Princess Altiria…!” Regina said confidently.

While garbled, Regina would know that voice anywhere, having heard it countless times in the archives.

“Is Her Highness’s voice reaching us by using the spirit as a medium?” Leonis asked.

Regina nodded hurriedly.

“Y-yes, I can hear you… I can hear you clearly!” Regina cried out desperately.

“Listen to me… There’s a control room that steers…this ship…on the…bottom floor.”

“Okay!”

“It’s the Hyperion’s heart… It’s where the Artificial Elementals controlling this ship are managed… Bring this little one there, please… Stop the…Hyperion…!”

“I don’t know if I can… I’m not a very powerful spirit user.”

“You should be fine… Carbuncle should…handle everything.”

“Understood!”

“…Ple…ase… The master code…is…”

The voice trailed off after giving the necessary password for the control room.

“…” Regina bit her lip.

While she and Leonis had confirmed Princess Altiria’s survival, the terrorists who had abducted her were about to escape. If Regina didn’t go after them now, she risked losing her last chance to save her sister. The decision was undoubtedly a torturous and difficult one.

“Let’s go down to the control room.” Regina finally forced the words out, clenching her fists. She turned her back to Leonis and picked up the Carbuncle.

“We can’t let this ship be swallowed up. She wants everyone aboard the Hyperion to get out safely…,” Regina continued, her shoulders trembling.

Though her face was averted, Leonis still spotted small tears trickling down Regina’s cheeks. He did his best to act like he hadn’t noticed them.

“No, let’s split up. I’ll go save the princess,” Leonis declared.

“…Just you?” Regina turned to look at him. “No, it’s too dangerous. They won’t go easy on you just because you’re a kid.”

“It’s our only way of saving the princess,” Leonis calmly insisted.

“…It is, but…” Regina made a hesitant expression. Her clashing opinions on the idea were plain, but there was no time to waver. If the terrorists escaped, all would be lost.

I’ve got no choice, I suppose. Leonis took hold of his Staff of Sealed Sins and turned its tip toward a wall that barred the way to the outside of the ship.

“There’s actually something I’ve kept secret from you, Miss Regina.”

“…Huh?”

“The truth is…I’m a Dark Lord.”

Ka-boooooooooom!

Using a third-order spell to blow open the wall, Leonis created a makeshift exit to the exterior of the ship. Through the storm, he and Regina could spy the distant deck where the planes were preparing to take off.

Utterly stunned, Regina stood frozen after bearing witness to the sliver of power Leonis had deigned to demonstrate.

“Well, maybe ‘Dark Lord’ is a bit of a joke, but…” Leonis shrugged as he approached the broken wall. “I’m probably much stronger than you think I am.”

Regina gazed at Leonis as if seeing him for the first time.

“Just who are you, kid…?”

“So with that said, leave saving Her Highness to me.” With a nod, Leonis took off into the rain outside.

“Kid!” Regina called after him.

My word, I really have grown soft.

Using a gravity control spell to slow his descent toward the nearest deck, Leonis smiled wryly. If Blackas were to hear of this, he’d undoubtedly be shocked beyond words. Despite having intended to keep it secret, Leonis had showed Regina a bit of his power. He trusted it to be all right, however. That girl wasn’t one to tell others about private matters.

Besides, kidnapping princesses is a Dark Lord’s job.

Looking down at the deck rising to meet his feet, Leonis chanted a telepathy spell.

“Miss Selia.”

“…Ahhh! Leo?!” Riselia’s panicked voice rang out in Leonis’s mind. “…Wait, huh? Why am I hearing you? Am I hallucinating?”

“I’m using the cat accessory as a magical relay for my voice. You’re a mage’s minion, so you should get used to things like this.”

“A-all right. I’ll try,” Riselia said, attempting to accept what was going on.

“I’m glad you liked it enough to keep it on you.”

“Yeah. You gave it to me, after all,” replied Riselia, a hint of bashfulness in her voice.

“…” Leonis suddenly felt a bit awkward after hearing that answer, but he cleared his throat dryly. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m going around the ship, looking for you.”

“Excellent timing,” Leonis said. “Regina’s heading for the control room at the bottom of the ship.”

“Regina’s doing what…?!”

“Yes. She’s going alone, so it’s probably pretty risky. Go help her.”

“The control room at the bottom of the ship. Got it,” Riselia answered at once.

While she likely hadn’t even known Regina was aboard the Hyperion to begin with, Riselia was wise enough not to start asking questions in such a dire situation. Leonis added a few points to his evaluation of his minion.

With any luck, she’ll mature quickly and become my right-hand woman.

The fighter planes on the dock lit up with red lamps, signaling their imminent takeoff.

“You think you can escape a Dark Lord, you fools?”

Light blazed from the Staff of Sealed Sins.

—Your Dark Lord orders you. Rise, ye festering cadavers, and strike terror into the hearts of the living—

The bones he summoned from his shadow rose up and began assembling themselves, forming the shape of a massive monster.

“I’ll open the bulkheads. Everyone, step back,” Elfiné ordered as she operated the module on the corridor wall.

Elfiné, Fenris, and the other Excalibur Academy students were escorting the party guests to the hangar containing the lifeboats. Fenris had her Frost Wolves go ahead and sniff out any surviving terrorists while Elfiné worked to open bulkheads in their way.

Cracking a military system proved challenging, but thankfully, the controls used Artificial Elementals developed by the Phillet Company. Being the daughter of that same corporation, Elfiné was familiar with the system.

The lock released with a small thud, and the heavy, metal door slowly began opening. To everyone’s surprise, there appeared to already be a group inside the lifeboat hangar.

“Voids!”

“Grrraaaaaahhh…!”

A group of merman-class Voids were everywhere one looked. Several civilians screamed at the sight of their distorted features.

“Frost Wolf!” Fenris called out, sending seven of the frigid things into the swarm to attack the Voids. “This place isn’t safe!” she added.

“Yeah…” Elfiné made a troubled face.

The Hyperion was already entering the reef. If they sent the people out on lifeboats, they’d just wind up as sitting ducks. Even with Fenris’s Frost Wolves tearing into them, the Voids were appearing faster than they could keep up with. It was a disheartening sight.

Elfiné turned around to face the children from the orphanage. The oldest of them, Tessera, was hugging Millet and Linze close in an attempt to calm them.

“Are you all right?” Elfiné asked.

Even as she shivered, Tessera looked up and nodded.

“Leo… He’ll definitely save us, so…!”

“We can’t hold them back for much longer!” Fenris called out.

The merman-class Voids parted their tear-like mouths and charged toward the people.

Whoosh!

There was a sound like the very air being cut in two, and Void heads went flying.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A blade of darkness danced through the hangar, cutting the monsters down one after another. In mere moments, the horde of Voids was considerably smaller.

“Wh-what is this?!” Fenris looked around the hangar, but there was no one in sight.

Elfiné’s Eye of the Witch found the source of their good fortune, though only for a brief moment. It was a girl in a maid’s uniform, standing in the darkness with a half-eaten churro in hand.

“This is in appreciation of your faith in my master, girl.”

“We should hurry, lest the Voids end up swallowing us, too.”

While the storm continued to rage, the large Knight Dragon’s propellers were starting to rotate. The massive, wyvern-like fuselage was nearly ready for takeoff. Sharnak stood on the deck with a satisfied smirk and prepared to board a smaller vessel.

But then…

“…What?” She furrowed her brow.

The Knight Dragon seemed unable to launch. Its blades spun rapidly, but the aircraft stood stuck in place, as if something was pushing against it with the same amount of force the plane was exerting. The front of the Knight Dragon began to bend from the pressure, and sparks sprayed out.

“…What are you doing?!” Sharnak shouted angrily.

A thundering bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, and the dark elf caught sight of something massive descending upon her from the darkness above.

Roooooooooooooooooooooooar!

The howl echoed as if rumbling up from the depths of the earth. Sharnak charged her eyes with mana and peered around in the black of the night.

Lightning flashed yet again.

“What?!”

What the dark elf saw was a dragon. A mystical beast that had reigned over all in ancient times. Its fearsome talons were holding down the front of the plane, preventing it taking off.

It wasn’t just any dragon, either…

“What…is this…?!”

This was a creature made of countless bones. A black miasma of death trailed up from its maw like smoke, and its eye sockets were filled with an ominous light.

“Did you think I would let you escape so easily, sneak thief?” called a voice in the dark.

While it hadn’t come from the dragon, Sharnak felt it to be no less menacing. Standing atop the dragon’s head was a boy holding a staff. He cast his gaze down on the dark elf, as if lording over all.

“You will pay dearly for the sin of menacing my kingdom.”