Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 9 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

INVITATION

“What’s Leo up to?”

Riselia whined like a cat while lying on the sofa in her room in the Hræsvelgr dorm clad in nothing but a towel. She was fresh out of the shower, and her skin was still flushed and steaming. After reporting to the bureau on all that had happened recently, she’d returned to the dorm, only for a thunderstorm to abruptly strike on the way. The forecast had called for clear weather, thus she’d been unprepared, and her uniform got soaked.

After fixing her dripping silver locks with a hairpin, Riselia threw her bare legs over the sofa’s edge. Her present appearance was much too immodest for a duke’s daughter.

“Lady Selia, you’re acting improper,” Regina chided her as she heated up a teapot. Her uniform had gotten drenched by the downpour, too, but she’d changed into her maid’s outfit. “And you’re being overprotective. The kid’s a full-fledged Holy Swordsman, you know.”

“W-well, yes, but I’m worried. What if someone kidnapped him?” Riselia kicked her legs while staring at her terminal’s screen.

“Ah, Lady Selia, you look like a beached shrimp!” Regina said, promptly taking out her terminal and snapping a photo.

Riselia hugged her pillow anxiously. “I am not a shrimp…”

According to what Phrenia had told her, Leonis left the orphanage shortly before the rain started.

Where did he go?

She was well aware of Leonis’s strength. He wouldn’t get kidnapped, and even if Voids appeared, he’d easily be able to fend for himself.

But…

Leonis had disappeared for the last few days, going somewhere far away. Perhaps Riselia was over-fretting now because she’d worried so much during his earlier absence. She sank her fangs into her pillow grumpily.

…!

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, Miss Selia.”

Upon suddenly remembering that moment, Riselia felt her cheeks flush.

When she was held in his small arms, and his eyes gazed at her…he didn’t look like a ten-year-old, and it made her heart race. Riselia’s fingers brushed over her cheeks, which felt feverish. Was it because of the shower?

No. It was probably more than that. Her emotional state was unstable, which made it difficult to regulate her mana. Her vampire heart throbbed, brimming with magical power.

“Leo…,” Riselia whispered softly.

Suddenly, the dorm’s front doorbell rang.

“…Ohhhhhh! Leo, I thought some bad grown-ups kidnapped you! I was so worried!”

“I’m sorry!” Leonis apologized profusely as soon as he returned to the room.

“Did you get caught up in the rain, too, kid? We got totally drenched,” Regina said.

Maybe I should refrain from recklessly manipulating the weather in the future. Leonis ruminated upon his hasty actions.

“By the way, kid, what do you want first? Something to eat? A bath? Or maybe…me?” Regina asked impishly, a teasing smile on her lips.

After a moment, Leonis replied…

“I’ll have you, Miss Regina.”

…with a perfectly innocent smile.

“Huh? E-erm, uh…me?” the maid stammered, her face going red.

As always, Regina couldn’t handle it when others teased her back.

“I was joking,” Leonis said triumphantly as he went to sit on the bed. “I did work up a bit of a sweat, so a shower would be welcome…”

However, Regina suddenly hopped over, hugging Leonis and placing her chin on his shoulder.

“M-Miss Regina?!”

“You think you can get away with teasing your big sister, kid?” she whispered before blowing into his ear.

She was clearly in counterattack mode.

“U-um…your chest is pressing…”

“Yes, it is. Does that make you embarrassed, kid?”

“N-ngh…”

Squish…squish…

Leonis felt Regina’s soft chest press against him through her maid’s uniform, and his pulse quickened. How would Alexios react if he saw him now? Leonis’s dignity as a Dark Lord would evaporate in an instant.

“I—I give in, all right? I shouldn’t have said that.”

Regina nodded in satisfaction when Leonis waved the white flag.

“Well, I’ll forgive you, but next time you’ll know better before you mock a girl like that, right?”

“R-Regina, what are you doing to Leo?!”

Riselia entered after having changed into a tank top. She puffed out her cheeks angrily.

“I’m just getting my fill of the kid, Lady Selia. Want to join in?”

“H-huh? Well, yes, I would…”

“E-erm, Miss Selia…,” Leonis muttered uncomfortably.

The three heard a knock on the window.

“?!”

Everyone froze up—this was the second floor of the building. Who could be tapping on their window? The trio looked out the window and quickly spotted a shining gold bird sitting on the sill, tapping its beak on the pane.

“…A bird?” Riselia said, puzzled.

“No, I think this is a spirit,” Regina corrected.

“A spirit? What’s one of those doing here?” Riselia got up to open the window.

The bird fluttered into the room, and after flying around for a moment, it dropped the object it was carrying in its beak onto the table.

“It’s an envelope,” Riselia said.

“People use spirits to deliver letters?” Leonis asked.

“On the front lines, it’s not uncommon to use flying Artificial Elementals to deliver orders and directives,” Regina explained. “They’re useful when the Voids’ EMP jamming disrupts communications.”

She extended a hand to the golden bird, which promptly hopped onto her arm. Regina was clearly accustomed to handling spirits.

“But using a spirit to deliver personal mail is actually pretty unusual…,” Regina commented.

“…This isn’t a directive from the army,” Riselia said after picking up the envelope. “Is it a personal missive?”

“Like a love letter?” Regina suggested.

“For whom?”

“Well, you, Lady Selia. Perhaps someone saw your stellar performance during the Holy Sword Dance Festival and fell head over heels for you!”

What? Leonis felt something in his temple bulge. What cheeky fool has the nerve to try laying hands on my minion?

He gathered mana in his hand, intent on incinerating the letter.

“W-wait, this coat of arms. Isn’t that…?” Regina’s eyes widened when she saw the wax seal on the envelope.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s House O’ltriese’s seal!”

“What?!”

After opening the letter, the three saw the name Chatres Ray O’ltriese signed in elegant cursive.

“Wh-why did Princess Chatres send us a letter?” Riselia panicked with the message in hand.

“Maybe it’s an invitation to a duel?” Regina suggested.

“A duel?!”

“Well, you never settled your fight in the Holy Sword Dance Festival.”

All the color drained from Riselia’s face. “Th-that’s true…”

The Voids had attacked in the middle of the battle, cutting off their match.

“Go on, read it,” Regina urged.

“R-right.” Riselia nodded. “Um. ‘ To the respected captain of the eighteenth platoon…’”

The letter was addressed to the entire eighteenth platoon and was written very concisely. First, Chatres offered gratitude for saving her life, and she praised the team’s courage under fire battling the Voids. She wished to invite the platoon to a humble party, a token of her thanks. The princess apologized and explained that while the custom was for her to visit them, doing so would be difficult, given her royal position. Thus she had to request they come to her instead.

“Oh, thank goodness, it wasn’t an invitation to a duel!” Riselia sighed with tremendous relief.

“Princess Chatres is surprisingly sincere,” Regina muttered as she patted the bird’s head.

“It says the party is tomorrow afternoon, and we can come at any time…” Riselia threw a concerned glance at her maid. “What do you think, Regina?”

“…”

Leonis didn’t miss the way Regina’s green eyes wavered for a moment.

“I…I think I’ll pass.” Regina shook her head with a smile full of conflicted emotions. “I promised I wouldn’t meet them, and I don’t want to cause you trouble, Lady Selia.”

Regina Ray O’ltriese was born on a day the Star of Calamity shone in the sky, which led to her being stripped of her status as a princess and sent to spend her life in a Human Church convent. Riselia’s grandfather was the one to object to that decision fifteen years ago.

Instead, Regina was raised to be Riselia’s personal maid, but she was strictly forbidden from disclosing her background as a former princess and from meeting her relatives. Under normal circumstances, she could never see her elder sister. She was only permitted to exchange a few words with Chatres because their participation in the Holy Sword Dance Festival was a special occasion.

“Regina.” Riselia’s tone was kind, but her eyes were earnest. “You risked your life to protect Princess Chatres. And I think you’re the person she wants to thank the most.”

“I just did my duty as a Holy Swordswoman…”

“That’s how any Holy Swordsman should act, but not everyone can live up to that ideal. Look, she mentioned your name first when thanking us.” Riselia handed the letter to Regina. “I’ll respect whatever decision you make, but I don’t want you to make a choice you’ll regret. After all, I can never meet my older sister, mother, or father anymore…”

“Lady Selia…” Regina bit her lip and hugged the letter. “I was happy when she called my name,” she whispered. “She said she memorized all rival team members’ names. That’s the only reason she knew me, but I was happy anyway…”

Regina hung her head, and the bird-shaped spirit looked up at her.

“I can’t reveal my identity, of course, but I do want to meet my sister. And when I think I might never get a chance like this again…”

“Yeah.” Riselia nodded and gently placed a hand on Regina’s shoulder. She then turned to look at Leonis. “You’re coming with us, right, Leo?”

“Me? Well…” Leonis thought it over.

Honestly, he wasn’t enthused about going. If he had time to spend on a dull tea party, he would much rather spend it working toward rebuilding the Dark Lords’ Armies. However…

…Elysion Academy, eh?

Blackas’s report mentioned that school was the epicenter of the strange shadow corridor activity. Since he couldn’t act conspicuously, Leonis had entrusted Blackas with investigating that, but an invitation meant he held a golden opportunity to look into the place in broad daylight without arousing suspicion.

Plus, he couldn’t let Riselia and Regina go unprotected if the place was dangerous.

Leonis shrugged and nodded. “Since the princess decided to invite us, it would only be polite to oblige.”

“That just leaves Sakuya and Miss Finé. I’ll ask Miss Finé about her plans later. I haven’t seen Sakuya in a while, though,” Riselia said.

“Have you tried calling her?” Leonis asked.

Riselia shook her head. “Sakuya usually doesn’t have her terminal on her.”

Regina shrugged. “Well, Sakuya vanishing and coming back on a whim is nothing new. We can let her be.”

“Yeah, that’s Sakuya for you,” Riselia agreed.

“You’re treating her like a cat…,” Leonis said, exasperated.

It was the exact opposite of how overprotective she was with him.

“Oh, wait…” Regina acted like she’d just recalled something.

Riselia raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, Regina?”

“It’s just… We were invited to Elysion Academy’s girls’ dormitory. It’s off-limits to men.”

“It is?”

“Yes. It’s a high-class training school reserved for noble ladies, after all…”

“Isn’t my presence in this dormitory already unusual?” Leonis remarked, calmly reminding the girls of a similar issue.

“You’re fine, Leo. You’re a child.”

“Lady Selia, that logic only works here because Excalibur Academy is relatively broad-minded, and the Hræsvelgr dorm sits on the edge of the female housing area. Listen, if you bring the kid to Elysion Academy…”

“Wh-what’ll happen?”

“The girls are going to abduct him and do this and that to him, that’s what!”

“Huh?!”

“What, exactly…?” Leonis asked quietly.

“Th-that’s bad! Oh, no. What do we do?” Riselia was panicking.

“Lady Selia…” Regina adopted a serious expression. “I have a good idea.”

Leonis had an ominous feeling.

“This is the Spirit Forest, where all spirits and elementals are born.”

“This reminds me of the Sacred Tree Forest from my homeland.”

The sun was just beginning to set. After crossing the wasteland, Arle and Sakuya had stopped their vehicle at the edge of the woods. Arle walked between the trees ahead of Sakuya, her steps as swift in the forest as they would’ve been on flat plains. The underbrush and tree branches seemed to twist out of her way, clearing a path for her.

“This is wondrous. I’d heard elves are blessed with supernatural powers, but this…”

“It’s a forest striding spell,” Arle replied indifferently. “You don’t have to be an elf to learn it.”

“I hope you’ll teach it to me, then.”

“I don’t mind. If anything, I think your Holy Swords are much more peculiar.”

The two chatted as they ventured into the depths of the forest. The gigantic Void tear ran wide. The pair would reach their destination by dawn at their current pace.

“Let’s take a break.”

Arle stopped in her tracks when they reached the banks of a lake.

“I can keep going,” Sakuya insisted.

“A forced march can be dangerous. Besides, my shoes and pants are full of sand. I want to wash off.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The two took off their clothes and dipped into the lake. Its water was cold, which was welcome because the long trip had left Arle and Sakuya hot.

“Spirits used to gather at this lake,” Arle said while undoing her ponytail. “If one didn’t cleanse themselves in this lake, the spirits would grow displeased with them and make sure they were lost in the forest forever.”

“Spirits, huh? I don’t see any around now,” Sakuya remarked, scanning the area.

“Back when the Spirit King was still alive, there were as many spirits in this forest as animals.”

“The Spirit King? You mean the spirits had their own ruler?”

“Yes. And the elves were allied with the Spirit King.”

“So what happened to the Spirit King?” Sakuya asked.

Arle’s shoulders sank. “He was destroyed by one of the Dark Lords.”

Moonlight shone on the chalk white palace-like campus building of Elysion Academy and its sleeping residents. The shadow of a large black wolf moved soundlessly through the open-air marble corridors.

This is worse than I thought. I didn’t think it had consumed all the shadows.

Blackas growled quietly. The students studying in this academy went about their lives undisturbed, unaware that all the shadows here had been replaced. But to this black wolf that walked amid the darkness, this place was like…

…A forest covered in hunting traps.

The hand of invasion extended from the center of this place, spreading all over the capital from every shadow. Given that it had taken only about a dozen hours for this academy to fall into the enemy’s grasp, it wouldn’t be long before the shadows in Leonis’s base on the Seventh Assault Garden, Excalibur Academy, were compromised, too.

I won’t let that happen!

Blackas’s golden eyes burned with anger. He’d sent the three Shadow Wraiths that Leonis had lent him to invade the darkness here, but they hadn’t returned. Whoever controlled this place had likely destroyed them. Shadow Wraiths were relatively high-ranked among the monsters in the Dark Lords’ Armies, and three of them had fallen.

Normally, Blackas would’ve returned to Leonis and reported this the moment he realized what had happened. However, he wanted to gain some information on this unknown enemy before he left.

He leaped over a corridor railing into the courtyard. A fountain stood in the center, spouting water that glittered in the moonlight. Blackas’s eyes settled on a shadow wavering within the fountain. Its darkness was so deep that there was no perceivable bottom.

This is a shadow gate.

With a Realm of Shadows of this size, there were undoubtedly other gates in the area. Regardless, Blackas was lucky to have spotted this. Letting out a guttural growl, he plunged into the fountain without a second thought. The only sound he produced was a faint splashing, which echoed through the courtyard.

Slipping through the shadows, Blackas emerged to find himself in a stone hallway. It was similar to the underground labyrinth of Death Hold. But suddenly, the shadow gate behind Blackas disappeared, leaving only a rock wall.

“?!”

Blackas’s golden eyes shone in the dark. Bit by bit, shadow dripped from the gaps in the walls. The darkness molded itself into humanoid monsters.

Blackas howled. His sharp fangs and claws flashed, biting and tearing into the creatures.

“No good. These aren’t ordinary shadow monsters.” Blackas groaned as he spat out a piece of one.

This nasty miasma was the same sort those unsightly monstrosities, Voids, exuded.

“What does this mean?”

“Ho-ho-ho. What a pleasant show. The prince of the Realm of Shadows, the great noble son, reduced to animal form and forced to chew on ugly monsters.”

“Who’s there?!” Blackas barked angrily at the voice echoing around him.

“Have you forgotten my voice, Blackas Shadow Prince, usurper of the Realm of Shadows? I didn’t think you were still alive. I admit, it’s a pleasant surprise.”

“It can’t be. You…” Blackas let out an angry howl. “So this is all your work, Queen of Shadows—Scheherazade!”

The Queen of Shadows had once ruled over the Realm of Shadows, but her reign of tyranny ended when Blackas rebelled against her with Leonis’s aid. He drove her from her throne and exiled her to an eternal wasteland.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho. My Realm of Shadows is undying.”

“Then I will destroy it as many times as it takes.”

“Hmph. Things shall play out differently this time. You should be bound by my curse, and your ally, the Undead King, has been destroyed by the human heroes…”

“?!”

The floor beneath Blackas became a quagmire, which dragged him down. Blackas struggled to free himself, but the shadowy mud only grew heavier.

“Do not bother. This Castle of Shadows is a bound barrier I’ve spent many years constructing. With your current powers, you cannot break free.”

What a blunder. I must at least tell Lord Magnus!

Blackas fought and struggled while gradually drowning in the mire, but his efforts were in vain, and the shadows swallowed him.