Chapter 8
Lydia let out a low sigh as she looked at the scene before her.
“Phew….”
Even now, the gigantic skeletal rider was slowly wandering around the dungeon crossroads, spewing blue ghostfire. In response to its power, small skeletons rose from the mounds of dirt scattered throughout the dungeon.
[Gwoooar—!]
Clatter
Clatter
The endless waves of trash mobs.
It was the skeletal rider’s specialty, an early-game undead boss.
Amid that eerie sight,
Mave and her party were trembling inside their prison, unconscious. Mana and life force were draining from their noses and mouths.
“Guh…!”
“Ugh, ugh….”
Lydia pondered for a moment.
“….”
‘…If I just stand by, Mave’s party will die. Then, even though this academy is in the neutral territory of the Three Kingdoms, Instructor Zach and the others won’t escape censure. Besides, Mave, one of the heroines, will be a valuable asset going forward.’
No matter how little she cared about the original story, a heroine actually dying was a separate matter. It would also be a problem if the academy descended into chaos this quickly.
‘At the very least, I could wait until all the heroines are in our party. But it’s too soon for that now.’
Therefore,
the option of [not saving them.] was gone.
“…Good grief.”
Lydia drew her sword.
It was not the crimson longsword she usually used, but a longsword she had bought in the academy shopping district. Her complicated expression was reflected in its unadorned surface.
Shing—!
Arti stared at Lydia in shock.
“L-Lydia…! Don’t tell me…?!”
“Put down your backpack and prepare for battle, Arti.”
“…?!”
“I’ll rescue the cadets scattered around. In the meantime, you fight that skeletal rider. And win. If you can’t, it’ll completely steal their souls.”
“M-me…?!”
“That’s right, Arti.”
Lydia spoke, looking at Arti’s wavering eyes.
“You’re stronger than they are now. So the time has come for you to protect them. That is the fate I want for you.”
“…Fate.”
“Save them, together with Aria.”
Hearing those words, Aria gasped in shock.
“…!”
Saving people.
That was something both Arti and Aria wholeheartedly agreed with.
But…
Apart from that,
it was uncertain whether they ‘could do it.’
Arti and Aria hesitated.
“….”
“….”
Arti had his doubts.
‘I’ve only trained my stamina and honed my skills…. Can I be of any help in this fight? And until recently, I was just an ordinary commoner….’
Because he had encountered the Sacred Sword,
could he step forward just because it was his ‘fate’ to become a hero?
-Was fate merely something given to you?
‘Can I do this…?’
In the midst of this urgent moment,
his thoughts were tangled to the point of bursting.
But there was a voice guiding him.
“…Arti.”
Lydia placed her free hand on Arti’s shoulder. It was a firm, strong hand, like the one that had caught him when he nearly fell onto the dirt.
“!”
Arti jolted in surprise. In his still-wavering eyes remained his trust in his protector, along with the dependence of someone expecting reliable support….
“L-Lydia…?”
“….”
Lydia said,
“Cut it down, for it is no match for you.”
“…!”
It wasn’t a word of help.
It was simply encouragement.
“It hasn’t been long, but your training up to now wasn’t in vain. You came to this academy, met me, met Aria… and you’ve grown stronger and stronger. You’re no longer the ‘ordinary commoner’ you once were.”
So….
“Take pride in yourself.”
Arti shuddered.
“…!”
A sword.
He had already become the princess’s sword.
Though he was still inexperienced,
he had become a sharper sword than he was yesterday.
“Your enemies won’t wait for you to be completely ready. But you’ve spent your time more intensely than anyone else at this academy. With the Sacred Sword, you’ve grown faster than anyone.”
All that remained was….
“…to swing it wherever you wish.”
“!”
“Look toward where your will leads.”
“…Yes!”
Without realizing it, Arti made up his mind.
‘I’ll protect people.’
He had never given it serious thought in his life… but now a resolve had taken root alongside the pride welling up in his heart.
Clenching his fist,
he sensed the power of the Sacred Sword.
The Sacred Sword “Dannan” resonated clearly.
“!”
It was as though it welcomed his resolve.
The Sacred Sword was waiting to be drawn.
‘…A sword that never leaves its sheath can’t protect anyone. That has nothing to do with fate. It’s a matter of will.’
Aria approached Arti. Her hands were trembling with fear, but she clenched them tightly and met his gaze with determination.
“I’ll help, too. Not because the princess ordered me to.”
“…Saintess.”
“I want to help the person the Sacred Sword’s fate has pointed to. I want to save people with you. And I want to believe in the person I’ve seen up to now. For now, that’s all I’m thinking about.”
“I feel the same way.”
The three of them looked in the same direction at once.
At the same time,
the skeletal rider noticed them.
[Gwoooar—!!]
It began charging, sweeping its enormous spear through the air. Blue ghostfire danced wildly at its tip, aimed at the skeletons rising from the ground.
Like an enraged mob,
blue ghostfire flashed in the eyes of countless skeletons.
Lydia said,
“Now, let’s begin. You two, fight that skeletal rider and defeat it.”
“Yes!”
“…All right!”
“Don’t stop thinking. Remember what you’ve learned so far. There’s always an answer. I’ll rescue the fallen among those skeletons.”
Arti looked at Lydia. But his eyes no longer wavered.
“….”
He was only worried. Rescuing the unconscious cadets amid that avalanche of skeletons might be harder than fighting the skeletal rider.
“…Can you do it?”
“….”
Lydia couldn’t help laughing.
Worrying about that now?
“Hehe.”
Good grief.
‘You’re worried about me over something this minor. You’ll faint when you see the hardships still ahead, Arti.’
“Lydia…?”
“It’ll be fine. Come to think of it, this is your first real battle, so you probably don’t know what to expect. Charge when I give the signal.”
“?”
Lydia walked forward steadily, sword in hand. Then she turned slightly toward Arti and Aria. A faint smile appeared at her lips.
They swallowed as they looked into her eyes.
“!”
“!”
As if…
endless red flames were raging within the princess’s eyes. The flames were so fierce, they seemed to have sprung from the sun itself.
‘Flames…? And what is this oppressive presence…?’
Lydia said,
“I’ll show you. Your master is not weak.”
She leaped several meters in a single bound and plunged among the enraged skeletons.
-Kyaaaak—!!
-Skeeeer—!!
Dozens of skeletons, their ghostfire glowing, sought to tear apart the living person who dared enter their midst. They would leave not even a trace of her beneath dozens of grasping hands.
There,
Lydia swung the sword in her right hand horizontally. It was an immaculate motion, almost like a salute.
A horizontal slash.
It was a simple movement, not even worthy of being called swordsmanship. Yet its aftermath was beyond imagination.
Shhk—!
The skeletons that had seemed poised to tear Lydia apart froze. They stood rigid, unable to understand the sudden change that had come over them.
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
And then.
With a gentle breeze,
like a massive sandcastle scattering in the wind….
Dozens of skeletons were cleaved apart and collapsed.
Rumble!
Arti and Aria shuddered at the sight.
“I-incredible…!”
Lydia’s strike surpassed the skill of a knight who merely wielded mana. They could tell at a glance that it was a blow whose limits were impossible to gauge.
‘Just how skilled is the princess…?’
But it wasn’t over.
The enraged skeletons sprouted from the ground again like weeds, accompanied by the skeletal rider’s blue ghostfire. One after another… an endless war of attrition had begun.
-Kyaaaak—!!
-Skeeeer—!!
Amid them, Lydia gripped her sword with both hands.
Then she faced the approaching skeletons one at a time. Diagonally, horizontally, turning her body—she slashed upward vertically. When one sword strike felled a skeleton, another appeared.
As her blows continued,
the skeletons shattered.
The battle was so fierce that their remains rained down from above.
A battlefield where white flowers fluttered,
an endless sword dance and blue ghostfire dancing together.
The princess continued her sword dance without end.
[Gwoooar—!]
Using his own soldiers, who fell helplessly, as a shield, the skeletal rider retreated far into a corner with the clatter of hooves.
And…
The skeletal rider’s ominous mount let out a neigh. Blue ghostfire danced along the tip of its needle-sharp spear as it began to target the one smashing its soldiers to pieces.
In sync with that attack,
ghostfire spewed from the eyes and mouths of the skeletons rising from the ground.
But the skeletal rider’s opening was exposed.
Lydia shouted,
“Now! Arti! Aria! Go—!”
“!”
“!”
Arti and Aria reflexively began running toward the skeletal rider. Toward the end of the dim crossroads, where blue ghostfire shimmered beyond their field of vision….
*
The path to the skeletal rider wasn’t easy. Skeletons kept blocking the way along the route.
-Kyaaaak—!
“!”
A few skeletons, their bodies wrapped in ghostfire, came charging at them. There weren’t nearly as many as Lydia was holding back, but they were enough to hinder Arti and Aria’s sprint.
Arti reached out his right hand and summoned the Sacred Sword.
“Dannan—!”
With a heavy resonance,
a blue sword appeared in the boy’s hand.
He gripped it firmly with both hands. Then, steadying his breathing, he recalled Lydia’s teachings.
-You don’t need complicated techniques to fight low-level monsters.
-Th-then what do I need?
-Raise the sword hilt above your head, and point the tip horizontally at your opponent.
It was a stance in which his raised sword and body crossed like a cross.
-It’s a stance that lets you thrust at any moment or raise your sword to deflect a blow. With a single instant of intuition, keep choosing between attack and defense and linking them together.
‘Attack and defense at the same time—!’
Arti raised the hand holding the Sacred Sword above his head and held it steady. The physical training he had done and “Accelerated Healing” had become firm ground beneath his feet.
A skeleton launched itself at him, brimming with ghostfire.
“Kyaaaak—!”
“!”
A huge attack, and an equally huge opening!
“Take this—!”
Arti shouted as he thrust the Sacred Sword toward the skeleton’s burning skull. He felt the skull shatter against the tip of the blue blade.
Crackle!
“…!”
‘I defeated it…!’
But beyond the skeleton that shattered and fell backward, two more skeletons approached. They leaped at him, each targeting one of his limbs.
‘…Defense!’
Arti lowered the sword he had thrust out, striking away the skeleton coming from below. Then he turned the blade in a circle again and cut down the skeleton coming from above.
Slash—!
The tip of the blue sword swept around in a circle.
The Sacred Sword moved faster. He thrust with it, blocked, raised it, and returned to his stance. Several skeletons were smashed to pieces in an instant.
No more skeletons stood in Arti’s way.
But.
“Hero! Behind you!”
“…?!”
When he turned at Aria’s voice, he saw—
with its mouth wide open,
the flaming skull of a skeleton floating in midair.
A huge fireball burst from the skeleton’s mouth. The flame, its tongue flickering, rushed toward Arti’s eyes.
‘Damn, with undead monsters, you have to destroy their core of power…?!’
At the moment Arti realized his mistake,
Aria stepped in front of him. A golden radiance gathered in both her hands. She had cast a low-ranking holy spell.
“Great Sun—! Protect us!”
The golden radiance became a thin barrier around Arti and Aria. Like glass, it shattered under the fire attack.
Crash—!
Fortunately, Aria and Arti had been running. So they escaped the fireball’s explosion, which went off before it reached its original target.
Aria made the sign of the cross toward the floating skull.
“Judgment of the Sun—! Annihilate the darkness—!”
Golden lightning flashed in the sky above the dark crossroads. The skull struck by the lightning shattered in midair.
Aria looked at Arti and said,
“Keep going—!”
“!”
Arti suddenly remembered when they had gathered the red herbs.
“….”
The words Aria had answered shyly.
-I’ll come with you, too.
It dawned on him that Aria’s answer
hadn’t been a mere promise.
She was his companion.
It was the first time he had realized that.
‘Fighting alongside a companion…!’
Arti answered,
“Yes! Let’s go together!”
“Yes, Hero.”
At last, the two reached the skeletal rider.
The skeletal rider circled once, like a general surveying the battlefield. Beneath its ominous horse’s hooves, ghostfire rose like mist.
Clip-clop
Clip-clop
Then it stopped.
“…!”
At that moment.
[Gwoooar—!]
The skeletal rider charged like an arrow. Its spear tip, shimmering with blue ghostfire, came hurtling toward them in a chilling charge.
“!”
Arti dodged while holding Aria in his arms.
“Watch out—!”
“Kyaah?!”
Slash—!
The skeletal rider’s charge passed harmlessly by the two of them.
But it soon wheeled around and came toward them again.
Arti rolled across the ground with Aria in his arms, forcing his body, stiff with tension, back into action. Amid the breaths rising and falling with the excitement of battle, he drew out “Accelerated Healing.”
That, too, was something Lydia had taught him.
-Awaken your second heart.
“In battle, you’ll have two hearts beating…!”
Blue mana faintly welled up from Arti’s Sacred Sword. It seemed to cry out that it could protect the hero from a mighty blow.
And then.
Arti’s Sacred Sword and the skeletal rider’s spear collided.
Crash!