Chapter 104: The Chosen One
A red meteor fell down from the sky. Aquim Bonvoul quickly set up barriers, but even though they can cut off a giant's arm, they were useless as paper in the face of the overwhelming mana of the vampire.
"Tchh!!"
Realizing that defense was impossible when the threads were shredded, Aquim Bonvoul leaped to the side. His attempt to counterattack was delayed for a moment, and then――
The sound disappeared.
Immediately after, a roar shook the ground. After the flash of light, all that remained was a huge crater. Standing in the center of the crater were slaughtered hundreds of demons. The purple eyes of the vampire are somewhat fiery, as though she is looking at the person she has been longing for.
"It's been a long time, Aquim Bonvoul. I have received permission from....... Maou-sama. If I defeat you, you will be mine for the rest of your life. You should be honored. You will be my pet, my noble pet."
"A pet? Are you still sleeping, you idiot! No one can own me. You are a selfish bitch and you should be my pet."
Steam rises from Aquim Bonvoul's body. As a result of the blow that the vampire released, the temperature of the surroundings increased instantaneously, and the demon's blood that had stained the armor was evaporating.
The vampire's lustful eyes change from purple to red.
"Beautiful, strong, and arrogant. You're unbelievably weak, but I don't mind it. Fufu. I love you like that. That's why, okay? Be my lover, Cha...... Aquiiiim."
The earth explodes. Immediately after, Aquim and the vampire disappear from the image.
Bang*! A part of the demon army was blown away. The explosion did not stop at that one time but continued to occur here and there on the battlefield. Each time, the Demon King's army was unable to do anything and was blown up.
What in the world is going on? No matter how hard I tried to focus on the images showing in my mind, I could see nothing but demons that were being blown away.
(Fumu. As expected of both of them.)
Saying this, the Demon King snapped her fingers, and the two figures appeared in the image again.
The images we are seeing now are the result of the Demon King's magic. The fact that the two disappeared from the image means that the speed of the battle between the knight and the vampire exceeded the Demon King's magic, even if only for a moment.
But such a thing is not surprising. How can one doubt the power of the Demon King in the face of the mythical battle unfolding in the connected minds?
These two... are unbelievable.
“Kyahahahaha!! As expected of Aquiiiiim."
Each blow the vampire delivers is large and unformed, it looks like an amateur move, but...... it is not. The vampire just understands the potential hidden in one's body. Does a wild bear need a knife? Would a dragon become stronger by learning martial arts? The answer is no. They don't need it, whether they can use it or not. They just need to hone their natural strength. That is all they need to do to easily reach the state of being able to call themselves killers.
All they have to believe in is their own instinct.
"Keh. I'm glad you're in a good mood, but don't think you can kill Aquim-sama if you're not serious."
The knight Aquim, however, is not intimidated in the face of the power that is inaccessible to humans. He sometimes parries the lethal fists, sometimes evades them, and sometimes hits with his own attacks. What in the world gives this knight an advantage over his opponent, whose physical capabilities far exceed his own?
At the end of the thousands of attacks and defenses that happened in a single moment, the vampire let out a sigh, heated with desire.
"Haa. That's good~. Even though I'm superior in physical ability, I can't finish my hunt. It's a feat worthy of the noble. I'm gonna...... get wet."
"Of course it is. Who do you think I am. It's Aquim Bonvoul. I've got techniques that will take down women. If you're frustrated, why don't you try these techniques of mine?"
The knight avoided the vampire's powerful blow with a well-developed gait and used his momentum to thrust his blade at the vampire.
To outperform an opponent who exceeds one's own physical ability, using one's own established principles. This is the peak in martial arts. Not only can he handle the holy swords of the past, but he can also handle the skills of the person who has mastered them.
The perfection of the techniques that our predecessors have spent so many years culminating, it was now hunting down the most powerful predator.
The air bursts and the ground cracks open. In this place where the flesh and blood of the demons that got involved in the fierce battle, as if they were competing with each other, the vampire, however, didn't get stained even a speck of dirt with the red aura she is using.
"Ha? Are you asking me to imitate someone else? I'm amused. I am a noble woman, I don't need such skills. With my good looks, I can do whatever I want. And you, of course......!"
The vampire switches from kicking to a fist-centered fighting style. The power of each blow is reduced, but the number of attacks increases by magnitude.
"Kyahahaha! What's wrong? Move more. More! More! Moreee!!"
"Tch! Y-you bastard!"
An unstoppable barrage. The vampire...... accelerates. Kill or be killed. The wildness, which bets everything on a single hunt, without regard for itself, finally surpasses the knight's prowess by a fraction of a second.
"I got youuu!!"
The sun's radiance converges on the vampire's fist. The slightest opening, obtained at the end of a breathless attack and defense, is used to create the moment. The blow that was delivered with the help of the gap was much more powerful than anything that had come before.
The attack that would end everything, was approaching the guardian of the kingdom. But in the face of it, the knight smiled.
“You idiot! You fell for it. Eat this, fucker [Mirror Out]
Aquim's sword instantly wraps around his right hand and transforms into a shield. The vampire's own image was reflected in the mirror-like shield. Immediately after, the vampire's fist strikes.
"Wha!?"
An attack that could probably slaughter even a dragon with a single blow. The moment it touched the shield, the vampire felt a shock in her chest. The vampire was blown backward with blinding speed.
"The holy sword [Mirror Out] transfers the attack to the mirrored target."
Was it me or someone else who muttered this? As the forced integration of our mind continues, it seems that the boundary between one's self and others is becoming more and more difficult to distinguishーー
The mirror shield shattered.
"Gaaah!? Damn it!"
The vampire's blow was so powerful that it could not return it all. As soon as the shield shattered, Aquim Bombor's body fell back.
Although he had managed to push back the vampire for the time being, the damage to the knight's body was not light. The sword had returned to its original form, and the right arm part of the armor that had caught the vampire's attack had several large cracks.
"Your back is open, Aquim-dono."
It's terrifyingly quiet, like walking on the surface of a lake without a single wave. The spirit was running behind the knight with a refined movement that was the opposite of the energetic vampire.
"Tchh!"
The knight turns around and slashed at it. The knight's movement, while caught off guard, is not lacking in precision, and the fast sword swing strikes the spirit. Everyone saw the head of the spirit being cut off. Butーー
"...Wrong. Your grip is not strong, you know?"
The knight's body soared high into the sky as the spirit touched the side of the blade with a light touch. The sight reminded me of the technique that Aquim performed on the general in the conference room. But unlike that time, the knight was using a sword, and she was doing the same thing to Aquim.
The awareness of those who know the situation is shared with all. Anxiety gripped the connected minds.
"B-bastard!"
The knight, who had soared so high above, probably because of the power in his sword, turned his holy sword into a thread in preparation for a follow-up attack. A barrier was formed around Aquim.
"That's an interesting toy."
The spirit clapped her hands, and the threads burst as if they were hit by bullets made of air. Furthermoreーー
"Guh!?"
Aquim's body was launched further up into the sky.
"Now, let's see what you can do."
Leap*. The spirit attacks the defenseless knight in the air.
"Take it, Aquim-dono. Let the currents of battle flow through you with my secret techniques."
The white spirit's curse power transformed into more than a hundred knives, and they attacked the knight like a raging torrent.
"It doesn't matter how many of them you shoot, it's useless."
Aquim slashed down the numerous knives that attacked him with unseen slashes. The shattered remnants of the knives glistened beautifully in the sunlight.
The spirit, not caring, continued to generate and release knives and rode on one of them. The knife approached the knight with the spirit on it.
"Hyahoo, coming."
"Keh, that looks fun, oi!"
Riding a knife, not surfing. Aquim swung his holy sword down at the head of the spirit that was approaching with tremendous speed.
Clang*! Steel spark and they swap altitudes with each other.
"Death, pile it up like snow"
When the spirit that took the top chanted, something moved around Aquim. Is that...... the remnants of the knife that Aquim had just cut down? They attacked Aquim in the air with movements like leaves dancing in the wind.
"What!?"
Aquim, who had noticed something wrong immediately, avoided it just in time, but he was not able to avoid it all and a part of his armor was cut open. The armor that Aquim wears is the highest quality custom-made armor in the Kingdom of Light. It was a very light touch, but it cut through the armor.
"You, this technique of yoursーー"
"Do you have time to talk?"
The snowflakes that flutter in the wind hit Aquim again. The amount is much larger than before, and it comes from all directions. It is no longer a snowflake, but a blizzard of diamond dust that blows across the land where life is not allowed.
.
"I command you! Leave the conflict. [Water world]."
Just as the beautiful god of death was about to swallow the knight, a sphere of water enveloped Aquim's entire body. The shimmering blade dancing in the air could not break through it.
"As expected! You're doing it well for a borrowed power."
Immediately afterward, the spirit leaps down, using the knife that had stopped it in mid-air as a foothold. She cut a straight line toward Aquim.
The sphere of water protecting Aquim bursts open, and the spirit's knife cuts Aquim's neckーー
"Ha! You're too slow that it's making me yawn."
Aquim stopped the knife in the nick of time with his holy sword. Silver and white gazes collide at close range. The spirit's beautiful but not scary, friendly smile broke. What is seen from beneath the smile is unmistakablyーー the god of death.
"That's the way it has to be!!"
Steel colliding. In the world, where gravity dominates, more than a billion sparks bloomed. We could not know the details of the battle, which was far beyond the perception of the Demon King, and before we could form any kind of opinion about the battle, the two had returned to the ground alive. And thenーー
Blood spurted from the knight's entire body, and his knees hit the ground.
“Guhaa!? Haa, haa... y-you bastard."
“Umu. Unexpectedly, this might kill you."
The two knives spin around in the spirit's palm.
"Haa, haa... ha? No, no. What? Don't think that you just won, oi."
"No, no, no. No matter how one looks at it, this is a victory for me. It's unsightly, Aquim-dono."
"No, no, no, no. Aquim-dono won't lose. Aquim-dono is the strongest."
"Nope. The strongest is shown with strength, not with words. It's ridiculous, you know?"
"Alright. After I beat you to a pulp, you're going to be my sex slave. I'm going to make you sore with my big thing."
"I'm not very good at sex, so if possible, I would like to ask you to refrain from doing it. Besides, at this rate, isn't it Aquim-dono who's going to be beaten up?"
The spirit smiled at him, and a streak appeared on the knight's temple.
"Fine. Don't regret it, okay?"
"Regret is an effect that occurs when lessons are not digested. I have nothing to do with that sort of thing."
"Keep talking!"
And so the swords and knives clashed once again. The battle with the vampires is a contest of extremes, but with beautiful and fluid movement, it is a dance performed with the best of partners.
The battle between the two grows quieter and more intense, and eventually, they reach a point where they lose each other's weapons. The sound of blades crossing each other disappears, leaving only the occasional sparse sound of shredded pieces of meat falling to the ground, caught in their blows.
A maelstrom occupies the sea called the battlefield. Just when it seemed as if the intensity of the battle would swallow everything in its path, a change occurs.
"Tchh!!"
Steel explodes and blood splatters. The knight, whose arm had been heavily slashed with its armor, lost his balance. It was the spirit that won the battle.
"Convergent end・Those that end in death."
The spirit, seeing an opportunity to win, muttered something. Immediately, the space around the knight was distorted, and an invisible power overtook him. Furthermore, everything that existed around the knight, stones, demons, and even the knife created by the spirit became a barrage of bullets that rushed toward the knight.
"One after another."
The knight cut down the barrage with high-speed movement and slashes, but just a moment later, the arm that had just been sliced open by the spirit drew back its sword. Immediately afterーー using the barrage as a distraction, the spirit succeeds in catching Aquim off guard.
"Firstーー"
"White Out."
The holy sword was held up to the sky. The power that converged there swallowed everything.
The holy sword [Whiteout]. Sharna's holy sword, which is called the strongest. It can gather an inexhaustible amount of mana from its surroundings, and depending on the user, it can even produce more power than the king, making it truly the most powerful sword.
(Kyaaaa!! I love you!!)
Somewhere in the converged mind, I felt someone I knew well was shouting.
The knight's attack blows up everything around him and made a hole in the battlefield that surpassed the crater created by the vampire. The spirit is blown away by the overwhelming force, which leaves no room for techniques.
"Haa, haa... what do you think? This is... haa, haa... my power, you idiot!"
At the moment when Aquim relaxed slightly to heal his wounded body, several chains that sprang out from the shadow on the ground wrapped around the knight's entire body.
"Guah!? This me, being tied up like a masochist!? D-don't mess with me, kora!"
Powered by his anger, Aquim's entire body was filled with power. The chains made a creaking sound.
"Love and hatred are both forms of bondage. You think you're connected, but before you know it, you've connected yourself. It's your chain, Aquim-sama."
A demon in a black dress approaches the knight with leisurely steps, as though walking on a red carpet. In her hand was a chain with a collar attached.
The cloth covering the demon's eyes fell off by itself. The golden eyes that appeared from under it further bound the knight's body with their abilities.
“Guhh!?... Keh! D-do you think you can bind me with such a thing? You weird woman!"
"That figure of yours which is strong, and struggles to stand on its feet...... is very tempting."
When the knight let out a cry of anguish at the many layers of chains binding him, the demon who heard it made an evil smile full of cruelty.
"D-don't get carried away. It's me who will fuck you!"
Once again, the holy sword begins to absorb mana from the surroundings. He intends to break the chains and the different powers that are wrapped around his entire body with his unlimited power.
"Shadow・Sink down."
The demon whispered softly, and a shadow was born at the knight's feet. It is a trap that engulfs and preys on life. Aquim's body begins to sink into the shadow.
"You cheeky...!"
The holy sword thrusts into the shadow. The brilliance that dispels the darkness obliterates the demon's trap. Butーー
"Let me tell you, if he dies, I'll kill you, you know?"
A black sun appears far above the knight. Sun? No, that'sーー
“Kasadora! You bitch!!"
A vampire with a blazing black flame in her right hand. Aquim quickly takes evasive action in the face of this overwhelming power, which seems to surpass even the brightness of the stars. Butーー
"Have you forgotten about me?"
"Me too."
The demon's power bound the knight's body, and as if drawn to him, a thousand knives rushed toward him from all directions.
"Damn it!"
He dispelled the demon's powers with his holy sword and cut down the spirit's knife with a skill that could be described as the ultimate in swordsmanship. The series of actions were nothing short of magnificent, and Aquim's power in accomplishing this equaled or even surpassed the legendary heroes of the legendary stories.
However, the situation was too tense to display such divine deeds.
"Black Pleasure・The sun's sunshine."
The vampire's black flames would burn everything. No one who touches the flames will survive. Even the most powerful dragon, even the Demon King who they follow, is nothing more than a moth to be burned by the flames.
Convincing all living things, it is a power that can be called a miracle. It hit Aquim Bonvoul…… It would hit directly.
"…………Ah."
Who was it that muttered that? No, everyone must have thought.
It's over.
The black flames have created a huge hole centered on the place where Aquim Bonvoul was, which is fundamentally different from the two craters that opened wide on the battlefield.
No one... can see the bottom.
Did a star fall? It was such a blow that even such a delusion came to mind. After being hit by it, it is out of the question to consider survival. Everyone was convinced of that, but thenーー
"…………Ah!"
A little light lit up.
Immediately, all the consciousness focused on that light. It was so small compared to the hole created by the black flame. However, the light was filled with a mysterious power that dispelled the despair of those who saw it.
What a beautiful... rainbow-colored glow.
Floating in the air, protected by its radiance, is the guardian of the kingdom with wounds all over his body and a will to fight in his eyes. And the one who is embracing the guardian from behind as if to protect him isーー
"No way!?"
The converged mind shakes greatly. Is it the Demon King's fury or......... fear?
“W-why are you here!?”
With trembling fingers, the one who controls the demons pointed at the woman hugging the knight from behind.
The woman in her white robe was beautiful. Beautiful is an understatement. Her black hair looked as if it had been braided with the night sky shining brilliantly with the light emitted by the stars, and her rainbow-colored eyes held all the beauty in the world.
Beautiful. But what was even more shocking was that we knew her.
Yes, it was impossible not to know her. Because this is the Kingdom of Light. There are some differences in the various stories and works. But still, there is no one who does not know who she is.
No way? How is this possible? But, that figureーー.
The converged mind shakes on an unprecedented scale. Confusion, doubt, hope. I remembered Aquim Bonvoul's words, as I was being tossed about in a whirlpool of such emotions.
I'll tell you. The secret of my strength.
The Demon King's dry laugh echoed in my stunned consciousness, or rather, in our consciousness.
"I see, so that's how it is. Kukuku. No wonder, no wonder you are so strong. I had no idea that you were behind this. Is that knight a servant to keep you in this world after you are wounded? ......Ei! What are you doing!? Kill him! That..."
And so, finally, the Demon King cries out her name. The legendary name.
"Kill the hero... chosen by the Founder!"
Even if someone suspects this is fraud, who would be willing to even try to call Aquim out.
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