"Spear Saint! Scythe Saint!"
"Ehh?"
The unexpected words made me involuntarily turn my gaze back to Iris-san, and the half-naked man in the sky and the man in the ninja costume quietly shook their heads.
"…I do regret to inform you that we no longer hold that title."
"We are the Fallen Saints."
"Fa-Fallen Saints…?"
As I was tilting my head at the unfamiliar words, a boy with a different presence laughed in amusement.
"Hey~, that's terrible that you ignored me. Besides, unfortunately~ they're no longer the Holy that you know. They are the ones who have fallen to us and taken on new powers."
"Fallen…? Uh! Could it be?"
While Iris-san made a startled expression as she realized something, the boy in the sky deepened his smile.
"Did you finally notice it? Then let's get started~──the destruction."
The moment the boy's eyes glittered, the jet-black haze that I had seen in the past when I confronted Yuti and the Fist Saint erupted from the boy's body. Then, a loud sound of destruction could be heard from far away. The sound of destruction gradually got closer and closer, and finally, the identity of the sound appeared in the arena.
"What is that? "
"──Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
The sight made me stare in horror.
"What? This looks the same as what I saw at the shrine the other day…?"
A large number of what were known as "Evil Beasts" had rushed into the arena. The audience screamed and ran away from the sudden intruders, but the "Evil Beasts" attacked them without mercy.
"Ahahahahaha! The screams are wonderful!"
The boy who was probably the one who orchestrated this tragedy looked at the carnage around him with an ecstatic expression on his face.
"Stop it right now!"
Immediately, Iris-san unleashed a slash with divine speed towards the boy floating in the sky, but the slash was blocked by the black darkness overflowing from the boy's body.
"Don't be so impatient; let me at least introduce myself~."
He laughed like a fool and bowed condescendingly.
"I'm Quarro, the Shinigami, and I'm one of the Evil. It's nice to meet you～."
"!"
The boy who smiled in front of me… Quarro, told us that he is one of the Evil, the sworn enemy of Master Usagi, Iris-san, and Yuti. The hint of Evil overflowing from his body was real, and Iris-san's attitude also confirmed that Quarro really is an Evil.
Anyway, I hurriedly tried to move to help the audience, but the two men whom Iris-san had just called "Spear Saint" and "Scythe Saint" stood in front of me.
"…I'm sorry, but I don't want you to disturb us."
"That's right. Therefore, we need you to die here."
"What?"
"Yuuya-kun!"
Iris-san tried to help me when I was pressured by the tremendous spirit from the two of them, but Quarro stood in front of Iris-san's eyes.
"Hey, isn't it terrible that you're ignoring me? I came here just to mess you up. I mean, don't you want to run away or call your friends or something? Well, I'm not giving you any choice, though～."
"…Sure, the situation is bad, and I don't think I can handle it on my own, but I'm still a Holy, so I have to fight…!"
"Hmm. Well, why don't you come at me?"
"…Fuh!"
While sensing that Iris-san and Quarro had begun fighting behind me, I thought about how I should move against the two Fallen Saints in front of me. If what Iris-san said was true, then I would have to deal with two former Holy.
Besides, judging from the situation and the word Fallen Saints, there is a possibility that they have acquired the power of the Evil as a result of them falling to the Evil. That would mean that I would have to deal with two enemies at the same level as the Fist Saint I fought previously.
Even Master Usagi couldn't defeat the Evil Fallen Fist Saint, so how can I, in my normal state, win?
"When one problem is over, another appears. You really have a lot of troubles, don't you?"
"…It's not that I like having them, but…"
Kuro was also awake, and even though I don't remember, if I use the Evil's full power, as I did when I defeated the Fist Saint, I might be able to defeat them. However, suppose I used this power, it was still unstable and cannot be perfectly controlled. In that case, I will fall and become an Evil, just like Quarro, and I would become a target for the Holy to defeat as well.
But even now, as I'm struggling with this, the Evil Beasts were───.
At that moment when I thought about it,
"Gigi? Gii!"
"Giigigigi!"
"Gigyaaa!"
I saw countless arrows piercing through the Evil Beasts.
This arrow… Yuti? Also, following Yuti's arrows, I heard the voices of my dependable family members.
"Grrrr… wooooff!"
"Buhi, buhi~."
Night and Akatsuki defeated the Evil Beasts one after another and healed the injured audience. In such a scene, the men of the Fallen Saints opened their eyes.
"…What's with that little wolf?"
"It's not just the little wolf. That pig is also using a strange skill…"
Then, I noticed that Night, who was destroying the Evil Beast, looked at me for a moment.
He seemed to be saying, "Leave this to me," and so I nodded.
"Now I can fight you guys with peace of mind."
"Huh? Don't say anything crazy. Do you really think that you alone can win against the two of us?"
(──That's why I'm also fighting you two.)
"Huh?"
"M-Master Usagi!"
Master Usagi appeared out of nowhere next to me and quietly looked at the men in front of us.
(…Hmph. I thought that some of the Holy had fallen to the Evil, but… I didn't expect it to be you two. Spear Saint Ronus, and Scythe Saint Jin.)
Hearing Master Usagi's words, the half-naked man with the spear on his back… who was probably Ronus, frowned slightly.
"…The weak will be eliminated. I'm just following that law of nature."
(Hou? So, as a result of that, you became a servant of Evil? Fallen Saints, is it? How dare you call yourself that. You're just a slave to Evil, aren't you?)
"Say what you want. We gained new powers by submitting to the Evil. Those of the Holy who were eliminated were even weaker than us."
Ronus and the Scythe Saint, Jin, each quietly raised their weapons. Seeing this, Master Usagi opened his mouth to direct me as he, too, entered a battle stance.
(Yuuya.)
"Huh?"
(For the moment, I've given a brief explanation of the current situation to Night, Yuti, and the others. The king of this country is probably planning some sort of countermeasure as well. As for the safety of that little girl, Yuti and the one who was with her as her escort are enough to handle it. So for now, just concentrate on defeating the people in front of you.)
"Y-yes!"
It seemed that Master Usagi had made a move, and one of my concerns had been resolved. However, I was wondering what Ouma-san is doing… Well, Ouma-san seemed to be sleeping without a care in this situation, so there's no need to worry. I mean, he's so strong that it's ridiculous to worry about him.
Rather, I should be worried about myself, and I quickly redeployed my [Magic Attire]. Seeing me like that, Ronus swung his spear lightly and laughed with a snort.
"…Hmph. Did you finish your private conversation? If so, let's go this way…!"
(Yuuya! I'll leave that Ronus to you!)
"Yes!"
I immediately took out my [Absolute Spear] and clashed with Ronus' spear.
"…Huh! It seems that you want to die so badly that you are challenging me with a spear! If so, I will kill you as you wish. [Whirlwind Drill]!"
Ronus pulled back his spear and thrust it out with great force. A whirlwind of air swirled around the spear as it pushed forward, cutting the ground. It was deflected by [Absolute Spear] with a narrow margin in the same way that I had deflected Iris-san's attack.
"What… how can you deflect it?"
What was deflected was not only the spear but also the sharp whirlwind that was gathering on the tip of the spear, which made Ronus surprised. I didn't think I'd be able to catch the wind myself, so I was secretly surprised.
"…Kuh! Don't you dare make light of me!"
Then Ronus unleashed a raging wave of thrusts, piercing everywhere. However, I took a good look at them and carefully handled them one by one.
"…What are you…! You're not even a Holy; you're just a human being. How can you keep up with my techniques…!"
(Hmph. You can't compare him to any other human being. He's my disciple, after all.)
"…Usagi's disciple?"
Hearing Master Usagi's words, Ronus widened his eyes, while Jin took advantage of the opportunity to attack Master Usagi.
"It's a good thing you have the guts to look the other way…!"
(I can win even if I'm looking elsewhere.)
"Huh! Can you say the same when you see this power?"
At that moment, a black mist overflows from Jin's body, and he unleashes a powerful swing with his grass-cutting scythe at Master Usagi. However, Master Usagi calmly assessed the attack and delivered a kick to his temple, causing the attack to be deflected.
However, Jin had another grass-cutting scythe in his hand, which he swung to follow up. Master Usagi moved out of the way as a reaction to the first deflected blow. As I unintentionally followed his movements with my eyes, I received a reprimand from Master Usagi.
(Yuuya! If you have time to look at me, take him down quickly!)
"Ah!? Y-yes!"
When I hurriedly readied my spear again, Ronus was trembling tremendously.
"…You. Even though you are Usagi's disciple, you don't use his technique. Instead, you fight with a spear…?"
"Eh?"
I'm not just fighting him with a spear; I'm using it now because I can't find an opening to attack Ronus with a kick. Also, it's because it's easier to take chances with [Absolute Spear] rather than with [Omni Sword], but it didn't appear that way to Ronus.
"…Okay. I'll show you the difference between us."
Then, a black mist overflowed from Ronus's body, and the intimidation from him increased. Kuro inside me laughed amusingly at the scene.
"Hey, hey, the opponent got serious, but… what are you going to do? Do you want to borrow the power of the Evil like before?"
"…No."
"Hmm?"
"Even if I use the power of Evil here, the real Evil behind these opponents is still left. That's why I have to defeat this former Holy, which uses the power of Evil, without relying on the power of Evil itself…!"
For a moment, Kuro seemed surprised by my words, but then he laughed out loud.
"Hahahahaha! That's good! No, I can't believe you could say that about a Holy… Well then, I guess I'll just have to look at the bigger picture from another perspective."
"All right!"
After rounding up the conversation with Kuro, I took a step back from Ronus and immediately switched my weapon to the [Formless Bow] and shot at Ronus from a distance.
"…Haaaahhhhh!"
"Seriously…"
The next moment Ronus emitted a kind of spirit like a shockwave which spread from his body, and all of my arrows were repelled.
"…Die!"
"Uh!?"
Just like Iris-san, he approached me with a speed that made me think that he had moved instantly, and then he thrust out his spear as if to gouge my stomach.
"…[Rising Dragon Piercing]!"
An illusion of a dragon seemed to fly out of the tip of the spear and tried to chew through my stomach. I had no choice but to block this attack that was released from a close distance; I switched from the [Formless Bow] to the [Omni Sword] and swung the sword down to meet the momentum head-on.
"Guuuuhhh!?"
The shock was transmitted through the sword to my entire body. I knew that I would be defeated at this point, but I suddenly felt my body heat up. It was as if the magic circuit inherited from Sage-san… was heating up as if to show me that it existed.
"Haaaaaaaahh!"
"What?"
While receiving Ronus's attack, I prepared to unleash a spell, and when the spell became available, I unleashed the very first spell I had learned, a [Water Ball], at Ronus. It seems that he didn't expect me to counterattack while blocking the attack, and Ronus hurriedly interrupted the attack and tried to distance himself.
However, without missing a beat, I took a step forward with all my might, using the leg strength I had developed during my training with Master Usagi. With all the momentum I could muster, I slammed a kick into Ronus' stomach.
"Ohhhhh!"
"Guhoaaa!"
Ronus couldn't block my kick, and he took some serious damage. He stayed in the sky for a moment with his body in a crooked shape. Although I tried to give chase afterward, Ronus clenched his teeth and forced himself into a stance to unleash another technique before I could follow up.
"…D-don't mess with meeeeeeeee! [One Thousand Spear Piercing]!"
Ronus shot a barrage of raging thrusts at me again in the sky.
It's dangerous… There's no way to prevent it… The moment I despaired… Kuro, who had just said he would only watch, spoke to me in an amused tone.
"Hey, hey, it's no good having you die here, you know? Take a good look at him. You should know what that means."
"Take a good… look…?"
Although the tip of the spear was almost in front of me, I followed Kuro's words and watched Ronus's movements, the trajectory of his spear, and everything else. Then I found myself feeling as if the sounds and sights around me had been silenced. It was similar to the feeling I had when I watched the fighting tournament that had just taken place, but to a completely different level.
It was as if all unnecessary information were blocked out, and I could just see what was happening in front of me at a frighteningly slow pace as if my brain and body were absorbing all the information in front of me. I later found out that I was in the ultimate state of concentration at that time.
And as I watched Ronus' movements, I naturally moved my body.
"───!"
"W-what was that?"
I also released the same technique that Ronus had used, the [One Thousand Spear Piercing]. The [One Thousand Spear Piercing] I released had countered Ronus' [One Thousand Spear Piercing] one after another precisely.
"T-this is impossible! There is no way that my [Spear Holy Art] can be imitated…!"
Ronus shook his head to deny what was happening in front of his eyes and launched another technique.
"[Star Pile]!"
He grasped the spear in his opposite hand and swung it down at me as if it were a flag. When I saw the attack, I dodged it by rolling to the side and avoiding it, and Ronus's spear stood on the ground.
It was enough to shake the arena and cause the ground to cave in. But I wasn't even surprised by that; I just calmly looked at Ronus and attacked him with my [Absolute Spear].
"T-this is not how it's supposed to be… This is definitely not how it's supposed to be!"
When Ronus shouted that, he distanced himself from me with all his might and took a stance with his spear drawn back as hard as he could.
"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee! [Divine Piercing]!"
I could tell at a glance that this was the most powerful attack he had ever made.
A whirlwind wrapped around the tip of his spear like the [Whirlwind Piercing] that he used before. This time it was so huge that it could be mistaken for a tornado, and the spear was coming at me so fast that it left everything behind.
This was why I also released it.
───The same technique as Ronus.
"[Divine Piercing]."
"Ah…"
My move did not create a raging wind like Ronus'. The wind and space were unrecognizable. I thrust it at him.
The moment my [Absolute Spear] and Ronus' spear collided… Ronus' spear shattered.