Chapter 45: Khaos Brigade (5)
Azrail Astaroth Pov:
The White Dragon Emperor turned towards me, his face showing both interest and caution. "You are strong… Who are you?"
"Haah…"
My lips curled into a small smile.
'The plot of having an overly talented rival for a below-average and ordinary main character…'
It looked like I ran into one of the main characters of DxD and the protagonist's destined rival.
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.
.
'Let's assess the situation first before acting…'
[Notice. Increasing 'Thought Acceleration' to one hundred times.]
'I can kill the Holy Sword Wielder and the Magician with a simple [Melt]…'
Most humans had little 'aura' compared to supernaturals, which meant their natural resistance against such abilities was also weaker.
[Melt] could kill anyone with a lesser aura to protect themselves than me, supernatural or not.
However, there was one problem with that method.
'I can't control [Melt]… Liese and Selina will die, too…'
That'd be too much of a loss for me.
'But even without [Melt], killing these two isn't a problem. The real concern is the White Dragon Emperor and Caliburn…'
Caliburn wasn't the strongest Holy Sword for nothing. If its Holy Aura were fully released, it'd reduce my overall combat strength to somewhat concerning levels.
Devils could only resist Holy Aura by having a lot of Demonic Power, and as talented as I was, it wasn't something I could do right now.
Even though my combat strength was already in the lower ends of Ultimate Class, that was mainly thanks to the perfect control, techniques, and spells I had.
While my Demonic Power Reserves were above High Class, they still hadn't reached the Ultimate Class. Not yet, at least.
But even then, if it were an actual fight, I could still defeat Caliburn's current wilder and the Magician pretty easily.
They weren't all that strong.
The troublesome part was dealing with the White Dragon Emperor.
'Even though he's hiding his aura well, I can tell he's strong…'
He was the strongest in their group, but it wasn't enough to defeat me in a one-on-one.
However, that was without accounting for Caliburn's Holy Aura suppression and the Divine Dividing's [Divide].
If he managed to use [Divide] on me, half of my power would vanish every ten seconds, and I'd be screwed.
Not to mention, I didn't know if the current White Dragon Emperor had unlocked his [Balance Breaker] yet.
That was the biggest 'what if' scenario.
The [Balance Breaker] would give him a boost in physical attributes and remove the ten-second limit on [Divide].
'The only real restriction on [Divide] is that the user needs to touch the target's body…'
There were also things like [Half Dimension] and [Juggernaut Drive] to consider while fighting the White Dragon Emperor.
The wielders of the [Boosted Gear] and [Divine Dividing] were infamous for activating [Juggernaut Drive] if pushed to the edge, trying their best to take the enemy down with them.
'Also, there's something off about his aura... I can tell he's a Devil/Human Hybrid, but I can't pinpoint which lineage he is from…'
It was strange, so strange.
'And those distinct silver hair of his… He's a main character, so the possibility isn't unlikely…'
Well, whatever the case might be, the simplest method was to confirm it myself.
[Reducing 'Thought Acceleration' to the usual twenty times.]
After a few seconds of silence, I glanced back at the White Dragon Emperor. "What? Isn't it rude to ask that without introducing yourself first?"
The White Dragon Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly, but his stance remained unchanged. "Who are you? I won't ask a third time."
"Man…" My smile widened a little. "You make it sound like I'm at a disadvantage here…"
The moment my words finished—
Whoosh!*
Arondight emerged from the ground ahead of the Holy Sword Wielder, its blade aimed at his chest.
CLANG!*
The blonde swordsman barely managed to block the incoming attack, and the sound of swords clashing reverbed when the tip of Arondight's blade clashed with Caliburn.
Even though he managed to block the attack, it still pushed him back several steps, his hands trembling as the force behind Arondight increased.
"How—?!" The witch's eyes widened in shock, hurriedly turning towards the blonde swordsman. "He shouldn't be able to use magic under that restrain spell…!"
"What restrain spell are you talking about?"
I disappeared from beside Lieselotte and reappeared behind the Holy Sword Wielder, raising my right hand towards his head as a magic circle appeared in front of my index finger.
The witch and swordsman were so surprised that they couldn't even react properly, but before I could do anything—
"Stop…"
The White Dragon Emperor grabbed my arm.
'He followed my movements… Impressive.'
Although I was holding back, I still used [Gravity Magic] and [Way of the Wind] to move.
On the other hand, if I had tried a little, it would've been game over for the two humans.
"Why should I?" I looked into the White Dragon Emperor's eyes and smiled. "These two attacked me first; this is simply an act of self-defence."
When considering our overall compatibility, I was at a disadvantage here—no doubt about it, but there was no reason for me to let the enemy know about that, right?
The White Dragon Emperor paused, his eyes widened in shock. I couldn't help but laugh at his intense reaction.
"What's with that face? You need to touch someone to activate [Divide], remember?"
The White Dragon Emperor glanced at his wrist, only to realise that his palm wasn't in contact with my arm but the thin layer of darkness surrounding it.
The layer of darkness wasn't in direct contact with me, allowing me to avoid [Divide] temporarily.
But his touching the darkness I created meant Great Sage could take a detailed analysis of his body.
[Notice. The White Dragon Emperor has eight bat-like wings sprouting on his back, and his raw Demonic Power Reserves far surpasses Master.]
'Sure enough…'
The current White Dragon Emperor was the descendent of one of the Original Four Great Satans and the King of Devils, Lucifer.
For a half-breed to have so much raw demonic power that it left most pure-blooded devils from the 72 Pillars in the dust—it made perfect sense for him to be from the Lucifer Clan.
'Lucifer would be rolling in his grave if he knew his descendent was using a tool Biblical God created for a species he considered inferior…'
It wasn't a secret that Lucifer had a hate boner for the Biblical God and the species he considered inferior.
How would he react if he knew his descendent was related to both?
[Answer. Lucifer will most likely kill his descendant on the spot.]
Great Sage's conclusion didn't sound too far off from the truth.
And everything aside, how was Issei, a below-average human, supposed to be the rival of someone with so much potential?
It was no different from a cripple trying to compete against a professional athlete.
"You…"
The White Dragon Emperor narrowed his eyes at me, and I continued with the same smile.
"How about we make a bet, White Dragon Emperor?"
"A bet?"
"Yes… Let's see what's faster: my spell-casting speed or your hand…"
The White Dragon Emperor's expression worsened after hearing those words, but before he could reply, the little witch's panicked, barely noticeable voice came from the side.
"B-Brother…"
The Holy Sword Wielder and the White Dragon Emperor turned towards her, and their eyes widened.
"Le Fey…!"
Two blades extended from my shadow towards Le Fay, only stopping a few millimetres away from her neck. Her body trembled in fear when she glanced at the two blades, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
No matter how great her talent was, she was still a child.
'Le Fay, huh? My previous guess was correct… These two are the descendants of King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay…'
To think someone from Lucfier's bloodline would team up with a hero's descendants.
"How about it, White Dragon Emperor?" I looked at him from the corner of my eyes, my lips curling into a mocking smile. "Wanna find out whether you can crush my hand before these two lose their heads?"
The magic circle in front of me started rotating while the shadow blades moved closer to Le Fay's neck, slowly digging into her flesh.
"Stop it…!"
The White Dragon Emperor looked angry and frustrated. His grip around my wrist tightened, his aura surging, almost as if he was ready to attack me the moment I acted.
"If you want me to stop, step back and deactivate Divine Dividing, or I'll blow their heads off…"
The White Dragon Emperor frowned at those words.
Although Sacred Gear users could activate their equipment with a thought, the process wasn't instantaneous.
If he did as I told him to, it'd leave him vulnerable for a second, which was all I needed to land a decently strong hit on him.
"Fine… You better not hurt them, or else…"
The White Dragon Emperor gave me a fierce look before releasing my wrist and stepping back, albeit reluctantly. The pair of light wings on his back disappeared, too.
'That's not the reaction I expected…'
From everything I noticed in our short exchange, the chances of him not understanding what I meant were the highest.
[Answer. Albion must've warned his partner that Master could kill the two humans whenever he wanted and that his current actions were a form of negotiation.]
If that were the case, Albion's thinking wasn't wrong.
The reason I threatened to kill the two humans was simple.
If the White Dragon Emperor heeded my warning and backed off, I'd release his companions, and after that, we could have a proper conversation.
We could've done the same if I explained the situation before attacking them, but backing off first meant showing weakness. That wasn't an option.
Most of all, I wanted to bully… I mean, discipline these rude brats. An adult needs to guide the young ones, no?
'Well, Albion realising my intentions isn't a surprise…'
It wasn't hard to tell that I didn't wish to fight the White Dragon Emperor right now.
The risk of him activating [Juggernaut Drive] amidst battle wasn't something I wanted to take. If he died because of my impulsive actions, I'd lose my chance to prepare a proper plan and capture him later.
Not to mention, I still needed to find Gleipnir.
My interest in a grimoire that operated on time-space far surpassed my interest in researching Divine Dividing and Lucifer's lineage.
After all, the former was one of the things I had wanted to learn more about even before coming to this world.
To make it better, Gleipnir could help me improve Latia's [Power of Time] beyond its inherent limits, something I had been thinking about for quite some time. [1]
"Please, I never planned on hurting them…"
I smiled at the White Dragon Emperor, lowering my hand as the magic circle and shadow blades disappeared.
The moment those shadow blades vanished, Le Fay's body went limp, and she almost fell off her broomstick.
The Holy Sword Wielder was the same, breathing heavily and stumbling a little.
It was probably their first time experiencing a situation where their lives were on the line, so such dramatic reactions made sense.
"Be careful of who you attack out of nowehere. Not everyone is as reasonable as me…"
With those wise words, I disappeared from behind the swordsman and reappeared next to Lieselotte, much to the latter's surprise.
"Don't worry." After noticing Lieselotte and Selina's fearful expressions, I turned towards them. "I won't risk your lives just to pick a fight with them."
"Yes…"
"Thank you…"
Selina and Lieselotte knew they were the weakest here, so if a fight broke out, their only chance of survival was running away.
It would be strange if they weren't scared in such a situation.
A few seconds later, I turned back towards the White Dragon Emperor and his companions with a small smile.
"Now, why don't we introduce ourselves?"
It took some time, but we concluded that everything was a misunderstanding and properly introduced ourselves.
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"We apologise for attacking you out of nowhere, Lord Azrail…" Le Fay lowered her head a little as a sign of apology. "We had no idea you were the one who saved those two girls…"
"It was our fault."
Following his sister's lead, Arthur also lowered his head a little.
Surprisingly enough, the two of them didn't seem to hold any grudges against me for bullying them, and their apology was honest, too.
'Regardless of their strength, they must've realised how much I held back against them…'
"It's fine..."
I accepted their apology and pulled the witch's hat from Le Fay's head, surprising her.
She tried to grab it, so I raised my hand upwards, and she tried to jump and reach her hat, although she couldn't since I was taller than her.
"There's something I don't understand… You killed so many vampires, but why are there no dead bodies?"
I glanced towards the White Dragon Emperor, Vali Lucifer. Unlike the Pendragon siblings, he was still salty about being the one who backed off first.
It wasn't out of place, though. Those from the Lucifer Clan were known for inheriting their progenitor's prideful nature.
"My sword's blade is laced with Pure Holy Water… It can disintegrate vampires when killing them…"
After hearing that, Arthur stared at Arondight levitating beside me and traced his index finger over the blade's edge.
"He's right. Despite the non-existent amount of Holy Water, the Holy Power is potent enough to destroy a vampire's corpse instantly…"
Maybe it was because he wielded Caliburn, but Arthur seemed unusually sensitive to Holy Power, especially for a human not affiliated with the Church.
"Isn't Pure Holy Water extremely rare?" Le Fay was the first to catch on. "Even Nuns and Exorcists only have access to diluted water for rituals and exorcisms… Where did you find the non-diluted version from?"
"It doesn't matter…" I shrugged my shoulders at her question. "I already used everything to coat Arondight's blade…"
That was a lie.
I had around two buckets of Pure Holy Water stored inside my shadow.
It would make me a fortune if I sold it, but I needed it to study Holy Power in the future, so I was using it sparingly for the time being.
Lyra had single-handedly dealt with all my financial problems.
'Maybe I should give her a bonus or something...'
[You don't even pay her, Master.]
'It's the sentiment that counts, Great Sage…'
[…]
'More importantly, why are these three brats here? I doubt they came to a town in the middle of nowehere on accident…'
Depending on that, the situation might change drastically.
'If they're here for Gleipnir and won't give it up, I'll have no choice but to kill them…'
Trying to subdue Vali without a proper plan would be troublesome, so if it came down to it, I'd much rather kill him with a sneak attack.
Even though his value would degrade without [Divine Dividing], his corpse was as good of a research material as any.
'And if they're here for something else, then everything's fine…'
I was about to ask why they came to this town, but before I could—
"Hey, Azrail…"
Arthur removed Caliburn from its sheath and pointed the blade towards me with a rather stern expression.
"What?"
"Let's have a duel with our swords."
"Huh…?"
"As the wielder of the Strongest Holy Sword, my goal is to become the strongest swordsman, so I always wish to fight capable and strong opponents, even more so if they are swordsmen to check my skills. Someone who has learned swordsmanship under the best swordsman in the Devil Race; I can't hold back my desire to fight you..."
I could feel my neurons deactivating, but Arthur continued like he was speaking the obvious.
"You are the disciple of the Strongest [Knight] who inherited Arondight from her; don't you wish to check your sword skills against other swordsmen?"
At that moment, I realised something.
I had dedicated almost half of my second life to learning all sorts of weapons, and I trained regularly even now because it was necessary to grow stronger, but I had no interest in them beyond that.
The only thing I liked about my four years of continuous training was that I could spend time with Alice.
Alice knew that, too. In her words, my swordsmanship lacked emotions.
"I'm not interested in that…"
There was no way I'd fight a battle with nothing to gain, especially against someone I could defeat with one hand tied behind my back.
Arthur was visibly shocked by my lack of enthusiasm for swordsmanship. Maybe he regarded me as a sword maniac simply because I was Alice's student. Who knows?
'But then again, it's not like I have absolutely nothing to gain from this...' I raised my hand towards Arthur. "However, I'll fight you under one condition..."
"What is it?"
"In case I win…" My index finger rested on Caliburn's tip. "Let me examine this sword. If not, then I have nothing to gain from this duel…"
There was no force behind my finger, but Caliburn's blade still pierced my skin on the slightest contact, almost as if it were butter.
'As expected of the Strongest Holy Sword… Its sharpness, balance, and quality are better than Arondight…'
If I examined Caliburn inside my lab for a while, it wouldn't be hard to increase Arondight's negligible Holy Power and balance it with the Demonic Power, creating something akin to a Holy-Demonic Sword.
That'd be a sight to see.
Arthur silently stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Caliburn is the treasure passed down within my family. No matter how much I wish to fight you, I can't hand it over to someone else."
'I'm already being nice by not killing you and taking it, you know…'
People these days couldn't even appreciate kindness.
"I don't want a Holy Sword I can't even use… I'm asking you to lend it to me for a while. If you have any doubts, feel free to accompany me while I examine Caliburn."
Arthur looked into my eyes and nodded. "Very well."
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Arthur and I stepped away from everyone else, standing at a distance from each other.
"I'll be the judge, then…" Vali walked over and stood between the two participants. "As per the rules, Arthur can't use Caliburn's Holy Aura to suppress his opponent's strength and the ability to cut through space, while Azrail can't use Magic or his Demonic Aura to enhance his physical attributes."
"The match will conclude when someone concedes or is incapacitated… Lethal attacks are forbidden."
Arthur took a stance, his grip tightening around Caliburn's hilt, and I just stood at my spot, loosely holding Arondight in my right hand.
'His stance isn't bad, but I can tell he didn't spend over a month learning how to hold a sword, and his balance is off, too…'
Even I could find around forty mistakes in Arthur's stance. If Alice were here, she'd surely raise that number to a few hundred.
"Now, ready…"
'Great Sage, deactivate Thought Acceleration…'
[Answer. Understood, Master.]
I hadn't deactivated Thought Accelaration in years, so it felt somewhat weird when everything started moving twenty times faster.
"Begin!"
'I should do something about this feeling…'
Stopping Thought Accelaration was like coming to a stop after moving at high speeds for a long time, making me feel like I'd puke.
The after-effects were only psychological, though.
There was nothing wrong with my body.
"You are full of openings!"
While I wasn't paying attention, Arthur appeared in front of me at full speed, slashing Caliburn towards me.
"If you think my stance had any openings…"
On a reflex, I blocked Caliburn's blade with Arondight and countered by twisting my wrist slightly, which threw Arthur off balance, changing the trajectory of his attack and causing it to land on the ground instead.
"Then that shows how inexperienced you are in actual combat…"
Before Arthur could remove Caliburn from the ground, I placed the tip of Arondight's blade next to his neck.
"And I win…"
"This…" Arthur's eyes shook when he started at Arondight's blade, the shock and disbelief apparent in his voice. "With such a simple movement…"
That one exchange made the difference in our skills clear.
Arthur's loss of balance didn't just happen because I twisted my wrist a little.
The timing, both our strengths, angle, and position—they all needed to be perfect. If something were off, Caliburn would've landed on my shoulder instead.
"Announce the results already…"
"Ah, yes…" Vali snapped out of his thoughts after hearing my callout, raising his hand to declare the end of our first match. "The first round goes to Azrail Astaroth!"
Arthur insisted on a match where the first to defeat the opponent three times would win, so I needed to win against him twice more.
It was a pain, but examining Caliburn was worth the effort.
Soon, our second round began.
This time, Arthur didn't make as many obvious mistakes as his first attempt, being extremely offensive with his approach and not giving me any time to counterattack.
'The Pendragon Family's swordsmanship isn't half bad, and it pairs up quite nicely with Caliburn…'
Swoosh!*
I moved back, watching as Caliburn swung right in front of my face, the tip of its blade only about four millimetres away from my right eyeball.
"Tch…"
Noticing that he barely missed again, Arthur clicked his tongue and started attacking even more violently.
During the entire second round, I never once attacked him, leisurely dodging the onslaught of attacks from him, and to irritate him ever further, I did so with a hair's length.
As Alice had once said, the first step to winning a battle was getting into the enemy's head.
'Although, Arthur's too immature and inflexible to utilise either his swordsmanship skills or Caliburn to their full potential…'
Well, he was still a teenager. Having such obvious and exploitable flaws wasn't something unexpected.
Arthur's speed was good, but even without Thought Accelaration, it felt like all his attacks were coming at me in slow motion because of how predictable they were.
I wasn't even paying attention while dodging most of them, and thanks to that—
"Ah…"
I tripped backwards because of the small rock behind me.
"You're wide open…!"
Arthur immediately took the opportunity and attacked, his sword moving straight towards my throat in a stab motion.
'He must've been agitated enough to leave himself wide open just because he found a chance…'
Honestly, I had thirty-two ways to defend myself without breaking the rules of our match, but it was too much of a hassle.
Arthur's stance was for a diagonal slash, but he changed his attack to a stab because of my fall, which left him wide open on the side.
And one of those openings was that his grip wasn't suitable for such an attack, so I let things play out naturally.
Clang!*
Because of how I tripped, my left knee hit the blunt side of Caliburn's blade. The amount of force was just right to make the stabbing attack go above my head.
Thud!*
When my butt hit the ground, the tip of Arondight's blade was only a centimetre away from Arthur's throat, much to his shock.
"And that's my second victory…"
Arthur stared at Arondight's blade before gulping down his saliva. If it weren't for the fact that it was a spar, he would've died twice by now.
"Truly amazing…"
But this time, he didn't seem that surprised at his loss.
"You defeated me twice without going on the offensive..." Arthur extended his left hand towards me, and I grabbed it before pulling myself up. "Continuously dodging my attacks to agitate me, deliberately tripping to make me let my guard down and using the flaw in my incorrect grip to kick my sword… You planned everything from the beginning, right? I'd expect nothing less from the Strongest [Knight]'s disciple…"
'No, no… I fell because I wasn't paying attention, and everything after happened on its own…'
Arthur had misunderstood the situation, but before I could speak, the others decided to jump on his train of thought.
"That was a bait?"
"Yes…" Arthur answered Vali's question, his voice brimming with enthusiasm and admiration. "He chose the right moment to fall so my grip would be at its weakest when I suddenly changed my attack patterns, and then, he used the fall's momentum to kick Caliburn at the correct time…"
I blinked at Arthur's explanation of things that never happened, and I had to admit…
The glazing was strong in this one.
"I thought his fall was genuine because of his expression and movements, but…" Vali held his chin with a thoughtful expression. "You're right… Everything was too perfect for it to be a mere coincidence…"
The White Dragon Emperor glanced at me with both surprise and approval.
'The fall was actually genuine, dumbass…'
Vali's opinion of me most likely changed for the better because of Arthur's overthinking.
"Lord Azrail's amazing…!" Le Fay also jumped on the train of misunderstandings. "No one other than our father has ever defeated brother with such ease…"
"That's amazing..."
Selina was the last on that train.
Arthur continued to explain the brilliance of my plan to the other passengers.
'Forget it…'
I looked around, noticing that Lieselltte had the same bland expression as me while looking at everyone else.
Our eyes met, and we nodded at each other.
At least someone here had working brain cells.
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"I have a request."
"You know, you're testing the limits of how much I want to examine Caliburn now…"
Arthur's gaze remained firm despite my words, and he spoke seriously. "This time, please be on the offensive."
Maybe it was because of the previous misunderstanding, but his tone was a lot more respectful and reserved now.
'He must want to see my swordsmanship… Should I show him what kind of training I went through?'
At that thought, I smiled.
"Sure… I'll admit defeat if you can block a single strike from me without collapsing."
Arthur nodded at those words, holding Caliburn's hilt with both hands.
'I couldn't use these techniques before because they'd break too many bones, but now that I can regenerate, it shouldn't be a problem, right?'
I took a stance, the muscles in my lower body tightening, and—
Crack!*
The ground beneath me cracked when I charged towards Arthur, appearing a step away from him instantly.
"Wh—?!"
Arthur's eyes widened in shock, and he hurriedly brought Caliburn towards his right side to defend himself.
As expected, he made the same mistake as me.
He tried to predict an attack that was way beyond his skill levels.
The muscles in my hands flexed to their limits when Arondight slashed down in the opposite direction of what Arthur had predicted, and even though the sword didn't touch him—
Thud!*
Arthur collapsed on the ground, his breath heavy as he moved his hands around his body like he was looking for injuries.
While the reaction might seem excessive to others, the fact that he didn't pass out was praiseworthy.
Within an instant, Arthur realised how it'd feel to have his body slashed into over a dozen pieces—how his face, neck, chest, hands, and legs would all be separated in a single instant.
How did I know this?
That was because I had experienced the same situation countless times until my instincts became sharp enough to differentiate between non-lethal and lethal attacks, even while sleeping.
'Having my bones and muscles regenerate is strangely uncomfortable…'
The technique I used was one of the many skills Great Sage copied from Alice during our training together.
My body couldn't keep up with such advanced movements even after altering them to suit me, so I never used them until now. But the information was still fresh in my mind.
[Notice. It's possible to alter Master's body with Anatomy Control to use these movements.]
'There's no need for that. I already thought about it a while ago…'
These 'techniques' weren't even actual techniques from Alice's standards. They were simple moves she used to train a rookie into a decent fighter.
I'd much rather develop my sword style as life went on than always walking in Alice's shadow.
Not to mention, if they were Alice's actual techniques, altering my body would be worth it, but in this case, it wasn't.
"B-Brother! Are you alright?"
Le Fay ran towards Arthur and kneeled beside him, patting his back to calm him down.
Vali, Lieselotte, and Selina followed behind, staring at Arthur in shock and confusion.
"You…" The White Dragon Emperor glared at me. "What did you do?"
I shrugged my shoulders in response.
"I didn't do anything. You can tell that much, right?"
Vali couldn't retort against those words.
I adhered to the rules of our match and only used my sword, with no Magic or Demonic Aura whatsoever.
Everything that happened was inside Arthur's head, so there was no way someone else could know what he went through.
"You're an incredible swordsman, Azrail…" Arthur spoke, his voice still shaking uncontrollably, similar to his trembling hands. "It's my complete and utter defeat…"
There was no disappointment in his voice, only admiration and awe.
"You overestimate me."
While I said those words to make me sound humble, they were, in fact, true.
The technique I used might be random moves for Alice, but they were still far beyond my original skill level.
I couldn't yet trigger hallucinations in someone's mind with just physical movements.
"No. The skills you showed while holding back… Your actual sword skills might even surpass my father's…"
"Something like that…"
Le Fay looked up at me with wide eyes after what her brother said, her expression showing both surprise and respect.
Lieselotte and Selina were the same.
On the other hand, Vali stared at me with narrowed eyes, almost as if thinking hard about something.
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"So, why did you three come to this town?"
Although my question was for Vali, Arthur answered it instead.
"We came here to find Excalibur Ruler."
"One of the seven Excalibur Fragments?"
"Yes."
Once again, Arthur's response was instant, much to Vali's annoyance.
"Don't tell him everything without reserve…!"
"It's fine."
"Tch…" Vali clicked his tongue at Arthur's calm response before turning towards me. "Anyway, why are you here, to begin with?"
"To find a Grimoire called Gelipnir."
"Grimoire…?" Le Fay tilted her head a little. "Isn't Gleipnir the name of mystical chains forged by the Dwarves to restrain whatever it latched onto?"
"No… That Gleipnir and the Grimoire Gleipnir are two different things. Most people don't know about the Grimoire because the legends regarding Pythagoras aren't that well-known in the supernatural world…"
Even the Astaroth Clan only had a few records regarding him.
"I see."
"On that note, how did you find out about Excalibur Ruler being here?"
"I combined my family's intel with Vali's information to find this location."
"Is that so…" I stared at the blonde swordsman for a few seconds. "Hey, Arthur…"
"Yes?"
I raised my right hand towards him with a smile. "How about becoming my [Knight]?"
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Words: 5211
1. Bro has no idea that Latia's already on her training arc with Tiamat lol.
Author Tales:
ORV Anime adaptation was announced LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO!
Also, Gimai Seikatsu (Days with my step-sister… sus title, I know) anime is out. As a light novel reader, this makes me happy.
Haven't watched the anime yet (don't have high expectations tbh), but the novel was good. Probably one of the calmest novels I've read.
The title's extremely misleading, though.