ch01-ch20 · 010-ch09
Chapter 9
A blinding torrent of light — probably less than a second.
When Saito Megumi managed to open her eyes, the sight before her was hard to believe.
Because the dragon was being blown away.
It looked like a boxer taking a devastating right straight punch, its body helplessly hurled backward — the result of sheer overwhelming force, right before her eyes.
And then — a sword strike.
Someone — she couldn't tell who — a blonde swordsman was fighting.
From the build, probably a woman.
The sword she held was a hand-and-a-half sword, slightly smaller than the greatsword Megumi used. The blade glowed pale blue, trailing light with every movement. Her sword strikes looked like she was slamming meteors into the enemy.
A meteor of light — one, two, three more strikes in succession.
The dragon that had been so incredibly tough was being crushed like an empty can in a strong grip — it was like some kind of joke.
"...What is this?"
Her own muttered voice sounded like it was actually hers, and she realized this probably wasn't a dream.
Chizuru was still in her iai stance, hand on her katana's hilt, completely absorbed in watching the light swordsman's battle. That... well, she could understand the feeling.
No, but... that was too strong.
That dragon was a monster that Megumi and Chizuru, both A-rank explorers working together, could barely maintain a stalemate against. And yet, every time she swung her sword, the meteors she drove into the dragon were turning it into a mangled mess right before their eyes...
"Ohh, this looks like an expensive camera. Is it streaming?"
Suddenly, a man's voice.
A little behind Megumi and Chizuru, who stood frozen in shock, a young man in work pants and a T-shirt had picked up Sanagi's streaming camera and was muttering something.
Lightly dressed, like someone who'd wandered over from a summer construction site. His stance lacked any fighting spirit — if anything, he gave off an impression of being pretty fed up.
"Uh... well, nice to meet you? Ah... this is, uh, a dropped item."
Looking extremely awkward, he walked over and handed the camera to the still-dazed Megumi and Chizuru.
Megumi was holding Sanagi with one arm and gripping her greatsword with the other, so after a moment of hesitation, Chizuru took the camera.
"Ah, yes. It is indeed... Ah, yes, we are streaming."
Chizuru muttered, checking the camera's rear monitor.
Right, they were streaming — which meant everyone saw them looking pathetic, Megumi thought, feeling like she wanted to both cry and laugh. But letting her guard down lasted only a moment.
It wasn't over yet.
That black knight still had Airi.
"Y-you — are you an explorer? I'm sorry, we've just met but... there should be a black knight over there, and my friend is captured..."
"That thing?"
As if clinging — no, actually clinging and asking for help, the man in work pants looked toward the other end, muttering as if Megumi didn't matter at all.
The battle between the light swordsman and the dragon had already moved to the far side of the great hall. Each time a meteor-like sword strike impacted, the dragon was pushed back.
Which was probably why — the black knight, previously hidden by the dragon's shadow, came into view.
Airi was no longer in its arms.
She was lying at the black knight's feet.
Whether she was alive or dead was unclear... but it had probably judged that she wasn't useful as a hostage against that light swordsman.
Or maybe it decided a hostage was just dead weight.
"Tia is... tch, still playing around, huh. I mean, it's great that she's got plenty to spare against a dragon, but is she the type to get absorbed in things? Well, whatever. Might as well give it a shot..."
Muttering and clicking his tongue irritably, he took a few steps forward with a seemingly careless gesture and positioned himself to shield Megumi and Chizuru.
But honestly, just looking at him... he seemed weak.
You could tell at a glance.
He probably wasn't even C-rank as an explorer. The magical power he exuded, the presence or absence of openings in his stance, and above all, the vibe — it was different.
Her A-rank explorer's observational eye recognized him as weak.
She'd ended up clinging to him for help, but maybe his role was something like an attendant to the light swordsman. If so, she'd made him overextend himself.
Maybe she should stop him.
She thought so, hesitated as she tried to lower Sanagi from her left arm — the next moment.
The world was cursed.
A violent, crawling chill crawled up her entire body.
A sense of revulsion, as if just being here would defile her.
A feeling of aversion, as if just breathing here would corrupt her lungs.
An illusion.
No — was it an illusion?
It certainly didn't feel like one.
An unexplained chill slithered up her spine, an unspeakable dread, as if a snake was writhing inside her backbone — too abruptly, too suddenly, it manifested.
The source of the chill — was not the black knight.
Looking, the man in work pants was dragging something out of his left palm.
Like a tasteless magic trick.
Even though nothing like that could possibly come out of a palm.
What slithered out, dragging — was a crimson-black blade.
An ominous blade of red and black. The guard was black, the hilt was black.
The long decorative cord attached to the pommel was coiling around the right arm of the man gripping the hilt. Just a moment ago, that cord wasn't there.
He clearly dragged the blade out of his left hand.
She was sure of it. There was no other explanation. No, if she thought about it, there might be other possibilities — but since she'd actually seen it, it was simply fact.
The black knight moved.
As if sensing a threat from the crimson-black blade in the man's hand.
And now the man — just seconds ago looking so weak — was holding the blade he'd dragged from his left hand in both hands, holding it at head height, the blade parallel to the ground.
It wasn't a stance Chizuru, as a swordswoman, used much... it was Kasumi stance, maybe?
Not a single shred of an opening. A master's stance.
"I see."
He muttered, somehow with a wry laugh — and the blade swung gently.
There was still distance between him and the black knight — not within cutting range.
And yet, the black knight that had been approaching was bisected.
With a crash, the armor hit the ground... and as if following the fate of all labyrinth monsters, it vanished, leaving only a "magic core."
"...Cursed Blade 'Kagetsu,' huh."
The man muttered, as if it had nothing to do with him — and the blade he'd been holding dissolved into the air, scattering glittering red particles.
Waving his right hand to brush away the red particles that lingered in the air with an annoyed gesture, he turned back to Megumi and the others, and said with a slightly awkward look.
"Uh... we're lost, but... do you know the way back?"