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After defeating the hero of the【Rifle】and the hero of the【Spear】, I chased after Setsuna and the others who went ahead before me.
I"m hanging the rifle the hero of the【Rifle】had on my back, and two swords are hanging from my waist.
The hero of the【Rifle"s】ability has an extraordinarily good utility, and our fighting power will increase if I make Freya use the hero of the【Spear"s】【G.o.d Made Treasure Arms】.
However, it"s true that I took longer than expected.
I got surrounded by black knights after defeating the two heroes, and because I used up all the swords clad in Guren"s flames, it took time to break away from them.
"I hope Setsuna and the others are safe. I didn"t know that there would be a monster like that. I can understand why the three heroes were defeated. Even though Kureha"s there, it"s still dangerous." (Kearuga)
The worst case scenario would be if they encounter the black knight that creates black knights, which defeated the three heroes, before I meet up with them.
My understanding of that thing was mistaken.
Although I did think the power to increase the number of black knights is astounding, that ability was the only one I wasn"t cautious of.
However, thinking about it carefully, it"s obvious.
The only existence that can create black knights, is the one that was given to the king by the demon king.
In other words, creating black knights isn"t possible unless you"re equal to that existence.
… In other words, it"s a replica of the existence that can grant the black power to people.
The ingredient for making a replica is the crystallization of power of countless humans.
Which means humans that received the black power, give their power to the owner of the black power instead.
The ident.i.ty of the one that creates black knights, is actually a pool of power turned into a shape.
What"s troublesome about that, is that the crystallization of humans" power makes its shape a human, and it has the knowledge and skills of those humans.
And from looking at the hero of the【Rifle"s】memories, I understood.
To turn a human into a black knight, the black knights that create black knights have to continue touching them for seventeen seconds.
If they touch for seventeen seconds, no matter how strong the opponent is, it makes them join the group of black knights.
"It would be the end if Kureha became a black knight." (Kearuga)
Kureha and I are basically the same level.
And for pure, short distance combat, Kureha is stronger than me.
So if Kureha receives the black power, there"s no way I could win. I should hurry.
As I sprint to the Rainara room, I feel an intense fighting spirit and magic power.
I hear explosion sounds at random intervals too.
It seems they"re in combat. The fact that the battle is dragging on even with Guren"s flames of purification, means that that thing is here.
It seems the Dioral king stationed his trump card in the Rainara room where the spell ritual device is, rather than the spiral staircase.
That"s how valuable he sees the spell.
The sound of combat stopped.
It seems the battle ended.
"Kureha, Freya, Setsuna!" (Kearuga)
It was a disastrous situation.
Freya fainted against a crumbled down wall and Setsuna was buried under rubble, unable to move. Ellen is hiding while trembling, and Kureha"s neck was grabbed by a guy that looks like a nopperabou and is being held up. (TL Note: Nopperabou is a j.a.panese mythical creature that looks like a human but has no face.)
Not good, the sound of battle ended seven seconds ago. In ten more seconds, she"ll become a black knight.
I won"t make it in time even if I rush over with my sword.
Taking out the rifle on my back, I shoot the black nopperabou"s arm to tear it off, so Kureha falls to the ground.
"Kyuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" (Black Nopperabou)
The black nopperabou screams.
I shoot two times, blowing away its head and heart, and after I continue attacking it as it collapses, I run out of bullets.
I throw the rifle behind me and run towards Kureha.
"Guren, you"re hiding, right. Come!" (Kearuga)
"Go, goshujinsama, you"re late!" (Guren)
The cub kitsune hiding in rubble comes out with trembling steps.
… And then, the black nopperabou regenerates its torn off arm and hole-filled body.
Almost all of those injuries I gave it has regenerated.
How irritating.
Its recovery speed is in a different league to normal black knights.
Pulling out a sword from my waist, I go towards the black nopperabou instead of going towards Kureha.
Our swords clash.
… That"s a heavy strike.
His physical strength is almost equal to mine. I could have fended it off and counterattacked if it was just a strike that relied on power, but there"s not that much difference in skill between us either.
We exchange blows two, three times. Since our physical strength and skill are equal, I"ll risk myself to go for a winning move.
I won"t just use a sword.
While exchanging blows, I continue chanting.
Chanting while making violent movements is extremely difficult, but I"ve acc.u.mulated enough experience to be able to do that.
The moment my fourth strike gets blocked, I activate wind magic and send the enemy flying. While I"m at it, I throw my sword too.
It gets struck onto the wall, and then impaled in the next moment.
"Goshujinsama really is strong! Go for it!" (Guren)
"Rather than cheering me, go burn Kureha with your flames to the extent that she doesn"t die. Before the black power gets to her!" (Kearuga)
"She would get seriously injured!" (Guren)
"As long as she"s alive, I can use【Recovery Heal】." (Kearuga)
The black nopperabou has the power of the humans that received the black power.
It pulls out the sword sticking it on the wall and starts recovering.
I glance at Guren burning Kureha from the side and then run towards that thing.
Once again, we start fighting.
I"m still at a disadvantage and I can understand why Kureha struggled.
As for sword skill, Kureha is higher, but the opponent has infinite stamina, concentration and resilience.
What"s even more troublesome, is that it has learning ability. It"s being careful of the wind magic I used before.
After treating Kureha, Guren clad my sword in the flames of a divine beast, but even if I attacked it with those flames, it won"t be a fatal attack because the aggregate amount of black power it has is too great.
Irritating.
The only advantage I have is that although we both use other people"s techniques and knowledge, that thing doesn"t use them together like I do. It just uses it, without combining anything.
For example, I"m still using magic while we exchange blows so that each swing of my sword and movement of my body leaves a trace of mana in the air.
After swinging multiple time, I made a three-dimensional magic circle. Leaving mana in the air is an ultradvanced technique.
I"ve prepared it perfectly. The moment we exchange blows, I charge mana into the magic circle and shout.
"【Wind Dragon"s Den】" (Kearuga)
The acc.u.mulated mana explodes, completely the magic, and countless blades of vacuum attacks.
The black nopperabou in front of me turns into mince.
… Just using other people"s techniques makes you an inferior copy.
Only I can combine them and make something new.
This probably won"t be the winning move though. This can buy some time. If its cut up this finely, it should take time to regenerate.
I go towards Kureha.
"Goshujinsama, heal her quick! It"s dangerous." (Guren)
"I know. Also, just cladding a sword in flames and cutting that thing isn"t making any progress. Prepare to fire flames with all your power." (Kearuga)
"Impossible! That thing is super fast! I can"t hit it!" (Guren)
Yeah, she probably can"t. There"s no way Guren could hit an opponent that Kureha and I struggle against.
"It"s okay. I"ll make you hit it. You just have to think about firing flames with all your power." (Kearuga )
"I"ll do it! If I don"t do it I"ll be killed after all!" (Guren)
Her tail starts shaking.
Then, golden particles start spilling out of her tail.
From what I can see, it looks like she"s s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, but she seems to be putting all her power in it.
Glancing at the minced, black nopperabou, I see that his regeneration has progressed quite a lot.
Just stay down for a bit longer.
I finish treating Kureha, and she opens her eyes.
"Kearuga, did I, lose?" (Kureha)
"… the opponent was that thing after all. It can"t be helped. I used【Recovery Heal】on you, but your soul still took damage. Keep resting for a bit more." (Kearuga)
Guren"s flames of purification just made it.
If Guren"s flames were later than that, it would"ve been bad.
"I see, I leave it you then. … This is frustrating. Even though I was superior, even though I cut over and over again with my sword clad in the flames of purification, I could not land a finis.h.i.+ng blow and lost in the end. Once I can move again, I will immediately go to help you." (Kureha)
As expected, fighting an opponent that can endure the flames of purification while protecting Freya and the others would"ve been tough.
The minced, black nopperabou recovered completely.
Even if it can endure a sword clad in flames, it shouldn"t be able to survive getting directly hit by Guren"s full power flames.
Multiple methods to make the extra large flames of purification hit it, come to my head.
I"ll have it pay for the sin of reaching a hand out to my women.
… I do feel sorry for it though, because that thing that isn"t even a living thing, can"t do anything that feels good.
Well, I"ll thoroughly take revenge on the Dioral king for this thing too.