Skeleton Knight, in Another World

Chapter 22

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Chapter 22

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Dragon King Ferufivisurotte」

A rather large woman entered the room in a dignified manner…… while revealing her figure to me.

She stood around two meters tall, but the two black horns that sprouted from her head added even more to her height.

She had long, wind-blown, bluish-purple hair and the reptilian eyes she used to look over everyone matched her hair color.

A small set of wings grew out of her back, while her voluptuous chest and her white abdomen were exposed in a tantalizing manner that attracted the male gaze. However, in contrast to her revealing attire the women’s shoulders, lower body and arms were covered in armor-like, black scales.

An armored tail which exceeded her own height with was attached to her lower back and ended in a crystal-like, sword-shaped point.

It was obvious that she wasn’t human.

Considering the conversation just now, and the fact that I knew another person with a similar appearance, her words made it obvious who she was……

“Dragon King, Ferufivisurotte-dono……”

My utterance focused her attention on me and her lips lifted into a small smile.

“That’s〜Right〜. Ah, I’m certain I made that clear when I called out and busted in, Jiyajajaja〜n, didn’t I? Don’t you agree?”

She tilted her head and rubbed her index finger against her chin as she spoke.

The armor wrapped around her seductive body and her eyes gave off an overwhelming sense of intimidation…… yet, despite her intense personality, she spoke with a pseudo-Kyoto dialect.

She didn’t carry the regal atmosphere befitting of the apex of power, like Dragon King Williahsfim did.

However, the effects of standing before an overwhelming existence made my skin crawl.

Ariane cleared her throat and took a step from behind my back.

The was another person standing behind Ferufivisurotte, she was a dark elf like Ariane, with shoulder-length hair and her golden eyes were sending a powerful glare in my direction.

Her face resembled Glenys’ a little bit, but the mystery was immediately solved when Ariane blurted out “Onee-san!?”.

Ariane’s sister, I sure her name was Ivana…… Ivana Glenys Maple.

Dylan suddenly appeared before Ferufivisurotte with a bitter smile and lowered his head after giving me a quick glance.

Ferufivisurotte watched his actions for a moment but turned a full smile towards me.

“H〜um, Arc Raratoia. Certainly an interesting existence. My soul has stirred. You’re just like Eva.”

When she said that, I noticed chieftain Brian reacting from the corner of my eye.

Ferufivisurotte didn’t even glance towards him though, as her long tail rose up and began approaching me, the tip slowly examining me from head to toe.

“I’ve already heard everything from Dylan. I have no problem with lending you my power in the upcoming war. I’ll say yes if you come with me. Well?”

Ferufivisurotte’s reptilian eyes narrowed as she stared at me.

The wasn’t that much of a difference between our heights, so it was impossible to evade her gaze.

“Hmm, I’ll cooperate if I can. What should I do?”

The corners of her mouth rose up after she heard my reply.

“A quick response〜uh. Good, Good. I’m not gonna go and eat you or anything. I would just like you to provide me with a bit of entertainment.”

She raised her scaled-armor hand and pointed her finger towards me.

While I was puzzled by Ferufivisurotte’s request, she slowly pulled her tail back and stuck the crystal sword into the floor at her feet.

“I’d like to play with

you in Maple’s arena. I wish to enjoy this since it’s been awhile since I’ve left my home, you see? How about it?”

Her voluptuous body shuddered as she gave me a fearless smile along with her question.

I somehow managed to endure her chest threatening to spill over and digested the content of what she’d said.

Normally, Ariane would have joined the conversation by now, but not even she was able to break into the conversation in Ferufivisurotte presence.

Still, I felt the gaze of someone looking at me from behind.

Well, Ferufivisurotte’s condition seemed to be that I play with her in the arena, but it was obvious that the two of us wouldn’t be digging a tunnel or making a mountain in the sandbox.

I’d already grasped that much due to Dylan’s behavior.

He’d asked Ferufivisurotte to partic.i.p.ate in the upcoming war beforehand, and it seems her condition was based on a pre-existing interest in me.

Dylan had been keeping quiet about it until now, was it because he thought I could fight her equally, was it to limit my options ahead of time or did the dragon king place a gag order on him?

Ferufivisurotte suddenly began to chuckle.

She said I was “just like Eva” earlier.

She was most likely referring to the first chieftain Evangeline. Ferufivisurotte had said that she and I were the same.

Based on what I had already learned about her, I’d already humored the possibility that she’d been in the same situation I was in, but now my interest in her could no longer be left on the fringes of my mind.

I considered all of this and let out a deep sigh.

“What are the rules and the date of the game? Ferufivisurotte-dono.”

Ferufivisurotte happily nodded her head in response to my question.

Maple’s arena was a considerably large building.

It’s exterior was modeled after the Roman amphitheaters, so it was reminiscent of the Coliseum. Large trees were planted in equal intervals from one another like pillars and all of them were fused into the building’s stone walls.

The inside had a very different atmosphere.

First of all, there were very few audience seating sections.

Rather than surrounding the battlefield, the audience seats were separated from it by a ditch and fence. The seats were also raised two or three stories above the battlefield.

It was probably because of the arena’s stage occupying most of the available area that they weren’t able to use it for entertainment purposes.

According to Ariane, the arena was rarely used for recreational purposes and it had been built as a warrior training center.

Since the facility was a training ground, there were gates located on the western and eastern ends of the arena. The western gate was said to be connected to the forest outside of Maple…… In other words, it was a direct pa.s.sage to the Great Canada Forest.

Monster would be led inside the arena for the warriors to learn how to fight them, or to safely observe their behavior.

Of course, there were occasions when monsters were let in through the gate and gladiator-like bouts were held, but those events were held by seasoned warriors and they didn’t allow spectators to watch them.

However, the arena’s limited seats were bustling with the sounds of a large crowd as many people had flocked here today.

Elves, dark elves and dwarves filled nearly every seat and were giving their full attention to the battleground, but how did they manage to hear about this?

We’d just left Maple’s main tower, Dylan called it the Central Inst.i.tute, a little while ago…… after Ferufivisurotte’s appearance in the meeting room and demanding that we crossed swords in order to secure her partic.i.p.ation in the war.

It was around noon now and we’d just arrived because we had to wait for the arena to be prepared for us.

Had she deliberately set this up or were so many people so starved for entertainment that news of her arrival had already circulated through the populace?

Either way, in order to defeat the undead enemy it was necessary for us to face them on two fronts.

To strike the enemies invading from Delfuento Kingdom and Salma Kingdom, one frontline needed a powerful ally to act as its main fighting force.

Her way of speaking was a bit strange, but the aura she possessed was the same as Williahsfim’s.

In order to motivate her, it was necessary to entertain her first, but the viability of doing so…… the existence of the truly capable individuals in this world had dealt a blow to my self-confidence.

In all likelihood, Ferufivisurotte was one of those capable people.

I looked toward the nearest section of seats and saw that Brian, the ten great elders, Ariane, her sister Ivana and Dylan were all watching the battlefield.

The green fur ball that was Ponta, sat in-between Ariane’s and Ivana’s arms.

After looking at all of them, I descended to the battlefield from the eastern gate.

Ferufivisurotte had yet to appear.

The crowd grew louder when I arrived on the stage.

Many of the spectators were warrior-like elves, and give that I would be fighting beside them soon a poor showing here would be a hindrance in the war.

I stepped forward with 『Holy Shield of Teutates』in hand and drew the 『Holy Thunder Sword』.

As if she were waiting for that moment, a whirlwind suddenly appeared in the sky as Ferufivisurotte was using her small wings to flutter in the air.

It didn’t seem like I’d have to fight her in her dragon form.

I didn’t know how large she was in her dragon form, but if she was larger than Williahsfim, it would have been difficult for her to fight in the arena.

At worst, I imagine that the arena would have been reduced to rubble.

…… so my worries were lessened a little.

The whirlwind dispersed once Ferufivisurotte landed in the arena.

She was met with cheers from the spectators.

“It’s getting noisier and noisier, hehe: I hope I’ll be able to enjoy this. Let’s get things going.”

The moment she said that Ferufivisurotte kicked the ground and instantly closed the distance between us.

No, it would be more accurate to compare the speed with which she moved to that of a missile’s. She raised her armor-like, scaled hand and plunged it towards me.

It was a momentary decision…… I raised my shield, but nearly lost hold of it as the impact caused me to unintentionally step back, right into the range of her next attack.

“f.u.c.k!?”

The sound of large metal ma.s.ses colliding with one another reverberated throughout the arena.

“He he, proud of blocking just that?”

When I heard her bouncy voice, the foreboding sensation I felt caused me to instinctively retreat.

My premonition proved to be correct, as her long crystal sword-tipped tail swooped down from overhead.

I’d manage to dodge by a hair’s breadth, and the crystal sword pulverized the ground where I’d just been standing.

“Oyaa, I was sure I struck from your blind spot. Your reaction time is pretty good.”

Ferufivisurotte chuckled when she said that before she brandished her tail again and resumed her attack.

Not even I would get away unscratched if I received a blow from that.

When the crystal sword came down on me again I repelled it with my own sword.

I was at an overwhelming disadvantage if I remained on the defensive.

The opponent had both her hands and tail at her disposal, and even her legs might be able to deal fatal blows given the power they had. There were so many troublesome things.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that without my powerful kinetic vision and Glenys’ training, I wouldn’t have been able to ward off her surge of attacks.

Every attack, every single attack was like receiving a blow from a giant.

The moment one blow was blocked, another one had to be repelled with the 『Holy Thunder Sword』 in my other hand.

After another spray of sparks, she grabbed hold of my sword with her scaled hand.

It was a mythical grade weapon capable of cutting normal monsters in half, furthermore, it had even been able to cut Williahsfim’s body, yet it didn’t seem to be a match for her armor.

The unpleasant sound of metal creaking filled the arena.

I caught sight of the spectators frowning in the corner of my eye.

When I put my full strength into it, she fearlessly smiled as she used her other arm to brace the one that was holding my sword in place.

“Really, is it shocking to face an equal in a show of strength?”

This deadlock she’d created…… had created an opening for her extremely long tail.

I took advantage of her goodwill.

“【Stone Fangs】!”

The ground at Ferufivisurotte feet swelled before they turned into spikes and attacked her.

However, she calmly back-flipped away to dodge them, before attacking the spikes with her crystal sword tip.

All of the spikes were reduced to rubble and scattered around the battlefield.

With her defenses, it hadn’t even been necessary to avoid the first attack, but she seemed to be truly enjoying this fight and sincerely dodged them.

This was all just a game to her.

“Casting magic in an instant. Well, the power wasn’t bad.”

I’d wanted to inflict a wound on the laughing dragon king, but I couldn’t even scratch her, let alone hurt her.

Holding back was useless.

“【Flying Dragon Slash】!”

For the moment we were a medium distance away from one another and out of her tail’s range, so I followed up with a second and third 【Flying Dragon Slash】.

However, she repelled all of them with her arms and tail, none of them reached her.

When she canceled out the attack, the surplus of energy wound up being directed towards the ground, resulting in dust clouds completely concealing her from view.

If she were invisible to me, I must have been invisible to her……

“【Lightning Storm】!!”

Earth magic would be incapable of penetrating her defenses, so I tried to use lighting magic.

The atmospheric pressure suddenly changed as the air became charged.

In the next moment, an ear splitting crash of thunder cut through the arena before blinding flashes of lightning struck the ground.

Since the arena was so large I managed to use the magic without hitting the bleachers, but the flash and loud boom seemed to cause some secondary damage.

Many of the spectators were clutching their ears and crouching on the ground.

The elves’ sensitive hearing had an unfortunate drawback.

As for Ferufivisurotte herself, through the ground around her had been charred black, she stood there perfectly fine.

Judging from her state, she appeared to have created some type of barrier to prevent a thunderbolt from striking her.

I was the ant in this situation…… I grumbled to myself while thinking of another strategy.

“Haa, that was surprising. It really was. But, why did you lower the power?”

“Muu……”

Ferufivisurotte brushed the dust out of her long bluish-purple hair as she spoke, but she’d still detected the slightest shift in the flow of my own mana.

I’d been afraid of the collateral damage if the area of effect was too large, so I unconsciously held back. What type of senses did she possess?

While I was thinking about such things, she started on her own.

“Heya, here I come!!”

Six photospheres emerged around her when she said that and they instantly came flying towards me in a straight line.

They cut through the air in an instant, and when I dodged the spheres I heard a dull sound before one of them hit the ground and set off a small explosion.

I managed to avoid the attacks somehow, but gouges appeared all over the arena with each explosion, I nearly lost my footing multiple times.

In the edge of my sight, I could see new spheres forming around Ferufivisurotte before they were sent flying after me.

…… I’d become a target at a shooting range.

“【Dimensional Step】!”

I invoked my short range transfer magic and materialized in her blind spot behind her.

When I vanished and instantaneously appeared behind Ferufivisurotte, I could clearly hear the spectator’s astonished gasps.

“【Sacred Lightning Sword】!”

Blue electricity sprung from the hilt of my sword, causing the blade to transform into a lightsword twice its original size, which emitted a crackling sound as it came into contact with the air.

“Ohh? That’s interesting.”

She had already grasped my location, and her lips twisted in a strange manner when she acknowledged the lighting blade.

All of her photospheres simultaneously flew towards me, but I cut them down with the 『Holy Thunder Sword』. Some of the spheres vanished while other flew off and exploded around the arena.

When I noticed that the dust was drifting towards Ferufivisurotte I realized that she was currently stationed downwind from me. Since it was a rare opportunity, I used transfer magic to move into her blind spot.

“【Dimensional Step】”

My lighting blade was primed to strike…… I invoked the transfer magic several times before I swung at her from behind. However……

Bachiiinn!

She grabbed hold of the blade where didn’t have a physical sword under it.

“Tsk, tsk…… It’s impossible to do a proper surprise attack when you swing around such a noisy thing, ya know? I won’t say its cowardly to attack from behind, but don’t you have any other ideas?”

While she lectured me and chuckled, my attention was focused on the hand she held the sword with.

“May I ask how you’re holding the 『Holy Thunder Sword』?”

The actual blade was still underneath the electricity of course, but she’d catch a section of the sword without a physical base, something that should have been impossible, yet not only had she done it, it didn’t seem like the electricity affected her.

Wait, there was a thin layer of light wrapped around her body, could it……?

Once I managed to stop her movement, I could clearly examine her.

“It’s easy for a dragon king’s scales to be damaged on their own. Their true value is the ability to infuse them with spirit magic in order to strengthen them against magic attacks.”

The moment she started chuckled again, her tail was raised and the crystal sword attacked me.

I tried to pull my sword out of her hand, but when I focused my attention on that point, the electricity in that localized area was suddenly amplified and her hand was repelled.

“Haa!?”

Ferufivisurotte was caught off guard by this, and both of us retreated in response to the unexpected occurrence, giving me the opening I needed to deflect her crystal-tipped tail with my sword.

The collision of our blades sent out a high-pitched scream while the two of us glared at each other.

Her ability to hold the lighting blade proved that magic alone was incapable of reaching her body.

A dragon king fully clad in that thin, shining light was capable of negating magic attacks with relative ease, practically making her immune to physical attacks and magic.

If all of my attacks were ineffective then I had no chance of victory……

However, her previous reaction…… could I have betrayed her expectations?

However, there weren’t a lot of methods that could capitalize on that hope.

Up until now I’d emphasized repressing magical power as much as possible, and that behavior seemed to have stuck.

Magic was harder to control in this world because, unlike in the game, the strength of a spell could be altered.

If I lost control of a spell, the magic could get out of control and damage what I didn’t intend to.

That’s why I used my free time in Raratoia to refine my control over my magic.

However, with that shield of light, I couldn’t pierce her ironclad defenses.

I needed a surefire killing blow……

Throwing down my shield, I grasped my sword with both hands, and raised it against my enemy.

“Come forth, keeper of eternity! 【Aion】!”

When I invoked the summoning magic, a huge magic formation composed of moving clockwork began to shine at my feet.

A giant snake with the head of a lion emerged from that formation.

The lion snake slowly coiled itself around my feet and began to crawl up my body in a spiral pattern.

Ferufivisurotte intently watched the spectacle before her.

In an actual fight, there would be no meaning in this, but one had to demonstrate their techniques in order to entertain an audience.

When the lion’s head reached my shoulder it revealed its shape fangs and bit into my neck, simultaneously turning into a strange pattern that fused into my armor, wrapping my body in a cascade of different colored lights.

For the next three minutes, my state of being would be frozen…… it was a single summon but its mana cost was incredibly high, and its active time was short. Though the cost-effectiveness was horrible, in reality, it was an useful ability that briefly made one invincible.

Thanks to 【Aion】I wouldn’t have to worry about blocking her attacks one by one.

And……

“【Sacred Lightning Sword】!”

The blade was overwhelmed by the sparking energy, as I poured more mana into it than normal, and tried concentrating the power into one point.

Before the sword began to extend, I interrupted the flow of magic and kept the blade contained to its original size.

“Haaaaaaaaaa!!”

As I stared at the lighting-clad sword, I recalled the techniques I’d used during my rampage following 【Executioner Michael】’s descent the other day.

One of the techniques she used, 【Executioner’s Crimson Sword of Fire: Rubrum Flamma】, was a flaming sword with overwhelming power, yet it was a power she could easily control.

I drew upon the feelings from that time and somehow managed to control the large amount of power that I was outputting…… it was difficult to explain this conflicting sensation.

The lighting-clad sword had settled down, but it was difficult to maintain its current state……

“Okay, let’s go!”

With a spirited shout, I grasped my sword with both hands and charged her.

I didn’t even have the capacity to use transfer magic at the moment.

A pleased smile was flowing over Ferufivisurotte’s face when she saw what I was doing and started to create photospheres in far greater numbers than she did before while simultaneously directing them towards me.

I changed headlong into the storm of innumerable meteors without any defense.

The spherical bullets had the same power as before and exploded on contact, evaporating the ground around me.

Even when the spheres scored a direct hit, 【Aion】’s barrier completely repelled them, but I couldn’t see through the dust clouds the explosions created.

“Woooooooooooooooooooooo !!!”

I let out a war cry to rid myself of my fears and continued to charge forward.

When another sphere appeared out of the dust cloud it grazed my head and exploded, knocking my helmet off.

【Aion】’s effects had run out.

It took some time to get the 『Holy Thunder Sword』under control, and there had been very little time remaining.

If the next sphere hit its mark I wouldn’t be able to stop it…… the dust cleared and I was greeted with Ferufivisurotte’s gruesome laughter.

Her crystal-tipped tail moved faster than the eye could see as the two of us clashed……

“Ugh……”

I felt the blood leaving my body as her crystal sword dug into my neck, but it was merely a non-fatal flesh wound.

As for the 『Holy Thunder Sword』, I’d managed keep hold of it even though the lighting had faded, the bladed was deeply embedded in her abdomen and Ferufivisurotte was bleeding profusely.

Of course, the spectators held their breath and were left in a state of awe as they watched.

I unintentionally let go of my sword and stared at my trembling blood-stained hands.

Ferufivisurotte head hung down as she collapsed to her knees.

“Arc!! What are you doing?! Use healing magic!! Hurry!!”

A familiar voice managed to break through my blank mind.

When I turned towards its source I saw Ariane desperately yelling at me, so when I came to my senses I rushed to Ferufivisurotte’s side.

However, one moment ago Ferufivisurotte had been unmoving on the spot she’d fallen, but the next she effortlessly pulled the 『Holy Thunder Sword』out of her own chest and swung it at me.

Gaaiin!

Unable to dodge the sword that suddenly came flying at me, I was. .h.i.t in the face without my helmet and fell on my back.

Because I had drunk the hot spring water from the Dragon King’s tree before this bout of entertainment, blood started to flow from my nose after I was. .h.i.t in the face.

I still didn’t understand what happened until I raised my head, and saw the 『Holy Thunder Sword』over her shoulder and her pointing a finger-gun towards me.

“Is that an opening?”

“!?”

I confusedly stared at her abdomen…… the 『Holy Thunder Sword』 had just been embedded in her chest, but there wasn’t even a blemish across her navel.

……what the h.e.l.l is this?”

I somehow managed to sit up while holding my aching nose.

She had a mischievous smile she began patting her stomach.

“A dragon king’s humanoid form is very special. An injury like that was nothing serious. The details are secret, but why do you think we don’t imitate humans completely?”

She started to laugh again when I started to question whether or not dragon kings were immortal.

“I can tell you that I’m not immortal.”

I shivered when she answered the question as if she were reading my mind.

“Well, I enjoyed this enough, let’s bring an end to this entertainment.”

She thrust the 『Holy Thunder Sword』into the ground when she said that and turned her attention to chief Brain.

“Well then, let’s talk about the coming war!!”

When Brian nodded his head at her remark the ten great elders stood up.

“Everyone, we will be taking part in the largest war since Canada’s founding! It will be a battle to protect your countryman, neighbors and villages!”

Brian enthusiastically began speaking the crowd of people gathered in the spectator section of the arena.

For the time being, my role of securing the important war potential had been fulfilled, so I laid on the ground and sighed after casting healing magic on my nose.

“H〜m, I’m really tired today……”

I looked up at the clear blue sky above the arena as I grumbled.

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