Inheriting the Novel

Ambush (3)

"...... I have no idea what you're talking about."

Luem pretended not to know, but it was a meaningless effort.

If I had been an ordinary person, my suspicions wouldn't have gone beyond mere conjecture, but...

"That so-called core is just a mass of magic power to begin with, isn't it? I assume you got help from the demonkin."

"......"

I stared at the object floating above in the sky, which I presumed to be the "corridor's core."

At a glance, the thing radiated powerful magic power, so one could think it's a core, but it was nothing more than a simple bomb.

If it detonated, those near it would not survive, even if they tried to defend themselves.

They must have planned to gather us around the core, aiming for that very moment.

"So you're truly not an average guy after all."

Eventually, luem admitted to my words and began to emit white aura from his sword.

Sehenz kept his eyes on the demonkin at the entrance and asked in a low voice,

"You were right after all. And in the worst way."

"It's not really the worst."

"... Really?"

If it were truly dangerous, I wouldn't have come along in the first place.

But as things stood, this was well within my ability to handle.

'On the contrary, it's an opportunity to wipe them out at once.'

Here sat the crème de la crème among Setram's inquisitors—the core force.

If I could end them here, setram's power would be greatly diminished.

This was actually an opportunity.

"You said it could be handled easily, but as expected, humans can't get anything done right."

One of the demonkin sneered at Luem.

As expected, luem's face flushed bright red as he trembled uncontrollably.

"Shut up! If you want this corridor to remain open, help take care of them!"

"As if we'd leave it to unreliable fools like you anyway. We're very busy ourselves."

At the words of the demonkin who appeared to be their representative, the demonkin standing behind him began to radiate magical power.

Each of them possessed unusual magic power, all seven demonkin on par with—even not inferior to—the inquisitors.

Especially their leader, a quasi-advanced-rank demonkin, would have been a truly dangerous opponent in the past.

Yes, *in the past*.

"Sehenz."

"What? Got some kind of plan?"

Reading the anxiety in his voice, I raised my voice for everyone to hear.

"The demonkin will be handled by Mersaya and me. The rest of you, take care of the inquisitors."

"What?"

"Eh?"

Some were flustered by my words; even Mersaya's eyes widened as if she hadn't expected it.

"Um... With just Lord Ray and me?"

"Are you scared?"

"N-no way! As if I'd ever be afraid of such pathetic demonkin... Hmmpf!"

As usual, Mersaya was speaking arrogantly but quickly clamped her own mouth with both hands.

But her words had already reached all the demonkin's ears.

"Hoho. Pathetic demonkin, you say. I should show you who's truly pathetic."

The face of the demonkin, overflowing with rage, made Mersaya instantly look tearful.

There was no backing out now; she had to fight alongside me against the demonkin.

"You don't mind? I certainly don't..."

"It's enough."

Sticking to Ray's manner of speech, I slowly walked toward the demonkin.

Following my lead, Sehenz and the others raised their swords against the inquisitors.

"Hooo..."

I eyed the demonkin before me and slowly clenched my fist.

I bent my knees, flowed Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art through my body, and stepped forward.

Kwaaang!

A powerful stomp shattered the ground.

That was the signal for the battle to begin.

"I'll tear you apart in one blow!"

Shadows fluttered from all sides as they pounced on me.

Having already experienced this, I was unfazed and activated the Eye of Insight.

'The Shadow Clan is fast and agile.'

Grancesia had told me they were specialized for assassination.

So in direct combat, they were weaker than other demonkin.

That was partly why, even as a mere sword user, I had managed to withstand Veil, a mid-rank demonkin.

'But now, I'm not just some sword user.'

I lightly dodged the first demonkin who lunged at me.

Sharp claws grazed my shoulder, and I caught a glimpse of the demonkin's shocked face.

White light gathered around my gauntleted fist, and with a meteor-like burst, I struck the demonkin's head.

Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, first Movement: Heavenly Lord sliced the space in a straight line.

*Puhk!*

The sound that followed wasn't very loud.

The reason was simple.

The demonkin's head, smashed by Heavenly Lord, literally burst in mid-air.

"...... Eh?"

One blow.

A single hit, and the sturdy head of the demonkin ended in a pathetic end.

That demonkin who died with one strike was a mid-rank demonkin.

Even for a Swordmaster, they weren't so easily killed.

"What the... Kurk!"

One demonkin, frightened, stopped their attack, and Mersaya, who had been cowering, snuck up and punched his stomach.

To say she "snuck up" was an understatement; her punch was on the level of a dragon's forepaw swipe.

Mersaya had held back when facing humans, including the inquisitors, but against the demonkin, she had no reason to restrain herself. She unleashed the power of the dragon in full swing.

The demonkin thought, mistakenly, that a tiny punch from Mersaya would do no damage and took the hit bare-bodied.

"I-yap~!"

And the effect was tremendous!

*Kwakwa-kwaang!*

The demonkin hit by Mersaya's punch rebounded faster than he had charged, crashed into and caved the cavern wall.

She didn't kill him instantly like I had, but the damage was certainly significant.

"...... What the..."

It was only a single exchange, but the demonkin couldn't even think of attacking again, stepping back.

"Are you really human?"

My own strength aside, Mersaya's attack, coming from someone who looked like a child, seemed to shock them considerably.

In fact, five came at me, and two at Mersaya, but none landed a solid hit.

In my case, I dodged everything; Mersaya endured with her sturdy dragon's body.

'You'd need to be at least an advanced-rank demonkin to injure a dragon's body.'

Mid-rank demonkin are actually stronger than Sword Masters, not weaker.

But the problem was they didn't have any technique directly capable of piercing a dragon's hide, like an aura blade.

'There's a reason dragons are called the mightiest creatures on the ground.'

Just think of the calamity of the dragon.

The powers of the calamities that have appeared so far have been like 'the embodiment of some special authority.'

Disease, corrosion, or madness.

But the calamity of the dragon is a living creature.

A dragon with extreme strength.

A single living being capable of destroying the ground on its own.

That is how special a dragon is, and Mersaya, even if she had some deficiencies compared to other dragons, was no exception.

"... They're weaker than I thought?"

Mersaya must have realized this too, as her tense face relaxed into a beaming smile.

She then crossed her arms and lifted her chin with a haughty expression.

"See! How dare such pathetic demonkin step up!"

"Th-that girl...!"

The faces of the demonkin, who had been calmly assessing the situation, were instantly colored with rage.

As if they had lost their reason, they started to unleash the full extent of their magical power.

'I really did well to fight with Mersaya.'

Not only was fighting demonkin with Mersaya convenient, her truly powerful provocation was the most valuable asset.

Just a moment ago she was nervous, but the instant she sensed the advantage, she naturally looked down on her foes!

If I'd been their opponent, my blood would have boiled too.

All the more so for demonkin whose pride had just been utterly trampled.

"No matter what, I'll kill you, you wench!!"

"Ebebebe. Come and try. Scrubs."

"Kill her now!"

The demonkin rushed at Mersaya alone.

They flocked in like moths drawn to a flame.

'... Shouldn't they at least spare a thought for me?'

I was the one who killed a demonkin in one blow, and yet they all went only after Mersaya.

Thanks to that, things became easier, but I couldn't help but feel a weird sense of bitterness.

* * *

Luem had thought the job would be simple when he first took it on.

After all, no matter how famed Sehenz the Mercenary King was, he was only one person.

His direct mercenary company had no other Sword Masters, and at best, an advanced-rank Sword Expert was their top fighter.

On the other hand, what did they have?

No less than five Sword Masters and seven demonkin. With that kind of strength, even Ban Sylvest of the Twin Poles Sword could have been killed.

'I mustn't make the same mistake as Jerta.'

His predecessor had charged in without a proper plan and died.

So Luem had meticulously mapped out his strategy, putting in double and triple backups.

But... things started going wrong.

'All because of that Ray guy.'

When Luem had first seen him in the tavern, he hadn't felt a single thing. At best, he thought the guy was just some punk.

He eagerly accepted his provocation, never imagining it would cause problems.

'What's with those strange kids? No, it's not just the kids. What the hell are these people?'

Luem rolled and dodged the flying blades in a panic.

The small boy and woman by Ray's side danced like fish in water, knocking down inquisitors.

'Since when were Sword Masters so common?'

That woman and boy were Sword Masters.

He couldn't grasp how that could even be possible.

Worse, they weren't artificial Sword Masters like them—they were the real deal.

"You're done already? Is that all you've got?"

"Kugh!"

Luem wiped the blood from his lips and staggered to his feet.

There was Sehenz, casually looking at him with an untroubled expression.

"I expected more, given you're supposedly second in rank among the inquisitors... Maybe that Jerta guy was better."

"Don't compare me to that idiot!"

"Idiot? You're no different."

Luem wanted to explode at Sehenz's words, but couldn't deny them.

With the way he looked now, he really wasn't much different from Jerta.

"Hehehe!"

A crazed laugh was heard as a grotesquely shaped sword whipped around like a snake.

Two inquisitors managed to block it, but a boy took the opportunity to inflict critical wounds to their legs.

'At this rate... we'll fail!'

If he looked to the demonkin side, their situation was even worse.

Actually, it looked even grimmer.

Every time he checked, another demonkin corpse had appeared.

"I'll use the Sacred Arms!"

They couldn't suffer further humiliation.

Using Sacred Arms would hurt them badly, but it was better than dying.

If he waited any longer, he'd end up dead anyway.

'If even this fails...'

Blaze flared in Luem's eyes.

As the Sacred Arms activated, white flames engulfed his body, radiating tremendous heat.

In a split second, his senses sharpened and Luem looked up at the "core" above his head.

A massive bomb created with the help of the demonkin.

'I must complete the mission. I can't let them survive.'

He'd lose all the inquisitors counted among Setram's best, but killing those here was more important.

The ones presumed to be new mercenaries of Sehenz's mercenary company.

He could not let them leave this corridor intact.

"This is..."

Sehenz also knew about the Sacred Arms.

But it was his first time seeing it in person.

It was a secret art that allowed the user to surpass human limits by accepting the power of God throughout their body.

*Kaaang!*

Sehenz quickly closed in on Luem and swung his sword, but unlike before, luem caught the attack with one hand.

"K-kehkeh. You can never leave this place alive."

"Wow, you manage to block a single attack and you're already getting cocky."

Sehenz mocked him lightly, though his mind was troubled.

It wasn't just because they were using the Sacred Arms.

'You never know what fanatics will do.'

Sehenz glanced at the core floating above.

That thing certainly wouldn't be there just for show.