Inheriting the Novel

Beginnings (1)

The repeated hum of Genova felt unusual.

But above all, the biggest problem was that the power of the Sword of Boundary was not activating.

"Clay, what's going on?"

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Riya asked with a tense expression.

Riya, too, had no doubt sensed that something was wrong on an instinctive level.

'Something's here.'

Inside the collapsing dungeon, I kept my gaze fixed on the entrance we had just passed through.

Just as Grancesia had warned, I could feel the thickening Demonic Energy approaching us.

Maria, realizing this, spoke up in a hurried tone.

"Clay, demonkin! We have to escape quickly...!"

"I can't use the Sword of Boundary."

"What?"

"If I can't use my sword, we have to wait until Mersaya arrives."

Once the dungeon collapsed, Mersaya would surely fly here, having sensed it. Then, we could escape from the wreckage of the dungeon but...

'There's no way those bastards will just sit back and watch.'

Fortunately, since the fight took place in an illusion, my stamina was completely intact.

The problem, though, was that our fighting power was woefully insufficient to take on a horde of demonkin.

"So you barely managed to catch up."

It seemed the demonkin entering from the entrance had spotted us; the one in front sneered.

Standing next to him were three Inquisitors dressed in white, but at a glance, their minds seemed far from whole.

'Marquis-ranked demonkin, decline.'

Reading through the profile of the demonkin who appeared to be their leader, I couldn't help but tense up.

As Grancesia had warned, this was the most powerful demonkin we had encountered so far.

'Can I win? And then there's the number of other demonkin...'

Many behind Decline were low-rank demonkin, but there were also intermediate and advanced-rank ones among them.

There was no way to take them lightly.

"Riya, can I ask you to handle the rest?"

"I'll try my best."

This time, even Riya couldn't answer with certainty. And no wonder—with so many demonkin, it was too risky.

[Fortunately, it seems they're quite exhausted too, so we should be able to handle them. Even if they're pretending to be fine, they're not in normal condition after chasing us so hard.]

'Really?'

[The small fry, yes. But that Decline fellow is just fine, so be careful. But... Hmm...]

Grancesia's words trailed off, as if something felt strange.

[Among them, I don't sense that same odd presence I did before.]

'Now that you mention it, that's true.'

The sword's hum remained.

But even when I scanned through the demonkin's profiles, nothing stood out.

'What is it?'

[I must have been mistaken.]

'Mistaken? So you sensed it wrong?'

[That's not what I mean. What I sensed wasn't coming from those demonkin, but from somewhere else.]

Somewhere else?

I couldn't quite understand where she meant.

[The Demonic Energy is so strong, I thought it was nearby. But now I think something else is approaching us quickly.]

'That demonkin must have one of the Seven Swords Under Heaven, then.'

[Probably. But... I've never sensed Demonic Energy this powerful from a demonkin before.]

I swallowed dryly.

A demonkin whom Grancesia would call "powerful," one of the Seven Swords Under Heaven in hand.

Only one existence came to mind.

The king of the demon realm ruling over all demonkin.

The Demon King, Zard—it had to be him.

'Damn! Then those guys aren't the real problem?'

If we didn't escape quickly, we'd likely encounter the Demon King himself, who was currently making his way here.

'Is the reason I can't use the Sword of Boundary because of the Demon King?'

If the Demon King had such power, it wouldn't even be surprising.

But why make his move now of all times?

Is there something I haven't picked up on?

Endless thoughts cluttered my mind.

Whatever expression crossed my frustrated face, decline found it amusing and let out a small chuckle.

"Looks like you've figured out my power. That's right, I'm eighth-ranked among the demonkin..."

"You're Marquis Decline, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm called the 'Black Steel Marquis'... Wait—how do you know that?!"

Decline, who had been so bold before, recoiled in shock and readied himself defensively.

"Don't tell me, that's another skill you possess as the master of a sword? The Demon King never mentioned such a thing!"

"Whatever, if you're going to attack, just do it. I'm short on time here, same as you."

Throwing in a half-provocation, I watched as Decline's face twisted in anger.

Yet he did not attack straight away, wary of the power I might possess as a sword's master.

'At least I can use the powers of my other swords.'

While the guy was on guard, I quietly activated Deltode. Thankfully, I could still wield the powers of my other swords, except for the Sword of Boundary.

'And they clearly don't know the Demon King is coming.'

That, at least, was fortunate.

If that guy knew, he wouldn't be so wary of me. He'd try to stall for time instead.

No, he wouldn't have had to chase me down in the first place.

So I found the Demon King's motives even more baffling.

"If you won't come, I'll go to you first."

With the Demon King on his way here, there was no time to waste.

I activated Deltode and immediately unleashed the Heaven-Slaying Arms.

Scarlet engravings spread over my body, and an overwhelming heat surged through me.

"What is that?!"

At my sudden transformation, the Inquisitors realized something was off and gaped in shock.

Kwakwakwa!

At the same time, I launched myself at the three Inquisitors.

If even one of them was linked to the pontiff or Altair, word would get out that I had mastered Heaven-Slaying Arms.

At the very least, I needed to keep the existence of Heaven-Slaying Arms hidden until I confronted 'him'.

"Kraaagh!"

The sword shrouded in white flames cleaved the three Inquisitors in two.

"You brat!"

In the blink of an eye, decline's entire body turned black and black spikes erupted around him in shock and anger.

"Riya!"

"Leave it to me!"

I ignored the other demonkin and charged straight ahead, morphing Genova into a gauntlet with Epion's power as I lunged at Decline.

Clenching the gauntleted fist charged with residual white heat, I slammed it into Decline's chest.

"Gugh?! What the—!"

I pressed on, battering the staggered foe, forcing him away from the other demonkin to make it easier for Riya to deal with them.

"That fist art... No way! Wasn't Ray supposed to be the heir to Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art?!"

"Oh? So word's already gotten around?"

As expected from a marquis-ranked demonkin—he recognized Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art at a glance. Not that it changed anything.

"What is even—"

"Plenty of breath left, huh?"

Cutting off his muttering, I smashed my fist into his face and drove him into the ground.

Kwakwakwang!

The ground cracked into spiderwebs, accelerating the dungeon's collapse.

"Kraaaaaa!"

True to his moniker, "Black Steel," the guy's toughness was no joke.

Even when I pounded him repeatedly with blows imbued with the secrets of the Heavenly Lord, they barely left a scratch.

"Fine, I was planning to kill you anyway, so it hardly matters what you've mastered. I'll take you out here and recover the sword!"

"And it's not like you'll even be able to use the sword once you recover it, right?"

"That's for the Demon King to handle!"

Thick, pitch-black spikes burst from his forearms, growing into long metal stakes.

This time, I morphed the gauntlet back into a sword to deflect them.

'Crimson Blade.'

Blood spilled from my hand, staining the blade crimson, and white flames ignited over it.

Kagagang!

"Ugh!"

I swung Genova down at his shoulder, but the blade bounced off his blackened skin without piercing it.

"Cursed rat!"

With an enraged look, he attacked me fiercely.

'Does his blackened skin not react to Divine Blood or Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art?!'

He came for me, launching a stake as I staggered back.

I barely dodged by ducking low, but didn't have a good chance to counterattack in return.

'There are too many spikes on his body for a punch fight.'

He hadn't become a marquis for nothing.

On top of that, his strength was terrifying—just taking a solid hit would be fatal.

'At least I'm still faster than him...'

But the longer it dragged on, the more anxious I became.

My attacks weren't getting through, and at this rate, time would just slip away meaninglessly.

'Stay calm. I can do this.'

I'd improved both back at the Dreistler family and here. So if it's now, I can surely do it.

'Is there a technique that can break through that?'

Maybe Mystic Vision could work.

But that would require preparation.

'I need something else.'

One by one, I recalled all the techniques I had learned so far.

Dao Inscribed Sword, hidden Star Sword, moon Severing Divine Sword, sunwheel Ascendant Heaven Sword, and Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

In the process of mastering them, I'd created some techniques myself.

Going through the countless basic forms in my mind.

Of them all, I found one best suited for the current situation.

'Hidden Star Sword, fifth basic form.'

It almost seemed ridiculous to rely on Hidden Star Sword at this point, but it was the thing my mind leapt to first.

By now, it was the sword art I was most familiar with, and the fifth was a single-strike technique based on Hidden Star Sword.

The fifth basic form.

Even I, who had relied heavily on Hidden Star Sword, had never had much opportunity to use this one.

For a simple reason.

Because it was an incomplete sword art.

The head of the Deoric family, once called InvincibleUponFirstGlance, had completed great techniques up to the fourth form, but never managed to finish the fifth.

Unlike the four preceding techniques, which had been forged for practical use, the fifth form was his attempt to embody his ideal.

But with the martial arts he'd mastered, the perfect fifth form remained impossible, and it ultimately stayed unfinished.

'With this...'

I read its profile.

The flow of the fifth form drew itself inside my mind, the path of the sword coming into focus.

If I could complete it, it would surely pierce through his skin.

'But how?'

But as an unfinished technique, the flow of magic power required for it simply dropped off part-way.

I tried to supplement it.

'Moon Severing Divine Sword, sunwheel Ascendant Heaven Sword.'

Hidden Star Sword was modeled after the stars.

Then, moon Severing Divine Sword after the moon, sunwheel Ascendant Heaven Sword after the sun.

What they had in common: each sought an unattainable ideal.

Their principles combined within me, knitting together a new flow.

Perfect? I couldn't know.

But at least I could use it.

"Hidden Star Sword, fifth basic form."

My sword trembled. My pupils turned silver, and silver sparks scattered amid the Sword of Boundary's lingering scarlet glow.

"Galaxy."

The instant his stake lunged at my chest, I, too, thrust my sword at it.

Like the New Star, silver afterimages flared out, accelerating with white heat.

Silver light trailed the blade like moonlight, tracing an arc, and then the arc began to spiral, spinning into a sequence of ovals that rotated together.

A ring of white spun around the blade as it clashed head-on with the incoming stake—

Kwagagagagak!

—and simply ground it to pieces.

"...?!"

Decline's face twisted in horror as he tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

By that time, the silvery spiral had already swallowed him whole.