Chapter 157
“GAAAARRRRGHHH!!!”
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The head of the roaring wind dragon was now visible . I held Daniela so that her eyes would align with it, and she nodded .
“You can drop me here . ”
“Alright . But take this with you!”
I handed Daniela the last potion that the old guard had given me . It was the magic recovery potion .
“How did you get this?”
“A certain old guy gave it to me . It’ll recover your magic . ”
“Thank you . But I happened to get the same thing from a certain guy as well . And my magic has not run out yet . ”
“What!? A guy!?”
“In any case, I will go now!”
“Hey!”
I wasn’t finished, but Daniela let go of my hand . But I still had so many questions!
As Daniela fell from the sky, she created a jade wind at the tips of her feet, which allowed her to descend as if she were sliding through the air . It looked so cool… I might have to copy that .
“…Ah, I can’t be thinking about that now . ”
I turned to see the glaring eyes of the wind dragon . Yes, it clearly recognized me as an enemy .
My sword was still stuck in its jaw . I guess those dragon hands were not capable of removing it .
I had thrust it in so deep and no manner of head-shaking would dislodge it .
“Hah! Try eating me like that!”
And so I slid down the sky…not quite as gracefully as Daniela, but trying my best . And then the dragon spread its wings wide . Was it going to fly?
“But first…!”
I increased the speed and closed the gap between us . The wind around my legs grew stronger as my surroundings blurred .
The wind dragon lost sight of me as it beat its wings but remained grounded . I was now under its jaw . My hands wrapped around the hilt of the great sword as I sent a rush of magic through it .
“I’ll be taking this back!”
This time the water blade cut through the upper jaw .
“GAAAAAAGHRRHRHR!!!!”
“Huh…!”
My body turned as I used Legs of the Forest Wolf to change positions so that the great sword was held behind me . Then I pulled with all of my strength . The blue blade would cut through anything, and it easily tore through the dragon’s jaws .
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“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOGGG!!”
The dragon’s blood was washed away by the whirl of water around the great sword, and it returned cleanly into my hands . A torrent of blood gushed out of the wind dragon’s mouth as it thrashed in pain . I retreated in order to avoid being crushed, all the while, I was running simulations with Master ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None . ’
“No, that’s no good… Hmm…yes, that looks promising . Keep things simple . ”
I ran a few more simulations and examined the results . Ultimately, I decided that there was no other choice . Yes, me and the Master always thought alike . Well, maybe not as much as Daniela .
The wind dragon stopped thrashing just as I had made my decision . I guess it was finished with that . It was a dragon after all, and an adult no less . Its once severed jaw seemed to be connected again . Was that a scab? There was a welt-like mark left where the cut had been . And the bleeding had stopped . However, this didn’t change anything . I would kill it .
“There’s something that every man needs . ”
I held the great sword over my shoulder as I faced the wind dragon .
“Everyone needs one . ”
The wind dragon looked at me and opened its jaws wide . It wasn’t the movement of a wyvern preparing itself to breath . The magic in its body was being gathered in its mouth .
“It can be one, or there can be many . I think that I prefer to have multiple . ”
The green and silver wind swirls about my legs as I walk . I knew how to do it . The wind speeds up in an instant, creating such pressure that nothing could come close .
“A special move . ”
A light flashed in the wind dragon’s mouth . At the same time, an ultra dense pressurized wind shot out like a very thin spear . It pierced through me .
Only, it wasn’t me . It was the afterimage .
Faster than the blink of an eye, I ran up into the air and over the wind dragon’s head . I watched the unleashing of the breath, only possible for adult dragons, as I moved my body in accordance with the answer I got from Jack of all Trades .
“‘Kamiyashiro-style, Swiftest Wind Flash’!!”
The flow of water was free . And ‘Jack of all Trades’ taught me that the water blade that flowed along this sword was also free . Controlling it, I could change the width of the blade . Thirty centimeters could be sixty . And then one-hundred and twenty . Even more . I could go to two-hundred and forty . And just as the blade grew wide, it also grew long .
I didn’t even know if the thing in my hands could still be called a great sword . But I held it below me as I shot towards the ground with a tail of green, silver and blue streaking behind me . Speed was the one thing I was always good at .
In a second, the sword cut through the thing between it and the ground . And like that, the wind dragon’s head was severed .
The head was launched into the air from the pressure of its continued breath . As it fell, our eyes met .
“Sorry about that . I have a habit of picking the most immature names for my moves . ”
Was it surprised or was it uncomprehending? The head landed on the ground and rolled . A moment later, the rest of the dragon’s body collapsed to the ground .
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“I don’t know, but I’m starting to feel like a protagonist . ”
I muttered to myself as I swung the sword . The water flew off the blade, leaving the blue blade bear once again .
“Maybe I should think of a signature phrase…”
I said amusedly while searching for Daniela’s presence . She wasn’t too far away .
I could reach her in less than a minute . Of course, with the use of these legs… I tried to activate Legs of the Forest Wolf then, but something was wrong . The wind was about as weak as an electric fan . It was cool and all, but that’s not what I wanted…
“Is it because I used it too much…?”
The weak wind soon died away, and then my body stopped listening to me . And just like the dragon, I collapsed to the ground on my back . This sucked… I was completely conscious, and yet my body wouldn’t move . Apparently, there were restrictions on the use of unique skills .
I had not known about it, but there was nothing I could do now . I had to wait there until I could move again, all the while feeling her presence .
As I glided down through the air, numerous blades of fire shot up towards me . I shifted my weight and twisted so as to dodge them while I descended to where Eve was waiting .
“It is a good thing that I watched him…”
I had never seen anyone move in the air like that before, and it had been the most stimulating thing . It was no wonder that I would end up imitating him . I had spent some nights practicing during my watch .
I escaped the last of the flames before killing my speed with my heels and landing on the ground . Yes, it all went very well .
“Have you waited long?”
“Tsk…so you’re alive…”
“Regrettably, yes . I am too young to die, you know . And there are so many places I would like to visit . ”
I unsheath my sword and look at Eve .
“However, your life must come to a close here . ”
“How ludicrous! You are the one who will die!”
Eve continually sent out a monstrous wind through one hand as she used the other to unsheath her sword . It had a curved, wide blade . It was one-sided but looked horrifically sharp . If it was the same one I had seen a hundred years ago, then I had every reason to be careful . It was no ordinary weapon .
“Die!!”
Eve charged at me and swung the blade downwards . I parried it with my sword and rammed my plated elbow into her stomach and followed with a back-hand to the face . However, she caught it with the hand that had been unleashing magic .
“Tsk . ”
“Bitch!”
Eve gripped my hand and pulled . Instead of fighting against it, I twisted my wrist in order to free myself and then moved back . It was the Asagi way of retreating with wind . And then I quickly pulled out my bow . There were no arrows .
“Eat this!!”
I pulled the bowstring and gathered air together to create a jade arrow . A special arrow of collected, condensed wind magic . It was something I had learned to do once when I had run out of arrows a long time ago . Once I released it, it flew at a speed much greater than an ordinary arrow . An arrow with all the features of wind magic would not only pierce, but horribly mangle whatever it touched . Even I was a little put off by it .
And it caught Eve right in the leg . She had been too wounded in the battle with Asagi to be able to avoid it .
“GAAAAHHHH!!!”
Eve fell backwards as blood sprayed from her wound . I wanted to unleash another arrow, but these things were terribly inefficient . They ate through too much of my magic . I would be the one to die first if I shot one after another . I had some magic left, thanks to Vent, but it made little sense to use it if it wasn’t necessary .
And so I unsheathed my sword again and ran to Eve . She held her leg and glared at me as I shot forward with the power of the wind and pointed my sword at her .
“Hah!”
“…!!”
However, Eve lifted her left hand to stop the blow . She was risking the arm as the blood-covered thing shot a ball of fire . I fell forward to dodge it and rolled forward, came up behind Eve and then thrust out my sword again . And again, she blocked it with her arm . But this time, her left hand went flying .
“Uhhh… . !!”
“You will not block the next one!”
I enveloped my sword in wind, transforming it into a wide, one-sided blade as I swung down . But Eve blocked it with her curved sword . Damn it… The wind disappeared the moment it made contact with her sword .
“That sword is as awful as ever!”
“Ahahahaha! The mana dispeler will even cut through the wind of a dragon!”
Yes, it had the power to take magic and return it to mana upon contact . It was a relic of the age of advanced magic . It was making things rather difficult… However, I was not my old self either . If magic was no use, that meant I merely had to win through a battle of pure swordsmanship!
“Die, Eve!”
“I’ll kill you, Daniela!”
I pull the sword of the tree of life and death back and thrust hard . Over and over . But Eve continued to sweep it aside . I throw some swings into the mix, but she blocks them all the same . Well, I would have to try a place less guarded then!
“Hah!”
I jump into the air just as I thrust forward once again . Amber-colored magic flows from my feet and into the ground, activating earth magic . Deadly thorns shoot up out of the ground towards Eve . She was being attacked from the front and from below!
“Ughggg…!!”
She blocked the attack from the front just as the thorns tore into her feet . This was my chance!
“Haaahh!!!”
This time I envelope my own body in wind instead of my sword . This boost of magic allows me to unleash a barrage of thrusts at Eve with inhuman speed . She was bleeding from both legs now, but continued to block with her curved blade, and yet she could not stop every thrust .
And finally, my blade cut her right arm open .
“AHH!!!”
The pain caused her to drop her weapon .
“It is over now…!”
This time I sent wind to the sword and with all of my strength, thrust it into Eve’s heart . Weaponless and unable to use magic, Eve had no way to stop it .
The sword went straight into her chest .
“…”
Silently, she stared at me and coughed up blood .
“Gaghh…ah…kk…”
I pulled the sword out and stepped away . Blood poured from her mouth and chest as she fell on her back .
“It is finished . This is your final stop . ”
“Damn it…damn-damn-damn-damn…how can…I…!”
Her eyes did not leave me . I did not enjoy hearing the curses of the dying, and so I stabbed her through the chest once again .
“Aaa…”
That was the last sound she made as the strength left her and she took her final breath .
“One hundred years…”
The fight that had been interrupted on the cliff had now ended with me as the victor . I wiped the blood from my sword and returned it to its sheath . Then I glanced one last time at her body before turning away .
“No, he could not lose…”
After all, he was my partner . And it was time I went to pick him up .
“Farewell, Eve . ”
My goodbye was erased by the wind . It would not reach her . However, someone who had had such an effect on my life would never be forgotten . I decided it would be so, as the one responsible for taking her life .
We would meet no more, but I would not forget . I wanted to remember all of this when I died . And so I had to remember .