Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Volume 20, Chapter 9 - True Force

Part 1

Primordial forest sprouted at the feet of the earth giant.

Spreading radially, the trees surged like a giant wave.

"...! Retreat behind the Fortress, otherwise you will be devoured!"

Velsaria deployed layer after layer of Dreadnought\'s fortification walls and fired again and again.

Parts of the forest were blown away, but the rapid growth showed no signs of slowing down.

Tree roots destroyed walls and stripped away Velsaria\'s armor.

"...Gah, ah, ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Velsaria gritted her teeth and groaned in apin.

"Absolute Blade Arts, Third Form—Shadowmoon Waltz!"

Greyworth rushed to the forefront and severed tree roots in one breath but it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

"This monster intends to grow a sea of trees, huh?"

There were signs of fatigue on Greyworth\'s face.

The circulatory channels in her body had been thoroughly damaged before when she taught Kamito the ultimate technique.

Although the damage was repaired when she de-aged to prime condition, repeated usage of the Absolute Blade Arts like this would eventually cause her to lose the power of spirit contracts again.

"Nothing less expected from the Earth Elemental Lord—"

Leonora was using her dragon\'s heat beams to incinerate the forest, but all she achieved was stalling for time.

"Muir, how many militarized spirits do you have left?"

"Seven. I could burn forests, but what use is that?"

Hearing Greyworth\'s question, Muir shrugged.

Muir\'s militarized spirit Garuda had tried to attack the Lord of Earth, but ended up entangled by countless vines and then easily crushed.

"Indeed, using several militarized spirits until they broke would not change the situation—"

Greyworth muttered in a conundrum. Just then...

A giant shadow descended over them.

"...! W-What is that!?"

Muir pointed into the air and cried out.

Appearing in the sky was—

A red dragon, large enough to rival the Earth Elemental Lord.

Gahhhhhhhhhh!

The red dragon opened its jaws, releasing a heat beam that incinerated the forest.

"W-What, that dragon... Could it be, a spirit—"

"—His Majesty the Dragon King!"

Leonora shouted loudly. Everyone looked at her.

"What did you say?"

Greyworth asked in surprise.

"No mistake. That dragon is the king of our Dracunia, Dragon King Bahamut!"

Leonora\'s voice was very emotional.

"But isn\'t Dracunia\'s Dragon King sealed in the depths of Dragon Rock Fortress because of the Earth Elemental Lord\'s curse?"

"Yes, that is supposed to be the case—"

\'—I was liberated.\'

Just then, an elegant voice sounded in their minds.

"Dragon King...!"

\'As the Earth Elemental Lord transformed into a Gate, the curse binding me disappeared too. I apologize for my late arrival. I flew here as fast as I could.\'

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The gigantic dragon spirit landed on the ground, tussling with the Lord of Earth.

Two legendary-class spirits were fighting in the center of a giant crater.

It was practically a reenactment of a scene from the Spirit War six thousand years ago.

Gruoooooooooooooooooh!

The Dragon King released flame breath at close range.

However, the Lord of Earth was completely unfazed by the fire and violently grabbed the Dragon King\'s wings.

Even Bahamut could do nothing more than restrain an Elemental Lord\'s power.

—Hurry, while I have him pinned down.

Realizing the Dragon King\'s intent, Leonora and Greyworth sprang into action.

Holding their elemental waffen swords, they rushed into the sea of fire.

The Lord of Earth roared with anger, lifting up the Dragon King\'s massive body.

Next, he then smashed the Dragon King hard against the garound.

The earth shook. The giant swung his fist against the Dragon King\'s head lying at his feet.

"—Dragon King!"

Leonora cried out.

Just at that instant, the Earth Elemental Lord\'s movements stopped.

"...What?"

Running side by side with Leonora, Greyworth exclaimed in surprise.

Of course, that was not a reaction to Leonora\'s shout.

O-Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Still in the posture of throwing a punch, the Lord of Earth roared at the sky.

It was a roar with a hint of sadness amid madness.

"...How on earth—"

Leonora could not help but halt.

—They did not realize the reason for change in the Earth Elemental Lord.

Hearing the prayers from so many princess maidens in the human realm, Earth Elemental Lord Lode Gear had recovered his sanity in a brief moment—

Though brief, this duration was a rare opportunity.

Greyworth called out to Leonora behind her.

"—Dragon lass, you have experience with the lad\'s swordsmanship, yes?"

"...? Huh, yes—"

What am I supposed to say at a time like this?—Leonora frowned with puzzlement on her face.

"Seeing that your aptitude is not bad, I shall teach you some tricks. Be that as it may, this is just the basics of the basics."

"...?"

Saying that, Greyworth pressed her hand against Leonora\'s forehead.

Leonora instantly widened her eyes, turned red from the curse of Dragon Blood.

"...! This... is...?"

"I have passed on to you knowledge of my swordsmanship and insight towards the usage of divine power. This was originally supposed to be passed on to a graduating disciple only—"

"...Ah... Ku...!"

Faced with this massive surge of information, Leonora could not help but groan. Throwing her a glance, Greyworth then turned her head back to face the Lord of Earth behind her.

Aiming at the paused Lord of Earth, Velsaria fired all her cannons.

—The Lord of Earth began to move again.

"—Let\'s go, dragon lass."

"...Easy for you to say... But I have no choice but to go all in—"

Gritting her teeth, Leonora readied her Dragon Slayer.

Seeing that, Greyworth smiled with satisfaction.

The two of them began to sprint at the same time.

The Lord of Earth swung down his raised fist. In that instant, Bahamut\'s jaws opened to release a heat beam. As a result, one of the arms of the Lord of Earth was blown away.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Roaring, the Lord of Earth lost balance.

Two elementalists rushed up his gigantic body all at once—!

"Absolute Blade Arts—Destructive Form, Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance, Sixteen Consecutive Strikes!"

Aiming at the head, Greyworth unleashed the most powerful Absolute Blade Art.

A haphazard dance of the demon sword\'s blade.

Immediately afterwards—

"Absolute Blade Arts, First Form—Purple Lightning, Tyrant Dragon\'s Claw!"

Leonora\'s Absolute Blade Art went straight for the neck of the Lord of Earth.

This was a single-point destructive skill launched by the Absolute Blade Art of godlike speed, amplified by Dragon Blood.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

The Lord of Earth\'s gigantic body fell on the ground, crumbling to pieces.

"...!"

Having exhausted all her power, Leonora fell towards the ground just like that.

Velsaria summoned a fortification wall to catch her just before she crashed.

"Hmph, though far inferior to the brat, I admit it looks like you do have a bit of talent."

Landing beside her, Greyworth grinned.

"—I suppose I could take you as my second disciple, dragon lass."

Part 2

"—You have waited long enough, Claire."

"Nee-sama!"

Collapsed on the ground, Claire widened her eyes.

Only to see emerging from a crimson blaze—

Rubia Elstein, wielding a scorching great sword in her hand.

She glanced at Claire then turned her head to glare at the Lord of Wind.

Sparks flew from her shoulder-length red hair that started to ignite.

(...Nee-sama is angry.)

It was the same for Claire. Whenever her emotions erupted, part of her body would give off flames. This was a characteristic of elementalists contracted with fire spirits.

The murderous intent exuded from the Calamity Queen caused the surrounding air to tremble lightly.

"—To think you breached the wind barrier of I, the Lord of Wind?"

Belphal questioned.

"—Who are you?"

\'Have you forgotten my presence, Belphal?\'

The one who answered was not Rubia but the scorching great sword in her hand.

Hearing that, Belphal widened her sky-blue eyes.

"...! Could that sword be—Volcanicus!?"

"What are you talking about?"

\'Thank you for looking after me at the Demon King City, hell cat girl.\'

Hearing Claire\'s surprised voice, the fiery sword spoke to her.

—No mistake. This was the voice of the Fire Elemental Lord that she had encountered at the Demon King\'s city.

Her flames definitely would not have any trouble breaking through the barrier of the Lord of Wind.

"Have you gone mad, Volcanicus—?"

The Lord of Wind\'s voice was fill with rage.

"As an exalted Elemental Lord, why are you assisting the Darkness Elemental Lord\'s minions?"

\'You are the one who is mad, Belphal. Affected by the power of Angels, your mind is controlled by Alexandros.\'

"...! Preposterous!"

A violent gale swirled around Belphal\'s feet.

"The Darkness Elemental Lord is the mortal enemy of us, the Five Great Elemental Lords, and must be destroyed utterly!"

"—Evidently, this cannot be resolved through dialog."

Rubia readied the scorching great sword—elemental waffe Ragnarok—in both hands.

With crimson flames residing within the blade, the sword glowed with red light.

"...How dare a mere human use the Fire Elemental Lord!"

Belphal kicked the ground.

She released the power of the magic spear Brionac, enveloped in violent wind.

"—Nee-sama!"

The flame sword hummed. Faced against a swift thrust, Rubia used the flat of the blade to parry away the magic spear.

As the spear and sword crossed repeatedly, the clashing elements of fire and wind entangled together, rushing up to the top of the sky.

The Lord of Wind\'s consecutive strikes attacked like a storm, but Rubia saw through each and every one. After entering a contract with the Fire Elemental Lord, her princess maiden\'s intuition practically approached prescience.

"Why... Why is the noble Lord of Fire, used by a human...!"

"Because I am her Queen..."

Rubia swung her sword. The flash of the crimson blade left a shallow scratch on the cheek of the Lord of Wind.

"...Did you say Queen?"

Just then, the Lord of Wind suddenly halted in her movements.

"...W...hat... is this...?"

Holding her temples, she made a pained expression.

"Looks like something weird is up with the Lord of Wind—"

Claire murmured.

"—The voice of princess maidens."

"...?"

Claire looked back to trace the voice, only to see Fianna, who had arrived without her noticing, chanting healing magic for Claire and Rinslet.

The warm holy light began to heal their injuries.

"The voice of princess maidens?"

"What do you mean?"

"The princess maidens in the human realm are currently offering their prayers to the Elemental Lords. It must be Reicha who took the lead and organized them."

Fianna, whose princess maiden senses were strong, presumably sensed it.

\'Yes, I feel it too. The prayers from the voices of hundreds, thousands of princess maidens—\'

Rinslet\'s blue rose seal glowed and Iseria\'s voice could be heard.

Overhead, Rubia could be seen dominating the Lord of Wind.

The howling storm seemed to have weakened in wind strength.

"The voices of princess maidens have touched the Lord of Wind\'s soul..."

Her injuries healed, Claire raised Flametongue and stood up.

"Now is the moment, let\'s finish this in one fell swoop!"

Kicking the ground to take a leap, she spread the wings of Einherjar.

She was heading towards the boisterous dance between Rubia and Belphal.

Swinging Flametongue is a smooth flowing motion, she inserted herself into their battle.

"Claire—"

"Nee-sama, let\'s fight together!"

Confronted with the approaching Claire, Rubia simply nodded.

The flame sword Ragnarok produced fire that devoured wind. Targeting the Lord of Wind who was trying to evade, Claire accurately swung Flametongue to begin a fierce offensive.

Perhaps one might describe this as resonance between two princess maidens with excellent intuition, or the tacit understanding arising from blood being thicker than water?

Despite engaging in a blade dance together for the first time, the two sisters cooperated as a perfect combination.

"Hear that, Wind Elemental Lord!? The voices of princess maidens!"

"...Shut, up... Shut up!"

The Lord of Wind cried out emotionally. Her image proceeded to split.

"...!?"

Similar to instantaneous movement, this was probably magic relying on the power of wind.

As many as a couple hundred Lords of Wind flew up in the sky and launched their magic spears simultaneously.

"Thunderstorm of Brionac!"

Hundreds of magic spears were aimed at the two on the ground.

"The queen ruling over ice magic commands. Hereby manifest with haste—Winter Gulf!"

No sooner than she had spoken, a barrier of ice glowing blue appeared in front of the two girls, deflecting the thunderstorm spears.

This was spirit magic chanted by Rinslet.

"Rinslet!?"

Claire cried out in surprise.

She never thought Rinslet would be able to defend against the Lord of Wind\'s magic spears using spirit magic—

"The prayers of princess maidens are offered to all of the Elemental Lords, you know?"

Rinslet raised her left hand, showing the ice rose spirit seal glowing brightly.

This was the seal of the Water Elemental Lord, Iseria Seaward.

The prayers of princess maidens had given her power too.

"Iseria, are you siding with the minions of Ren Ashdoll too!?"

The hundreds of Belphals roared angrily.

\'You might change your mind too after eating her pancakes.\'

Iseria\'s voice was heard.

"Certainly, I am willing to cook for Lord Belphal too."

"Curses—"

Cracks appeared on the ice barrier blocking the spears of magic wind.

Even though they were both avatars, compared to Belphal, who still carried remnants of Elemental Lord power, Iseria was at a great disadvantage due to being separated from the majority of her power.

"...I-I shall not lose."

Rinslet gritted her teeth and poured divine power in her spirit seal.

Just then, Rinslet became enveloped in holy light.

"...Your Highness!?"

Fianna had activated Save the Queen.

With the power of the holy element stacked on top, the ice barrier eliminated the magic spears.

"...What?"

The Lord of Wind\'s clones showed surprise.

"Let us proceed, Claire—"

"Yes, Nee-sama!"

Rubia and Claire attacked at the same time.

Red slashes flashed in a flurry. The raging Flametongue erased the clones of the Lord of Wind.

These were illusions created with wind.

"—O magic spear Brionac, manifest thy divine might!"

Numerous instances of the Lord of Wind swung their spears, producing swirls of violent tornadoes.

Flashes of lightning were mixed inside the barrier of wind.

"...! That makes it impossible for us to approach!"

Just then...

"—O vicious wind, rampage!"

Raw Hawk, launched by Ellis, struck the center of the wind barrier.

The rampaging wind tore a hole in the wind barrier.

"—Scarlet!"

Claire unleashed Einherjar\'s flames.

Enveloped in blazing flames, she and Rubia passed through the wind barrier together.

"...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

In the center of the barrier, the Lord of Wind roared. This must be the real one.

"Claire, I entrust my flame to you—"

Rubia took Claire\'s hand. Clasped together, the two hands lit up with blue fire.

"Got it, Nee-sama!"

Claire produced two flames, one on each hand!

"That flame, can it be the primordial—"

The surprised Lord of Wind groaned.

End of Vermilion and Absolute Zero—precisely what had been passed down the Elstein family.

True fire, stolen from the Otherworld, then ending up in the hands of the human race.

Those two fires gathered together in Claire\'s hands.

"...Turn into charcoal!"

The flames released by Claire swallowed the Lord of Wind.

Part 3

\'—O adorable child, would you like to listen to me and take a gamble?\'

The voice that Kamito heard in his mind—

(Could it belong to the Darkness Elemental Lord—)

Indeed, it was the avatar of the Darkness Elemental Lord whom he thought had vanished.

This was definitely her voice and no hallucination.

(...Why are you here?)

\'I am the last remnant residing inside your divine power. I could disappear any moment like a mirage.\'

The Darkness Elemental Lord\'s avatar laughed in self-mockery.

\'My original plan was to use the last of my power to cling to existence so that I may personally witness the demise of my mortal enemy, but the situation does not seem optimistic—\'

"...Sorry, it\'s my fault for failing to live up to being a worthy successor."

Holding the two swords stabbed in the ground, Kamito stood up.

In his distorted vision, he saw the Holy Lord approaching, sacred sword in hand.

\'I cannot blame you after. After all, that Spirit Weapon is unique in the world.\'

"...Yeah."

Kamito could only nod and concede.

Spirit Weapon—the sword spirit Terminus Est.

Practically the symbol of ultimate power.

Whether Est or Restia, both top-tier spirits, neither could match Terminus Est in power.

\'—Yes, your two swords as they are cannot prevail against her. However, if Darkness and Steel were to merge into a single sword, perhaps they might prove to be a match for that sacred sword.\'

"What did you say...?"

\'Merge two elemental waffen into one. A "Waffen Merge" of spirits.\'

"Take two spirits... and merge them? How can that even—"

\'It is possible in theory. After all, Angels can merge with spirits. However—\'

At this point, the Darkness Elemental Lord\'s avatar paused.

"However?"

\'There are three essential conditions. Spirits of equal power, massive divine power capable of controlling their power, as well as a perfect union of their souls. Unless all are met, the spirits would end up with mutual annihilation.\'

The one who spoke was not the avatar but Restia.

"...Mutual annihilation!?"

\'Capable of merging the power of two spirits, Waffen Merge is an ability kept secret by the Elemental Lords. Of course, I know about it too. After all, I have inherited the Darkness Elemental Lord\'s knowledge—\'

Restia spoke calmly.

\'—To be honest, probability of success is only one half.\'

If Est and Restia were annihilated, having lost his weapons, Kamito would lose.

She must have refrained from suggesting this in fear of that risk.

\'But that is the only way to resist that sacred sword—\'

"—No."

Kamito shook his head.

\'Kamito—\'

He gripped the hilts of his two swords tightly, biting his lip hard.

(—If this fails, Est and Restia will be annihilated?)

How could he possibly take that risk?

\'But my adorable child, at this rate, everyone is going to die, you know?\'

"...!"

Hearing the words from the avatar of darkness, Kamito gritted his teeth.

The sacred sword raised by the Holy Lord was glowing with even more blinding light than before.

Not only Est and Restia, this time she was probably aiming to destroy Kamito\'s being in one go as well.

He was not going to be able to block the next strike.

His rational mind told him of this fact of reality. But...

\'—Kamito, do not worry.\'

In his hand, the Demon Slayer glowed with tranquil light.

\'I trust you, Kamito—I believe in Restia whom you trust.\'

"Est!?"

\'Miss Sword Spirit!?\'

Restia exclaimed in surprise. Kamito could not help but widen his eyes.

Est was calling Restia by her name for the very first time.

\'—Understood, Est.\'

Restia spoke.

There was an element of delight in her voice.

\'Kamito, unless we defeat the Holy Lord, the world is going to be destroyed sooner or later.\'

The two contracted spirits had committed their resolve.

Kamito would be ashamed of calling himself an elementalist, unworthy of contracting with them, if he failed to respond to their determination.

"...Got it."

Hence. Kmaito replied.

No matter what it took, he would not allow his spirits to be annihilated. He swore to himself and gripped his two swords tightly.

\'It appears that you have firmed your resolve—\'

The avatar of darkness spoke.

"Yeah—"

\'In that case, adorable child, I can entrust this to you, my final parting gift—\'

Raised in the Instructional School, Kamito had no idea what it felt like to have a mother. However, the voice echoing in his mind was practically like that of a mother leaving a parting gift for her son, full of tender affection.

In the next instant, a surge of information rushed into his mind.

Waffen Merge—The secret technique only known to Elemental Lords became Kamito\'s.

The Holy Lord raised Terminus Est up high.

...As though offering the world as a sacrifice to the Gate leading to the origin.

"Perish, Ren Ashdoll. My ally of past who used to share my dream—!"

The orthodox sacred sword\'s light turned the world pure white.

The light of destruction—Grand Nemesis.

The giant sacred sword swung down.

The blinding flash filled Kamito\'s vision with whiteness.

Facing that destructive light, Kamito closed his eyes.

He gathered his divine power of darkness into the spirit seals on his two hands.

"Thou, dispassionate Queen of Steel, the sacred sword that destroys evil—"

The white and black swords both glowed.

Kamito crossed the two swords and began to picture the shape of that sword in his mind.

The ultimate sword, capable of surpassing Terminus Est.

"Thou, untainted queen of darkness, demon sword that pierces the truth—"

The slightest mistake in the image in his mind—

Or failure to control divine power in balanced manner—

The two swords would annihilate together with their spirit contracts.

Nevertheless, Kamito did not hesitate. He could picture the shape of that sword clearly.

"—Now form the sword ruling over the sacred and the demonic, and be the power in my hand!"

Kamito crossed his hands whose spirit seals were glowing, overlapping the two swords together.

In that instant, a flash of light exploded and one sword appeared in Kamito\'s hand.

A double-edged sword with a blade of black and white—

Elemental waffe—The Demon Bringer.

"O-Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

With a mighty shout, he swung that sword, slicing through the light of Grand Nemesis.

Part 4

"...Wh-at...!?"

The Sacred Maiden\'s cold but pretty face showed surprise for the first time.

The double-edged sword had sliced apart the light of Grand Nemesis.

Released from the blade was both demon-slaying sacred light and the darkness of obliteration.

—Demon Slayer and Vorpal Sword.

This was the merged form of the ultimate elemental waffe.

(...Looks like it worked.)

Kamito slowly raised the sacred demon sword gripped tightly in both hands.

The last memento left behind by the Darkness Elemental Lord.

(—Thank you, Ren Ashdoll.)

Kamito addressed her remnant lingering within him.

However, no voice answered. Perhaps the Darkness Elemental Lord\'s avatar had finally vanished for real this time.

"...Wh-at? What is that elemental waffe—"

The smile filled with confidence was gone from that face. The Holy Lord muttered.

With a look of disbelief, the Holy Lord looked down at the sacred sword in his hand.

—The ultimate spirit weapon of Astral Zero. The sword that was supposed to be far superior to Kamito\'s Demon Slayer had unbelievably lost.

"...Impossible. This Terminus Est, how could it lose to that impostor—"

In this world, there could not possibly be a weapon surpassing it.

"Well, wanna give it a go? Alexandros—"

Kamito poured divine power of darkness into the Demon Bringer.

Instantly, overwhelming sacred demonic light filled the whole hall in the Holy Lord Palace.

Intimidated by that splendor, the Holy Lord took a step back.

(...! This thing is crazy—)

Simply held in his hand, the sword kept sucking divine power of darkness from his body constantly.

The slightest loss of focus and he could very well lose consciousness any moment.

Moreover, Kamito\'s physical stamina was reaching his limit.

He surmised that he would not be able to sustain this form for long.

(...A minute... No, if I use Absolute Blade Arts, thirty seconds at most, huh?)

—But that was enough.

After all, there was no point in prolonging the battle.

"...That sort—That sort of weapon, how could it be used by a mere mortal body!?"

Holy divine power surged from all over the Holy Lord\'s body.

Terminus Est, raised up high, glowed with silver-white light.

The light of destruction—Grand Nemesis.

The light was far greater than before.

In response, Kamito lowered his center of gravity and entered the stance for the Absolute Blade Art of godlike speed—Purple Lightning.

Divine power of darkness surged.

(I will settle things with this move—)

Then—

Both sides kicked the ground simultaneously.

(...Let\'s go, Est and Restia!

He did not hear a reply, but the sword\'s blade glowed with blinding light as though in response.

Everything till now was gambled on this one instant.

Raised as the Demon King\'s successor at the Instructional School. Meeting Restia. Receiving Greyworth\'s guidance to become Ren Ashbell, the Strongest Blade Dancer.

Meeting Claire. Contracting with Est. Forming Team Scarlet together with Ellis, Rinslet and Fianna, emerging victorious at the Blade Dance.

The consciousnesses left behind by Demon King Solomon and the Darkness Elemental Lord.

All encounters, all thoughts and feelings that had supported him to reach here.

—For the sake of saving Astral Zero and the human realm.

A flash of light.

The power residing in elementalists, divine power, was the light of life.

Nourished by the light of life generated by humans, spirits turned into blades.

Enveloped in divine power, the blades of spirits danced.

—Such were the blade dances of elementalists.

The blades clashed.

In that instant, the light of world creation filled the whole Holy Lord Palace.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Kamito employed all the divine power of darkness in his body.

"...Guh... How could this, be possible—"

Plink, plink—The sound of shattering.

This was the ultimate spirit weapon capable of shattering even the stars in the sky.

Cracks appeared on the blade of the sacred sword Terminus Est.

The Holy Lord faltered. Kamito pressed on, following up with a vigorous strike.

The sound of blades clashing continued unabated.

Twice, thrice, four times—Every time the blades met, flashes of light erupted, accompanied by greater cracks.

"...Impossible, impossible... A mere, humaaaaaaaaan!"

Holy divine power surged in a torrent.

(...! What!?)

At the same time, glowing runes surrounded the Holy Lord to serve as a barrier.

This was the power to rewrite the world—The ability the Holy Lord had absorbed from Angels.

The Demon Bringer was deflected by the Angel barrier.

(Est, analyze Angel—!)

Responding to Kamito\'s voice, the blade of the sacred demonic sword also began to have glowing runes swirling.

But was there enough time!?

(...Only seven seconds until my divine power is exhausted—)

"I shall concede this to you, Ren Ashbell! That impostor has indeed surpassed the ultimate sacred sword Terminus Est. You may die proud now!"

Terminus Est\'s blade gave a low hum and shook.

Waffe release—Intentionally causing an elemental waffe to go out of control, a move to draw out power beyond limits. The Holy Lord was willing to break the sacred sword in exchange for assuring Kamito\'s destruction.

(...!?)

But in that instant...

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

All at once, crimson flames devoured the glowing barrier and the Holy Lord in it.

"—Kamito!"

A familiar voice sounded across the hall in the Holy Lord Palace.

(...Claire!)

Otherworldly fire utterly incinerated the Angel barrier that likewise belonged to the Otherworld.

Even though the fire itself did not inflict any critical damage to the Holy Lord—

It created a momentary opening. That alone was enough.

Kamito could sense the girls behind him.

"Kamito-san!"

"Kamito-kun!"

"Kamito!"

"—Ren Ashbell!"

Claire, Rinslet, Fianna, Ellis, and Rubia too.

His companions from Team Scarlet were here.

(I can\'t make a fool of myself in front of these young ladies!)

Divine power of darkness surged. The Demon Bringer glowed even brighter.

"Holy Lord Alexandros—!"

Kamito kicked the ground and advanced.

"I offer this to you, the blade dance of Ren Ashbell, Strongest Blade Dancer!"

The sword flashed through the air.

One, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, a hundred and twenty-eight strikes—

Endless sword strikes danced in a frenzy across every volume of space occupied by the Holy Lord\'s being.

Absolute Blade Arts, Divine Form—Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance, Unlimited.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sword strikes—

As the light of unlimited swords subsided—

Only particles of light remained.

Part 5

The scene reflected on those eyes at the end was a frenzied flurry of blade flashes.

The Sacred Maiden\'s prescience could only foresee the future of her own destruction.

The ultimate sacred sword shattered in an instant, its body flying up into the air.

The Gate leading to the origin was visible, the void gap in the sky.

The Holy Lord closed his eyes, reaching his hand out towards the homeland on the other side of the gap.

How he desired obtaining true light.

He wanted to become true light, not just the Lord of Light in name only, to shine correct light over the world.

(Is that so? —Did I make a mistake...?)

While his consciousness gradually faded, he muttered to himself.

He originally thought that this world was a fragile bubble created by the origin, just a fake world.

An imitation of the true world in that vortex, a world without value.

He thought that a fake Lord of Light could never create true light.

—But he was wrong.

In the end, he saw endless light.

That light was the new light born in this world.

What he desired in his dreams was in this world, not across the gap.

His vessel, the borrowed form of the Sacred Maiden, turned into particles of light and gradually disappeared.

After feeling satisfied by the blade dance he witnessed in the end—

Alexandros, Lord of Light, vanished.

A tiny flashing speck of light remained at the end.

It was a fragment of Areishia\'s consciousness, that of the sealed Sacred Queen.

(...Thank you, for saving the world.)

The Sacred Maiden spoke to the Demon King of the contemporary world—

(—Est, we can be together now.)

(...Yes, Areishia. I am your sword, your wish is my command.)

Together with the fragments of the sacred sword, she vanished into thin air.