Chapter 544: Duel
A few days ago.
“……My armor……?”
“Yes. Right now, we don’t have access to large quantities of iron. It’s even better if it’s good quality. ……We’re asking everyone in the craftsman village to provide railway tools little by little, but since they walk, they are doing their best. But I don’t think they have that many”
“Wait, what are you going to do with the armor……and the iron?”
“It’s decided. Prepare to fight Rainer”
“……Will you fight Rainer?”
Neia was puzzled.
“Do you mean to……defeat Rainer? But……”
“Neia might win, but the moment Neia tries to fight, his dragon intervenes. No matter how skillful Neia is, she won’t be able to win against both the dragon and Rainer at the same time……but if I do it, then there’s no way I can win. Right?”
“That’s impossible”
“……I’ll tell you clearly”
“It’s a futile death. Because it’s you, you can save everyone. If you die, I and Maia and the others can’t save anyone. All I have to do is go”
“Well, as Neia, I guess I’ll just have to push……that line”
I chuckled.
“But if I let Rainer blow a bubble, the story will change. Dragons won’t object to a settlement between riders. Even if I can’t kill Rainer, I can still get him to back down on his demands if I push him hard enough”
“So that’s impossible. ……Do you know what you are talking about? Rainer has……the same or even more combat power than 100-man commander Dianne, to put it bluntly?”
“Then I can handle it”
“……Yes?”
“If that’s all he have, then fine. If you’re not good at it, you’ll be in trouble”
—————————————–
And now.
“Andy Smithson. You understand what it means to come at me. As a dragon rider”
“Don’t keep checking back. You’re afraid of me”
“…………”
Rainer tries to give me a quizzical look.
“That armor, huh? ……That’s how confident you are about it. But no matter how many tricks you put into it, you didn’t know if you could stand up to a real hero with just that armor, even though Neia Grans was there……?”
“Well, then. Neia said you were strong, but I don’t know how strong you are. Surprisingly, aren’t you just a small fry wearing the power of a dragon?”
“……Kukuku. HHahahahahahaha!!”
Rainer laughed when he heard my provocation.
“You mean it’s because I’m like that? ……Let’s end the chit-chat here, shall we? I checked this carefully. I can’t believe even the dragons would think that I was pushing them”
Yes. The reason why Rainer was cautious was because he was strong. If the stronger one threatens with force, it is against the ethics of dragon riders. If he was going to control power with his heart, it was necessary to keep the appearance of a discussion. Rainer was already putting pressure on us and narrowing our options with his very presence, but I couldn’t let him get his hands on me first. So they gave me a choice. Even if it was a choice I couldn’t make, it was a negotiation. And even though I showed my willingness to be pushy, we continued the conversation discreetly. That’s as far as it went. Enough is enough for me to break off the dialogue and hope to settle the matter by force and intercept……in self-defense.
“So let’s find out, Andy Smithson. I’ll give you a little company”
“Then……feel free to go for it.”
Under the cloak. Underneath my cloak, my body is armored specifically for this battle, based on the full-body armor I made for Neia. The armor was created in just six days of rush work with the help of almost everyone in the craftsman village. Although they were not learned, their technical skills were solid. Using a furnace that had been hastily built on the rocky terrain, they painstakingly assembled it with the few tools they had on hand, materials that were not plentiful and my ideas.
He took the first step.
The movement is heavy, to my surprise. The slightest movement of Rainer’s body posture gives a feeling of strength and quickness like a wolf, while……this one’s step is like a turtle or a rock doll. Even before the battle began, I could somehow feel Neia, Tetes and Maia tense up at the obvious difference in physical performance. I took another step toward Rainer and then another. I ran, making a clattering sound. Kicking the ground and lifting myself off the ground, the movement is too awkward. He knows it well. Corti, who is standing behind Rainer, is trying not to laugh. However, Rainer does not let his guard down in his sharp gaze. It’s no wonder. You never know what you’re going to see. It would be too easy if we were to take it easy from the start. I drew my sword as I ran. One of the heroes in the team had taken it off. There were several other swords that were used as materials for armor. Brandishing that sword, I leapt at Rainer……and thrust the tip of it into him.
“Even children come with better attack techniques”
Rainer moved at that moment. I’m just inches from his sword and he steps to my side with no difficulty. I can see it. …….Good. I’m using my senses, too──!!
“Hmph!”
Rainer draws his own sword. He cuts off my arm with his experience and aims for my neck with his sword. But.
“!?”
When my arm flew off, Rainer’s eyes widened with a sense of discomfort. Because the arm that Rainer cut off has no……contents.
“What……!?”
(Eat this!!)
There, I pointed my shoulder directly at Rainer. Hollow arm. On the shoulder, there is a Maia-made breath seal stone. The freezing qi is adjusted to be concentrated and sprayed by the engraved crest on the inside of the arm just like the 「Breathcalibur」. The detonation is the impact of Rainer’s sword.
“Nuaa……!?”
Rainer was caught off guard by the blow and was almost hit by the blizzard breath right in front of him. Of course, it’s small-scale and short-ranged compared to what’s fired from the dragon’s own throat, but it’s still powerful enough to hit a human. But.
“……, How……!”
Rainer immediately dropped back, keeping the damage to the surface by keeping contact to a minimum.
“You, from the very beginning, your right arm……”
“It’s a shame. It would have been amazing if I could have killed the hero with just one arm”
I remove the frozen remnants of my iron right arm from my shoulder and discard it. The real right arm had been cut off……in preparation for this battle.
——————————————–
“Are you sane……!? Master……”
“Thats right. Rainer will definitely deal with the first blow with plenty of time to spare. He will cut off your arm to first destroy any means of resistance, then go for your life. If my bluff is working at all, he’ll think it’s dangerous to aim straight at my neck, leaving me free to attack”
I show Tetes the 「Iron arm」 I made by mobilizing the villagers of the craftsman village and say.
“So we’ll set a trap in the arm that will be targeted first. That’s why we drop the real right arm. ……To do that safely, I need you and Neia to help me”
“I……I’m sure Hilda is teaching me a lot of things……but that’s just the magic side of things, not the real medical stuff at all”
“I know. Still, I have no choice but to rely on you. ……Amputation and emergency illusionary magic to control the pain. Neia should also be able to use magic to fix the state without closing the wound. Please do something about it”
“I mean, Master has never seen how Rainer fights, has he! You’re all speculating, aren’t you! It’s not right to bet so much on a single point!”
“If it’s decided, it’s a one-shot. Even if it’s not decided, I can make the opponent be more cautious”
“Even if you say that……well, Maia-san, you should say something to Master!”
“……Andy-sama is serious. Then I will obey”
Maia didn’t need to persuade me, she understood how serious I was. This is the kind of thing you can count on from a dragon. Above all, it may be that Maia knows that even if she wants to make my wish come true, she can’t do it on her own. In truth, it is the nature of dragons to be willing to risk their own lives to fulfill the Lord’s wish, if they can manage to do so. But there is no way to do that and only my victory will do it. Even if the odds are against me, she understands how I feel about gambling on it……so I guess it’s love and loyalty for me to make the decision together.
“Maia, make sure you have the 『Breath sealing stone』 made. If possible, it would have been nice to have Laila’s sealing stone……”
“I’m sure there are ways to do it with the ice dragon sealing stone”
“I’ll experiment with some of them later. Tetes, I will perform the surgery the day before. Be prepared”
“……Master……”
“Yes?”
“……I may have realized……that Master is really 『That』 everyone’s Master……after all this time”
Tetes muttered, looking at me as if I were something frightening.
“A mere soldier who received the love of the War God Dianne……the black dragon Laila, the sacred beast Breakcore and the northern elves……”
“It’s an exaggeration to throw away an arm. Besides, if you go to Breakcore, you’ll be cured. It’s not such a hopeless decision”
“……It’s that will to use even that as a tool and fight the hero. ……Honestly, I’m scared”
“Of course. If the enemy is that strong, we need to be as scary as we are”
————————————
With the help of Tetes, who is skilled in various magics, I was even able to move my iron arm through a pseudo-sensory connection, even though it was lame. That’s why it went unnoticed until he swung the sword down.
“……It won’t be difficult to take your head……but I feel like I’ll end up hurting you needlessly”
“Do you think you’ll get hurt, Rainer Exeliza?”
“……Kukukukuku. I don’t think it’s a joke anymore”
Rainer is strong. It would not be a lie to say that he is no worse than Neia. But a fight is only as good as the stab that reaches the……opponent. All I need is the eye to know when to use it and the arm to move in that split second. I believe I have it. I believe that if I use all of my potential, I can reach it. I still don’t believe that I have the strength of a sword saint. But I know I can make that stab. The days I spent before coming here and the people I met have taught me that I can do it. Then I will do it. I will not give up on a happy ending until I have a reliable ally on my side.
“Let’s continue, Rainer. Let me play my next trump card”
“……Do you think I’m going to go knowing that?”
“!”
Rainer agilely moves away from me and swings his sword at me. The next moment, a cloud of dust and smoke forms a pillar.
“Shockwave……”
“I’m going to slowly finish you off as you soar”
“Damn!”
I move my hand behind the shield on my remaining left arm. Half of the weight of the movement is due to this large shield. A chain whip emerges from inside the shield. I borrowed it from Brian, thinking it might be useful for something. I wrap it around a nearby rock and step on it.
“GGu……!!”
With one arm, the balance of my whole body shifts. I can’t brace myself like I thought I could. And there’s no reason for Rainer to wait for me to endure.
“I’m going to finish this”
He rushes in to follow the shockwave and raises his sword at me. I held up my shield as I endured.
“It’s no use!!”
He probably intended to cut me with my shield. The sword that Rainer swung down actually sliced through the middle of the shield. The sword made a clattering sound as it could not go any further due to something placed in the center of the shield.
“!?”
Rainer’s eyes widen. The iron we had is not that good. He probably thought he could cut it off for sure. But. The one thing that a decent sword made in this day and age can’t cut through……we had one of those too.
“Thank God”
“What do you care? That’s what swords are for”
Using the shield’s cracked exterior, I twist and break Rainer’s sword and talk to the thing inside the shield. It is the well-known flash sword. It became the core of a large shield and it was catching Rainer’s blow.
“……Flash Knight’s treasure……!”
“The only way to beat you is to mobilize all hands on deck”
The band holding the exterior of the shield is removed and the flash sword inside is removed while the exterior is dropped to the ground. It was everyone in the craftsman village who adjusted it so that it could be operated with one arm and they cooperated with me, astonished at the idea of fighting with my one arm.
“Now, I took your sword. ……I’ve got a sword. Do I have a slight advantage?”
“……When an amateur holds a sword”
Rainer makes a displeased face when he sees that I’m getting carried away and takes an empty fist stance. I’m well aware that I can’t win with just one sword. However, the flash sword is a treasured weapon that has been passed down from generation to generation of heroes in this country. Combine that with my preconceived notion that I don’t know what I’m going to do and it’s more than enough to intimidate them. And on top of that.
“Do you think it’s just a sword? Rainer Exeliza?”
The flash sword breaks its own prohibition. The sword is a sword and it is a sword.
“……The sword is speaking……?”
“Thats right. I am the sword of a hero”
“She is not a hero”
“No, she is a hero. ……It is strange that you and others like you were called heroes”
The flash sword sings loudly with seven colored lights glittering on the blade.
“Should we call a hero just the one who fights monsters? Should we call those who protect the people heroes? Should we call them that because they do scary work? ……No, it’s not. It should not be a name that is forced upon the young, that makes them rightly frightened, that makes them abandon their caring hearts”
“Are you denying the very hero of this country? Treasure”
“That is not what it means to be a hero. Conquering fear does not mean just putting oneself in the midst of violence, covered in blood. It may be necessary, but it is not the essence of courage. ……For people to conquer fear is to take the first step. It is to stand firm on one’s own feet on a path that everyone thinks is better, but is afraid to go forward for fear of change or loss. The heart that can do that is what we call courage and those who do that should have been called heroes”
“……Petty quibbles”
“Rainer Exeliza. The more you try to be brave, the more you call your actions a duty, the less I see you as anything but brave. Courage is a decision. What you do in the name of a hero is only a defensive action to protect your power”
“You show your face to twirl a skeleton of a word, old tool?”
“No way. ……The true heroes are here. That’s all there is to it, fake hero. I will say it again. I am the sword of the hero. I have lived long enough to protect Neia Grans and Andy Smithson”
The flash sword, with its full body of light, cuts a figure with me.
“It’s not just a sword you’re looking at. But a mass of despair for the world and hope for tomorrow, which has walked with this country while seeing off hundreds of heroes. ……Heart. I am now, for the first time since the founding of the kingdom of this valley, with the hero of my own choosing”
I and the flash sword thus intimidate Rainer. Even this is a battle with Rainer. We don’t really have that much power. But if Rainer is going to try to outrange us, there is nothing we can do about it. I don’t really have a lot of cards in my hand. The only reason why the flash sword broke the prohibition and started talking was to provoke Rainer. And sure enough.
“……Shut up!!”
Rainer tries to kick the ground and launch a kick from the sky. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to react. However, my consciousness, sharpened to the limit of my nerves, follows the movement perfectly. Even so, my body’s speed did not increase and the range of movement was limited to my wrists at best and it was all I could do just to match the sword, rather than swing it. That was fine.
“Flash sword!!”
“Response!!”
The light converges and the power of the flash sword is concentrated on the tip. The armor covering the left arm is designed to hold the elbow at a fixed angle and support the impact on the arm. Still, the sound of the arm breaking resonates, and. Still, the light strikes Rainer.
“Ga, aaaa!!”
A flash strike. The attack by releasing the power of the flash sword is enough to kill a person, even if it is minimal. The screams that went up in response were not Rainer’s, but the woman’s.
“……Shario!”
“Rainer……sa, ma”
The woman who jumped from the side to protect Rainer from the attack had her back severely gouged out. Rainer looked stunned, but eventually he got up angrily and tried to face me. But before he could do so, Neia suddenly stepped in with her hat held down.
“The battle between the riders was ruined due to the dragon’s intervention. ……From now on, I will be your opponent”
“You……!”
“Maia, Tetes, protect Smithson-san!”
Neia fights Rainer at an extremely high speed. Meanwhile, Leyla retrieves Shario and attempts to retreat, while Corti tries to join Rainer somehow. Maia interferes with this and a melee ensues.
“Master, get back now! I’ll take care of it!”
“I’m fine, so protect Neia!”
“It’s not good!”
There, a group is seen heading toward them from downstream. It’s the hero corps. They had been kept down in case they were needed. Corti must have sent them a signal.
“Does that mean it’s a good idea to break the bank……that’s not funny”
“However, with this, they should no longer be able to gain the support of the entire Dragon Palace…if we can get through this, we have a chance of winning”
“This is not the time to be so arrogant! The only way to get through that……
The sky darkened almost at the same time that Tetes was propping me up with a half-crying face. We look up and see a number of figures descending on our surroundings.
“Hmm. Will we be the first?”
“We were close, it seems. What, there’s no need to wait that long”
“It’s a bit plain for a banquet”
Fine armor and a bright cloak. The middle-aged knights, overflowing with confidence, slowly stood up and watched Neia’s battle and the arrival of the hero corps. Then, a knight in crimson armor who landed a step later called out to me with a nostalgic voice.
“It’s a little late for that. Eight years ago, I failed to teach you something”
“…………”
The bearded knight didn’t look at me, but continued, looking at the heroes who were coming toward us but were beginning to slow down in confusion and at Rainer and the dragons, who were surprised to see us.
“Originally, you should know this on the battlefield. In the end, you probably don’t know because the war ended before you even fought. …Continue. Do one more thing than the enemy, cry or not. Even if you don’t want to divulge anything, you won’t give up on living and you will continue to persevere”
While he was saying this, knights were jumping down from the sky one after another. And when the largest man landed in the center as if he were the star of the show, the bearded sword saint……100-man commander Grants thrust his sword with its scabbard into the earth and sang as if to sing.
“When we have endured with all we have, it will surely appear there. That is the covenant between us and all our brethren”
A dozen or so knights, each thrusting his or her sword or spear into the earth, joined their voices in unison.
“As long as you are with us, we will fulfill it”
“No matter how far away you are. We will come to you”
Finally, in a voice deeper and more powerful than anyone else, Arthur Bonaparte, the master of swordsmanship, shouts out loud.
“Friend, we have come to help! We, the Royal Sword Saint Brigade!”