CH 49

The two warriors slashed at each other countless times.

Their swordplay made up of blindingly fast moves generated howling gusts of winds between them.

Well I’ll be damned…! That’s not the kinda swordsmanship a kid should possess. Just one mistake, and my head could fall right away. Now this is getting fun! (Sebek)

He’s able to match my speed and power with overwhelming skill. I can’t even spot a single opening! (Seto)

As they kept analyzing each other’s abilities and swordsmanship, Seto received a telepathic call from Satis.

『Seto! Seto…! What’s going on!?』(Satis)

『I’m currently fighting the magic sword soldier Sebek…! I know you told me he was strong, but this is more than I expected!』(Seto)

『You have to run away now! I’m not sure if even you can beat him…!』(Satis)

『If I could run away, I would’ve done so by now! Besides… There’s no way I can let this guy run free right now…!』(Seto)

Sebek approached him vigorously while keeping his stance low, laid the curved blade of his magic sword horizontally, and went for a sword thrust.

Although Seto managed to dodge that, he felt the same chill of death all hunted prey felt when his foe shifted to a lateral slash.

However; Seto gathered his courage and found a chance to win.

He instantly switched to an underhand grip to defend himself against the lateral slash with the blade of his sword, then let Sebek’s slide off it, circled around to his flank at once, and put everything he had into a low positioned sword slash.

Having found a momentary opening, Seto unleashed a diagonal backhanded slash.

[Ngh…!] (Sebek)

Blood gushed out from Sebek’s left side.

However, it did not stop there.

Seto launched another series of attacks.

As if diving past him, he followed the course of his first attack, and struck again at the man’s flank with a lateral backhanded slash.

With that same momentum, he turned around, twisted his sword handle, and launched a third attack that consisted in holding the sword above his own head for a downward slash on Sebek’s back.

[I can read you like a book…!] (Sebek)

As soon as he shouted, Sebek intercepted the slash with his magic sword.

He defended his back without even turning around.

Seto squinted his eyes as he witnessed Sebek’s dreadfully high power output, and the rapid regenerative ability of his body.

[When you go for the killing strike, you can’t be so sloppy about it.] (Sebek)

[I see, so you being a human-demon hybrid isn’t just for show.] (Seto)

[Hehehe! Wanna become one too?] (Sebek)

[As if!] (Seto)

The sparks from the clash of their magic swords scattered vigorously.

As soon as the blades slid away from each other in a smooth motion, the two swordsmen started slashing at each other again.

Having suffered one of Seto’s onslaughts earlier, Sebek improved his defense accordingly, making it harder for the boy to attack.

However, it did not make such an overwhelming difference for him at all, and Seto was convinced that there had to be an opening for him to take advantage of.

[Neither of us is getting anywhere… So how about we have some fun and bust out the powers of our magic swords?] (Sebek)

[Fine by me. No matter what powers your magic sword has… I’ll break through all of them!] (Seto)

After putting enough distance between each other, the glow magic swordsmen characteristically emitted when they unleashed the power of their blades began to shine.

Seto’s glow was as bright red as a burning flame, while Sebek’s was as pale as clear water.

Seto’s eyes emitted a red glow as intense as a raging fire or a wild lightning, and he glared at Sebek with an oni-like look on his face.

In contrast, the man’s face had more of a nihilistic serenity to it, and his wide-open eyes had their eyelids halfway down.

Now that he could exhibit overwhelming speed and power, Seto intimidatingly approached him while bursting out his killing intent, though he remained wary of the special power of Sebek’s magic sword.

On the other hand, Sebek stayed in a defenseless posture.

He dropped the tip of his sword diagonally, and put one of his feet in front of the other.

That stance looks weird… Still, I’ll settle this immediately…! (Seto)

With that in mind, just as he was about to slice his foe at an explosive speed, something unbelievable happened in front of him.

A stray arrow suddenly flew in from behind and was about to hit Sebek with great force.

However, the moment it was about 5 m away from him, it was blocked by an invisible wall. Or rather, by an invisible slash. And before it could reach its target, it was cut to pieces.

Of course, Sebek did not swing his weapon.

He was protected by the special power of his magic sword while standing still.

[What…!?] (Seto)

[…Tch! The cat’s out of the bag before the fight even started.] (Sebek)

In addition to Sebek’s tongue clicking, Seto could hear the humans’ war cries and the sound of their tempestuous march.

The monsters were scattering in all directions like baby spiders, with the humans on their tails.

『Seto! It looks like the reinforcements from the royal capital have arrived! We’ve won!』(Satis)

『We may have won the battle… but I still have to finish it with this guy.』(Seto)

『Kh…! If only I could help you get out of this somehow…!』(Satis)

Satis said regretfully on the other end of the telepathic call.

She had a general idea of Seto’s location, and could use her spells to provide assistance from the rear lines if necessary.

But if Sebek was nearby, this would be a difficult task.

And aiming at Sebek with pinpoint accuracy while Seto was at close range would be a tall order.

『Please hold out as long as you can. I’m headed your way!』(Satis)

『I’ll try…!!』(Seto)

However, it was now hard for him to come any closer to Sebek.

If he used that invisible slash again, even Seto would not get out of this unscathed.

This was Sebek’s trump card.

Unless he found a way around it, he had no chance of winning.

As he gradually approached him with that in mind, a single goblin appeared as if to put a damper on this match.

[Sebek…! Bad news, we’ve lost! The human cavalry has arrived! …Damn it! Why did you have to leave the front lines!?] (Goburoku)

Immediately after saying that, the goblin, or rather Goburoku, caught sight of Seto.

Instantly sensing that they were in the middle of a duel, he fell silent.

Right now, Sebek was seriously trying to kill the boy, and vice-versa.

[…We’ve still got time before the human army gets here. So let’s have some fun, Setocchi.] (Sebek)

[……] (Seto)

Sebek’s cold and inorganic voice was overflowing with murderous intent.

He was simply standing there without moving, yet Seto could not get any closer to him.

Once Satis arrives, maybe we can find a way to turn the tables on him. But that would put her in danger…! In that case, there’s only one solution to this.I need to move and cut him faster than his invisible slash, and faster than his sword. (Seto)

He put his strength into the hand holding his magic sword.

He was about to take a step forward to slash at his foe at once.

Sebek grinned eerily as he also prepared to intercept him.

Meanwhile, the humans’ war cries grew closer, and the ground tremors got even more intense.

Right after Seto had made up his mind and attempted to cut Sebek down, a powerful magic attack and a light slash flew at the latter.

[Sebek! Don’t even think you can escape from my magic sword!] (Osiris)

[Seto, sorry for the wait! I’m here to assist you!] (Satis)

Osiris appeared from above, and Satis arrived from behind.

Those were the best reinforcements Seto could ask for.

[How annoying…] (Sebek)

Even though those two attacks flew at Sebek, the invisible slashes manifested by the power of his magic sword cut down the attacks coming from all directions, and protected him.

[Tch! So it functions as an omnidirectional automatic interceptor!?] (Osiris)

[What in the…! I can’t believe it cut down my high-grade spell like it was nothing…] (Satis)

“Apopis the Snake Venom” was a magic sword that protected its owner to the very end with the power of absolute interception.

As long as its power was unleashed, it would cut to pieces anything that harmed its owner.

Seto, Osiris and Satis glared at Sebek.

The three of them had to defeat Sebek.

Then something happened as they thought that.

Sebek dropped his fighting stance and tried to run away from this place.

[Ah. Hey! Get back here, Sebek!] (Seto)

[…Let’s save the fun for another time, Setocchi. You and I will play again!] (Sebek)

He left by leaping tremendously far.

Goburoku turned to Satis, bowed to her in apology, and ran after his companion.

[…Looks like we managed to drive them away.] (Seto)

As he casually thought that, Osiris walked up to him and lightly hit him on the head.

[Ow! What was that for!?] (Seto)

[For God’s sake, I noticed that something strange was going on in the enemy’s campsite, but… What the heck were you thinking!? Launching a sneak attack on them by yourself is just madness!] (Osiris)

Osiris scolded him, then Satis stepped in and hugged the boy protectively.

[Hold on a minute! I’m the one who planned this operation. Seto was just desperate to repay the kindness of those he felt indebted to!] (Satis)

[That doesn’t make it okay for him to take such a risk! …Haah, well, anyway. Regardless of the means employed, you have my gratitude for drawing Sebek away from the battlefield. Thanks to you, we managed to tear down their front line.] (Osiris)

Osiris shyly thanked them.

Seto, still in Satis’ arms, smiled at Osiris.

[Go back to the city, then come to my barracks. I will thank you properly there.] (Osiris)

[It’s fine, no need to…] (Seto)

[I won’t take no for an answer…! You guys owe me a celebration for that! …Now get away from here while you still can. You don’t want to attract attention, right?] (Osiris)

This war was over, and it ended with the humans’ victory.

The cheers of the warriors who made it out echoed across the land.

In the middle of this, Osiris joined up with them, and was treated like a hero.

Of course, the fact that Seto and Satis had played an active role on this battlefield would be left out of History.

But that was fine.

Seto had no desire to be a hero.

He simply wanted to help his friend out.

He wanted to protect the people he cared about.

That’s all there was to it.