CH 107

The Holy Sword Durandal

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Zil

The first to move was Raidorl.

As he pours his refined magical power into the Dáinsleif, the miasma covering the holy sword explodes and multiplies.

“Sword-spell fighting. Jormungandr, the serpent of the apocalypse!”

What Raidorl unleashes out of the blue is his biggest move yet. This is the same technique that was used in the battle that took place in this fortress in the past, when the Imperial troops were swept away.

An explosion of miasma forms a serpent, which rushes towards the Emperor alone. It opens its huge mouth and tries to swallow Zacharias, who is carrying the Holy Sword of Fire.

“Houuu……, not bad!”

Zacharias strokes his chin with his left hand and raises the sword in his right hand wide. The reversing flame stretches out like a heavenly thunderbolt, piercing the clouds that hover above.

“Imperial art of the holy sword, Flamma!”

A huge sword of flame is swung down. The jet-black serpent was torn apart by the overwhelming heat, torn into a thousand pieces and scattered.

But when the jet-black serpent disappeared, Raidorl was nowhere to be seen.

“Oo!?”

“Hu!!”

A sword was thrust out from the side of Zacharias. The emperor quickly tilted his head backwards to avoid a thrust at his neck.

It is predicted that the serpent of the apocalypse will not work. It was even defeated by Célia. There’s no way he can compete with Zacharias, who is stronger than her. The blow of the serpent was only a decoy.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

Raidorl repeatedly slashes at Zacharias as he moves into range.

The holy sword in the Emperor’s hand is two times larger than the Dáinsleif, so Raidorl will have the advantage if he gets into close combat.

Zacharias  was dexterous with his greatsword in taking the successive slashes, but soon he was forced to retreat a step or two by the number of strikes.

As Zacharias tries to keep his distance, Raidorl unleashes a low kick and kicks him in the side of the knee.

“Mu….?!”

“Keep slashing!”

Seeing that Zacharias’s body was slightly tilted, Raidorl slashed him up from the bottom in a reverse kesa.

The blow sliced through the red armour, but as Zacharias drew back quickly, the thick armour was not completely shattered and the blow did not reach the body.

With his beloved armour scarred, Zacharius’ lips lifted in a fang-baring, biting bark.

“Haha! That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Uwhoa!”

Zacharias slammed his red holy sword into the ground. The ground split open and flames erupted like a volcano.

Raidorl was frightened and jumped backwards. At the same moment, Zacharias jumped out of the flames and slashed at him with his greatsword.

“Guhhh”

Raidorl caught the blow of the big sword with his Dáinsleif, but could not kill the impact and was sent backwards.

Raidorl rolls on the ground, but quickly adjusts his position. When he got up and looked at Zacharias, the emperor was standing calmly without chasing Raidorl.

Raidorl’s face contorts as he realises that he doesn’t need to be chased.

“Damn you …… for stopping the flow!”

Raidorl clicks his tongue and snarls.

Raidorl is up against a superior opponent. He would have liked to have won the game in one go without giving them an opportunity to counter-attack, but he was unable to do so and were forced to start all over again.

As Raidorl glares at the enemy in front of him in frustration, Zacharias laughs in amusement and places Durandal on his shoulder.

“You’re good. It’s quite entertaining in general! It’s as fierce as fire and as difficult to grasp as cloud water. It’s the kind of brawling swordplay adventurers use.”

“Ha, I’m afraid I was not brought up well. I’m sorry my legs gave out on me so quickly.”

“Haha, you’re the first person to kick the emperor’s ass. You can be proud of that!”

Zacharias, who had been laughing hysterically, suddenly turned serious: “But…”

“The only regret is that you have yet to embrace your holy sword. If you were fully in tune with the guardian deity that resides in your holy sword, it would be more entertaining……”

“Ha?! I don’t accept the holy sword ……? What do you mean?”

Raidorl’s eyes narrowed at the unintelligible words.

“It means exactly what I say. You know, Raidorl Zain. You…..actually don’t like Dáinsleif, do you?”

“…………..”

At the Emperor’s words, Raidorl felt his heart leap. It was as if he had been confronted with something he did not know about himself.

“So I hear, you’ve been chosen for the Dáinsleif, thus your brother hates you, and you’ve been driven to the frontier, haven’t you?　You were abandoned by your vassals and your fiancée. You may think you’ve gotten over it, but in a corner of your mind, you hate your holy sword, don’t you?”

“So? What of it? I do not know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s a shame. If you could accept and tune in to the Holy Sword, your big move wouldn’t be easily defeated.”

While Raidorl was frowning at his words, Zacharias felt a little pity for him.

“There are twelve holy swords known from the history of the continent – all of them are equal in power and none of them are inferior. Even though there is a difference in skill and experience, there is no way that your technique can be unilaterally defeated by Durandal.”

“………”

Raidorl thought back to his first fight against Célia, the curse of the Dáinsleif did not go well, and he had to struggle.

Raidorl thought it was because of the superiority of the holy swords to each other, but if Zacharias is to be believed, the cause seems to be himself not the holy sword.

Raidorl grits his teeth when it is pointed out indirectly that he did not fully utilize the holy sword. Zacharias, on the other hand, also sighs in annoyance.

“To tell you the truth, you’re the same as Célia. She’s too kind to be a holy sword holder. Somehow she has distanced herself from the holy sword, the weapon.”

“I didn’t know. But you can’t afford to give advice to your……enemies or am I not even worthy of being an enemy?”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve got high hopes for you youngsters.”

Zacharias swings his sword away, hard. The flames cover Durandal’s blade again.

The time for conversation is over, and it is time to resume the fight.

“I’ll teach you one more thing, kid. The way of the ancient keepers of the Holy Sword who once fought the Six Witches of Doom. The power of the Holy Sword beyond the Wall!”

“Na..!!?”

“Oooooooohhh”

A blade of killing intent strokes at Raidorl, to counter it Raidorl leaps backwards, distancing himself from Zacharias.

A burning magic was released from Zacharias’ body. It was an undirected torrent of magic, but sharp enough to make Raidorl feel like his life was in danger just standing there.

With sweat pouring down his forehead, Raidorl readies himself for the enemy’s attack with his Dáinsleif.

Even as he did so, the magic of Zacharias increased. Purgatory-like flames poured out of Durandal and engulfed the emperor’s body. 

After a few seconds, Zacharias emerges from the flames.

The emperor, who had reappeared before Raidorl’s eyes, had transformed to such an extent that he could hardly believe his eyes.

“Holy Armour: Aṣ̌a Vahišta the Righteous of Purgatory”

“Ghhh….!”

“I’m glad you’re surprised. This is the holder of the Holy Sword beyond the Wall.”

“Oh, come on…..”

Raidorl’s voice trembles in horror and he lets out a groan.

The man standing in front of him, Zacharias, has reddened skin and a tattoo of a torch on his face.

His clothes have changed completely, his red armour has been transformed into pale flames that cover his strong body.

He is the god of war himself. If Raidorl let his guard down even a little, he was sure, he’ll suffer his knees breaking or worse, his head chop off from his body. 

Aṣ̌a Vahišta, the Righteous One of Purgatory – the divinity of justice and truth. It was the manifestation of the God of Heavenly Punishment who shoots and destroys the evil demons and the impure ones.