Chapter 526: 「Line Up!」

Chapter 526: 「Line Up!」

「W-Wait, my Lord... Please, wai...」

Kugi, who was sprawled out on the training ground, reached out towards me, calling out. But I didn’t bother listening to her words to the end, cutting her off.

「Nope, not waiting.」

I reinforced the wooden sword with telekinesis and added a charge of electricity to it. The first target is that arrogant horned bastard over there. He has been smugly sending his subordinates after me one after another. There’s no way I’m letting that slide.

「Don’t... underestimate me!」

The horned bastard, slightly shaky, managed to stand up, his eyes gleaming. Huh? My mental barrier deflected something just now. Is this guy a user of the Second Spiritual Form?

「Wha—!?」

「I should be the one saying that.」

「Gaaahhh!!?」

I pressed the crackling, electric-charged wooden sword against the horned bastard, letting the current ravage his body. If I recall correctly, too much electricity can kill a person, right? Well, I’m not exactly sure. Let’s just leave him half-dead!

「Urgh—! Ghh...!?」

The horned bastard rolled his eyes back and passed out. Without hesitation, I swung my crackling wooden sword down on a man with leopard ears lying nearby.

「Guwaah!? Abababababababah!?」

「Doesn’t matter if you’re already down, I’m not going easy on you.」

Smoke lightly rose from the leopard bastard’s body as his voice faltered into silence. I nudged him with my foot to confirm he was unconscious, all the while showing a friendly smile on my face. I think I just heard a shriek, like someone has seen something terrifying, but it’s probably just my imagination.

「Line up! I’ll make every last one of you scream! Even if you don’t get up, I won’t show mercy, so you might as well try to resist!」

「Uwaah!?」

The military officers of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, armed with wooden swords and spears, began to stand up unsteadily or approached with strange, nimble movements. Are they using telekinesis to adjust their steps, moving a bit longer or shorter than their actual stride? So, that’s how they are trying to throw off my distance.

「Take this!」

「Abaaaah!?」

I extended the telekinetic blade wrapped around my wooden sword, transforming it into a massive sword that slashed through all their tricks at once. Only one of them got caught, huh? Guess extending the blade before swinging isn’t the right approach. I’ll need to extend it at the exact moment I swing.

「Guh-eh!?」

Unable to keep up with the instantaneous extension of my blade, about three of them were struck by the crackling electricity and passed out, their eyes rolling back. I mercilessly knocked down every military officer coming at me, regardless of age or gender.

「I-I surrender! I yield!」

「Do your enemies forgive you when you surrender? Huh!?」

With one swing, I sliced a bunch of small stones I had levitated with telekinesis clean in half. This technique requires precise spatial awareness, you have to generate the slash in the right spot or it won’t work.

While I was practicing, a user of the First Spiritual Form proficient in healing the body, woke up and began reviving the fallen military officers one by one. As they recovered, I continued floating countless small stones with my telekinesis and splitting them in half with a single slash.

I might have lost my temper and lashed out, but in the end, I’ve expanded the range of what I can do. If you think about it, this whole ordeal might have been useful after all. If you only look at the results, I gained a lot from this. Still, being dragged here against my will and getting beat up isn’t something I can just overlook. Though, since I’ve already paid them back, my anger has mostly subsided.

「Should I apologize?」

「...No need.」

The horned bastard, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, scratched his head as he said that, trying to act tough despite the situation. The researchers, who had collapsed or vomited after being hit by my shared pain attack, ‘Fly Away, Pain!’, seemed to have recovered somewhat as well.

「The Spiritual Power meter is broken... Do you think we can cover that with expenses?」

「Enough power to break it...? What kind of potential does he have...?」

Ignoring the baffled researchers, I walked over and crouched in front of Kugi, who was sitting on the ground, dazed.

「M-My Lord...」

「I’m not mad anymore. Sorry for getting you caught up in all this, Kugi.」

I patted the head of Kugi, who had her fox ears drooping down, lying flat against the top of her head. I don’t think Kugi had any intention of setting me up to get beaten—at least, I want to believe that. Though I’m not entirely sure, from the moment the sparring, or rather the mock fight, started, Kugi had looked worried the whole time.

「I’m so sorry... I’ve failed as your servant. I should have ignored my superiors’ orders and prioritized you above everything else, my Lord...」

「You’ve got your own ties to this place, right? Can’t be helped. Don’t worry about it.」

「I’m sorry...」

「You’re forgiven, you’re forgiven.」

You’re wondering why I’m forgiving Kugi, even though she let things escalate to the point where I got beaten? Well, of course, I forgive her. I’m soft when it comes to my women.

「Was it really necessary to beat us up too?」

「You drew your weapons to stop me, so no complaints allowed.」

「...」

Moegi gave me a reproachful look, but if she’d just stayed out of it and watched, I wouldn’t have gone beyond the shared-pain attack. If someone stands in my way, I’ll knock them down. But what’s with Konoha? She’s just staring at me with a serious face. It’s kind of unnerving to be stared at like that without any negative emotions.

「You did well.」

「Huh?」

「Nothing.」

With that, Konoha turned her back to me and walked off toward the others, who were busy helping the fallen military officers. What’s with her...? Also, my side still hurts like hell. I should head back to Krishna and get into the medical pod as soon as possible. Just because the fight is over doesn’t mean my wounds are healed. I might’ve cracked a rib or two at this rate.