Chapter 18: Holy Sword’s Advice: Arthur’s Doubt

Excalibur, the Holy Sword of White Light.

It calls itself the most attack-focused of the three Holy Swords.

Well, it was stuck in a mountain behind the orphanage, so I thought it was just an ordinary rusty sword and pulled it out, but

I didn’t know it was a Holy Sword.

It was a Holy Sword that always said everything would be alright if it was with me, so don’t worry…

‘Arthur, how about you draw the Holy Sword of Truth as well?’

“Suddenly?”

My self-esteem plummeted so quickly in such a short time.

The Holy Sword of Truth, a versatile Holy Sword that tears through illusions and sees through lies.

But nothing special is happening on this train…

Glance.

I watched the teacher, who had finished showering and was wearing a bathrobe and mask, which was quite a jarring sight.

…I want to spend a little more time with the teacher.

There’s no time to break illusions or anything like that.

‘What kind of foolish thought are you having?’

“In the first place, no one is being harmed by the illusion, right?”

‘Hmph, you never know.’

The Holy Sword turned its blade towards me and hummed.

“Me?”

‘Yes, I don’t know what’s going on, but reading the energy flow, you’re probably at a disadvantage.’

Disadvantage? I’m actually experiencing something good.

How is spending time with someone I respect a disadvantage…?

“I don’t care, I’ll handle it myself, so don’t interfere.”

‘…Such language…!’

I slowly walked towards the teacher.

A fragrant, cozy scent is getting stronger, but

a man can use women’s bath products, right?

“Teacher! When are you going to sleep?”

“I’ll go to bed after you fall asleep. Go to sleep.”

Ah, so going to bed early is for the teacher’s sake.

Then I should sleep quickly!

 

***

 

“Good, he’s finally asleep.”

I’m sorry, but I’m going to teleport now. It’s exactly midnight, the time the imperial decree prohibiting the use of great magic and above ends. Usually, new imperial decrees are announced from 2:00 a.m., so it’s legal to use it now.

And it’s the optimal time to use magic, when the ‘stars’ shine the brightest.

Well, whether the stars shine or not, I’m the strongest mage, because

Snap.

I can use magic just by snapping my fingers.

Good, so this is the academy?

Judging from the appearance of the castle and the few demons I see, I’m not mistaken.

Then let’s enter the acade…

Ting.

A pink membrane appeared on my head as I was about to enter the door, and I bounced back.

A barrier?

The level of the barrier is average, but a top-class illusion magic is cast on it.

Hmm, it’ll take at least 20 minutes to dispel this magic…

Good, let’s tear it apart.

Shwing-

I slowly drew Durandal from its scabbard.

Durandal is a family heirloom of the Inverness family, with aura imbued in the sword itself.

The Headmaster gave it to me not long after we met, as if he had finally gone mad, but

it was a sword among swords, with power rivaling an S-rank Holy Sword.

But it felt somewhat empty, so I poured a lot of magic power into it, and

Ta-da, it awakened and became EX rank, not just because it evolved.

…It’s a ridiculous story, but

it’s true.

It feels like I’m almost omnipotent with just magic power.

However, aura is something created only through talent and effort.

Mana is something you can only encounter if you have talent.

And the compatibility is, aura tears mana apart.

It seems like aura has the property of scattering mana into the air when it encounters it.

Omnipotence is torn apart in the face of aura.

What does that mean?

“Phew.”

If I place my foot on the ground like this,

exhale into the cold air, point the tip of the blade towards the ground behind my waist,

grip the black handle tightly with both hands, and swing it upwards from below,

“Durandal, tear the illusion.”

Clang!!!

It means that the barrier can be cut this easily.

Crack!

A huge scar appeared on the floor, and the aftershock of the blow flew towards me.

Oh dear, since I drew it up from the ground, did I cut the floor deeply too?

As expected, is Durandal too strong?

As I was trying to slowly sheath Durandal,

perhaps because I made too much noise, the demons flew towards me.

Thud.

The largest one landed right in front of me and glared at me.

A demon with a red body and blue eyes whispered quietly to me,

“Hey, this academy is currently under official business.”

If he had hidden those wings behind him, I might have believed him a little.

To tell me it’s official business while flapping black bat wings…

“What are those wings?”

“Oh sh*t, I’ve been caught, guys, get him!!!”

The flustered demon called the disgusting lower-ranking demons behind him.

Since we’re both disgusting, I’ll send them off without pain.

Well, perhaps because they’re soldiers, it was impressive that they all had bulging muscles.

The most muscular one stood in front of me and shouted.

Then he threw a punch.

“Die!!!”

An emotionally charged punch with too many unnecessary movements.

I wasn’t weak enough to take such a punch.

I grabbed the demon’s arm midway, pulled it towards me, hooked his neck with my arm, and threw him to the ground.

Whoosh! Bang!!!

The giant rolled on the ground and groaned.

“Ugh…Ugh…What kind of strength…”

Thump.

Without mercy, I stepped on the demon’s head, slowly turned it, and crushed it.

The shattered red skin and flowing black blood were impressive.

Ugh, my shoes are dirty.

I rubbed my feet on the sandy ground and gestured to another demon.

“Next.”

I really wanted to say that line.

“You bastard!!! How dare you to Debir!!!”

As the enraged demon flew towards me, matching the force he used to fly,

I also used my shoulder and punched him in the face with a full swing.

Bam!!!

How refreshing.

Crack!!!

How exhilarating.

Shall I try hitting them with a hwimori rhythm next?

“…Did I kill them all?”

A man wearing a blood-stained suit and a crow mask, in a landscape of corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowing like rivers.

What a fitting scene.

Pat, pat.

I brushed off the blood on my gloves.

Even though demons are living beings,

even with heroines who are demons, after killing demons so similar to humans,

I don’t feel anything, and rather, my body is heating up.

Am I really qualified to be a teacher…?

“Well, now let’s enter the acade…”

“I don’t know what kind of guy you are, but you’ve finally fallen into the illusion…”

I poured out almost all of my magic power, and now I’m caught in an illusion?

Is it physical strength, or is there something inside his body?

Or does he have a story like the Headmaster?

“Haha, even though I’m old…”

Swish!

The sword wipes away the demon’s blood with incredible speed.

…I’ll definitely lose in a head-on fight.

“I’m not weak enough to be looked down on by a woman like you.”

Tap, tap, tap!

In three steps, the Headmaster ran right up to me.

Dangerous…

“Help me, Despair.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Bam!!!

With a momentary flash of blue light, the Headmaster’s body flew through the air and crashed back-first into the wall.

What I summoned with the summoning magic tool was my familiar and high-ranking demon, ‘Despair’.

He was a childhood friend and colleague who has been close to me since birth.

Blue hair with horns and blue eyes.

Long, black wings, a symbol of a high-ranking demon, on his back.

And a body of compressed muscles…

“As expected of Despair… always reliable…”

Despair answered with a smile.

“Thank you, my lady.”

As I was praising and stroking Despair,

a rustling sound came from the wall, and the Headmaster walked out.

Thick dust slightly obscured my vision.

Along with a hearty old laugh, the dust-filled smoke parted in two.

To clear the smoke with a sword, as expected of a person of interest…

“Hmm, just one punch is this strong.”

The former Sword Saint, Regal Inverness.

It’s said that he single-handedly killed the former 3rd Legion Commander…

“Not bad.”

The Headmaster, chuckling…

Scary. For a demon to make me feel this way???

Despair clenched his fists and wrapped his arms around me.

“I will always protect you, my lady. Get lost, lower life form.”

“…It’s good that what you’re protecting is still alive.”

The Headmaster smiled faintly and took a stance.

A stance with his sword raised vertically.

And a surging orange aura.

…Dangerous!

“Despair! Dodge!”

“It’s alright.”

Bam!!!

Despair caught the blade as if clapping with both hands.

As expected of Despair!!!

“…If only the illusion had worked, I would have helped.”

“Haha, no way.”

It’s not your fault that the old man’s lover died.

As soon as he finished speaking, the former Sword Saint’s sword flew towards Despair.

Crack!

With a loud noise, the sword pierced Despair’s shoulder.

“Despair!!!”

“…Don’t touch Cecilia.”

The former Sword Saint said to Despair, his orange eyes flashing.

“Before I tear you apart.”

“Ugh…”

I need to help Despair…

How can I help him?

The more beautiful a person is, the harder it is to create an illusion!!

I tried using Saintess, the most beautiful person in his memory, and failed in one second!!!

Ah, then

I just have to be specific, right?

I created a magic circle in my hand and threw pink smoke at the former Sword Saint.

“Target: Cecilia – Hundred Years Dream!!!”

The sword that was digging into Despair’s shoulder stopped, and the former Sword Saint lowered his head.

Did Despair’s…work?

Thud.

The former Sword Saint collapsed powerlessly next to Despair.

Due to his tremendous mental strength, the illusion will probably only last for about two hours.

Well, I can still extract a lot of power.

My tactic is to gain power by extracting it from opponents trapped in illusions.

As I was extracting the former Sword Saint’s power, Despair called me.

“My lady, the new health teacher’s illusion has just begun.”

“Really…? I was curious about that person’s taste…!!!”

As I ran towards the magic tool that shows illusions, Despair stopped me.

“Despair…?”

“…My lady, this bastard is crazy. Don’t look.”

What is it?

I nudged Despair aside and looked at the screen.

A handsome blond man was making love with a beautiful silver-haired woman.

…Wasn’t the teacher’s physique much larger than that man’s?

Despair, with a serious expression, voiced his guess.

“Perhaps, it’s his silver-haired lover being taken away? Otherwise, the change in physique doesn’t make sense.”

“He’s a crazy bastard…this is an illusion showing his taste, to have such a taste…”

If Pest knew about this, he would have hit the ground in frustration, but

unfortunately, he was trapped in the illusion…

“Where did the teacher go…?”

The little boy on the train used teleportation magic to the academy.

And he collapsed, ridiculously quickly succumbing to the illusion magic that Kama recast.

Thud.

….ZZZ’

‘Such a fool…! Arthur, get a grip!!!’

And now, it’s time for Arthur’s taste to be revealed.