Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume10 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 2===

The spewing pillars of fire signaled the opening.

"Let's go, Est!"

Letting divine power concentrated in his legs explode, Kamito kicked the ground intensely.

Carrying the dazzling Demon Slayer, he rushed like a flash of light.

Kamito pulled out all stops and went with full power from the very start. After all, his opponent was not someone whom one could afford to hold back against and still hope for victory.

Rubia Elstein was not wielding an elemental waffe.

Simply waving her finger to one side, she moved her lips slightly.

A tiny fireball appeared in midair&mdash;and expanded instantly.

(...Is this a fireball!?)

The fireball was the most popular move amongst all offensive magic with the flame attribute. Even for Kamito who was unskilled with all types of spirit magic, he understood a fair amount about it because the fireball was Claire's prided technique.

Kamito instantly discerned the fireball's attack range and slightly adjusted his route of advance. His aim was simply to avoid a direct hit and to ride upon the wake of the exploding wind to make his attack.

Rubia released the giant fireball from her hand.

The fireball struck the ground before Kamito directly, producing explosive wind as intense flames swirled.

The unexpected power knocked Kamito from the side, causing him to strike the floor.

(...It's so powerful!)

As his entire body hurt, Kamito lamented.

Despite being the same fireball magic that Claire used, the level of power was as different as heaven and earth.

(I guess I should say, as expected of the former Queen&mdash;)

Kamito instantly reformed his stance and readied his sword.

However, Rubia had already finished her next chant.

"&mdash;Come out from the gates of fiery hell, scorching hunting hounds."

Out from a magic circle that appeared in the air, three fiery Hellhounds were summoned, pouncing at Kamito from three different directions.

"&mdash;Too slow."

The sweeping claws of flame simply passed through empty space.

Taking a leap with his explosive leg power, Kamito jumped straight up.

Switching the Demon Slayer to a reverse grip in midair&mdash;

"Absolute Blade Arts, Third Form&mdash;Shadowmoon Waltz!"

With a flash of the sword&mdash;the three hounds were slashed in one stroke of the sword.

"The sleeping king of the volcano, release your breath&mdash;Flame Howl."

Without giving him a single moment of respite, flames in the form of a massive dragon attacked Kamito. Capturing Kamito's movements with god-like speed, the fire dragon chased closely after him.

(Auto-tracking magic huh?)

Clicking his tongue, Kamito halted his footsteps.

Turning around in a semicircle, he smashed the fire dragon's skull as he spun.

The fire dragon writhed painfully on the floor before disappearing into the air.

As sparks scattered all around, new pillars of fire spewed out.

But even the flames of purgatory were nothing but ragged cloth in the face of Terminus Est's excellent magical resistance.

(&mdash;This is working! As long as Est is at full power.)

Using the momentum from his spin, Kamito rushed forth instantly.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Closing the distance within the blink of an eye, he unleashed a powerful strike. However&mdash;

"...What!?"

The sliced figure of Rubia disappeared without a trace amidst flickering flames.

"...Tsk, a flame mirage!"

"&mdash;I see that you have apparently recovered your senses to a level comparable to the past, Strongest Blade Dancer."

Kamito felt a presence behind him.

"...!"

He immediately spun around to unleash a horizontal slash.

However, Rubia evaded his sword with minimal movement.

"Then I shall be a little more serious&mdash;"

Blue flames were generated in her hand.

"Not even time can escape a frozen fate, conflagrating flames of absolute zero -- Frost Blaze."

"Your flames do not work against my Est!"

Kamito advanced without hesitation and made a second slash from the front.

Absolute Blade Arts, Fourth Form&mdash;Blaze Slash.

The ritual sword technique for absorbing the flame attribute, this was meant to be the trump card against Rubia.

"Kamito-kun, don't do it!"

Fianna's voice suddenly called out.

(...Eh?)

Instantly, Kamito began to doubt the phenomenon before his eyes.

As soon as the tip of his sword touched the blue flames, the Demon Slayer's blade was ''frozen''.

"What&mdash;these flames are!?"

Demonic flames capable of penetrating the Demon Slayer's magical resistance of the highest class.

For flames to freeze other objects&mdash;this phenomenon completely ran counter to Astral Zero's principles.

"This is the primordial flame inherited by the Elstein bloodline&mdash;"

Receiving the frozen blade with one hand, Rubia spoke.

"True fire that transcends the power of the Five Great Elemental Lords."

The erupting blue flames gradually froze Terminus Est's blade.

Crish&mdash;a dry sound of something breaking rocked Kamito's eardrums.

(...Est is shattering!?)

Kamito frantically withdrew his sword and leaped back.

However, Rubia did not miss her chance.

Carrying absolute-zero flames in her fist, she followed through and approached.

"I can feel it, the awakening of the Demon King within you."

"Why are you resurrecting the Demon King? What is your goal!?"

Kamito yelled as he used the Demon Slayer to block the freezing flames.

"A foolish question. The Demon King brings forth&mdash;nothing but the destruction of this world."

"&mdash;That's not right."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because your eyes are the same as Claire's."

"...What?"

Rubia displayed wavering for the first time.

Using this opening, Kamito swept away the blue flames and distanced himself.

Rubia remained rooted to the spot, glaring at Kamito with her burning eyes of ruby.

"...Back when I first met Claire, she had the same eyes."

Hoping for victory in the Blade Dance, in order to learn the truth&mdash;

Back when Claire declared her intentions, her eyes were extremely clear.

However, it was also true that Kamito felt a certain sense of danger from the purity in those eyes.

And currently, Kamito could feel the same sense of danger from Rubia's eyes.

What compelled her actions was definitely not ambition or desire.

&mdash;But an incomparably pure sense of mission.

"..."

Rubia slowly put down her hand.

Then&mdash;

"My goal is&mdash;to use the Demon King's power to exterminate the Elemental Lords."

Calmly, she declared.

"Exterminate the Elemental Lords... Come again?"

Kamito's eyes widened as he stammered in shock.

This was because of that certain Wish&mdash;

"&mdash;Indeed. Three years ago ''on that very day'', you and the darkness spirit intended to realize that Wish."

Rubia continued, as if reading Kamito's mind.

"&mdash;Then you ''failed''."

"..."

Hearing her cold words, Kamito held his breath.

&mdash;Indeed, they had failed.

Due to his memories being in a mess, Kamito could not recall what actually happened back then.

However, the fact that the Elemental Lords continued to exist was clear beyond a doubt.

"...Why?"

Kamito spoke as if groaning.

"Why do you want to kill the Elemental Lords?"

He might have asked this particular question already, three years ago.

In response to this question, how had the darkness spirit girl answered?

"In order to rebuild this world."

Rubia answered immediately.

"Rebuild the world?"

"Indeed. Destroying the Elemental Lords to ''create a world where spirits do not exist'', that is my goal."

"...What did you say!?"

Pondering what that implied&mdash;Kamito could not help but tremble.

The continent&mdash;the world's order was founded upon the blessings provided by the spirits.

If the power of spirits disappeared from the continent, the world would surely fall into great chaos.

This was the reappearance of the Ranbal War as Greyworth feared&mdash;No, it would cause a great war that no other war in the past could compare to.

"...How many lives do you think you'll sacrifice if you do that?"

Kamito asked in a trembling voice.

"Sacrifice huh&mdash;"

Rubia's expression remained completely unchanged.

"The price that all humans of the continent are obligated to pay for the sake of everything."

Thus she asserted.

"...Stop screwing around."

Kamito gritted his teeth, his shoulders trembling.

"For the sake of your goal... Hundreds of thousands, millions of people are going to be sacrificed."

"Supposing that is the necessary sacrifice, I will not hesitate a single bit."

"Then let me repeat myself&mdash;''Stop screwing around''."

Immediately, Kamito's body vanished from sight. A flash of light appeared for but an instant. Infusing the divine power from his entire body, Kamito slashed at Rubia.

Rubia's Frost Blaze blocked the sword's blade&mdash;

"What!?"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"

But Kamito pushed the sword harder just like that.

The shining light reflected diffusedly off the frozen ice.

Sealing Rubia's movements, Kamito yelled loudly.

"Fianna, I'll leave Claire to you!"

"...Understood!"

She must have been biding her time carefully.

Fianna ran at full speed without hesitation.

"...Damn it!"

Rubia instantly released Fireball magic with one hand.

But before the massive fireball could devour Fianna&mdash;

A hell cat spirit jumped out from the shadows behind a pillar, inserting herself in front of Fianna&mdash;

Striking Scarlet, the fireball was absorbed before it could explode.

Passing through the burning flames, Fianna and Scarlet disappeared in the door's direction.

"That was careless of you. You forgot you are alone but we are a team."

"&mdash;It is all futile. Claire has already fallen to the darkness."

"I don't believe that willful little lady could fall so easily&mdash;!"

Yelling Kamito infused maximum divine power into the frozen Demon Slayer.

Crack&mdash;!

The magical ice covering the blade instantly shattered.

"...Sorry, Est. I have to be a little rough."

Panting, Kamito stabbed the sword into the floor.

Blown away by the impact, Rubia murmured as she displayed an expression of disbelief.

"How could this be possible, for you to shatter Frost Blaze..."

"..."

Kamito withdrew his sword from the floor and once again faced off, holding the sword with both hands.

"Rubia Elstein. You are free to hold whatever ideals you want. However, when it involves unrelated people, I cannot approve."

A straight, penetrating gaze.

Rubia accepted such a gaze from Kamito head on with her eyes of ruby.

...For an instant, Kamito wondered if he was seeing things when he thought he saw the flames in her eyes waver.

"You have no idea of the tragedies I have witnessed."

"...?"

&mdash;The mood changed.

The pillars of fire bursting all over the room extinguished.

Like an omen before a storm, an instant of silence arrived.

Then&mdash;

"Words without power to back them up are useless. I learned that the very day after I became Queen."

The scorching air slowly revolved and gathered around Rubia.

(...This amount of heat is astounding!)

A wave of scorching heat made Kamito stomp his foot.

The vortex of hot air caught fire all at once, turning into a howling tornado of flame that began to dance.

"Now let me show you&mdash;the strongest ''god-slaying flames''."

"God-slaying flames..."

The strongest flame spirit, the one that the Calamity Queen reputedly stole from the Fire Elemental Lord.

The tornado of flames reached up to the ceiling and soon began to transform into ''some shape''.

The ''thing'' that appeared before Kamito's eyes was&mdash;

Wrapped in crimson flames, an archdemon in the shape of a giant.

"..."

Kamito had seen ''It'' before.

Unforgettable. Four years ago&mdash;that very day when the Instructional School was destroyed.

"...! That was your doing, singlehandedly... Was it..."
[[image:STnBD V10 211.jpg|thumb]]

Kamito muttered hoarsely with shock.

The archdemon-class spirit that singlehandedly destroyed the Instructional School.

"&mdash;Yes. Thinking back, from that moment onwards, I fear that our fates became intertwined."

The archdemon of flame knelt down before Rubia. As Rubia brought her fingers together and chanted the words of releasing in spirit language, the archdemon condensed itself into a crimson demon sword held in Rubia's hands.

With a swing of the demon sword in her hands&mdash;

"This is it, the strongest elemental waffe of the flame attribute, Laevateinn."

Rubia Elstein announced the name.