Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume17 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 2===

"&mdash;! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Swallowed by the pitch-black vertical hole, too deep to fathom, Kamito kept falling.

The wind rushed past his ears. The air pressure was making Kamito breathless.

(...! I'm in big trouble now!)

Unlike last time when falling down an ice valley in Laurenfrost...

Even if he wanted to use his sword to slow down, there were no walls around him to stab at the moment.

(Releasing divine power is possible to slow my descent&mdash;)

But doing that would only delay the inevitable.

(...Tsk, what should I do!?)

'Kamito, please summon the darkness spirit&mdash;'

"...! R-Right&mdash;!"

Kamito raised his left hand and poured divine power into it.

"&mdash;Come, Restia!"

The spirit seal on his left hand, featuring a moon crest, glowed brilliantly in the darkness.

"..."

...However, there were no signs that the gate of summoning would open.

(...Gah, th-that selfish spirit!)

Kamito shouted in his heart.

On further thought, she had been absent from his side at every critical moment. For example, three years ago, during Greyworth's training when an archdemon-class spirit was chasing him, she was in Astral Zero, enjoying snacks while taking a leisurely break.

However, there was no time for complaining right now. Although Kamito had no idea where this hole led, if he fell to the bottom like this, surely what awaited him was...

(...Crap, this might be the end of me.)

Just as he thought that&mdash;

"...!?"

Suddenly, his body floated up lightly.

"...W-What's going on?"

His weight seemed to vanish all of a sudden.

Floating in the darkness, Kamito slowly descended.

"...I-I'm saved...?"

Slowly descending in the bottomless darkness&mdash;

After a while, Kamito's feet finally touched the ground.

"..."

Silence all around. Apart from his own noise, he could not hear any other sound.

Kamito took a breath then had Est's blade glow.

The brilliant light from the silver-white blade instantly lit up the surroundings.

Kamito had expected to be surrounded by inorganic metal&mdash;

"...! What is this place!?"

But illuminated by the sacred sword's light, what entered his view was&mdash;

A scene completely different from Kamito's imagination.

Before him was a ceiling with countless spirit crystals embedded and a huge temple hall. Heavy stone columns lined the center while intricate relief sculptures were carved on the walls.

It did not look like a "tomb" from a thousand years ago at all.

The impression was like a king's palace.

'&mdash;Kamito, ''I know this place''.'

Est's blade flashed.

"...Est, don't tell me you regained your memory?"

'No, I did not. But this place is&mdash;'

"&mdash;The Great Temple of the Celestial Demon. A thousand years ago, this was where the Demon King and the Sacred Maiden had their final battle."

"...!?"

Hearing the voice coming from above...

Kamito jerked his head up.

With jet-black feathers floating down, a girl in a night-colored dress appeared out of thin air.

"Restia&mdash;!"

Kamito exclaimed in surprise as the darkness spirit girl slowly descended in front of him.

"Kamito, did you enjoy sightseeing outside?"

"...Come on, I called you so many times."

Kamito glared at her.

"In that case, my apologies. Inside this Tomb, connections to the outside world are not very smooth. However, I did hear your calls just now."

"If that's the case, you should've come as soon as possible."

"After all, I knew you wouldn't fall to the very bottom. Was it exciting?"

Seeing Restia's adorable smile, Kamito sighed.

"...So, what is this place? The extravagant decoration doesn't look like a tomb&mdash;"

"This is the Demon King's palace. Or more precisely, this is a place reconstructed with the palace as the model."

Looking up at the Great Temple's ceiling, she explained.
[[image:STnBD V17 BW08.png|thumb]]

"Are there any differences?"

"The real palace is long gone. This is only a place ''she'' created inside the Demon King's Tomb, modeled on the original palace."

"&mdash;''She''?"

Kamito asked.

"Yes, the master of this Demon King's Tomb."

"What?"

Restia chuckled then looked towards a door that led to the depths of the hall.

"Follow me, Kamito. The Queen of the Demon King City wishes to meet you."