Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume9 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

"These guys just keep coming no matter how many I fight off...!"

With dazzling brilliance, the Demon Slayer swept clear a group of Forsaken Spirits.

Numerous shadows disappeared into nothingness, accompanied by screams filled with resentment.

--However, their numbers showed no signs of abating.

"I don't have time for dealing with you guys right now--!"

Spinning around to unleash a slash, Kamito cut down the shadows approaching from behind.

Even famous spirits in the past would lose most of their original power once they became lingering ghosts.

The troublesome thing was that contact with the shadows resulted in contamination, thereby consuming divine power. If one were to recklessly charge through the swarms, divine power would probably be depleted in short time.

This characteristic was extremely similar to the dark monster brought by Restia, Nepenthes Lore.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--!

Within the blink of an eye, Kamito found himself surrounded heavily again as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

The blade of Terminus Est in his hand also lost its radiance gradually.

Naturally, the contamination from the Forsaken Spirits affected the elemental waffe as well.

Although Est was crowned with the title of the Demon Slayer for vanquishing the Demon King, in actual fact, she was not a spirit possessing the holy attribute but a sword spirit with the attribute of steel.

She did not possess the power to purify filth.

In other words, every time Est made contact with the ghosts in battle, her power kept being consumed.

If this continued, Est would reach her limit before even engaging elementalists from opposing teams.

(...Tsk, this is bad.)

--Just as Kamito clicked his tongue mentally.

The back of his left hand began to hurt intensely.

"...Guh, ah...!"

Intense scorching pain caused Kamito to utter cries of suffering.

Taking off his leather glove for a look, he found blood dripping down his wrist to the ground.

Normally, the spirit seal was barely visible, but now it was shining with intense light.

(...Restia!?)

Ever since that day three years ago, the spirit seal on his left hand had never reacted this strongly before.

"Guh, what on earth...!"

Kamito stabbed the Demon Slayer into the ground to stop himself from falling over.

Along the way, the Forsaken Spirits swarmed in all at once.

If Kamito were to get caught and entangled, his divine power would be utterly drained and he could even lose his life.

(--How could I let you guys succeed!)

Kamito infused maximum divine power into the Demon Slayer:

"Absolute Blade Arts, Third Form--Shadowmoon Waltz!"

He unleashed the anti-army technique of the Absolute Blade Arts.

Resembling the image of the moon reflected on water, this swaying slash was delivered like a quick dance.

A slash followed by a spin, further followed by a slash after the spin.

Even when dozens of enemies surrounded him, they were unable to touch even his sleeve.

Unleashing slashes like a storm, Kamito broke through the barricade.

His overwhelming destructive power swept the area clear of ghosts.

"Huff, huff, huff--"

Putting his sword away, Kamito kept panting.

Using movements that surpassed the limits of his body caused all his muscles to scream in pain.

...I knew it, Greyworth's Absolute Blade Arts take too much of a toll on the body.

Furthermore, slicing Forsaken Spirits also caused contamination in Terminus Est's blade, causing its luster to dim progressively.

Despite the massive decrease in the number of ghosts, new ones kept crawling out without end.

"Damn it..."

Kamito's gaze rested on his left hand.

The scorching pain had calmed down and the glow of the spirit seal gradually disappeared.

"Restia--"

Putting on his leather glove again, Kamito called out her name.

Then.

"--mito... Kami...to."

"...?"

Suddenly -- the wind whispered.

It was a vague sound, akin to the rustling of leaves brushing against one another.

Looking up suddenly, Kamito found a tiny butterfly-like fairy drifting in the wind.

(...Isn't that Ellis' wind spirit?)

No mistake about it. The one calling Kamito's name was Ellis' voice.

She was probably using spirits to carry her voice and broadcast to the surroundings.

(...Could she be nearby?)

Within this abandoned city, there should be no way to send out wind spirits a great distance due to their relatively weaker power. After all, low level spirits without well-defined wills would most likely be caught and eaten by the ghosts before they could travel far.

--At this time, the faint sound of weapons clashing could be heard from the distance.

"...!"

This time, it was not a sound carried by the wind.

Someone nearby was performing a blade dance.

"Ellis--"

Sweeping away swarms of ghosts with his sword, Kamito sprinted in the direction of the sound.