Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter7 (section)

===Part 3===

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, accompanied by a flash of light, an explosion was heard, almost rupturing their eardrums.

(...W-What's going on!?)

Amid the rising dust cloud, Kamito instantly reacted and checked out his surroundings.

Kamito had a pretty good idea what the flash of light prior to the explosion in the crowd was about.

(The light of releasing a spirit&mdash;)

As expected, ahead of him, a xenomorphic shadow appeared in the dust cloud. Once the dust settled, a giant monster with a lion's body, an extra goat's head and a snake for a tail could be seen there.

"...That's the Chimera-type militarized spirit!?"

Claire cried out in shock.

The magic beast spirit, the Chimera, was an obsolete tactical-class militarized spirit deployed on the front lines during the Ranbal War. Even though it was two generations older than the current Glasya-Labolas giant spirit deployed in the official ranks of various nations' military forces, in terms of combat ability, it was Glasya-Labolas' equal.

"...W-Why is a militarized spirit&mdash;"

"Who knows..."

Kamito readied the Demon Slayer and the Vorpal Sword in both hands and faced off against the magic beast.

Gathered on the plaza, the crowd still had yet to grasp the situation.

Confronted with the suddenly appeared militarized spirit, they simply froze on the spot.

"Claire, direct the people to evacuate&mdash;"

&mdash;Just as Kamito shouted...

Guoooooooooooooooooo!

The magic beast roared and swung its huge limbs.

"...!?"

Kamito and Claire instantly jumped to the left and the right respectively, dodging the attack.

With a thunderous crash, stone tiles were dig up, a large amount of debris flew into the air.

(...What astounding destructive power!?)

Rolling on the ground, Kamito cursed in his thoughts. A mere human body would be shredded by a direct hit from that.

The countless shards of broken tiles were about to rain down on the crowd&mdash;

(...Tsk, damn it!)

Kamito could not help but click his tongue. At that moment...

"&mdash;Freezing fangs of ice, go forth and pierce&mdash;Freezing Arrow!"

Rinslet fired arrows that pierced the giant debris with pinpoint accuracy&mdash;

"O wind, sweep away—Wind Bombs!"

The small fragments were swept away by Ellis' wind magic.

"We will take care of this, hurry and head to somewhere safe!"

Ellis shouted loudly at the crowd.

"Over here, hurry. Into the barrier!"

The crowd swarmed into the defensive barrier set up by Fianna.

Wearing a fluttering bright red cloak, Kamito landed on the ground and started to search for a presence mixed in the crowd.

(The elementalist who released the militarized spirit should be nearby&mdash;)

Suddenly, in the chaotic plaza, Kamito noticed a sharp aura of murderous intent.

It was almost instinct.

Faced with the knife flying the darkness, Kamito deflected it using his Demon Slayer&mdash;

Then using the Vorpal Sword, he chopped down the other knife flying from a different direction.

(...The first knife was a diversion huh? And the blades are painted black too.)

The work of trained professional assassins, undoubtedly.

(Probably assassins from the Theocracy&mdash;)

Despite the Night Vision effect, the Demon King's mask was still quite detrimental to his field of view. Kamito groaned.

This was an assassination targeting Rubia, probably. He never expected a militarized spirit would be sent&mdash;

(...Oh right, what about Rubia!?)

Kamito realized in sudden alarm and turned his gaze around him

Soon, he found her.

She had collapsed under the rubble.

Perhaps blown away by the earlier impact. She also seemed to be bleeding from the forehead.

Although she had been able to fight Kamito equally during the Blade Dance&mdash;

That was purely because she had summoned the Sacred Maiden's power into her physical body and also formed a contract with the ultimate flame spirit Laevateinn. No matter how high her abilities as a princess maiden, her physical stats should be similar to Fianna's.

"Rubia&mdash;"

Kamito frantically tried to hurry over. At that instant...

Two figures dressed in gray hoods rushed over from the scattering crowd.

(...!)

Kamito released divine power and kicked the ground hard.

This was an application of the Absolute Blade Art of divine speed, Purple Lightning. Kamito's figure instantly vanished.

A flash of the sword sliced through the air. Within an instant, Kamito had cut down the two assassins.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes&mdash;"

With one knee against the ground, Rubia stood up.

She glanced at the exposed faces of the assassinations. They seemed to be young girls roughly the same age as Kamito.

"...Combatants from the Instructional School!?"

Kamito could not help but exclaim.

"They used to be part of my private army. Sjora Kahn must be the one who sent these assassins."

Rubia spoke with pain in her voice.

Rubia had adopted the orphans after the Instructional School's demise, raising them as her private army. However, during the Blade Dance, Sjora Kahn had stolen them away.

Sjora had sent these girls as assassins.

"Kamito, it's coming&mdash;"

Holding a flaming whip, Claire called out.

The Chimera swung its thick tail, sweeping across the ground.

Kamito picked up Rubia in his arms and jumped into the air.

After landing, he gently put down Rubia.

"Defeat that militarized spirit, Ren Ashbell."

"Yeah, I don't need you to tell me&mdash;"

He was about to take off his cloak when...

"Do it as you are."

"Huh?"

Hearing that, Kamito asked in response.

"Show these people your power as the Demon King."

"Are you kidding me...?"

...This Demon King's armor, only focused on looks, was far worse in mobility than the Academy's uniform, specially designed for the Blade Dance. Furthermore, the skull mask was heavy and blocked more than half of his vision. However&mdash;

If he were to remove this Demon King's mask now, he would definitely expose himself in front of the crowd.

"A merely militarized spirit of a bygone era is no match for you now, right?"

"Easy for you to say&mdash;"

Kamito groaned and looked up at the magic beast spirit that was glaring all around it.

He ought to aim for the head to destroy the spirit, but the goat head and the snake tail were quite troublesome.

"Claire, immobilize it! Rinslet, cover me! Ellis, protect everyone!"

"Got it!" "Understood!" "Yes, leave it to me!"

Kamito poured divine power into his two swords.

"Est, Restia&mdash;Let's go for a big one!"

(Yes, Kamito&mdash;)

(Understood.)

Responding to his call, the silver-white sacred sword glowed with blinding brilliance whereas the jet-black demon sword erupted with lightning.

The Chimera's roar shook the air. Kicking with its hind legs, it leaped.

In that instant, the divine power Kamito had concentrated in his feet exploded all at once.

"Absolute Blade Arts, Seventh Form&mdash;Biting Dragon!"

This was an anti-air Absolute Blade Art making use of Purple Lightning. The light of divine power exploded. Within an eye's blink, two figures crossed each other. The magic beast spirit's thick legs were severed as a result.

Guoooooooooooooooo!

Losing balance in the air, the magic beast spirit crashed heavily against the wall of the drill ground.

Landing on the ground, Kamito instantly rushed at the Chimera whose movements had stopped&mdash;

However, the goat head on its back turned around and roared.

Several blazing fireballs immediately appeared out of thin air, crashing down at Kamito.

&mdash;It was Fireball spirit magic.

(...Independent control systems!?)

Kamito widened his eyes but&mdash;

"Incinerate it, scorching conflagration—Fireball!"

At the same time, Claire released fireballs to collide with them violently.

The flames exploded in the air above, lighting up the dark night sky.

Crushing the wall with its jaws, the lion stood up on one leg and roared in anger. The snake for a tail struggled violently in pain. The goat head on the back began to chant spirit magic again.

But in that instant...

"&mdash;Vicious wind, rampage!"

"&mdash;Freezing fangs of ice, go forth and pierce, Freezing Arrow!"

Ellis' wind blades amputated the tail&mdash;

Rinslet's arrow pierced the goat's head.

"Do it now, Kamito!"

"Yeah&mdash;"

Holding the sacred sword and the demon sword, both infused with divine power, Kamito sprinted.

"Absolute Blade Arts, Destructive Form—Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance - Twelve Consecutive Strikes!"

He unleashed countless slashes upon the magic beast spirit&mdash;

The tactical-class militarized spirit turned into particles of light and vanished.

Lowering his two swords, Kamito turned around to look at the crowd.

They looked like they were still in disarray.

Sounds of prayers and crying could be heard everywhere.

Although wind from the blast and flying stone fragments had been blocked by Fianna's barrier, some people had been injured from the explosion when the militarized spirit first appeared.

(...So, what should I do?)

Kamito looked at Rubia for directions.

Rubia shook her head slightly... ''Do as you please'', apparently.

(...I have to improvise huh?)

Kamito groaned under the skull mask and shook his head.

(No helping it...)

Stabbing both swords into the ground, Kamito extended his arms lightly towards the crowd.

"&mdash;Silence, my people."

His solemn voice instantly made the crowd quiet.

"&mdash;You witnessed my power, right? Vanquishing me is impossible. What happened a thousand years ago will not repeat again. The fools of Zohar who dare oppose me shall be punished!"

At the Demon King's powerful declaration&mdash;

"YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Massive cheering, enough to shake the ground, erupted.

"Wow, it's true, he is the true Demon King!" "S-Such a terrifying spirit and yet he destroyed it so easily!" "The Demon King will make the Theocracy's witch learn her lesson!"

Demon King! Demon King! Demon King! Demon King! Demon King! Demon King!

Once again, fear and terror, as well as fervor, took hold of this space&mdash;

The cheering went on nonstop.
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