Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume14 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 5===

The sound of an explosion in the distance made Claire look up suddenly.

"...What's happening?"

She hastily approached the door.

Suddenly, a bizarre shadow crept in from the gap under the door.

"H-Huahh!"

"What is the matter, Claire!?"

Hearing Claire's scream, Ellis called out sharply.

"S-Something weird from outside&mdash;"

"Calling others weird from the onset, are you? Claire Rouge."

"...Huh?"

Claire was stunned. That displeased voice sounded so familiar.

"Don't tell me you're Freya-sensei?"

"Correct. Your supplementary lesson shall be waived."

The shadow slipping in from under the door gradually took on a human shape.

"Sensei, please rescue us!"

"I will. Hurry and leave as quickly as possible while the commotion is going on."

"Y-Yes!" "Understood!"

Claire and Ellis nodded and immediately opened the unlocked door.

The shadow spirit moved along the ground, leading Claire and company through the passage.

"Okay, darkness spirit, hurry and run&mdash;"

"Y-Yes..."

Claire took Restia by the hand and chased after the shadow that was moving along the passage.

While running, she asked the shadow that was crawling on the floor.

"Sensei, what about Kamito? Also, the explosion earlier&mdash;"

"He escaped first. I presume he is currently causing a disturbance to draw away the knights' attention. He intends to converge with you outside after he retrieves the sword spirit."

"No way...!"

Kamito's strength was undeniable.

However, to fight an order of knights alone&mdash;

"Will he be fine on his own? Or should we go along to fight too&mdash;"

Although Ellis suggested that...

"Do not worry unnecessarily. His efforts must not go to waste."

The shadow spirit shook its head and answered. ...Indeed, a single misstep and all would be lost if they wasted their chance to escape.

"...I understand. So the rendezvous point is?"

"He said it was ''that spring'' in the Spirit Forest."

"...That spring?"

Claire instantly frowned and thought over it.

"...Oh I see, he meant ''that spring''."

She soon figured it out. Kamito was referring to the purification spring where he had first met Claire.

Recalling how Kamito had seen her naked at the time, Claire could not help but feel her face heat up.

&mdash;At that very moment, footsteps could be heard coming from the opposite end of the passage.

"...Damn it, how on earth did they open the jail cell's door&mdash;"

Appearing from around a corner was a knight armed with an elemental waffe.

"...We've been found. But if it is only one person&mdash;"

"Yeah, let us break through by force!"

While yelling, Ellis summoned Ray Hawk in her hand.

"Darkness spirit, hide behind us&mdash;"

Claire summoned Flametongue and immediately swung it.

A crimson slash tore through the air, attacking the knight before them.

"I beseech thee to blow, O wind of hot sand&mdash;Desert Storm!"

The knight chanted spirit magic. Instantly, a violent sandstorm swirled in the passage, blocking Claire's view.

With the knight's figure was obscured by the sand, the flaming whip missed its mark.

"Pretty good huh&mdash;"

"Claire, the teacher's shadow spirit&mdash;"

Ellis cried out acutely.

The howling sandstorm had mercilessly devoured the shadow crawling on the ground.

"Freya-sensei&mdash;"

"...So this is its limit huh...? I leave the rest, to you, students&mdash;"

Her voice, mixed with static, was cut off.

A shadow spirit was not meant for combat in the first place. In addition, it was being controlled from long range. Once the shadow could not sustain itself, it vanished rapidly.

"Damn it&mdash;"

Claire bit her lip and stared intently across the sandstorm.

"This is bad. Scarlet's elemental compatibility fares poorly against that sand spirit!"

"Yes, watch out, it is coming&mdash;"

Ellis readied Ray Hawk and shouted. Instantly, a gigantic arm of sandstone reached out from the barrier of sand covering their view.

"...Tsk, curse you&mdash;"

Ellis' spear swept towards the arm of sandstone in an arc.

However, it did not work. Severed, the arm soon regenerated by gathering the nearby sand and struck Claire.

Sent flying by a hook punch, Claire smashed into a wall.

"...Gah&mdash;!"

"Claire!"

"...I-I'm fine... Take this&mdash;"

Claire chanted spirit magic while in a kneeling posture.

"Come forth from the furnace of conflagration&mdash;Hellhounds!"

Flames appeared out of thin air to turn into two hunting hounds, diving into the howling sandstorm. This was an automatically homing beast of fire that could chase a target to the very end.

In response, the arm of sandstone extending out from the ground hastily changed direction and blocked the path in front of the hellhounds. Blocked by sandstone, the scorching flames were easily extinguished.

&mdash;However, that was precisely Claire's plan.

It would be impossible to personally control that arm of sandstone with precision in a situation of zero visibility. Its nature must include some level of autonomy in attacking targets and guarding its master.

In other words, it would automatically defend when the user was under attack, which also meant that&mdash;

It was not difficult to guess her location even with a sandstorm obscuring her from view.

"Ellis, do it now&mdash;"

"&mdash;Over there huh? Fahrengart style of the spear, Flying Strike!"

Ellis launched her spear, enveloped in a whirlwind, against the arm of sandstone sticking out of the ground.

Infused with all her divine power, the thrown Ray Hawk pierced the arm of sandstone, releasing a slicing gale inside the depths of the sandstorm.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The howling sandstorm instantly vanished, accompanied by a scream. Visibility was restored all at once.

A knight could be seen lying face up on the floor of the passage, her armor pulverized.

"Hold on, Ellis, aren't you overdoing it?"

"I controlled my power. She simply lost consciousness."

Saying that, Ellis pulled out Ray Hawk from the stone floor.

"Darkness spirit, you can come out now&mdash;"

Claire called out behind her. Immediately, Restia emerged from her hiding place, a hole in the wall.

"...You two are so strong."

"Kamito is even more amazing."

Claire shrugged and looked into the depths of the passage.

"Let's hurry before the knights' reinforcements arrive&mdash;"