Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume18 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===

"...! This place... is...?"

When he opened his eyes&mdash;

Kamito found himself at a plaza in the city, some distance away from the Pyramid.

It was where he had bought the ring as a gift for Est.

Almost all of the surrounding buildings had collapsed. There was a great deal of dust hanging in the air.

He was just about to get up when an earthquake happened. The air shook from a terrifying roar.

(...What is that?)

Looking up at the sky, Kamito frowned.

He saw a red dragon, covered in burning-hot scales, fighting in midair with a gigantic bird with outspread wings.

The red dragon breathed blazing flames. At the same time, the giant bird flapped its wings to create a storm.

This was a fight between high-tier spirits, rare to find even in Astral Zero.

"Why would spirits like these...? By the way, what the heck is going on!?"

Kamito grumbled about the Demon King Solomon who was no longer present.

(At least tell me what's going on outside before sending me back...)

In any case, staying under these spirits would be too dangerous.

Kamito stood up and prepared to escape the plaza. At that moment...

His left hand's spirit seal reacted.

"Kamito, where have you disappeared!?"

With a flash of darkness before his eyes, the girl in the night-colored dress appeared.

"Restia&mdash;"

"Sheesh, I have been calling you all this time!"

With her jet-black wings outspread, the beautiful darkness spirit landed lightly on the ground.

She was carrying the Demon Slayer in her arms.

Est had apparently exhausted her power during the fight against Lurie.

"...Sorry, I was visiting the Demon King for a bit."

"...?"

Hearing that, Restia frowned in puzzlement.

"Let's talk later. We have to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Another crack opened in the ground, causing buildings at the plaza to collapse.

A shadow resembling a horned giant could be seen behind the billowing cloud of dust.

Apart from the spirits fighting in the sky, there were evidently other spirits running amok in the city.

"...Where did these spirits come from?"

"They are the Demon King's spirits that had been sealed."

"The Demon King's spirits?"

"Yes, some of the seventy-two spirits commanded by the Demon King were sealed here, probably serving as guardians of the Demon King City like the Sphinx. However, due to the Pyramid disappearing, they are starting to rampage."

"...I see. So that's why they're all such troublesome spirits."

Since they had been used by the Demon King, that red dragon and giant bird were surely no less powerful than archdemon-class spirits.

"&mdash;Eh, what a sec. Did you just say the Pyramid disappeared?"

At Kamito's question, Restia pointed behind him.

"See. The Pyramid, which even my spirit magic could not damage the slightest, has vanished completely."

"...!?"

Kamito turned his head to look back&mdash;

She was right. The Pyramid had disappeared.

Taking its place was a pillar of light, radiant with a holy glow.

However, for some reason, the beautiful beam of light seemed especially ominous to Kamito's eyes.

(Sacred Maiden Areishia&mdash;)

While staring at the pillar of sacred light with a strained face, Kamito muttered in his heart.

Est's contractor from a thousand years ago.

The being with Holy Lord Alexandros' soul sealed inside.

Also&mdash;

(...''The one who had vanquished the Demon King'', huh?)

Did that pillar of light foretell the Sacred Maiden's imminent revival?

With a serious expression, Kamito turned his gaze to Restia.

"Have Claire and the others escaped from here?"

"Who knows? Given the current situation, escaping is no easy task."

"I see..."

Kamito's voice contained notes of anxiety. Even after meeting up successfully, they were still in the center of Ghul-a-val, the Desert of Red Death. Without a sand ship, they had no way of leaving.

(...That asshole Solomon, telling me to leave. Easier said than done! But how do I escape?)

Kamito grumbled mentally against the previous Demon King again. Just then&mdash;

"What's that, Kamito?"

Restia asked him with curiosity.

She was staring intently at the chest pocket of his uniform.

"Oh, this? Someone gave it to me&mdash;"

Kamito took out the plain-looking ring and showed it to her.

Instantly, Restia widened her sunset-colored eyes.

"Kamito, isn't that the Demon King's Ring!?"

The darkness spirit with a great fondness for magic artifacts flapped her wings in excitement.

"Kamito, where did you get this from?"

"Nowhere. He gave it to me himself."

"...?"

"Forget the ring for now. Let's figure out how to leave first&mdash;"

"What are you talking about!? Kamito, pour divine power into that ring."

"...Eh?"

"Pour divine power into it. Come on, hurry&mdash;"

"F-Fine..."

At her forceful urging, Kamito poured divine power into the ring with a puzzled look on his face.

Next, words in High Ancient appeared on the ring's surface.

"What's this? Some words appeared."

"Don't fret. Assuming this is the real Demon King's Ring&mdash;"

Restia looked up into the air.

At that instant, something astonishing happened.

One of the two spirits that had just been fighting in the sky above, the giant bird, left the red dragon spirit behind and rushed towards Kamito, gliding straight to the plaza.

"Restia, that giant bird is coming!?"

"Don't worry."

However, Restia remained unfazed, using her hand to hold down her hair that was blowing in the storm.

The giant bird spirit flapped its wings in the air and landed in the center of the plaza.

With a bird of prey's eyes, glowing golden, it stared straight at Kamito.

...Kamito felt that he was going to be eaten if he moved.

"...What!?"

Just as Kamito was frozen in shock&mdash;

Restia gently caressed the giant bird's beak and turned to Kamito.

"Kamito, this giant bird spirit, the Roc, is your loyal servant."

"What are you talking about?"

"This ring has the power to control the seventy-two spirits under the Demon King's command. Together with the Garb of the Lord and the Demon's Mask, they are known as legendary artifacts."

"This ring?"

Kamito carefully examined the faintly glowing ring.

In fact, the giant bird spirit, which had been acting out a giant monster battle in the sky just earlier, was obediently standing there as though waiting for Kamito's command.

"So that guy gave away something so precious, huh?"

"If we use this spirit, it should be easy to find little Miss Hell Cat and the others, and cross the desert too."

Restia stroked the Roc's beak. The giant bird spirit cooed in response, sounding surprisingly adorable.

"I'm not completely reassured, but there's no time to hesitate..."

Once this Demon King City collapsed, Kamito and his friends would very likely remain trapped in the dimensional gap, outside both the human realm and Astral Zero.

Clutching the ring tightly, Kamito gallantly leaped onto the giant bird.

"...Uh, all I have to do is give out orders?"

"Yes."

"Here goes... Fly, giant bird spirit Roc!"

At Kamito's command&mdash;

The Roc flapped its wings powerfully, rising into the sky over the Demon King City that was shrouded in dust and smoke.