Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume2 Chapter9 (section)

===Part 2===

—There was nothing like a warning sign. The blade dance suddenly began.

There were shrilling metallic sounds. Silver sword flashes flickered, intense sparks scattered inside the cave.

Terminus Est, which was swung downwards by Kamito, was repelled by Jio's sword.

Kamito stepped further in and scythed down his sword. Jio slightly shifted his center of gravity and evaded by a paper-thin margin. He made a shrilling loud laughter, as he jumped straight up.

Like a spider, he clung onto the ceiling as—

"Huh, there's no foreplay?! Let me enjoy a little conversation, {{Furigana|Strongest Blade Dancer|Ren Ashbell|margin=13}}!"

"My bad, I don't have something like a chivalrous spirit— just like you!"

"...Wh!?"

Jio widened his red eyes. Kamito kicked the wall and jumped.

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Terminus Est, swung in midair and struck Jio's sword.

As though metal was being forcibly scraped, a shriek resounded; and Jio's sword spirit was smashed up into many small pieces.

Kamito did not stop. He kicked the wall again, changed his course of direction and hit the side of Jio's face with his fist. He chased after Jio, who was pulled by gravity and falling to the ground, moreover, he kicked the ceiling and accelerated.

With movements like a bird hunting a prey in midair, he grabbed him by his collar, and the back of his head struck onto the ground like that.

A thick sound had reverberated. It was a strike without any mercy.

He threw a punch again with movements like a precision instrument— but at that moment.

Jio's right hand's spirit seal glowed. Sensing danger, he immediately jumped aside from on top of Jio.

At that moment, a silver sword-shaped flash emitted from Jio's palm.

What appeared in Jio's hand was a new elemental waffe.

It was a narrow sword attached with an ornament. It was a stabbing sword, called a rapier, used exclusively for thrusting.

Kamito retreated and put some distance between them. He prepared Terminus Est in both hands.

"As expected of {{Furigana|Strongest Blade Dancer|Ren Ashbell|margin=13}}— What absurd movements."

"A high-order multi-sided movement in a closed environment— The first technique to be trained at the Instructional School. ''But I wasn't doing it that thoroughly as you''."<!--あんたほど徹底してはいないがな-->

"..."

Jio kept silent.

"Just now, I understood it when our swords clashed. You are the same as me, an orphan of the Instructional School— ''A failure of the Demon King''."

Instructional School— That was the name of the institution, where Kamito received training as an assassin when he was a child.

It was a secret training institution established by some nobles. There, they collected girls who possessed the qualities of an elementalist from orphanages all over the continent in order to raise a group of superior assassins.

At first, the establishment was supposed to be an agency for supplying assassins to their noble colleagues. However, the teachers of Instructional School became independent of the nobles before they knew it, and it had become something to embrace a monologue fanatic creed.

—Namely, the second coming of the Demon King.

He was the only male elementalist in history.

He was a Demon King, who used seventy-two spirits and led the continent to ruin.

''It was to create his successor.''

For that reason, the measures they took were very simple.

He was the only male elementalist left in history— If that was the case, it was natural that his successor had to be a boy.

With that thought, they collected boys who were deemed to have the ability to even slightly exchange feelings with spirits, and conducted hypnotism, drug administration, spirit possession experiments and so forth. However, the success rate should have been nil.

For this reason, the moment when Kamito was discovered eight years ago, those guys had been in ecstasy.

"—Correct."

Jio Inzagi expressed an extremely dreadful smile.

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"The experiment of the Demon King's second coming by the hands of man— Its very first success is me."

Kamito—

Distorted his mouth cynically, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Its very first success? Are you joking?"

"I understand your feelings of not wanting to acknowledge it. Nevertheless, this isn't a joke."

"I do not mean it like that."

Kamito shook his head like he was commiserating.

"A male elementalist, who uses seventy-two contracted spirits— if that was considered a success, then you are ''absolutely not a success, you know''."

"...What?"

Jio's red eyes widened, and his expression distorted in hatred.

"I too was fooled at first. Whether you were really using seventy-two contracted spirits. —However, I was wrong."

Kamito indifferently informed him.

"Your spirits aren't contracted spirits. —They're all sealed spirits."

"...!"

That's right— The spirits, that Jio Inzagi was using, were not spirits that had exchanged the ritual of contract.

''They were spirits that were sealed and treated as equipment for the seals engraved on his body.''

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The reason Kamito realized that was that Jio never used the same spirit twice.

(...Besides, he was also using several sword spirits of the same type.)

Unless one planned on using and throwing them away from the start, there was no point in contracting a large quantity of sword spirits in that way. Compared to handling several sword spirits, it should be much more efficient to nurture one sword spirit.

Besides, no matter how powerful Est's elemental waffe was, it was strange that a sword spirit, famous for being the toughest in its endurance, was broken that easily.

"...My point is that they're the same as the spirit crystal that Fianna had used and thrown away."

As long as the ritual of contract was not exchanged, a spirit could not even be nurtured, and its true power as an elemental waffe also could not be drawn out.

The divine power that he thought was inexhaustible was also a mere illusion.

"You are a fake Demon King, Jio Inzagi. No, you're not even an elementalist."

Certainly, while he housed that many sealed spirits in his body, the fact that he could maintain his body was a definite success. If he was an ordinary person, he was sure to go crazy because of the spirits' rejection.

However, it was greatly incomplete for him to call himself the Demon King— an elementalist.

He pretended as if he was contracted with several spirits, it was no more than a deception.

"...Huh, so what?"

Jio's red eyes shone glaringly, and he spat out.

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"Even if you know that, there's no changing the fact that you can't beat me!"

Jio kicked the ground. The rapier sword spirit accelerated like it exploded in his hand.

"I'm the Demon King! That verification will be achieved by killing— {{Furigana|Strongest Blade Dancer|Ren Ashbell|margin=13}}, you!"

Just before reaching Kamito, he ducked to lower his body, aimed for Kamito's throat, and launched a thunderous thrust.

Kamito slightly turned his head and avoided it. Turning about on his pivot leg, he returned with a counter kick.<!-- カウンターの蹴りを見舞った a counter kick paid him a visit-->

His sole gouged Jio's chest. Continuing the momentum, Kamito held aloft Est overhead.

"—, Manifest, {{Furigana|flame wolf spirit| Barguest|margin=13}}!"

Jio's arm's seal glowed— at that moment, a blazing flame fang attacked Kamito.

It was a lava hound, clad in black flames. The flame fang bit his left arm that was raised overhead.

Intense pain coursed through his whole body, as though his blood was boiling. However—

"...Raaaa!"

Kamito rotated, swung his arm, and smashed the lava hound that was biting him into a wall.

The flame exploded and scattered. There were smashed up lava rocks. If it was a contracted spirit, it would go back again to protect its master— however, a sealed spirit, which was only forcefully released, vanished into empty space as it was.

"How lukewarm... Claire's flames are much hotter!"

An extremely dreadful smile surfaced, and Kamito immediately swung Terminus Est horizontally.

Jio's posture was slightly crumbled by the wind pressure— that chance of a moment was not overlooked by Kamito.

Holding the silver shiny sword up overhead, he launched a strike with all his might—

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"—Manifest, {{Furigana|shield spirit|Aegis|margin=13}}!"

However, that strike was stopped by the shield spirit Jio released.

Sword spirit against shield spirit— even for Est, the attribute compatibility was overly poor!

However, Kamito did not draw back. Without change— he further pushed the sword in.

"—Let's go Est, show me just how serious you can be!"

Responding to Kamito's shout, Terminus Est's light glowed brighter.

The brightness became a long flash and covered the sacred sword—

At that moment, it changed its appearance to a gigantic sword that far exceeded Kamito's stature.

"Wh...at!?"

"Ooooooo!"

Kamito roared. He set a crack into the released shield spirit.

And then— It was smashed right in half!

"This is absurd... A sword spirit destroyed a shield spirit!?"

"This is the power of a contracted spirit bound by the spirit seal— Jio Inzagi!"

Kamito held the large sword overhead again, at that moment—

"... You bastaarrd!"

(—What?)

Clutched within the hand that Jio stuck out, ''was a shiny red comma-shaped jewel''.

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The moment Kamito saw that jewel, an indescribable chill ran down his spine.

Terminus Est in his hand weakly shook.

The moment her blade touched the surface of the jewel—

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Pishi*— a small crack developed on Est's blade.

"...!?"

The {{Furigana|Demon King Killing Sacred Sword|Demon Slayer|margin=13}} lost its dazzling brightness.

From the place the crack was developed, something like a black stain was spreading—

(—, Est is being corroded!?)

Kamito tried to draw back Est, and at that moment.

Jio sneered at him.

"I had said that that was your weakness— Ren Ashbell."

"Guu...!"

The released rapier had pierced the side of Kamito's abdomen.

As Kamito grasped Est, who was being varnished black, he went down on his knees at that spot.

"You can't accept spirits as tools. Therefore, you are weak."

Jio calmly stood up while playing with the red shiny comma-shaped jewel in one hand.

"That spirit crystal is... don't tell me—"

"Ahh?... That's right. That princess was holding the same thing."

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"A Blood Stone...?"

It was a national-level treasure that could seal the power of a top-ranking spirit.

(Why does he have—)

"That's right. This very thing is the source of my power— the power of {{Furigana|mad king spirit|Nebuchadnezzar|margin=13}} that rules over many spirits."

Jio loudly laughed with the jewel in his hand, and the seals engraved on his whole body ominously emitted a glow.

"..., I see, the reason you were using that many sealed spirits was the power of the high-ranking spirit that was sealed in that jewel."

In contrast to the Blood Stone which Fianna had possessed which had its releasing done, it seemed that the one Jio had, manifested its effect just by being attached onto his body.

"...What a complete fake. What an unthinkable Demon King-sama."

"You have the gall to say that, I'll make your sword spirit mine right here and now—"

The black stain was encroaching Terminus Est. Jio's loud laughter resounded within the cave.

However, a faint smile surfaced at Kamito's lips.

"Jio Inzagi, do you know? This tunnel reverberates voices well."

"Ahh? What are you saying—"

"Why do you think I was specially lecturing you about the true form of your magic tricks?"

"What?"

That's right, it did not mean that he was having a pointless talk.

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Kamito was doing it to convey information.

That the spirits he used were not contracted spirits, but just sealed spirits.

"Don't misunderstand. The one you're fighting isn't {{Furigana|Strongest Blade Dancer|Ren Ashbell|margin=13}}."

At that moment, Flametounge that was let loose coiled around Jio's right hand.

"—It's Team Scarlet."

"...!?"

The door to the true shrine was opened. There—

Brushing up her red twintailed hair, and holding Flametounge in her hand, Claire Rouge was standing.

"You did well, Kamito. As expected of my slave spirit!"

"Why you..."

Pressing onto his side abdomen injury, Kamito groaned with a deadpan look.

Jio shook off Flametounge, and glared at Claire.

"Huh, thank you— You opened the true shrine's door especially for me."

"Yes, to defeat you."

There was a voice coming from behind Claire.

Fianna, who had put a solemn ritual costume on her body, was calmly walking.

Even for a girl, who had acted like an imp, she wasn't a powerless girl frightened with fear.

Standing rigidly— was a white robed Queen.

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"I'll show it to you. The ritual kagura of the Empire's second princess, Fianna Ray Ordesia."