Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume15 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 3===

Holding the demon sword, Greyworth appeared right before his eyes.

At the same time, multiple crimson spears appeared out of thin air, shooting at Kamito together.

Fourteen spears created from spirit magic. Kamito immediately read the spears' trajectories. However&mdash;

(...I can't dodge them all!?)

Making a split-second decision, he sacrificed his right shoulder which was very unlikely to become a critical wound.

"Gah...!"

The spiraling spear tip pierced him. Taking the opportunity of Kamito's loss of posture, Greyworth swung the demon sword.

Kamito hastily stabbed the Demon Slayer into the ground. Clang&mdash;The demon sword struck the upright sacred sword's flat of the blade.

In that instant, Kamito poured in divine power&mdash;

(Est, Mode Shift!)

'Yes, Kamito&mdash;'

Instantly, the silver-white blade became dominated by darkness. The Demon Slayer turned into the Demon King's Sword that had inherited Restia's power.

"Go forth and pierce, all-annihilating demon lightning of punishment—Vorpal Blast!"

The black lightning released by the Demon King's Sword hit Greyworth directly while the blades clashed. Her petite body was blown away violently.

Kamito followed up on the attack. Drawing out the Demon King's Sword from the ground, he charged all at once.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!"

He swung with god-like speed, aiming at Greyworth's shoulder just as she did a somersault in the air to land on the ground.

However, he did not feel the strike connecting. She vanished instantly like a mirage.

"...!?"

"Absolute Blade Arts, Mist Form&mdash;Water Reflection Mirror."

What Kamito had slashed was an afterimage formed from divine power.

(Where&mdash;)

Kamito was confused for an instant. Even though it was an opening for only a few milliseconds, in a contest between those who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, it was enough to be fatal.

Greyworth was ''directly behind'' the wavering image. Almost superimposed with the image, she had dodged Kamito's slash by leaning her upper body back for an instant.

(Crap&mdash;!)

Greyworth kicked Kamito's sword. While his posture was severely off-balance&mdash;

"Absolute Blade Arts, Flash Form&mdash;Death Butterfly Flash Dance!"

She counterattacked with godlike speed.

Kamito barely managed to react, escaping the lethal strike aimed straight at his heart. Rather than reading the attack, this was a subconscious reaction only possible due to his extreme familiarity with that move from the Absolute Blade Arts.

Had he not experienced that move many times in his youth, he would surely be dead now.

His arm, the one wielding the Demon King's Sword, bled.

&mdash;At this moment, probably reacting to the fresh blood, the demon sword, Vlad Dracul, instantly twisted its blade, turning into a bloodthirsty beast to bite Kamito's arm.

"...!"

A tearing bite inflicted to his right arm. The instant before the nerves in his sword arm died, Kamito poured divine power into the Demon Slayer. The Demon King's Sword vanished as particles of light and appeared on the other side, his left hand, as the dagger of pure white out of the twin blades.

He instantly used the dagger to slice off the beast's head. Next, the demon spirit Vlad Dracul returned to its demon sword form.

(...Gah, my right arm is completely dead huh&mdash;)

Kicking the ground hard, Kamito jumped back.

While creating as much distance as he could, he assessed the damage to his body.

Although his right arm was still sort of attached after being bitten by the beast, the network of nerves had lost contact. He could not even lift a single finger.

Greyworth jumped up high.

Then from the air, she unleashed an Absolute Blade Art&mdash;

"Absolute Blade Arts, Second Form&mdash;Meteor!"

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

At the same time, Kamito held the white dagger in a reverse grip to counter the aerial Absolute Blade Art.

The blades clashed violently in the air. The divine power released from the two of them glowed with brightness like the sun.

The Dusk Witch and Ren Ashbell&mdash;This blade dance between the two elementalists idolized as ideals by princess maidens across the entire continent was far too destructive to be called a blade dance.

(...Gah, I'm getting overpowered&mdash;!)

The anti-air Absolute Blade Art, Biting Dragon, was delivered imperfectly with one hand. Despite reducing the Meteor's power, it failed to counter it. Thus, Kamito was cut down on the ground.

"Kaha&mdash;!"

The impact felt like it would shatter his spine, making him spit blood violently. Greyworth withdrew her sword in midair and swung the demon sword, aiming at Kamito's heart&mdash;

(&mdash;Damn... it, I... can't win...?)

Unable to breathe, he could not even lift a finger&mdash;

Under his blurred vision, he quietly waited for the blade to pierce his heart&mdash;

Just then...

Kamito heard Leonora's voice in his mind.


&mdash;''I am begging you''... Protect the Dragon King, protect Dracunia.


(...Right... I, already, promised&mdash;!)

Throb&mdash;His heart pulsated powerfully.

&mdash;It was the warning sign of ''that'' coming.

Throb, throb, throb, throb&mdash;

The divine power circulating inside him began to flow in reverse while black miasma leaked out of his entire body. Sealed inside Kamito, Ren Ashdoll's power began to provide unlimited divine power&mdash;

Clang&mdash;!

Kamito blocked the downward slash ''with his sword in one hand''.

"What&mdash;"

Greyworth exclaimed in surprise for the first time.

"A sudden expansion of divine power?"

'Kamito, this is bad, that power&mdash;!'

Est's strained voice echoed in his mind.

(Yeah, I know. This power has very bad consequences&mdash;)

If this power of Ren Ashdoll's devoured him completely, Kamito's personality would be destroyed, turning him into a monster like Nepenthes Lore. Either that, or a Demon King would be reborn to bring destruction and chaos to the world&mdash;

However, Kamito had to defeat the Dusk Witch right now&mdash;

(I need this power&mdash;)

'Kamito...!'

(Est, I'm sorry&mdash;)

Est's voice gradually faded and soon could not be heard.

At the same time, he felt his divine power ''reverse'' all at once.

Black miasma gushed out intensely, instantly regenerating all his wounds and the torn right arm.

Probably sensing some kind of danger instinctively, Greyworth jumped back.

Kamito released divine power, changed the Demon Slayer's form and jumped all at once.

A bestial roar was emitted from Kamito's throat.

With all senses tensed to the limit, he felt an illusion as if his entire body had plunged into a kind of time stop.

Greyworth made some kind of sound. Instantly, the demon sword Vlad Dracul turned into a pack of blood-colored wolves to pounce at Kamito.

However, Kamito did not halt.

Allowing them to bite and rip flesh from his entire body, he lunged into the wolf pack.

Then he charged at Greyworth in one breath&mdash;

"Absolute Blade Arts, Destructive Form&mdash;Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance - Eighteen Consecutive Strikes!"

He unleashed the strongest anti-spirit Absolute Blade Art&mdash;

However, the instant the first strike approached the witch's throat&mdash;

Greyworth smiled.

(No way&mdash;!?)

Indeed, against this sword technique that was capable of slaughtering even an archdemon-class spirit, there was one and only one counterattack.

It was the ultimate secret of the Absolute Blade that could only be performed by someone who had reached the pinnacle of both divine power and swordsmanship.

Having returned to her peak form, right now, she was able to use it!

"Absolute Blade Arts, Final Form&mdash;Last Strike!"

In front of Kamito's eyes, the sword flashed faster than godlike speed.