Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume17 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

Rushing to the deck, Kamito was stunned by the scene before his eyes.

A gigantic vortex in the desert was about to drag the sand ship into it.

"...Hey, what the heck is that?"

Leaning over the railing, Kamito shouted.

"I-I don't know either!"

"Suddenly, it appeared in front of the ship's course!"

On the heavily tilted deck, the young ladies were evidently in panic too.

"A maelstrom...!"

"Maelstrom?"

Hearing Fianna, who was using all her strength to steer the ship, Kamito asked.

"It is a kind of vortex produced when a leyline's flow is disrupted. Normally, it only appears out at sea&mdash;"

Creaaaaak&mdash;With the sound of compression, the ship tilted even more.

"Kyahhh!"

"Owa!"

Seeing Claire lose her balance and roll on the deck nonstop, Kamito hastily caught her in his arms.

"There... now, are you okay?"

"...Y-Yes... T-Thank you."

Blushing, Claire nodded.

"...! No good! The ship is being pulled over there!"

Although Fianna kept pouring divine power into the spirit crystal embedded in the helm, the ship's course remained unchanged. Not only that, but the ship kept getting drawn towards the center of the vortex.

For starters, this was a ship that derived energy from the divine power flowing in leylines. Relying on divine power poured in by a princess maiden would not be enough to control the ship.

"At this rate, the ship will crack&mdash;"

Claire said with anxiety on her face.

"Ellis, can you use wind spirit magic to levitate the entire ship?"

"...No, levitating such a large ship would be too hard."

Ellis shook her head. Even so, she still used Ray Hawk to control the wind, doing as much as she could to counter the ship's tilt.

"Look! There is something in the center of the vortex!"

Fianna shouted loudly. Kamito focused his eyes and looked into the depths of the sandstorm.

In the center of the vortex, he could see an object resembling a giant pair of scissors.

The pair of scissors was opening and closing as though waiting for Kamito's ship.

"Is that... a spirit? No wait, is it a magic beast...?"

"&mdash;It is the antlion, commonly known as the Ship Breaker."

At this moment, the Vorpal Sword at Kamito's waist spoke out.

"Restia, you need to tell me earlier if you know things like that!"

"After all, I didn't expect a monster from a thousand years ago to still live in these parts."

Kamito had a feeling that Restia was mentally sticking her tongue out despite her demon sword form.

"G-Give a break~..."

"If those giant jaws catch us, this ship will be crushed easily."

"Yeah, I can imagine that&mdash;"

Kamito scratched his head then stood on the prow.

"Kamito, what are you going to do?"

Seeing that, Claire asked him.

"Anyway, I've got to defeat that monster first&mdash;"

"Got it. We'll cover you."

Picking up her flaming whip, Claire nodded. Ellis and Rinslet also deployed their respective elemental waffen.

In this area, they had already developed tacit understanding.

Chanting flight magic, Ellis formed a vortex of wind around Kamito.

"Let's go, Restia."

"Fufu, leave it to me&mdash;"

The demon sword of darkness erupted with jet-black lightning.

Wielding the Vorpal Sword, Kamito flew towards the vortex in the sand.

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