Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume15 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 8===

"Kamito, do not let go of my hand under any circumstance&mdash;"

"Yeah, I know&mdash;"

Kamito nodded. It would be over if he let go; he would fall straight to the ground.

"O-Of course, I do not mean for a lifetime or anything like that!"

"S-Say what again?"

Weaving through the artillery fire raining down upon them, Ellis controlled wind magic to fly acrobatically. With her amazing speed, she closed in on the formation of ships ahead of the Revenant.

Kamito could see the situation on the enemy decks. Probably not expecting a lone elementalist to attack directly, the Aerial Combat Knights were thrown into confusion. Almost all the knights on the ships were elementalists controlling flying spirits, but in terms of speed, Kamito was going to reach the deck faster than they could sortie.

"S-Shoot them down!"

Standing in formation on the decks, the knights fired countless arrows of spirit magic.

"&mdash;Incoming, Kamito, take care not to get shot!"

"Taking care is... Whoa!"

Ellis unleashed wind to further accelerate. She zigzagged in the air to skillfully dodge the curtain of spirit magic projectiles. With his view spinning, unable to tell up from down, Kamito did his best to hold onto Ellis' hand.

Although an arrow brushed past his cheek, scaring him for a moment there&mdash;

However, Ellis avoided all attacks perfectly.

"Great job. Ellis, the sky is your domain!"

"But it is impossible to get close to the ship like this&mdash;!"

While dodging the second wave of magical projectiles, Ellis cried out. Indeed, if they got stalled here, the Aerial Combat Knights were going to deploy their elemental waffen to intercept them directly.

Even for Kamito, Aerial Combat Knights were not easy to handle.

At that moment, a huge number of magical arrows flew at the two of them...

...were struck down by a rain of arrows coming from behind, exploding in midair.

Kamito looked back, only to see&mdash;

Rinslet standing on the Revenant's prow, holding her bow of magic ice.

Unbelievably, she was able to shoot from that distance to strike down every enemy arrow.

She tossed her long platinum blonde hair and made a thumbs-up sign proudly. After the rigors of the Blade Dance tournament, Rinslet's archery skills had improved dramatically.

Tiny crystals of crushed ice spread in the atmosphere, covering the view of Kamito and Ellis.

With the rain of arrows interrupted during this opening, there was no reason not to take advantage of it&mdash;

"Now is the moment to charge, Kamito!"

"Yeah, counting on you!"

Ellis swung Ray Hawk in response to Kamito's voice.

"Kamito, hold on to the spear's shaft&mdash;"

"Huh?"

"Hurry&mdash;"

Kamito did as told and grabbed Ray Hawk.

"Then off you go&mdash;"

A rumbling and fierce storm began to gather at the spear tip.

Figuring out what Ellis was intending, Kamito could not help but cry out.

"Hold, are you for real!?"

"Of course. Break through the wind&mdash;Fahrengart style of the spear, Flying Strike!"

Ellis used all the divine power in her body to launch Ray Hawk with Kamito holding on to the spear.

"O-Ohhhhhhhhhh!"

The power of the wind, concentrated on the spear, was released all at once, turning it into a projectile of godlike speed.

Strike. The spear tip pierced the deck's surface&mdash;In that instant, an explosion occurred.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

With explosive noise, the gigantic ship shook. The wooden floorboards were lifted up in a radial pattern, flying away from the deck with a scattering of debris.

Before the impact, Kamito had already let go to land with a crouching stance.

After evading the shockwave, he instantly stood up.

(...Quite crazy method, but oh well, it is quite efficient&mdash;)

While smiling wryly, he swiftly checked out his surroundings. Near the center of the explosion, Aerial Combat Knights had collapsed after getting blown away. They probably did not have enough time to chant defensive magic.

Standing upright on the ship, Ray Hawk turned into particles of light and disappeared.

Ellis' job was done. Next up&mdash;

(It's my turn to enter the stage&mdash;)

Kamito drew two copies of the Demon King's Sword, wielding one in each hand.

"S-Surround him! "The enemy is only one man!"

One after another, knights not caught in the shockwave began to surround Kamito with elemental waffen in their hands.

However, it was a poor decision.

"Absolute Blade Arts, Third Form&mdash;Shadowmoon Waltz!"

The black and white slashes traced out arcs to sweep away the surrounding knights. Easily breaking through the encirclement, Kamito ran towards the back of the military ship.

(Where's the commander?)

While taking down knights in his path successively, Kamito looked for the commander. Logically speaking, Ordesian knights would stand personally on the deck to give directions.

At that moment&mdash;

(&mdash;''Found her''.)

A blonde knight was standing openly at the bridge.

Despite being surrounded by chaos, she remained firm and unwavering.

Most likely, she was Dame Arakeel of the Numbers.

Sweeping away the glowing projectiles of spirit magic, coming from all directions, Kamito kicked the ground to gain speed.

"Oh? To come forth singlehandedly, how foolish&mdash;"

The Numbers knight&mdash;Dame Arakeel&mdash;laughed lightly and jumped down from the bridge.

"Become strength in my hand&mdash;blacksmith spirit Vulcanus!"

While she was yelling, gauntlets with shields merged with them appeared on her hands.

The heavy armor caused the ship's floorboards to sink.

Judging from the form of the elemental waffe, she seemed to be a power-type elementalist.

(I can't waste too much time&mdash;)

Kamito closed in instantly and lunged at her torso.

Aiming at a gap between the armor, he swung the two Demon King's Swords.

However, Arakeel instantly readied her shields and effortlessly blocked Kamito's attack.

(I knew it, relatively low-power attacks won't work huh&mdash;)

Kamito clicked his tongue mentally. Then&mdash;

Arakeel swung her gauntlet-clad fist.

"...!"

Kamito jumped sideways in the nick of time to evade the attack.

However, the ensuing wave of attacks struck him. Kamito was blown away.

(...W-What's with this monstrous strength!?)

Kamito instantly renewed his stance and readied the twin swords.

Arakeel charged with great momentum, unleashing a fierce punch.

Kamito poured divine power into the twin swords, straining to block the punch.

Sparks scattered around instantly.

(...Not bad, it's so heavy&mdash;)

Witnessing the power of the Empire's strongest, the Numbers, Kamito could not help but click his tongue.

This was not a punch with strength alone. Instead, it was the pinnacle of martial arts combining offense and defense into one.

"Pretty good, brat. Were you not an enemy, I would have wanted to enjoy this thoroughly."

The heavy knight with the prim and proper face showed a savage grin. It looked like Ellis was right in calling her a straitlaced knight. The impression he got was completely different from Leschkir.

Creak creak creak creak... While blocking the punches whose pressure kept increasing, Kamito spoke up.

"...Say, could you temporarily turn a blind eye to that ship?"

"What now? Are you begging for mercy?"

"Arneus is the Holy Kingdom's puppet. If you have the Empire's interests in mind&mdash;"

"Hmph, you are truly blind to attempt persuasion. Every generation of my family consists of knights serving the imperial family. I will take orders from no one but the emperor alone!"

"Like I said, that emperor is&mdash;"

"Shut up!"

Arakeel's fist shone with an intense flash of light. It was the glow of massive divine power.

"...!?"

Kamito kicked his opponent's gauntlet to jump back. In the next instant, the fist of destruction shattered the ship's floorboards with an impact strong enough to shake the entire vessel.

(...I get it now. She really is as stubborn as a rock. Looks like there's no way to convince her.)

Kamito jumped onto the ship's edge. Instantly, a rain of glowing projectiles from spirit magic fell towards him. This was not Arakeel attacking but cover fire from the spirit knights.

(It's time to decide the match, or else I'll get completely surrounded...)

While using his twin swords to deflect the rain of magic arrows, Kamito closed in again.

Arakeel's defense was quite solid&mdash;Penetrating it was the key.

However, it was not like he could use Absolute Blade Arts repeatedly. The Absolute Blade Arts consumed a great amount of divine power to enhance the body. Once he ran low on divine power, that power of Ren Ashdoll's might start devouring him again.

(&mdash;I don't want to become the Demon King again.)

Hence, he had to create an opening sufficient to defeat the enemy. And he already had an idea.

"Assassination technique&mdash;Twin Snakes!"

Closing in the enemy from the front, Kamito released a sharp combination of strikes.

"This type of attack is useless against my Vulcanus!"

"Yeah, that maybe true&mdash;"

Arakeel widened her eyes.

Indeed, the haphazard slashes from the twin swords were part of Kamito's move for making the opponent ''underestimate'' him.

Blocking the attack easily, Arakeel was about to counterattack when in that instant&mdash;

(&mdash;Est, Mode Shift.)

'Yes, Kamito.'

The Demon King's Sword's dual sword form vanished. What appeared in Kamito's hands was the Demon Slayer.

This was the true form of the strongest sword spirit, Terminus Est.

Arakeel's blue eyes widened.

The weapon's sudden transformation made her react a beat too slow.

People capable of using elemental waffen with multiple forms were rare, but those who had mastered dual wielding and two-handed swords simultaneously were almost nonexistent.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Guh...!"

Kamito's full powered strike was blocked by Arakeel hastily with her gauntlets. However, she did not manage to dissipate the impact. An opening appeared in her stance, then&mdash;

"Absolute Blade Arts, Sixth Form&mdash;Crushing Fang!"

The Absolute Blade Arts move for destroying weapons, which had defeated Hakua of the Four Gods during the Blade Dance, erupted.

The gauntlets blocking the sword were shattered.

"Gah&mdash;"

Faced with Arakeel who had lost her defense, Kamito swiftly positioned his blade against her neck.

Then&mdash;

"Stop all ships from firing! Otherwise, her life is gone!"

In a voice loud enough to reach the entire deck, Kamito shouted.

"No way, Dame Arakeel has been...!?" "C-Curse him, that male elementalist!"

All the spirit knights surrounding Kamito changed expressions with alarm.

"Forget me! Kill this man&mdash;"

Arakeel called out loudly, but her subordinate knights did not move.

&mdash;Just as Kamito predicted.

Speaking of Ordesia's Numbers, they were heroes among heroes, idolized by the masses. Furthermore, this knight called Arakeel seemed like she would be deeply trusted by her subordinates.

Besides, this mission was not one that they undertook willingly. The Imperial Knights swore loyalty to the Ordesia Empire, not the imperial family&mdash;They would not go so far in following Arneus' orders as to the point of sacrificing Arakeel's life.

The battleship's artillery ceased firing. Soon after, the escort vessels also stopped their cannons.

Using this opening, the Revenant advanced calmly.

While threatening Arakeel with his sword, Kamito walked over to the ship's edge.

"Kamito, over here!"

Claire waved from the Revenant's deck.

Kamito took his sword away from Arakeel's neck and said:

"Sorry about that, let's have a fight, fair and square, next time&mdash;"

Saying that, he jumped off towards the deck of the Revenant that was passing directly beneath the battleship.

In an ideal situation, it would naturally be best to take Arakeel along as a hostage, but keeping a Numbers knight in captivity continuously would be quite a challenge. There was a possibility that she might rampage on the ship.

Behind the Revenant, which had gotten past them, the Empire's ships swiftly began to turn around. However, it was impossible for them to catch up to the remodeled Revenant's full speed.

"Well done, Kamito&mdash;"

Having returned to the ship first, Ellis raised her hand to high-five him.

"Yeah."

"Seriously, you solved the problem alone..."

Claire murmured quietly.

Carrying Kamito and company, the Revenant flew swiftly between the clouds.

"Very soon, we will be crossing the border into the Dragon Duchy of Dracunia..."

Fianna pointed at the Kelbreth Mountain Range, visible ahead.

<noinclude>
{{SeireiDance Nav|prev=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume15 Chapter2|next=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume15 Chapter4}}</noinclude>