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

===Part 1===

The footsteps of numerous soldiers running echoed in the Stronghold's canyon.

Rushing out of the throne room, Kamito went through the corridor with the Demon Slayer in hand.

(I can't believe she's storming in through the front door by force...)

The sweat of anxiety appeared on Kamito's forehead. If the invader was really her, then no matter how many soldiers this place had, they might seriously all become wiped out.

&mdash;The Dusk Witch.

There was even a legend dating back to the great war about her destroying a small nation singlehandedly.

He really hoped it was just a legend&mdash;

(I have to make it in time&mdash;)

Kamito ruminated over what the Dragon King had said to him before he left the throne room.

Save Leonora&mdash;That was her request to him.

He needed no one to tell him to do that&mdash;

The castle gate was already opened. Wielding elemental waffen, waves of dragon knights sortied successively to intercept the invader.

They were the knights of Dracunia the military state. Every one of them should be quite accomplished in their own right.

However, the noise of weapons clashing showed no signs of subsiding. The Dragon Nation's knights, renowned as the strongest, were unable to stop one mere person&mdash;

'&mdash;Kamito, I sense that demon sword.'

Est's voice sounded in his mind.

"I see..."

Kamito whispered.

&mdash;Sure enough, it was her for sure.

'&mdash;Please be careful. That demon sword has grown stronger than before.'

(Even stronger than last time huh&mdash;)

While groaning in his heart, Kamito rushed out of the castle.

The sun had set completely. The sky was dominated by the color of night.

Crossing the canyon was a great bridge.

Standing in the center was that figure of hers.

The gray-haired maiden swung her sword like fierce god of war, spreading blossoms of blood everywhere.

At her feet, the corpses of beheaded dragons were piled high.

Dyed bright red by the blood splattered all over her body, the girl cut down attacking dragons one after another.

Whenever the flash of her sword tore through the night sky, a dragon's head would fly off into the depths of the bottomless abyss&mdash;

Seeing such a scene of cruel slaughter, Kamito even forgot to breathe for a moment.

Flying in the air, none of the dragon knights of Dracunia could approach her. They were frozen stiff in their weapon wielding poses.

"Still not enough. As expected, the girl earlier was the tastiest&mdash;"

She mercilessly crushed the head of a roaring dragon underfoot&mdash;

The girl licked her bloodstained demon sword.

At that moment, Kamito felt an ominous premonition.

The girl earlier&mdash;She had said these words.

No way, did she mean&mdash;

In the next instant, what entered Kamito's view was the worst-case scenario.

Next to the pile of dragon corpses was Leonora collapsed in blood.

"Leonora!"

With a great shout, Kamito rushed over reflexively. Standing on the pile of corpses, Greyworth caught sight of Kamito and muttered "oh?" without making a move.

Kamito ignored Greyworth and rushed over to Leonora's side.

"Leonora! Hang in there, Leonora!"

"...Kami...to?"

Her bloody lips moved faintly.

(...She's still alive!)

Kamito cradled her limp body in his arms and poured divine power into her. Although the only effect was to promote natural healing, at least it would be better than nothing.

From her right shoulder to her left waist was a deep slash.

This was a serious debilitating wound. The reason why she was still conscious was surely due to the protective effects of dragon spirits, which reinforced their contractors' bodies.

"...How, unsightly... Right...? As a, dragon knight of... Dracunia..."

"Enough, don't speak&mdash;"

Kamito hugged her head gently.

However, Leonora desperately moved her lips, speaking intermittently.

"...Kamito... at the imperial capital, you promised, right... you will do anything."

"Yeah."

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

After listening to these words that took Leonora's full effort to speak&mdash;

"&mdash;Understood. It's a promise."

Kamito answered clearly and concisely.

Leonora smiled radiantly before closing her eyes in serenity.

Carrying Leonora in his arms, Kamito lowered her onto the ground behind him.

"That girl still hasn't died? What amazing vitality&mdash;"

Standing on the dragon corpses, Greyworth looked down at Kamito and said.

Gripping the Demon Slayer tightly, Kamito glared angrily at her figure, all red from splattered blood.

"Did you come to kill the Dragon King?"

"&mdash;Indeed."

Making no effort to conceal her purpose, she nodded in confirmation.

Having obtained the Dusk Witch as a pawn, the Holy Kingdom looked like they had no further use for conspiracy and strategy. They could now openly send out the strongest assassin.

"I won't let you kill the Dragon King. Dracunia is allied to my side, Legitimate Ordesia."

In front of the dragon knights, Kamito declared.

However, his reason for saying this was not simply for the sake of appearances.

Dragon King Bahamut loved the people of Dracunia and sincerely loved mankind. Over her millennia-long period of solitude, she had been watching over this country.

Although he had only chatted with her very briefly&mdash;

Her feelings, cherishing the wellbeing of her people, had definitely reached Kamito's heart.

He must protect her. Kamito's heart was filled with this pure emotion.

Furthermore, more importantly&mdash;

(Leonora asked me to. That's reason enough already&mdash;)

Holding the Demon Slayer in both hands, Kamito poured in divine power from his entire body.

The blade of steel shone with silver-white light, illuminating the darkness of the night.

In response...

"&mdash;A rare treat. Blade dancing with you especially makes my blood boil with excitement."

Greyworth smiled.

Her aura changed. It was neither killing intent nor intimidation.

A bizarre aura was given off from her entire body&mdash;

Kamito felt as though an ice-cold hand was gripping his heart&mdash;

(...Damn it, I can't believe I'm shaking&mdash;)

Kamito grimaced mentally. The overcoming of fear was supposed to be the basics of the basics for an Instructional School combatant&mdash;

'&mdash;Kamito, are you alright?'

Est's voice sounded in his mind.

As expected of the strongest sword spirit, she seemed completely unafraid of the Dusk Witch.

As though responding to Est's voice, Kamito forcefully gripped the sacred sword's hilt.

Greyworth was holding the crimson demon sword casually, jumping down from the pile of dead dragons.

The bloodstained demon sword pulsated like a living creature.

&mdash;In the next instant, Greyworth swept the space behind her using that sword.

"...!?"

CRASH!

With a flash of the crimson sword, the stone bridge collapsed instantly.

The mountain of dead dragons fell as a result, tumbling into the bottomless canyon.

She had cut off her own escape route.

"D-Damn it, I can't believe you did this to the dragons that are this nation's protectors!"

"O guest from Ordesia, we will aid you!"

The dragon knights behind Kamito shouted in anger.

However&mdash;

"Stay back unless you want to die&mdash;"

Kamito turned his head back and glared sharply at them.

His gaze of killing intent made the dragon knights tremble.

"Sorry, you girls will just be a burden."

Kamito said in an icy voice.

"B-But if you go at it alone&mdash;"

"Don't get in my way. Please. Take Leonora and leave."

&mdash;Be a burden. That was true in a way.

Indeed, perhaps with their support, the battle would go more favorably. However, that was founded on the assumption that he could use them without regard for their lives.

If they were to fight the Dusk Witch, major casualties were certain. These girls were Leonora's precious subordinates and the Dragon King's beloved daughters.

He must not allow them to die, not even a single one of them.

&mdash;And more importantly, he did not want Greyworth to kill them.

Probably taking in Kamito's message&mdash;

"May you be victorious, Kamito-dono&mdash;" "May the blessing of dragons be with you."

The dragon knight girls carried the collapsed Leonora and retreated into the castle.

"&mdash;Thanks."

Kamito said quietly then turned to Greyworth again, who was standing in front of the cliff.

"You're hoping for a one on one, right?"

"A life-risking decision."

Greyworth remarked calmly.

Then suddenly, the wind stopped.

Under the moonlit night upon a bridge, the Dusk Witch and the Strongest Blade Dancer faced off.

"Say, Greyworth..."

"What now?"

"Is there no way to reconcile? Have you really forgotten me and the others?"

Kamito tried persuasion one last time.

However, with a merciless expression, the girl said:

"Talk is cheap. It kills the mood."

"I see..."

Kamito shook his head and infused maximum divine power into the Demon Slayer.

"Est, we're going all-out right from the start. Can you keep up?"

'Yes, I am your sword, your wish is my command.'

Est replied firmly.

The two faced off. However, neither side moved recklessly. Having mastered the same style, it meant that both sides fully understood each other's movements. Every motion of every move would presumably be predicted by the other side, thereby bringing forth a counterattack.

Hence, they needed to simulate countless battles in their minds to search for the most effective way to attack.

Then&mdash;

The first to begin the battle was Kamito.

"Absolute Blade Arts, First Form&mdash;Purple Lightning!"

Raising the sacred sword shining with silver-white light, Kamito kicked the ground in a leap, accelerating explosively using the release of divine power. The thrust was like lightning, surpassing the speed of sound to pierce the enemy.

Clang&mdash;A scatter of sparks.

Kamito's deadly strike was parried away by Greyworth's blade.

This was not reaction but prediction.

Kamito immediately withdrew his sword and executed a straight horizontal slash.

&mdash;However, Greyworth took half a step back, causing the sword tip to simply fly past her nose.

Kamito took another step forward. Chanting spirit magic rapidly, he manifested a dagger in his other hand. This was Weapon Works, steel-type magic&mdash;Holding the dagger between his fingers, he threw it.

The dagger flew with a flash, tearing through the air, but was shattered by a chop from Greyworth's bare hand, enveloped in divine power. Using her residual momentum, she struck at Kamito's neck.

This was within Kamito's prediction too. Thus lowering his stance to evade, he slashed diagonally upwards towards her shoulder. The crossing blades produced a shower of sparks.

This was super high-speed contest that ordinary people could not follow with the naked eye.

At close range, virtually with their faces pressed together, the two of them clashed.

"Your movements are different from that day's&mdash;"

"After all, I was wounded all over at the time."

"Is that so? How delightful."

Greyworth's lips fluttered slightly, murmuring something.

(Spirit magic? No&mdash;)

He relied purely on instinct. Sensing some kind of ominous presence, Kamito jumped back to create distance.

In that instant, the bloodstained demon sword transformed, turning into a gigantic lupine beast with countless fangs.

"...!?"

ROOOOOOAAAAAR...!

The blood-colored beast howled and pounced at Kamito.

Kamito dove to the ground and rolled, evading in the nick of time. His position from half a second ago was crushed by the jaws of the beast's head sprouting from her demon sword's hilt.

(...! What the heck is this&mdash;!?)

'Kamito, while turned into an elemental waffe, that demon sword retains its traits as a spirit.'

Est's voice sounded in his mind.

(So it's both an elemental waffe and a spirit at the same time. I see now&mdash;)

Kamito figured it out. Instead of dominating the demon spirit, Greyworth was in a cooperative relationship with it.

"One of the seventy-two sealed spirits, Vlad Dracul the demon spirit. Sure enough, it grows very fast when I allow it to absorb the blood of dragons."

Greyworth said contentedly.

"A blood-drinking demon sword huh? That's a bit creepy&mdash;"

However, given Greyworth's frightening sword skills combined with the demon sword's independent attacks, it was truly a difficult situation. To Kamito, this meant he had to predict attacks from two completely different styles at the same time.

"The demon sword is thirsting for your blood, Demon King&mdash;"

Greyworth swept the demon sword horizontally.

ROOOOOAAAAAR!

The beast head sprouted from the hilt gave a strange howl and chased Kamito relentlessly.

Jumping randomly all over the place, the beast crushed the remnants of the bridge.

(...Curse this spirit!)

Even with Steel's Protection, Kamito's body would probably be torn apart in an instant if it bit him.

However, it would not be realistic to keep running. Thinking he had to find a chance to strike back, Kamito kicked the ground to jump towards the bridge's railing.

A leap. In midair, Kamito turned around and released his divine power.

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

Divine power erupted explosively. While descending at extreme speed, Kamito swung his sword downwards.

This was a move derived from Purple Lighting. Its power was also top-notch within the Absolute Blade Arts.

The Demon Slayer pierced the beast's head, pinning its gigantic body to the ground.

Instantly, the blood-colored beast melted away and disappeared.

&mdash;However, just at that moment, Greyworth appeared before his eyes.