120. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [11]

I finally manifested my soul dress. Gripping the True Black Sword〈Zeon〉tightly, I confronted Rain.

(Well… What should I do?)

I still have no control over this power.

No, I have yet to even『grasp the power』in the first place.

(It would be better to go into battle after becoming well-versed in the power of soul dress, but…)

It can’t be helped in this matter.

Performing without rehearsal, I’m going to have to learn it little by little.

(First of all… let’s start with a low power, easy to handle technique!)

Then I swung the Black Sword lightly just to test it.

「First Sword – Flying Shadow!」

A huge slash that filled the entire field of view flew towards Rain as it turned over the floor under.

「「What?!」」

I and Rain widened our eyes in astonishment at the same time.

(H-Huge! It’s almost like Dark Roar… No, it’s bigger than that!)

I was speechless looking at the enormous output far beyond my imagination.

「So you’re going all-out from the start, huh! Fallen Drop!」

Rain quickly swung his long sword and shot transparent arrows of water.

Flying Shadow clashed with more than a thousand arrows, swallowed all of them, and flew towards Rain still.

「Kuh… NUUUOOOOH!」

Rain somehow managed to cut off Flying Shadow by unleashing a horizontal flash.

I was simply dumbfounded at the incredible scene.

(Amazing! Flying Shadow, which was but a small technique, has evolved into a great technique rivalling certain kill techniques!)

And then,

「You’re a pretty good『actor』, Allen… I never thought you’d be hiding this much power!」Rain said, annoyedly, with beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.

「No, it’s not like I hid it. This power was manifested just now.」

「No way! You… Are you saying that you manifested your soul dress inside the『Door of Yaata』which seals your consciousness?」

「Yeah, that’s right.」

「That mental strength… is already beyond the domain of human.」

With a wry smile, Rain took a forward bent posture, and raised the long-sword clad with ultra-high pressure water current overhead.

「Allen… You are strong. It makes sense that the organization has classified you as a『special class force』」

「Thank you for that.」

「But you see… No matter how strong you are, you’ll never beat me! The number of times I have survived through life and death situation, my resolve, the time I’ve devoted to swordsmanship is different!」Rain said, and closed the distance between us in one step.

「Guardian Style – Water Sword!」

And he fired a transparent slash of water.

The slash, which branched into four, aimed at my neck, torso, and both legs.

「If it’s “time”, then I’ve devoted a lot of time too.」

About a billion years a lot.

「Eighth Sword – Yatagarasu!」

The『eight dark slashes』dyed the『four consecutive water slashes』black and,

「Ka, ha…」

Carved a deep sword wound on Rain’s body.

「Shit…」

Suffering a great deal of damage, he jumped back greatly and re-organised his posture.

「Haa, haa… Even your basic swordsmanship… is quite commendable…」

「Well… That’s all I’ve ever had.」

I grew up being scorned as a dropout swordsman, and could only rely on commercially available textbooks.

The basic training method of swordsmanship that was written in there – Seigan no Kamae, practice-swings, and defense techniques – my self-taught swordsmanship, was acquired at the end of repeating those for billions of years as written in the book.

While exchanging those experiences, I observed Rain’s body.

(…That’s an『incredible body』.)

His clothes were torn in the exchange just now, and his steel-like muscles could be seen.

Apparently, my slashes were blocked by the thick muscles, and the wound doesn’t seem to be as deep as it looks.

In the meantime, Rain calmed down his breathing, and assumed Seigan no Kamae. A blue pill dropped out of his pocket.

(That peculiar blue is…『Spirit Pill』!)

I remember Dodriel saying…

If you take that pill, you can recover from any injury instantaneously in exchange for your life span.

(…That’s troublesome.)

To be honest, a long-term battle is undesirable.

There is a thing called『duration』for soul dress.

I have no idea how long my〈Zeon〉will last.

(…I guess I’ll attack the moment Rain tries to pick up the spirit pill.)

As I quietly waited for that moment,

「…Useless.」

He trampled the spirit pill that dropped to the floor.

「Wha…?!」

I was surprised by the unexpected behavior.

「…What are you surprised looking for? Did you think I’d rely on drugs made by those fellows, those trash?」

Rain, distorting his face with discomfort, clearly asserted his organization as『trash』.

「Then why are you on their side?」

He belongs to the Black Organization, though hating the Black Organization.

I didn’t know what that meant.

「…I have my own circumstances. If you’re not in my shoes, then there are some things you just can’t understand!」Rain cried out, with a mixed expression of various emotions.

「…I see.」

I remember Zack saying the same thing.

Zack Bomber.

A member of the Black Organization who once kidnapped Ria.

He abandoned the Holy Knights Association for the Black Organization for some reason.

And as I remembered the past,

「Allen, you are radiant.」

「…What?」

「Your sword is straightforward, honest, and beautiful. I am sure that you are in the right and I in the wrong.」

Perhaps Rain was confused or something, as he suddenly spoke of things that didn’t make sense.

「However, just like how you have your justice, I have mine! I’m sorry, but I can’t back down here. No matter how strong you are, I’ll change Dagrio into a rainy country, I will not be stopped!」He roared, and started attacking with bloodshot eyes.

「Nuun!」

「HA!」

Our swords clashed violently, and a fierce exchange began.

After that, with each clashing of our swords, one by one sword wounds accumulated on Rain’s body.

「Guh… Not yet! It’s not over yeeeeeeet!」

With a cry mixed with his spirit, he unleashed a diagonal slash. I met his attack with the same diagonal slash.

Dazzling sparks rose, and a locked sword state occured.

「-NUOOOOOOOOH!」

「HAAAAAAAA”A”A”A”!」

Our cries intertwined.

「Nuoh!?」

Rain was overpowered and blown back.

Right there, I had inserted it in advance.

「Second Sword – Hazy Moon」

「Gu…?!」

Darkness bit into his side like a predator.

Being hit by a slash from his blind spot, Rain broke his posture.

And right then,

「Dark Shadow!」

Not letting him catch his breath, I pressed on with a barrage of attacks.

『Ten』blade-like sharp shadows of darkness tried to swallow Rain, as though it were fangs on the mouth of a monster.

「Kuh, Guardian Drop!」

He deployed a defense technique that wrapped his whole body in a transparent sphere of water.

However,

「I-Impossible!」

The darkness, the fangs, clamped on the sphere of water, and slowly eroded the defense technique.

(I-Impossible… It’s just simple darkness, and yet, what ridiculous output!)

Rain hastily released his Guardian Drop and jumped far back.

He, who narrowly escaped from my darkness,

「Haa haa… In close quarters, I’m at a disadvantage, huh…」

Breathing heavily, he read the current battle progress calmly.

Then, Rain exhaled loudly and suddenly raised his sword high in the sky.

(…This is going to be huge)

Looking at his long-sword, I understood he was pouring tremendous spiritual power into it.

It seems that he is trying to unleash quite a huge technique.

「I’ll give you some advice first. If you evade, the results will be devastating.」

Rain, who had completed the preparation, glanced at the senior Holy Knights collapsed behind me.

「Certainly, that’s what it looks like.」

If I evade his technique, the senior Holy Knights behind me will not escape unscathed.

I absolutely cannot dodge this next attack.

I must meet his attack head on.

「To think I would have to use such underhanded methods against a child…」

He muttered something and sheathed the long-sword held in the sky.

「…Here I come.」

「Aa, come!」

Tension strained air dominated the throne room.

And then, Rain resolutely unsheathed his sword.

「Eat this, Dragon Drop!」

A colossal body of water that took the appearance of a dragon, rushed at me with tremendous force.

「「Allen!!!」」

The shrieks of Ria and Rose echoed in reaction to the attack which was different in scale compared to before.

(…That’s a tremendous mass.)

If I took something like that head on, it would be instant death.

I drew in the looming water dragon as close as possible, until the very last second, and unleashed my ultimate short-range attack.

「Fifth Sword – World Judgement!」

At that moment, a fissure ran through the world, and the water dragon was cleaved right in two.

An unbelievable shock wave occurred, causing the ceiling and the outer walls of the royal castle to be blown away.

As the endless rain started pouring on us through the destroyed ceiling, Rain and my gaze met.

「Fuu, so you can even cut Dragon Drop too, huh… You really can cut everything, can’t you…」

He whispered so, with a slightly bright expression.

「Magnificent, Allen. In a normal swordsmanship match, I don’t have any chance to win. I’ll admit, it’s your victory.」

He admitted his defeat.

When I heard those words, I raised my guard to the highest level.

Rain’s eyes were stronger and more resolute than ever before.

「Allen, you’re a really amazing guy. I didn’t think I would have to use my『last resort』in a place like this!」he said, and bit his thumb lightly. With the blood from his thumb, he drew a『cross』on his chest.

And the next moment,

「Forbidden Technique, Last Drop」

Rain’s body was wrapped in crimson water.

「…What did you do?」

I understood clearly with a single glance.

A new power of a completely different nature than before.

And above all, it had a frightening amount of energy.

「Fuu, it’s not a big deal… A forbidden technique where I gain immense power in exchange for my life span, that is Last Drop.」

It seems that Rain is genuinely『staking his life』on this match.

He seems to be carrying『something』which is worth putting his life on the line.

「Now, let’s settle this… Allen!」

「Aa, let’s finish this!」

This is how the final act between me and Rain began.

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