70. Darkness and Sword King Festival [1]

The day after the battle against the Black Organization.

Ria and I were on our way to the classroom, still tired from our endeavours last night.

「Fuwaa… I’m sleepy, Allen.」

Ria put her hand to her mouth and said so while yawning a little.

「Aa, that’s right.」

These past two days.

Because I had been dealing with the Black Organization, I couldn’t get proper sleep.

As expected, a few hours of sleep was not enough to refresh my body.

When we arrived at Year 1 Class A, I opened the door of the classroom, and

「Ah, it’s Ria-san!」

「We’re so glad you’re safe…!」

「It was a disaster. Well, at any rate, you’re safe and that’s all that matters!」

Everyone in the class ran up to Ria all at once.

「When I heard that you were kidnapped by the Black Organization, my heart almost stopped.」

「Did they do anything strange to you? Are you alright?」

「Those guys… The next time I see them, I won’t let them get away easy.」

Everyone who was concerned about Ria from the bottom of their hearts, said with a smile of relief.

「Everyone, I’m sorry that I made you worry. But you don’t have to worry, nothing happened to me.」

Right about when Ria told everyone that she was all right, the back door rattled open, and Rose, who seemed to be sleepier than ever before, walked in.

「Ah, good morning, Rose.」

「Good morning. Your bed hair is more terrific than usual.」

「………… Morning.」

With her imposing ahoge pointing up, she moved unsteadily towards her seat.

Just like us, Rose’s body seems to have accumulated a lot of fatigue.

After that, as we were having idle talks, the chime which signaled the start of class, rang.

And then,

「Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! It’s a wonderful morning!」

Leia-senesi, who was full of energy as usual, opened the door of the classroom vigorously.

Sensei should not have slept for the last two days as well, but…

Unlike us, she looked lively enough.

「Well, I know it’s the first homeroom, but the announcement is… Umu, there’s nothing special to announce. Yoshi, do your best in today’s classes as well! The first period is the soul dress class! Gather to the Soul Dress Area right away!」

Sensei clapped loudly, and we started moving to the Soul Dress Area.

■

When we arrived at the Soul Dress Area, each of us took one spirit sword in our hands, and began to speak with our own spirit core.

(Fuu… I feel like it’s been a while…)

Even though it hasn’t been long since I last went to the world of the soul.

Recently, so many events have occurred, that made me feel like it’s been a while.

(Well, it’s about time to get on with it….)

I gripped the spirit sword firmly with both hands and concentrated my consciousness deep into my soul.

I sank deeper and deeper into my consciousness, and when I slowly opened my eyes – withered wilderness spread all over.

Withered tree.

Withered soil.

Withered air.

This is the withered world that belongs to that guy.

A huge rock with a cracked surface was before me.

At the top of it, he was sitting cross-legged.

「Haa… Bastard, do you never learn? No matter how many times you try, you just can’t. Do you not understand?…… A”a?」

He grumbled as though truly disgusted.

「I’ll keep trying again and again. I’ll『never win』is not set in stone, right?」

「Are you stupid? There’s no way a shorty like you can win against Me! E”e?」

He didn’t even try to hide his grumpiness, and emitted a dreadful bloodlust which made my hair stand on end.

「I won’t know unless I try…!」

When I answered back strongly, without flinching at his bloodlust – his bloodlust quickly disappeared.

「Well, whatever. I was in the mood to exercise a little today, so I’ll play with you…!」

And the moment he slowly stood up,

Jet-black darkness overflowed from his whole body.

「Wha!?」

「What are you surprised about? This was originally my power. Since you’ve grown up a tiny bit, I’m also able to draw out my power little by little.」

He said that with a ferocious smile.

But what surprised me was not him using『darkness』.

(D-Density is… way too different…!)

The darkness between me and him was so different that it was stupid to even try and compare.

Density, quantity, and power – all of them were otherworldly.

As expected, the power taken from that guy last night seems to have only been a mere fraction.

「Kuh… Even I can…!」

I focused my mind and with the same strong mind as last night – I seeked the Black Sword.

However,

「Eh…?」

The Black Sword didn’t appear. Only『black mist』appeared in the palm of my hand.

「Ha! Brat, you’re still a chick. That’s because you expressed my Black Sword into a concrete form just a little while ago! Your『spiritual power』is completely empty…!」

「S-Spiritual power…? What’s that?」

When I tilted my head to the words I’m hearing for the first time,

「Something like that… just go ask Black Fist instead…!」

He jumped over here at a tremendous speed.

「Damnit…」

As I was unable to pull out the Black Sword, I drew my usual sword. But at that moment,

「…Hey, where are you looking?」

He was already standing behind me.

(F-Fast…!)

That guy, clad in darkness, was incomparably faster than he was before.

「Hey, plant your feet firmly!」

「Guh!?」

Even his physical strength was incomparable to before.

(What strength…!)

I somehow managed to defend his strong kick with my sword, but was sent flying horizontally like a ball.

「Ga, ha…」

My back crashed into a huge rock making me spew out all the air in my lungs.

The tremendous impact made my consciousness waver and my sword slipped from my right hand.

(Defense… was absolutely pointless…)

Before that overwhelming violence, the defenses that I had acquired in the past were of no use.

「Hey, here comes the finishing blow…!」

「Shit…. I’m not gonna… accept defeat… !」

The moment I thrust my hands forward, towards his looming fist,

Circular darkness unfolded forward and perfectly defended his straight right.

Towards the unbelievable scene that unfolded,

(T-This is… !)

My eyes widened.

Until now, even if I tried to defend his attacks with my sword, it was not possible to kill the overwhelming force, and defence did not serve any meaning.

But this time I completely killed all his force. My first successful perfect defence.

(I see… So『Darkness』can be used in such a way…!)

The moment when I manipulated darkness for the first time and grasped a definitive clue towards becoming stronger,

「Tch… Don’t get carried away, shitty brat…!」

A strong straight right clad in darkness pierced into my abdomen.

「Ga, ha…」

I was blown far backwards.

The blood in my body bounced in all directions, and severe pain ran.

「Ha-haha…!」

I was filled with a tremendous sense of fulfillment.

(Much, much more… I can become much stronger!)

If I can manipulate this『darkness』freely, I can become even stronger!

(If that were to happen, I’ll be able to draw even more power from him. I might be able to manifest my soul dress like everyone else!)

In this way, I obtained two great outcomes – “Manipulation of Darkness” and “Spiritual Power” – and was then drawn back to the real world.

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