Arc 9, Chapter 26 – “Sword Demon VS Crimson Sakura”

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An intense aura of swordsmanship hung over the chamber, and it was no joke that goosebumps erupted all over her skin.

Her mind had been trained to remain unshaken by most situations, but even when considering circumstances in which the unexpected and unforeseen might occur in rapid succession, a scenario such as this would be considered an anomaly, demanding to be deemed as an exception.

Yae: [――Wilhelm Trias.]

Rolling the name that had been given around within her mouth, Yae Tenzen quietly sharpened her vigilance.

They had exchanged but a single clash, yet her opponent’s opening move had been slamming her with a kick, forcing Yae to find herself at a disadvantage.

Even after she leapt backward to dampen the impact, the damage from that kick had left a heavy impression on Yae’s slender frame. Had she not retreated, the force might have opened a shoe-sized hole in her stomach. He had delivered a kick to a woman without restraint; as he himself had claimed, he could not be called a gentleman.

There was a worthy title for this old swordsman, which had been readied by the nation for more than forty years.

Namely――,

Yae: [――Sword Demon-san himself, gracing us with his presence here. To think I would meet such a legend myself, I’m so moved~. That episode in which you avenged your late wife, it must truly be an honor to be the Kingdom’s sword, huh~?]

Wilhelm: [――――]

Yae: [Oh? But if I’m not mistaken, I heard you had an unexpected reunion with your wife afterward! Surely the events in the Watergate City must’ve been terribly painful for you, no? I can only imagine your anguish, boo hoo.]

Wilhelm: [――――]

Whilst observing her opponent’s every move, Yae dabbed a finger at the corner of her eye in a pantomime of tears.

Beneath Yae’s crimson gaze, the old swordsman―― Wilhelm stood dignified and unwavering, the two swords in his grip radiating a sharp aura as he met her stare.

Within the calm light of those twin blue eyes, Yae understood that her attempts to unsettle her opponent by brazenly trampling on his heart had proven to be fruitless; she had merely succeeded in playing the role of a villainess.

Yae: […The image I had from what I’ve heard of you led me to believe you were a more passionate person, but~…]

Apparently, that impression had been unreliable.

Given that the source of this information had been none other than Heinkel, if even details regarding his own biological father lacked credibility, then what exactly could she expect of him? Frankly, it would have been better to assign him to take care of Felt rather than the Dragon.

And, should Heinkel have allowed Felt to escape, then the pretext of eliminating her and cutting ties with Heinkel altogether would simultaneously hold ground.

As for Yae’s reasoning as to why she thought such things――,

Yae: [Aside from the old village chief, there shouldn’t be many people who are able to notice my presence concealment―― Felt-sama, might you have done something mischievous?]

Felt: [The hell kind of accusation is that? You know full well I’ve not been able to even lift a finger, you bastard.]

Wilhelm: [――――]

Felt: [Besides talking to your sorry ass, I haven’t done anything. Right now, that’s taking up all my effort.]

With a hint of self-resentment in her voice, Felt spat thus as she retreated to a corner of the room.

When it came to feigning anger, she was not the type to be adept. If she truly possessed the refined acting skills to modulate even her vocal tremors, then such a masterful deception would truly be one worthy of awe.

Therefore, Yae, giving a subtle tug on the steel thread around Felt’s neck, just enough to make her aware of its presence,

Yae: [Please don’t even think about running away, okay? I’d hate to make Felt-sama’s adorable head bid a tearful farewell to her torso.]

Felt: [That’s another kick your ass is getting. And, it’s not for me to say, but…]

Yae: [What?]

Felt: [I don’t think you have the time to be looking away, now do you, you bastard?]

Felt stuck out her tongue with a blunt “bleh”, and the act’s lack of charm was itself cute. But, Yae did not need a reminder, as she had never once let her guard down against Wilhelm. ――He remained rooted in his original position, unable to determine how to respond to Yae’s unfamiliar Steel Thread Technique. Such was only natural.

――Most shinobi techniques specialized in exploiting an opponent’s openings.

That was why, unlike the fighting techniques of warriors utilized in battle, the techniques of the shinobi utilized for killing were called jutsu. Yae’s Steel Thread Technique was a prime example of that distinction.

The more veteran the warrior, the more cautiously they approach combat. Meanwhile, the true skill of a shinobi lay in setting trap upon trap, like the web of a spider, ten layers, then twenty, until――,

Wilhelm: [――Four moves.]

Yae: [――? What was that?]

Suddenly, Yae furrowed her brow, unable to comprehend the words born from Wilhelm’s lips.

To Yae’s query, Wilhelm offered no verbal reply. ――But, there was a response. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a piercing aura of swordsmanship was released, cleaving through Yae’s entire body as an answer.

Yae: [――Hk.]

The moment she sensed the incoming attack,Yae mobilized all ten of her fingers without hesitation, but rather than an attack to subdue, she rained slaughter upon the Sword Demon with her steel threads. So long as Al’s order not to kill was kept in the end, it would be fine. It would be preferable for her opponent to survive when the intention was to kill; but, if an attack was unleashed without the expectation to kill, would it work on this adversary?

Thus, from all directions, first subdividing into sixteen, and then further into thirty-two, was launched an overwhelming assault of steel threads, each new strand finer than the last; in response, the twin blades in Wilhelm’s grip flashed――,

Wilhelm: [OOOH――!!]

The whirlwind raised by the swing of the twin swords quite literally swept aside the approaching murderous steel threads of carnage.

The extreme speed of the swords’ movement caused the collision between blade and thread to be heard in unison, generating sparks that gave Yae the illusion that her eyes were being seared. Though her initial strike had been neutralized by the overwhelming force of the sword, her Steel Thread Technique remained uninterrupted.

Slackening the steel threads emitted from her rings, she readied an assault of even further segmented threads―― in that moment, the “floor” of the room was cleaved upward before Yae’s eyes.

――That which rose was a portion of the floor that had been slashed and stepped upon, lifting its face. The size of this “floor” rivaled that of a luxurious bed, blotting Wilhelm from Yae’s sight.

Wilhelm: [――――]

With a thud and a forceful step, the “floor” was kicked, launching it straight toward Yae.

Within the confined space of the room, there were no gaps she could use to escape; therefore, using her left hand, Yae adjusted the angles of the steel threads she manipulated to combat the incoming “floor”. However, rather than slicing it, she instead bound it, deflecting it with a bounce.

The “floor” recoiled with the full momentum of the initial kick, returning along its trajectory with even greater speed and danger, barreling toward the Sword Demon with the aim to blast him away.

But then――,

Yae: [Huh?]

A sharp, piercing sound resonated, and Yae’s eyes widened upon the sight of the “floor” being pinned midair.

Its momentum had accelerated, its force doubling in proportion to its weight. Yet, the Sword Demon’s blade struck the rebellion of the “floor” in the dead center of its mass, its tip aligned to the surface with surgical precision, voiding all of its power.

It was truly a divine feat that transcended what mortal hands could accomplish.

Yae, too, understood this, having spent a great deal of time being hailed as a child prodigy beyond the limits of ordinary humans. ――Even in his old age the Sword Demon’s swordsmanship was planted in the realm of the divine.

Wilhelm: [Three moves.]

Within the vision of the breathless Yae, Wilhelm murmured so from beyond the “floor”, which was still suspended in midair.

Hidden behind the “floor” of modest width and ample height, Wilhelm remained beyond Yae’s sight. Yet, the true advantage of her steel threads lay in their capability to land strikes that would not otherwise land, in places she could not otherwise see.

She made her threads snake around the “floor”, forcing the Sword Demon on the other side to move either to the left or right.

Yet, no matter which side he chose, left or right, the threads would be awaiting him――,

――Immediately afterwards, piercing through the suspended “floor”, the tip of his sword approached Yae’s nose.

The timbre of steel striking steel resounded, and the sword launched at a velocity which rivaled even the most tightly drawn bow. The sword that had been thrust into the “floor” to stop it was struck from behind, causing the “floor” to be penetrated by the sword.

This far exceeded her expectations; faced now with a projectile that defied all norms, Yae abandoned any attempt to entangle the sword within her threads, and instead slightly deflected it as she tilted her slender neck just enough to avoid a fatal strike. The tip of the blade passed right by her throat before it was lodged into the wall beside Yae with a thunk.

She had dodged it. And, even in that fleeting moment, Yae never once averted her eyes from the Sword Demon.

And so, in that same breath, she recognized that she had made a tactical misstep.

The sword had been buried deeply, sticking out just to the right of Yae’s neck. ――Her only means of escape was to the left.

And thereupon――,

Wilhelm: [RUAAHH――!!]

Using the “floor” as a springboard, the Sword Demon then kicked off the ceiling to accelerate, descending with a slashing strike.

The blade executed a seamless monk’s robe cut, aiming for Yae’s very life as his blade carved deeply into her left shoulder. [1]

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Wilhelm van Astrea. ――No, Wilhelm Trias, had been sojourning in the Royal Capital, seeking a way to heal his master, Crusch Karsten.

In the midst of the battle against the Witch Cult that had unfolded throughout the Watergate City of Pristella, the Sin Archbishop of Lust had poured a wicked poison into Crusch, corroding her body and soul; she had continued to suffer through such accursed agony.

Even the Kingdom’s greatest healer, the very one bearing the title Blue, Ferris, had been facing the hardship of his inability to alleviate her suffering, nor had any ray of hope emerged for some time.

There had been no dramatic improvements in Crusch’s condition. Only, a means that opened up new possibilities―― a path to the Pleiades Watchtower had been paved, tidings of such had arrived.

Were they to borrow the power of the Sage Shaula, one of the Three Great Heroes of the Kingdom of Lugunica, rumored to be omniscient and omnipotent, perhaps they might find a way to liberate Crusch from the malevolent poison afflicting her.

Ferris: [If it’s to save Crusch-sama, then don’t we have to do whatever it takes, no matter what that might be?]

As desperation drove Ferris to cling to that news, Wilhelm possessed no words to admonish him.

Having been robbed of her Memories at the hands of the Witch Cult a year prior, Crusch had been left as a largely changed person, and it was Ferris who had devotedly supported and assisted her. Ferris himself must have experienced hellish agony and confusion as he attempted to rebuild his relationship with Crusch from scratch.

After nearly a year of suffering, a bond of mutual trust had finally been formed between the two of them―― a bond different to how it was before, but still unshakeable in spite of the difference; it happened right around when that bond had been formed.

That was when the Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica, utterly wrecked it.

The following suffering that Crusch went through was as had been described prior, but the pitifulness of Ferris as he nestled to her side, was an exceedingly painful sight to behold.

That was why, when they heard that Subaru’s group, sights set on the Pleiades Watchtower, had succeeded in reaching it, a fire of hope was ignited within Wilhelm and the rest, more acutely than any of them had anticipated.

Although it was disconcerting that Subaru’s group had not relayed that information directly, there was no way to dig deeper into the movements of the other Camps.

However, he had heard that a trial run was being conducted in order to ensure that visiting the Tower could be done reliably. Unable to sit idly by any longer, Wilhelm and Ferris made their way to the Royal Capital in order to ascertain the success or failure of that expedition, and, if possible, request to join the next group bound for the Tower.

Then, in a room inside the royal mansion, reserved only for dignitaries to stay――,

???: [――There is a matter I wish to share with you, and something I would like to ask for your assistance with.]

And so, the young man, bearing the role of Internal Affairs Minister within the Emilia Camp, delivered to Wilhelm a summation of the catastrophe poised to shake the Kingdom’s very foundations, along with the names of the two individuals who served as Wilhelm’s reasons to take up the sword.

Wilhelm: [RAAAAAGH――!!!]

Blasting off the ceiling, he delivered a devastating shoulder-to-hip arc to the red-haired girl―― nay, to the masterful shinobi.

The impossibly fine, thread-like weapons proved to be lethally versatile, he scattered their oncoming threat through erratic trajectories. Such was the result of seeking a swift and decisive end to the bout, for every second the conflict raged on would only multiply the chances of being caught off guard.

With a single brutal motion, the blade bit into her left shoulder and carved diagonally across her torso, bisecting her very life with a monk’s robe cut―― or so it should have.

Girl: [――Hk.]

In an instant, the girl’s body sank into the floor as she gritted her teeth―― no, she had not sunk. Shredded to smithereens by her threads, the floor itself had come apart. Then, the girl’s body plunged into the basement ahead of Wilhelm, to which he gave pursuit.

Promptly extending his arm out, he wrenched out the sword that had immobilized the girl from the wall, securing his twin blades.

Though he had failed to sever the girl’s left shoulder, there was no mistaking that the wound was deep. What was truly formidable about shinobi was their vanishing act; the moment they slipped from sight, they became five or even ten times as troublesome than they had been visible.

All this to say――,

Girl & Wilhelm: [――This is where I take you down.]

And, without prior rehearsal, Wilhelm and the girl’s voices had overlapped.

As Wilhelm plunged into the gaping maw of darkness below, for but a moment he caught sight of glimmering filaments, reflected by the light shining through the darkness. ――The pit leading underground bristled with murderous threads, spun like a spider’s web.

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As she fell backward toward the basement, Yae bound her left shoulder with her steel threads to stop the bleeding.

She admitted that the blade had penetrated deep into her maidenly soft skin, yet the chastity of her life remained intact, so she refused to accept her loss, and at the same time marveled at the terrifying swordsmanship of the Sword Demon.

The first move defended against Yae’s steel thread, the second move kicked away the floor he had cut up, the third move seized the floor she had sent flying back, and the fourth move slashed at her with the sword that had pierced through it―― just as he had declared at the outset, she was about to be killed in four moves.

Yae: [All these pesky old men…!]

The first elderly man that came to mind was the Vicious Old Man, who had the worst possible personality and was the closest to Yae, followed by the elderly giant who had tormented Al on the plains until he was on the verge of defeat, and finally, the Sword Demon, an elderly man who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship despite his age. ――All of these elderly men were people who did not know how to grow old peacefully.

To begin with, it was the way of the world that one’s life could be extinguished at any moment. Nevertheless, the fact that they were still alive at such an old age meant that they had survived natural selection.

???: [That’s why old folks are so damn terrifyin’. If ya think old folks are weak and fragile, you’ll end up dyin’ before ya even get old yerself. Well, I’m kinda an exception to the exception, since I’m such a long-lived shinobi, but still…]

Her cheeks twitched as she was reminded of the loud laughter of the village chief, who had lived and survived a particularly harsh life.

The ultimate technique of a shinobi was to steal one’s opponent’s attention, cloud their mind, immobilize them, and take their life. Yae was an excellent student in the art of clouding the mind, but she knew that she was no match for the village chief’s years of experience.

Yae believed that she was probably not that twisted, nor did she anticipate living long enough to become so. In fact, Al nearly killed her once before.

She had no expectation that her good fortune would continue. ――After all, the whims of a kind monster were nothing more than a miracle.

Yae: [――――]

Wilhelm chased after Yae as she fell, pulled the sword from the wall, and dropped down into the hole as well.

As the Sword Demon moved with confidence that appeared to be born from actual combat experience against shinobi, presumably shinobi deployed by the Vollachian Empire in the past, she held unending resentment towards her shinobi predecessors who had failed to kill Wilhelm then.

Yae took in a single breath and exhaled. With that, a switch flipped inside her with a click―― and her field of vision expanded, allowing her to see as clearly in the darkness of the basement as if she were standing in the brightness of daylight.

This was the result of training to become accustomed to the darkness of night, a type of physical manipulation that altered her blood flow around the eyeballs to adjust vision.

As the white figure of the Sword Demon emerged within her now gray field of vision, Yae spread her arms wide, as if finally bringing him into her own realm of expertise――,

Yae & Wilhelm: [――This is where I take you down.]

They both uttered the same words in unison, but there was neither a smile nor a feeling of surprise on either side.

They resolved to kill each other. Since mental attacks were deemed futile, they abandoned all techniques designed to disrupt the mind and focused solely on reaching the opponent’s life with sincere determination.

This was the location Yae had prepared for that purpose, the Crimson Sakura’s killing field.

――The underground passageway in the Barielle mansion was not something Priscilla had built when she had renovated the mansion, but rather a remnant left behind by the legacy of the original owner, Leip Barielle.

Priscilla’s late husband was said to have been plagued with pathological distrust and paranoia, and had made preparations for any eventuality, not only in the mansion he built in the Royal Capital, but also in his other residences and hideouts within his own domain.

This hole that led to the basement was also one of those preparations. It had been originally intended as a secret escape route, but Yae had destroyed it beforehand because it could have been used as an entry point for enemies, leaving only the deep hole that continued underground.

Yae had never met Leip and felt nothing but disgust and contempt at him for forcibly marrying such a young and beautiful wife like Priscilla, and then trying to use her as a puppet to control the country’s government. However, she sympathized with Leip’s attitude of wanting to be prepared for any potential disaster and was grateful to take advantage of the opportunity he had inadvertently given to her.

A gallows for slaughter, where she could string up her steel threads and only Yae could move around as she pleased.

She had infiltrated the Royal Capital in order to, if such a time were to come, assist Al. She had kept Felt, brought along so that she would be under surveillance, in that room so that it would serve its purpose in such an emergency.

That was why――,

Yae: [――From here on out, no more holding back.]

Having said that, Yae bent her knees in order to smoothly slip off her shoes, extended her toes wrapped in black stockings, spread the toes of both feet ――and shot steel threads from rings fitted to each of them.

Literally, without mercy or restraint, skillfully manipulating all twenty digits of her hands and feet, Yae Tenzen’s masterful killing technique rampaged in the darkness――,

Yae: [――――]

Both sides sought a swift victory.

As she fell, Yae hooked her knee around one of the threads she had spun, stopping the momentum of her descent and reversing her direction; utilizing the tension of the thread within the large, well-like cylindrical pit, she sprung up and began her attack.

With the agility of an acrobat, Yae danced like petals twirling in the wind.

Yae’s graceful dance was accompanied by silver threads that lured those entranced by their beauty to their deaths, and around her, the blood of those whom she had danced upon blossomed like flowers―― hence the name Crimson Sakura.

These were beautiful, yet cruel, red cherry blossoms that bloomed in all their glory by feasting upon the blood flowing from those fallen corpses.

Wilhelm: [――Hk.]

The ferocity that earned itself its nickname was wielded without mercy, and Wilhelm’s entire body, left to free fall, was torn apart, his well-tailored clothes torn open, his flesh and blood scattering into the air.

As she fell, Yae’s hair was blown back by the wind created by his twin swords, and she was astonished by the intensity of the Sword Demon’s gaze.

Unlike her steel threads, the swords could only reach as far as the arm wielding it. Therefore, on the gallows she had set up, Wilhelm had no choice but to focus on defense.

Naturally, with Wilhelm pulled by gravity and thus restricted, Yae, who could move freely in the darkness with the help of her threads, would never approach him.

Maintaining a safe middle distance where his sword could not reach no matter what, she unilaterally continued her attacks with her steel threads. Before the dance was finished, before the Sword Demon reached the ground and regained his freedom.

Yae calmly raised her arm. ――Blood sprouted forth.

Yae’s slender legs smoothly traced the wall in mid-air. ――Blood sprouted forth.

Yae’s slender body twisted and contorted to its limit. ――Blood sprouted forth.

As Yae’s dance approached completion, the Sword Demon was stained with his own blood, unable to completely defend against the relentless barrage of steel threads.

The sharp steel threads carved wounds into his legs, torso, shoulders, neck, cheeks, and forehead, and the Sword Demon was lured towards death as he bled.

However――,

Yae: [――What un~pleasant eyes.]

His eyes, filled with a terrifyingly serene aura of swordsmanship, did not dull his will to fight one bit.

Yae: [――――]

In addition to the steel threads wielded by both Yae’s hands and feet, there were also threads she had already spread throughout the basement.

It went without saying, but if one were to inadvertently touch the taut string with their arm or leg while being preoccupied with Yae’s actions, that limb would be lost, and if one’s neck or torso were to come into contact with it, one would simply lose their life.

For Wilhelm, this deep pit was now like the jaws of a Witchbeast he had jumped into without thinking, his flesh being torn by its teeth, its tongue lapping up his blood, and finally dropping into its stomach to dissolve his life. ――Yet his eyes were not those of one who pointlessly resisted in despair.

Yae: [But, there’s not much you can do, is there?]

Even without that look in his eyes, Yae did not underestimate the Sword Demon enough to believe this was the end. She had long since dismissed Heinkel’s assessment of Wilhelm as unreliable and evaluated him based on what she had seen with her own eyes amid the struggle for life and death.

Therefore, as the Sword Demon fell helplessly, she was prepared for two attacks.

One was to kick off the wall of the hole and deliver a sword strike equivalent to the one that knocked Yae underground. The other was to throw his sword at Yae’s vital points, just as he had done above ground.

Whichever of the two options was chosen, the decision had to be made in the blink of an eye.

Yae: [――Tsk.]

Immediately after her extended black-clad feet drew a circle and inflicted three wounds on Wilhelm’s cheek, he swung his dual swords straight down and repelled the steel threads. The Sword Demon’s strong legs moved back rhythmically, and he planted his soles against the wall.

With the Sword Demon’s knees slightly bent, he gathered enough strength in his legs to launch himself through the air―― and at the last moment, he swung his arms and launched his two swords, surging towards Yae’s life.

Two silver streaks flashed through the air, but Yae dodged them with a series of dance-like movements.

Using the stretched threads as a foothold, she performed a somersault, the blade just barely passing between her thighs and the curve of her back, and emerged unscathed. Then, she struck the Sword Demon who flew after his blades with the steel threads attached to her feet.

With both of his swords gone and no way to defend himself against the steel threads, Wilhelm twisted his body and shielded his head, escaping the web of threads with minimal damage. However, Yae was already out of the way, and the unarmed Sword Demon could not reach her as she rebounded from the threads and escaped.

With that, both threats that she had been wary of were successfully averted―― but it was still too early to breathe a sigh of relief.

Wilhelm: [――OOOH!]

Wilhelm had kicked the wall, missing Yae, and landed on the opposite side of the cylindrical pit. There, the twin swords he had thrown earlier were stuck in the wall, and Wilhelm grabbed them and kicked the wall again.

Wilhelm pursued Yae, who had escaped diagonally upward, and took a path upward with the speed of a bullet. ――He leaped forward, kicked off the opposite wall, and flew toward the other wall. Repeating this over and over, he quickly caught up with Yae who was rising upwards in a dance-like motion.

Yae: [You’ve got to be kidding me… hk!]

Yae’s throat trembled in shock as Wilhelm pursued her with all his might.

He kicked the wall and ascended using a three-step jump. That was not surprising; Yae could do the same. What was unexpected was that Wilhelm was repeating this in a place where Yae’s hands had stretched out countless of her steel threads.

Naturally, if he flew without taking the time to check his surroundings carefully, there was a risk that he would hit a thread and be torn to pieces.

However, Wilhelm was not afraid. Why? ――Because when he had fallen through that space once before, he had noticed where the threads were, and he jumped up so as not to hit them.

That was his terrifying way of fighting, possessed of both an exceptionally keen sense of combat and powers of observation, as well as the unwavering determination to risk his life based on what he saw with his own eyes.

As the Sword Demon fluttered and dived boldly into the storm of silver threads, Yae had no choice but to reach for her trump card――,

Yae: [――Uu, ya.]

Building momentum with her threads, Yae sprang high up, and reversing her stance, she extended all her arms and legs. She let loose steel threads from all twenty digits, entwined them with the threads she had previously placed, and drew in all four limbs.

Yae’s masterful Steel Thread Technique utilized entwining threads and the surrounding objects, and was even capable of binding over a hundred ruffians at once in forest combat. Taking that into account, Yae exerted all of her strength, to the point that it felt like all of the muscles and bones within her body would be torn asunder, and simultaneously pulled all the steel threads tight.

That instant, within the cylindrical hole that led underground, the torn steel threads ran amok.

With a mechanism similar to that of cutting a sausage with a string, Yae utilized the tensile strength of the strained steel wires being torn to completely and utterly ravage the space, a thread-rending onslaught of trajectory and magnitude that not even Yae herself could read.

Furthermore, thereupon――,

Yae: [――A capable maid always goes the extra mile!]

Witnessing the space below her crushed by the innumerable thread attacks, Yae brought the rings on both her hands to her mouth, kissing them. ――Immediately after, tongues of flames licked down the threads extending from the rings, and after a beat, the infernal flames exploded.

In addition to the berserking threads, a scorching hellfire that burned all to naught―― playing two of her trump cards, Yae’s merciless shinobi techniques engulfed the Sword Demon in a crimson radiance, scorching him to a crisp.

Yae: [As expected――]

Unable to uphold the policy of not killing anybody, Yae found the result of this combat rather vexing.

But, it was something she had thought the moment it began. This was not an opponent who could be defeated without going for the kill. Only by fighting with the intent to kill, would one have a choice between survival or demise, that was the sort of opponent this man was.

For that reason――,

Yae: [Let’s keep this a secret from Heinkel-sama――]

Wilhelm: [――That will be fine. He too, had better know that I am coming.]

That instant, the Sword Demon burst through the explosive inferno, the glint of his blade slashing through to caress Yae mid-air.

Yae: [――Uh.]

Torso scythed by the flash of the honed sword, Yae spurred blood to helix in a manner different to her usual dance as she revolved through the air, having been unable to disperse the might of the blow; as eyes widened, she groaned in confusion regarding what had just occurred.

That which had occurred was clear. The enemy had survived both the tempest of steel threads, and the explosive flames that had followed. The question was, how in the world had he done it?

Wilhelm’s final leap had been straight upward, much unlike the trajectory of his previous leaps, where he kicked off the walls and flew diagonally. Thus, in order to achieve such a leap within the pit, he would have had no choice but to use the same method as Yae―― using the steel threads as a foothold, and jumping.

Yae: [How did you, my threads…]

Wilhelm: [You demonstrated it many a time. ――Your threads are terrifyingly sharp weapons, but with a specific angle and application of force, they can be used to bind without cutting.]

Wilhelm’s answer was accurate, having fully seen through the properties of Yae’s steel threads.

What was strange was that he had seen through it in such a short time whilst amidst the heat of battle, and that he had not hesitated in his decision to risk his life on something for which he possessed no definite evidence.

Another baffling matter was――,

Yae: [Then, the fire?]

Wilhelm: [I cut it.]

Receiving a terribly blunt answer to which nothing could be argued, Yae breathed an exasperated sigh.

In all likelihood, he was telling no fib. The response had simply been that bold. While accepting that, Yae simultaneously suddenly recalled some words from a corner of her mind.

Words that Yae had once dismissed as useless and thrown away――,

???: [――My father is strong. To an absurd degree. You and that Aldebaran guy might be pretty capable yourselves, but still, it’s my father who scares me more. That’s what’s known as the Sword Demon.]

It aggravated her to full-throttle, but Heinkel’s assessment was accurate.

Yae could not recognize him as being stronger or scarier than Al, but he was at least more terrifying than she was.

――At this moment, Yae Tenzen made a miscalculation in her assessment.

That was the fact that she had estimated the credibility of the information to be around half accurate based on Heinkel’s opinion. And above all, the fact that since the battle against the White Whale, the subjugation of Sloth, and the siege of the Watergate City, all of which Yae had investigated, Wilhelm’s skills had only continued to be honed. This was something Yae had no means of knowing, but he was once again reaching the levels he had achieved during the prime of his active duty―― the age in which he had defeated the Sword Saint.

Ergo, the battle that had commenced at the Barielle Villa, between the Crimson Sakura and the Sword Demon――,

Wilhelm: [――Zuahhh!!]

Thwarting the completion of her dance with a flash of his blade, the Sword Demon, having stained the sakura of crimson with blood, was thus declared the victor.

Translation Note:

[1] – Kesagiri, or monk’s robe cut, is a type of cut where one slices in a motion from their shoulder down to their opposite hip.