CH 60

[The Black Sword]

A line of blood trailed down Sanuki’s cheek.

There was no lighting in the place called the Central Laboratory, rows of capsules filled with turbulent cultivation solution emit poisonous fluorescent light illuminated the room.

“Man~. What on earth are you, to posses such a ridiculous strength.”

“Well, I think you’re plenty strong yourself. Much stronger than my disciple.” (Sanuki)

Sanuki returned a smile of praise to the young man who cut his cheek.

Currently, there were three people facing the ‘Sword Saint’ Sanuki Shoichiro.

“――――nh.”

The name of the girl who was silently holding up a silver trident was ‘Asanaga Ayako’.

With slightly sweating, lifeless white skin, her large and round eyes were opened unblinkingly so as not to overlook any moves of the ‘Sword Saint’.

The color of her beautifully trimmed bob-cut black hair was fading and became whiter toward the tips, giving off an eerie impression.

However, if one had to point out Asanaga’s most striking feature, then it was probably the upper body of a skeleton growing from the back of her head and nape.

It covered her head like a helmet, with its arms stroking Amanaga’s cheeks lovingly.

Sanuki felt a strange sense of discomfort at the skeleton that had been showing no behavior other than cherishing her since the beginning of the battle.

“Ngg~slurp! Seriously, please cut me some slack~slurp! In the first place, why is the ‘Sword Saint’ entered this kind of place~slurp?”

‘Pygmalion don Troll’, a man who keep collecting the saliva that leaked out the edge of his mouth every time he spoke.

He had dark gray-colored obese body that swelled so much that he looked like mass of body fat and an ugly pig-like face that seemed inhuman.

Each of his arms were holding a large semi-circular shield, which shone mysteriously as if illuminated by moonlight, even though it was indoors.

At first glance, he looked like nothing but an obese guy, inviting his opponent to lower their guard, but in Sanuki’s eyes, his body was but an extraordinary giant lump of muscles, so to speak.

In fact, the obese guy was sturdy and agile. He had the ability to intercept and block the sword slash of the ‘Sword Saint’, which Yang could not even perceive.

“Geez, this is totally out of the script…!”

And finally, a young man wielding a two-handed sword and breathing shallowly, ‘Nanashino Katsumi’.

He was the best fighter in the ‘Black Sword’ and the only swordsman who was able to respond to Sanuki’s surprise attack and counterattack him.

Dressed in a simple rider suit, he tied his long gray hair around his nape and let it flow down his back like a tail.

It was no exaggeration to say that his sword technique was at master level. Although it was with the help of his companions, he had the skill to make his blade reached the ‘Sword Saint’.

On top of that, he was the centerpiece of the enemy side’s teamwork, Sanuki thought that among the enemies he had faced so far, his degree of troublesomeness was among the top.

“But well, including my disciple, the youngsters nowadays sure are brimming with talent that it makes me jealous. Oh, the kid over there. What’s your name?” (Sanuki)

“No way I’m telling you. We’re members of an evil organization, y’know?” (Nanashino)

“What a pity, ain’t you usually give out your name in a situation like this?” (Sanuki)

“Ah~, in stories, this is when the enemies introduce themselves, so that was rude of me, huh.” (Nanashino)

“Nn~slurp! Hey, hey, stop right there~slurp. We’re actually in a bit of a serious pinch, I tell you~slurp?” (Pygmalion)

“Isn’t it okay, it’s just names. Right?” (Nanashino)

“Ah~…hmm…but…” (Asanaga)

“Nn~slurp! Please don’t pull her into this~slurp. Please, please be aware that this is your bad point~slurp!” (Pygmalion)

While having a casual conversation, the three powerful people swapped their standing positions with each other.

That mere change in standing position created diversity in the attacks they released; every second, they racked their brain to find the path to victory.

(Each of them would require at least 3 moves. Though it’s doubtful whether even 5 moves would be enough for the swordsman kid. At this rate, it’d surely be a little troublesome to deal with all of them at the same time.)

Suppose he was in a situation where he could divide them, he’d leave one to Sakurai, his disciple, and kill the remaining two.

He believe that with Sakurai’s current strength, even though he might not be able to defeat Nanashino, he should be able to at least tie him down for a while.

However, in this room where the enemies could even reach him with their blades with their cooperation, he doubt that he would be able to divide them by himself.

In that case, he could opt to wait for reinforcement, but the addition of the mobs from the Thieves Guild or Sakurai who did not have the word of cooperation in his dictionary would only make it more difficult for him to fight.

(It sure is sad that there aren’t that many people who can keep up with my pace even indoors.)

While suffering from the hardship caused by the fact that he was in his own league compared to his surroundings, Sanuki swung his sword.

It was no exaggeration to say that his blade suddenly disappeared, tearing through the air without a sound and approaching Asanaga’s neck.

“Nh!!” (Asanaga)

Facing the swung sword, Asanaga immediately hide her throat with her trident following her intuition cultivated as a warrior, succeeding in receiving the slash.

However, the slash was so heavy that it couldn’t be thought of as a casual attack, her petite body was pushed over the ground in an instant.

Without missing that defenseless posture, Sanuki released a second blow with the returning sword.

“Whoopsie! That’s dangerous!” (Pygmalion)

Responding to that, Pygmalion cut in between them.

Pygmalion, who jumped in while joining the shields in both of his hands, tilted the shields slightly at the moment the slash made a direct hit, diverting off Sanuki’s slash. That ability to receive the slash of the ‘Sword Saint’, with agile movements that did not match his obese body, was nothing short of spectacular.

Frontally, Sanuki might not be able to break through the defense without at least 3 power oriented, two-handed slash.

“——Ss!”

“Oh, you’re coming?” (Sanuki)

Nanashino Katsumi, holding a two-handed sword, emerged from the back of Pygmalion.

Stepping on the shoulder of Pygmalion, holding up his shields, Nanashino, adding the momentum of Pygmalion expanding his muscles instantaneously to his own velocity, challenged the ‘Sword Saint’.

1 blow, 2 blows, 3 blows, crossing over 4 blows and still hadn’t stopped.

The number of sword clashes during the blink of the moment finally exceeded ten, and the scattered sparks covered them like rain.

Inwardly, Sanuki was astonished at Nanashino who was able to cross blows with him, even though from outside, he looked to be not that different in age from Sakurai.

At that age, Sanuki should have been a few steps below Nanashino.

In terms of talent, he felt that it would not be an exaggeration to say that Nanashino was heavens above him.

At that moment, Nanashino jumped out of the spot.

Seeing that, Sanuki, without moving his gaze away, immediately swung his sword backwards following the presence he felt.

“…Guh! Ngh!”

While the six-layered defensive barrier surrounding her shattered in an instant, Asanaga managed to stop Sanuki’s slash with the handle of her spear.

Enduring the impact without being blown away while clenching the back of her teeth, Asanaga activated binding magic that she had set up behind Sanuki, surrounding him, through the thread of magic power that extended from herself.

In addition to the chains of magic power coming at him from all directions, Nanashino, who had retreated, made a 180 degree turn and rushed back at him.

Pygmalion entered to back Asanaga up while making use of his huge body to block Sanuki’s escape route and create a situation where he had no choice but to receive Nanashino’s attack.

“Not bad.” (Sanuki)

One-on-one, the ‘Sword Saint’ would definitely win.

However, on top of facing three people by himself, the opponents were cooperating seamlessly, thus multiplying their power.

Nanashino attacked with a sword, Pygmalion defended with shields, and Asanaga destroyed with magic.

However, depending on the situation, their role might changed in an instant, if Amanaga were to suddenly strike with her spear, Nanashino became the one receiving the slash, and Pygmalion threw his shield and broke Sanuki’s rhythm.

It could be said that the cooperation that displayed each of the three having his/her own role was a feat that was only plausible because each of them was powerful and had a solid understanding of what each other could do.

However, the ‘Sword Saint’ was not so weak that he’d collapse just because of that.

“Remnant Flash of Fire.” (Sanuki)

At that moment, Sanuki stopped moving. Leaving behind an afterimage, he disappeared.

By the time Nanashino noticed it, Sanuki had already entered his bosom, gently putting his hand on his abdomen.

“Ignition Strike.” (Sanuki)

“——Gah goh!?” (Nanashino)

Along with the shock as though his abdomen exploded, Nanashino’s lungs were crushed, and he was blown back horizontally with air forcibly exhaled out of his mouth.

Destroying cultivation capsules which contained ‘failed product’ on his path one after another, he smashed into the wall, creating a small crater.

Still, was it because of his will as a swordsman that he hadn’t let go of his sword?

“Nn~slurp!” (Pygmalion)

“Oops.” (Sanuki)

Not missing the opening when Sanuki had finished releasing his skill, Pygmalion charged at him with his shields raised.

The mass and speed of the hitting matter were crucial factors that decided its destructive power.

The heavier its mass, the faster its speed, the greater its power.

If Pygmalion’s giant body with a mass surpassing human understanding hit a person directly at a speed equal to 270km/h, becoming a lump of meat would be the least-worst of the person’s end.

“‘Coiling Fire Guard’.” (Sanuki)

“Hoh!? Fhoah!?” (Pygmalion)

However, the ‘Sword Saint’ also surpassed human understanding.

At the moment when Sanuki, who made a posture as if catching a blade with his hands, hit Pygmalion directly, the flames overflowing from his hands swirled and warded off the huge body.

Pygmalion, whose even reaction disappeared when hit, stumbled backwards while making lifeless voice, and collapsed abruptly.

The assault created by Pygmalion’s giant body and speed would certainly work wonder even on Sanuki if hit directly, but for Sanuki who had used to deal with monsters living slightly away from outside the wall that used that sort of moves, being able to counter it was natural.

Rather, the fact that there were no shockwave that gouged the surrounding ground resulted from the attack was, to tell the truth, nothing short of amazing.

Sanuki assumed the stance of holding his sword on his waist without looking at Pygmalion collapsed in the ground.

His eyes laid on the figure of Asanaga.

She kicked off the floor and jumped away while releasing a chain of magic power from the magic circle she had drawn around her.

That was a support for Nanashino and Pygmalion disguised as an attack to keep Sanuki away.

If the chain hit Sanuki, it’d act as a restraint, and if he avoided it, she’d be able to pull Nanashino or Pygmalion to herself.

In addition, based on her observation on him so far, Asanaga had measured the approximate range of the sword of the ‘Sword Saint’.

If he did not take at least two steps forward, his invisible slash would not reach her, and even if he did step forwards, at least, Nanashino would come back and launch a pincer attack at him.

If he could deal with that, Pygmalion could use that opportunity to come back to the battlefront.

No matter how it turned out, they would be able to rebuild the collapsed battlefront.

“‘Hunting Fire-Bolt’.” (Sanuki)

After she blinked, Asanaga was preyed on by a ‘snake’ that appeared before her suddenly.

Her whole body was lit up and burned, and shortly after, a roaring sound that teared through the air reached her ears.

It showed the fact that the snake shot by Sanuki exceeded the speed of sound, unlike his disciples’ ‘Fire Snake’, his was cladded not only in flames but also lightning and thunder.

The thunderbolt-like ‘Fire Snake’ released by Sanuki.

It had instantaneously burned off everything in a straight line before his gaze, including Asanaga.

“Oi, oi, Jou-chan. Haven’t you learn that the straight line of a swordsman is dangerous?” (Sanuki)

Sanuki called out to Asanaga, whose whole body was burned and white smoke rose from the charred parts.

It was because be believed Asanaga would not die from that level of injuries.

And in fact, Asanaga’s injuries began to regenerate as if time had rewound.

The skeleton of on head caressed her cheeks and head excitedly as though pleased by it.

“——Bastard!”

“Remnant Flash of Fire.” (Sanuki)

Nanashino, who was hoisted up by the chain released by Asanaga and made use of the momentum to close the distance in one bound, attacked Sanuki from behind.

However, the sword he swung down only manage to slash Sanuki’s afterimage; Sanuki reappeared beside him and gave him a kick, blowing him away, but Pygmalion who had been lying collapsed on the floor appeared to catch him.

Feeling pain coming from his abdomen that hadn’t recovered yet, Nanashino frowned slightly.

“Phew~. Iyaa, you guys sure are strong. It would definitely take some time to finish this if I just keep swinging my sword around.” (Sanuki)

“Nn~slurp! In that case, how about you just overlook us this time~slurp? Our strength can’t hold a candle to you after all~slurp!” (Pygmalion)

“Listen here, should you guys obediently explain to me about whatever was going on here, I won’t offer you to my sword… though given the state of things here, letting you guys scot free is, of course, kind of difficult.” (Sanuki

Sanuki knocked a nearby capsule.

In the cultivation solution, the upper body of a man whose left half turned into a wolf’s head and something like a gooey dissolved flesh like melted ice cream were floating.

It was the end of a pathetic subject who became a sacrifice for the research of demonization because he was not compatible with the monster.

“It’s one thing to try various means to become stronger, but y’know, this is a lil bit too much.” (Sanuki)

“Nn~slurp, even if you find it unpleasant, as an adult, shouldn’t your response be to support the effort~slurp? Besides, at any age, isn’t a technology that leads to the future always stems from an idea that goes beyond common sense and defies it~slurp? I believe that this means will lead us to a better future~slurp.” (Pygmalion)

While Pygmalion attracted Sanuki’s attention with his meaningless chatters, Nanashino tried to recover even a little by relaxing his body a bit.

At the same time, he gave instructions to Asanaga at the back and shared information with Pygmalion by making a certain set sounds of ‘footsteps’ while pretending to be adjusting his standing position.

“Well said, that’s exactly the kind of drivel I expected from men doing this kind of deeds. Even your eyes said you don’t believe a thing you said. Anyway, since I hold a seat in the Adventurers Guild, I can’t pretend not to recognize you guys making use of monsters to do human experimentation.” (Sanuki)

“By the way, what would you do if you don’t belong to the Adventurers Guild?”

“Well, I’ll beat up you guys out of righteous indignation.” (Sanuki)

“Nn~slurp? Don’t you actually just want to have a fight~?” (Pygmalion)

In response, Sanuki re-grasped his straight sword, which had been chipped slightly due to the clashes with the two-handed sword of Nanashino, and looked at the appearance of the executives.

Originally, an adventurer was a profession where you were expected to fight against ‘monsters’, while anti-personnel combat was under the jurisdiction of the knights who protected the domestic order.

Therefore, adventurers whose main sphere of activity was outside the wall exerted their true power in open places such as outdoors, and the ‘Sword Saint’, Sanuki Shoichiro, was no exception to this case.

In the first place, the ōdachi he carried on his back was his main weapon, and the straight sword he held currently was nothing but an ordinary sword for self-defense that he had prepared so as not to cause damage in the city as much as possible.

On the other hand, Nanashino’s two-handed sword was a boorish yet reliable high-quality sword that seemed to embody simple robustness, even though he was called the ‘Sword Saint’, Sanuki was not able to completely negate damage from accumulating on his sword itself when the blades clashed.

(If the sword I’m using now breaks, I’ll be hard pressed to prevent them when they’re trying to escape. Well, even though I can’t go all out, keeping them here should be good enough.)

If he pull out his ōdachi and fight with all his might, he would surely be able to kill at least two people.

However, if he did that, the collapse of the building would naturally spread to the surrounding area.

In addition, the wider the scale of the battle, the more escape routes the enemies would have, so his ōdachi now only served as a decoration, a dead weight.

As a person holding the nickname of ‘Sword Saint’, which signify him as the strongest individual across all occupations, Sanuki naturally had an extraordinary fighting power, however, the underground facility was too small for him.

His time limit was until the sword broken.

If he could capture at least one person within the time limit, it would be his victory.

Sanuki Shoichiro quietly readied his blade with an ‘adventurer (acquaintance)’ floating in the capsule beside him.