The last monster screamed in agony as it died. Silence returned to the battlefield. The stench of blood filled the air, making that silence all the more ominous.
“Is it...over?” one of the visitors muttered timidly.
The Army of Darkness had been annihilated. The Demon King Had been blown away by the Sword of Light. This was supposed to be a victory, but the visitors didn’t rejoice over it. They only felt the slightest relief at having survived.
In addition to the Sword of Light, who possessed power that stood out even within the exploration team, there’d been ten other visitors. With so much power, they should’ve been able to massacre any foe. And yet, faced with a single visitor, three of them had died. What’s more, a good portion of Nakajima Kojirou’s stock of Swords of Light had been exhausted. Could this really be called a victory? Still, they felt relief that they at least had the leisure to consider such things.
“Huh?!”
In the next instant, every one of them felt chills run across their skin. A tremendous amount of mana had suddenly built up behind them.
“Nakajima?!”
They turned around to see Nakajima Kojirou holding a Sword of Light at the ready.
“Get down.”
“Eep!”
The visitors threw themselves to the ground in a panic, and the unleashed weapon burned the air. A section of the forest vanished with a thunderous roar. The visitors looked on in shock, finding no meaning in Nakajima Kojirou’s destructive act.
“Unbelievable...” he muttered a while later. “That was definitely a lethal blow.”
The corners of his lips curved upward. His face expressed humiliation, along with unmistakable admiration and delight. He was the only one who knew what had happened when he’d unleashed the finishing blow against Kudou Riku.
“He got away.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Didn’t think she’d get past me...” Hibiya Kouji mumbled to himself.
He had a blood-soaked sword in his hand. Just moments ago, he’d been in a fierce battle against Berta. But Berta was nowhere in sight now. He’d failed to stop her. The impossible had happened.
Berta had exhibited amazing power when she’d tried to make her way to her master’s side. She probably could’ve defeated a warrior. However, she’d been poorly matched against multiple cheaters, including the Absolute Blade. Hibiya Kouji had sent tentacles flying, had cut open the wolf’s belly, and had delivered one last blow, severing the girl’s torso from the wolf.
He’d been under the impression that he’d killed her. However, using that opportunity, Berta had slipped by him. If she’d attacked him then and there, she could’ve dealt significant damage to Hibiya Kouji. She might even have taken him down with her.
However, her objective hadn’t been to kill the enemy who’d blocked her path. She’d taken that once-in-a-lifetime chance to get away. She had simply run toward her master, even after suffering a fatal wound. The tenacious will burning in her breast could not be extinguished so easily.
Nevertheless, if Hibiya Kouji had turned to swing his sword, he could’ve cut her down. But he hadn’t been able to. He looked down at what had prevented him from doing so. There on the ground was the severed torso of the girl.
“What the hell was that...?”
In that instant, the severed torso had attacked him as if it had been an independent being. The unexpected assault had frozen Hibiya Kouji’s thoughts. It had been as if Todoroki Miya had come back from the dead. Even after cutting the torso down on reflex, he’d kept his sword pointed at it, unable to understand the situation. The girl’s body hadn’t moved again after that, but Hibiya Kouji had let Berta get away.
“Whatever...”
The inexplicable phenomenon had been creepy, but there was no point thinking about it. At this point, he really didn’t care. He hadn’t been able to kill the wolf. She’d gone off to her master. However, that act was meaningless. After all, having cut her himself, Hibiya Kouji was sure of it.
“She don’t got long, anyway.”