Chapter 52

“Agh…?!” Matoi was blown backward with the sound of a bell. She crashed into and through the building’s fence, all the way to the next building’s rooftop. “Ngh…! That much force with just a punch…?! Gulagalad is undamaged, but my organic magical alloy frame is warped… The power must be coming from the monstrous mana volume circulating in her body…” Matoi analyzed Sihlwald’s attack as soon as she landed and snapped Gulagalad’s fingers to manipulate her own frame and treat her damage with mana. Matoi was not the only one surprised. “What in the world…? She’s tough. Veltol, I knew she was strong the moment I laid eyes on her, but look at that. Her arm is still on after I punched her with all I’ve got.” Sihlwald was equally shocked Matoi had survived her attack. “Well, nothing a few more punches can’t fix.” The Black Dragon spread her small wings and took flight. Matoi was against a wall; there was nowhere to run. She had no choice but to counterattack. “Aldebard!” She used the fence behind her to produce the red sword said to have been used by the Hero to slay the immortal dragon giant. There were many types of dragon slayers. The sharp ones that could easily slash through the dragons’ scales. The ones infused with poison that could kill dragons. The ones without any special power that were labeled dragon slayers after the fact thanks to the owner’s skill. Aldebard could be used against all types of dragons. It was a dragon slayer and an immortal slayer. The perfect weapon against Sihlwald, who was both dragon and immortal. Matoi swung the sword, aiming for the speeding dragon’s neck. The dragon girl guarded by gently holding her arms up. Useless, Matoi thought. She was sure of her victory. Aldebard cut through dragon scales and severed their sturdy neckbones. Not even the legendary Black Dragon should be able to stand the blow of this dragon slayer. And yet. The dragon slayer stopped with a shrill ring. Forget about severing Sihlwald’s bones; it could not even damage her skin. “That seems to be a dragon slayer,” Sihlwald remarked. “Sorry to say, they don’t work on me. You see, they call me the Anti-Dragon Slayer… My scales are specially protected against dragon slayer attacks.” “Inconceivable…!” Matoi evaded the one-inch punch dealt point-blank by a hair, but the punch’s pressure blew the fence away. “…Ngh!” She turned the iron into orichalcum and deployed a spear curtain to distance herself. “Veltol, follow me!” Sihlwald shouted. “Yes, ma’am!” The Black Dragon stood in front of the Demon Lord. Sihlwald’s entry hugely tipped the scales. “What now, eh, kid?!” she sneered. “Ugh…!” Matoi dodged Sihlwald’s kick, but… “Verbull!” …Veltol shot a spell from her blind spot. She immediately deployed a steel wall to stop the compressed mana bullet. “You first…!” Matoi charged against Veltol when Sihlwald blocked her path. Sihlwald stood at the vanguard while Veltol supported her from the rear. This formation put Matoi at a disadvantage. Having the Black Dragon Duchess at the vanguard was obviously dicey, but Veltol at the back was the real threat. Matoi had to take Veltol down first, but the Black Dragon Duchess was too deft to let her. Matoi was never overconfident, but she had to admit the Demon Lord and Six Dark Peers’ power fifty years in the past was stronger than she’d expected. She could not use teleportation to escape, and getting away from these powerhouses was too much to ask. But either capture or destruction would mean she’d failed her mission. And the situation could only get worse the more time passed. My analysis says I must keep it short and sweet… Matoi pushed her mana engine to full power and activated Metal Rule. “Gulagalad, close EBV. Link all mana!” This mythic armament of legend could not be produced through regular processing. It was a sword of salvation that should have been impossible to generate from an equal amount of crude metal data. “Wh-what in the world?!” “Unbelievable…!” Sihlwald and Veltol exclaimed in shock at the mana overflow. Metal Rule created a torrent of living roots from the rebar and frames of multiple abandoned buildings that blocked their path. The undulating material was transformed by Golden Metallurgy into a magical alloy. Eighty percent mithril, 19 percent orichalcum, and 1 percent adamant. Matoi touched the massive alloy. “Activating super overload mode! Sacred Forge output off the charts!” Light ran across Gulagalad as its armor opened up. Its frame glowed bright. Matoi called the name of the Holy Sword she’d created with almost all her remaining mana. “Ixasorde!” Blinding silver light burst in Shinjuku. Steam and excess mana and heat blew from every part of Gulagalad. The immense mass of multiple abandoned buildings converged to create one single sword. From the steam emerged the Unwavering Silver Sun. The volume of mana and data Sacred Forge required varied from weapon to weapon, and this treasure was in the top of its class. The Holy Sword created from Gulagalad’s memory ignored all requirements, and although it was not the exact same one the Hero Gram had wielded, its capabilities were identical. Something changed within Veltol when he witnessed the silver light. “You…” His voice was a stark contrast from moments earlier—like cold and sharp needles that impaled Matoi’s central circuit. “Do you understand what you are holding…? Do you have any idea what you’ve just created?” “…? Affirmative. This is the Holy Sword that chooses only true Heroes, forged by Holk, given to Meldia, and bestowed upon the Hero Gram—Ixasorde.” “That it is…” He slowly covered his face with a hand. “Not…” His wide-open eyes were visible between the gaps in his fingers. He glared at Matoi, his face contorted with vein-popping indignation. Veltol had lost his composure. “Not only…” Try as he might to control his wrath, there was no calm reason in his voice. “Not only do you call yourself a Hero and try provoking me with insolence… That alone merits capital punishment…” Veltol’s quiet, boiling anger felt like heat to Matoi’s touch sensors. “However…if…if that was all there was to it…I would be begrudgingly willing to pardon you… But now! Now you dare desecrate even that sword! This cannot and will not stand!” he roared as if vomiting up his innards. Veltol leaned forward, his hair bristling. The ghastly sight shook Matoi’s determination in her duty to change the future. “What…?” Even Sihlwald was visibly shocked. “What’s gotten into you…?” Emi, watching from afar, felt similarly struck by his wrath. “Eeeep…” Nobody could understand. Not the mixed emotions of admiration and hatred Veltol held for the man who had triumphed over him. Not the chagrin of seeing his symbol created and wielded by another. “The title and sword belong to that man and that man alone! They are not some vulgar fool’s playthings! And your sin shall not be forgiven in this life or any of the next!” He roared like a dragon, rocking Matoi’s mechanical organs. “If it is my wrath you desire, then so be it!” Veltol’s hand shot up to the heavens. “Burn my ire into your eyes…for it is the last thing you will see!” His mana reaction skyrocketed. “Dell Stella!” It looked as though he were grasping the sky and pulling it down. Matoi watched as the thick clouds were blown apart by a giant, jet-black star that came tumbling down. “Wait, you fool! You’ll take out everything around here with her!” Sihlwald yelled. “Uwaaah! I’m gonna dieee!” Emi cried. “…!” Matoi sprinted—not toward Veltol, but toward the Dell Stella falling on Shinjuku. The city’s going to get hit if that reaches the ground…! Damage to the city should not have affected Matoi’s quest. Her idea circuit said the most efficient course of action would be to defeat Veltol after he used this incredible spell. Rationale told her she had better chances of success that way. “But…that’s not the only thing that matters! Not for the justice I believe in…!” Her principles of conduct, her design philosophy, her raison d’être would not allow that. The justice she believed in did not permit her to make the rational decision. “Because I…am a Hero…!” She extended her footholds, leaped off her floating weapons, and rapidly closed in on the falling Dell Stella. Matoi raised the silver Holy Sword—the blade only a Hero could wield. “Hyaaaaaaaaah!” She swung it down at the black star of destruction. Ixasorde’s Absolute Slash kicked in. “Alwing!” The silver slash parted the giant black star in two. Matoi’s Holy Sword vanished the moment Dell Stella evaporated. Veltol emerged in Matoi’s visual field, his fist raised. Defeat was becoming inevitable. She’d chosen immediate justice over a distant great cause. The irrational choice. “I’m sorry…I couldn’t save the world…” Veltol had caught her by using Dell Stella as bait. Matoi had lost her weapon and was immovably stiff, having finished her attack. Veltol swung his fist into Matoi’s midsection. “Dell Ray!” A black flash burst between his fist and Matoi’s body the instant the strike connected. The shock to her whole body shut down Matoi’s consciousness.