The demons attacked us as a group. I deflected the first incoming sword strike with a parry, then cut my opponent down while he was wide open. It took only one blow to a vital point to finish him.
Baron shouted orders at his demon subordinates. “Forget about him! Go after the others!”
The demons began to ignore me and attempted to focus on my comrades as instructed.
I don’t think so.
“Iron Target!”
I activated my skill, forcing the enemies’ attention onto me. Against their own will, they began swarming me with their attacks. As always, I took every one of their blows.
With our opponents left vulnerable to attack, the rest of my squadron began tearing through them one after the other—Spinoza swinging her war hammer, Seira and Alma wielding their swords, and Fam supporting with her bow and arrows. In terms of raw firepower alone, they likely rivaled the military of an entire country.
“Hah! Man, it’s so easy to fight when Sieg’s around!” Spinoza cheered.
“We can concentrate on our attacks without having to worry about anything else!” Seira agreed.
“Hm. It makes me feel like I’ve gotten even stronger,” Alma mused.
“The problem is, when it’s this easy to make my arrows land, I worry my skills will get rusty. His presence could well make his allies lose their edge,” Fam pointed out.
When the battle had started, we had been vastly outnumbered—but soon the difference in number had been flipped in our favor. Baron watched as his demon allies were annihilated, and his self-confident smirk gradually began to stiffen.
“Gah...! How could they be so strong...” Baron then barked orders at his fallen comrades: “You’re not through yet, men! Get back up and fight!”
The demons, however, remained silent and motionless on the floor.
Seeing that, Baron clicked his tongue in irritation. “Ugh, useless fools...”
“Why don’t you take us on yourself instead of relying on your underlings?” I taunted.
“Very well... I’d be glad to.”
Baron tossed off the royal cloak he’d been wearing, then let out a loud battle cry to get his blood pumping. He drew his sword, raised it high into the air, and then brought it down swiftly.
“While I’m in control of the body of the Sword Saint, I cannot be defeated!”
The moment after his sword sliced through the air, a massive shock wave swept across the royal chamber, threatening to engulf my comrades as it approached.
I moved to stand in front of the rest of my team and, gritting my teeth, took the shock wave myself. It struck with tremendous force, making the attacks from the demons seem like cat scratches.
It was no wonder they called him the Sword Saint. King Sodom’s body certainly boasted an incredible magnitude of power.
“The others may have fallen, but as long as I have not, the battle isn’t over. I can defeat the lot of you by myself!”
Baron began to unleash sword strikes upon me with all the fury of a storm. I barely managed to defend against his torrent of blows using my shield.
Despite the blinding speed of his attacks, I found myself able to follow their motion after taking enough of them.
There—! I see it!
As he took a swing at me, I matched his timing and knocked his sword aside with my shield.
“Wha—?!”
Upon my successful parry, Baron’s body was bent backward awkwardly. I immediately swung my own sword—and in that moment, my opponent’s left arm went sailing through the air, spurting blood everywhere.
“Now! Get him!”
My teammates all went after Baron at the same time. He desperately fended off their attacks, but taking on all of us at once was a nearly impossible task—especially now that he was down one arm.
Finally, a perfect opportunity arose to strike.
“Go, Seira!”
“Right!”
Seira jumped into Baron’s range. He attempted to counter her attack, but the speed of her sword strike beat out his counter—a feat possible due to both the extremely light bikini armor she wore and the sword skills she had honed through diligent daily training.
I thought she had him—however, the moment she was about to land her swing, Seira hesitated for the briefest moment.
Her hesitation did not escape Baron’s notice. He managed to dodge her strike at the last second, then unleashed his own attack to strike her down.
Not good—!
“Iron Target!” I called, standing next to her.
Baron’s blade came hurtling toward me instead.
That was a close one. If I had been just a split second later activating my skill, he would’ve landed a direct hit on Seira.
Baron then stepped backward, and we put some distance between each other.
“I’m sorry, Sarge...”
“Well, Sodom is your father. It’s natural to show some hesitation.”
“I wonder if there’s any way at all to release my father from Baron’s control. If there were just some way we could avoid having to kill him...”
“Ah, so that’s what happened. I understand now,” Baron interjected, chuckling at the realization. “You can’t deliver the final blow because you don’t want to kill King Sodom. How convenient. That gives me free rein to take the offensive, then!”
He went after us once again, and I began taking his attacks. Our comrades attacked as well, but they weren’t trying to inflict lethal blows; they also seemed to be concerned about killing Seira’s father.
“This is bad. We can’t keep this up...” We were being driven back into a disadvantageous position.
“It seems even someone as sturdy as you starts to weaken once they take enough damage,” Baron gloated as he looked down at us. “As a parting gift, allow me to let you in on a little secret. This country has suffered from crop failures and monster attacks for a long time—and the one who caused those was none other than me. As one of the Four Generals of the Demon King’s army, my presence brought in the miasma, which caused the crops to fail—and I secretly orchestrated the unusual amount of monster attacks as well. I figured if I weakened the country, I could then capitalize on that fact to incite its citizens.”
Baron went on bragging about his dirty deeds. “Everything has been in the palm of my hand from the very start. Now, once I defeat you, I’ll take back the Orb of Light, and my long-awaited plan will finally come to fruition. Nobody will be able to stop me—now that I know that none of you can finish off King Sodom!”
“Damn...!”
“Now, let’s see just how long you last!”
Once again he began unleashing his furious attacks. Just as the fleeting thought hit me that we might not be able to last, though—
“Aria...slay me!”
A voice emanated from Baron’s body—but there was a quality in it that differed from what we had been hearing. The moment Seira heard that distinguished voice, her eyes shot open wide in surprise.
“That voice... Father...? Is that you?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes, my child. I was finally able to get through to you now that Baron has lost one of his arms...though my control won’t last much longer, I’m certain.”
King Sodom, having temporarily regained his senses, spoke to Seira. “Baron has taken control of me. I cannot be saved. That is why I must ask you, Aria—strike us both down.”
“But father...”
“As princess of this country, your duty is to protect the lives of its citizens—do not concern yourself with my life. You know what must be done.”
“I...”
I know, I heard her whisper in a voice that was barely perceptible. She was already well aware that it was her duty to slay the corrupted king. However, convincing herself to bring down her own father was not a simple task.
Seeing her hesitation, King Sodom spoke again. “Aria. I’m certain I taught you that to defend what is most important to you, you must be strong. You cannot defend anything without strength.”
“You did...”
“Now you lie on the verge of giving into your emotions of the moment and losing sight of the bigger picture. Were you always such a hopelessly weak person?”
Seira did not respond; she merely bit her lip upon hearing King Sodom’s words.
“You are my daughter, but you are also princess of this kingdom. Do not confuse your priorities. You striking me down will be the greatest gift you can give me.” The king then softened his tone suddenly. “You never did land a single blow on me, did you? This will be our final sparring session. Prove to me that you can defeat me—that you’ve become stronger. If you do that...I can pass on with peace of mind.”
“Father...”
His tone at the end hadn’t sounded like a king—it had been the gentle, caring voice of a father speaking to his daughter.
“All right, that’s quite enough. What a blabbermouth.” Apparently Baron had managed to quash Sodom’s consciousness and had returned to his former self. “That sneaky bastard... I can’t believe any of his spirit still remained. I should’ve expected as much from the Sword Saint. I’ll see to it he never surfaces again, though.” A smirk formed on Baron’s face. “Now, shall we continue where we left off?”
Even after King Sodom’s presence had left, Seira was still just standing there, and I soon found myself calling out to her:
“Seira!”
“I’m fine,” came her response. The hesitation that had been in her voice before was gone entirely. “I want everyone else to stand back, please. I will be the one to defeat my father.”
She brought her head up and stared straight at Baron—at the form of her father. A light of powerful determination burned within her bright, clear eyes.