Chapter 55: The Shadow Legion

“Geh.”

‘Discord’, which I chopped down, is regenerating. Ah… come to think of it, this thing had that troublesome auto-regeneration ability… The main body of ‘Discord’ is the red jewel on the sword’s pommel. Even if you destroy other parts, it will regenerate using magic power from the jewel. Destroy the jewel, and ‘Discord’ will be destroyed too. However, the ruby that should have been on the pommel has now moved to the center of the Black Knight’s chest armor. Since that black armor is also part of ‘Discord’, moving it is probably possible. In other words, to destroy that, I have to land a hit on the Black Knight…

“Hah!”

I slash with the Holy Sword ‘Farnese’, but the Black Knight dodged it easily. Perhaps wary because I cut off its blade earlier, it doesn’t attack me from its side. Ununu…

“Hah! Ei!”

I aim for ‘Discord’s’ jewel repeatedly, but all are dodged. This is ‘Holy Sword Mode’ where my body is enhanced by the Holy Sword’s power, but sadly, in terms of swordsmanship, I haven’t left the realm of an amateur. For ‘Discord’, which likely uses a first-class swordsman as its host body, dodging my attacks must be a piece of cake. Now, what to do… It’s not like I don’t have options… In this ‘Holy Sword Mode’, my body is temporarily enhanced, allowing me to exert power many times my normal strength. Furthermore, it is divided into several stages, and I can shift up like a car’s gears. However, even at the current lowest level stage, I get terrible muscle pain and couldn’t get out of bed for three days. It seems to be quite a burden on my still-growing body. I can’t predict what kind of backlash will come later if I raise that physical enhancement gear by another stage. Being bedridden with muscle pain for more than three days is still within the acceptable range, but there’s a possibility of unexpected abnormalities occurring somewhere in my body. The Holy Sword’s muscle pain couldn’t be cured even by Estelle‘s ‘Gift’, [Holy Miracle]. The backlash from raising the gear likely can’t be cured either. But I can’t leave ‘Discord’ alone. If I don’t activate it for long, I might be able to finish it with minimal damage. If it comes to this, it’s a brute-force short-term battle.

“Alright…!”

Just as I steeled myself and tried to raise the gear of Holy Sword Mode, the shadow of a single knight slashing at the Black Knight entered my vision.

“Grand Master!?”

The Magic Sword ‘Pesante’ held by the Grand Master swings down on the Black Knight. The Black Knight parried that attack with ‘Discord’ in hand, and this time slashed back at the Grand Master. The Grand Master caught it with a returning blade. Slashing, receiving, sweeping, deflecting—a fierce exchange of swordsmanship unfolds before my eyes. Ooh… there’s no room to intervene… As expected of the Knight Order Grand Master. He’s fighting evenly with that Black Knight. If this goes well, won’t he be able to defeat it? Just as I thought that, the Black Knight’s shadow flickered unnaturally.

“Tch! Grand Master, watch your feet!” “Nu!?”

Simultaneously as the Grand Master jumped back at my voice, a black blade swung through where his feet were. It wasn’t the Black Knight’s sword. Another hand extending from the shadow at his feet swung a sword. Slowly, a shadow in the shape of a knight crawls out from that shadow. Furthermore, from the bubbling shadows—boko—many knights crawled out one after another, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of shadow knights were born. Not all of them hold swords. There are shadows holding halberds, bastard swords, and dual swords.

“This is…!” “[Shadow Legion]…!”

It’s the trump card of ‘Discord’ which became the Black Knight. Dark magic that summons the shadows of users it has defeated and absorbed power from until now. Looking closely, shadows that seem to be the opponents Gloria defeated in this joint match are also included. Although in armor, their physiques remain the same, so I could identify them as boys’ shadows. Unlike the real person, shadows have no emotions. Therefore, they have turned into completely cold-hearted fighting machines. It was like that in the game too. In the game, friends from the academy rush over, peel off the [Shadow Legion], and it becomes a one-on-one battle between Jean and the Black Knight, but…

“Alright! Follow the Grand Master!” “Acting wild in our turf, what a cheeky bastard!” “Crush them!”

Knights who were in the spectator seats confront the appeared shadow army with weapons in hand. Since there are invited guests and general public who came to cheer, about half remain as guards for them, but the match venue instantly turned into a microcosm of Shadow Army vs Imperial Knight Order. Since the shadow knights are materialized, they can be cut and punched. If given a certain amount of damage, they should lose their form and disappear.

“It’s really good that this is the Knight Order Headquarters…”

Still, we are slightly disadvantaged in numbers. But there’s no way the Imperial Knights will lose that easily. They should be able to sufficiently oppose the [Shadow Legion]. The problem is────.

“Ah, geez! Where did ‘Discord’ go!”

When the Black Knight mixes with the shadow knights, it’s black on black, so I can’t tell where he went. Full of similar black armor, which is which…! Since the match venue is surrounded by Imperial Knights and spectators, I doubt he escaped, but…! While I search for ‘Discord’, one of the shadows holding a halberd slashes at me.

“You little…! Out of my way!”

I cut that shadow in two with the Holy Sword ‘Farnese’. Struck by the Holy Sword that defeats demons and banishes evil, the wicked shadow dispersed like mist melting into the air. Just when I thought I defeated one, another shadow attacks. Ah, geez, annoying! Pointing the tip of the Holy Sword to cut down the attacking shadow, suddenly that shadow was sliced in two from top to bottom. From behind the dissipating shadow, Balay-san appeared holding a battle axe.

“Balay-san, you could fight.” “What kind of Magic Sword smith can’t fight? I have to clean up my foolish disciple’s mess properly. It’s perfect for sobering up.”

Ah, this person was drinking until just now… Is he really okay…? I know dwarves are strong against alcohol, but attacking allies while drunk is a no-go, okay?

“However, with this many, I can’t tell which is ‘Discord’s’ main body.” “The main body has a jewel on its chest… no, since that thing can move, it might be almost indistinguishable…”

For example, if it moved to the back, I wouldn’t know from the front. ‘Discord’ in the game honestly underestimated Jean, so it accepted a one-on-one fight. Since I slashed it with the Holy Sword in the first move, it seems completely wary now. What to do…

“Lady Sakuraile! Look out!” “Eh?”

Turning around at the sudden voice, a shadow knight that had closed in right before my eyes was just being sliced in two. Beyond that was Bianca holding the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’.

“Bianca, your injuries… !?” “I healed them!”

It was Estelle, possessing the ‘Gift’ [Holy Miracle], who answered energetically with a smug face from behind Bianca. I see, she healed her with her ‘Gift’. Estelle has been acting as a healer every time Bianca got injured in special training for the past month. She must be used to it by now. Unless it’s a near-death injury, healing ordinary injuries can be done by healers attached to the Knight Order. The fact that Estelle’s ‘Gift’ is outrageous shouldn’t be exposed to those around us.

“Even if the injuries are healed, stamina hasn’t recovered, so don’t push yourself.”

Saying that, slashing down one of the shadows while approaching was Estelle‘s mother, and also mine and Bianca‘s sword teacher, Julia. As expected of someone once called the best swordswoman in the frontier, she is cutting down attacking shadow knights one after another. If only Julia could use the Holy Sword, this situation would be resolved immediately. Does this sword not have a lending function?

“Lady Sakuraile! Are you safe!”

Even my guard knight Tanya Celesta came. Because I jumped out. As a guard, she couldn’t not come. Sorry. Glancing toward the seats I jumped out from, Elliott was surrounded by guards. They must be holding him back so Elliott doesn’t jump out too. Those people’s job is to protect the Crown Prince from danger. Ideally, they should take him outside, but knowing Elliott, I feel like he’s saying something like ‘I can’t be the only one to run away!’.

“However, I think we defeated quite a few, but it doesn’t feel like they’re decreasing at all…” “Unless we defeat ‘Discord’, shadows will be summoned one after another. At this rate, our stamina will run out in the end.”

Balay-san answered my question while fighting the shadows. As expected… Seriously, not crushing the jewel in the first move was a painful mistake.

“Is there no way to break through?” “Since these guys have the attribute of darkness, they are weak to light. Intense light should be able to blow them away.” “Then with light magic…!” “Users of light magic are few. At least there aren’t any in the Knight Order. Mostly they are taken by the Magic Division or the Church.”

Mumumu, now that you mention it, that’s true. People who can use such rare magic would be scouted relentlessly… Estelle also has a rare attribute, but it’s Holy Magic. Ah, Holy Magic and Light Magic are similar but completely different magics, okay? The one with the attribute of light is Light Magic. The one that destroys evil things is Holy Magic. Light Magic has things like [Light] which becomes illumination, and [Light Arrow] which is an arrow of light. Holy Magic is famous for [Banish] which annihilates evil spirits, and [Purification] which purifies. Although different magics, these two have overlapping parts; for example, undead types are generally weak to both. I feel like holy attribute attack magic that destroys evil things would be sufficiently effective against these guys. I think it would work. The Holy Sword worked too. But before that, Estelle can’t use offensive Holy Magic yet, so it’s meaningless. Even if she could use it, I don’t want to expose Estelle‘s power in a place like this. If things go poorly, she’ll be taken in by the Imperial Family and rush straight to being Elliott’s fiancée… I can’t bear Estelle becoming a sacrifice in my place. Unless she herself desires it, but Estelle seems to dislike Elliott. What did you do, Crown Prince Elliott.

“Not light magic, but fire magic can also make them flinch… Look, like that kid.”

Looking where Balay-san indicated with his eyes, Jean, with his Magic Sword clad in flames, was just slashing at a shadow knight. When did he get here? It seems the damage he took in the fight with Cecil has recovered. That Cecil was also fighting shadow knights back-to-back with Jean. The shadow knight seems to flinch at the light of Jean‘s burning flames. Is the shadow getting thinner? Is its existence becoming diluted? Will the shadow knight disappear if there is more fire?

“Ah, if I scatter whiskey on the floor and light it…” “Stoooooop that! What a terrifying thing…! That is a blasphemy to drinkers! What a waste!”

I was seriously yelled at by Balay-san. I thought Spirytus or something would burn flashily though.

“Besides, that level of fire won’t go as far as erasing them. Conversely, it will hinder our allies.”

That is true. Being surrounded by flames might involve the fighting knights too. This plan is rejected. But the Knight Order members also have limits. We have to do something about this ever-increasing [Shadow Legion] quickly…!