“If you do not want to be hurt, hand over the Armband quietly.”
“I cannot do that. I have a responsibility to protect it.”
“If you refuse to surrender, we will have no choice but to subdue you.”
When negotiations broke down, their opponents began chanting spells.
‘Unless one of them has been concealing their abilities, none of these mages can wield Dual Elements.’
In that case, all they could do was launch simple explosive spells.
Joshua whispered so that only Galev could hear him.
“I will guard your back. When I give the signal, break through the encirclement first.”
“Understood.”
Clusters of light appeared around them all at once.
As expected, they were simple Offensive Magic spells.
“Now!”
Joshua reinforced the muscles in his lower body with mana and pushed off the ground. At the same time, his sword cleaved through the incoming magic.
“Urgh.”
However—
The explosion struck Galev as he attempted to charge forward and knocked him down. The boy lacked the skill to cut through the continuous barrage of spells.
“Keep attacking! Do not let them close the distance!”
“Understood, Jemar!”
The magic wielded by the boy standing at the center was quite powerful, considering that it possessed no element.
“Let us change our approach. I will handle that boy.”
“…Sorry.”
Galev wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tightened his grip upon his sword.
Joshua protected him by cutting through the newly manifested spells.
‘…These explosions are remarkably powerful.’
Even though he cleaved through them cleanly, the resulting shockwaves were strong enough to throw him off balance.
The spells that followed naturally struck his body. None of the attacks were fatal, but Joshua bit his lip against the chilling pain.
BOOM―!
The relentless assault continued.
Galev rose to his feet and maintained an almost miraculous degree of concentration, devoting his full strength to every movement.
‘I cannot hold Joshua back any longer.’
Joshua was as steady as a mountain, someone upon whom Galev could always rely.
He wanted to run beside such a person.
‘I want to become like him… like that Joshua, and like the Joshua beside me.’
Like the knight who had protected countless people.
Like the boy who had protected him.
Galev wanted to become someone capable of protecting others.
FWOOSH―
Galev’s goal became an ideal, and that ideal planted the seed of conviction.
Conviction was the source of a swordsman’s strength.
“I will not let them hurt you again.”
For a moment—
Only the briefest of moments—
But unmistakably—
Blue light rippled across the boy’s sword.
SLASH―!
The Aura that flashed for that single instant finally cleaved through Jemar’s magic.
“Excellent, boy.”
Galev had created an opening.
Joshua’s sword tore through the powerful shockwave and severed his opponent’s Staff.
“Th-The encirclement has been breached, Jemar!”
“Do not panic! Fill the gap!”
Their response came too late.
Once Joshua entered the range of his sword, the mages were no match for him.
While their attacks remained focused upon Joshua, Galev also escaped the encirclement.
“Th-This cannot be….”
“We lost… to sword-wielders….”
Before long, most of the mages had lost their weapons and could no longer fight.
The two swordsmen, however, simply turned away as though they had no further business there.
“Why… are you not taking our Armband?”
Jemar asked between ragged breaths.
“Because I want us to become knights together.”
“Once the examination is over, we will not be competitors anymore. We will be comrades-in-arms!”
Galev added.
These children were young sprouts who had come here because they wished to lend their strength to a fallen house.
The thoroughness with which they had investigated Joshua’s team and laid a trap that capitalized upon their own strengths was, if anything, admirable.
“More importantly, are you all right after exhausting your mana?”
The girl leaning weakly against a tree forced herself to smile.
“Hehe. I’m a little dizzy, but I’m completely fine!”
“Do not overexert yourself for the next two days. Rest properly. This should help as well.”
Joshua took a plant with glowing red leaves from his pocket.
“Is that… a Vigor Herb?”
“You recognize it.”
“My father is an herbalist. Are you sure you can give me something this valuable?”
“Something precious should be used for someone precious.”
Joshua handed her everything he had left and began to turn away, but the girl caught the hem of his clothes.
“…Freya. That is my name.”
Her face was as red as the leaves clutched tightly in her hand.
A woman he dearly missed briefly surfaced in Joshua’s memory, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
“My name is Joshua.”
Even as her head spun, Freya gave him a bright smile when she heard his name.
Meanwhile, Galev returned with a refreshed expression after attending to his urgent business.
“I’m Galev! Let’s meet again in the Knight Order!”
“Yes. I’ll make sure to survive.”
As the three conversed warmly, Instructor Light suddenly appeared and dispelled his Flight Magic.
The moment Joshua saw the tension in his expression, he realized that something serious had happened.
“Fledglings, the examination is suspended as of this moment. Get down the mountain immediately!”
“What happened?”
“A demon is coming—and a Noble-Class one at that.”
Everyone froze at the devastating revelation.
‘So the rumor Serena told me was true.’
Everyone except Joshua, who had fought demons countless times.
“Demons do not exist in this age, do they?”
“Applicant No. 9, Jemar, does it look as though your Instructor is joking? We have no time! Move!”
Once the children grasped the reality of the situation, they fled down the mountain in terror.
Jemar naturally carried Freya, who was suffering from Mana Exhaustion, upon his back.
“Applicant No. 49, Joshua! Applicant No. 50, Galev! What are you doing?”
“…Are you not coming with us, Instructor?”
“I must buy enough time for all the applicants to escape. Your teammates have already gone ahead, so do not worry about them.”
“Let’s go, Joshua! Hurry!”
Galev urged him onward, his face pale with fear. Elves feared demons even more deeply than humans did.
“…Very well.”
Joshua reinforced his lower body with mana and began to run. Countless footprints appeared across the snow in the blink of an eye.
He did not know how long they had run through the silence.
Then a sinister wind brushed against Joshua’s face.
‘That is the presence of Dark Mana. It carries the power of a Baron-Class demon.’
It was a formidable enemy that would normally require dozens of experienced knights to defeat.
Light could never hold it off alone.
“…Galev, go on ahead.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“I left something behind.”
“You were the one who said that our lives are more important than anything else!”
Joshua’s decision remained firm.
“I will follow shortly, so go on without me.”
“…I cannot do that. If you are going back, then I am going with you.”
Even as instinctive terror constricted his throat, Galev remained beside Joshua.
The demonic presence drew closer with every passing moment.
“You intend to fight the demon, do you not? You are going to help the Instructor.”
Joshua could not answer.
“What are you doing here?! Run away immediately!”
At that moment, Light flew toward them with blood streaming from his head.
A black figure (神形) was already bearing down upon Galev.
BOOM―!
Joshua instinctively threw himself over Galev.
At the same moment, a crimson explosion engulfed both boys. The dizzying impact battered Joshua’s entire body, but fortunately, neither of them suffered a fatal wound.
“Did you anticipate my attack?”
The demon possessed the form of a human, but its skin was crimson, with a bat’s wings and a goat’s horns.
It was a demon of the Blood Faction.
“I have dealt with your kind often enough.”
“What a strange thing to say. You reek of infancy, yet you claim to be familiar with our kind.”
“You do not need to understand. You are not truly interested anyway, are you? You are nothing but a slave to blood who knows only corruption and gluttony.”
The corners of the demon’s mouth rose.
“You truly do know us well.”
Light stood before the two boys and shouted.
“Run! I do not have enough strength to protect you while fighting.”
“What a touching scene. Unfortunately, I never gave any of you permission to leave.”
Blood began gathering at the demon’s fingertips.
“Haa… S-Save me.”
Overwhelmed by fear and robbed of reason, Galev crawled awkwardly, staggered into a run, and tumbled down the slope.
“Where do you think you are going?!”
Sharply hardened blood shot toward the boy’s retreating back, but Joshua cut it apart.
“Run, Galev!”
“Joshua, how many times must I tell you to flee as well?”
Instead of answering, Joshua blocked the magic surging toward them like an enraged tide.
“Instructor, are reinforcements not coming?”
“…They will come once all the applicants have been evacuated.”
“Then we must endure until they arrive.”
“You reckless fool! Do you believe this will make me think more highly of you?”
Joshua calmly swung his sword despite Light’s shout.
“Once we cut off that creature’s head, I hope you will think more highly of me.”
“…You impudent brat. Take the right side. Whatever happens, do not allow its body to touch you directly.”
“Yes. I will remember that.”
Blood flew chaotically toward the pair as they spread apart.
Some of it was hardened, while the rest remained liquid, making the attacks extremely difficult to counter.
SIZZLE―!
A stray splash of blood touched Joshua, and his clothes began to melt.
It was the Corrosion (腐蝕) trait possessed by the Blood Faction.
‘This is not an enemy against whom I can conserve my strength.’
Joshua closed and opened his eyes, releasing his blessed power.
The demon’s mouth fell open.
“Those blue eyes!”
“They are not revealed lightly. Consider it an honor.”
Because the demon’s realm was so advanced, Joshua could not control all of its Dark Mana.
Instead, he cleared away only the mana along his attack path, infused his sword with Aura, and unleashed a slashing wave.
“Urgh… You accursed brat.”
The demon sacrificed both arms to protect its vital points.
Light followed up by coating his sword in explosive magic and launching another attack.
Having suffered a direct blow, the demon solidified the blood around its wounds and rose once more.
“I took you for insignificant vermin, but with skills of this level, it would only be proper to treat you accordingly.”
It unleashed an incomparable volume of blood and began pressuring both of them.
Even with the Sacred Eye, Joshua could no longer control the flow of its Dark Mana.
‘This is dangerous!’
He hurriedly rolled aside, but a sharp pain spread through his nerves.
His right arm had been pierced, and the surrounding flesh was melting.
“Joshua!”
“I am fine.”
Joshua had experienced injuries countless times before.
He quickly transferred the sword to his left hand, tore a strip from his clothing, and bound the wound to stop the bleeding.
To buy Joshua time to recover, Instructor Light unleashed his magic at full power and swung his sword.
A massive explosion erupted, but the demon gathered its blood into a shield and completely blocked the attack.
“Your ambitions far exceed your abilities. Are both your swordsmanship and magic not equally mediocre?”
“Do not insult the path I have chosen!”
Murky violet light erupted from the energy center in Light’s lower abdomen.
Aura, the power of conviction, gathered upon his sword.
FWOOSH―!
The attack shot forward in a perfectly straight line.
Yet despite Light’s fierce cry, his sword failed to reach the demon.
The enemy merely flapped its wings and rose into the air.
“Your attacks are far too predictable. Do you still not understand why the sword was cast aside?”
“Silence!”
“While mages created new spells and advanced their Magic Formulas, what did you sword-wielders do? Bound by faded teachings, you stabbed and slashed wooden training dummies hundreds and thousands of times.”
The demon sneered.
“Nothing has changed at all, has it?”
“You damned creature….”
Light’s swift sword danced in fury.
The demon merely gathered and liquefied its blood over and over again. Even as it defended, it attacked Light’s openings from every direction.
His thigh was pierced.
His shoulder melted.
His hip burst open.
And yet—
SHNK―!
At last, Light’s sword pierced the demon’s abdomen.
“GRAAAH!”
Though it was only a single strike, the enemy screamed and collapsed.
“Hundreds and thousands of times? No. We swing our swords a hundred thousand times—a million times. We do so to protect those we must protect. That… is our strength.”