“Catch it!”
Woong
Bratt yelled and pulled out an Aura Sword. Then, without looking back, he chased after the devil or rather, the remnants of it.
Was it because of his pride to not let the devil run?
No… It wasn’t that.
‘I don't know what will happen if we accidentally let that thing escape!’
They were all physically and mentally strong enough to stand up to the curse. But that wasn’t the case for normal people.
Even if the devil was dead and was just in its ghost form, normal humans wouldn’t be able to overcome the despair that came off of it.
It had to be stopped. And he could never let it go towards the Lloyd estate!
Bratt’s heart was impatient which further hastened his steps.
“We are coming!”
“Yes!”
Kirill and Lulu, who realized it a little late, followed closely behind him. There was tension on their faces. But Airn didn’t move.
“…”
His gaze turned towards the devil which was running away. No… it wasn’t his gaze.
Among the vast energies he was feeling, he was able to grasp the exact one which came from the devil.
It was a vivid sensation as if he was looking right at the devil, but at the same time he also felt that there was some kind of refreshing fresh wind blowing. And as he felt that, he realized that there was no reason to worry.
It meant that the purification of the devil was already a fact.
Wheik!
Whiek!
A huge net appeared in the empty air.
It was by no means an ordinary net. The white mesh woven with holy power seemed flimsy but didn’t miss capturing even a bit of magi.
It collected all the unclean energy inside it and began to purify it.
-Kuaaak! Ack! Kuaaak!
Pained screams came from the devil’s mouth. However, it didn’t last long.
Touched by the holy lightning, and engulfed in the flames of purification, the devil turned into nothingness.
Bratt, Kirill and Lulu gulped as they saw that there was not even ash left.
It was Holy magic.
Only the highest priest of the Holy Kingdom of Avilius could show such tremendous power.
‘The subjugation squad has arrived!’
That thought popped into all their minds, and at the same time, old men armed in sacred white equipment arrived.
“…”
“…”
Silence. The eyes of the members of the subjugation group didn’t show good intentions.
They all knew the reason.
Bratt couldn’t even greet his father who was with the old men of Avilius.
‘It is true that we successfully subjugated the devil, but it is also true that we ignored the guidelines of the Holy Kingdom…’
And Bratt had no excuse in response to that.
Not only did they interfere, but they weren’t even perfect and almost let the devil go.
Bratt’s expression turned stiff.
Even Kirill who was always very assertive and Lulu who was lively all the time, didn’t utter a word as they looked at the old people.
Step!
In such a situation, Airn was the one among them who acted differently.
A light step ahead.
Everyone’s attention was focused on that little movement. Those who knew Airn and those who were seeing him for the first time couldn’t take their eyes off him.
“…”
“…”
And then the stillness fell again.
Quincy Myers, in his blood-colored armor, was unlike the others.
He opened his mouth as he looked at Airn with firm eyes and said.
“Airn.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what I am going to say?”
“I know.”
“You knew but you still went ahead and did. You are so shameless.”
“I just thought that it was right to subdue the devil as quickly as possible if I had the skills.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
“Hm.”
In an instant, Quincy Myers' body began to give out tremendous force.
Lulu, who was in her magical-girl form, took two steps back. 1
Kirill frowned and pulled out a magical shield, and Bratt tried to withstand the pressure by using his Aura.
However, he could still feel it. And he also saw something else.
A young hero, who didn’t have a change in his expression even though he was receiving the full force of another person head-on.
As the members of the subjugation troops were shocked at it, Quincy Myers, the commander of the 2nd subjugation troops, pulled out his sword and said.
“Then prove it. That you have skills to match your words.”
“Alrig…”
Thud!
Before he answered, Quincy Myers kicked the ground. And as a result, the ground began to wiggle like water.
Kuk!
Thud!
Kuak!
Once, thrice and then four times.
Each step from him made concentric circles spread out on the ground. It was hard ground, but it felt like it was water below his feet and this unrealistic sight invoked fear into the minds of Airn’s party members. 2
Kirill and Lulu moved to the air and Bratt began to balance his body.
And Airn, despite being in the middle of this situation, maintained his composure.
“…!”
Quincy Myers' eyes lit up.
And it wasn’t like he was trying to balance himself or anything. As they looked at Airn, they felt as though he was born to stand on water.
No, it was as if he had assimilated into one with the water, and the moment he saw Airn’s relaxed appearance, Quincy raised his foot to slam it on the ground even harder.
Tung!
Airn’s form moved.
Swosh!
It wasn’t just the feet that moved.
Aura flowed from Airn’s sword, and he swung it slowly. As he saw that, Quincy was shocked once more. Sending out the aura overlaid on the sword wasn’t a technique that most Sword Masters used.
The difficulty factor was one thing, but the technique caused a lot of energy to be wasted heavily. But Airn showed no signs of being overworked.
No… that wasn’t important.
The golden aura, which was now flying much slower than normal speed, spread leisurely and widely as if it were water, and obstructed his view.
“Hah!”
Quincy Myers quickly took a stance and swung his sword. A typhoon landed caused by a sophisticated rotating swordsmanship that Quincy Myers displayed.
Then, the aura of his opponent, which was obscuring his view like a fog, disappeared as if it had been washed away. And Airn’s intentions seemed to be destroyed completely.
No,
Thud!
Airn bent his body and became one with his aura and approached Quincy Myers with a strong step.
And just like Quincy Myers, it was a step which shook the ground. Some of the priests who were standing nearby, lost their balance and fell.
But no one cared about that.
It was an optimal movement where strength and aura, along with swordsmanship and mind, merged into one.
The most powerful vertical slash which Airn could currently do, moved towards the opponent.
Kwaaang!
Crack!
Quincy Myers kept getting pushed back as he met with that strike. The ground beneath his feet kept getting smashed and his body was being pushed down. The gaze of the old knight shone as the ground beneath him cracked like a cookie.
However, Airn’s attack wasn’t finished yet. It was just the beginning.
Biting his teeth, he swung the sword in succession. It was a powerful movement, and his swings were as if he was wielding a club instead of a sword.
However, that didn’t mean it was crude. Airn’s mind had aligned naturally after removing his recent obsessions and anxiety. And that allowed him to fully concentrate on the fight.
And Airn’s swordsmanship, where he didn’t have to waste his heart’s will, was strong. It was tough but not harsh.
The young man’s great sword swung wildly, as if he was trying to split a rock.
Thud!
And Quincy Myers wasn’t the kind to suffer. He took a step back and lowered his weapon.
The sword stuck to the opponent like a magnet and completely distorted the hitting point. Airn’s balance, along with his, collapsed for a second.
Quincy Myers, who was freed from the attacks, exhaled. And his face showed that he was ready to repay the attacks. With that look on his face, he moved.
Kwang!
Kwaang!
Kwakwang!
His attacks consisted of heavy and thick swords striking down at immense speeds. And there were white blasts. It was an aura that went beyond the title of commander, but the color didn’t matter.
The first priority of Quincy Myers was to stop the merciless attacks of Airn.
‘It really isn’t easy.’
Airn frowned.
It wasn’t easy. It wouldn’t be strange if his body was hurt with just one wrong move.
He looked at the Red Knights commander, someone who was supposed to be one of the most ferocious people in the Holy Kingdom.
So, he gave up
And threw it away. 3
The thought of defending the territory, as well as his desire to make use of the advantage of the heavy sword he wielded to the fullest.
Airn’s energy, which had been hard like a rock until then, began to flow like water.
Kwang!
A sword attack flew in.
It was a powerful attack. However, since it reached the surface of water, the force of the attack couldn’t be transmitted onto Airn.
Wang!
The sword flew in again. This time in reverse. The attack was primed to hit the upper left corner and was aimed at the head. But it was fine. Airn took two steps back and retreated as softly as water. It was thanks to the flow around him.
A smile appeared on Airn’s face, who retreated as far away and as soon as he received the attack.
“…”
Quincy Myers had no specific emotion.
He just swung the sword stronger and stronger as he attacked Airn.
Airn wasn’t afraid, his smile turned brighter.
As if in a state of trance, he received the opponent’s attack and drained the force of the attack with the flow of water.
Of course, it wasn’t without limitations.
“Kuak… kuak…”
Airn, had grown in an instant in the Lloyd’s territory and had also trained in the demon’s den.
However, Quincy Myers was even greater than Airn, and his aura was solid. Some of the old man’s techniques were so subtle that it was impossible to understand them.
‘If I wasn’t being cautious, I would have collapsed a long time ago. I still have a long way to go.’
A fire blazed in Airn’s heart, who felt the gap with the top 10 swordsmen on the continent. However, he didn’t overdo it.
The fire which burned brilliantly with passion and enthusiasm turned his body hot but never hurt it.
Suddenly, the water rushing in his body protected him. An ideal balance had appeared, as if embracing the young man’s spirit and the old man’s techniques at the same time.
The one who understood this the best was none other than Quincy Myers.
He said, with his sword still,
“Airn Pareira.”
“Hua… yes.”
“Join the subjugation squad.”
“…!”
“…!”
Airn’s party and the other members of the subjugation were startled.
However, it was only for a moment.
Thinking, the old men nodded one after another.
Julius Hul’s task?
Khun’s approval?
That didn’t matter.
They witnessed it and Quincy Myers acknowledged it.
He wasn’t a young hero anymore. But he was a complete hero.
Who wouldn’t want such a person to join them?
But.
“Thank you. But… I am sorry.”
A completely different answer came out of Airn Pareira’s mouth.
I’ll be taking the liberty to refer to Lulu as either Magical girl or Dragon Girl when she’s not in her cat form. Just note that it refers to her Half Dragon-Half Girl form.↩Think ripples on water, but just on the ground.↩Wasn’t his sword that he threw away but rather something intangible. It’s explained in the next line.↩
