Although Lay asked, the Spirit King made no response.
“I have a feeling that from the beginning you recognized my moves. Perhaps it would be best not to fall into your trap.”
After saying this, Lay brought his hands up.
“I surrender. Rather than undergo the ordeal as it is, I would prefer to wait for Anos to show up.”
The Spirit King appeared in front of Lay’s eyes the moment he said that.
Without question, the Ailearrow is thrust forth.
Having been on the alert, Lay evaded it in the nick of time and kept a safe distance between them.
“Unfortunately, the Spirit King seems to favor continuing the ordeal a little longer,” the voice of the great tree Eniyunien resonated.
“… Since surrender is not allowed, does that mean he doesn’t intend to bring me back in one piece?”
Lay’s words spill out, as if a negative prophecy has come true.
While doing so, he attentively watches the Spirit King’s each and every move.
As expected, there is no opening for even a fraction of a second, and he is not an opponent who can be defeated with bare hands.
Without even giving him the time to devise a countermeasure, the Spirit King advanced upon him.
Lay retreats further, seeking to maintain their distance.
However, as if to obstruct his path, innumerable thunderbolts abruptly landed behind him. Those took on the shape of a cage, blocking Lay’s escape route.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lay spotted a dwarf fairy carrying a small mallet.
It is Gigadeas, the spirit of wind and thunder.
“Ugh…!”
Lay’s face contorts in anguish.
His leg was impaled by a sharp tree branch.
Every spirit is an ally of the Spirit King. Like the words of the great tree Eniyunien implied, uncountable branches rose from the ground as if to skewer Lay’s body, pinning him on the spot.
“Gah… hah…”
Having seven sources, Lay nonetheless would not die, but the objective would be to halt him in his tracks.
The Spirit King stands before him with his Treasure Sword Ailearrow.
The sword shone like a glimmer of light.
“…”
The Spirit King’s gaze is tinged with a touch of astonishment.
The Ailearrow slashed the sky.
Lay’s figure, which is supposed to be sewn to a branch, has disappeared from the spot.
The area was shrouded in mist.
“Even though I am half spirit. You don’t mind if I help, do you?”
Misa’s voice resounds from the mist.
It is the <Spirit Rain Mist Fusca> magic.
The mist formed a humanoid shape, revealing Lay and Misa at a distance from the Spirit King.
There was no word from Eniyunien. However, since they were not sent back, it would imply that it was not an issue.
Or did they never have any intention to send them back in the first place?
“Lay-san, here.”
Misa offers the Everlasting Sword Gielia to Lay.
“… It seems you’ve learned to handle the magic of <Spirit Rain Mist Fusca> with greater proficiency as compared to before…”
Misa nods.
Earlier, she had transformed Lay into the mist with her <Spirit Rain Mist Fusca> and allowed him to escape. Up until now, she had been able to conceal her allies in the mist, but only she herself could change into the mist itself.
“I kind of did it in the heat of the moment, and I got it done…”
Whether due to Lay’s crisis or her arrival in Aharthern, Misa’s power as a spirit seems to have grown more potent.
“I will fight as well.”
At her words, Lay smiled refreshingly and took her hand in his.
“With you beside me right now, I feel like I can do it.”
“Eh…?”
At Misa’s doubtful question, Lay replied, “You are my sword. As long as you look at me, as long as I fight with you, I will not be defeated.”
Even in the midst of the battle, Lay still asks Misa, “Do you believe me?”
Misa nodded.
“Yes, I believe in you.”
Smiling, Lay immediately directed his gaze at the Spirit King.
Instantly, he stomps the ground and approaches the King of Spirits straight away.
As if to hinder his path, countless branches emerge from the walls, floor, and ceiling, their tips turning into keen blades, charging at him.
“Hmph…!!”
Wielding his sword in all directions, Lay slew down all of those branches.
The spirit of wind and thunder, Gigadeas, releases innumerable thunderbolts as if in pursuit. Spotting the slightest gap between them, Lay slips through and presses close to the Spirit King.
“… Hah…!!”
The Spirit King’s treasure sword intercepts the sword blow that swings down from the upper stance. Since the sword’s sharpness and durability prevailed, the blade, Ailearrow is slightly chipped off.
At the exact spot where Lay stepped forward, there was another spirit sword thrusting.
He launched it into the air with a kick and seized it with his left hand.
With that, he lunges at the Spirit King’s mask――
“… Ooohhhh…!!”
There was the sound of a solid object breaking apart.
Lay reveals his amazement.
The spirit sword in his left hand and the Everlasting Sword in his right hand have both been severed by the Spirit King’s treasure sword.
Although he is swifter than Lay’s sword and his arm that shattered the Spirit Sword is also extraordinary, it is no simple feat to smash the Everlasting Sword, which is handed down from generation to generation as a sword that can never be shattered.
From within the mask, a deadly gaze sweeps over Lay.
The Treasure Sword Ailearrow was drawn upon Lay, who had lost his sword.
“…!?”
Perhaps due to a faint restlessness, the Spirit King’s magic power leaked from his mask.
With the Everlasting Sword, which should have snapped off at the base, Lay has caught the Ailearrow.
No, the white holy light is converging on the sword, giving it the form of a blade.
That was quite akin to the <Sanctuary Asc>.
Yet, the radiance was far more intense than that.
With a sudden surge of power, Lay engaged the King of Spirits in a deadlock battle.
“Since you only have knowledge of who I was 2,000 years ago, you couldn’t have foreseen this magic that I once failed to master, <Love Sanctuary Theo Asc>, could you?”
Lay’s whole figure is accompanied by light.
When he applied the force, the Spirit King retreated slightly, sliding back on his feet.
<Love Sanctuary Theo Asc>.
That is the heroic innermost move of the hero, which amalgamated two individuals’ love into one and converted it into monumental magical power.
During the time he linked hands with Misa, it was already in effect.
In the mythical era, the hero Kanon was incapable of utilizing this magic, whose power could only be manifested by combating together with the one you love and by uniting with your true love.
It was not that his magical expertise was inferior.
Rather, his heart was always in solitude under the weight of everyone’s thoughts.
However, things are different now.
“You are stronger than I am. But it’s a shame.”
The love of Misa and Lay unites and presses him back.
<Love Sanctuary Theo Asc> is intended to reinforce the physical abilities and weapons of people who are originally vulnerable.
The body of a demon clad in it can only be regarded as formidable.
When Lay stepped forward and thrust the upraised sword of light, a crack crept across the Treasure Sword Ailearrow, caused by the force of the sword’s sharpness and momentum.
“Now that peace has reigned, I’ve――”
As the two of them are kindled by their feelings, the holy light engulfs him like a flame.
“――finally realized what has replaced the place of the sword: love.”
Broadly, Lay took a step forward and brandished the sword of love with all his might.
“<Holy Love Sword Explosion Theo Trearos>!!”
Instantaneously, the light and flame cloaked by Lay swell up, and he slashes the Spirit King with the Treasure Sword Ailearrow altogether.
A moment later, the trace of that sword spark burst――
