180. Duel on Deck

(EN: Author’s words)

Sorry for the late updates these days.

I get really sleepy after work.

There were two types of reactions, from those who had heard Emperor Rudra’s outburst.

Some were bewildered, while others became enraged.

At the same time as the Imperial army was falling into chaos due to the attack from the Veldora Sword, the battles between the Royal Knights and the demons were also reaching their respective climaxes.

Agera put a hand on the katana on his waist, and cautiously observed her opponent.

She had been on the defensive, never once taking the initiative.

Even if she was furious at the fact his master(Carrera) had been ridiculed, that was a separate matter unrelated to her present battle. That was why she approached her opponent with caution, slowly accumulating damage, and observing her opponent.

「Hah! What cowardice. All that talk about demons and being above us, utter hogwash; you aren’t a match for us, the strongest Knights.

We are before his majesty, the Emperor, and I shall defeat you henceforth.

I shall also wager that your master is far weaker than Kondo-dono. And you can continue to serve her in hell!」

「Hmph. Words are cheap, you can talk after you’ve won.

I’m a fairly patient person, while you look to be a hasty one.

Well, Carrera-sama is also the type who has a short fuse, and needs someone to watch over her.」

「Me, hasty? Have you still not felt the difference in our abilities?

That childish looking demon with the purplish ponytail is indeed strong.

But, you are simply garbage! Just give up and die already!」

Showering insults in the midst of clashing blades, was Royal Knight No. 5 Garcia.

A large build overflowing with chakra. And with the effect of ultimate gift『Alternative』, “Conquerer of the Hunt” ――turning the will to hunt into power――, he hunted down evil existences.

It had a direct effect on his body, creating a sturdy physique.

Plus the protection from his Legend grade armor, he needed not worry about recoil from his own power.

Utilising high level abilities, Garcia, while taunting his opponent, was not being careless.

Demon nobility were threats on a similar level to a Demon Lord. They were not foes to be taken lightly.

But, his taunts bore no fruit. As Spirit Forms, the strength of demons were strongly influenced by their emotions.

He was hoping to create an opening by taunting his opponent, but it didn’t seem to work.

「You are indeed vulgar in addition to being hasty.

I do not think all humans are inferior.

But, then.

Souls have their own distinction. No matter what they do to hide it, a person who has a vulgar soul is unable to hide the fact.」

Garcia was falling for the opponent’s taunts instead.

And for the next few exchanges, Agera did not unsheathe her blade, and, while observing Garcia, avoided attacks with a combination of magic and minimal movements.

As long as she didn’t take any fatal injuries, Agera would not be defeated.

There was no sign of her current injuries starting to heal. This was most likely caused by the effect of Garcia’s Ultimate Skill.

But Agera was a Spirit Form, there were many ways to recover after the battle.

Understanding the difference in abilities, she vividly felt her lack of ability to effectively deal with an opponent who wielded an Ultimate Skill.

But, she knew that her base capabilities vastly overpowered his.

That being the case, like her prey, if she could only grasp the essence of and focus her power……

And then, hearing Emperor Rudra’s outburst, the situation shifted.

「His Majesty has declared his intentions. I’m afraid you all, including your master, must die now!」

Hearing those words from Garcia, something snapped in Agera’s head.

(To lower our god, Rimuru-sama…… To the level of a simple demon!?!

Even stating that we…… must die!?)

Fury.

Agera drew her blade with a naturally flowing movement.

Battoujutsu――Yaezakura――Hakkasen. (EN: Sword Art ―― Double Cherry ―― Eight Petal Flash)

「Ha? ….eh?」

Garcia couldn’t see it, nor could he understand.

What in the world, just happened.

While purely on defense――plus, taking damage――his prey, with him was unable to compute, had counterattacked.

He died before he had the chance to, so it couldn’t be helped.

The source of his self-confidence, the “Armor” which had the effects of an Ultimate Skill, was sliced through as though it was paper-thin, there was no way he could have understood.

And he was cut 8 times in a single moment, and lost his life before he had the chance to think about what just happened.

Agera resheathed her blade,

「No bushi (EN: warrior/samurai) would sit idly listening to her master(Rimuru) get insulted, fool!

But, then again. My role is more of a retainer for my master(Carrera).

To think I would be that agitated by the words of such small fry……I have much to learn……」

She mumbled.

Agera grasped the intricacies of her skill at that point.

Her Unique Skill『Perciever』observed the enemy, and lets her understand the effective ways to use her strength.

Then she recollected.

Of whence, his single ultimate attack, reached the pinnacle of strength.

Of whence, his lived as a human being, along with his “katana (soul)”.

Up till this point Agera, who had been depending on his magic, now understood why she took on the form of a bushi.

In the distant past, before he reincarnated to this world as a Demon, he was once a samurai, she recalled. (TN: the actual word for samurai is used here, which is why I used bushi earlier)(EN: the gender pronouns got a bit weird here. Sasuga fuse-sensei!)

「It may be possible that I was a son of man (human) once, on some other world.」

With such fleeting thoughts, she comes back to reality.

All interest was lost on the garbage that she just killed.

Agera turns her heels, and headed towards the subject of her loyalty, Carrera.

Espirit was injured all over, and her face showed her composure was fading away.

But, after hearing what the Emperor said, it contorted in anger.

Espirit was usually half-hearted, and mostly a hedonist.

While she usually only paid heed to Carrera’s will, the fact that Demon Lord Rimuru, who she worshipped as a god, was insulted, simply couldn’t be tolerated.

「Ahhー What a pain! That’s it, time for you to die!!」

「Hahaha, keep the nonsense to yourself. Those are not words for someone who has only been pathetically running around!」

Said Royal Knight No. 4 Gardner, mocking Espirit’s determination.

Holding the overwhelming advantage, it looked like there was no way he could lose.

Indeed, that was what it looked like.

Victory would be surely his if he went for the kill now.

But, he was fond of rubbing salt into the wounds of the weak. His greatest pleasure was hearing the screams of the “strong”. (EN: in other words, S.)

That was why, against a strong being that was a Demon Noble like Esprit, who was also a beautiful female, he was holding back to see if he had the chance to hear what he desired.

He would kill her the moment Espirit begged for her life.

That twisted fetish of his, now became his downfall.

「This much should be enough. Echo-reflection!!」

The special ability to replicate damage that she has taken onto her attacker, such was Espirit’s unique skill『Retaliator』.

The incredible amount of damage that had been caused onto a demon’s body.

A human’s body would never be able to take that much punishment.

Flesh was sundered and bones were crushed.

The moment Espirit activated her special ability, Gardner was turned into a pile of meat without the chance to even speak. (EN: Esprit is S++!)

「That was close.

If I didn’t have this power, I would have been the one who was defeated.

Never underestimate the opponent! That was the lesson huh….

In order to teach us, did he…… purposefully pit us against opponents who would have the upper hand……?

No way, I not buying it…… Even if this is Rimuru-sama we are talking about……」

Espirit felt a chill down her spine, while she was pondering over the matter.

Death is forbidden! This order, pretty much meant to attain the strength to “survive”.

「To defeat an opponent who is stronger than my current self, I have definitely become stronger……」

Demons, being Spirit Forms, their emotions bring change to their strength.

It wasn’t common, but to confront an opponent who had the upper hand, only to easily throw in the towel and end up in defeat was the usual case.

To implant the will to never give up, into the hearts of demons……

Her heart began to fill with elation and admiration, but that was suppressed and she began to take action once more.

To make rid of those who insulted her master.

(TN:Some suitable tunes)

Veyron was second in terms of capability, among the 7 pillars of the Demon Nobles.

But despite that, he was unable to reach the warrior before him, tasting the humiliation, and the ground.

Royal Knight No. 3 Graneet, was a Hero.

He was one of the people who had laid the foundations of the Empire, and helped usher forth a millennia of peace.

Known by the title of “God of War” Graneet, he had retired from his public position and was now one of Emperor Rudra’s most trusted retainers.

His unmatched skill in spear techniques was like a form of art; to Veyron who was a demon, it looked as though he was trying to receive meteors flying towards him.

In addition, he was properly using Alternative, and had full control over his Energy.

The difference in their capabilities was like heaven and earth.

The only silver lining, would be that any of the others would have been defeated instantly.

Veyron took his stance, with the newly created spear via Matter Creation, as the one he was just using shattered in his hands. (EN: I am the bone of my…)

「Hear Daemon, the result will be the same no matter how many times we do this. You will never grasp victory with your mimicry. (EN: Mongrel.)

Avoiding fatal wounds and clinging onto life so dearly, staying hidden away from the beginning would have worked better.」

「My, how harsh. But, my role is to be the wall that shields the princess (TN: Ultima).

If there is no one to keep you in check now, even my lady would have a hard time with you.」

Veyron was Ultima’s butler.

Being together for the longest time, he has always been there to take care of her.

Even now, he was suppressing this dangerous man, preventing him from causing unneeded problems.

And Veyron believed that his master(Ultima) would emerge victorious, so as long as he survived, they would be victorious.

However….

(As expected, this isn’t fine at all. I would like to a comeback against him, if possible……)

The magic he was depending on wasn’t up to the task, so he lacked the means for a decisive move.

As he was totally overwhelmed in skill, avoiding fatal injuries was the best he could do.

Anyone else who didn’t have Veyron’s immense reserves of mana, would have long since been defeated.

The created spear in his hands, was the fourth already.

He understood he wasn’t able to fully defend with only magic, so he had been using his last resort.

Copying his opponent’s spear technique, with his unique skill『Tracer』.

Being simply a copy, it won’t bring him victory. Although he couldn’t win, he was able to avoid fatal damage.

Sadly, he was unable to counterattack relying only on this ability.

Now then, what to do….

As he was thinking, a thunderous roar sounded; the emperor had stood up and had made his outburst.

Veyron’s soul was boiling over in anger, but felt intense shame at the same time.

Despite his anger, he had no means to triumph over his adversary.

「His Majesty has given the orders.

It’s time you stopped running, and prepare to meet your maker!」

The warrior Graneet, releasing the aura (haki) of his “God of War” days, proudly exclaimed.

Right after that,

「Hey boss, I just saw something super cool!」

His associate Zonda teleported over, while saying that.

「Zonda, what about your “job”?」

「Oh that, it’s all good. Moss-sama told me that boss was in a pinch.

Also, I got to see something real amazing and thought of a great idea!」

If Veyron was the butler, Zonda was the page (EN: man-servant).

Although they were both demon nobles, the difference in class was apparent.

But, they both served the same master (Ultima), so they got along well.

Which was why, Veyron allowed Zonda to speak with him so casually.

「Oh…? That, is it something that can get me out of this “pinch”?」

To Veyron’s repeated question,

「Sure it can!」

He answered confidently.

And,

「I shall show it to you now! This new ability of mine.

Unique Skill『Change Weapon』take that!!」

With his shout, his body began morphing into the form of a spear.

The highly condensed mana of a Demon Noble, all concentrated into the form of a polished spear.

It was only possible by Spirit Forms such as a demon.

(Heh, how’s that? Veldora-sama became a weapon too!

I tried copying that. Boss’ tendency to copy stuff rubbed off on me eh!) (EN: *tehe pero*)

Zonda’s spoke casually, while sounding excited.

Why you little……slacking off and watching Rimuru-sama’s battle…. Thought Veyron, but this happened all the time so he mind too much.

And he turned the spear he created back into mana, and now grabbed ahold his new weapon, the transformed Zonda. (EN: *ahem* BL ship <3)

The crystallization of a demon’s Energy.

Normally you would cloak yourself in mana for defense, but this spear uses all that mana and turns that into the form of a spear.

It was an incredibly dense amount of mana.

Graneet sensed the danger that spear posed, and his face twitched in response. And,

「I won’t allow that!! Hagun・Gekishin Resshou!!」(EN: Anti-Army ・ Quaking Sweep)

He unleashed his killer move with all his might.

But, it was already too late.

With 『Demon Spear: Zonda 』 in his hands, Veyron directed all of his mana onto defense instead of offense.

Leaving the offense to Zonda, he decided to focus on defense.

With that, he managed to survive Graneet’s finishing move.

Although he took great damage, he avoided death.

「Now then, it’s our turn.」

Softly saying so, he perfectly traced of Hagun・Gekishin Resshou with his Unique Skill『Tracer』.

The body’s movements, and strength in each movement.

Except, all of that using the physical abilities of a Demon, the difference was obvious.

Discarding thoughts of attacking, he became force itself. With that, unleashed the attack, filled with the great Energy of a Demonic Noble.

Although Graneet moved to intercept, as it was an attack he was very fluent at; he was unable to defend and ended up destroyed.

The overwhelming power of the attack, caused the destruction of Graneet’s body almost instantly, and turned him to dust. And without losing momentum, it raced across the deck of the airship, and ended up destroying some of the airships nearby in it’s wake.

Truly, it was a miniature version of the attack caused by the Veldora Sword.

「Good work, Zonda. This was first time you were actually of use.」

「Don’t be so cold, Boss! I have always been of use……」(EN: *ahem* uke intensifies.)

It was the same old casual conversation.

At the same time, Veyron was mending the damage on his tailcoat along with the damage to himself.

And good as new in a matter of seconds.

This was where the real strength of Spirit Forms lied.

And so, the two of them, headed back to their master, Ultima.

(EN: Author’s words)

Getting to the Demons’ fights took much longer than I thought.

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