Published at 5th of August 2023 4:43 pm

Volume 12, Chapter 5 – War Maiden, Part 4

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“I must say, you really do get in my way, don’t you?”

Weiss clicked her tongue when she saw the woman standing in front of her.

The woman was bathed in returning blood and gave off a strange atmosphere――the Twelve Demon Lords called Verona.

“I had thought that the War Maiden was up to something… but I never thought that she would come up with such an amusing plan… After all, she bears the name of War Goddess.”

As Verona spoke happily, a large number of horsemen rode past Weiss and the others.

It was an elite unit in black armor――the “Imperial Black Knights” of the Second Imperial Army of the Grantz. Their opponents were the free people, nomads who were said to be the best horsemen on the central continent.

The moment the two units passed each other, many soldiers were thrown to the ground, and their heads were crushed by the horses’ hooves. Then, after a small turn, the two units collided again, screaming.

“Wonderful! Only the Grantz can compete on equal terms with the free people.”

Hearing the screams of the shattered soldiers, Verona’s shoulders bounced happily.

“Don’t you think it’s time to settle the score for our killing spree that was interrupted that day?”

“I don’t intend to enjoy killing each other as much as you do… but if you get in my way, I’ll just get rid of you.”

Weiss pulled out the sword at her waist. It is one of the Five Dragon and Phoenix Swords, “Crying Serpent.”

“Then, please guide me to the darkness.”

Weiss was wary of Verona, who had dropped her hips deeply, but she showed no sign of moving at all. If that was the case, then――taking the initiative and swinging her weapon as hard as she could, the Crying Serpent’s blade creaked as it extended. The tip of the blade, undulating like a whip, reached Verona, but it sparked and shot high up into the sky.

“…It still gets repelled.”

As was the case in the previous battle, the attacks did not penetrate Verona. For some reason, all of them are repelled at every turn. Then, she would have to follow the previous battle, but the more moves she had, the better, in order to find the opponent’s weak point.

Weiss, who had thrust the Crying Serpent into the ground, placed her hand on the hilt and glared at Verona.

Countless blades thrust out from under Verona’s feet. However, all of them are repelled.

“Good. Every attack is caged with the intent to kill.”

Weiss stared at Verona, who laughed eerily with a stern expression. No――she was looking at the sparks that were violently scattering around her. The wildly dancing blades are attacking Verona from all directions. Still, the attack did not get through to her. Weiss caught the free people with a sideways glance. They were in a melee with the Imperial Black Knights. Several blades shot out from under their feet and pierced through the body of each horse. The Crying Serpent was clearly responsible for this, and Verona, noticing this, bent her mouth into a grim smile.

“Is it boring to fight with me?”

“I figured if I’m going to be dealing with you all the time, the other guys won’t have time for me.”

Weiss snickered and slashed an enemy cavalryman as he tried to pass by Verona.

The horse fell with a flourish toward Verona, raining blood. Perhaps sensing its presence, Verona avoided the falling horse by slipping on her feet. Weiss did not miss the opening that was created at that time and attacked with all her might.

“Kuh!?”

She finally managed to put a wound on Verona, though it was all repelled just as before.

“…..Did you notice?”

Verona wiped the cut on her cheek with her thumb, licked the blood off it, and said happily.

“I thought it was odd. The last time I saw you, you never moved from the same spot. I thought there was a secret around that, am I right?”

As soon as she said this, she chopped up the enemy soldiers around Verona, causing a large amount of blood to rain down on the ground along with the mass of flesh. If Verona moved to avoid it, Weiss would immediately attack her. As usual, her sword blades were repelled, but some of them seemed to have slipped through Verona’s defenses, leaving her with countless cuts on her body. Even so, Verona’s smile does not disappear. She let a happy laugh squeak and blow through the cracks of her mouth.

“Fu, fufu, you’re right.”

Verona tapped the hilt of the sword at her waist.

“The girl is a very good actress. The girl is one of the five skills of the demon sword “Immovable.” All of the Five Demon Emperor Swords were difficult to handle, and this child is no exception.”

Weiss recalled a weapon from her memory. When it comes to the World’s Five Greatest Treasured Swords that can neutralize an opponent’s attack, the “Mandala,” which is one of the Five Destructive Holy Principle Swords, may have a similar blessing.

“However, this one is superior…”

If Immovable was kept at a distance, it posed no threat. Weiss decided to make a decision at once.

“Have you ever been sliced by an invisible blade?”

Weiss vigorously pushed the hilt of the Crying Serpent, which she had thrust into the ground. The blade was buried in the ground, and even the handle disappeared into the ground.

“The blessing of the Crying Serpent is the Jorougumo, be careful of its vindictive nature.”

The air around them changed drastically. Verona sensed something was wrong and jumped backward.

Landing on the ground, she dropped her hips and put her right hand on the hilt of her sword.

Countless sparks flew into the sky. The sound of blade scraping against the blade also echoed. Verona’s face no longer had a smile on it.

“――!?”

Verona’s left arm was blown off as if she had been unable to prevent how many joints had been cut or prevented.

The arm flew through the air, spraying blood all around it.

“It’s over.”

Weiss, arms outstretched, pronounced the death sentence. A deafening sound echoed around them, but it was quickly obliterated by the roar of the horseshoes. Immediately after, a storm hit Verona, engulfing even the enemy soldiers around her.

“Fufufuhahaha, aaaahahaha!”

Verona laughed loudly as her cut wounds increased.

In the face of the overwhelming number of moves, she probably had no choice but to laugh at her own futile resistance.

In the meantime, Weiss found her weak point. Verona had an opening due to the loss of light in her eyes. She may be blocking the attack, but in fact, she was also swinging her sword at an amazing speed. She used a technique called iai.

“It was a sword technique to parry an opponent’s attack…”

That was Verona’s gap; when she repealed an attack with her senses, her blessing disappeared.

In other words, there was a gap in the Immovable blessing.

So, if she was attacked there, she herself must prevent the attacker’s attack. If she was good at reading signs, she could concentrate on that and wait for the attack to come.

“There does seem to be a limit, though.”

Even though she knew the attack was coming, her physical reaction was delayed. At present, Verona’s wounds were increasing rapidly. This was because Weiss was able to fight with overwhelming numbers of hands, so it could be said that she was able to find an opening. However, Verona was not agitated. Even if a weak point was found, her laughter did not stop.

“Fufufu… You’re right, indeed.”

Verona muttered and kicked up the ground, instantly crushing the distance and fleshing out to Weiss.

Sparks flew violently at Weiss’s nose, creating a single wound on her neck and dripping blood. Verona also suffered a deep flank wound, but she didn’t let the distance go by, and a storm of sword fights violently flared up at zero distance. Surprisingly, Verona had attacked in a desperate attempt to throw away the attack.

However, Weiss was the one who gave a cold stare at such a determined attack of hers.

“Surrender.”

The victor had already been decided. Verona had lost her left arm, and a large amount of blood was flowing from the tip of her shoulder. Her complexion had turned blue, her body was heavy as if coated in mud, and her movements were visibly slowing down. Still, perhaps it is her obsession with victory, but Verona did not stop.

“Into the darkness! Give me the darkness, “Black Dragon King,” “Black Dragon King,” give me the darkness!”

Verona, uttering strange words, drew her sword with her right hand, abandoned her own wondrous iai technique, and slashed at Weiss.

But it was all in vain.

Weiss returned the Crying Serpent to its original form and repelled Verona’s Immovable with a violent force. Unable to withstand the impact, Verona’s right arm was thrust up into the air, and the Immovable flew out of her hand.

And then――she coughed up blood. Weiss’ Crying Serpent pierced through her chest.

“Oh….. finally, into the darkness… “King of the Skies “… my God of War.”

Happily, happily, with her hands wandering in the air, Verona collapsed from her knees to the ground. She never stopped laughing until the very end, all the way up to the moment when her breath was gone.

Normally, she should have taken off her head to boost the morale of her allies, but even though they were enemies, they were the ones she had fought with all her might. Weiss could not humiliate the corpse, so she took off her own cloak and draped it over her.

This created an opening for Weiss and a fatal lapse of the guard.

“Wha――!?”

A sharp pain rushed to her thighs, and a shock to her shoulder caused her vision to go dark.

“It seems that Verona was once captured by the God of War, but unlike the other Twelve Demon Lords, she was not deprived of her ‘eye’ and ‘magic stone.'”

The sound of a calm voice came from above her head. Shaking her head, Weiss looked up and saw the face of Stryer, who had suffered severe burns.

Weiss, who was furious, hurriedly readied her weapon, but Stryer was quicker than her. A large sword, more than her own height, whipped around in the wind and came at Weiss.

“Feeling humiliated, she crushed her own ‘eye’ and became obsessed with the God of War. As a result, she has lost her way and has developed such distorted feelings.”

Weiss barely managed to block the attack, but her arm went numb from the strange shock. Weiss’ beloved sword, Crying Serpent, slid across the ground.

“Gah――Damn it!”

Her side was gouged out, and as she bent her body in pain, she rolled on the ground as she was kicked in the shoulder.

“Let me pay you back for what you did to me that time; I have my own thoughts about the plan that went a little awry.”

A huge blade sliced through the wind to cut off Weiss’s head. Weiss, who had no way to defend herself, could only stare.

But then――,

“Don’t touch my sister!”

When her angry voice fell, the sound of the blade echoed violently throughout the world.

Weiss saw the red blade catching the huge sword blade, her fiery red hair dancing in the air.

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