Chapter 135
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☆Holy Sword☆
A sword created by a young man summoned in the past as a blacksmith (more accurately, a creator).
It demonstrates its abilities only in the hands of a suitable wielder.
In the boss battle of the Mirror Dungeon, it was treated as a blunt weapon, but this was due to the inexperience of Holy Knight Yamada at the time and the extreme hardness of the Crystal Doll’s body.
It’s believed that if it were Yamada who later bisected and sliced to pieces the Crystal Doll that appeared in the Sealed Dungeon, he could have done the same using the Holy Sword.
Knowing the 「true name」 is also one of the keys for the Holy Sword, enabling it to greatly unleash its power.
The 「true name」 given by the young creator blacksmith is 「Guardian Sword Refaia」. This name is derived from 「amplifier」.
There are still many unclear points about it.
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Is this a dream or reality?
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At that moment, Saint Mika’s thoughts become clearer, accompanied by a warm sensation enveloping her.
Something was off.
Come to think of it, since arriving in this remote area, she had started to think about things she had never considered before.
Ever since reuniting with him in the Sealed Dungeon, these sensations had grown stronger.
Eris had claimed many times before that the Holy Sword had shone.
Mika and Angelica couldn’t perceive the glow of the Holy Sword that Eris spoke of. They understood it as Eris seeing things that shouldn’t be there, a result of her being troubled by repeated mistakes and having to apologize in front of many people. As fellow members of the Hero’s party, they had comforted her.
But now she understands.
Eris’s claims were correct.
It was blissful to live without thinking, simply following the words of the trustworthy Hero and smiling. The Hero’s words had a sweetness that numbed thoughts and melted hearts. Being by his side, being smiled at by him, listening to his words was the greatest happiness.
However, in reality, that was—
Since starting the exploration of the Sealed Dungeon, she had felt something warm from the Holy Sword many times, something she had never felt before. It happened just now while she was napping too. Each time, even without seeing light, she felt a warm sensation as if something was trying to pull her back, and each time, her thoughts became clearer. Of course, she could clearly affirm this only after Holy Knight Yamada—
「Annihilate them!!」
Angelica’s powerful voice echoes, pulling Mika’s consciousness back.
Seven water spears – not just ordinary water spears, but highly compressed ones with drill-like spiral tips – obey Angelica’s voice and begin to rotate at high speed, aiming for the six blades and tracing their trajectories.
Even if the Sacred Sword accelerates, it doesn’t stay in that state constantly.
One second? Two seconds? It probably doesn’t exceed three seconds at most.
And there should be a recast time until the next acceleration.
「Try to escape by accelerating if you can! I dare you!!」
Angelica, who had consecutively used major techniques like Reflector, Rain, and now the ultimate technique Aqua Five S, continued her incantation without letting up.
The blades flying around erratically flashed.
In an instant, they created distance from the water spears, but that didn’t matter.
───Gyurururururu!!!
Making a sound like a rock drill, one of the water spears that continued to pursue relentlessly without losing momentum finally made contact with one of the six blades and—pierced through it.
「We did it!!」
Ashley raised her hands high at the sight before her eyes.
Without losing momentum, another water spear made contact with a different blade and completely pulverized it with its rotation.
Just as Ashley and Mika let out a sigh of relief thinking this would continue—
However, the remaining four Sacred Swords took a reckless action.
Three of the four blades mercilessly sliced apart their own sub-blade.
「Something’s wrong—」
No sooner had Angelica spoken than the Sacred Swords finished their counteraction.
The Claidheamh Soluis hasn’t gone berserk—that’s not it.
「This is bad!! Mika!! Ashley!! Prepare for the next move!!」
The fragments of the blade that had been sliced apart by itself now flew according to their own will, reversing the situation and making contact with the water spears.
Whether by aim or chance, all of them made contact with all the water spears at almost the same timing—at that instant, a small-scale explosion occurred.
The Claidheamh Soluis had divided one of its constituent blades, sacrificed it in a self-destruction to aim for the annihilation of the water spears, and succeeded in doing so.
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「Mika!! This is where we hold our ground!! Ashley!! Prepare for what’s next!!」
「Angelica, this is the critical moment for you too!!」
「I pray my turn doesn’t come—Fools Fixate on Fleeting Hours」
The three call out to each other and face their respective roles.
What Ashley used was Fools Fixate on Fleeting Hours, the highest level buff skill currently existing in this world.
「Ash… Ashley…!!」
For twelve minutes after activation, she becomes one of the strongest fighting forces in humanity. Its power is enormous, enough for her alone to take on the Hero’s party. However, the backlash is tremendous.
In this case, she’s also using Quintuple Skill along with Sanctuary Genesis.
Mika almost remembered someone as she watched Ashley risking her life to protect others. Who could that be? There was no time to dwell on that question.
Following Ashley, Angelica also without delay,
「Mille-feuille」
She activated the barrier she had been preparing non-stop even during the water spears’ pursuit, making it large enough to bisect the wilderness.
「Haaaa!!!」
Overlapping Angelica’s barrier, Mika once again spread out sixteen layers of barriers.
Mika swallowed the blood that had risen to her throat again, trying not to be noticed. She didn’t want the crybaby Holy Knight to notice.
This was also a matter of Mika’s pride.
Angelica had also unleashed major techniques in parallel activation, and above all, Ashley had resorted to the life-threatening Quintuple Skill.
She couldn’t collapse here and render everything meaningless.
「Aaaaaaaaah!!」
Mika and Angelica let out a fierce battle cry as if on cue. Then the barrier formed by the two created a massive sphere that enveloped the remaining three blades. The two continued to pour their energy into the barrier, and the sphere created by their two barriers further reduced in size.
The Sacred Sword’s blades frantically attacked the barrier from the inside in an attempt to escape, but this was impossible in the face of Mika’s determination.
「Angelica!!」
At Saint Mika’s call,
「Implosion!!!」
With Angelica’s final parallel activation, a massive explosion occurred inside the barrier.
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—The Sealed Dungeon might be reading people’s minds—especially their fears.
Maybe because I let my guard down, I suddenly remembered Angelica’s words. If her guess was right, then what was I afraid of?
It was a casual question.
The answer seemed simple.
Was I afraid of dying?
But it doesn’t sit right with me.
Because death was even closer during the Time Dungeon exploration.
Then, what was I afraid of—
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It was truly a perfect strike.
Perhaps because she let her guard down feeling relieved, Angelica fell to her knees from fatigue, but she quickly held her breath.
As the smoke from the Implosion cleared, three battered blades still survived and appeared.
The monster Claidheamh Soluis was floating weakly in the air, but eventually one of the blades fell to the ground and crumbled with a squish.
Ashley’s judgment was quick.
There was no room to hold back.
They couldn’t let this moment slip away.
「Ash to Ash!!!」
An intense light was released from the Purifying Sword that Ashley brandished.
The light engulfed the remaining two Sacred Sword blades with overwhelming power.
However—within the light—
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Saint Mika found it strange.
For some reason, her body moved on its own.
She sensed something and pushed Ashley, who was at the forefront of the three, out of the way.
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Why had I forgotten?
I was scared—of you getting hurt.
I was afraid—that you might die.
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Within the light of Ash to Ash, there was a flickering—in that instant, an accelerated blade sliced through the spot where Ashley had been pushed away from.
The deadly blade had sliced through Saint Mika.
Her flame of life was now on the verge of being extinguished.
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