Chapter 451
Chapter 451. Absolute Annihilation Sword
As the dazzling light subsided…
The sword appeared so incredibly simple.
There were no decorations nor even a guard.
Just a slender silver blade.
Truly, that was all there was.
And—its lack of ornamentation and its overwhelmingly nauseating presence were disturbingly warped.
The space around the blade was twisting.
I could hear the world groaning.
—The laws of nature were screaming.
Yet, the hero wielding the legendary sword radiated an equally intimidating aura.
Like a turbulent surface of water in a storm. The pressure of magic relentlessly surged like a tidal wave.
—I felt a chilling fear.
This Demon Lord’s Prince, this archduke-level demon, had caught up. A human, in mere human form, had leapt forward in an instant!
Arthur’s unstable magic flow clearly indicated it was only temporary. Yet even so, to suddenly swell with magic power several times over was something that shouldn’t have been possible without borrowing demonic strength.
To gain such power like this…
What exactly was Arthur sacrificing?
Thinking about that sent shivers down my spine.
—I had to stop this.
This wasn’t a power he should be using for someone like me!!
“You weak, pitiful humans are so slick!”
Laughing arrogantly like a demon, I swung my spear and charged. There was no choice but to knock him out!
—Swaying slowly…
Arthur met my charge.
The movement of his sword, to my eyes, seemed remarkably slow. As if clouds were lazily drifting above…
But, no! This!
It was as if an enormous object appeared to be moving leisurely while in reality, it was moving at an incredible speed! The sheer size of his presence was distorting my perception!
The atmosphere rumbled.
A strike that seemed to carry a giant lake—
Was coming.
The silver blade loomed large in my field of vision.
“!!”
Though I had intended to strike first, no, it was precisely because I stepped forward that I found myself on the receiving end of that strike.
I raised my spear. A shockwave, a deafening roar. My feet sank deep into the ground. My arms clutched Adamas and the remains felt like they were about to shatter apart.
What—such weight! It felt as if I absorbed the impact of hundreds of strikes at once!!
Surely under the mask, my face was painted with disbelief and pain.
“Ugh…!”
But, Arthur, too, was grimacing in agony. It was as if he was exposing a weakness to the enemy. Normally he would maintain a cool demeanor, or at least a blank expression—but he couldn’t even manage that under such strain.
If I were the enemy, I would be delighted…!!
“—Ooooohhh!!”
With a roar that seemed to rouse himself, Arthur raised his sword once more.
A torrent of strikes came crashing down upon me.
Vividly, it invoked images of a great waterfall. A storm of violence like a cascade!
To take all of that head-on was too much to bear! Damn, what strength! Incredible, too incredible, but…!! I had to dodge just enough to find a chance in Arthur’s opening. I needed to land a hit to break away…!
With gritted teeth, Arthur swung his sword and directed a look at me, as if witnessing the unbelievable.
Ah, if I were an ordinary demon, I would have dropped dead ages ago! I was already outmatched in sheer physical strength, but the only reason I could hold my ground was that Arthur’s sword techniques were merely at the “Hero” level.
The experiences I had from sparring with the Sword Saint in the Demon Lord Castle and the Evaroti Autonomous District were paying off. Just barely, I could keep up with Arthur’s sword pressure…!
However.
“Follow the hero!”
“Let’s take him down!!”
“Kieeeeee!!!”
Things became different when I faced additional strikes! Fortified by Arthur, the Sword Saints of the royal guard, the Vampire Hunters, and the Hero all rallied with a war cry in response.
Meanwhile, I was scorched all over, with cuts on my neck. There was no way I could keep fighting in this state!
“Don’t take me lightly!!”
I deflected Arthur’s sword and delivered a sharp counterstrike. Tsut! Adamas grazed just below Arthur’s right eye—he would have a scar on that handsome face now! With his eye nearly crushed, Arthur flinched involuntarily, and I seized the chance to concentrate the dark magic all at once.
The Sword Saints were too troublesome; don’t think poorly of me—
“【Teleport】”
I ensnared the Sword Saints aiming for me with my curse.
“【Absolute Defensive Zone!】”
—From heaven, light poured down.
A shining shield stood defiantly before the Sword Saints who were nearly consumed by my dark magic—banishing the curse.
“……”
I was left speechless.
“…This is inconvenient. A healing that requires a substitute.”
Arthur wore a vicious grin.
Healing miracles allowed him to mend his own wounds—
…I was done for. With the immediate use of the 【Absolute Defensive Zone】, he could grant pinpoint powerful magical resistance to the target I’d chosen…!
And since the teleportation spell always required a target—
It could only work on individuals, not groups, meaning I couldn’t apply wounds collectively!
Arthur probably didn’t know that much, but as a result, he was perfectly countering my teleportation!
“I can just kill you in one stroke before you can afflict a wound on me!” he said, sounding like a brainless musclehead, all the while, thinking up countermeasures for my teleportation!?!
A mix of dread and awe assaulted me at once…!
“Now, this is bad!”
Antendeixis warned in an unusually strained voice.
“We should assume the worst possible scenario and act accordingly.”
…Ah, that’s right.
This was no longer about showing mercy.
“I am Zilbagias!”
He truly was amazing. A hero like this existed among humanity.
“I shall become the strongest Demon Lord—”
If only Arthur had been there during the assault operations.
“—the bearer of demonic despair!”
I wondered if that blade had reach the Demon Lord?
…I will become it.
The bringer of despair to the demons.
But before that, no, to do that—
—I must bring despair to humanity.
“Let me be your sustenance.”
The source of Arthur’s power was the will itself, formed by 【Absolute Defensive Zone】, dedicated to defeating humanity’s enemies.
Then, I will sever that very foundation.
The source of the human power, that is—
“Forbidden to unite!”
With my curse, the world cracked.
