Chapter 467
Chapter 467: The Promise with My Partner
“Well then, here I go!”
Leila spread her wings at the shallow water, splashing droplets as she soared into the air. I felt my body lift rapidly, and I immediately cast the [Concealment Magic] as well.
Surely, our figures faded into the night, quickly becoming invisible. We gained altitude rapidly—and then, Leila turned to fly further away from the land, towards the open sea.
“Wow, amazing! So this is what flying like a dragon feels like!”
Behind me, the spectral Arthur shouted with excitement.
“It’s impressive. To gain this kind of altitude in an instant…”
“Awesome! So fast!”
“Heh… The only relief is that even if we fall, we won’t die anymore…”
Bishop Lexar and the others looked down at the dark, flat surface of the lake, impressed and scared. One person seemed to have acrophobia, his eyes were completely glazed over. My apologies… Should we take a nap…?
Anyway, below us, Aulitos Lake reflected the starry sky, with artificial lights floating. They were swaying closer to the island we were on.
—A ship.
It seemed that because Leila was radiantly showcasing my poisoning symptoms for her self-healing, a ship was approaching from afar.
Who in their right mind would come close to our island in the middle of the night? They really might run aground.
Whether out of curiosity, caution, or mistaking us for a distress signal from a ship in trouble… Arthur mentioned that “Priests or Heroes of the Ship Guardian sometimes signal their surroundings with fire or light magic in emergencies,” occasionally.
If that’s the case, they were coming to help us despite the danger, which is a bit unfortunate.
In any case, staying on that island was not a necessity, so we decided to make our escape like this…
†††
Arthur returned safely, carrying Excalibur.
However…
“Somehow… it feels modest.”
“Yeah, a lot happened…”
Arthur wore a serious expression. The blade in his hand didn’t exude the overwhelming magical power that made me shudder like it did when we fought.
“I heard this is the sword of the first generation. The blade that became the basis for the legend.”
The first Excalibur… Now that it was mentioned, it had a nice sword-like decoration. The [Absolute Annihilation Sword] was all about killing, with barely any blade to speak of.
“Modest as it may be, its density is considerable. Its stability may give a feeling of modesty despite being quite remarkable.”
Antendeixis provided his insight.
“Does it have physical interference as well?”
“Not sure… whoosh!”
Arthur swung the sword at a nearby rock. The blade glided smoothly through the rock.
“Oh, it really passes through, huh?”
Just as I said that, the clean cross-section of the rock was revealed, and I was left speechless.
“Whoa, that’s amazing!!”
Barbara shouted, filled with envy.
No… Darn! The sight of a ghost swinging such a sharp sword is ridiculous! Its existence strength was more than enough, and changing perspectives made it less conspicuous than the [Absolute Annihilation Sword], giving it high ambush potential. If hit from a blind spot on the battlefield, even a high-ranking demon race would die easily…
“Are there no risks?”
“Maintaining it requires a lot of focus. But, uh… I wonder if it’s like a magic tool? It seems it doesn’t consume much power just to hold it, like Avalon.”
When Arthur released his grip, the first Excalibur vanished as if evaporating.
“Uh, how do I summon it now? I no longer have the [Holy Eye]…”
“You don’t have the [Holy Eye] anymore!?”
“I passed it on to the next generation. Apparently, a child had yet to be born.”
That’s…
“When the heir of the [Holy Eye] is born, everyone will be surprised…”
Arthur gazed pensively towards the horizon—the city-state somewhere far away.
A child with a silver-glowing left eye would become the new “Arthur.” And that would signal the death of the previous “Arthur.”
…
Well… sooner or later, news of the battle with the Demon Lord’s Prince Zilbagias would also spread through Aulitos Lake…
I’m sorry.
I quietly bowed my head, imagining Arthur’s wife, whom I had never met.
“[Come forth, Blade of Extermination]”
And just as I was lost in thought, Arthur summoned the first Excalibur effortlessly.
“I did it! This is super easy! There’s barely a gap!”
This is awesome! I exclaimed while constantly summoning and jumping with the first Excalibur. It has lost the overwhelming magical power, but it felt incredibly nimble now…
“However, trying to slip through the ground while holding it feels a bit obstructive. It might be better to store it and summon it when needed.”
I see, perhaps it’s precisely because of its physical interference.
“Wow…”.
Barbara stared enviously, sucking her fingers…
“Is it something that only Arthur can use?”
Bishop Lexar was equally curious.
“Want to give it a try? Wow, borrowing Excalibur is refreshing!”
Arthur handed it over to Bishop Lexar, who accepted it normally, but the blade immediately vanished.
“… It seems it’s not possible.”
“It looks like it disappears when it leaves my presence…”
“Nothing comes easy, huh?”
Tch—Barbara sulked, flipping upside down and sinking into the ground.
“Wait, even if it disappears, it lasts for a little while…”
Arthur summoned the first Excalibur again.
“Here goes!!!”
He threw it—!
As Excalibur spun and flew off!
Swoosh! It cleanly sliced through a tree nearby before vanishing!!
“Whoa, this is usable! Throwing around Excalibur feels fresh!”
“That’s just crazy!!!”
The Excalibur thrower is absolutely nuts!!!
“It’s impressive, but if you miss, it could be the end. It looks good as a trump card.”
“Once you’ve shown it, they’ll be wary of it.”
While we were excited, Bishop Lexar and Antendeixis remained calm. True. Even though it’s quicker to summon than the [Absolute Annihilation Sword], it does create openings, and unlike the Bow Saint’s attack, it could be avoided once seen coming.
“But if it suddenly comes flying from an unseen place, it’s genuinely threatening.”
“It’ll glow when infused with holy attributes, and combining it with water magic could give—oh, sounds like a lot could be done.”
Then, as we were getting all hyped…
Leila spotted a ship approaching from offshore and hurriedly gathered her belongings and took off, bringing us to the present.
“I’m a bit dizzy…”
“You overused your magic while being excited.”
I pumped some dark magical energy into Arthur. I felt awful too, so I didn’t want to give too much.
However, it seemed Arthur wouldn’t disappear immediately. Like Bishop Lexar, he was both a powerful magi in life and possessed a strong will. Meaning his soul was far sturdier compared to an average person, making it harder to wear down even in spirit form.
Unlike the older soldiers and the vampires I’d summoned before, he could maintain his state as a holy spirit for much longer.
I see… if I think about it logically, he could potentially surpass Enma, the Undead King… In terms of potential, they said he was just an ordinary country girl in his past life too.
“Still, he is impressive in his own right. Just being a country girl doesn’t give one the kind of distinct mental and ethical qualities; you’d need talent to achieve that even if developed later.”
That’s true.
“Also, if you change perspectives, holy spirits are a bit like the Undead King. It’s just a matter of whether to dye themselves in dark attributes or maintain their original ones while solidifying their existence with holy silver magic.”
Being undead makes them no different, while those with strong light or fire attributes seemed to self-destruct, Antendeixis remarked.
It’s complicated being lumped in with the Undead King, but… that said, I’m glad Arthur isn’t just water and light hybrid. If it were solely light, I’m not sure if his existence would have been this stable.
“Anyway, since it turned chaotic, I haven’t had the chance to mention it, but—”
Arthur finally spoke up.
“The first generation has left me with several messages.”
“… For me?”
From the legendary Hero King… and he was the ancestor of Arthur, whom I had killed…
Ugh, my stomach might ache…
And then, I heard Arthur relay the messages. “[You must definitely kill the Demon Lord] [Return Avalon after a while] [Show that you can protect the kingdom while being a Hero]”
“And also, he told me to slap you on behalf of [Arthur]…”
“Don’t hold back! Go ahead!!”
“No, that’d be dangerous while flying. Plus, it doesn’t have to be right now.”
Arthur giggled playfully.
“Since I was told to do it, I will slap you. I will, but… there’s no specified time or place. In other words… If I ever feel like it, I could slap you ten or twenty years from now… that might be a possibility…!!”
Arthur…!
“Well, it’s just an example, and I can’t possibly wait decades.”
At this rate…
“If there comes another end for me… I’m sorry, but at that time, I’m going to hit you.”
“… Of course.”
I closed my eyes and nodded.
There was no other response I could offer…
—By the way, the Bishop Lexar and the others who had beaten me up earlier were listening seriously.
“—Ah—”
Suddenly, Leila let out a strange voice.
“What’s up?”
“—Um, there’s one spot where the waves are strangely rough—”
Images flowed into my mind through the [Kizuna].
Though we were quite far, ahead of us, the water’s surface reflecting moonlight was splashing violently.
“—Should we get closer?—”
Yeah, let’s check it out.
As we drew closer—
Leila’s keen eyesight caught something.
Tentacles thrashing out of the water.
“—It’s a Kraken! And… two of them? They’re entangled…?—”
There they were, two raging Krakens.
“Are they mating or something?”
Wha… wait… what’s going on…?
I’ve never seen Kraken mating, I wouldn’t know…
Has Antendeixis seen it?
“No, I haven’t… But something’s off about that. They are…”
I too caught sight of it with my own eyes.
The choppy water—Hmm, does the color of the water look a little strange?
And the tentacles… are they… floating? No way…
“Hey, if my eyes are right—”
Arthur said.
“Is that bigger one… eating the smaller one…?”
The Krakens were cannibalizing each other.
