517 – The World’s Strongest Swordsman (side: Volk)

The lecherta’s cheeks puff out as she prepare another spray of poison. But I shake my head.

“…It’s fine for now, it’ll just block our vision.”

In a high-speed aerial battle, the poison effect can be rendered almost entirely meaningless simply by holding one’s breath. Under normal circumstances it could be a useful deterrent, but Alexio has already charged straight through it without hesitation. He is stronger than I am, so the smokescreen effect would actually be a disadvantage.

“Kishi…”

The lecherta swallows the poison in her cheeks.

“Here I come, Dragon Hunter!”

Alexio swings his sword to release a [Shockwave] as he flies towards me. I shoot it down with a [Shockwave] of my own.

“…[Quick].”

Alexio utters after closing most of the distance, and changes his grip on his sword. I learnt how fast he is when we crossed swords earlier. But, apparently he can strike even faster.

The zephyr and lecherta converge in the air.

“Now then, can you still see through my sword?”

Alexio swings his sword. I move to block it. But, instead, Alexio still remains with his sword ready.

It’s a simple feint. He delayed his movement by a single beat. But, what makes Alexio’s feint stand out from those of common swordsmen is the sophistication of his motion.

Just barely, I manage to fend off the first, second, and third blows. But, after the third, my balance is lost. The consequences of the initial delay are echoing. As I block the fourth blow, my sword arm flies up. The fifth cuts through my chest. 

“Guh…!”

I had intended to twist my body to avoid it, but he was even faster than I expected.

“Dragon Hunter Volk, you were strong enough to be worthy of your name! Take pride!”

…It feels insulting for him to declare my strength while still uninjured. I press down on the wound on my chest to stop the bleeding, and use [Autoreneration] to heal it quickly. The wound is deep, but not enough to be fatal to me.

“…Oh, I failed to finish you? You’re tougher than even the rumours said. Very well, I’ll put a complete end to you.”

Alexio again flies towards me. This will be our third clash. Alexio holds his sword up in preparation, but then lowers it.

“No, cheap tricks are unnecessary. Neither of us are so weak as to be kept in check by attacks at this range.”

Alexio readies his stance.

“All your motions are too heavy. It’s not a style I hate, but don’t think you’ll be able to defeat me like that!”

I shout as I flick his thrust upwards, then continue on to swing towards his head. As he brings his sword back down to block, I swivel my sword around to attack the opposite side. Alexio’s sword flies past mine.

“What!?”

“HaaaaAAAh!”

I flash my sword across his exposed body. Just before it hits, Alexio adjusts his grip and blocks.

Perhaps I swung too wide there… I was hoping that would connect.

“Lecherta! Pursue immediately!”

“Kishii!”

The lecherta turns, pressing in on Alexio.

“…I didn’t intend lower my guard, but to think you would manage to get the drop on me. It won’t happen again.”

We clash for the fourth time. As I block his sword and knock it down, I flick my wrist to swiftly transition into a cut. As he quickly brings his sword up to block the tip of mine just above, and cuts deep into his shoulder. Blood sprays out, dying my sword blade and his face red.

“Why!? Why was I not in time…!”

“You were strong, Holy Knight Alexio.”

I continue to cut through his body. Alexio’s sword swings up to stop me. But, he can’t stop me.

“That’s enough.”

Suddenly, a figure appears from above and pushes my sword aside with his hand. The man then pushes back Alexio’s sword with one leg, while kicking away my shoulder with his other. He falls through the gap between us before landing on the dragon of another Holy Knight below.

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“Sorry, but I’m going to get in your way a bit.”

I lean out over the lecherta to investigate. He’s an old man with a small body that could be mistaken for a boy’s, and has a large tidy moustache. I look up, and see a zephyr that he must of jumped off.

“…Did he truly just jump between dragons and stop both of our swords?”

It’s hard to believe. But I can only think he did it intentionally.

I hold a hand to my shoulder. It doesn’t hurt much. [Autoregeneration] isn’t needed. I was under the impression that anyone who possessed such skill would necessarily have incredible power behind their blows too.

“Why did you get in the way!? Howgrey!”

Alexio shouts.

“Howgrey…?”

That is a name I recognise. There’s no doubt that he’s the missing legendary swordsman, Anise Howgrey.

I have searched for him for over ten years. Wherever I went, all I found were dubious rumours, and I was beginning to doubt whether he was even real.

“You can’t win against him.”

“That’s impossible! If I endured that attack, then the next time we crossed swords…!”

“Do you not understand? Each time you crossed swords, you fell further behind.” 

Howgrey replies matter-of-factly to Alexio’s indignation.

“Your sword has already been seen through. You might have been able to endure that strike. But, the next time it would have ended with your death.”

“Wh-what…?”

“Due to his toughness, the Dragon Hunter is accustomed to receiving hits. That is why he is adept at reading the habits of his opponents’ faster and more powerful swords. Now that the battle has dragged on for so long, your loss has become inevitable.”

As Howgrey explains, Alexio’s face turns red and he clenches his teeth.

“That’s still not certain! Fall back, [Ascetic]!”

『Ascetic』is the epithet given to Howgrey. During his journeys, it is said that he prohibits himself from eating any food taken from human lands, and subsists only on the monsters that he hunts. As a result of eating of the flesh of strange and often poisonous monsters, he became called the Ascetic by people at large.

“You are acting as the commander right now. Don’t lose sight of your goal and disappoint Saint-sama.”

Alexio appears about to say something in reply, but then holds his forehead and shakes his head.

“…I suppose you are correct. Thank you, Howgrey-dono.”

Alexio lowers his sword and uses [Rest] to heal his shoulder. It seems he intends to stop our one-on-one bout. I could try pressing him now, but if I chase too far I could end up separated from Aro and the others, not to mention that I would be forced to fight Howgrey too.

“Why is Howgrey here…? Does this mean he was brought by the Saint?”

I was underestimating that woman. Throughout a decade of searching, I was unable to find even a single real clue. Besides, Howgrey is famous for hating staying put, and never serving anyone. I never thought she would be able to so easily take control of him.

A shiver runs down my spine. Howgrey is said to be the strongest swordsman of the era. No, even if you look back hundreds of years, it is said that there are none who could have matched him. I can’t suppress my desire to see if my sword can reach him.

Moreover, there is something I am curious about. Is Howgrey really that strong as a swordsman? His kick to my shoulder didn’t do much damage. His feat of stopping both me and Alexio at the same time was impressive, but I can’t help but feel doubt as to his ability.

He doesn’t even have a decent sword. He has a dagger at his waist, but surely he doesn’t intend to fight with that? Besides, I can usually sense an air of intimidation from strong monsters and swordsmen, but feel none from Howgrey.

With all these factors combined, my urge to cross swords fair and square with the Howgrey is unbearable. In the first place, I journeyed for many years with the objective of surpassing him.

But I know what I must do. My role here is to keep the dragon riders occupied, and prevent Aro and the others from being attacked unilaterally. Howgrey’s appearance is unexpected, but it doesn’t change what I must do. His ability is unknown, so I should avoid fighting him. I should keep my distance and wait for an opportunity to pincer attack him with Aro’s group.

Howgrey touches a hand to the dagger on his waist and turns to face me.

“Now then, since the commander is returning to duty… I suppose I should take you on.”

My eyes meet Howgrey’s.

“It’s been a long time… Has it been forty years since I last killed a human? I had thought I would never get such an opportunity again.”

My crisis-sensing ability, which had been silent up to now, begins ringing a shrill alarm. I am certain that I will be killed if I fight normally.

AN:【Book Information】
Doratama volume 9 (TN: the climax of the Demon Lord arc) will be released on 2019-02-15! The included short story is “The Story of a Certain Baldy and Silver Old Man”. It’s about the interaction of magiatite-jii and the slime that I didn’t touch on much in the main work. For details, please see the activity report! Character roughs of the chaos ooze and Beelzebub are also available (TN: unfortunately, the post has been deleted, but the chara roughs are available on the wiki).

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