It tears through space and cleaves through walls.
A crimson-black slash came rushing in, seeming intent not merely on cutting something apart, but on devouring everything whole.
To stop that slash, I raised Prydwen.
Craaaack—!!!!!
A sword that cuts through everything.
A shield that can block any attack, even if only once.
As the two, each absolute within its own domain, collided, they produced an earth-shattering rupture of air.
Though they had not even touched, a tremendous aftermath swept out from the point of impact in every direction, gouging apart everything in its path, whether floor or wall.
And then.
Suuuuuck—
Thoom!!!!!
As though it were sucking in its surroundings, the sword energy vanished in an instant. A dull boom rang out, followed by a shockwave.
Fuck.
My body was shoved backward.
It did not feel as though I had suffered any internal injuries or anything.
But my hand was shaking.
I looked at Prydwen in my faintly trembling left hand.
It looked perfectly fine on the surface, but...
I can’t use it twice.
Unless its seal is released, Prydwen, now that its one-time defense has been used up, cannot block that sword energy from before.
It could reduce the damage by eighty percent, but enduring more than a few blows would probably be the limit.
More importantly... this is insane.
Prydwen’s defense is less about blocking an attack and more like nullifying the attack’s very classification.
That was why it had been able to erase that sword energy earlier.
But both the backlash before they collided and the shockwave produced when Prydwen’s ability erased it...
This was Prydwen, the shield that had effortlessly blocked even Arghalia’s techniques as a Sword Master... yet it had not blocked it perfectly.
But... was the final boss of the prologue really this strong?
That crimson-black sword energy from before.
That bastard had definitely used sword energy, but not to this extent...
"Are you all right!? Are you hurt anywhere?!"
DLC Dante grabbed my shoulders roughly and shouted in an urgent voice.
When I turned around as though dragged by him, I saw that, thankfully, he too appeared unharmed.
The same went for Dante and Kafka, who had been standing behind us.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Step.
Step.
Footsteps rang in my ears from the utterly wrecked corridor.
They were slowly drawing closer.
A being capable of scattering sword energy of that magnitude could erase something as trivial as its footsteps through mana or technique.
The setting guide even said that the strong always did that, and what idiot would reveal his position while launching an attack?
But the reason they deliberately did not do what everyone else did was...
Because there was no need to.
It was proof that whether we ambushed it, exposed its position, or tried to flee... no matter what variable arose, it could still slaughter us.
"Has it come this far...?"
Staring toward the source of the footsteps with a hardened expression, Dante slowly parted his lips and muttered in a faintly trembling voice.
As though resonating with his trembling voice, the hand clutching my shoulder was trembling slightly as well.
For now, Dante had regained the strength of his prime thanks to the holy water, even if only temporarily.
I had thought he lost in the prologue simply because he had been weakened, but...
Was he saying that even Dante in his current state was still not enough to stop that thing approaching us?
Step.
The footsteps that had slowly echoed through the dark hallway came to a stop somewhere.
The flames that had filled the corridor through Dante’s Frost went out, and from within that shadowed darkness, the final boss of the prologue slowly emerged.
Or, it should have.
What?
Step.
At the sight of the figure that appeared before me, my body froze solid.
The final boss of the DLC prologue.
Its head.
And that head was being held in someone’s hand.
Perhaps it had not been long since its breath had ceased, because mana faintly rippled from the remains of its severed neck. Yet, strangely, no blood dripped from beneath the neck.
And standing there, gripping it casually in one hand as though it were nothing, was a black-haired woman.
She wore a black dress as dark as pitch and a bizarre black mask that concealed her entire face.
Unlike the way she had walked over with loud, deliberate footsteps as if daring us to hear them, not the slightest hint of mana or killing intent emanated from her body.
And in her hand was an ordinary sword with no distinguishing features whatsoever.
It was such an ordinary sword that it was hard to believe it had just severed a head—not a single nick in its blade, not even a drop of blood staining it.
The bizarre attire that did not suit the situation, the utterly unreadable air around her that made it impossible to believe she had fired that sword energy moments ago, and even that ordinary sword.
I knew who that woman was.
"...The Disaster of the Sword."
The Disaster of the Sword.
The final boss of the DLC, one of the three Calamities that had destroyed the world.
As I watched the woman continue toward us, I swallowed hard.
I had defeated her once in the game, but that had been a full-on gank.
And even then, I had burned through one-third of all the companions I had gathered and, when that still was not enough, only barely managed to kill her after dozens of retries.
Can we win?
Though she continued slowly walking toward us without stopping.
Neither DLC Dante nor I could carelessly move.
Because if we moved, it felt as though we would be cut down on the spot.
Then.
My vision suddenly shook and lurched upward, and my body was violently yanked back.
DLC Dante, who had been standing behind me, had seized my collar and dragged me backward as though throwing me away.
"Run."
With those final words, he poured mana into his frost sword and aimed for her body, but...
She vanished from my sight.
But.
The stats pushed to their limit by Flower of Chivalry, and the instinct I had developed from dying twenty-eight times.
They were now ringing deafening alarm bells inside me.
I gathered every shred of mana I had and swung my sword to the right.
Kwoooooong—!!!
An ordinary sword, not even coated in aura, collided with Clarent of the Coward, into which I had poured all my raised mana and aura into reinforcement.
The result was...
"Ian—!!!!"
The ordinary sword won.
Despite being such an ordinary sword, one not even coated in aura.
Unable to endure the impact, I was sent flying helplessly and slammed into the wall.
Cough!
Blood burst from my mouth.
Even though I had blocked it properly, an overwhelming impact shook every part of my insides.
I had the highest stats I’d possessed since coming to this world, and I still could not withstand the damage?
At my current level, I felt like I could brute-force Arghalia with raw damage.
Yet even with these specs, merely blocking that bastard’s sword was all I could manage.
If I had not had Dragon Strength, I would have passed out on the spot.
Thankfully, Dragon Strength’s recovery had been enhanced too, so I could barely force myself back to my feet, but...
Just how high is her level?
In the game, it had been hidden behind question marks, so I had never been able to tell.
Is she max level, maybe?
Steadying my churning insides with difficulty, I activated Insight Eye.
Ding!
With the notification sound, Insight Eye recorded the information of the enemy before me into the air.
And at the information it displayed, I nearly dropped my sword.
The Calamity’s information written on the translucent window was:
【Angelica de Olivier】
◈ Level: 100
She was a Calamity in the truest sense.
Angelica.
The strongest heroine of them all, yet in the bad ending, a calamitous sword demon who cuts down every single thing in the world.
No matter how much I wanted to deny it, Insight Eye was telling me that the future where she had become that sword demon stood right before my eyes.
We can’t win.
We can’t beat that thing.
Those crazy bastards expect me to throw myself at this here?
Inwardly, I cursed out those voyeurs who had given me the Oath of Chivalry.
The Oath of Chivalry was active right now, but chivalry or no chivalry, none of it would work against an opponent like this.
Now was the time for every man to save himself.
"If you’re alive, run! Don’t look back! I’ll buy you time!"
DLC Dante unleashed every last bit of Frost.
Countless frost swords rained down on her, while chunks of ice and a blizzard resonated with Dante’s mana and swirled toward her.
But.
She simply coated her sword in sword energy and swung it, slicing apart Dante’s attacks.
It was not as though magic was being cut apart and erased like with Breath Splitting.
But it was also true that none of DLC Dante’s attacks could reach her body.
She was destroying all of Dante’s magic through sheer physical ability.
Kafka and Dante could not even approach us, blocked by the raging waves of mana.
Watching that battle between two superhumans—or perhaps that one-sided domination—I desperately racked my brain.
Should I run?
But where to?
Even if I ran, could I get out of Dreamland?
[You can run.]
At that moment, along with a notification ringing inside my head, a translucent window containing those words popped up before my eyes.
[If you escape that imperial palace, you can return to reality.]
But I think I knew.
Who was writing those words right now.
Thinking about it made my teeth grind on their own.
The people who gave me the Oath of Chivalry are saying what now?
Was that something the people who threw this fucked-up trial at me amid this mess had any right to say?
If I ran, they would obviously slap me with a penalty, wouldn’t they?
Then.
Ding!
[The Oath of Chivalry exists merely so that we may watch you.]
As though it had read my thoughts, the notification window replied.
[Look. Even at this moment, the Oath of Chivalry has not fallen.]
Come to think of it.
97.8%
■■■■■■■■■■□
Just as the status window said, the gauge at the bottom had not fallen. Even now, it was continuing to rise.
If I escaped, as this bastard said.
I could clear Dreamland.
If I took Kafka and Dante and ran like hell beyond the castle gates before these stats returned to normal, I could clear it.
But then.
Kwoooooong—!!!!
I could not take my eyes off him, desperately blocking Angelica’s attacks right now.
"Then... what happens to him?"
Whether DLC Dante’s level had been restored or not, his chances of surviving Angelica were close to zero.
Even though it was obvious Angelica was casually dealing with Dante, DLC Dante was already struggling just to block her attacks.
[He dies.]
But then.
[Does it matter?]
What?
[I told you, didn’t I? No matter what happens here, nothing happens in reality.]
It had definitely said that.
That there was no sound in the mirror...
[There is no sound in the mirror. But if you die there, then you certainly die.]
If I die here.
That’s a little heavy.
I know.
I had died twenty-eight times. It was not as though I did not understand what that meant.
Really, it’s unfair.
You should resurrect me too.
Still...
Grumbling, I dusted off my body and rose to my feet.
[Are you going to fight?]
Yeah.
[Why? The Dante in front of you has nothing to do with you.]
The sentences filled the system window obstructing my view at a sharply accelerated pace.
[He is not the same as the Dante beside you.]
The speed carried an odd urgency, as though it were trying to dissuade me from my decision.
But I raised my left hand and swatted the floating system window aside.
It was in the way.
How can he have nothing to do with me?
That man drank my holy water, for crying out loud.
Even if this was a fight I could never bring back into reality, a fight that would leave me with nothing but losses.
If he dies here, then there was no point in using holy water on Dante.
So.
We leave together.
That is the clear condition.
Having said that, I opened my inventory, reached into the square panel that unfolded before me, and pulled out Stars of Knights.
A threadbare possibility I could grasp to break through this clusterfuck.
I would wager everything on it.
And thinking about it again.
I looked at Angelica.
She was wearing a mask.
A black mask through which I could see neither an expression nor any reaction whatsoever.
That emotionless woman wearing a mask.
Angelica, who had always been expressionless, had become a sword demon who cut down everything while wearing a mask incapable of showing an expression.
I did not know whether she wore it because she never wanted to show an expression again, or because she did not want to show one.
But that mask was a luxury for someone who had always been expressionless.
And besides, how could I run?
I had promised her I would not lose, even if my sword shattered.
But then.
[You have encountered Karl’s Knight Who Commits Sin.]
[You have fulfilled the conditions.]
Where the hell would I run to?
[You have confirmed the Narrative, ‘Durandal.’]
The single sword that had cut down the star named Arghalia.
[You have confirmed the skill, ‘Orlando’s Muscle Cultivation Method.’]
The foundation that had allowed me to come this far.
And.
[You have confirmed the skill, ‘Mad Orlando.’]
The secret technique you first taught me.
[You have fulfilled all conditions.]
[You activate the Narrative, ‘The Song of Roland.’]
This is an extension of our sparring.
The kind of sparring we did without missing a single day.
Only now, the wooden swords have become real blades.
So.
I raised my sword.
And just as I always had.
Kwoooooong—!!!!
"I’ll meet as many blows as you want to trade."
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