“Don’t regret what is about to happen,” I said, my voice cold, as I extended my right hand with purpose.
In an instant, a black sword materialized within my grasp, its presence dark and imposing. It was one of the treasured weapons of Tenebria, a blade known to strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors.
“Medea,” I called, my tone sharp.
“My lord?!” Medea responded eagerly, her voice filled with a mixture of excitement and anticipation as she swiftly approached me.
“Do it,” I ordered without hesitation.
“Yes~,” she replied, a satisfied smile spreading across her lips. Raising her hand with a graceful yet ominous gesture, she unleashed a dark red glow that shot upwards, quickly expanding to form a barrier around us. The light pulsed and shifted, eventually settling into a dome that encompassed not only me but all the Heroes of Kastoria and their soldiers as well.
“What is this?!” Kazuto exclaimed in shock, his eyes darting around as he tried to comprehend the situation.
His classmates were equally startled, their faces reflecting a mix of confusion and fear.
“Guys! We can’t get out of here!” one of them shouted in panic as they futilely attempted to breach the barrier. It was a powerful and impenetrable shield, crafted by Medea herself. She was quite resourceful.
Now, within the confines of the dome, it was just Medea and me, face to face with the Kastoria Heroes.
“Lord Commander?!” Semiramis cried out, her palm slamming against the barrier in frustration. The Demon knights behind her reacted with agitation, eager to fight by my side—or perhaps for me, though I was unsure of the source of their sudden devotion. Was it fear, respect, or something else entirely that drove them to worship me? It hardly mattered at this moment.
I could feel their fervor, their desire to join the battle, but I saw no need to waste their strength. This was a fight I intended to handle on my own.
“Just watch. I alone am enough to deal with them,” I said, my voice dripping with arrogance.
The Heroes of Kastoria narrowed their eyes, their gazes fixed on me with a mix of suspicion and anger. Yet, despite their obvious desire to attack, they hesitated, watching me carefully as tension thickened the air.
The silence between us was electric, a prelude to the violence that was about to unfold. I waited, letting the moment stretch, daring them to make the first move. But none of them stepped forward. Even the one who seemed most intent on killing me, the one who had spoken so arrogantly before, stood frozen.
“If you won’t come to me, then I will come to you,” I declared, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
Without warning, I took a single step forward and vanished, my form blurring as I moved with lightning speed towards them.
“Barrier of the Kami!” shouted a man with glasses, raising his hand to conjure a powerful barrier between us. The barrier shimmered with divine energy.
By the way Kami doesn’t that mean God in japanese?
So, this was the power he wielded. It was indeed different from anything I had encountered before.
But it mattered little.
With a swift, fluid motion, I swung my sword, its edge cloaked in darkness. The impact was immediate and devastating—the barrier cracked under the pressure before shattering into countless shards that rained down like glass.
“W-what?!” the man gasped, his voice laced with disbelief as he stared at the remnants of his shattered defense.
As I closed the distance between us, Ryuuki, another one of the Heroes, reacted swiftly. Withdrawing two gleaming swords, he assumed a stance that revealed his intent to engage me in dual combat. So, he was a dual-wielder. Interesting.
Then, without hesitation, Ryuuki launched himself toward me, his swords gleaming with deadly intent. I tightened my grip on my own blade, ready to meet his attack head-on. But just as I prepared to counter, Ryuuki abruptly shifted his stance, darting to the side with surprising agility.
In that split second, my vision was suddenly obscured by a long, gleaming lance hurtling toward me at an astonishing speed.
The weapon was no ordinary lance—it shimmered with a strange, almost ethereal light, much like the barrier conjured by the man with glasses earlier. It was clear that this lance, wielded by the girl named Yumiko, was imbued with some unique power.
The coordination between Ryuuki and Yumiko was impressive; they must have fought together countless times to achieve such seamless, unspoken communication. Their timing was flawless, and for anyone else, the speed of the lance would have been nearly impossible to avoid.
But I was not just anyone.
My demonic eye, a gift of the darkness that surged within me, allowed me to see far beyond ordinary perception. I saw the trajectory of the lance before it even left her hand, its path clear as day to me. Calmly, I tilted my head to the side, the lance whizzing past mere inches from my face, close enough that I could feel the wind of its passage.
“I…Impossible!!” Yumiko’s voice, thick with disbelief, echoed in the air. I could nearly her voice sounding japanese this time.
Ryuuki’s expression darkened, his teeth grinding in frustration as he charged at me once more, this time with genuine intent. But I paid him no mind. Instead, I shifted my focus and moved with a burst of speed, rushing toward his companions.
Ryuuki’s face paled as he realized my intent, his voice breaking as he shouted, “W-wait!!”
Ignoring his plea, I closed in on the woman, Yumiko. From their earlier interaction, it was evident that she held a special place in Ryuuki’s heart. Perhaps she was the key to breaking his spirit. If I could kill her, his resolve would crumble, and the rest would follow in the wake of their leader’s despair.
“Yumiko!!” Ryuuki’s voice was frantic, laced with fear for his companion’s safety.
Since she had thrown her lance in the earlier attack, Yumiko was now defenseless, a fact that was not lost on her. “C-Come back!” she called desperately to her lance, which began to reverse its course, speeding back toward her. But I was faster, closing the distance between us before the weapon could reach her.
At that time, the voice of the man wearing glasses rang loudly.
“Six Stars Kami Barrier Magic!!!” He shouted, and a series of thick, radiant barriers sprang up between me and Yumiko, each one more formidable than the last.
A Six Star Magic spell? Impressive. The Star Magic unique to this world was powerful, but it was still no match for the divine spells I had acquired from Khione. After absorbing her essence, my mastery over these Godly magics had become second nature, despite the fact that they were originally beyond my reach.
I had no intention of wasting energy on them by using a high-ranking spell like the God Rank magic I employed against Radakel. That would be excessive, and unnecessary for opponents like these.
“Master Rank Magic,” I whispered under my breath, as a thick veil of darkness coiled around my sword. “Black Blade.”
With a single, powerful swing, I unleashed a wave of ominous darkness, thick with mana, against the barriers.
BADOOOOM!
The sound of shattering echoed through the dome as the barriers fell one by one, each succumbing instantly to the crushing force of my attack. The darkness surged forward, relentless, aiming directly for Yumiko, who barely managed to react in time, using the precious seconds bought by Kazuto’s spell to retreat.
But I wasn’t about to let her escape so easily. Clenching my free hand into a tight fist, I raised it upwards, dark energy gathering around it, ready to strike her down.
Clenching my left hand into a tight fist, I raised it upward with purpose. The darkness around me thickened as I invoked the spell.
“Master Rank Magic. Black Prison.”
A wave of dark energy surged from my hand, rapidly encircling Yumiko. Her eyes widened in terror as the shadows coalesced around her, forming an inescapable cage of blackness. The prison took shape, its walls pulsating with malevolent energy, trapping her within its suffocating confines.
“Kyaaa!!” Yumiko’s scream pierced the air, filled with raw fear at her situation.
“Yumikooooo!!!” Ryuuki’s voice echoed with panic, his face twisting into a mask of fear as he saw his companion ensnared by my magic.
“Watch now as your mistake unfolds before your eyes,” I taunted, a cold smirk tugging at the corners of my lips. The satisfaction of seeing them crumble was undeniable.
“No, please!!” Ryuuki pleaded, his voice desperate, but I was beyond the reach of his words. My focus was solely on Yumiko. I was about to strike her down, to end her life and break Ryuuki’s spirit in the process.
But of course, it wouldn’t be that simple.
“FUCK OFF, TRASH!!”
A furious roar erupted behind me. The man called Yusuke charged at me, his massive sword raised high, poised to cleave me in two. His brutish figure loomed over me, intent on striking me down.
His reckless bravado reminded me too much of someone—Aidan. The thought annoyed me more than anything.
I sidestepped swiftly, avoiding his clumsy strike as his blade crashed into the ground with a force that sent shockwaves through the earth, splitting the ground where I had just stood.
“Bitch!” He spat, glaring at me with seething rage.
“You talk too much,” I replied coolly, my patience with him wearing thin. Without wasting another second, I thrust my sword toward his head, intending to end his life in one swift motion.
“Shit!!” Yusuke cursed, barely managing to bring his massive sword up in time to block my strike. But the impact was too powerful—he was sent skidding backward, his feet digging into the ground as his sword trembled violently, on the verge of shattering.
“W…what the hell!!” He stared down at his sword in disbelief, unable to comprehend how easily it had been overpowered.
I moved without hesitation, reaching out with lightning speed to grasp his throat. My fingers clamped around his neck, and I effortlessly lifted him off the ground.
“GUUUUHH!!!” Yusuke gasped, his hands clawing desperately at my arm as his face turned an alarming shade of red. His eyes bulged as I choked the life out of him, his strength rapidly draining away.
“L…Leave him!!” Ryuuki’s voice cut through the tension as he finally closed the distance between us. He was faster now, his movements fueled by desperation.
I glanced at him, then shifted my gaze back to Yumiko, still trapped within my Black Prison. Her wide, terrified eyes were locked on Ryuuki, pleading silently for help. I could see the panic rising in her as she realized her situation was growing more dire by the second.
With a cold movement, I raised my other hand and clenched my fist. The Black Prison responded instantly, the walls constricting inward, crushing her space even further.
“Kyaaa!!” Yumiko shrieked in horror as the prison closed in around her, her body trembling with fear.
“R…Ryuuki!!” she cried out, her voice trembling, desperate. Her pleas reached Ryuuki, and his resolve faltered. His gaze shifted from me to his classmate, torn between the need to save her and the danger I still posed.
“Y…Yumiko!!!” Ryuuki shouted, abandoning his attack on me as he rushed toward her, his mind clouded with worry.
“Look at him, abandoning you in your moment of need. You’re trash anyway—no wonder he left you,” I whispered coldly into Yusuke’s ear, watching the light fade from his eyes as he struggled against my grip. His strength was failing him, his life slipping away inch by inch.
But suddenly, I felt a surge of danger, a presence that caused my instincts to scream in warning. My eyes narrowed as I released Yusuke and threw him aside like a ragdoll, leaping backward just in time.
A black flash of light streaked through the air where I had stood, its power resonating with an ominous intensity. As the light faded, I looked up to see a figure emerging from the shadows, her presence both graceful and deadly.
She was a strikingly beautiful girl, wearing a skirt paired with a black kimono top that hugged her form elegantly. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, tied with a sleek black ribbon. Her dark eyes that seemed pitch black, sharp and filled with a quiet coldness, locked onto mine with killing intent.
‘Akane.’