The Failed Swordsman Who Became the Strongest After Spamming the 100 Million Years Button-Novel

145. Invitation and Demonkind [9]

I observed Zerey’s soul dress,〈Morsa Vector〉.

A sword with a long blade. Moreover, there were a number of small holes in the sword blade. It was a strange form of soul dress that I had never seen before.

(A demon’s soul dress, huh… I need to be more careful than ever.)

The opponent is a fearsome race that used the mysterious power of curse method and defeated more than a hundred senior Holy Knights in an instant. A soul dress brought out by such a monster would definitely be dangerous.

Even a small amount of carelessness will lead to instant fatal wounds.

(When dealing with unknown ability, just attack relentlessly!)

Attack, and attack, and force the ability to be used for『defense』.

Never let the unknown ability be used for『offense』.

I strongly gripped the Black Sword while keeping in mind about『How to Fight with Soul Dress Users』written in the Swordsmanship Guide Book.

(I should aim for a short decisive battle! Close the distance and rain down waves of consecutive attacks!)

Having quickly established a fighting strategy, I fired a slash to adjust the distance.

「First Sword – Flying Shadow!」

A jet black slash turned over the floor under, as it rushed toward Zerey.

「It’s quite powerful, but… Na?ve! If you have the physical strength of demons, the superior race, this degree of power can easily be cut down!」

He unleashed a powerful side sweep containing centrifugal force and cut down Flying Shadow easily.

At that moment,

「I got you!」

I approached closer by using Flying Shadow as a feint, and penetrated into the certain kill distance.

「Wha…!?」

Zerey, taken aback by the unexpected situation, showed a slight opening.

「Seventh Sword – Instant Slash!」

A godspeed Iai-slash, which cut the sound barrier, cleaved his chest.

「Fuu, you missed.」

Zerey, who I had just cut down, disappeared like mist.

「Wha!?」

At the same time, I heard the sound of wind being cut from behind.

「……!?」

As a result of instinctively twisting my body, I was able to dodge a sharp thrust by a hair’s breadth.

I immediately jumped back and put a great distance between us.

(W-What happened…?)

Looking at Zerey’s body, there was no sword wound.

(Instant Flash… was evaded?)

No, that’s impossible.

At that distance, that timing, he couldn’t have dodged that.

And, in fact, I clearly saw Zerey cleaved through the chest.

「Kukuku, what’s up? You’ve got a dumbfounded look on your face, you know?」

Zerey tried to provoke me, the corners of his lips curled.

(Fuu, calm down. In such cases, I should think about it calmly.)

I exhaled loudly and assessed the strange phenomenon that happened just a moment ago.

(Instant Flash landed directly on “that Zerey”, that is undoubtedly true.)

“That Zerey” was certainly cut down.

And immediately after that, “another Zerey” appeared.

(A strange phenomenon that doesn’t add up. There’s no doubt about this, he used the ability of his soul dress.)

Is it the ability to create illusion? The ability to create a clone? Or perhaps something else…?

(I can’t identify what kind of ability it is yet, but…)

Zerey most likely used his ability at that moment.

When I approached him while hiding behind Flying Shadow, my view was dyed black, thus I couldn’t see him. Perhaps, he activated some sort of ability at that time.

(If that’s the case, then put aside the tricks, and cut him from the front!)

I will see through that strange phenomenon and reveal the power of〈Morsa Vector〉.

That’s the best way to beat Zerey.

「Here I come!」

I dropped my center of gravity and took a forward bent posture.

「Kuku, no matter how many times you try, it’s useless!」

He shrugged his shoulders smugly.

I took a big step forward and penetrated into the certain kill distance again.

(Now… How will you react!?)

I opened my eyes firmly and observed Zerey’s every minute movement.

He held the long sword, with the tip pointing at me, and raised it up, exposing his abdomen full of openings.

Not evasion or a counter, but that strange stance was the best movement for him to make.

(This is…!?)

I heard a very faint, bamboo flute-like sound.

「Seventh Sword – Instant Flash!」

In that instant, the Godspeed Iai-slash cleaved Zerey and his figure disappeared.

「Fuha, I told you it was useless!」

He appeared from behind me again and unleashed a triple thrust filled with murderous intent.

「Guh!」

I managed to block off two shots, but one of them pierced my left shoulder.

Sharp pain ran, but darkness quickly plugged up the wound.

(I see, that’s what it was…!)

As I grasped Zerey’s ability in this one exchange, I pointed to the strange soul dress that he held in his hand.

「The ability of the soul is『sound』, isn’t it?」

「Hou. You picked up that ultrasound in the height of the fight, huh… You have good ears.」he said, swinging the soul dress which had a number of holes in its blade.

Wind passes through the hole, and a bamboo flute-like sound that I heard earlier sounded.

「The ability to play a specific pattern of sound and show an illusion to the person who hears it… Is that about right? What a troublesome ability!」

Zerey, who was cut by Instant Flash a little while ago, was probably something of an『illusion』.

「Kukuku,『You’re correct!』is what I’d like to say, but… that is not all the abilities of〈Morsa Vector〉, ya know? Magic Flute – Demon Chapter!」

He quickly swung his sword three times in a fluid movement, reminiscent of a『dance』.

Immediately after the strange sound played, Zerey’s hands and feet were twined with something red, which looked like blood.

Apparently, the effective target of〈Morsa Vector〉can include the user himself.

「Physical strengthening, huh..」

「Fufu, even an unenlightened bastard like you can understand, huh… This overwhelming arm and leg strength! It would be impertinent to compare my current self to a second ago!」

When Zerey swung the long sword onto the floor, it created a massive crater.

(Certainly, it’s a tremendous physical strength…)

That overwhelming strength was almost similar to a strengthening-type soul dress user.

「It’s not over yet! Magic Flute – Phantom Chapter!」

As he held up his sword high in the sky, his figure was split into four.

「Wha!?」

「Kukuku… Are you surprised? This is an illusion created by your brain. But don’t let your guard down! The pain of being cut and the impact of slashes by the illusions, all hits as hard as the real thing! Dominating hearing, controlling the brain, and altering reality – This is the formidable ability of〈Morsa Vector〉!」

The four Zerey, prepared to attack,

「「「「Allen Rodore! Before you bring cataclysm to the world… I will kill you!!!」」」」

They synchronized their breathing and fired four slashes at the same time.

Downwards slash, Diagonal slash, Thrust, Side Sweep – Each one was a sharpened slash filled with murderous intent aimed at my vitals.

「〈Morsa Vector〉certainly has troublesome abilities, but is that all?」

I gathered a vast amount of darkness into the True Black Sword, and unleashed a horizontal flash. The『Black Flash』painted the four Zerey black.

「「「「Ka-ha…!」」」」

The three illusions disappeared, and the remaining main body dropped down to one knee on the ground.

「I-Impossible…! Such output!? Even in this immature state…!?」

The man, suffering a deep sword wound on his abdomen, stared at me as though a monster was reflected in his eyes.

(Demon Chapter which strengthens muscle strength and Phantom Chapter which creates illusions, certainly, both are troublesome abilities.)

However, in terms of simple output, my darkness wins by an overwhelming margin!

When I finally found a chance of victory, I raised the output of darkness one level further.

「The secret behind your ability has been broken. It’s my turn to counterattack, Zerey!」

Having revealed the ability of〈Morsa Vector〉, I faced the final battle with Zerey.