Chapter 172: Sword Master

Where… Where am I?

Ah, right.

I'm still being controlled by Kalda.

I fell a sleep for a moment.

Arnold opened his eyes.

'…..'

'Tanaera…?'

Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you crying?

Ah… that's right.

I was ordered to kill her.

Arnold's thoughts wandered.

The two of them had been travelling together for quite a while. They weren't at the point of being friends, just travelling companions who bickered a lot.

Tanaera used to use every opportunity to tease him. There was never a moment where she wasn't wearing a big smile on her face.

She was arrogant and prideful, almost a mirror image of Arnold, because she knew that she was stronger than most. Her mastery of magic brought in her a certain charm that no normal magician has.

This charm made Arnold like her more. He didn't just see her as a potential master for Elizabeth but an ally who he could built a valuable friendship with.

Of course, he set aside his personal feelings and instead focused on getting Tanaera to his world so that she could train Elizabeth.

What kind of person is Tanaera?

Was she really cheerful by heart or was she merely pretending? He couldn't imagine someone like that, who had gone through a life of abandonment and loneliness, having an innocent heart still.

Whether it was genuine or fake, Arnold didn't know.

It was rare for her to get angry but that doesn't mean she always played the carefree type.

She'd ignore Arnold the rest of the day if he upset her or didn't respond to her blatant teasing that got on his nerves, instead annoying Rafaela.

Arnold imagined her cheerful expression with a big smile overlapping her tear-stained face and trembling lips.   

The expression she was making now mimicked the female victims who he had raped and beaten in the past.

Remembering himself before the transmigration left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Still, telling—no—trying to convince himself that he changed and that he wouldn't do any of the things he did before would be pathetic.

It's like he was trying to run away from the things he did.

That expression on Tanaera's face brought all those memories back.

Arnold sighed inwardly and decided to assess the current situation.

Some kind of creature—that had crawled out of his chest—was holding Tanaera up against a wall.

Meanwhile Arnold was holding the Ultra Light Greatsword against Tanaera's neck, ready to cut her down.

He had fallen asleep so he didn't know what happened earlier for things to get like this. Mind control magic exhausts the mind. He embraced that exhaustion because there was nothing he could do to stop Kalda.  

'Sorry, Siana. I failed.'

Arnold held the blades of the chains against Tanaera's neck. A single motion could tear her skin like going through paper with a hot knife.

'No…'

'I have to stop it…'

'I have to resist this…'

Somehow, he doesn't yet know what, he had to do something.

He couldn't accept this situation even if he had no control over it.

'Huh…?'

He suddenly felt movement in his left arm.

It wasn't an involuntary action. It wasn't the body being controlled by Kalda.

No, it was his own action.

But how…?

He couldn't look down at his arm but he could control it, unlike the rest of his body.

His fingers opened and closed.

Had his arm been free all this time? No, did something happen while he was asleep that broke his arm free from Kalda's magic?

An idea came to him in that moment.

He recalled what mind control is and what part of the brain it affects.

There was no time to explain the process, only trust the results.

There's a section in our brains known as the "Frontal Lobe" which controls most functions of the human body. It's responsible for how you move, what you think, and how you remember things. It helps you respond to stimuli with the help of other bodily functions.

Without it, you'd die. If it's damaged then one would become a vegetable. In short, we all need it to survive.

An important point to mention is that mind control affects this exact section of the brain.

Arnold might be an impulsive prick sometimes but he wasn't one to make stupid decisions, unlike that other guy. He assesses situations and responds accordingly. Of course, there are times where he isn't himself like when he gets drunk and bullies others which just contradicts the two points in the end. But that's just how he acts when he wants to relieve himself of the burdens in his life.

In this situation he'll need to embrace Liam's decisions completely.

What would that guy do to escape this situation despite knowing the risks….?

'I have to… shoot… my frontal lobe…'

A voice told him. Was that voice Arnold or Liam?

'Shoot… frontal… lobe…'

Yes, that. That's what he would do.

Either I kill myself or I live long enough to know my stupid plan worked.

He laughed inwardly.

The situation he was in was anything but funny.

He could die.

Arnold had already decided that he was going to do it so there was no point in delaying the matter.

His right arm raised the blades. At the same time, he pointed his finger at his temple.

He didn't know why he could move the injured arm.

Whatever the case, he was grateful. Fate doesn't want him dead yet.

Or was this just fate's twisted way of giving him hope only for him to die?

Is fate—whether it's sentient or not—that sadistic?

I don't care.  

I'll do it!

A beam of energy was shot from his left hand. His mind blacked out for a moment.

It all happened in a second.

He could feel a warm liquid dripping down the left side of his face.  

 "Uhhhhh…. Guuuuuu….. Huuuuu…."

Arnold made unintelligible noises before falling onto his knees.

He couldn't breathe. There was no way for his brain to tell him to.

He could only look at Tanaera and moan like a cave man.

His bladder couldn't hold his urine anymore so he involuntarily stained his pants.

His eyes remained opened, not receiving the protection of blinking.

Drool leaked out of his mouth since he couldn't swallow it on his own.

In that moment, Arnold couldn't think. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who he was.

All he could register in his mind was the woman in front of him who was afraid of him.

Other parts of his brain were also damaged by his stupid decision.

The energy left from the aura blast didn't have an exit to go through so the energy was blasted around in his head.

He couldn't gather enough aura to blast right through.  

Miraculously he was still alive with that wound in his head.

The dragon in his stomach let go of Tanaera.

It turned into smoke and for some reason it went into Arnold's wound.

"Haaaaah!!!" Arnold's mind suddenly woke up from its vegetative state.

It was like he was electrocuted in that moment.

His bodily functions started working again.

"Haaa—"

He screamed as he held onto his head.

The pain was just too unbearable.

Out of instinct, he emptied his magic bag. Some potion bottles fell on the ground, breaking the bottles and wasting the liquids.

Doesn't matter, he can make more.

Without a second thought, he bathed his face in the liquid of two of his potions. The pain from his head ceased a little and his mind opened up a bit.

"Ugh… Fuck… Fuck…" he downed another potion.

What was that thing that came out of his body? Was it Oriel helping him after all? Whatever it was, it helped him get back to normal somehow.

'Hold on…'

He could finally think to himself when the potions took effect. His head was still banging and he could see two Tanaeras in front of him but he finally had free will.

Tanaera stood up slowly and backed away when Arnold tried to reach out to her.

'Dammit, help me up…'

He wanted to say that but couldn't.

Instead he downed another potion.

Tanaera didn't stay to help. Instead, she ran away as fast as she could.  

"….." Arnold was about to fall on his face but someone else helped him up.

"Lord Arnold… You did it… You broke free…" he could hear someone's voice. It sounded muffled as if his ears were clogged with water.

"Ahhh… Victoria… is that you?" he tried reaching up to the person's chest.

He muttered begrudged "too small for it to be her"

"W-Well, it seems he's still with us." The person laughed awkwardly, "The wound in his head needs to be checked. Rika, can you bring the angel who was with the two of them?"

"Hold on, Caerwyn. What will we do now that Lord Arnold broke free from the control?"

"I don't know… Master Sceptim is buying time for us so he probably wants us to help Her Majesty escape."

'Caerwyn…?' Arnold's hazy vision finally cleared.

"Ah, shit…" he held onto his head, "My head's pounding… Did Sceptim defeat Kalda yet?"

"The two of them are fighting in the reception room near the entrance," said the brunette who Caerwyn addressed as "Rika", "They destroyed a large chunk of wall and are causing more damage by the second."

"So that's why I can hear rumbling…"

'So, Sceptim's strongest skill didn't work against Kalda…'

Arnold wobbled a bit as he got up.

"Careful now. Rika, go get the angel. Hurry."

"I'm fine." Arnold shook his head. He took out another potion and drank all its contents.

Six potions gone just like that.

The potions weren't exactly healing him, just making the pain more bearable and keeping him awake.

He has no idea what that creature from before did for him to be alive like this.

"Ugh…" Another pulse echoed through his head, pounding against his skull and sending pain down his spine, "Fuck…"

Caerwyn looked at him worriedly but she didn't bring Rafaela up again.

"What are you planning to do now?" asked Rika.

Arnold looked down at his hands. He opened and closed them.

He could still feel Kalda's power inside of him. Oddly enough the link being severed between the two didn't take the power away.

"I have another idea. The plan from before didn't end her in one blow," he chewed his lower lip, "I'll have to use one of my other skills on her this time. One I should've used at the start of this fight. But…"

He doesn't have enough aura to use his martial skill to its fullest potential. Not just that but in his demon lord state the skill will eat up five times more aura to use its evolution state.

"Gather the other knights," Arnold commanded.

"Understood," Caerwyn didn't even ask why, only nodded obediently. She sat Arnold down on a pile of rubble before running off.

"How does Lord Arnold plan on fighting Kalda in this state?"

"I'm not planning on fighting her. Not at close-range at least," he took off the top pieces of the armor.

'I can finally get out of this heavy armor.'

"I have a skill in mind. It will only work if some of you can transfer your aura to me."

Arnold took out a band-aid wrap from the magic bag and threw some of the healing potion's liquid onto it. He wrapped the band-aid around his head.

His left eye went lazy so there's no need for it to remain open. Which is why he covered it with the cloth.

He can fight fine with one eye.

"Most of us don't use aura, Lord Arnold." Rika said in confusion.

"I know how to convert Ki to aura. I've done it plenty of times in training with my master."

"You can really do that…?" Rika looked at him with widened eyes.

"Yeah."

"Lord Arnold is amazing."

'Normally I would feel proud being praised by such a beautiful woman.'

His head was pounding too much to flirt right now. The situation also didn't allow him that much leeway.

Several sets of footsteps approached the two.

Caerwyn—with about a dozen knights behind her—finally came back.

"I brought whoever was conscious or capable of moving around."

"Are the others safe?"

"Ah, yes. All of the injured were taken to safety while Kalda was distracted by Master Sceptim."

"Alright, good. All of you, strip down to your bare chests."

"""Eh!?!?""""

Several of them blurted out like idiots.

He didn't notice it before but there were more female than male knights in this palace.

Was Sceptim just picky over who he wants to train? That dog.

"Hurry it up." Arnold took off his shirt as well.

His sweaty upper body glistened in the glimmer of the icy white palace.

"…Wow…"

"That's a real man's body…"

He could hear several murmurs but didn't have any interest in what they were saying.

"U-Uhm, why do we need to be naked?" Rika asked in confusion as she hugged her chest.

Caerwyn was already bare-chested during this exchange. She looked at the others like an idiot.

It was like she's asking "Why are you guys still standing around like that?"

'It seems she's quite the obedient type…'

To be honest, that's a good trait to have as a knight.

She 'll follow orders, regardless of what her master desires, like a good soldier should.

"We'll need to be in close proximity—skin on skin—for this to work."

"C-Can't we just hold hands?"

"It'll take too long. Our energy sources originate from here," he pointed at the middle of his stomach, just above his navel, "If we were to use the method Rika described then the energy will need to go up here, around here, and over here. Until it reaches our hands to be shared with others."

In short, it will take longer.

Skin-on-skin(hugging or pressing against a person's back) should be far more effective.

Sebastian and Arnold would get shirtless and sit back-to-back for hours until Arnold could understand the technique.

Caerwyn didn't even hesitate after what Arnold said.

She hugged Arnold from the side, his arm buried in-between her breasts.

"C'mon everyone, we can only rely on Master Sceptim and Lord Arnold! The rest of us are powerless!"

The knights looked at each other for a few seconds.

Arnold could hear multiple sighs before all of them dropped their helmets.

All of them were beautiful woman, as Arnold had suspected.

Somehow he felt relieved that it wasn't sweaty old men all around him flashing their manly chests.   

If he dies today then he would have at least embraced some women(in a non-sexual manner, of course).

Rika hugged Arnold from behind. Her soft boobs were disfigured as she pressed hard against his back.

Soon, multiple women—with their chests bare for him to see—embraced Arnold.

◇◇

"—You're the last one left." Kalda approached Sceptim, "Why are your knights not attacking me? Did they lose their morale when I made that man my slave? They now cower in the shadows and behind rubble."

"…." Sceptim didn't answer her. He just continued focusing on channeling his Ki through his sword.

"I should've killed you along with those people who tried to take Siana away from me. You wanted to forgive men and women who raped, plundered and murdered people. That makes you no different a sinner as them. How goes that saying by our country's pope? Those who is't alloweth injustice art the brethren of evil—wheth'r thee breaketh bread with those folk 'r not."

Sceptim responded a few seconds later.

"Humans shouldn't harm each other solely for the act of vengeance. Violence for the sake of revenge is not justified. This is why laws exist. It maintains order and protects innocent people."

"Is that so? But if justice isn't served then the one seeking revenge should take matters into their own hands. That's what I did when that royal family did nothing to save Siana. They scorned her instead. She held no important position in the family so they were ready to sacrifice her. That's why those people deserved what they got. You agree, don't you?"

"While I don't regret what I did to them, I still think that we shouldn't take the lives of others as we see fit. I was in a state of rage which clouded my judgment. If I had acted calmly then I would've escaped with Her Majesty instead of barricading the entrances and keeping her locked up inside."

"Quite hypocritical considering the fact that your current objective is to kill me."

How dare he spout things like upholding justice and following laws when his current objective was to commit murder?

"You are a threat. What I said doesn't apply to you."

"A threat? So I'm considered an enemy despite offering up my soul to save her?"

"…You know just as much as I do that she's against it. Deep down she still wishes to see the old you again."

"Old me? I don't think I've changed at all. Siana was just blind to not see every part of me for who I am. I've killed and sacrificed for her. And this is the thanks I get? A hit by the only person I've ever loved?"

"This might end with either of us dying but you will never see Her Majesty again. She's currently in the company of an angel. If I know the kind of beings angels are then that woman will flee with Her Majesty using the ring artifact and seek refuge with the disciples of the Sky God."

Kalda looked up. To others it might seem like she's staring at the ceiling. But in actuality she was looking right at Siana. Physical objects are no obstacles for her eyes so she can see right through the walls and floors. Everything consists of molecules and matter, which aren't that difficult for her to see through.

Siana was currently sitting in front of a statue of a certain god with her hands clasped while murmuring something.  

Someone was standing behind her.

An angel, thought Kalda when she noticed the halo above the Elf's head.

Kalda finally responded:

"I killed several demigods during our travels together. Do you think disciples of some god will stop me from getting what I want?"

"You must not know this but each of the disciples have worlds that they use to store all kinds of secrets and knowledge. Only they can decide who may enter it."

Kalda narrowed her eyes.

If that was the case then getting to Siana will become much more difficult.

"…."

"So you've gone silent now, have you? Tell me, why do you think Her Majesty is still here?"

"…."

"She has hope that we will defeat you. Thus, there is no need for her to flee."

She has hope that Kalda will be defeated?

Did Siana completely abandon their relationship?

How dare she…

Kalda gripped her scythe.

'Even after all I'm done for you…'

Normally one would feel sad being abandoned by your once best friend. 

All Kalda could think about was how she'll make sure that Siana never does something like this again.

"I'll think of her punishment after I've killed you."

"Punishment…? Do you hear yourself? What friend… No, what kind of person thinks of punishing his or her partner? It's inhumane. Have you even considered what she thinks of all this?"

"What she thinks about me does not concern me anymore," she continued, "I always hated that voice of yours. I've wanted to cut out your tongue. You whisper sweet nothings to Siana and say things to make her hate me even more."

"The damage was already done. It's your own fault that she'll never accept you."

Kalda went silent.

Her mouth kept opening and closing but she didn't have anything to retort with.

All that talk about not caring what Siana thinks of her was obviously just a front.

After what seemed like a minute of silence…

"…A magical oath is the strongest bond we have. Whether she accepts me or not is irrelevant."

She denied caring about Siana's feelings yet again.

"….."

You'll never change will you, thought Sceptim.

Every ounce of hesitation that he had before was gone.

This woman was nothing but a shell of the Kalda he knew.

As such she must be killed.

Before announcing his skill's name, he whispered under his breath:

-Vord

A small wisp flew next to him when he whispered. It was so small that one wouldn't be able to see it unless you look really closely.

"[Sunshine Cross]!" Sceptim unsheathed his sword with lightning speed. A deafening screech echoed from the friction caused by his Ki hitting the fabric of his sheath. A golden light travelled in a horizontal arc.

Kalda's eyes widened seeing how fast Sceptim got all of a sudden.

He was standing mere meters away from her just a second ago! How did he close the distance so fast that even she couldn't see? He travelled in a straight line without even moving his legs at all!

Did he finally catch up to her?

Kalda's eyes followed the arc of light left behind by his longsword. While fast, she could somehow predict the trajectory within those two seconds.

She took out two daggers and coated it in her energy. She held the daggers by the area(her neck) that Sceptim's sword was aiming for.

It wasn't even a second later that her arms—along with the dagger in her hands—were send flying when a golden horizontal strike severed them. 

Kalda jumped back.

"Tch."

'Why couldn't the daggers decay his sword? I'm sure his blade touched the daggers.'

She found it strange but didn't think too deeply about it.

Kalda tried to heal her injuries with her Soul Essence. It would only take a second for her to be back in fighting shape.

"Huh?" the energy wasn't reacting at all.

Her arms were still cut in half and weren't healing as what she wanted.

Kalda noticed that one of her arms were missing. She was certain that both of them fell in the exact same spot.

She wanted to reattach her arms but didn't have enough time to find the other, lest she gets struck down by Sceptim.  

"…Is this your doing?"

But when? When did Sceptim break her healing factor?

Sceptim merely smirked.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. It was not me who broke your healing factor. Even if I wanted to, I'd have no idea on how to go about it."

Then… Arnold?

She underestimated him. No, she underestimated both Sceptim and Arnold.  

He broke her healing factor with that bizarre skill he used before. Kalda didn't think much of it before since she could heal all the injuries she sustained earlier.

But now she couldn't heal herself at all.

The light element from Arnold's skill was so powerful that it burned her healing factor. Her healing factor will take some time to recover, unless she ascends to her third Soul Embrace.

No, not yet. She didn't have enough energy yet to use the full capabilities of that form.

But wait, is it even necessary to wait until she gathered enough energy for it? The man she was fighting was no demigod or a god for that matter.

He was simply a human and humans have limits.

That being the case… she shouldn't act arrogant in this situation.

At first, she thought he was the same weak knight that couldn't hold a candle to her. This is why she never feared him. Of course, she always studied his movements whenever he did mandatory training with the other knights.

Somehow he knew what she was doing so he hid all his skills so that she would have no way of knowing how to counter him. While her soul power is indeed a force to be reckoned with, it can't always protect her. Even her healing factor remains vulnerable.

The only other person to break her healing factor was that naked red-haired woman with the knight helm she met on the 100th floor of the dungeon.

Coincidentally enough, that woman also had a bunch of light element skills.

No matter. Her healing factor will be fully healed soon.

Right now her biggest concern is Sceptim and his Ki.

Given the circumstances, one could say that speed is her biggest weakness right now. Her soul power can't destroy atoms and molecules fast enough to disintegrate something that's faster than she is. Her healing factor being useless makes things even worse.

She couldn't disintegrate his energy fast enough and she couldn't heal herself. This was probably the second time that she had truly struggled in a fight. 

If she had known Sceptim was in possession of such a powerful and deadly skill then she wouldn't have left her body so exposed. While she couldn't use the healing factor, she could still surround her body in Soul Essence to demotivate Sceptim from attacking so confidently.

Within two seconds of contemplating and ruminating what she had to do, Kalda decided to take a risk.

Long blades came out of Kalda's arms. The blades were made out of pure energy.

"I'll have to kill you before you have a chance to use that skill again."

Sceptim only managed to use the skill because she wasted time talking to him.

Judging by his stance before using the skill, he had to sheathe the sword and focus all his Ki into the sheathed blade.

Kalda charged at Sceptim.

She swung her right arm as she would her scythe.

Sceptim managed to block one but Kalda span around and swung the other, tearing off a chunk of his armour.

He skilfully avoided her left arm going in for a stab.

"Humph!"

The monster kicked upwards, aiming for Kalda's chin, but she managed to block its kick with her leg.

Sceptim pierced his longsword through the air, aiming to stab Kalda while she was close to him. She moved her neck to the side, barely evading his strike.

She kicked him in the head, which sent him flying into the wall behind him.

The kick was so powerful that the wall collapsed completely.

Sceptim rolled like a ball into the reception room.

Kalda chased after him.

She kicked him against another wall before he could land properly.

"—kh!" Sceptim spat out a thick clot of blood before getting up from under the rubble.

Kalda has the advantage when it comes to raw strength but she can't fight properly in her current state.

Her second Soul Embrace form is growing weaker by the second.

If Sceptim used another skill then she would have no choice but to ascend to her third essence form.

Were this at the start of the fight then she would've been much too prideful to go all out against someone so much weaker than her.

"…I will be honest with you, Kalda." Sceptim spoke, "I cannot use that skill from before again. It took too much of my Ki and I've been trying to gather more in hopes of using it again. However, I'm contemplating between my strongest skill and the other skills in my arsenal. Should I risk fighting a battle of attrition until I'm ready for [Sunshine Cross] or do I use my weaker skills to chip away at you?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

The two of them were out to kill each other. Why would he blatantly admit to being too weak to use the skill when he knows that Kalda was trying to prevent him from using it again?

"I only want to let you know that I'm not planning anything."

Sceptim sheathed his sword and relaxed his posture.

"You've taken control of Lord Arnold. I know that I cannot defeat you both. It's either one or the other. However, I'll die before I can finish you both. Normally I would've placed my trust in my knights but I understand that they are much too weak to sin against either of you. Their numbers were dwindled down so there's not enough of them to use numbers against you."  

"So, you realized that this fight is meaningless." Kalda approached the relaxed Sceptim.

He looked down at her and she looked up at him.

"No, that is not at all what I am getting at."

Kalda frowned.

"What do you—"

Her surroundings suddenly changed.

She was no standing across the reception room.

Strange. Wasn't she just standing near Sceptim?

Kalda turned around but—

"—Uk!?"

Sceptim pierced Kalda's chest with his longsword.

How!?

"!!!" Kalda looked down at the sword that had gone right through her chest.

"W-What?"

"Vord has been successful." Sceptim, who was pushing the sword deeper into Kalda's chest, remarked.

Kalda coughed up blood, "V…Vord?"

"It's the name of a Great Rune that gives its wielder the power of illusion using their own energy. I meant it when I said that I didn't have enough power for another [Sunshine Cross]."

Sceptim took out something from his magic bag.

It was Kalda's arm. There were strange runic patterns on the palm of her hand.

The runes gathered into a single ball of light.

A wisp…?

"W… What…"

"Your energy is linked to your soul power no matter which body part is chopped off. In this arm resides the same energy. The Rune I used requires its wielder to place it on one's target's body. It doesn't matter where. That's exactly what I did. I squeezed what little Ki I had left to land this final blow. Ah, my sword is beginning to crack."

One more thing, said Sceptim.

"While I can't place my trust in my knights to slay you, there is someone else who has my undying trust and loyalty."

Sceptim pulled out his sword. The blade broke and fell onto the floor.

Kalda was right.

His swordsmanship is faster than her soul power's ability.

'So this is what you've been doing all these years. You didn't train yourself to get stronger than me, to finally kill me with an overwhelming advantage in power. You trained your sword to be faster than my soul power… And succeeded…'

That's exactly what makes him a master of the sword.

Kalda's vision grew hazy.

A blue light came from behind Sceptim.

He stepped out of the way.

"—I leave this to you, Lord Arnold."

!!!!

Arnold was standing there at the hole that Kalda made when she kicked Sceptim into the reception room.

How did he break the mind control?

How did he have that much aura after all this time?

Kalda couldn't worry about that right now.

She has to use her Third Soul Essence now or else she's going to be the one to die!

"—Undying trust and loyalty, huh? And what did I do to deserve that?"

Blue aura, much more intense than it had ever been before, was surrounding his body.

The ultra greatsword in his hand slowly turned into particles and faded away, leaving a sword with a blue blade in its place.

He pointed that sword at Kalda.

He said the following words calmly:

"[Storm of The Water Dragon]."

A roar so majestic that it echoed in the pits of Kalda's stomach, resounded.