Chapter 8 — I Feel Like the Definition of “Swordsman” Is Being Stretched Too Much!

The passage again continued onwards in a straight line for some time. Before long, the stones ahead changed back to gray, signifying that they were returning to a battle zone. Again, most of the traps had been triggered already, the bodies of their numerous victims scattered across the floor. There didn't seem to be much danger at this point, but with Lynel's luck, there was always the chance that something would go wrong.

With that in mind, Yogiri made a point to secretly sense and destroy the traps ahead of time. Anything that posed a danger to him was visible to his power, which in turn made it "killable."

"Are you sure you're okay with only three of those things left?" Tomochika pressed Lynel, still concerned for his well-being. If he were to experience three more fatal injuries, he would have no way left to restore himself.

"Yeah, at midnight I'll be getting another apology message. Depending on how unlucky the day was, I'll get more star crystals. So as long as I can last until midnight, I'll be fine."

"That doesn't sound fine at all! With the way things have been going, there's no way you'll make it to midnight!"

At the end of the hall, there was a door blocking their way. On it was written "Only one may leave." Tomochika still couldn't read the local language, so Yogiri read it aloud for her. He had more or less mastered the language by now thanks to having read through the dictionary they had received from the concierge in Quenza.

"I can feel magical energy coming from this door. This must be part of the trial. I suppose we're meant to abide by these words," Rick guessed.

"That's easy, then. If only one person can leave, we send one person through at a time," Lynel replied.

"Do you think it'll really be that easy?" the swordsman wondered.

"I'll go first. I have the Apology Stones, so even if something tries to kill me, I'll be all right!"

"I don't know about that. You only have three left," warned Tomochika.

"It's fine. You even strapped one to my hand, remember?" he replied, lifting his left hand with the stone still wrapped up in it.

"To be honest, your confidence is making me more and more certain that something will go wrong..." Tomochika couldn't suppress a very bad feeling that was welling up in her chest. Even if he was able to heal himself with the star crystals, Lynel seemed far too cavalier given their current situation, to the point where it almost felt like he had a death wish.

"Really, just leave it to me! At worst, it'll be less trouble for all of you if I die."

He opened the door, revealing a corridor that turned sharply to the right. With a deep breath, he confidently stepped through and the door automatically closed behind him.

"Sending in one person at a time is fine, but if there are multiple entrances to this place, how do we know when he's out? And what if once Lynel completes the trial, none of us can proceed? Is it just me or are there several holes in this plan?"

Before Yogiri could finish voicing his concerns, it became clear that his questions were all for nothing. Lynel had barely gone before they heard him screaming. Naturally, things had not gone as well as he'd hoped. Once again, they were faced with proof of Lynel's inescapable ill fortune.

"Let's go."

"Sending in one person at a time was totally pointless, wasn't it?"

"It feels like we sent him straight into danger all on his own."

Throwing the door open, the group entered the corridor together. Turning right, they found that the passageway soon made another turn, this time to the left, before opening up into a larger room.

The smell of blood filled the air. Pieces of mutilated corpses were scattered about — and not just one or two people, either. Dozens of bodies lay on the floor, sliced apart in a way that made any hope of saving them impossible.

"Lynel?!" Tomochika called out, looking around the room frantically.

The first thing they saw upon entering was their friend's left arm lying on the ground. With Tomochika's cord still wrapped around the hand, there was no doubt about its owner's identity.

It didn't take long to find the rest of Lynel writhing on the ground a bit farther inside. He had lost only his left arm, which could be considered lucky by some. Of course, since that particular arm had held the star crystal, his luck swung right back around to being absolutely god-awful.

Rick drew his sword, advancing into the room. A woman stood in the center — the one Rick had called Teresa of the Thunderous Blade. The scene of carnage before them made it quite clear why her qualifications as a Knight had been revoked.

"Did you do this?" Rick asked, an uncharacteristic nervousness to his words.

"Of course. But can you really blame me? You know what the mechanism of this room is, right? Once two people are inside, the doors lock. When only one person is left, the doors open. In short, one has to die so that the other can escape."

"That may be the case, but you were obviously in this room alone earlier. You would have been able to leave at any time."

"Sure. The trial for this room is over now. I can leave whenever I want, and it looks like the mechanism only activates once, so even if I left, the rest of you could walk through with no problem at all."

"In other words, trial or not, you have no intention of letting us pass?"

The woman was standing in front of the exit, making her intentions quite plain.

"That guy in black said as much earlier, and I don't think he was far off. In the end, Knights are characterized by their strength. The Swordmaster shut him down earlier, but don't you think the old man would actually agree?"

The man that she was referring to must have been the asshole who had asked if he would automatically pass by killing everyone else. Teresa's intentions were clearly along the same lines — she planned to cut down as many rivals as possible early on.

"If strength was the only requirement, your qualifications wouldn't have been revoked! Do you not understand that?!"

The woman stood her ground casually as Rick faced her, his guard up. There was an incredible difference in their postures. Rick's stance displayed his fear, his choice to hold his sword in front of him an obvious attempt to place an obstacle between them. At least that's how it looked to Tomochika.

"Miss Dannoura, this is bad," he murmured. "Quite likely the worst possible situation."

"You said she's really strong, right?" Tomochika remembered that Rick had pointed her out as someone they should never try to fight.

"That is correct," Teresa answered with a smile. "I don't know how much it means coming from me, but without a Swordmaster or a swordsman of the Absolute Blade rank, I don't believe it is possible to defeat me."

Despite the fact they had been whispering, she once again had no trouble overhearing their conversation. Given that, they couldn't even discuss the option of running away.

"I've already taken measures to block the entrance," she continued, "so there's no escape for you either."

It was almost like she was reading Tomochika's thoughts. Turning around, Tomochika saw that the entrance they had used to get into the room was, in fact, now blocked. She scanned the chamber carefully. "Rick, please be careful! There are thin wires set up everywhere!"

Her superior eyesight was coming in handy even here. Wires were snaking across the entire room, so thin that they were practically invisible.

"Yes, I am aware of her techniques. She uses a sword in the form of those thin threads."

"Isn't the definition of 'swordsman' being stretched a bit too much here?" A title like "thread user" would be far more appropriate, Tomochika thought.

"It would be a nuisance for the Swordmaster if all of the weaklings made it through. So if you want to get past this room, you'll have to prove that you have the resourcefulness to survive my attacks."

The air itself seemed to shake as Rick suddenly swung his blade upwards, a shrill metallic sound filling the chamber. An ordinary person would have no idea what had just happened, but Tomochika could see Rick deflecting the incoming wire the moment it struck.

Rick's blade whirled around him. Sounds of clanging metal rang out one after another, with barely a pause between them. He continued to deflect the wires that were coming at him from every direction, but either due to their construction or Teresa's sheer level of skill, his blade failed to cut through them. The best he could do was deflect them, sending them harmlessly off course before they came back at him from a different direction.

"I'll do what I can to hold her here! When you get an opening, head for the exit!" As he continued to protect himself from the high-speed wire attacks, the strain in Rick's voice was clear.

But Tomochika could tell that Teresa was merely toying with him. As if the evil woman were embracing the role of examiner rather than applicant, she was throwing out attacks that Rick could only just handle. He must have realized he was on very thin ice. Teresa fully understood the limits of his ability and was forcing him to use every last ounce of skill that he possessed. If he let up for a moment, or made a single mistake, it would be over before they could blink.

But with a single word, Yogiri brought the fight to a close.

"Die."

Rick's next attack cut cleanly through one of the wires as Teresa collapsed to the floor without a sound.

"Getting caught up in an exciting fight is all well and good, but come on, let's not forget about Lynel," Yogiri reminded them, his tone somewhat irritated.

"Oh, that's right! Lynel, are you okay?!" Tomochika ran over to their fallen friend's side.

Meanwhile, Rick could only stare at Teresa's unmoving body.

"What on earth...?"

The silver swordsman stood frozen in shock.