Spirito’s earnest voice stopped what Qualia was doing.
Both her voice and the eyes Qualia saw for a moment were just that warm and strong, like they were when she was encouraging him near Ina earlier.
“You are wrong. There is a big risk that your vital activities will cease. That request cannot be accepted.”
“So what? Your master commands you to focus on the enemy in front of you.”
As she said that, Krengel’s large body got fatally close. The blade began to shine like the photon weapons, clearly housing enough scorching heat to melt its opponent.
“Do you know why I’m called the swordsman killer?”
Spirito held up her sword, but it was instantly melted.
“Everyone knows swordsmen can’t do a thing once they lose their blades.”
The magic stone Rei released a light that was very similar to a beam.
A blade with its power would instantly destroy any sword it crossed, no matter how good it was.
“Spirito!!”
“…Uu…”
A straight line was burned into Spirito’s stomach.
Her clothes were burned, and underneath it, there was a shallow slash. She escaped with only this much damage thanks to using Shukuchi just before it happened, but without that quick decision, she would have certainly lost everything from the stomach down.
But the fact that the cut didn’t reach her organs, did not mean her wound was not bad.
The scorched slash was deep enough for a regular person to not get up.
Even worse, she lost her sword, leaving her empty handed.
The first person to react to this certain death scenario was Lobelia.
“Spirito! Run!”
But she did not, and a vulgar smile formed on Krengel’s face.
“Yes, it’s this moment. The moment the life of a swordsman who has devoted herself to training ends. And such a fleeting life of a young girl too… Ah, I’m trembling.”
Krengel then cruelly held up his sword.
“I’m disappointed. I was expecting more from Holy Sword. You’re just a little girl with some talent.”
“Spirito!”
“Eliminating.”
The sword was swung down towards Spirito’s neck.
It seemed time stopped for a moment, as Lobelia screamed about her sister’s death.
Qualia pointed a photon weapon at Krengel, about to pull the trigger, despite it going against what his master said.
“…”
“Changing prediction. Detecting Spirito’s safety.”
The small body of the one meter and forty centimeters tall girl jumped close to Krengel.
The magic device would cut her cleanly in two if it hit, but she passed under it, and hit his stomach with a knifehand strike.
“Steel Blade Stoker.”
Krengel’s big body was blown back.
“K-knife hand…!?”
He stared at her right hand, again, as if time had stopped.
The hand that was in the shape of a blade was painted with blood.
Steel Blade Stoker.
It used no magic energy or skills. It was simply a spear hand that used pure grip strength to pierce the opponent’s body.
“Who said I can only use a sword? I use my fists too.”
The wound was not fatal, because Krengel managed to pull his body back just before it hit, but it was still a considerable wound.
Blood was spread, as if sharing the pain with Spirito.
“For a swordsman… What a terrible end. You scumbag…!”
“Don’t just keep saying whatever you want, you demon that takes pleasure in killing. You keep going on about swordsmen, but I didn’t care about that from the start. I just wanted to be someone who protects others, and the sword just happens to be a weapon that suits me.”
She held up the handle with no blade, and glared at the sword that was reinforced to its limit through a magic stone.
“You can use an illegally modified weapon if you want, but I’m not losing to any magic device or ghost or whatever. Lately I’ve had more people to protect. There’s someone behind me I want to protect, and a swordsman I want to believe in me by my side!”
“Spirito… Are you all right?”
Qualia had never seen her that flustered. Lobelia stood firm when her life was threatened, but somehow felt like a helpless girl.
There was no error detected by Qualia about this change. That was what family was like.
It was the same kind of anxiety he felt over Ina.
“I’m all right. Sorry for worrying you. But I’m not dying until you create your peaceful world…”
Spirito declared strongly, as if to wipe away that uncertainty.
She would not die. That determination was also pointed at herself.
“So, Qualia.”
The blonde girl with blue eyes turned to Qualia, who had stopped his calculations.
“You’ve been regretting not being able to protect Ina, right? That’s why you want to fight alone.”
Spirito wanted to fight by herself, to keep Qualia from fighting alone.
And she was starting her lecture, as Qualia’s master.
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