Ultimate Skill

[Sanctuary of the Dark Fang]

A territory-type skill that had rarely appeared until now. In the game, it caused overall condition degradation and very mild damage over time, while simultaneously increasing Denarua's attack and movement speed. Although it wasn't as flashy as other ultimate skills that could change the course of battle with one massive strike, when used by a naturally high-statted dual swordswoman, it was potent enough.

“Khaak!”

Denarua dodged Arsil's punch and retaliated with a slap across her cheek with the hand holding her sword. Arsil was sent flying, her mouth bleeding, but the shield knight protected her.

“Arsil! Don’t engage at the front! Focus on healing the party from behind.”

“Damn it!”

Spitting out blood, Arsil immediately used her holy power to heal herself. Though she often recklessly charged forward, her healing abilities were second to none.

“Buffs, please!”

“I already did! The reason it feels so weak is because of that damn barrier’s debuffs!”

Despite applying buffs, all their stats had slightly decreased. The Hero Party had never faced an enemy like this before. Even the Demon Lord had no debuff skills, relying solely on brute strength. Naidrion fired a volley of three arrows. The dual swordswoman effortlessly deflected them and redirected them toward Lucy, who was charging at her.

“Haa!”

Lucy dodged the arrows by lowering her stance, swinging her sword at Denarua. But Denarua blocked with one sword and countered with the other, thrusting at Lucy. The dual swords allowed her to attack and defend simultaneously, highlighting their advantage.

Lucy quickly ducked to avoid the strike.

[Estellian Secret Art: Heavenly Strike]

However, since Denarua was using one hand for both offense and defense, her attacks were less powerful than those executed with both hands. Lucy attempted another downward strike, which had previously pressured the shield knight. But Denarua crossed her swords to block it and immediately kicked Lucy in the abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Lucy was sent flying but gritted her teeth and held on. She quickly regained her footing, but Reinpolt shouted at her.

“Luciena! We must work together! Prepare a powerful skill like you usually do! We’ll buy you time!”

However, as soon as Reinpolt finished speaking, he had to block another furious downward strike from Lucy.

Clang!

“You want me to prepare a big skill so you can cut off my head this time?!”

“Anger won’t solve anything! The porter is still bleeding out. If we leave him like this, he’ll die!”

“I won’t let that happen!”

Lucy knew this too. A glance showed that the pool of blood around Lin had grown larger. She was terrified. Afraid of losing him.

[Use me. I’ll lend you my strength.]

“Shut up! Where are you even talking from when I can’t see you?!”

[Waiting outside the barrier~. Come on, just nod once. Without me, you can’t even deal proper damage to that demon.]

“And what if I end up fighting the demon alone? They might take Lin away while I’m busy.”

As Lucy was forced into a conversation with the Demon Sword that was digging into her mind with its telepathic messages, Tigria completed her magical incantation.

“Constraint.”

It wasn’t a simple capture spell. The first part of the incantation quickly established and tightened the constraints.

“Extraction, transmission, removal, duplication, freezing!”

As the magic circle activated beneath Denarua, freezing cold began to spread rapidly. The lower half of Denarua’s body was encased in ice, and as it crept up past her navel, she effortlessly broke free from the frozen state with a burst of strength.

The dual swordswoman dashed forward, her movements enhanced by the speed-boosting effects of her barrier. Even Lucy would have had difficulty keeping up with her if she let her guard down.

“Hardening…”

“Too slow.”

Naturally, Naidrion and Arsil couldn’t keep up with Denarua’s speed. The vampire seized Tigria from behind and sank her fangs into her neck.

“Ahhh!”

The sound of blood being drained echoed chillingly within the barrier. After taking a large gulp, Denarua grimaced and spat the blood onto the ground.

“Ptui, what have you been doing all this time? All I feel is empty curiosity. You’re just like that woman.”

“Insulting… I’m not like her!”

“That woman was also full of nothing but curiosity. Then she discovered affection, and in trying to verify if it was real, she brought disaster to the world!”

“That’s why… I don’t act on my own, I only observe and study…”

“Is that so?”

Denarua sneered, mocking the mage.

“Well, a puppet who’s never been loved can’t possibly act on their own.”

“Absolutely not!”

Furious, the mage tried to channel her magic, but Denarua swiftly slashed her from shoulder to abdomen.

“Aah…!”

“Tigria!”

Seeing the mage collapse, Naidrion nocked another arrow, but Denarua closed the distance in an instant, stabbing him in the gut before slashing Arsil as well.

“Damn it!”

The shield knight attempted a tackle, but the fact that Denarua had gotten so close to Naidrion and Arsil meant she had already bypassed his shield and infiltrated the rear line.

“It’s useless.”

Slash

The moment the shield knight turned around, his shield and upper body were sliced in half with terrifying ease. The entire Hero Party was incapacitated.

“All that’s left is you, Hero.”

“Grrr!”

Lucy tried to ready herself, but the Demon Sword’s incessant whispers made it hard to focus on her opponent.

[They’re all down! What will you do?! What will you do?!]

“Shut up!”

[Come on, admit it. That demon is the strongest among the Demon Sword Party. You can’t beat her as you are now.]

“If you’d just shut up, I could handle this!”

[Ahahaha.]

This is taking longer than I thought.

Meanwhile, Denarua was checking Lin’s condition. Even though the Hero was the last one standing, she didn’t seem to be concerned about it at all. The Demon Sword decided to take advantage of this complacency.

[By the way, if Lin dies like this, he’ll turn into a demon.]

“That’s nonsense!”

[That’s what happens when someone dies after being tainted by demonic energy. You know those weak demons we’ve fought so far? Most of them were made that way.]

While they continued their conversation, Denarua gently stroked Lin’s mask.

“Our brother and sister sacrificed themselves for humanity. But they couldn’t protect the ones they loved.”

What’s the point of peace if you aren’t happy yourself?

In the end, it wasn’t the noble brother or the kind sister who survived, but herself, twisted by the experiment that turned her into a vampire.

“The illusionist said we needed to leave you with the Hero for a while for the plan, but I disagree.”

Denarua was also running out of time. She intended to turn Lin into a demon and take him away.

“You, who saved us from what felt like an eternity of unending hell… how could I not fall for you?”

She firmly believed that Lin would fill the void within her.

“I may be a bit harsh and prickly, but don’t hate me for it.”

With that, Denarua attempted to remove Lin’s mask. But just as her hand touched the mask, a cold voice called out from behind her.

“Hey.”

“A pitiful Hero without comrades or love. I’m letting you go out of pity, so take the hint and leave.”

“No, I don’t know about all that.”

Lucy raised her sword.

“What do you think you’re doing touching my Lin?”

It wasn’t the red sword but a dull, dark one. Denarua recognized it instantly.

“The Demon Sword! You traitorous wretch! Are you siding with the Hero?!”

[Oh, sorry about that. I was originally a Holy Sword, after all, and besides…]

Abyss’s mischievous voice echoed in Lucy’s mind.

[I’m really looking forward to the regret I’ll witness from this side. It’s going to be top-notch, premium-grade regret. Hahaha!]

“You damn hedonist!”

At that moment, for the first time in a long while, the dark Demon Sword began to glow faintly.

[Hey, Hero? You’re purifying my energy to use me, so I won’t deal as much holy damage as the Second Hnoni, okay? Be careful, got it?]

“This will be enough.”

[Come on, it’s my comeback stage, and this is all you’re going to do?]

As the Demon Sword absorbed Lucy’s power, it took on a brilliant white hue, radiating a dazzling red-gold light.

Wham!

The processed holy power shook the heavens and earth, dispelling Denarua’s barrier with light.

With a sound like shattering glass, the crimson barrier broke apart, revealing the coastline once again.

“There it is! The light!”

“Is that a Holy Sword? Is that woman the Hero?!”

People from across the archipelago had gathered. Gendry, who had been charging at Lin, the guards, and even Gyalnal, who had rushed over with her escorts, all stared at Lucy as she raised the Holy Sword.

“Even so, you won’t be able to defeat me! I am Denarua, the strongest of the Demon Sword Party!”

But despite her words, Denarua retreated as far as possible, fearing for Lin’s safety. This gave Lucy the chance to swing the makeshift Holy Sword without holding back.

[Estellian Secret Art]

“Sever and Split!!”

The radiant red-gold sword energy surged towards Denarua, threatening to engulf her. It was so wide and thick that dodging it was impossible.

‘This is dangerous!’

Realizing she had no choice, Denarua braced herself to take the hit. But at that moment,

“Here to save the day~.”

The spear-wielding member of the Demon Sword Party appeared, scooping up Denarua and leaping away with agility that rivaled Lucy’s.

Crash!

The sword energy passed harmlessly by, crashing somewhere along the coastline with a deafening boom.

“That bastard!”

Arsil, who had barely managed to heal herself with holy power, was stunned. One by one, the Hero Party members, also healed by Arsil, began to regain consciousness.

“Well, nice to meet you all. We are the Demon Sword Party. This is our first time meeting party to party.”

The spearman and dual swordswoman landed on a large rock where the illusionist, Adora, was already standing.

“Adora!”

Lucy immediately recognized the illusionist and tightened her grip on her sword, but Adora only sneered at her.

“Are you planning to repeat the same mistake as last time? Your poor porter is dying right now, you know?”

“If that man dies, it’ll be full-scale war next time. I’ll skewer you all.”

“Hmph, he would have become one of us if you’d left him alone.”

Denarua grumbled, but Adora whispered to her.

“Do you intend to turn Lin into some lowly demon?”

“…It’s too painful to put him through the process of becoming like us.”

“He’s already suffered enough. You know why he ended up this way, so why are you being stubborn?”

“…Fine.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Adora smiled sweetly and then turned back to the Hero Party.

“It’s a shame, but we’re not at full strength either. And it looks like all of you are about ready to collapse, so let’s leave it at that for now. Oh! And I’ll lift the illusion over the archipelago as well.”

Snap!

Adora snapped her fingers, releasing the hypnosis spell over the entire Zramun Archipelago. The island's residents, except Gendry, began to recall the memories they had forgotten, leading to widespread confusion.

“What? Why is Lady Gyalnal in a maid’s outfit?”

Gyalnal was just as confused.

“Gendry, what’s going on here…?”

“Gyalnal! Oh, finally!”

The coastline had descended into chaos as civilians and guards alike were in disarray. The Hero Party, along with Lucy, lost their will to fight.

“We’ll be taking our leave now. But next time we meet, prepare to be annihilated.”

With a wave of her hand, Adora signaled the Demon Sword Party’s retreat. The members turned into black smoke and drifted across the sea, vanishing from sight. But no one from the Hero Party could ignore the concern for Lin.

“The demons are retreating!”

“Long live the Hero Party!”

“Long live the Hero!”

As cheers erupted for the Hero Party's pyrrhic victory, Lucy clenched her teeth in frustration.

The sun was rising over the coastline where the battle had raged throughout the night. By the time the Hero Party and Lucy had managed to stabilize Lin, the sun was already high in the sky.