Story of The Ancient Demon King!-Chapter 73.2

— PART – 2 —

[TLN : I originally wanted to go with using Mr and Mrs, but have decided against that and will use affixes like -sama. I am sorry if this is an inconvenience, but it makes the translation flow much better.]

“Yes. This is another technique Erika-sama must learn.”

I don’t care if you’re lazy anymore, I’ll teach you to be better than Hakuto.

It’s very apt too, because I’ve just recently taught Princess Erika how to use magic.

“Wow! Check this out… Hakuto.”

“…Your strength is all thanks to Glass, Princess Erika. Don’t you dare brag about it because it makes me mad.”

“Oh? What are you gonna do about it?” The desperado princess snapped while putting her hand on her sword.

“I think this is a good opportunity to mention this. I’m not very smart.” Hakuto said sheepishly.

“Pfft. I didn’t think you’d want to admit it, but yes, you are an idiot. You don’t have to mention it though, I’ve known about it for a long time.”

“Stop laughing! Don’t make fun of me! This is where it all begins!” He held his aching hand and continued to look at Princess Erika as he propped himself up onto his knees.

“I’m not the smartest person in the world. However, there is one thing that I am very particular about. For a long time now, it’s been on my mind.”

Princess Erika looked condescendingly into the serious eyes of Hakuto with her arms folded.

“…Erika, you’re the only one with the strength to beat me. The look on your face when you get carried away is… something more sickening than you think.” Hakuto, showing his childishly competitive face, said provocatively.

It may be frustrating to lose to a childhood friend, but that’s a rather overly emotional thing to say.

“Get up, boy.”

“Stand up Hakuto!” Oswald couldn’t help but urge Hakuto, noticing Princess Erika’s straight-faced, uncharacteristic tone.

“I’ll dye your gray hair red. I’ll dye it red… with your blood.” Princess Erika announced with a murderous tone. It looked like she was about to commit a Tsujigiri as she cut the edge of her sword.

Hakuto, too, was clad in a white aura as he assumed a fighting stance.

“Huh… It seems that the magic manipulation method is relatively easy to learn for Hakuto-sama, who has a large amount of magical energy.”

I didn’t want to deal with their tantrum, so I ignored it and approached a nearby tree. I should have taught him more about failure. I can’t blame Hakuto, huh? The Demon King has failed.

“Erika-sama. Would you please follow the gait I have taught you so far?”

“Oh? I have no choice then. You were saved, Hakuto. I can’t resist my teacher.” Princess Erika lied flatly while taking a different sword stance.

“…”

“That’s…” Oswald tilted his head at Erika’s unremarkable stance, but Hakuto seemed to recognize it.

“Aah!”

The ground exploded.

With an instantaneous burst of acceleration, Princess Erika’s figure moved next to mine.

“What?!”

“This is one of the three magic manipulation techniques used by the Black Knight. It’s called 『Split』. By manipulating the magic energy so that it explodes, it can be used potently for multiple methods of attacks.” I gave it a suitable name, and then instructed Princess Erika to follow suit.

“Here’s the second method of manipulating magic power. It’s called “Flash”. By manipulating magic energy like a sharp torrent, it becomes a blade that can cut through anything with a single slash. This is the one I recommend to you, Hakuto-sama. Erika-sama, can you please demonstrate?”

“Okay. I might still screw up, though.”

The hesitant Princess Erika pulled out her sword and poured a thin layer of magical energy along the blade.

“Whew…”　

The blade reaped the tree in front of me with a horizontal slash, at a speed that was neither fast nor slow.

“Well done, Erika-sama.”

The tree shifted and fell.

“Did you actually manage to cut down the tree, that too with such speed…?”

“…Of course. The magical energy passed through the sword was what allowed such a thing to occur.” She explained to Hakuto and Oswald, who marveled at Princess Erika’s skills.

“The last one… is very difficult to use in a real battle. In order to use it effectively in actual combat, you need to be able to manipulate magical energy at the right speed and have precise control over it so that it will grab the target. So, why don’t you practice either of these first? Practising these should be able to get you closer to Black Knight-sama’s level.”

‘I mean… how could you know that, Glass-san? You’re a servant…”, Hakuto asked.

“It’s because I am a first-rate servant.”

“…Oh. Right.”

　♢♢♢

Hakuto stood in front of a cloth draped from a tree branch, holding a dagger in his hand.

“…”

Gently, Hakuto put his magic soaked blade on the cloth.

Close your eyes, breathe, and sharpen your mind.

A cool breeze passed by…

“–Take that!”

“One foot in front of the other!”

“What the hell?”

Glass hit back Erika’s powerful throw with a bat carved out of wood.

Glass’s homemade balls, launched with a shrill sound, hit the surrounding trees and reflected one after another…

“…Ouch! Ow, that was hot!”

He had accidentally grazed the cheek of Hakuto, who was knee deep in training.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. It was an accident. Can you pick up the ball while you’re at it?”

A trembling Hakuto picked up the ball buried by his feet.

“…Hey! What do you mean by ‘an accident’? Go look up the word ‘accident’ in the dictionary! Is it because you didn’t get hurt that you shrugged this matter off so lightly? All right, then, let’s fight!”

“Wow, he’s really pissed…”

“Of course I’m pissed! If you’d been a little more off, you’d have taken my head off! If you’re going to continue playing, go somewhere else!”

“Eh? Come on! The first inning has only barely started.” He glanced at the score sheet on the ground, noticing Glass who was adding a point to the score sheet with just one hand.

Hakuto was even more upset with Erika.

“I didn’t hear anything about multiple innings! Oswald, did you?”

“Huh?” Oswald, who had been training with his bow, faltered at the sudden call.

“Hakuto-sama, is it really necessary to disrupt Oswald-sama’s concentration?”

“What about the fact that you injured me? How do you feel about that?” He points to the scar on his cheek and reaches a much higher state of anger.

“Don’t pour out your jealousy at us just because you can’t hit even a single ball yet.” Erika said while walking towards Hakuto.

Hakuto wrapped a thin layer of magic onto his hand, slowly sliding his blade into the draped cloth.

“…pfft.”, Erika suppressed her laughter.

“Bat.”, Hakuto demanded.

The cloth was cut cleanly, the cut-off pieces fluttering down.

“Glass’s record is five strips of cloth in a row. Besides, I’m done for the day. If you want to be included, you’ll have to show me your skills, little boy.”

“We’re the same age! Also, I’m not trying to be a part of your group!”

While Erika and Hakuto were arguing, Glass approached Oswald. I saw several arrows piercing the exact same spot on the tree. The sheer magnificence of the feat made me feel awe. It seemed like he was also practising one of the black knight’s techniques, putting magical energy only in the tip of the arrow.

“You have great strength.”

“Oh, thank you. All the practice becomes worth it if Glass-san himself praises me.”

“…?”

Glass, for some reason, made a strange expression at that statement.

“Say, is there anything you wanted to say to me, Glass-san?”

“Not really, no. Are you keeping the eye a secret, by any chance?”

“……!?”

Oswald’s eyes widened in astonishment, as Glass spoke in a whisper. The second part of his dialogue was barely audible, in order to prevent Hakuto and Erika from hearing him.

“It’s the evil eye, isn’t it?”

　♢♢♢

………

……

…

Cursed Wetlands.

Trees roared, thorns sprouted, and the swamp was awash with water.

They were fighting in the territory that surrounded the heart of the swamp, where the Swamp Demon was said to be.

“Eeek!” she let a girlish shout out.

The only sounds she could hear were deafening metallic clangs, and the sound of water rushing violently beneath her feet.

Lilia, dressed in fine traveler’s attire, was swinging her cutlass against two silvery spheres that were… attacking her in all directions while she was trapped in the swamp.

Each time she slashed at one of the spheres which were quite heavy, Lilia experienced an intense rebound.

“Hey, what the hell’s going on…?”

Kageha landed on one of the several thick trunks that emerged from the water.

“Lilia!”

“I’m okay!” Lilia immediately responded to Kageha’s question, and she could sense that Lilia was indeed fine.

“I think it’s time you gave up.” A shadow that appeared out of the mist announced.

“Anyway, you’ve reached this far, and this is your limit.” A butler with the head of a goat said.

His eyes glowed with a mysterious light.

〜・〜・〜・〜・〜・〜

Author’s Note :

This time, the setting of “flow” is just for the sake of clarity, and is subject to change without notice.

It’s not very important at the moment. It’s fine to think that Hakuto is just doing some kind of training.

The next two or three episodes are not completed yet. I can probably finish them soon, but this means that the next update and the one after that may be delayed.

Thank you very much.

[TLN : Man these chapters are long…]