Chapter 95 - Five Great Powers and Thirteen Knights of the Oracle [2] (2/2)

And then,

「This ability to control the shadow… Oi, you’re there, aren’t you? Come out! Dodriel!」

When I shouted out loud, a man appeared from the shadow as though a shimmer of heat haze.

Damaged blue hair which was tied behind.

A large sword scar running on a well-formed face.

Dodriel Barton – a genius swordsman at the Gran Swordsmanship Academy, and now a dweller of the underground who has lost himself to the Black Organization.

「AHAHAHAHAHA! You splendidly saw through my attack just now! …No, I guess that’s only natural, isn’t it? Because you and I are mutually in love! Our hearts are communicating with each other! Isn’t that right… Allen?」he began to laugh like crazy, saying something incoherent.

「Aren’t you the guy at the Daido Commercial Festival?!」

「Aa. The swordsman who uses a strange soul dress!」

Remembering Dodriel, Ria and Rose immediately pulled out their sword.

「Allen, leave this to us and go ahead…」

「As Ria says, the destruction of the barrier is top priority! Don’t worry, we’ll catch up soon!」

The two of them stepped forward saying so.

But I was hesitant.

(Damn… Which one should I choose?!)

Do I stay here and fight together with them?

Or do I entrust this to them and give priority to the destruction of the barrier?

(Ria and Rose were once defeated by Dodriel.)

However, they have grown much stronger since that time.

(…It’s not just here that the fighting is going on.)

Even now, there is a lot of blood flowing in Thousand Blade Academy.

The longer I take to destroy the barrier, the greater the damage will be.

If I make the tactical decision, as Ria and Rose say, I should prioritize the destruction of the barrier.

「…Understood. As we’ve talked about before, Dodriel enters the『Shadow World』! Even though it is two-on-one, be on your guard!」

「Yeah, I know!」

「Fuu, don’t worry too much…」

「I’ll leave it to you!」

I entrusted it to them and started running towards the barrier.

「E-Ehh!? Where are you going by leaving me alone?!!!」Dodriel shriek.

And then,

「Your opponent is…」

「The two of us!」

The metallic sound of sword and sword colliding sounded.

(Ria, Rose… I’ll come back as soon as I destroy the barrier…)

Then I clad my leg with jet-black darkness and made a beeline towards the barrier.

After that, I arrived in front of the barrier without being intercepted by the Black Organization.

「…Is this it?」

I gently reached out to the thin, hemispherical, transparent membrane that wrapped Thousand Blade Academy.

It was kind of soft and hard at the same time. A strange feeling.

(I can break this.)

Somehow, I just had that feeling.

I pulled out my sword and unleashed an attack with all my might.

「Fifth Sword – World Judgement!」

At that moment, a big crack ran through the space where I cut.

It spread to the whole barrier in seconds, and with a high-pitched sound, the barrier broke.

「Yoshi, it’s a success…」

Now we should be able to contact the outside world.

If the Holy Knights Association and Leia-sensei come to our aid, it won’t be so difficult to intercept the Black Organization.

(From here on out, it will be “a siege with reinforcements”! The state of the battle has been reversed with this one move!)

Having succeeded in destroying the barrier, I hurried back to Ria and Rose.

The moment I kicked the ground and turned the corner of the second academy building, I doubted my eyes.

「…Ri, Ria? …Rose?」

There was the figure of Ria and Rose suspended in mid-air by a black shadow.

A tentacle-like shadow restrained both hands and feet, and the two do not even twitch.

「Ahaha… You were a little late… Allen.」

When Dodriel noticed me, he put on a villainous smile on his face. At that moment, the blood in my body boiled in anger.

「…Get out of the way!」

I closed the distance with Dodriel in one step,

「Wha?!」

And landed a strong kick to his side.

「Fast?! Ga, ha…」

He was blown off at a tremendous speed and crashed into the wall of the academy building.

Meanwhile, I cut his black shadow with my sword and broke the restraints on Ria and Rose.

Then I put my hand on their chest. A strong heartbeat came back.

「Thank god.」

They suffered some external wounds, but none of them are deep.

When I heaved a sigh of relief,

「Ahaa, that’s my Allen! It looks like you got even stronger again!」

Dodriel stood up, pushing away the rubble of the academy building with fresh blood trickling down his forehead.

「Dodriel. This is the second time.」

This was the second time he had laid hands on Ria and Rose.

「You’ve crossed the line. Today, here and now… I will cut you!」

I released the darkness from my whole body and clad myself with『jet-black robe』.

It was blacker than all previous instances of the darkness, and it firmly attached to my body.

「Ahaha! Ni〜ce, Allen! You’re the best! Now, let’s kill each other quickly!」

This is how the fated battle between me and Dodriel began.