Part 11 (1/2)

Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli.

And with that, an enemy stronger than any before must be lying in wait.

-Can I win? Al by myself?

Standing stil at the end of the hall, Eugeo asked himself. Just how could he fight against someone stronger than Fanatio, who drove Kirito half the way to his death, and Alice, who they were no match for, even as a pair.

However, now that he thought about it, Kirito had took on all of the enemies' attacks by himself in the battles thus far. Eugeo had hidden behind his partner's back and merely activated his full control art. Kirito had said that it was the natural strategy considering the natures of their skil s, but with him away, Eugeo had no choice but to fight from the start to the end.

Gently caressing the Blue Rose Sword at the left of his waist, he ascertained the sensations of its grip and guard. He could probably use the full control art just one more time, but he couldn't capture the enemy with the ice tendrils by activating it blindly. He had to first drive the enemy into a corner with pure swordsmans.h.i.+p and create an opening.

”...It's time.”

With that whisper to his beloved sword, Eugeo brought up his right hand and strongly pushed open the white door.

What immediately closed in were bright lighting, a dense, white smoke, and a dull, unceasing sound.

-Offensive sacred arts!?

Thinking so instinctively, Eugeo tried to jump aside, but noticed the white mist streaming out was not smoke, but steam.

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Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli.

His hands and sleeves merely got wet upon contact, there was no pain. He a.s.sessed the state of the interior across the swirling heat.

As expected, it was a vast s.p.a.ce that expended the entire area of a single cathedral floor. The ceiling countless lamps were fitted onto was high as wel , so it likely had a name resembling the ”Cloister of Spiritual Light” or ”Sky Garden”*, but he didn't have the means to find it out right now. The floor surface couldn't be seen through the obstructing steam, but there seemed to be no human presence.

Eugeo took only a few steps into the s.p.a.ce and tried to find the source of the steam. When he did, he noticed with his ears, rather than his eyes, the splish-splas.h.i.+ng sound of water. There was no mistake that the roaring was of a large quant.i.ty of water falling onto water, coming from somewhere far.

That was when cold air flowed in from the stil -opened door and swept aside the surrounding steam.

A marble path with a breadth of roughly five mel extended deeper into the s.p.a.ce from Eugeo's position. The sides of the path dipped down with steps and fil ed there, to the brim, was clear water-no, hot water. It seemed to have a depth of over one mel, and Eugeo couldn't even begin to imagine how many lil of hot water would it total up to if that filled the entire room.

”...Just, what is this room...”

Eugeo's hoa.r.s.e voice leaked out upon the far too unexpected scene.

The temperature of the water was too hot as a pond for rearing fish or other animals and the humidity wasn't pleasant

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Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli.

enough for it be a garden for admiration. It would even be more comfortable to strip down and jump into the hot- ”Ah...... do-don't tell me...”

After murmuring once again, he knelt down by the side of the pathway and thrust his right hand into the hot water. It was neither hot nor warm, it was at a temperature that Kirito would comment as ”a nice water temperature” if he was here.

In other words, this was a gigantic bath.

Without any further words coming from him, Eugeo deeply sighed while kneeling.

His home until two years ago used a rather large tub as a bathtub and by the time Eugeo got into it as the last person, only half of the hot water would have been left. Hence, he got struck dumbfounded the first time he saw the large bath in the academy's dormitories and wondered how could such a large quant.i.ty of hot water be boiled.

However, this bath was on an entirely different level. There would stil be s.p.a.ce even if all of the apprentices in the Sword Mastery Academy were to get into together. No, of course, the male students couldn't possibly enter a bath together with the female students, though.

After taking another sigh, Eugeo took the opportunity to wash his two hands in the hot water and stood up, holding back the urge to wash his face too. He started on the marble path likely heading deeper into the s.p.a.ce, towards the staircase to the upper floors. No matter how things were, getting a.s.saulted in a bath would simply be too-

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