Taken (12)

"Flostilla!"

When Dellen awakened the true name of her sword, silver petals in full bloom upon the earth surged upward like an eruption.

― Swaaaaaa!

― Kagagagagagak!

The tiny blade petals clashed violently, sparks flying, creating a rending cacophony.

'Ugh...! My ears will fall off.'

Ian gritted his teeth, regripping his sword.

'That's not how you use it...!'

Ian knew Flostilla, the sword Dellen wielded, very well, as he had often used this famous blade in his previous life.

'If she were skilled at handling Flostilla, there's no way it would make a sound like that.'

That dreadful noise was the result of failing to properly control each blade petal individually.

If one truly knew how to wield Flostilla, such a sound would not be made.

Instead, there would be a clear and regular chime.

'That nanny...! It looks like she can't handle Flostilla well. Seems she hasn't practiced much with it.'

Perhaps it was because the Hisperion's nanny rarely had occasion to face real combat, given her duties.

Even considering that, her technique was exceedingly crude.

No matter how much a nanny might spend nearly 24 hours with the direct lineage, she should still have some personal training time.

It seemed she had utterly neglected practicing with Flostilla.

'What was she doing during her personal training...?'

Did she just train her aura recklessly, without any skill?

'Well, it's fortunate for me either way.'

Whatever the reason, Dellen's lack of skill with Flostilla was an advantage for Ian.

'This won't be as hard to deal with as I thought.'

If Dellen's handling of Flostilla was only at this level, it wouldn't be impossible to withstand the Sword Spirit's release without a scratch.

'Plus, since Flostilla is a sword I've used many times before.'

Ian knew all the typical weaknesses and gaps that tended to occur when using Flostilla for Sword Spirit Release.

'As long as I move only focusing on those gaps, Dellen will never land a decisive blow on me.'

Especially with Dellen's poor control of the blade petals—there would only be more gaps.

― Kagagagagak!!

The disharmonious noise from Dellen's messed-up manipulation of Flostilla echoed through the forest.

The blade petals, spraying sparks, shot upward into the sky.

It was as if a whirlpool was rising from the ground, coiling hungrily and merging into one.

'She's clumsy at drawing the petals together, too.'

If Ian were using Flostilla, it wouldn't have even taken a third of the time it was taking Dellen to gather the petals into one.

'But it's nearly complete. She'll attack soon.'

At the moment when all the blade petals in full bloom on the earth gathered together, Dellen would whip the mass of blades, which had risen like tentacles, down onto Ian's head.

'I have to move before she draws all the petals together!'

― Tadat!

Ian dashed toward Yuria, who was standing a couple steps behind him.

"Huh...!"

Yuria stiffened, holding her breath as Ian suddenly rushed her way.

"Miss Yuria! I'm sorry! Please excuse me for a moment!"

"Wait, what! Huh?!"

― Whump!

Without hesitation, Ian wrapped his arm around Yuria's waist and lifted her over his shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing!?"

"I'll dodge together with you like this!"

"I-I can avoid it on my own! Put me down!"

"No. You mustn't move!"

Ian knew Yuria could move as if flying, even without aura.

After all, her body was blessed with 'True Heavenly Blood', just like the founder of Hisperion, giving her abilities far beyond a regular person.

'However...'

But merely having a strong body wasn't enough to completely avoid Dellen's Sword Spirit Release.

No matter how clumsy Dellen was, it was still a secret technique of a Master-rank expert.

Even if Yuria were in perfect condition, Ian would have picked her up all the same.

No matter how much of a genius Yuria was, she was only at the level of an Expert, and since she couldn't read the flow of Flostilla, it would be impossible for her to completely avoid those steel petals.

"I-If you do this, you're in danger too...!"

"Be quiet! You'll bite your tongue!"

― Shweeeeeeee!

― Kwagagagagagak!!

At last, it began.

The tentacled spray of petals that had soared into the sky whipped down over the heads of Ian and Yuria.

'If that hits, we're dead.'

― Fwsh!

― Kwaaaang!!!

Ian jumped to the right just as the blade tentacle whipped down onto the spot where he'd been.

Mud exploded, and trees shattered to splinters.

If a person had taken that hit, not even their form would remain.

― Kwagagagagak!

But the blade tentacle did not stop with that one swing.

Churning like a shredder, the mass of blade petals rolled towards Ian.

― Kwajik! Kwang! Kwagagak!

Rocks and trees in its path were sucked into the blades, instantly reduced to powder and sawdust.

'If it catches us, we won't even have bones left.'

― Tatata!

Ian, gripping Yuria tightly on his shoulder, ran in the direction opposite the blade tentacle.

― Kwajik! Kwagagak! Kwang!

Even at full speed, the sounds of destruction grew closer to the back of his head with every moment.

"I-Ian! Behind you! Behind!!"

At Yuria's shrill cry, Ian glanced back.

― Kuuoooooo!

Before he knew it, a towering wave of blade petals was rising like a tidal wave.

"Tch."

― Kwagagagagak!!

― Kukwaang!!

The blade petals formed an arched ceiling, blocking Ian's path and crashing down.

In an instant, Ian and Yuria found themselves trapped inside a tunnel of blade petals.

― Kigigigigik!

― Kwagak! Kagak! Kak!

Sparks flew in all directions as the blade tunnel rapidly narrowed, closing in on them from all sides.

"H-hah!"

Yuria swallowed her breath.

Right now, the only way out was the hole at the end of the tunnel.

But the end was so far off.

If it were just Ian, maybe—but with Yuria over his shoulder, it seemed impossible to escape before they were shredded by the petals.

"Run, Ian!"

"... Hmph."

"I'll be fine, just escape on your own!"

"I need to concentrate, so stop saying nonsense!"

To throw away the purpose of his life over an attack like this?

What a ridiculous thought.

"... Sss."

Calmly, Ian darted his gaze about, quickly scanning his surroundings.

― Kwagagagagak!

Even now, the tunnel of blade petals churned like a vortex, closing in on Ian and Yuria.

"Ian!"

As Yuria kicked on Ian's shoulder, trying to forcibly get down—

'Found it!'

Ian's eyes flashed sharply.

What he had spotted: a gap in one corner of the blade tunnel.

'There!'

Amid the storm of swirling blades, a tiny fissure would open and close intermittently.

'When one cannot properly wield Flostilla, such a gap often appears.'

That was a weakness caused by Dellen's inability to control Flostilla correctly.

'I'll break through there! Timing is everything!'

Even a moment's mistake in timing, and they'd be minced into paste by the blade petals.

― Kwajik! Kwagagagak!

The wild clashing of blade petals.

Sparks flying everywhere.

The tunnel was fast growing narrower.

― Kururururu!

Even the ground under Ian's feet was trembling.

It felt as if any moment, blades would burst upward from beneath him too.

There wasn't much time left.

"Miss Yuria! Hold on tight!"

"What? Wh-what do you—whoa!!"

― Fwaat!

Before Yuria could even finish speaking, Ian gathered aura to his toes and struck the ground powerfully.

― Shweeeek!

An art that focused aura to an extreme point in a single place for explosive movement.

A supersonic advance, applying the principle of Frenzied Insight Style's Extreme Point.

With Yuria over his shoulder, Ian triggered a sonic boom, dashing toward the gap in the blades.

However—

― Kwagagagagak!!

If they tried to squeeze through that narrow fissure with only their bodies, their skins would be stripped off.

So—

─《Authority of Projection》─

◆Skill

[Magic Shield Lv.10]

─────────

Ian cast the spell 'Magic Shield', his reward from the Authority of Projection tutorial.

― Kwajazazazak!

As soon as he wedged it into the gap between the blades, the Magic Shield shattered like a cookie.

The gap widened a little, but it still wasn't enough for Ian and Yuria to slip through safely.

But that wasn't a problem.

'If once isn't enough, then do it ten times.'

If ten times isn't enough, do it a hundred times.

― Kwajazazazazazak!

― Kwaching! Kwaching! Kwaching! Kwaching!

Spells cast using the Authority of Projection required neither incantation nor calculation.

He stacked Magic Shields dozens of times per second, forcing open the tiny gap.

― Shweeeeeee!

Soon, a sizable enough opening.

'That should do it!'

― Fwaaash!!

Ian held Yuria tightly and hurled himself through the widened gap.

"H-hah!"

Yuria clung desperately to Ian's collar.

― Kwajazak!

― Shweeek!

The instant Ian and Yuria escaped from the tunnel of blade petals, the gap snapped shut once more.

Had they been even 0.1 seconds slower, they'd have at least lost an ankle.

Just imagining it was terrifying.

― Chuck!

Ian landed smoothly on the dirt, letting out a sigh of relief.

'Phew. Made it.'

Thankfully, Yuria hadn't suffered a single scratch either.

― Kagagagagak!

― Kwaaaang!

The blade petals compressed to their limit, then collided and twisted, exploding apart.

― Shweeeek!

Sharp fragments scattered in all directions.

'Tch...!'

Ian hurled himself and Yuria behind a boulder.

― Ting! Taeng! Kang!

Fragments bounced harmlessly off the rock with metallic clangs.

"W-we're alive...?!"

"I'll set you down now."

"Y-yeah!? Ah, r-right..."

As Yuria got down from Ian's shoulder, her lips trembled.

'W-what on earth was that...?'

Given the situation, there was no time for leisurely questions and answers, but inwardly, Yuria was reeling from everything Ian had just done.

'What did he do just now...?'

When the blade petals had encircled them, she'd thought for sure they were dead.

'D-definitely, in the middle... th-that was magic, wasn't it?'

And that wasn't the only strange thing about Ian.

'He found a gap in that chaotic whirlwind of blades!'

He'd widened the gap with magic, then passed through it at a speed so fast that even Yuria could only replicate it by invoking Extreme Sense, the 4th form of the Heavenly Flow.

'J-just who are you, Ian...'

Yuria couldn't begin to make sense of what she'd witnessed.

She already knew Ian possessed incredible talent comparable to her own, yet what he'd shown just now was well beyond that.

'Even I couldn't read the flow and spot a gap in that insane vortex! That's almost superhuman... And—what? He uses magic too!?'

And it wasn't just ordinary magic.

This was a mysterious spell cast dozens of times a second, without incantation or calculation.

'I—Ian was a magic swordsman? No, wait—can humans really use magic like that?! What is he?!'

Yuria wanted to ask him everything, right that moment, but—

― Sssssssss...

Dellen appeared, standing amid the settling petals.

With the enemy still standing, there was no time for idle conversation.

"H-how...! How did you!!"

Dellen gawked at Ian and Yuria, who sat by the boulder without shedding a drop of blood, after escaping the blade tunnel.

"Ggr...!"

She ground her teeth, backing away.

Just what was that gray-haired brat—a ghost?

She had completely surrounded him with blade petals, leaving no gaps—so how was he perfectly fine...?

"Haha...!"

Dellen laughed, as if her wits had left her.

Originally, she'd intended to capture Ian alive and torture out his secret.

'To capture him...! What a foolish thought.'

That monster not only blocked her sword energy with ease, but somehow, even unraveled Flostilla's Sword Spirit Release without suffering so much as a scratch.

If she tried anything more now, she might end up the victim herself.

'I should have gone all out from the start! This time, he dies! I'll kill him as quickly as possible and get out of here!'

Dellen lowered her stance drastically.

At the same time, kill intent filled her eyes.

'Never did I imagine I'd have to use this against children!'

The stance Dellen took was her secret ace in the hole—one never before shown in real combat.

"T-that's...!"

Yuria gasped at Dellen's stance.

'Heavenly Flow, 4th form!?'

Dellen's preparatory form was the Hisperion family's secret martial art.

A stance for the Heavenly Flow's 4th form: Flash, which focused everything on speed.

"H-how does Dellen...!"

'A Hisperion nanny knows the Heavenly Flow...?'

Ian was just as surprised.

The Heavenly Flow was a secret art passed down only to direct heirs of Hisperion; anyone else learning it was strictly forbidden.

'Did she watch and copy when Yuria was practicing...?!'

If so, Dellen too possessed truly terrifying talent.

However—

'If she's using the Heavenly Flow, that's even better!'

That, too, was an advantage for Ian.

'I've researched and researched ways to counter the Heavenly Flow 4th form since my past life!'

He'd gritted his teeth, desperate to defeat Yuria in his previous life and poured all his energy into studying this technique.

'Back then, Yuria's level was Grandmaster, right?'

And Dellen?

At best, a low-tier Swordmaster.

'If a low-tier Swordmaster clumsily mimics the Heavenly Flow's 4th form...'

Honestly, it was laughable.

'The next exchange will be the last.'

Rather than catching Ian unprepared, Dellen had only presented her neck to him by revealing her trump card.

Ian's eyes gleamed sharply as he regripped his sword.

The moment signaling the battle's end was at hand.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

We already know that Ian knows how to counter Heavenly Flow when he fought Yuria in the exam...

Dellen just unlucky...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】