Evil Avalon

Chapter 167 The Black Knight

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

The jet-black full suit of armor, free-falling from high altitude, brought down a magical greatsword far larger than itself. Rising straight up to meet it was a silver-white robe that slashed upward with a rapier. A ring of violet sparks spread out, and the shockwave was so powerful that even from over a hundred meters away, the air in my lungs trembled.

Lisa’s level should be around 25. Yet judging from that single strike alone, she appeared to possess strength equal to—or greater than—Mikhail, who was around level 40. This was thanks to Darkness, the highest-tier spell that greatly enhances the body in an area filled with dark mana. Its enhancement far surpassed my own Overdrive.

While Rokurogi was astonished by the energy packed into that blow, she also focused on the equipment Lisa was wearing.

“What is with that girl’s equipment… that absurd mana density—what is it made of?”

“It’s something created with a skill, so the material is literally mana itself.”

There were other factors powering up Lisa. That jet-black armor and huge magic sword were also created by the skills of the top-tier job Dark Knight. They drastically increased her mobility, defense, and offensive power—but the mana cost was enormous, and a harsh mental-strain debuff accompanied them. Lisa was probably standing inside a massive storm of mana right now, unable even to speak properly.

So why did she go so far as to create such equipment? The answer was easy to guess—she simply had no other weapons capable of standing against Mikhail.

I understood after taking one of his strikes myself—Mikhail’s slashes were so powerful they could bend even a pure-mythril sword. Mamiya had repeatedly swapped weapons throughout the fight for the same reason: his weapons could not withstand combat at this level. Only something like the national-treasure-class gear Rokurogi possessed—or material ranked above pure mythril—could endure.

However, magical armaments based on pure concept do not warp as long as one’s mana and mental strength hold. Ignoring every other enormous drawback and focusing solely on victory—her determination contained something far beyond my understanding.

Unaware of such drawbacks or my concerns, Lisa landed on the stretched filament and began running smoothly at a speed that left afterimages trailing behind her. She used the centrifugal force of her entire body to pour destructive energy into her magic sword.

They clashed again in the sky, a shockwave booming like a huge firework bursting right beside us. Judging from close-quarters combat alone, Lisa was clearly overpowering Mikhail, and she showed no signs of bodily instability. She was drawing out her full potential.

As I marveled at her fighting, Mamiya suddenly dropped down next to me, causing the filament below us to sway violently. We were still over a hundred meters above the ground. I was about to give him a glare that meant “please ride more quietly”, but he looked at me with a dissatisfied expression.

“Sanada ran away again. Being able to fly really is a huge advantage.”

His hakama and hair—previously immaculate no matter how many battles he fought—were now a complete mess. He must have been engaged in intense close combat with Colors’ Number 2. I wondered what he had been thinking with such recklessness, but his thought process was so unhinged that it was pointless to try.

But I understood what he meant. Mamiya and Rokurogi had to constantly check their footing on the buffeted filaments while fighting, giving them a major disadvantage. And he was implying that the jet-black armor flying around on those same filaments must be dealing with the same handicap.

“Her strength and speed are enough to match—no, surpass him. Excellent… but because of that, it seems Mikhail gave up on close combat early.”

“Of course he would. Now then… how will that black armor respond?”

Lisa bent and twisted her entire body like a spring, adding spins and torque to unleash unbelievably powerful slashes. Only someone with high combat skill could strike like that on such unstable footing. But since Mikhail could use flight magic, he had no reason to face her head-on—and as expected, he created distance from the filaments and shifted to magic combat.

Having suffered greatly from Mikhail’s aerial magic many times, both of them looked at me as if asking “will she be okay?” I simply answered, “No need to worry.”

While flying through the air, Mikhail’s arms glowed as he fired lightning spells simultaneously from both sides. The crackling sound of air splitting echoed as the attacks rushed forward at terrifying speed. But the black armor turned into mist right before impact—then suddenly reappeared above Mikhail and delivered a blow. Caught off guard, Mikhail’s barrier shattered instantly. He managed to intercept with his rapier from an awkward posture, but the shock sent him flying dozens of meters.

Before he could recover, the mist appeared again ahead of his trajectory, unleashing another fierce strike. Blown at a right angle this time, Mikhail fired back with magic bullets, but Lisa had already dissolved into black mist—she was no longer there.

Rokurogi and Mamiya stared in shock at the bizarre sky-borne battle.

“…Is such a fight… even possible?”

“If you have a skill allowing you to teleport freely, true, you wouldn’t need to fly at all. That’s both offense and defense in one!”

Stunned by Lisa’s unexpected fighting style, Rokurogi stared upward, mouth agape. Mamiya looked at me as if to say the match was already decided—after all, if she had not just speed and power but also a mist-form instantaneous movement skill, who could stop her?

But that mist was not such a convenient ability. In fact, it was only a simple evasion skill.

There was a delay when turning into mist and when reappearing. Normally, using it like that would result in getting hit before dissolving—or getting killed immediately after reappearing. But if one could perceive the flow of mana and the structure of space, and predict or manipulate the opponent’s movements, that delay could be reduced to nearly zero, transforming it into a seamless, all-directional combat technique.

Among the Explorers, the Dark Knight’s tactics were considered among the strongest. Yet only a handful of players—including Lisa—could master it perfectly. Each of them had once stood before me, pride on the line, battling fiercely in the skies where black mist and Aerial swirled together. Watching this now brought back the trauma.

Seeing Mikhail being overwhelmed, Sanada attempted to join and support him, but he couldn’t track Lisa’s movements at all—his magic bullets were flying in completely wrong directions. He might have been able to hit her by engaging in close-range magic combat, but approaching someone whose close-combat ability exceeded even Mikhail’s would be suicide, so Sanada kept his distance.

As I watched, reminiscing about the past yet still cheering Lisa on, I sensed someone approaching from below. Mamiya and I immediately prepared ourselves, but Rokurogi didn’t even move her hand from her sheathed sword.

“—‘Jōraku’, ‘Kokushi’… so it’s you two.”

“Rokurogi-sama, we are relieved you are unharmed!”

Two figures landed lightly on the filament, barely disturbing it. One was a woman in a gothic dress, holding a parasol despite it being night.

Her long silver hair was curled into rolls, and combined with her outfit she looked like a teenager, but her heavy makeup made her age impossible to guess. The mana wrapped around her exceeded even mine—she was unquestionably a formidable master. And since Rokurogi had called her by the special Ten Rakshashas codename “Jōraku”, she was likely an executive.

The other was a man wearing a hannya mask. This guy…

“You… Narumi, wasn’t it? And even the defective noble is here. What kind of twist of fate is this?”

“To think a great executive of the Ten Rakshashas remembers my face—what an honor. I’ve become famous, haven’t I?”

Ten Rakshashas’ executive and head of the combat faction, “Black Fang.”
It seemed that she not only knew about me, but also about Mamiya.
Before I realized it, I sensed around ten more presences nearby, quietly watching us.
They were probably members of the Ten Rakshashas as well.
Which meant the barrier had finally been broken.

Apparently, the Colors unit had also arrived; they stormed the building from the first floor and engaged the white-robed forces.
The situation had begun shifting rapidly in a short amount of time, and Black Fang warned that an even larger wave was about to crash down upon us.

“The national army is heading this way. Depending on how negotiations with the Holy Empire go, it may lead to a full military clash… but tell me—can the one up there actually handle it?”

“He’s fighting Mikhail head-on!?”

Black Fang pointed upward as she asked, and even the woman in the gothic dress widened her eyes in disbelief.
A battle so shocking that even two Ten Rakshashas executives reacted that way was still raging above us.

Far in the sky, three shadows and flashes of magic clashed with bursting sounds and metallic ringing.
Lisa deflected long-range slashes while Mikhail gathered enormous mana, trying to chant a grand spell.
To create time for that chant, Sanada unleashed barrages of attack magic.
But the jet-black armor turned into mist, vanished from long range, and reappeared at close distance, so much so that even Sanada—who had learned to read my 《Aerial》—couldn’t predict it and was being thrown around.

With such a favorable situation AND the national army coming to assist, victory should have been within reach… or so I thought.
But the government might choose to avoid direct close-quarters combat to minimize soldier casualties, and instead rain long-range missiles like a storm.

“I heard this directly from one of the old men in the upper government—it’s highly reliable.”

“Yeah. But from the government’s perspective, it is the correct decision.”

Considering how many soldiers it would take just to restrain a single white robe from the Holy Empire, Black Fang said she could understand their logic—flattening the entire area with missiles.
(In fact, that route even existed as a storyline in Explorer.)
But if they did that, not only us, but also Satsuki—who was currently trying to dispel the explosive magic circle—and the adventurers fighting the white robes, and even the nobles in the party hall, would all die without exception.

To prevent that, the gothic-dress woman—Joura—said we had to either negotiate a ceasefire with Mikhail right now or defeat him.
It might be the “correct” choice for a nation wanting to minimize losses, but for us—who would be sacrificed alongside the Holy Empire’s forces—it was unacceptable.

The terrifying plan running behind the scenes made me tremble… but it was okay.

“Mikhail will be defeated very soon.”

At the core of it, once Lisa had successfully summoned the highest-class spell, the Jet-Black Armament, and absorbed all the overflowing dark mana to convert it into her own strength, her victory was almost guaranteed.

In fact, while clashing blades with Mikhail, she had already cornered Sanada and inflicted a severe wound—not fatal, but close.
I had been concerned her body wouldn’t withstand that immense power and she wouldn’t be able to fight properly, but since that wasn’t happening, the only concern was whether her mana would last.
Judging from the pace, it wouldn’t turn into a long battle, so that wasn’t a problem.

Mamiya and the Ten Rakshashas members looked at me as if trying to read my true intentions, but soon fell silent and chose to watch the situation.
Because the battle was about to shift rapidly toward its conclusion.

Mikhail began chanting the grand spell by force while firing dazzling fire magic from his left hand.
His tremendous mana swirled, and the overflowing energy turned into visible violet lightning.
If he completed it, it would wipe out not only the jet-black armor dominating the fight, but also us watching from afar—and even the nearby skyscrapers would be flattened in one strike.
That was the kind of spell he was preparing, but—

Lisa would never miss such an opening.
Before the chant reached its final stage, she pierced him with the magic sword Balmung, ending it instantly.
Being cut by that sword drains massive mana and inflicts a darkness debuff.
Mikhail might be able to fight without relying on sight, but this time the issue was far more fundamental: it was a fatal blow.

“A legendary adventurer dying here… she seriously did it!?”

“No—what you see is just a magically-constructed body. He won’t die.”

“What…?”

Mikhail’s unique skill allowed him to create copies of himself.
The real body was always stationed beside the Saint of Eastern Europe.
That was why even if foreign nations killed him with weapons of mass destruction countless times, he resurrected—earning him the title Immortal Cardinal.
Rokurogi distorted her face in frustration, thinking they had finally taken down the Holy Empire’s right-hand man.

Mikhail looked at the magic sword impaled in his body as his form turned transparent and vanished.
To truly kill him, one would have to travel to the palace where the Saint resided and strike the real body directly.
But Sanada wasn’t like that.
Bleeding heavily, barely breathing, he floated helplessly in the air.
In that condition, finishing him off would be trivial.

The jet-black armor, now mist again, appeared before Sanada while holding the massive magic sword filled with dark mana.
Slowly… the sword was raised toward his head, but—

“Wait!”

A man in light armor shouted loudly as he tried to break into the fight. I had seen him leap onto the threads from inside the building and run across them, so I had expected he would interfere—and sure enough, he did. He’s an insanely famous character in Explorer, but this is the first time I’ve seen him in person outside of television in this world.

Because of the man’s request, Lisa does not swing the magic sword down. Annoyed by that, Rokurogi mutters that “if she won’t kill him, then she’ll do it instead,” and she runs up the thread.

“Why would you do something like this…? What about the glorious future of ‘Colors’? What are we supposed to do now, Yukikage…?”

“Hmph… And you’re the one saying that?”

A handsome man in his thirties with a solid build—Tasato Kotaro—gestured emotionally as he questioned him, but Sanada, his shoulder slashed and his face pale, made a deeply exasperated expression and shook his head, saying “You understand nothing.”

In Explorer, Sanada grew fed up with Japan’s outdated adventurer support system, the unfair treatment from nobles, and conflicts with other organizations. He also felt severely limited by remaining a mid-tier Priest and repeatedly insisted that Colors should move their base overseas so he could pursue power and freedom.

However, Tasato, the clan leader, had sworn loyalty to the state and received the Japan-exclusive job Samurai and a baron title as a reward. He refused. Furthermore, both Kuki and the Kinrankai—who effectively controlled Colors—opposed Sanada. And the Japanese government would never permit the nation’s strongest clan and a Samurai to relocate abroad.

Thus, Sanada grew increasingly isolated within Colors and ultimately decided to defect alone to the Holy Empire in pursuit of the high-tier Cleric job.

While remembering this background, Lisa—having fulfilled her role—began to fall limply. I wasn’t sure whether she refrained from killing Sanada in order to preserve the story or because she had other plans, but in any case:

Her level is only 25, yet she wielded power and mana surpassing even Mikhail. She must have severe after-effects throughout her body… but if I take her to Obaba’s shop, she should be fine. Feeling grateful for how hard she fought, I caught her with the arm I could still move. As she collapsed into my arms, the magically-generated armor vanished, leaving her in nothing but underwear.

Panicking so I wouldn’t look at her ample chest, I fumbled to pull a robe from my magic bag and draped it over her. Meanwhile, above us, Rokurogi cloaked in killing intent was about to strike down Sanada.

The national treasure blade of holy light and the fire-enchanted national treasure tachi clashed. In front of Sanada, Tasato and Rokurogi locked swords.

“…Listen, boy. Even if you can’t kill him here, the government will never forgive him.”

“But Rokurogi-san, Yukikage’s ambitions have already been crushed. Don’t you think it’s important to hear him out so something like this never happens again?”

Sanada and Tasato had been friends since their academy days, working together from the time they were nameless adventurers to build the clan. Their bond is something I could never fully grasp. But the responsibility for such a disastrous incident is heavy, and escape is impossible. If captured, he will undoubtedly face the death penalty.

Two Ten Rakshashas executives gave me a look, signaling that they would assist, but members of Colors watching from inside the building might also jump in. With the military approaching, we had no time for unnecessary conflict. I responded that it was best not to move. Meanwhile, Sanada began to chuckle bitterly, as if amused.

“Heh… My ambitions are not crushed at all…”

He shouldn’t have any strength left to resist. Yet he was the central figure behind this catastrophe, so we could not let our guard down. Watching him closely, I heard him say something that made no sense.

“It’s true that my top priority—retrieving the God-Rank Player—has failed… but… I was fully warned how difficult that would be… Still, I succeeded. You saw it, did you not… my master…?”

Sanada raised his uninjured arm and looked skyward—where a purple light appeared. It was unmistakably a Gate. For a moment, I thought Arthur had opened it, but if that were the case, it should have appeared above my head. Then who summoned it?

“I still have dreams left… Well then, everyone—farewell.”

“Are you leaving, Yukikage?”

“…Yes. Farewell, Kotaro.”

Blood dripped from his mouth, but for one fleeting instant, Sanada gave Tasato a gentle look—then shifted back to a stern expression and stepped into the Gate, disappearing. His final words bothered me. Everything that happened tonight… was being watched by someone?

At first, it was just a tiny crack. It slowly spread like a stain, became a deep fracture, and suddenly the firm ground I had trusted collapsed beneath me. Not only everything I could see—this world itself was beginning to move in a direction unknown to us players. Whether by coincidence or guided by someone’s design, I did not know.

With this incident, the existence of Gates would become public, and the level cap—which had stayed around 35—would rise dramatically. This would affect not only adventurers but society itself. We would need to study the extent of the impact and reconsider all of our plans.

But thinking could wait.

The magic circle’s effect had fully disappeared; I could hear the flapping of multiple helicopters approaching from the distance. Soon, soldiers and adventurers would swarm this place.

There was nothing more I could do now. Lisa still hadn’t woken, which worried me. And I had already received an email on my wrist device saying, “We successfully disabled the explosive magic circle.” I should meet up with Satsuki and get out of here quickly.

Still… as I walked along the moonlit thread, I couldn’t help thinking:

“…I’m hungry.”

TL Note- And I have my math exam tomorrow....

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