Chapter 384, A Match With Lylia

“Kuh–! RAH!”

“That’s right! Proper breathing is key!”

 

The day after the Devil King’s resurrection and the Devilkin army’s attack, I started learning to fight like a warrior under the guidance of Argent, leader of Team Silver General.

And perhaps taking my predicament quite seriously, he agreed to start training me immediately.

Team Silver joined in, too, not wanting to be outdone.

 

“Man, Asley’s speed never fails to amaze me! He’s even faster than ol’ Argent!”

“But his movements are still not perfectly optimized.
We can all tell, now that we’ve gone over level 150.”

“Yeah, ‘thanks’ to those things called… Beta, I think? They really give out a ton of experience points.”

 

I heard Bruce, Blazer, and Betty’s voices.
They seemed to have come to observe us.

Hmm, so they all are over level 150 now… That’s nice.

This was probably a miscalculation on Billy and Cleath’s part.
The people who were supposed to be killed ended up surviving, and as a result, they got their levels boosted due to all the enemies they killed.

 

“By the way… what are they doing?”

“Oh, you’ve never done it before, Adolf? They’re playing tag.”

“Tag… as in the children’s game? Aren’t they just hitting each other?”

“The rule is that if you touch your opponent’s body with your hands, you change sides.
Look there — notice how ol’ Argent’s tapped on Asley’s shoulder? Now it’s Asley’s turn to chase the old man.
The difference here from the usual tag is that, instead of running away, you have no… not get hit, and know whether you’re supposed to attack and defend, so to speak.
You wanna give it a try, too?”

“Yes! I’d like to!”

 

Warriors and mages everywhere are trying to improve their skills, as apparent in how some of them are here to take a look so early in the morning, even when it’s before the time for class.

I’m seeing Lina and Hornel in the distance, too.

 

“Oh-ho, feeling confident, I see… There!”

“Whoa…”

“–! Hoho! See if you can handle this!”

“My eyes are slowly getting used to your moves.”

“…Impressive!”

 

It’s quite true that I possess a high aptitude for being a Warrior.
I’ve been aware of that for quite some time now, and my experience so far speaks for itself.

Until now, I’ve dedicated myself fully to the arcane arts, but that won’t be the case from here on out.
I’ll immerse my body in the secret techniques of skilled warriors and prepare for the coming battle against the Devil King.

And I’ll have to settle the score with Gaspard, too.

But one question remains… Why did I not feel the Devil King’s arcane energy anymore after Billy and Cleath’s attempted invasion? …Hell, I might’ve stopped sensing it while that invasion was still going on, even.

It couldn’t be only because of my arcane energy depletion.
And while I was protected by my own Magic Shield, I did not feel any pressure at all, unlike in the previous era.
It’s enough to make me wonder if he has really been resurrected.

 

Suddenly, a little noise came from further south.

Argent noticed it, too, and so we both stopped.

 

“What was that?”

 

Argent turned to ask one of his subordinates, a mage, who proceeded to shoot a Telepathic Call.

 

“Sir, several monsters have appeared to the south.
But they have already been taken care of.”

“All right.
Don’t let your guard down just yet, though.”

“”Yes, sir!””

Asley, let us continue.”

“”Yes, sir!”

 

…The monsters have not stopped being aggressive.
Makes sense, now that the Devil King is back.

Could he be suppressing his arcane energy? No, I don’t see him doing that…

Maybe this means…

 

“Hah, looks like you’re having fun!”

“……Oh, what’s an Ogre King doing here?”

“Really? That’s what you’re gonna call your mentor? Very brave, four-eyes.”

“If you’re my mentor, then I’m YOUR mentor, too! You haven’t forgotten all the stuff I taught you, have you, Tūs!?”

“Oh yeah? You did?”

“And you showed up to the fight just to SLEEP!? That was bullshit, man!”

“Yeah, yeah, same old lecture… Already got one from Lylia, and man, I couldn’t get any sleep last night…”

“Well, you slept through the Goddamned afternoon already!”

 

Seeing an argument starting between me and Tūs, Argent came between us.

 

“You two, now is hardly a good time to fight among ourselves.
I don’t doubt that you both have a point to make, but this is not the time to find mistakes in what has passed.”

“”Hmph.””

 

Tūs groaned in annoyance and walked off, heading for where the mages were gathered.

If I remember correctly, he’s been tasked with training the mages in exchange for a place to hide.

I don’t know how Warren negotiated this, but it’s quite an impressive feat.

 

“So, you… Argent, was it?”

“Hmm? …Oh, excuse me.
It’s an honor to be called by a Holy Warrior such as you, Miss Lylia.”

 

Strange… I was also a Holy Warrior, but he never said anything close to that to me.

 

“Would you mind if I switched in?”

 

Oh, so Lylia’s interested in playing ‘tag’ with me?

 

“Not at all.
I wouldn’t want to miss a chance to see how Holy Warriors train themselves.”

 

Argent quickly stepped aside and raised his hand, gathering everyone together.

Team Silver had the same reaction.
Everyone gathered around and focused their attention on me and Lylia.

 

“Do you know the rules, Lylia?”

“No.
But we won’t be needing that anyway.”

 

Saying that, Lylia showed me three fingers.

 

“Victory goes to the first one to get three hits in — how about that?”

“……All right, I’m in.”

 

As soon as I said that, Lylia drew out her two swords and readied herself.

 

“Huh? We’re using weapons?”

“Are you seriously asking that?”

 

Right, of course.
Lylia’s sensibilities don’t match those of the people of this era.

Her obliviousness in this matter caused even Argent to start shedding cold sweat.

I heaved a sigh and went to pick up the Drynium Rod that I had left propped up on a nearby rock.

 

“Give me all you’ve got.”

“Yes, I know I have to do that when up against you.”

“Good.”

 

Oh yeah, now that I got to see it… Lylia’s ‘new style’ that Pochi told me about earlier this morning is her dual wielding her and Giorno’s sword, huh?

Moreover, the Lylia I’m facing now is one who has continued to train diligently after the previous Devil King’s defeat.

This is sure to be a serious challenge of a match — far above my sparring matches with Tūs, Pochi, and even Lylia of the past.

She’s the strongest warrior I know.
There’s no way I can afford to not go all out.

And this is also a shortcut for me to regain my arcane energy…

 

“Hmph!”

 

She invoked her physical enhancement special techniques.

The fact that she used them despite me being unable to use arcane energy really shows that she’s wary of me.
Why would she be, though? I can’t even boost my powers like she just did…

Well, I can’t turn back now.

I lowered my stance and waited for Lylia to make her move.

Not even a moment later, Lylia closed in on me, her stance so low that one would think she was sliding on the ground, and then slashed up at me.

 

“Whoa!?”

 

I narrowly blocked the attack.
She still has another sword, though — what’s she gonna do with her left hand!?

 

“Gwoh–!”

 

The following moment, she slashed again at the same place.

I didn’t expect this… I thought she was going to attack somewhere else!

Overcome by Lylia’s strength, I was forced to retreat.

She did not stop attacking, of course.
I waved my staff to keep up with her assault.

 

“Wha–!?”

“I bet you’re wishing you had a bladed weapon right about now!”

 

The moment her blow clashed with my staff, she jumped onto it, using it as a foothold.

And then she kept on slashing at me.

 

“Oh no–!”

 

She was not even putting in all that much strength, but it was still an attack.

Her blade plunged right through my forearm.

 

“Ngh–! …Heh, g-gotcha!”

“What the– I can pull it out!?”

 

That’s right — her sword is in my arm.
My muscles would not let it go.

 

“SHAAA!!”

“Hng–!?”

 

I landed a headbutt on her forehead, the impact knocking her sword out of her hand.

 

“A-all right, that’s one against one!”

 

Lylia said, glaring at me with tears in her eyes.

By the time she did that, however, I was already somewhere else.

 

“W-where–!?”

 

No decent warrior would answer that.
Getting into Lylia’s blind spot, I swept her leg with my staff.

 

“Ugh–!?”

“And that’s two against one!”

 

I was about to make a follow-up attack as she staggered, but then the look in her eyes prevented me from doing so.

Her intimidation sent a chill running down my spine.
Holy shit, now she’s coming at me for real… she’s out to kill me!

Lylia crooked her mouth into the shape of the crescent moon, her eyes shining in scarlet.

…And then she attacked.

 

“EAT THIS…!”

 

First, a slash in the shape of a cross.

If I were to take that, I would’ve been close to death. 

I leaped backward and parried her follow-up attack, which then split the earth below us.

 

“Hahaha… Man, her strength’s inhuman…”

 

Bruce said, his comment similar to one I had made in the past.

Still, I kept on fighting Lylia — the fighter of the Holy Warriors — without using magic and magecraft as one would expect to see from Poer the mage.

 

“Gah…! Take this!”

 

I avoided Lylia’s successive attacks by sidestepping, manipulating my bones and muscles, and sometimes grabbing onto her limbs.

 

“…!”

 

Man, Lylia’s good…

With her uppercut slash, my staff was knocked off my hands…

 

“Two against two now.”

 

…And I was grazed on the cheek.

I swiped the blood from my cheek with my finger and lowered my stance again.

 

“It’s over, Lylia.”

“That’s right.
Brace yourself, Asley– wait, where’s your staff? …!?”

 

The Drynium Rod fell from the sky… onto Lylia.

And so this marked the second time Lylia took a blow to her head today.

 

“GAH……!?!?!?”

 

At the same time, it seemed that a switch had been flipped inside of her, too.