392. Country of Sakura, Cherin and the Seven Holy Swords [163]

「Just before I left for Cherin, Barrel Ronelia, very unusually for him, gave a warning.『When you encounter “that”, exercise utmost caution』.」

「A”a? What are you babbling about?」

「That’s why I was wary of you ever since the battle began. But… I was wrong in my judgement of you. Just a child, an immature soul dress user, ignorant of the real world – such foolish assumptions had formed in my mind somewhere.」

He muttered, in a confessing tone.

「Allen Rodore, I won’t look down on you anymore. As a swordsman who stands at the top of the world stage, I shall crush you with everything I have.」

And he pointed the tip of the short sword at me.

「Ha”a… this is boring me. Let’s continue already.」

「Right, let’s get started. And let’s finish this.」

Von held the short sword in his right hand in a backhand grip and thrust it powerfully into the ground.

「Sand Whale of Purification, Second Form – Thousand Nature Sand.」

Immediately after that, the sand whales swimming in the air spouted “silver sand” simultaneously. And all that sand transformed into “silver sand swords” in the blink of an eye.

「Ho”u, what a spectacular view…」

The total number of silver sand swords that surrounded me in a semicircle was about 3,000.

「The first form, Whale Cloud, is an “observation form” that analyses the opponent’s ability and moves. And this second form, Thousand Nature Sand, is an “offensive form” that exterminates the enemy.」

Von raised his right hand high in the air and swung it down vigorously.

「Prelude – Silver Dance.」

In an instant, a sword located in my blind spot was fired at tremendous speed.

I accurately determined the position of the sword from the sound of air being cut, and immediately intercepted it with the black sword.

The moment when the silver sand sword and the black sword of darkness collided,

「Hellfire Sand!」

The silver sand sword exploded and turned into scorching quicksand.

「Oi, Oi, are all of these–」

It was difficult to avoid all of the sand grains flying at me at super high speed.

「Guh, GA”A”A”A”A”A!!!」

I was completely enveloped in Hellfire Sand.

It felt like I was burning in “purgatory”. The high heat melted my skin and scorched my bones.

「Damnitttt…」

I clad myself with even thicker darkness and tried to heal the burnt skin.

「I won’t let you!」

As soon as Von swung his right hand, a sharp sound of wind being cut came from behind me.

It was two of them this time.

「Uhhh!」

I turned around and fired a horizontal slash, intercepting the two silver sand swords.

Resulting in–

「Ice Crystal Sand, Lightning Sand!」

The same phenomenon as before occurred. Frigid ice and a flash of lightning struck my whole body.

「Kuh!」

The sand that Von manipulates truly seemed 1000 different in nature.

It was too dangerous to defend at close range.

「If that’s the case… I’ll shoot them all down before they get close to me! Dark Shadow!」

I barely stretched out 20 sharp darknesses and targeted the silver sand swords floating around.

At that moment,

「Seal Song – Golden Dance.」

「This……!?」

A huge sand whale jumped out from under my feet and swallowed me entirely.