Water Magician - Chapter 415: Wielders of the Holy Swords

Editor: Tseirp

“There’s fighting all over the place…”

“Even though there are traces of intense battles everywhere, there are no corpses.”

“And lots of ‘Spirit Smokes’…”

“Over there, in the audience seats! An Arachne is on a rampage!”

Niels and Amon focused on the battle, Etho found the same kind of ‘Spirit Smoke’ that Amon fought earlier, and Ryo compared the spider monster to an Arachne.

An Arachne is a monster from Greek mythology, with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a spider.

Thinking about it, the spider monster did appear somewhat like one… but Cardinal Sacharias serving as the head was unmistakably male… and the Pope at the abdomen was also male…

Spiders usually have eight legs, but the one in the arena had four.

However, from its silhouette, it was not hard to see why Ryo would call it an Arachne…

“That spider… did it just invoke four magic spells at once?”

“It sure did… It seems like it can cast spells separately for each of its many faces… I remember reading a manga like that once…”

Etho asked, and Ryo nodded in response.

The word manga didn’t seem to register with Etho.

Ryo remembered as he said that.

“Come to think of it, the Pope who attacked me before had four heads floating around, casting four spells simultaneously.”

“What, heads floating around?”

“They were floating beside his real head… it was quite eerie.”

Ryo provided a precise answer to Niels’ question, but he couldn’t convey the image to Niels.

Niels was perplexed.

Describing a scene the other person has never seen is indeed a difficult task.

Giving up trying to picture the scene, Niels scanned the arena and the audience seats.

First, he made eye contact with Graham in the arena.

Then, he also made eye contact with Hugh McGrath in the audience seats.

Graham, through his gaze, indicated two bags placed on the ground.

Hugh, through his gaze, indicated the audience seats of the guests from the Eastern Countries being attacked by the spider monster.

Niels understood just from that.

“We’ve got orders from the commander. We’re to rescue the guests from the Eastern countries who are under attack. Also, Graham-san wants us to use the two ownerless Holy Swords.”

Niels’ explanation surprised the three of them.

Though surprised, they also understood that it was the most necessary action at the moment.

“Once Amon and I secure the Holy Swords, we’ll charge through the arena while cutting down the ‘Spirit Smokes’. Then, we’ll strike the spider monster from behind. Ryo and Etho, head to the guest seating area. Etho, focus on healing the injured there. Ryo, make sure to protect Etho until then, and afterward, protect the guests.”

“Understood.”

The three of them responded in unison.

“”

Ryo chanted, and the four of them were enveloped in ice armor.

Then, after a brief pause…

“Let’s go!”

With Niels’ command, the four of them dashed forward.

Niels and Amon ran toward where Graham and the cardinals and archbishops were gathered.

Along the way, they encountered ‘Spirit Smokes’, but they only swayed and fluttered…

And the two ran through them without attacking.

The priests who had been riveted by Graham and Stefania’s battle with the ‘Spirit Smokes’, did not notice Niels and Amon until they came running up and picked up the Holy Swords from the bags on the ground.

“Hey!”

Naturally, seeing that would elicit a response.

Some random guys who appeared to be adventurers emerged from nowhere and picked up the Holy Swords.

However…

“It’s fine!”

While still in battle, Graham, who had been keeping an eye on the actions of ‘Room 10’ shouted out.

At the sound of his voice, the priests, mainly the inquisition, who tried to stop them, stopped in their tracks.

There was no mistaking it, it was the voice of their esteemed former superior, Graham.

“I’m counting on you to rescue the guests from the Eastern countries.”

“Certainly sir.”

Graham said while fighting, and Niels replied.

At the same time, Niels and Amon drew the swords from the bags.

At that moment, Graham and Stefania saw the Holy Swords faintly glow.

“They glowed…”

“That seems to be the light indicating that the Holy Sword has truly recognized its wielder. Truly worthy of B-rank adventurers.”

Stefania murmured, and Graham smiled in response.

While Graham and Stefania were at the level of being ‘temporarily recognized’ by their Holy Swords, Niels and Amon were at the level of being ‘officially recognized’ by their Holy Swords.

That difference.

For now, either was fine.

The important thing was being able to use the Holy Swords when facing an opponent they couldn’t defeat without them.

Graham and Stefania continued to cut through the ‘Spirit Smokes’ without pausing.

Believing that was the only way to save their comrades.

Niels and Amon, wielding the Holy Swords, struck at what seemed to be the neck of the ‘Spirit Smokes’ that was approaching them.

With just that, the ‘Spirit Smokes’ disappeared.

“Compared to fighting in the atrium just now, it’s so much easier…”

Amon exclaimed in surprise.

“Well, they are indeed Holy Swords, specialized in vanquishing spirits, all right. Quite something.”

Niels remarked, seemingly amazed by the power of the Holy Swords.

While running, they had watched Graham and Stefania’s battle, so they knew that severing the neck or piercing the chest of the ‘Spirit Smoke’ would instantly make it disappear.

They understood that, but…

“The performances of these swords are extraordinary. Now I understand why they wanted to seize them.”

It’s clear now why they went as far as infiltrating the delegation quarters to seize the Holy Swords.

Indeed, in the Central Countries delegation, it was mainly Gladys Aldiss, the negotiator from the Kingdom’s Ministry of Military Affairs, and Groen, the leader of the Union’s escort squad, who, as holy sword bearers, were repelling the ‘Spirit Smokes’ that approached the delegation.

“Let’s quickly defeat that spider monster, Amon.”

“Got it!”

With the holy swords in hand, Niels and Amon dashed toward the spider monster with Sacharias’ head, cutting through the ‘Spirit Smokes’ blocking their path.

Meanwhile, Etho and Ryo.

There was hardly any ‘Spirit Smokes’ on the path they chose.

Of course, both of them were protected not only by but also by floating around them, so they wouldn’t take damage that easily… but still, the presence or absence of enemies made a huge difference in their running speed and fatigue.

“Ryo, is the distance still too far for magic?”

“Yeah, it’s still too far for precise bombardment. I’d like to attack and support the guests, but…”

As soon as Ryo answered Etho’s question.

Five offensive spells were launched from the southern audience seats, striking the spider monster.

One of them, in particular, seemed quite powerful, and the spider monster, not having erected a barrier, suffered considerable damage and writhed in pain.

“That was…”

“Probably His Majesty Roberto Pirlo.”

Both Etho and Ryo understood who was leading the bombardment.

They both knew that the former King, Roberto Pirlo of the Union, was a very powerful magician.

They also understood why there were only five magic bombardments.

“In a battlefield-like scenario with a large number of magic bombardments, they interfere with each other and deviate significantly from their targets… so they limited it to just five powerful ones to prevent that.”

“Truly, His Majesty Roberto Pirlo and his subordinates are remarkable. Precision bombardment from that distance is quite challenging.”

Both Etho and Ryo were impressed.

It was a calm and precise magic bombardment.

“Someone like him was an enemy of the Kingdom during the ‘Great War’ thirteen years ago…”

“Ilarion-sama and Arthur-san mentioned that. They said the Union’s magic was troublesome, and they thought they were going to die. At that time, His Majesty Roberto Pirlo’s name wasn’t mentioned, but I heard it later from His Majesty himself. He was at the center of the Union.”

Roberto Pirlo, as one of the Union’s representative magicians, stood on the battlefield during the ‘Great War’ when the Kingdom and the Union fought.

Despite being over sixty years old at the time and holding a seat in the Ten-member Council, the Union’s central governing body, he personally stood at the forefront.

Ryo had heard from Roberto Pirlo himself, during this journey to the west, about how he had engaged in fierce battles with Ilarion Baraha and Arthur Verasis, the main magicians on the Kingdom side.

“Oh, it seems there will be another bombardment… Etho, when the Arachne’s attention turns back to the delegation, let’s jump to the audience seats!”

“Huh? Jump?”

Etho couldn’t understand the meaning of Ryo’s words at all.

However, without resolving Etho’s confusion, Ryo acted decisively.

He wrapped his left hand around Etho’s waist and held on firmly.

Although Ryo couldn’t be described as having a particularly sturdy physique, he was well-trained, had developed some muscles, and, above all, had a strong grip.

Because he wields a sword.

And, the grip strength of his left hand!

Although that grip strength alone would suffice, just to be sure, he reinforced it with ice so as not to drop Etho.

While Etho was saying something like, Uh… or Um…

As Ryo predicted, there was another round of three magic spell bombardments from the Central Countries delegation aimed at the spider monster.

But…

“”

It wasn’t one of the faces on its four legs but the face of the Pope on its abdomen that chanted.

Absolute defensive magic.

As expected, the absolute defense couldn’t be pierced, and the bombardment was deflected.

However, for Ryo and Etho, whether the bombardment succeeded or failed didn’t matter.

The moment the attention of the spider monster, which Ryo arbitrarily called Arachne, turned towards the delegation, they leaped over it in one go.

“”

And thus, they landed in the guest seats of the Eastern Countries.

Releasing Etho, Ryo chanted.

“”

An ice wall was erected between the spider monster and the guest seats.

Etho, unaffected by the sudden experience of flying, began casting while moving around in the guest seats where many injured people were lying due to the spider monster’s attack magic.

Perhaps Etho was the one with the strongest nerves in ‘Room 10’ after all…

At this moment, the guests from the Eastern countries of the Dark Continent narrowly escaped the threat of total annihilation.

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