Reincarnated as a Sword Vol. 6

by Yuu Tanaka

  It was said that a lion uses all its power to hunt a rabbit, and that was how Gaudartha was handling this battle. Although aware of his advantage over Fran, he handled her with the seriousness of an enemy at war, and we were definitely losing more health and mana than him. If we let Gaudartha have his way, it was only a matter of time before Fran made a mistake.

  Time to turn this around!

  Jet!

  “Grrr!”

  “Harumph! So you can use summons, as well! Don’t assume a helping hand will be enough to overcome my defenses!”

  I knew that. Jet was strong, but his attacks were of the fast and stealthy kind. We had another reason for bringing him out.

  Now’s our chance, Fran! It’s time to drain his mana, just like we planned!

  Hm!

  Mana Drain was the skill I had just leveled up. I only had enough to get it to Level 9, but it was more than enough to make a difference. Our fight with Colbert made it clear that Physical Immunity didn’t make us invincible. It couldn’t nullify magical attacks, and the resource drain was almost unbearable. Mana Drain was our solution to this problem. Draining mana from our opponent helped us recover our own, while taking away his attack power at the same time.

  We didn’t level it up during the match with Colbert because we didn’t know how much of a difference it would make. It was only at Level 3 then, and I couldn’t risk putting points into a skill that could be a dead end. After all, we still had another trick up our sleeve. Our doubts were cleared after consulting Dias and Lumina. Both confirmed that Mana Drain was a dangerous skill, given a high enough level. Dangerous enough to cause Lumina concern, and to give Dias shivers as he recounted an episode from his early years. Very good signs, indeed.

  Gaudartha’s mana was already being drained. He was spending more on recovery to deal with Jet’s flurry of attacks. I had switched my Elemental Blade to Shadow to stack up the drain effect. We weren’t dealing much damage, but that was all right. Our immediate goal was to dry up his mana. We were already draining it fast enough to outpace his armor’s Mana Regeneration. Eventually, Gaudartha felt the effects.

  Reduce his mana pool enough, and the skill which kept him Awakened should deactivate. At that point, we could go in for the kill.

  “Hm? What the…?!” It didn’t seem like he realized I was the source of his disappearing mana. Even so, the large man kept his cool and changed his strategy accordingly. “Rooooargh!”

  Gaudartha took a sudden leap forward, seemingly in desperation. He abandoned his defensive posture and made a wild attempt to squash Fran with the weight of his body. A direct hit would leave her smeared on the floor, but the attack was far too predictable.

  However, Gaudartha wasn’t targeting Fran to begin with.

  “Ground Shaker!”

  He was targeting the ring itself.

  Boooom!

  Gaudartha slammed his axe into the center of the ring, creating a fissure which spiderwebbed out to its edges. A miniature earthquake followed, and the tremors threw Fran and Jet off balance.

  “Hrmph!”

  “Arf?”

  The quake must’ve been about a seven on the Richter Scale. As agile as Fran was, she was having trouble holding her ground.

  He was targeting the arena?!

  Before I could finish my thought, the greataxe—which had been lodged in the ground mere moments ago—almost made contact with Fran’s midsection. I didn’t think Gaudartha could move that fast. He must’ve used one of his other skills along with Heightened Reflexes. I accelerated myself with Timespace Magic and took over. Fran was still caught up in the aftershocks of the earthquake.

  Short Jump!

  I got us out of there as fast as I could.

  “Urgh…”

  Greater Heal! Greater Heal! Greater Heal!

  The end of the fight with Colbert was coming back to haunt us. Fran’s stomach was slashed open, blood and guts pouring out of the gaping wound. She coughed up blood and bile, and I was amazed that she hadn’t died of shock.

  Fran!

  “I-I’m fine…ack.”

  She managed to recover just before Cradle of Time could activate. She spat out the remaining blood and staggered to her feet, but her opponent was faster than her.

  “Urraaaagh!”

  We almost cut your head off, how are you still okay?!

  Gaudartha advanced toward us. His large body showed no signs of slowing down.

  It’s our turn now!

  Fran was doing pretty well after her near-evisceration. In fact, her near-death experience seemed to have motivated her further. Gaudartha took his greataxe and slammed it to the ground.

  “Ground Shaker!”

  Again?! But we had seen this trick before. Gaudartha’s follow-up attack was fast, but Ground Shaker itself had a long startup. It gave us enough time to use Physical Immunity.

  “Hrngh!”

  Gaudartha followed up Ground Shaker with another horizontal slash. He pulled it off smoothly, like he had rehearsed this combo a thousand times. It must’ve seemed to everyone like Fran had no time to react. The crowd gasped with terror as they anticipated Fran’s death, but the gasps soon died down and were replaced with confused murmurs.

  “Won’t work this time.”

  “Impossible!”

  If the crowd was shocked, then Gaudartha was absolutely beside himself. He widened his eyes as he looked up and down at his weapon. Although his move focused on speed, the sheer mass of his metal axe was more than enough to cut through Fran like butter. Yet Fran was still standing there, grinning, unfazed, and still in one piece. Everyone was confused at how the great giant of a man had failed to move a little girl. She wasn’t even straining to maintain her barrier.

  It was impossible for Gaudartha to believe, and Fran exploited his shock.

  “Haaaa!”

  “Grrr!”

  “Urk!”

  Now that he was in striking distance, she wasted no time in going on the offensive. She pelted him with powerful spells and skills, all of them greatly draining his mana.

  Just a little more! He’s almost spent!

  “Tchaaaa!”

  “Hrrrngh!”

  Gaudartha countered with several quick swings, but they weren’t fast enough. Eventually, his mana pool dried up.

  “Gah!!”

  He was finally knocked out of his Awakened state. We had to take him down before his armor recovered his mana!

  Come on! Short Jump!

  We jumped behind Gaudartha, intent on finishing the match with one great attack.

  Instead of his defenseless back, we were greeted with Gaudartha’s terrifying greataxe. Teleportation had a very small timeframe in which you could react. Even without Heightened Reflexes, Gaudartha read our play. Maybe he’d gained his instincts from those long years as a soldier, or perhaps beastmen had sharper instincts than other races. His greataxe met Fran’s blade and threw her back. She managed to block his swing, but the force reverberated through her body, making it difficult to hold on to me.

  “Hngh!”

  Fran rolled to dodge Gaudartha’s follow-up. Despite no longer being in an Awakened state, he was still powerful enough to leave cracks in the stadium floor. We struggled to find a gap in his defenses.

  Didn’t expect any less from an A-Rank…!

  We had to finish this before he got his mana back…but how? A plunging attack from above? Maybe from the sides? Too obvious. Should we turn on Physical Immunity and attack with reckless abandon? We didn’t have enough mana for that. As I was going through our options, Fran cast the deciding vote.

  Teacher, we’ll go up! He won’t be able to stop us, even if he sees us coming!

  Got it.

  It sounded like a plan. If Fran’s mind was made up, then my duty was to carry it out.

  Jet, keep him busy!

  Woof!

  Long Jump!

  “Hm?”

  “Grrr!”

  Gaudartha looked around, trying to work
out where she’d gone. He couldn’t work it out, and Jet would keep him busy enough that he never would. The audience and commentator were as much in the dark as he was.

  “What’s this? Fran has disappeared from the ring! Did she teleport? Turn herself invisible? Maybe she took to the shadows!”

  The correct answer was the sky. Fran hopped on the flat of my blade as I moved in, so she could concentrate on unleashing her powerful attack. Once she was ready, she muttered.

  “Let’s go.”

  Right.

  She grabbed my hilt and began her descent. She used Air Current Manipulation and Mana Thread to catapult herself to the ground and accelerated further with Air Hop, Rush, and Wind Magic. Her moment of impact was further magnified with Increase Weight, along with two Elemental Blades: Fire and Lightning. The concept was the same as the high-altitude Pressurized Quickdraw we’d used in the battle against Linford, only this time, we were much higher in the sky. And this time, we’d be stronger. Fran was accelerating faster with Timespace Magic, had more control of her sword thanks to Sword King Mastery, and could put out more power with Spirit Control.

  “Thunderclap!”

  Fran used the Class Skill she had just acquired. Lightning enveloped her body, further increasing her speed. She took the form of a spear of lightning as she fell towards Gaudartha like a shooting star.

  “Haaaaa!”

  “Where is—”

  Gaudartha looked up, finally picking up on Fran’s presence. She had drawn me from her pressurized sheath and my blade was already before his eyes. She crashed into the arena with a dazzling flash. Loud rumbling followed the bolt of lightning that scorched into the earth.

  “Graaaaaaaaaah!” Gaudartha let out a bestial roar.

  Short Jump!

  I teleported Fran to a corner of the ring before she could lodge herself into the ground. There was a large crater where Gaudartha had been, and plumes of smoke emerged from it.

  Teacher, are you okay?!

  I’m fine, Fran! I’m fixing myself already. But that armor of his is tougher than I thought! I can’t believe that wasn’t enough to cut through…

  My plan had been to cut through Gaudartha’s left shoulder to his heart. That should be enough to put the big man down. I’d felt myself cut through his armor and into his flesh, but just as I was about to reach his heart, my blade snapped off. I wasn’t durable enough to withstand that armor.

  I’m sorry, Fran! I’ve been useless this whole fight!

  It’s not your fault. Besides, he definitely felt that one.

  Yeah. Cradle of Time hasn’t triggered yet, but he should have a hard time moving—

  Shoom!

  I stopped as I felt a huge burst of mana from the dust cloud. It blew away the smoke that had settled in the crater. We had shocked the crowd and Gaudartha with Physical Immunity, but now it was our turn for a cruel surprise.

  What the hell?! But he has no mana! How did he recover from that?!

  Gaudartha fell on one knee, clearly inches from death. His left arm was missing. His body was broken and fluid gushed out of him. His right arm was crushed and his left leg was fractured at best. I doubted his organs had escaped this onslaught unscathed. Although he’d managed to deflect some of the damage, we still inflicted a huge amount of hurt.

  But now his wounds were healing at an unbelievably rate. Instant Regeneration was doing its thing, and even his heavily damaged armor was beginning to fix itself. In a matter of seconds, Gaudartha was back to fighting form.

  “Huff…huff…I didn’t think I’d need the armor’s help so soon…” Gaudartha said as he slowly got back on his feet. “Phoenix Armor possesses great regenerative capabilities.”

  Yeah, I could see that! All his injuries were gone… As if the defense value of Gaudartha’s armor wasn’t bad enough, it came with ridiculous recovery abilities, too? This was a nightmare. How many more charges of this trick did he have left? There’s no way he could keep it up indefinitely, but I didn’t think it was a one-time thing, either. The armor was crafted by a Godsmith, after all.

  Teacher, one more time!

  No. He’s already seen that move. He knows how to anticipate it.

  All right.

  Teleporting around too much would make it easier for him to read us. That was why we hadn’t used too much. If Fran could figure out the Demon’s Shadow Walk back in Alessa, a more experienced fighter could definitely spot our teleport tells. Unlike Short Jump, a plunging attack made her an obvious target if you knew where to look. Using it again was far too risky.

  We looked at Gaudartha in shock. His full recovery was bad enough, but he took it one step further.

  “He’s…Awakened again?”

  Yeah. He’s back at full mana, too.

  Our efforts to whittle away at his mana pool were wasted. To make things worse, our resources were still draining away. I wasn’t one to talk, being a magical sentient sword, but that armor should’ve been banned! It was overpowered!

  With Gaudartha back to the same state he was before the match started, Fran made up her mind.

  I’ll have to use it.

  Can’t be helped.

  Even if we drained all his mana again, his armor would just put him back the way he was before. Still, its power took about a second to activate. We needed to drain his mana and kill him before it could happen. That was the simplest way of winning.

  You’re not used to that form yet, so we have to be quick about this. We don’t know what’ll happen to you if you stay that way for too long.

  I know.

  And don’t expect anything from Physical Immunity. I won’t have time to fiddle with it at that speed.

  Never planned to, Fran declared.

  I was prepared to back her up, especially considering that she couldn’t really die in this fight. This was our best chance to try out her new powers.

  “Jet, take to the shadows and keep him busy.”

  “Woof!”

  “Here we go!”

  Gaudartha knew from the look in her eyes that she was putting everything on the line. He allowed her to make her last stand as she gathered up mana. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but it will not be enough to defeat me! Come at me with all you’ve got! I’ll put a stop to it!”

  “I’ll kill you!”

  We’d done everything in our power to prepare for the tournament. I gathered up the crystals and ranked up. And Fran…

  “Awaken.”

  Evolved.

  Boooom!

  Mana exploded outwards. Black bolts of lightning crackled about Fran, forming a thunderstorm around her. Gaudartha only stared in stunned silence.

  “Awaken…?”

  “Hm.”

  “A Black Cat…?”

  Gaudartha could be forgiven for his shock. A Black Cat had just evolved right in front of his eyes. This was our ace in the hole: the pinnacle of the beastman tribes, which Fran achieved with Lumina’s assistance. Her appearance didn’t change much. She didn’t grow extra fur and her skin remained the same color. She didn’t increase in age, and whiskers didn’t sprout from her face. What changed were her eyes—a striking gold—and her tail, which pointed towards the sky like a lightning rod. If you paid close enough attention, her black tail now had gray stripes on it, but it was easily missed.

  However, her stats had certainly increased. Three hundred points in Agility and Magic, along with a complete recovery of health and mana. It didn’t stop there. Evolving granted her access to a particular skill.

  “Flashing Thunderclap.”

  This was the advanced form of Lumina’s Thunderclap, unlocked after she evolved. Lumina had used it to fight in her normal state, but its true potential remained locked away until one evolved. In her Awakened state, Flashing Thunderclap granted Fran Strength Up, Agility Up, Heightened Reflexes, Elemental Blade Thunder, Enhanced Thunder, Thunder Immunity, and Thunder Magic Up. It was much more powerful than before.

  Seeing Fran in her Awakened state hyped
up the commentator.

  “Fran has Awakened, ladies and gentlemen! But what’s this? She doesn’t look that much different than before! Not that she needs to with those threatening thunderclouds floating around her! I’ve never seen black lightning fall from the sky before, let alone from a person!”

  Lumina’s lightning had been a natural pale blue, but Fran’s was inky black. Her bolts looked like they belonged in a sumi-e painting rather than in the clouds.

  Fran had evolved into a Black Sky Tiger of yore.

  “We’ve all heard the stories about the impossibility of Evolution for Black Cats, but Swordceress Fran has proven that false!”

  To a non-beastman, the fact of Fran’s Evolution was surprising, but they were far more interested in how much stronger she was now. The beastmen, on the other hand, looked absolutely solemn.

  “…”

  Gaudartha stood in the arena, mouth agape, looking like he had completely forgotten about the battle. Meanwhile, in the VIP area, the Beast King had gotten out of his seat to stare. He leaned on the rails, looking like he wanted to get into the ring himself just so he could confirm it. Rosch, seated next to him, wore the exact same expression.

  “A Black Sky Tiger?” Gaudartha croaked, finally returning to his senses. “To think I would be in the presence of one of the Ten…! How did I not notice before…?”

  Gaudartha shook his head in disbelief. This was our chance. Fran leaned forward, ready to exploit this gap.

  Ready?

  Let’s go!

  She rushed in at the rhino.

  “Where did—gah!”

  “Hmph!”

  “Urgh! What…?!”

  To Gaudartha, it must’ve looked like Fran had disappeared. No teleportation or invisibility here, just raw speed. The attack caught him completely off guard, and he wailed in pain. She slashed at him, but most of the damage came from her jet-black lightning. It ran through his armor and burned him up. This was the power of her Awakened state. Fran was too fast for Gaudartha, and her Black Lightning was penetrating his previously invincible defenses.

  “Gah! Guh!”

  “Haaaa!”

  She continued to attack with blinding speed. Black Lightning not only gave her immense speed, but also maneuverability and control. The skill allowed her to ignore the laws of physics while maintaining her velocity. The concept was similar to Zehmet’s, the Blue Cat we fought in our first round. His Evolution made him fast enough to run circles around his opponent. The only difference was that Fran’s Evolution gave her even more speed, control, and attack power.