novellaaa Chapter 273: ICISEI Episode 259
Chapter 273: ICISEI Episode 259
Episode 259: The Legend of Dual-Class Practitioner; The Sword-Mage of Flowers — Merlin『 Not long after, within the gloomy space of the Underworld, Merlin began a fierce duel with several Lahmu.
Relying on his own superb swordsmanship, Merlin continuously forced the Lahmu into dead ends, with every exchange of offense and defense making the opponents appear increasingly strained.
At first, many of the viewers assumed that this person, who usually appeared quite frivolous, would soon run out of stamina. Some even believed that his so-called master-level skills were merely tricks performed to entertain the audience.
However, the reality far exceeded everyone’s expectations.
As Merlin’s movements with the holy sword became increasingly skillful and fluid, the onlookers gradually discovered that an extremely profound and complex depth of knowledge was hidden behind this swordsmanship.
Those bystanders who had once doubted whether Merlin truly possessed the strength to handle such a severe challenge, one after another changed their original opinions—this seemingly nonchalant "Flower Magician" was actually a bona fide master of swordsmanship.
The current situation was this: the "Flower Magician"—no, he should be called the "Flower Swordsman"—Merlin, relying on an incomparably sharp weapon, remained at ease after successively cutting down two waves of attacking monsters, maintaining a relaxed and carefree posture while engaging the Lahmu in close-quarters combat.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The crisp sound of the sword blade striking tentacles echoed throughout the battlefield, becoming the most unique accompaniment here. 』
『 .....』
〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜
[ Keqing (Genshin Impact): "So powerful." ]
[ Busujima Saeko (High School of the Dead): "This legendary figure, to think he is also such a powerful swordsman." ]
[ Yanqing (Honkai: Star Rail): "So amazing. I kind of want to fight him." ]
[ Yanqing (Honkai: Star Rail): "Even if it’s just a simple comparison of swordsmanship, I wonder how I, a Luofu swordsman, compare to him." ]
[ Jing Yuan (Honkai: Star Rail): "Hehe, Yanqing, your ambition is truly admirable, but that is from another world." ]
[ Yanqing (Honkai: Star Rail): "Hehehe, General, I was just thinking about it." ]
[ Yato (Noragami): "...." ]
[ .....]
〜Noragami World〜
"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone with such swordsmanship. I didn’t expect so many sword-wielding swordsmen... and magicians to appear in just one video..."
The one who said this was a (stray) god named Yato.
It had been a very long time since he last came to this world, and now, having just appeared, he encountered such a magical and breathtaking scene.
"Have these guys been taking steroids? Have they actually become this strong? I don’t even know if I, a small god, can still compete with them."
The small god was shivering.
The plan to build his own shrine might have to be postponed a little bit.
—
〜Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? World〜
Bell, the adventurer who saw this scene in the dungeon, was reminded of his old acquaintance Ais Wallenstein after witnessing such exquisite swordsmanship. In this world, she was also revered by the world as the Sword Princess.
Perhaps because the man’s swordsmanship before him was too exquisite, the moment he saw it, Bell couldn’t help but picture her image.
"So, people in the outside world are all this powerful. It looks like... I have to continue working hard, too. I need to strive to keep up with their pace and descend into deeper levels of the dungeon to explore."
—
〜Demon Slayer World〜
"Even with Master Giyu, I have never seen such powerful swordsmanship, and... this is clearly something that surpasses Master’s swordsmanship!"
Tanjiro, who was on the side, added, his eyes filled with immense admiration.
If only he had such powerful swordsmanship.
When facing those demons...
It would probably be much easier, right?
If that were the case, his sister would probably be safer, right?
—
『 Although Merlin had not yet reached his peak speed.
After exchanging a few blows with the Lahmu, he suddenly accelerated, catching the Lahmu off guard.
This astonishing burst of speed happened in an instant, leaving the Lahmu no time to react before it was cut in half.
Realizing they could no longer be caught off guard like that, the Lahmu retreated several meters in an instant to ensure their safety.
This distance was enough for them to adjust their stance and implement more effective defensive measures.
If they did not take immediate action to defend, they might be easily killed by Merlin again in the next moment. Even in this brief instant, the Lahmu understood this very clearly.
But...
For their mother, for the one who loved them deeply and supported them until the very last moment, the Lahmu naturally had reasons they could not lose.
This belief was buried deep in their hearts, motivating them to persist, no matter what difficulties they encountered; they could not give up.
The Lahmu waved their hands slightly, and the black tentacles that had seemed ordinary immediately changed their form, transforming into incomparably sharp blades.
Such a change was not only shocking, but more importantly, it gave the Lahmu a brand-new fighting style—they could be used as weapons and also as shields to protect themselves.
Ever since they had suffered a blow due to underestimating the enemy earlier, they had deeply realized that they could not make the same mistake again.
Even if Merlin continued to rush toward them at the same extreme speed as before, he would not easily gain the upper hand as he had before.
"Ugh..." With a low roar emitted from their throats, several Lahmu gathered quickly as if commanded, instantly forming a squad.
They did not give the opponent a chance to catch their breath and transformed into huge, fierce cannonballs, flying directly toward Merlin, who was wielding his holy sword in preparation to fight.
"BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!"
The air was instantly filled with dense and crisp sounds; that was the unique noise produced by metal colliding with flesh.
"Clang!"
Every time a black shadow struck the shining longsword in Merlin’s hand, sparks would splash, showing how close the strength between the two sides was.
Unlike the individual combat situation from just a moment ago, the now-gathered Lahmu seemed to form an impenetrable barrier, continuously launching fierce offensives against Merlin, who was fighting alone.
Each wave of attacks surged like a tide, attempting to drown this brave knight.
However, this time, the situation seemed to be in a stalemate.
Even for someone with superb swordsmanship like Merlin, facing such a large number of enemies required careful evasion of the attacks coming one after another.
And under such high-frequency and tightly connected offensives, finding even one perfect opportunity for a counterattack became extremely difficult, harder than ascending to heaven.
Merlin’s staff waved lightly, and beautiful petals appeared out of thin air. These petals seemed to be generated from nothingness, emitting a faint light, which was breathtaking.
The Lahmu reacted quickly, taking two steps back to reach a place where the petals could not touch them at all, but at the same time, their formation, which had originally formed a siege, was disrupted.
The Lahmu’s movements were fast and flexible; their vigilance and ability to respond were clearly not to be underestimated.
"BANG—!"
Taking advantage of the moment, they retreated. Merlin once again charged toward a Lahmu at that incredible speed.
His body seemed to turn into a bolt of lightning, swift as the wind and fast as electricity, approaching the enemy before anyone could fully react.
The same move—trying to sneak attack this kind of high-level Lahmu was simply wishful thinking.
That’s right, this sword strike had been firmly blocked by the Lahmu.
This Lahmu was clearly experienced and had been prepared for Merlin’s attack; its defensive stance was almost impeccable.
Everyone felt extremely worried; the situation could only be described as indescribably terrible.
The situation was extremely critical; as long as the other Lahmu arrived, Merlin, who was now powerless, would surely become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Even the Lahmu showed a very mocking expression, seemingly quite disdainful of Merlin’s futile resistance.
"Although... this isn’t my style!"
"But..."
Merlin raised the staff he hadn’t used for a long time high up.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to his most glorious peak period. The staff in his hand shone brilliantly, releasing long-lost power.
A pink-purple light slowly condensed above the staff like a halo, and amidst the flowing light, it emitted a mysterious and irresistible power. 』
『 .....』
〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜
[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "Seeing the weapon in his hand is so powerful, I almost forgot that he is actually a mage." ]
[ Rimuru Tempest (Tensura): "This is a melee mage in reality." ]
[ Steven Strange (Earth-616): "A melee mage, huh." ]
[ Steven Strange (Earth-616): "Looks pretty good." ]
[ Tony Stark (Earth-616): "???" You want to try it too?" ]
[ Steven Strange (Earth-616): "Why, is that not allowed?" ]
[ .....]
〜Naruto World〜
Konoha Village—
"Ah... Pervy Sage, I almost forgot that this guy is a magician..."
Naruto looked at the video in front of him, feeling both amused and helpless.
If he forgot the enemy’s own skills during a battle, he would definitely suffer a big loss.
But...
Is the guy in front of him really not a fake magician? Naruto always felt like he was a swordsman.
"It doesn’t matter, Naruto... learn from that. Just make sure you don’t make such low-level errors in the future."
Upon hearing Naruto’s words, Jiraiya’s expression also became somewhat unpleasant, but to appease his disciple, he chose to hide it.
"Hey, hey, Pervy Sage... don’t tell me you forgot too..."
Naruto cast a questioning look at Jiraiya; even though he was just a kid, Naruto still discovered the clue about his teacher.
"What are you saying, you brat! Do you think I would make such a simple mistake? Do you think I’m as stupid as you?"
Perhaps feeling that his disguise had been seen through, Jiraiya felt extremely exasperated.
But the more he acted like this, the weirder Naruto felt. Once again, Naruto cast a questioning look at Jiraiya.
—
〜Demon Slayer World〜
Tanjiro felt immense admiration as he watched Merlin.
To possess such superb swordsmanship and also have such powerful magic, and most importantly...
As a dual-class practitioner, Merlin also possessed a flexible combat mind, adept at utilizing all factors on the battlefield to create victory for himself.
He even had this "old six" (sneaky/underhanded) fighting style: first using his sword to stalemate with the enemy, and the moment the enemy didn’t react, spraying magic directly into the enemy’s face.
Sure enough... this fighting style was truly "old six."
But even if this fighting style wasn’t very glorious, Tanjiro still deeply felt the power of this handsome man in front of him.
Possessing magic power like Miss Tamayo, and then... possessing swordsmanship with the strength of Master Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the combination of these two...
In Tanjiro’s mind, at this very moment, the image of Miss Tamayo holding a sword could not help but surface. Although it was very incongruous, it was indeed ridiculously powerful.
Regardless... Tanjiro had indeed learned something. If this "old six" fighting style was improved slightly, even a single-class swordsman like him would surely be able to use it effectively.
Thinking this, a satisfied smile appeared on Tanjiro’s face.
Just as Tanjiro was still daydreaming.
On the other side, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who was still searching for Muzan.
Looking at Merlin’s operations in the video.
It seemed he had also thought of something, and his Nichirin Sword was covered with a fiery red light.
—
『 As Merlin waved his arm, a powerful surge of magic instantly erupted, directly swallowing the Lahmu that was deadlocked in battle.
The entire process was as beautiful as a dream, yet carried incomparably destructive power.
In just an instant, that ugly monster turned into a puddle of dead water.
Its body melted instantly, turning into an unrecognizable, murky substance, disappearing completely.
Finding an opportunity, Merlin used magic to kill one of the Lahmu and then escaped the siege of the Lahmu.
His actions were decisive and precise, leaving no room for the other Lahmu to counterattack.
Perhaps feeling that a troublesome monster had finally been eliminated, Merlin let out a light sigh of relief.
At this moment, he felt unprecedentedly relaxed and cheerful, as if the heavy stone in his heart had finally been lifted.
Feeling that cool breeze of the Underworld, Merlin’s confident smile appeared on his face once again.
He knew the importance of this power and the sense of security it brought.
"Even Artoria often falls for this move...."
Looking at the Lahmu killed by his magic surge, Merlin’s words were filled with amusement.
His smile was both smug and proud, as if this victory was already destined to be his.
But just at this moment, a crisp collision sound startled everyone.
This sound came so suddenly that it broke the originally somewhat quiet atmosphere.
And that sound came from Ishtar, who had long since been beaten into a state where she could not fight back.
Her body hit the rock heavily, making a heart-wrenching sound.
Having to face several Lahmu at the same time, and repeatedly pushing the limits of her body, constantly consuming the magic power in her body, even as a goddess, she could not hold on at this moment.
Her physical strength and magic power were both nearing exhaustion, and every movement required her to use all her strength.
These repeated efforts were all seen by the audience.
So now, she was no longer the useless goddess in the eyes of the audience, but a true warrior.
Moreover, when they saw Ishtar falling heavily to the ground, the scars all over her body made them feel even more distressed.
These wounds witnessed the cruel battles she had experienced and made people admire her even more.
Ishtar lay on the ground, being ravaged by the Lahmu, her face still bearing a very unwilling expression.
Although her body was unable to resist, her eyes remained firm, unwilling to submit to fate. Watching the Lahmu surround her heavily, Ishtar let out an unwilling cry.
Her voice was full of indignation and despair, but there was a trace of stubbornness within the despair.
With Merlin’s powerful performance, for a time, the Lahmu from Merlin’s side could not find any breakthrough, and several had even been eliminated.
The Lahmu were clearly suppressed by Merlin’s strength and had difficulty getting close.
On the other side, Ishtar had exploded and killed several Lahmu through a powerful surge of magic in the previous chase, but this exhausted a large amount of her magic power.
Due to the lack of magic power, she lost her advantage in the confrontation with the Lahmu and was quickly knocked down from high in the air, falling into a predicament where she was unable to fight back.
The situation was once again deadlocked. Although both Merlin and Ishtar possessed extraordinary abilities, in the face of the numerous and powerful "new humans"—the Lahmu—they still appeared somewhat thin and powerless.
It seemed that failure was a foregone conclusion, just a matter of time.
The Ishtar lying on the ground, although constantly trying to condense some remaining magic power from her fingertips to launch an attack, her current state was more like a deathbed struggle.
Facing such small-scale harassment, the Lahmu didn’t care at all. One of them grabbed Ishtar’s body directly and lifted her easily... 』
『 .....』