Three Slashes?!

Upon its appearance, the great sword looked heavy, but it fitted comfortably in my hand. It had a faint sense of familiarity, giving me a boost of confidence. I had never held this before, so why was it familiar?

I carefully inspected the Tri-Carver in all its glory. Its name suggested three heads, but it didn’t resemble a trident at all!

I briefly remembered Hinabe earlier explaining why this sword was given its name. It’s not because of its looks… but because of its attack. I wondered what that meant.

I gazed down below and watched as everyone’s eyes met mine.

The king tightened his grip on his blades. I could sense the hostility in his eyes. Funny how the tables have turned now!

Endo wanted to prevent me from retrieving the Tri-Carver. Now that I had it, I needed the king to accept defeat. He knew the power behind this weapon. I was wary of his ability. If the king still had energy to fight, then I would give him one. I needed to test it out.

…

I gradually lifted the great sword high in the air. I left it lingering there momentarily as I prepared an attack.

“You still want to fight, King Endo?” I cockily asked the king, my eyes filled with determination. “Then you asked for this.”

I mustered any remaining strength I had left and dropped the blade, aiming at the King below. For some reason, my body subconsciously knew how to bring out its true power.

While I swung the blade, I felt my energy getting sucked into the blade. A ball of immense energy condensed towards the tip of the blade. Before I finished swinging the blade, my mouth widened as I shouted out the name of the sword. “Tri-Carver!”

As the attack contacted with the platform below me, it released its energy, splitting the ground under it.

It resembled Astra’s powerful blade and its physical slash. However, it exceeded her ability. My swing produced three deadly attacks, each flying in a different direction.

Prince Kaito’s face froze in shock from its intense power. “Unbelievable! I was told the Tri-Carver was powerful, but I never would have guessed it to be this powerful.”

“Yeah, me either.” What an upgrade! With this in my arsenal, I am now an actual threat. Maybe I do have a chance to defeat the demon king, Satavio.

Kaito quietly examined my three slashes. “Where are your attacks going?” he wondered.

I averted my attention to my attacks. I aimed the middle strike at the King. The strike aimed at the right was angling towards the wall. However, when I looked at the left attack, my body felt a rush of worry. It was piercing the air, heading for Princess Kiriko and the others.

I immediately dropped the Tri-Carver to the ground. I lifted my palms and faced Kaito, trying to plead guilty. “I-I didn’t mean to attack her, Kaito! You have to believe me. I wanted to test out the sword!”

Garlan and the King turned their attention to the strike that closed in on them.

“My word. What a powerful display of power.” Garlan pointed out, starstruck by the beauty of the slash.

The King propped his blades in front of him, ready to block the attack. His knees quavered not because of his exhaustion. His energy had depleted. His adrenaline was the only thing keeping him on his two feet… but that also ran out. His arms gave out, lowering his guard. The physical slash neared him.

Garlan sensed the king’s weak condition. His goal was to stop the king from killing me. In the end, he still had a sense of duty to fulfill. He rushed to the fallen king and jumped in front of him, ready to defend.

The slash pushed him a couple of inches away. He was losing his balance. He couldn’t stop the powerful attack. He was forced to redirect its trajectory. He used his sword and angled the attack upward, crashing into the ceiling.

The right strike eventually arrived at the side wall. It sliced through the stone, creating a vast dent that stretched for almost a kilometer. The aftershock vibrated through the walls, sending a multitude of debris to crumble out.

…

The left strike was still approaching the crowd. The bystanders looked at the oncoming slash in a panic.

The princess’s servants wrapped their arms around the princess, attempting to escort her out of harm’s way. “Princess Kiriko, you have to get to safety!”

Kiriko’s petite body couldn’t resist her servants. She shielded herself behind her servants as she was forced to relocate herself.

Her servants also encouraged Amada to seek safety. “Young girl. You must also get to somewhere safe.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine here.” Amada casually clarified.

Her composure confused the princess. Amada had no way of defending herself. We witnessed the damage the attack caused. Even Garlan, who was dominating his fight against the king, had trouble dealing with it. So how was she so confident?

The princess stopped in her tracks. She fidgeted around her servants and asked Amada, “What do you mean?”

She pointed towards the center of the battlefield. “Just watch and see.”

They followed her finger and were caught looking at the downed crusader. He was being dragged lifelessly around.

“You’re almost there, Miss Hinabe. Keep going.” The crusader urged as Hinabe dragged him around. “Also, thank you for healing me.”

“You’re… wel…come,” Hinabe grunted, struggling to pull his heavy weight.

As I left the crusader behind to chase after the Tri-Carver, Hinabe took it in her best interest to rush to Anojin’s aid to heal him. She once again proceeded to heal his injuries, not his paralysis.

After she finished healing him, Anojin told Hinabe to pull him towards the girls. She obliged and pulled Anojin’s body towards Amada.

“This is perfect, Hinabe, my love. You can stop here.”

Hinabe angled the crusader in front of the girls, intercepting the incoming attack. With no time to spare, the elf gathered all her strength and lifted the crusader. She leaned on him to put her weight on him so he would stay still. “Like this?”

“Perfect. Now stay behind me as I will protect you, my beautiful ladies.”

Hinabe hid behind Anojin. Over in the distance, Amada was also aligned behind him.

Amada encouraged the princess and her servants to rush over to her. The servants refused to return, doubting Amada’s plan. However, the princess was interested in Amada’s words and broke free of her servants. They quickly followed behind, chasing after Kiriko.

The strike was seconds from reaching the crusader. Luckily, they managed to arrive near Amada at the nick of time.

Anojin used his block spell once more and effortlessly blocked the attack. The aftershock of the clash took Kiriko by surprise. Eventually, the strong gust of wind subsided, and silence settled around them.

…

Prince Kaito and I simultaneously released a heavy sigh of relief as everyone was safe after my mistake.

Thank goodness, Anojin was there to protect them. I’m grateful for Anojin saving the day, but I’d rather die than admit that to his face.

If he wasn’t there, I don’t want to know what would happen next. The king would get mad at me. Or worse, I might have been thrown in jail for killing a royal member!

As the awkward pause of silence in the air expanded, I gazed at the fallen king. I picked up the Tri-Carver and marched down the stairs to confront him. Kaito and the others silently watched on, wary of what my next plan of action would be.

I arrived back on the arena floor and approached King Endo. Garlan quietly stepped aside, allowing me to face my opponent.

We bumped heads, each glaring with fiery gazes. After having a short staring contest, Anojin’s body shut down. He kneeled to the floor, having no power left in his body.

I aimed the tip of my sword at his neck. I glared at him emotionlessly as I acted to deliver the final blow. I needed to convince the king I was serious about killing him… even though I wasn’t.

“You’re all out of energy, king,” I said in a monotonous tone. “I don’t want to kill you over something so stupid. Admit defeat.”

The king paused for a second, thinking of his answer. I leaned the blade forward, urging him to accept his defeat.

After a grueling minute of silence, the king opened his mouth, ready to give his answer.

…