Chapter 96: Tempest Bringer
「Understood. Allow me to assist you, Your Highness!」
「Sorry guys, I ended up borrowing your strength again.」
Dany replied to Prince Julius when the latter called him out in the barracks.
Aria’s group had departed from the Imperial Capital. They wanted to save as much power as possible until their arrival on the resurrection site of the Four Demon Dukes.
Thus, they had opted to borrow the soldiers’ strength.
Since their captain, Cedris, was dispatched to subjugate the Demon Duke on one of the other resurrection sites, the only ones remaining in the barracks were Vice-Captain Dany, Howard, Kenny, and Marietta… in short, just the usual members.
「It seems we really are bound by strings of fate, Aria.」
「Yes, Dany-san. It’s a pleasure to work with you again.」
Beryl’s subjugation mission, Gladdstone’s riot, and now the Four Demon Dukes’ resurrection… somehow Aria’s group always ended up working together with Dany and co. whenever a big event like those happened. Thus, one might say that this was the guidance of fate.
「Moreover, since Your Highness Julius and Miss Vulcan are also in this, that means…」
「Has Vulcan-san revealed her status to you, Aria-chan?」
「That’s right, nyan. I’ve told Aria-chan and co. about my identity as an Artifact Smith.」
Vulcan replied to Howard and Marietta with a wry smile.
Naturally, the knight squad were long since aware of Vulcan’s other identity.
Well, they were bound to know as they were the ones who had survived Ragnarok.
「Yosh, let’s get going. We’ve to arrive at the resurrection site as fast as possible.」
「Roger that, Your Highness.」
Everyone, starting from Dany gave a salute after hearing Prince Julius’s order, and then, they all headed toward the Labyrinth City,
◆
「GUGYA!」
「GIGIN!!」
A while after entering the labyrinth―
A typical monster appeared in front of the party. It was a small monster with a small horn and green skin, a Goblin.
「Right when we need an opponent to test our new weapon. Can you leave this guy to me?」
「Yup… Let’s start with Aria then.」
「Mumu! Prince Julius! I want to test my weapon too! Desu!」
「Calm down, Stella. You know yourself that your artifact only shows its true power against powerful foes, right.」
「Muh… Understand, desu」
Prince Julius pacified Stella, who also wanted to fight.
Just as he said, Stella’s artifact showed its true value only against powerful opponents. As for the details… it would have to wait till a suitable opponent for her would appear in front of them.
「I want to use my artifact too!」
「Calm down, Lily. His Highness Prince Julius* did say that we’ll get our tu~rn!」
Faeri tried to calm Lily, who was itching to test the power of her artifact too.
「Here I go!」
「Nyan !」
(Be careful, Master!)
Aria swiftly ran toward the two incoming goblins while smiling in response to Tama’s adorable purr.
「Let’s go, 〝Tempest Bringer?!」
She unsheathed her artifact. Her artifact was a pair of ornamental knives, which were stowed in her thigh belt with. She grasped them both with her hands while shouting〝Tempest Bringer?.
Tempest Bringer’s silver blade shone as if it were answering Aria’s call.
Aria swung her outstretched arms, which was followed by a ‘Byuuo!’ due to the sudden acceleration of her arms.
Even though her swinging speed had reached an inhuman realm, she hadn’t even invoked her 《Acceleration》 yet.
But why did Aria’s attack suddenly accelerated even when she wasn’t using her inherent skill?
The reason was none other than the effect of her new weapon, the artifact Tempest Bringer.
That effect had activated the moment Aria had unleashed Tempest Bringer from its sheath. It created a powerful 〝Wind? and propelled the swing.
This propelling force was the cause of the acceleration of Aria’s swinging speed.
Tempest Bringer was a pair of knives made with the same material as Aria’s previous dual knives, and these materials were an alloy of orichalcum and tamahagane. Then, Mana Dite was added into the alloy instead of the usual iron.
Normally, Mana Dite was the kind of mineral that could store mana and create a gentle breeze or light a fire strong enough for cooking. In short, it was an extremely useful household item.
But, in the hands of Vulcan, an artifact smith, it could do wonders. Its output was now sufficeient enough to power up an artifact.
The speed of Aria’s normal swing with her new artifact rivaled her swinging speed with her inherent skill activated.
The slow-witted goblin didn’t even have the time to react against the attack as Tempest Bringer decapitated its head at a terrifying speed.
「GUGYAAAA!」
The other goblin let out an enraged roar as it witnessed the death of its comrade. It tried to stab Aria with its dagger.
Against such an attack, Aria simply pointed her Tempest Bringer toward the ground and activated its ability for the second time.
「GUGYA!?」
The goblin was extremely surprised when Aria’s figure suddenly vanished in a blink.
And then―SMACK! The silver blade suddenly pierced the goblin’s skull from above.
Aria had skillfully controlled the wind vector of Tempest Bringer. She had fired it toward the ground to propel herself upward, and had achieved an ultra-high-speed jump in the process. She had then stabbed the goblin’s crown of head from above as her body fell due to gravity. The gravity had increased Tempest Bringer’s penetrating power.
（As expected of my master. She can reach this degree of mastery just by trying to activate the artifact’s abilities a few times along the journey!）
Tama praised Aria’s mastery of Tempest Bringer as she had only used her artifact a few times along the journey to Labyrinth City.
Aria’s combat style was ultra-high-speed close combat by making full use of her inherent skill, 《Acceleration》. Her combat style had now evolved even further with her current mastery in using Tempest Bringer. It had added a few twists to her usually linear motion.
The reason she could reach this degree of mastery even when she had yet to learn derivate skill might be related to her training.
「THAT’S COOL, ARIA-CHAN!」
「You improved by leaps and bounds before the battle!」
Even the Knights gave high praise after they watched Aria’s battle.
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