Only I Am A Reader
chapter-128

"Hmph! This has really gone on for too long! You think you have the right to ruin this moment for me?"

The Sword Demon didn't have to be a genius to understand that Leo was messing around with him. With a little bit of logical thinking, he could easily deduce that this Eleven had somehow figured out the whole plan that the Holy Sword School's remnant had for him and ended up 'procuring' what he needed to complete 'himself'.

Without a doubt, Eleven's feat of grasping his own path was worth commending, especially in the eyes of someone like the Sword Demon who almost died countless times to reach where he was. However…

Rather than being happy with himself, this impudent test subject actually chose to stand in front of the one who orchestrated its 'emergence', attempting to disturb his perfect plan to rise beyond the limit of understanding! At this moment, the Sword Demon didn't care how Leo managed to resist the Progenitor Sword's recall, all he cared about was how to rip him into pieces!

"You are nothing but a whim of mine. Something that I already forgot about, and you dare to show up here today?"

He found it a waste to exert his prowess over the helpless crops once the harvest started. Now that his mood was disturbed, however, the Sword Demon no longer had any plans to hold back.

With a single thought, a dozen swords rose from the ground, shining resplendently before turning into streaks of light in the siblings' direction.

'Here we go.'

The swords' whistle designated the true start of the battle. Taking one last deep breath, both Leo's hands transformed into blackish swords as he set his body in full motion, striking down a pair of swords before relying on his inhuman agility to retreat.

If it was an option, Leo would have liked to assassinate the Sword Demon from the very beginning rather than throw him down. However, let alone using Sword Breath, using any form of 'swords' would have alerted him. Not only was he a 'Sword' Demon, but he was also controlling the Progenitor Sword's domain, the only option at hand was true confrontation.

Rather than making a failed attempt, Leo decided to apply some physical damage so he could disturb the Sword Demon's calculative mind, something that he confirmed to be working just now.

Crakkk! Crakkk!

It wasn't like he was hopeless either, the Sword Demon's 'flying swords' were troublesome, but Leo didn't 'equip' Sword Breaker for nothing. Even under the superior Sword Breath's protection, a strike from Leo's 'Hand Sword' was enough to reduce a remotely controlled sword to pieces! Though it was somewhat late, Leo had finally joined the limit-breaker gang!

"Keep running, checking out what you turned out to be should be a good way to pass time."

Crakkk! Crakkk!

Ignoring the small villain talk, Leo continued to destroy and avoid. While this might look like a game to the Sword Demon, Leo was actually going at it slowly to get accustomed to the flying sword's rhythm. Winning this battle was all about guiding the antagonist to underestimate him and making use of that time to grasp its flow!

Klang! Klang! Klang!

Moreover, he wasn't alone!

"Stealing the effort of others is one thing, but trying to touch my family is something that you should never have done!"

In an instant, Ray's sword struck down the six swords targeting Leo. Unlike Leo's heavy strikes, Ray's swings didn't shatter its target. However, their glow immediately dimmed before helplessly falling to the ground!

"Useless, such pointless-"

The Sword Demon wanted to mock Ray's strikes that even failed to achieve what Leo managed to do, but no more words exited his oral cavity as it remained wide upon.

"Impossible! You…"

'Sword Breath' wasn't something that was only used to coat weapons during battle, it had countless other uses.

Unlike the unsophisticated 'Swordsmen' of this world, the Sword Demon was an actual Sword Practitioner. They only had the 'energy' but none of the machinations to use it, but he was different!

He was someone that truly studied the path of the sword in the middle of many other paths that could be chosen from, and he had collected more than one technique that could perfect his path, 'Sword Control' was simply one of them. However, this was his first time encountering a situation like this when using it!

"...What are you?"

Ray's strikes had actually severed the connection he had with the swords! No one had such an ability even back in his world. The method to contend against a flying sword was to use another one, destroying it was another, but cutting off the technique itself…

Understanding this was already hard, yet something even more unfathomable was taking place. The Sword Demon's attempt to re-control the swords actually failed! None of the swords around Ray bothered to react!

"I will be putting this aside for now, but you will have to explain everything once this is over."

"Sure."

Looking at Ray's serious face, Leo couldn't help but compare it to his flustered complexion just now. He acted fine for now, but that was only because a battle was ongoing.

'Is he a deviant of nature?'

Drawing back from his past experience, the Sword Demon only reached the conclusion that he was one of those people who were only humans in shape, having abilities that made no sense even without practice. It was only when he made sure that Ray's Sword Breath was still caught up at the limit set by the Progenitor Sword that he managed to collect his thoughts.

"This world sure has so many surprises despite being this simple. I admit that I didn't expect someone like you, but there is only so much that you could do at your current stage."

'Classic.'

While Leo may have stolen the first 'surprise', a protagonist's final battle was all about surprises, and… this was but the start of Ray's barrage. Looking at the red light in Ray's hands, Leo couldn't help but pity the Sword Demon's mental state…