I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

Kusanagi's body was sent flying backward, tumbling several times in the air before slamming hard against the wall.

"Ahem!"

Seemingly because the intense pain stimulated his nerves, Kusanagi managed to open his eyes. The terrifying icy blue in his eyes had disappeared, and they had returned to lively brown eyes.

“...Ah, this is really... terrible…” Kusanagi felt pain all over his body, and a persistent burning sensation.

The situation was thus reversed.

Chapter 51 If I get angry and act recklessly...

"Reinforcements...?" Kusanagi felt his consciousness becoming somewhat blurred.

"That wretched brat... he made me go through all this trouble..." Liuliye touched the blood at the corner of her mouth.

To be honest, her opponent's sudden outburst surprised her greatly. When the opponent unleashed their power, they completely suppressed her on every level. Although she hadn't used her full strength, she didn't think that spirit magic would be very effective against Kusanagi. The fact that her opponent could easily cut down her Holy Lightning Ball like chopping vegetables without using Kamui was a scene she would never forget.

"As a man, to have gone this far, to have forced me into such a sorry state, you have something to be proud of—die with that pride." Ruri walked step by step toward Kusanagi, raising the longsword in her hand.

“You… are not worthy to kill me…” Kusanagi struggled to his feet, gripping his katana once more. “I will only die by my own hand, or perhaps it will be that king who kills me and judges my crimes—”

"You're not qualified, and you don't deserve it!" Kusanagi straightened up. Even though many parts of his body were charred black from the flames, his expression was distorted by pain, and his smile was also somewhat twisted. "So, if you want my life, then come and see what happens."

His icy blue eyes flickered once more—

(Two people...?)

Kusanagi noticed a figure faintly behind Ruriyo and gritted his teeth.

(Sorry, Wang, we may have to part ways soon after we meet.)

"Soul Flash - Severing Strike".

"Boom!"

The terrifying, explosion-like sound effect instantly made Kusanagi feel somewhat deaf, but the shockwave from the explosion did not throw him away.

Looking at the back of the figure standing in front of him, he felt at peace.

"king……"

"...Good job. Hurry up and prepare to retreat. I'll take care of them, then I'll chase after you." Jill tossed two bottles of potion to Kusanagi. "One for burns, one to speed up healing. Drink them both, then head to the designated location and retreat with them as quickly as possible. Leave this to me—"

Jill cracked her knuckles. "I'll take care of them."

"...Yes." Kusanagi quickly drank two bottles of potion, then followed Gil's instructions, slipped into a side path, and left quickly.

"Although I had a feeling back in the academy, I didn't expect you to actually have a problem, Lord Liuliye?"

Gil looked at the figure who hadn't stepped forward to stop Kusanagi, "Well, that's not quite right to call you—let me think about what to call you... Ah, right, this is how I should call you—"

The champion of the Elf Sword Dance Festival fifteen years ago—Yugdore Sente Essuritis.

The name Gil mentioned belonged to the champion of the Elf Sword Dance Festival fifteen years ago.

To gather information about the Elf Sword Dance Festival, Gil obtained all the data on past participants from Grevas, and even specifically requested a version with pictures.

Although he knew that some people would not appear in the Elf Sword Dance Festival again, Gil still carefully read through the information.

“Ah…you actually knew—” Liuliye gave a wry smile, “I clearly just changed my appearance.”

"You can change your appearance, but there are many things you can't hide. Although I can tell that your current appearance is very different from your past appearance—"

Jill raised an eyebrow. "But it won't work on me."

"When I first saw you, I felt that you were not an easy opponent to deal with, and now it seems that I am even more certain of that feeling."

"So, you want to fight me here?" Jill raised her right hand. "The ruthless Steel Queen, the holy sword that slays demons and monsters, here transforms into a steel blade, granting me divine power—"

With the chanting of Elven script, the Demon Slayer, which Esther had transformed into, fell into his hands.

"...There's no other way...it looks like we have to retreat," Liuliye said.

"Hmph, Volcanic, are you going to interfere too?" Jill frowned, looking at the figure behind Liuliye, and asked.

"There's no other way; one of the covenants I must abide by is that I cannot break away from them."

The Fire Spirit King, who had attacked Kusanagi Village, looked at Gil with a calm gaze and said this.

Jill frowned. If Volkannik wanted to protect Liuliye, then he would have no choice but to take a hard line.

“Then let me ask you a different question—” Jill stared at Liuliye, “What is your purpose? Answer me and I will let you go.”

If we can get the information we want, then it wouldn't hurt to let them go.

Jill had no interest in torturing and killing the weak.

The prerequisite is that the other party doesn't provoke him.

"Purpose?" Liuliye chuckled softly. "Haven't you thought about why I'm here?"

Jill frowned, a vague sense of unease creeping in. "...Stop talking nonsense and answer my question first!"

"Because we've already taken care of Grevas..."

Ignoring Jill's words, Liuliye continued, "After all, she stood in our way with the Demon Sword, saying things like 'We can't let you get in their way,' which was quite rude of her, so we took care of her!"

“...Are you trying to provoke me, you bastard?” Jill slowly raised the Demon Slayer sword, pointing it at Liuliye. “If I get angry and act recklessly, it can be quite terrifying.”

Jill couldn't possibly believe the enemy's words so easily.

First of all, she was well aware of Grevas's strength. If Grevas were at her peak, and both sides were only using swords and divine power, Gil would be in for a tough fight.

"It's better not to tell such a despicable lie, otherwise you might only see hell. Even Volcanic couldn't protect you from me—so hurry up and confess, what is your purpose?!"

At that moment, a chill ran down his spine.

It was a feeling that could subtly threaten his life.

"Soul Flash - Seven Wheels!"

Almost as if sensing the chill, Jill lifted her foot and swung her sword forward.

A sword technique that transforms the entire area within the reach of the sword into a powerful attraction—

"Slash violently!"

With that angry shout, Gil's longsword slashed downwards directly towards Liuliye—

If the sword strike hits directly, then even a Gastrea at the initial stage would be cleaved into mincemeat. Under such an attack, the chances of Liuliye surviving would be zero!

"Clang——"

A sudden metallic clang rang out.

In the blink of an eye, a figure blocked Jill's sword.

Blocking Jill's way was that unfamiliar yet familiar figure.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Grevas!

“...How could it be...it was you...!” Gil looked at the figure who had caught his sword, and because he had lost his ability to foresee the future, he couldn’t help but let out a slightly surprised sound.

She had gray hair and looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, a girl who looked only slightly younger than Jill.

What she held in her hand was an incomparably black demonic sword.

Even from just the outline of the girl's face, Jill could still see that familiar face—

……

That was a memory from Jill, nearly twenty years ago.

On the moonlit wilderness—

"Young lady, you seem to still have some bad habits from the past—"

The witch looked down at the girl lying on the ground and said.

"You're not planning to offer this crude and ugly sword dance to the Elf King, are you?"

"Hmm... Enough talk, witch. I just haven't mastered my master's swordsmanship yet... His swordsmanship is definitely not inferior to yours!"

The girl, Ren, who was coughing up blood and crouching on the ground, held the demonic sword that pierced through reality in her hand and spoke.

"Oh, so you still have the energy to talk back. But your master is far more powerful than you. Why don't you use that energy for your verbal sparring to counter me with that Soul Flash?"

She twisted her lips into a smile and kicked Lian hard in the stomach as she lay on the ground.

“…Gah…Ha—”

"—Get up, and do it again."

Lian stood up unsteadily and glared back at the woman.

Grevas Sherumas – the former chief knight of the Austrian Empire's "Twelve Knights".

She is also the strongest spirit user on the continent, known as the "Twilight Witch".

Lian wiped the blood from her mouth and spat to herself.

Although there are spirit users in the "training school" that took in Lian, who are called "monsters", the woman in front of me who is acting so leisurely, and the boy who beat her so badly that she couldn't fight back, are probably the ones who should be called monsters.

The god-man clearly used all his abilities, but this witch subdued him in no time, and her breathing was perfectly steady.

“Compared to Master…this is nothing…” Lian swayed as she stood up.

"Hey, aren't you going a bit too far with this?!"

A delicate voice pierced the void.

The sound came from the jet-black longsword held in the hand of the god-man.

Restia was probably about to go crazy; black lightning was erupting around the sword.

"I won't kill him. Don't spoil the young girl too much, Dark Elf." The witch ignored the protest and pulled the demon sword stuck in the wilderness.

“I said, watch your temper a little…” The blond boy sitting on a rock watching the show frowned. “Don’t inflict injuries that I can’t heal. Go easy on him, okay?”

"I'm fine, Restia, Master. I can still fight—I won't let you down!"

Lotus whispered in response to the black sword and the boy, pouring divine power into the black sword.

"You haven't fully integrated the swordsmanship that Gil taught you into your own fighting style, and you still rely too much on the dark elves. You can't possibly defeat Luminas from the Holy Kingdom, the contender for the Elf Sword Dance Festival, if you continue like this?"