Chapter 149: Ghost (1) 

In front of a table covered with a white cloth, Celseus was staring at Mash with a strong look.

「Fights, disputes…Don’t you think those are ridiculous?」

「AH? What did you say, bastard?」

「Throw away your sword, Mash. It’s dangerous. It will hurt you deeply if you touch it on its sharp tip.」

I was appalled by those words. They didn’t sound like the words of a Swordsman God. And it seemed that Mash was appalled as well. He looked at Celseus with a stern look on his face.

「What are you trying to prove, you old man. Don’t tell me that you know me too?」

「It seems that I can’t change your mind with words. That’s why I prepared “this”.」

Celseus took the white cloth that covered the tabletop. At the table was a large, magnificent-looking chocolate cake.

…Su…Surprisingly gorgeous! Celseus did really outdone himself this time!

「I made this Gateau Chocolat with great care. Sweets have a healing effect on rough hearts… Mash. You went through a lot of hardship, am I right?」

Celseus smiled brightly as he put a knife and fork on the table.

「Come on! Eat this cake and enjoy it to the fullest!」

This…This was…Well, I was sure that Celseus was trying to save Mash’s heart! Celseus was really doing his best in his own way! Nevertheless, I wondered if Mash’s feelings would really change by such a thing!

My concern was right. Mash turned his eyes to Celseus’ cake as if he were looking at a dirty thing.

「Is that a large piece of shit?」

「This is not a “piece of shit”!! It’s called Gateau Chocolat!!」

「Don’t bullshit me! I’ll crush you along with that crap!」

「No…No way! I can’t believe it! I worked so hard for you! At least you can take a bite!」

「Shut up!」

Mash swung up the Egzation, and a frightened Celseus screamed high. But, there was someone who moved faster than Mash.

「Atomic Split Slash!」

A terrible roar along with a shock wave! Seiya, still in a Berserker mode, shook down his swords in a vertical line, and of course, the cake and the table were shattered into pieces! After we were blown away by the shock wave, Celseus and I screamed at the same time.

「Why did you just crush it!?」

「It was an eyesore and an obstacle to this fight.」

After seeing this exchange between Seiya and us, Mash squeezed his nose.

「Do…Don’t screw with me!! What the hell is that farce!! I’m going to chop every single one of you into small pieces!!」

Oh gosh!! The situation was getting worse and worse!!

A black aura raised from Mash’s body while he held the holy sword. Furthermore, the dragon crest all over his body began to shine brightly.

「Uh, uh, uh. I’ll show you. This skill is the power that one acquires by equipping himself with the strongest sword in the world. The holy sword Egzation… “Full Heister”.」

Mash quickly stood in front of Seiya at an insane speed, even though they were far away from each other.

「Seiya! 」

I shouted worryingly in a hurry, but Seiya, who had already activated the Crazy Warrior once more, intercepted Egzation with his twin swords. The crossed swords made a strong ringing noise, but Seiya withdrew as if he was losing power. In the unlikely event that Seiya got wounded by the slashing of Egzation, his wound wouldn’t regenerate. Still, Seiya didn’t change his facial expression.

「I see. Is your mysterious high-speed movement due to the influence of Egzation?」

「Similar to the annulment of the enemy’s technique, this skill can only be given to the bearer of Egzation. If I activate it, my leg strength will jump up considerably.」

「Oh, oh. So, that means that it improves the pinpoint of your leg power. I’ll remember it.」

「Remember? There’s no need for you to do that. You are going to die here and now!」

Mash slashed the Egzation towards Seiya at an unbelievable speed. Seiya protected himself against the large rage of attacks with his twin swords. He barely managed to avoid getting hit with his power. It was a strange sight to me. Mash was the one who once accompanied us on the adventure in Geabrande, and he completed the quest without creating many abilities to fight. However, right now, this Mash brought Seiya to the limit of the Crazy Warrior condition, and proved to be a more than formidable foe for the hero, who once defeated Artemaeus, the Demon King of Exfolia.

Rosalie spoke while gritting her teeth.

「Egzation does not only increase the leg strength, but also multiplies the whole power of the God Dragon King.」

「That means that he increased his stats, and removed our transparency, all because of that sword’s power!」

Celseus moaned frustratingly. A violent sound of sword fighting echoed around. I noticed that Seiya gradually retreated due to Mash’s powerful attacks.

…This…This was the infamous strongest holy sword Egzation that one could get in exchange of Elle’s life! This sword had the power of a sacred device that could even defeat Tanathus and the Demon King without the use of the Celestial Prison-Gate!

Mash’s sword Egzation shined in seven colors, and he kept striking against Seiya without stopping. Seiya kept defending and counterattacking with his twin swords, but in one moment, one of his blades cracked and shattered into pieces!

「The…The hero’s sword!!」

「It can’t be! That sword was made in the Underworld! This is really bad!!」

Both Rosalie and Celseus spoke worryingly…

「It’s okay. He has a spare.」

I was unexpectedly calm. Seiya threw the destroyed sword towards Mash, and at the same time, activated Hell’s Fire. Seiya took a safe distance from Mash, and discarded away the other sword. I saw that he stretched his hands behind his waist. By the time Seiya showed his arms, he had already new twin swords in his hands.

「Double Wind Blade! 」

Seiya released the blades in the air at a flowing motion. However, after realizing the tension in the air that approached him, Mash twisted his body lightly in order to avoid it. It seemed that Mash avoided Seiya’s attack like a piece of paper. He laughed at this occurrence.

「It seems that it’s not a lie when she described you as the hero. I’ve never seen a human capable of such attacks before.」

Seiya took a safe distance again from Mash after unleashing the previous attack. Mash happily spoke somewhere else when he saw Seiya fighting carefully on a hit-and-away tactic.

「Uh, uh, uh. It’s been a very long time since I fought this much. I am sure that Elle will be happy too.」

「E…Elle, he said!? What is he talking about!?」

…Suddenly. A white hand appeared from the shadow behind Mash’s back. Before I knew it, a red-haired woman in a crimson dress stood behind Mash.

…It…It can’t be…!

Then, as if she were kissing, she brought her face closer and whispered at Mash’s ear.

『Destroy them, Mash. People, gods, and even heroes.』

「Yeah. I know that. They’ve been a pain in the ass.」

Then…that ghostly person was…Elle!?

For some odd reason, only Mash and I were able to see her figure. But, even though she was visible to me before, I didn’t initially recognize her as Elle. Like the current Mash, she had the appearance of an adult, but her eyes were deep hollow, her face was dark and thin. She really looked like a ghost.

At some point, Mash’s eyes gained more hatred when he stared at Seiya.

「Elle’s pain will continue until the demons and humans are all dead.」

「Hmm. It seems that you regret turning Elle into a holy sword, and you use that excuse as a grudge against humanity and demons. What a stupid man.」

「What did you say, bastard…! 」

「You said, “Until the demons and humans are all dead”. But, that’s an impossible task. Because I am going to kill you first.」

「Try it, hero. 」

「Of course I will. That’s my job after all.」

Seiya’s attitude changed. Mash held the Egzation diagonally as a shield to protect himself from Seiya’s sudden attack.

「Automatic Phoenix Infinity.」

Immediately, an aura full of red flames spread throughout Seiya’s body! That aura instantly transformed into the known bird of fire! However, it embodied hundreds and thousands of birds, who danced above the ruined chapel!

…So…So…So…So…Many!!

Seiya frequently used the Automatic Phoenix to clean up the enemies’ remains, or to do some surveillance work. But, this was the first time that I saw so many birds of fire.

「That’s an amazing magical power. It’s been a long time since my blood boiled with great excitement.」

It felt that Mash truly enjoyed the thrills of a battle. Because, Mash happily distorted his mouth when he saw countless of phoenixes flying over the sky. However…Countless of phoenixes scattered in the sky! All of them flew away from us to somewhere unknown!

「Wha…What’s going on?」

Mash was astonished with his mouth wide open …No way, seriously!? What happened!? All of them flew away out of the blue!! Why did he invoke so many phoenixes in the first place!?

「I will kill you. But, I won’t do it right now.」

「What do you mean?」

「I now understand what you are capable of. That’s all for today. The next time we meet, I will definitely defeat you.」

Seiya put his hands on his pockets and took something out. The moment he hit the ground with it, a thick smoke flared up and engulfed the entire surroundings!

…Smoke…Smokescreen!?

I tried to clear the smoke with my hands because I couldn’t see anything around me. Then, Seiya’s voice echoed near me.

「We must retreat. All of you need to become transparent now. The effects of Egzation were nullified. But, it won’t take long until he activates the sword again.」

I…I see. So, we could be transparent again…Even so, Seiya wanted us to be transparent amidst the smoke where we already hid ourselves!? So tenacious and watchful as ever!!

「Bu…But, Seiya! I don’t think I can calm down my state of mind in this situation!」

「You don’t have to do anything.」

「Eh? 」

「“Invisible Round”. 」

Suddenly, Rosalie and Celseus’ figures were wiped away as if they melted into the space! I also looked at my hand, but I couldn’t see it!

「Why!? How did I make myself transparent!?」

「It’s my new technique. I’ve made all three of you transparent.」

A technique to make others transparent!? I…I see!! That’s why Seiya didn’t inspect our transparency in the Underworld!! That means that Seiya could make himself and us transparent whenever he wanted!! …Hey, Seiya, for you, what’s even the point of having comrades!?

「Lista. Erase the portal you just opened. Keep yourself transparent, and head towards the location where Rosalie invoked the magic movement circle.」

「Ye…Yes! 」

If Seiya decided so, then I must hurry…Eh, what? Speaking of which, why wasn’t Mash trying to attack us as before?

「Don’t fucking joke with me, you assholeeeeeeee!!」

Suddenly, Mash screamed behind the smoke and I shook my body immediately.

「Wha…What’s happening out there?」

「After I released the smokescreen, I called the phoenixes. They flew back and are now disturbing Mash in order to make him occupied.」

「Then you invoked the phoenixes while thinking about this moment…!」

「Let’s go. We must grab this opportunity before our transparency disappears again.」

Seiya, who became transparent, grasped my hand. Mash was yelling in anger in the background while trotting against the birds of fire.

「Just wait, you fucking hero!! The demons are already on the verge of extinction!! If I destroy that damned magical barrier on Igle, this world will be fully dominated by dragons!! Listen this well, next time I see you, I will remove the goddess’ eyeballs from her face and throw them into your bastard’s mouth!!」

「Hey, Seiya!! Mash is saying scary things, isn’t he!?」

「He is speaking to himself. Don’t worry about it.」

I didn’t think he was speaking to himself. But, as I ran, Mash’s voice gradually died out. When I reached the place where we first came to Nakashi Village, I opened the portal one more time.

After confirming that Celseus and Rosalie were there as well by hearing their voices, we returned to the Underworld in a transparent state.

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 EN: Celseus is without a doubt my favorite character! …Btw, I wanna eat that chocolate cake!

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