Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume20 Chapter1

Status: Incomplete

Chapter 1 - Darkness Elemental Lord

Part 1

"...!?"

Even forgetting to put up his guard, Kamito stood frozen in his spot in astonishment.

What was displayed on the surface of the dark orb was—

A gigantic vortex. A conglomerate of order and chaos that kept devouring and giving birth to countless stars.

"What is... this...?"

Kamito uttered in wide-eyed amazement.

"This is the origin of all creation. This is the source of all phenomena, the sea of chaos giving rise to innumerable worlds. It is what created this Astral Zero—"

"...It created Astral Zero?"

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar pointed at the center of the vortex.

"You have seen this before, haven't you? At the Elemental Lords' shrine—"

"...!?"

Kamito gulped as soon as he saw that thing.

The gigantic vortex of chaos, swallowing stars.

At its very center were countless tiny lights flashing.

"...Aren't those angels!?"

Kamito widened his eyes.

"—In other words, that giant vortex is the Otherworldly Darkness?"

"Half correct, my adorable child."

The avatar girl lightly shook her head.

"Half—"

"Not only Darkness. Light, Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, all elements were born from that vortex of chaos—"

"...Say that again?"

The image projected on the orb of darkness changed.

The bubble in the vortex's center split open, producing countless spheres.

"Every fragment of the ruptured bubble is the source of a world. Vast though this Astral Zero may be, it is merely one of such fragments."

"What—"

This time, Kamito was speechless.

(—That bubble is the world?)

"For starters, only a very small proportion succeed in forming worlds. The vast majority disappear like bubbles before developing into an embryonic world. However, in any case—"

The avatar girl turned her gaze back to the image.

"—This Astral Zero was born from that vortex of chaos."

Part of the fragmented bubble turned into a perfect sphere. Inside that sphere—

Light, and darkness too, were born.

"First to be born were the spirits of Light and Darkness. After these two spirits' power covered the entire world, the spirits of Fire, Water, Wind and Earth were born as well."

"The six main elements... In other words, the current Elemental Lords?"

Kamito asked.

"More precisely, the entities that became the cores of the Elemental Lords. The primordial elemental spirits did not have any will yet. They simply brought the constituting elements of order to a world of chaos."

The image in the orb kept changing.

The sky and the earth separated, mountains rose up, rivers appeared, forests flourished.

The power of spirits resided all over the world, finally filling the world with large numbers of living spirits.

Giant beasts in the ocean, herds of animals, magic beasts, dragons, giants, as well as the elves who were the common ancestors of humans and the Elfim race—

"It was a paradise filled with order and peace, maintained by the power of spirits. This world was originally meant to persist forever—"

"..."

"—But one day, the primordial spirits, which only served as constituting elements of the world, changed. Will, or perhaps one might call it the soul, came into being."

"Spirits gained will—?"

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar nodded.

"It is still unclear why that sort of thing appeared. Perhaps such a change happened in response to the worship from the elves. But no matter what—"

She sounded self-effacing.

"—That was the beginning of all sins."

"...Sins? You mean the fact that the Elemental Lords gained their own will?"

"Indeed. Having gained their own will and personality, the Elemental Lords were driven by basic instinctive desires in their souls, and believed they ought to make themselves into even more perfect beings."

"...Perfect beings?"

"Every element existing in Astral Zero is ultimately copied from the origin of worlds. Something like a shadow. Hence, the Elemental Lords wanted true elements."

"True elements..."

"They wanted the elements of true darkness, true light, true fire, water, wind and earth—"

"...!?"

Hearing this, a flash of inspiration went through Kamito's mind.

—True Darkness. Cardinal Millennia Sanctus had used this to refer to the Otherworldly Darkness corrupting the Elemental Lords.

"...So that's what happened, huh?"

That Otherworldly Darkness was the darkness element existing in the origin world?

"The six self-aware Elemental Lords joined forces to open a Gate connecting to the origin and succeeded in stealing true elements. However, there was a severe miscalculation in the plan."

"Miscalculation?"

"After part of the World was stolen, the origin sent angels to Astral Zero."

The image on the darkness orb changed again.

And endless army of angels passed through the Gate and descended from the sky.

"This is..."

Kamito had seen this scene before.

From the dream of Ren Ashdoll's memories—

Weapon-wielding Elemental Lords, Est, Ortlinde, and the powerful spirits known as spirit weapons were fighting intensely against the army of angels.

"The war with the angels only ended when the Elemental Lords sealed the Gate. During the intense conflict, all Astral Zero obtained was true Darkness and a small amount of true Fire. True Darkness went to Ren Ashdoll, whereas true Fire was stolen by the elves, its whereabouts unknown—"

Although the war with the angels left gigantic scars on Astral Zero, the Elemental Lords also obtained what they had desired.

However, saying that, the Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar bit her lip lightly.

"—The true Darkness brought to this world began to corrupt the Elemental Lords."

Part 2

"—The first to descend into madness was Ren Ashdoll."

The avatar girl spoke softly.

"To stop her from turning into a Gate that brought forth angels, the five Elemental Lords formed an alliance with Holy Lord Alexandros as the leader, with the intention of destroying her. Namely, that is—"

'—The Spirit War.'

The demon sword of darkness in Kamito's hand suddenly spoke.

"Restia?"

'I heard everything you two said. Sorry for waking up too late.'

"It's okay, we went through such a deadly battle, after all—"

'Miss Sword Spirit seems to be quite spent.'

"Yeah, because she used her power to analyze the angel. Let her rest properly."

Kamito lightly tapped the demon sword's hilt.

"—May I continue, demon sword of darkness?"

'Yes, please do. I am very interested in this topic too.'

Restia replied to the Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar.

"—The Spirit War, that was when I was born, right?"

"Yes, and the result of the Spirit War is as you know."

The war between the Darkness Elemental Lord and the Five Great Elemental Lords.

Its records were kept in the Divine Ritual Institute's sealed library and rarely circulated.

Its purpose was to eliminate the Darkness Elemental Lord who had been corrupted by the Otherworldly Darkness, huh?

"The Spirit War was very intense. The aftershock broke Astral Zero into two, one of which became the human realm. To protect her last followers, the defeated Darkness Elemental Lord allowed herself to be sealed in the dimensional gap by the Holy Lord and reincarnated her power in the human race—"

The Darkness stolen from the origin was eliminated together with Ren Ashdoll.

—That was what was supposed to have happened.

"However, the victorious Elemental Lords were already corrupted by the Otherworldly Darkness. The Darkness Elemental Lord was simply the first to be discovered."

After several thousand years, the Elemental Lords gradually changed in nature.

By the time they realized, it was already too late.

The Blade Dance held by the humans were able to bring temporary peace to the corrupted Elemental Lords' souls, but at the same time, large scale warfare in the human realm also agitated their souls.

"And now, Holy Lord Alexandros is using the Elemental Lords as a Gate, intending to connect Astral Zero to the origin again."

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar waved her fingers, causing the orb of darkness to disappear.

After a moment's silence—

"...There's something I don't understand."

Kamito spoke.

"Why is the Holy Lord the only one untainted by the Otherworldly Darkness?"

Indeed, the four Elemental Lords of fire, water, wind and earth had all descended into madness. But for some unknown reason, only the Holy Lord seemed completely free from the effects of corruption.

The avatar girl shook her head.

"This I do not know. Although I doubt that the Holy Lord's element of light could produce resistance against the Otherworldly Darkness, still—"

"...I see."

No matter what, at least he now knew what had happened in Astral Zero in the ancient past.

Kamito also wanted to ask about the true meaning of what she had said earlier.

"Then what exactly did you mean when you asked me to inherit the Darkness Elemental Lord's power?"

Kamito was already swallowed by the Darkness Elemental Lord's power.

Awakened as the Demon King, Kamito would surely destroy the world in a state of insanity.

Or perhaps, he could end up like the other Elemental Lords, turned into a Gate connected to the origin—

"You and the darkness spirit will liberate the insane Darkness Elemental Lord."

'What did you say?'

"Is that even possible!?"

Kamito and Restia exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes, it was precisely for this purpose that she created the darkness spirit Restia, even reincarnated her power in the human race, and waited for thousands of years—"

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar turned her gaze to the Vorpal Sword in Kamito's hand.

'She created me to liberate herself?

"—Indeed. Restia Ashdoll was created with the true Darkness element as the core, the only darkness spirit. Only you are capable of devouring the Darkness corrupting her."

"...I see—"

Back when she recovered her memories at Dracunia, Restia had taken away Millennia's Darkness.

That power was born for the sake of taking away the Otherworldly Darkness corrupting the Darkness Elemental Lord—

The darkness spirit who was the Demon King's guide, Restia Ashdoll.

The human who had inherited the Darkness Elemental Lord's power, Ren Ashbell.

Corrupted by Otherworldly Darkness, knowing her mind was insane, she used the last remnants of her rational mind to prepare these two keys.

—Then she waited all this time.

Waiting for the Demon King who would have the power to liberate her several thousand years later—

'So basically, Kamito—'

"Yes, indeed. I am the fragment of her final will, left behind by her. I am the being created for this very moment, to offer advice and prepare opportunities for the one who is truly qualified to become the Demon King."

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar turned around.

Just then—

Oh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—

"...!?"

In the distance, out in the endless darkness, a terrifying roar was heard.

It sounded like all grief and cursing in the world had coalesced into one mass.

Kamito looked around. The surroundings seemed to be shrouded by darkness that was even darker than before.

"The monster of darkness that had swallowed you, it has arrived—"

'—Good morning, Kamito.'

Est greeted him sleepily.

"I'm sorry, Est, I need to ask you to lend me your strength when you just woke up."

'Yes, Kamito. I am your sword, your wish is my command... Yawn...'

'...Say, will you really be alright?'

Restia asked with concern.

"There is little time left. Unless you liberate the Darkness Elemental Lord before your soul is completely consumed, you will never be able to turn back to human again."

"So basically, I just have to defeat that thing, right?"

—No sooner than Kamito finished speaking...

The surging mist of darkness condensed and the monster was revealed.