S-Rank Adventurer Betrayed by His Fiancée in the Hero’s Party Sets Off on a Journey to Heal His Broken Heart ~The Strongest Betrayed Adventurer Ends Up Forming a Harem Party~ - Chapter 26: S-Rank

Chapter 26: S-Rank

“A Demonkin, huh? I had a feeling, but still—”

As I stared down the monster before me, I felt a mix of surprise and understanding.
Honestly, back when we fought the Moldrake, the thought of a Demonkin did cross my mind. But I brushed it off.

I mean, why would one be causing chaos in this remote place right after their boss was taken out? I thought I’d already dismantled the Demon Lord’s army of Demonkin…!

“White hair… one, two, three… four swords… ‘Four-Swords!’ You… killed my kin!”

“Hah, yeah, I’ve been cutting down your kind non-stop for about a year now. No wonder you know me.”

S-Rank adventurers get a lot of Demonkin extermination requests.
Monsters like these that cause stampedes are a plague—nothing good comes from leaving them alive.
Since the Hero’s party was taking longer to return, I took it upon myself to hunt them aggressively.

“So, you’re the one who hurt Elmie and the others.”

“Gigih—Humans… I’ll kill them all. That was the Demon Lord’s… final order!”

The Demonkin’s jaws twisted as if it were laughing.

“I see… Don’t think for a second that you’ll get an easy death.”

“Impossible! I’m fast! Even ‘Four-Swords’ can’t beat me—!”

With that scream, the Demonkin lunged at me!
Its speed was so fast that it closed the distance in an instant—

“You too! And those females! I’ll kill you all and eat—”

“You think you can just come at me like that?! Don’t underestimate me, you bastard!!!”

The next moment, my knee slammed into the Demonkin’s face.
No matter how fast it thought it was, it was slow to me!

I launched myself forward, ramming a flying knee strike straight into that disgusting insect face.
Did it seriously think getting close to a swordsman like me was a good idea?

“Giii—!”
“Strength! Toughness! Speed! You’ve got nothing on me, you damn bug!”

With a burst of wind magic from my Wind Blade, I boosted my speed even faster than Elmie’s—at least in a straight line!

The impact of my knee was powerful enough to smash it backward, pushing it all the way to where it had been standing before.

“Take that!”

Getting it away from Elmie and the others was a stroke of luck.
I pulled back my knee and delivered another powerful kick, sending it crashing toward the ground.

“Giih!? Gah!? Gueeh!?”

The Demonkin tumbled like a ball, bouncing along the ground from the force of the blow.
Tch, my pants got torn a little. Did it try to bite my leg?
Good thing I used the reinforcement spell 《Diamond Body》 to harden myself—not a single drop of blood.

I watched the Demonkin roll away, then turned my sword on the monsters still daring to make a move.

“You think you can lay a finger on them, you filthy beasts? 《Flying Swallow》!”

I spun around and launched a wind slash at the monsters trying to leap at Elmie and the others.
The attack sliced them clean in half and sent their bodies flying.

Ugh, it’s annoying having to keep dealing with those pests.

“Abel! We can manage on our own, so go after the Demonkin—”
“The potions healed your wounds, but you haven’t recovered your strength yet, right? Just stay protected. 《Wind Blade Barrier》!”

I channeled magic into the Piercing Wind Sword, Breathslate, and activated the spell.
A dome-shaped barrier of razor-sharp wind blades formed around Elmie and the others.

“Abel!?”
“Don’t touch it, okay? Otherwise… ah, yeah, that’s what happens.”
“Whoa…!?”

Just as I spoke, a monster charged into the barrier and was shredded into bits.
Elmie, who was about to step forward, quickly pulled her hand back.
It’s a pretty aggressive barrier, but now they were safe.

“With that settled, let’s see…”

“Giiihhhhhh!!!!”

As I turned around, the Demonkin I had kicked earlier got back up, screaming in fury.

“Heh, haha! Look at that! Your ugly bug face got smashed—makes you much easier to look at now!”
“Giiih! Giiih… Giiiiiiiiiihhh!!!”

Oh yeah, it was pissed. Absolutely furious.
But this time, it didn’t recklessly charge at me.

“I get it! You’re dangerous too! But if I don’t get close, you can’t cut me!”
“What are you saying? Speak clearly, or are you too dumb for that?”
“Simple! Even if you send slashes flying! I’m fast! I can dodge them! Meanwhile, my minions will kill them!”

“…Oh really?”

I see. So it thinks that if it keeps its distance, it can dodge my attacks.
Judging by what I saw earlier, it’s just a bit slower than Elmie. Sure, it might be able to avoid magic or slashes I send its way.

But… so what?

“You think I can’t cut you? —Do you really believe that I, the only S-Rank who earned this title purely by the sword, can’t cut down someone like you?”

I spoke with confidence, pouring magic into my sword as I stepped forward, one foot at a time.
The damn Demonkin backed away, feeling the pressure… but then it shouted, trying to hype itself up.

“I’m fast! I can dodge! You can’t hit me!!!”

“What a joke. If I can’t cut you… then no one in the world can.”

I’ll show you what an S-Rank really is.
Not just you, clueless Demonkin… but Elmie and the others who are watching, worried, behind me.

“Don’t look at me like that… I’ve gotten stronger.”

I whispered it so quietly that no one could hear.
Then, I raised my right hand, gripping the Azure Ice Sword, Granchario.

For the past three years, I’d been focused only on Millia.
Sure, I met up with the Oathsworn Radiant Swords a few times, but we barely spoke, always passing each other by.

Because of that, in their minds, I was still the same old me—the guy who struggled against Blood Wolves.
I should have talked to them more. I should have shown them how much I’d grown from everything they gave me.

I’ll show them now.
They don’t need to worry anymore.
I’ve become stronger… I did it…!

I poured those feelings into my sword and swung it down—

“Magic Sword Art—《Lake Cleaver》!”

The slash cut off two of the Demonkin’s right wings and both of its arms, slicing through everything far, far beyond it.

・ ・ ・ ・ ・

《Lake Cleaver》—a Magic Sword Art.

At the moment I swing my sword, the Granchario extends a massive blade of water, cutting through everything in its path.

The reach of this momentary water blade is several hundred meters—sometimes even more.
It’s a technique powerful enough to literally split an entire lake in half.

If my regular slashes couldn’t reach, then all I had to do was swing a sword long enough to cover that distance.

“Uh…? What just happened?”

“The slash… it flew? No, it stretched? I barely saw it, but it reached hundreds of meters… maybe even more?”

“No way… to activate a spell that reaches that far… just how much control over magic does that take—?”

Elmie and the others, even as A-Rank adventurers, stared wide-eyed in shock.
Elmie, with her sharp eyes, and Maria, who specialized in magic, could barely make sense of what happened.
But the one most clueless about what just happened… was the Demonkin itself.

“Guh… gigih…?”

The Demonkin stared blankly at its severed arms.

The water blade extended from my sword gets faster the farther it goes.
For the one being cut, it’s nearly impossible to even see the attack.

And now, the swarm of monsters it gathered was cut down in an instant, the ground ahead littered with their bodies.
It probably couldn’t understand how it got slashed… or why so many of its gathered monsters were suddenly gone.

But I wouldn’t forgive it.

“Hey, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and heal. I know you Demonkin can regrow your limbs like lizards.”

“Gih…!?”

I pointed my sword at it, making sure it understood.
It was about to learn how foolish it had been not to flee when it had the chance.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you quickly, didn’t I? You hurt the people who are precious to me… I’ll make you suffer even more than that.”

“T-That attack… your magic will run out… you can’t do it again and again—”

In that moment, its left arm and wings flew off.

I held my sword high and spoke calmly.

“Just so you know, I can do this hundreds of times. Don’t count on me running out of magic.”

My enormous pool of magic power wouldn’t be drained by a few Magic Sword Arts.
Even if it dipped slightly, it would recover almost instantly.

Now, with all of its arms severed and hundreds of monster corpses lying in the path carved by just two swings of my sword,
The Demonkin stood there, stunned, as its limbs tried to regenerate.

“This is what it means to be an S-Rank. —One swing, hundreds dead. If you can’t pull off something like this, you don’t get called S-Rank.”

Why are S-Rank adventurers both feared and respected?

Is it because we wield rare magic swords or have unique job classes?
Is it because we possess the strength to win against any opponent?
Is it because we have the wealth and power to influence nations?

…No. None of those.

It’s because we can face disasters and threats that could decide the fate of entire cities or countries.
Because we can easily and casually wipe out the despair that would crush hundreds or thousands of people risking their lives.
That’s the kind of overwhelming strength we possess.

“If you try to run, I’ll cut you in half from behind. I’m going to play with you, so keep dodging. Send every last monster at me and pray for an opening.”

Not that there’s even a chance of that happening.
There’s no way I’d let the one who hurt Elmie, Frey, and Maria get away.

“The man you’re facing is one of the strongest forces in this world. Regret making me angry while you still can—before I tear you to pieces.”

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Supplementary Notes:

Magic Sword Art: 《Lake Cleaver》

Unlike typical moves that involve shooting a slash, this technique extends the blade itself.
At full power, the blade can stretch for kilometers.

Although primarily used for vertical slashes, it can be applied to horizontal strikes as well.
The magic cost is slightly higher compared to the “shooting” type techniques (for the wielder).

In gaming terms, this technique functions like a gauge skill or a tactical ability.
And no, it’s not even considered an ultimate move…