v9c11 – Liam’s Enlightenment

AN (2020/12/25):
Merry Christmas!
Today will be the day ‘I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! vol. 2’ goes on sale.
To our webnovel readers, by all means, please give the printed edition a read as well.
Also, it’s a separate matter, but we’ve surpassed 100 impressions yesterday.
Yasushi’s popular, huh (^_^;

---

Riho, fighting against the top disciple, is cornered right up to the wall itself.

Part of her long, attractive hair has been shorn off, and her clothes are stained with blood.

The top disciple gives a bored face at that.

“This is the Issen-ryu said to be the strongest? Weak, it’s too weak. As I thought, it’s not that you’re strong, but that the Issen-ryu itself is amazing.”

Riho continues parrying the Flashes sent by the top disciple in silence.

Then, the top disciple realizes.

“For the propagation of the strongest school, I alone am sufficient. After I kill Liam and you all, I’ll kill everyone else who knows of the Issen-ryu and claim its name for my own!”

He proclaims so with the intention to kill even the governor and take this strongest sword art for himself. 

The top disciple probably intends to kill Riho off, then move to implement his scheme.

He steps in deep and releases a Flash.

But, at that instant.

Riho steps out as well, walking past the top disciple.

Astonished that his own Flash hadn’t reached Riho, he turns around in confusion.

Riho heaves a small sigh.

“I’ve been observing your movements, but to be blunt, they’re disappointing. Moreover, to be someone that dislikes when others stand above him―― What a small-minded man.”

“What does someone struggling against my Flash even have to say!”

Riho fires a Flash, cutting a wound open on his cheek.

The top disciple touches a hand to the wound. It’s superficial.

However, it seems like he’s understood from that one attack.

He starts trembling.

Seeing him like that, Riho hangs her head in disappointment.

“I wanted to find out in what manner the Original Issen-ryu developed, and yet it seems like it truly seems like you can’t use anything besides the Flash. Just about everything is insufficient, and your Flash lacks clarity, too.”

Only the Flash.

That it’s a school that abandoned everything else and learnt only the Flash―― Riho understands as much.

Turning towards the top disciple, Riho adopts an iai stance.^[1]

He readies himself in a panic, but in the next instant, he falls to the ground in two vertically-bisected halves.

Riho looks down with cold eyes at the top disciple’s body as the blood pools.

“A fallen Issen-ryu should just disappear.”

Uttering so, Riho walks off the scene.

◇

Fuuka’s clothes are in tatters and her body is covered in wounds from battling it out in the central courtyard with the pupils.

In the middle of being surrounded by seven men and rained with Flashes, she continues fighting with a grin on her face.

The high disciple is taken aback at that sight.

“Why is she able to evade!? Why won’t she fall!”

It’s inevitable that he finds it strange that Fuuka doesn’t go down even though they have the numbers.

But, Fuuka had noticed while fighting.

If Riho is the type to calmly analyze things, then Fuuka is the type to wildly learn by feel. 

“You lot, ya really can’t use anything besides the Flash, huh.”

The pupils’ faces wrinkle at being suddenly ridiculed by Fuuka, and they put more strength into their arms.

The Flashes are thrown with more power than before, but Fuuka nimbly evades them with ease.

“It’s useless. You’re just upping the power in it. What you call a ‘Flash’―― is done like this!”

As she swings her two katanas, three of the pupils are cut down.

Fuuka leans her two swords on her shoulders as silence reigns.

“Your Flashes are fakes.”

The high disciple pulls out his sword and readies it at Fuuka’s declaration.

“It’s no fake. It’s the real Issen-ryu! The strongest sword art in the Empire!”

“Nope, they’re fakes. You’ve left the important bits out, and even your Flash itself is rusty as shit. Looking at you lot, I can understand how fearsome Master and Senior Disciple are.” 

Even as she’s being disappointed by the Original Issen-ryu, she’s thankful that she’s fortuitously being made to see the terrifying existences by her side that are Yasushi and Liam in a new light.

But, that’s all it is.

They were formidable opponents.

And, she’s acquired a real sense of what she’s lacking.

“I get it now, seeing you all. It’s not enough even if you can produce the Flash. Senior Disciple was emphasizing the basics for that reason.”

Seeing Fuuka monologue, the high disciple slashes at her as if in a panic.

His instincts must have reacted to something in fear.

Fuuka narrows her eyes without making a move, yet the high disciple leaping out at her falls apart into tiny cut-up chunks.

Seeing that, the other disciples turn their backs to her and make to escape.

Fuuka breaks into a wide, manic grin.

“Oi, oi, that’s no good, you know? Once an Issen-ryu breaks―― isn’t it better for them to die?”

Fuuka fires a Flash at the scattering pupils as she closes the distance.

She puts just enough strength in that attack to bring them down.

Their vitals are slashed through accurately, and they fall over just as Fuuka lands.

Returning her two katanas to their scabbards, Fuuka takes a deep breath, then looks herself over.

“――Well, I’m better off than when I went up against Senior Disciple.”

Fuuka, who came out victorious against her fellow practitioners, moves to search for her next opponent.

◇

“The truth is always cruel, it seems.”

My kimono has become nothing but tatters.

The training armor I wore under that, too, has purged of its own accord without fulfilling what it was meant to do.

I’m shirtless and clad only in my hakama, having removed my top.

Blood flows from my wounds, but it’s not fatal so I neglect them.

Running the katana in my right hand to its scabbard in my left, I gaze up at the ceiling.

The lights are dazzling.

And now, I’ve become embarrassed at myself with the misunderstanding I’ve had till now.

“From the start, Master hasn’t been drawing his blade, huh.”

The Original Issen-ryu pupils surrounding me fire in Flashes, almost as if to say that my realization has nothing to do with the current situation.

With my thumb on its guard, I push the katana slightly out of its scabbard. The sword makes a satisfying clink.

When happens then?

Seventeen of the pupils including the high disciples fall to the ground in pieces, blood pooling around their scattered remains.

Not one drop of blood was sprayed into the air.

――And, I never drew my blade from its scabbard.

I simply made a sound.

With that one mere action, seventeen men are carved up, and the room itself is scarred.

It’s the innermost secret that I’ve arrived on at the end of my severe training.

The Flash exists in the boundary where strength and skill are insufficient, much less magic.

The skill that I had been throwing around until now was just something imitating the Flash.

“Master doesn’t carry around a katana. ――There was no need from the start, huh.”

As I search my memories, I recall that when I reunited with him at Viscount Razel―― now Baron Razel’s territory, Master hadn’t been wearing a sword.

It’s not that he hadn’t been wearing one―― He had no need to.

That may be impossible for me in my current state. If I don’t carry a sword, I probably won’t be able to fire a Flash. Even if I could technically perform one, it’ll most likely end in failure.

“So this is the true Flash.”

Murmuring so, I turn back to the surviving pupils.

One of them is still alive, but his face makes it clear that he can’t comprehend what just happened.

I walk up to him slowly.

With a face full of fear, his body trembling, he sends Flashes at me.

His aim not having settled, there’s no need for me to even evade any of his slashes.

“D-don’t come! Don’t come heeere!!”

Seeing his crying and screaming figure, I can’t help but feel disdain, wondering if this really is the same Issen-ryu.

As I reach him he crumbles, falling on his rear.

The smell of ammonia wafts from the floor, but I pay it no attention and ask.

“Where’s your teacher?”

“Huh?”

“The instructor of the Original Issen-ryu. What’s his name? His location? And, our Master is untouched, right?”

It’s frustrating that with my control over the Flash―― the true Flash still green, only one of them is still alive.

However, with one alive I’ll at least be able to ask some questions.

“Answer me. Where is your master? Where is ours?”

“T-together with Governor-sa――”

I separate the man’s head from his shoulders. I don’t sense any strong presence next to the governor, but there won’t be any problems if I ask them next.

I sheath my katana with an audible clink.

At that, the heavy door blocking the exit to the room falls apart into multiple pieces.

It looks like I’ve been mistaken from the start.

The innermost secret of the Issen-ryu is to cut without drawing one’s sword.

“Well, now to take Ellen with me and head further in.”

I’ve gotten past one wall.

What’s left is only to rescue Master.

◇

“What does not drawing his blade even mean!?”

The Guide, who had been monitoring Liam, can’t begin to understand what just happened in front of his eyes.

The Liam that proposed the Issen-ryu secret to be a sword technique that didn’t draw swords is unbelievable.

Gudwar is the same.

“Certainly, a school that can move forward without having to draw swords can be said to be the best, but this is wrong! The meaning’s different! Actually not drawing a sword, what does that even mean!” 

A slash borne from neither sword technique nor magic.

Gudwar and the Guide lose their minds at the answer Liam arrived at.

After lots of preparation by them to create an Issen-ryu to take Liam down, Liam defeated those and ended up getting even stronger.

It’s a nightmare for the Guide.

“Gudwar, if it’s like this then―― Hiih!?”

The Guide moves to devise the next plan with Gudwar, but the entity itself is red-faced and giving off steam.

It seems like Liam is just not to Gudwar’s liking.

“I’ve been anticipating a battle full of blood and tangled limbs, and yet this happened! Do you think this is forgivable! I’ll crush him. I’ll crush Liam here without fail!”

Liam’s Issen-ryu is no longer a sword art anymore.

As Gudwar decides so, he clutches the Guide with his octopus limbs.

“S-stop. It hurts!”

With the strangled Guide in pain, Gudwar constricts him even harder to vent his anger.

“It’s because you’ve gone and done unnecessary things!”

“How unreasonable!”

Though the Guide says it’s unreasonable, Liam has gotten this strong exactly because of the Guide’s interference.

There’s nothing wrong at all with Gudwar’s anger.

“If it’s going to be like this, then I’ll bury Liam at all costs! He cannot be allowed to exist. If I leave him alone―― He’ll certainly become our enemy! If I don’t erase him here, his blade will end up reaching us!”

The vapor Gudwar gives off turns black and begins expanding into the surroundings.

It extends all the way up to space, calling Liam’s enemies to it.

The Guide looks at that scene as he’s being constricted.

(W-with this, Liam too is finished.)

The Guide endures being tormented by Gudwar as long as Liam can be taken down.

◇

There are two beings with evil intentions bent on killing Liam.

The black vapor that reaches out to space continues expanding without being visible to the human eye.

Staring at that spectacle from atop the bow of a black warship is a shape of light in a dog’s form.

It howls into the airless, soundless vacuum of the cosmos.

Transcending space, the howl reaches the ears of the people it was meant for.

◇

“Hm? Did I hear a dog howl? Well, whatever.”

Yasushi is shut in his cell like a product on display, in the room where Chester lies in wait for somebody.

The man himself is considerably flustered.

“Everybody lost? All thirty of them!?”

Yasushi snorts at Chester’s back, seeing him receive the report from his subordinates.

(Oh? By some chance, are hostile forces assaulting the place? That’s good, take these fellows down like that and help me. Did my prayer get through?)

Yasushi, who had been captured, had been praying ‘Please send someone to rescue me’ every day.

After all, since he’s a man that can’t do anything, he prays when he’s in trouble.

Seeing that wish come true, Yasushi rejoices heedlessly.

If it’s Chester’s enemy, they might rescue him from his captivity.

Carrying such fleeting expectations, Yasushi feels a strange cold in the air.

A chill runs down his spine.

(Is it the flu?)

As he escapes reality thinking to stay warm and get some sleep, a slash cuts through the door to the room. 

(Hm, help has―― Huh?)

Yasushi’s eyes were glowing with anticipation, but then he sees the silhouettes of the two revealed by the collapsing door.

What appears―― is Liam.

The grown-up Liam has developed into a sturdier figure than what Yasushi had known.

Such a man fixes his posture upon noticing Yasushi.

“Master, apologies for the delay.”

Seeing Liam appear on the scene covered in wounds, Yasushi too fixes his posture and gets into seiza.

He keeps up the appearance of absolute calm, but internally, he screams.

(God, this isn’t who I wanted!! This guy alone is no goooood!! Quickly send him back!)

Of all the people out there, the one he wanted most not to come to his rescue has arrived.

There’s the figure of a red-haired girl behind Liam.

That girl calls Liam her master.

“Master, the instructor of the Original Issen-ryu is nowhere to be found.”

“We’ll just get his location from Chester. ――Now then, you’re the one who kidnapped Master? You’re fully prepared for what happens next, right?”

Liam threatens Chester with a bitter, cold voice, causing a thick and heavy atmosphere to descend upon the room.

Now even finding it difficult to breathe, Yasushi can’t stop cold sweat from running down his back.

However, it doesn’t end there.

“Arere? Senior Disciple is the first to arrive?”

The one showing herself is Riho, who’s similarly tattered-looking.

Only, as she steps into the room and sees Yasushi, she breaks into a full-faced smile.

“It’s Master! Masteeeeeer!!”

From behind Riho, who’s excitedly waving her arms, the one who comes leaping into the room is Fuuka.

Despite being similarly covered in wounds herself, Fuuka starts crying tears of joy upon seeing Yasushi.

“At last. We can finally meet at last! I’ve come to rescue you, Master!”

Yasushi desperately forces a smile, and nods lightly to the four of them who came to his rescue. 

(I never wanted to meet you all a second time though! I sent you two out to defeat Liam and yet, why are you working together with him!?)

With this incomprehensible situation, Yasushi reaches his limit.

Hence, no one paid any attention to what Chester has been trying to say.

He holds a switch in his hand.

“Don’t come close to me! If you get any closer, your master will be reduced to―― Wha!?”

Chester had the switch held out in front, but it disappears to finely-chopped bits once Liam and the others focus their attention on him.

And, individuals appear from the floor and walls near Yasushi.

The masked individuals seem to be Liam’s subordinates.

“Liam-sama, the explosive devices have been disposed of. All traps have been dealt with as well.”

Liam utters a word of affirmation.

Then, he returns his gaze to the shivering Chester.

Trembling with fear, he draws his katana, being unable to bear the pressure from Liam any longer.

“T-this monster…!”

Liam counters the Flash that Chester sends in spite of his inexperience.

A shower of sparks blossoms in the space between the two.

Chester repeatedly sends Flashes at him, but Liam intercepts all of them.

With a hand on his chin, Liam turns to face Ellen.

“This is just about right. Ellen, you’ll be this guy’s opponent.”

“――Yes.”

Ellen walks out in front of Chester.

---

Bryan (´；ω；｀) “……What does it mean to cut without drawing your sword?”

Sapling-chan (；゜Д゜) “Huh? No, even I don’t fully understand it.”

Bryan (´；ω；｀) “……”
Sapling-chan (；゜Д゜) “……”

Bryan (｀・ω・´) “That Liam-sama has acquired his school’s secret techniques, this Bryan is delighted! And today, ‘I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! vol. 2’ is finally going on sale! Dear readers, did you enjoy reading about Liam-sama’s activities?”

Sapling-chan ( ゜∀゜) “Please check out the collaboration sidestory with ‘The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs’ too! MobuSeka vol. 7 goes on sale Jan 30, so please don’t forget to check that out! I’ll be playing an active part after all. I’ll probably be playing an active part after all!”

v9c10 | TOC | v9c12

^{[1] – Iaido [wikipedia]}