Seirei Gensouki's
Chapter 160: Vs Bertram Strongest Kingdom

As Celia closed her eyes, Rio stopped Alfred's slash.

A while later Celia opened her eyes and looked,

「Ri ....................... O? 」

Celia muttered as she looked at Rio's back.

Rio smiled wryly when he heard her mutter her name. But he immediately put more power into his sword and pushed Alfred back.

Alfred quietly retreated and was some distance away from Rio.

「Please retreat. I'll end this soon. 」

Rio said those words to Celia who was standing behind him while keeping an eye on Alfred. Alfred also observed with ama Rio.

「U-Uhn. Follow me, Your Majesty. 」

Celia suddenly regains herself and urges Christina to follow him according to Rio's instructions.

「T-But, his opponent is Alfred. No matter how strong Mr. Amakawa is, his opponent is ......

Perhaps because of her sense of responsibility or judgment regarding Alfred's strength, Christina showed her disapproval.

「Haruto will be fine. We just overload him―― 」

Celia tried her best to persuade Christina.

「………. . YUKUKUKUKUKU, HAHAHAHA! THIS IS MASTERPIECE! 」

Charles started laughing loudly because he was unable to hold back his emotions. And then continued his words while looking at Rio from behind Alfred.

「You, what a fool? Do you not understand the situation? Everyone here is an elite knight. It's a matter of excellence in numbers. Defeat us in an instant, you say? By himself? Are you an idiot? 」

Perhaps because he was comfortable with the sheer number of them, Charles said calmly. The other knights except Alfred also loosened their expressions.

Hearing that Celia looked at Charles with a wet look on her face. Christina who was standing right beside him also had the same expression when she saw Charles-tachi.

Charles did not end his speech.

「But those words may not be wrong either. It'll be over in a moment. WITH YOUR DEFEAT BEING REALLY TRUE! ? 」

Charles said so in a joyful tone but, his eyes immediately opened wide.

Rio's figure suddenly disappeared as if he had teleported. The next moment, Alfred had already appeared right in front of Charles,

「!!!!! ? 」

Alfred readied his sword and repelled Rio's attack.

Thus, both sides were knocked back out.

Rio was slightly surprised to see Alfred following his movements that even Arein-tachi could not follow. His eyes narrowed, watching the sword Alfred was holding.

(The demon sword is loaded with powerful body strengthening magic huh)

Rio retreated as he calmly analyzed his opponent and concluded that Alfred— might have strengthened his body using that sword.

Many ancient artifacts are loaded with body-strengthening magic stronger than 《Hyper》 Physical Capabilities.

Although there was a small difference between the strengthening effects of the different demon swords, seeing that he could overcome Rio's speed, Alfred's sword was definitely a high rank artifact.

Moreover, Alfred himself was more of a threat than that demonic sword.

（The sword user himself is very powerful. Maaionya does not have openings） [TL: ⁇ – can also be translated as "Objection" – A circumstance in a battle where one judges a technique, a, the attitude and movement of their opponents to fight them with a thin margin of paper, I think this is actually "Maai" – Please add if there is a better explanation]

『Maai』 is the basis for personal battles, and also it's true essence. Usually one needs to put some power into their body parts to move but maai allows them to predict their opponent's move by reading the flow of power.

And there are also skills to fight maai by using the minimum possible strength or by mixing tricks in one's movements.

In this aspect, Rio's high-speed movement was his own original skill which when combined with wind spirit arts and the skill to put the least amount of power to move gave him an edge. The biggest advantage of his initial skill was that it allowed him to accelerate with almost zero motion. And by combining it with the increased speed of the movement of the wind spirit art, it made it look like it was teleporting.

But, that didn't mean he didn't have any initial moves. That was why Rio already considered his opponent to have an understanding of his abilities and be able to fight against him. He was confident that as long as his opponent maai was at the level of Uzuma or Gouki, they would be able to overcome his speed.

Nevertheless, when Rio remembered that no one among the people in the Strahl region could cope with his move, he focused on the person in front of him.

（Alfred―― No doubt. He was clearly the strongest knight in this kingdom. ）

Even Rio had heard of Alfred's name before. Yes, it is the name of the person who once competed with Lucius to get the seat of 『The Sword of Raja』.

From his own skill, Rio concluded that the person standing in front of him was 『The Sword of Raja』 himself.

Or it should be said that it was as expected, as his skills were definitely among the upper classes, on par with Uzuma and Gouki. It was also the first time for Rio to fight to the death against an opponent of this level.

It had no such restrictions as the match, it would be a continuously forbidden deathmatch.

Even if Rio felt fear because of that situation, he ignored his doubts. Because he knew that their battle would turn into a mortal battle.

That was why, after he had analyzed his opponent's skills within a few seconds after their initial clash—

Rio and Alfred were facing each other from within easy reach, kicking the ground and running at each other. No one showed any doubt in their movements.

The two of them read each other's movements, yet the way they brandished their swords was not much different from before. Their swords collided with each other with sparks.

「K-KILL HIM! DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK, ALFRED. KILL HER! NO NEED TO ASK HIM, QUESTION, KILL HIM AND LET HIM SEE REALITY! 」

Charles who was completely ignored by them started to grumble frantically after witnessing Rio's skill.

But, both Rio and Alfred were not in a situation to lend an ear to hear his words. Their swords clashed with sinister sparks between them.

It was head on a direct collision from the front. Their swords clashed so fast that the resulting metallic sound was barely visible to anyone else except Rio and Alfred.

「Urgh …………………. . 」

Charles gulped his saliva as he watched the fight in such a way.

But that's only natural. The other knights in the place including Celia and Christina were also equally overwhelmed by such a fierce exchange.

No one can interfere with their battle―― They are also not allowed to move.

Even so, there was one man who still could not read the situation.

「A-Who? WHO IS HELL IS THAT GUY? ? WHY COULD HE FIGHT IN PAR AGAINST ALFRED! ? YOU AFFORDABLE Knights OF OUR KINGDOM! YOU ARE EQUIPPED WITH 『FLASH』 ASSESSMENT, NATIONAL TREASURE OUR KINGDOM IS NOT? 」

Moments after being overwhelmed by such a situation, Charles began to shout loudly like a broken dam. The other knights in the place suddenly came to a realization when they heard his screams. The same thing happened to Christina and Celia.

「M-Come back. Let's take Kouta-kun and Rei-kun now. We will engage in their battle if we do not take distance from them. Let's go to the safe zone first, Your Majesty. 」

When Celia said so, she moved to secure Rei and Kouta who were lying on the ground. He arrived in Kouta closest to him. Although there was a huge difference in their height, he could hold it with his shoulder as he had strengthened his physical abilities with magic.

「Let me help you. 」

Christina did not move towards the safe zone alone, she took the initiative to save Rei. He rushed to Rei in a hurry and carried him on his shoulder.

Although Celia wanted Christina to run towards the safe area even if only a little faster, she was, their time was too precious for such a useless exchange now that he did not know when they would engage in such a fierce battle before them.

Celia quickly took some distance from the place so as not to become a hindrance to Rio.

Rio and Alfred exchanged fierce slashes just a few meters away from them. Their swords intersected, engaging and then fending off each other. Sparks scattered around as their swords clashed dozens of times in a few seconds.

（…………. . Weird ）