Black Iron Magician

Chapter 358 Hardship Clearing Sword

Rokusai Chinatsu fights against her greatest enemy every day. She fortifies her defenses with resistance against her enemies, prepares for surprise attacks that could come at any time and from anywhere, and develops herself and her skills by fighting back against them. So, what exactly are those enemies? The more you know Chinatsu, the more foolish this question becomes. If you are at my level, you should be able to answer this question immediately. Well, I will answer it.

――Complaints, depression, and feelings that make the stomach hurt. These are generally called stress, and they appear in front of Chinatsu every day as fated opponents in Chinatsu’s life.

Why does Chinatsu have that kind of fate? There are many reasons: because she became Nell’s disciple, because she has to face the strongest opponents, because her only emotional support, me, isn’t around most of the time, etc. Furthermore, her serious personality and the fact that she has the second highest mental strength after Haru spurred her to work harder.

The evidence of Chinatsu’s battles with the enemies is piling up in her mind. If they could be visualized, she would be standing on countless corpses. She is truly a veteran hero, a fierce fighter who has been fighting continuously.

「I’m sorry, Lily-san!」

The word that came out of the mouth of such a fierce fighter was an apology. However, there was no mercy in the attack. The trajectory of the swung katana was painted black, and it passed through the part of Lily’s heart. The katana certainly contained the new power that Chinatsu had acquired, the 『Hardship Clear Sword』.

「Y-You!」

The flow of coordinated attacks by Haru, Touko, and Chinatsu was perfect. However, as expected of the perfect Lily. Just before she was slashed, she turned her body into a slime body. To avoid getting injured from Chinatsu’s attack, she chose that body rather than an iron-like sturdy body. The katana easily passed through the slime body and succeeded in cutting it off, but the next moment, the cross-section was tied together.

After Chinatsu passed by Lily, Hund-kun was ready to attack her, but Lily gave her everything to fix her posture. The slime body returned to her original form and she soared up at a high speed, tearing through the air with her wings. Hund-kun looked a little sad that she ran away at full speed even though he was ready to attack her.

「Ooh! It was so close! She didn’t have much time to think, but Lily-han’s judgment was good.」

「Fuha! That black sword, the speed and attack power are higher than usual, right!? Moreover, that good-looking appearance is a big additional point! But even so, she couldn’t reach Lilyvia-dono, huh. Well, it can’t be helped. Being able to land a hit is stunning enough!」

「Yes! Chinatsu-san is very cool!」

The excitement of Alezel and others was considerably increased by the unexpected counterattack of Haru and the others. However, next to me, Nell is shaking her head as if she is disappointed.

「Oh, Nell-dono, you’re a harsh one, aren’t you? If I were you, I would praise her many times, you know?」

「That’s right. With that much result, I’ll generously give her an extraordinary bonus. Being able to land a hit on the Great Eight Demons would be a good promotion after all.」

「Good grief, you guys don’t get it, huh. Really, you guys don’t get it at all *Fidgeting*」

「「「?」」」

It was not toward Chinatsu, but toward Alezel and the others, who commented that it was awesome but regrettable. Nell looks very uncomfortable since she can’t tell them even if she wants to. It’s scary that she is likely to talk about it at any moment.

「Nell, don’t….」

「I-I know, okay? I know, so don’t worry!」

I managed to calm Nell, who wants to brag about it. In the meantime, at the scene of the battle, the effect of Chinatsu’s Unique Skill is about to appear.

Lily stopped high in the air and glared down at Haru and the others. She was caught, kicked, and slashed, so she must be in a very bad mood. You can see it in her expression.

「Chinatsu, what did you do to me…!?」

When Lily glanced at Chinatsu while saying so, her face suddenly became pale and she began to hold her mouth with her hand. Her skin is so pale that she clearly looks sick and she’s likely to collapse at any time.

「Fufufu!」

Contrary to Lily, Nell seems to be in a good mood. Looking at Nell’s face, Alezel and the others seem to realize something.

I will explain it instead of Nell, who can’t say it even if she wants to. Chinatsu’s Unique Skill is an ability that allows her to spit out the stress that she has accumulated so far and to exert its effects by putting it on her own weapon. There are two main effects.

The first is to simply strengthen the attack. As pointed out by Zex, the slash covered with black ink is faster and more powerful than usual. The more stress Chinatsu spits out, the more her attack is strengthened. With the sharpness of her Iwatōshi, she probably can slash even Rimudo’s dragon scales.

And here comes the second and most important effect. As mentioned above, this Unique Skill is activated by manifesting Chinatsu’s stress as black ink. So, where does the stress go? Does it scatter and get swept away by the wind after exerting its power? No, no, it won’t do something wasteful like that. After all, the stress will blend into the target it slashed.

「Ugh….」

Lily, who has been painfully distorting her face since a while ago, is a good proof of that. She could avoid the damage from the slashing by using her Mutation, but there’s nothing she can do about the stress that had flowed into her.

On the other hand, Chinatsu, the person who made Lily suffer, looks very refreshed. Actually, there’s another good point of this Unique Skill. Chinatsu will feel refreshed as much as the stress is spat out.

…… Well, it’s a literal result. However, because she pushed her stress on Lily, she suffered new stress due to the guilt. She’s got a way to get rid of her stress, but it also becomes the source of her stress. She’s really pitiful because she’s a good girl.

「*Whisper* (Deris, isn’t it more effective than expected? Chinatsu is amazing, isn’t she?)」

「*Whisper* (You’re really in a good mood today, huh…. Well, I think that’s natural. When she used that power before, the amount was considerable, right? That extraordinary amount of anguish, only Chinatsu, who’s accustomed to it, can endure it this far. For Lily, who basically hates stress, it can make her sick.)」

Lily is in a perfect mode now, but she’s not as resistant to stress as Chinatsu. I mean, is there anyone in the world who’s more resistant to stress than Chinatsu?

「I don’t really understand, but I hope Hund-han would work a little harder.」

「You’re right.」

「It’s as Zex-sama says.」

…… Maybe there’s one person who can rival her.