Black Iron Magician

Chapter 551 Black Iron’s Struggle

Something pierced Deris’s right shoulder. It was Chinatsu’s beloved katana 『Iwatōshi』. Before he knew it, Chinatsu was behind Haruna, and she was holding the Iwatōshi’s handle in her hand. It’s unknown whether Haruna opened the path or whether Chinatsu came here while erasing the poison herself. However, what is certain is that Iwatōshi’s blade hit Deris, and that blade was imbued with the power of Chinatsu’s Unique Skill.

「――!?」

Chinatsu’s stress was transferred through Iwatōshi to Deris. The amount of stress, which has been built up to the point where a normal person would go insane, is putting a strain on Drris’s body and mind all at once. No matter how stress-tolerant Deris was, it wasn’t an amount he could tolerate. His mind went blank, and he let out a soundless scream. His heart is pounding at an alarming rate and his stomach feels like it’s going to twist. His anguish figure is like a man who is experiencing the hell of this world.

「Hah!」

Naturally, when there’s an opening, Haruna immediately moves on to the next action. She raises her Doggan Staff, which she used to hold Deris down, and mercilessly swings the blade at his head.

――――Whoosh!

However, the attack didn’t hit Deris. Whether it was intentionally or unconsciously, Deris used his treasured magic item faster than Haruna’s attack.

(Ugh! What a powerful wind! I’m being blown away…!)

The magic item, which was hidden under Deris’s robe, had a powerful windstorm trapped inside. It was strong enough to blow away Haruna and Chinatsu, who were standing directly in front of it, all together. There was no way to avoid it in the narrow hole, and the two were thrown out of the hole, and even into the air.

「Aww, I lost my chance!」

「Haruna, more importantly, prepare to land. To be honest, I’m almost at my limit….」

「Eh? Ah, okay!」

The windstorm was powerful enough to blow them away, but it was almost harmless in terms of damage. Even the two, who received it directly, didn’t seem to receive any damage from the wind. After landing safely on the ground, they looked at the hole where Deris would still be.

「Chinatsu-chan, how’s your condition?」

「Not very good. I was able to deal with most of the magic bullets, but I got hit once.」

Chinatsu puts her hand on her flank.

「Did you get hit there?」

「Yes. I’ve healed the wound with recovery magic, but… that magic bullet had a special poison. I tried to remove the poison that flowed into my body, but I couldn’t completely remove it. The remaining poison multiplied, and when I tried to remove it again, it multiplied again―― it was pointless no matter how many times I tried it. Maybe that’s how Deris-san set the poison.」

「The poison is very difficult to detox, huh?」

「That’s right. To be honest, I’m almost out of MP from defending against the bullets and continuing to cure the poison. So, I will leave the rest to you, Haruna….」

Saying so, Chinatsu pulled out the black blade that was stuck in Haurna’s flank and healed the wound. At the same time, she also detoxified all the poison that was inside and outside of Haruna’s body. Even though she’s completely healed, it’s far easier to fight compared to the near-death state she was in before.

「Wow, I feel so much better now! Thank you!」

「With this, my MP is truly empty. Ah, I don’t need any potion. I’m already full.」

「Ahaha, Chinatsu-chan is a light eater after all~」

Haruna smiled at Chinatsu who rubbed her belly.

「Then, I’ll leave the rest to you. I don’t think I and Touko will last long, so if possible, please end it as soon as possible.」

「Huh? But, you seem fine, Chinatsu-chan. I mean, your complexion is better than usual, you know?」

「That’s not true. I transferred all the stress of the past week to Deris-san, so it just looks that way on the surface.」

「Haha, I see~. Then, leave it to me!」

Haruna starts walking triumphantly after receiving energy from her best friend. On the other hand, Chinatsu sits down on the ground and sees Haruna off as she heads towards Deris. Every time Haruna steps forward, a whirlpool of magic power pierces her skin from the hole. It seems that Deris is using some kind of magic.

「………」

Just before Haruna arrived near the hole, Deris crawled out of the hole, but his limbs were entwined with many thread-like things, and his movements were slightly different compared to usual.

(……Shishō is fainted.)

Looking at Deris’s lifeless eyes, Harua accurately read his current state. Yes, Deris lost his consciousness. Even the great magician known as the 『Black Iron』 was not able to work harder more than this. And the battle should have been settled. However, the reason why his body is still moving is because of a certain magic he chanted just before he fainted.

(Those puppet’s strings…. Did Shishō use a magic that can manipulate a corpse on himself so that he could continue to fight even after losing consciousness?)

She’s mostly correct. Since his days as an adventurer, Deris has been extinguishing fires and covering things up in all kinds of situations. Whether he was knocked unconscious by Nell’s blow or put to sleep by Alezel’s dubious drug, no matter what situation he was in, he still could get things done. The magic that could control himself even while unconscious is one of the countermeasures.

(If the magic is moving Shishō, it is probably a kind of automatic battle mode. If that’s the case, the fighting style should be more monotonous than usual, but…)

As if ridiculing Haruna’s thoughts, Deris concentrated his magic power in one arm and created a jet-black mist from the tip of his hand. The mist gradually became a rod-like shape and became real. Finally, Deris was holding an ominous staff that looked like it was made of black magic stone. And his stance with the staff is almost the same as when he was sparring with Haruna.

「……Ehehe. There’s no way Shishō would do it half-baked. Even if it’s auto, he would make the movements as close as possible to the manual movements. No, considering his personality, he probably would show crude movements, and then gets serious at a crucial time. So, this is where I make my last effort.」

Haruna took out a small bottle containing red liquid from her pouch. Needless to say, it was Maria’s blood.

「Shishō, I think I will use this magic in the end.」

Haruna crushed the small bottle and dyed her hand with Maria’s blood. Strangely enough, the blood didn’t drip down, but ran up from Haruna’s fist to her arm.

「I will use this 『Adva』, my first magic and the one I have the most affection for!」

The jet-black mud born in Haruna’s hand mixed with the fresh blood. Then, her right arm was dyed dark red, and even the Doggan Staff held by that arm dyed by the same color.

「I’ve learned about how to use Maria-san’s blood, and I think this way of using it is the best for me. I combined my arm and Doggan Staff with Maria-san’s blood to make it more resonant, to make myself more resistant to magic, and to add the worst kind of poison――anyway, it’s my exciting and greedy set. Shishō, please accept my best and worst blow!」

「………」

The black iron master and student took a step and jumped forward at the same time. Then, the best and worst battle, which was suitable for the end of the trial, began in the next moment.

――――The 95th day of training is over.