「Shit! 」

At that moment, Ardis realized his defeat. He immediately jumped back and took distance from the assaulting flying swords.

「Looks like you’re too used to fighting weaklings. Since there’s no one around that can control flying swords, I bet you started to think numbers are everything.」

Just as Victor said, Ardis realized he is too used to fighting in this world.

「Didn’t the Captain say it too? 『Don’t aimlessly add swords』. 」

The twenty swords that were stolen by Victor approached Ardis again.

「Shit! 」

Understanding his own mistake, Ardis took out new swords over the Gate again. It is the yellowish green blade 『Springtime Mist』 and white blade 『Moon’s Blizzard』.

Including 『Skies of Myriad Colors』 in Ardis’s hands, he counterattacked the flying swords with the three swords.

The three flying swords made from Heavy Iron that flew towards him were cut into half easily. What Victor took over were only the mass-produced Heavy Iron swords.

On the other hand, Ardis had the three swords made from Lesha Powder. It’s obvious which is more advantageous once they clashed.

「Hou, they’re quite nice swords. 」

Victor who tried to recall his flying swords showed an opening that Ardis can’t miss. Among the seventeen swords in Victor’s control, four of them were successfully taken back.

The number of flying swords is proportional to the user’s mana. Taking note of the enemy and your own mana, taking over control of flying swords that are beyond the user’s capabilities is a common sense in the other world.

Ardis who had been controlling more than his capabilities because there hasn’t been any threat lately was reminded of a cruel lesson.

If comparing Victor and his mana capabilities, it’s probably two to one. In other words, the balance would be thirteen swords versus six.

「If you knew it, then you should’ve done so from the start. 」

Annoyed by Victor’s tone who is lecturing him, Ardis took the initiative to attack. With the Heavy Iron swords as backup, using Springtime Mist and Moon’s Blizzard, Ardis reduced the enemy’s sword number.

Ardis himself charged towards Victor with Skies of Myriad Colors in his own hands.

「With this! 」

「You have not learned. 」

Victor commented uninterestedly while deflecting the slash with a physical barrier. Linking his sword attack fluidly with a kick, Ardis collected mana in his free hand and released a fireball at a close distance.

「Useless. 」

Victor without panicking deployed countless small magic barriers. The magic barrier that are small like knives split Ardis’s fireball into many pieces.

On top of that, each of them were adjusted with meticulous angles, deflecting the heat away from himself.

「Then, what about――」

Ardis changes his position and took to the sky. Victor on the other hand calmly observed and waited for his next hand.

Ardis with his palm facing to his enemy manipulated mana. What appeared ahead of him was a small whitish sphere filled with tiny lightning.

It is the unavoidable lightning spell that he had learnt after coming to this world.

「――this! 」

As expected, even the prodigy who had never seen such a spell before can’t deflect it. If so, the most he can do is to deploy as many magic barrier as he can and brace.

「Woah 」

Naturally, Victor was surprised. As expected of him to have immediately put up eight layers of magic barrier realizing the threat of the lightning, but it’s not like Ardis expected it to work on him anyways.

The lightning broke half of Victor’s barriers. But in other words, even Ardis’s lightning at his full might could only destroy four layers.

「How interesting of you to be using lightning now. 」

Facing Victor who had defended against the lightning attack calmly, Ardis sneaked up from behind with the flying Springtime Mist and Moon’s Blizzard.

He tried for a surprise attack when he’s occupied with the lightning.

「I suppose it’s appropriate enough for a diversion. 」

Victor revealed that he had seen through Ardis’s intentions and easily escaped the swords by flying upwards.

「Thought so! 」

And Ardis was waiting there with a sword in his hand. Using the lightning attack and flying swords as diversion, Ardis finally grasped a chance to directly attack Victor.

「It’s still too naive――!? 」

Commenting that it is still too naive of Ardis while deflecting Ardis’s sword with a dagger, he finally realized something.

It was because the sword in Ardis hand was not the bluish Skies of Myriad Colors but a dull Heavy Iron sword.

The next moment, a Gate opened right beside Victor’s arm that was in the midst of deflecting his attack. It was the Skies of Myriad Colors that appeared.

Ardis had temporary put it away while he casted the lightning spell and the subsequent flying swords attack.

The Skies of Myriad Colors that manifested waited no moment and immediately sliced at Victor’s abdomen.

「Impressive! 」

Victor praised him. His expression was overjoyed to the point it didn’t look like he was in a grave spot.

Ardis has three advantages facing Victor. The three swords made from Lesha Powder, lightning arts, and lastly manipulation of Gates.

Despite it being the only chance that Ardis finally grasped after utilizing all of them, Victor’s strength still overwhelmed it.

Victor with his other free hand drew out another dagger. While deflecting Ardis’s sword with one hand, the new dagger reached to parry Ardis’s Skies of Myriad Colors.

Of course, that’s not enough to make it stop fully. However, a talented person like him, a moment is enough for him to deal with the rest.

Inches before the Skies of Myriad Colors sliced open his abdomen, a tough pinpoint physical barrier was deployed.

「Tchh! 」

Not able to deal any damage with his only chance, Ardis can only renew his recognition of the enemy’s strength.

Ardis has certainly become weaker. If Rona’s inference is right, Ardis had split into two during transportation to this world and lost more than half of his power.

Even if he couldn’t reach the woman general with his original strength, he thought he can battle Victor fairly well.

While facing Shuder in the Canobis Mountain Range, he thought that he was improving considering there’re lesser occasions getting pinned down.

However, he didn’t find a way to regain his original power, and is forced to steadily reacquire them. For Ardis who had been doing so while feeling pathetic, it’s difficult for him to accept Victor’s decision to side with the woman general.

「If you’re that strong, why…… why! 」

「Isn’t it because that I’m a mercenary? For someone who had always stayed in the same band, you might not understand. 」

The flying swords that Victor controlled surrounded Ardis.

「Well, you have the matter with Luciel too. I won’t tell you to come over this side but……」

His composed self-confidence is built on his strength. A warning was forced onto Ardis one-sidedly from his past comrade.

「Please don’t be an obstacle. If you stay put, I won’t mind sparing you one. 」

「Who would! 」

He spoke as if pitying Ardis. Ardis came to know of another anger different from towards the nemesis woman general.

With intense anger and heat dancing within his eyes, Ardis took up Skies of Myriad Colors once again and slashed.

While deflecting that sword with a composedly, Victor faced him with a pitying expression.

「Certainly, you got a little stronger than then. But your way of fighting is too rough. It was more difficult to deal with you in the older days. 」

「Don’t jest! 」

Ardis, like a child who is throwing tantrums, continues to slash as much as he can without any ingenuity. Of course, his every slash should’ve been powerful enough to destroy armies and kill any demonic beings.

「Seeing how you can’t win against me, there’s no way you can stand against her right? 」

However, all of them were dodged with room, Victor who easily deflected them with a mass-produced dagger showed overwhelming strength.

However, the one-sided offense soon ended. Seeing an opening in his violent slashes, Victor kneed Ardis in the abdomen.

As his body paralyzed for a moment, the hilt of a dagger crashed into his chin. A moment of nauseous. A shaking vision.

「If you don’t like it, then win against me. 」

With those words as the last, Ardis’s consciousness departed.