Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 148 - The Walpurgisknight

The howling wind filled Medrauta's ears as she scanned her surroundings, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the mysterious black liquid that coated the tower's battlements. It seemed the viscous substance that had been slathered all over the base of the tower's exterior reached all the way to the top as well. Aside from that and the very obvious massive black orb that hovered a few dozen feet above her head, Medrauta could spot no obvious threats.

Although the knight had expected winds to be rougher at this altitude, the speed at which they raced through the air was clearly abnormal. At the very least, the source wasn't difficult to deduce thanks to the movements of the globe above them. While its surface appeared perfectly smooth from afar, Medrauta could tell that wasn't the case now that she was directly below it.

The surface of the orb bore an appearance similar to a gargantuan ball of living yarn. Like thousands of black worms clustered together in one revolting mass, the countless threads of black mana that formed the ball writhed and pulsed, wriggling against one another rapidly as each thread raced the others around its circumference, a phenomenon that was no doubt causing the violent winds atop the tower.

"Seems like there wasn't anyone waiting for us after all," Viviane murmured as she stepped beside Medrauta once her knight signaled that it was safe. She winced as the gale bit into her cheeks, causing her to shield one side of her face with an arm.

"...Yeah. Maybe Amelia just didn't expect anyone to make it up here or something." Medrauta said, turning her gaze upward. Although the sphere of black mana had looked pretty small from a distance, it was absolutely enormous up close. If she focused, the knight could even see faint black-red pulses of mana emanating from it that sustained the witchspawn below.

Viviane nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "At the very least, that makes our job easier. Let's get this over with quickly, Medrauta!"

With a flourish, Viviane pointed her hand in Medrauta's direction, bestowing her Crest upon the knight in a brilliant flash of silver light. Almost as if it could sense the newfound danger that Medrauta and Viviane represented, the orb briefly released a low humming sound before a bolt of black-red mana forked toward the pair.

In response, Medrauta swept her blade across the air, cutting through the bolt with ease as she leapt upward and raised her sword, preparing to cut the massive globe in half with a powerful downward slash. Despite its size, Medrauta's Crest-enhanced strength would be more than enough to completely halve a sphere made of something as insubstantial as mana. Again, the orb hummed in response, but it was too late.

"Haaah!" Medrauta brought her sword down with a mighty swing, the sheer force of her attack generating a burst of air powerful enough to still the surrounding gale for several seconds.

After issuing her attack, Medrauta landed in front of Viviane, shielding her lady from the possibility of retaliation should the sphere somehow remain intact after receiving such a powerful blow. For a moment, it seemed as if the globe of black mana would hold strong, but a thin line of silver soon appeared on its surface seconds later.

The line rapidly expanded from the place where Medrauta had struck, causing jagged cracks to spread across the entirety of the sphere before it unraveled violently, scattering threads of black mana through the air. Viviane flinched at the sudden explosion, causing Medrauta to whirl around rapidly, wrapping her arms around the noblewoman.

"The witchspawn...!" Viviane exclaimed once the explosion of black mana dissipated into the air. Below the tower, the witchspawn had completely halted in their movements despite the sun continuing to peek over the horizon. In fact, some of the larger varieties had even begun disintegrating thanks to the lack of mana maintaining their bodies.